Google Wave Will Revolutionize Online Classroom Instruction Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - September 30, 2009June 30, 20105 Today is the day. Thousands of new users will be presented with the opportunity to get their hands on Google Wave. What is Google Wave? Google Wave is a brand new technology that positions itself as the way Email would have been made if it were invented today. (Watch the 1:20:12 long video clip) Imagine a combination between Email, IM, Twitter, Facebook, and Skype all bundled into one. Now imagine it being drag-and-drop easy, live-updated, and being constantly improved. Then throw on top of that an eager community of developers seeking ways to make it even easier to use and more powerful. Cool, but what does it look like? I haven't gotten my invitation yet, but am eagerly awaiting
Graduate First – Why I Won’t Add You As My Facebook Friend Yet Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - September 20, 2009June 7, 201214 This weekend, I read Back to School: Tips for Teachers on Facebook on the Facebook blog. In it, the author writes:Some teachers stay away from Facebook altogether, while others -- like some of my friends -- have found creative workarounds such as only accepting friend requests from students who've graduated or those who are over the age of 18. However, it doesn't have to be that difficult. In fact, it is useful and rewarding to connect with your students on Facebook. So, in honor of all the people who are heading back to school this month, here are some tips for using Facebook.The article continues by outlining some things that we as teachers can do to secure the privacy of
Social Media Update: Become A Facebook Fan Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - September 5, 2009June 30, 20101 I don't use a whole lot of social media outlets, but I know a lot of my readers do. Over the last few months, I have added a few things to make sharing SYWTT articles easier. I've also added some rating type things where you can tell me how bad (or good) an article is. I find that Facebook and Twitter are by far the websites I spend most of my time on when I'm online. In fact, I mostly use Facebook at home and Twitter on my iPhone while I'm out. Up to this point, I have used them mostly for personal things. I have also noticed, however, that my use of Google Reader and other RSS type things
My Crazy Summer of Aught Nine Personal by Joel Wagner - August 10, 2009June 19, 20160 This summer has been the best summer of my teaching career so far. Unfortunately for you, I haven't blogged about it a whole lot. As I get back into the routine of things a little bit more, I will have some more time and energy to begin writing about some of the things that I have experienced and why it is that this summer has been so good. It all started back at the end of May when I made the decision to miss school on Memorial Day so I could go spend the weekend with my family. My sister was in town and my cousin had a party celebrating his graduation from Med School as a neurosurgeon. I hadn't seen
Information Overloaded? 10 Quick Tips To Tame The Tide Stress Reduction by Joel Wagner - March 16, 2009June 30, 20102 Think back 5 years. March 2004. It feels like an eternity ago! For me, that was when I really hit the wall. That was when my head director told me that my contract would not be renewed. I resigned in lieu of nonrenewal. I spent the remainder of the semester learning like crazy. In fact, that is the experience that eventually formed the inspiration to begin this blog (read more here). But that's really not the point of this email, the thought just struck me and I realized how quickly time passes and how much I've grown since then. 5 years ago, there was no MySpace (until August 2003), no Twitter, no Facebook. Nada. Blogs were beginning to take off
Falling Behind Personal by Joel Wagner - January 25, 2009June 30, 20105 I have an admission. If you've emailed me in the last year or so, you may have caught on. The thing is...I am behind. On like everything. With work, church, and mariachi, I tend to remain pretty busy. But when I'm home, often I will sit here looking at blogs, playing catchup in Google Reader or my email, checking my blog stats, checking out Facebook, chatting with friends, and doing all sorts of time-wasting things. These things are all right in and of themselves, but when combined, they lead to me neglecting things such as basic housekeeping, laundry, filing my bills, cooking, and even sleeping. Then I find a burst of energy, sit down, start sorting through my emails, and
Getting Busy Personal by Joel Wagner - August 8, 2008July 1, 20106 Today is my 30th birthday. I have summer band this morning, and then not much else planned the rest of the day. I'll probably end up writing a more substantial blog article about this later on. On that note, I have been out of touch with the blogging world lately. I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that I have become quite busy in the "real world" and blogging takes a back seat to all of that. This has really been the case since April and many of you have probably noticed quite a downswing in the number of articles I have written. I also fall behind in reading. When I first started blogging, it served
Entering the Twittersphere Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - March 8, 2008July 2, 20104 If you use Twitter, add me. I have been quickly glancing over blog posts about it lately, but never paid much attention. I see that more and more bloggers seem to be doing it. As I look at it, it seems much like Facebook and MySpace's status updates, so I'll go for it and see what happens. Some questions I have for my readers: Do you use Twitter? What do you do with it? Do you use it in the classroom? How?
The Total Resume Makeover General by Joel Wagner - July 18, 2007June 19, 20163 It's the last half of July, you're looking for a job, you have no interviews lined up, and school starts in a month or less (or 40 days if you live in Texas). You have all the skills and experience in the world, but simply get no phone calls. The old adage goes, "If you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting." So change something. Let's see if maybe your resume needs a total makeover. Change something! I am amazed when I look at most resumes. They generally look bland, boring, and banal. As Louise Flethcer writes: Your resume is a marketing brochure, not a product catalog. It has to say just enough to make the sale