Early Childhood and Technology

I have set up a twitter account for Early Childhood News.  We have 3 of our early childhood staff members on twitter.  Two of those are thanks to the training that all of Ponderosa received on Twitter and they set their accounts up during that training.  In our first newsletter we will be letting parents know about our Twitter account and asking them to follow @TSD_ECNews.  We’ll see how it goes but I am excited about the possibilities.  There are so many resources out there for staff.  Throughout the year I will continue to encourage staff to join Twitter and perhaps we can have our own #tsdec hash tag.  I have not started an EC facebook page.  I am thinking I should do that – I should start where they feel comfortable.  Tons of our staff are already on facebook.  Hmmmm…that is on my to do list for the weekend.

I wish that the middle school my daughter went to had a twitter account – I am following LEMS and it’s great knowing what is going on  I feel more connected to that school and I don’t even have any kids attending there.  Sending my daughter off to middle school was major for me – more so than the kindergarten or first grade year.  You drop them off and hope they survive – not really knowing – looking in from the outside.  I guess I should get to that SAAC or Parent Meeting and throw my ideas out on the table.  I’ll keep you posted on our Twitter progress for both EC and middle school.

Twitter…I am trying to grasp so many things on Twitter.  I get tweeting and I think I am even successfully retweeting.  But, I need help figuring out how to find others in my field.  I would love to connect with other early childhood administrators.  I sent out a tweet and had one response from a well-known early childhood expert – that was cool.  But I wanted more.  I wanted to instantly connect with others in my boat.  I am feeling pretty proud that I have figured out some tags – #ece, #earlyed, #ell but I am not sure how to exactly follow those groups.

I am going to take a risk and share my lack of knowledge and ask…how do I join a chat or maybe it is a tweet-up????  Not even sure what it is called but it seems like there are some organized conversations.  Are there times when different groups all get on twitter and have a conversation?  How do I find out who and when?  I am intrigued.

I installed FlipBoard and LOVE IT!  I use FlipBoard with my read later…now that is awesome!  But when will I find the time to “read it later”.  I have to say I absolutely LOVE all of the information.  I can feel the energy and excitement of even more research and information at my fingertips.  But…..I get overwhelmed.  I have to stop and put it away and let it sit for a day.  Sometimes there is too much.

Each day I get on twitter I learn a little more – I shall continue to connect with my tsdr2j iLead pals and continue to expand my skills.  I think I can…I think I can…I think I can.

I am pondering the idea of switching over to a cheap cell phone with no data and just using my new iPad for mail, internet, etc…  I pay 40.00/month for the data plan with Verizon for my  Blackberry.  With my  iPad I can get unlimited internet access for less than what I pay for my phone data plan.  Unless I am traveling, I can access free wi-fi most of the time so I may not even need to pay the monthly fee.  Hmmmmm…..

Has anyone else done this?  Is  this a crazy idea?

Technology…technology…technology

I am crashing the iLead cohort in order to learn all I can about technology.  I am not one of the 15 members that will receive a new iPad from the district but, thanks to my wonderful husband – I got one for my birthday!  So, I am all set and ready to learn all I can.

I have already started a blog for EC and I am hoping to use that blog to share information with others in our district about what is going on the world of early childhood.  This blog will be  a space for me to reflect on technology and early childhood – both my own learning and that of the staff in our EC program.  I will use this Early Childhood and Technology blog to share my reflections as I make this journey with the other iLead members.  My goals for the year…post to my blogs once/week and learn the ins and outs of blogging, learn about and use tools and apps that will help me increase productivity and organization, work with ec teachers to implement new technology in EC classrooms, and learn how to use social media to network with other professionals.

Looking forward to a great year of learning!

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