Schoology - your go to learning management system?

As a teacher who travels between buildings in my district, I found the multiple calendars, grade books, and large stacks of papers to be overwhelming and an organizational nightmare.  At first, my solution was to spend specific days at each building to complete the work I needed to do and hope that everything would work out in my schedule.  This solution worked at first, but managing an additional calendar and schedule proved to be another organizational nightmare in itself.

I was looking for a solution to all of my organization problems.  I was looking for a way to incorporate technology that was not overbearing and easy to use at the beginning of a semester, in this case, spring semester.  I observed my students grow tired of the multiple emerging technologies I introduced to them throughout the fall semester and did not want students to develop a disdain for this new technology that I planned on incorporating into my classrooms.  I felt this technology was going to be extremely beneficial for managing my classes and it would offer an opportunity for students to collaboratively learn outside the classroom walls.

Enter Schoology.  This learning management system was a program I tooled around with over Christmas break with the intentions of integrating it into the classroom during the spring semester.  I have used Moodle and thought about using Edmodo as my learning management system for the remainder of the school year, but settled on Schoology after speaking with our technology director and learning more about Schoology through online tutorials and introduction videos.

Schoology provides a collaborative learning platform that combines course content and classroom management capabilities, all while coming with the communal features of a social networking site.  I saw using Schoology as an excellent opportunity to improve student engagement in my classroom.  I noticed Schoology touted that it worked well with third party technology programs such as Google Docs, ExamView, and Khan Academy which was another selling point in my selection process.

Other features that make Schoology an excellent learning management system are that is cloud-based, it is safe and private, allows for a teacher-student-parent collaborative learning environment, it did not require extra software, equipment, or maintenance, and Schoology offers an excellent support and feedback system that listens to their customers' needs.  I have used the feedback feature a couple times during the implementation period of using Schoology and was extremely pleased that Schoology applied some of my suggestions to make the program work better.  It was great!

If you are interested in learning more about Schoology, you can take a look at the introduction screencast I created.  It offers a very brief introduction to the website and the capabilities of this excellent learning management system.  I plan to do a series of videos to show how teachers can do specific things within the program.  However, I feel any teachers who are willing to learn something new and want to truly reduce the clutter and be more efficient in their instruction will find the program to be intuitive and easy to use.

Thanks for stopping by -- please e-mail me at youngert@uni.edu or tjyoungers@gmail.com if you have any questions about implementing Schoology into your classroom!

A little reflection -- blogosphere!

Once a person spends time following blogs and combing through material upon material, it isn't surprising that hours have passed.  I found myself glued to the several types of blogs that I was following as there is so much content to look at from the blogs I spoke about in my last post.

In order to give you a brief look at what these blogs are about, I will share my reviews, below.

(A quick side note, I noticed I follow all male bloggers, which was entirely by coincidence and may incidentally carry a biased viewpoint of the education scene... I am open to suggestions for female bloggers to follow!)


Dr. Z Reflects: http://drzreflects.blogspot.com/

- I find this blog to be an extremely useful tool in learning more about emerging technologies from an instructor's viewpoint.  I view this blog as a supplemental item in the vast array of resources provided in his course, but I also see the blog as a way to create a dialogue that can be initiated through the use of questions at the end of each blog.  I plan to check back often as I think Dr. Z has a lot of important information to share!  (Edit: 6/19/12 -- I also like the RAGBRAI posts infused in this blog -- I wish I could ride the whole week this year, but alas, will have to check into @zeitz for Twitter updates.)

David Warlick - 2 cents worth: http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/

- I was introduced to Mr. Warlick at the TICL 2011 conference in Storm Lake, Iowa last summer.  His keynote address was excellent and provided a chance to meet someone who really set the bar high for technology integration.  I will ll admit, I was extremely overwhelmed by the amount of information he provided during his time at TICL, and felt a little technologically-challenged as I barely knew what a tweet was coming into the conference.  Since the conference, I have checked back into his blog quite frequently and I receive new updates via Twitter when he has new blog posts.  A big thing I enjoyed learning about (and count to enjoy learning about) is Mr. Warlick's ideas from his book "A Gardener's Approach to Learning."  I have not purchased the book, maybe I'll request it for my upcoming birthday, but I review the notes I took during his breakout sessions from the conference.  This blog is a good one and will continue to be a source of information for me and hopefully my followers.

Joe Bower - for the love of learning: http://www.joebower.org/

- Joe Bower came onto my radar after many discussions of education reform in my mentoring meetings during this past school year.  First, I had no idea who Joe Bower was and probably never would have known about him if I had not looked up Rick Wormeli on YouTube and began watching his videos and following him on Twitter.  Through Twitter is where I met Joe Bower.  Mr. Bower's blog is not for the cut and dry, play it by the book, sit in your chair and let me share my knowledge, educators.  He's a reformer with a unique approach to our education system.  I have enjoyed quite a bit of Joe's work, but particularly enjoyed this blog -- "Here's What Really Happens When You Give A Zero."  His approach may not be mainstream, and may be hard to accept; but it does a great job of keeping the education reform discussion going.  It is clear that our education system needs fixing.


I have enjoyed my time looking at blogs and will continue to do so beyond this class.  I hope you took interest in the brief review of the three blogs I followed this past week.  If you have any suggestions as to which blogs I should follow please drop me a comment in the space below.  Now onto organizing all of my followed blogs onto ONE blogger account...

And so we begin...

Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life.  A chance to use my love of technology to further my education in a program that is extremely exciting.  I have enrolled, albeit a little delayed, in my first two classes of the Instructional Technology (MA) program at the University of Northern Iowa.  Go Panthers!


The journey will be long, but enlightening, engaging, and even challenging.  I expect many bumps along the road, and may lose many hours of sleep, but I excited to start this new learning opportunity.  The thought of learning and being able to use numerous types of emerging technologies is going to be excellent!  I love using technology, I love learning about new technology, and I love the idea of being able to improve my teaching craft through the learning that is going to take place in this course.

A couple new (and old) things to start me off... 

A new thing I have learned about is using Adobe Connect.  The first week of class I was unable to get connected with Adobe Connect, which was unfortunate, but after having been a part of this week's Adobe Connect, I can see the benefits of using this tool in an online learning community.  I like the basic platform of Adobe Connect and the capabilities of it.  I look forward to using it for the remainder of these courses and might consider using it in a future classroom, if applicable. 

As a requirement for our class, Dr. Z (@zeitz), asked us to begin using Twitter.  I must say, I have used Twitter quite exclusively (mainly for observing and learning new things) over the course of this past school year, and I wholeheartedly believe in its power as a learning tool.  However, I do not feel like I tweet enough to justify having followers!  My goal over the course of this summer and over the next school year are to tweet more about topics that will benefit my followers.  Also, I can see the power of retweeting information in order to keep an archive of what I have learned about.  I will keep the power of retweeting in mind as I continue to comb through my tweets. 

Blogs, blogs, and more blogs... 

Throughout our course, Dr. Zeitz has also asked us to begin following blogs as another source of learning material.  In the past, I blogged for a short time in a college course (evidence, below, which I plan to delete...) and this past school year have begun following blogs after attending the T.I.C.L 2011 conference and hearing the keynote address by David Warlick.  I was fascinated by the amount of information provided in his address, but also on his blog.  After that conference, I took weekly visits to his blog and continue to follow his blog, today.  

Mr. Warlick's blog was not the only person I wanted to gather new knowledge from during my time in the blogosphere.  I wanted to expand upon the number of blogs I was following as there is a plethora of information out there to learn about!  Have a look, below, at the blogs I am following, and  be sure that you follow this blog MrYtheTechnologyGuy as it will be updated and changed throughout the course of the summer as I learn new things, but also as a tool to be used my students to see the virtual side of Mr. Youngers this coming school year.  Stay tuned for more blogging! 

Blogs I'm following: 
http://drzreflects.blogspot.com/

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/ 
http://www.joebower.org/ 




You, too, can follow all of these bloggers on Twitter.   @zeitz, @warlick, @joe_bower

A.G. Whitney home

The A.G. Whitney home

Alice Whitney promoted values of civil advocacy, philanthropy, education and social awareness. These values shaped the foundation of Alice Whitney’s character and the home her family lived in – the A.G. Whitney home. The structure of the home is built with physical materials, but the principles in which Alice Whitney lived by are not. Alice lived her life pursuing efforts that made her one of the most respected and well-known individuals in the St. Cloud area during her lifetime. Mrs. Whitney hosted many guests, from the disenfranchised African-American performers Marian Anderson and Roland Hayes, to the most influential first lady of the era – Eleanor Roosevelt. The impact of Mrs. Whitney’s hospitality resonates through the walls of the A.G. Whitney home and left a lasting impression on her character to central Minnesota.

The A.G. Whitney home is an impressive structure. The beautiful brick exterior presents the colonial-style architecture of the home. The exterior bricks are built of hollow tile veneered with Oriental autumn leaf brick. Shuttered windows surround the external walls of the home, meanwhile a small classical portico with columns and entablature detail the entrance of the Whitney residence. The colonial design of the A.G. Whitney home resembles the Georgian mansions of Tidewater, Virginia – the Georgian Revival style. The house covers a surface area of 80 by 57 feet and was worth $30,000 in that time period. As a guest would enter through the front door of the A.G. Whitney home, inside they would find high ceilings, a large staircase for family members and guests and many large walls. These old, mansion walls have stories to tell.

Stories begin with the guests that stayed at the A.G. Whitney house while they were performing in the St. Cloud area, promoting a cause or simply looking for a place to stay for the evening. Mrs. Whitney was a hospitable woman who did not let prejudices and racial stereotypes waiver her welcoming spirit. The African-American vocal performers, Marian Anderson and Roland Hayes were the first famous guests to stay at the A.G. Whitney home. Both individuals were not allowed to stay at any of the hotels in St. Cloud during the time period due to their ethnicity. Consequently, Mrs. Whitney learned of their denial from the local hotels and offered up her home to the performers. While many criticized her actions for supporting racial integration, Alice paid them no mind. She judged people by the content of their character and not by what skin color they were. She welcomed each guest with open arms and made sure their stay in St. Cloud,Minnesota, was exceptional.

Marian Anderson and Roland Hayes were well known vocal performers of the time period and guests to the A.G. Whitney home; however, they were not the only famous people to stay at the house. Another prominent and inspiring visitor to the A.G. Whitney home was Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor visited St. Cloud, Minnesota, to promote education and stayed at the A.G. Whitney residence. Eleanor and Alice had similar interests; they both had a vision for strong, quality education. Like Eleanor, Mrs. Whitney was involved in many clubs, societies and causes which promoted civil advocacy, philanthropy, education and social awareness. On the national level, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was a strong advocate for human rights and promoted her causes through public awareness and philanthropic efforts. The striking resemblance between these two strong woman figures of this time is remarkable. Both women had a strong willpower and were driven to make a difference throughout their lives.

As I toured the A.G. Whitney home, I tried to imagine the dialogue between Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and Mrs. Alice Whitney. This beautiful home in central Minnesota hosted two powerful women of the time period who shared similar interests in civil advocacy, philanthropy, education and social awareness. Each woman had a great vision for a better nation and most likely shared that vision with each other during their time together. When I stepped foot on the front steps of the entrance to the A.G. Whitney home, I was caught in a historical moment. I closed my eyes to picture the very steps that First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt once stood on – the thought of sharing steps with one of the most influential woman in history was empowering. Eleanor Roosevelt was a model citizen with strong character. She fostered ideas that were essential to living a life of dignity and respect. During the time period, many people believed in her as much as she believed in herself and the causes she promoted.

The A.G. Whitney home was structured on the strong personal values of Mrs. Whitney and her family. Although the magnificent architecture established the A.G. Whitney residence as one of the most beautiful places in St. Cloud at the time, the external beauty does not resonate as well as the old walls of the home. The old walls have stories to tell of popular guests, social awareness and racial tolerance. Mrs. Whitney was always interested in civic and church affairs and put her heart and soul into each cause. Alice believed in the city and people of St. Cloud and gave her loyalty and devoted service to the city through her philanthropic efforts. Mrs. Whitney possessed an amazing vigor in her personality which is hard to emulate. The A.G. Whitney home stands today because of the strong material foundation that supported it over the years; Mrs. Whitney remains a legacy today for the principles she promoted and followed throughout her life.

Personal Narrative Revisited

The tree house sits atop the large willow tree in the backyard. When the tree was full grown and healthy, its branches would hang to the ground and cover a vast area in the southwest corner of my large backyard. Once the tree house was built, it slowly started to weaken the vibrant tree. Soon thereafter, the tree house depreciated as the tree lost its strength. This tree house was one memorable aspect of my childhood, a place to have fun away from everyone else – a secret place.

My childhood consisted of much more than the secret place. It was filled with many adventures, which took place on the family farm in rural Iowa. I loved the farm life. I helped my Dad with chores, I enjoyed the freedom the farm offered, I enjoyed the activities played with my brother and sisters and I enjoyed the opportunity to learn from the outdoors – not in front of the television. I spent a majority of my childhood in the large green space in my backyard. I would consider this space my power spot. This power spot was a special place where everyone would gather to play sports and have a good time.

The large backyard provided expansive recreation area. Each side of the ‘playing field’ consisted of giant ash trees. These trees lined the field and took on the role of out of bounds lines if the game required them. Most of the time, my large backyard was used for games of football, softball or baseball. More frequently, softball and baseball were played. My sisters and I spent hours on the field working on our games: fielding, base-running, pitching and batting. We helped each other become better ball players and continue to love the game today. I recognize the large backyard as the power spot, but it was also my favorite place. Without the many pick-up baseball and softball games or the competitive touch football matches on crisp, autumn days, this place would not be my favorite. A favorite place is considered the enjoyable and stress relieving location – my huge backyard was that location.

The hog buildings on the farm offered a different perspective of farm life. Often times, I helped my Dad with farm chores. My duties consisted of feeding the sows in the gestation buildings, looking for new baby piglets and helping Dad with the breeding process. While it sounds like mundane work, it was never a dull moment and was always something different every day. The best part about being a farmer with my Dad was that he let me work alongside him. He knows farming is hard-work and he taught me the importance of it at a young age. Ever since my days on the farm, I have always fostered the idea of hard-work in anything that I am involved in, from schoolwork to sports to music. With the hard-work that depicted the hog buildings, there was also danger and this was considered the danger spot on the farm. Being around large animals and working close to manure pits was dangerous. My Dad kept a close eye on me while I helped him outside and never let me be in a building by myself until I was older. Regardless of the depiction as the danger spot on the farm, the hog buildings also symbolize the successfulness of the farm. When every integral part of the hog building is running smoothly, then the farm is successful.

Lastly, my farm had a place where something happened. This location was the machine shed. Year round farm machinery is used for a variety of tasks. During planting season, the tractors and implements are used to plant the crop and apply fertilizer to the fields. At harvest time, the combine collects the grain then the truck hauls the grain to the grain elevator or the holding bins. Regularly, the machine shed was used to repair or maintenance equipment. Throughout the year, my Dad spent a great deal of time in the machine shed repairing anything from cars to tractors. He also did a lot of welding and woodworking projects in the machine shed. I consider this location to be the place where something happened because it is an accurate illustration. I, also, spent many hours in the machine shed working on random projects or helping my father. I see the machine shed as the epitome of hard-work. A hard-working individual toils in the machine shed to make sure all of the equipment used on the farm is in proper working order.

When a person reflects on a personal experience or special location in their life, it easily becomes a topic of many words. When I reminisced about my family farm in a personal narrative, I found it very nostalgic as I thought of the many things I did on my farm and what each place meant to me. Without the large green space in my backyard, the tree house, the hog buildings or the machine shed, my farm life would not be the same. These locations helped shape my childhood as each place had a different impact on my life. I vividly recall the ‘secret’ tree house in the corner of my backyard. It provided a place to have fun away from everyone else. Although the structure remained standing for a short while, the memories of the tree house and the other places on the farm will remain standing for a lifetime.

Persuasive Essay: Volunteering

Volunteering is a fulfilling experience. Many people do not take the opportunity to pursue volunteer pursuits for a variety of reasons. In fact, for most people, it is a time-consuming endeavor. Personally, I began my volunteer experience while I was a high school student as a reading tutor for elementary students. Ever since that first volunteering experience, I pursued any volunteer opportunity available to me – from helping Somalian students with homework to being a Big Brother to a fourth grade student. So why should we volunteer? Why should we involve ourselves in an experience that does not have any financial value, is time-consuming and the motives are generally negative and wrong? The answer is clear: We should volunteer to support the general welfare of our communities and world.

First, we should volunteer so we can garner the benefits through community involvement. Volunteering is not just a fulfilling experience - it is a chance for an individual to be a part of their community. Community involvement is a great way to build a resume and volunteer positions can be a great form of on-the-job training. Many skills can be obtained through the wide variety of volunteer opportunities available. Another positive to volunteering is the chance to learn about the diverse communities in our society. Tolerance is bred through understanding. When we understand the different cultures in the communities around us, then we are able to accept the differences between us. Also, a volunteer can bring their personal skills and enthusiasm to community sites, which in turn will positively impact other lives, as well as their own. However, some communities do not offer the unique diversity setting as a volunteering option; therefore a person must look to other positive qualities to volunteering.

Another positive of volunteer work is the enhancement of education and development of a career network. One of the best ways to learn is through experience; as a result, volunteering is a great way to enhance skills. There is no better way to gain knowledge than to work at an organization hand-picked to fit personal needs and interests. Many educational experiences cannot be taught in a classroom. Additionally, a career network can be established through volunteering. Networking is an incredibly important part of searching for jobs and building careers. Community involvement is one of the best ways to make connections and foster relationships that do just that. Not only will a network be formed, many people who volunteer at an organization are offered permanent positions. If the volunteer is a student who recently graduated from college, this is an excellent way to start a career. However, if the lack of pay is a drawback; consider one more thing – variety.

The variety of volunteer opportunities is endless. Volunteering can range from reading to non-English speaking children to building houses for the poor and disenfranchised. Natural disasters create many volunteer experiences in which an individual can travel to remote locations in order to clean up after a disaster, meanwhile creating relationships with a variety of people. Long-lasting friendships are created through volunteering because each person values their rewarding work. Volunteers are surrounded with like-minded people and see the positive change they are making on their society and world. Although volunteering is not a paid position; it is evident that many life skills are gained from volunteering which wealth cannot provide.

Yes, work without pay can be a hard thing to do. However, the experiences gained from volunteering should off-set that disadvantage. From community involvement to development of a career network, it is clear that volunteering is a fulfilling experience. Creating long-lasting friendships, traveling to remote locations and seeing the fruits of your labor are additional reasons why volunteering is something to consider. The volunteer opportunites are endless as long as the personal motives are positive and good. As Mahatma Gandhi said: "Be the change you want to see in the world” – be that change.

Writing Process

My writing process is that of a fine wine, it gets better with age.

The unity, clarity and depth of my writing have improved each year. When I was little, I started with a main idea and used that idea to create a story. Often times, my stories would contain a lot of words, but not a sense of clarity or cohesiveness. My tendency was to ramble on about many different ideas that pertained to the main idea; however, my writing barely scratched the surface on successfully conveying the main idea to my audience. As I grew older, the main idea became clearer, but still needed work.

I view my writing process through this metaphor because it paints an accurate picture of my “writing journey”. Looking back at previous writing endeavors through free time and for class, I can see my writing becoming better with age. My writing journey evolved from a style of poor mechanics and incoherent sentence forming to a style that thrives because the efficiency of my writing is apparent and the mechanics are improved. However, my journey has just begun. Writers begin their campaigns at different stages. Some writers are naturally gifted, while others need time and practice to perfect their craft. I see my craft taking shape and getting better every day; much like a fine wine gets better with age.