Thing #23 The End:
I can't believe that this journey is over.
What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I enjoyed playing with the online image generators. I could see how the students would really get into them. I enjoyed all of the 23 Things and I learned a lot from each one.
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
It has made me want to modify and change up my lessons to integrate more web 2.0 resources into them. I hope to create a class Ning and a class blog for next year. I am a bit nervous in doing so but I am sure that my students and other staff member can assist me if any problems arise.
Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I am surprised that I actually enjoyed participating in professional development. This was a very informative professional development and it was the best one that I have participated in.
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I would like to have worked on fewer "Things" over the summer. I really would like to have developed lessons around each Thing.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
YES.
How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?
Innovative.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Thing #20
Thing #20 TeacherTube and You Tube:
YouTube is a great resource that we really should have access to in the district. I realize that there are many inappropriate videos on the website; however there is a multitude of valuable resources that are blocked. I am glad that we have Zamzar to convert the YouTube files into working files that we can show in the classroom, making YouTube a bit more accessible.
TeacherTube also has many educational videos that we can use in the classroom. I have placed a TeacherTube video of important events in American history.
Students also have the ability to upload videos to share into both websites. This allows students to view and share their projects with other students.
YouTube is a great resource that we really should have access to in the district. I realize that there are many inappropriate videos on the website; however there is a multitude of valuable resources that are blocked. I am glad that we have Zamzar to convert the YouTube files into working files that we can show in the classroom, making YouTube a bit more accessible.
TeacherTube also has many educational videos that we can use in the classroom. I have placed a TeacherTube video of important events in American history.
Students also have the ability to upload videos to share into both websites. This allows students to view and share their projects with other students.
Thing #22
Thing #22 Nings:
I am a bit familiar with a Ning since our librarian sent out a link to the Ning she was using for summer school to our department (here is a link to what she sent: http://pblsummerschool.ning.com/). She wants to work with the social studies department next year to create a Ning for students to use to share project ideas, blog, and load pictures. We need to meet as a department to discuss this but I think it is a valuable resource to use as teachers. The students will enjoy using the Ning since it is a social networking site similar to facebook. I also think it is valuable for students to have an electronic work space for all of their projects and ideas.
I found the teacher Ning (http://teacherlingo.com/) a helpful resource. I like the community the Ning creates by providing a forum for educators to discuss topics in the classroom. I found some interesting discussion topics.
I am a bit familiar with a Ning since our librarian sent out a link to the Ning she was using for summer school to our department (here is a link to what she sent: http://pblsummerschool.ning.com/). She wants to work with the social studies department next year to create a Ning for students to use to share project ideas, blog, and load pictures. We need to meet as a department to discuss this but I think it is a valuable resource to use as teachers. The students will enjoy using the Ning since it is a social networking site similar to facebook. I also think it is valuable for students to have an electronic work space for all of their projects and ideas.
I found the teacher Ning (http://teacherlingo.com/) a helpful resource. I like the community the Ning creates by providing a forum for educators to discuss topics in the classroom. I found some interesting discussion topics.
Thing #21
Thing #21 Podcasting:
Apparently I am familiar with podcasting (although I didn't know it). We have created both an Animoto and a PhotoStory in my classroom. I didn't realize that these were examples of podcasting. I plan on recreating both projects this year since the students enjoyed creating the project and I feel that they learned the content. Here is the PhotoStory I created as an example for our Louisiana Purchase project.
Apparently I am familiar with podcasting (although I didn't know it). We have created both an Animoto and a PhotoStory in my classroom. I didn't realize that these were examples of podcasting. I plan on recreating both projects this year since the students enjoyed creating the project and I feel that they learned the content. Here is the PhotoStory I created as an example for our Louisiana Purchase project.
Thing #19
Thing #19 Web 2.0 Awards:
I searched Lulu since I have heard about it but was unfamiliar with the site. Lulu is a great Web 2.0 resource for the LA classes. I like how authors have the option to publish (and sell) their works on Lulu and amazon. This would be a website that I would want to promote to all of our aspiring authors.
I then searched Docstoc since this was the education winner. They had some very interesting docs on how to write a business letter that may be helpful in the LA classroom. I also like the fact that you can share out documents that you created. Our 7th grade students can publish their "how-to" brochures on the website.
I like how I found many of our 23 Things on the award site!
I searched Lulu since I have heard about it but was unfamiliar with the site. Lulu is a great Web 2.0 resource for the LA classes. I like how authors have the option to publish (and sell) their works on Lulu and amazon. This would be a website that I would want to promote to all of our aspiring authors.
I then searched Docstoc since this was the education winner. They had some very interesting docs on how to write a business letter that may be helpful in the LA classroom. I also like the fact that you can share out documents that you created. Our 7th grade students can publish their "how-to" brochures on the website.
I like how I found many of our 23 Things on the award site!
Thing #18
Thing #18: Online Productivity Tools
Google Docs: This is a great resource for teachers to use. I think it is an easy and effective way to share lesson plans and ideas with others in your department. The greatest use of Google Docs is the ability to edit and share out to others. I can also see students using Google Docs with one another when conducing research as a group or working on a cross-curricular project.
Open Office: I admit I didn't want to download it onto my computer so I just searched the site. Based on the information section, it seems that Open Office is similar to Google Docs.
I like how both allow the user to share the documents with others and that the work is accessible from any computer.
Google Docs: This is a great resource for teachers to use. I think it is an easy and effective way to share lesson plans and ideas with others in your department. The greatest use of Google Docs is the ability to edit and share out to others. I can also see students using Google Docs with one another when conducing research as a group or working on a cross-curricular project.
Open Office: I admit I didn't want to download it onto my computer so I just searched the site. Based on the information section, it seems that Open Office is similar to Google Docs.
I like how both allow the user to share the documents with others and that the work is accessible from any computer.
Thing #17
Thing #17 Rollyo:
This is a helpful tool for teachers to use when assisting students with research. I like the idea of providing a list of websites for the students to search and providing them with a search engine to search for a particular topic within the websites. The students still get to search but within the websites which we provide.
I searched Rosario Dawson's Rollyo on Latino Issues (since it was featured on the main page). I searched for education on the Rollyo and had several results.
I tried creating a Rollyo and it seemed very simple to create. It kept timing out on me but maybe that is due to my Internet server.
This is a helpful tool for teachers to use when assisting students with research. I like the idea of providing a list of websites for the students to search and providing them with a search engine to search for a particular topic within the websites. The students still get to search but within the websites which we provide.
I searched Rosario Dawson's Rollyo on Latino Issues (since it was featured on the main page). I searched for education on the Rollyo and had several results.
I tried creating a Rollyo and it seemed very simple to create. It kept timing out on me but maybe that is due to my Internet server.
Thing #16
Thing #16 Wikis:
Our librarian has a wiki for our staff to use to create projects, share resources, and even play games. I worked with our librarian in creating several projects through a wiki. I liked using the wiki since we could both work and edit the project without having to meet face to face. Here is a link to a wiki that we created for a project on the Louisiana Purchase.
http://landrummslibrary.wikispaces.com/8th+grade+Louisiana+Purchase+Photostory+Project
Our librarian has a wiki for our staff to use to create projects, share resources, and even play games. I worked with our librarian in creating several projects through a wiki. I liked using the wiki since we could both work and edit the project without having to meet face to face. Here is a link to a wiki that we created for a project on the Louisiana Purchase.
http://landrummslibrary.wikispaces.com/8th+grade+Louisiana+Purchase+Photostory+Project
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thing #15
Thing #15: Web 2.0
Web 2.0 means a lot to our students, teachers, and librarians. We need to keep up with the ever changing technology that is out there. Most of our students are already using these Web 2.0 resources: blogs, social networks, flickr, etc. in their everyday life. Keeping up with Web 2.0 trends and integrating these resources into the classroom will help us better connect the content with our students. I also think our students enjoy learning through Web 2.0 resources.
Web 2.0 means a lot to our students, teachers, and librarians. We need to keep up with the ever changing technology that is out there. Most of our students are already using these Web 2.0 resources: blogs, social networks, flickr, etc. in their everyday life. Keeping up with Web 2.0 trends and integrating these resources into the classroom will help us better connect the content with our students. I also think our students enjoy learning through Web 2.0 resources.
Thing #14
Thing #14: Technorati
Tagging does assist when searching blogs (or when someone is searching for your blog) by allowing the readers to find a post on a specific topic. I thought it was very interesting that search engines such as Yahoo! are investigating using tagging when conducting a search. I don't know how I feel about this as the results may be overwhelming.
When searching Technorati I came across Twittorati, a site that blends blogs and twitter. This is a great website that integrates Technorati and Twitter. http://twittorati.com/
I wanted to add a widget to my blog but Technorati widgets were "unavailable."
Tagging does assist when searching blogs (or when someone is searching for your blog) by allowing the readers to find a post on a specific topic. I thought it was very interesting that search engines such as Yahoo! are investigating using tagging when conducting a search. I don't know how I feel about this as the results may be overwhelming.
When searching Technorati I came across Twittorati, a site that blends blogs and twitter. This is a great website that integrates Technorati and Twitter. http://twittorati.com/
I wanted to add a widget to my blog but Technorati widgets were "unavailable."
Thing #13
Thing #13: Delicious
Social bookmarking sites are extremely useful in the school setting. Students can use a website like Delicious to save/bookmark various websites that they are using to conduct research. What I like best about Delicious is that the students can access their bookmarks from any computer without worrying about saving to the SAN folder.
I also like how you can share your bookmarks with other people. This will help allow teachers to share resources with others in their department. Librarians can also share links through a Delicious account versus emailing a series of links to the teachers (although they would need to make sure that the teachers are familiar with delicious).
Social bookmarking sites are extremely useful in the school setting. Students can use a website like Delicious to save/bookmark various websites that they are using to conduct research. What I like best about Delicious is that the students can access their bookmarks from any computer without worrying about saving to the SAN folder.
I also like how you can share your bookmarks with other people. This will help allow teachers to share resources with others in their department. Librarians can also share links through a Delicious account versus emailing a series of links to the teachers (although they would need to make sure that the teachers are familiar with delicious).
Thing #12
Thing #12: Commenting
I think it is easy not to create a dialogue when creating a blog. It is easy to provide commentary only versus a stimulating dialogue between writer and reader. I see how this is possible, especially if one is using the blog to convey information such as: test dates, homework reviews, and general information. In order to create a dialogue one has provide discussion in their blog such as providing discussion questions.
Creating comments also is something we need to teach in digital citizenship for our students. They need to understand that comments need to be productive, on topic, and relevant to the blog discussion. This is a good lesson to provide to our students.
I find myself reading more blogs versus interacting through commenting. I see how commenting can create more of a dialogue so I will do my best to start interacting more within the blogging community.
I think it is easy not to create a dialogue when creating a blog. It is easy to provide commentary only versus a stimulating dialogue between writer and reader. I see how this is possible, especially if one is using the blog to convey information such as: test dates, homework reviews, and general information. In order to create a dialogue one has provide discussion in their blog such as providing discussion questions.
Creating comments also is something we need to teach in digital citizenship for our students. They need to understand that comments need to be productive, on topic, and relevant to the blog discussion. This is a good lesson to provide to our students.
I find myself reading more blogs versus interacting through commenting. I see how commenting can create more of a dialogue so I will do my best to start interacting more within the blogging community.
Thing #11
Thing #11: Library Thing
This seems like an interesting website for librarians and LA teachers. Students could create their own shelf to view the books that they have read in class throughout the year. I only have 2 books at the house to catalogue so I added these to the bookshelf. I have created a widget to add to the blog.
This seems like an interesting website for librarians and LA teachers. Students could create their own shelf to view the books that they have read in class throughout the year. I only have 2 books at the house to catalogue so I added these to the bookshelf. I have created a widget to add to the blog.
Thing #10
Thing #10: Online Image Generator
I am already familiar with Big Huge Labs, Comic Strip Generator, and Trading Cards so I decided to focus on the image generators that are new to me.
Custom Sign Generator: This website is really intense and hard to navigate. It is overwhelming with all of the options and I can see the students becoming really frustrated when trying to use this website.
Image Chef: This is really user friendly and I liked the layout of this site. I created a baseball jersey on this site. I could see the 8th grade students using this to enhance their advertisement unit in LA.
I am already familiar with Big Huge Labs, Comic Strip Generator, and Trading Cards so I decided to focus on the image generators that are new to me.
Custom Sign Generator: This website is really intense and hard to navigate. It is overwhelming with all of the options and I can see the students becoming really frustrated when trying to use this website.
Image Chef: This is really user friendly and I liked the layout of this site. I created a baseball jersey on this site. I could see the 8th grade students using this to enhance their advertisement unit in LA.
Kid Friendly Generator: This seems geared more towards the elementary students. I don't know if the middle school students would like this.
Dumpr: This was a lot of fun to play around in with the various effects. The students could (and would) spend hours playing around on this site. 
Wordle: I really like this image generator. I created a wordle of my blog and as you can tell Thing is really important. I like how the wordle highlights the words or phrases used most often. I would like to see a wordle accompany the research paper that the 8th graders complete. I think it would make the writing experience more meaningful as students can see the important pieces of their work. 
Glogster: I was immediately distracted by all of the pink on the website. I know that many middle school boys would not want to use the site since they would think it was for girls only. It did seem geared towards females.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thing #9
Thing #9: RSS Feeds cont.
Google Blog Search was easy to use and I was able to find Library2Play and Mike Falick's blog. Both were actually linked to one another through the related blogs.
When searching Bloglines for Library2Play and SBISD I had more search results since it seemed to provide any blogs that contained the phrase. This was a bit overwhelming however, it did allow me to located blogs of other participants.
Searching the Edublog winners, I found many blogs that I will add to my Reader. I found the Classroom 2.0 Ning very useful: http://www.classroom20.com/ I preferred the Ning rather that the traditional blog format since it allows user interaction through the use of forums and chat interaction.
Google Blog Search was easy to use and I was able to find Library2Play and Mike Falick's blog. Both were actually linked to one another through the related blogs.
When searching Bloglines for Library2Play and SBISD I had more search results since it seemed to provide any blogs that contained the phrase. This was a bit overwhelming however, it did allow me to located blogs of other participants.
Searching the Edublog winners, I found many blogs that I will add to my Reader. I found the Classroom 2.0 Ning very useful: http://www.classroom20.com/ I preferred the Ning rather that the traditional blog format since it allows user interaction through the use of forums and chat interaction.
Technorati: I like that it highlights blogs and allows users to mark their favorite blogs to view. I found it interesting that they didn't have an education section in their blog directory. I did search the baseball blogs in the directory and spent some time reading these. I really like the layout and found searching very user friendly.
Atomic learning provides many helpful tutorials for a variety of technical issues. I'll be sure to visit this website often.
Thing #8
Thing #8: RSS
What do you like about RSS and readers?
I like that I can keep up with blogs and news all in one location. It makes it much easier to keep up with what is going on in the sports world since I can receive updates from ESPN, SBISD updates, CNN updates, and my friends' personal blogs all from one website. With limited time for lunch, the reader allows me to quickly catch up on what is going on in the world from 1 page.
How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?
Students can use the readers when conducting research, especially on current events. The students can add subscriptions to their reader based on a particular topic. They can also use their reader to follow places such as the Smithsonian to learn about upcoming visits and events.
How can libraries/teachers/administrators use readers or take advantage of this new technology?
Libraries/teachers/administrators can use this to keep up with educational and district news and trends. Readers will allow us to keep actively learning in our field.
Here is a link to my Google Reader and some shared items on the 18th MLB Perfect Game:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/06109358057486327867
What do you like about RSS and readers?
I like that I can keep up with blogs and news all in one location. It makes it much easier to keep up with what is going on in the sports world since I can receive updates from ESPN, SBISD updates, CNN updates, and my friends' personal blogs all from one website. With limited time for lunch, the reader allows me to quickly catch up on what is going on in the world from 1 page.
How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?
Students can use the readers when conducting research, especially on current events. The students can add subscriptions to their reader based on a particular topic. They can also use their reader to follow places such as the Smithsonian to learn about upcoming visits and events.
How can libraries/teachers/administrators use readers or take advantage of this new technology?
Libraries/teachers/administrators can use this to keep up with educational and district news and trends. Readers will allow us to keep actively learning in our field.
Here is a link to my Google Reader and some shared items on the 18th MLB Perfect Game:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/06109358057486327867
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Thing #7
Thing #7: Cool Google Tools
Google Alerts: This feature allows you to keep up with important topics such as your favorite sports team or local news. I signed up to receive a daily e-mail news alert.
Google Calendar: I like this feature to share upcoming department test/project dates with the entire school (and parents). This will help to increase communication between everyone. Now getting others to use it is the difficult part.
Picasa Web Album: This is very similar to Flickr and it even contains a map feature similar to Mappr. I like the Where in the World game on Picasa, it was fun to play around with. I wish I could filter the pictures on the game to contain certain tags such as, "National Monuments."
iGoogle: This would be exciting to use in the classroom. Having each student create their own personalized page to assist with research would be helpful. Each student can have a space where they can work on and publish their projects from their classes. Having access to Google Reader, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Gmail, and other services all on one page helps to eliminate confusion while making everything more organized and efficient for student use. Here is a link to my page: http://www.google.com/ig
Google Scholar: Hopefully this website will give the students the necessary Google fix they seem to crave when conducting research. No matter how hard we promote the district databases to the students, somehow they still rather Google a topic. I really like this search engine since it automatically removes all of the unnecessary junk from the results.
Google Earth: We have used this in my class for map uses. A lot of times you'll see the students checking out various places on satellite maps such as the school or their home. There are several features I like about Google Earth. First, you can save your searches to show all your classes and eliminate unnecessary downtime. Second, Google Earth allows you to search more than just streets as you can explore places such as, Mars, the Moon, and the ocean. From the history perspective, I like the historical imagery that allows the users to see how a specific location changes over time. Science classes can use this feature to view the impact development has on the land over time.
Google Alerts: This feature allows you to keep up with important topics such as your favorite sports team or local news. I signed up to receive a daily e-mail news alert.
Google Calendar: I like this feature to share upcoming department test/project dates with the entire school (and parents). This will help to increase communication between everyone. Now getting others to use it is the difficult part.
Picasa Web Album: This is very similar to Flickr and it even contains a map feature similar to Mappr. I like the Where in the World game on Picasa, it was fun to play around with. I wish I could filter the pictures on the game to contain certain tags such as, "National Monuments."
iGoogle: This would be exciting to use in the classroom. Having each student create their own personalized page to assist with research would be helpful. Each student can have a space where they can work on and publish their projects from their classes. Having access to Google Reader, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Gmail, and other services all on one page helps to eliminate confusion while making everything more organized and efficient for student use. Here is a link to my page: http://www.google.com/ig
Google Scholar: Hopefully this website will give the students the necessary Google fix they seem to crave when conducting research. No matter how hard we promote the district databases to the students, somehow they still rather Google a topic. I really like this search engine since it automatically removes all of the unnecessary junk from the results.
Google Earth: We have used this in my class for map uses. A lot of times you'll see the students checking out various places on satellite maps such as the school or their home. There are several features I like about Google Earth. First, you can save your searches to show all your classes and eliminate unnecessary downtime. Second, Google Earth allows you to search more than just streets as you can explore places such as, Mars, the Moon, and the ocean. From the history perspective, I like the historical imagery that allows the users to see how a specific location changes over time. Science classes can use this feature to view the impact development has on the land over time.
Google Docs: I am familiar with this since we used Google docs to lesson plan as a team during summer school. I like the fact that everyone can edit the document and we can plan and communicate cross-curricular even with different off periods. This really helps with grade-level cross curricular planning or planning as an entire department (6-8th grade) since everyone can share their lessons and ideas. The students can use it to edit several projects for various classes. I like that they have one document that they can use to work on their project. This will make cross-curricular projects easier to plan and create.
Thing #6
Thing #6: Mashups
Mappr- As a history teacher Mappr is extremely useful to provide visuals of different places that we study in US History.
Flickr Color Pickr- This is a really cool site but honestly I don't know how I would use this in a US History Classroom. Does anyone have any ideas?
Mosaic Maker- I am familiar with Big Huge Labs as we have used this in my classroom. The students have used mosaic maker and trading cards in the classroom. Here is an example of a mosaic maker that I created about my favorite sport.
Mappr- As a history teacher Mappr is extremely useful to provide visuals of different places that we study in US History.
Flickr Color Pickr- This is a really cool site but honestly I don't know how I would use this in a US History Classroom. Does anyone have any ideas?
Mosaic Maker- I am familiar with Big Huge Labs as we have used this in my classroom. The students have used mosaic maker and trading cards in the classroom. Here is an example of a mosaic maker that I created about my favorite sport.
Thing #5
Thing #5: Flickr
I am familiar with Flickr Creative Commons since we used it for a Photostory project in my class. I like that the students can use this website without worrying about copyright laws. The only thing I had to worry about was the students finding some off topic pictures. For example, when searching for Louisiana pictures we found many pictures of people's personal pictures which was distracting to many of the students. I did create a student folder of pictures to eliminate this for the next project.
I am familiar with Flickr Creative Commons since we used it for a Photostory project in my class. I like that the students can use this website without worrying about copyright laws. The only thing I had to worry about was the students finding some off topic pictures. For example, when searching for Louisiana pictures we found many pictures of people's personal pictures which was distracting to many of the students. I did create a student folder of pictures to eliminate this for the next project.
Thing #3
Thing #3: Avatar
I followed the directions as posted and I couldn't get the avatar to show up on the page (using the URL code). I saved the avatar as a jpg file to my computer and then I uploaded the picture to the blog. That worked.
I followed the directions as posted and I couldn't get the avatar to show up on the page (using the URL code). I saved the avatar as a jpg file to my computer and then I uploaded the picture to the blog. That worked.
Thing #2
Thing #2: 7 1/2 Habits Tutorial:
Habit #1: Beginning with the End in Mind, is one that we use daily as teachers from creating lesson plans, road maps, benchmark testing, and analyzing student data and performance. We have to create a series of class goals to make sure our students achieve both academically and personally. We use goal setting to modify and create lessons in order to help students meet the end of the year goals.
Habit #2: Accept Responsibility For Your Own Learning, is a habit that we try to get our students to adopt. This is often difficult for many middle school students as they transition from children into young adults.
Habit #3: View Problems as Challenges, this habit is often difficult for many of us to adopt. We tend to harp on problems and complain about difficulties versus viewing them as a positive experience.
Habit #4: Have Confidence in Yourself.., I can do it!
Habit #5: Create Your Own Learning Toolbox, I am hoping that through 23 Things I will have a technology toolbox that I can take back to the classroom for next year.
Habit #6: Use Technology to Your Advantage, this past year I worked with the librarian to create several class lessons that integrated technology into my class. The students really liked the lessons and they seemed to retain the information taught. Hopefully I'll gain even more ideas of technology to use in the classroom.
Habit #7: Teach/Mentor Others, this is what we do daily.
Habit #7.5: Play, is the habit I think everyone appreciates. Taking time out of your day to participate in activities you like makes life that much more enjoyable. If we don't appreciate or have fun with what we do in the classroom then we will lose our connection with our student. I do think that habit 7.5 is the easiest one to do.
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