Saturday, April 27, 2013
Thing #24 Is is the End or Only the Beginning?
Day one, when I heard that I was going to blog, I did a mental "OH NO!" Even thought at the time I felt that I was tech savvy, I knew nothing about blogging. After the initial fear I began to enjoy the process. I am pleasantly surprised by the outcome of this project. This process has introduced me to so many new things that I know I will be able to use. I have found a community of educators that offer advice on various subjects. This will be useful when I am searching for answers or suggestions for the classroom. Another added bonus is all the web 2.0 tools that provide organization, enhance instruction or add creativity to the classroom. I am excited to take the knowledge and tools I have gained from this class and integrated them into my everyday life. I have already shared my blogging experiences with family, friends and co-workers. The Blogging community has been my go to place during this semester and will continue to be in the future. This has been a fun learning experience and I am thankful for the opportunity to participate.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Thing # 23
In viewing the credits of APSU's Learning 2.0 23 Things for Teachers website, I was able to follow a link to the program that this idea was based off. I followed it to Mesquite's Independent School District's website, Learning 2.0 23 Things wich led me to Abrams article and website on 43 things. 43 things was a program that Mesquite was based on. APSU used creative commons to base its 23things program from the use of Mesquite's adaptation of 43 things.
As a teacher I may be adapt lesson plans and instruction from other professionals who posted or published their material for use. I will use my knowledge of creative commons to teach my students of plagiarism and copyright.
As a teacher I may be adapt lesson plans and instruction from other professionals who posted or published their material for use. I will use my knowledge of creative commons to teach my students of plagiarism and copyright.
Thing # 20
Goofy-Teachers as People
I selected the above YouTube video that really captures the essence of what we need from teachers. Sure, it may poke a little fun, but it is an accurate assessment of some of the qualities such as patience, wisdom, and tolerance that we desperately need in teachers today. Besides, who doesn't love Goofy?
YouTube is a great tool for anyone, including teachers. You can find video of events and experiments around the world. I think with careful screening, teachers can use this site to show the students things that they may never see or experience in their lifetime. I have often searched the site for advice on a project or craft. I have even taken classes where the instruction is posted on YouTube. It is a take anywhere, find anything tool. It expands the classroom to the world and includes anyone willing to view the video.
The negative of YouTube can be said of many online tools. You have to sift through the garbage to find the gems. Fortunately, the gems are often invaluable pieces of information. One of the features of the site is that videos can be viewed by everyone or a select group by the use of a password. This could allow interaction between the teacher and student or the class as a group.
Thing # 22
The titles of my binders in LiveBinders are as follows.
- writing resources
- educational tools
- math websites
Here is a link to my Math Website Binder.
LiveBinders is a great tool for the classroom. As a teacher I can create my own resource center for students to locate and utilize documents, tools, and websites that are specific to the subject matter being taught. I can control the source material for a subject much easier for assignments and research.
One such ideal for the classroom would be to have students view a lesson before class. Once in the class, discussion and instruction would be elevated due to the students already having exposure to the material. After class, the class can go back into the lesson for additional tutoring and learning aids to help retention and understanding.
Thing # 19
Even though I tried to delay the trend of social networking in my life, it has crept in anyway. My family would not have any other way! (lol) See what I mean. I am currently a participant of Facebook, Pinterest, Blogger, and now TeacherPop. Each of these have successfully connected me to a group of friends and family. I can get online and find out anything that I need to know. These resources and other that we have explored in class will help me as a teacher to stay connected to the educational trends. I will be able to research answers to any future questions.
On a note outside of education, I did find another social network that I am looking forward to becoming acquainted with. Food is one of my passions and this network is great! This lesson shows that no matter what your interest or needs are you can find a community to join.
On a note outside of education, I did find another social network that I am looking forward to becoming acquainted with. Food is one of my passions and this network is great! This lesson shows that no matter what your interest or needs are you can find a community to join.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Thing # 21
Taylor's Birthday
In the past, I have made video clips that include images and music. I possess a couple of programs on my computer that allows me to be creative with my photos. Lightroom, Garage Band and i photo are some of the programs that are capable of creating a slide show. Animoto is a website that allows you to import photos from a variety of sources and create a slideshow to music that you choose. They provide themed backgrounds with matching music. One can create a 30 second clip for free or pay to have more freedom and time. I imported pictures of my niece's second birthday. It was fun playing with the different backgrounds and music. I really liked this website and found it easy to navigate. If I did not have similar tools that I was already familiar with, I would use this in the near future. I enjoy taking photos and making slideshows of them personally and professionally. As a future educator, I plan on making similar slideshows for the parents of my students as an end of the year gift. This will allow them to feel connected to and have a keep sake of their child's school year.
In the past, I have made video clips that include images and music. I possess a couple of programs on my computer that allows me to be creative with my photos. Lightroom, Garage Band and i photo are some of the programs that are capable of creating a slide show. Animoto is a website that allows you to import photos from a variety of sources and create a slideshow to music that you choose. They provide themed backgrounds with matching music. One can create a 30 second clip for free or pay to have more freedom and time. I imported pictures of my niece's second birthday. It was fun playing with the different backgrounds and music. I really liked this website and found it easy to navigate. If I did not have similar tools that I was already familiar with, I would use this in the near future. I enjoy taking photos and making slideshows of them personally and professionally. As a future educator, I plan on making similar slideshows for the parents of my students as an end of the year gift. This will allow them to feel connected to and have a keep sake of their child's school year.
Thing # 18
This is a link to my Facebook profile.
It is important for educators to understand social networking and how it works because it is so relevant to our student's lives. Networking is a place where students post their feelings, activities, make new friends, and sometimes bully others. A teacher needs to be aware of these activities and be prepared to address situations that may develop from the use of social networking. Social networks can be very useful tools that allow educators to search for information to advance their knowledge of a certain skill. Teachers can share lesson plans and ideas that will improve instruction. They can discover methods that are popular and relevant to their students.
I have been a member of Facebook for the last couple of years. I am a private person who does not see the need to share every detail of my day with the world. I am very selective about choosing who I accept as my "friend." I use this network mostly as a tool to share pictures and important events with my family. I believe this and Twitter will be useful for me as an educator strictly as a research tool outside the classroom. I currently work at a school and Facebook is blocked by the school board from our browsers. There have been strict instructions given banning the use of this website at our school. I expect to find similar rules in place in the future when I get a teaching job.
It is important for educators to understand social networking and how it works because it is so relevant to our student's lives. Networking is a place where students post their feelings, activities, make new friends, and sometimes bully others. A teacher needs to be aware of these activities and be prepared to address situations that may develop from the use of social networking. Social networks can be very useful tools that allow educators to search for information to advance their knowledge of a certain skill. Teachers can share lesson plans and ideas that will improve instruction. They can discover methods that are popular and relevant to their students.
I have been a member of Facebook for the last couple of years. I am a private person who does not see the need to share every detail of my day with the world. I am very selective about choosing who I accept as my "friend." I use this network mostly as a tool to share pictures and important events with my family. I believe this and Twitter will be useful for me as an educator strictly as a research tool outside the classroom. I currently work at a school and Facebook is blocked by the school board from our browsers. There have been strict instructions given banning the use of this website at our school. I expect to find similar rules in place in the future when I get a teaching job.
Thing # 17
Blogging has shown the importance of social media and how it is applicable to a classroom. Today, I have discovered a tool that will organize the information I find useful; Social bookmarking. Social bookmarking is great for students and teachers. Before the invention of social bookmarking, one would have to save the website to their bookmark on their computer or rely on memory to come back to the site. Social bookmarking saves the information on the web and you can access it from anywhere. It is also a great place to find and share information. Tags and diggs allow you to see websites that others found interesting. A student could use social bookmarking when they are assigned any kind of research. Teachers could use it to share information with their students or other teachers. I see the potential use of social bookmarking as way to efficiently use your time on the web.
Thing 16
I decided to use iGoogle as my start page. The main reason that I chose this is because I already had an email account with Google and was more familiar with many of the google applications. One I set up my page, I was able to manage which features would automatically show on the page. I think this can help me save time in the future because the items that I frequently go to individually now are at one central location. I can check the weather, news, and glance at my email and to do lists from one page instead of several. I will definitely use this in the future as my start page.
The online calendar will allow me to enter important appointments and events into a more mobile and manageable calendar that can be accessed from any place, not just from home or work. The to do list I chose, Remember the Milk, was easy to setup and edit on my computer and iPhone. However, it seems like it may be more effort than it is worth to constantly update the list. I think I continue to use this tool, but will be more selective on tasks that I place on this list. This will allow my to keep on track with the most important tasks while not getting too concerned with all of the less meaningful tasks.
One of the tools that I find most helpful is the sticky notes feature. I am a big fan of real sticky notes, so this seems to be a very logical choice for me. I can quickly jot down notes, dates, and messages that can be added to contact lists, calendars, and task lists when I have more time. I think this tool would be most helpful for others as well. It will allow them to manage their day at a convenient time instead of spending every moment managing their time.
The online calendar will allow me to enter important appointments and events into a more mobile and manageable calendar that can be accessed from any place, not just from home or work. The to do list I chose, Remember the Milk, was easy to setup and edit on my computer and iPhone. However, it seems like it may be more effort than it is worth to constantly update the list. I think I continue to use this tool, but will be more selective on tasks that I place on this list. This will allow my to keep on track with the most important tasks while not getting too concerned with all of the less meaningful tasks.
One of the tools that I find most helpful is the sticky notes feature. I am a big fan of real sticky notes, so this seems to be a very logical choice for me. I can quickly jot down notes, dates, and messages that can be added to contact lists, calendars, and task lists when I have more time. I think this tool would be most helpful for others as well. It will allow them to manage their day at a convenient time instead of spending every moment managing their time.
Thing # 15
Wiki's sounded like a great resource when I watched the You Tube video. It is a place that teachers should easily be able to share instrucion ideas or class projects with each other. The trouble began when I tied to navigate through the assigned sandbox. I was easily frustrated and was not successful in completing my task. I believe that I have been introduced to so many great web 2.0 tools this semester that I will definitely use inside my classroom. With that being said, Wiki will not be one. I can't imagine it's benefit inside the classroom outways the frustration of navigating through it.
Thing # 14
I created this flow chart on the steps of long division with the use of Gliffy. Flow charts and mind maps can be used as a tool to organize your thoughts and plans. It can also be a teaching tool to show the steps needed to be taken to complete a task. I will use these as a teaching aids for the class and for individual students to help them understand a new skill.
Thing # 13
Discussion has risen on the subject of web-based tools that offer collaborative word processes verses Microsoft Office. I believe that in the future I will continue to use them both. The web resources that I experimented with this week were Zoho and google Docs. This discovery exercises showed me how easy it would be to collaborate with others when creating a document. They allow you to share with friends or even publish for public use. I created this document for fun using Zoho. Educators can create documents from any computer and be able to use them a resource in the classroom when they are needed. I drew a picture in Google Docs. The drawing could be use by individual students to practice finding the area of a square. I enjoyed playing on both of these websites and couldn't say which one I would use more often. I could assign group projects and student's could collaborate and complete the task online.
Discussion has risen on the subject of web-based tools that offer collaborative word processes verses Microsoft Office. I believe that in the future I will continue to use them both. The web resources that I experimented with this week were Zoho and google Docs. This discovery exercises showed me how easy it would be to collaborate with others when creating a document. They allow you to share with friends or even publish for public use. I created this document for fun using Zoho. Educators can create documents from any computer and be able to use them a resource in the classroom when they are needed. I drew a picture in Google Docs. The drawing could be use by individual students to practice finding the area of a square. I enjoyed playing on both of these websites and couldn't say which one I would use more often. I could assign group projects and student's could collaborate and complete the task online.
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