thing #4

Commenting on other blogs is important in creating a sense of community and interaction within the blogging community.  When you comment on other peoples blog that lets them know that what they said was actually heard and acknowledged by another person.  When you comment on other people's blogs it also shows that you are an active blogger and encourages people to post on your blog when they see a post that interests them.  I selected seven blogs from mine and other classes in instructional technology.The first blog I commented on was Natalie's Blog.  Click on the link provided to see my comment.  I commented on her thing # 23 about creative commons I agreed with her views on Copyrights and Creative Commons.  The second blog I commented on was Erica Paredez's Blog.   Click on the link provided to see that comment that I made on her thing # 16.  I agreed with Erica's statement about the redundancy of the to do list when you are already using the calendar to keep up with your events.  The third blog I commented on was Katie Robello's Blog.  Click on the link provided to see the comment I left on her thing # 8 blog post.  I really enjoyed the collage she made for thing # 8 and I enjoyed what she had to see about the assigned task.  The fourth blog I commented on was Rebecca Black's Blog.  Click on the link provided to see the comment I left on her thing # 6 blog post.  She talked about a program called evernote which I also enjoy using.  It is an awesome program that helps you keep up with your notes all you have to do is log into your account and you can pull up the notes on a different computer or your phone and edit them.  The fifth blog I posted on was Derek Carroll's Blog.  Click on the link provided to see the comment I left on his thing # 17 blog post.  I agreed with him on how helpful the delicious search engine is when looking for websites with merit.  This search engine is better than using google because it narrows down the search because it searches out websites that have some sort of academic merit.  The sixth blog I posted on was Jeremy Roe's Blog.  Click on the link provided to see the comment I left on his thing # 9 blog post.  I really enjoyed this blog post his ideas for using the cartoon drawings in the classroom are very innovative.  The last blog I posted on was Nick Caudill's Blog.  Click on the link provided to see the comment I left on his thing # 8.  I really enjoyed the mashup he made using the Flickr website.  I really enjoy using Flickr and it is a really easy fun artist way to represent yourself.   

Thing # 19

I am now a member of TeacherPop and I also have a Facebook and I believe having networking sites that you are a member of is important.  When we join networking sites it expands our reach into the community whether it be in a social manner or a professional one.  Everything we do online in this day and age is seen by other people and also has an impact on the world.  It is important to join networking groups that will further you in your social or professional endevours and there are many sites that can help you do that.  I like using networking communities to stay informed of what is going on in different fields that interest me and I plan on joining more networking sites as I go farther in my professional life

Visit TeacherPop

Thing # 22

I used Live Binders to compile information pertaining to my future job as an English teacher.  I created three binders.  The first had general ideas and lesson plans for my future class.  The second binder has writing prompts and information related to writing papers and essay.  The last binder I made has games for students pertaining to grammar, writing, and general education.  The titles of my binders are pretty generic they are "English Education," "Education," and "English Education Games." 
I could use Live Binders in my class to keep up with all the resources I plan to use in my class.  I can compile more and more information throughout my years of teaching and hopefully it will help me create more interesting lesson plans.  My English Education Games Live Binder also has general games that can be used in other classes.

Thing # 21

Using Animoto is super easy.  I was surprised at how quickly I could make a 30 second video via Animoto.  This is a cute and easy way to make slideshows for any type of event.  I would definitely use this in my day to day life for different events or awards ceremonies for my sorority, class and personal life.  I recommend everyone get an Animoto account it is a lot of fun to use and you can pull photos from facebook, Flickr and other resources which make it even easier to make.  

Thing # 15

Wiki's are a convenient tool to use in the education field.  They are a great way to make a collection of resources to be used in the classroom.  I would like to use wikis to compile resources and online projects in one place so all my students can access them and utilize their time wisely. 
I like the fact that Wikis can be made accessible to large groups of people.  I would have never thought to use wikis as part of my educational endeavors. Wikis are something I can see myself using quite often because they are easy to create and can be accessed by many people. 

The end of 23 things

I loved the 23 things blog posting project.  It was a bit tedious at times but I learned a great deal from this project.  I plan on incorporating as much technology into my classroom as I can because I feel it is important that children learn how to properly use technology since we are living in the technological age.  I was truly surprised at the amount of education related information on the Internet that was beneficial to teachers and students.  This information will help me make lesson plans and teach the class more effectively. 
I think this program is beneficial toward college students going into the teaching field and i don't really see any problems with or improvements needed in regards to the project.  I think a good way to keep up with the technology in the teaching world is too always stay on all the teaching forums and also keep up with twitter and Facebook because they are a great way to keep in touch with educators across the country and communicate ideas.  I plan on continuing my blogging to keep up with new ideas and share them with other educators.  When I become a teacher I plan on renaming my blog for my classroom and use it as a communication source for other teachers and my students.  

Thing # 23

 

The Above picture is from the 2.0 23 things site on Diigo.  It states that 23 things was based on something else and is not the original idea of the author of the site.

For item 23 we investigated what exactly creative commons meant and what a copyright law really was.  The Youtube video on the 2.0 23 things website taught me a lot about what copyrights mean and shows a good way you can use copyright material correctly. 

I didn't know that pictures that I used for powerpoints from google had a copyright on them.  Now I know to always check on whether something has a copyright on it that allows its use or not.  This is important to know because ignorance of a law is no excuse and you can still get sued for using it improperly.   

Thing # 20

Like most people I already know and use you tube on a regular basis.  This isn't a new thing for me therefore I know how to use the website completely.  The benefits of YouTube are multiple but for the most part being able to find songs and videos easily is the biggest advantage.  The downside to using YouTube is that it is harder to find the original version because people can take a song give it the same title and do what they want with it.  The only thing I could see that would be a beneficial component of this website is the search method.
The YouTube video I choose to share on this blog is called The Good, The Bankrobber, and The Girl That Got Away.  This video was made by my best friends Brittanie and Brooke Jackson for their art class in high school.  They were answering the question of why should you graduate college.  I felt that made this an appropriate video for an education blog, plus it's absolutely adorable. 

Thing # 18

It is important that educators know how social networking works because in this day and age knowing how to use technology appropriately is important in every field of work.  Everything including the education field is becoming more and more technologically advanced therefore educators have to evolve with the changing field.  Being able to use social networking sites will help educators network with other educators across the country. 
I already had a facebook so I knew how to use social networking sites before I started this class.  Something important to keep in mind when you have a facebook or twitter is that everyone including your employer can see it.  It is important to keep your facebook or twitter professional because employers tend to check your facebook now when considering you for employment. 
 I don't really see the need for these sites in a classroom setting but they are good sites for networking.  Most people already have some sort of profile on a social networking site so it is easy to keep in touch with people in a variety of ways. 

Thing # 16

Recently I started a widget home page from the iGoogle program.  This is a convenient way to keep up with all of the things that interest you.  I made it my permanent home page because it is an easy way to get updated on all the things I'm most interested in without having to go to a bunch of different pages. 
Another program that I have used recently is the calendars on google.  These calendars make it convenient and easy to keep up with all the mandatory events and test dates that are important to me as a college student since I am a member of many different organizations along with having two jobs.  The calendars give you the option to link it to your cell phone so that it reminds you of all the events you have on your calendar.  The to do list are also helpful so you can list out the things you want to do throughout the day.  They aren't really necessary if you have the calendar though because it's basically like a to do list. 
Overall I definitely would recommend using the calendars they are very useful in your day to day life, especially if you are an active person who has a lot to keep up with.  I also feel like the widget home page from iGoogle is also something useful.  I personally use it daily to keep current on every subject that I find relevant in my life. 

Thing # 17

Social bookmarking is a good way to access information pertaining to a certain subject in a quick and easy manner when things are tagged properly.  I like using social bookmarking sites they make it easy to search items so that you can find what you are looking for a lot quicker by typing in a keyword that is relevant to your topic.  Teachers can use the social bookmarking tool for plenty of things.  A perfect example is the use of tagging in my Education 3040 class where we tag our posts so we can find our posts on Diggo easier by typing the keyword we tagged on that post.  I think I would definitely use social bookmarking in an upper level class if Internet was a big part of the class.

Thing #14

     Recently I explored the differences between flowcharts and mind maps.  These two idea mapping tools although very similar have distinct differences.  Flow Charts map the flow of ideas.  It is the usual style people use when problem solving.  A good example of this is at Gliffy.com under flowcharts.  Mind maps are something most people are familiar with from their years in middle and high school.  The mind maps are what pretty much every student was taught to use when they were writing a paper.  You start with your main idea and from that your sub ideas and then from each sub idea you have different points that go with the sub idea.  A good site to use so you can play around with making mind maps is bubbl.us  I do use mind maps quite often as an English major when working on papers.  Using mind maps helps me clearly think through each idea I have for body paragraphs and make sure that I have enough points to expand the topic into a paragraph with substance. 
                        

Thing #13

Today I tested out two Web-Based Applications which were Zoho and Google Docs.  These applications are extremely easy to use and are also FREE.  These applications allow you to create documents from your computer without having to have software programs installed on your computer.  I enjoyed using both sites but my favorite was Google Docs.  It is easy to use and has everything laid out for you, all you have to do is enter your information into the program.  These Web-Based Applications allow multiple people work on the same project simultaneously thus increasing productivity.  With the ability to collaborate with someone without that person being in the room the possibilities for collaboration are infinite.  These documents make it easy to seamlessly work with people across the world on a single project.  I created a simple Google Doc about keeping up with my budget.  This was a very easy to use document you just enter in your figures and it fills out all the information. 

Thing # 12

Two google tools I like to use are Google Calendar and Google Translate.  These are the most useful in my day to day life.  My Google Calendar is pretty bare right now because I just created it but I can already see how useful it can be.  You can even link it to your phone so it'll alert you when you have an event coming up.  These is very convenient for teachers and students alike.  You can also share your calendar with anyone so if you have a hectic schedule it will be easier for people to see when you are available instead of constantly asking.  I currently use google translator for my Spanish class.  When I come across a word I don't know in the readings I use google translator to find out what it means.  It is quick and easy to use but do not try to translate whole sentences because they will not always come out in accurate Spanish but it is good for single words or phrases. 

Thing # 11

I loved using Google reader it made subscribing to other blogs super easy, I could find everything I was looking for in a matter of minutes and subscribe to everything that interests me.  The search tool that I found the easiest besides using google reader was Google Blog search .  Overall these are the two easiest ways to find and subscribe to blogs.  The Google Blog search and Google reader are laid out in the regular Google display which everyone is use to and that makes it simple to understand and use.  None of the search engines are hard to use or confusing it just depends on what layout you are looking for and what you find easiest.  If I were just starting out with finding feeds that interest me I would test each of these sites out and see which one works best for me Topix.net, Technorati and Google Blog Search.  Feeds I love to subscribe to are ones dealing with crafts, fashion and cooking.  One good blog that I found that I believe everyone should be a follower of is Pioneer Woman this blog contains a little bit of everything I'm interested in  and is a really fun blog to read.  There are so many ways to find feeds you are interested in but the best way is to test all the ones you find and see which one works for you and then make it your primary search engine, that's what I did and I'm discovering new interesting feeds all the time.   

Thing # 10

I think RSS and newsreaders are very convenient for keeping up with things you find interesting.  They are useful in both my school and personal life.  For school I can use it to keep up with the latest news in the educational field along with technology I can use in my classroom.  It also makes keeping up with state standards easy since you can subscribe to the state education standards.  In my personal life I can keep up with new craft ideas and different fashions that come out.  That's great because on a rainy afternoon I can look up some fun crafts to do instead of being bored.  I think everyone can benefit from using RSS and newsreaders. 

Thing #1

Life Long Learning is a very important thing.  Everyone should be dedicated to furthering their knowledge constantly throughout life.  With knowledge comes the power to make your life how you want it and that is important.  I feel like I do well with most of the 7 1/2 habits  listed in the power point.  I feel like all the habits are ones that I have worked hard at developing over the years.  The one I strongest believe in is habit # 1 have goals for each task.  I always lay out goals for each task before I start it.  I have always been like this, I'm very organized and list oriented.  This helps me stay on top of things and get everything done. 

Thing #9

http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/

I used the Happy face generator.  I think it is a cute and wonderful idea for a classroom sign.  The Happy face generator is very easy to use and you can put what ever text you want on it.  First you pick out the type of smiley face you want to use then you add the text and your done.  This would be a great idea for any classroom especially younger kids.  It could be a nice way to remind children of certain rules or just to have a cheery quote posted on your wall.

Thing #5

 I use technology everyday of my life.  I use the internet constantly on such sites as Google and the web database at school.  I've used most of the Google tools available such as Google maps and the calendar generator https://www.google.com/calendar/render?pli=1.  In today's society you have to be able to properly utilize all the tools available to you and technology is a big part of that.

School 2.0 is definitely the future of education all over the world.  The world is becoming more technology based day by day and it only makes sense that our educational system becomes more technologically integrated.  I believe schools of the future will become more and more technologically advanced.  In the future we will see more and more computers in the classrooms along with smart boards and a variety of other learning tools that utilize technology to teach students in a new way.

Thing #8

CHlowlight

I love using the mashup tool it makes it easy to make a great work of art that can be used in either the classroom or in your personal life.  This is a really easy tool to use with many different options on how to create the perfect mashup.  What makes it perfect for the classroom is you can use it to make a collage of educational photos to put up as art in your classroom.  This way you can make art work that suites the way you want to decorate your classroom.  It can also be used in the home to create artworks to decorate your house.  I think sharing photos online is a great thing as long as you do so wisely.  Every time you put a photo up you should ask yourself some basic questions.  "Would I be embarrassed if my parents saw this?"  And if there are people in it, "Did I get permission to post this photo?"  And lastly "Do I believe this photo is worth posting for the whole wide world to see?"  If it passes that test then it'll be a great addition to the online world.