Network Learning Project- Final Post #4 -

     I began this journey saying, "I think I want to teach myself how to sew my button on my pants."  I never realized how difficult that would have ended up being.  After all of the practice, I am proud to say, I have fixed my pants!!!

     I never knew how much you could learn online.  I learned so much from other people and the different aspects of sewing techniques.  It was definitely a process to make sure I did not sew through to the front on my pants.  Therefore, I had to be extra careful when sewing the button on.  This meant a lot of needles to the finger!

     One new thing I added to the process was something called a "shank".  I went back to some of the videos that I had watched and learned more about sewing.  I wanted to be sure that this button won't come off again.  This "shank" creates a strong hold under the button to keep it form falling off again.  I wanted to be sure to use it this time.


I know that I am not the best at being on video.  I tried to look up as much as I could, but when you are sewing, you want to watch that needle.  I think my next learning project may be on how to focus on a camera.

All in all, I hope everyone enjoys my sewing excursion.  And if you need a button fixed, feel free to call!!




Video CC by DraperyIdeas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQRq--7InTE

Video CC by geobeats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPCY1DxUuQ4

Comparing PLE's- How are we alike and different?

As I began my journey this summer, I was not sure where I would be at the end. I knew I would learn a lot, but I never knew how much information I would be walking away with. When I first received my Chromebook on the first day of class, I was so confused, I never thought I would get the hang of it. I kept reading through everything asking myself what did you get yourself into? Now being three classes in, I can not believe where I have come. I created a mind map of my learning and my own Personal Learning Environment (PLE) in Coggle. You can see this below:

Looking at my PLE, I realize that I am in a totally different place " digitally" than I was six weeks ago. My four main strands of my PLE are Chromebooks, Google Docs (with Google+ being a huge part of that), Blogging, and Co-workers. The reason that I chose these as my main ideas is that I believe this is where everything I learned this summer was based from.  

• The Chromebook gave me a chance to learn a new technology that was completely tied to Google and Google+. I was forced to learn all about a new site and its developments, such a using hangouts for a screencast! Without this Chromebook, I may not have learned some of the new things that I did this summer.
• Google Docs is a new found experience for me. I had heard of it before, but had never used it. Many teachers at my school use Google Docs, but I had never personally used it. I enjoyed working collaboratively with others through Google Docs. Within this I was able to play around with Google+ (my new social media place). I was able to join communities and groups and keep in touch with classmates through the IT&DML group.
• I had never blogged before. Now, I think I might blog all the time. It is definitely a nice way to release thoughts. I used my blog to reflect, share and comment on work from classmates.
• Lastly, I plan to share all of what I learned with colleagues when school begins. I want to collaborate during professional development and team meetings and bring what I have learned to them.

Before I had created my own PLE, I had browsed my classmates to help give me ideas. Afterwards, I realized that many of our mind maps look very similar. We may have different aspects as our "core" initiatives, but for the most part, the same ideas are placed into our PLE in some way, shape, or form.

I took a look at my PLE in relation to a few of my classmates. When I looked at their main ideas in relation to my main ideas, I felt like I was almost looking in a mirror. Even though each of us broke down our PLE in a different way, the main aspects of our PLE's were very similar. We all had something about the IT&DML program on our PLE. To me this means that we find this program to be an important part of our journey. I also noticed that we all had some kind of social media on our PLE. Whether it was blogging, Google+, twitter, or another site, we all mentioned social media as a way to share our ideas with one another. Another similarity I also saw was the fact that we all wanted to take something from this program and share it with our colleagues. Whether it was discussing at team meetings, department meetings, professional development, or using new technologies within the schools, we all made sure to include the collaboration with our colleagues at our schools to be a big part of our PLE's.
As I saw how similar my PLE was to so many of my classmates, I realized that we are all in a similar place. We are learning new and important ideas that we want to share with each other and colleagues at our school. Although we may differ in the actual outlay of the PLE, in the end, many of the ideas that we have are shared and probably will be throughout the duration of this program. I look forward to all of the new ideas I will learn in the future semesters and I hope to expand my PLE even more.

Creating my Digital Identity- Mind Map on my Personal Learning Environment

     I decided to use Coggle once again to create a Mind Map of what I have learned so far in my plan for creating my digital identity.  When I was first posed with this question, I really did not know what to think.  A digital identity you say?  Sometimes I don't know about my personal identity let alone a digital version of myself.  I developed a Mind Map of my adventures in sewing, created a tutorial for using Animoto, used Google Docs, and have used Google+ as my own little version of Facebook these days.  It has been a great learning experience and one I hope to share.

     My map is a version of me and my Personal Learning Environment (PLE) throughout this summer. I really developed my Personal Learning Environment from the use of Chromebooks, Google+, Blogging, and being able to share with colleagues.  I really feel that the use of the chrome book got me started on my journey.  This then led to the complete obsession of Google+ and all of its little tools.  I had never had a blog before, but I began one this summer and I hope to continue with the blog throughout the school year with my students.  The only part of my Mind Map that I have not completed, but hope to is the part about the colleagues.  I hope that I can take all that I learned from this program and share it with others.  There is so much out there that others can use.

Animoto Online Tutorial

     Animoto is a fun way to create simple slide shows for students and adults to use.  Whether you are using Animoto for a classroom use or for your own personal pictures, it is very user friendly.  Animoto is a free program that grants you free 30-second video slide shows. When using the free version, they let you know how much time you have left in your video.  Therefore, you can watch your time limit as you add slides and captions.  If you purchase Animoto, you can make videos with no time frame.  Depending on how you would like to upgrade your account, this could cost anywhere from $5 to $10.
     Animoto is very easy to use.  They allow you to use your own photos from anywhere whether it be Facebook or a photo downloaded on your own computer.  I have made an Animoto video using pictures from Facebook.  They are very easy to drag and drop in.  You can also select an entire album and choose from the album.  As I continued to use Animoto it became more and more like something I had thought I was using for years.  I hope to incorporate this into my classroom in some way in the upcoming school year.

Images in Animoto CC from:
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_5/chpt_5/1.html

https://engineering.purdue.edu/~asm215/topics/trig.html

http://bscstudent.buffalostate.edu/kajfkr79/web/Masters_Project/Trigonometric_Functions_in_Right_Triangles.html

http://mathkings.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html

A Mind Map of my Network Learning Project Using Coggle

I was a little confused about what a Mind Map was so I did some research.  I had seen some of my classmates use Coggle before and it interested me as to what it could do. I decided to play around with Coggle and make a Mind Map of my Network Learning Project of sewing on a button.  Coggle is a lot of fun to use.  You can begin with a main focus and branch off from that main idea.  It is helpful to compile all of your ideas and work into a map, sort of like a graphic organizer.  This would be a great use for teachers that use graphic organizers in there classes on a daily basis.  However, here is my mind map using coggle of my sewing project.  Hope you enjoy.

Network Learning Project-Post #3

For my network learning project, I wanted to learn how to sew on a button so that I could fix the button that was falling off on my most comfortable work pants.  I have viewed numerous videos in order to try to learn how to sew on a button, and I decided that before I jumped right in and tried to sew the button back on my pants, I should try to sew a button on a piece of fabric to see how that held.  The initial sewing went well, but when I had to go back underneath the button to make it stronger, I got the needle stuck (as you will see).  This is something I have learned and need to brush up on.  I have the initial sewing down and can get the needle through the button holes.  However, to make sure the button stays on tight, I want to create what they call a shank, by continuing underneath the button and underneath the fabric.  This is information I plan to research before I attempt my sewing on my pants.  I hope you enjoy my video as you watch me sew and then get a little upset as the needle gets stuck in the end!!  I enjoyed learning this and I am glad I practiced because this now gives me something to build on.

Some videos I watched for information:

Video CC by DraperyIdeas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQRq--7InTE

Video CC by geobeats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPCY1DxUuQ4

Animoto Video

I had recently made a video in windows movie maker with some pictures that I had taken at a concert I had gone to.  It came out really cool and had background music and everything.  It was suggested that I write a how to on how to use movie maker and then share that with all of you.  However, I then decided to use Animoto to compile some pictures and put it to music, similar to what I had done in movie maker.  Animoto is very easy to use, the only issue is that if you do not have the pro version, you are limited to a 30-second video.  However, I found it to be very user-friendly and fun to compile my pictures and put it to fun music.  

I hope you all enjoy!!!