Is it a hoax?

Image : clckr Well, is it a hoax? We all wondered if Samsung really had paid Apple a billion dollars + in coins. Living the dream. Some people applied their knowledge and worked out it could not be possible for this reason and that reason. Their thinking was well founded. Most of us would rather someone just told us if it were a hoax or not. That’s why I use Snopes. It has up to date information about the misinformation on the Net. it gets the facts. It gets current input and then sets the picture straight. One of the latest hoaxes is a Facebook status update telling you that all your past private conversations are now appearing on your timeline. I checked and nothing private of mine has been published. Just the stuff which was originally on my wall in that year is still there. I then checked Snopes and they do have an article about it. If you want to remove past information which was published on your wall then you follow what it says in the status update:

There’s an easy fix–when you’re in your own timeline, just click on the year on the right (2007, 2008, 2009) and you’ll see a box with a bunch of friends’ messages and a header that says 89 people have written on so-and-so’s timeline–hover over the right until you see the pencil, click and select hide from timeline. Do that for each year.

You’ll see the little pencil on the right as you hover. Snopes is a handy way of keeping up with those sorts of privacy issues too as is regularly checking your settings on the sites you belong to.

Social Media can really, really help

Doesn’t matter who it is. If I can find a company/organisation on Twitter and I do not have a complicated request, then I go on Twitter if I want an instant response. It has been by far the best way to sort out my little nuisance problems with anything. It has been fantastic. I almost always get an instant response. I discovered this by accident when I was using my computer to fill in the time while I was being told to wait while someone resolved something for me on the phone. By the time they had returned I had got the answer on Twitter by connecting with the organisation there and had moved on to  doing something else!! I have just been sorting out a phone problem on Twitter as I write this post. It’s just too easy. We’re dealing with texters so they are really quick on Twitter and I always have TweetDeck going. On Facebook I connect with companies and organisations I deal with and I will get a 24 hour turn around on responses there but I also get current information. It’s good and it works. Beats hanging around online or on a phone connection or waiting for an email response. The social media service has been impeccable so I highly recommend it.  Social media are valuable to me as a citizen and as a teacher. If I want current classroom input then I am streaming the relevant hashtags and you can use #edchat and #ozteachers to find other useful hashtags. I contribute and share to that as well. Facebook connects me with other Facebook pages which are relevant to my job and my subject area. It means I have a constant stream of information which can enthuse me and lighten the load. These are places where I can easily get help, support and information as a person and a role. Social media, if it worked in schools, like it does in my private life could trouble shoot so many issues. There would be instant information about how to manage something – policies, pedagogy, methodology. Twitter has become my own personal help desk and if I could do that as an employee I’d be able to find the form, know the policy, ask about research, term dates …all sorts of queries I might have on a daily basis in the work force. For beginning teachers I could see this as an invaluable support. It is also essential to have that connection when you are dealing with something tough. For 3 years I had a dog with a spindle cell tumour. To know my vet was there online where I could easily connect helped me deal with it all. We managed it well and not because we constantly used social media. We didn’t, but it was always there as a back up. Teachers who are battling big issues over a long time frame also need that kind of daily support. It doesn’t matter if it is health issues, school issues, education issues. If teachers are doing it tough then the sort of instant support I have had in my home from various organisations would do much to alleviate some of the burden teachers carry because they are there. Texters who are that fast on the response with something useful have a time and place.

Creative recycling

Image : Toxel Some of our students wouldn’t know what a cassette tape is. Nor a video tape. If you go to Toxel you will see how inventive some people on the planet have been in terms of recycling and creative imagination. We create a lot of e-waste in particular these days. We need to reinvent uses for it or its parts. There are SNES USB hubs and even lego hubs. I use a USB hub in class because the Macbook only has two USB ports. I need one for the board and I use a mouse because I am faster on that than the trackpad. Classrooms wait for nobody. The hub lets me connect USB drives, charge my iPad or back up my Macbook as I teach. It simplifies everything. I’d love to have a retro hub and know we are doing the green thing. I’d also like to see other ideas like this which are functionally creative as well as good contributions to sustainability.

Pinterest for teachers

Source: mgleeson.edublogs.org via Kim on Pinterest

I joined Pinterest this morning and even though I had a fair idea what it was, I couldn’t be sure until I belonged. Basically it is imaged based so it is very easy to take in ideas and content. Very easy. I have already found it to be a good spot on the net where I can be diverted and enthused. I can look at things and think – that’s a good idea! It’s all do-able and very encouraging. It makes sharing information a breeze. The links to the sites are there if you want to explore them . For my classroom I can search for anything and so far it has come up with a lot of practical ideas which may not have formed into solid ideas yet for me but they will. I found this edtech poster and for many it would be really helpful. The blog where the must have edtech cheat sheet image originates is Edudemic. I logged into Pinterest with my Twitter account. If you click on the image you will see a bigger version of it or you can go to the original site and see a really big version of it!

Brush up your keyboard skills

You can’t sit in front of a class with a laptop and not be able to type. Using a stylus to handwrite on a whiteboard isn’t energy efficient and it is an expensive way to write. Sometimes you do need to use a stylus and hand write because it is for a specific purpose – you are drawing or doing language characters. Typing is faster , easier for students to read and more efficient.The text can be copied and pasted into different software so you can save yourself a lot of time. When I use an electronic workbook on the board ,typing in the answers is quick. We no longer spend all day doing workbook exercises . We get them done and move on. I think one of the reasons some teachers don’t use a laptop well is they are not confident with the keyboard. Some are good with a mouse or trackpad but then have to write notes with a marker pen or stylus. Some teachers think ahead and type materials up and then show them to students. Teachers need to be able to type as fast as they are talking or someone is talking. So how do you get better?
1. Play games of any sort to increase your keyboard knowledge. Play word games, matching games, action games, hidden object games, card games. Games build keyboard skills.
2. Use a typing tutor. Don’t sit there for hours practising. Use and online site like Powertyping for 5 or 10 minutes when you feel like it. Something is better than nothing. A little is better than a lot because you probably don’t have the time.
3. Make yourself type. Type everything you can think of. Don’t touch a pen for a week. Just type everything you need to write. I was embarrassed again today in class because I couldn’t find a pen. I did actually have paper but my pens had gone again. I found it eventually right at the bottom of my bag. Pens need to go the way of the slate board.

You don’t need me to tell you it’s practice. Just bookmark a good typing tutor and use it from time to time.