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