PC Maintenance and Security

The first tutorial I watched in the System Maintenance and Security section was the second underneath the “Clean Up and Speed Up Your PC” heading. I did not choose the first video, because I know how to add/remove programs. I chose this section because I am always complaining about the speed of my computer, even though I know it improves substantially if I just shut it down. I chose “Using the Disk Cleanup utility in Windows” because I had never heard of it. If my computer is working slowly, I usually run the defragmenter and hope it helps. That was really my only tool before today. I had to restart it after a while, but that was because I had started several other things at the same time. This also probably contributes to my computer’s lack of speed. (I am restarting this utility for the third time after writing this entire post. I hope it actually runs all of the way through.)

The second tutorial I chose was the first one on the list. I figured if I didn’t know about the Disk Cleanup, there might be something in the first tutorial I did not know either. Actually, I did pretty much know how to do this. The problem is that I don’t know what everything does. I do not want to remove programs that are essential. I did remove the “Bing Toolbar” program, though. It is not needed.

The third video I watched was “Using Windows Cleanup!” It freed up 2.1GB of space on my hard drive. I am amazed. Even though the demo said it would remove 6, I am still happy having that space back. Hopefully it will improve my laptop’s speed.

After learning so much in the first three tutorials, I decided to watch the fourth as well. I have always been scared of “msconfig.” After disabling a few startup lines, something did alarm me a bit. There was something listed in the startup files called “winampa,” and when I searched it on the “Startup Programs and Executables Listing,” it said it was a Trojan! Upon further reading, it stated that it was only a Trojan if it was in the system folder, not if it was in the Winamp folder. I was quite relieved. However, I also learned that I have no idea how to uninstall Winamp from my computer. It does not come up on my add/remove programs list and has no uninstall option in the folder. It also claimed my google update was a virus. There were two entries on the site, one claimed Trojan, and the other claimed it was legit. I am going to go with legit on that one.

I would happily share the Windows Cleanup! with others. I found it to be a very useful and easy to use tool. Learning about msconfig was also very helpful and took some of the scariness out of “messing” with my computer. I am unimpressed with the Disc Cleanup utility, mostly because it has yet to finish running after a third start.

Getting Things Done

When I started reading the Getting Things Done section, I thought, "This is exactly what I need!" I am an incredibly disorganized person. My dream for years has been to become hyper organized. My disorganization has become much worse this school year since I am at four different buildings. To do lists are constantly going through my head, but only the things that need to be accomplished somewhere else. When I do write down the lists, they often migrate and disappear. I don't know that I have ever seen a finished to do list. Right now, my apartment is a wreck and I am having trouble wrapping my head around all of the things I have to do to make it presentable.

First, I started writing everything I had to do in a zoho doc and quickly realized that it was not going to work. It would soon get cluttered and I would never look at it again. So, I downloaded ToDoList from the list of websites on the GTD learn session. I basically looked for the one with the highest rating. I then added all of the things that I needed to accomplish. The more I typed, the more I remembered. I came up with 18 different things that I would need/want to do in order to maintain sanity. The process step was a little confusing to me. I am not going to put anything on a list that I cannot do. However, I do frequently put things on lists that do not need to go on lists, just so I have things to mark off. It makes me feel more productive. For instance, I frequently put things like "eat lunch" or "watch The Office" on my to-do lists. I know it is ridiculous for many reasons, but mainly because I am not the type of person who generally forgets to eat. 

The organize step was very helpful. I ended up organizing most things by place. It mostly consists of things to do at/regarding home, and things to do at/regarding school. My current categories are home, school, professional, and home non-cleaning. I have to separate the cleaning from everything else. While it is the longest list, if I had to combine home and home non-cleaning, I would never want to go home. I know he listed other organization categories, but I didn't think they would work for me. So I made up my own! I really do like the 43 folders concept. I could see that being my main way of doing this if I had somewhere to put 43 folders. 

In ToDoList, I was able to prioritize how badly events needed to be completed and when. It kind of combined the review and organize portions. However, in the future, I will be able to just look and know which thing needs to be done soonest. For instance, my living room needs to be cleaned TODAY. It has been on the back burner for far too long.

I am working on the DO portion of my list right now. "Finish GTD Lab" was on my list. Soon, it will be done. Then I will move onto the living room. There are a lot of things that I like about Getting Things Done. However, I think I need to read the whole book to get a better feel for how it works. For now, to get me started, I will stick with ToDoList. The main problem I see with ToDoList is that it is not portable. I don't know if it has mobile applications, but I don't have mobile capabilities, so it doesn't really matter. So far, it is a tremendously helpful tool. I will need to supplement it with a small notebook that I can keep with me and then update my list every evening. So yes, I believe this system will help me. At least, I think my own concoction of this system can help me. It has already helped me calm down a little today! I know I am not going to forget to call the department of education tomorrow, or schedule my last concert of the year on Tuesday. If I can get the part of my life organized that takes place outside of my home, who knows. Maybe the living room is next...

Social Networking

While working through this lab, I discovered that there are huge professional development opportunities that I am missing. There was a music technology conference last fall that took place online. It was even free! I had no idea this was happening. Maybe if I had known the advantages of social networking, I could have taken part. It will also be great as a professional development tool itself. I can have access to what other music teachers are saying on my Music Ed widget that is embedded on my blog. Also, I can pass this information onto my music colleagues, who like me two weeks ago, may be oblivious to these professional development opportunities.

As for Facebook, I have been a member for years. Although it is a quick and easy way to contact almost all of my friends, we rarely use it for professional purposes. It is more of a “look who had a baby” tool. For the most part, I think this is how students use it, too. Ok, maybe not for BABIES, but for social news, and that’s ok. We, as adults, sometimes need to keep our social and professional lives separate. The same can be true for students with their personal and school lives.

RSS Reflection and Screenshots

5/15/11

This is the first chance I have had to check my reader since I created the page. There are LOTS of new things. I just added my group’s Diigo account to my RSS reader, so I will know pretty quickly if my group member has added anything. EduTech is posting about MACUL, the certificate program, and 21^st Century Learning. Also, Jodi Spicer posted about an ipod application for people who have trouble speaking. A student in one of my classes uses one. It can say “hello Miss Kimmerly.” I also have added a job postings feed. While I would not be able to teach technology yet, it is very exciting to know that people advertise job openings on RSS feeds, twitter and blog posts. I also just added my local representative to my RSS feed so I can be sure to have the most recent updates on the state budget.

5/20/11

The music teacher jobs feed is very helpful, but does not have an influence in my teaching. There are sites that have not updated at all in the past few days, which disappoints me a little. There is nothing new from Music Machinery; the International Society for Music Education; Music, Education and Technology; or Webblog-ed. MUSTech.net updated, but is simply advertising it’s program with CHASE. NPR seems to update regularly, but it's articles haven't really applied to my classroom yet. On Tech Learning, an article about Common Core caught my eye because I believe our district is moving in that direction. However, I don't believe that there is a music component to Common Core.

There were quick reviews of programs called SHMOOP and HearBuilder, but I couldn't find any immediate classroom uses for them either. It will probably take more investigation. There is legislation happening regarding assessment and rubrics in Kentucky. That scares me a little because most of my family lives there and relocation is a big possibility. An article about QR codes was quite interesting. I read it because I had recently seen these codes on real estate listings in Illinois. If you scanned them with your smartphone, you would get the details of the listing. An article about twitter for educators lists 5 ways it could be helpful. While there were a few interesting things that caught my eye on this day, there wasn't anything that I could really take back to the classroom.

5/21/11

Since I just checked yesterday, there aren’t many new posts. The ones that are new aren’t all that exciting or applicable, either. Getting Things Done has an article about a mom who has used GTD to get her life in order. She is now taking on more and getting even more done.

5/22/11
Again, since I am checking on consecutive days, there is not much to report. There is one job posting and one thing from Techlearning about Monica's Gang visiting Brazil. It mentioned music twice, but for the most part was not helpful. It could be a great tool for a social studies or geography unit, though.

RSS Reflection

The first time I checked my reader, I had many new things to read! I checked again about five days later, and again, there were many things to read! Then, I checked it again the next day, and very few sites had updated. I have added lots of different feeds to my reader, including EduTech Newsletter; Elementary Music Teacher Jobs; GTD Times; International Society for Music Education; ISTE Connects; MENC- The National Association for Music Education; Music Machinery; Music, Education, and Technology; Music, Technology and Education; and Rep Jim Townsend. Most of these are obviously related to education or music or both, but some are not. Even though I feel like I have added many feeds, I don't feel as though it is producing information that I could apply in my teaching.

There was one very helpful thing I learned about through my RSS and it was Google’s new music locker(5/15). It seemed like it would be a great tool for me, but after Blogger went down last week and took all of my updates with it, I wasn't trusting enough to store my music online. However, I recently found myself downloading an album on Amazon, and they offered to load my purchase straight onto my cloud account. The benefit suddenly struck me. As a teacher at four different buildings, this tool would allow me access to all necessary music files for my job. All I need is internet access. I probably would not have started my music locker account if I had not read the music cloud article last week. I am quite excited to try out the google locker which allows up to 20,000 songs for free, as opposed to Amazon's 5GB.

I think my RSS is geared toward my own needs pretty well, but could be more effective if I add more subscriptions. While there are many sites that update often, they don't necessarily apply to my field. The ones that do apply to music education don't update very often, but when they do, they often suggest very interesting programs or advertise great PD opportunities. If I add more feeds, maybe I will find more entries that are applicable to my classroom needs.

Here are my two screen shots.

 The shot above is of my Google Reader page.

This shot is of the comment I made to http://musicmachinery.com/. It is a blog that talks about current music software available on the internet.

Personal Growth Plan

Tai Kimmerly

Carolyn McCarthy, Dr. Sandra Plair, and Jodi Spicer

CEP-810 Teaching for Understanding with Computers

05/04/11

Personal Growth Plan

As a music teacher, there are many forms of technology that can benefit my classroom. There are several reasons I would like access to this technology. The first being engagement. My subject lends to engaging children, but the level always increases when I add some sort of technology component. For instance, I once lost my voice and walked around all day with a wireless keyboard on a string hanging around my neck. The computer was connected to the television, so everything I said showed up in text on the screen. They were mesmerized.

My second goal is assessment. Often times, assessment needs to be a one on one thing in a music classroom. I would like to explore ways of involving technology to do this more efficiently. I developed a Jeopardy game that should work with our school’s clicker system (CPS), but the two software versions are not compatible. The project has been pushed to the side until I can either figure out how to make them work together, or until I find software or technology more suited to the task.

Another goal is to become a technology source for my building. We were discussing the new publishing center that is a big hit in our school’s media center. The main goal of the center is to get students excited about writing and increase quality. Anyone can see work published in the library. The drawback is that there is not enough space. Maybe I could propose a similar project using Google Docs. The students would still be publishing their work for others to see, but on a much larger scale.

There are many ways I would like to increase my skills with technology. First, I know very little about how to work my mp3 player. This could be a tremendously helpful, time saving thing for me to understand and use. I would also like to increase my knowledge of music programs that are available for free online. Often times, only smaller versions of the software I need are available via the internet. For instance, a great program for music classes is Super Duper Music Looper. An express version is available online, but with reduced features, including the inability to save a project.

That being said, my knowledge and use of technology is constantly growing. When I was searching for notation software online, I came across Noteflight. It is basically a music notation cloud computing program. I had completely forgotten about it until today when a student made up a melody on the keyboard. We wrote it down and entered it into the program. He had a printed, professional copy of the music he wrote before he left the classroom. These are the things I would like to do on a regular basis, involving situations and programs that I have not even thought of yet.

810 Blogging Lab- "Discussing the differences between traditional web pages and blogs."

Traditional web pages and blogs both provide information to users. They can both be searched for through any number of online search engines. One of the main differences is that blogs can be easily edited by the creator, and replied to by anyone interested. It offers a way for people to interact with other people sharing similar interests. Blogs have also become a place for amateur reporters to publish their stories. You don't need to be working for a news station or a paper, you just post. Traditional web pages may be easily maintained by the creator, but people usually are not aloud to reply or make comments. The information is there for them to take and use, but not to take part in.