LAST ONE EVER!!!!

Just when I think I'm out, you pull me back in.  

Here are my top 5 "things" that I think I will use most in my future classroom:
1.  Blogs
2.  Livebinders
3.  Creative Commons
4.  Flowcharts
5.  YouTube

This program has helped me to be more confident in navigating the web.  By being a stay at home mom for the past six years, I let the technology get away from me.  I am definitely going to keep learning so that I can teach my students (and my children), not have them teach me. 

The only "thing" that I would change is the facebook and twitter one.  These are pretty common and I don't think setting up a page on these sites should be required.  While personally I have both accounts and have no problem with it, I know some people who are adamant about not wanting one.  These social sites should be considered personal and not a requirement for the class, maybe just optional. 

The thing that I will take away most from this class is the possibility of a paperless classroom.  I never thought it could be done at a high school level, but I am going go try to make mine as paperless as possible.  Maybe just one step at a time.  I know that if I teach Economics, the textbooks are not great (very dry), and I think the web would be a great place for my students to learn from. 

I plan to keep up with Web 2.0 through Google Reader.  I think that my homepage has enough links in it to help me be able to look at one site and see what's new. 

Well, its been real and its been fun, but it ain't been real fun.
Ha! Actually, I have enjoyed this class, but it is A LOT of work to complete in 5 weeks.  If I hear some of my fellow students complaining about it during the semester, I'll tell them how tough it really can be.  I was glad to have some great friends in my class to get me through it.  Now, off to the the beach to enjoy my summer!

Thing TwentyThree

Almost finished.  I am typing this morning with a bandaid on my finger.  Hopefully, you won't have to read through a bunch of typos.  OK, here we go!

Well, well, well, we meet again Creative Commons.  Just when I thought we had seen the last of each other. 

The example that I found about the 23 Things being based on something else and modified was the 43 Things.  The 43 Things is for tracking personal progress while learning something new.  Now, I think of this blog kind of like a bucket list of learning.  Each "thing" gets checked off when you explore and learn about it. 

In my future classroom, I will use Creative Commons to show students how to cite things that they find on the internet.  I would love to have some sort of webquest for them to go on and find different things on the list and cite them properly.  I would also go to the Creative Commons website and show the students the short video that introduces them into the information.  Also, I would show my lovely PP that I made earlier. :)  By learning about Creative Commons, students are being introduced to the idea that they ahve to give credit to the original author/creator.  This is a great way to introduce them to what plagarism is and how to research and correctly cite their information.

TwentyThree down!

Thing TwentyTwo

Hello again.  Well, we are buzzing through these "things" aren't we?  I have to say that I really like the livebinders.  I was unsure of what they were exactly until I got to the website to play around with them.  I created three binders.  As you all know, I plan to teach history in the future, but I also am able to teach Sociology, Geography, and Economics.  I made a binder for 3 separate subjects to help me in the future just in case I have to teach all of them!  (Hopefully not at once.) 

World History - Things for My History Class
Geography - Helpful hints for My Geography classes
Economics - Hints for Economics Lesson Plans

I began brainstorming on how my students could use livebinders.  I can see them being used as a way to organize all their classes.  They could have a Biology binder and a History binder.  If these were made throughout the school year, they could become a great way to study.  Students who take AP classes that have summative assessements over a large amount of material could use these to their advantage.  Also, I could make a binder available to the class and I could put materail into it that would be helpful to them.  This is one of my favorite "things" that I can see myself using in the future very often. 

TwentyTwo down and One to go!

Thing TwentyOne

I really had fun with Animoto.  I could do this forever!  The website was super simple to work through and the step by step tutorial was pretty much self explanatory.  I would love to be a member of this site.  What a great new way to scrapbook!  I added some pictures of my boys from the past year or so.  Enjoy!

My Animoto Video

TwentyOne down and two to go!

Thing Twenty

Hey.
One of my favorite shows is Duck Dynasty.  I found a YouTube video about being low-tech from this TV show.  Phil Robertson is the star.  He discusses video games and kids in school being too dependent on technology.  Obviously, this is a funny view on the topic, but the real question is serious.  Kids do need to play outside more, and just because technology is growing that doesn't mean that kids need to forget how to use their imagination and play. 

I really enjoy Youtube.  I have know about it for a while, but have never taken much time to explore it.  I like that there are categories to choose from so as to contain your search a bit.  It can be a bit overwhelming to see how many videos are out there.  I also like that you can flag something inappropriate.  Not that I am a prude, but some things should not be available for kids to see on Youtube. 

I really would like to use this in my future classroom.  Here is an example.  I could show this as an intro to the Great Depression.

Hey.
Just for fun. Hey.

Twenty down and three to go!

Thing Nineteen

Yay!  I got my Teacher Pop badge.  I feel so accomplished.  I also added a picture to TeacherPop.  It's my blanket again.  Sorry if you are tired of seeing it, but I only take pics of my kids and projects I make.  Anyways, I thought Teacher Pop would enjoy it. :)

I am already a member of ravelry.  Ravelry is an online knitting community where you can share free patterns, buy patterns, buy yarn, post pictures of projects you have made, ask and answer questions, and create knit-a-longs.  Sounds dorky, I know, but if you like to knit it is a great place to join, and its free.

I really liked Shelfari.  I read A LOT so I thought this would appeal to me.  It has new releases, top picks, and best seller lists.  Also, you can look up book by subject.  I just finished Abraham Lincoln:  Vampire Hunter and really liked it.  I looked up the author on Shelfari and found out the name of two other books by him.  They also have a blog and you can tag books you want to read.



Movie Poster

Nineteen down and four to go!

Thing Eighteen

OK, I am officially a social networker!  I am now on facebook and twitter.   I keep my facebook page private (I think) so I linked my twitter page into this blog.  I plan to use my twitter account for this class only.  Twitter is a great place to see "What's Happening?" 

 
J. J. & Rerun

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. 

I have been on facebook for years and pretty much use it to keep in touch with friends who have moved or who I knew a while ago.  I like how I can share pictures of my boys with family who live across the country. 
I think it is important for educators to know how social networking sites work in order to network with each other and also with their students.  Educators need to be teaching the students about technology and social networking not vice versa.  We need to use the technology available to us to our advantage. 

Twitter can be a great place to remind students of an upcoming assignment or let them know if there is a change with an assignment. 

Eighteen down and five to go!

Thing Seventeen

As I have mentioned before I am a news junkie.  I like every news breakin', laptop shootin', bear attackin', bath saltin' crazy story out there.  I know I have a problem, but I'm too busy reading the news to fix it.  Delicious is a great way for me to share and group news together.  I will use the groups that they have already put together such as, entertainment, education, art, history, etc.

I would use this in the classroom by bookmarking several sites about the topic we are discussing.  For example, I plan to teach history, but also economics too.  One project for my economics class is for them to interview and make a PowerPoint on a local entrepreneur.  Using Delicious, I could bookmark some examples of websites that are about local businesses. 

I also like how you can dig into stacks created by others.  I could "friend" some current teachers and see what they are reading and sharing about the teaching profession.  

Hopefully, I will use Delicious to help with my education instead of time wasting.

Seventeen down and six to go!

Thing Sixteen

I chose to start with remember the milk.  I chose this one since I like the name and as I have mentioned in previous posts, I like to make "to do" lists.  Being able to see what needs to be done helps me know where to start and what order to accomplish my tasks in.  I don't think I will make this my permanent home page since I like the old school way:  pen and paper. 

These online calendars can be very useful to students.  In some schools students are given agenda books that the teachers have to sign and make sure that the students are keeping up with their work.  Online calendars could replace these books and the teachers could log in to check their students tasks.  These lists are not too much work since I think that at least once you type in a list you might be more likely to remember the things on that list. 

I would really recommend several of these tools to others.  I like being able to explore a few and then choose which one works best for me.  I liked the top 10 list given to us and I would probably give this link to some of my friends interested in online productivity sites.

So happy to look at sites that help me get some things done instead of taking my time "playing" with the tools that I have discovered.

Sixteen down and seven to go!

Thing Fifteen

I have to say that I like the idea of wikis much more than the actually reality of posting on one.  FYI if you haven't got to 15 yet, you can not add a folder until you confirm your email.  Once I got over that hump, it seemed to be smooth sailing.  I added a folder that contained a pic of a blanket I made from Thing 7.  This picture can be fun to crop and mix up colors with. 

I really enjoyed the YouTube video on the explanation of wikis.  It explains wikis as webpages that allow for many, or a few, to edit.  The main buttons for a wiki page are edit, save, and link.  This allows for groups to coordinate more easily.  Now, we can share all kinds of information without email.  Yay! 

I like the idea of using wikis to share information.  I'm not sure if I would use them in the classroom.  I think that the blogs are the best format for sharing within a class.  The video we watched had the example of a camping trip list.  This is a great way for people to "get together" and make "to do" lists.  I am a BIG list maker so, I think I would use wikis in a similar way.

Fifteen done and eight to go!

Thing Fourteen

Who loves graphic organizers?  I do!  I do!  For all of my fellow classmates who are new to this MAT program, all of the professors at APSU love them too. 

When I taught my unit on Napoleon for 5501 I entered a flowchart into my PowerPoint to help explain the main reasons for the fall of Napoleon.  Anyone know the answer and want to comment?

I first used bubbl.us.  I was not too thrilled with it.  It seems a bit simplistic, but effective.  It was a bit confusing getting started with trying to figure out what kind of "bubble" to put where.  It would be better if they had templates to pick from and then fill out.  Then, when you were more comfortable with the site you could create your own.  I think the bubbles are best to help visualize learning topics that have clear steps. 

The second site that I explored was the mindmiester.  This I really liked.  It seemed complicated, but once you read the tutorial it's pretty easy.  This could be used by students to help them think their way through a process.  Groups in class could work together on a mind map and help them come to conclusions.  I think the best way is for the teacher to show an example of a mind map and then have the students create on of their own.

Fourteen down and nine to go!

Thing Thirteen

Well, it feels great to have turned in the first part of our 23 Things.  Now, we are nearing the finish line.  5 weeks goes by awful fast, but time sure does fly when you are having fun!  :)

OK.  I found something I'm not thrilled about.  Zoho.  Zoho Writer.  I guess it just seems a bit dated, kind of like Word on the go.  I feel like it is a bit redundant when you can do all of this with Word and Google Docs.  Or, maybe I am just more familiar with Google docs and that is why I prefer it.  I did think some of the tools available were good, but I'm just not in love with Zoho.  I like how you can collaborate with others and that it is available offline and will then upload changes when you log back in.  I also like how Zoho Docs includes all types of formats:  documents, pictures, music, etc.

I really enjoyed Google Docs.  I think that I prefer this to Zoho since it is right there with my email, blog, and reader.  It's a major time saver to have everything in one spot.  I made a letter and also copy and pasted a picture into it.  I also love how it automatically updates your last changes.  This is a great way to take docs on the go!  Now, I feel as though I was too hard on Zoho and I'm just biased for Google.  Here is a screenshot of my doc:

 

Overall, both sites have a plethora of tools to use for documents and such.  My opinion is for Google Docs to win the race!

OK, I feel like I'm on a roll. 

Thirteen down and ten to go!