Happy First Anniversary, BlamSpot!

Ah, the end of another school year (and the beginning of the Summer Term), punctuated by periodic blogging here at this spot. What have we learned? How about a retrospective of postings, followed by hard-core analysis by a color commentator and former big-league blogger? An option for a full-length feature film? People have always told me that Tom Arnold bears a passing resemblance to me, or vice-verse - I'd be OK if he played me in the film. Maybe he can talk Arnold Schwarzenegger out of retirement, now that he's out of a job, and apparently single.

Hmm. Too much. Let's just review the highlight reel, shall we?

May 2010: Early in my blogging career, I started with a serious tone, taking on Twitter, text messaging, online distance learning, and exploring new technologies. Very serious, I was. But the blogs lacked a little something - my voice was not very authentic. I was trying to make the blog something that someone else wanted, and not something that I wanted. That changed quickly.

June 2010: I find my voice. I started incorporating new technologies in the classroom, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. I proclaimed there was no crying in instructional technology, extolled the virtues of high

speed Internet in the dorms, got my geek on, addressed my inner curmudgeon, railed at Steve Jobs, and even managed to sneak in a Blues Brothers metaphor. Oh, the heady times during the EITS summer session!

Fall, 2010: The start of a new school year challenged me to become an agent of change: adopting more technology in my classroom and advocating for more in our school. I learned that video gaming can save the world - or could lead to it. Pee breaks during class chat - is that a bloggable topic? You bet! ITEC 2010 was a highlight of the fall term, as well as our musical Chicago, where I attempted to use running a spotlight as an example of instructional design theory, and celebrated the innovation of my iPhone's light board app. A long day at an in service was fodder for another entry, although upon further reflection, I may have more optimistic that I should have been. At the end of the fall term, finals and technology failure inspired thoughts of insurrection - but only in my mind. The thoughts may have been critical, but the delivery was more light-hearted.

December 2011 - January 2011: Blog entries equalled my ID journal entries, so there was a flurry of activity. Finding my Smart Board grove, lamenting a lost blog posting, and examining the demise of the school librarian/rise of the school information technologist explored some career possibilities. These posts also reflected some issues that cropped up during the Technology in Education course. During a snow day, a cousin's Facebook posting inspired some reflections of a long distance playdate - viewing and discussing films via the PlayStation. I took some real-world experiences from both in and out of the classroom to make the connections that I had been seeking: how does technology help us learn? What can we learn from the digital natives? What can they learn from we teachers?

February, 2011: Through a well-placed paw, my faithful companion and study-buddy Bernie managed a self portrait, which resulted in a little feline reflection. (He's not as excited about instructional technology as the rest of us.) A flurry of "official announcements" from friends and relatives on Facebook begged for some commentary as well. I could have extended that to another episode in May when a colleague announced to the world on Facebook that he would be leaving his job for another. It was a little rough for the students to find this out online - which I feel emphasizes the point I was making that not EVERYTHING should be announced online.

May, 2011: With no requisite logs or blogging assignments, the spring stayed thin. This month was marked by less instructional technology and more "other things that are pressing in my world." Techies pulling double duty by coming in for the matinee of a Children's Theater production, then dropping everything to get ready for prom (and destroying the myth that techies are a bunch of trolls that are as ugly as a mud post), and a celebrity sighting during our trip to NYC that lacked recognition - or cognition, for that matter - commanded my blogging attention. Perhaps not the most academic of topics, but meaningful - and hopefully enlightening.

With the summer courses come more opportunities to blog. We begin the process of writing the graduate paper. Daunting? Yes, but with the cohort number comes strength. Issues in Technology will follow swiftly in June, with more material to delve into. Which brings me to my number one technology implementation for this year:

Blogging for Understanding. Why would anyone think that this is not a valuable tool? As a Language Arts teachers, we teach writing for understanding. Blogging just takes that into another venue - the online world - that allows for additional steps: comment and response. So I'm a big fan. And this spring, when I wasn't blogging as much, I felt like I was missing something. The break was welcome, but absence made the heart grow fonder, so to speak. There are tens of thousands of authors in the blogosphere,  many who discuss instructional technology. I sometimes still feel like a neophyte, but I need to remember that I'm not trying to teach the world - just share some thoughts and insights regarding my discoveries - and inviting commentary as well. Let's be honest - it's a little daunting to try to teach the world.

I've never been really good at keeping a journal, even when assigned as part of a course or workshop. I would always start out strong, then decide that the initial effort was well beyond expectations and throttle back. Not so with blogging. I think the appealing aspect of blogging is the ability to include multiple media in a post, and that it is a far less formal way to make commentary or observation. It was interesting to review a year's worth of postings. There has been a lot of ground traveled regarding instructional technology - and other things pressing in my world - and already I can see where my attitudes have changed on some issues.

Thanks again to my good friends, instructors, colleagues and classmates in the UNI 2010 Instructional Technology Cohort. The net we have created for each other is strong and reassuring. TECH UP!!

And now, for my favorite anniversary gift to give: