Organization is my JAM!

 I am a girl who loves a good checklist. Checking off a task or crossing it off is the best feeling because it makes me feel so accomplished! Every year I buy a planner to chart the year's events and hold appointment times. 

For Christmas this year, my husband got me an iPad, keyboard, and Apple pencil to my surprise. I researched and talked with my peers about apps that would be beneficial for me for working, events, and going to school. 

I came across an app named "Notability" and I have been so impressed by all the capabilities it holds. First, it has a gallery of templates that you can choose from monthly, weekly, and daily planners to a plethora of templates of lists as well as notes. You can organize your notes and make folders within the app and color code your folders so that they are visually appealing.  Exporting and sharing your notes, lists, and planners that you create is easy and convenient. 

Writing using the Apple pencil is as close to paper and pen because I put a scene protector on my iPad that has a matte finish so the pencil glides a bit slower when using it. You can write thick or thin, highlight, and use the eraser function as well as other features that are user-friendly. The Notability app also has coloring sheets that have been a fun and relaxing activity to do as well. The overall ease of the app makes it appealing to me without being overwhelming to use. I am excited to explore the other many features it holds!

PLNs

     Communication digitally is becoming faster, more convenient, and ever-changing from day to day. Anything that you want to know, you can find out about and research just as fast as it takes for you to type it in the search engine. This is the same concept when it comes to Personal Learning Networks. The rate that they are evolving is fascinating to me, as it helps us to become more connected when sharing, gathering feedback, and getting new fresh ideas to implement in our lives. 

    A PLN blog post called, "How Personal Learning Networks are Evolving," by Peps Mccrea, staffrm.io talks about how educators are using them to improve a number of things in their careers and gather support within the networks as well. 

    The first concept is that educators are sharing their ideas easier because they have shorter post, their thoughts or ideas are raw and authentic. I love the fact that in the posts they share, they appear natural and not always complete. They also talk about building upon ideas that may be shared and this is what networking is all about. No ideas is perfect but if we all have input and thoughts, this is the best way to improve it. 

    Challenging each other and their ideas is also another evolution of PLNs. Debate and challenge is so healthy to foster new and creative ways of thinking because it makes us think of things differently, even if we do not agree with the idea. The subject matter at hand needs to be assessed and not the author. 

    There is no end game to Personal Learning Networks and as they change, so do we. As a lifetime learner, I appreciate these concepts as we all need to continuously be challenged and evolve. Being an idol is never good for anyone and I truly believe that we need to take ourselves out of our comfort zone and be pushed intellectually. 

Option 1- Blog posts

 The first thing I look at when I read the blog post was if the subject line to the post catches my attention. This will intrige me read on and really want to see what the blog post is about. On most of the blog posts, the formats were easy on the eyes and that was helpful in making me want to read on. A user friendly design helped me navigate through the blogs easily and I found that appealing. 

If the writing style of the blogger was engaging and creative, that made me want to go in and read other blogs the author posted as well. Having a little humor in the writing and making the writing easy to understand so that I do not feel as if I am taking a test when I read the blog post. Having a clear direction and content is important because I want the blogger to be focused on the topic and not scramble from point to point. That would be confusing the reader, in my opinion. 

Lastly, I want what I am reading to be of value to me. The content and subject needs to be something that I am interested in and make me want to read the entire post. I like bloggers to be consistent with their posts and this always gets me hooked because I look forward to reading their post. Following along with bloggers lives and experiences is interesting to me and helps me feel engaged. 

Let Me Introduce Myself

 Hello everyone! My name is Michelle Farrer and welcome to my blog. I wanted to start off and say that I am glad you are here and I look forward to getting to know you all better as we navigate through the semester. 

I am a mom of three beautiful, smart girls who have made me extremely proud. I have been married to my best friend for 26 years and we have raised our family here in Idaho for the past 20 years and absolutely love it here in Pocatello. We also have one German Short-haired pointer and her name is, Chai. I named her after my favorite drink! As you can see, my poor husband is always surrounded by girls at our house, and I think he is a lucky man!

I have many hobbies and interests that keep me busy but my absolute favorite would be building things from wood and DIY renovations. I love to be creative and make things that are not so pretty and interesting and bring them back to life. I also enjoy cooking and trying new recipes. These days, I have been so busy with work and school, so I have had to put some of my hobbies on the back burner for a while. 

Previously I had worked in the medical field as a radiology tech and for over ten years I did bone density studies (DEXA) but after a few years of thought, I decided to go a different direction with my career and also go back to school to finish my degree. I love my job now, I still get to help people and problem-solve, but it is less physical on my body. I wanted to challenge myself with school and learn new skills that I would be able to implement in my everyday life and career. I have a handful of classes left to finish my degree and as I finish each class, I gain more confidence in myself.