Week Seven

My Plan for the week

My plan for this week is to keep up with work at school. I’m finally getting into the groove of things and my schedule is much more stable than the beginning of the week. I do love my new 5^th grade students. We had a work day on Friday so I got a lot of work caught up that was impossible to do the first 2 weeks of school. I wish we had teacher workdays once a month! It would make life easier! This week, I want to get all of my work finished at school and not bring it home. I need the evenings for rest and relaxation! Saying is a lot easier than doing, so we’ll see how it works out! I plan to spend my long weekend at Norris Lake on a boat!

What I did / Where I went

I was at school late almost every evening. I worked at home every evening too! The first weeks of school are insane and so crazy busy. I did make time one evening for dinner with my friend’s Granny. She wanted to treat all the girls to dinner since we took her out for her birthday. Granny is the sweetest lady! I went home for the weekend to attend the Crane Creek Hog Roast. It’s an annual event that my friends have hosted for the past 8 years. We ate delicious food, sang karaoke, and spend time with great friends.

What I learned!

This week I learned how to use the columns on Weebly. I’m navigating around the site and learning to use the tools much better. Every week that I play around on the site I learn how to use something new.

What I decided for my website

I decided that I would add a few more links to the Links page and put them in columns so there isn’t so much white space. I converted my Word documents to PDF files so they can be opened by anyone. On the Parent Info page, I used columns also so there wouldn’t be so much white space and they are all closer to the top – less scrolling. On my About Me page I moved the slide show up to the top and shortened some of the information. On my Home Page I decided it would be more convenient to put my contact information there than on the About Me page. I do believe I’m pretty satisfied with it!

Week Six

My Plan for the week

My plan for this week is to try and get back into routine. Getting back into school flow is extremely difficult! I always plan to get organized and ahead in my lesson plans, however, the phrase “caught up” isn’t usually in a teacher’s vocabulary. I also plan to get in bed earlier. I was exhausted last week because I was up late every night getting things ready for school. Fortunately, we are easing our way into a full week. Last week was three school days, this week is four, and then next week is a full week. So this week will need even more rest than last week! 

What I did / Where I went

I went to school and stayed at school all day every day. It takes a lot of time to get classrooms back in working order after being boxed up for summer cleaning. Once school starts, you see tons of stuff that is added to the to do list. I made multiple trips to the dollar stores, Wal-Mart, and the Parent Teacher Store. I spent a lot of time hanging out with the laminating machine and copier. I did finally leave the school to do list alone and traveled to Pikeville, Kentucky for a college friend’s baby shower. It was so nice to have all of my college girl friends together again.

What I learned!

I already knew the dangers of the Internet for young kids. Before allowing my students on computers, we have a mini lesson on Internet and computer safety. The article on Legal use of the Internet reviewed all of the items that we are told to relay to our students. I really liked the website on copyright (http://www.copyrightkids.org/). It is an easy way to show kids the importance of copyright laws and information on infringement. The legality issues are real and students need to be aware of them before using the Internet.  

What I decided for my website

For my website, I tried to follow the below the fold rule. I took out the header picture on my Parent Page and added the class schedule link to it. I took the page dedicated to the class schedule and put it in the parent page because it didn’t need its own page and now all my pages fit in the row. I also changed the homework page to a links page and added websites. I also put in the link to my social book-marking site so there are more options for students.

Week Five

My Plan for the week

My plan for this week is to simply survive it! I am finishing up things in my classroom on Monday, Teacher opening day on Tuesday, and kids come on Wednesday for the first day of school! I am definitely not ready for summer to be over! I plan on going to bed very early because I know I will be exhausted. I also plan to stay organized so I won’t become overwhelmed with schoolwork and homework. I need weekends for resting so I hope to get my homework completed throughout the week, working a little every day so I don’t end up doing everything on Sunday evening – the day I need lots of rest for the work week!

What I did / Where I went

I spent lots of time at school this week. Monday and Tuesday my school went to Kagan training. It was a great learning experience and provided many new ideas to use this school year. Kagan strategies allow a lot of movement and collaborative work so it wasn’t boring! I actually had fun at the training! (Never thought I’d say that!) I spent all day I Wednesday unpacking the many boxes that filled my room. After many hours, it is beginning to look like a classroom again! Thursday was TPGS training along with parent meet and greet. Since I worked so hard all week, I gave my self a free day Friday and visited home one last time before school begins. I enjoyed my weekend hanging with friends and watching UK basketball! It is a wonderful treat seeing the Cats play in August!

What I learned

After reading Nuts & Bolts, I learned that you have to buy websites like a piece of land before you can build anything on it. There are fees to pay to keep the area on the web your own. I had previously heard about people buying website names for tons of money, but I didn’t really know the logistics that went into owning or leasing a space on the web. I also learned from the Design article that websites should to be simple. I have a tendency to want to make my site glam and razzle dazzle! Less is better and much more appealing to the audience. 

What I decided for my website
After reading the dos and don’ts of website design and the best practices checklist, I knew my desire to bling up my site was to be terminated. I finished my parent page and added pictures to my picture page. I added captions so that the reader will know a little about each picture. On my parent page I made it very simple. Instead of listing all of the supplies I created a link to the list document. I added a link to the calendar instead of listing those dates and I finally added a link to the Infinite Campus Parent Portal.

Week Four

WEEK 4

My Plan for the week

This week starts Professional Development and lots of work in my room. So sad summer is over. We have Keagan Training for two days and then its work, work, work in getting my classroom back in order from summer cleaning. I share a room, so we plan to do some rearrangements from last year to make it where we can be more secluded from each other’s classroom.

What I did / Where I went

I tried to enjoy my last days of rest- resting! I finished up painting a cooler, reading my three summer books, got my hair done, did some school shopping with my mom, and then went back home to enjoy a bluegrass show at my family’s restaurant! Since my dad part owns the restaurant, I help out by bussing tables, washing dishes, taking out trash, refilling drinks, etc. Since the band was playing the crowd was extra large so I never sat down for 4 hours! I was extremely busy and did all the work for free! It is fun to talk with customers so I don’t mind providing free labor! I spend my down time at the pool soaking up some sunshine!

What I learned
I read about the difference in Web 1.0 and Web 2.0. It’s a little confusing, but I understand for the most part that Web 2.0 is just a beefed up Web 1.0. I really liked the live binder that I found on the Web 2.0 Tools link (http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=18657). It gives an explanation for all of the educational technology sites and apps. It was very helpful because I didn’t know some of them! I also learned how to check and see if a website is dangerous. I never knew there were websites where you can investigate sites to ensure they are safe!

What I decided for my website

This week I added a page for the Class Schedule. I also started on my Parent Page. One thing I’ve decided that I do NOT like about weebly.com is that I can’t insert tables. Or maybe I just don’t know how to put them in my pages. I love the organization of a table and wanted to use one for my schedule, but I couldn’t copy/paste it from Word. I searched through all of the buttons on the editing options and still couldn’t find a table. I just made due without one!

Week Three

My Plan for the week

My plan for this week focuses on getting back into school mode. We being professional development next Monday, so I need to get all of my summer projects finished before the week is over. I also plan to spend lots of time at the pool finishing up my summer books before I have to spend my days at school! I also plan to go home a visit a few days with family before my schedule gets extremely crazy. So much to do.. so little time!

What I did / Where I went

I spend an evening in Margaritaville at the Jimmy Buffett concert! Lots of parrot heads and colorful shirts filled the crowd. This was my 6^th concert seeing Buffett! You’d think it would get old, but it gets better and better every year! I also spent some time by Mother Ocean. I flew to Myrtle Beach for a short 3-day vacation. Although it rained part of one day, I still enjoyed being in the sand. I ate my weight in seafood and had a great time with friends.

What I learned
I learned that when your head is focused on vacation, it is very difficult to get homework completed! When I get into a book, it is hard to get out of it. My plan was to do homework at the airport and on the flight. I started a book before leaving and just couldn’t put it down! I had good intentions to do homework, but instead I finished Tales from Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett. I couldn’t put it down!

The article about Pinterest ideas was very cool! I never thought about using it for collaboration or tracking progress. The evaluations page gave me a deeper understanding about how I choose my websites. The list of evaluations provides an easy way to ensure I use only the best sites at school and for personal use.

I also learned to finish homework before a storm because the power outage can cause it to be submitted a day late!

What I decided for my website

I did a lot of work on my website this week. I worked on my homepage and completed my About Me page. I had difficulty and am still having difficulty with the spacing on my homepage. I wanted the text to be beside a picture of a quote and for some reason it won’t move up. Very frustrating! I had so many pictures that I wanted to add to my About Me page that I couldn’t just choose a few. So I used the slideshow feature and included them all!

Week Two

My Plan for the week

My plan for this week includes time with my toes in the sand! I’m leaving for the beach on Wednesday and will return home on Sunday. Before I go to the beach, I’m going to spend some time in Margaritaville for the Jimmy Buffett concert! Since I have so much excitement this week, I plan to take my computer with me so while I’m waiting in the airport and during my flight I can do my homework. It will make the wait go by faster and I’ll get my work completed so when I get home I can rest.

What I did / Where I went

This week I went home on Wednesday for the opening of the restaurant (it went great!). I also traveled to Columbus, Ohio for the Musicians Against Childhood Cancer MACC bluegrass festival. It was a great time with even better music. I enjoyed lots of talented bands and ate some delicious food. Since we put on a bluegrass festival back home, the band members know the Rudy Fest Bluegrass Festival crew and come visit every time we go to a festival. Thursday evening, members from multiple bands came to our campsite to jam. I love jam sessions because of the variety of people playing and singing. It rained on us Friday night, but we put on ponchos because the show must go on!

The last band featured an orchestra (yes, at a bluegrass festival!) of children 3^rd grade to high school. It was very impressive and a wonderful twist to the bluegrass band.

On Saturday I went home early from the festival to help the restaurant. It was jam packed on Saturday so I helped bus tables, wash dishes, refill drinks, sweep, mop, and an assortment of other jobs that the waitress and cooks needed done. It was really great to see friends and family enjoying the new restaurant.

What I learned

I finally learned what sitemaps and wireframes are after reading about and creating one of each. I like how you can use them to help to map out a webpage instead of going straight into the page making. I need a guide for most all things I do, so using them will be a great help when I begin my webpage. I used lumzy.com for the wireframe. I didn’t use a lot of the tools it provides yet, but I can see it will be useful when organizing the layout of each of my pages. I used writemaps.com for the sitemap. It was very easy to use!

I knew about the Cloud already because I upload stuff to it from my iPhone and iPad. I never really thought much about what it really is until I read the article Cloud Computing Explained. I never knew that there were actually warehouses that hold the information. So my pictures on the Cloud could be in Oregon, North Carolina, or California! Who would have thought that my Facebook status updates are in the same places as well as Virginia and my Tweets are in Sacramento and Atlanta! Crazy stuff!

What I decided for my website

For my website, I decided to use weebly.com to create it. The site seems pretty simple to use, and I like simple! I have 5 tabs, which include Home, About Me, Snap Shots, Homework, Parent Info, and Useful Links. Within the homework page there will be another tab for Extra Credit and in the Useful Links there will be tabs for Games and Extra Practice. I’m slowly learning how to use this stuff! It can be a bit confusing!