Missing some pieces.....

I've made the mistake of trying to prepare too many presentations at one time....yet another sign that I'm not ready to leave full time teaching and become an Ed Tech Consultant :-)

I am missing some pieces for my Missouri District Professional Church Workers Conference in November. My sectional is about defining a professional learning network (PLN) and all the stuff that goes with that.  The only problem is, I've dabbled in a TON of tools, but don't feel a specific expertise on any of them. That's not to say that I don't learn a lot on a daily basis, but there have got to be some better ways of doing things. There are pieces about Twitter that I'm sure would make my life easier! My Diigo account is going by the wayside untouched for a lack of understanding, and I am no where near ready to adventure into Plurk or any of the other microblogging sites (besides Twitter of course).  So this is an open invitation to any experts who would be willing to spare a half hour to walk me through their favorite PLN tools  or hold my hand through the more advanced features of the tools below.

Below are some sites I feel pretty comfortable with, but would like to know more about:

• Ning--I have a decent handle on Social Networking, although if you are an admin, I'd love some pointers! Technology in Lutheran Schools Ning--just in case any one's interested
• Delicious--Feel comfortable with social bookmarking, don't have people jumping out of the wood work to share links with me, but I try to help others out when I can. By the way, feel free to tag me in on any bookmarks.
• Twitter--I've been using Twitter more and more. Just would like to see if I'm missing something?

I'd love to have someone sit down (or SKYPE in) with me and go through apps like Diigo, PageFlakes, or anything I haven't mentioned. 

If no one comments back or had time....I completely understand! I just want to fill the wholes in my knowledge before I stand up in front of a group of educators and explain why they should take a risk to collaborate online. I can only say it has been one of the most rewarding thing I've ever done!

If you interested in how my sectional prep is going, feel free to check out the wiki.

Image by:
Woody Thrower, "Puzzle pieces." Woody Thrower's photo stream. 06, Sept 2008. FLICKR. 15 Sep 2008 .

px; color: #333; font-family: verdana" align=right>Technorati Tags: href="http://technorati.com/tag/pln" rel="tag">pln href="http://technorati.com/tag/tools" rel="tag">tools

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Shine!

As someone who used to love working out and exercising (Lettered Varsity football my freshman year at Denver Lutheran High School...Go Lights!), it is becoming increasingly harder to force myself to get up and get moving. The next best thing is taking my dog Sadie for an evening stroll. Thus the reason for this blog post!

While taking a brisk school night stroll, I noticed the hazy sky shining only a few evening lights. That struck me as a bit odd. Why when I looked at the sky, could I see such few stars. For some odd reason, this prompted me to think about my professional learning network. When I sit back and critically analyze who is part of my PLN, there are only a few bright lights shining, dominating my "night sky". I loved living in Denver (haven't been back in years though), where I could drive for just a short time and see what seemed like millions of stars. While I am impressed at the brightness of the few stars that are able to cut through the city lights, there is real beauty and joy in the multitude.

This post isn't meant to demean any of those folks who I consider a vital part of my PLN (Dave Black, Dennis Grice, Lisa Durff, to name only a few. There are a host of contacts in Twitter, and on SKYPE who are also critical to my learning). I've just noticed that my RSS feed is filled with "the few, the proud" and the"rock stars" of Ed Tech-dom: Dave Warlick, Wes Fryer, Wil Richardson, Vicki Davis, etc.

I guess I'm looking for more variety, if not more variety, then more voices (Especially around Presidential campaign time. I tend not to share similar political views with many of my colleagues).

If anything, I'd like to be able to share more and have deeper conversations. I love reading Dave Warlick, but he's not likely to comment on my blog. Maybe I should dive more into our Technology in Lutheran Schools Ning.

Flickr image:
greefus groinks, "The north star goes wobbly." greefus groinks photostream. 11 Jul 2007. FLICKR. 27 Aug 2008 .

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A Little Fun...At Least Before School Starts!

Got this from a colleague and wanted to try it out! If you click on the video it should allow you to create your own! I know it's a bit narcasistic, but it is kind of funny.

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