This semester proved to be a make me or break me semester, and it made me! I was reluctant to take classes this semester with the impending birth of a baby, but with Amy's support it proved to make this semester successful! I feel a great sense of accomplishment and hope that it's all uphill from here. After going to the capstone presentations I went home and thought... "What will I do for a capstone??" But after talking with Amy I had an aha (Right Amy!!!) for my capstone, which has me very excited!
I've learned a lot of useful information this semester and I continue to look foward to taking more classes and turn-keying what I've learned to my co-workers and students. This was a fantastic class! Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year or in preparation for my trip someday.... Buon Natale eFelice Anno Nuovo!
I just realized how close we are to the end of the semester. I don't know if it's the new baby, the thought of going back to work soon or the constant traffic in and out of my house while constrution is going on, but I need to get the ball rolling and finish my projects. My last blog, I thought for some reason we had so much more time, but Thanksgiving showed up so quickly that I was blown away. Hopefully I can spend the next two days catching up on all of my work. I have some projects to finish and hopefully can accomplish that tomorrow and Wednesday (before the kids come home from school) so that I can enjoy my Thanksgiving holiday with my husband and three children.... and a glass of wine as well. Last weeks projects were fantastic. I walked away with so much information and I love the fact that I don't have to rely on senteos all the time... in the field of technology we all know, YOU MUST HAVE BACKUP. Looking foward to this week.
The end of the semester. I can't believe November is already half way over and that the semester will be coming to a close. This means two things..... ONE... I need to finish my projects so that I can have everything ready and sumbitted and TWO... my favorite time of the year is approaching. I love Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Christmas. I AM one of those crazy nuts that gets out an about on Thanksgiving night at 8:30pm to wait in line for all my black Friday deals and shops until Friday afternoon. I go with my best friend every year and coffee in hand we both run for our deals. I'm looking foward to the rest of the IT presentations to see what information everyone has to offer.
After listening to the final discussions last night about the ever changing technology, I thought after my comment about how many people I may have confused. I heard your comments about new operating systems, different technologies and such and I spoke about the wonderful technological invention called a Cochlear Implant or CI for short. My two older children were born with a profound hearing loss. My daughter failed her newborn hearing screening and my husband and I took her to get re-tested at CHOP. We were shocked and devastated to find out about her hearing loss. No one in either family for as far back as we could find had a hearing impairment. After going through genetic testing, we discovered that my husband carried a gene mutation as did I, and we both passed recessive genes to end up with a hearing impaired child. Connexin 26 is the cause of the hearing loss. My son came along 18 months later and was also found to have the genetic mutation. We found out that my husband and I had a 1 in 300,000 chance of meeting each other and having two deaf children.... I should have played the lottery!!
Anyway, hearing aids were tried with both children and didn't work. We opted for the Cochlear Implant. After going through a candidacy program with CHOP we got the call that both kids were eligible for CI's. As I said last night, their first implant (right ear) was the Freedom by Cochlear, which they both thrived with. Just shortly after they were implanted, the Nucleus 5 came on the market and when my children were implated the second time (left ear) they received the Nucleus 5 which offers better sound quality and it's smaller.
Both children are doing so well. It's amazing how far we have come from earlier hearing aids and CI's to what we have now. My children are actually hearing at an almost normal hearing range, something my husband and I never thought would happen. Cochlear is constantly looking for ways to improve the device, and possibly someday a device will be invented that is completely internal. We were told by the team at CHOP that deafness will become obsolete with all of the technologies offered.
Below is a video of a child having her cochlear implant turned on for the first time. Watch her reaction. To have lived something similar to this with my own two children is amazing. Their activation was exactly like below. TECHNOLOGY AT IT'S BEST!
First and foremost, I'd like to give kudos to Michelle on her presentation of the SMART board. I am a big fan of the SMARTboard. I love mine in my classroom and our new school is lucky enough to have a SMARTboard in EVERY SINGLE classroom. I've used the SMARTboard for about 8 years now and watching it evolve has been pretty cool, because like all technology, 8 years is a lifetime....
As for the class last night, it was great to get to put faces with names.. with the exception of Julia because I already knew her, LOL. I enjoyed my night out, even if it was in class and not out shopping. Paula's presentation on customized Google searches was excellent. I have used customized Google searches for some of my projects in school, I also put one in my Webquest that I turned into Amy. It's so much easier to create your own Google search when working with middle school children because they do seem to find the darnedest websites when searching... :(
I'm glad I got my tool time presentation done, one more thing off the check sheet. Now I just need to record my jing describing what I described in class and submit. If anyone needs any specific questions answered about MovieMaker, just let me know. I can answer questions through the tool time discussion on BB.
As for the face to face meetings, I think the next time I'll see all of you is for the last class, and YES if my house is done, I'll be happy to host! :)
I've got to say that I am relieved to have finished and presented our IT project. I'm looking foward to seeing the products of the rest of our classmates. I had two great partners, Kathy and Julia. I actually spent a majority of my day yesterday getting caught up on other work. I can say proudly that I've sumbitted three of my wildcards already and feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest. I hate owing work almost as much as I hate owing money! I can't believe that we are already at the middle of October and the sememster will be over before we know it.
As for our trip to the ETTC this coming Wednesday, I am welcoming a night out, even if it is only too class. I've been stuck in the house for the past month and a half and only made trips to doctors and the hospital, yay me :P
Giovanna FINALLY came home on Thursday afternoon so now we are all trying to get into a routine. I will be spending most of my time Tuesday between feedings trying to get caught up with all of my school work. It was a rough week running back and forth between the hospital and home. I'm glad to have all my kids under the same roof! We had our first doctors visit on Friday and she has already gained weight and grown an inch. She will be out of newborn clothes by the end of the week. Our late night feedings are not that bad, every four hours :). She likes to let mommy sleep a bit. Big sister, Maria is a big help. She loves to help by getting bibs, holding the bottle (with mommy's help of course) and holding her little sister's hand. Francesco, her big brother, loves her. He will just stare at her and smile and try to give her kisses! Maria already gave Giovanna her "name sign" a G over your heart. When I asked Maria why that is Giovanna's name sign she said, "Because I love Giovanna." Melts your heart! Looking forward to returning Wednesday to class! Thank you for all your support and talk with everyone soon!
Love, Angela
Hi all,
Just an update.....
Giovanna Michelina Maione made her appearance on Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 10:55pm weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz and 181/2 inches long. Hopefully we will be able to bring her home soon. She needs to improve her eating a bit which is a FAR CRY from my other two kids that ate me out of house and home :)......
I'm looking foward to working with my group members, Kathy and Julia. I have viewed the tutorials which were very helpful and started my quest in finding articles. I have already found a few that would go along with our groups project. I'm looking forward to seeing what products the other groups will present. It's always amazing what you can learn from your peers.
As for my contract draft, I've submitted it with my ideas for projects. I'm looking forward to creating PSA on bullying and/or sexting. Working in a middle school has been an experience for me because I find myself dealing with students who get thrills from taking part in these activities. My PSA may be geared towards parents educating their children on the harmful effects of cyberbullying and/or sexting. I have started using Zunal for my webquest, which I'm really excited about and looking forward to returning to work so that I can use it with my students.
Last night during our class update, we learned a little bit about each other. Since the first class was spent "running around" I think it was great to have a few minutes talking with everyone. Going over the syllabus gave me two thoughts in my head, 1. I have a lot of work to do and 2. Thank God I'm home to do it. I'm looking foward to expanding a webquest that I have used in my technology classroom for one of the projects. I do a vacation project every year with my students because many of my students are not lucky enough to go away on a summer vacation. This vacation project gives them a chance to virtually visit any place in the world and they absolutley LOVE it! I like the simulated interview, I think that's a great idea for a project, maybe I can get my husband to act as the person I'm interviewing. LOL...
I am really excited about our first night at the ETTC.... with two kids and a newborn by that time, I'll be looking for a night out of the house, even if it is for grad school and not shopping. Good luck to all, pace yourself and I think we are in for a great semester.
Oh how sweet it is not to be a newbie this time around. I loved the fact that I had time to eat dinner with my husband and kids and NOT have to rush off to be at Stockton by 6:00pm. I missed Amy's "treats" but my dinner was quite tasty. I'm looking foward to our Intro class. I am thrilled that there is such a diverse group of students in our class and hopefully we can all walk away learning new things and new ideas that we can impliment in our classes and professional careers. As for the technical difficulties..... what's technology without difficulties... it's like Chicken Soup without chicken :)
It seems like just yesterday I was in panic mode over this class... yes and enjoying a great milkshake when I had come home, compliments of hubby; but here we are wrapping up Adult Learning. I've got to say that I've gotten so much out of this course. I've not only gained information that I can use in my classroom and throughout my graduate studies at Stockton, but I've also learned so much about other people in this class and meeting all of you IRL on Monday will be fun. Reflecting on all of our sessions, I can't pick one that I enjoyed over the other because each section offered a new, important piece of knowledge that I can take with me. I guess after Monday, I will no longer be considered a "Newbie" to Wimba and I look foward to see what my other experiences bring!
Talk about a great opportunity. Once I got past how different I look with a ponytail and glasses vs. a more professional wardrobe (Amy didn't recognize me in her session LOL), I couldn't believe the amount of useful information that I found from the two days here. Yesterday's BYOL (Bring your own laptop) session with Jung and Amy was fantastic. We learned methods of dissecting a simple article by switching hats and speaking from the hat, not us. Also Amy gave us some great websites to check out and verify. Most of the teachers in the workshop with me left feeling more confident using websites in their classrooms. I actually gained an idea from another teacher, I plan on giving my students a "research project" on the North American Tree Octopus... I want to see how long it takes for them to discover that it's a hoax.
Day two was spent in the Web 2.0 toolbelt workshop with Lisa Thumann. Great workshop. I decided to expand my wildcard project using Screencast-O-Matic which I plan on showing other teachers how to create a video using screencast-o-matic AND Windows MovieMaker to put together several informational videos with transitions that they could use for students and/or professional development opportunities.
Thanks so much for the suggestion! I loved the workshop! Oh and lunch was good too..... that's important when you are eating for two!
After listening to the archives, I was so sorry that I missed out on this discussion. The concept maps were fantastic and I learned quite a bit. So much of what we deal with as adults we find happens to us wheter we are "ready" for it or not. I really can relate to what Danielle said in her presentation. When I got pregnant with my first child, EVERYONE had a comment or a story, but no one could prepare me and my husband for raising a deaf child. I was ready to be a mom, in any way, shape or form. Ready or not, I had this little girl who couldn't hear me. I had no choice but to be ready to learn sign language and learn how to use hearing aids. The Readiness came again when I had my son. Each step in my children's lives have been a "ready or not" story. Ready for sign, ready for hearing aids, ready for cochelar implants, etc. Finally with this third pregnancy, we are actually READY for whatever comes our way because we have learned from past experiences what to expect.
I thought last nights class was an eye-opening experiencet is in that I couldn't believe how different we all are with our takes on Andragogy. We all had such different maps, but yet each person taught me something different. I left with a complete understanding of Need to Know and Self-Concept. It's amazing how much you can learn about one particular topic from your peers and how we can all teach each other. I walked away with learning more from this class that I feel like I learned from my entire undergrad career. That is the beauty of Adult Education; you feel such a sense of understanding and enlightenment after each class. Thanks to all for your great explanations! And Kudos to Michelle, Brandy, and Jessica for a great start with facilitating!
And as a side note, thought of last nights picture drawings and found this cartoon! :)
I was trying to get my finished worksheet uploaded and was not successful. Apparently there have been some technical difficulties trying to attach documents. Oh well, I guess it's time to take a break anyway and make dinner for the kids. Hopefully by the time I log back on tonight, the problem will be fixed and I can move on to the next task at hand.
So originally I had planned on going to the beach tomorrow.... however homework will be keeping me inside and in the air conditioning. I haven't been to the beach since BEFORE I had my daughter who is now 5. I had hoped on visiting the beach and soaking up some sun before I have my two kids home from ESY and another baby to care for. Needless to say after tonights class I knew the beach was not an option tomorrow. After I got my house back in order from not being home, I sat for a minute and watched tomorrow's weather forecast and thought, "Thank God we have an assignment to work on!" I would have NEVER sat on a beach in 95 degree weather...too hot while pregnant! Now instead of sweating at the beach, I can sit at home... in air conditioning!! and be comfortable.
Another benefit is that being a "newbie" to Wimba, I'm looking foward to meeting with my group members tomorrow just as a practice run for accessing the classroom from home. Hopefully I'll get to join the rest of the class from my home on Wednesday. I'm envious of all of you home in your pj's... I'm just hoping my kids cooperate!
Where to start... I have to say that my first class of Adult Learning is nothing that I had expected. I was overwhelmed last night when I left class. I wasn't sure if I was going to figure it all out. I had to get home and take a look at all we discussed again. I have to say that I was able to relax and think about the class after my husband made me a great milkshake, bananas with strawberry and chocolate ice cream.....After reviewing what we had discussed, I felt more comfortable. I decided to log back into Blackboard and post something, my wiki that I maintained for a previous class. I was successful and thought, "Well that wasn't so difficult." I got a good nights sleep, got the kids off to ESY this morning and decided to dive in. I've already completed assignments and feel so much better about the class. BRING IT ON!
