Thing #24

I have thoroughly enjoyed completing the 23 Things activities in my blog. It truly has been a eye-opening experience. If I had to narrow it down to one favorite thing, it would have to be the Animoto video maker. I can already see how I will utilize this site both personally and professionally. It is just so cool and I am thankful to have discovered it and to have tested it out prior to sharing it with my students.

This technology course as a whole has changed the way I feel about integrating technology into my classroom. I have said in previous posts that I was a bit afraid of technology. There is so much out there online and I have never really caught onto the tech craze like others. This course changed that. I feel that technology has changed the way our classrooms work. I must embrace the changes and not fear them. 

I am far from an expert though. I have so much to learn but I do feel more comfortable with testing the waters now. I want to help alleviate the stress of new technology for my students as well. I want them to be able to use what helps them and not get bogged down with the rest. I want to incorporate technology into my lessons rather than having a tech component in addition to my lessons. 

I was surprised at the many things that are available for free online. I was always under the assumption that there was a fee for the latest technology but I was wrong. I also was reminded that educators are in a fish bowl even more when you open up yourself online. You have to find a healthy balance of being connected to the pubic and having your privacy. 

If I could suggest anything to improve this course, I would say to have students do a search for themselves online before they start their blog. I think students would be amazed at how easily people can find out about you simply by googling your name. 

Well, I am now using the Symbaloo page as my home page and I absolutely love it. I linked it to my Facebook, Twitter, blog, and APSU. I am able to use it as a bookmark of sorts for all the sites I go to daily. In addition, I have truly enjoyed keeping a blog and I plan on keeping it up in the future. I am going to be bold and share my blog with my Facebook family and friends. I will also keep it up through my final semester of classes and student teaching. I like the idea of giving myself 15 minutes a day to writing on my blog. I think of it as a tech way of keeping a journal for my experiences. :)

Thing #23

I am all about collaboration and giving credit where credit is due. Those two ideas are kind of what Creative Commons is all about. I looked at Dr. Wall's 23 Things page and found this text that shows that the activities that Dr. Wall had outlined were based off of someone else's work. Please see below:

"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."

I have done a bit of research on Creative Commons and I believe that it could be a huge asset in the classroom. People can share ideas and tweak the ideas of others as well. The collaboration that could take place truly knows no bounds. As a side note, I really like the idea that the lawyers don't have to get involved in Creative Commons. :)

Thing #22

I am suddenly caught between two majors in my program. I just switched from SPED K-12 to K-6 due to some scheduling conflicts. I am still going to pursue an additional endorsement in SPED after I graduate next year. Because of this, I made sure that I created binders that will reflect this goal. I created three binders on Live Binders. I created tabs for kindergarten, first, second, and primary modified K-2 in each binder. I created three basic binders: Reading, Language, and Math. I added websites that I currently use in the classroom and googled additional resources as well.

This site gave me yet another resource for my classroom. I can use this type of site for peer collaboration; to share with parents; and with my students. Please take a look at my math binder below and see what you think. :)

Math Binder

Thing #21

Italy Trip 2009
 

Okay, so this was simply the coolest thing I have learned about during this assignment. I am hooked on making these videos and will most likely be upgrading my account so I can make videos for our family. I realize I should be looking at this site in an educational way but I keep thinking of all the amazing ways I can share videos of our adventures as a family. 

I took some of the pictures from our trip to Italy in 2009 and made the video. It was a great experience. I just kept playing with the tools until I got it the way I wanted it. This site was extremely user friendly and a bit addictive. I can see how this site could be used in the classroom as well. 

Thing #20

I need to confess something. (Who knew this blog thingy would be so therapeutic?) I fell in love with the Kid President last spring when my youngest daughter's 5th grade teacher shared his "pep talk" with her class. Megan came home that day and shared it with me. I was inspired and got a bit teary eyed. The adorable little boy was encouraging and honest and very funny. We watched that YouTube clip 5 times in a row. I shared it on Facebook with my family and friends. I found one of his new clips and shared it above. This kid has a knack with words and he says the very things that teachers and students need to hear.

As for YouTube, there are simply too many pros of utilizing this site for anyone to dismiss it. I have seen teachers find clips for all of the subject content areas. There is a ton of music and books that can be used on YouTube as well. Yes, teachers need o screen any clip to ensure that it is appropriate and relevant to the classroom learning environment but it is a valuable tool nonetheless.

I also found Kideo. This site has age-appropriate video clips for children. This site could be a good resource for parents as well. There is music, learning games, and interesting videos for students to explore. I will definitely be adding this to my Delicious bookmarks!

Thing #19

In a previous post, I mentioned that I have something of a Pinterest addiction. Well, my husband says it is an addiction. I would call it an enjoyable way to waste 6 hours without blinking. :)  I adore Pinterest and have enjoyed looking at everything from recipes to organic gardening tips. I found the Teachers on Pinterest just by chance and was floored at all of the pins and boards I had access too. There are so many ideas and tips that it has been a bit overwhelming but so informative at the same time. I am a big proponent of not reinventing the wheel so when I have the opportunity to learn from others, I jump on it. Social networking sites give you that ability. One thing you have to remember is to realize that everything you tweet, post, or pin is out there for the world to see. Be respectful and responsible with your social networking, no matter how you feel. :)

For a look inside my Pinterest world, feel free to click on the link below:

Tonya's Pinterest

Thing #18

I have a bit of a Tweet reputation. I am a huge fan of a book series called Outlander and I joined Twitter as a way to stay in the loop with any news pertaining to the upcoming television production based on the series. I was a bit curious about the whole world of tweets so I took a look. I found a lot of ranting and raving. I found some funny jokes and silly pictures. I also found lots of information about Outlander. I also found that it is a challenge to share your thoughts in  140 characters while still being grammatically correct. 

 As a future educator, the whole social media/networking is a bit of a double edged sword. On one hand, it is a great way to reach out to colleagues and peers to share ideas and information. It is a great way to stay connected with the parents of your students and to put out school related information. However, when a teacher posts on Twitter or Facebook, their life is now in the public domain 24/7. People will pick apart your posts and take things out of context. Photos will be scrutinized as well as friends tags and posts. 

I tried several of the educational hashtags and got lots of results. That was both good and bad. The good thing was that some of the tweets and contacts were full of good information and links to outside information. The bad side was that there is no rhyme or reason for why people tag anything. I was looking at #specialneeds and hundreds of tweets and links popped up. Many were for adults with special needs rather than children. Some were links to items for sale. It would take at least an hour to get through the hits just to narrow them down. 

Here is the link to my twitter account:

Tonya's Twitter

Enjoy!

Thing #17

I need to confess something. A few years ago, I became a Pinterest addict. I have pinned amazing things and created over 40 different boards. Delicious is just like Pinterest but with actual bookmarks rather than just cool pics that have links. I am excited to be able to have a place where my bookmarks are saved and can be accessed no matter where I am. That is cool. As I started searching for different links, I was amazed at how much information was out there. To be honest, it is a bit overwhelming at first. However, I can see how this site will be a useful tool to a future teacher like me. I will be able to bookmark links and by adding the tags, easily retrieve what I am looking for. I can use this tool in creating activities for lesson plans; Common Core information; Parent involvement ideas; etc. This site gives me the opportunity to network with fellow teachers as well. In addition, I can use this site personally for my family's needs. This is a site that I will definitely be using in the future. :)

Thing #16

Okay, up to this point I thought I knew all about home pages and cool web 2.0 tools but, I was wrong. I chose the Symbaloo tool because I liked the name and it was very visually appealing to me. I enjoyed customizing my page and played with different aspects of the site for way too long. I liked the look of it and having all of my favorite sites just a click away is extremely appealing to me. I did make it my home page and I will have to see how it goes from here. 

I currently use the Google Calendar tool to keep all of my appointments and important dates on. As a mom of three, I need something to remind me of orthodontist appointments and such. I also have the app on my phone so I can get reminders throughout the day. It helps me stay sane with our crazy schedules. 

I am thinking having a class home page might be a great idea. I could have tiles for our class blog; homework help; etc. I would need to play around with it some more but I think it just might work. :)

Thing #15

I am a bit of a novice when it comes to the world of wiki's. The only thing that I am sure of is that I should never use Wikipedia as a source for a research paper ever and I mean ever. So, I was intrigued to better understand the wiki and what it entailed. I liked the fact that any person can add their two cents on to what is written. I also enjoyed the idea that you could easily have diverging ideas on one subject. 

I was pleasantly surprised with my quest. I can see how a wiki could be a great source of communication in my classroom. For example, I could start a wiki on the Civil War. I could input the outline for our unit as well as bullet points for each chapter. The students could take a bullet point from the wiki and expand upon it by adding pictures, definitions, etc. The possibilities are endless. The wiki is easily accessible for all students whether in class or out. This type of wiki could be created for any subject really. 

Thing #14

Here comes the sun...

Well, not actually. This task asked me to look at the difference between flow charts and mind maps. That sounds a whole lot like tech speak for death by power point. However, these tools are extremely useful both in and out of the classroom.

Flowcharts- I chose to create an account with Gliffy. It is a free ( for the 15 day trial period anyway) web site that allows the user to create, save, and share flow charts. It is pretty easy to use. I had to play around with it for some time to make it work for me but I have said this before, I am not the most tech savvy person. To me, this site would be ideal for organizational charts or procedures. It would also be helpful for very simple concept webs. However, it lacked the flexibility that I was looking for when creating a more complex concept web that I have been working on for another class. 

Mind Maps- I chose to create a free account with Bubbl.us. It is a really cool site that let my imagination run wild with different possibilities for the concept web that I am still working on. This site allows the user to create in-depth concept web organizers. I was able to add standards information to different bubbles and edit the way it flowed. This site allows for more creativity and flexibility bu the user. It would be helpful in the classroom when trying to create concept webs. It would also be useful during professional development presentations. 

Update:
I actually used Bubble.us for my EDUC 5360 class and it worked great. We are working on an integrated unit in our group and I was responsible for the concept web. It did take me a little more time to understand how this site worked but it worked out great for my project. Helpful hint when using this site: Be sure that the automatic saving function is off or else you constantly have to delete old mind maps. Please see the picture below for my web.

Thing #13

Okay, so I have to admit that I was a bit of a "Doubting Thomas" when it comes to new web applications. I still am discovering the world of texting and learning from my children on a daily basis about technology. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the flexibility and simplicity of Google Drive. It was set up just like the Microsoft software that I have used over the years. I was amazed at how this was free to use and extremely user friendly. I just typed up my document ( I took the time to find a new recipe) and published it. It was easy and fast. I can update it and modify it whenever I want. I also was able to share it with my peers.

I can see how this would be extremely useful in my classroom. My students could create a project and each take a part to work on. They could share their work and make changes online. I could put up homework assignments in a Google Drive document and the students could complete it and publish it for grading. There are so many ways that this will be useful in the classroom and beyond.

I also went and explored ZOHO to see how it compared with Google Drive. It was a great site and offered many of the same tools offered by Google Drive. However, I found that this site was not as user friendly and was targeted more to working adults than students. It just did not have the simplicity that I think my students will need to make it useful to them.

Please take a look below at my Google Drive document and get an idea of what I might be serving come Thanksgiving. :)

My Google Drive document

Thing #12

I am continually amazed by Google. There are so many things possible because of this popular search engine. For this assignment, I chose the Google Alerts tool and the Google Plus Photo tool. I set up the alert in order to keep updated on certain blogs that center around the topics I find interesting. I am so busy in my daily life and I need a little help when it comes to updates and such. Although I might use it for a personal use more often, I can also see how beneficial it would be to use in the classroom. I want to be able to teach about the Iditarod Race in Alaska and this would be a wonderful way to stay current with the racers and sled teams. The second tool I chose was the Google Plus Photo tool. I love sharing photos I have taken with others. It is very important to me. I also like the idea of sharing pictures of classroom activities and field trips with the parents of my students. This is a great tool to help me do just that. If you want to see a few pics of some of the activities that I did with a great group of students in Christian County, KY, please feel free to click the link below.

Three Little Pig Unit 

Thing #11

This blog world is still so foreign to me but I slowly think I am getting the hang of it. I now know what to look for and what some of the acronyms stand for. I found using the Google Blog search much easier than any of the other tools listed. I guess that is on part to me being used to Google and comfortable with it. Technorati was a bit more difficult for me to navigate.

I found several feeds that will be useful to me in my own home. The coolest one I found is a blog from Mother Earth News that is informative and has inspired me to raise my own chickens. I found it interesting and fun. Now I have to convince the hubby. You can view it at http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/chicken-economics.aspx#axzz2hMhCriIc.

In addition, I found a blog for a new teacher who just starting teaching in the Alaskan bush. Her unique perspective of being both new to the community and to the job was fascinating to read about. You can find her blog at http://www.liveteachalaska.com/.

All in all this was an eye-opening assignment and it definitely opened my eyes to some of the amazing blogs online.

Thing #10

I think I should start by saying that I am not a very computer literate person. This course is a bit scary for me to say the least. I always thought that RSS must stand for something overly complicated computer gibberish and then I read Dr. Wall's definition. I had to laugh. Could it really be that easy?  I love the idea of not having to constantly look for updates on sites and having all the new information on one page for me to look at. It was a bit mind-blowing to say the least. I am a busy woman who works full time; is taking four graduate courses; and still have to do my favorite job of being a good mom to my three rug rats. Having the Feedly page will help me to save some time and help me to stay up to date on the things I enjoy the most. 

As a future educator, I can see how teachers could use this tool to keep current on new trends in education.I can see how a teacher presenting an integrated unit could use these RSS updates to help the students track any changes or updates to information. 

Thing #9

This was an interesting task. I was a little worried when I clicked on some of these image generating sites asked me to download software. My husband has really scared me when it comes to downloading anything onto my computer. However, I can see how this would be a fun thing to use.I can see me using this in some inappropriate humor with my husband and close friends. I also can see how you could use these image generators in presentations. Both of these photos were completed using the Foto Trix website.

Thing #8

Dr. Wall was correct in warning us that this activity could become addictive. This was a such a fun task. I can see how it can be used in my classroom and at home. I could use mashups when opening a lesson and to also change things up during a lesson. Students could use this tool to type up sight words in a unique way. There are so many applications for this tool in my home as well. I could use this tool in making art for our walls and creating personalized Christmas cards too. I have said before that I am not afraid to post my pictures online but I am very careful of what I put out in the public domain.

Thing #7

Fantastic Flickr!

I have had a Flickr account for years. I used it to share pictures with family and friends around the world. I also used it as a photo scrapbook during our travels while in Europe. However, I never thought of its application in the classroom until this assignment. I can see how my students could use a Flickr account to share about themselves with the class. I can also see how a Flickr based assignment would be interesting to students during an integrated unit.

For this task, I chose a photo that is near and dear to my heart. This past spring, the kids and I participated in our first 5K race. It was a Color Run event and it was absolutely amazing. Although we did not win any prizes for speed, we all finished the race together and got a pic at the finish line to prove it. We are looking forward to doing this race every year from now one.

I do know that many people have concerns over the privacy issue when it comes to posting pictures online. I choose to be responsible when posting anything online. I also have chosen not to live in fear when it comes to putting my pictures out for the world to see. Thankfully, I am not a celebrity and I do not seek out the spotlight so my pictures would probably not ever be targeted.

Thing #6

Wow!  This task was really difficult because there is so much out there to look out. Talk about a light bulb moment. I found myself getting overwhelmed and after 20 minutes or so I had to go wash some dishes just help my brain from going 90 miles an hour.

When the dust settled, I decided on a very practical and useful tool for me to explore. The site's name is Smore. It is a site for creating flyers and newsletters. I can see how this site will be very useful to me as a classroom teacher. I know firsthand that teachers are constantly sending information home and this site would enable me to create something that is information packed as well as appealing to look at. The best part is that it is absolutely free. There are thousands of templates to choose from. You can also save your work for use at a later date.