Thing 23: Summary

I do not consider myself very capable when it comes to technology and think I held off exploring some of these avenues because I thought they would be complicated. I have been amazed at how easy all of the Things were to do and am excited to start using them in my classroom, especially Photostory and Ning. Not all was relevant or useful for what I do in my classroom. But I think that is part of what Michael Wesch pointed out in his article, technology alone is not enough. We have to be able to use technology in a way that is beneficial and motivates our students, not just use it so we can say we are using it.

What I really enjoyed about participating in Library2Play is being able to take time to play around with all the tools. I enjoyed doing it at my own pace and when I had the time. I think having it laid out in this way I was able to tackle areas I was too intimidated to do so beforehand.

I was very suprised at all the resources that are out there and how much I have been missing out on. I would love to participate in Library2Play2.

Thing 22: Nings

I am really excited about Ning. We wanted to use it in our classroom last year and didn't get around to setting it up with all the students. Our hope is to use it this year with our students as a way to blog about specific subjects, create discussion boards and online tutorials.

I used it a little bit last spring to connect with teachers from other places. It's really interesting to hear how other teachers are using Web 2.0 and other technology in their classrooms.

Thing 21: Podcasts and Vodcasts

I had no idea Photostory was so easy to use! Last year we tried to make videos about energy sources; I think I did it in the hardest way possible. This will be so much easier to use. And I would also like to use it as a way to record material I cover in class so absent students can listen to it at home. I am going to try and upload it but hear it takes awhile to do so.

Just a warning, I am not working on my computer that has all my pics so my video makes no sense.

Thing 20: You Tube, Teacher Tube

I found last year there are a lot of videos available that provide some humor and are a good way to introduce a new concept or provide a refresher on an old one. My teaching partner and I used this video,Lab Linebacker, as a way to start talking about lab safety in our science classroom. We found it on Teacher Tube.

Thing 19: Web 2.0

Last school year I suscribed to Classroom 2.0 and really enjoyed the forums/events. I was able to get new ideas and discuss them with teachers around the world. I also enjoyed the fact that if I missed one I could go back and watch it at a convienent time for me.
I am really excited about the Web 2.0 Award List as it will be such a great resource. I already searched in my subject areas and found useful tools.

Thing 18: Online Productivity Tools

Some of the teachers on my campus have already used Google docs and I plan to this school year. I see it as an easy way for teachers to share documents with each other. A great tool for collabrotive learning and easily accessible for everyone.

Thing 17: Rollyo

To be honest it will take me a little while to use Rollyo. Maybe I'm not understanding the concept well enough. I made a customized search for the math websites I use frequently and know I can use that to search those sites for whatever information. However I think most of the sites I use often I can just go to and find what I'm looking for just as quickly because I know them so well. It's probably one of those things that as I use it more often I will end up loving it.

Thing 16: Wikis

I would like to incoporate wikis in my math classroom. I am thinking I could use it as a tool for students to explain different concepts in a way that makes sense to them. Then other students would be able to use it as a reference if they are having trouble understanding the material. The more ways something is explained the more kids one is able to reach.

Thing 15: Library 2.0

I found the article by Michael Wesch the most eye-opening. In it he makes the point that technology alone will not help solve our education crisis, it takes good teaching and curriculum relevant to students' lives. It seems Library 2.0 has the ability to be a very useful tool. I can see how it would be very helpful to a librarian, language arts or social studies teacher. I am still working on how I would be able to use it in my classroom.

Thing 14: Technorati

I really enjoyed seeing all the different blogs. I was able to find some that definitely match my interests. It's also interesting to see which blogs are most popular. Tagging is a great way to organize and find material easily; it will surely help with my time management.

Thing 13: Tagging and Delicious

It felt great to organize all of my bookmarks. I tend to bookmark any site I might want to use later but it all became overwhelming looking for what I needed due to my lack of organization. I see how I could use Delicious to share my bookmarks as a way for kids and parents to easily find helpful sites on the web.

Diigo would be great for when kids are completing a group project that requires research and they would love using it!

Thing 12: Creating Community

Reading the articles on blogs and commenting made me realize how important it is to make comments on others blogs. I guess being new to all of this I didn't realize blogs were to be a conversation and of course if only one person is doing the "talking" it is a lecture not a discussion.
I thought Cool Cat made a extremely important point of making sure the comment is both meaningful and relevant, otherwise you are just wasting everyone's time. Blue Skunk made me realize I am not giving as much as I probably should. I enjoy reading the comments people post on my blog and need to do the same.
I guess I was just a little nervous to do so. However, after posting a few comments I seemed to get the hang of it and really enjoyed doing so.

Thing 11: Library Thing

Although I'm not sure how I will use this in my classroom I love the idea for my personal use. I found several groups to join and I am always on the lookout for new authors to read. It's a way for me to also organize what I have already read and easily find where to get a particular book.

Thing 10: Image Generators

I had a great time playing with all the different image creators. I am amazed at how simple they are to use! I am busy creating posters and other things to hang around my classroom. The one posted on this blog is from Image Creator, below is the link to where it was created.

http://www.imagechef.com/ic/word_mosaic/

Thing 9: Useful Library-Related Blogs

For me the easiest search engine was the Edublog Award Winners. I enjoyed using as it allowed me to find good blogs in several areas quickly.
Technorati will be a tool I use frequently throughout the school year. In a short amount of time I was able to find several resources for school and interesting sites for my personal use.

Thing 8: RSS feeds

It was great to finally understand what RSS feeds are and how I can use them. I subscribed to several education blogs and a couple news feeds. The education blogs I subscribed to will be an easy way for me to see what new ideas and thoughts people have on curriculum standards and resources. I love having all the information in one place that is easy to access!

Thing 7: Cool Google Tools

It was hard to set up an iGoogle page due to the fact that there are so many choices I had a hard time deciding what to put on my page. I find that I will go to it to search for something and end up getting playing with the gadgets I put on my page. A lot of fun but I think it makes me less productive as I am easily distracted.

I also explored Google docs and think it will be great to use this coming school year. I plan on creating a website using Google and then uploading assignments that the students can easily access from home. Several of the teachers in my building have used Google docs and love it.

Thing 6: Mashups and 3rd Party Sites

Wow! I am absolutely amazed on how many cool things I found. The kids would have a blast incoporating tools into their projects. They could create a magazine cover for their research project, mosaic for a visual and a lot more. Letting them pick which tool they use for the project would be fun and they all seem easy enough to use that I feel comfortable being able to help them.

Creating My Avatar

I have to admit I enjoyed creating my avatar. It was fun just looking at all the options available. Getting the avatar to show up on my blog was a little frustrating but the comments with suggestions on Thing#3 were helpful.

Thing 5: Flickr

It was enjoyable searching all the pictures. I can see how a person might spend hours looking at them, it seems you could find almost anything you want on the site. I chose the picture of El Capitan because it represents part of the geology of Texas. Land formations is part of the curriculum and I could find some really beautiful picutres to show the kids.

Seven Habits

All humans are born with a natural curiousty. Some people continue with the intrinsic love of learning and others need some sort of extrinsic reward. I belong to the former group. I believe the more we learn about different subjects the more people we are able to communicate with and understand our world.

I have not utilized technology to my advantage. When encountering a problem or question, I tend not to think of how technology would be able to assist me. One of the reasons I am participating in 23 Things is so I will be better able to use technology in my classroom and make it a regular part of my life.