Last Thoughs....

I really enjoyed the 23 lessons for my Education 3040 class.  Before this class I had no clue what a Web 2.0 web page was.  I actually had used a few of Web 2.0 applications and had no clue what they were categorized as.  I am going to use numerous items from my experiences with the 23 things in my life and classroom.  I really enjoyed Thing # 21.  My family is very important to me, and I made a video with images from my mom's graduation last year put to music.   I enjoyed Thing # 7 as well.  I enjoyed exploring Flickr, and uploading images.   Every lesson used could benefit the classroom.  I plan on blogging after this class.  I have a blog that is my personal page, and I enjoy connecting with friends and family without having to call each person individually and keep them up to date.

Thing # 23- CC

http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

Creative Commons is very important to everyone.  The program allows items and ideas to be used without making profit.  There are a few rules, but overall it isn't hard to understand.   It allows the Copyright of items a little wiggle room.  By having this knowledge as a student teacher, I can pass this information on to my students.  Depending on the grade level I can change the lesson to an easier lesson, or an in depth lesson.

Thing #22-Live Binder

I used Live Binder to create a location for documents, favorite websites, and collections of things.  I think that this is very useful to teachers.  I had to create three different binders.  One for my class assignments, one for personal websites, and one for different sites I like to read from.  I think that this site is useful for teachers, students, and even parents.

Since I set my page to private, I am adding a screenshot of my binders! :)

Thing # 21-Family

 My assignment was to use Animoto to create a 30 second video.  I had to use at least 10 pictures and use music to the pictures.  I really enjoyed this assignment.  I used pictures from my mom's graduation from college Fall 2010.  I really miss my family, the snow, and home.  I really enjoyed placing the song "Small Town USA" by Justin Moore as the background music.  My town is a really small USA town, but I call it home!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Thing #20- YouTube

I love watching YouTube videos.  Most of the time I enjoy just searchingI decided to add a video of a song that is really popular right now.  One of the guys who is singing the song is Hok from SYTYCD (so you think you can dance).

I have found some really good videos on YouTube that instructional.  A few of the videos that I have found useful are simple searches for smartboard, Excel, Word, etc.  If someone knows how to do a task.....I am sure it is on YouTube.

Thing #19-TeacherPop

I never knew that TeacherPop exsisted.  I really enjoyed looking around at other member from my class.  It's great to have a social network that is available to just teachers.  I have been exploring the site and the site is very user friendly.  I am going to keep my page, and try to update as my life changes, especially with education changes!

Visit TeacherPop

Thing # 18- Facebook

I have both a twitter and facebook account.  I enjoy being able to keep up with friends and family.  Seeing as though my family is at least 8 hours away, I have my sister, mom, brother, etc as friends on facebook.  We share photos, updates on life, and status updates.  I found my best friend after ten years of being apart on facebook, and I am in her wedding this summer. :)

I feel that social networks are very important for educators today.  If a teacher wanted to have information shared with students and parents, the teacher could created a page for her class to publish information. Even though this website is a great tool, there are downfalls as well.  When pictures, status updates, and opinions are placed on the internet everyone can read them.  With that being said, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU POST!     

Thing # 17- del.icio.us

I wasn't sure what del.icio.us was at first, but I really like the concept after learning about it.  Funny thought on what came to my mind first was the band member of Black Eyed Peas....will.i.am.  I added the quick links to my tabs so I can bookmark sites as I surf the internet.  I found this tool a great addition to a classroom for teachers who collaborate their lesson plans.  I observed at Barkers Mill Elementary School where the teachers of each grade collaborated lessons.  This website del.icio.us would work great for these teachers.  

The only issues that I can see with this tool would be that one person in the group could end up doing more work/searching than the others. 

Thing # 16 Organize

 For Thing # 16 I have four questions that need to be answered:

1. Which start page did you choose? Why did that one appeal to you? Will you make it your permanent home page? 

  Answer:  I chose iGoogle for my start page.  I really like Google.  I blogged before about my love for Google. 

 

2. How can the online calendars be useful to you?

 Answer:  I have an online calendar with Google and Yahoo.  Between the both I would say that I use Google more.  I can receive update alerts to my email that is directly linked to my iPhone.  This is very useful, because I can set reminders and be alerted at what interval I choose on the web calendar.

3. What about the to-do lists—helpful, too much work…? 

 Answer:  I am a procrastinator.  I am always looking for ways to keep myself more organized and on task.  I explored the page Remember the Milk.  I think that the online tool is useful as well as too much work.  After I set up an account online I downloaded the app for my iPhone.  The problem that I found is that I have to upgrade to Pro in order to sync my devices.  That was a big turn off for me.

4. Did you find a tool that has some uses for you at the school or at home? Which tool(s) would you recommend to others?

I explored the site Zamzar and found the web page to be very useful.  This site allows for files to be converted to different files.  So, if I was sent a file in one format I could go there and convert it to what format I needed to open it.  Or even music can be converted to different file types.

 

Thing # 15- Wiki

    I explored a few wiki sites that were provided for the assignment titled  thing # 15. I actually thought I knew a lot about wiki.....I was wrong! I really enjoyed this assignment.  I can see myself in the future creating a wiki page for a classroom, a future trip I want to take, or even a place for out of town family to collaborate a vacation together.

    I was asked to add my favorite part of this courses assignments to a wiki page set up for our class.  The Sandbox is the location for the wiki for our class.  This is a place where we can "play nice together", and learn from each other the favorite parts of the assignments.  I added Thing # 8 to the sandbox, because I really enjoyed making the puzzle picture.  The picture I chose for my assignment was the first quilt I made my parents.

 

Thing # 14-Brainstorming

   The assignment for thing # 14 is to explore different flowchart and brainstorming web sites that can be useful for class/teaching in the future.  

   I chose to use Gliffy for flowcharts, and use bubble.us for brainstorming. I am a person who normally uses these tools to complete thoughts or assignments.  I attempted to make a flow chart with Gliffy on my procrastination to do another class assignment. 

 This chart shows that if I do my performance based assignment now that i will be able to turn it in early, but if I wait I will be up late tomorrow night!

While using bubble.us I attempted to brainstorm ideas for an assignment coming up, but I felt that most of the ideas I had already discovered.  

I can see how these tools could be useful for classroom assignment, especially for the lower grade levels.  Student are learning about sequential items.  What happened first, next, and then last??  So I can see how flowcharts could be useful.  Not everyone learns the same way.  With that being said.....I am sure that some would benefit more from these tools that I do.

Thing # 13

   This assignment is to compare the two web-based productivity cites, Google Docs and Zoho, and tell which I prefer and why.  I began the assignment by setting up an account on both sites.   This part was really easy.  I already have a Google account, so I could just go to the Google Docs easily. I found Zoho was just as simple to join.  The website allowed me to log in with my Google account information.

   I am working on a performance based assessment for another class and uploaded the document to both sites.  Each site was easy to upload, edit, and save the document without any hassles.  Even though both are easy to use, I prefer Google Docs.  I can use Google Docs to do household spreadsheets, share information with classmates, and share documents with my Family. 

   I think that either web page could be useful in classrooms for teachers and students.  I searched for different documents on Google Docs and found multiple spreadsheets to track almost anything you can think of.   This could be useful to track grades, expenses, and attendance.