One Final Thing

Yea, finally! I've really enjoyed my journey through the 23 things. I've come upon some very useful tools to use as a teacher. Some will undoubtly get used more than others. My favs were the mashups and bling pics with your name (what were those called again?). Some I had heard about for a while but to afraid to try: twitter & flickr. Not so bad. Twitter is easier with a smart phone. Maybe I'll use flickr again, at least I know how now. I've enjoyed this time of discovery.

Thing #23

http://schoollibrarylearning2.csla.net/2007/02/23-things_27.html

This is a link to another 23 things blog I found. I know what Dr. Wall means about having a Creative Commons license. I simply googled '23 things' and had more than a page pop up of various blogs done over the last year. Do we really want someone using what we create or is it OK? I seems a little like stealing, almost. We have that choice when it comes to our creativity. As a teacher, I will want to inevitably share what I know with other teachers to help them. If I know something I've created is really special, like REALLY special, I will protect it, whether some (Creative Commons) or all of it (Copyright).

Thing #22

special education

I just finished my live binders activity. A little late and a dollar short, I think. Any who, my first was one on special education and technology. Way easier than I thought it would be initially! The site allows you to choose whether or not you want it public and if you choose public, it does a google search for you and places the searched items in your  binder. You simply have to type in your search terms. Very nifty! I also created an elementary lesson plan binder and one on problem based learning. I can definitely see myself using this as a teacher. It's very useful for organizing websites and resources into useful web binder. Love it!

Thing #21

My Animoto Video

I just made a video using Animoto. Soo cool!! It's very easy too! Very impressed!! :) I had allot of fun playing with Animoto. I linked it to my flickr account and used my account photos to make my video. I really liked that it contained a menu of popular songs and backgrounds to choose from. That took me the most time. Just trying to decide what I wanted! ;) I can see allot of use for Animoto inside the classroom, especially if you want to create something special for your students with class videos and pics included.

Thing #20

This video is called "Teddy & Mrs. Thompson". It's a short film about 12 minutes in length but contains a very strong message. It almost made me cry! I'll only tell you that it has strong educational implications with student/teacher relationships. Some parts are hard to understand but the video as a whole was very moving. I really like YouTube. My 10 year old sons loves to watch funny cartoon videos allot. I do have to keep a watchful eye because there are a few that contain some vulgar words. I can envision allot of educational uses for YouTube. If YouTube were applied to the library website, students could view several, if not many, reviews and suggestions about educational classroom materials, books, articles, etc.

Thing #19

Visit TeacherPop

I got my authorization for TeacherPop yesterday. I think it took 2 days, but that's ok. What an awesome resource for teachers! This site will keep me connected to the Ed dept here at Austin Peay. I am currently a member of Facebook and a new member of TeacherPop. I have been a member of Facebook for about 2 years, I guess. It keeps me connected to my family in Alabama. I visited Fuzzter and that is a really neat idea! I had no idea their was a social site just for pet owners! I probably need to join since I've owned a big fat cat for 6 years now. Those animals are sooo cute, ecspecially the cats! I explored a few more and just feel like I'm being left behind. I thought facebook and twitter were it, boy was I wrong!

Thing #18

:: my facebook page :: I have been apart of facebook for some time now. I don't own a smart phone so I occasionally check it to update my profile and keep up with my friends from my hometown of Dothan, AL. I receive notifications via e-mail of anything going on with these friends or messages they may have sent me. I just joined the college of ed page. This is the first I've been on this page and will check it frequently for notifications as well. I've just recently joined Twitter, also. I opened my account in technology class last week. It's really cool! I can follow feeds from my favorite actors and comedians and educational professionals. :: my twitter page :: I think it is extremely important for educators to be aware of and using both facebook and twitter. If a teacher has not heard of anything else, they should be aware of facebook and twitter. Kids are VERY tech savvy these days and kids younger and younger are carrying smart phones, and or, tablets to socialize with each other. Facebook and twitter are the major ways they are socializing with each other. If a teacher, especially a middle or high school teacher, is knowledgeable with these sites they can use them to their advantage inside the classroom. The teacher can use facebook to create a class group that keeps students up to date with homework and assignments due. Twitter can be used to for the same.

Thing #17

The website Delicious is a really useful website for those who want a place to store all those links to websites. Sort of. It allows a user to bookmark favorite websites in one place. The user can categorize their website with tags or subject headings. This tool can be extremely useful for educators (and students like myself) to share and store all of those educational websites that may help plan a unit or lesson. Currently, I have amassed a large amount of educational websites into several folders on my personal desktop of various topics. Using Delicious, I could bookmark all of these sites into my account and tag each one according to their topic neatly categorizing each. Also, other educators could view my tags to bookmark those sites for themselves and I could do this to them.

Thing #16

I chose to use iGoogle as my home page. I already have a GMail account, as well as, a Google Reader account. So it was the easiest option for me. I think I will keep the page up, but I don't think I'll make it my home page. I will occasionally check it out to keep up with my interests and read the blogs and chats. Who knows, my mind my change completely when I become a teacher. Online calenders can be very useful for a variety of reasons. I think it's most useful when one has many time deadlines and places to be at certain times. For me, at this point in time, I don't feel so time constrained that I need an online calendar, but again, I may need it when I start teaching. I think this would be extremely useful if I had a smart phone, but I still have my dinosaur for now. All these cool features makes me want one though! Just tried Remember the Milk. I like it. Would probably use it allot if I had a smart phone. I just would not check it to often on the computer. I really think that Backpack is extremely useful. I like that you can send yourself reminder letters via e-mail, as well as, create calenders and write a to do list.

Thing #15

I just finished playing with the 23thingssandbox wiki. Pretty cool!! Sign up was easy. Editing the page was easy. I posted my pics from thing #9. There my fave!! : ) This wiki thing is new to me. Even though, I've visited Wikapedia multiple times, I never really knew how it worked. Newsflash!! Easier than tying my shoe. A wiki has a multitude of uses inside the classroom. Having a classroom wiki would be cool! Each student could add their thoughts about a particular topic into the classroom discussion, of course the teacher would moderate the content. Since editing is extremely easy, pictures, link and files could be added to the discussion for my emphasis. The teacher could also keep students up to date on due dates for projects associated with the subject of discussion.

Thing #14

I just played around with the mind map and flowchart websites. Very enjoyable and useful! Most want you to subscribe for so much a month, which I don't feel the need right now. I played with the free versions of mindmeister and gliffy. These would be especially useful for teachers to complete on a smartboard with the class. Soo many uses inside the classroom!! I can see a class brainstorming over a topic (book being read, science project) and the teacher poking at the smartboard filling in the blanks for the students to see. Afterward, she would print it out or post it to a class blog site. Awesome!!

Thing #13

I'm busy playing with Zoho writer. It's pretty cool. It has all the same features as word when it comes to document creation, but it's more geared for the documents to be shared with others. That is the BIG difference!! It allows you to publish what you create online for others to view, such as your blog, or
e-mail the URL to link the document in an e-mail.

I've just downloaded my Google drive to my computer. I honestly did not know this was available from Google. I may have heard about it some time ago but was honestly very hesitant about it mainly because my files are on the Internet. Or so I thought?!? This is my link to my Google doc creation. I tried to figure out how Katy was able to embed her whole pic on her page, but no such luck. I only found how to share using a URL.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xfJ-chV3Hzf7lKU1qJ4eu9H9yFUN4qjgGQfFRSNSUro/edit

Of the two sites, I would prefer to use Google Docs. I like the simplicity of being able to create and publish with one click. I do wish it was a little easier to embed a picture or document with HTML. Maybe it is easy. I do overlook the smallest, simplest things sometimes : )

Thing #12

I found making this calender pretty simple on Google calender. I simply had to enter the information into the needed spaces and create. It gives you the option to choose different types of calenders and privacy. I found it extremely useful!

http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en This is my iGoogle homepage link. This was fairly easy to set up as well. If you already have a Google account this feature is free. You can personalize it with all your favorite topics and if they are not listed you may add an extra tab. I added an education tab and education links and new were automatically added. Very cool!
These tools are extremely useful when it comes to a busy teacher. The calender can be updated everyday and posted online for students to see. A teacher and a student could personally keep up with there class times and activities with the calender. The iGoogle page would help a busy teacher to keep up the latest education news as it pertains to his/her speciality. It would allow a teacher to keep track of classroom blogs, emails and includes Google chat that a teacher could set up to interact with her students after hours if they need help.

Thing #11

OK, I'm playing with the edublogger site looking for good blogs to create new feeds for. I get to a site I like, I don't see RSS feed. It says share and I scroll a list of maybe 30 different share sites, I assume. I'm new to this game and it's very time consuming. OK, I'm starting again. I went back and decided to try Topix.com and there are no blogs about education or autism (my son has Asperger's). I subscribed to the Autism Speaks news feeds and I don't know how to link this feed to my Google Reader account and not my Windows e-mail personal account that is on my computer. If I press subscribe on the website it automatically sends the feed to my personal account on my computer. It does not ask me where I want the feed sent. I find that if I want a feed sent to Google Reader I have to press subscribe inside Google Reader for it to show up in Google Reader. I have found the easiest way to find blogs I like is to use Google blog search. I can simply type in my interest and something will pop up to choose from. I really like Edublog's site but I could not find the RSS feed symbol to subscribe to the feed. Maybe I'm overlooking it, or I'm just left behind in the technology dust! I did look up Mesquite ISD and found Mesquite Independent School District's web site. I found blogs about this school district indicating it fails to teach special needs students properly. It appears they expel students for displaying behaviors that are caused by a disability. Horrible!!

Thing #10

I just discovered rss feeds for the first time. I was a little afraid of not really knowing what I was getting myself into. In my personal e-mail account I would look at that little symbol and wonder "what does that do?". Well, this little button allows a person to subscribe to various websites and blogs and THEY send them to you whenever you choose. Awesome, right? I subscribed to all five feeds recommended to us in the activity. I was amazed at how easy this was. I clicked on Google Reader and it appears I already have an account because I have a GMail account. All of the blogs I've chosen as faves are already there for me to read. I never knew??!! Personally, this will help me to keep up with the latest news in education, as well as, my personal interests. Teachers could use this site to compile a list of subscriptions for classroom use during instruction time.

Thing #9

This is soo cool! I've had alot of fun playing with the image chef creator! www.imagechef.com
Creating these fun images was way easy. They give you alot of options to choose from, like a license plate. They have about a page of state plates to choose from. I really wish they had Tennessee :(  Anyway, I thought Hawaii was cool with the pretty rainbow. It then takes you to another page where you simply type the text you want on the plate. From there, you link the image to your blog. I copied and pasted the HTML code. It was exactly the same for the neck bling and the blinking sign. I'm probably going to make a cool sign to put on my facebook page. Teachers could use this image generator inside the classroom to liven up their rooms with fun signs!

Thing #8

I really had fun exploring all about mashups but ran into a little trouble. I tried the mosaic maker but had trouble linking my picture to my blog. I tried clockr (I don't have adobe 8 yet), flickr picker but I couldn't understand what it's purpose was exactly. The above was spell with flickr and was by far the easiest to use and my favorite. Personally, this is my first time using flickr but I'm finding it is very useful for storing and sharing my favorite pictures. The site is easy to navigate and is fairly easy to connect with facebook and such. I like the spell with flickr because I could create my kids names and personalize their space. This could be useful inside the classroom as well. A teacher could create a name and label different parts of the classroom by hanging them on the wall. Flickr photos and mosaics could be useful in a classroom by labeling different parts of the classroom. The teacher could take pictures of materials in the manipulatives math area and create a mosaic to hang above that area. I don't have much of a concern with posting pictures online. When it comes to my kids I feel a little hesitate because of the crazies on the Internet, but I feel it would be OK after changing my privacy settings.

Thing #7

109, a photo by killebrew123 on Flickr.

I chose this pic b/c my son loooves angry birds! He downloaded all his pics from his DS on my laptop so I chose his favorite. This is the first time I have ever used flickr and it's really easy to navigate. I had to go back and forth for a sec to double check a few things but other than that I think it's fairly easy. Teenagers could pick this up in a flash. Teachers could easily use flickr to find pics about a topic they are teaching. Class photos and group projects could be shared on this tool. I have never used a photo hosting service before flickr. I don't have much of a problem sharing my photos in a public place. It's nice to know that I can easily privatize them if I choose.

Thing #6

I just visited the website  www.Aviary.com .This site is a very cool website that showcases an easy photoshopping tool that is geared toward web and app developers. When imbedded into a website or app this photoshopping tool allows the user to make specific adjustments to any picture that a user downloads to the site. These adjustments include airbrushing, lighting, cosmetic (lighten or darken), as well as, cropping and extra fun tools like stickers and balloons. The effects are super cool and allow the use to give their pic a soft glow, antique look and many various choices. This tool only uses a few lines of code and can fit seamlessly into an app or website.
In my opinion this sounds awesome. Since it is being pushed toward site and app developers, I can't see how a teacher would have access to this tool. I guess if the teacher was a web guru and developing his/her own webpage it would be possible. I'm definitely not that! Anywho, the teacher could make fine adjustments to class pics and add funny captions to make them fun.

Thing #4

Blogging helps create a sense of community in many ways. First, it's simple communication.Individuals are allowed to voice their opinions and feelings about specific issues and others respond in kind. This is the back and forth of normal conversation except blogging may take several days or weeks for a full conversation. If a blog was founded on a discussion about a particular issue or topic everyone that makes a post is contributing to the conversation about that particular issue. Therefore, a community is formed by the consistent communication about a similar topic of interest.

It was interesting to read about blogger etiquette when commenting on a post. Some people choose to email a response, others choose to reply with a simply post, while others may simply write a new post in response to a previous post. We must show some kind of respect to the poster we are commenting on. If we consider ourselves part of a specific community there must be respect. I also read about how to increase the participation rate on your blog. Some suggestions include: invite comments, ask questions, leave open ended questions and set rules for your comment section. I made comments on five students from class: mreese.blogspot.com, guspainter.blogspot.com, apsueducation.blogspot.com, 23thingstodowhenyouarebored.blogspot.com, wmstroopstoteachers.blogspot.com. I commented on two blogs of interest: parentingaspergers.com/blog/ and michellespecialeducation.blogspot.com. I selected these five students from my class because they are inspiring teachers that just happen to sit in very close proximity to me. I selected the first interest blog because my 10 year old son has asperger's syndrome and any advice and help is much appreciated. I selected the second interest blog because I am a Sped student and the blog is posted by a current sped teacher that goes through the ins and outs with her students. Any advice and help for a new teacher is appreciated as well!

On each of the students in my class I commented on how well their page looked, as well as,  how much I enjoyed their post. Pretty generic I suppose. On mreese blog, I couldn't find his 23 things so I commented on that fact. I commented on a post about parents being the experts of their child's health on the asperger's blog. I stated part of my own story with my son. I commented on the sped teacher site about a class puzzle that took them 3-4 months to complete. I commented that she is setting a wonderful example and that children are so much smarter than we know.

Thing #5

I just finished reading three articles from my 23 things list. The first article or website was Web  2.0: A Guide for Educators. This website is sponsored by Dell and includes various resources for how educators can implement technology inside the classroom. The article explains what exactly Web 2.0 is and it's implications for classroom use. Many students are extremely tech savvy and schools must catch up in technological standards or risk loosing our students. The article also recommends many useful tools for teachers to use such as: blogs, social bookmarking sites, podcasts and the personal learning space (PLE). I found it extremely informative and I, also, feel that schools must do a great deal of catch up when it comes to technology inside the classrooms. The second website I viewed was the Horizons Report.This report goes in depth about new and emerging technologies (as of 2008). I believed they were on track with their predictions of future (2012) technologies such as mobile broadband. Where would we be without our smart phones and wifi hot spots? The paper listed several challenges that needed to be met such as the need for more experimentation with newer technologies within the academic community, higher education's expectations for content delivery, and the push for more collaborative learning assessments and interaction within the educational community. I felt this article was very wordy but informative. I was amazing to see how much technology has changed since this article was written. I feel most, if not all, of the challenges are being met at Austin Peay. The third website I visited is called Teachers 2.0. It is essentially a blog for anyone within the educational community that would like to discuss technology as it relates to the classroom. One downside is that it is not currently letting members upload pictures or video because of a hacking incidentI think this is an awesome idea and I will keep this in mind for future use.
In my terms, School 2.0 means an educational system wired and up to date technologically. Teachers and students are communicating via blog and web posts daily and computers and technology are integrated throughout each classroom of the school. This means alot for the schools of the future. I think of the word fluid when I think of a seamless flow of information from technology into the classroom. Students and teachers are plugged in together and communication is seamless.

Thing #3

There are countless ways I could use a blog inside my future classroom. The first would be to use it as a communication tool with parents. Many parents are on the go and very computer savvy themselves and this would be an awesome way to communicate classroom activities and could be personalized to each student. I read over the Edublog Insights and many other ideas popped to mind. I have already thought about starting my own blog to record my thoughts and feelings as a graduate student. This would prove beneficial as a new teacher to reflect on teaching experiences, what went well and what I could do better in the future. Blogs can prove to be especially useful with high school students to relay important project information, as well as, future classroom assignments. I had no idea that there were so many valuable ways to use a blog within an educational setting. My mind is blown!

Thing #2

I just figured out how to put my avatar on my blog. I am soo excited!! I decided to name my blog simply out of convenience. My last name is Killebrew and 123 was just easy to remember. My posting name is JK6 and, once again, done completely out of convenience. Actually, my APSU email JKillebrew6 and I just simply shorted it down. This has been really fun creating this blog! I have never done this kind of thing before eventhough I consider myself pretty computer savy. I'm considering creating a blog apart from this course. I've found this experience fairly easy and entertaining. Creating my avatar was fun too. I tried to create a life like picture of myself. I think it looks pretty awkward, which is how I feel most of the time anyway. I found difficulty linking my avatar to my blog. I followed the directions but I think the website must have changed ever so slightly since the directions were written. Again with my avatar, I wanted people who visited my blog to get some sense of my personality and what I might look like.

Thing #1

I just read the online tutorial 71/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners and found it very helpful. The easiest habit out of the 71/2 is habit #1 "Begin with the end in mind". I am a vicious planner. Sometimes I plan too much ahead, but I always have a goal in mind before I begin a new adventure or start graduate school. The hardest habit for me is habit #3 "view problems as challenges". I tend to be very hard on myself. I when set out to accomplish something and problems arise, I immediately feel like giving up. Oftentimes, I get very disappointed and angry. If I could work on viewing this minor problems as challenges that need to be overcome I could focus on the bigger goals I've already overplanned for. You could definitely say I am a lifelong learner. We all are really. We learn what makes others happy, to cook and clean (I'm a mom of 2) and what makes ourselves happy.