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