Collaborative online tools

Originally, my focuses in the use of technology in the classroom over the last six years had/has  to do with the collaborative nature of online tools and easy of functionality between the teacher and student using these tools. As far as collaborative tools go for education, Google Docs has proven to be one of the best so far for me. My students and I have made it an indispensable part of the AP World and European History classes. Several of my students are now using it in their other upper level and Dual Enrollment classes. It should be noted that some of my friends also use Google docs collaboratively or allow students to use it in their classes. This has also gone beyond the high school classroom to college as some of the students that we have taught are using it exclusively for collaboration in their classes.

 I have had the opportunity along with my good friend Tara Malecki (she should be writing this post) to present at our county’s technology workshops to share our own experiences with Google Docs in 2011 and 2012. In the fall of 2013, I was given the opportunity to present this idea of Collaboration and Technology at the State Social Studies Conference (FCSS). Sharing  with my fellow social studies teachers was exciting and eye opening because many of them were working toward the same goals involving technology and collaboration. It was a great session and confirmed for me that this is the direction I needed to pursue.

These events encouraged me to do more research on the topic ofcollaborative tools. What I have now learned is that students must also beengaged (Engagement) with the tools.  I now realized that I was addressing only part of what I wanted to accomplish with Collaborative learning for my students. 

Carnegie Mellon’s,  Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation  addresses Collaborative tools and learning . Here is the synopsis from their site  Collborative Tools  based on a White paper literature review (2009) of collaborative learning, assessment, and tools.  Download Collaboration Tools White Paper

Collaborative learning is essentially people working together to solve a problem, create a product, or derive meaning from a body of material. A central question or problem serves to organize and drive activities, and encourage application, analysis, and synthesis of course material. While the landscape of technology that can be used to support central activities of collaborative learning is vast and varied, it is often lumped together under a single label: “collaboration tools.”

Tools that exist to support collaboration can:

•     facilitate real-time and asynchronous text, voice, and video    communication.
•     assist in basic project management activities.
•     support co-creation by enabling groups to modify output in real-time or  asynchronously.
•     facilitate consensus building through group discussions and polling.
•     simplify and streamline resource management.
•     enable local and remote presentation and archiving of completed  projects.

Communication     Virtual Meetings     Email     Instant Messaging     Screen Sharing     Blogs     Voice, Video, Web Conferencing     Discussion Boards	Team Definition & Participant     Social Networking     Presence Management     User Profiles     Contact Management
Project Management     Task Management     Time Tracking     Workflow Routing     Milestones     Calendaring	Resource Management     File Storage     Search     Database Management     Version Tracking     Access Management     Social Bookmarking     Commenting     Tagging
Co-Creation & Ideation     Concept Mapping     Wikis     Virtual Whiteboards     Real-Time Collaborative Editing	Consensus Building     Polling     Question Management     Process Archiving
Presentation & Archiving     Webinars     Slide Shows     Hosted Media Sharing

Cardinal on Hulu

As a amateur actor I love watching great performances the quiet moments are awesome I  highly recommend watching“cardinal”A Canadian production it is one of the best procedural dramas that I have seen it is exceptional, William Campbell is exceptional. I couldn’t stop watching it as the series progresses you great draw in .  I don’t see, any American productions that match it if there was a show I could audition for it would be this one everyone on the show is great. I love watching Canadian shows this show makes you think.ieverythinga love about Canada I

I Visited Toronto as a young boy my cousins live their anything about Canada I love how they filmed shows in Canada they always seems to have a lot of class.as do most Canadians that I know.my cousins are the best they probably will never see this.

Writing again, I hope to finish my current manuscript prior to the end of November

Writing since my stroke, has been a real task.I feel better nowadays. Stories I have been dreamt. storiesfill my mind.usuallyI sketch out my stories like a story board but my art skills are diminished since the stroke.i like the story I am writing now.

The best of times and the worst of times.teaching over 33 years thebest of times learning to plan my lessons

I had come to the belief a few years ago that, I would never retire from teachings unless I was forced to because of my health.A stroke changed my plans. Mentally I have not retired .I realize that in the hospitalmIhad33years of experiences that could be useful. As I am forced. to look on the sidelines I watch negotiations for teachers I still  get fired up when I hear people trash talking teachers and teaching I have met several awesome people' in teaching in all disciplines .I hope to share some of those experiences' in this blog to encourage ya'll
You know who are you are on the 200 wing at DWYERh.S. an A rated high  school in palm beach county and and my fellow teachers at CW.Ruckel middle school a blue ribbon middle school. Through teaching I also found a second career in acting and later studied improvisational act an I would later teach imtprovisational acting through the. Matte Kelly school of acting and I worked with the acting troup "murphy's lawless" and later I used those new found skills which changed everything for me as a teacher. My previous experience in retail sales help me with technology in the classroom. Many of my friends have previous work life experiences that they brought to the classroom which makes them great teachers.my earliest experience before teaching was working as a department manager at Gayfer.s With a million dollar budget later I sold copiers my  my mentor Thomas Downingworked as an executive for IBM he taught me how tow to get organized  daily, s.yes I carried  my-day timer with me everywhere which I used well into my first five years of teaching recently I've been reading about school districts attacking the teacher planning periods requiring teachers to use ther planning period to cover administrative responsibilities around their schools. I learned how to use a minimum amount of time, my planning the better organized Ibecame 
 maintained my day timer when the more I sold more copiers I shared my day timer notes with my boss  I never went any where without my day timer as I would later use my lesson plans  I lived by these rules as a teacher I've seen a real weaknessin colleges that do not train young teachers in the best way to utilize planning timei remember yhey woild give us homework to create lessonplans.as we begin to see this planning time disappearing. it used to take me 45minutes to drive to work and I would run down this list using my dragon dictation app since I could not write while driving. I am not that good of a driver hopefully you wiill find theses and apply them

Day Timer ideas for Goal setting…

·         Take 10 minutes to plan - and save up to an hour each day!
  ·       Think with a pencil or pen in your hand. Write everything down.
·         Learn the difference between "urgent" and "important," and make time for the latter.
·         Under-promise results, then over-deliver.
·         Let your actions spring from your personal goals and values.
·         Number your tasks in order of priority, and get started on it.
·         If you're overwhelmed by a big project, cut it up into little projects.
·         Allow double the time you think a project will take. You'll be on time and avoid stress.
·         Know when to stop fine-tuning your work. Aim for excellence, not perfection.
·         Give yourself little rewards for finishing tasks.
·         To avoid workspace clutter, make an instant decision on each paper that crosses your desk.
·         Lay out what you need for the next day the night before.               

So I decide to Google this idea of goal setting. The first place I went to was myGoals.com

+Ialso created my own form based on the counties requirements for lesson plansthis allowed me greater speed in planing

COURSE: WORLD HISTORY

INSTRUCTOR:

DAY

DATE:

HOUSEKEEPING: Attendance/Announcements/School Related Business

1
2.

KEY CONCEPT:
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
LESSON: What actually occurred in class	OBJECTIVES;state or county
	REQUIRED READING

Do not forget Modeling, and Guided Practice.            Check for Understand.                      Restate objective regularly
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE	ASSESSMENT;type:

REFLECTIONS:

by creating this form I kept my all oflessons oonmycomputer lessons wereavailablonline.

chracter development sheet

my student created a chracter development sheet for our sci fi club when wewereworking on a board game they wanted wto creat they research several different maybe thiscould assist some new writters to nano wrimo:

Character Sheet:

1.    Name:

2.    Age:

3.    Height:

4.    Eye color:

5.    Physical appearance:

6.    Strange or unique physical attributes:

7.    Favorite clothing style/outfit:

8.    Where does he or she live? What is it like there?

9.    Defining gestures/movements (i.e., curling his or her lip when he or she speaks, always keeping his or her eyes on the ground, etc.):

10.  Things about his or her appearance he or she would most like to change:

11.  Speaking style (fast, talkative, monotone, etc.):

12.  Pet peeves:

13.  Fondest memory:

14.  Hobbies/interests:

15.  Special skills/abilities:

16.  Insecurities:

17.  Quirks/eccentricities:

18.  Temperament (easygoing, easily angered, etc.):

19.  Negative traits:

20.  Things that upset him or her:

21.  Things that embarrass him or her:

22.  This character is highly opinionated about:

23.  Any phobias?

24.  Things that make him or her happy:

25.  Family (describe):

26.  Deepest, darkest secret:

27.  Reason he or she kept this secret for so long:

28.  Other people’s opinions of this character (What do people like about this character? What do they dislike about this character?):

29.  Favorite bands/songs/type of music:

30.  Favorite movies:

31.  Favorite TV shows:

32.  Favorite books:

33.  Favorite foods:

34.  Favorite sports/sports teams:

35.  Political views:

36.  Religion/philosophy of life:

37.  Physical health:

38.  Dream vacation:

39.  Description of his or her house:

40.  Description of his or her bedroom:

41.  Any pets?

42.  Best thing that has ever happened to this character:

43.  Worst thing that has ever happened to this character:

44.  Superstitions:

nanowrimo is back for would be writers

hey ya'll November is national writing month yep nano wrimo is back again. hoping you can jointhe crewall of us would be writers