23 Things

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Is this the end.....or only the beginning?

My favorite discovery about learning the 23 things is the expansion of knowledge I now have about the internet. One of my favorite discoveries was Flickr, the popular image hosting site. There is a vast amount of images that I can use in my classroom to show students. The old saying is true. “a picture says a thousand words” and by having this site available for me to use will allow me open a whole new world to my students I could never had before. Another discovery that is my favorite is that I know now that I can use social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs to learn from, gets advice, ask questions, and share my ideas with other educators. I have already learned so much from just one class. Staying up to date with these sites is a great way to grow and learn as a teacher.
Since I decided to become a teacher I knew that I would be committing myself to lifelong learning. This is a part of my commitment when I become a teacher. Through “23 Things” I have developed the confidence and knowledge to help my future students use these Web 2.0 tools and apply them to their learning. While I am no expert in these tools I have a pretty good idea of where to go next. I will use what I have learned and hopefully my knowledge will expand and myself and my students will benefit.

This website is very helpful for learning new skills at my own speed and in private. No pressure! However, if I had to modify one thing it would be that I would provide the opportunity to explore some of the 23 things together. Some of the “things” were a little difficult to grasp and therefore some students may give up on it. If I had the time I would narrow down which “things” students might need help navigating through and provide them the extra help.

23 things has influenced my practice as a teacher because it has given me new ways to be creative and more organized in my classroom through the use of technology. Also, I have no come to the realization that students are changing and so are their learning habits. With the expansion of technology our world is changing every day and as a teacher I need to keep up with this new technology or I will fall behind my student. My students are growing up with this new technology and it will be easy for them to use. I see it with the older generation now. Computers, phones, iPods, etc. are so common now and the older generation can hardly turn them on while my three year old daughter is using these technologies every day. I need to keep up on this or my students will be using technology I have no idea how to use.

I plan to become a member of many of the web 2.0 tools/websites that I have recently learned about. For example, if I subscribe to a podcast I can download it for later use. I can have it on my phone and take it wherever I go. I can listen to the new technologies, ideas, suggestions, and innovations, etc. whenever I have down time, sitting in the doctor’s office, or even doing lawn work. So, I plan to keep up with the new developments in web 2.0 by using the tools that I have learned about and from those learning newer tools that are available.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thing 23

Every day as a teacher I will be using movies, pictures, music, and text in my classroom. Thank goodness for Creative Commons!! It allows me to legally copy, modify and reuse the resources I want to use in my classroom. The material that is Creative Commons can be used without worrying about copyright laws. When researching for material the creative commons license would make determining the fair use of material clearer. Also, if I were to create a piece of work I could still have my name on it. If the material I make gets out into the public eye everyone would still know that it was originally made by me. In addition, I can teach my students about copyright while using creative commons material. Instead of teaching my students all the things they cannot do, it will teach them what they can use.
http://sjlibrary23.blogspot.com/

Thing 22

Culture Quest

I think LiveBinder is pretty cool. I like that I can take my websites that I am researching and organize them into one area that I can get to. For example, if I am teaching a lesson on culture and diversity I can already have all the sites I want to include in my lecture bookmarked. When I first started exploring LiveBinder I was a little confused. But, after looking through other's LiveBinders I got a pretty good idea about how to use it. It turns out it is easy to use and easy to organize my websites. Here is an example of one of the websites I choose to use in my LiveBinder. It titled this Binder "Culture Quest". It includes sites that I would use in my classroom to teach students about the differences in culture across the United States and America. All it took was a copy, paste, and click and it was in my LiveBinder! Great site for organizing!!!

Thing 21

Try our video maker at Animoto.

I had a lot of fun using Animoto!! My video was free so it went way to fast but I can always upgrade if I want to pay for the website. It was fun picking out the pictures and setting up how it my video would look. The music was not my style but it was appropraite. The site was easy to use. All I had to do is upload some pictures, select was music I wanted to use and Animoto did the rest of the work. I can share my video with anyone. For example, I can put it on You Tube or Facebook. The negative is that I thought it was expensive. Three months for $100!!! Wow! I wouldn't use it enough at this point to get my moneys worth. Overall though I really liked it and had fun using it.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Thing 20

I thought I would sit down and explore you tube and come up with a funny yet educational you tibe video. I found this video instead. I have never heard of Unicef coming up with a way children can help other children until today. Instead of children going around asking for Halloween candy they go around asking for money for children in other parts of the world who are not being given the chance to attend school. It is just one of the many ways your can teach your students about diversity and to appreaciate what they have.

Also, you tube does offer a variety of educational content. For example, I can get anything from expert advice and suggestions to showing examples to my students a variety of methods in solving an algebra problem. The problem is that I am pretty sure that teachers probably do not have free access to you tube in their classrooms. And even if teachers did have access their students probably do not. This is a positive thing because there is also a ton of inapprporaite material on you tube that is not sutiable for any child to see. In the end, I like using you tube because it has the most content and a fast upload speed to the videos.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Thing 19

I signed up to be a member on TeacherPop.

Visit TeacherPop

I really think this will be a useful site for me while I am pursing my teaching career. Since it includes my fellow Austin Peay students I will be able to connect with them now and in the future. I think I will be able to use this site for advice and suggestions and to see what they might be doing to advance in the teaching profession. The only other online communities I am a member of is Facebook and Twitter. Although I have not yet got into Twitter. I understand how it can be helpful in connecting with other educators and learning from them but I do not yet share everyone’s interest in it.
Another site I found that I can see myself using is Shelfari. I am currently enrolled in Reading 4050 and my attitude on the importance of reading has increased tenfold. This site gives me more access to books. While exploring the site I found it great that I can read plot summaries of books, quotes, and character descriptions. There is also an area where I can “build a bookshelf”. It would include books that I have read or interested in and I can share with others. When you find a book there is so much to discover about the book. For example, you can click on book extras and it includes a lot of topics. You can see extra book covers, the series and lists, the book’s classification and subjects. I really like that I can read the reviews and get involved in the discussions about the books.

Another site that I found interesting and useful is Classroom 2.0. I really enjoyed reading through the Classroom 2.0 Live! Each Saturday the site holds sessions and features special topics. For instance, this Saturday the session is about a “featured teacher”. The particular teacher will be haring the ways she uses technology with her students that she works with. I think that it is so great. I could really learn a lot from other educators through this site. Also on the site are special interest groups. I can search through the groups that interest me and become a member and get involved in the discussions and posts. I also think that because members are screened before being allowed to become members it keeps the site safe and spam free.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Thing 18

So, I thought about the ways I could use social networking sites in my classroom but I have to admit that I find it somewhat controversial. I am still skeptical about using sites like Facebook in my classroom because of the negative outcomes it could and has had on some educators. However, there are uses in the classroom for social networking sites. For example, there are apps on Facebook that I can use with my class. For instance, Poll app able me to take polls in my classroom. Also, my students and I are able to connect with others in the field of education. We can friend them and learn from them and others they have connected with. The same goes with sites that are not individuals like a news site or a school.

CarYingst