Today I stayed home sick from school. Somedays, you just need to rest.

Of course, I didn't. But, as my good friend Devin (@dschoening) reminded me:

@swift360 By the way, being home sick is a perfect excuse to get one of those five blog posts done... #justsayin
— Devin Schoening (@dschoening) December 4, 2013

And NUMBER ONE.

This post is dedicated to the (almost obvious, but sometimes it's so ingrained in us we forget) tech tools teachers use everyday... or should.

1) Twitter - Perfect for connecting to other like-minded educators, and creating PLNs and social networks. But my favorite use of Twitter, finding new ways to do things through the ideas of others (check out the #madewithpaper tag, and imagine).

2) Email - I know this is pretty obvious, but email has become my number one tool for contacting parents. Not because I don't like calling (I mean, I don't mind it and all), but for my kids, it's hard to get ahold of parents by phone because it may be turned off. But most of my parents have an email address.

3) Facebook - If Facebook is blocked by your district, see what you can do to undo that. Another great tool for connecting with parents. Some of our districts' younger grades have class sites where parents can see progress of classes, and again, make that connection with teachers.

4) SoundCloud - I actually had a teacher today (yes, while I was home sick) ask me if SoundCloud is a tool a teacher could use to record text from a book for a special-needs student to listen back through while at home. They had their school issued Google Chromebook and an internet connection, so I pushed this first.

5)  Wix - One of my new favorites. While my school is partnered with Google on many things (and it's a wonderful partnership), we are able to try new things as well. I actually heard of Wix from a teacher in another building, and he's been using it for years. It's a free website building site. You can upgrade (at a cost) for more personalization, but for his students' photography and video portfolios, it's perfect... and simple. I just recently upgraded my class website: www.cbjacketjournalism.com.

6) YouTube - Another of the more popular sites to block by districts, YouTube is worth fighting for. There are many branches of this site you could use as well, like YouTube for Education. You could also use filters such as splicd.com to get only the part of the video you need.

7) TED.ed - A video site for educators that help "flip a lesson." In general, TED Talks inspire me to be better at life, and these are specific for education and lessons. Sometimes I just watch these for no other reason that I am hooked on watching them.

8) Paper.li - In Paper.li, you can create a "playlist" of sorts of content you want to read about. The site gathers the information you tell it to (based off of tags and terms, tweets, and other content filtering methods) to create a personalized paper for you... and you can share it.

Of course, I have an EdTech365 Paper.li to share with you.

9) Blogger.com - A Google tool I use with my students. I always start my Intro to Journalism class with having the students create a blog. Then, I ask them students to answer questions (to get them writing, and used to writing in it). Eventually, I stop making them use it.

A little Pavlov-ian, I believe. *Ring Ring

10) 3D Printing - I have recently been tinkering with this since I learned it was possible through my Grad class. Not just possible, but relatively accessible! Our district has a printer, and UN-Omaha has one. Right now, other than a select few students (and teachers) it's not utilized by the masses. But, UNO offers students the ability to print what they create relatively cheaply.

Because of this, I am learning about blender.com right now to create some 3D artifacts: namely some flags for our microphones!

The potential for students to use these to create models, tools, or ANYTHING THEY CAN IMAGINE is awesome.

My #paperface is #madewithpaper (by fiftythree.com)

edit: I am using Paper (an app by fiftythree.com for iPad) a ton lately, and I would be sad if I didn't add it as a special bonus. There are many educational ways to use it... it is just like paper. But, it just fun to use as well. I'm hooked. 
What tools do you use every day that didn't make this list? Just add in the comments below!

Oh, and Devin, I got this done before 10pm, so I was productive today.

So a lot of things were supposed to happen with this blog over the past few weeks:

1) a continuation of weekly Web2.0 usage with my Beginning Journalism class (WTFT)
2) Grad School mumblings
3) my normal teaching duties
4) and anything EdTech or school related

So, that lasted about two weeks. Then real life happened. Every educator knows this. But, I had a student-teacher last year, so I anticipated how much "free" time I might have for the blogging and such.

My wife says I'm very thinned-out. And while I do exercise, I'm pretty sure she means I wear a lot of hats.

In the wake of WTFT, I want to simply what I might focus on. With one of my hats being that of Yearbook Adviser, I am organized in a way only I can decipher. So here's a quick rehash of the first weeks of school:

Week 1: Complete. Blur.

Week 2: Blurry, but I remember blogging. And grad class (STEM Seminar) started. Amazing things we're doing in there right now.

Week 3:  Amazing things are happening in my school. I get distracted by the good. I don't blog. But I started something new (for me):

I'm trying something new, not always school related: at least one Thank You note a week. #StayPositiveMyFriends pic.twitter.com/f1P6llaGFB
— Rob Lindquist (@swift360) September 11, 2013

Week 4: Homecoming Week. I got a pie in my face. My school is working hard in a lot of areas to improve on already positively trending areas.

Week 5: STEM Seminar is still amazing. Some great, innovative thinkers. I really hope I can extract some of that knowledge. Sometimes a grad class can just be something to do to move on the pay scale. This is truly beneficial.

Week 6: Yes, I'm teaching still. And yes, it's still kind of a blur. In my 5th year, I'm able to slow down and not get so distrac

Week 7: I presented at the Green Hills AEA 21st Century Learners Conf. I had a great time, and I learned more than what I spoke about. I hope to continue doing similar things in the future. I'm not pictured because I took these photos. So here is what I saw:

Effective Use of Video in the Classroom presentation.

Week 8: There are so many deadlines in the courses I teach, and we are constantly "working" in "real world" situations. I love deadlines.

Week 9: Today. I blogged. And I also asked a student to step up and be a more visible leader in one of my classrooms. Her response made me proud:

"Thanks. And yes that's okay. I like stepping up in class, it's an honor. 

You're welcome."

That was it, simple and easy.

And remember, this is me simplifying it. I look forward to #ModelTech restarting next week, and the group really implementing what we talk about.

I also look forward to being more innovative, creative, and consistant with my blog. Set the bar high, ya know?

So, week one is over. While we did do a little work with iBook Author in my Introduction to Journalism course, I was trying to get the kids to think about what they were doing more-so than what tools they were using. We will integrate iBooks Author more as we build our units into Chapters for the ebook. Watch for that in the future!

But really, I wanted to mention how proud I am of my kids today... all of them. My broadcasting kids are currently broadcasting our first Varsity football game live (check out TJSportsFan.com sometime). One of them said, "this is our first game broadcasting, and I already love it." As an educator, I'm ecstatic.

My newspaper students are rocking our first issue. They have a lot to learn, but they are doing so gracefully.

The yearbook staff is already thinking of ways to improve on a great book from last year - and most of them are juniors! I'm looking forward to what they come up with!

And finally - my intro kids. We've started the work for the book (as noted), and today I felt like leaving them a note.

When the kids noticed it, they smiled.

I had a good first week.

~Rob

In my current Grad course, we were asked to write a "Belief Statement" on why we teach. At first, I thought I could struggle. It's for a project we're doing as a final. It is an Intro to Tech Tools class (and I don't think I'm an Intro student), so we will be adding video and such.

The class has two weeks to go.

I started thinking. And in five minutes, I wrote. It was wonderful. I just starting typing.

In the comments, and possibly for another project, tell me why you teach.

I am going to put the whole text below, but here is the video I created (my professor hasn't seen it yet edit: my prof has now seen it):

I decided to become a teacher because I have experience that will benefit young people. Let me present that information from a different angle: I became a teacher because I was stuck in a job I didn’t like, taking a break and reading the newspaper, and saw an advertisement that said, “Are you stuck in a job you don’t like? Have you always wanted to be a teacher?” And I thought, “yes.” So I dove in.

And when I dive in, it’s full-steam ahead. I’m passionate. I care. I’m loyal. And I truly believe that every child can learn, and every child hopes to become better than their parents. And that’s a good thing. So I want to lead them. I want them to become involved in the world. I want them to become engrossed in their lives. I want them to be passionate.

What can I do? The same thing that every educator in the world can do. Teach. Advise. Mold. It’s a little bit of a power-trip to know that I can mentally push a student so hard that they become angry at me, only to become so thankful that they’ve been pushed that they break down at graduation and write me a letter more fluent and more thoughtful than any “History of British Literature” essay paper that was ever written during the 180 days-a-year I see her. And I can do it 30 times over.

And so I teach. I show students the dirt path, but I don’t pave the road. In the “real world” workers have to be able to be jacks and jills of-all-trade, even if all they do is as mundane and ineffective as memorizing something solely for getting it right on a test, the workers have to be able to relate and live socially. And I can help them learn those skills. What people forget is school is the real world. It’s 12 years of your life where you become who you are. It’s not a throw-away time that doesn’t matter. It matters.

A lot of what I’ve been saying is about me. But realize, none of this is about me. It is about the student. It is about the kid. The child. The learner. It’s about educators and administrators and faculty and parents that want to be involved in the growth of a seed into a flower. It’s not about graduating, it’s about growing. It’s not about getting to the next level, it’s about being prepared to learn for the rest of your life.

So why did I decide to teach? Because somebody decided to teach me 25 years ago. And that person decided to be passionate about it, and it resonated with me. And I wanted to do better than my parents. And I wanted to be better FOR Chambers, Lowe, Klocke, Tilton, Clarke, and Faris, Troutman, Bowman, and Hughes.

That’s why I teach. And that is my belief.

Student-created logo for podcast.

I am by no means an expert on Educational Technology. I don't consider myself ready to do a lot more than just observe as of yet. But, I am getting there. Someone told me, "you're not an expert on something until someone else says you are," and I agree.

Just like I don't claim to be an expert at teaching, at being funny (even though my wife laughs no matter what), or at being a father, son, or brother.  But, when I am passionate about something; heck, when I like something more than "a lot" then I tend to really embrace everything about it. Thus this blog.

My wife thinks this makes me pretty predictable. She even went as far as comparing our current process of buying a house, to how she and I started our relationship. And how I just go full-throttle towards something I want, whereas she likes to question her decisions multiple times... wait a minute...

*Oh, and I easily get off-topic.

But back to being an expert: something I'm not. I do have opinions and insights on many topics. I have a mind full of "Jeopardy knowledge" that makes no sense as a whole, but the pieces could be individually useful at any moment.

I did sports radio in college, and briefly got paid for it for a small town in Nebraska. And I have a passion for talking (too much).

And then my unoriginal idea was concocted.

Have you heard, "if you're the smartest one in the room, find another room"? Well, I have. And so I brought the idea of starting a weekly podcast about EdTech to friend (and district Technology coach) Devin Schoening (@dschoening)... to which his reply was, "that has been on my bucket list." See, unoriginal idea. But sometimes, it takes a couple of people to get the ball rolling.

So within the span of five days, we created a rundown and recorded our first show. We also created an iTunes account, twitter account (@CBTechPodcast), and school email account (cbtechpodcast@cbcsd.org) for the idea.

So it has begun. You can check out our first episode in the iTunes store by searching "CBTechPodcast" or THIS LINK.

You can send us requests or suggestions for upcoming episodes as well! We'd love your feedback!