GTD

GTD

My organization is a work in progress. I am looking to consolidate e-mail using message forwarding so they all show up in the same place. That is what I love about my iPhone. I have all my emails in one place. Now I need that on my computer. May have to go with outlook as much as I detest that program. For now google works well to manage e-mail, documents and a calander that I can access on my phone and on any computer.

The process is still ineficiant. Being able to click on a time in an email and make it show up on my calander is nice but does not work with all of my e-mail providers. I need an effective task list as well to prioritize. Need to be able to creat it on my computer and view it on my phone.

I believe the process will help. It limits worry and anxiety over dropping the ball or missing an important meeting or deadline when I am organized. However, staying organized seems like working out. Most people will do it when they have time but if you let it go for awhile you have a lot of cathing up to do.

I have to continue using a system otherwise my life would not be managable with all the things I am envolved with. Just remembering what has to be done and doing it is not effective when you need to make the most of every minute to get everything done. Something as simple as going to the grocery store next to the home depot by planning the trip could save an hour of my life. And I need every minute.

Social Networks

The Social Networks

My students have been able to post tutorial videos of chemsitry topics to you tube for everyone to view and learn from. I have learned how to do a lot of things by watching it on you tube myself.

Using social networks has greatly increased both the value and speed of my projects. Though MACUL I learned about a grant opportunity which enabled me to purchase two iPads and supplemental equipment for my students. I have also been learning how to use Moodle effetively as well as current labs and activities for teaching chemistry.

Using Moodle, I have been able to group students and moderate discussions between them about projects and controversial topics in environmental science.

I am able to quickly share information and articles with fellow teachers and students via twitter and delicious. Students are able to going groups and keep tabs on friends or organizations through facebook.

RSS

My RSS

Comment- I found one blog that was of particular interest to me about Moodle. The blog had some intersting comments about why Moodle was a good choice. I added to the commenst by seaking suggestions for help in the transition to Moodle and what kinds of help and or professional development that might be helpful.

I found the best thing for tracking the RSS feeds was downloading the google app on my phone. This allows be to check my feeds during any valuable free time that I might run across (standing in line at the gricery store). I also found that the frequency and quality of the feeds vary greatly and I started to be more selective.

I have leaned a great deal in just a couple of weeks. I have learned more about Apple's iBooks, Moodle, Project Based Learning, education reform and using National Geographic's website in my classroom.

I am planning on applying this technology to my chemistry class. As part of their semester project they have to research one chemistry topic and interview someone locally about that topic. For example, how chemistry is used to develop pharmasutical drugs. They could then interview a local pharmasist or drug rep. This is all done using google docs. I will also have them add 4 RSS feeds related to their topic and add a paragraph to the end of their report stating what they learned about their topic from their RSS feed on google reader.

Web vs. Blogs

Web Pages vs. Blogs

Blogs allows for an exchange of ideas or to view am on going journal of someone's life or the activity of a group or business. A bog may also allow the viewer to comment of these happenings and therefore is also part of the activity. Web pages are much more static. They present information that is not updated as often and usually does not allow the user to add content.

It is my goal to develop an effective online experience for my chemistry and AP environmental classes. I will journal my activity here. Let me know if you have any ideas or methods that have worked for you.

Problem #1- Find a way to effectively assess students using Moodle or another program in chemistry. My issue so far is that the test questions on exam view that I can upload to Moodle are too simplistic, I want the assessments to have diagrams and/or applets but I do not have the time to create them all. I really like Chem Think.