One last thing..

Now that I have finally finished the 23 things project, I almost wish there were more to do!  I have loved getting to know these online resources better and put time into my own blog and creations!  Many of these will be useful in the future when I get my own classroom and I know that it will help give me an edge over those who have not yet familiarized themselves with resources such as this. I believe that a major difference between a good teacher and a great teacher is the willingness to go above and beyond in order to participate in lifelong learning and constantly find new things to benefit his or her students.

  I plan to keep many of these new accounts that I have formed up to date and use them regularly in order to build an abundance of resources for when I become a teacher.  I think this project has really helped me to prepare and take time to understand what all goes into being a teacher and given me insight on creative ways to engage my future students as well as include their parents in their learning adventure.

Thing 23:Creative Commons

As a teacher, I will use creative commons for a number of things! I now know what all of those crazy little symbols at the bottom of webpages mean along with what is and is not okay to do with the information within them! I had seen this mentioned in the credits of the 23 things blog but never quite understood what it all meant.  In 3040 we had to do an assignment related to creative commons which really helped me to learn a lot and assisted me in creating a lesson of my own to use on the future in order to teach my students about this as well.  With things becoming so technology based and with poster boards becoming a thing of the past as power points and webquest becoming the new "it " thing, it is important that teachers and students alike learn how to properly use and cite sources so that we can all share and build upon each others ideas.

Thing 22

At first I had a hard time with this site. Getting used to the layout and the little drop down edit menu game me a hard time in the beginning.  Once I got used to it it seemed to be quite helpful!  I love organization as I have stated before and this was a great way to organize ideas and resources online without printing a million papers and having them laying around everywhere. I also liked how you could do a google search to fill your binder! I went back and edited ones that I thought would not be useful to me but what a great tool to have if you want a lot of information at hand quickly that you can always return to to edit! I would use this in the calssroom to house resources for lesson plans, experiments, and classroom strategies.  I would potentially like to even find a way to allow students to create accounts in which they could store resources for research projects through out the year so they are easily found.
The binders I created were as followed: classroom transitions, science projects, and 5th grade webquests. I am including my science projects binder.

Science Projects

Thing 21

Copy of My Facebook pics


 Animoto was a very easy site to use!  I imagined that this would be a harder learning exercise to complete but it ended up being just as easy if not easier than others.  I loved that you could link right up with other accounts you have on various sites rather than having to separately upload each picture over again. I could see myself using this to create fun videos after a field trip or an exciting interactive lesson and giving the link out to parents.  I think this could be a fun way to show them what a good time their kids are having!


Make your own slide show at Animoto.

Thing Twenty: Youtube

Cell Parts Rap
This is the video I selected from YouTube.  I picked this video because it goes directly with my standards and I actually included this as another part of my technology project from a different source ,and found it interesting that it was available many places! I have used YouTube on many occasions so there was not too much for me to learn during this exercise.  I like that you can search easily and find many videos that serve as creative learning tools.  I think it would be a good site for the teacher to use but some schools have this on the list of websites that are blocked because although it contains some great material, there are some videos that are less than savory. With this being said, the other video sites such as teacher tube and jumpcut are great alternatives to use in the classroom!

Thing Nineteen: Other Social Networks

I found it interesting that teacher pop was started here at APSU.  It shows the potential that students have anywhere to create these useful resources.  I found it appealing that these social networks were more directed towards a specific interest and could be helpful in sharing information and ideas that way. I chose to add the badge to my blog and comment on posts after going Teacher pop.  I see these being a useful place that both future teachers and teachers alike can come to share ideas and encourage others by commenting and building these ideas to full potentials.  Maybe someone has tried the lesson plan you think you may use and they know things that may need to be tweaked or changed to make it more effective, they could share that easily on sites such as this!
     I also found the teachers lounge site interesting.  I found this afer scrolling through  the list of educational networking sites listed. It was nice to see a page that was a place for teachers to be able to interact and also step away from the world of teaching at the same time.

Thing Eighteen: Social Networking

Who doesn't love facebook and twitter? Here is a link to my personal facebook page
Victoria's Facebook
     I think it is important that teachers know how social net working works in order to use them properly and not abuse them.  Of course it is fun to chat with your friends and update them on your life but it is also a good way for people who do not know you to make a first impression.  (such as a mom who finds out over the summer you will be their child's teacher).  I personally do not see twitter being od much use to a teacher.  I have an account that I rarely use because I see its as a huge waste of time and I just do not get the concept of "hash tags".  Facebook on the other hand could have a few benefits if you were to go out on a limb.  It could be used as a communication tool for parents, although not the most professional.  You could use it to video chat other professionals to do a virtual classroom but there are many other sites that allow this as well.  I just think that as a teacher I would like to keep my social sites as a social site and present myself in a more professional manner by using other tools we have explored.

Thing Seventeen: Tagging

I had no idea that there were so many bookmarking social sites!  I like the idea of being able to classify and save sites in a location that you can access as well as access from others.  It is a great way to allow students and teachers alike to show and share things they think is important or relevant to a lesson at hand.  I could see this being used in a similar manner to how we present our website of the day in class.  These webpages are now available for us and many others ( if no group membership is needed) to use and collect information from.  Teachers could tag pages based on many things such as grade level, subject matter, or fun enrichment ideas.  They can also use tags to find strategies and other forms of technology that teachers everywhere are using through these sites.

Thing Sixteen: Organization

I loved this learning activity! I am one of the most OCD individuals you will ever encounter from the color coordinated closed to each pencil facing the right way! I love organizing and this showed me many tools that I used and even introduced me to a few new ones! I already use igoogle as a stary page.  I was introduced to this tool at a past job as a receptionist and learned all the ways that it could help when trying to organize things.  I love how you can select the things that you find of interest and customize just about everything on the page.  I see it being my start page long into the future.
     Online calendars can be useful when used correctly.  It takes time to get used to the idea of writing down everything but it makes a big difference! You can also set reminders that can pop up or make noises when it is time to make that important call or get ready for a meeting.  The same idea goes along with the to-do lists. Yes, it does take some work and time in order to get into the habit of keeping up with them but in time it just comes naturally!
   I think all of these tools can be used both at school and home in order to keep the flow consistent and so that nothing gets over looked.  I would suggest adding a calendar to the start page of your choice ( if permitted) so that it is always up and one click away!

Thing Fifteen: Wiki

This learning activity focused on looking through and creating your own "wikis".  A Wiki is something teachers can use to edit, share, and save written works about any number of topics.  They can be used to share class project information, teacher Bios, and be used in web quests.  This is a great way to create an area that you can always return to semester after semester and year after year without having to renew subscriptions or transfer things to a new format if you were to switch schools or counties.  I liked the idea of the "sandbox" area that allows students to explore and post their own ideas.  This could be used to share progress on an assignment, share things they would like to do in the classroom or even allow them to do things similar to this assignment and let them try out new things and show it off to their classmates! It is important to always include these fun side activities, especially with younger learners, to keep their interest and motivate them to participate in the lessons.

Thing Fourteen

In this learning activity, we explored mind maps and flow charts.  In order to compare the two, I visited bubbl.us and gliffy.com.  I found the mind maps to be similar to sticky notes in a way.  There were ways to use different keyboard short cuts in order to drop and group bubbles as things come to your mind. This could be used to keep your desktop organized and keep a running to do list or even allow students to make a brainstorming map for a writing assignment. Gliffy.com allows users to make flow charts of all sorts! As an aspiring science teacher I loved the fact that you can create your own using all sorts of shapes, sizes, and designs.  I think this would come in handy when teaching students different life cycles or cell processes.  It becomes an easy way to keep thoughts organized and in sequential order.  You could also use any of these tools to help keep students on track throughout the day.  I actually created a flowchart containing the daily schedule for a child I work with at an after school program who has problems focusing.  It has helped him see what he needs to be doing when and after laminating it it also serves as a check list for him!  I can see myself using these sites many times in the future!

Thing Thirteen

This learning activity required us to make an account for Zoho and compare this to Google Docs.  While I enjoyed exploring zoho,  I personally prefer Google Docs.  It was easier for me to link this with my existing accounts and it is a program I have worked with previously and have never had any problems with!  In the classroom, I would expect students to use Google Docs in many ways, they could use it to send projects back and forth, add their name or contact information to list, or sign up for research topics.  As a teacher I could also use it as an easy list maker for parents to add anything they may need such as party sign ups or field trip chaperones. Attached is a link to a document I made with Google Docs. I made an example of a sign up sheet I could email to parents to see who could or would want to attend a field trip their children may be taking.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgAe7LBp07PydGYtRXlDRDhiTFd0UGlKLUlOZ0dvSGc

Thing Twelve: Google

In this learning activity we learned that Google is more than just a search engine.  I chose to look more into Google alerts and Google translate.  Through Google alerts, one can do many things like follow a product, celebrity, or any topic of choice.  You can select to receive emails about this topic as information develops on it over time. Here is a like to creating an alert: Google alerts page.
Google translate is another great tool.  With the amount of ELL students in classrooms on the rise, this tool could be used to translate directions, or notes home to parents who may have a different first language.  Of course this tool could not serve as your only basis for translation and understanding but it is a good foundation to get you started! Here is a sample translation:Sample translation

Thing Eleven: Searching

This thing revolved around using different search engines to find blogs and relevant feeds.  Personally, I found Google blog search the easiest to use.  I use Google on a regular basis and searching for blogs was just as easy as searching for anything else!  I was amazed at how many blogs were found upon doing simple searches like "Web 2.0 for teachers" and "technology in classrooms".  Topix was a little harder to use but I imagine that is only because I am not as used to using it as I am Google.  With time and practice I think I may be able to get a better grasp on it.  I found so many feeds leading me to lesson plans, fun activities, and stories of other teachers experiences that I could use to shape my own classroom and teaching methods in the future.

Thing Ten: RSS

I like that RSS readers allow you to get all of your updates in the same place! As the into to this activity stated, it really does help you stay updated while saving time and keeps things more organized ( which I can greatly appreciate).  Since this activity I have also found out that my tablet and other devices have access to similar programs as well that I now take full advantage of.  Teachers can take advantage of this by subscribing to feeds that are relevant to their subject matter and grade area allowing them to keep thoughts and resources organized and see quickly and easily when they have been updated.

Thing nine: Image Generators

News paper generator

I enjoyed working with online image generators in this exercise.  One of my favorites was this news paper generator ( as shown above).  I could see this as being used to create fun ways to give the students various writing assignments or to make cute notes to parents about things the class has completed. Making this was super easy! All you had to do was fill in the blanks of what you wanted your title, heading, date, and story to be and it did the rest for you.

Another generator I liked was this warning sign generator:
Warning Sign Generator

This could be used to remind students of upcoming events and important academic dates.  This one was also quite easy to use ( as I am seeing many of these tools are).  You simply select your sign template, warning symbol, and then enter up to six lines of text.

Thing 8 : Mash ups

 For this learning activity I chose to play around with Spell with Flickr.  The application could  not have been easier to use.   All you do is type whatever it is that you want to spell and then click on each letter to change the image shown! I could see myself using this to spice up news letters, presentations, and even my classroom blog.   The lettering is a cute and different way to add a bit of diversity into your work. Here is what I created :



            

I like the idea of using this in the classroom because it reminds me of the different clips they would have on childrens shows where they would piece together words and numbers of different sorts.
           

Thing 7: Flickr

     I went into exploring Flickr with no idea of what I was going to search.  I wanted to look for something worth while in order to get the most out of the exercise when classroom layouts came to mind.  I am not sure what made me think of this but I thought it would be a good start.  I had never used Flickr before and creating the account was very easy.  I actually set it up straight from my current yahoo account which was great because I hate creating all these different user names and passwords and what not!  I was amazed at the numerous classroom ideas that were present on this site! people had uploaded layouts, organizational ideas, activities, and so many more.  You name it they had it!  This was certainly not what  I had expected and I found myself exploring the site much longer than I had planned! Here is the link to a group I found interesting!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/k8computerlabs/ I plan on coming back to this website often in order to find ideas for my future classroom.  It is almost like finding Pinterest all over again :]!

Thing 6: Pandora

I chose to review Pandora Radio.  I like this tool because not only is it free, but the amount of stations out there are limitless!  I easily made a free account and was able to explore many different kid friends stations.  I played around with creating a collection of playlists that would be good for transitions, test taking, and even inside recess to brighten up those rainy days!  I had heard of Pandora before but had never thought of relating it to education and I am now so surprised I never realized its potential before!
pandora.com

Thing 5: School 2.0

     To me, school 2.0 has some appeal to it. I like the idea of there being multiple paths to learning.  Only so much learning can take place in the classroom in the short span of a school day and the even shorter class period.  Allowing learning to be expanded into the home life, and community involvement could offer countless possibilities if done correctly.  Of course each area has different resources based on different factors such as location, SES status, and so on, but that does not mean that they could not use what they did have available to expand upon learning activities.  The web 2.0 tools that we have covered in this class have already opened my eyes to countless activities that I am dying to bring into my classroom.  Schools in the future will have access to not only these tools but so many more as time goes on and technology continues to advance!  These tools are key in tying in learning as far as community and home life are concerned.

Thing Four: Commenting

     This "thing" was centered around the importance of commenting on blogs.  Commenting on posts does more than just show that you have read the post, it also allows you to take a stance on what was written, offer up suggestions, and show the reader you care about what it is that they have to say.  As I touched on in thing three ( guess I got a little ahead of myself) commenting can create a since of community by allowing people to feel involved in what is being said.  I enjoyed commenting on other peoples blogs.  Each time I did so I tried to expand upon something they had mentioned or offer support or suggestions.  My goal for my comments is for them to be helpful to the author regardless of the topic at hand.


Blogs I commented on within the class:
 I tried to pick blogs of people who were not in my class or people who I had never met before.  I did this so I could practice getting my thought s out there to a new group of people and maybe even open future communication webs for those of us with common goals.

kellishoemake3040 ( thing 8)

A new educator's 23 things ( thing 3)

Teaching's a Journey(thing 2)

Things: 23 of Them. ( thing 2)

23 Stehle HOOTs

I found many personal blogs through Pinterest to comment on, both education based and ons of other topics.  Using pinterest allowed me to start by clicking on something I found interesting, and go from there. 

 

Thing Three:Blog Use

     In my classroom, I would like to use a blog as a communication window for the parents of my students.  I would like to provide them with a link at the beginning of the year and let them log on either daily or weekly for posts regarding what their children have been doing in class.  I would love to include  pictures of them doing fun activities, classroom reminders, and could even use it to post spelling words or other key information in the event that it gets lost!  I would be very open to letting them comment on the posts as well to create a community or family vibe through out the classroom.  I also liked the idea of posting a break down of what is and is not working for you, the teacher, in the classroom.  This shows the parents just how much effort you are putting into your job and can help them to appreciate you and allow them to see what might otherwise go unnoticed.    Using the blog would really help parents to feel like they have a good grasp of what the student is doing and feel more involved in their education.
      

Thing Two: Creating My Blog

     For thing two we were asked to design our blog and create an avatar to go along with it.  I found this experience quite entertaining!  I have never ran a blog before or even created an avatar for that matter. It was crazy the amount of things you could edit on this little person to make it your own! I let my avatar reflect me pretty closely.  The hair/ eye color are pretty dead on but the outfit reflects my personality more so.  Over the summer I worked through the YMCA doing summer programs and each counselor had a "camp name" and mine happened to be Princess so I could not have chosen a more fitting outfit!  My blog name and my posting name are pretty generic and straight forward, I am contemplating changing them now that this whole blog thing is becoming more fun.Overall, I have found creating the blog a lot easier than expected.  I am already being able to see how it would be a great informative tool to parents and students alike.

Thing One

     After watching the provided tutorial, I decided that the hardest lifelong habit for me would have to be habit one, which is beginning with the end in mind. Often I like to take things step by step, day by day and look at what is in the now and pay little thought to the end until I get there.  However, this does seem to be an easy habit to adapt, especially in lesson planning.  As a teacher you are constantly setting goals and objectives that you want your students to reach. You see these objectives and goals as the end, and then must work backwards to figure out how it is that you are going to reach this end point. 

     The easiest habit would have to be habit seven and a half hands down! Play is such an important aspect of young children's lives.  Working in child care settings has helped me to understand just how important it is to young students and how much they actually learn from play!  I am constantly seeking ways to incorporate different aspects of play such as games or dramatic play into the classroom to get information across in a fun and memorable way.