PC Maintenance and Security

For this assignment, I have reviewed several tutorials from the PC Maintenance and Security workshop provided by Atomic.

Clean up and Speed up
I decided to start with these tutorials because I was the most familiar with them. I have been a PC computer user for many years before my Mac. I am still using a Windows based computer in my classroom. It is running very slow, so I watched these videos to get some ideas. I was familiar with uninstalling unwanted applications, and disk clean-up. However, I was not familiar with running "msconfig" to speed up start times. I did try it at work the other day, but I was too afraid to continue with the process. I will pass this information on to our Tech guys to see if they can give me any other information on this process. I was surprised that you could restore your computer to earlier settings without erasing files. Still a little hesitant, I backed up my files just in case!

Intrusion Detection and Prevention
These tutorials provided information about software that is available to help keep your computers safe. There are IDS's (Intrusion Detection Software) available on the web such as TeaTime, Spybot, and WinPatrol. It has been my experience in the past that if too much is being blocked, I get very frustrated. It was suggested that you only choose one program to run. Otherwise, you could run into the same frustrations I have in the past. That is something that I will definitely share with my collegues. It was surprising to learn that you could actually block pages silently.

File Backup Options
I chose these tutorials because I am not good about backing up my files. I realize that a flash drive is a readily available option that I should be using frequently, but haven't. So I was interested in finding other solutions. The tutorials covered several options that are free including KarenWare, Foldershare, and MediaMax. I was really excited about MediaMax because you could backup 25GB for free. However, when I tried to look up that website it took me to another site. The information was similar, but not the same. I am still hesitant to start messing around with my life (i.e. my computer) with something that seems off. I was very impressed and surprised with different options out there via the web. I will be sharing KarenWare and Foldershare with others. We all need to be better about backing up our files and these are two great "free" options.

Getting Things Done

I've never been one to use a "To Do List." Perhaps that's why I don't know what day it is sometimes. Especially since CEP 810 started. However, after reading about, watching, and listening to excerpts from David Allen, I realized he created these steps for people just like me.

Collect:
At first I tried writing down all the things that needed to be done. I quickly realized that this method wasn't going to work for me. I was actually feeling anxious about the fact that I had to remember and hand-write everything. I decided to do a little searching on my IPad and found "Remember the Milk." This is a free app that allows you to write your tasks out for today, tomorrow, and all the days of the week. Once your finished, you can complete the other processes within this app as well.

However, I have yet to master the art of typing on an IPad, so I decided to use OmniFocus for Mac. I was given a 14 day free trial. Once downloaded, I was able to watch the tutorials and start typing my tasks in quickly.

Process:
When I finished typing all my tasks out, I took some time to process and reflect on my list. I quickly realized I could recycle, do the dishes, and take out dinner for tomorrow. Thanks to my husband, I was able to take my errand list and check off the items I had in there for the grocery store. It was nice seeing my some of my tasks literally disappear. (Don't worry! You can still review them if you need to).

Organize:
Unfortunately, not much else could be done, so I organize my items. With OmniFocus you are able to easily click and drag your tasks into categories. They actually call them "context." I added a few categories and organized them a little to suit my needs. This was the easiest process so far.

Review:
I am actually in the process of reviewing my tasks. I really like using this program each morning to update my tasks. When I'm at home, I'm thinking about chores, the grocery, bills, projects. When I'm at work, I'm thinking about schedules, meetings, due dates, projects, parent communication. Utilizing this program in the morning, and getting my tasks into OmniFocus seems to really give me the peace of mind needed to tackle the day. OmniFocus can also sync with your ICal.

Do:
OmniFocus has a context view that allows you to look at all your tasks under their categories. If you need to just focus in on one category at a time, you just select the category you want. If you like looking at lists, you can select the planning mode. When you have completed a task, you just check a little box, and it's gone. It's one less thing you have to worry about. In the review mode, you will see the list of all that you've accomplished.

This is a 14-Day Free Trial, so I will not be continuing with this program after that time is up. I will probably utilize my free app and learn how to type better on my IPad :-)

Blog Comment

This is a screen shot of a comment I made on POPTech.

RSS Feed

This is a screen shot of my RSS Feed for CEP 810

When I first started my RSS feeds through Google Reader, I felt overwhelmed and frustrated. I was overwhelmed with the number of feeds that were coming in from each site. However, I soon realized that I needed to organize them by creating files for my different feeds. I created folders for news, technology, pre-algebra, and algebra. Then, I was able to quickly organize my feeds and reduce my anxiety. I was frustrated because I was not able to find good math feeds. I googled about every combination I could. Once in a while, I would run into a blog that was interesting, but overall I was not impressed at first.

Tired of being frustrated, I decided to look more into Project-Based Learning. Immediately I found useful websites that related to what was going on in my classroom at the time. Poptech had a blog about one girl's obsession with Rube Goldburg projects. There was a video that I shared with my class because they were getting frustrated with their projects, and her accounts made them feel much better. Afterwards, I thanked her for sharing her ups and downs with her project, and I let her know she helped other students too.

The very next day, I learned about Math in the Middle. A teacher had posted her class' work on Slope-Intercept Form. I was very interested and asked if she might be able to send me her lesson plans. Within twenty-four hours, I had all her ideas. I made a few adjustments and was presenting the project within two days. My students will finish their projects by next week, and I plan on sending her a thank-you note. It was a good feeling to know that my kids would be working on a great project, and I didn't have to re-create that wheel because of this connection.

With restored hope, I started looking more into the feeds I had already created. I quickly realized that I had some feeds that I either did not care for or did not have the time to spend on them. After reading a few summaries, I quickly decided which ones were not for me and unsubscribed myself from them. I am currently down to only two feeds for my pre-algebra class. However, I found those two to be very helpful in my endeavors to find relevant math material. Each day it seems to be getting easier to maneuver and find resources.

My news feeds have been the most beneficially to me personally. I cannot remember the last time I watched the news. CNN updated once to twice and hour, so it was very easy for me to scroll through and find the feeds that interested me. “Trump Not Running” seemed to catch my eye (we won't talk politics), so I decided to actually dig a little deeper and read on. BBC updates their news every one to twenty minutes, so I have had a hard time keeping up. I have leaned more towards NPR. There, I can listen to the updates in about 5 minutes. After that, I decide if I want to learn more and dig deeper into my news feeds. It has also been beneficial to keep updated on new technology. I am currently following information on the new Chromebook by Google. It will be interesting to see where they go.

It is important to realize that our students are living in a world rich with news, social media, and technology. If we are going to teach 21st century learners, we/I need to meet them where they are comfortable-online. I believe that, like myself, RSS Feeds will connect students to the world around them. I would like to implement RSS Feeds into my classroom next year, so my students can specifically find online resources for their core subjects. I imagine my students could create folders by core standards and build upon these throughout the years. They could also use these anytime they need to study. I could see this being very beneficial to my Algebra students since they have to take the EAC (End of course assessment). I assume students' learning to use RSS Feeds will be much smoother than mine, so I will encourage them to find resources for their other classes as well.

Social Networking Lab-I HAD NO IDEA!

Sure I've created a facebook account for both myself and my students. I'm working on this blog. I'm coming back daily to change and add things. But how was this going to be used in my classroom? I had no idea until I came across Edmodo. I have already set up my Edmodo account, created group members for each period, played around with the calendar, and created a library. Within that library, I have posted assignments, websites, worksheets etc... I'm bringing all that I have, to them, in one place. With Edmodo, you can add students, take grades, post assignments. There is a community, only a click away, that you can chat with and ask questions. You can add teachers as well.

Also, in my Edmodo library (I haven't learned about copyright infringement yet) I have included articles from our course readings and a post from a teacher about student concerns. I'm ready to put together a recorded tutorial and submit it to my superintendent. I am fully committed to piloting this next year. I read somewhere this week, "Our job is to teach our students what questions to ask, and then show them where to find the answers."

Google Calendar

This was a very frustrating assignment for me. I was really wanting to embed this calendar on my blog page. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.

810 Blogging Lab

     One might wonder what the differences are between traditional web pages and blogs.  Through investigation, I have come to the conclusion that a blog is basically a website that allows you to journal your thoughts.   "Web Logs," or blogs for short, bring people together to create a community of like minded individuals.  They are updated frequently, and discussion forums take place through this kind of thread.  Blogs allow you to organize information and embed videos, audio, podcast, and widgets. Traditional web pages also allow you to do this. However, a traditional web page is usually written by one person and does not contain a discussion forum.