I am so happy to say that I actually completed all 23 Things. I might have procrastinated a little, but I got it done. I am very excited about all the new knowledge on technology I have gained. My favorite parts of 23 things were the media related discoveries. I really like exploring Flickr, YouTube, and VoiceThreads. These resources are great for providing more visual opportunities for students to learn. The part I struggled with the most was reflecting on my experience in my blog. I would rather not reflect on every single thing if there is another way to show we completed a task.
This class has helped me realize that technology is not as scary as it seems. I now feel more confident in exploring what technology has to offer. Also, technology is ever-changing. There is always something new, or in the making, to learn about. I want to continue to explore and learn to make sure my students have opportunities to use the online resources available. 23 Things has influenced me as a teacher by making me more brave to incorporate technology into my teaching. Before I was apprehensive about using something I did not know how to use. Now I know more so I will be able to use what I learned with my students. In order to keep up with new developments in Web 2.0 I will stay connected with our 23 Things Ning and other blogs such as Learning 2.1. I am going to continue to check my Google Reader as well for new ideas.
Thank you for ging me the knowledge and confidence to be a Web 2.0 teacher!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thing #23
What a good idea! Ning is like an educational and appropriate Facebook. It is a really cool resource for teachers and students. This also solves the problem of all the junk that can be added to Facebook or MySpace.
It is good for teachers because we can create a social network with our students, like Facebook, that is safe to use. There could be a class of school network for the students to join. This would be fun for the students because it would be like using Facebook. Once the students join there could be educational discussions or resources for the students to use.
Ning can also be a great resource for teachers. There are so many educational social networks that provide support from other educators. I already joined Classroom 2.0 and am looking forward to exploring more of what it has to offer. I found a discussion about the best resource for a website/blog/wiki. This is helpful for 23 thingsters because we can put together some of the resources we already learned. I also feel like if I had a question about technology this would be a great place to go to get some answers. I am also glad that our 23 Things group can keep in touch. This will help remind me and encourage me to put what I learned to use.
It is good for teachers because we can create a social network with our students, like Facebook, that is safe to use. There could be a class of school network for the students to join. This would be fun for the students because it would be like using Facebook. Once the students join there could be educational discussions or resources for the students to use.
Ning can also be a great resource for teachers. There are so many educational social networks that provide support from other educators. I already joined Classroom 2.0 and am looking forward to exploring more of what it has to offer. I found a discussion about the best resource for a website/blog/wiki. This is helpful for 23 thingsters because we can put together some of the resources we already learned. I also feel like if I had a question about technology this would be a great place to go to get some answers. I am also glad that our 23 Things group can keep in touch. This will help remind me and encourage me to put what I learned to use.
Thing #22
My Facebook Page
I have been using Facebook since I was accepted to Texas A&M. When I joined, only students with a college email could sign up. Now anyone is able to join Facebook. I have really enjoyed keeping up with old friends from college, high school, and elementary school. If it weren't for Facebook, I wouldn't know what a lot of my friends were doing with their lives. I prefer using Facebook over MySpace because I feel like it has less junk on it. Now facebook is starting to get more of the junk MySpace has, but it is optional.
Most students have cell phone now, so instead of banning them, we need to start making use of them in the classroom. The same is true for Facebook. If the students have it, we might as well use it. If we are going to use Facebook in the classroom we will need to be very cautious as you could get into some sticky situations. A way to use Facebook in the classroom would be to create a group for a class and have students post a comment about a topic. Then the students could respond to each other's post.
Now this would not work as well for younger students because they probably don't have a cell phone or Facebook in first grade, but the parents might. You could use Facebook as a way to keep the parents connected. There could be a page for the class where you can post pictures and events happening at school. If I did this I would probably have a separate professional profile. I would want to keep my work and social life separate.
I have been using Facebook since I was accepted to Texas A&M. When I joined, only students with a college email could sign up. Now anyone is able to join Facebook. I have really enjoyed keeping up with old friends from college, high school, and elementary school. If it weren't for Facebook, I wouldn't know what a lot of my friends were doing with their lives. I prefer using Facebook over MySpace because I feel like it has less junk on it. Now facebook is starting to get more of the junk MySpace has, but it is optional.
Most students have cell phone now, so instead of banning them, we need to start making use of them in the classroom. The same is true for Facebook. If the students have it, we might as well use it. If we are going to use Facebook in the classroom we will need to be very cautious as you could get into some sticky situations. A way to use Facebook in the classroom would be to create a group for a class and have students post a comment about a topic. Then the students could respond to each other's post.
Now this would not work as well for younger students because they probably don't have a cell phone or Facebook in first grade, but the parents might. You could use Facebook as a way to keep the parents connected. There could be a page for the class where you can post pictures and events happening at school. If I did this I would probably have a separate professional profile. I would want to keep my work and social life separate.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Thing #21
I did not realize Google had so much to offer. I have used it as a search engine and recently learned about its blog and email, but there is so much more. The Picasa Web Album is a great way to back up your pictures in case something happens to your computer (which happened to me TWICE). A way to incorporate Picasa into the classroom could be to create an album of pictures of the students doing different activities at school. Then the students could use the pictures as writing prompts and create stories about what they are doing at school. You could also share this album with parents and families so they can stay connected with what we are doing at school. Here is my Picasa album I started putting together of my students last year.
Google Earth is another great resource that can be used in the classroom. This would be good to use when teaching social studies. If you are talking about somewhere else in the world, what better way is there to show the students where it is. This is also something the students can explore on their own once they learn how to use it.
I also realized I was using iGoogle and I didn't even realize it. It is on my homepage when I open the internet. It is a summary of everything I need to know to start my day; emails, news, weather and more!
Google Earth is another great resource that can be used in the classroom. This would be good to use when teaching social studies. If you are talking about somewhere else in the world, what better way is there to show the students where it is. This is also something the students can explore on their own once they learn how to use it.
I also realized I was using iGoogle and I didn't even realize it. It is on my homepage when I open the internet. It is a summary of everything I need to know to start my day; emails, news, weather and more!
Thing #20
Hawaii plans
Well, I had a REAL need for a word document that I needed to share with others and now I know I can use GoogleDocs for this. I am going on a cruise in Hawaii in a couple of weeks now, so we are trying to plan the trip from all over Dallas. I used Delicious (see Thing #15) to mark some bookmarks for activities in Hawaii, but GoogleDocs is a way that we can share our ideas collaboratively.
GoogleDocs can be used for:
Well, I had a REAL need for a word document that I needed to share with others and now I know I can use GoogleDocs for this. I am going on a cruise in Hawaii in a couple of weeks now, so we are trying to plan the trip from all over Dallas. I used Delicious (see Thing #15) to mark some bookmarks for activities in Hawaii, but GoogleDocs is a way that we can share our ideas collaboratively.
GoogleDocs can be used for:
- Group projects: Each person in the group can add their part of a project to a GoogleDoc. If each person does research on a different part of a topic, the information can be put together in a GoogleDoc for all group members to work on.
- Presentations: Creating a Powerpoint presentation in a GoogleDoc is a good way to share with others. Instead of having to email an attachment you can share the link or have Google do the sharing for you.
- Surveys: Create a survey for people to answer questions and Google will organize the responses. This could be used for a quiz that students have to respond to or if you want to get your students thoughts or feelings about something, this can be done anonomously in a GoogleDoc form.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Thing #19
I really liked the first grade example of VoiceThread, Library from A to Z. It is an excellent example of how to use VoiceThread with younger students. The students created an alphabet book, illustrated the pictures, and narrated the story.
I also found a VoiceThread of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This would be a good way to present the story in a different way. It also gives me an idea of how I could create my own VoiceThread to tell a story.
I think it is really cool that comments can be added to a VoiceThread. This makes them more interactive. A student can write or record an answer to a question or a response to a picture or story. For example, in Going and Coming all the students give their opinion to the same picture. It is so amazing what is possible with technology.
I also found a VoiceThread of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This would be a good way to present the story in a different way. It also gives me an idea of how I could create my own VoiceThread to tell a story.
I think it is really cool that comments can be added to a VoiceThread. This makes them more interactive. A student can write or record an answer to a question or a response to a picture or story. For example, in Going and Coming all the students give their opinion to the same picture. It is so amazing what is possible with technology.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Thing #18
I love YouTube! It can be a great resource for teaching (with some monitoring, of course). I've decided you can find anything possible on there. I need to start using YouTube more in my teaching and for my personal use. When I use YouTube in my teaching I will need to figure out a way to embed the video so I don't show any inappropriate material by accident. The videos on YouTube can be excellent resources for teaching any subject. There are several videos that can help with Science and social studies. I even found a song to help teach even and odd numbers.
At a First Grade Conference I went to my first year of teaching they told us about power teaching. After I came home I wanted to learn more about it so I searched for Power teaching on YouTube and found this video. I really liked how engaged and interactive the students were in the learning. I used what I learned in the video and it worked out well.
This "thing" actually came in handy for me today. I went to Farmer's Market today and bought some squash, but I have never cooked squash before. I remembered we had to find a how-to video so I searched for how to cook squash. Now I know several different ways to cook the squash I bought!
At a First Grade Conference I went to my first year of teaching they told us about power teaching. After I came home I wanted to learn more about it so I searched for Power teaching on YouTube and found this video. I really liked how engaged and interactive the students were in the learning. I used what I learned in the video and it worked out well.
This "thing" actually came in handy for me today. I went to Farmer's Market today and bought some squash, but I have never cooked squash before. I remembered we had to find a how-to video so I searched for how to cook squash. Now I know several different ways to cook the squash I bought!
Thing #7b
I really enjoy checking my Google reader regularly now and it's not overwhelming. It is almost as exciting as checking Facebook. :) Today when I was checking I found a post on the Tech Learning blog that goes along with 23 Things. The post is on screencasts, which I don't think we learn about in 23 Things. This blog provides 10 different resources for creating screencasts.
I learned a little about screencasts at the Promethean board conference I went to. A screencast is a digital recording of computer screen output, also known as a video screen capture. These can be helpful if you are teaching others how to do something on the computer. Screencasts can also be used to record instruction if you, the teacher, have to be gone for some reason. As I learned at the Promethean conference I went to, screencasts work great with the Promethean board. You can record yourself writing, moving objects, and speaking all at once. This is just another great way to integtrate technology into the classroom.
I learned a little about screencasts at the Promethean board conference I went to. A screencast is a digital recording of computer screen output, also known as a video screen capture. These can be helpful if you are teaching others how to do something on the computer. Screencasts can also be used to record instruction if you, the teacher, have to be gone for some reason. As I learned at the Promethean conference I went to, screencasts work great with the Promethean board. You can record yourself writing, moving objects, and speaking all at once. This is just another great way to integtrate technology into the classroom.
Thing #17
I really enjoyed listening to the student-made podcasts. I thought Our City podcast was a really cool idea. It's a great way for students from all over the world to interact using technology. It is also a great resource for students to learn about different cities.
Previously, I have not listened to any podcasts. I was surprised by how many podcasts I found when I used the different directories to search for podcasts. There are several educational podcast available for personal and school use. I think I would be more likely to use podcasts in my teaching than for my personal use. I don't see myself sitting down to listen to people talk about something. I am more of a visual person. I would rather watch or read the information than listen to it. I would occasionally use podcasts in my teaching for that reason. If I feel that way about podcasts, some of my students are likely to feel the same. Teaching is about varying presentation to reach all kinds of learners.
I would like to learn more about making podcasts. It would be neat if the first grade classes could collaboratively contribute podcasts on a certain subject. Then our students would be teaching and learning.
Previously, I have not listened to any podcasts. I was surprised by how many podcasts I found when I used the different directories to search for podcasts. There are several educational podcast available for personal and school use. I think I would be more likely to use podcasts in my teaching than for my personal use. I don't see myself sitting down to listen to people talk about something. I am more of a visual person. I would rather watch or read the information than listen to it. I would occasionally use podcasts in my teaching for that reason. If I feel that way about podcasts, some of my students are likely to feel the same. Teaching is about varying presentation to reach all kinds of learners.
I would like to learn more about making podcasts. It would be neat if the first grade classes could collaboratively contribute podcasts on a certain subject. Then our students would be teaching and learning.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Thing #16
Library Thing is a multi-purpose tool. It is like an organized bookshelf that does everything for you. It can keep track of the books you have, what you have read, and what they are about. I like that you can search for books you like or you can search for books you don't like to find books you would like.
I would like to start using Library Thing, but all my books are at school. Once I get back to school, I want to add the children's books I use to teach to Library Thing. It would make it so much easier to find books for a lesson if I tag the books by topic and by what I teach with the books. This actually gets me a little excited about going back to school!
I would like to start using Library Thing, but all my books are at school. Once I get back to school, I want to add the children's books I use to teach to Library Thing. It would make it so much easier to find books for a lesson if I tag the books by topic and by what I teach with the books. This actually gets me a little excited about going back to school!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Thing #15
http://delicious.com/suzier110
Delicious is a great idea. At school when I am searching for lessons or resources I find myself with an endless, unorganized list of bookmarks. This is a great way to make some sense of my bookmarks and be able to find it again. I also love the fact that it is portable. Your bookmarks can go with you to any computer.
I had trouble deciding what to search for at this time of year. Since I am not teaching at the moment I don't have lessons or ideas that I am looking for (yet). I am, on the other hand, going on a cruise in Hawaii for the first time this summer with my husband and family, so I just happen to be thinking about that a lot. I have been doing lots of searches on the internet to find activities to do on the different islands we are going to. I decided to try saving my search results on Delicious so I can go back and share what I found with family. It has worked out great! I put tags on the island and activity. Now I will be prepared when we go to Hawaii. Aloha!
Delicious is a great idea. At school when I am searching for lessons or resources I find myself with an endless, unorganized list of bookmarks. This is a great way to make some sense of my bookmarks and be able to find it again. I also love the fact that it is portable. Your bookmarks can go with you to any computer.
I had trouble deciding what to search for at this time of year. Since I am not teaching at the moment I don't have lessons or ideas that I am looking for (yet). I am, on the other hand, going on a cruise in Hawaii for the first time this summer with my husband and family, so I just happen to be thinking about that a lot. I have been doing lots of searches on the internet to find activities to do on the different islands we are going to. I decided to try saving my search results on Delicious so I can go back and share what I found with family. It has worked out great! I put tags on the island and activity. Now I will be prepared when we go to Hawaii. Aloha!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Thing #7a
I have surprised myself by actually going back to check my Google reader. I knew I would have to post about it again, but before that I was interested in seeing what had been added. I admit that when I created my Google reader I didn't think I would actually use it. Some of my friend's have put their blog links on Facebook so I decided to add those to my Google reader. I really like being able to see who has added to their blog in one local place.
If you are a fan of The Bachelorette, there is some juicy information on Reality Steve's blog. Somehow reality Steve has some inside information on what happens on the show before it airs. This show is so ridiculous and dramatic I don't know why I watch it, but I do. Don't look yet if you don't want to know how it ends.
If you are a fan of The Bachelorette, there is some juicy information on Reality Steve's blog. Somehow reality Steve has some inside information on what happens on the show before it airs. This show is so ridiculous and dramatic I don't know why I watch it, but I do. Don't look yet if you don't want to know how it ends.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Thing #14
There are a lot of great resources I had never heard of before on Thing #14. A lot of them see like they would be great for upper grade levels, but I found some that would work well with first graders too. Blabberize or ToonDoo are both programs that make comics and cartoons. That would be a fun way to present information.
I went to a Promethean board conference in June and learned about Wordle in one of the sessions. Using the Activ Votes with the Promethean board, they had us text in one word that described a picture. Then they created a Wordle using our words. This is an excellent activity to use in the classroom, if you have the resources available. If you don't have a Promethean board or Activ votes you could have students write a word onto a piece of paper then the teacher could enter their responses into Wordle. This will create a student-generated resource for the students to refer back to. One interesting thing that Wordle does is if a word is listed more than once it will make those words bigger in the picture it creates.
I went to a Promethean board conference in June and learned about Wordle in one of the sessions. Using the Activ Votes with the Promethean board, they had us text in one word that described a picture. Then they created a Wordle using our words. This is an excellent activity to use in the classroom, if you have the resources available. If you don't have a Promethean board or Activ votes you could have students write a word onto a piece of paper then the teacher could enter their responses into Wordle. This will create a student-generated resource for the students to refer back to. One interesting thing that Wordle does is if a word is listed more than once it will make those words bigger in the picture it creates.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Thing #13
Wow! I think I got a little carried away with this one. I kept finding different things to try with pictures. Then, I wanted to figure out how to put it on my blog, so I could share with others.
The first one I did was Spell with Flickr. It was fairly easy because all you have to do is type in what you want it to say. I'm not sure how you could use this in the classroom, but it looks cool. Any ideas?
Then I made a mosaic of pictures that I found to teach Texas symbols. I also figured out that you can add pictures from Facebook to make a mosaic. The mosaic would be good to hang up in the classroom after you have taught a subject or new vocabulary so the students can continue thinking about it.
This is a comic I made on Bubblr. If you can't read the text it says "Please, Aggies, don't saw my horns off!":) This would be a fun way to introduce a new topic. You could find a picture of someone or something and have them saying what the students will be learning about.
This last picture is an application I found on bighugelabs.com. This one is called bead art. This website had a lot of cool effects you can do with pictures. Like with the cartoon these different thingsare just an interesting way to introduce a topic to get the students attention.
The first one I did was Spell with Flickr. It was fairly easy because all you have to do is type in what you want it to say. I'm not sure how you could use this in the classroom, but it looks cool. Any ideas?
Then I made a mosaic of pictures that I found to teach Texas symbols. I also figured out that you can add pictures from Facebook to make a mosaic. The mosaic would be good to hang up in the classroom after you have taught a subject or new vocabulary so the students can continue thinking about it.
This is a comic I made on Bubblr. If you can't read the text it says "Please, Aggies, don't saw my horns off!":) This would be a fun way to introduce a new topic. You could find a picture of someone or something and have them saying what the students will be learning about.
This last picture is an application I found on bighugelabs.com. This one is called bead art. This website had a lot of cool effects you can do with pictures. Like with the cartoon these different thingsare just an interesting way to introduce a topic to get the students attention.
Thing #12
This slideshow is pictures I can use to teach my students about Texas symbols. I know the song is about America, but I wanted to use something patriotic. I think a slideshow would be a great way to introduce a new topic to the class. It would really get them excited about what they are going to be learning about.
Mockingbird- mlhradio
Bluebonnet- juliaclark42
Texas flag- J. Stephen Conn
Longhorn- maritabeth
State capital - .imelda
Mockingbird- mlhradio
Bluebonnet- juliaclark42
Texas flag- J. Stephen Conn
Longhorn- maritabeth
State capital - .imelda
Thing #11
I knew that Flickr had pictures, but I didn't realize how much it had to offer. You can do anything with pictures on there. The tagging allows you to find pictures on any subject. My favorite thing I learned about Flickr was all the fun things you can do with pictures like the slideshow, mosaic maker, or puzzles.
Flickr is an awesome resource to use in the classroom. Like I was saying in my previous post on Creative Commons, pictures are so important to us with first graders. They are just starting to read, so if they see pictures they will start to make connections. When I teach my students new vocabulary I like to post it in the room with pictures. Before I just used Google images to find pictures, but now I can use Flickr to share legit pictures with my students.
Here are some pictures I found that I can use when we teach Texas symbols since these are real-life things.
*Click the picture to see photographer's other pictures.
Flickr is an awesome resource to use in the classroom. Like I was saying in my previous post on Creative Commons, pictures are so important to us with first graders. They are just starting to read, so if they see pictures they will start to make connections. When I teach my students new vocabulary I like to post it in the room with pictures. Before I just used Google images to find pictures, but now I can use Flickr to share legit pictures with my students.
Here are some pictures I found that I can use when we teach Texas symbols since these are real-life things.
*Click the picture to see photographer's other pictures.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thing #10
In all my years of using the internet, I have never noticed the CC logo. I had never even heard about Creative Commons until a friend of mine who took 23 things mentioned it to me. I have heard of Copyrights and know what that is, but not Creative Commons.
I think having Creative Commons and knowing about it will have a big impact on the way students learn. I use lots of images from the internet for activities with my first grade students. Pictures are important to use with first graders because they are just beginning to read and they need to make picture connections. Creative Commons will also be important for students using information from the internet. It would be frustrating to have all this information on the internet for teachers and students to use, but not be able to use it. I think it is awesome that Creative Commons makes all of those awesome resources available.
I think having Creative Commons and knowing about it will have a big impact on the way students learn. I use lots of images from the internet for activities with my first grade students. Pictures are important to use with first graders because they are just beginning to read and they need to make picture connections. Creative Commons will also be important for students using information from the internet. It would be frustrating to have all this information on the internet for teachers and students to use, but not be able to use it. I think it is awesome that Creative Commons makes all of those awesome resources available.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Thing #9
Making my first wiki page was a fun experience. First, I looked at how other people had organized their sandboxes. For the most part, creating my sandbox page was not too difficult. The hardest part was adding images and my Voki. I got frustrated but I didn't let that stop me. I figured out how to add the extras just by trial and error. I used the Wikispaces cheat sheet to help me add online images.
As I look back at my sandbox page now, I see that my Voki isn't showing up like it was before. This just goes to show that technology will always be unpredictable. That is something to keep in mind when you use technology when you teach. Make sure to be extra prepared so there are no technical difficulties, but have a back up plan in case something happens.
As I look back at my sandbox page now, I see that my Voki isn't showing up like it was before. This just goes to show that technology will always be unpredictable. That is something to keep in mind when you use technology when you teach. Make sure to be extra prepared so there are no technical difficulties, but have a back up plan in case something happens.
Thing #8
After exploring the different examples of wikis, I have a better understanding of how to use them in the classroom. In the past, the only wiki I knew about was Wikipedia. I knew that people could contribute to the information on there, but that is all I knew. I didn't realize how useful Wikis could be in the classroom.
A lot of the wiki examples were made by high school students. It seems like using wikis with older students seems easier, but I realize now that they can be used with younger students also. A good way to use wikis with younger students is by having the students come up with the ideas and adults do the posting.
On the Primary Math wiki, teachers share math projects students have done. This would be a helpful resource for teachers as well as students. Families are able to get involved with using wikis by sharing their memories of school on the Schools in the Past wiki. I was really impressed by the Salute to Seuss wiki where multiple classes got involved by sharing their projects on Dr. Seuss books.
I would like to share what I learned about wikis with my teammates at school so we could put together a first grade wiki to share our ideas and help our students feel more connected.
A lot of the wiki examples were made by high school students. It seems like using wikis with older students seems easier, but I realize now that they can be used with younger students also. A good way to use wikis with younger students is by having the students come up with the ideas and adults do the posting.
On the Primary Math wiki, teachers share math projects students have done. This would be a helpful resource for teachers as well as students. Families are able to get involved with using wikis by sharing their memories of school on the Schools in the Past wiki. I was really impressed by the Salute to Seuss wiki where multiple classes got involved by sharing their projects on Dr. Seuss books.
I would like to share what I learned about wikis with my teammates at school so we could put together a first grade wiki to share our ideas and help our students feel more connected.
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