Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Grw0O6sQcXu0U57ORhQvJpcLdEHjdHbjDG2QLY4w72w/pub?start=true&loop=false&delayms=10000
Webinars
First off, I have never attended a webinar or Twitter chat before, so this was all new to me. For my four webinars, I attended four different sessions on Simplek12. All four webinars were screencasts, where the speaker was presenting and the audience microphone was turned off. There were too many participants for everyone to be talking, but there was a live chat available to ask questions and/or add comments. During the four webinars, I learned all about Google tools. The first webinar was an intro to Google tools, the second webinar was about Google Slides, the third webinar was about Google Forms, and the fourth webinar was about digital projects. I appreciated that this was all professional development from home. I sat in bed with my laptop and learned so many things I can implement in my classroom. At first, I didn't know there were two different chats with the webinar, but I figured it out quickly when no one was talking in the first chat. I used bunnypad chat for all four webinars. Here is a brief summary of each webinar I attended, what I learned, and how I contributed:
Webinar 1: Google Tools: An Intro for Educators
Summary: During this webinar, Jerry shared that Google tools do not have all the bells and whistles, but have the basic needs. He showed the value of each tool and how you can use the tools on any device, browser-based. He shared the importance of being able to save, without pressing save. I did not learn anything new during this webinar, but I did like the refresher on the purpose of each tool. During this chat, I contributed by adding comments to how great the features are. I had 17 comments total.
Webinar 2: Go Google for Presentations
Summary: During this webinar, Tia gave the basic breakdown of how to use Google Slides. It was a simple and short presentation with steps of how to use Google Slides. She shared why Google Slides are special, what you can do with Google Slides, using Google Slides in the classroom, collaboration, and how to share slides. I learned the new features of Audience Q&A, as well as the laser pointer feature. I contributed by having 9 comments throughout the chat. I shared that I use Google Slides for research projects in my class, and an alternative for posters. I shared that Screencastify is a wonderful Chrome extension to do presentations with a voice narration.
Webinar 3: Make Google Forms Work for You
Summary: During this webinar, Jayme shared examples of Google Forms and ideas of how you might use Google Forms in the classroom. She walked through how to create, edit, and share Google Forms. She shared the benefits of Google Forms and how it can do the work for you with grading and quick input. I learned different types of answer choices to use with the scale and grid option. I contributed in this chat with 9 comments. I shared that I liked how the forms can be customized and how I appreciated the several choices available. I provided feedback that the color has to be the same throughout the form, cannot change per each question.
Webinar 4: Amazing Digital Projects for All Students with Google Tools
Summary: This was my absolute favorite webinar. Matt did a wonderful job explaining ways to unleash the power of visuals. He shared different tools and projects that use images and videos to implement in the classroom. He shared the impact of visuals statistics, which really opened my eyes. Matt did an incredible job with having his presentation organized and visually appealing. I learned that visuals are very important to use for retention and how much you can use them for assignments. I also learned that the usage rights are available in the image filter in Google. I contributed to this chat by having 19 comments throughout. I added how much I enjoyed the visuals, what I agreed with, and that I use Google Photos to share videos with my parents. I also responded to a participant about specific statistics shared.
Twitter Chats
I have mixed feelings about Twitter chats. I think that since I am new to Twitter it was quite a lot to take in. I learned that Twitter chats can be completely different based on the participants and conversation. Some chats are fast paced, while others are just a casual conversation. I used Participate for all four of my Twitter chats. At first, I was bouncing back and forth from Participate to Twitter, then I learned I can use Participate to like, retweet, reply, and post in Twitter. It was so much easier to engage in the conversation when I learned the benefits and how to Participate works. Here is a brief summary of each chat I attended, what I learned, and how I contributed:
Chat 1: #G2Great
Summary: This was my first Twitter chat, and one of my favorite Twitter chats. It was fast, thrilling, and really hard to keep up with! I loved it. During this chat, we answered 7 questions that were inspired by "Read, Write, Teach". I learned how important it is to reflect on how you implement reading and writing into your class. How do you make it engaging? How do you meet the standards? It was a lot of food for thought. I enjoyed reading other responses and getting ideas to use in my classroom. I contributed in this chat by answering each question, replying to comments, liking posts, and I ended up following several participants from the chat. During this chat one of the moderators retweeted my response and the other moderator responded with #fantasticteacher! I did struggle with the restricted characters and remembering to type the hashtag.
Chat 2: #teachmindful
Summary: I really enjoyed this chat because it was a 1990's version of teaching mindful. The moderator was very creative with providing scenarios from movies and asking reflective questions about mindful teaching. This chat was quick paced and very engaging. I was reminded how important it is to take time and reflect on your teaching. I appreciated the variety of concepts to think about. There was 7 questions total. Questions asked were about building community, collaborating as a team, meeting students at where they are, how to give students control, and mindful teaching. I contributed by answering all 7 questions, liking responses, and replying to comments.
Chat 3: #ditchbook
Summary: This was a very informal chat, but a great way to build connections. I found that this chat is usually a book study, however, it was taken over for the week. I learned a little bit about the book they are discussing. I also just got to know what other educators like to do on their summer and what they would like to do if money was a factor as a teacher. I contributed to this chat by answering the 2 questions and asking a question about the book. I liked several respon
Chat 4: #EngageChat
Summary: This was my very favorite Twitter chat. I loved how optimistic, encouraging, and engaging it was. There were only 5 questions in an hour period, however, there were 103 participants. The chat was about perseverance. What it means to you, how it can build confidence, sharing your favorite perseverance quote, what the implications of giving up too soon are, and how to build a culture of perseverance in the classroom. I learned that it is important to model perseverance in the classroom and share stories of persistence. I loved reading all the responses on perseverance. I contributed to this chat by answering all 5 questions, liking responses, replying to responses, and retweet responses. The moderator replied to not 1, but 2 of my responses! I really enjoyed how uplifting this chat was!
Overall, I survived all four webinars and four live Twitter chats. It was all new to me, but I learned so much that I can use in my classroom and the advantages of online professional development. Technology is an amazing way to make connections and learn new concepts, ideas, and perspectives. Even with being uncomfortable with it all, I really liked this assignment. It challenged me and it made me think outside the box. I had conversations with people all around the world, who knew I would do that?! I am really enjoying finding the advantages of social networking and how it can help me become a better teacher.
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