The 24th Thing

Oh my goodness, I can't believe I survived this technological venture!!  I'm not going to lie, computers have always been very daunting things to me - but after using 23 Things, I am feeling more confident than ever about Web 2.0!

I think my all-time favorite was exploring Google Drive.  I love that I can create a powerpoint presentation online that will automatically be saved!  And the best part about it - now I don't have to go and purchase Powerpoint for my computer!

Of course, this course has impacted my lifelong learning goals because I never thought I would ever try to tackle the things that I managed to do through this blog.  Make a video?  Did it!  Design some posters?  Did it!  Set up a RSS feed?  Did it!  Amazing - this blog has given me the confidence that I needed to continue to explore and navigate the internet.

I was surprised by how easy some of these tools were to access and use.  I will say, thought - I did NOT enjoy opening up so many accounts for things that I feel like I will never use again.  Then again, never say never, and I completely understand why this blog calls for us to do so as engaging learners.  Sooooo, I guess it is necessary to create accounts on different things in order to explore and learn about them properly.

Now that I have a new perspective on technology and new things that I have access to (because I've opened up so many accounts), I plan on using as many of these tools as possible in my future classroom.  If these things are important to my students, I want to use them as much as possible so that I can connect with them on every level.

Thank you, 23 Things!  You have opened up my eyes!

Things #23 - Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a very important thing to know if one chooses to share and participate in numerous things online.  It is a way to give credit to those who originally produced the idea, or shared it originally.  By acknowledging someone as the original creator, you give them credit as well as thanks for allowing you to take their idea and run with it.

I found this on the Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers blog site:

CREDITS

Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachersis based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things, a staff development program for theMesquite Independent School District. That program was based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers and adapted by the California School Library Association and others. Content and style for Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers has been borrowed and duplicated with permission, under a Creative Commons License.

This is an example of Creative Commons because it is giving credit to the individual who originally published this idea online.  

Teachers can use Creative Commons in their classroom if they plan on borrowing other individuals' work online, such as a blog similar to 23 Things for Teachers.  This is a good tool that I'm glad I'm aware of, just in case I end up doing just that.  

Thing #22 - LiveBinders

The titles of my binders are Books: Personal and Professional Material, Teaching Resources, and Author Webpages.  You can visit my binder titled Author Webpages here.

I really enjoyed exploring the different ways teachers use LiveBinders in their classrooms.  Many of them used it to create a collection of student work.  I think I may do that, and then parents have the opportunity to visit the binder and see their child's work.

Blog #21 - Animoto

Cruisin'



Animoto was fun.  I'm not sure if I'll ever use it again in my life, but you never know.  At least I know it's out there if I'm ever interested in creating a free 30-second video, or paying to create a longer one for my classroom.

Thing #20 - YouTube

I found a School House Rock video on pronouns!  I remember watching this video when I was in elementary school.

Obviously, youtube can be very useful in the classroom.  It allows the teacher to use other types of instruction besides just lecture or via text.  Some children learn best visually, so a video would be a good addition to any lesson plan.  I like the variety that can be found on youtube.

I also enjoyed exploring PowToon.  There, you can create your own animations or presentations, or explore other people's creations.  This could be useful in the classroom if I ever decide to create my own animation to help students understand certain concepts.  Although it is a neat tool, I will probably stick to YouTube and TeacherTube if I want to explore different videos to use in the classroom.

Thing #19 - Social Networks

When I started EDUC 5540 at the beginning of the semester, I opened an account with Pinterest.  I've been a fan ever since.  Facebook and Twitter are not my favorites; however, I really enjoyed browsing some of the educator social networks posted, like TLNing (Teacher/Librarian) and Good Reads.  One of the best uses of social networking for educators would be sharing ideas, which are very important in professional growth and development.  Later, when I'm not as overwhelmed with all this technological stuff and I'm not in college any more, I might join more social networking sites for educators so I can get some fresh ideas for my future classroom.

Thing #18 - Twitter

I never ever wanted to create an account on Twitter.  I can't believe I did it - and I ONLY did it for my grade.  Period.  Here is the link to my profile.

It is important for teachers to understand social networking because it is what their students use on a day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute basis.  In order to teach properly, a teacher must know their student - so understanding that social networking is part of everyone's life (especially a young person's life) is a very valuable piece of information.

What I've learned about Twitter is that I could have probably lived forever without it - and I probably will after today.  It seems like a giant vacuum, sucking up everyone's time because they get drawn into reading up on what people are doing - like going to the grocery store.

However, I started following educational things, and I even added PBS, and some neat pictures and quotes popped up.  I can see teachers encouraging students to follow certain things in order to serve educational purposes... maybe like a museum or something like that.  That would actually be really neat... okay, maybe Twitter isn't all that bad.

Thing #17 - Delicious

I'm not a big fan of Delicious, which is a shame because I was really looking forward to how delicious it was going to be.  I did find a few neat things, like EduDemic, when I typed in "Educational Technology" into the search box.  Even though I don't see myself ever having the time in my personal life to use such a thing, I believe I may incorporate this into my classroom.  Maybe...

Or maybe Delicious just isn't my favorite bookmarking site.  Who knows... However, I can see a lot of potential bookmarking sites have for educational purposes.  Since the majority of students are on the computer when they get home from school, or are on their iPhone, it would be nice to have a way to connect their homework with a bookmarking site, even if it's just having them drop in and explore things that the teacher has tagged for five minutes.  They would probably be more likely to actually do something like that (since it's connected with the internet) than, say, read a text book.  

Thing #16 - Getting Organized

Out of all the "start" pages, I really enjoyed Symbaloo.  It was easy to use, and I like that all I had to do was find the button, or square, with the tool that I needed and then I simply click on it.  I have always wondered if something like this existed out there... If I ever do make Symbaloo my permanent homepage, it'll probably be far into the future when I've become more comfortable with such things.  I understand it's supposed to make your life easier; however, these blog assignments are overwhelming me.  I feel like I'm on overload at the moment.  Once things calm down, then maybe I'll decide whether or not it is the right thing for me.

As for the online calender, I already have one with Google.  I'm happy with it and I don't plan to change.  I tried to explore 30 Boxes and Upto but they required that I create an account; quite frankly, I'm tired of doing that when I know I will never use it ever again...because I'm content with Google.  I like it too, because if I ever need to share events that are coming up with my students' parents or with fellow teachers, I can.

Oh my, I love the PDF converter!  And the most amazing thing about it - it's free!  I never knew this existed, and I could have saved myself so much headache these past few years if I had known it was out there.  It's nifty because I only have Pages on my Apple computer, so when people send me Word documents, sometimes it de-formats things or I can't see them at all.  With the PDF converter, I don't have to worry about that problem any more.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone with the same problem.

Thing #15 - Wiki

This was not my favorite thing to do.  I added a shot of my Flickr thing that I did a while back onto the APSU 23 Things Sandbox only because I was so proud of myself that day for figuring out how to do it on my own.  However, I think changing the work of someone else is silly and annoying.  I understand that it can be used for creative purposes, especially in a classroom.  For example, I really enjoyed looking at the book lovers wiki, but I don't think I'll ever use it.  It's too overwhelming, and there is too much going on.  I find it very frustrating and I'd just rather not even bother with it.  I'm a grump when it comes to wikis.

Thing #14 - Flowcharts vs. Mind Maps

Today I discovered a very useful tool: gliffy!  It was an example of a flowchart, and I love it!  I wish I had known this existed - I could have used it a million times.  I can see how this would be helpful in the classroom as a teacher.  I could totally make charts for the students to give them a visual of facts that they are learning.

After playing around with a flowchart (gliffy) and a mind map (bubbl.us), I have discovered that I do not like bubbl.us and I do not plan on using it in the future, even though I've already created an account.  It was difficult to use and very frustrating, and it did not explain how to do anything properly (and if it did, I didn't get it - I like directions to be big and bold and useful, especially when it comes to technology).  However, I am very happy to have discovered gliffy.

Thing #13 - Google Drive

Google Drive Document

Google Drive Drawing

Thing #12 - Google

The first tool I used on Google was Google Calender, which was very simple to set up.  I only listed the things that I'm sure will occur for the month of March, but later I plan on adding different things as I go.  This would be a great way to stay organized while I'm in school and working full-time.  I can plan out assignments and get them completed in a reasonable amount of time.  I can see how this would be helpful in the classroom; by creating a classroom calender and sharing it with students and parents, I can keep everyone informed as to what is going to happen each day, week, and/or month.

Next, I tried out Google Alerts.  This tool is so neat, and I wish I had known it existed a long time ago. I'm interested in keeping posted on new information regarding CCSS, so that is on my list at the moment.  This is a great tool for teachers to use in the classroom for different research topics that can be used in the classroom.  For example, if I was interested in incorporating more things to help my students learn about autism, I could keep a link for inclusion on my alert list to keep me posted on this topic.  

Thing #11 - Finding Good Feeds

I found that using the Google Blog Search was the easiest for me.  I think I liked it best because it was the same as the Google search engine, which I'm very familiar with.  Technorati was a little confusing, but I got the hang of it after playing around for a little bit.

I only added maybe one or two more feeds than I already had on my Feedly account because I had a hard time accessing the "subscription" icon.  I'd click it to add the feed I was interested in, but I couldn't find Feedly to put it on that particular RSS.  When I added it to Google, it only bookmarked it on my blog.  I'm sure it is supposed to be relatively simple; but instead, I just searched for each feed I was interested in directly from my Feedly account, and subscribed to it from there.  It was the same concept, but I just went about it differently.

Thing #10 - RSS Reader and Feeds

This was a very interesting experience!  I had no idea that RSS existed, and I will definitely be using it in the future.  I think that one of the reasons I used to find the internet so intimidating before is that it can be very overwhelming with the amount of information at your fingertips.  I didn't know where to start, and I wanted to do a million things at once.  RSS gives me the opportunity to view all of my favorite things in one place.  To start, I picked four education sites to follow, as well as one do-it-yourself site about recycling that I found very interesting.  

In my future classroom, I feel that this will be an easy way to keep track of blogs if I ever have my students use this form of writing for an exercise.  I would be able to check all of them from one place.  Also, with RSS, teachers can have access to so many different things, whether it is for their own professional development, or if they need some inspiration for a specific lesson plan.

Thing #9 - Online Image Generators

To create these images, I used image generator Image Chef.  It was a lot of fun, and I love the fact that it was free to experiment and create these images.  I never knew how people made these neat things, so I am glad I learned how to explore different image generators so that I can create things like signs and banners in the future.  Above, I used the Word Mosaic tool to create the arrow, the Flower Text to create the flower image, and the Banner Maker to create the banner.

Thing #8 - Flickr Mashups

created by Spell with Flickr

I am actually very, very proud that I was able to - not only do this - but figure out, all on my own, how to put it on my blog!  Unfortunately, Spell with Flickr doesn't really explain how to do it.  All it says is, "Here is the html of these images for use on other sites..."  I guess anyone with a knack for computers is thinking, "Gee, it ain't that hard," but I was not born with a "knack" for computers.  Therefore, I am quite proud.

After exploring Flickr and Flickr mashups, I think sharing pictures online is wonderful!  These pictures can be shared in so many different ways, like in the classroom for instance.  Spell with Flickr is a great tool for teachers that is free and easily accessible.  It can be used for classroom projects, or simply to decorate the classroom.  I will definitely be using it in the future.  If I had known it was as simple as typing in the words needed and hitting "submit," I would have started using it a long time ago!

Thing #7 - Exploring Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11795319045_0c87abbc6c.jpg  by Cuba Gallery

I found this photo on flickr by searching for "nature" photographs.  I started out exploring tabs and groups, but I became overwhelmed by the amount of amazing art on every single page.  I decided to try searching for specific things, like flowers or dogs, and I found this under "nature."

It was hard picking just one photo.  Every time I fell in love with one, I would find another that I liked just as much, if not more.  Flickr is a wonderful tool, but it is extremely overwhelming.  I cannot imagine being a photographer on this site - I would never eat, sleep, or do anything else but explore this site!  I suppose I eventually went with this picture because I felt like I was flying when I looked at it.  The movement of the glass moving down toward the plants with the water cascading on the side... it's easy to get swept into this picture.

Thing #6 - Discovery

Oh my - I loved this exercise!  I found some very neat things, but my all-time favorite so far is TikaTok. It's an amazing site that allows children to write, illustrate, and publish their own books!  How cool is that?!  What an amazing opportunity for a young child.  Not only would it boost their self esteem by giving them something to be proud of, but it could actually get them interested in reading all kinds of books - even their fellow classmates' work!  This could be used for so many different assignments, like individual projects for understanding classroom lessons.  And it would be fun - for the student and the teacher!

There are many different templates to start from, and they are grouped according to grade level.  All elementary grades - K through 6th - are available.  The teacher can even choose a specific standard that they would like to associate the projects with!  I wish this existed when I was in elementary school... 

Thing #5 - Web 2.0

Web 2.0... when I first started reading the articles and watching the video clip, it seemed so complicating.  However, I think I "get it" now.  With web 2.0, you can do just about anything you dream of doing - there aren't any limits.  Well... if there are limits, then usually they can be overcome.

For School 2.0, this is a big deal.  It opens doors for everyone - all you need access to is a computer and the internet and voila!  It's a world that has many things, endless amounts of things, that have yet to be discovered.  Web 2.0 helps students save time in many ways, and usually tasks can get accomplished much more effectively.  It means building bridges where it used to be impossible, and for the classroom, this means endless possibilities.  As technology continues to make its way into classrooms and lesson plans, learning will become more powerful in itself.  It will be hard for students not to learn in the future because there will always be something for everyone. 

Thing #4 - Commenting

Commenting... It promotes communication via technology, which forms social relations between people who are interested in the same topic as yourself.  By actively participating in one blog, you can potentially create a hypothetical path back to your own blog for anyone who is interested in more of what you have to say. 

Especially when it comes to learning, sharing ideas is very important.  It is even more important when it comes to virtual communication.  Since the person isn’t present, words are everything on a blog (unless a picture or video is posted, of course).  People need to feel connected, even on the internet.  A response of any kind can make a world of difference to a writer or a reader.  

I appreciated Drape’s Takes’ commenting advice: give readers a sense of validation.  In other words, don’t ignore their comments.  If I put a lot of thought into responding to someone, it’s nice that I’m recognized or noticed (especially if I feel very passionate about the topic).  It also makes me feel connected, like I’m actually talking to someone instead of just talking to myself.  Also, I liked this quotation from CoolCatTeacher: “We have a need to disagree with each other - a need to discuss things of importance.”  I also liked this one for teachers: “Children have a need to converse and will improve their performance when people comment on their work.”  Feedback is wonderful.

Here recently, I've commented on seven different blogs:

Riley Braem: Mr. Braem's 23 Things

Melissa Suss: Mrs. Suss' 23 Things

Lynn Torres: Prufrock and Roll - 23 Things

Esther Yum: Esther's 23 Things

Courtney Comperry: KHS Chemistry 23 Things

The Little Reader Library

Silly Eagle Books

Mostly, I found something I had in common with the blogger and I commented on it.  For example, Riley Braem stated that theatre is naturally playful, and I agreed because of my background in the performing arts.  Courtney Comperry loves creating goals, and I love making to-do lists; also, she's a self-taught knitter and I'm a self-taught crochet-er... 

I enjoyed looking at The Little Reader Library blog page; it is a book review blog that discusses anything from historical literature to young adult fiction.  I commented that I understood the overwhelming need to want to read everything in sight.  Sometimes it's hard to slow yourself down and just concentrate on what you're reading in the moment.  Silly Eagle Books is a blog page that posts recent children's book findings at the local goodwill and other unique places.  Sometimes the blogger posts pictures of extremely old and rare books and what they are about.  She mentioned that she was going to slow down on the book buying, and I commented that I needed some advice as to how that is possible... I have quite a collection myself. 

Thing #3 - Ways to Use a Blog

Hmm... I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept of a blog, let alone how I'd use it in the classroom.  However, I checked out some examples and I really like the idea of using it to help students understand the concept of reading a play.  Students were told to create a blog as if they were writing from the character's point-of-view.  This encouraged the understanding of character development.  Later, the students added pictures of themselves in the play when it was performed.  It was very creative.

I'm wondering if the same concept could be applied to reading a classroom novel.  It might be fun to have the students pick a character in the book (or maybe have everyone use the main character) and blog as if they were that character.  Then they could get connected with the characters as well as gain some blogging experience.

Hmm... I'm not sure.  I'm still working on it.

Thing #2 - My Blog and Avatar Experience

I have absolutely no previous blog experience, including creating an online avatar.  I'm a bit baffled by the avatar; I'm still trying to figure out its purpose.  So far I'm just using my own name as the name of my blog.  My professor said to keep my future class in mind; thus I've titled it "Miss Queener's 23 Things" instead of just plain old "Sheilah's 23 Things."  My blog's name might change in the future if I'm inspired by something significant. 


The creation process of the blog was fairly simple, although I'm very glad I had the help of my professor and fellow classmates.  I created the avatar all on my own; I'm very proud that I was able to do so!  I almost didn't notice that I could add hair and clothing to it, though, so that could've been a funny mistake.  Since there's going to be an avatar on a blog that I'm writing, I suppose I wanted it to represent myself instead of someone different... and I do have hair and I usually wear clothing, so it's a good thing I noticed to add some to it!

Thing #1 - Lifelong Learner

I love learning.  When I was a little girl, I couldn't wait until my first day of school; now as a graduate student, that hasn't changed.  I guess I've always associated the word "learning" with words like "exploration" and "discovery."  Learning is always a big adventure.  That's why I believe that the easiest lifelong learner habit for me is number one: begin with the end in mind.  When I'm about to tackle a new project, or read a new book, I always like to conceptualize what I'm going to create or discover.  I'm a planner, so beginning with the end in mind is almost a no-brainer for me.

However, the hardest lifelong learner habit for me is a combination of number four (having confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner) and number six (using technology to your advantage).  I always begin with so much enthusiasm; but that usually starts to decline when I'm faced with something that makes me feel like I might mess up what I've worked so hard to accomplish in the first place.  For some reason, starting over and "ruining" everything is a very daunting thought, and that usually happens when a computer is involved (or a copy/fax machine).  I'm always afraid that I might push the wrong button, or delete something by accident, or not be able to pull up a document that I know I've saved (...or I thought I'd saved).  Instead of treating the computer like an aid, I tend to ignore it because I don't have the confidence to give it a try.

I plan on changing that habit this semester.  I'll use the easiest habit for me, beginning with the end in mind, to say: by the end of this semester, I will have the experience of navigating through different instructional technologies that can only help me grow as a teacher.  Oh, and I can't possibly mess anything up.  Messing up is just another way of learning something new.  Even if I do have to start something over again, what's the harm in a fresh start?