Is it the end or the beginning

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I liked making the video on Zoho. I think that this was the easiest thing that I did for the 23 Things. It was fun to play around with the different back grounds, photos and music choices. This is a great way to see the children's personalities in their work.

How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?
I have learned so many tihngs I will be able to use for many years. It has encouraged me to look outside the box and be open to new things.

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I think that I have grown as a person throughout this program. This was a very lengthy assignment that required a lot of attention. I let myself get behind an had to play catch up. So, I learned that you cannot be a procratinator all your life because it will eventually catch up with you. I also learned to be more open mined and acceptable of new things. Live is ever changing so I need to evolve with it.

What could we do diiferently to improve  upon the program's  format or concept?
I would like to have smaller segments due at random times throughout the program. Versus just two major turn ins. I think that It would have helped to keep me more on track and accountable for my work throughout the entire program.

How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher?
I think that it will help me to be better prepared to help my students leran in a nontraditional way. I do not like for students to be stuck in a desk all day and bored. I think that they need opportunities to work their brains and theri bodies. Their are so my things that you can do with computers that will get the children up and moving.

How do you plan on keeping up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be usefull.
The only way is to make it a part of your daily routine. While checking Facebook, Twitter and email, log into Web 2.0 and check for updates.

Thing 23

This credit was found on the APSU 23 Things website. It shows where the @3 Things orginally came from and who developed it. It also states that they hace persmission to reuse the idea through Creative Commons License.

Credits

Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things, a staff development program for the Mesquite Independent School District. That program was based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers and adapted by the California School Library Association and others. Content and style for Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers has been borrowed and duplicated with permission, under a Creative Commons License.

 

Being on a tight budget as a teacher does not allow one to purchase copy rights. So you have to be on the look out for free things to use and make sure that you follow the gulde lines. If there is something that you must have, it could possibly be purchased by the school. If you do use something always make sure to give credit to where it comes from. Do not get in trouble, be smart and follow the rules. I would also teach my students what to look for when doing projects so that they can use free items and not get in trouble.

Thing 13

I found that Zoho writer was similar to Microsoft works. They both have the same functions and are easy to use. It had a lot of unnecessary buttons that were distracting. Google Docs was very simple. The layout was nice and it had only the buttons needed to create your document.
Each of these programs would be good for students working on a group project. They could each write their own part of the assignment then send it on the next person to review and complete their portion.

Thing 14

I chose to use a flow chart. I liked how everything was put into its own box. Unlike mind map, that uses a bunch a words just grouped together. The flow chart looked more professional and organized to me. It was easier to follow and organize.

Thing 15

A wiki could be very resourceful for a group of students who are doing a group project. They could do their own research and complie it all into one web site for review. It could also be useful for a teacher to post information about a particular project that a classroom could be working on. Teachers in the same school and grade level can share information about profects and assignments. I like that it is information that is available no matter where I am and that it can constantly be updated or shared. I also like that there is so much information available with minimal effort of searching.

Thing 16

I used PageFlakes as my home page. It seemed to be a little more simple for me. It did not have a bunch of fancy stuff and was easy to navigate. I would like to eventually make that my home page.
The online calendar is a great tool to help keep me organized as a current student. With so many home work assignments due, this would automatically remind me everyday. It would also be great as a teacher to keep up with conferences and meetings.
I like the to do list but I do not have Internet on my phone so I would not be able to access it from a store for grocery shopping. I would be able to use it in a classroom to keep track of what I should be doing on a daily basis. As I finish a goal, Mark it off and move along. Those unmarked items could be closed or moved to the next day.

Thing 17

Delicious.com was a very easy site to use. I like that no matter where I go that I can have access to resources that I could need in my classroom. I have used the bookmark function on my home desktop but can only use them when I am at home. It gives me the opportunity to have more materials available to plan lesson. It would also give me the opportunity to share helpful links with my parents to help their children at home. I can also share links with fellow coworkers and get their feedback.

Thing 18

I think that it is important for educators to know how to social network because our society is a media oriented group. Most everything in a classroom and our daily lives revolves around a media network. Textbooks are purchased and read digitally, homework is submitted electronically, and some classes are even taken through webcast. Facebook is a good tool for teachers, if you can divide personal from school.
One of the sites that I look at was pintrest.com, a sight with a multitude of ideas for parents, students and teacher. This site lets you see what others post and comment on them. It also lets you post your own ideas to share. This site offers a blog section as well, so that you can talk with other educators if you have questions.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000198942274&ref=tn_tnmn

Thing 19

I am a member of facebook.com. It helps me to stay in touch with family members who live too far away to see. I can "see" them everyday through photos and videos and keep up with their current activities through chats. I think that facebook.com could be a great resource for the classroom if properly monitored. It could allow the child to have access to videos and tutorials. They could even chat about homework and form peer study groups online. On the Ning network, Teacherpop, there is an amazing article on how to set up private facebook accounts for your classroom and personal use. I found this article to a very good resource for me as a teacher to be.

Visit TeacherPop

Thing 20

 I liked this video because it was made by children. Sometimes the children get tired of hearing adults tell them what to do all day long. It is nice to let them hear the voice of a student because the children feel like the other students might understand things at their level. Learning from other students often helps to build the children's self esteem because they are more likely to ask question due to the lack of judgement from their peers. 

 http://youtu.be/bv5PdIbWYts
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bv5PdIbWYts" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Thing 21

Creating this video with Animoto was super easy. This is something that would be easy for any student to use. It could be used for many different applications within the classroom by the students or the teacher. The children could use videos to support research and teachers to support lessons. 

 I liked how easy it was to choose my pictures and music. The music selection was great too. There were not many steps to create and the video could be shared in may ways.

http://animoto.com/play/dBqszDVU81IQUWGQG4Is1A?utm_campaign=fbconnect_friends&utm_medium=share&utm_source=facebook.com

Thing 22

I think that this is an awesome way to share information for the students and their parents. The children will have access to all the information for a particular lesson no matter where they are. This is good for those students who are out sick to keep up with what is happening in the classroom. It is also a good way for teachers to share information with each other. They can let each other know what works and what doesn't. It is also good to keep an individual file on each child rather than having to keep so many different pieces of paper. With one click of a button you can share a years worth of work with the child's parents at conference time. 

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=253833 

<div style="width:75px; height:78px; background-image:url(http://www.livebinders.com/images/binder_icon_private.gif); border:0px; margin-top:4px; background-repeat: no-repeat">    <a href="http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=253833">    <img src="http://open.thumbshots.org/image.pxf?url=http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/" style="width:60px; height:60px; border:0px; padding:0px;margin:11px 0px 0px 13px;" />    </a>    </div>    <div><a href="http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=253833">Punctuation Marks</a><br /></div>

Thing 12

<iframe src="https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=laurajackson1979%40gmail.com&ctz=America/Chicago" style="border: 0" width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

It was exceptionally easy to create this calendar. By making it public, all my parents and children would be able to view it. It would let them see what was happening that day and the days to come. Those students who are out of class can have access to their work and be able to follow along. The parents can stay informed about the assignments and upcoming events. Most children and parents have access to a computer of phone making it easy for them to stay updated. The children could also make birthday and special event calendars and share special moments with friends. The students could also use the calendar feature as a planner and keep track of their assignments in all their classes for current and upcoming assignments. As a reading teacher, my students could use this calendar to track the books that they read for the month, have their parents sign and return to me with the possibility of prizes.

Thing 11

*Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use?
I found that using edublogawards.com was the easiest. The other sites had too much information on their home pages. I was not sure where to begin and what to do.
*Which Search tool was the easiest for you?
Edublogawards. com was most defiantly the easiest to me. All I had to do was click on the blog link at the top of the page, then subscribe to the RSS feeds that I wanted to include in my Google Reader account.
*Which was more confusing?
All  the other sites were way to confusing for me. They had too much writing on their home pages. Their feeds were difficult to find. I could not find much education related on any of the other sites.
*What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels?
I found good information on taking education outside of the classroom and extending learning times in the real world.
*Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?
The ones about the government and the political aspect of education. Who cares who gets the most money or recognition, the focus should be on the children's education.
*What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?
By just using Google.com and Ask.com and searching newsfeeds sites. There are many available on education.

Thing 10

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

I like being able to go to one site and read my research and information. This is a major time saver. they have a vast variety of information available at the click of a button. It would be helpful to keep my updated on the most current information available about children and education since I will be teaching school.

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?

I think that it would help to keep me updated so that I can better serve the children that I will be teaching. I will also help me as a college student to have appropriate research for my papers and studies.

How can teachers use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
They can research and receive information on the latest teaching strategies to use in their classrooms. They can keep up with developments on working with special needs children. By receiving information on grants available for improvements for their classroom and school.

Thing 8

The image above was created with Mosaic Maker through Flickr.com. I found it very easy to use. I thought that this would be something that the children could use at the beginning of the school year to make a family collage for an All About Me theme. This would let the children share about them self and learn things about their friends.

Thing 7

Photo by S@ilor

http://www.flickr.com/photos/-skipper-/5346767531/

I looked at pictures of sunsets because I have always wanted to see a magnificent sun set. I have been to the beach a couple of times but I have never been able to catch that perfect sunset. I have choose to cover the second grade standards in language and reading that cover punctuation marks. I found it ironic that there was an exclamation point in this photo. I could ask the children to look up things in nature that resemble punctuation marks and make a photo collage.

The group that I chose to look further into was classroom decorations. In this group was photos of classroom decorations that various teachers have submitted. As a former Head Start teacher, room decoration was always a part of our different themes. It was primarily based upon the children's free art work so I had to create the base for the displays. I was nice to be able to see other ideas from different teachers. Sometimes I have trouble coming up with new ideas and having this group to look at would be helpful in the future. 

I found flickr.com to be a very easy tool to use. It would be very helpful for finding classroom display ideas to use in my classroom. 

Thing 9

http://www.fakemagazinecover.com/
http://www.txt2pic.com/
http://www.cooltext.com/


I created the saying below using txt2pic.com. I used hearts for the words to represent the love that is felt between the two people. This site has lots of pictures to choose from.

This image was created with cooltext.com. I thought that the unique lettering and flashing words would catch the readers attention. This would be good to help students focus on key words.

This fake magazine cover was created with fakemagazinecover.com. This would be something that the children could easily do. They could write an article then design a magazine cover to reflect their story.

It was fun working with all three of these sites. The possibilities are endless on any of them. It was as simple as choosing an image and then creating. I was expecting it to be a little harder than what it was. I will continue to use the sites in the future on my projects.

Thing 4

To be continued.........

Thing # 6

On the Web 2.0 Awards site I choose to use Ask.com. I think that it is a very good tool that could be used in both a classroom and a library setting. It is very easy to use with few gadgets to distract you. There is also Askkids.com that is set up for children to use. The Askkids.com also has an answer question that is there to help the children with homework questions.  

I found that Ask.com was easy for me as an adult. I know that we suppose to chose only one link but I thought that Askkids.com would be more appropriate for a school or library setting.

Links:
http://www.ask.com/
http://www.askkids.com/

Thing # 5

I have found that the Internet has changed dramatically over the last ten years or so. When I wanted to know facts about something I went to the library and checked out a book. I then had to read said book to get the information that I needed. Today that is what we have search engines like Google and Bing for. With these search engines a world of information is at our finger tips in an instant. My children will ask me what do this or that mean and I find my self telling them to Google it if they want to know.  Children as early as second grade are doing research projects and having to use the Internet to find facts to support their research. Most kindergarten and prek classrooms are also equipped with computers and the children are allowed to access programs on the Internet with teacher supervision. Children are also starting keyboarding classes as early as prek so that they can be more productive on the computer.

We live in a society that cannot function without technology. Some of the most powerful computers that are produced are carried around in our pockets. Yes, I am talking about our cell phones. When computers were first released, one computer took up an entire floor of an office building. Now they fit into the palm of our hands. Technology and the easy at which we have access to it controls our world along with our classrooms. It is amazing that so many years of research can be available to anyone in the world at any time of the day with just the click of a few buttons.

Thing 3

I think that I could create a blog for the children and parents to communicate with each other and myself. I could post current homework assignments and upcoming events. That way the children and parents could talk about any problems or questions that they are having. The children could learn from each other and form friendships through the use of the blog. The parents could even develop new friendships and become more involved with their children's school activities. Most parents are way too busy to sit down to r3ead papers but most have access to the Internet at work or on a phone. This way, at their convenience, they can access the blog no matter where they are. It would also help those children that miss a day of school to be able to see what they missed in class that day. The children could also post comments back and forth for those children who are sick and offer them help to catch up. It would be like creating our own virtual classroom. Hey...another quick idea that just hit me then I will go. I could even record myself giving the days lessons and post them on the blog so that the children who were absent or had questions could refer to them. That last thought might be a little out there but it could work.

Thing 2

I chose to use my name in the title of my blog so that it would be easy for me to remember. I don't think that using my real name in my blog or my post will be a problem because we are all adults that want to learn from each other.

Creating the blog was a little difficult for me because I have never done anything like this before. It was a learning experience for me. Setting up the blog was not that hard but adding a picture and the avatar was somewhat difficult. I couldn't figure out where everything went and what we were suppose to do.

For my avatar I tried to choose features that did resemble my looks (or how I would like to really look). I had a lot of fun playing with the many choices that I had to choose from while making my avatar.

Thing 1

Out of the 7 1/2 habits the easiest for me to follow is going to be:

Viewing problems as challenges. To me I see everything as a challenge, but often not for the right reasons. I tend to make things harder than what they are, which make life a little harder for me.

The hardest to follow will be:

Accepting responsibility for my own learning. I tend to put things off then I end up blaming everyone and everything else for my failure. It's time to step things up a notch and get in gear.....I am ready to learn.