Video Call in Google Hangouts

Tonight I did a video call on Google Hangouts with my friend Stacey Hampton.  It was actually fun...though I do not like seeing myself on camera.  The way the iPad camera was positioned definitely is not flattering! LOL!

I really hate talking on the phone...and I've never had a Facetime call or video chat that I've initiated until today.  But it was actually kind of fun.  We talked about some questions we each had about this class and our homework...and we talked about other stuff not related to this class at all, like about Stacey's birthday tomorrow!  Happy birthday Stacey!  :)

I think video calls could be very beneficial to my professional learning.  I could connect with other art teachers and we could talk about things our students are learning in our classes.  We could show artwork that our students have created, how we set up our room...the possibilities here are endless! 

I hope to be able to connect my students with another art class and maybe collaborate on some artwork together.

Building my PLN

I joined Twitter earlier this year after an Inservice about using Twitter professionally and connecting with other educators.  It was then brought up in our monthly Art Teacher meetings. At that point I got on and changed my profile picture from an egg and began following some local art teachers who post about things happening in their art room on Twitter.

Here is my screenshot showing other educators that I follow, though you can't see them all.

I have tried tweeting a few times...11 I guess to be exact.  A few of these tweets are about things my students are doing in my classroom.

What I love about Twitter is that it's super easy and quick to tweet about something that is going on in my classroom.  I think if parents were informed that I was tweeting, they might be interested in having an "eye" into their child's learning.  I also think it's a great way to stay connected wih the other art teachers in Jackson county as well as art teachers throughout the world.  Teaching art is a very isolated career...staying connected with other art teachers is very important to me.