Thing #23

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I discovered that I knew more about technology than I thought. Not that I knew it all by any means. I learned how to set up a blog, create photostories, and how to use rollyo. Rollyo is going to be very useful for me as a teacher. I can't wait to use it!

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
It has definetly opened my eyes to many ideas that I can use with my students to captivate their attention and make learning fun for them.

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was really surprised at how much I learned. Let's face it, alot of times you go to workshops/trainings and walk away with very little. I feel that I have learned things that will help me for years to come.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I can't think of anything off the top of my head other than I think it took me longer than 18 hours to complete this program. It may just be that I am slower at this than others.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
Of course! Would you guys email me to inform me?

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?
EXCITING!

Now go and comment on some of the other Players' blogs?
Okay

Thing #22

NING? What in the world is that? That was exactly what I thought when I read this thing. When looking into it, I found it very interesting. It is a lot like facebook and myspace, which I am apart of both. I think that I would love to join a group that deals with my interests/hobbies. Social networking is a lot of fun to me! I'm not sure if this is something that I want to get my 4th grade students involved in. Has anyone used this with students that are 9 or 10 years old? If so, how did you use it? Ideas?.....Please!

Thing #21

Here is a photostory that I created from our family vacation that we took this summer. I was familiar with podcast going into this activity. I had never heard of photostory. To my surprise, it was very easy to do and lots of fun. I could see myself being able to teach my students how to do this and having them use it on certain projects throughout the year!

Thing #20

This is from TeacherTube. I teach Texas History, so I typed that word in and this is one of the videos that I found. To be honest, I didn't even know that TeacherTube existed....I did know about youtube. This will be very valuable to me as a teacher. My students are going to be so excited to see more videos this year. Do any of you use TeacherTube a lot? Have you found it to be a reliable resource?

Thing #19

I went and checked out google earth. This website/tool is really neat. It allows you to see pictures of different parts of the earth that you have or will never get to see. This could be a great resource to use in a library or classroom. What special about it is that they are real life pictures that people have taken. It is like you are actually there!!!! How cool is that? My students could use this for projects or I could use it to show the students different parts of the world, especially Texas because I teach TX History in 4th grade! The kids will love to be able to actually see what I am talking about!!

Thing #18

I used GoogleDocs when doing this assignment. When I downloaded it, it was part of my google account, which I like. It is easier to access and didn't have to create another account.

Advantages: Collaboration, easy to use and access, there are templates already created for you

Disadvantages: possibly loosing your data because it is online and not saved to a disk/CD

Thing #17

This is by far the most useful to me. I can't wait to use it because this will save not only me, but my students ALOT of time. It will also allow me, as the teacher, to modify which sites I want my students to be looking at. No more worries for me as to what sites they are getting their information from. YEAH!!!

I went on a created a searchroll on where my 15 month old should be developementally. As a first time mom, I am always wondering where he should be developmentally. I know....I'm a little crazy! He is 15 months old today!!! Here is the link to what I found.... http://www.rollyo.com/search.html?prevsid=567561&q=15+month+old+development&sid=567561

Thing #16

Using Wikis are very cool. I didn't even know of such a thing. My experience of writing on a wiki was need. The only thing I though was weird is that anyone that has access to the account can change what you have said. That is kind of scary to me. If I create a class wiki...will students change other students work just to be mean? That is my only concern with wikis. My first thought is that this would be a great resource for my students to use when writing papers and allowing others to edit their papers. What if they edit incorrectly and would the student need to create an original incase his/hers is all messed up? Has anyone used this in their own classroom? How did it work out for you?

Thing #15

I believe library 2.0 is a great resource. I feel it opens many more opportunities for students, teachers, and others. It is a resource that we all need to learn and become familiar with because lets face it....that is where we are going to get the kids' attention. They would much rather use technology than dig into paper resources. That being said....I do feel that paper resources are very important and that they should be familiar with them just as well. Library 2.0 is just one that I feel that they would be more likely to use.

Thing #14

This was interesting to me. When I typed in "School Library Learning 2.0", I did find different results when I modified my search. This could be very useful when looking for somehting imparticular.

When I searched for the popular blogs, I found that I am apparently not "in touch" with the world. I didn't know what half of the tags meant. Which is pretty scary. This was definetly and eye opener for me.

I think that Technorati could benefit me if I take the time to use it. To me, it is a little confusing and overwhelming. Like anything, with time, I'm sure I would get use to it.

I feel the value of tagging is very important. I'm glad I know that know before I started. If you tag something incorrectly or off the wall....it can be very frustrating to those who are truly searching for something imparticular.

Thing #13

I absolutely LOVE the idea of social bookmarking. This is going to be a very useful website for me and I hope to introduce my friends to it very soon. This could be a great tool for teachers and librarians. I did see where I could add friends to my account. So, does this allow me to view all their saved bookmarks or only ones that they choose for me to? This leads to another question.....Can your students see all your saved bookmarks? I guess they would....so you could create a special account for just your class to use? That would be cool. It can be very frustrating having to wait on all your kiddos to "find" the website that you want them to get on. This way they just log on to delicious and have access to all the websites that you might want them to view. I also like the fact that I have access to my bookmarks from home or work. YEAH!! I can't wait to use this this year.

Thing #12

This one was the most difficult for me. It is not only way out of my comfort zone, but very strange to me. I did go on to 5 blog pages and leave comments....not too hard.

There are 2 points that I felt were important to know about blogging. I really never thought to ask questions before. It makes since though. When commenting on some of the other blogs....I tried this technique. The other one that I found interesting was to actually interact. DUHHHHH! I guess that is the point of blogging in the first place. So, I will be checking back on some of the bloggers websites that I visited and see if they replied!

I went onto Google Blog Search and found one headline right away that caught my attention. It was from www.insider.com. It was over the whole Jon & Kate fiasco. I LOVE that show. It is really sad to see what has become of it. ANYWAYS!! I did leave a comment and let them know how I felt, but I'm sure they personally will never read it. Oh well! Sometimes it is just nice to let your voice be heard. Then, I typed in another show I liked to watch....Big Brother. I found a website/blog called welovebigbrother.com That was pretty cool. I left a comment on that blog as well! I guess I didn't realize how many blogs there were out there!!! This is definetly opening my eyes.

Thing #11

Well, I joined LibraryThing! I hate to admit, but I am not much of a reader. So, I went on and added 5 books that I have either read to my children at school, my son, or for my profession. While doing that, I did explore some of the groups that had been created. The one that could my attention was children's literature. I found it very interesting what they had to say and their advice on different books. This could be a place that I could go as a teacher to get ideas of what literature to read to my kids. Does anyone else have any other ideas on places to go to find fun and exciting literature for 4th grade students?

Thing #10

I created this one from www.imagechef.com:



I created this one from www.dumpr.net:


Create your own Rubik's Cube


Using these in the classroom could be fun!! During writing class, you could have your students create a comic strip. This could be a fun, but good way to get their creative writing skills going!!!

Thing #9

I found that both google blog search and topix were the easiest for me. They were very user friendly. Syndic8, on the other hand, was very difficult for me. I had no idea what it was all about. Personally, I'm not sure if I am into all the RSS feeds. I would prefer to go to a particular website or search engine and just look up whatever it is that I need to know. I guess it is because that is what I am use to. I'm sure through time I will get use to RSS feeds and find them very useful.

Thing #8

I like RSS/Readers do to the fact that I can go to one site for all my updates. I personal added my friend's blogs that I like to keep up with regularly and other educational websites that can benefit me as a teacher. This will definetly help me to stay current on issues that I want to, but seem to never have the time to get to on a regular bases.
Librarians could use this to stay current on new book arrivals. Teachers could have their students each create their own blog and follow each other. This way the kids can go to their igoogle to check all their classmates latest postings in one place. Administrators could use this to keep up with their staff. I think this would be great for our school to stay connected and let each other know of new ideas/lessons. What a way to build a community!!!

Thing #7

I was able to create my own homepage using igoggle. I really like this because you can customize it to fit your needs/interests. My students would love to do this! My question is.....How could you use this in your classroom/library? Any suggestions?

Google Advanced Search is awesome! This could be a great resource for the students as well as the teacher. I like the fact that I can type in a subject area that I might be teaching and can find a powerpoint already made for me!!! My students could use this to find powerpoints, photos, excel spreadsheets as well. This could be a great asset to my classroom. Now, if we could only get the proper technology in our classrooms so that we can use all this need stuff!!!!!

Thing #6

The part that intrigues me the most is the website called "Big Huge Labs". The website is awesome. You can create some really neat things with personal photos, flickr photos, or other photos that students can find on the internet. I personal will be using this website with some of my son's photos.

I believe the website, Trading Card Makers, is another benefically tool for children. Our library could use this with research projects. Our librarian could introduce non-fiction text and have them report on a book using a trading card.

As a teacher, I will use this in my science and social studies classes. When our students study a certain grassland animal, they can make a trading card of the animal by finding a picture of one on the internet and writing a description of what they learned about that animal. How cool is that? In social studies this year, we had the students plan a trip somewhere in Texas. They could have found a photo of something in their town (ex: courthouse, festival, etc) and wrote about it on their trading card. I can't wait to use this website next year!

Thing #5

I'm still not sure about this whole flickr thing. It is still a little confusing to me, but I was able to download a picture. Isn't it cute??

Thing #4

I am officially registered!!! I'm impressed!

Thing #3

Well, setting up my blog wasn't that bad. It is pretty much self explainatory.

I have to admit. I was a little worried about the whole aviator thing. BUT...........it was actually a lot of fun! I know my kids will love doing that!

Thing #2

That was interesting! I definetly think that viewing problems as challenges is the easiest to me. When faced with a problem.....I simply find a way to overcome it using the resources that I have!

The habit that is most difficult for me is using technology to my advantage. There are some many things out there that I could learn to use in the classroom as well as in my personal life. It is just taking the time to learn or figure them all out. I'm hoping I will overcome a lot of this through 23 Things!