Emily's Notions

 Looking back on this week, I definitely wanted to review the tools that have been discussed in this class. At the beginning of this course I wanted to do anything and everything related to tools and badges. Now being almost halfway through the summer I realize that I cannot in fact do it all. It's important to note that there are a plethora of tools out there for users. How and if you use them depend on your needs. It's kinda like going to a grocery store and standing in the bread aisle. There's lots of different choices and sizes depending on your needs and tastes. Ultimately you're going to pick something that you want or try something new. The same goes with tools, you don't know if you're going to like it unless you try it.  Some of my favorite tools in this class so far Twitter- love being able to connect with other people and follow different twitter chats Symbaloo- definitely going to be using this with my students Padlet- also going to try this with my ...

If you couldn't tell from the title, I'm on a family road trip through the east side of the United States. Although this was partially inspired by my aunt's funeral that will be taking place this week, my family is using it as an opportunity to reconnect and visit some new places. We haven't taken a road trip together in forever and yet being squished in the backseat of the car with my siblings still feels the same, actually it feels more cramped since none of us are no longer small children. Being on this trip has made me aware of the different norms that occur, as well as the unexpected that arise (all the hotels were booked in Raleigh, my sister ate all the snacks, etc.) It is nice though to travel somewhere new and have that free and clear feeling.  I plan to update throughout this week with places we visited or restaurants we ate at (check out @thedailydunks for that). I've been following some different twitter chats about travel and state park tours, but if an...

 I was reading an article the other day about how parents of children feel that the internet is a completely environment than when they were kids. Personally I'd have to say that they're right. The internet has expanded and evolved into a giant. It is always changing and growing with the users that interact with it. In this day and age people can log on to their computers and search anything and everything, with instantaneous results. That type of instant gratification is unmatched, especially once it becomes part of your daily routine. Kids today are so used to immediately being able to find answers, and it isn't always a bad thing. With my students, I stress the importance of quality information over quantity, as well as using the internet for productivity. I also am required to discuss online safety and netiquette with them, which is definitely a huge thing especially since the majority of my students have social media apps such as tiktok, instagram, twitter, etc.  I oft...

 Has anyone noticed that when you're in a good mood everything is great, but when you're in a bad mood it's the end of the world no positivity in sight? Just me? Okay maybe I'm too dramatic for my own good but after keeping track of my mood for the past month I've noticed 2 things, 1. When you're good, you're great 2. When you're not good, you're not great Your mood is affected by so many things throughout the day and the majority of them are unpredictable. If you're like me and you want to always be in control, I've got some bad news for you. In my experience, in order to gain control of things, I've had to give up more of it that I'm comfortable with. I ended up reading this article from Forbes about positivity and productivity. Basically the main takeaway from this is that your productivity can be affected by how positive you are. The article gives some good tips on how to battle this. I've tried a few and they seem to work (t...

As the weeks pass in this class I continue to feel more and more engaged, as well as connected with my classmates, though we are not together. This type of classroom community is something I wish I could bring to my own students. Maybe with some practice and of course trial and error, I can do so. In all honesty I found myself to be struggling even harder this week to participate or even bring myself post on the blog. I've been experiencing so many changes in my life recently and it's quite literally exhausted me. It's strange that in this hectic time, I've found comfort in expressing myself on this platform, even when I initially don't feel like it. The tools we've covered have slowly but surely become a staple in my daily social media interactions. Never in my life would I have thought I would have been more than a lurker on most platforms, but here I am doing just that. 

Earlier this weekend I did something that I've been telling myself I'm going to do for the last year. I finally took a break and detoxed from social media and the internet. Thursday night I turned my phone on do not disturb (except for emergency calls from my favorited contacts of course) and I did absolutely nothing. It was such a free feeling that was first overwhelmed by FOMO (fear of missing out) and guilt (should I have been checking snapchat for the umpteenth time today???). As the weekend went on I felt better and better. The guilt subsided, my anxiety wasn't as high from constantly checking what everyone was doing, and I didn't feel that post screen time hangover/headache from being on my phone all day. I actually felt present in the moment. I went to orangetheory both days and didn't feel the need to post my pyramid. I also went to a minor league baseball game friday night with my friends I hadn't seen in forever. It was so fun to catch up over hotdogs ...

 Every time I write my reflections each week, I either feel like we haven't been in class for very long OR that we've all been together forever and have created a small learning pod of people we've never met. It's wild to me how much we've covered in such a short amount of time. It's even wilder how much I've connected with complete strangers. This just goes to show that classroom community and environment is a concept and not something that is bound by four walls. In my opinion the freedom of direction in this course has led to more genuine interactions and exploratory learning than I've ever experienced before. I feel as if I am collaborating with people I've known forever, and look forward to new updates on our twitter hashtag. This is something I wish more courses incorporated into their learning process, as it has made a world of difference in my engagement and understanding.