One Last Thing

* What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I loved it all......... it was so great to push myself into technology, and get a better understanding of the "things" that are out there. So far, I'm loving the idea of blogging, since this course, I've created my classroom blog, that has been such an addition to my classroom and parent-teacher communication; as well as student-teacher communication. I also really like GoogleDoc, it's so great, it almost makes a scanner non-essential.
* How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?
Just last night, I was sitting and thinking about how I would like to take more technology classes and add to my "bag-o-tricks". I can not wait for the day, when my classroom is technologically where it should be.......... hopefully sooner rather than later.
* Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was very unaware, of the views and opinions of some of my colleagues. It was nice to see what others' opinions were on some of the issues that are out there regarding technology and the future, in classrooms, social networking etc. I did not dream that I would enjoy it so much, or have so many awesome additions. My Google Reader, will be a definite "habit" that will play a role in my life.
* What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I can't think of much that would make this easier, I loved that I could work at my own pace, work ahead if I needed, or catch up if I needed. I've always been partial to self-paced learning, when I'm being responsible :)
* If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
I'd love to take more courses similar to this, like 23thingster said..... a Next 23 Things would be AWESOME!!!
* How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher or school librarian?
Besides blogging with my students, I will definitely contemplate a Ning for networking with them next year, I'll play this Summer. I also love the idea of using wiki's and blogs for future cooperative learning projects.
* How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be useful.
I have fed several 2.0 feeds into my Reader, hopefully these will keep me, near the cutting edge for now. Hopefully, next year, and further in the future, I can take more Web 2.o courses, that will make my teaching more effective and appropriate for the learning styles that our students are now coming to us with.

Thing # 23

Visit 23 Thingsters


I was a bit overwhelmed with Ning, there is so much..... I kept thinking, where do I start!? I think if I play around with it a bit more, I could find some really useful stuff. I was a bit disappointed in that the Science content that was available, seemed to center around middle school and high school, and had little to nothing for our elementary kiddos. I'd love to create a site that our students, from all three of our departmentalized classrooms, could discuss what was going on in class, in an safe, appropriate, social networking place.

thing # 22

1. Why is it important that educators know how social networking works?

I think it's important to know how social networking works, because whether we like it or not, the kids are out there using it. If we are familiar with how it should be, we can set the right example. I have had a MySpace account since I was in college, and was very hesitant to start it. Once I did, I became very, quickly, addicted. It was amazing that I could find old friends, people I worked with etc. However, I, also very quickly, noticed the "uh oh's" of MySpace. We can help protect our students and their privacy by "keeping a close eye" on what's going on, and by setting a good example of what appropriate "netiquette" is.

2. What new insights did you gain about these popular sites?

Honestly, when we started this class, and I saw that we were discussing social networking, I was surprised. Most of the educators etc. that I know are against social networking. And then there are many I know that use it as well, but they tend to be younger educators, like myself. I think that knowing that it is more widely accepted, helped me realize the importance and impact that we can make, by becoming a part of social networking, WITH our students.

3. What did you like or dislike about each of the sites you explored?

I joined Facebook back in January, so I now have the two to compare. MySpace definitely has the "appeal" you can add your own "flavor" to your page etc. However, it tends to draw a younger audience. Since, joining Facebook, I now frequent it more often. I've also noticed, I have a completely different set of "friends" that are on each network. I don't think I would be able to choose one over the other, I wish everyone would just be on one. :) I do think however, Facebook is more educator friendly, and has less chance for the "inappropriate" things you may find on MySpace, if it's not monitored correctly.

4. Which site had the most useful features?

In addition to what I said in Number 3, I love the apps available on Facebook, I play Who Has the Biggest Brain all the time.... even on my iPhone, which I can update to my Facebook......... oh, where would we be sans technology?

5.Can you see an educational application for any of these sites?

I definitely do, my first year teaching, the last month of school, I had a few of my students request me on MySpace, I was VERY, VERY hesitant to add them. However, after much deliberation, I decided too..... I'm very careful about personal information that I put out there, so I knew it was safe. It turned out to be such a great idea, I had students messaging and commenting me there, asking questions about our homework etc. I was awed. Now, that the MySpace craze has calmed down, I don't have quite the issue with students "friending" me as often, however, with the originals getting older, and more "grown up" I've deleted many of them because it makes me ill at ease to "hear" some of their conversations. It's a double edged sword I think. I'm looking forward to playing with Ning, and possibly creating a school social network, that is user friendly.

Thing #7b

I have really enjoyed my Google Reader. I found an article called Who Are Your Sheep? that I found very interesting. I haven't joined Twitter..... yet, much to the shagrin of many of my friends, but plan to in the future. This article caught my eye. The article discussed an app that you could add to your account that creates a tag cloud of the "professions" of Tweople members that follow you. Take a look at the article, I was amazed by what I found, for him it makes sense, but it made me wonder what a cloud for ALL of Twitter would look like. Hmmmmmmmmm

I also enjoyed a Blue Skunk article about "Geezers online...." that I found very interesting. Looking at it from a Gen Y point of view, I'm amazed at how accurate it is, and how, questionably, sad it makes me. I've lost "touch" with my past, and all I have now is my computer; don't get me wrong, technology saves me in soooo many situations, but do I rely on it too heavily? It reminds me of a picture I've seen before....



Braingle also shared, that keeping your hands and feet warm is a good stress reliever... huh, who would have guessed!?

And finally a quote I liked from Robert Half "Free advice is worth the price."

Thing # 21

I played around a bit with Google alert, Google calendar and iGoogle. I like the Google alert, I'm interested to see what it sends me tomorrow about my terms that I added. I think this would be useful to have students use on specific topics that they are researching etc. Google calendar would be a good way to upload things that are going on in the school, and post it for parents, teachers, the community to see and share. I love the iGooogle, having everything that I "care" about right there at my fingertips, how much easier is that then flipping back and forth, even easier than the tabs :)

Thing # 20

I HEART GoogleDocs, I was introduced to it in my Intel class earlier this year, and have used it almost non-stop since. Every day, almost, I post a blog entry on my site, if we do an assignment or take notes in class, especially if it's teacher created, I upload it to GoogleDocs and then save it to the blog. I can see myself using it professionally, and at home as well. Professionally, it's good for collaborative projects, like the table I've created here.......... I can see it used for sharing notes, like I've done here............ We did that project earlier this year. My classes were broken up into groups and had to "teach" the class certain concepts. It was very interesting. I then typed up the notes that I took, even though they took their own while learning. I uploaded them into my Google Docs, and pasted the link into my Science blog. My parents are loving having access to what we do and write in class. I can even see it for sharing Teacher created quizzes etc. like I've done here..........

On a personal note, I can see my family using this to plan our yearly camping trip. There are so many of us that go, and we each are responsible for food for different days and the different meals, it would be a good way for us all to have a copy of who is cooking/bringing what. Hmmmmmmm....... I wonder if they'd go for it!?!?!?!

Thing # 19

Voicethreads seems to be a very useful topic. I love that you can look at a picture and add your thoughts to it. I can see it being useful for creating a study guide for answering questions. For instance, in number twelve, you are given a picture of buffalo grazing in a field....... what is this picture trying to get you to notice. You should be able to tell that they are herbivores, and they are eating grass....... something along those lines. I could also see it being useful with that one class that always seems to be a bit "rowdy" and can't focus, it would be a good way to get them to do the "fun stuff" without getting off-task. I see lots of possibilities for this. I really enjoyed it.

Here is a voicethread that I could see myself using next year.
http://voicethread.com/share/75228/

Thing # 18

You Tube is very wide-spread, I've had experience with it before, and the kids are very familiar with it, however there is some very "unfriendly" information out there in You Tube land, I was glad to see that there is a "safe" filter, I hadn't ever noticed that before.
Teacher Tube is AWESOME and has some very useful information, I'm in Science Countdown mode and found some awesome stuff that would be good for review. Here are a few examples. I could play on this website forever, but here are some goodies! :)

The Water Cycle Song


A Honda Commercial that would be good when discussing Simple/Compound Machines


A Lunar Eclipse that you can watch


Awesome Weathering and Erosion video that I will be using for sure.

Photosynthesis


HILARIOUS and informative Solids, Liquids and Gases video


I could go on forever, but I digress..........

Thing #17

When playing around with the Podcasts, I previewed several. The Jameston Elementary Project was very interesting. It helped me to see how simple it could be for even the youngest of our learners. I also read, and subscribed to, in iTunes and on GoogleReader, the Tech Teachers. It was interesting to listen to these two teachers talk about the technology that we use in our everyday lives, and how it can help us, and how we can use it, professionally, and personally. I also previewed, and suscribed to Why? The Science Show For Kids. This is a podcast where kids call in and ask questions, and they are answered. I love that it is a question/answer format, it seems that it may be more appealing to my students, however I can also see them, just wanting to watch a demonstration of an experiment on podcast. I can see that being useful, especially on the days we do the "really important" stuff in class, and students are absent. Podcasting can create a bridge between that missed knowledge, and allow them to still make those connections, without us having to "reteach" it. I love the idea. I haven't had any previous use or encounters with podcasting until now, but I look forward to learning more, experimenting, and hopefully implementing one day, soon preferably :)

Thing #16

I can see several uses for this website. I have already been introduced to something similar, and that is Shelfari. My Shelfari bookshelf is already shown on my blog. I found LibraryThing to be very much the same. Personally, I can see myself using both of the two sites, to select books that I'd like to read, either personally, or for my classroom with my students, or for professional growth, towards wanting to be a librarian. I really like looking at the website's Author cloud, it was interesting to see the authors that are added the most frequently etc. I found some authors that I expected to be more popular, and some that were more popular than I had expected.
My library thing.

Thing #15

Delicious......... hmm I was first introduced to this in another technology course that I was taking, and didn't quite utilize it the way that I could/should. Playing around with it for this "thing" was very enlightening. I could find myself thinking of so many professional and personal uses. I can see myself saving all of my links from home to pay bills with, so I could now do that anywhere. I also was able to find some very interesting and useful Science sites to add to my class blog. Tagging is something in it's own. I found myself pondering all sorts of words that I could use to describe one site, I can see how this could be misleading to the wrong information.
I can be found at: http://delicious.com/jandmechols I enjoyed exploring and playing with Delicious, and can really see myself utilizing it more in the future.