Monday, July 1, 2013
Is it the end, or only the beginning?
I have learned a lot during this project and the class as a whole. I am new to a lot of the tools introduced in this assignment and some of them are going to be more helpful than others. As I become a teacher I will remember my struggle becoming familiar with some of these websites so that I can have patience with my students when they are trying to figure them out as well. No matter how much I learned in this class I am sure there is a lot more for me to learn. I am certain the future students will be able to navigate some of these websites better than me and I will look forward to learning from them as well. As a result of this class I have realized that technology is very important no matter what subject is being taught.
Thing #23
Creative Commons can be used to give permission to other people to use documents and websites you create without having to go through you or your attorney to do so. This makes it easier and faster for information to be shared which is very important for teachers when they are creating their lesson plans. The creator is able to put different kinds of protections on it depending on how much they want the information to be shared or if they want credit for the creation. Creative Commons do not replace Copyrights.
Thing #22
My binders are titled Math Lessons, Math Games, and Other Helpful Websites. I plan on teaching math so I created the two math binders for that but I have also found some other helpful websites from this class so I put all of them in another binder.
This would be useful in the classroom in order to encourage students to learn more about math on their own. It is nice that I can encourage them to do so on particular websites I find to be beneficial to them.
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=931294
This would be useful in the classroom in order to encourage students to learn more about math on their own. It is nice that I can encourage them to do so on particular websites I find to be beneficial to them.
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=931294
Thing #21
Becca
I liked using Animoto with all the music and design possibilities. It would be a good tool to use at the end of the school year for a graduation or any other gatherings for the school for people to watch pictures of the students and school activities while they wait for the program or speaker to start. If you use this type of thing it would be worth it for the upgrades. It was a very user friendly tool and I enjoyed putting a short clip together.
I liked using Animoto with all the music and design possibilities. It would be a good tool to use at the end of the school year for a graduation or any other gatherings for the school for people to watch pictures of the students and school activities while they wait for the program or speaker to start. If you use this type of thing it would be worth it for the upgrades. It was a very user friendly tool and I enjoyed putting a short clip together.
Thing #20
I found a lot of videos on TeacherTube Math while I was looking on YouTube. I chose this video because I want to teach middle school math. These videos can be helpful in giving the students a different way of learning the information in case they do not understand it the way that I would teach the lesson. These videos would be helpful to any student that is learning different math topics and may need a little extra assistance.
Thing #19
I am now a member of Twitter and TeacherPop after the last two things I have completed on this assignment. I have been a member of Facebook since 2009. I like Facebook because it allows me to stay in touch with friends that live far away from me. After being in the Army and moving around a lot it became a very useful tool.
I found Classroom 2.0 to be interesting and it can be a useful tool in the future as I start teaching. GoodReads was a good tool to get information about books and recommendations on other books to read.
I found Classroom 2.0 to be interesting and it can be a useful tool in the future as I start teaching. GoodReads was a good tool to get information about books and recommendations on other books to read.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Thing #18
It is important for teachers to know how social networking works so that they can have a better understanding of their students are talking about. If teachers are able to have a conversation with their students and understand what they say then the student will be more open to learn and talk to the teacher.
I created a Twitter account but I did not find it to be very easy to understand or navigate. I also do not know anyone that uses that site so I picked authors, schools, and some celebrities to follow which did not have anything that pertained to me. I have had a Facebook account since 2009 and I do not remember being confused on how to navigate the website.
Out of all these social networking tools I would find Facebook to be the only one I would use for school purposes. I could create a class webpage considering most schools already have one. This would give the students a chance to talk to one another and ask questions about homework if they need to.
I created a Twitter account but I did not find it to be very easy to understand or navigate. I also do not know anyone that uses that site so I picked authors, schools, and some celebrities to follow which did not have anything that pertained to me. I have had a Facebook account since 2009 and I do not remember being confused on how to navigate the website.
Out of all these social networking tools I would find Facebook to be the only one I would use for school purposes. I could create a class webpage considering most schools already have one. This would give the students a chance to talk to one another and ask questions about homework if they need to.
Thing #17
The information video about Delicious made stacking look like a good idea for teachers to build a website for students to go to and learn more about various class topics on their own. This could be beneficial to the teacher because he or she is expanding the knowledge and desire to learn in his or her students.
I found that the Delicious website has changed since the video was made or my program on my computer just doesn't display it the same way. This made the website more confusing because I had to figure it out on my own. Overall this could be a good teaching tool but their are so many other tools out there that I personally do not see myself using this method.
I found that the Delicious website has changed since the video was made or my program on my computer just doesn't display it the same way. This made the website more confusing because I had to figure it out on my own. Overall this could be a good teaching tool but their are so many other tools out there that I personally do not see myself using this method.
Thing #16
I chose to use iGoogle as my start page. It appealed to me because I already have a Google account so I am already familiar with it along with my information already being in the calender. Since I already have items on it I am more likely to continue using it both for work and personal information. I found it to be easy to use and able to add new gadgets as I desired. I ended up adding my calendar, a translater, and a to do list on it.
Online calendars can be useful in making sure I do not forget about important appointments or deadlines. They are also good in organizing my day which relieves some stress from me since that is one last thing I have to remember. It is very important that the calender has alerts set up though to remind me about appointments in advance.
The to do list on Google was very easy to use and mark as low, medium, or high importance. It was not very time consuming. I personally find the translater tool to be useful because I talk to friends around the world who speak different languages. Having this tool on my iGoogle page makes it very easy for me to access when I need it.
Online calendars can be useful in making sure I do not forget about important appointments or deadlines. They are also good in organizing my day which relieves some stress from me since that is one last thing I have to remember. It is very important that the calender has alerts set up though to remind me about appointments in advance.
The to do list on Google was very easy to use and mark as low, medium, or high importance. It was not very time consuming. I personally find the translater tool to be useful because I talk to friends around the world who speak different languages. Having this tool on my iGoogle page makes it very easy for me to access when I need it.
Thing #15
I found the Wiki concept to be very interesting since I have always been told by professors not to use wiki's for research information in college assignments. After finding out more about the creation of Wiki's in this assignment I now realize why they cannot always be considered a reliable source since anyone can edit them.
Wiki's would be a good idea for teachers to use in their classroom in order for everyone in the class to be able to communicate with one another about a project or activity. At the same time it is important to make sure that they students are aware of the purpose of the Wiki and the assignment so that items on the Wiki are not being erased after a student or teacher posts important information.
Wiki's would be a good idea for teachers to use in their classroom in order for everyone in the class to be able to communicate with one another about a project or activity. At the same time it is important to make sure that they students are aware of the purpose of the Wiki and the assignment so that items on the Wiki are not being erased after a student or teacher posts important information.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Thing #14
I chose to use Gliffy and Bubbl.us because one was a flowchart and the other was a mind map. They both seem like they would be very useful tools when making a flowchart for educational purposes. Both websites had their own benefits.
I found Bubbl.us to be more user friendly and straight forward. This would be a very useful site for beginners and basic mind maps. Gliffy was a little more confusing to me until I practiced with it for a while. Once I started a flowchart and tested out different options I noticed that this was a good tool to use for making a wide variety of flowcharts with various styles. This tool allows the teacher to be able to use his or own style in the flowchart.
I found Bubbl.us to be more user friendly and straight forward. This would be a very useful site for beginners and basic mind maps. Gliffy was a little more confusing to me until I practiced with it for a while. Once I started a flowchart and tested out different options I noticed that this was a good tool to use for making a wide variety of flowcharts with various styles. This tool allows the teacher to be able to use his or own style in the flowchart.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Thing #13
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/144G5u4W0STP88o8zJ-iBAFEeSbEzWMH7SOnrI37NGrY/edit?usp=sharing
This is the picture I was able to draw using Google Docs. This would be a good tool for students to use on collaborative projects. It was nice that there are different options that can be selected when sharing such as letting other edit documents that are shared on this website.
Zoho writer was user friendly and a good tool for students to use as well. It was good to save projects so documents can be retrieved from any computer with internet access. The fact that it is free is also useful when encouraging students to use it.
I cannot say which one I prefer since I have not used either one on a regular basis yet but I can see how they are both different yet similar. Zoho writer seems to be more for personal use and Google Docs is more for sharing.
Zoho writer was user friendly and a good tool for students to use as well. It was good to save projects so documents can be retrieved from any computer with internet access. The fact that it is free is also useful when encouraging students to use it.
I cannot say which one I prefer since I have not used either one on a regular basis yet but I can see how they are both different yet similar. Zoho writer seems to be more for personal use and Google Docs is more for sharing.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Thing #4
Commenting on blogs can create a sense of community and interactions because it allows the author to know others are reading their blogs by the comments that are attached. If no one ever put a comment on my blog I would think that no one was reading it. Comments help the author of the blog learn what they are doing well along with what they can work on as well. People are more likely to participate in blogs when they have common interests and views on topics that are being discussed.
I made a comment on Kyle Christmas' Thing #6 blog because I found the schoology.com website he posted to be interesting.
Ethan Bourke's Thing #9 blog had some creative comics from the comic generator so I told him he did a good job.
I commented on Jordan Tupper's Thing #7 since he used a picture from his small hometown from Flickr. It made me think of my hometown and look it up on Flickr. There was only one picture on Flickr from my hometown.
Pam Hankins' Thing #7 caught my interest with the picture of all the books in the dumpster. When I read her comment about the picture I agreed that technology is replacing books even though it is nice to be able to flip through pages.
I thought Cat Stiegler's Thing #9 was good because of the picture she made out of words using the Imagechef generator. I figured this would be good for students to use in class even though I did not use this website for my project on this particular assignment.
One comment I left on a group conversation was about Google Maps acquiring Waze because I think it would be useful to learn about traffic jams before getting to them. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/google-maps-and-waze-outsmarting.html#gpluscomments
I also left a comment on the group conversation for Teacher blogging Basics because it had a good step by step post on how to set up a blog. I thought it was informative and good for letting other teachers know what technology is available to them and how they can create an account to use it for the benefit of their students. http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5338969806910204791&postID=7756631036581715038&page=1&token=1371348883479&isPopup=true
I made a comment on Kyle Christmas' Thing #6 blog because I found the schoology.com website he posted to be interesting.
Ethan Bourke's Thing #9 blog had some creative comics from the comic generator so I told him he did a good job.
I commented on Jordan Tupper's Thing #7 since he used a picture from his small hometown from Flickr. It made me think of my hometown and look it up on Flickr. There was only one picture on Flickr from my hometown.
Pam Hankins' Thing #7 caught my interest with the picture of all the books in the dumpster. When I read her comment about the picture I agreed that technology is replacing books even though it is nice to be able to flip through pages.
I thought Cat Stiegler's Thing #9 was good because of the picture she made out of words using the Imagechef generator. I figured this would be good for students to use in class even though I did not use this website for my project on this particular assignment.
One comment I left on a group conversation was about Google Maps acquiring Waze because I think it would be useful to learn about traffic jams before getting to them. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/google-maps-and-waze-outsmarting.html#gpluscomments
I also left a comment on the group conversation for Teacher blogging Basics because it had a good step by step post on how to set up a blog. I thought it was informative and good for letting other teachers know what technology is available to them and how they can create an account to use it for the benefit of their students. http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5338969806910204791&postID=7756631036581715038&page=1&token=1371348883479&isPopup=true
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Thing #12
http://www.google.com/alerts/manage?mqm=c&q=The+Walking+Dead&x=AMJHsmV2KUx1j6-jjfnLcB7na5pJVvHIvQ:1370995004535
This is the link to the alert I set up for the show The Walking Dead. My fiance and I love this show and I figured it would be interesting to stay up to date with what is going on with the show even if it is over until the fall of 2013. Alerts can be used by teachers and students to update reports on new topics as new information comes available.
https://www.google.com/calendar/render?gsessionid=vaqmWBnuyqBYWaum3AwCZg
Above is the link I used to put dates on my calender. It was interesting to see the dates go onto my phone calender as well since I have my google account set up on my cell phone. This could be an important site for both teachers and students to stay up to date and know what to expect and prepare for each day of class if topics were posted on a calender like this one.
Thing #11
Google Blog Search was the easiest of the search tool I used. I simply had to put in a topic and I was able to read an article about the topic and there were blogs or comments at the bottom of the article I could read. I found Topix.net and Technorati to be very confusing and the blogs were meaningless to me. Maybe I just wasn't able to navigate them very well since I do not have any blog experience prior to this class.
I did not find any other ways to locate newsfeeds other than to search for them. I found useful feeds about things that are happening through the Google Blog Search. It allowed me to click on a link where I was able to read the article written, followed by the comments that people submitted about the article. I liked that I could follow the comments and knew what the people were talking about unlike the comments on the other blog search sites.
I did not find any other ways to locate newsfeeds other than to search for them. I found useful feeds about things that are happening through the Google Blog Search. It allowed me to click on a link where I was able to read the article written, followed by the comments that people submitted about the article. I liked that I could follow the comments and knew what the people were talking about unlike the comments on the other blog search sites.
Thing #10
I like that RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and newsreaders let you know what is updated on their page. This technology could be useful in helping teachers stay up to date with technology and collaborate with one another from around the world. It can also be used by students to stay up to date on current events of a topic that the class may be discussing in depth for a class project. I did notice that on some of the newsreaders that not all the information posted on them is relevant to the topic I was looking for when I did a search. Teachers can use this RSS technology to their advantage by asking students questions and seeing if they can update the teacher instead of the teacher having to update them on an ongoing topic.
Thing #9
I tried the text generators below for this project. There were different designs that I was able to choose from on the first text the says, "Blog fun". On the second and third texts I was able to choose from hundreds of different font styles. I liked this second text generator because it had more fonts to choose from which could be used to get the interest of the students on a power point slide show for class, but it is important to make it something that students can still read. For the first week or two of class these fonts could be used to make name plates for each student's desk until the teacher and classmates know who everyone is. It also gives the student a chance to be creative and show some of their personality in the font that they choose for his or her name.
¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ βℓ๏ǥ ƒµɲ ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸
http://www.webestools.com/stylish-text-generator-nickname-message-msn-facebook-windows-live-messenger-text-accents-effect-ascii-text.html
¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸ βℓ๏ǥ ƒµɲ ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸
http://www.webestools.com/stylish-text-generator-nickname-message-msn-facebook-windows-live-messenger-text-accents-effect-ascii-text.html
Thing #8
I used the moasaic maker to create this picture creation by getting pictures off of Flickr. It is nice to see that can be put in some sort of collage. This could be useful to incorporate in powerpoint slides to get the students' attention.
1. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rangith/2738914601/">Butterfly</a>, 2. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alainpicard/4175214087/">Butterfly</a>, 3. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doug88888/4769059172/">Butterfly eye - canon 550d</a>, 4. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmiers2/4886399535/">Butterfly</a>, 5. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/30374175@N07/2896794740/">Monarch Butterfly</a>, 6. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmiers2/5696773549/">Butterfly</a>, 7. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildhaber/5812527129/">Butterfly</a>, 8. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/elpasobirdman/6557701047/">Butterfly</a>, 9. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/39259915@N02/3609624855/">Butterfly</a>, 10. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregfoster/3365801458/">Transparent Butterfly</a>, 11. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/magic-at-photos/3782681940/">Peacock Butterfly in bright sunlight</a>, 12. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/doug88888/4721986462/">White Butterfly</a>, 13. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinofranchi/2040935456/">Butterfly</a>, 14. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/s_fox/358204689/">Butterfly</a>, 15. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/albertinix/8800018976/">Butterfly</a>, 16. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjphotos/42324588/">Butterfly</a>
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Thing #7
Image citation:
christophepunkt. "Castle Hohenzollern". 25 Oct. 2009. 9 June 2013
http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlieecko/4043593108/
I've always been interested in castles since they no longer build castles and the United States is not known for them. I would love to visit the United Kingdom, Germany, or Ireland so that I see some of the castles in person. The castle in the photo is in Germany. I like how it on top of a mountain away from everything else.
There were a lot of different pictures and groups of photos that are available to view on the Flickr website. I was not aware of this site before today so it took me a while to figure out how to be able to load the picture onto this blog from the Flickr website.
Thing #6
http://blurtopia.com/about
https://www.copy.com/about/
I explored Blurtopia and Copy. Blurtopia seems a lot like an interest website more than a learning website. It allows people to ask questions about whatever is on their mind to everyone across the world that uses this website. It would be important to remember that some things are socially acceptable in some cultures but not acceptable in others when asking questions and opinions on clothes. The website could be useful in giving users ideas of things they may like to try in the future. I could not see this being a useful tool for school so I looked at another site/tool to see if it would be useful for school or the library.
Copy seemed to be a useful site to store documents and pictures. The user is also able to share documents, pictures, and anything else he or she downloads to the website. They are also able to put their own protection on the website so only people they want to look at the web page can see it. This can be useful for students to start working on Internet and writing assignments in the classroom or library and be able to pick up where they left off once they get home by putting it on this website. Users are able to store 15GB for free.
https://www.copy.com/about/
I explored Blurtopia and Copy. Blurtopia seems a lot like an interest website more than a learning website. It allows people to ask questions about whatever is on their mind to everyone across the world that uses this website. It would be important to remember that some things are socially acceptable in some cultures but not acceptable in others when asking questions and opinions on clothes. The website could be useful in giving users ideas of things they may like to try in the future. I could not see this being a useful tool for school so I looked at another site/tool to see if it would be useful for school or the library.
Copy seemed to be a useful site to store documents and pictures. The user is also able to share documents, pictures, and anything else he or she downloads to the website. They are also able to put their own protection on the website so only people they want to look at the web page can see it. This can be useful for students to start working on Internet and writing assignments in the classroom or library and be able to pick up where they left off once they get home by putting it on this website. Users are able to store 15GB for free.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Thing #5
School 2.0 is when teachers use Web 2.0 to their benefit so that they can communicate with students and other groups about different subjects. School 2.0 can be used to collaborate and learn with one another. Blogs, video clips, and wikis can all be used to share work and information.
As more schools and teacher start to use Web 2.0 to their benefit students will have more ways to learn and communicate. This will assist in students who don't always get a chance to participate in class because they can post their knowledge or viewpoints on a blog the teacher has set up for the class. Students from around the world would also be able to communicate which could be beneficial in getting students to want to learn a different language.
As more schools and teacher start to use Web 2.0 to their benefit students will have more ways to learn and communicate. This will assist in students who don't always get a chance to participate in class because they can post their knowledge or viewpoints on a blog the teacher has set up for the class. Students from around the world would also be able to communicate which could be beneficial in getting students to want to learn a different language.
Thing #3
I plan on being a middle school math teacher. A blog would be very useful for me to post assignments and lessons that cover new material the students may need to have access to easily. If the lessons were able for students to look at outside of class they may have a better understanding of the material. Students also wouldn't feel as rushed to understand the information and they can learn it at their own pace in the privacy of their home. Questions and comments can also be posted in case students need assistance with any of the assignments or lessons. Classmates would also be able to help each other if needed. This would be beneficial because fellow classmates may teach other students the same information in another way that might make more sense to the student having difficulty in the problem.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Thing #2
I have no prior experience reading or writing blogs. I just named my blog my first name and last name but I added 2006 at the end of it for the address because that was the year my son was born. The blog was pretty easy to create since I followed the directions that were posted on The 23 Things link. I did have a little bit of troubles navigating through the posts but I believe I have it figured out now.
My avatar looks a lot like me but not exactly due to the fact that my hair style was not available as an option on the avatar link. It reflects me because it is dressed nicely like what I wear to school when I would substitute teach. There is also a blue shirt because blue is my favorite color so I have several blue articles of clothing in my closet.
My avatar looks a lot like me but not exactly due to the fact that my hair style was not available as an option on the avatar link. It reflects me because it is dressed nicely like what I wear to school when I would substitute teach. There is also a blue shirt because blue is my favorite color so I have several blue articles of clothing in my closet.
Thing #1
Teach and mentor others would be the easiest of the lifelong learning habits for me because I enjoy sharing information and knowledge to both students and coworkers, especially when the topic is something new that I have learned. Using technology to my advantage would have to be the hardest lifelong learning habit because I do not stay up to date with new technology like I should in order to be able to use it in the classroom.
This is the first blog that I have ever set up so it has been a learning experience already. I am hoping that as time goes on I am able to navigate the blog easier. The different Web 2.0 tools are going to be helpful in communicating with students and making sure that everyone stays informed. It is also a good way for students to reach me in case they have a last minute question when they are working on an assignment or studying for a test.
This is the first blog that I have ever set up so it has been a learning experience already. I am hoping that as time goes on I am able to navigate the blog easier. The different Web 2.0 tools are going to be helpful in communicating with students and making sure that everyone stays informed. It is also a good way for students to reach me in case they have a last minute question when they are working on an assignment or studying for a test.
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