01 Dec 08: No class today... HURRAY!!!! Another Day off... On this day I worked on my presentation... Boring work after everything was said and done... I had more fun giving my class on 24 Nov 08. I still look back on that day and I was proud of myself. When I told my wife my experience on that day, all she said to me was keep it up. The job of a teacher is one of self satisfaction...

24 Nov 08: We got together for our class. Professor discussed her expectations for our final presentation and she allowed us to work on our blogs. Then she kicked us out... Hurray !!!

24 Nov 08: Today I gave my demonstration class to students from the 10th of Esc. Sup. Adolfina Irrizary de Puig. WOW, what an experience.

For my 1st group, Mrs Carrasquillo, wanted me to present the parts of a PLOT as they refer to a Short Story. The students were a bit loud and somewhat lacking of discipline. They believed that just because I was there they could get away with whatever they wanted. I stood up and waited until they became quiet. Mrs Carrasquillo, asked her students to please quiet down so I could present my class... I introduced myself and gave them a bit of my background. At the begining they started with the excuse of not knowing a lot of English, so I went ahead and asked them a couple of questions and I explained to them that we, puertoricans, are lucky because we grow up in a bilingual environment.. "Believe it or not". I went ahead and as I presented the material, I translated into Spanish so no one would stay behind. It worked, because I then turned the class into an interactive one. I got them to cooperate, answer questions and even ask questions. I noticed that this group was still hesitant towards me, but that is understandable... A person that they are not use to showed up to teach them a class...

For my 2nd group, which according to Mrs Carrasquillo was her academically difficult group, it started basically the same way as the 1st group. I waited until all students sat down and were ready to pay attention. I introduced myself as a Univ. of Puerto Rico student as I did with the previous class. I opened my class asking, How many of them could speak English? Two students advised me that they understood without a problem. One student came with the excuse that he did not know English, so it would be difficult for him to understand the class. I went ahead and asked him if he goes to the movie theaters and he responded that he did. I asked him if he could understand what was being spoken while he watched the movie and if he attempted to figure out what was being said based on what he heard with what was happening. He responded that yes, he would understand what the actors were saying based on what was happening. At this point in time I told him... "you are bilingual, either you believe it or not". I asked him if he knew what the word parking meant and he knew. I also asked him about the words Doctor, Hospital, Jeep and Toyota. He responded that those words are in Spanish and I told him that yes those words are from Spanish but the only difference was the pronounciation between English and Spanish. From this point on, the student did not disrupt the class. Actually, he was one of the students that was participating the most and did not have a problem understanding me. This 2nd group was a lot more outgoing than the first one. I told them that in this type of classroom setting, I prefer an interactive class vice a conference type class. After everything was set and done, Mrs Carrasquillo stated my class was a success. She could not believe how outgoing her students were in the 2nd group.

17 Nov 08: Today we talked about the new changes Prof. Pacheco has made to our course blogger (http://teed3018.wetpaint.com/).

I also discussed with Prof the setting I will be working with. She stated that it takes a lot of planing but that it is do-able.

12 Nov 08: I went to Esc. Sup. Adolfina Irrizary de Puig and I finished all computers. I had to re-format 2 computers and install some software. Mrs. Carrasquillo was extremely grateful. I told her that the honor was mine, because she allowed me to set up her classroom and ensure that her students had a working computer laboratory to use for her English class.

For my demonstration class, Mrs. Carrasquillo wants me to present a new skill set: Poetry. She wants me to go over the basic elements of a Poem, give her students the definition of each element and an example.

I advised her that it would be fine. I explained to her that since none of the computers are networked and they do not have internet access that I would have to improvise a bit to get everybody involved.

I advised her for this to work, I will have to come in early on the 24 of November and install certian applications to each computer and have the students have the experience to lauch, execute and install software onto the computers. Then they will follow me through a Power Point presentation while using Open Document software...

10 Nov 08: The Prof. sent us an E-Mail stating that we would not have to go to class today but that the wanted us to perform an evaluation of changes she had done to her classes pages.

05 Nov 08: Today I went to Escuela Superior Adolfina Irrizary de Puig. Mrs Carrasquillo had forgotten that I was going to show up on this date to install as many computers as possible for her students to have access to them. Lucky for me there were not many students because the transportation providers or school bus drivers were on strike and the number of students present was less than 5 per room.

To give you a good idea of what I was dealing with... There were 25 computers, 1 server and 24 workstations, delivered to Mrs Carrasquillo class room approximately 2 years ago. The people who delivered the computers just put the computers inside the room and left. When I showed up there were still 20 computers inside the box with only a few of them fully out of their box and working correctly. I went ahead and positioned every computer in their respective desk and attached the monitor, mouse, keyboard and plugged the monitor and CPU to their respective UPS. I was able to identify 2 computers that have bad video cards and was unable to fix them. I also had to re-format 4 computers. I left the class room at 3:00 pm and all of the computers were up and running with the exception of the 2 with bad video. They are not networked because the contractor that was supposed to connect them as a network did not perform their task because the computers were not on top of the desks and out of the boxes.

After my day of work, Mrs Carrasquillo told me that she will call the contractor and let them know that the computers are now on top of the desks and ready to be networked.

03 Nov 08: Today we did not have class because of being declaired an academic recess.

27 Oct 08: Prof. wanted to talk to us about a letter from a Prof from Mayaguez. The correspondence was concerning the posibility of instituting was is known as Virtual Classes. A discussion of the posibility of having this available at Univ of PR by 2015 came up and all of us gave her our opinions. I for one explained that I have nothing against a Virtual Class but I really get more out of a conventional course. I explained to the class I had experience Distance Learning and although it was a great experience I did not enjoy that type of learning experience. I heard other classmates express different opinions. Prof. also asked us about Home-Schooling and again, everybody had different opinions.

At the end of the class I assisted some of my classmates with their excel homework.

24 Oct 08: I went to visit the school I want to do my One-Day-Teaching project on. WOW, the Principal Mrs Perez was great.

I introduced my self and explained to her the purpose of my visit, she understood and no objections. She asked me which grade I preferred and I adviced her that I had no preferance, so she decided that I would be with Mrs Carrasquillo, the 10th grade English teacher.

I guess I caught her in a good mood, it was Parent-Teacher day, the students were getting their mid-term grades. It was great to she her, Mrs Perez in action, I experienced how she would stop every parent and asked them if they stopped by the table to get their letter concerning the law that talked about "No Child Left Behind". But what surprised me the most was the way she would speak to the parents.

I met Mrs Carrasquillo and explained to her my visit and she agreed to allow me to interact with her class. Now what surprised was that I saw a lot of computer equipment boxes that were unopened. Through our casual conversation she, Mrs Carrasquillo, explained to me that all of this equipment had been there for the last two years and nothing was ever installed. So, I asked her if she had any objections if I assisted her in installing the 15 plus computers that were still in boxes and she had no objections. It was agreed that I would go by the school on the 5th of November.

20 Oct 2008: Today we talked about our blogs. Prof talked about main points concerning the course and what does it mean when she says Technology Standards. Also mentioned about the Internet Resources available for Staff and Students. Prof. read and explained to us what is expected from her and from us, the students. She briefly explained the existing differences between Generation X, Y & Net. We worked on our Spreadsheet... Actually she assisted me in finishing my Grade Book with the final touches... WOW that was so easy, once I saw the if and then conditions my mind clicked and I remembered how to do it.

13 Oct 2008: Today was a holiday, Columbus Day... Took the day off, no work.

06 Oct 08

This is a test by using Microsoft Word 2007.

06 Oct 08: Today will be a fun day !!!

Today we talked about our responsability towards the class... we looked at the course curriculum. We also went into Second Life and did a little navigating. We were assigned homework:

1. Create a register of grades
a. 15 students minimum
b. 10 grades - all grades need to be different
c. Average per student
d. Average per test
e. Highest Grade per test
f. Lowest Grade per test
g. Equivalent Letter Grade per test score (i.e. A, B, C, D or F)
h. Upload to Course Wiki

We attempted something new, we we able to post a blog entry by using Microsoft Word 2007. Wow that was so easy to do... I will have to install Office 2007 when my new computer arrives.

29 Sep 08: Interesting class... Prof gave us an ear-full on what we should be doing. She commented on finding out what the applications Audacity, Camstudio and Delicious can do for us as future teachers.

Paloma gave us a quick presentation on Google Finance & Google Earth. Google Finance was interesting for those of us who like see how the U.S. market is doing but more interesting how much our U.S. dollar is worth in contrast to other monetary systems in the world. Actually, this site was very nice to know it existed because we could all keep an eye on our monetary value... Google Earth, is one of those applications that I already knew about because of my job with the U.S. Coast Guard as a Search and Rescue Controller or Assest Management Director, as known in the civilian world.

Professor Pacheco talked about wetpaint.com and the usefullness of this site. She directed us to take a good look at certain sites like wetpaint.com and look into Education sub-sites. She also talked to us about using wikis in the classroom and how we all could learn now as students and later as teachers from our students just by simply reading these wikis. She made us go and look at Activo.blogspot.com and tell her how we felt about it. And last but not least she asked us to look for a video concerning out topic... topic that we would like to teach on our school project.

22 Sep 08: Today it was an interesting day... Prof. Pacheco forgot the keys to open our classroom... So, she decided to give us a 45-60 min class while we were sitting down on the stairs... Kind of interesting our classroom setup and surroundings... I liked it only because there was a cool breeze.

Prof Pacheco talked to us about the requirements of the course and how she expected all of us to meet those requirements. She talked about how we needed to start thinking about our subject for the class she is requiring us to give and then present our experiences to our classmates. She expressed that we needed to make sure that we had a Webquest, Wiki and Blog of all the information we will be presenting the students.

Prof Pacheco talked to us about Delicious.com and other tools that we have available for our class (i.e. Audacity, Pod Casting, Web 2.0 & Camstudio). She left us with a challenge... How can we better a classroom by looking for alternatives and strategies while integrating technology. She also wants us to teach her how to use these tools not the other way around.

15 Sep 08: On this date we went to Zunal.com and created our accounts... Very interesting on how we continue to find tools or applications in the internet that can be used to publish, interact and perform any type of research on any type of platform or environment. The thing that impressed me the most about Zunal.com is how they make it so easy for you to do your job and create a product that your peers or the audience you are trying to attract is familiar with and easy to follow. The format is already set or standardized for you, the publisher or creator. All you do is basically fill in the blanks... Extremely easy to use, as long as you have done your research and are ready to work.

We also looked into Delicious.com, a bookmark web-site... Everything you might imagine, you will find it there. This can make not only your life but those whom you are trying to educate, life a lot more easier... at least in the research side of the job... :) (less work more play)

08 Sep 08: Today Prof. Pacheco had me talk about my experience while I was signed-on 2nd Life on the 1st of Sep. Prof Pacheco wanted to say honestly what I thought about the program since I would be giving the view of a perfrom from a different era than the rest of my classmates.

I stated that my initial feeling was not only inmature but negative about the program because I believe that it would be a waste of my time trying out this game; OH, but was I wrong. I got to meet 2 people while I was navigating through the program. The 1st person was from UPR Humacao campus. We exchange a couple of initial greetings and words and come to find out that she was there also as part of one of her classes with other classmates. How interesting, just like me!!! The 2nd person I met was from Spain, he was assisting or educating others on how to use the program. He advised me at one point of a better way of doing what I was trying to accomplish, which was navigating through the 2nd Life Tutorial and I took his advise.

After experiencing that, I once again realized that this application brings a lot of pros and cons to the table. It can be a barrier breaker for those people who are not comfortable around other people. It can assist them in meeting and talking to other people breaking whatever cultural, social and economic barrier may exist. It can give a chance to those whom for whatever reason have isolated them selves from society to slowly re-instate themselves at their own pace. And, last but not least, it can be used as a meeting place like a chat room. Now let us be warned, like any other chat room or meeting place in the internet, this can also be a very dangerous tool in the wrong hands.

01 Sep 08: Today I signed-on as requested by Prof. Pacheco to Second Life. It was an experience, although my internet connection was slow, I was able to look around and then we went to a landmark with a tutorial to follow. In that landmark, while looking around and becoming familiar with the application, a met a couple of people from Univ. of PR, Humacao Campus. Also, met a person from Spain, whom was pretty helpful in my task to learn the application.

25 Aug 08: Today I presented the remaining part of my presentation (gmail presentation). I talked about the 5 sub categories of Special Searches (U.S. Government, Linux, BSD, Apple & Windows). I also gave a quick brief of my previous presentation (SketchUP), to assist 2 new classmates that arrived for the 1st time.

The whole class, under the instruction of our Profesor, we created a 2nd Life account.... WOW! The posibilities of that application are extraordinary. While in class we played around with the application, actually we were testing its capabilities or better yet, becoming familiar with it. We were allowed to join the "Facultad de Educacion" space and looked around.

With this type of technology, I can only imagine what physically challenged people could do. I also believe that this application could assist socially challegend kids or adults to interact with others, breaking whatever barriers they may have. The term globalization could really apply to this application.

18 Aug 08: I gave a quick and dirty chat about SketchUp... This is an application the is used for creating, editing and viewing plans and designs in 3D... And it's for FREE (basic application).

I also started talking about Special Searches and its 7 subcategories... I talked about a Public Service search and a University search.

P.S. We greated 2 new classmates.

18 Aug 2008: Today we learned about Translate, Picasa, Blogger, Orkut & You Tube. In Blogger we learned how to create a post , edit and manipulate a blog. We also created an account in Orkut and explored the application.

11 Aug 2008

11 Aug 2008: Today I learned that there is a lot more out there, in the internet, than I really imagined. My experience as a Systems Administrator gives me bit of an advantage concerning computers but when it comes to applications I’m a bit behind with today’s generation. I created a Gmail account and saw how there are a lot of use full applications for free.