Well, here we go...it's been an interesting class so far. I certainly would NEVER have considered myself to be a technophobe prior to the class, and yet every exercise thus far seems to expose me as one. Despite all this, I seem to have my own devices just about surgically implanted in my hand...so what gives? I have a love/hate relationship with tech, honestly. I adore the convenience, but I hate the distraction. And it's certainly easier to see and acknowledge the distraction it provides in other people, rather than ourselves. I know the expression is that we're our own biggest critic, and perhaps that's true, but we also have the biggest blind spots when it comes to ourselves. I'm pretty good at insisting my phone is not a problem, when I suspect I'm actually as or more addicted than my 12-year old son. But don't tell him I said that. :)
Here's an interesting video about how we're actually being changed by phone addictions:
It not only impacts our sleep and thinking - which we all kind of knew, but it's actually increased myopia, and changed us in some other really interesting - and not necessarily good - ways.
Google Maps
As much as I've enjoyed class this week, I'm very much looking forward to spending the weekend in Cheboygan on the lake...here's where I'll be:
I have three kids (12, 8 and 6) who I'm sure will try to swim despite the water being far too cold. We go through this every Memorial Day weekend. But nonetheless, the weather looks good, the lake is crystal-clear, and really the bottom line is, we won't be here. Not terrible, that's for sure!
I embedded my Twitter feed on the sidebar. I haven't had much to say lately, but I'm hoping to use it a bit more. I mostly just wanted to try to figure it out. A lot of our classroom teachers tweet frequently (daily or multiple times a day) to share photos and quick announcements, but will blog just weekly with a class update. Having a twitter feed embedded on a class blog seems like it would be a useful tool.
Google Docs
This Google Doc is a checklist for a school Ice Cream Social that I have chaired for the past few years. My final event is in two weeks, and then I will hand it over to new chairpersons. I've been working on creating a comprehensive to-do list so they have a timeline for future events. I collaborated with a couple of people - the person I co-chair the event with, as well as brainstorming with my husband, on all of the things that I've done in the past.
I moved the list over to Google Docs for this project. We had been collaborating with Dropbox up until this point. Google Docs works just as well - perhaps better, because we can both be in the document in real time and see what's happening. I just have used Dropbox and am more familiar with it. Google has become a go-to for schools, and we use it in our classrooms and our labs because of cost and portability.
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