Journal 2: Join The Flock

Ferguson, H. (2011). Join the flock. Learning and Leading, 37(8), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital-edition-june-july-2011.aspx


NETS-T 1, 3, 5


This article addresses information about personal learning networks using the tool Twitter. What is important for me to grasp about this new idea of using Twiter as an educational tool is to put aside all the bad gossip I hear about it on TV. This truly does have the potential to be a place to learn and what makes it amazing is that it has become a "community of individuals around the world learning together," versus the method I am so use to which is learning by myself. I have come to believe that learning with other people can be much more impacting not to mention simpler. Simpler in the sense that whatever it is you are researching, through communication and collaboration with others/ your Twitter community, is already there for you to find with a variety of resources being Twitted. However, as stated in the article, Twitter is a commitment and I love the analogy the article uses that it is like starting a new friendship.  Using hash-tags is helpful in keeping Twitter a place for learning. Hash-tags are showing what the Tweets pertain too for example educational information, using a hash-tag can mean more people will see what you are sharing. Increased functionality of Twitter can also be obtained through other tools such as Twitter organizers/managers, I signed up for one called HootSuite. This article was full of useful information in explaining Twitter as a source for personal learning networks.


1.) What if I'm not comfortable enough to Tweet any posts on Twitter?
A great part of Twitter is that you never really need to Tweet anything if you aren't comfortable and still you will get a lot out of it. However, you can Re-Tweet someone else's post to send their message/ideas along if their post was useful for you and they will usually appreciate it.


2.) What can Twitter organizers or managers help with?
Twitter organizers can put you Twitter streams into columns. For example, ED422 has it's own column so you can see specifically any posts that have hash-tags with ed422. This is very helpful for me because when I first looked at Twitter it seemed a bit overwhelming. It can be hard to follow when millions of people are tweeting every second. A twitter organizer also allowed me to pause or save a chat which is helpful since again everything can be happening so fast in discussions.

About Me Survey

Journal 1: 100 things that make me Happy

 

1. Family

2. Friends

3. Ferrets

4. Working Out

5. Tanning

6. Children

7. Dancing

8. Teaching

9. Sleeping

10. Facials

11. Massages

12. Acrylic Nails

13. The Hair Salon

14. Make-Up

15. Music

16. Text Messaging

17. Pedicures

18. Learning

19. Pictures

20. Scary Movies

21. Zebra Print

22. School

23. Perfume

24. Keela

25. My BMW

26. Red

27. San Francisco

28. Sonoma County

29. San Jose

30. Las Vegas

31. Making Money

32. Hawaii

33. Water

34. Cooking

35. Parties

36. Smiles

37. Nice People

38. Sushi

39. Romance

40. Fashion

41. Technology

42. Picture Messaging

43. Victoria Secret

44. Meeting New People

45. Being Healthy

46. Creativity

47. Good Advice

48. Trying New Things

49. Lending A Helping Hand

50. Saving Money

51. Organization

52. Vacation

53. Bows

54. Tattoos

55. My MacBook

56. Flowers

57. Water Falls

58. Respect

59. San Diego

60. Watching A Good TV Show

61. Presents

62. Honesty

63. The Fireplace On A Cold Night

64. Coconut Water

65. Being Loved

66. Being Appreciated

67. Avocados

68. Jewelry

69. Going Out

70. Comedy Shows

71. Candles

72. Designing and Decorating

73. Cleaning

74. Taking Showers

75. The Internet

76. Salmon

77. Going To Nice Restaurants

78. Starbucks

79. Jamba Juice

80. The Dictionary

81. Summer

82. Playing With Tape

83. Birthdays

84. Fresh Scents

85. Getting My Car Washed

86. Talking On The Phone

87. Dogs

88. Laughing

89. Jokes

90. Girl Time

91. Solving Problems

92. Compliments

93. Baked Lays Sour Cream and Onion

94. Surprises

95. ChapStick

96. Christmas

97. Stars

98. The Moon

99. Horseback Riding

100. Cancun

Technology Self-Assessment: School 2.0

NETS-T 5
I took a  20 question quiz on the School 2.0 website. I looked at my results and picked an area I thought I could learn more about using the  resource links the website provided and wrote a reflection.

 NETS-T Module: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

I investigated the resource "Grow Your Personal Learning Network" by David Warlick. This resource/link was inspiring because I felt this was the area I needed to be more successful in. Breaking down the types of PLNs into three main groups really outlined how beneficial engaging in your PLNs can be to your life and education. Technology has simplified ways to solving problems and answering questions to fully reach your goals. There is an endless amount of tools offered out there that are again simple to use and manage. PLNs connect us with each other with no barriers and connect us with content resources. I believe and have now experienced the proof that collaborating will give me the best results for whatever task is next on my list. With all the resources and tools available there is no reason for not getting out into your PLNs and excelling. 

Social bookmarking was the newest thing for me to learn about, I honestly had never even heard of it before. I'm so thankful I have discovered this concept that I am confidant will change the way I research and learn forever. I will no longer only turn to google.com to search for information. Social bookmarking is a way to find exactly what your looking for and to find it faster with the organization and "tags" it offers. Instead of getting tons of websites in my average google.com search that I have to spend hours looking through each one to see if it even has anything to do with what I'm looking for or if it is a reliable source, put simply someone has already done that for me through social bookmarking. Thank you PLNs for making my life engaging and successful.       

Introducing Lexy

          Greetings! My name is Lexy Ferreira. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and lived there until the age of 3. Then my mom moved my family to California and I have been here ever since.  I grew up in Spring Valley, CA an unincorporated city of San Diego County. In fourth grade I switched elementary schools because we moved to the other side (the nicer side) of Spring Valley close to Mount Helix/Casa De Oro.  I went to Spring Valley Middle school and was ASB Vice President. For high school I attended Valhalla in El Cajon, CA and graduated class of 2006. I went straight to college in August of 2006 to a private university called Dominican in Northern CA. I loved the school but unfortunately after the first year it was just too expensive to continue there.  I loved Northern CA so I decided to get my own apartment with a friend up there and go to College of Marin, the closest community college to Dominican. I spent two semesters at College of Marin then my living situation with my “best” friend went sour. In other words that girl is not my friend anymore and I haven’t talked to her since the day I moved out of that apartment in San Rafael, CA. A girl who I had also meet at Dominican offered me her place to live at in San Jose, CA and that’s where I moved too with plans of going to San Jose State. However, my life took another direction after only spending the summer in San Jose with her and I moved to Petaluma, CA with my boyfriend, his area of choice. There, I attended the local college called Santa Rosa Junior College for a semester. Then I was able to transfer to Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, CA where I graduated in December class of 2010. I have my Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from SSU.  Although I loved Nor Cal I felt coming home to San Diego was the best option for me. I attended Point Loma Nazarene University in their MAT program, which is Masters of Arts in Teaching and a teaching credential in basically the same amount of time as just the teaching credential. I loved the idea of that, however; Point Loma was not the school for me and with the amount of money I was spending to go there I believe I should have been happy, which was not the case (long story definitely would love to elaborate on that in the future). Now with all that said here I am at Cal State San Marcos where I plan to stay and get my multiple-subject teaching credential with a masters in education in the near future as well.

            

          I like to believe that I am computer savvy and somewhat good with technology.  Computers have been in my life since elementary school and going to the computer lab as part of our class schedule once a week was exciting. My family even purchased a computer (Mac) when I was about 9 years old. However, my high school and college career was spent working with a PC. I recently, after many nightmares, have gone back to a Mac. Part of the reason why I think I am so good with computers is because of all my nightmares with my DELL (worst CPU ever!). Several crashes and viruses and anything you can think of that went wrong did, but I learned so much from having to fix it and re-download programs etc. I still have my DELL and it works because I was always able to “fix” it, but I think it is better off sitting in the spare bedroom in the top drawer of some random nightstand. I am glad I am familiar with both operating systems though. The Internet I am not so familiar with, (I know I am WAY more than your average Joe but I’m talking compared to other computer savvy people.) I have a lot to learn but believe it will come easy once I catch on.  In my second life I would like to study computer science because I do enjoy technology. 

            

          The mission statement of CSUSM/SOE was not a deciding factor in my decision to go to this university, however; I just read it and it does confirm my decision. As a Liberal Studies major I have explored and taken classes in an array of departments, which has been advantageous because I now have a well-rounded education. I have been trained to be a lifelong learner and to always think outside the box and look at the bigger picture. The Hutchins School of Liberal Studies at Sonoma State University is a unique program that focuses on reflective teaching, which is stated in the CSUSM mission statement. My desire for this type of education, critical thinking, and being a reflective practitioner that is part of a diverse team where everyone can bring different ideas and experiences to the classroom is what I believe important and crucial. This mission statement defines what education is to me and what  I am committed to providing for my future students.