Thing 21

I really liked the Classroom 2.0 wiki! It contains some good information for professional development in the use of Web 2.0 including an overview of the technologies and some lesson plan ideas.

Our district has begun to use wikis as school websites. I can see the application being used in that way. Like any other application, there is a learning curve in getting started. I'm not sure that I'm interested in creating one.

Thing 20

Honestly, I subscribe to Firesign Theater, the Honda Civic Choir and Vintage ToonCast. Since I don't have a regular classroom, I don't have a group of educational podcasts to which I subscribe. I always search through iTunes.

Thing 19

I like 'How Stuff Works': http://www.howstuffworks.com/ -- it's like having a mini encyclopedia
and
Story Nory: http://storynory.com/ -- kids like the stories

among other things.

There are so many podcasts available that students and teachers can access. Podcasts are not new to me. I love the accessibility of the podcasts to support student learning. It's like being able to access united streaming on the spur of the moment because one finds a need.

Thing 18

This could be a great way to share info with people anywhere. I like it. Since it's web based, we don't need to worry about who has what software installed on their computer. It would be great as a support for students.

This is an overview of Touch Math that I use for professional development.

Tm

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Thing 17

I spent some time with Knowtes -- really disappointing. It took a minute to figure out how it worked. I expected that there might be more available.

Library Thing was interesting -- it was nice to get suggestions of other books I might like. I'm not sure I would want to pay for use of the site.

Online tools are nice -- and there are lots of them. Sometimes they are more work than I can abide if I have a tool on my computer. However, the resource is there and available as needed.

Thing 16

Google Docs is the best part of this course for me. It's a great way to work with others. It allows us to complete projects without having to meet face-to-face. I love it.

Thing 15

I do understand how feeds work. The reason that I try to keep my feeds down to a minimum has to do with that whole information overload deal. I can seem to find the time to clean up postings, email, and the like. My online content begins to look like my desk on a bad day.

Thing 14

Delicious: maraftary

I've been using Delicious for a long time. As I said in Thing 13, I've arranged and rearranged. There are really too many bookmarked sites at this point and I need to file many of them.

Thing 13

Tagging has been very useful to me. The two main reasons are that I can access my bookmarks from anywhere and they are easy to share with others. Like any filing system, organization is key if you are ever to find a tag for future use. One needs to consider the reasons for tagging a site to determine how best to organize. I have arranged and rearranged my system over time. It continues to need tweeking.

Thing 12

Embedding code is not an issue. I do belong to Facebook. My online relationships there are family and friends, not 'strangers'. I use Facebook to keep up with what is happening in my nieces' and nephews' lives. They are more likely to post a message on my wall than to send an email. We share photos and videos. It works for us. My 87 year old father and 81 year old mother also have Facebook pages. The kids think it's wild, but love it.

I also belong to Second Life. There are some great things there. I have been away from it for awhile -- just no time to keep up relationships there.

I think that the social networking sites help people to feel connected. That's just kind of funny. But it also allows us to keep in touch with friends and family that are far away. I check Facebook. The kids post lots more about what they're doing, thinking, etc. than I do.

I love this gadget -- the photos are amazing!




Review the widget you selected. Are you getting comfortable with embedding code? Do you belong to other online communities? Are relationships formed online as meaningful as face-to-face relationships? Why do you think MySpace and other social networking sites are so popular with kids today?

Thing 11

Commenting on the writing of others is a means of validation. Commenting in online communities is a means of letting others know that they're not alone, that their thoughts are valuable, and to challenge them to look at issues in other ways. When all communication is online, it is absolutely necessary to comment. Failing to comment would be like having a one-sided face-to-face conversation.

I, however, don't like leaving comments on the blogs of strangers. I'm still a face-to-face type. Once I know someone from work or a class, it's much easier to comment.

Thing 10

Here's one of my favorite Tex Avery cartoons. Good for teaching slang/idioms.



The instructions for embedding were simple. Downloading using Zamzar is also simple. It's better for school.

Thing 9

I find lots to like about You Tube. There is also a ton to hate -- but then I don't have to look at anything I don't choose to see. You Tube is blocked in my district. If I want to use video, I have to convert it to another format that the district will accept and post it to the network. It's just extra work -- I have to REALLY want to use the video with students.
Most recently I used video from You Tube to help a friend to teach her students how to interpret 'Silent Night' in American Sign Language.
My nieces and nephews post their videos to Facebook as well as You Tube. It's always fun to access their posts.

Thing 8

That was fun! Here's my jigsaw puzzle. It's a picture of morning glories crawling up a metal sculpture in my yard. There's lots out there. Where do we find the time???? I have more time to play on breaks -- scrapping, puzzles, comics. This will be something to do on a rainy day in the summer or relaxing up north at Christmas.

Cool stuff.
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/jigsaw.php

Thing 7

I think that I would be most concerned about copyright and privacy issues related to using Flickr in the classroom. Provided that it isn't blocked, it would be a great site to use for uploading photos that students take for classroom projects -- particularly if they were taken outside of the school. Since I work with elementary students in a Mac environment, I teach students to download to iPhoto when we use digital cameras so that they can find their photos easily when working on projects.

Thing 6

Since I'm a Mac user, I tend to use iPhoto and Mobile Me (the old .Mac) for sharing photos on line. I found Flickr interesting, but I'm not sure how much I will use it in the future.
I chose this photo of a sunset in Tolofofo, Guam. It was taken on Easter of this year at the end of a trip to see my sister and her family. The other photos on my blog are also from Guam. It had been 10 years since I had been on the island. So much had changed -- amazing growth. Although I see my niece and nephew once a year, it was wonderful to see my sister's in-laws. There were plenty of new babies to call me Auntie Mary.

Thing 5

I am finding that I subscribe to blogs, watch them a bit to see if there is anything I can really use and unsubcribe as needed. I'm afraid that I could spend my entire day on the web and get nothing else done. I enjoy soaking up information, but get little sleep some nights. That's not a good thing. I like to share the blogs I find most useful.

Thing 4

I think that it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of INFORMATION available on the Internet. Blogs are just a slice of that information. It's easy to suffer from information overload. Gone are the days when you had to spend time in the library doing journal research. I choose very few RSS feeds -- only those I really like -- so that I'm not bombarded with information.

Thing 3

Well, it's easy to see that I have been putting off blogging for the entire 10 weeks. I've managed to complete the 23 Things. So, how does writing on the Internet, knowing anyone could read it, change how I write or feel about writing? Hmmm.. I have done some blogging in the past surrounding trips out of the country. I see them as record keeping/journaling for my own benefit. I have shared some with family, but don't have a desire to open them to others. I'm not a big writer of journals -- try as I might, I can't wrap my head around it. I never reread journal entries. Once my reflections are on paper, I can throw them out. It's the way that I work. As for a blog page, I would see it as a resource page for colleagues -- a place to post materials and tech tips. I've been doing that through Moodle within the district. It's been helpful to staff. It's also been a help to me because I can direct them to a place where they can find the information they need. Like anything else, it takes time to keep things up-to-date, but I find it to be worthwhile.