Summary

I cannot believe the 23 Things assignment is over! I really enjoyed going through all the "Things" and learning so much about web 2.0 tools! I had no idea how much there really was out there on the internet and this assignment really opened my eyes. I feel educated on the web 2.0 tools that are available to teachers. I really enjoyed using imagechef and flicker. I was able to express a little bit of my own personality through those exercises. I also enjoyed making the Animoto video. That was also an assignment that allowed me to let a little of my personality shine through during this project. I already know the 23 Things assignment has prepared me to be a better teacher. I was really clueless of all the interactive websites that are out there on the web and now knowing what is all out there, I believe my students are going to benefit from my knowledge of the educational internet tools. I plan on staying in touch with the web 2.0 tools by keeping up with Diigo and TeacherPop. Overall I felt this semester long assignment was very useful and beneficial for me as a future teacher.

Thing #23

Creative Commons is definitely very important to both teachers and students. Teachers have to be careful not to use anything that is copyrighted. I will definitely find a fun way to make sure my elementary students are aware of creative commons. The copyright law is one that everyone should know about and know how to properly site work that is not their own.

Thing #22

I chose to use the Education Podcast Network. The podcasts were neatly organized and really easy to use. I liked how you could either search podcasts by subject or grade level. I watched a podcast called Visit the Universe Around Us. It was a very informative podcast and it definitely showed me that podcasts are a great technology tool that should be used in the classroom. It actually did make me want to make another podcast. However, I did not find a podcast that I might want to subscribe to and listen to regularly but that does not mean there is not one out there. I am definitely going to use podcasts in my classroom when I become a teacher.

Thing #21

My Life

I really enjoyed making my 30 second video on Animoto. I liked picking out ten of my own pictures and I used a song from the Animoto music library. I definitely would use this site again in the future. It was really easy to make the video because everything was set up with very clear instructions.

Thing #20

I totally think that YouTube can be a beneficial aspect in the classroom. There are so many great educational videos on the site. The video I picked was about the solar system because that is what my project standard is about. You can also create an account and make your own videos and post them up on the site. A teacher could definitely use that to their advantage. Using video in the classroom appeals to multiple learning techniques. Since anyone can post something on the site, it is important that when using YouTube in the classroom it is closely monitored.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NIveh7h6Dg&feature=related

Thing #19

I am proud to say I am a member of the teacher social networking site, TeacherPop. I think this network is a great way for teachers and future teachers to share their creative teaching ideas. It is also a great site for teachers to just share how they are feeling and ask any questions they may have about teaching in general. I also checked out the Project Playlist social networking site and really enjoyed it! I love music so I thought it was really neat how you can make your own playlist of listen to other playlists already made up by other users. I could definitely see myself using this social networking site in the future.

Thing #18

This learning exercise was a lot of fun because I use social networking every day. I have a facebook account and I enjoy being able to stay connected with family and friends that are far away. It is important for educators to know how social networking works because it is the most commonly used form of transportation among students of all ages today. I like facebook because it is really easy to use and there is not a ridiculous amount of advertising like there is on some other social networking sites. I could see using facebook in the classroom. A special private group just for the class would have to be made and all students would have to have an account. There would have to be strong monitoring by the teacher for the younger students who would be using this networking site.

Thing #17

I was not a huge fan of the Delicious site. I like the Diggo social bookmarking site we use for class but I didn't really care for this one. I can see using social bookmarking in the classroom but not as much as some of the other web 2.0 tools we have learned about. Teachers can take advantage of the social bookmarking by being able to share educational websites with other teachers in an organized manner.

Thing #16

I chose the iGoggle start page. I am a fan of the Google search engine so I thought that might be a start page that I would like. I am definitely thinking about making it my homepage. I adjusted the page to have everything that I like to open up right away when I get onto my computer so I am considering making this my homepage. An online calendar can really be useful to me. I like to be organized and I use my student planner all the time. I am online often though and it would be nice to have something right in front of me instead of having to go into my backpack to find out what I need to do or what events are coming up. I always make to-do lists. I always write down things on paper that I have to get done. Making an online to-do list was pretty helpful however, I may just stick to the old pencil and paper method. I really did like the online calendar tool. I can definitely see myself using that in the classroom. I would suggest the iGoogle account to others because it is fun and you can totally personalize your home page!

Thing #15

Using a wiki was an interesting experience. It was kind of weird being able to change and edit other peoples ideas and pictures. I have used Wikipedia before to look up certain topics quickly. It really makes you realize that some of the things you may be reading on Wikipedia are not true. However it is nice when editors cite where they got their information. You could use a wiki in your classroom for getting quick announcements out to students and it's easy for you as a teacher to edit your information quickly.

Thing #14

I chose Gliffy for the flow chart. I thought that it was really easy to use! I felt that it was pretty self explanatory and fun. I found it easy to be creative while making my flow chart. For the mind map I used Bubbl.us. However I did not find it as easy to use as the flow chart site but it was not difficult to use. It took me a little longer to figure out where everything was and how to use the tools.

Thing #13

I thought the Zoho Accounts were really neat. I personally liked the Zoho writer a lot. I thought it was so cool that you could retrieve documents both online and offline and I really liked the organizational part of it. Plus, there were a ton of cool features like the enhanced sidebar and being able to tag your folders!

Thing #12

WOW! Google really does do it all! I am very impressed! By far my favorite google tool is iGoogle. It only took literally thirty seconds to create it and when it opened up, my jaw dropped to the floor. I could not believe all the stuff that was on my page, and how well everything was organized. I stayed on my iGoogle page for a while just checking everything out. The other good tool I used was the Google Calendar which was really neat as well. I like being organized so when I put in my class schedule and volleyball schedule, it was nice to see my week planned out. Both Google tools can definitely be used for educational purposes. The Google Calendar can help organize the most unorganized person in the world by easily just typing in a few things. Teachers would definitely like to have a tool to help them organize their week and teaching schedule. The iGoogle would be useful in education because it has pretty much anything you can think of on it. Anywhere from the time and weather to a quick youtube link that could be beneficial for all subjects as a visual aid. Here is a link to my iGoogle. Check it out!
http://www.google.com/ig

Thing #11

I found typing in a topic in the search bar was the easiest way to search for feeds. I thought that the Google Blog Search was the easiest search tool to use. The search tool that was the most confusing was Topix. I found a cool elementary education feed while I was searching around and I added it to my collection. I tried to find a feed for volleyball but I was unsuccessful. I found Bloglines home page useful in searching for more feeds because it has a top 200 feed list that I was able to look through and add the ones that interested me.

Thing #10

I really enjoyed learning about RSS. I feel that it is going to be a really useful tool for me to use in my future teaching career. I like how the newsreaders were really organized and easy to navigate. I chose the newsreader "bloglines" and created a free account. I added five different feeds that were interesting to me. Teachers can take advantage of this technology by being able to pick educational categories and pull up websites and information fast.

Thing #9

At first I had a little trouble with figuring out how to work the image generators, but once I got a hang of it, I had a lot of fun creating different images. I used ImageChef and picked the category "music" to create the photo on the top.
http://www.imagechef.com/ic/product.jsp?cat=music
For the image on the bottom I used ImageChef again but picked visual poetry this time. I got to express a little bit of my own personality in both of these pictures.
http://www.imagechef.com/ic/poem/
The image generators can be used in the classroom for main point makers. For example, the student could look at a single image and get the whole main point of a book. This web tool would be very useful in education.

Thing #8

Making this Flickr mashup was so much fun! What a totally neat way to organize your photos and/or ideas! Flickr/Flickr mashup could be used in the classroom for grouping together pictures or words of a subject matter all into one whole image. I have mixed feelings about sharing photos online. One part of me feels that sharing photos is a great way to connect with people and a fun way to show your personality. On the other hand, some photos could be personal and shouldn't be shared with strangers. I share photos on facebook with the people who I accept to be my friend and I love being able to have those memories at the click of a button.

Thing #7

The beach! I decided to use the "beach" tag when I was searching through Flickr. I never knew how cool flickr really was. I also looked through a few of the recently posted pictures on flickr, and it was really fun. The groups are fun to see what other people in the world are interested in the same things you are. I had heard about flickr before this discovery exercise but I never knew how in depth and interesting it was. This photo was taken by Suzette Cruz and it is beautiful. I also saw some other work by this photographer and liked it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeturna/4437138724/

Thing #6

http://www.lulu.com/community/index.php?cid=en_tab_community
This was the site I went to for web 2.0 discovery exercise. I thought it was an extremely useful and interesting site. I really like to read so this electronic book site definitely interested me. I could totally see this site being used in both the classroom and the library. You can buy books, create books and blog about the books. I was very impressed with this web 2.0 site and now that I know it is available to me I will definitely look into it. There is a free membership sign up so that is another positive part about the site.

Thing #5

I find the whole web 2.0 thing very interesting. School 2.0 would be definitely something that would benefit children in the classroom. I totally believe that we need to keep up with technology in the classroom so that children continue to be interested in learning. Web 2.0 is definitely something that would help educators teach at a higher level and make subjects and material a lot more fun and interesting. Future schools would definitely benefit from web 2.0, I think it will be a complete must have in the future.

Thing #4

I feel that commenting is definitely a positive thing when it comes to blogging. I think sharing ideas and opinions is what makes blogging fun. It is important to be able to learn from others and it's a great time to listen to what others have to say. Being open ended with some responses is a great idea. I know that open ended questions plays a huge role in the classroom so I feel that blogging will definitely help with that. The five people I commented on from our group is Nick Newsome, Ashlyn Pentecost, Kara Plunkett, Ashlie Lawsome, and Nick Hampton. I picked these five people becuase I had something in common with something they said in their posts. The other two blog sites I picked were cooking blogs. One was about a yummy chocolate dessert and the other on a delicious roasted chicken dinner. I picked to comment on these blogs because I enjoy cooking and learning how to make new things to share with my friends.

Thing #3

I definitely see myself using a blog in my future teaching because it would help me communicate with other teachers either in my building or even around the world. It is a fast and easy way to share little tips or important information with other experienced teachers. I could use a blog in my future classroom to communicate with parents and post fun things that happen in my classroom along with grades and important announcements.

Thing #2

My blog name is nothing original. I just used my first name because I was the only one in the class with the name Paige. The experience in making the blog was a good one. I did not think it was too difficult. I really liked making an avatar that looked like me because it was a fun way to have a picture that resembled me on my blog.

Thing #1

The lifelong habit that is going to be the easiest for me is habit number three. I have always been the kind of person who views obstacles as a learning opportunity. I find a way to be motivated by things that may be challenging. The habit that I think I may have some trouble with is habit number four. I sometimes struggle with confidence. I tend to think that seeing is believing when it comes to having confidence in myself. For example, I play volleyball and when I am not performing at my best, I lose confidence in my game.

I am really excited to learn more about web 2.0. I would like to learn little tricks that would help me search the web. I thought that setting up this blog was pretty easy. I was just a little confused at times but it was easy to figure out my questions.