Thursday, December 6, 2012

The reflection of the blogging experience

1.    Describe how you used the course blog.
2.    What has your experience been with the course blog?
o    What about this experience stands out for you?
o    Did anything in particular or anyone connected with the experience stand out for you?
o    What were the advantages/disadvantages to using this over a more traditional journaling activity?
3.    What feelings were generated by the experience?
4.    What thoughts stand out for you?
5.    Are you aware of any changes in thinking while using the course blog?
o    How were your personal values and assumptions influenced?
o    Did the blog enhance reflection, if so how?
6.    What did you like about the blogging experience?
7.    What was challenging for you about the blogging experience.
8.    If you could make some suggestions about using the blog in a future course, what would you suggest?
9.    Have you shared everything that is significant with reference to the experience?If not, what would you add?

1)       I used the course blog to post my thoughts and reflections about our class progression and reflection of my counseling skills.  Most importantly, I used the blog to get ideas from other counselors.  It was helpful to see how they felt about topics we all face as well.
2)      I had never created a blog before.  It is always helpful as an educator to learn new ways to communicate in the ever changing world of technology.  I like using the blog over traditional journaling because it is easier to type than write.  It is easier to share with others than trying to pass around a journal.  My students are more likely to blog than keep a journal.
3+4) I enjoyed learning how to create a blog.  Also, it is very effective to share ideas and feelings with classmates.
5)  The blog really enhanced my tech skills.  The blog was essential in reflection because it made it very easy to share our thoughts and feelings with other classmates. 
6)  As stated before, I liked the ease at which I could share ideas and reflections with classmates.
7)  I had never created a blog before, so the technology part was the main hurdle.  Since, we created it in class guided by our professor it was relatively simple.
8)  I would make it so that I had access to every student’s blog.  When we created the blogs I only added 5 other students instead of the whole class.
9)  I think I have shared the full experience of the blog when I answered my other questions.

Week 11 Cyberbullying

I wish that people had to be at least 18 to have a social media account.  You would not believe the amount of problems that originate from social media sites at our school everyday.  Cyberbullying  has longer lasting effects than physical bullying.  A site we have found to be very helpful at our schools is
http://makeadifferenceforkids.org/index.php?id=69

Cyberbullying is just an example of how even though technology is great, counselors have to stay on top of it to deal with students who are using it.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Ice Breaker

My icebreaker I used in class was to pass around a majic wand and say what you would change about your life if it really worked.  I use this with kids because you can really find out what they think is their biggest problem this way.  Hope you guys will be able to use it with your students as well!