Is it the end or only the beginning?

Is it the end or only the beginning??

My favorite discoveries on this learning journey has been learning about Animoto ,live binders, Grammarly, and RSS feeds. This program has taught me that being "technologically challenged" has to be overcome.  As a future teacher it is important that I learn about what the web has to offer and how to use it.  Through this project I have learned how to create interactive powerpoints, web quest, class room designs, and much more.   Learning in this hands on way will help me be a better teacher candidate. I want to keep up with new things on the Internet and to start thinking about ways that I can use technology in my classroom one day.  I will keep a livebinder with everything education inside.  Then when I begin to student teach I will have a head start,.

Thing # 23

Now that I know about Creative Commons licensing, I will not be afraid to use resources from the internet to teach my future classroom.  However, I will not take advantage of others work.  I will not worry about citing  all images and movies, but I will not take some ones work and teach it as my own.  I will teach my students what Creative Commons is and what Plagiarism is.  Plagiarism is unethical and students should understand that from a young age.  

Thing #22

Live Binders

After I created a LiveBinders account, I created 3 new binders.  I titled them Assistive technology, Low SES and education, and Learning 2.0 tools.  I have attached the Assistive technology binder to this page.  All of the binders that I created I have learned about this year.
   
LiveBinders can help teachers find lesson plans and new ideas, by other teachers sharing their ideas.  LiveBinders can also help teachers organize their resources.  A teacher can easily create an assistive technology live binder and show it to a student's parents.

Assistive technology

Thing #19

Keeping it real... real professional!

I am a member to Facebook, Twitter, and a new member to Ning.  These new social networking cites are appealing to me because I have never heard of them before.  I think that Gather, Ning, and Teacher Pop are able to help teachers more than Facebook or Twitter.  Teacher Pop is especially great for teachers because it was created just for teachers.  I think that is awesome.  Along with Teacher pop and Ning. I might use Bake Space, Flixster, and Shelfari. Flixter and Shelfari will be for education purposes and Bake Space would be to help me learn how to cook because I am about to be a new wife!    I enjoyed looking at all of the new social networking cites, and I will definitely use them to help me be the best teacher I can be.
Visit TeacherPop

Thing #21

I really enjoyed making my video for Thing #21.  I made a video with some of my engagement photos along with a few older ones, and I loved the way that it turned out.  I have made a few different slideshows in the past, but this was by far the simplest way to make a video.  I would definitely purchase the PRO subscription to make longer videos, if I ever starting making a lot of videos.  Educators could use Animoto to create slideshows of their students, or to make a slideshow of a school event such as field day or homecoming/ dress up week.  

Thing #20

School House Rock-counting by 5s
Earth Day video for kids
Taylor Swift goat edition
A vision for students today
How great is our God

I have always loved YouTube.  I often find myself watching random YouTube videos instead of doing my homework.  YouTube has so many educational videos that teachers can use and show their students. I learned how to multiply fractions using a You Tube video. I added links to a school house rock video that teaches young students how to count by 5s and an Earth Day video that a teacher could show her students on Earth day.  Also I added a video to inspire educators called a vision for students today, and just a funny video that I like that is not educational in any way.  Then I added a video that I was shown in astronomy class at my Christian school by Louie Giglio that I have loved and have shown many others. I am not sure if YouTube should be applied to a library site because they are not peer reviewed or solely educational, but I do think that You Tube videos can be used for hundreds of educational purposes. 

Thing #18

Educators should know how social networking works so that they can get the most out of it.   Twitter and facebook can be more than just a place to  keep up with your friends and family.  Teachers can like, follow, or become friends with teacher blogs and other places to get knew ideas.  Here is a link to my facebook profile. I gained new insights about these cites because i had never thought of them as educational at all.  I think that twitter has more to offer teachers than Facebook but Facebook does have things to offer.  Personally, I have never enjoyed using twitter for social networking so I disconnected it from my phone but I do think that I might use it to follow other teachers. I do not see a classroom application to social networking cites.  I think that students should stay away from facebook and twitter while they are in school.

Thing #17

     The Delicious tutorial was very helpful to me,  I understood what social bookmarking was all about after  watching the tutorial.  The only problem that I had with Delicious is that I had a difficult time getting the button on my home ribbon, it took me about half an hour to figure out.  It could possibly had been because I use google chrome instead of Internet explorer or FireFox. 
      When I looked around Delicious, and searched educational technology, I could see why social book marking is so great for educators.  Teachers can get so many new ideas from other teachers and share the great ideas that they have themselves, while organizing all of the helpful websites that they find.  So I believe that social bookmarking is a very helpful tool that any teacher can use.  I can not really see social book marking cites being used in any elementary grade classroom.  However, middle or high school teachers should show this cite to their students.  Older students could use cites like Delicious to keep up with cites that they need to use for a research paper or something along those lines, or to find more useful cites for their topic.

Thing #16

     First I created my very own igoogle start page and I LOVE it.  I have the weather, funny jokes, news topics, and a few other things that I chose to see when I turn on my computer.  Then I got to chose a theme, so now my igoogle home page looks super colorful! I feel like my colorful and happy home page might make me dread opening my computer to do homework a little less. 
     Online calenders can be useful to organize your everyday life, and to be reminded everyday about the things that you need to get done.  Many people look at their computer screen first thing every morning, so for them it is a great convenience to have their calender online.
      I am a big fan of to do list I write them down all the time.  I have a problem though with losing them once I make them, or I accidentally toss them in the garbage can. So having a to do list on my phone would be great! But I can much easier just txt one out or use the notes app on my smart phone.
     My favorite tool is the google home page.  I could use it on my home computer and on the one that I use at school. I would always know when it was going to rain for recess ha. But I would rather use a regular desk or wall calender to keep up with the things that I need to do verses and online calender.

Thing # 15

I added my Thing #8 about the website Grammarly to the Austin Peay 23 things sandbox wiki.  I thought it was really cool and I did not know that sandboxes existed.  It was really fun to go and change random things in other post, but  I wasn't sure if anything in the APSU 23 things sandbox wiki was the way the author intended it.  I felt this way becasue anyone can change anything they want and its very easy to do.  But I think that Wiki's are a very interesting tool and I am glad that I learned how they work.  I definatly know now why teachers always say to never use wikipedia while writting papers, anyone really can change whatever information they want.

Thing #14

I chose Gliffy.com for flow charts and mindmeister.com for mind maps. I like Gliffy because when you create a chart you get to chose the  type of chart you want to use.  I played around with the vin diagram and I think I can use it for presentations. The only thing that I did not like about Gliffy.com was that there is not an option to add to the already created outlines for the flowcharts.  If there was something about the outline that I didn't like I could not change it

What I liked about mindmeister.com is the ability to create as you go.  The diagram starts with only one cell the middle and you can type in them and add more parts as you build your own mind map!  I think that it would be easy to accidentally create a mind map that makes sense to me (because I made it) but it not make sense to other people.  So maybe very simple mind maps would be best.

The only way to create charts that I knew of was through powerpoint.  These tools are so much better!

Thing #13

    THING #13

     Zoho writer reminds me a lot of Microsoft word, that I am very used to.  It has all the same features plus a few extra.  I liked that Zoho writer has a "share" tab. It also has extra web based features.  I think that Zoho writer is an effective site to use when you write; however, Zoho took a very long time to load on my computer so that is a down side to web based productivity applications.

      I also explored  Goggle docs and made a  Google docs drawing.  I thought that it worked really well and I noticed that Google docs is what a few of my professors use in class.  Students could use both Goggle docs and Zoho in class.  I think that they might think it was fun to make a Google drawing together.  I prefer Google Docs over Zoho but both are great web based productivity applications.  However, I think  Zoho writer most resembles Microsoft word that they might be most used too.

Thing #12

My Google alert
 I chose to explore Google alerts because I do not usually just search the internet for information unless I have to for my classes.  With Google alert, Google does the annoying part for me!  I typed in a few things that interest me, and I automatically get news, blogs, and useful information about it sent straight to my e mail.     It might be the mostly useful thing that I have signed up for so far.  I could also tell Google alert to alert me for  certain kinds of  new educational games, 2.0 tools, or many other things that have to do with education.  So it could be very helpful for educators.

My Google Calender
 I also chose to create a Google Calender account.  I am supper terrible with writing down events in my planner so I really think putting all my events for each week in Google Calender is awesome.  It even notifies me by txt an hour before I need to get ready to go!  Google Calender can also be helpful for teachers.  Teachers have to many IEP meetings, parent teacher conferences, staff meetings, and personal events that I'm sure can really add up.  So a Google  Calender is a  big help for the hectic lifestyle that comes with being an educator.

I had  trouble making my calender public so I took a screen shot of the things that I put in for this week.

Thing #11

Google Blog Search was definitely the easiest for me to use! It was the only search tool that I did not struggle with understanding how to use.  I found that Topix.net not to hard to use and I was able to add a few blogs using it.  But I still thought that it was a little confusing.  Technorati gave me fits but with the tutorial I kind of figured it out, but I do not like it.  I found one really interesting site called funnypicdump, and it had a lots of ridiculous things that people had submitted from the Internet.  This site made me laugh!  On Topix.net I entered my zip-code and found dozens of feeds that have to do with my hometown.  I read an article about an incident that happened at my old high school. I think that is a feed that could be useful for me to see on my Google reader.

Thing #10

I like that RSS puts all of the blogs that I chose and want to see in one place.  I am always for anything that can save me time.  I am not sure how students could use RSS or  news readers in the classroom, but I think they are great for teachers to use.  I subscribed to a few teacher blogs and they are full of ideas that are great for almost any classroom.  I think teachers should definitely use RSS to read educational blogs to keep up with new neat ideas.  I know I will be looking at them to get ideas for the future :).  I also like RSS, newsreader for personal use too! I subscribed to a fitness runners blog which I love.  Some days I need a little extra motivation to go run.

Thing #9

I mostly played around with the image generator Image chef.  It was easy to use and had some really fun options. .  I used a photo frame with snow on it to make it look like me and my sisters were sitting outside while it was snowing.  Then I used another frame to put a white water rafting aid on the side of an old building.  I even placed my boyfriend ,who was home schooled, in a yearbook since he had never been in one before. Then I gave him perfect attendance.  All I did to create them was find a template that I wanted, then I uploaded a picture that I thought fit.  When I got the finished product I just saved the new image on to my computer. It did not take long at all.

I think that image generators can be used both in the classroom and personally.  A teacher can make up her own signs for her classroom using an image generator.  Also, a teacher can teacher her students how to use image generators to get them familiar with technology and uploading images.  I think students would have a blast doing it.  For personal use you can use them in what ever way you would like.  The sky is the limit.  You can attach products from image generators to emails, Facebook, Powerpoints, or just play around with them for fun!

Here is the link to Image chef... HAVE FUN http://www.imagechef.com/

Thing #8

I created a puzzle picture using Flickr photos and I love it! I wish I could choose where to put the missing puzzle pieces though.  It kind of took away my boyfriend's dog banjo's leg away and my neck, but that is okay. I also used spell with Flickr. I had never heard of mashups before but I think they are fantastic because they put two really neat web 2.0 tools together to make one SUPER neat web 2.0 tool. My favorite part is that they are so incredibly easy to use.

I think that students would really enjoy using mashups in class for a fun twist on assignments or to get them into using web 2.0 tools.  Students could make a creation on Mosaic Maker then share with the class their Mosaic and why they choose the pictures that they chose.  I think sharing photos on line is fine.  If you do not want other people seeing your photos then do not share them.  That's simple.

Thing #7- A hamster's distress

I began looking through the pictures on Flickr and found so many amazingly cool, beautiful, and funny pictures. A lot of the ocean landscape pictures gave me Spring fever because I really love going to the beach during the summer!  But this picture of a hamster taken by vrot01's photostream ( Tom from Texas),
  just called my name for some reason.  I want to let him out of his hamster cage because that is what I think the little guy wants.  I also think that Tom did a very good job of capturing the hamster's distress.  It really makes me want to sit around all day and snap pictures of my hamsters. HA!

Flickr is a really fun photo sharing cite that I would use.  I think the tags are a little confusing but they are a great way to help organize pictures.

vrot01's photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vrot01/8494163143/

Thing #6

The 2.0 tool that I chose to explore was the website Grammarly.  This website is very neat because it is a grammar checker.  Microsoft word and lots of other things just as E-mail contain spell check but many times my professors mark my papers for grammar errors. Grammarly is a solution for Grammar errors! Grammarly is easy to use.  All you do is paste the text that you want to check in the box and then push the button. I typed in the sentence "I is goin to the walmarts" just to see if it really works. Grammarly found 4 critical writing issues with in that sentence and told me what they were.  That sentence contains a pronoun agreement  error and a subject-verb agreement error and two misspelled words.  It also checked for plagiarism which is very helpful.  I like Grammarly and think that  I will use it agian.  Grammarly could absolutely be used is a school setting.  A teacher could ask her students to check their book reports, or any writing assignment on Grammarly before they turn it in.  If a student turns in an assignment with a lot of Grammar errors, a teacher could ask the student to type it into Grammarly and to tell her what mistakes he made as a teaching method.
http://www.grammarly.com/?q=grammar&gclid=COnkrcOIw7UCFQ3NnAod-yUAZw

Thing #5

     "Web 2.0, will culturally, socially, intellectually, and politically have a greater impact than the advent of the printing press" is a powerful statement made by Steve Hargadon in his article "Web 2.0 is the Future of Education".   This really caught my attention.  I thought about how I use printing press everyday.  Most of the things that I read have been printed, all my school books  have been printed printed.   The invention of the printing press effects my everyday life.  Then I thought if the web has made the same impact.  My immediate answer was no way!  I avoid computers and the internet as much as I can.  BUT THEN, I realized all the things that Web 2.0 tools can teach that regular print on  paper cannot.  Print on paper can not be as interactive as an educational website, or teach students in the same way.   The "50 tools that every teacher should know about" article  made this even more obvious.  Print on paper can not do all of the cool things that garage band, gaggle,Kidblog, mindjet, moviemaker and so many more, can do.  These tools can help take education to a higher level and I  now really do agree with Steve Hargadon.  
        To me School 2.0 means using technology to take education to a level that it has never been before.  This means that schools will begin to make many changes.  Future schools will be very technology based and use the worldwide web to explore new ideas, and to educate students in new and more effective way.  Future graduates will be well prepared to enter the technology based work world.
     

                        

Thing #4

     Commenting on other people's blogs keeps blogging interactive and fun!  Blogging would not be interactive at all if no one ever commented.  The cool cat teacher blog said "If one is an expert, I guess they may just want to keep their "wisdom" on their own blog, but the true conversation participants are those who contribute to the discussion wherever the blog posting is."  I really liked this part of her blog and really thought it was true.   Blogging is definitely more than just posting on your own blog.  Also, I enjoyed reading the 10 techniques to get more comments,  I never thought about asking questions or being totally open ended in my blogs until I read this.  It gave me some new ideas.  
       I chose to read and comment on  Sherry McNeily's and Kanika Wallace's  thing #2 posts honestly because I sit next to them in class.  It was fun to see parts of  their personality in their blogs that I do not get to see in class.  Their post made it very easy for me to comment on them.   I really agreed with Autumn Kirkland's thing #3 post and that is why I chose to comment on it.  I also think that discussion blogs for literature classes would be a fantastic idea.   I read and commented on Sarah Hammontree's thing #8 and Ashley Hartling's thing #6 because they are both a lot farther ahead than me, and I was curious.  I commented on Sarah's thing #8 about her puzzle picture because it was so adorable!  I  want to catch up to thing #8 so I can see the trouble that she was having.  Ashley's thing #6, I actually plan to use to make birthday party invites for my little sisters sweet 16.  I liked telling her that in my comment.  I am excited to use smore.com.  
    The other 2 blogs that I chose to comment on were Misty Wallace's "Pray" blog and a teacher blog called "teaching in high heels".  Misty is a friend of mine that is a missionary, so I loved reading her latest blog.  The teacher blog had a picture of "Sight words chant sticks" I told her through my comment that I loved her ideas and would love to use them one day and thanks for sharing her ideas!

Thing #3

     I think it is a great idea for teachers to write about their classrooms in a blog.  Blogging gives a teacher an excuse to talk about all the activities that she is doing inside her classrooms.  They also allow parents, fellow teachers, principals, and others to feel apart and to see some of the neat things that teachers and students get to learn about.  A teacher could also use a blog to instruct her students in a different way.  By maybe posting assignments on a blog, or asking her students to blog about new things that they are learning.  I think the way I want to use blogging in my future classroom is to improve my students writing skills.   I could ask them to work on creative writing assignments and post them on their blogger.  This would also help my students  to feel comfortable and have confidence while using the Internet.  This is something that I wish I had learned in school.
     I skimmed over some of the 50 must see teacher blogs and the one that caught my attention the most was  happy hooligans by Jackie Currie.  She posted a post that showed her students using acrylic paint and paint brushes to paint pictures in the snow!  I thought that looked like such a fun and festive idea.  I think I will want to try it with my future students.

Thing #2

     Creating my blog was so much fun! It literally has to be my favorite homework assignment so far at Austin Peay.  I was a little overwhelmed at first with the idea of having to make a blog, but I warmed up to it as soon as I began to explore blogger. I really appreciate how simple it is to use.  I enjoyed decorating my page with pink polka dots and my avatar.  I got to bring some of my personality into my page.  I think I tried out every background option that was available.  I didn't get super creative with my posting name or the name of my blog. I just decided to use my real name and to title each post with a thing number. 
      I decided to try and make my avatar look like me, so I gave her blonde curly hair, blue eyes, and a yellow shirt because that is my favorite color.  I thought that creating my blog and avatar was pretty simple and didn't have any big issues.  The only part that  I had a little bit of trouble with was transferring my avatar from the DoppleMe website to my blog.  I could't find the layout page where I needed to paste the code, but with some trial and error I finally figured it out.
     I do not have any past experience on blogger or creating any other type of blog, but I am really excited to start. I have always liked writing in journals and I feel like blogger is very similar.  It is just like an online interactive journal.  The only difference is that since my blogs are on the blog sphere anyone can read them.
    

      

Thing #1

     Learning how to learn is a concept that is much more complex than just memorizing facts. Since not everyone learns in the same way, each person has to find ways that help them learn successfully. I personally learn best from hands on activities.  I read the 71/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners, and found the habits to very helpful.  I really would like to one day show it to my precious future elementary students, to show them positive habits that will help them learn successfully.  

     The habit that is the easiest for me that I actually do use is "viewing problems as challenges".  I am a very optimistic person and I do not give up very easily.  So when I am having a problem, I just triple-dog-dare myself to figure it out and I don't stop until I am done.  The hardest habit for me to form is "using technology to my advantage".  My last resort is always opening up my computer.  Usually it frustrates me so badly.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't feel like bashing my laptop up against a wall!  But I really need to work on becoming more familiar with technology. I believe it will take that frustration away. 

      That being said I think playing with these new 2.0 tools will be very beneficial to me.  Technology plays a huge role in schools today, so I believe this class will help me be the best teacher that I can be.  Setting up this blog wasn't even too bad at all.  Especially since we did it in class.  I feel like that is a good start to handling all the technology stuff pretty well.