As I read this I see a lot of the reasons I hear my own students’ families say they switched to online learning.  Then I also began to wonder why are the teachers switching from the traditional classroom to the online classroom and I started making a list of my own reasons.

I switched to online teaching in January 2010.  When considering that avenue it was because of a few reasons, but my two main reasons were the commute as I was driving over 70 miles one way each day to teach and my own safety.  After having a student threaten me in my own classroom, I no longer felt comfortable or safe in that school and I didn’t want to be there.  That’s not fair to me, the district, and especially not the student.

Now almost two years later, I am still teaching online and I love it.  My reasons for doing it haven’t changed, but I have added to them.  I like the comfort of being at home and available to my family when they need me.  I am available to students outside the normal 8 am – 3 pm school day through e-mail, Skype, text messaging, phone, and other communication outlets.  I can grade more easily and readily because it is right in front of me.  If I am sick, I can still teach!  I don’t need a substitute teacher.  And the best and most important for me now, is that I can still do my work as I travel. 

I still want to share the article even though I focused on the teacher instead of the student and their quality/quantity of learning because I felt that it held valuable information for anyone who was considering or questioning that alternative.

Well I was going through my Shutterfly album and came across a picture of my children from Homecoming and thought, “What a great way to send a current pic of the kids and wish everyone a Merry Christmas at the same time!!!”

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

So, here is to you and your family, wishing you the safest and merriest of holidays!

1. ViewPure.com – Make sure when you show a video to your class, that’s all you’re showing them! Get rid of the advertisements and comments on a YouTube video – all you need is the link to the video.  You can even add this tool to your browser for easier use next time you see a video you want to purify!
2. TubeChop.com – Only want to show a few seconds of a video or a couple of minutes of a longer video?  Put the YouTube URL of a video inside TubeChop, and select the part that you want.  When you’re finished, you are given a link and embed code for the cropped version of the video. (Yeah, I am using a Bud Light Commercial as an example.)

Chopped Video

I ♥ EdTech by SimpleK12 is a wonderful source of information for the tools available out there.  Some I have known about for awhile, some I use on a regular basis, but there are times I come across new ones that I didn’t know existed.  I am so thankful to SimpleK12 and to those that create these wonderful tools!

#10:  How to Use QR Codes in Student Projects:  With the technology we have today, we are able to simply scan a barcode and pull up information on a product just by using our cell phones.  I love my barcode scanner on my Droid Pro 2.    So, how about using that in the classroom to provide more information on student projects or newsletters to parents or assignments to help students find the information.  The author of the post uses bit.ly to create the barcodes.  I signed up for an account with bit.ly and created a short link for this Blog.  Very NICE!

My Blog Barcode

#9:  6 Ways to Use Word Clouds in the Classroom (Video):  In this video Dave Dodgson, English as a Second Language teacher, describes how he uses Wordle in his classroom as a teaching tool.  One of the applications for Wordle that he uses that I thought would work in practically any classroom is using it to introduce a new topic.  He puts the text in Wordle to create his word cloud and students look at the words to try to figure out what the reading is going to focus on.  And I learned something new.  He said you could put a URL into Wordle and it will create a word cloud from the words on that website.  What a great way to create a word cloud for a class Wiki or Blog.

My Blog's Wordle

#8:  How to Use Flickr in Your Classroom:  The author of this post says Flickr can be an excellent resource in the classroom.  What about a field trip to Rome or Japan?  You can do that with Flickr.  You can teach about “intellectual property rights with Creative Commons licensing” (yep, took that straight from the author).  Your students can put together a portfolio, can choose a photo and write a creative story about that photo, and so much more.  (Now some of you will find that Flickr is blocked at your school, but maybe you can sweet talk your Tech people into unblocking it if you can show them how educational it can be.

#7:  5 Free iPhone Apps for the Classroom:  Well I don’t have an iPhone yet and not quite sure if I will make that transition since I just got a Motorola Droid Pro and LOVE it.  But most of the iPhone Apps are available for the iPod Touch, so I like to see what new Apps the classrooms are using these days.  WordPress is one (woohoo! especially since this blog is through WordPress!!  I’m on the go, see something I want to blog about but know I will forget about later, then I can blog instantly using my iPod Touch if there is Internet access around.  Thank goodness I have an Internet Wireless card that has not let me down yet!  The next is iFlashCards.  Digital flashcards that can be carried around anywhere you take your iPhone or iPod or iPad!  Students can create and edit the cards, then set five different study modes.  Fluent News Reader is the third app.  It pools the top stories from different major news services such as CNN, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, etc.  Then once they are downloaded, they can be viewed offline.  Dropbox 1.2.5 is the next and I have to say I love my Dropbox account!  This app is accessible on your computer (Mac or Windows), iPod, or phone (and not just the iPhone as I use this with my Droid Pro).  You start off with 2 GB of file storage that can be accessed from any computer any time.  You just drop whatever documents you want to have available and when you go to another computer, open up your Dropbox and viola, your files are ready for you to use again.  Much easier to transport than a flashdrive and I don’t have to worry about losing it.  And if you get others to sign up using a special code assigned to you, you get additional 250 MB of storage per person that registers.  The final app is Dragon Dictation 2.0.0.  This app will allow you to dictate notes then e-mail or text them.  Just dictate for one minute at a time and send them out.  Many uses for a teacher.  Not just a great teacher tool, but a great TEACHING tool.  Imagine using this in class for students to take notes, or to record an assignment, or much more!

#6:  How to Transform Your Classroom Using Web 2.0 Tools:  This blog post discussed 10 educational tools that enhances lesson plans and helps make learning more fun not only for the students, but for the teachers also.  Instead of me talking about each one, I am just going to list them and let you check out the original post.  The tools are:  Glogster, Skype, Storybird, Wordle, Bib.me, Diigo, KidBlog, Kideos & SchoolWax TV,  and DoInk.  I think I will have to share the DoInk site with my Digital Arts students this next week!

#5:  5 Fantastic Ways to Use Wallwisher in the Classroom:  First of all, Wallwisher is an online collaboration tool that lets people share ideas, resources, and thoughts on a particular topic.  You can sign up for a free account, build your wall, enter your topic, specify your Wallwisher URL, share the link, and collaborate!  Oh, if only curriculum meetings were that easy!!!  This post goes on to list five ways to use it in the classroom.  My favorite were writing activities, speaking activities, and notifications.  Check it out if you want to read more!

#4:  7 Reasons Why I Love Evernote & Why You Should Too!:  Evernote “gives everyone the ability to easily capture any moment, idea, inspiration, or experience whenever they want using whichever device or platform they find most convenience, and them make all of that information easy to find.” So according to the author, you can create notes and to-do lists, create a scrollable image of the webpage (better than a bookmark??), snap a photo, share it, and sync everything.  And best of all, it’s FREE!

#3:  5 Useful Webtools You Didn’t Know Exist:  So, here are some tools that maybe you haven’t heard of yet.  I will list them and give a brief description.

• Typewith.me:  Collaborate with others in real-time on a document (kind of like Google Docs but you can chat also)
• ViewPure.com:  Get rid of advertisements and comments on a YouTube video so you know you are showing ONLY the video to your class.
• TubeChop.com:  This one allows you to enter a YouTube URL and select only the part of the video you want to show.  When you are finished selecting the time, it gives you the link and embed code for the cropped video!  I love this one!
• Whenisgood.net:  This could make scheduling a meeting so much easier (wish I had this during our time at Full Sail).  This lets you select the times when you are available then e-mail via a link to those you are trying to schedule with so they can choose when they are free also!
• Fur.ly:  Another URL shortener for us.  This one seems to provide an easy-t0-use navigation for all your URLS at the top of the page when you go to one of the URLS through Fur.ly.  Might be interesting to try.

#2:  8 Google Tricks for Your Classroom:  I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about these 8 tricks.  Several of these we have probably used weekly, while the others we have probably used at some point or another.  But check out the post and see if you learn something new.

#1:  21 Signs You’re a 21st Century Teacher:  Let me just say that I am a 21st Century Teacher.  Are you?

Now that I have practically written a book instead of a post.   I hope you have at least learned five new things.  Nope, not just one, but five.  Hey, there is a lot of information here and you should have picked up on five things you didn’t already know.   Even if one of those is that I am not only long winded in person, but also in my blog!    Enjoy!

This Webinar is titled “Hidden Webtools for 2011 PLUS What’s New in the EdTech UNconference”.  This event will be held on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 2:30 – 3:30 PM EST.  To register, go to https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/707437611

The SimpleK12 team is sharing their favorite FREE webtools for 2011 and then highlighting what to expect from their EdTech UNconference this year.

Their new ebook, “Hidden Webtools:  11 Tools for 20011″ will be revealed and as a special bonus anyone who attends will received this ebook for FREE!  YAY!

Two presenters will share their favorite webtools for teachers and explain what the tool is, how to use it, and applications for the classroom.

Oh, and did I mention the Webinar is free also???  Yes, it’s free.

(Hmmm, maybe I should have gone into Marketing.  LOL)

So the idea of the Teacher Challenge evolved from the concept that:

1. We could be doing even more to support teachers.
2. A structure supported program that involved teachers practising their skills would lead to improved outcomes with students.

I have started going through the content and it definitely sounds interesting.  You can sign up or not, or you can be a mentor, or not.  You can just follow along and do whichever challenges you want to do on your own.  This challenge began on Monday, January 10, 2011.  So it seems I am a few days behind already, but I can pick and choose what to do.  So I am going to read through what I have missed and go from there.

We all have such hectic lives, why add more stress.  I like the do as you want at your own pace method.

Could it be that simple to get rid of bad teachers?  And who is it that is deciding that someone who fits in these categories are the bad teachers?  I know several teachers who could survive these five ways, but are still bad teachers.  Why?  Because they don’t care or they don’t want to be there.

Let’s look at these five ways.

Take away the Teacher’s Guides (the standards and curriculum maps also).  There are many teachers out there that teach straight from the book and without the answer keys, they are lost.  Does it make them a bad teacher?  Not necessarily, but it sure could make them a boring, unimaginative teacher.

Take away the computers; no electricity.  Now I agree with this one.  Twenty years ago, teachers were educating without all this cool technology.  I’m a technology teacher, but I always have a contingency plan in place because there is always going to be a day when the servers or Internet are down, or power goes out, or someone needs the lab for district testing.  We have to be able to teach without technology just as well as teaching with technology.

Take away the School Discipline or Administrators.  Ohhh, tough one.  This is going to depend on where the person is teaching.  There were days when I had certain students in certain classes and I was thankful to know that administration was nearby.  Discipline plans don’t always work so I learned not to rely on them, but there were days I really needed the Police Liaison to intervene.

Take away grades and homework.  I would be in Heaven!  Oh please do this.  Am I the only one that would love to see this happen?  Yes, I know some teachers that live by homework and grades and that is how they teach.  They would be completely lost without them.  But we can’t rely on homework and grades to motivate our children.  That is our job.

Take away the classroom for a day.  Wouldn’t this be interesting.  I would love to see the outcome of this one.  Field trip! but where the teacher leads the group instead of a facilitator at the location.  When I taught in the traditional school, I loved taking my students outside for certain lessons.  We would take field trips outside for Web Design to give them opportunities to take pictures for their web sites.  Take a walk around town to discuss the different businesses and how they effect the economy or how the economy has effected them.

Yes, I can see these five things disrupting certain teachers.  But as the author said, most teachers are going to survive these and it doesn’t mean they are good teachers or bad teachers.

I am going to go through just a few of the ones that I agree with, and hope do become obsolete by 2020, if not sooner.  You can read the entire article for yourself to determine if you agree with any, all, or none of them.

Desks!  Oh, definitely.  I hated sitting at desks when I was in school and I hated having desks in my own classroom when I was teaching in the Brick and Mortar school.  I preferred tables scattered around the room so that students could easily maneuver and work together.  It also made it so much easier for me to get to  a student to help him or her if needed.

Homework.  I can see this and agree.  Let’s get rid of the rigid assignments we are constantly giving our students.  Let’s set them up to be constant learners 24/7.  Then before we know it, they will be coming in to class volunteering something new that they learned on their own.

Please, please, please get rid of the standardized tests as a requirement for college admission.  I do poorly on standardized tests and I know many others who do poorly also.  The purpose of a standardized test was to give equal advantage to each student to show what they have learned, but that didn’t work out so well.  Instead you have those who freeze, go blank, or just don’t have the attention span needed to sit for several hours at a time to complete a standardized test.  Let’s see portfolios come into play so that students can show us what they have learned and show us that they know how to put what they have learned into practice.

YES!  Get rid of those textbooks!  Let’s go DIGITAL!  Students would not need to lug around those horribly heavy backpacks nor would they be able to use the excuses, “I left my textbook in my locker/at school” or “I lost my textbook” because they wouldn’t have one to lose or leave.  Instead they would have access to their textbook 24/7 anywhere they have a computer and, depending on how the school utilizes the digital capabilities, with or without Internet access.  Imagine the money it would save schools and the forests that would thrive because we wouldn’t be killing those trees.

K-12?  No more?  Wow, really?  Yeah, I am already there.  I teach on-line and this year my classes consist of students ranging in ages from 8 to 18.   Yes, 8 to 18 all in the same class.  They work fine together and the coursework is still challenging enough for the older students and not too difficult to discourage the younger students.  There are times, depending on the course, that assignments need to be altered in some way because of age requirements for certain websites, but we deal with that as it comes up.  It all depends on their maturity level, interest level, and willingness to learn something new.

Parent-Teacher Conference nights are a tradition.  They are a way for parents to get to know their children’s teachers.  True, but nowadays there are less and less parents attending.  Parents are getting to know their children’s teachers through virtual means such as e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, websites, etc and getting all the information from those means.  Why do we need to take time out of our busy schedules to meet once a quarter or semester to talk about stuff we already have talked about from the comfort of our homes or offices?

So those are the ones I felt most strongly about, but I did agree with practically all of them.  Being a virtual teacher, I am more in tune with the digital means of education and how they can benefit the schools, teachers, and students.  We don’t have to keep doing something because that is how it has always been done.  Sometimes we need to branch out and try something new because we are not all alike and we do not all learn the same.

I love it.  It synced immediately with my Google account so that my e-mail, contacts, and calendars were accessible on my phone.  As soon as I add or change a contact to GMail, it is immediately available on my phone.  The same with a Calendar event, which comes in handy when there is a change in my children’s sports practices and games.

I have so many apps available that I don’t see myself ever going through them all, much less using them all.  I did download a virus protection app because I figure if it is an Android OS where it is constantly accessing the web, it is going to be susceptible to viruses.  I also downloaded an App/Task killer that allows me to Kill or Force Close an app that is running to save my battery life.

The battery life is an issue that I am adjusting to.  I charge it every night and then at least again in the late afternoon.  I have ordered a second battery and battery charger to keep on hand so that I can just switch them out when one gets low on life.

I don’t see me going back to the Blackberry, and as for now, I don’t see my leaving the Droid Pro.

Since installing the last update in November, it has locked up on me at least once a day.  So at least once a day, I remove the battery to perform a reset.  Ohhh, what fun.  The Verizon guys told me to back up all my data on the phone to my computer and perform a Security Wipe.  So I did that and, while it helped some, I am still removing the battery at least once a day.  This is most annoying.  And I can’t see it being healthy for my phone either.

The trackball has started sticking which doesn’t make me happy in the least.  I know this is a common problem because it happen to my son’s earlier in the year after having his for only 6 months.  Because he had dropped his phone and it had dents in the upper corners, the warranty was void.  Picky people.  And I wasn’t about to pay the $90 for the insurance deductible.  So we purchased a simple, non-smart phone for him as a replacement.  I take care of mine so I was hoping to avoid the trackball issue altogether.  No luck.

I do like that I can open file attachments from e-mails.  That is very helpful.  Unfortunately, I am not always able to delete the files.  I try to delete them but then I get an error.  I don’t know if this is a common problem or just a situational problem.

The apps are great.  I use the Facebook app, well I used to.  Then the Facebook updates weren’t deleting.  I am thinking the smartphone is like all computers.  After a while, they slow down and become obsolete.  They don’t work correctly.

So my next decision is:  A new Blackberry or a new Droid……Time will tell….well one week will tell.