24-Reflection

As I look back on the 23 Things assignment, I have mixed feelings. Certain assignments were very informative and helpful. Others really just seemed like a waste of time. I mean, seriously, Thing 18? The percentage of students who don't have Facebook or Twitter must be very minute. I would consider eliminating this Thing and replacing it with something more beneficial. Also, YouTube is blocked in most school systems. I think Teacher Tube should be explored instead.

This assignment did show me how much is out there to help organize my personal and professional life as well as how many creative sites are out there. It also showed me that apparently, I never search the web! There were so many sites that I had never heard of. Delicious, Live Binder, Flow Charts, Flicker, and Animoto were my favorite discoveries These allowed me to truly see beneficial applications for both my personal and professional life. I've already started using Delicious to create a library of sites that will be useful to me as an educator.

I think the biggest take away that I had from this assignment is that I need to branch out more on the Internet and that there are a whole host of useful sites just waiting to be Googled, which also apparently is waaaaay more than just a search engine! Thanks Thing #12! Also, as a new teacher, use these sites to your advantage. I think I had a fear that I would need to reinvent the wheel with each lesson. This isn't so. I know that I can use some of the these sites and applications to make my career as a teacher better organized, more creative, and most importantly, less stressful!

Thing 19- The 'other' social networks

Like most of my thing posts begin, I was not aware of these other social networks.  Other than Facebook, I'm not currently a member of any other social networks , although I did just join Teacher Pop. While I see the importance of these social networks, I also see the importance of the most important social network, the actual people we see and interact with everyday. I'm just as guilty as the next person of spending too much time on Facebook or other web sites, but I feel like we place far too much emphasis on our virtual friends and peers. Make an date to have lunch with an old friend, or give them a call on a long drive. Put the phone down and be present  with those who are in your presence.

I did check out the the links to other social networks and I really like Good Reads. I'm always searching for a new book so I will definitely use this site again.

Also, I tried to embed the bade from Teacher Pop, but like the other attempts at embedding, it did not work.

Thing 23

Creative commons will be a useful tool for my classroom. With a large library of videos,songs, academic and scientific material that are all free to access, I can use items found on this site without fear of breaking any copyright laws. I can take items from the site as is, or tweak and edit them to meet the needs of my class or lesson plan. I can also direct students to the site during assignments so they also have free access to materials as well as the right to use them.

Our 23 Things blog is loosely based on Stephen Abrams's 43 things to do this summer as well as www.43things.com. 

Thing 22-Live Binders

Live Binder appears to be a very useful tool for professionals that would benefit from retaining a library of  websites, references, and word documents. As a teacher, I would use the binders for the subjects I teach, good tips or motivational reads I find, blogs, research papers I've written, etc. I could also create binders for student web quests that they could access or to store assignments they complete.
I created binders entitled Middle School Social Studies, Middle School Language Arts, and Tips for Teachers.
I attempted several tries to embed one of my binders, but it would not work. Here is a link.
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=687626

<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?id=687626"> <img src="http://open.thumbshots.org/image.pxf?url=http://www.tips-for-teachers.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?id=687626">Tips for Teachers</a><br /></div>

Thing 21- Animoto

Thing 21

This was probably my favorite of the sites we researched! I will certainly use this site again for personal use. I could also use this in the classroom. I could use it to showcase students' work or as a cumulative display of school year highlights. If you wanted, you could also purchase a premium package to create longer videos. Students could use this site to create videos for class projects.

Thing 20- You Tube

YouTube is filled with hilarious, ridiculous, and inappropriate videos. It also has videos worth watching. While most school districts allow limited access to YouTube, there is a version called Teacher Tube that can be accessed at school. As a teacher, I would use YouTube or Teacher Tube to show students clips pertaining to lessons for bell ringers, self reflection writing exercises, or just informational purposes.

After viewing the Mali video, which is hilarious, I found another about the importance of proofreading. While some of the language may be too much to show to students, in a comical way, it reminds you how impotent it is to proofread!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OonDPGwAyfQ&feature=context-vrec

Thing 18- Twitter Me

Like most people today, I already have a Facebook account so I didn't see much need in scoping it out for this Thing. It would have ended an hour later when I realized I'd just been Facebook stalking people instead of actually doing my work! So I decided to fiiinnnnallly go check out Twitter. I created an account and added a few followers,but I don't foresee using it very much. I don't imagine that my life as a student/army wife/domestic goddes/mom is so enthralling that people will follow me to see what I have to say in a 140 characters or less.

Regardless of my personal thoughts on social networking, we can't deny the extreme influence that these sites  will have on our students and our classrooms. As teachers, we need to be aware of the good and the bad that can come from social networking. While sites like Facebook and Twitter keep us connected to our friends and family, it is also an avenue for the growing epidemic of cyber bullying. Teachers must be aware of these issues and work to create bully free schools and classrooms and make it clear to students that the negative aspects of social networking will not be tolerated within the classroom.

While I generally think social networking is a distraction in the classroom, I do see how it could be incorporated into schools. Classes could have group Facebook pages to share an upcoming project, event or fundraiser. Students could use the polling feature to interview 'friends' for as part of class activities. Social Networking is definitely here to stay and we must stay abreast of current trends that effect our students and our classrooms.

Thing 17 My, that's Delicious!

I'm beginning to think I lead a pretty sheltered Internet existence! Like many of the other sites we've been asked to examine, I had never heard of Delicious, but I am glad to have discovered it. It will be personally and professionally useful. Instead of having a huge list of unorganized bookmarks saved to one computer, Delicious allows you to save and categorize favorite or beneficial sites into one location that can be accessed anywhere. We often stumble upon things that we know will be helpful at one point in our career and a site like this allows us to save them until a future date. As a teacher, I'll be able to stockpile a whole host of beneficial sites for my professional development and my classroom. And that sounds...... well, delicious!

Thing 16-Don't forget the milk!

I am a list maker. I make lists on post-its, the backs of envelopes, while waiting to pick up my daughter from school.  I keep a note pad by my bed and set alarm notes in my phone all the time so I don't forget things. Every month, I write out a calendar. Every week, I create a to-do of the important things to I have to do. I get some weird enjoyment from marking off items on a page. The items in thing 16 are all geared in making our lives easier and more productive and I love that.

I already have an iGoogle account as well as a Google calendar that is linked to my iPhone. I use both of them often to help keep track of my personal life and school activities. I did discover Remember the Milk and I'm glad I did.  Remember the Milk is an online list creation site. It enables you to create and divide lists into different categories and share these lists with those who can benefit from being privy to the information or who can help you accomplish the tasks. I created an account and added the app on my iPhone.  Maybe I will finally stop making notes on every sheet of paper I find!

Wiki Wiki What? Thing 15

Honestly before this thing assignment, I really only thought about Wikipedia when I thought about wikis. I was unaware of their use by other companies,organizations, and groups and what they are able to provide them. I find it interesting that a collaboration of various people can create one site so easily. It can allow for a sharing of talents to develop a better version of an individual idea. It can also be detrimental in that a creator doesn't have total control over the content edited and displayed on the site.                                                 In my own classroom, I would use a wiki to keep track of classroom activities,  develop class projects and group assignments, and post links for sites useful to the classroom. Depending on the age of my students, I would also have the students interact and edit the wiki as part of classroom activity.                                                            

Thing 14-Go with the flow

I explored Gliffy, Bubbl, and mindmeister for this blog post. These tools would be useful for teachers and students alike. I chose these sites because each would be beneficial in different stages of project or task. Bubbl and mindmeister would be great for the brainstorming stages of projects, creative writing, and working through group ideas.  Gliffy is a good tool for finished projects, and class presentations. It provides polished flow charts, diagrams,and organizational charts. Teachers would benefit from using these during direct instruction and students can use these to add to presentations or group projects.

The sites offered free versions of their services, though it would be more beneficial to teachers to chose to purchase a version of one of the sites if they planned to use this continually.

Thing 13 - Web-based applications

Zoho was new discovery for me. This site would be very beneficial to larger groups, businesses, and business owners. They did offer a free version to the individual or small group that would be useful for class projects or for personal documents. The most benefit of this site comes from  the full host of  group or business tools. To access these tools, customers must pay for these services and services provided are based upon the tier purchased. Documents could be added or created and edited by multiple users, separate groups could be managed and created within accounts, time sheets could be managed, and meetings can even be conducted through web conferencing.

Google docs and the free version of Zoho are very similar. Both allow for personal document creation and uploads and group sharing and communicating. Just based upon my my perusing of both sites, it looks like Zoho may offer more even in the free version as opposed to Google docs, but Google in itself offers more. I can connect to my blog, email, calendar, and documents all on the same site.

I am currently using Google Docs in another class for a group lesson plan. We are uploading and editing documents and communicating easily with each other. My own students would use it in the same manner. The virtual group can meet at any time and allow students to work on group projects without having to be together.

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1m_D934AACBxa_r9BV9fSvi7yY_osGYoh8oMFS3E_5eM/edit

Thing 12: My, what many abilities you have, Google!

For this exercise, I chose to explore Google Calendar and Translate. Google Calendar can  link to my IPhone calendar app, which is very convenient for our busy family. I can also share it with my husband. Now he can never say he didn't know about an appointment or activity! You can also create many separate calendars. As a teacher, I could create one for my classroom with due dates and upcoming activities. I could share it with students and parents both in printed form or on the class blog.

Google Translate is a really interesting tool. I put in a few phrases that I knew in both Spanish and French. The written and audio translations were both correct. This could be a great tool for a teacher of ELL and ESL students.My daughter's kindergarten class recently welcomed two student's with hearing impairments. Her teacher has been teaching the students the alphabet and key phrases in sign language to help foster better communication between students. Google Translate could do the same for student's who speak a primarily different language than their peers and their teachers.Teachers could learn and teach their students key phrases to better communicate with their classmates. This would make for a warm welcome for students and create a more inviting atmosphere.




https://www.google.com/calendar/render?tab=yc

http://translate.google.com/#en/es/Welcome%20Back%20Students

Thing 11-Finding Good Feeds

It's funny how many sites have the orange icon and other "follow me" links. I've never really paid attention to them until now. Finding feeds was fairly easy for me. I searched using all the provided avenue,s and I felt that Google Blog Search was the easiest. Topix seemed the least helpful. Technorati's home page was chock full of political articles and blogs which was a turn off for me, but I did search and find a blog to add. I also searched a few of my own favorites sites and found ways to add those to Google reader

Leyden Learn 365 and Larry Felazzo's Website of the day were two educational feeds that I found interesting and worth adding to my feed. Leyden Learn is a school wide blog of East Leyden High School. Teachers from all departments take turns with the daily post. Felazzo's blog is geared toward teachers of ELL, EFL, and ESL, but has information for all educators.

Now that I'm aware of how to use Google reader and RSS, it will make keeping up with blogs I've discovered so much easier. I'll develop my own stock pile of useful sites for my future classroom!

(Thing 10) My Goodness, Google!

My Google account is quickly becoming much more than just email! Who knew!? Email, Blog and now the added convenience of Google reader, its becoming on one stop shop for Internet information. 

This is the first time I've heard about RSS, or the first time I bothered to search out what it meant. This is a really valuable tool for individuals and teachers alike. It is an excellent time saver. Personally and professionally it can keep you connected to all your favorite blogs and informational sites. Teachers can use this to subscribe to valuable educational blogs and websites. They could encourage their students to create their own and subscribe to educational sites that interest them and use the information gleamed from them to create a project.

RSS is a great tool and asset for educators.

Thing 9

These generators would be a fun addition to the classroom. You could use them for ice breakers, to make signs for the classroom, and introduce lessons. Personally, you could use them on your blog -if you do that sort of thing ;)

http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/create-right.asp?title=+&text=This+is+so+going+in+my+blog....&tag=October+10%2C+2012&fontsize=12&font=comic&color=black&move=&move2=&cartoons.x=77&cartoons.y=11&cartoon=1950s-home-computer-pc&time=0027

http://www.images-graphics-pics.com/signs/smilies/sign-generators.asp?page=1

Thing 8

Flicker and Flicker mash-ups can create fun and useful photo and word collages. Students could enjoy using them for presentations and artistic creations. In regard to your personal life, they would be great for photographs around your home or in scrapbooking.

I'm comfortable sharing photos online with those I know. I use Facebook and Instagram to share photographs with friends and family. I don't feel entirely comfortable sharing personal photos publicly online. If I took landscapes or impersonal photographs, I would feel comfortable using Flicker or other photo-sharing sites.

Thing 7-Flicker

For this blog post,  I chose to explore Flicker and not create an account. I already post to Instagram so I didn't want to create an account that I would most likely not use.

The range of photos on Flicker is unending. Beautiful landscapes,intriguing abstracts, clip art, and portraits were all there. From an educators perspective, the vast amount of photographs could be great asset in the classroom. Photographs can bring to life a topic being discussed and allow students to make connections to real life.

 I selected a photo from the "A Year Ago Today" photo reel. I'm very introspective so the thought of looking back in time at what others posted a year ago intrigued me. I selected the photo entitled "Morning Rays" by Andrew Curtis because it's simply stunning. I can only imagine what the photographer felt and experienced taking the picture. I would love to know that a year ago today, I was standing in that same spot, taking in that view.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewandsarah/6192083789/

Note*-I was unable to attach the image because the photographer has not enabled that option. The link, however, will take you to the beautiful shot.

Thing #6

I selected the website Hulu to explore because I was curious about the website. I've heard great things about it, but I've never actually explored it myself.

Hulu allows viewers to watch full length movies and shows from their computer with little commercial interruption. It is a free site, unless you would like to purchase Hulu plus, which allows for unlimited commercial- free streaming. The site was created by NBC Universal and Fox Entertainment in hopes to help curb online piracy. It had a large variety of movies and shows broken down in several categories.

I think this site could be beneficial in the classroom. Teachers could use the site to show students current news reports, documentaries, and shows that are relevant to a topic being studied. My high school American History teacher often used videos and documentaries during lessons and I personally felt it helped create a greater connection to the material. Teachers could also use clips as an opening for class. Show a selected clip, and then have students write a personal response to what they just viewed.


http://www.hulu.com/

Thing 5: School 2.0

Richard Macmanus' article on Read Write Web best summed up the idea of Web 2.0 . "Web 2.0 is everyday, non-technical people using the Web to enhance their lives and businesses. The fact that so many people are now creating and building on the Web is what the '2.0' signifies."

School 2.0 is, in my opinion, the same thing. It isn't a new version of school, but a great opportunity to take advantage of today's technological gifts.. So many of us had great ideas regarding blogs being used in the classroom. We took just a teacher blog one step further, and made it an interactive living piece of the classroom. I think that epitomizes the idea of School 2.0, which is taking current ideas to new heights.

Schools of the future will be moving forward with greater access to technology. They also  must embrace new and current trends that so many students are comfortable with so as to not appear archaic and out of touch. I fully expect social media, blogs, pod casts, and other technological aids to make an appearance in most classrooms.

Thing 4-Sharing my two cents

I'm really not much for reading blogs.  Other than my few friends who write blogs, I rarely search the Internet for blogs to read or follow. So of course, I rarely comment on anything online. Most of the time, I only see troll like comments that make me want to scream anyway, or they are just one word comments like "yea" or "good point", so this assignment took me out of my comfort zone as a infrequent blog viewer and even more infrequent commentator.

Good meaningful comments can greatly increase the dialogue started by the blog poster. They can allow the blogger to hear other points, or add validation to their original post. I think the two points from the assigned reading that were the most beneficial to me were to leave a meaningful comment and to not be afraid to leave a comment. As I previously said, I never like reading blogs where people only put irreverent one-word comments or ridiculous comments that were totally rude and so far off base that they took the post on a completely different path. I wasn't ever scared to leave a comment per se, but I've just never been in the habit of commenting.

I did comment on the following blogs for the assignment:
CoolSchoolMcCoy -Thing #3
Saragusa- #3
Crane #1
FrankE #3
Cleanup Thoughts #3
I commented on these blogs because we shared similar viewpoints and they had additional ideas to compliment my own blog posts.  I made a point to make a meaningful post and let them know what and why I enjoyed about their post.
Outside of of our class I found blogs of two middle school teachers that I found interesting.
http://middle-school-teacher.blogspot.com/2012/08/no-longer-middle-school-teacher.html
http://www.makingitteacher.com/search/label/Social%20Studies
Middle school teacher's blog talked about the change in enthusiasm from 3rd to 6th grade students. As someone who wants to teach middle school, I have heard this from many educators so I was interested to hear her thoughts.
Making it as a Middle School Teacher's Blog was extremely interesting. Her post on incorporating math into science and social studies lined up directly with the other class I am taking this semester. It was great to read that a teacher has been able to do this and have success with it.

Thing 3-Blogging for the classroom

 As a teaching professional, setting up a blog(s) would be beneficial in several areas. I would create a personal reflection blog where I would list tips, reactions to lessons or methods used in the classroom, share ideas and lesson plans with fellow teachers, and discuss current trends and issues facing today's teachers and schools.

Aside from a personal blog, I would also create a a classroom blog to allow parents to stay informed of important news such as homework assignments, class activities school events. It would also be an excellent avenue to display student work, highlight exceptional students, provide additional resources for student's to explore that compliment class activities.

For older students, a blog could also be a way to facilitate class discussions. Students could even be encouraged to create their own blog to record responses to books or topics, and post assignments.

Thing 2-I think I'm blogging now

As I said in post one, I never thought of myself as a blogger. Although I think I'm pretty interesting, I highly doubted that others would care to read about my daily activities. Not only that, but my technical skills leave a lot to be desired. I always assumed creating a blog would be more trouble than it was worth, but I was pleasantly surprised. Creating the blog was very easy. I already had a gmail account, so setting up the blog took less than one minute! Naming it took a bit more time as it's hard to come up with a clever title with a last name like Samples.

The avatar creation was also simple, but actually getting it to the blog was another story. The instructions posted on 23 things either wouldn't work or I was doing it incorrectly, but nevertheless, I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. I was finally able to upload the image by saving it to my computer and uploading it as an image. The appearance of the avatar is slightly similar to me, at least as close as I can look to a boxy-cartoon character.

Overall, the blog creation process was extremely simple, but I'm still not sold that a personal blog will ever be in the works for me! Unless, I decide that I'm super interesting after all.

Thing 1: The Lifelong Learner

 'Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death" Albert Einstein

Welcome to my first official blog! I'm excited for this new avenue of my educational training. Creating this blog is very indicative of being a lifelong learner as this is my first foray into the blogisphere. I've never really considered my life to be exciting enough to blog about (unless you're a total fan of kickboxing, potty training, making lunches, and being a child's personal taxi driver!) I also thought it would be much more difficult, but I'll talk more about that in post 2.

When I think of lifetime learning, I imagine a living thing-a plant, a tree, a flower. The moment you stop watering it, it begins to wilt and die. I think of the human mind the same way. When we choose to stop learning, we begin to wilt. We're droopy, not as sharp, we begin to decay. The 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learners are the fertilizer to our minds.  Those who practice these habits have green thumbs and flourish as individuals, team members, and  leaders.

When it comes to my own path of lifetime learning, I think I follow most the habits on a regular basis, although, I struggle with habit 3. Viewing problems as challenges is easier said than done for me. I just view them as a giant problem daring to derail my plans!  Habit four is probably the easiest for me; I do have confidence in my intellectual ability and so far it hasn't failed me yet!

I am looking forward to this class to enhance my technology skills. I'll be the first to admit, when my computer acts crazy, I start looking for CTRL, ALT DEL buttons. The ease of setting up the blog helped start the class off to a good start. Setting up the avatar was a different story, but that's another story for a different post!!