I am finished!!!

This class was a lot of work but I learned so much. Honestly, at times I was so frustrated and then I would figure it out and I thought this class is so cool. One of the things that I liked about 23 Things is that not only can you apply what you learn to the classroom but you can also do a lot for your personal life. I can't wait to use Voicethread with my kids. The grandparents will love it! 

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? 

My favorite discovery was all the online image generators. While some of the other "things" were fun I was surprised by all the options you had to modify photographs. You can probably tell by my blogs on the subject that I enjoyed changing my photographs. I think that kids would really have fun as well. 

How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?

This has really opened my eyes to all kinds of applications that are on the Internet. And even better they are free. I plan on spending more time on the 23 things and explore more. I feel much more comfortable with technology thanks to this class.  

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

I had no idea all the options that Google had. One reason might be because MISD had it blocked for a while but I was happily surprised to see all the options they have.  

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

I don’t want to ask other groups to do more works but maybe have more interactions between the students might be good. 

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?

I would, especially if it was offered online. 

How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher or school librarian?

My ESL students will benefit from this class because I will use technology more. For example, I am going to have student use Wordle to list what they already know about a topic so I can test previous knowledge. In teaching vocabulary I am going to have students sometimes use the computer to show what they have learned.  Also finding all the resources available for teachers to learn more about teaching will help my students as I gain ideas!!!

How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? 

I am hoping that if I keep checking what you are doing in this class then I can keep up. Also, some of the readers I subscribe to will help me. 

 Honestly, I am not going to be able to start today and spend as much time as I would like using all the things I learned. Dang that TAKS test!!! However, I do plan on learning more. I feel that with this class I have just scratched the surface and I am ready to do so much more! Thanks for opening up my mind to such new ideas!!!!!     

Thing 23

I enjoyed Ning and Classroom 2.0. There is a ton of information out there. It was a bit overwhelming. You can easily spend hours going from site to site. One of the coolest ideas I saw involved letting students use their phones to text each other while reading Romeo and Juliet. The idea is to let them recreate the dialogues Romeo and Juliet had but use their cell phones Talk about a way to combine Shakespeare with modern technology. I don't even teach Romeo & Juliet but it made me want to!!!

I found Surfnet which has a lot of fun stuff. Parents, kids, and teachers could all benefit from spending some time here. It is easy to find a topic and get several resources. for example, I found this link to this Antarctica website. Easy!!!  One thing that I liked was the fact that there were teachers from all over the world. I am hoping that I might be able to find a school in Mexico that maybe I can communicate with.  My kids would love that!

I can see how older students could gain a lot from social networks. Younger students would need a ton of direction and guidance or else they would get lost. I can see how you could find several resources to help complete assignments. I guess at the minimum it can link students to additional sites. 

By the way the 23 Things ning network is great. Love the countdown!! Hopefully, we can continue to share ideas. 

Right now, I am going back to learn some more. I think this time I'll go to back to Teacher Librarian and waste some more time!

Thing 22

I have a MySpace and a Facebook account. They are both fun time-killers.  I believe that Facebook is easier to use and  as far as finding people it is great. I have found people I went to school with and relatives. As far as keeping in touch I believe it is a great way to communicate with people. There are people that I would never just call out of the blue on the phone but I can see what they are up to and banter back and forth. 

I like MySpace. It seems like it has more options to make it individualized. However, I have to be honest I have not spent that much time adding things to my account. I answered the basic questions and have changed a few things but I don't care to do much more than that.

As far as using Facebook professionally, I believe there are some limits. Since I teach at the elementary level I would need to limit my interactions to ones with parents. Also,  the account I believe would need to limited to professional use only. I would not feel comfortable having any personal information listed. I could also see using MySpace to list information about the subject you are teaching. A teacher could list links and make blogs about assingments or other homework resources. With Faceobok you could also list assignments for the week.

Even though there are several horror stories about MySpace and Facebook I believe that they can be great tools. Just as with any form of media parents have to monitor what their kids are doing.However, if used responsibility it can be a lot of fun!

Thing 21

Wish I was there!!!

I had fun with all the Google extras. The calendar was a nice tool. Even though I do like my calendar on Entourage. However, this could be a great way to organize information. And this would be a tool that if you were willing to share with others could help parents and students. Especially int the older grades teachers could use this to mark assignments and due dates. When I was having to organize TELPAS I could have shared the calendar with other teachers and our principal. 

Google book search is a great teacher tool. Once you are teaching a subject you can find all types of resources. For example, I typed in rainforest and got a pretty good list of books.  Personally I was thinking that you could combine this with Library thing. If you find something on Google Book Search that you could like to remember place it in your library account. 

The picture sharing is also a great tool. While I enjoyed making photo albums I also liked searching through the pictures available. It seemed easier that Flicker to me. You could have students look up certain topics and see what pictures they find. In keeping with the rainforest theme I did find this:

Pretty amazing tree, huh? 

I will admit I am having some problems with Google Earth, both on my school computer and at home but I will keep trying. This was a great activity because I did not know all the features that Google had. I wish MISD would loosen their restrictions on Google. 

John

Thing 20

I can see a lot of things you can with Googledocs. As an ESL teacher I have to share information with teachers and perhaps we could use Google docs to share that information. I can see with TELPAS and writing collections perhaps coming up with topics for the students that would qualify the requirements. With students could you create worksheets for them to access. Perhaps have students use this as a way to brainstorm ideas and the would have a saved copy. Finally, I was thinking that with all the paperwork I need at both campuses using Googledocs may be a great organization tool. That way I can easily access some documents at both campuses. Also, last year I lost my TELPAS checklist so I saved that to Googledocs.

I also wondered if for personal use if you could maybe collect addresses for family members or maybe even gift lists. For example, invite people you have to shop for at Christmas to list their wants, sizes, etc. While this is not my talent I also thought that my husband could use this. He is always coming up with starts and bits and pieces of lyrics to songs. He tries to write them down and sometimes he loses his lyrics. Maybe this could be a way to organize his creative thoughts and he could come back to it and revise as he needs to.

Thing 7b

National Public Radio has a world quiz. The interesting thing about it is that it is not just a quiz but it also give you information. For example, I found out that Costa Rica and a territory is a great place to hide my money. In another I learned about scientists trying to find where a small asteroid landed.

And speaking of money my quote of the day reader had this quote recently: 

"If you can amount your money, you don't have a billion dollars." J. Paul Getty

I also appreciated my History is Elementary blog about the distaste for progress reports. A bonus for me in my current job is that I don't have to create those. 

In conclusion the reader is cool but hard to keep up with daily. 

Thing 19

Voicethread is awesome! I honestly wish I had time today to create a something but maybe when I have finished my taxes and Easter weekend is behind me.

I watched the one in which the young girl got a haircut and I just love it. I have a 6 year old and a 3year old and I can see taking pictures and letting the kids make comments. Their grandparents live anywhere from 30-90 minutes away so using Voicethread could allow parent to see somethings they might miss. Also, it made me think that you could take older pictures and have parents or grandparents make comments. What a great way to preserve memories.

Professionally, I thought you could have students give comments on historical documents or pictures. Since I teach ESL I thought this would be a great tool in having them practice their conversational skills. You could show them a picture and have them describe what is happenings, like the Norman Rockwell painting did. Or they could be given a picture or just a word that would help them with their  academic vocabulary and have them tell you what they know about. Maybe this could be a sort of digital KWL chart.