Professional Learning Plan

Thursday at Noon.
So....  This is due in four days and I made this really COOL looking Glogster on my Glogster EDU account and logged in after spending a few hours on it and BAM-it was gone.  So here I am at my desk contemplating angry emails sent towards the Glogster people....
This here is a lesson in technology.  A nasty lesson that we sometimes learn.  I remember pressing the save button, I remember choosing save as a draft, but it is gone....  SO, I start again.  Hold this space for the next draft. I think I am not going to use Glogster.
On to Prezi....

Professional Learning Plan CEP 812 Catie Barber on Prezi

Here are some Guiding Questions about what I have learned.

What were some online resources that you found helpful?

I absolutely ADORE Cool Tools for Schools!  This website I constantly go back to in order to find specific online resources for my class.  My students use it to and I have incorporated lots of them into my constantly updated Literature Circle Blog...And from this class: Free Visual Tools... pure awesomeness...

What online communities were helpful?

I find it really hard to keep up with online communities.  i enjoyed getting to know MERLOT, but during 811 when submitting I found the whole process really laborious..  So I can't say I will be all over that.  I do keep up with Edutopia a lot, I enjoy the writing and the articles there.  For awhile I am going to be really happy to go back to reading the nytimes.com on a daily basis and catching up with new apps for my four year old...

What strategies do I find helpful for trying a new technology?

I find it very helpful to just play.  I like to play with things, find out how they work, I rarely look towards a tutorial at first, rather I play and then find answers to my specific problems.  I tend to dive right into technology, sometimes this is not good and I have learned not to jump in with my students, I need to be proficient first, although a lot of times it is my students who come in a say "Mrs. B., have you ever seen THIS??"

How does working with others support you in your own learning?

I enjoyed working with my group.  it was fun to actually get to know a few people rather than just know them as "posts".  I have found too that even though our project is over we are now still emailing each other to check our work, or just to be funny!  That said, if people do not participate in groups then it is really a burden on everyone else.   If it is required stuff then get it done!  Ranting and Raving over with...

How will you use this experience to support your own life long learning of technology?

It never stops, does it?  I will sue all these things and more, to be honest I am going to miss all this good learning time, I won't miss the stress much, but I loved the lesson, I will try and keep up on different communities.  Teaching in such a technology rich school does keep me on my toes and (fingers crossed) I may just be the next technology integrator...  who knows?  Anything is possible!