CJ, I really enjoyed your article as it makes several valid points. I am a Soldier still on Active duty that deployed 3 times. I face many fears of uncertainty, because the military has been my life for the past 22 years. While I like others who are pending retirement have had some time to plan for the departure, those over 30,000 Soldiers that you speak of haven't. Unfortunately are economy isn't prepared for their return. Our nation has been at war for the past decade. A proper preparation in returning the troops to a society that doesn’t impose any more issues on their health and stability may take even longer. VA Reps at the BDE level is a wonderful idea, unit trained reps would also be a plus in the early identification of any possible issues. The emphasis of continued training that has been emphasized for the purposes of war should now be reallocated to the many today Soldiers that will be civilians tomorrow.
Next I posted in a Tech and Learning site titled “Ready, Set, Go: Apps to Align the IEP to the Common Core Standard” which addressed how special education teachers help students attain the Common Core Standards and meet their IEP goals. Tech and Learning. I responded to the site by informing the author that the information that she provided was beneficial to me in that I was preparing to enter the Special Education field.
Both sites are very important to me at such a time as my transition from the military into the civilian sector as a Special Education teacher. So far the blogs I commented on from the class were: 23thingssavail, apsueducation, hornerliscious23 things, lifelonglearner, and killebrew123.
In Stephanie Vail’s (23thingssavail) post, I responded to Thing #6 that discussed the benefits of the Web’s Dropbox. Stephanie and I are both in the online 5520 course. I always enjoy her posts during the discussion threads. Besides sharing the class and our names, both Stephanie and I have a habit of forgetting things on the printer or data sticks. We both benefit from the dropbox.
My response stated, “Great tool Stephanie. I have a bad habit of losing data sticks, so this is a very helpful site for me. Thanks” I posted the comment because I found the site offered to be a great tool. Also to let her know that she wasn’t alone in the areas of forgetting.
In Katy Martin’s (apsueducation) posts, I responded to Thing #3 that discussed the importance of blogging in the classroom. Both Katy and I shared views on the uses of the blogs within the classroom. My response stated, “Katy, great post. I think the blogs will make life much easier on educators in providing updates, reminders, and notifications to our students and their parents. No more worries in regards to the letter that the student tends to forget to deliver. Our only worry now is that the parents and students utilize the blog system to obtain the information provided.”
In Amy Horner's (hornerliscious23things) posts, I responded to Thing #10 that discussed the number of suscriptions that she'd completed. Both Amy and I agree that the number of tools and applications offered in Web 2.0 can become addicting. My response stated, " Amy, the features are very addictive. I have a hard time determining which one I like most. The most beneficial aspect of any addition is admitting the potential problem. You've identified it already so no worries;) The PLT is in the bag!!"
In Melanie Reece's (lifelonglearner) posts, I responded to Thing #12 that discussed the tools that she'd selected. Both Melanie and I agreed that the Google Calendar was an awesome tool. My response stated, Melanie, in the chaos of my day to day schedule, this is just what the doctor ordered. With the schedule I am able to juggle a number of things while simultaneously organizing and sharing my chaos with my husband".
In Jennifer Killebrew's (killebrew123) posts, I responded to Thing #1. One of the issues that Jennifer stated was viewing problems as challenges. While this was a present issue for Jennifer, for me this was an issue of the past. My response stated "Great post Jennifer. I have always tried plaaning things out. The one thing that assists me in coping with possible problems is that I actually write a list of what if situations. Though there are cases where the problems are slightly different than I predicted, me writing them caused me to mentally prepare for worst case scenarios. Hope this helps:)
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