Summary

I admit that I had done the 23 Things in the past. I remembered some of what I learned but I had forgotten a lot of it. My favorite things were the ones that gave me places to put the things I had learned: Google Reader, Delicious, Flickr, and Picasa! These are the storehouses for all the information that I have gathered. These tools will help me to keep up with what I have started, which was the problem the first time. No follow-up on my part. Of course, I also loved the image generators and other fun stuff you can do to enhance your web pages or blogs.
It was interesting to read and hear from others to see how to put into practice all those skills we have learned. I see a whole new way to introduce these things in the staff developments and trainings that I do with teachers. My mind is working on overload right to figure out which of the tools would be the most beneficial.
Thanks so much for facilitating this course. And, yes, I would definitely like to learn 23 more things.

Thing 23

Exploring the networks was fun and gave me a lot to do on a hot afternoon all in the name of "homework". As I looked though the groups and forums, I realized that the levels of involvement go from "recognize a computer" to some very advanced networkers. One strand of a forum was particularly interesting to me. A discussion was started that seemed to be very negative regarding the use of Interactive Whiteboards in the classroom. Several responders seemed to thing that it was just putting the teacher in the front of the classroom with the students as by-standers. I tried to respond but I have not yet been "approved" to comment. I'm saving it for later however. Some groups asked a lot of questions but had very few answers. You really need to pick and choose the groups you investigate.
I do believe that joining a group with common interests will be beneficial. What better place to get new ideas, new outlooks and new perspectives.

Thing 22

I got a Facebook account about a year ago. I did it because a couple of the people at the office had one and it just seemed the thing to do. I have had so much fun on it since then. It is the wave of the present, not the future. I have connected with people from work, highschool, college, and neighbors long moved away. I am "friends" with both my children and several of their friends and their friends' parents. It is the way kids communicate and network. I heard recently that Facebook was been taken over by the Boomers. Well, they certainly are visible on Facebook.
Like any internet site, you have to be careful with what you post and who you allow to see your page. My son (27) has over 600 friends some of whom he doesn't really know.
They are friends of friends. I worry about that. All of the people I have as friends, I really do know and feel marginally certain that I can trust them.
If properly monitored, I could see that Facebook could help students connect with classrooms in other parts of the country or even other countries to study and communicate. At the very least, they could get a sense of what it is like to be a teenager in another place outside their comfort zone. There is an age limit on Facebook, so I believe this would only be a high school consideration. However, there is nothing that would prevent teachers from networking and sharing on Facebook.
This is a link to my page. Be my friend.

Thing 7b

One thing that really bothers me is that Word tries to prove that it is smarter than I am. It wants to manage my lists on Excel, put the capital letters in Word for me, and thinks it know exactly how I want to space thing in a document. At last I have found someone who agrees with me. On the blog Gadgetwise I found an article titled "Making MS Word Less 'Helpful'". In the Tip of the Week, the author tells how to shut off those helpful pop-up menus that to me are so annoying.

Thing 21

I firmly believe that some day, Google will take over the world and it may be very soon. They certainly seem to be on the leading edge of the technological world in applications. I've used some of these tools in the past. I took Picasa! this summer and really did like it. It has just become available to Mac and there are still a few glitches that need to be worked out with that version. My favorite feature is the collage. You can choose pictures, add and delete, and then set them how you want them to look. It is easy to use and the kids could make their own collages with a particular topic in mind, ex. shapes, colors, patterns, numbers, etc.
I love Google Earth. I found my house with it's garbage in the front yard waiting for pickup, my mother's old house in Wichita Falls, and the Statue of Liberty, just to name a few. This is perfect for kids a more personal and up-close view of places studied in their history books.
The best surprise was Google Book Search. I read so many different kinds of books that I can't keep up with which ones I read. With Google Book Search, I can preview the book and try to remember if I've read it. Saves time and money and is very exciting. In fact, I off to read the newest (to me) #1 Ladies Detective Agency book by Alexander McCall Smith.



Picasa! photo collage

Thing 20

Google Docs are the most useful tool in our department. We use it for just about everything that we do that needs collaboration. Examples from just this last semester: time sheets for summer work, inventory, Friday meeting agendas, ideas for staff development, ideas for end of the year documents, school maps, training schedules, etc. I really could go on for a long time. All of our New Teacher Orientation is on a Google Doc so that our whole department can view, edit and collaborate. Makes life a lot easier. We've suggested this to our teachers as a way of collaboration, but there are still a few hoops to jump through to get them on the MISD Google Doc...which is the goal.

One problem that we've had with the spreadsheet is that it is very inconsistent when trying to use a form. Last semester we tried to do an inventory form for our campuses to use to document what computers they had in their classroom. We all (6) created the form together, and shared it in exactly the same way. It worked for me, but did not work for 3 of the other ETFs. Very frustrating and we couldn't figure out what the difference was in the way it was shared. I hope it'll be fixed next year or at least we can determine what the problem was.

Thing 19

This was fun. I loved looking at all the examples of how this could be used in the classroom. I looked for Promethean activities and found several examples of lines and angles that I think I could use next year. It is such a simple way of getting students involved in their own learning. I also liked the Voicethread that showed how to turn a Keynote into a ActVote lesson. Again, something different to show teachers that is beyond PowerPoint. The examples of the ABC books were great. Any project that we can use as examples tend to give the teachers a feeling that it is possible and it looks so easy.
I found several of examples that liked, but I decided to be "stretchier" and try one on my own. Pretty easy and lots of fun.

Thing 18

I spent hours on YouTube yesterday. I found so many fascinating, funny, educational, and informative videos that I could have watched for days. I found things that were very useful and that I will go back to watch again. I also found some things that I thought, first, "Why would anyone video that?" and second, "Why would they post it for someone else to watch?" However all those videos had hundreds of hits. Go figure!
I did watch a couple of videos featuring the Promethean board, one of which I will use in a Staff Development that I am presenting next week. I re-watched a video about how to make an infrared controller for the Promethean using a Wii remote. If you could have seen our office last spring, you'd know that it was one video we took to heart as we tried it ourselves (with was more or less of a success). I also watched some videos of s some funny dogs doing strange and unusual things. YouTube is very easy to search with the results being clearing defined with a snippet of the picture next to it.
TeacherTube was a little more difficult to get a good understanding of exactly what you were looking for. I also noticed that many of the TeacherTube videos were much longer that YouTube. They seemed to be more for a longer Staff Development or training session. I compared the types of videos on Promethean from TeacherTube and YouTube. Some were the same video posted on both sites, but many of the videos on TeacherTube were posted by Promethean as a part of a training modlue. Some of these are actually posted on the Promethean Website.
I wanted to attach a video of a talking dog, but the file was too big. So I settled for a Promethean example.

Thing 17

I listened to several podcasts that I found in the Educational Podcast Network. One thing that I discovered was that many of the podcasts on GEEK!ED! ran 30 min to an hour. While I was interested in what was being said, I wasn't willing to spend the time to listen that carefully. I'm not sure teachers will be able to invest that kind of time either. The podcasts that really caught my attention were the ones that were short and to the point. I especially liked three in particular: Radio WillowWeb, Grammar Girl, and 60 Second Science. These podcasts were very informative, fun to listen to and short enough to keep my attention.
I also subscribed to Promethean Planet-ActivTips from iTunes. These tips are, again, short and in my case very pertinent to my job. Anyone using a Promethean board would find a lot of information in this podcasts.
I have done quite a bit of podcasting and taught podcasting to several elementary classes. We have done Book Reviews, Readers Theater, Math Facts, and Poems and Stories. Some have been audio podcasts while others have incorporated student drawn pictures. The two common experiences have been how much the kids and teachers love doing these and how easy they are to complete. Podcasting is just plain fun.

Thing 16

I've used Library Thing before. Like a lot of other tools in this class, I am rediscovering its usefulness. I have a huge personal reading list and I am one of those people that like to read books in a series. Not only in a series, but in the order in which they were written (I need to be able to form a timeline of events within the novels). Library Thing is the perfect place to keep track of which books I read, which book is next, and to find other books I might enjoy. Professionally it would be a great place for keeping lists of literature that will enhance a lesson or topic.

Thing 15

I've always loved the beach and playing in the Sandbox was the next best thing. Well, not really, but close. I did love the ease of creating in the wiki. I also liked the fact that there were lots of examples to look at as I was creating. The only thing that was a little frustrating for me was following the directions at the top of the page when I was at the bottom of the page. I realize that printing the directions would have been easier, but our printer was not happy, so I was stuck with navigating back and forth. The Voki was so much fun. There did seem to be a little delay in recording the speech. I had to play with it several times to make it work. I'm not sure if there is a better way to record. The Wiki was easy to edit and the pop-up directions seemed simple to understand. I can hardly wait to create one by myself.

Mousing_Around

Thing 14-Stretch

I looked up dachshund in Wikipedia. I've had dachshunds for many years and as I read the article I learned several new facts. I enjoyed reading the article and looking at the images of the cutest dogs ever. (I may be a little biased here) I've used Wikipedia a lot and yet never looked at the discussion or history tabs. I was surprised at how interactive it is. In the discussions, bits and pieces were talked about and even deleted from the original article. The history showed how many times changes had been made. And all this time, I just thought of it as an online encyclopedia with updated entries.

Thing 14

I thought Wiki Wiki Teaching was amazing. It is exciting to me how one teacher can have an idea that impacts the entire school. Those kids took that idea and literally ran with it. I'm sure that even the teacher did not see the far-reaching influence that the wiki would have. It was also very impressive that the other teachers in the building were so ready to jump on board. That must be a very technology oriented building. The fact that a wiki is a collaborative, living document is one of the most exciting things about it. Teachers across the district or grade level can collaborate on ideas, lesson, or reviews all to guide their students learning. This is a very powerful tool.

One wiki that I especially liked was Primary Math. I loved their use of YouTube videos to enhance their learning. Almost every one of their lessons had some video attached. One classroom shared questions with partner school in South Korea. The kids were so excited to see their buddies on the internet. What a cool way of learning. This did not have a lot of comments but an impressive amount of reads.

Another wiki I liked was Schools of the Past. Even though there was not a lot of kid typing, I think the information gathered was fascinating. The children certainly would have learned a great deal from this kind of questioning skills. An authentic, first-hand interview shows those students the value of primary sources.

I also enjoyed reading Go West, a wiki about the Oregon Trail. The information seems to be well researched and well presented. I especially like the navigation tabs along the left that allowed you to jump from one topic to another. The students obviously learned a lot not just about the Oregon Trail but about online creating and presenting. Their sources were cited as well as the citation for their images.

Yes, I think there is definitely a wiki in my future. I already have a very basic, very limited one started that contains recipes from my family. It is a great storehouse for memories. Now if I can only get my sister to contribute!

Thing 13

I have been using Delicious for a little over a year. At times I use it a lot and then it seems to fade into the background. When I go back to the site, I'm always surprised at what I've been missing. It is incredibly easy to tag and search to find those things I'm looking for. This week when I logged on, I realized I had not visited in some time. It was very interesting to me that some of the sites I had save in the last year or so were completely out of date. How quickly technology changes. I also had several links to sites that I simply was not interested in anymore. Funny how your personal tastes change, too.
I found that it took some thought in making my tags. Trying to figure out how I would look for this information in the future really made me stop and think. If using this within a grade level or department, then agreeing on the tags would certainly be beneficial to establish a common search vocabulary.
http://delicious.com/golfprobie

Thing 7a

What Research Says About Teaching Media Literacy from the Committed Sardine blog has some really great ideas on teaching students the skills needed in a digital world. "Reading online demands different skills than reading print." New literacy demands we teach how to use search engines, read URLs, identify Web site publishers as well as how to identify those sources that lead to valid research. As students are spending more and more time online, our responsibility is to teach the skills they need to stay safe and glean the information needed from their sources. In this digital driven world, our literacy instruction needs to change to keep up with the skills they are already using online. The blog lists the lack training of teachers in online skills as the Number 1 barrier to teaching students in a digital world. We know that, now how do we address it?

Thing 12

I explored several of the tools suggested. My personal favorite was JigZone. I love puzzles and being able to create my own using my favorite pictures was really cool. There was a similar website earlier(Jigsaw) that allowed you to create a puzzle to purchase. However it was not interactive. Kids could take pictures within a topic and then make a puzzle bank for practice.
My other favorite was Poll Daddy. This has great potential for staff development. Imagine being able to poll the participants before and after the class to check for previous knowledge and evaluation. Great teaching tool. Students could create their own polls as part of a unit of study. If they can create the questions and the answers for their classmates, then they truly understand the concept.

Thing 6

I've been following several blogs for almost a year. However with Google Reader, I decided to subscribe to some totally new ones. I have a cooking blog, Ian Jukes Committed Sardine, and several others that are very diverse. I get a little overwhelmed sometimes when I miss a few days and have so many to read that I feel like I'm playing catch-up. I have figured out that I don't need to read them all, so skimming and scanning has been a helpful tool.
My favorite so far has been a post from Tech Learning called Making a Difference by Dan Grey. In his post he talks about the feeling of hopelessness when looking at the state of education in some places in the US. That so many schools seem backwards and far behind in today's standards. He then relates the story of Abel Real. Everyone should watch this YouTube video. It tells us why, that even though it is a struggle to get technology into the hands of students, we should continue to try. It literally saved this young man's life and enabled him to be a productive citizen. After reading his article, I know the struggle is worth it.

Thing 11

Image generators are cool. I love how you can take and idea and literally turn it into your own design. I think kids will love these. I love all these ideas that will potentially take students away from the PowerPoint mentality of Main Idea and 3 bullets, to something creative. The Trading Card was my favorite. What better way to show information is a fun and creative way than by using a trading card format. Pictures and basic information are there in a simple and direct form. The Word Mosaic would also give students the opportunity to put basic knowledge in a graphic form. The only thing I didn't like about this one was that I wasn't able to pick a key word to be larger and more prominent that the rest. However, I could keep changing the format until I found one that almost worked like I wanted. The sign generator was just plain fun. I played for a long time on this one and just laughed. I thought I came up with some really good stuff, however my husband was not as impressed with my cleverness as I thought he should be. Oh, well, I had a great time.




Click on image to enlarge.

Thing 10

The slide show was fairly easy to create. There were lots of choices to investigate. Each one will have its own use in the classroom. I chose Animoto for my project. I was disappointed that I could not create a full-length video. Can't figure that one out yet. One program that was not listed that I really like is Picasa! You can take you own pictures, upload them, and then create a very simple slideshow with music. I'm just now learning this program as it has just offered a version for the Mac.



Images:
Dk415
Lizards-http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkocon/3177247450/sizes/l/
Wallyg
Tree Boa-http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/476717995/sizes/l/
koi, -http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/476718069/sizes/l/
Chinese lizard-http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/476704406/sizes/l/
Lorikeets-http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/480589434/sizes/l/
Cobwebphoto
Flamingo -http://www.flickr.com/photos/31318924@N02/3129657818/sizes/o/
Birds - http://www.flickr.com/photos/31318924@N02/3128836253/sizes/o/
F M Madsen
Ground hogs - http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyberdawg/2970675453/
Chrishoggy
Lizards-http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrishoggy/2530715302/sizes/o/

Thing 9 (Stretch)

I could spend hours on this. So many things to do and see. I love the color picker but can't quite figure out how to make it work. I posted my dog's name, Samson, to the right using the Spell feature. That is really cool. I think the kids would love that. Pictures can teach almost anything. Since I'm a very visual learner, pictures are the way I learn best. Students could learn shapes, alphabet, letter/sound correlation..the list is endless. What a fun learning tool.
I am a little hesitant to make all my pictures available to the public. I think that is because most of my pics are of family. I do have a couple of library's that are appropriate for the masses. I'm going to upload those and see what happens.

Thing 9

WOW, I thought blogs were all consuming. They are nothing compared to Flickr and all the fun you can have with photos. Flickr is amazing. I've used it before but always on a limited basis, just looking for one or two things. Now I see how much there is that you can use in your classroom. I just chaperoned a group of pre-school kids on a trip to the zoo. It was hot so we spent a lot of time with the reptiles, etc that were in a little cooler space. The children were fascinated with the smaller animals at the zoo, I guess because the large animals were rather frightening. I thought that a virtual field trip to the "Small Animal Zoo" would be a fun activity for students when a field trip was not possible. My mind is spinning with possibilities. Now on to exploring mashups, spelling, and slideshows. No sleep tonight.








Emeral Tree Boa byWallyg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/476717995/sizes/l/

Thing 8

Copyright or Creative Commons?
You would think that being a librarian and having graduated from "Library School" I'd understand copyright. Well, I don't. At least not as to how it relates to student or teacher created lessons that are meant to show acquired knowledge or teach that same knowledge. Even that sentence is confusing. Creative Commons has the potential to answer a lot of my questions. Lawrence Lessig's blog gives some really good examples of how Creative Commons works. It still leaves some questions in my mind. When creating lessons, flipcharts, or other presentations how much music or content can you use and still be legal? Can patriotic music be used when teaching about National holidays? The questions keep coming. I browsed on Flickr and found many images that used Creative Commons, but the explanation as to what the guidelines are for use are still a little confusing. So, I guess, that my bottom line opinion is that Creative Commons is worthy of a lot more study. PS. I do love the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education. Very helpful.

Thing 7

Posting a comment is risky business. Will I sound wise or foolish, will I totally miss the point, or will I finally have something interesting to say? As I said, it's risky. However, I love reading what others say about my posts. I never think those things about others responses. I always find some other point of view from others comments that make me think. So the lesson learned is don't try to sound smart just try to be honest. Say what you feel and express sincere opinions. In this case, I really do think that practice makes perfect.

Thing 5

Is Too Much Texting a Bad Thing for Teens?
Interesting question. This blog post discusses the possible negatives related to teen texting; lack of sleep, health issues, social dependence. However, the really interesting part to me was the reactions of the kids to their parents use of iPhones and Blackberries. While the teens were constantly texting, they expected their parents to be always at their disposal for questions, transportation and advice. They resented the fact that part of the time they wanted their parents undivided attention, the parents were on the phone. I know I'm rather addicted to my iPhone. It bings and I'm there, constantly in touch even when I need to be doing something else. So where does the danger lie? Is it really too much texting that is dangerous or is it the lack of attention these teens are getting from their technology dependent parents? I wonder. BTW, Ian Jukes reminded us that texting late at night was about the same as reading under the covers with a flashlight, just like I did.

Thing 4

So many blogs, so little time!
My favorite blog of the ones suggested was Power Point Reform. For some time I have been trying to convince teachers that there is so much more to presentations than bullets on a PP. I liked the guidelines and hope I can get these in the hands of teachers and students.
Patricks Update was also a good example of how students' blogs can reflect their true thoughts and feelings. The comment section of this blog I hope was very encouraging to Patrick. When students can read reactions to their own writing, it makes a much bigger impact on their thinking and learning.
However, the blog that was the most disturbing and frightening was Spies Like Us. It really is scary to think about how vulnerable we all are in this age of instant photos and videos. It shows the need for a different type of technology education. We can't just teach the skills, we have to also teach the ethics of the technology. I wish there was a "With Technology Comes Responsibility" class for our students.

Thing 2

Unlike most educators, today's students are indeed digital natives.They were born with iPods in their hands. They are engaged by using the tools that have always used in "play". The classroom must mirror the use of these tools in order for them to be successfull.
It used to be the school of the future that would feature electronic devices. However today iPods have replaced cassette listening stations, interactive whiteboards have replaced chalkboards, and document cameras have replaced overhead projectors in many classrooms. Real-time research using digital tools starts in kindergarten. For us, the future must be now if we are to engage our students and prepare them for their own futures.
Web 2.0 tools make it easier to investigate, record and network with others to create a community of learners. Why learn in a vacuum when the whole world awaits.

Thing 1

7 1/2 Habits of Effective Life-Long Learners

I recently took a Facebook Quiz called "Which Quote Defines Your Life". Not surprisingly mine was "Knowledge is Power." A good day for me is one in which I have learned something new. It is what keeps me interested and motivated.
Play is probably the habit that is the most difficult for me. I have a real problem saying "no" so I'm constantly playing catch-up. My husband has been trying to get me to go to a movie (the last one we saw was National Treasure,2) and I never seem to find the time to spare. Makes me worry about retirement!
Begin with the end in mind has always been what I have tried to do in teaching. If you don't know where you are going, then how do you know when you get there. Intel Teach brought this point home when we had to submit a student project before we finished the lesson. Really made me think about what I was asking the class to learn.
Viewing problems as challenges will be very important in completing this course. With as many "things" to learn, I'm sure challenges, not problems will arise.