Well blog, it's been quite a journey! We've had some good times and some bad, but in the end, we got through it all and learned a few things along the way!
Before starting this post, I went back and looked through some of my older posts. I remember how nervous I was to post my very first blog entry! Well, through the journey of 23 Things, those feelings sure have changed! I have found that I really enjoy blogging! It's nice to have some creative freedom in writing that you don't always get when writing a research paper or other writing assignments in grad school! I appreciated the fact that we are all in this learning journey together and I didn't have to give the impression that I accomplished all the tasks with ease or without a few obstacles along the way. I like that this is a very real forum to express our learning achievements and pitfalls. I like that I could be my quirky self and get away with it. And I like that I learned a lot during this journey!
When I initially started this project, I began by glancing through the list of the 23 Things and instantly felt overwhelmed and out of my league. Half of the items listed in this project could have been written in a foreign language! Looking back at my very first blog post, I found this...
Use Technology to Your Advantage (Habit 6) would probably be the habit that I
struggle with the most. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an idiot when it comes to
technology, but I'm not a pro either. I like to stay within my "bubble" of what
I use technology for, and I rarely seek out new technological advantages until
they become mainstream and virtually everyone is using them.
Although this is a goal that is never officially completed, I feel that I am well on my way to improving in the area of technology both for personal and professional uses. This journey popped that "bubble" and introduced me to a great abundance of new tools that I never knew I never knew! The age old adage states "Never stop learning." Well, this is especially the case when it comes to technology. Sure we have all learned a great deal throughout the 23 Things, but this journey is one that will never be complete! With the speed that technology is changing, this journey will be lifelong. However, completing the 23 Things gave me the confidence to know that with a little work (and sometimes pulling out my hair and screaming at the computer), I can figure out any new technological tool!
As with any major project, there are favorite aspects, and those that aren't making the list of "Things I can't wait to repeat again." Thankfully, the latter is a shorter list. Thing 11 "Finding Good Feeds" had me stumped, and I doubt I'll be giving that a go again anytime in the near future. I also didn't really see the value in creating an online to do list. However, the list of positives that I am walking away with far outweigh the list of negatives. Some of my favorite activities allowed me to explore a tool that I was already familiar with such as Flickr and iMap Flicker. Other activities introduced me to tools that I never realized were out there; bubble.us, Dealicious, Animoto, LiveBinders (still need to work on figuring that one out a bit more, but I'm loving what I have found so far), and my absolute favorite little gem from this journey, GLOGSTER!
And on that positive note, blog, I bid you adieu. It's been a fun and productive journey that we have travelled together, and I have taken away the skills needed to feel confident with my abilities in technology. I can now officially say that technology has been tackled!
Monday, April 8, 2013
Thing 23
After a quick search under "About Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers," I found the following statement...
Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things. That program is based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers, Technology Director at the Charlotte Mecklenburg County Public Library system, with the support and assitance of several staff. Helene's program was loosely based upon Stephen Abram's article, 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006) and the website 43Things.
This is a great example of the power of Creative Commons! If we are being completely honest, the first time I had ever heard about Creative Commons was during the class activity in the first half of the course. Don't get me wrong, I was fully aware of what constitutes plagiarism, etc, but I never knew that the option was there for people to share and modify works that were not created themselves. Creative Commons opens the door for learning and collaboration in ways that I can't do justice to in this blog! The possibilities are literally endless. As a future teacher, it is essential the I promote an environment that condones plagiarism. This is not a "do as I say not as I do" option. Creative Commons provides me, my students and everyone the option to utilize material found online in a way that is conducive to learning, without needing to worry about breaking copyright laws. Granted, the materials under Creative Commons license are not a free for all. There are still rules and regulations that need to be followed, which are determined by the original creator of the work. However, this ability opens a lot of doors when it comes to creating, modifying and utilizing educational materials in an educational setting!
Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things. That program is based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers, Technology Director at the Charlotte Mecklenburg County Public Library system, with the support and assitance of several staff. Helene's program was loosely based upon Stephen Abram's article, 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006) and the website 43Things.
This is a great example of the power of Creative Commons! If we are being completely honest, the first time I had ever heard about Creative Commons was during the class activity in the first half of the course. Don't get me wrong, I was fully aware of what constitutes plagiarism, etc, but I never knew that the option was there for people to share and modify works that were not created themselves. Creative Commons opens the door for learning and collaboration in ways that I can't do justice to in this blog! The possibilities are literally endless. As a future teacher, it is essential the I promote an environment that condones plagiarism. This is not a "do as I say not as I do" option. Creative Commons provides me, my students and everyone the option to utilize material found online in a way that is conducive to learning, without needing to worry about breaking copyright laws. Granted, the materials under Creative Commons license are not a free for all. There are still rules and regulations that need to be followed, which are determined by the original creator of the work. However, this ability opens a lot of doors when it comes to creating, modifying and utilizing educational materials in an educational setting!
Thing 22
LiveBinders is a cool tool that my future teacher self is already in love with! If you are anything like me, you have great intentions of keeping your teaching ideas (worksheets, lesson plans, videos, etc) in one neat and organized location. But, in reality, that never seems to be the case!
LiveBinders is a great tool for teachers to help them stay organized! When I first started looking around LiveBinders, I was a bit stumped. Even now that I've spent some time navigating around the site, I'm still not 100% sure that I did everything correctly. But, I did get the gist of it! Although I will definitely be spending more time in the future looking at what LiveBinders has to offer, I'm pretty happy with what I've figured out for now!
After finagling through the creation of my Binder, I ran across another stumbling block when I went to post the link to my blog. After posting the link, I tested that link out, and found out that I had set my Binder to private therefore making the link completely useless. So, it was back to the drawing board and a bit more finagling until I figured out how to change those settings!
It was particularly important for me to change my Binder from a private Binder for the simple reason of how it will be used in the future. If you have read my previous posts, you are aware that I would really like to set up a class blog for my future kindergarten classroom. When I initially came up with that idea, I figured I could post worksheets, videos, pictures, etc to the blog one by one. LiveBinder changes all that. Not only is it a great resource to keep me as teacher organized, but it's an easy "one stop shop" way to keep the parents up to date on what we are covering and will be covering in the upcoming days/weeks/months. This could be especially useful for a student who is absent, students who are struggling in a certain area and need some supplemental work, parents who would like to review/preview material covered in class, or just to keep parents in the loop with what their children are studying. This is a tool that will be used in my future kindergarten classroom!
LiveBinders is a great tool for teachers to help them stay organized! When I first started looking around LiveBinders, I was a bit stumped. Even now that I've spent some time navigating around the site, I'm still not 100% sure that I did everything correctly. But, I did get the gist of it! Although I will definitely be spending more time in the future looking at what LiveBinders has to offer, I'm pretty happy with what I've figured out for now!
After finagling through the creation of my Binder, I ran across another stumbling block when I went to post the link to my blog. After posting the link, I tested that link out, and found out that I had set my Binder to private therefore making the link completely useless. So, it was back to the drawing board and a bit more finagling until I figured out how to change those settings!
It was particularly important for me to change my Binder from a private Binder for the simple reason of how it will be used in the future. If you have read my previous posts, you are aware that I would really like to set up a class blog for my future kindergarten classroom. When I initially came up with that idea, I figured I could post worksheets, videos, pictures, etc to the blog one by one. LiveBinder changes all that. Not only is it a great resource to keep me as teacher organized, but it's an easy "one stop shop" way to keep the parents up to date on what we are covering and will be covering in the upcoming days/weeks/months. This could be especially useful for a student who is absent, students who are struggling in a certain area and need some supplemental work, parents who would like to review/preview material covered in class, or just to keep parents in the loop with what their children are studying. This is a tool that will be used in my future kindergarten classroom!
Thing 21
Underwater Engagement: Roatan, Honduras
This was a ton of fun and I officially love Animoto! I originally thought about making a picture video of some of the places I travelled to, but once I found out that you could incorporate video files into the Animoto video, I knew right away that I wanted to make an engagement video. If you read my last post, you will know that I'm obsessed with cool engagements. Knowing that, my husband went out of his way to make it pretty darn special! He combined four of my favorite things (disclaimer, sappiness ahead), him, scuba diving, diamonds and forever! I'd say he did a pretty nice job :)
Animoto is one of the cool tools that I can REALLY see myself using in the future. Heck, my cheapskate self might even purchase one of the options so that I can make longer videos. And that means a lot! Personally, I could use Animoto to make videos from special occasions; weddings, vacations, children, etc. As a teacher, I could also see myself using Animoto. How fun would it be to put together a video of a field trip for the parents. Or a compilation of class activities. Or an end of the year slide show. The possibilities are endless! But without a doubt, Animoto will be used in my future personal and professional life!
This was a ton of fun and I officially love Animoto! I originally thought about making a picture video of some of the places I travelled to, but once I found out that you could incorporate video files into the Animoto video, I knew right away that I wanted to make an engagement video. If you read my last post, you will know that I'm obsessed with cool engagements. Knowing that, my husband went out of his way to make it pretty darn special! He combined four of my favorite things (disclaimer, sappiness ahead), him, scuba diving, diamonds and forever! I'd say he did a pretty nice job :)
Animoto is one of the cool tools that I can REALLY see myself using in the future. Heck, my cheapskate self might even purchase one of the options so that I can make longer videos. And that means a lot! Personally, I could use Animoto to make videos from special occasions; weddings, vacations, children, etc. As a teacher, I could also see myself using Animoto. How fun would it be to put together a video of a field trip for the parents. Or a compilation of class activities. Or an end of the year slide show. The possibilities are endless! But without a doubt, Animoto will be used in my future personal and professional life!
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Thing 20
YouTube....Yet another one of those sites that I have spent WAY too much time on! I love using YouTube for a variety of reasons. I love flash mobs (and am secretly waiting for the day that I just happen to be in the right place at the right time) and have watched countless flash mob videos....With my husband deployed when I'm feeling sappy and in need of a good cry, I will spend countless hours wiping away happy tears watching military homecoming ceremonies. And the inner romantic in me also loves watching creative proposal videos for more hours than I care to admit :)
That being said, YouTube also has it's place in education. It is often one of the first places I look at when I'm assigned a research topic. For example, on a recent project on Bilingual Education in the United States, I began my research (you guessed it) on YouTube. I find that it's a great way to get a feel for some of the key topics that will be covered in my research articles, and gives a bit of light and perspective to some of the articles that I might read.
YouTube also has it's place in the classroom setting. I am currently observing for another class in a local kindergarten classroom. The teacher uses YouTube for a lot of phonics activities. YouTube has an abundance of phonics videos that help to make learning fun for kids!
As for my selection of videos to post for Thing 20, I decided on 4 very different videos. The first video is shamelessly my own video that took me forever and a day to put together, and is something that I'm oober proud of. Since my husband was deployed over Christmas, I got over 50 people involved to make a video message for him. The first part of the video is simply the quick "We miss you," "Come back safely," and "Merry Christmas" messages from friends and family. The second part of the video was A LOT of work. I mailed out word signs for all the words in the song "All I Want For Christmas Is You" to friends and family in all different states. They each took pictures with their words, emailed those pics to me and I put it all together with the music. Turned out pretty cool if you ask me :)
The second video is probably my favorite video on YouTube. I may have watched it 100 times, and it still puts a smile on my face! I dare anybody in a bad mood to not smile watching this video!
The third video that I posted is a video that highlights the Milwaukee Spanish Immersion school. This is one of the videos that I used as a source for the Bilingual Education project mentioned above. As a Spanish major, in an ideal world I would LOVE to teach in an immersion school like this. I chose this video because it gives a good glimpse of the education that students in an immersion school can experience.
The fourth video that I chose is a simple song that helps young learners learn the sounds of each letter. This particular video focuses on the letter "T." However, a quick search on YouTube is all that is needed to find various songs focused on any letter. These are great resources to use in the classroom, and really help to make learning fun. I saw first hand how successful this sort of lesson could be when observing in a kindergarten classroom. The teacher used videos like this to introduce a new letter sound. The students LOVED it! They were focused, intrigued, and singing/dancing along! In my opinion, that is one successful use of technology in the classroom!
Thing 19
Well blog, here's my dilemma....I love bookstores....And by love, I mean LOVE! I walk in, take a deep breath (come on, you all love that distinct smell of a bookstore), start browsing and immediately feel completely overwhelmed! See, that's my problem, I love reading (insert nerd jokes here) and unfortunately, I don't stick to a particular genre. So walking through the aisles of a bookstore can leave me in one of 2 possible situations, either broke or completely confused on what to choose. Thankfully, today I learned about a few solutions to this ever so horrific dilemma, Shelfari and GoodReads. Both of these sites are perfect for the avid reader like myself. Both of these sites produce the similar outcome, helping readers determine what to read through the use of suggestions based on books you have enjoyed in the past, genres or you can browse through suggested reads from other users. Clicking on an interesting book will give you a brief synopsis of the book and reviews from other readers. Although the sites do provide an opportunity for users to purchase the book online, buying books online often leaves me feeling cheated of the whole bookstore experience. However, I do like the option to be a more informed browser the next time I'm in a local bookstore!
A few other sites that piqued my interest were Craftster (I could literally spend months scrap booking and never get sick of it) and Yelp. Yelp is a site that I have used before to get reviews on restaurants, or other local businesses. Craftster did offer a great number of crafting selections and ideas. However, it was not visually impressive and I will more than likely stick to my other addiction, Pinterest!
A few other sites that piqued my interest were Craftster (I could literally spend months scrap booking and never get sick of it) and Yelp. Yelp is a site that I have used before to get reviews on restaurants, or other local businesses. Craftster did offer a great number of crafting selections and ideas. However, it was not visually impressive and I will more than likely stick to my other addiction, Pinterest!
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Thing 18
Ahh Facebook. We really have a love hate relationship these days. Back in the days when Myspace was no longer cool anymore, I was one of the millions who changed over and opened up a Facebook account. At the time I was was living overseas, and it was a great way for me to keep in contact with my friends and family. However, I basically used Facebook as a way to organize and store my travel pictures. These days, it seems some of the only times I find myself on Facebook is when I need to write a paper/study (yep, procrastination) or when I know I need to go to sleep, but it's important that I first read about what so and so had for dinner.
I decided to go against the grain here and not paste a link to my Facebook account. Granted, you could find me if you wanted (I'm not that cool to warrant a search though). However, after a presentation in another class about the importance of educators keeping their Facebook pages private, I realized that I want to do a major overhaul of my Facebook privacy settings before I go around posting any links that direct anyone straight to my page!
Twitter is a site that I tried in the past, never got into, and no longer use. I have no intentions of trying it out again. It's not for me.
As educators, I feel that it is very important that we are at least familiar with Facebook and other social networking sites. Granted, by the time many of us are in the classroom, Facebook is likely to have gone the way of Myspace, only to be replaced by the newest "cool" site. That being said, I don't want to be like my dad and tell my students that they should really check out this cool new site called BookFace (my sister and I literally lost it when he said this in all honesty to us one day).
I doubt that I will ever actually utilize Facebook in a classroom setting. I will even probably do my best to limit the teachers that I add as friends. Although I didn't always follow that motto, these days I try to limit my Facebook friends to actual friends and family. But it's always good to know a bit about the technology that our students will be using, even if it isn't an active part of our classroom lessons!
I decided to go against the grain here and not paste a link to my Facebook account. Granted, you could find me if you wanted (I'm not that cool to warrant a search though). However, after a presentation in another class about the importance of educators keeping their Facebook pages private, I realized that I want to do a major overhaul of my Facebook privacy settings before I go around posting any links that direct anyone straight to my page!
Twitter is a site that I tried in the past, never got into, and no longer use. I have no intentions of trying it out again. It's not for me.
As educators, I feel that it is very important that we are at least familiar with Facebook and other social networking sites. Granted, by the time many of us are in the classroom, Facebook is likely to have gone the way of Myspace, only to be replaced by the newest "cool" site. That being said, I don't want to be like my dad and tell my students that they should really check out this cool new site called BookFace (my sister and I literally lost it when he said this in all honesty to us one day).
I doubt that I will ever actually utilize Facebook in a classroom setting. I will even probably do my best to limit the teachers that I add as friends. Although I didn't always follow that motto, these days I try to limit my Facebook friends to actual friends and family. But it's always good to know a bit about the technology that our students will be using, even if it isn't an active part of our classroom lessons!
Thing 17
Uh oh! I may have just found a site that is more addicting than Pinterest. Those are words that I NEVER thought would be said (well typed) by me! After spending over an hour looking around on Dealicious, I figured this blog post wasn't going to write itself, so I needed to get focused and start writing!
The thing I loved most about Dealicious was the simple fact that it's a very useful and extremely simple way to keep websites organized. After watching the video tutorial, I had to chuckle to myself when they mentioned how quickly bookmarked websites can get out of hand. Sometimes I feel I need an hour just to find a site that I saved as a favorite. Sites such as Dealicious help to organize these sites therefore creating more of an organized chaos! Up until this point, the only time I thought of using tags was to humiliate my friends by tagging them in embarrassing pictures on Facebook. Turns out tagging can be used in a much more constructive manner.
When I first started looking around Dealicious, I began by following the directions and searched for educational technology. This provided a wealth of options. I spent a great deal of time looking around at the results. One site that I found particularly interesting, for obvious reasons, was Kidblog. http://kidblog.org/home/. This is a site where teachers can set up a free class blog for their students to use! The classroom uses for this site are limitless!
After I got my fill of educational technology, I started using Dealicious to look for some resources for an upcoming paper that I need to research and write. What a fantastic resource to use when researching! If you are anything like me, when researching, you will find a great site, go off that site to some others, and then spend hours searching for that original site. Dealicious can really be useful in this situation. It is also fantastic that these tags can be accessed from any computer, therefore not limiting me to my computer favorites bar!
The thing I loved most about Dealicious was the simple fact that it's a very useful and extremely simple way to keep websites organized. After watching the video tutorial, I had to chuckle to myself when they mentioned how quickly bookmarked websites can get out of hand. Sometimes I feel I need an hour just to find a site that I saved as a favorite. Sites such as Dealicious help to organize these sites therefore creating more of an organized chaos! Up until this point, the only time I thought of using tags was to humiliate my friends by tagging them in embarrassing pictures on Facebook. Turns out tagging can be used in a much more constructive manner.
When I first started looking around Dealicious, I began by following the directions and searched for educational technology. This provided a wealth of options. I spent a great deal of time looking around at the results. One site that I found particularly interesting, for obvious reasons, was Kidblog. http://kidblog.org/home/. This is a site where teachers can set up a free class blog for their students to use! The classroom uses for this site are limitless!
After I got my fill of educational technology, I started using Dealicious to look for some resources for an upcoming paper that I need to research and write. What a fantastic resource to use when researching! If you are anything like me, when researching, you will find a great site, go off that site to some others, and then spend hours searching for that original site. Dealicious can really be useful in this situation. It is also fantastic that these tags can be accessed from any computer, therefore not limiting me to my computer favorites bar!
Thing 16
This one was an easy one for me. I already have an iGoogle home page with the calendar function (yep, once again the list lover and oober planner in me). As an avid scuba diver (my husband even proposed to me while scuba diving....That's how obsessed I am with it!) and wanna be beach bum, I love altering between different "under the sea" and beach backgrounds. Ahhhh, what I would give to be laying on a beach, fruity garnished drink in hand or going on a night dive right now.....But, reality calls and the truth is, it's the major end of the semester "pulling my hair out" crunch time right now, so I better stay focused!
As an avid list writer (some may say obsessed), I wish that I could say that I liked the online to do lists more than I did. But I guess it leaves me feeling cheated. See, the best part of a list for me is crossing an item off it, and doing that online just doesn't leave me with the same satisfaction. I may be old school, but I'm okay with that! To me, it's kind of like the e-readers craze. Technology works for a lot of things, but there are some things that I just prefer the old fashioned way, and that's just the way it's going to have to be!
That being said, I do love using technology when it comes to a calendar. The calendar on my phone is literally just an extension of my list obsession, and gets updated every single day! Because of that, I doubt I would ever use some of the online calendars for personal use. However, I do see them being useful as a teacher. Having an online calendar will allow me to keep my phone as my personal calendar (although let's be honest here, I'm sure a few school related reminders will make it on there too), while an online calendar could serve as a way to keep my school meetings, field trips, projects, etc organized in one place!
As an avid list writer (some may say obsessed), I wish that I could say that I liked the online to do lists more than I did. But I guess it leaves me feeling cheated. See, the best part of a list for me is crossing an item off it, and doing that online just doesn't leave me with the same satisfaction. I may be old school, but I'm okay with that! To me, it's kind of like the e-readers craze. Technology works for a lot of things, but there are some things that I just prefer the old fashioned way, and that's just the way it's going to have to be!
That being said, I do love using technology when it comes to a calendar. The calendar on my phone is literally just an extension of my list obsession, and gets updated every single day! Because of that, I doubt I would ever use some of the online calendars for personal use. However, I do see them being useful as a teacher. Having an online calendar will allow me to keep my phone as my personal calendar (although let's be honest here, I'm sure a few school related reminders will make it on there too), while an online calendar could serve as a way to keep my school meetings, field trips, projects, etc organized in one place!
Monday, April 1, 2013
Thing 15
When I was a little girl, I would always start my diary entries with "Dear Diary, it's been awhile since my last entry, and I'm sorry for that." Well, blog, I feel like I should start off with an apology for neglecting you these past weeks. Life as a grad student has kept me mega busy, but I promise to keep up with my blog entries from this point forth :)
I'll start off by saying how much I loved the wiki video! Wiki is a term that I have heard thrown around quite a bit. However, up until now I was never too sure what it meant. The video explained it in such a clear and concise fashion that even a non-techie like me could understand! However, actually utilizing the wiki proved to be a bit more difficult.
After navigating to the APSU sandbox site, I spent quite a bit of time finagling around, just trying to figure out how to sign in. After much more time than I care to admit, I was finally in (woo-hoo). Then came the hard part....What was I going to post? I decided to stop and reflect on all the "Things" we have completed up until this point and pick the item that would be the most useful in my future classroom. And Glogster was the winner! Although I have come across quite a few new and exciting tools to add to my kindergarten toolbox, I would say that Glogster is the one tool that I am beyond excited to use in my classroom. So I decided to share my love for Glogster with the world (well, the APSU sandbox wiki world anyway...Baby steps here)!
There are a variety of ways that a wiki could be used in a classroom. Keeping along the lines of the list idea presented in the video, my mind immediately went to the list of common items that every elementary student has to bring for the class. A wiki could be a great way to organize which student will purchase which item for the classroom stock. After all, who wants 40 boxes of tissues and not a single box of crayons?!?!?! Thanks to wikis, that won't be the case in my future classroom! Oh yah, Glogster and crayons.....What more could my future students ask for? :)
I'll start off by saying how much I loved the wiki video! Wiki is a term that I have heard thrown around quite a bit. However, up until now I was never too sure what it meant. The video explained it in such a clear and concise fashion that even a non-techie like me could understand! However, actually utilizing the wiki proved to be a bit more difficult.
After navigating to the APSU sandbox site, I spent quite a bit of time finagling around, just trying to figure out how to sign in. After much more time than I care to admit, I was finally in (woo-hoo). Then came the hard part....What was I going to post? I decided to stop and reflect on all the "Things" we have completed up until this point and pick the item that would be the most useful in my future classroom. And Glogster was the winner! Although I have come across quite a few new and exciting tools to add to my kindergarten toolbox, I would say that Glogster is the one tool that I am beyond excited to use in my classroom. So I decided to share my love for Glogster with the world (well, the APSU sandbox wiki world anyway...Baby steps here)!
There are a variety of ways that a wiki could be used in a classroom. Keeping along the lines of the list idea presented in the video, my mind immediately went to the list of common items that every elementary student has to bring for the class. A wiki could be a great way to organize which student will purchase which item for the classroom stock. After all, who wants 40 boxes of tissues and not a single box of crayons?!?!?! Thanks to wikis, that won't be the case in my future classroom! Oh yah, Glogster and crayons.....What more could my future students ask for? :)
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Thing 14
I want to start off by saying that I love brainstorming activities. LOVE! As a student, I would get excited when the teacher would stand by the chalkboard and draw the ever recognizable circle on the chalkboard (yep, the old school chalkboard) with a theme written in the center. And as a class, we would all try to come up with ideas that branched off that theme. I would literally be bouncing in my seat with my hand straight up in the air desperately hoping the teacher would add my idea to the brainstorming bubble.
With that being said, I was immediately drawn to bubbl.us. Granted, this might be a bit more high tech than my favorite chalkboard brainstorming activity, but in the end, it's the same concept. I really like how bubbl.us allows you to organize your thoughts around a central idea and color code main ideas within this overall theme. This helps to give a quick visual outline of a broad idea, the main themes within that idea, and then the smaller concepts within those main themes. The inner child in me could not wait to try this out! However, I decided not to go for a theme such as "creative ways to use a soup can" (an actual brainstorming activity I remember doing in grade school), but instead chose to use the mind map in a more productive way to outline some of the major themes that I have for an upcoming paper. In five minutes, I had a pretty good outline of some of the key components of bilingual education.
After playing around on bubble.us, I had to drag myself away to try a flow chart. I chose to look at Gliffy simply because I didn't want to wait for flowchart.com to send me an invitation :) I enjoyed looking around at the site for a bit and getting a few laughs at the funny flow chart examples they have. Although I can see flow charts being a great resource for older students, as a future K-2 teacher, I feel that the mind map is a tool that will be more useful in my future classroom. Or, maybe it's my brainstorming bias coming out. Either way, bubbl.us will be making it on my list of useful tools that I can use in my classroom and trick my future students into thinking I actually know a thing or two about technology!
With that being said, I was immediately drawn to bubbl.us. Granted, this might be a bit more high tech than my favorite chalkboard brainstorming activity, but in the end, it's the same concept. I really like how bubbl.us allows you to organize your thoughts around a central idea and color code main ideas within this overall theme. This helps to give a quick visual outline of a broad idea, the main themes within that idea, and then the smaller concepts within those main themes. The inner child in me could not wait to try this out! However, I decided not to go for a theme such as "creative ways to use a soup can" (an actual brainstorming activity I remember doing in grade school), but instead chose to use the mind map in a more productive way to outline some of the major themes that I have for an upcoming paper. In five minutes, I had a pretty good outline of some of the key components of bilingual education.
After playing around on bubble.us, I had to drag myself away to try a flow chart. I chose to look at Gliffy simply because I didn't want to wait for flowchart.com to send me an invitation :) I enjoyed looking around at the site for a bit and getting a few laughs at the funny flow chart examples they have. Although I can see flow charts being a great resource for older students, as a future K-2 teacher, I feel that the mind map is a tool that will be more useful in my future classroom. Or, maybe it's my brainstorming bias coming out. Either way, bubbl.us will be making it on my list of useful tools that I can use in my classroom and trick my future students into thinking I actually know a thing or two about technology!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Thing 13
Ahhh the unlucky Thing 13. Turns out for me the only unlucky thing was the fact that I spent who knows how much money on Microsoft Office products throughout the years!
Thing 13 asked me to look around at Zoho and Google Docs. I started with Zoho. After creating an acocunt, I found that I was able to create the equivilent of a word document, excel spreadsheet and power point presentation, all for FREE! YEP, FREE! Everything was very intuitive and if you have any knowledge of the Microsoft products, navigating through Zoho is a walk in the park.
After playing around on Zoho for a bit, I decided to check out Google Docs. Before starting, Google Docs had me download Google Drive. Initially I thought I messed up and kept my fingers crossed that I didn't accidently download some virus, but it turns out Google Docs is a FANTASTIC little storage device that I will be using in the future! Google Docs is similar to Zoho in the respect that it offers options to create a document, spreedsheet, presentation (powerpoint) along with a drawing and form.
Although Google Docs and Zoho are fundamentally the same, I did prefer working with Google Docs, mostly because it seemed more visually pleasing. As a bonus, anything you create is automatically saved to your Google Drive! Google Docs comes with really comprehensive and easy to understand directions for all you nontechnical folks like me! The directions are very easy to understand and clearly outline a lot of the features that are provided. One of the great functions that I would like to try out in the future is the online collaboration. When working with Google Docs, you have the option to share the document with recipients that you select, who are then able to make their own changes and additions to the documents. This is a fantastic feature that could promote collaboration that I've never used with Microsoft. This could be such a great way to promote group work in the classroom outside of the school day. Or allow students to work on a project with a sister classroom in a neighboring state or around the world.
Overall, I'm really pleased with the options that Goolge Docs and Zoho provide. And come on, someone has to be excited as I am with the "free" aspect of both of these options!
Here's a little quiz that I created using Google Forms.
Thing 13 asked me to look around at Zoho and Google Docs. I started with Zoho. After creating an acocunt, I found that I was able to create the equivilent of a word document, excel spreadsheet and power point presentation, all for FREE! YEP, FREE! Everything was very intuitive and if you have any knowledge of the Microsoft products, navigating through Zoho is a walk in the park.
After playing around on Zoho for a bit, I decided to check out Google Docs. Before starting, Google Docs had me download Google Drive. Initially I thought I messed up and kept my fingers crossed that I didn't accidently download some virus, but it turns out Google Docs is a FANTASTIC little storage device that I will be using in the future! Google Docs is similar to Zoho in the respect that it offers options to create a document, spreedsheet, presentation (powerpoint) along with a drawing and form.
Although Google Docs and Zoho are fundamentally the same, I did prefer working with Google Docs, mostly because it seemed more visually pleasing. As a bonus, anything you create is automatically saved to your Google Drive! Google Docs comes with really comprehensive and easy to understand directions for all you nontechnical folks like me! The directions are very easy to understand and clearly outline a lot of the features that are provided. One of the great functions that I would like to try out in the future is the online collaboration. When working with Google Docs, you have the option to share the document with recipients that you select, who are then able to make their own changes and additions to the documents. This is a fantastic feature that could promote collaboration that I've never used with Microsoft. This could be such a great way to promote group work in the classroom outside of the school day. Or allow students to work on a project with a sister classroom in a neighboring state or around the world.
Overall, I'm really pleased with the options that Goolge Docs and Zoho provide. And come on, someone has to be excited as I am with the "free" aspect of both of these options!
Here's a little quiz that I created using Google Forms.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Thing 12
Well, I've reached the halfway point in this journey to understanding technology, and I can now put Thing 12 on my list of things I never knew that I never knew.
For this activity, I was immediately drawn to Google Calendar. I love calendars and I'm constantly updating my calendar on my phone with even the smallest things that I don't want to forget to do. This goes hand in hand with my list obsession :) However, Google Calendar was quite different. The function that I appreciated the most was the fact that you are able to share your calendar with friends and family, along with using Google Calendar to send out invitations for events. I am always put in charge of organizing family get togethers, and one of the hardest part of that is simply finding a date when everyone is available. Google Calendar will be put to use from this point forward in any family event that I am put in charge of planning! As a teacher, I could definately use Google Calendar to update parents on class activities, parent teacher conferences, field trips, etc.
The other resource that I was drawn to was Google Translate. As a Spanish major in college, I know first hand how unreliable online translators can be. In fact, the very first day of class, my Spanish professor warned us not to use an online translator to complete any of our assignments. She said she would know and it would result in a failing grade on the assignment. Needless to say, one student did end up using it to translate his entire report and as promised, the professor knew! After playing around with Google Translate, I can tell how she knew. Although the translate function was able to convey the general meaning of the English phrases I put in, there were quite a few errors. However, I could see using Google Translate or another online translator to help a student whose first language wasn't English. It is a great way to quickly translate something that a student might not understand. I also like that there is a voice option that will read the translation. I could see this being particularly helpful for the younger learners who might not know how to read yet. Although it's not a perfect substitute for speaking a foreign language, it is a great tool to use in a pinch to get your point across.
For this activity, I was immediately drawn to Google Calendar. I love calendars and I'm constantly updating my calendar on my phone with even the smallest things that I don't want to forget to do. This goes hand in hand with my list obsession :) However, Google Calendar was quite different. The function that I appreciated the most was the fact that you are able to share your calendar with friends and family, along with using Google Calendar to send out invitations for events. I am always put in charge of organizing family get togethers, and one of the hardest part of that is simply finding a date when everyone is available. Google Calendar will be put to use from this point forward in any family event that I am put in charge of planning! As a teacher, I could definately use Google Calendar to update parents on class activities, parent teacher conferences, field trips, etc.
The other resource that I was drawn to was Google Translate. As a Spanish major in college, I know first hand how unreliable online translators can be. In fact, the very first day of class, my Spanish professor warned us not to use an online translator to complete any of our assignments. She said she would know and it would result in a failing grade on the assignment. Needless to say, one student did end up using it to translate his entire report and as promised, the professor knew! After playing around with Google Translate, I can tell how she knew. Although the translate function was able to convey the general meaning of the English phrases I put in, there were quite a few errors. However, I could see using Google Translate or another online translator to help a student whose first language wasn't English. It is a great way to quickly translate something that a student might not understand. I also like that there is a voice option that will read the translation. I could see this being particularly helpful for the younger learners who might not know how to read yet. Although it's not a perfect substitute for speaking a foreign language, it is a great tool to use in a pinch to get your point across.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Thing 11
I've decided that Thing 11 is my least favorite "thing" since I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing for this exercise. But hey, we all have our bad days, and I'm hoping this will be my least successful posting in this journey that we call the 23 Things!
After looking at the links provided, I would say that the Google blog search function was the easiest for me, if for no other reason than I am so familiar with Google as a search engine. However, I was confused with the results that I got. After doing a quick search for "education," I came across a series of hits. Unfortunately, the results that I got were not the results that I was expecting. Up until this point, when I thought about a blog, I thought about an individual creating a site with his or her opinions, thoughts, ramblings, etc. However, searching for "education" brought me to a listing of more organized sites than I was expecting. My search brought me to a listing of online newspapers that didn't exactly fit my preconceived notion of a blog. Refusing to fail, I did the next best thing. I searched for my blog (hey, we Google ourselves, why not Google blog ourselves?). Strike 2. Searching for my blog did not bring me any success.
So, I left Google blogs in search for bigger and better things. I looked at the Topix site for a bit and found a few interesting stories from my hometown, but I was in search for blogs, so after a bit of searching I left Topix and moved onto Technorati. Once again, I searched for "education" and came up short. I found sites on being conservative, Africa and money matters. Not exactly the results I was looking for. Strike 3, I'm out!
After looking at the links provided, I would say that the Google blog search function was the easiest for me, if for no other reason than I am so familiar with Google as a search engine. However, I was confused with the results that I got. After doing a quick search for "education," I came across a series of hits. Unfortunately, the results that I got were not the results that I was expecting. Up until this point, when I thought about a blog, I thought about an individual creating a site with his or her opinions, thoughts, ramblings, etc. However, searching for "education" brought me to a listing of more organized sites than I was expecting. My search brought me to a listing of online newspapers that didn't exactly fit my preconceived notion of a blog. Refusing to fail, I did the next best thing. I searched for my blog (hey, we Google ourselves, why not Google blog ourselves?). Strike 2. Searching for my blog did not bring me any success.
So, I left Google blogs in search for bigger and better things. I looked at the Topix site for a bit and found a few interesting stories from my hometown, but I was in search for blogs, so after a bit of searching I left Topix and moved onto Technorati. Once again, I searched for "education" and came up short. I found sites on being conservative, Africa and money matters. Not exactly the results I was looking for. Strike 3, I'm out!
Thing 10
Thing 10 introduced me to a very useful option to keep up to date with new postings on blogs and newsfeeds without having to visit each individual site. This is a feature that I never realized existed! While reading through the directions on Thing 10, I was initially a little intimidated since I felt like I was reading German (which I can't read). However, after watching the video on RSS, I feel like I have a good grasp of what it has to offer in a very simple format! I especially liked the reference that RSS is like subscribing to Netflicks instead of going to the video store :)
Now that I know how to subscribe and keep up with various blogs, I feel like the whole blogging world feels a little less intimidating! As a future teacher, I feel like this new knowledge will be very useful in my professional development. RSS isn't changing the information that is available, but it does change how we are able to use that information. If I want to subscribe to a few educational blogs (which I did), I no longer need to remember to visit each blog to check for updates, but instead I can allow the updates to come to me in one centralized location. As a future teacher, this will be particularly helpful in keeping up to date on what techniques other teachers are using in the classroom, new technology available that is useful to educators, or any other new tidbits that the bloggers are discussing. Overall, I feel like this is a very useful feature that I am happy to have found!
Now that I know how to subscribe and keep up with various blogs, I feel like the whole blogging world feels a little less intimidating! As a future teacher, I feel like this new knowledge will be very useful in my professional development. RSS isn't changing the information that is available, but it does change how we are able to use that information. If I want to subscribe to a few educational blogs (which I did), I no longer need to remember to visit each blog to check for updates, but instead I can allow the updates to come to me in one centralized location. As a future teacher, this will be particularly helpful in keeping up to date on what techniques other teachers are using in the classroom, new technology available that is useful to educators, or any other new tidbits that the bloggers are discussing. Overall, I feel like this is a very useful feature that I am happy to have found!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Thing 9
For Thing 9, I decided to pick a theme, Summer Vacation, and use that theme with various image generators. After a quick search, I came across a site that allows you to create newspapers, brochures, pamphlets and various other templates . I decided to use it to make a sample report that a student might make on their summer vacation. This site is very simple to use. You simply select one of their premade templates and insert your own pictures and text.
Sticking with the Summer Vacation theme, I used the link provided in the 23 Things page, which brought me to image chef http://www.imagechef.com// At this site, I found Word Mosaic which is an interesting image generator which allows you to chose from a variety of symbols. Once you have picked your symbol, you enter in your text (for this example, I entered in words that a child may use to describe their summer vacation), and it will utilize those words to create an image of the symbol you originally chose. For this example, I chose a sun as my symbol since it best portrayed the theme of Summer Vacation. I could see using this site during brainstorming sessions as a class. Instead of the teacher simply drawing the typical brainstorming bubble on the whiteboard, the students could work together to think of words that describe a certain theme, and then they can add those words into the Word Mosaic to create a visual aid of their brainstorming session.
A third option that I came up with to use an image generator in a classroom setting would be a simple way to add a little fun into a worksheet or homework assignment. Instead of simply writing out the directions on the top of the page, a teacher could add an image (bonus points if that image corresponds with the topic) to give a bit more visual interest to the assignment. This image was created at http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/
Thing 8
For Thing 8, I worked with both iMap Flickr http://imapflickr.com/default.aspx and Spell with Flickr http://metaatem.net/words/ to create a few projects. iMap Flickr was awesome! Travel is my passion and this site allows you to place all your travel pictures on a map from where they were taken. It took me about an hour to figure out how to use the site and upload a few pictures from some of the countries I have visited. This is one site that I could definitely see myself using in the future to upload pictures from my travels around the world. I feel like I found a gem here!
Spell with Flickr was another fun site that was super simple to use. All you do is type in a word that you want to spell out, and it finds pictures of each individual letter on Flickr and creates a picture word for you. If you don't like the look of a particular letter, just click on that individual letter and it will keep changing it until you find one that you like. This is a super simple way to add visual interest to your blog!
One way that I could see myself using iMap Flickr in the classroom is as a way to mark the places the students have travelled to. The students could update a picture from a trip they took to our class Flickr site, and then we could upload that to a class map. We could also incorporate a "Flat Stanley" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Stanley exercise and use that to help the students learn about different locations throughout the world.
Thing 7
Uploading pictures to Flickr was an activity that was not difficult for me. I have used a similar photo hosting service, Shutterfly in the past, and the process of uploading pictures was very similar. The difficulty for me came when I was trying to add the pictures to my blog. Originally, I tried the "share" function on Flickr, but I couldn't figure out a way to share all four pictures that way. Finally, I gave up and decided to upload them one by one with Blogger.
I have had a bit of experience working with Shutterfly in the past, but not much. Because I wanted to get pictures from the guests at our wedding, I set up an account just for our wedding. I then gave each guest the sign in and password information for this account, along with detailed instructions on how to upload the pictures that they took. This allowed us to see our wedding both from the professional photographers perspective along with the perspectives of each of our guests.
One way that I could see using Flickr in an educational setting would be to use it as a way to keep the parents updated on class activities, field trips, etc. When I was teaching kindergarten in Korea, we had an account for the school and then made different albums for each class. Once a child was registered in the school, the parent would receive the login information to the account. We would put up pictures of the art projects, field trips, birthday celebrations, etc. However, before doing this in the future, I would need to make sure that it was approved by the school's privacy policy. Another way to use Flickr in the classroom is as a means of making the lessons more engaging and interesting. For example, if a high school class is studying architecture around the world, it is one thing to discuss the Taj Mahal, but it is an entirely different thing to do a quick search on Flickr and show the students this...
Taj Mahal, a photo by bsmethers on Flickr.
Sharing photos in a public place is an issue on the minds of many people. Although I do think about this at times, it's not an issue that I'm overly worried about. I guess I kind of follow the rule that my Aunt told my 15 year old cousin about posting pictures to Facebook. If you wouldn't show grandma a picture, don't put it on Facebook. However, in an educational environment, it is vital that the school and parents give permission before you post a picture of minors.
And now, the pictures that I decided to use for Thing 7...
I have had a bit of experience working with Shutterfly in the past, but not much. Because I wanted to get pictures from the guests at our wedding, I set up an account just for our wedding. I then gave each guest the sign in and password information for this account, along with detailed instructions on how to upload the pictures that they took. This allowed us to see our wedding both from the professional photographers perspective along with the perspectives of each of our guests.
One way that I could see using Flickr in an educational setting would be to use it as a way to keep the parents updated on class activities, field trips, etc. When I was teaching kindergarten in Korea, we had an account for the school and then made different albums for each class. Once a child was registered in the school, the parent would receive the login information to the account. We would put up pictures of the art projects, field trips, birthday celebrations, etc. However, before doing this in the future, I would need to make sure that it was approved by the school's privacy policy. Another way to use Flickr in the classroom is as a means of making the lessons more engaging and interesting. For example, if a high school class is studying architecture around the world, it is one thing to discuss the Taj Mahal, but it is an entirely different thing to do a quick search on Flickr and show the students this...
Taj Mahal, a photo by bsmethers on Flickr.
Sharing photos in a public place is an issue on the minds of many people. Although I do think about this at times, it's not an issue that I'm overly worried about. I guess I kind of follow the rule that my Aunt told my 15 year old cousin about posting pictures to Facebook. If you wouldn't show grandma a picture, don't put it on Facebook. However, in an educational environment, it is vital that the school and parents give permission before you post a picture of minors.
And now, the pictures that I decided to use for Thing 7...
Flying Over Lake Michigan
My cats love the fish!
Some of the bigger fish in our tank.
I love this guy!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thing 6
In Thing 5, I was introduced for the first time to Glogster http://www.glogster.com/ and was intrigued. So, for Thing 6, I decided to check it out in more depth. And let me tell you, I LOVE what I found!
As a future K-2 teacher, a lot of the technology that we discuss is geared for much older students, and it is difficult for me to find ways to incorporate it into my future lesson plans. However, this is not the case with Glogster. Glogster is a site that allows you to make an online poster. However, unlike a typical poster, this site allows you to incorporate videos, pictures, and links to websites in a way that is very visually interesting. I found this site to be very useful to my future students. For example, check out this Glog which is centered around the letter "S"
http://www.glogster.com/mbinnie/letter-s/g-6l58oj2lsl5jtl9o1dgkca0.
This interactive poster incorporates videos with catchy songs about the letter "s," a video on how to write the letter "s," another video that has words that begin with the letter "s," pictures of "s" words and links to games that can test your comprehension skills.
Another fun example of a useful Glog is here http://www.glogster.com/liliana2532/what-do-plants-need-/g-6ljp501q8sar7b3k93nuna0. This Glog sums up the items that a plant needs to grow and also has a catchy tune that could help appeal to students with different learning styles.
As a future K-2 teacher, I feel that this site could be VERY useful in my classroom setting. This is a great way to review skills that we have studied or introduce new topics in a way that could help keep young learners with short attention spans engaged and interested in the lessons.
As a future K-2 teacher, a lot of the technology that we discuss is geared for much older students, and it is difficult for me to find ways to incorporate it into my future lesson plans. However, this is not the case with Glogster. Glogster is a site that allows you to make an online poster. However, unlike a typical poster, this site allows you to incorporate videos, pictures, and links to websites in a way that is very visually interesting. I found this site to be very useful to my future students. For example, check out this Glog which is centered around the letter "S"
http://www.glogster.com/mbinnie/letter-s/g-6l58oj2lsl5jtl9o1dgkca0.
Another fun example of a useful Glog is here http://www.glogster.com/liliana2532/what-do-plants-need-/g-6ljp501q8sar7b3k93nuna0. This Glog sums up the items that a plant needs to grow and also has a catchy tune that could help appeal to students with different learning styles.
As a future K-2 teacher, I feel that this site could be VERY useful in my classroom setting. This is a great way to review skills that we have studied or introduce new topics in a way that could help keep young learners with short attention spans engaged and interested in the lessons.
Thing 5
If you were to ask me an hour ago what Web 2.0 was, I would have probably answered with "a new version of the internet." After all, I've had an iPhone 3, 3GS, 4 and 4S (nope, no iPhone 5 for me yet). Each version of the iPhone is a new and improved model of an earlier version. However, after reading through the articles and watching the videos I learned that the Web 2.0 isn't actually a different version of the internet, but how we USE the internet differently. As I discussed in "Thing 4," the internet and technology are allowing us to interact and collaborate in ways that we have never been able to do before. In some ways, it is becoming such an integrated part of our lives that we can't imagine how life was without it. And the speed of this change is quite staggering. When I started college 10 years ago, I didn't even know how to use email. My roommate literally had to take me to the computer lab and show me how to sign into the email account that the college provided each student. The problem was, I didn't really have anyone to email. These days, I don't think anyone in my family or group of friends is without a Facebook account. Heck, even my grandparents are on Facebook. To state that the internet is changing how we interact and learn is an understatement.
Because of all these changes in technology, it is imperative that we keep up with the trends and learn ways that we can incorporate the Web 2.0 into a classroom setting. After reading through some of the comments on one of the articles, a repetitive theme was the fact that although these interactive learning sites are out there, as educators we have to actively seek them out, get out of our usual teaching ruts and constantly revise how we think about and utilize technology in the classroom. But actually doing this can be an intimidating process. Let's face it, kids these days can run circles around us (well me anyway) with their technological skills. While I was home for Christmas, I was shocked to see that my brother had an iPad for each of his 4 kids, who are all under 11. After getting over my initial "don't drop that" fear, I thought, why does a kid who is that young need with an iPad? However, after playing a counting game with the 4 year old and a Spanish vocabulary game with the 8 year old, I quickly changed my way of thinking. Not only was I impressed with the educational value of these activities, but I was amazed with the ease that these young children were navigating through the different games. It was almost intuitive to them. Heck, even the 4 year old was teaching me how to change the colors and use different functions in her coloring game.
As educators, we need to realize that students are going to come to us with a broad understanding of technology. Instead of feeling intimidated by technology, we need to embrace it, study it and utilize it. To me, School 2.0 is a way to incorporate technology to make lessons more interactive and engaging. Web 2.0 gives us the tools to allow students to collaborate in new and exciting ways. It makes learning more interactive, exciting and visual. It caters to students with different learning styles. It promotes critical thinking. And it it here to stay.
As the prices of technology continue to drop, I think we will continue to see a growth of technology throughout the school systems. I recently heard a report on the radio about a school that is trading textbooks for iPads. A quick Google search shows that there are quite a few other schools doing the same thing. Although this comes with its own set of challenges (the radio story mentioned issues they had with keeping kids off Facebook during class and the initial start up cost to name a few struggles with implementing the iPad program), these changes reflect the changing world in which we live and will teach this generation the skills they will need to successfully live in this world of ever changing technological advances.
Because of all these changes in technology, it is imperative that we keep up with the trends and learn ways that we can incorporate the Web 2.0 into a classroom setting. After reading through some of the comments on one of the articles, a repetitive theme was the fact that although these interactive learning sites are out there, as educators we have to actively seek them out, get out of our usual teaching ruts and constantly revise how we think about and utilize technology in the classroom. But actually doing this can be an intimidating process. Let's face it, kids these days can run circles around us (well me anyway) with their technological skills. While I was home for Christmas, I was shocked to see that my brother had an iPad for each of his 4 kids, who are all under 11. After getting over my initial "don't drop that" fear, I thought, why does a kid who is that young need with an iPad? However, after playing a counting game with the 4 year old and a Spanish vocabulary game with the 8 year old, I quickly changed my way of thinking. Not only was I impressed with the educational value of these activities, but I was amazed with the ease that these young children were navigating through the different games. It was almost intuitive to them. Heck, even the 4 year old was teaching me how to change the colors and use different functions in her coloring game.
As educators, we need to realize that students are going to come to us with a broad understanding of technology. Instead of feeling intimidated by technology, we need to embrace it, study it and utilize it. To me, School 2.0 is a way to incorporate technology to make lessons more interactive and engaging. Web 2.0 gives us the tools to allow students to collaborate in new and exciting ways. It makes learning more interactive, exciting and visual. It caters to students with different learning styles. It promotes critical thinking. And it it here to stay.
As the prices of technology continue to drop, I think we will continue to see a growth of technology throughout the school systems. I recently heard a report on the radio about a school that is trading textbooks for iPads. A quick Google search shows that there are quite a few other schools doing the same thing. Although this comes with its own set of challenges (the radio story mentioned issues they had with keeping kids off Facebook during class and the initial start up cost to name a few struggles with implementing the iPad program), these changes reflect the changing world in which we live and will teach this generation the skills they will need to successfully live in this world of ever changing technological advances.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Thing 4
I am currently reading "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. In the opening chapters, Friedman discusses how the internet has changed the world as we know it in a variety of different ways. However, one point that he makes that is particularly relevant to "Thing 4" is the fact that the internet was the first time in human history that we were not only consumers of media, but we were able to take an active role in the production of media. The internet has given us the opportunity to be our own authors, and have our own voices heard on a scale that has never been seen before. No longer are we required to simply take the 5 o'clock news, or local newspaper at face value. We have the opportunity to read instant reactions on what others in our neighborhoods and the around the world are thinking on any given topic, and pipe up in the conversation whenever we so desire. Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, blogs and comments on articles all give us the opportunity to author our own opinions and perspectives for the world to see. However, as the famous line in Spiderman states, "With great power comes great responsibility."
Commenting on a blog without a doubt creates a sense of community. It allows us as readers to not only not only be "consumers" of information, but to be an active participant of that information. We can follow blogs on topics that interest us as individuals, and be surrounded by a group that may be interested in the same activity, social issue or hobby. The ability to comment allows us to engage with people who may share our same values or ideas. We can use this community to learn new ideas, see other perspectives and find a place where we belong. Oh, the power of the internet! However, there is also a potential down side to commenting that has the potential of destroying this sense of community. Although we have the right to make our opinions known, it is essential that we remember to respect the thoughts and opinions of the author and commentors. Too many times have I seen a thread of comments turn into a string of insults, bashing and flat out cyber bullying.
After reading through the articles on commenting on blogs, two points in particular stick out in my mind. The first is commenting etiquette. Is the author of a blog required to reply to every comment left on the blog? If they chose not to comment, does that make them seem too elite to take the time to reply to a comment? In my opinion, a reply should only be made if you have something of value to add, and should never be expected. I would never leave a comment on a blog expecting a reply. If my comment opens a few new doors for the conversation to grow from, great! If not, I have said my piece and nothing else would be expected. The second point that struck me was the high percentage of readers who might be "lurkers" to a blog, but not active participants. If we are pouring our hearts out over an issue that is near and dear to us, don't be offended if you open your blog a week later and not see any comments. Although one of the main goals of bloggers may be to engage conversation about a certain topic, the lack of comments does not mean that all that hard work has gone to waste. Chances are, there are some readers out there, but getting any majority of those readers to comment is probably an unreasonable goal.
And now for the continuation of Thing 4...
I decided to wait a week or so before completing Thing 4 simply to allow more of my classmates to get their blogs up and running. I have been a lurker so far, but the time has come to get out of the shadows and start commenting.
I decided to comment on the following blogs...
James Kelley
Bing Thepsiri
Clinton Underwood
Bianca McDowell
Michelle Clark
C.J.Howard
It sounds kind of ridiculous but the initial few comments were hard for me to write, so I chose to comment on the blogs of people that I know from class. Up until this point, I hadn't even realized that people had commented on my blog. I now know to look in the sidebar and it will tell you how many comments you have. Once I realized I had comments, I had a lot of fun reading through each of them, and it really made this whole blogging experience seem more worthwhile.
When we initially started this project I was secretly hoping that there was a way to complete this project without having all the classmates being able to see my blog. Afterall, you can make your Facebook account private, and most written assignments are usually only read by you and the professor, but I guess that kind of defeats the purpose of a blog. Once I read through the comments left on my blog, I got excited to open up this sense of community and commenting on other blogs was a lot more fun. However, I did notice that time can quickly slip away from you when you start reading through the blogs! I found it interesting that although we are all completing the same assignment, we really do see it from a different set of eyes, and our differing backgrounds bring a lot of interest to the table. Once I got over my inital fear of commenting, I decided to run with it and I think that I have officially been changed from a "complete lurker" to a "no longer scared to be a commentor." I enjoy reading through the different blogs and I hope to continue commenting even after I reached my required 5 (well, I chose 6) blogs to comment on for Thing 4. For that reason I chose to comment on a variety of blogs, those that I relate well with and those that see things from a very different point of view that I didn't think of. I think this makes for a more well rounded blogging experience.
Commenting on blogs outside of classroom setting once again made me nervous. It's one thing to comment on our blogs, since I have the "we're all in this together" motto. However, blogs outside of our little community made me want to revert back to my "lurker" status. I did end up posting as an "annonymous" user, which helped me feel a bit more comfortable posting on the blogs.
Thankfully, I found 2 fantastic blogs that I we was happy to comment on. The first one is titled "Chalk Talk." This kindergarten teacher uses her blog as a way to show how she is teaching a particular topic. I especially love all the bulletin boards she uses that include the children's artwork, written assignments and the actual story book itself to bring together different aspects of a comment theme that that students studied. Just by looking at her blog, I found myself thinking that I wanted to be a 5 year old in her classroom! Chalk Talk can by clicking on this link....Chalk Talk.
The second outside blog that I decided to comment on was A Place Called Kindergarten. Once again this blog has a lot of great pictures that center around a certain theme. I also like that she included videos in her blog!
After looking through the various blogs outside of our classroom, I found that I am really drawn to the blogs that have more pictures/videos incorporated in their blogs. Sure they add visual interest, but they also show you first hand how these ideas are used within the classroom. And I think some of it is the kindergarten teacher in me just loving blogs with lots of visual interest and cute crafts that tie into educational themes!
Commenting on a blog without a doubt creates a sense of community. It allows us as readers to not only not only be "consumers" of information, but to be an active participant of that information. We can follow blogs on topics that interest us as individuals, and be surrounded by a group that may be interested in the same activity, social issue or hobby. The ability to comment allows us to engage with people who may share our same values or ideas. We can use this community to learn new ideas, see other perspectives and find a place where we belong. Oh, the power of the internet! However, there is also a potential down side to commenting that has the potential of destroying this sense of community. Although we have the right to make our opinions known, it is essential that we remember to respect the thoughts and opinions of the author and commentors. Too many times have I seen a thread of comments turn into a string of insults, bashing and flat out cyber bullying.
After reading through the articles on commenting on blogs, two points in particular stick out in my mind. The first is commenting etiquette. Is the author of a blog required to reply to every comment left on the blog? If they chose not to comment, does that make them seem too elite to take the time to reply to a comment? In my opinion, a reply should only be made if you have something of value to add, and should never be expected. I would never leave a comment on a blog expecting a reply. If my comment opens a few new doors for the conversation to grow from, great! If not, I have said my piece and nothing else would be expected. The second point that struck me was the high percentage of readers who might be "lurkers" to a blog, but not active participants. If we are pouring our hearts out over an issue that is near and dear to us, don't be offended if you open your blog a week later and not see any comments. Although one of the main goals of bloggers may be to engage conversation about a certain topic, the lack of comments does not mean that all that hard work has gone to waste. Chances are, there are some readers out there, but getting any majority of those readers to comment is probably an unreasonable goal.
And now for the continuation of Thing 4...
I decided to wait a week or so before completing Thing 4 simply to allow more of my classmates to get their blogs up and running. I have been a lurker so far, but the time has come to get out of the shadows and start commenting.
I decided to comment on the following blogs...
James Kelley
Bing Thepsiri
Clinton Underwood
Bianca McDowell
Michelle Clark
C.J.Howard
It sounds kind of ridiculous but the initial few comments were hard for me to write, so I chose to comment on the blogs of people that I know from class. Up until this point, I hadn't even realized that people had commented on my blog. I now know to look in the sidebar and it will tell you how many comments you have. Once I realized I had comments, I had a lot of fun reading through each of them, and it really made this whole blogging experience seem more worthwhile.
When we initially started this project I was secretly hoping that there was a way to complete this project without having all the classmates being able to see my blog. Afterall, you can make your Facebook account private, and most written assignments are usually only read by you and the professor, but I guess that kind of defeats the purpose of a blog. Once I read through the comments left on my blog, I got excited to open up this sense of community and commenting on other blogs was a lot more fun. However, I did notice that time can quickly slip away from you when you start reading through the blogs! I found it interesting that although we are all completing the same assignment, we really do see it from a different set of eyes, and our differing backgrounds bring a lot of interest to the table. Once I got over my inital fear of commenting, I decided to run with it and I think that I have officially been changed from a "complete lurker" to a "no longer scared to be a commentor." I enjoy reading through the different blogs and I hope to continue commenting even after I reached my required 5 (well, I chose 6) blogs to comment on for Thing 4. For that reason I chose to comment on a variety of blogs, those that I relate well with and those that see things from a very different point of view that I didn't think of. I think this makes for a more well rounded blogging experience.
Commenting on blogs outside of classroom setting once again made me nervous. It's one thing to comment on our blogs, since I have the "we're all in this together" motto. However, blogs outside of our little community made me want to revert back to my "lurker" status. I did end up posting as an "annonymous" user, which helped me feel a bit more comfortable posting on the blogs.
Thankfully, I found 2 fantastic blogs that I we was happy to comment on. The first one is titled "Chalk Talk." This kindergarten teacher uses her blog as a way to show how she is teaching a particular topic. I especially love all the bulletin boards she uses that include the children's artwork, written assignments and the actual story book itself to bring together different aspects of a comment theme that that students studied. Just by looking at her blog, I found myself thinking that I wanted to be a 5 year old in her classroom! Chalk Talk can by clicking on this link....Chalk Talk.
The second outside blog that I decided to comment on was A Place Called Kindergarten. Once again this blog has a lot of great pictures that center around a certain theme. I also like that she included videos in her blog!
After looking through the various blogs outside of our classroom, I found that I am really drawn to the blogs that have more pictures/videos incorporated in their blogs. Sure they add visual interest, but they also show you first hand how these ideas are used within the classroom. And I think some of it is the kindergarten teacher in me just loving blogs with lots of visual interest and cute crafts that tie into educational themes!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Thing 3
This blog entry was a bit more difficult for me. As a future K-2 teacher, I am unable to utilize a blog in the same way that a middle or high school teacher might use a blog in their teacher education program. I won't be able to instruct my students to post their reactions to each chapter while reading The Odyssey, asking them to follow a blog written by a classroom in Cambodia probably won't make my class curriculum and starting a class blog as a means for students to promote their poetry skills probably isn't feasible. When I thought all hope was lost, I found the blog titled "Let the Children Play" and I had my "ah-ha" moment.
Let the Children Play was FILLED with fantastic crafting, field trip, and hands on activities that young learners could benefit from. After looking at this site, I saw a different way to look at how a blog could be useful in a classroom setting. I realized that the students themselves don't have to play an active role in the blog to benefit from it. By using a blog to find new and exciting ways to teach and engage my students, they will indeed benefit from the use of technology, without being an active part of the technology itself.
However, after looking at that blog, and a few other blogs listed under the 50 Must-See Teacher Blogs link, I came up with a few other ways that I could use a blog within my classroom setting that would be beneficial to my students. One idea is to use the blog as a way to network with other teachers and educators that I might otherwise never have the opportunity to collaborate with. This mutually beneficial relationship could allow the exchange of new teaching ideas and methods from halfway around the world. A second way I might use my blog within my educational program is to set it up as a means to keep the parents involved in the educational achievements of their children. In this scenario, I could update the parents on what we will be working on in class that week/month, and even suggest supplemental learning opportunities and activities that parents could work on with their children at home if they chose to. I could incorporate a class calender as a means to keep track of field trip days, school picture days, and even who will be taking the class gerbil home on the weekend!
Let the Children Play was FILLED with fantastic crafting, field trip, and hands on activities that young learners could benefit from. After looking at this site, I saw a different way to look at how a blog could be useful in a classroom setting. I realized that the students themselves don't have to play an active role in the blog to benefit from it. By using a blog to find new and exciting ways to teach and engage my students, they will indeed benefit from the use of technology, without being an active part of the technology itself.
However, after looking at that blog, and a few other blogs listed under the 50 Must-See Teacher Blogs link, I came up with a few other ways that I could use a blog within my classroom setting that would be beneficial to my students. One idea is to use the blog as a way to network with other teachers and educators that I might otherwise never have the opportunity to collaborate with. This mutually beneficial relationship could allow the exchange of new teaching ideas and methods from halfway around the world. A second way I might use my blog within my educational program is to set it up as a means to keep the parents involved in the educational achievements of their children. In this scenario, I could update the parents on what we will be working on in class that week/month, and even suggest supplemental learning opportunities and activities that parents could work on with their children at home if they chose to. I could incorporate a class calender as a means to keep track of field trip days, school picture days, and even who will be taking the class gerbil home on the weekend!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Thing 2
Well, Thing 1 is posted, my blog template has been changed a million and five times, and I've had a few laughs while making a few versions of a goofy avatar before settling on the current version that is here to stay. Creating this blog started as a task that I was dreading, but it turned out to be a surprisingly fun process! Maybe my inner computer geek is in there somewhere just trying to get out! My favorite part of creating this blog was adding the personalizations. I am naturally a crafty person and often thought of technology as boring, dull and bland. However, creating this blog has opened my eyes to the "creative" side of technology. I really enjoyed looking through the different templates, and trying them each out before I settled on the girliest one I could find. What can I say? This girl loves pink!
Creating an avatar was another surprisingly fun and creative step in setting up the blog. My husband is a video-game-a-holic and I have watched him create countless avatars for his various in game characters. However, this was my first attempt to create my own. When I first started developing my avatar I made a joke out of it. I had fun adding various mustaches, beards and accessories that had nothing to do with me. However, after the fun was done, I settled on an avatar that represents me and my personality as much as possible. I'm not sure why I ultimately decided to make my avatar represent my true self. Maybe I wanted to feel like I wanted to take this project seriously and creating a serious representation of myself is the first step in that process. If only they offered a cheesehead, I'd be all set!
That brings me to the last step in setting up this blog, creating a title. As an avid Green Bay Packers fan, I immediately knew that I wanted to incorporate football into the title. And after a bit of thought, I felt that "Tackling Technology" not only incorproated my green and gold spirit, but was a name that is fitting for the 23 things that will be accomplished on this blog.
Creating an avatar was another surprisingly fun and creative step in setting up the blog. My husband is a video-game-a-holic and I have watched him create countless avatars for his various in game characters. However, this was my first attempt to create my own. When I first started developing my avatar I made a joke out of it. I had fun adding various mustaches, beards and accessories that had nothing to do with me. However, after the fun was done, I settled on an avatar that represents me and my personality as much as possible. I'm not sure why I ultimately decided to make my avatar represent my true self. Maybe I wanted to feel like I wanted to take this project seriously and creating a serious representation of myself is the first step in that process. If only they offered a cheesehead, I'd be all set!
That brings me to the last step in setting up this blog, creating a title. As an avid Green Bay Packers fan, I immediately knew that I wanted to incorporate football into the title. And after a bit of thought, I felt that "Tackling Technology" not only incorproated my green and gold spirit, but was a name that is fitting for the 23 things that will be accomplished on this blog.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Thing 1
After a few hiccups in creating a blog and a few laughs while making my avatar, Tackling Technology is officially up and running. Time to dive in headfirst... I am writing this first blog post with a lot of mixed feelings and hesitations. Will I make a fool of myself? Will I post some horrible spelling/grammar mistakes and not realize it until it has been read around the world (yah, I'm known to exaggerate things slightly)? Or will this turn out to be a fun "adventure" that I will look back at later and be proud of what I've accomplished. I guess only time will tell. But for now, I'm jumping into this blogging craze and hoping for the best!
After reviewing the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners tutorial, I found that I have mastered some areas, and need to work on others. Having a Goal in Mind (Habit 1) is probably the aspect that comes the easiest to me. I would label myself a very goal orientated individual. I am constantly looking to the future and making lists of what I want to accomplish. I love lists! Be it my daily to-do list, or the list of 100 items on my Bucket List, I love the feeling of setting goals for myself, achieving those goals and then altering my list to portray my new life goals. Every year around the New Year, I sit down and commit my goals to writing. I refuse to call these resolutions. But they are my list of goals that I want to accomplish or at least make substantial progress towards accomplishing within the year. This year, one of my goals was to earn a Masters Degree. And here I am. Use Technology to Your Advantage (Habit 6) would probably be the habit that I struggle with the most. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an idiot when it comes to technology, but I'm not a pro either. I like to stay within my "bubble" of what I use technology for, and I rarely seek out new technological advantages until they become mainstream and virtually everyone is using them.
Through this process of working with Web 2.0 tools, my goal is to learn more about what new technology is available while focusing on how I can utilize technology in the classroom to expand the learning opportunities for my students. When I was a student, technology in the classroom consisted of a teacher wheeling the TV/VCR cart into the classroom, struggling to get it to work for half the class while my classmates and I grew restless in our seats. Or who can forget the dreaded projector shows and the sound of that reel of tape spinning while a distorted voice narrated a jumpy picture? Well those days are now long gone! Although I sometimes shy away from technology, it is obviously here to stay and it is time for me to learn more about how I can use it to benefit myself and my students! With that being said, I guess it's time for me to alter my list of goals for the year to reflect "tackling technology."
After reviewing the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners tutorial, I found that I have mastered some areas, and need to work on others. Having a Goal in Mind (Habit 1) is probably the aspect that comes the easiest to me. I would label myself a very goal orientated individual. I am constantly looking to the future and making lists of what I want to accomplish. I love lists! Be it my daily to-do list, or the list of 100 items on my Bucket List, I love the feeling of setting goals for myself, achieving those goals and then altering my list to portray my new life goals. Every year around the New Year, I sit down and commit my goals to writing. I refuse to call these resolutions. But they are my list of goals that I want to accomplish or at least make substantial progress towards accomplishing within the year. This year, one of my goals was to earn a Masters Degree. And here I am. Use Technology to Your Advantage (Habit 6) would probably be the habit that I struggle with the most. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an idiot when it comes to technology, but I'm not a pro either. I like to stay within my "bubble" of what I use technology for, and I rarely seek out new technological advantages until they become mainstream and virtually everyone is using them.
Through this process of working with Web 2.0 tools, my goal is to learn more about what new technology is available while focusing on how I can utilize technology in the classroom to expand the learning opportunities for my students. When I was a student, technology in the classroom consisted of a teacher wheeling the TV/VCR cart into the classroom, struggling to get it to work for half the class while my classmates and I grew restless in our seats. Or who can forget the dreaded projector shows and the sound of that reel of tape spinning while a distorted voice narrated a jumpy picture? Well those days are now long gone! Although I sometimes shy away from technology, it is obviously here to stay and it is time for me to learn more about how I can use it to benefit myself and my students! With that being said, I guess it's time for me to alter my list of goals for the year to reflect "tackling technology."
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