week 8 post 1

The Connected Educator Month (CEM) was originally developed by the United State Department of Education. CEM was created as part of the Connected Educators Initiative in 2012. This is a valuable asset in that the opportunities are focused and time-sensitive so you are less likely to be slogging through unrelated information and challenged to "do it now" since you are just looking at the month.
Having forums and open houses available provides networking and professional development opportunities. The handy starter kit outlines lots of resources and challenges to get even the most tech-savvy teacher connecting in a deeper and richer way. I haven't had the resources (time, access, etc.) to take advantage of the starter kit but I do know that I want to go back through paying special attention to the information on Twitter, hashtags, digital storytelling, and Voicethread. In my mind, it is important to review what we already know because while we are learning, it is impossible to absorb everything. By "relearning" what we know, we often can make new connections and find great meaning in the information than when we first went through. This is also true of my college career. Though I feel very comfortable with technology in the classroom, it is my duty to myself and my future students to take every advantage to learn more and connect that knowledge better through repeated exposure to related instruction.

In the upcoming weeks, I intend to learn how to better manage my Twitter connections and how to put hashtags to work for me. I am interested in checking out  Alan Levine's 50+ Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story while looking into the 5x5 project and checking on how to use that in my classroom. I plan to keep updating my blog on my school website despite the unnecessary requirement that my supervisor approve all blog posts beforehand. I feel strongly that my words are my words and having someone else exercise editorial privilege to change those words takes the "ME" out of my posts but I will do so to maintain employment, always remembering how it feels and striving to allow my students to maintain their "ME" when it comes to assignments. Collaborating with Google Docs or using Voicethread are thwarted by the lack of technology to have everyone online at once but I will investigate how to overcome that obstacle to provide my students with the ability to be connected even though Connected Educator Month has ended.

Lastly, I will search out opportunities to connect with others to strengthen my abilities as a connected educator while seeking new areas in which my abilities will be able to shine. October 2015 will find me connected to the community as the next Connected Educator Month takes off!