*Jessie+Lindstrom

I'm on my 9th year of teaching, all in Washington County at Smithsburg Middle School. I'm originally from central PA and graduated from Clarion University of PA with my bachelors and Frostburg State University with my masters.

On a personal note, I love to read, hang out with friends, and watch TV and movies. I'm very curious about a lot of topics in my learning, ranging from foreign languages to mathematics. I strive to be a sensible, kind, and brave person, but I'm scared to death of balloons.

1. My Own Wiki - http://jclindstrom.wikispaces.com/
In order to view my actual work, left-click on the "Home Page" link, located on the left-hand side.

7. My "Voki" (http://www.voki.com)
media type="custom" key="20329168"media type="custom" key="20396112" 8. My "Los colores" Prezi media type="custom" key="20329744"

__Reflections __
====**__Day 1, July 9, 2012: __** For my first reflection, I will be discussing our first Keynote Speaker, Ms. Diane M. Coyle, whose presentation was "Web 2.0, Social Media, and You". In her presentation, Ms. Coyle first explained the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 and the possible characteristics of the potential Web 3.0. After that, the remainder of the material was devoted to introducing a number of different social media (some familiar, some new) and how to utilize each one efficiently in the classroom. The websites were Pinterest, Scoop.it, and Indiegogo. I won't go into detail about each one since you were obviously there...;-p ==== ==== Although I thought all three sites had great use for me, both in a personal sense to make connections with all kinds of people and as a professional tool, I was able to visualize an authentic and plausible application with Indiegogo, the "crowd funding" website. ==== ==== While Ms. Coyle was discussing Indiegogo, I thought of three different events that I could the site to help with funding. First, I thought about using the site to promote my "taco bar", which is an end-of-year reward for my 8th graders that successfully complete the middle school Spanish program. My next idea was to help with funding a trip for me to study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country to practice my Spanish and to gain a cultural experience to share with my students. However, it was my final idea that hit home with me and is the one that I want to pursue to fruition. ====

==== In my 7th grade classes, I had a student that was an absolute joy as a person as well as being dedicated to her academics. During the last marking period, she was diagnosed with leukemia and was sent home for the rest of the year for treatment with no determined time of return. The school, the staff, and the students made great donations to her and her family, both to help with medical cost and to lift her spirits. ====

==== I now want to meet with my principal and our student council to discuss how to use Indiegogo to help the student and her family with this ordeal. I believe that this site would be a logical step since the community has already given so much to this student and, after seeing the different campaigns on the website, I'm sure that others would be just as willing to help her. I'm excited about this idea and can't wait to go back (which is something I never say) and start the process. ====

====**__Day 2, July 10, 2012: __** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">After today's program, I felt that I got the most inspiration and resources from the last one, Chuck Trautwein's Google! workshop, which focused mainly on Google Earth, SketchPad, and GoogleDocs. For each program, he quickly demonstrated how it worked and how he used it himself and allowed us time to work with the programs, both individually and as a group. Best of all, each application is free for the public to use. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Google Earth is downloadable program that is basically a 3-D to practically any location in the world. Besides viewing different geographical locations, this tool serves as an effective instructional for other disciplines, such as math, social studies, and science. For me personally, I could use Google Earth to take my students on a virtual field trip to all of the Spanish-speaking countries so that they could see the origins of the language that they're learning, hopefully proving the importance and practicality of learning a second language. ==== ====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">With SketchUp, while it was included in this workshop, it is no longer a Google app, but is still available at its website for free. Mr. Trautwein didn't go into too much detail, but SketchUp seemed to be a more complex program with many features that would be in drafting and architecture, but I didn't see how to use it in my own classroom. Perhaps it would serve as a useful tool in my personal life, in case I need to design a type of furniture or figure out to set up furniture in a floor plan. ==== ====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">GoogleDocs was the most interesting and useful topic in the entire workshop. GoogleDocs is not a download, but rather an online data storage with a variety of tools that mimic Microsoft Office as well as allowing collaboration between individuals on shared documents. I was already familiar with GoogleDocs, which I still learned a lot about all its features and its potential in my profession and in my personal life. While Mr. Trautwein was presenting the material, I thought of different ways to use GoogleDocs in my classroom and with my family. Also, it didn't hurt to be able to have some fun with it and do some "collaboration" with the other participants on different shared documents, such as a Word file, a form, and a drawing. It was amazing what these FREE programs can do and offer its users. ====

====**__<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Day 3, July 11, 2012: __** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">For this reflection, I will be discussing the presentation by Dr. Jennifer Rankin, which was called "Tech Obsessions, Technologies that Threaten to Take Over My Life". In her presentation, Dr. Rankin introduced several of her personal favorite technologies to use for both personal and professional reasons. ==== ====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">She started off with the website "[|Kaleidoscope Painter]", which I used to create the image displayed under "Projects". "Kaleidoscope Painter" is a free Java program that allows users to "paint" their own kaleidoscope image, being able to adjust the colors and brushstrokes to one's preferences. Once down, the image cannot be saved or printed directly from the website, but there are directions on how to copy the image to Paint and save it from there. It is easy to use and actually entertaining, so it has a lot of potential. "Kaleidoscope Painter" could be a useful tool for art teachers as an instructional tool and as an activity for those students that finish their work early. The possibilities are many. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Next was "[|Flocabulary - Hip Hop in the Classroom]", a website that offers a variety of songs and music videos on different educational topics. Videos are organized by topics, such as Vocabulary, Mathematics, Social Studies, and the "Week in Rap". Users could access some of the videos for free, but in order to use all videos, a paid subscription is required. Dr. Rankin played some samples of the videos in her presentation, which were entertaining, educational, and easy to follow. This would be a useful teacher resource, though I'm not sure if there are any foreign language videos since I don't have a subscription. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"[|This is Sand]" followed "Flocabulary" and to quote the website, "'This is Sand' is a website for play...[that] changed the pixels on the screen into digital sand." This website seemed to be aimed for personal use, but that's not to say that there couldn't be an educational application. It could be just for "play", but I would think "This is Sand" could be used in art classes and possibly in science classes in discussions about landforms and such. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"[|FakeBook]", obviously inspired by "Facebook", is a website that allows users to create a page that mimics an actual "Facebook" page almost perfectly. This website doesn't require an account, so no log-in, and plainly states that all pages are imaginary and are meant for educational purposes. Such pages would be useful for character development in ELA classes and I thought about having my own students create their own pages with their bios in Spanish to practice their vocabulary and grammar, perhaps as a type of "end of year" project. ==== ====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"[|Teachers' Domain]" provides teachers with free digital media that could be used in instruction and professional development. The media are compiled from a variety of educational sources that include NOVA, Frontline, Religion and Ethics Newsletter, and Cyberchase. The material is organized by discipline, which then have subcategories to facilitate searching for a specific topic. Also, there is a section for professional development, divided into "Online Courses" and "Teaching Strategies", which both have their own subcategories. While this site is free, an account is required to access the media. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"[|Smithsonian Education]" is another free educational resources website that is available for everyone; Educators, Families, and Students. For educators, the available resources are "Field Trips", "Professional Development", "Lesson Plans", and "Resource Library". The material is organized by discipline, but there are also search engines available for locating a specific topic or material connected to a specific learning standard. I haven't messed with the site too much because I couldn't find a lot of material relevant to my class or I would have difficulty with the search engines. However, it is still obvious that this site is a helpful and useful tool for educators with their planning and instruction. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The most interesting technology, for me, that Dr. Rankin presented was "Scavenger Hunt with Friends", which is not a website, but rather an app for mobile devices. This app, which requires an account, creates scavenger hunts that people can join and complete via their mobile devices, such as an iPhone, iPod, or iPad. The user creates the scavenger hunt either from a randomized list, a list of popular items, or a customized list. In order to join the scavenger hunt, participants must have an account and be accepted to join. I could definitely see how this would be a hit with friends and family, but it would required more thought and planning to work in the classroom. I already have some ideas on how to use it with vocabulary and grammar, but doesn't have the necessary materials or time to make it work. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Nonetheless, there are no limits in what these technologies can be used for and how they can be used in the classroom. All that is needed is some patience, creativity, and confidence to make it work. ====

====<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**__Day 4, July 12, 2012:__** If I had to describe today, I would use a bunch of "I" words: interesting, invigorating, innovating, informative, interactive, and....iPad, which was a recurring them in the presentations and workshops. There was so much information and new ideas given today that I would need a millennium to fully process that data, to adapt to my liking, and then apply to my life, both personally and professionally. At the end of the day, I was meeting with other conference attendees and the conference facilitator, discussing the events of today and how to make improvements for conferences in the future. In this discussion, Dr. Ladores posed this question, "Where do you think education is heading, now that we have the iPad?" In this reflection, I will be giving my personal response to that question, noting both the benefits and the pitfalls of using the iPad for instruction. ====

====<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">I'll start with the obvious benefit: It's technology and kids love technology, even if they don't understand it fully or use it to its full potential. This current generation of learners, the "Millennials", seems to have the collective attention span of a gnat and gets bored easily. With the iPad, educators are able to make their instruction exciting to their students by making activities interactive and hands-on, especially if there are multiple devices in the room for students to use themselves. In the end, students hopefully would be more attentive during class and therefore more immersed in that current topic. ====

====<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">In addition to student usage, the iPad is valuable to teachers as an instructional tool. With iPad have access to the Internet and a plethora of digital media, there are many current and authentic resources, videos, pictures, and what have you, that teachers could integrate into their lessons to make the material more relevant and interesting to the students, facilitating the connection between the students' prior knowledge and interest with the new knowledge, which allows for learning to occur. ====

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Now, let's talk about something that's on everyone's minds these days: MONEY. I will admit that the iPad is expensive, ranging from
====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">$400 to more than $800. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">However, the benefits of having the iPad in the classroom will outweigh the cost in the end. In a word, the iPad is a MULTITASKER, serving many different purposes in the classroom besides instruction. Nowadays, it seems like everything is available on the iPad, including.........drumroll, please.......textbooks. With ebooks and audiobooks available about any topic that you can think of and with a cost of anything between free and up to $12.99 (the highest I personally saw), a class set of textbooks could be downloaded onto the iPad for less than an actual book and taking up very little space, making it easy to store and easy to move around. ====

====<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">While the iPad obviously has many qualities and features that would be very effective and useful in the classroom, there are still some issues with technology that prevents it from being fully implemented in our school systems. It was noted in our discussions today that the iPad cannot be to be inappropriate content, which alone makes it a liability for educators. The chances are great that students will be accessing such content during classtime as opposed to paying attention and completing assigned tasks. Nonetheless, I believe that Apple would find a way to remedy this problem, perhaps creating a "school issue" of the iPad. ====

====__<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Day 5, July 13, 2012:** __<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> This is the final day of "Zest for Tech" and what a massive load of information did I receive today! Today followed the same routine as the others: keynote speakers in the morning and hands-on workshops in the afternoon. While today's speakers were very knowledgeable and well versed in their subjects, I actually learned the most in the workshop portion. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">We had two different workshops that we could attend: "Spice Up Your Website" with Dr. Ladores or "Edmodo and Manga High" with Ed Hampton. I chose the first option because I felt that I had more to gain by learning about several Web 2.0 tools that I could use as well as creating student projects utilizing some of these tools. Also, I am already given an interactive website by my school district that does some of the things that Edmodo does, but I'll still check it out later, just on my own time. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">In the workshop, Dr. Ladores introduced 12 different Web 2.o tools, 9 of which I already knew, but at a rudimentary level. They were Animoto, Glogster, Picasa, Proust, Prezi, Slideshare, Tagxedo, ToonDoo, Voki, VoiceThread, Wordle, and YouTube. She gave a quick and basic overview of the tools and had us create some artifacts with any of the tools that we were comfortable with. Some of these artifacts are featured at the top of my wiki page. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I tried making a Glog with Glogster, but it was actually more time-consuming than I thought, so that will be placed on the back burner until a time in the future when I will come back to it and reevaluate its usefulness. I created a Voki, which I have a lot of ideas about using it in projects with my students, especially since you technically don't need an account to use it. I created a Prezi about the colors in Spanish, which I plan on using with my 6th graders in their Spanish unit and will be posting it on my county's World Languages wiki. I spent the entire afternoon working with a variety of tools that I learned this week, staying until the very end of the alloted time. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Technology Leadership and Action Plan:** I'm not afraid to admit that there are times when I am overwhelmed by the plethora of technology that is available nowadays, which is changing every day, and I found it difficult to incorporate technology effectively due to time restraints and curriculum demands. However, despite these handicaps, I realize that I'm not alone with this thinking and that others feel the same way, but are still doing something about it. It's easy to get lost in this wave of technology if I do nothing and just sink to the bottom. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Once I realized this, I started thinking about the future and what I want to do with all of the knowledge that I gained this week. To do nothing with it would be a complete waste of my time used in attending the conference and making these reflections and artifacts as well as the presenters' time in preparing these demonstrations for us. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I would love to be more involved with the Technology Committee at my school and share these tools and ideas with my co-workers as well as with my foreign language colleagues throughout Washington County. As I mentioned before, I plan on sharing this information on our wiki, but I was thinking about using LiveBinder to post this information on my school's website (if it's technically possible to do so). Also, I hope to participate in our future professional development sessions by presenting some of the Web 2.0 tools that I learned about since I could see how any of these tools could be utilized in many different disciplines. Both my supervisor and my principal likes to run our PD days where teachers can pick from a variety of sessions and attend the ones that either piques their interest or is focusing on a skill that they want to learn and I feel I can contribute to these sessions now. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I took many notes on how to use these tools with my students, so I need to plan out these activities, these projects, and find a way to incorporate them into my units and my pacing. If I'm successful, I'll be sharing them with my colleagues. If not, well, I'll make it work next time. I feel like I've been so driven by the curriculum that I'm losing some of my creativity and this conference has given it back to me. Hopefully, my students will be able to reap the benefits of what I learned this week. I really feel like I learned a lot this week and I'm excited to incorporate some of the things that I have learned; in no way will it be EVERYTHING, but rather 2 or 3 things that I feel will have the most impact on student learning and will be the easiest for the students to use themselves in various projects. ====

====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I need to continue my learning and keep current with everything, so I definitely plan on attending next year and hope that others from Washington County will come as well. ====