Class 15: Thoughts on My First Blogging Experience

I began my first blog about 15 weeks ago.

Have I had a change of heart since my first posting?

Well, I can say that at times I had difficulty thinking up a topic to write about. After I went to AERA, I had so much I wanted to write about; I was glad I had a place to express it and document my ideas. I think it depends on if I feel like I have something to say to the general public. Up until this blog project, I never even visited my friends’ blogs due to the thought that I was afraid of getting sucked in and wasting large amounts of time (when I should be studying), but, I have changed that too. I now check their blogs regularly and have not lost too much time. It is nice to know what is going on with them. In general, I think blogging is fun and can be addicting. It can also provide a false sense of security, so bloggers should keep in mind the whole world can view their information. I would blog again. Good project.

Class 14: AERA Conference Tips

Here is a list of tips for attending AERA that I have compiled from my own first time experience, talking with other professors, and reading the tips from the AERA Graduate Student Council newsletter.

1. Look at the AERA schedule online before you go and plan out which sessions you want to attend. The list of sessions is as thick as a phone book and is very overwhelming; plan ahead so you don’t miss something.
2. Check in with AERA to pick up your name badge and session book as soon as the registration desks are open to avoid the long line on Tuesday morning.
3. Be aware that the sessions are spread out among three to four different hotels that may not be close to one another; you will be walking quite a bit.
4. Get cell phone numbers of colleagues and professors who will be attending the conference so you can meet up with them.
5. Check the weather before you go and pack appropriate warm clothes if needed; again, you will be walking outside.
6. Attend the new members session, Graduate Student Council sessions, and SIG meetings that interest you, even if you don’t know anyone, just go and you may make some friends or you may discover that it is not be the right fit for you.
7. Understand that you will not be able to see the whole conference your first time. There are so many wonderful sessions; it will take several conferences to get a feel for the association.
8. Carry your conference hotel maps with you at all times or you will be very lost.
9. The hotels keep you very hydrated and offer bottled water, tea, and coffee at most sessions.
10. Take an empty bag to the exhibit hall so that you will be able to carry all your brochures, pens, and free stuff.

Class 13: AERA 2008 Friday

8:15-9:45 Problem-Based Learning Session

There was an interesting study that used multiple modes of technology interaction to enhance large class enrollment courses. Students used Facebook, email, Second-Life, and Moodle to get and complete assignments. There was a discussant at the end that gave some final comments and asked the presenters some questions.

Later that day…

Went to FAO Schwartz and the Apple store

The Apple store is open 24 hours a day and is always busy. I got to try out the new MacBook Air, too!

Off to the Guggenheim Museum to see the exhibit by Cai Guo-Qiang called Inopportune: Stage One. The most spectacular piece is made up of nine full size cars, with sparkling lights protruding from the car body, that hang from the ceiling of the museum at different levels of elevation. The museum exterior is under renovation.

Class 12: AERA 2008 Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday

8:15-10:15 Design Considerations for Instructional Methods and Media

Five presentations were given in about 17 minute time slots and were followed up by a question and answer time. A faculty member concluded the session with a critique of the papers with the presenters. I was interested in a session that explained multiple approaches to distance learning by incorporating social networking sites, email, and artificial reality games.

12:25-1:55 Poster Sessions

The poster session area was laid out as rows of bulletin boards lined about five side by side with space between for session attendees to browse. Participants’ posters were displayed by attaching their information to the bulletin board. Posters came in all shapes, sizes, and colors; some were printed out PowerPoint slides, others were full size posters, still others were mounted on poster board. I gathered some information on screen capture videos.

4:05-6:05 Presidential Address

This was held in a large, beautiful ballroom. The address was a time of recognizing AERA members, hearing a research study conducted by the AERA president, and introducing the upcoming AERA president.

Thursday
Time to be a Tourist

Visited Ground Zero-
I know we all remember exactly where we were on that day. It is a place that brings mixed emotions.

Visited The Modern Art Museum (MoMa)
Has all my favorites- Andy Warhol, Van Gogh, Picasso, and other greats.

Class 11: AERA 2008 Monday & Tuesday

Monday:

2:15-3:45 Digital Learning Environments

Five papers related with digital learning environments were presented in this session. One thing that interested me was the way that online learning can be structured; it doesn’t always have to follow a straight online format. There can be variations, such as face-to-face meetings at the beginning and end of the course.

4:05-5:35 Developing a Meaningful Research Agenda

This session was a small group discussion led by a panel of students and faculty all at different stages of the professoriate. It was an informal discussion and the panel was asked to give advice on- how to develop a research agenda, how to get tenure, and the best piece of advice they would give to doctoral students.

Here are my notes on the session:

-Need to think longitudinally about research
-How can item “A” lead to item “B”
-Don’t always have to stick to the same topic, but need to be in the same theory or field
-There needs to be some kernel that ties the work together
-Too many different topics make your work look scattered
-Do what your are passionate about
-Know yourself

Best Advice:

-Hit the ground running at your first job and have data you can use
-Use graduate school as a time to gather data
-Take extra data during your dissertation that you can use later
-Use graduate school as a time to have think time
-Maintain your relationships with family and friends

Tuesday:

7-8 AERA Welcome New Members

The president of AERA and a few of the board welcomed new members and gave advice for navigating the conference and making the most out of their time. A time for Q&A was given at the end.

9:05-9:45 Paper Discussion about Portfolios

I sat with a colleague and other conference attendees around a round table and listened to her research study. The round tables were a more intimate setting compared with group sessions and allowed for greater dialogue. I came away from that session thinking about how I can use a similar portfolio evaluation idea with my students.

10-11:30 Visited Exhibit Hall

The exhibit hall was full of book publishers and there were plenty of freebies to go around. The best giveaway I found was a solar calculator! Lots of people were buying books.

12:25-1:55 Tips and Tricks for Getting Published

This was a panel discussion led by the Graduate Student Council and a panel of journal editors. The tips they gave were:

-Know your content area
-Get in a structured writing group with people from the area to critique your work
-Find a mentor that publishes with students
-Make sure you know the journal that you are submitting to…cite the editors in your article
-Develop thick skin. Learn to separate yourself from the work. Revising and resubmitting is a good thing.
-Collaborate with others early on
-Never throw away your writing

Class 10: AERA 2008 First Impressions

The American Education Research Association (AERA) 2008 conference was held in New York, New York this year. This was my first time to attend the conference and it was an eye opening experience. An estimated 16,000 people were present at the conference and the sessions were spread out among four hotels. It gave me a feel for how big this organization really is. I am going to explain more about the sessions I attended and my site seeing in NYC in upcoming blogs. Stay tuned!

Class 9: Modality Principle

I have applied the modality principle to instructional videos that I create for my students. I use primarily spoken instruction along with screen capture video. I highlight key points or vocabulary as on screen text using the call out feature in the video editing software. I am careful to keep text to a minimum. What is your experience with incorporating written text, speech, and graphics?

Class 8: Reading Strategies Needed in All Disciplines

Recently, I attended a workshop on reading strategies for CTE teachers. There is a big initiative in my department for CTE teachers to be trained in using reading comprehension strategies. Some strategies that we have learned about incorporating in to instruction include doing KWLS, ven diagrams, graphic organizers, or writing a minute paper. The motivation behind having teachers attend two days of all day training (once in the fall and once in the spring) and bringing in a speaker from NY is that the state is going to be looking at the test scores of CTE students to see if they are passing. If it can be shown that CTE students do well on the test, then there will be a reason to keep the student in the course rather than replacing the course with an English course. At least that is the thought… Regardless, it is always beneficial to incorporate reading strategies in every disciple. I like using graphic organizers for new vocabulary words and working with context clues.

Class 7: "I Teach" Conference

I presented at the “I Teach” conference recently. The title of my session was called, “Staying Afloat as a Floating Teacher”. Its purpose was to inform soon to be teachers of practical ways to survive and thrive if they find themselves in the position of a floating teacher. Some key points were to maintain open communication, set boundaries, understand the limitations, and to get organized. Overall, it was a great time of conversation, thoughtful questions, and cheering on the next generation of educators.

Class 6: dishwashers reflect culture

One of my teacher friends told me something that I had never heard before about dishwashers being a cultural thing in the US. She was talking with several students about how they use their home dishwashers and found that the uses varied among ethnic groups. One group hand washed their dishes and placed them in the dishwasher only to dry. Another group loaded their dirty dishes in the dishwasher and ran the wash cycle. Still another group said even though they have a dishwasher, they have not used it.

I was amazed when I heard all the different perspectives such a simple thing as a dishwasher. Apparently, the way you use your dishwasher says a lot about where you come from. So how do you use yours?

Class 5: ERE

The Educational Research Exchange this past Friday was a huge success. Students and faculty gathered for the largest ERE ever to share their current research interests. Presenters and participants enjoyed lunch, followed by a message from the keynote speaker, and finished out the day by attending various seminars, paper presentations, and poster sessions. ERE was a great time of fellowship, encouragement, and learning. Hope more will join in next year.

Class 4: Disappointed

I was all set to comment on how informative and helpful I found the interviews with Bill Ayers to be, until I decided to Google him and my esteem turned to shock and confusion. This man who seemed so gentle and containing pure motives in the video lecture is formerly known for his acts of terrorism and hatred toward the United States. I have not conducted a thorough investigation of him. At first glance, I wonder why education is listening to and praising a man who sought to destroy human life, and from some of the quotes I found on the websites, would do so again. I really wanted to like Bill Ayers, but, at this point, his personal life is too conflicting with his educational message. This reconfirms the need for all of us to be critical learners and to research what we learn and not take it at face value. There are two sides to every story and sometimes even more. You can read more at these websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers

http://billayers.org/

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2169

Class 3: Blog Safely

How to blog safely:
1. Don't write about where you are going (ex. going to McDonald's @ 6 tonight...)
2. Don't give out personal information (ex. address, phone number, name...)
3. Stay very generic in story descriptions.
4. Don't post any pictures of yourself.

More information at http://www.microsoft.com/protect/family/activities/blogging.mspx

What to write about on a blog if you have privacy concerns:
1. Book/Movie review
2. Recipes
(I will keep thinking...hopefully the list will grow.)

Class 2: my first blogging experience

I have used technology in many ways and am very comfortable around it, yet, I have never had the interest of creating a blog until it was assigned to me in a class. This is ironic in that my husband, who is not one for technology, really, has been a regular blogger for about a year now and loves it. I have many friends and relatives that keep regular blogs or facebooks, but not me. My reasons for abstaining have been a privacy issue. Basically, I feel that if there is anything I need to tell someone I will email them personally or give them a call. I don't like this feeling that anyone at anytime could read my personal thoughts. Even with my strong feelings against blogging, I am going to give it my best shot and keep things positive. This will be an experiment for me to see if I am cut out for this blogging thing.

Class 1:Getting Started

This week I have had the chance to experience the frustrations of technology. I started an online class last week and each time I logged in (if it would let me) it moved soooo slow. I thought I was back to dial-up. Of course their technicians were on the problem. I realized that technology is a good thing but can also be an obstacle. Things got off to a rocky start but hopefully they have gotten the kinks worked out. Just remember that the next time you think it will be "easy" to take an online course :)