Thing #24: the one last thing!!

This project has been a great learning experience and shown me so many new tools I can use on the web that I had no idea existed. I enjoyed getting to blog about sites I already use daily like Facebook and Youtube, but I also really liked exploring new sites that will be useful in the future. My favorite activities are the ones were we we got to use picture to create different images (the puzzle, magazine cover, video slideshow, etc) and things like Shelfari and Google Reader. It is nice to know that I now have a way to keep track of books I read and want to read, as well as stay up-to-date on news related to my favorite sites and ones that will be goof resources as a teacher. I will definitely continue to use some of the Web 2.0 tools that we explored through this activity and will probably start creating more blogs for personal and professional use. As a teacher, I think it will be a good way to stay involved with students and their parents, and keep the line of communication as open as possible. I was surprised by just how many tools we have available to us and for free. I still don't like the idea of putting my email address in too many places; however, I love pretty much anything that is free and can see how these sites in particular might be worth putting it out there. I like seeing sites that allow for private settings so I can monitor who sees my information. I wish all sites would do that.
I do not think that this activity should be changed in anyway. Each one had its benefits for life as a teacher and exposes anyone in the education program to resources they can use in their classrooms. In doing all these activities, I have found a sense of community and learned how important that is. New teachers need to feel that and know they can get advice from others teachers, and not just from a face-to-face situation. All these forums provide us outlets to share our own thoughts and experiences with others in the profession and learn from them because as more than one of my professors has said, it is acceptable to  "beg, borrow, and steal" . Educators need to help each other out, especially when teacher accountability is being looked at more closely now than ever. This blog and other applications we explore in the last 23 things will help us help each other and we can grow as a community of professionals who want to make a different in students lives. That is my biggest goal in becoming a teacher: to influence the lives of young children/adolescents in the most positive and loving way that I can.
Thanks for reading my blog!! This may be the end of the 23 things, but I will be returning to  the blogoshere in the future!!

Thing #23

This appears at the bottom of the 23 Things homepage; it shows that this project is based on someone else's work and modified. I did not know Creative Commons exited before taking this Educational Technology class and I think it is important for everyone to know. It seems like a much easier and convenient way to have your work copyrighted and make sure you are not plagiarizing. Teachers need to be very careful about this because the last thing any teacher needs is a lawsuit. Also, teachers need to set a good example for their students and show them that cheating is not acceptable. Creative Commons will introduce them to a simple way to check for a copyright and they may want to have their own original work copyrighted. It is great that Creative Commons does not charge for the copyright; it will make a lot of people's lives easier. I, for one, will introduce this to my students and possible for myself if I ever get to writing those novels I want to write. Well, wanted to write when I was younger, but the idea still floats around in my head from time to time. As much as I love to write, I cannot image how it would feel to actually have a published book. That would be an incredible feeling!

Thing #22

The three live binders I created are called Education-Resources, Educational Blogs, and English Education Webpages. It took me a while to figure out how to navigate the Livebinder website and add different tabs in my binders. I was very frustrated at one point and was ready to give up when I somehow managed to get multiple tabs. I am not sure how I did it, but whatever I clicked worked. I do see that this tool can be useful because it's like having all your binders in one place (online) and can access them anywhere. It is nice because it provides a way for people not to have to lug binders around with them like most students do. We all know how painful and annoying it can be to have to carry multiple binders for the day and this tool could potential save people the hassle of doing that. In my observations I have noticed that many of the students, even in the lower grades, have big binders full of stuff. It is evident that some struggle holding their binders do to weight and amount of papers they have. Plus, it would save a lot of paper! As a teacher I could keep online binders for each class period and won't have to worry about forgetting them someplace; whether I am at home or at school I would be able to access my binders. I think Livebinders has some serious potential to be useful in the classroom setting.

Livebinder

My binder titled "Education-Resources" contains an academic vocabulary document, common core standards reference, and the Teacher Vision website. I put these in it because they are going to be important to have as references when I become a teacher. They are tools and concepts I will need to know and integrate in my daily lesson plans and unit plans. 

Thing #21

Family and Friends This discovery activity was one that I really enjoyed but found a little frustrating. When I first signed up and connected to my Facebook a video was instantly created by Animoto, which was nice, but I was looking forward to creating my own. It took some time to figure out how to create a new video and I ended up figuring out how to edit the one the site automatically had made. It was frustrating because I wanted to choose a style/background for the video and it kept saying I had to upgrade and pay for them. I did find my way around that however and had fun changing the pictures and music for video slideshow. I loved that it let me choose where in the song I wanted to start so I could have the chorus play through this 30 second video. It was also rather difficult trying to figure out how to get it on my blog. I tried doing it from my blog, and from Animoto. I finally found that under "sharing" there is "more options" that include blogger. This was one of my favorite activities to do and I will most likely use it in the future. I think it would be fun to use to make videos of my classes, which I think students like. I remember in 5th grade, the teachers made a slideshow to the graduation song and all of us girls cried when we were watching it. The song combined with the pictures of us and our friends, made the idea of leaving elementary school for middle school so much sadder. But we did enjoy it through our tears.

Thing #20

Another one of my favorite websites!!! Youtube! I love that there are videos for pretty much anything you can image: instructional videos, music videos (some with the song lyrics), movie clips, comedy routines, and so much more. I have been using this site for a long time and mainly for entertainment purposes, but it has been helpful in my academic life as well. Just last semester I had to memorize the first eighteen lines of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and I found a video on Youtube that helped me prepare to recite it to my professor. It had the pronunciation of each word written out and there was a person's voice saying the words  with the correct accent; it definitely made a difference in my ability to memorize the lines.
I also love that Youtube lets you create an account and a channel. You can subscribe to different channels, simply by clicking "subscribe" which appears above the video, and every time you go to your account new videos will show up. If you are watching any video on this site, on the right hand side there will be a list of related videos or other videos that you might find interesting. It is a good way to keep up with videos you like or ones that can be used in the classroom. Many professors have used videos from Youtube in class that relate directly to the lesson. The educational videos would be good to apply to the library's website because students can actually understand concepts better by watching them. The problem would be weeding out all the other videos that are not educational and distracting for students when doing research.
The only thing I don't like about Youtube is the commercials that come with certain videos, even though I understand why they do it. And I have heard that people who create a series of videos, upload them, and get a lot of views, get paid money for the commercials to appear on their stuff. It's often referred to as "going viral".

I was exploring educational videos to add to this blog entry and remembered one of the movies we watched in like elementary or middle school. I am sure there are some people who know what I am talking about...this video is from Schoolhouse Rock. I was very entertained by this movie as a kid and the songs have actually stuck in my head since then. Schoolhouse Rock is a series of movies that cover all subject areas. Here is "Conjunction Junction" and if you watch it you just may find yourself singing "conjunction junction, what's your function...hooking up words, and phrases, and clauses" as I often do. And I actually got it on here by clicking the add video icon on the bar that appears above the box you write your posts in. It gave me a "from Youtube" option and I just looked up the video, pressed select, and added it. It may not be the way videos are supposed to be added, but it worked and it was easy.

Thing #19

I am a member of some online communities. I have mentioned Facebook before (and wrote a whole post about it) but I also have a Flickr account, this blog, and a Yahoo account. There are probably others that I am not aware or are simply forgetting; these are the ones that first come to mind. I use Facebook and Yahoo on a daily basic, Flickr rarely, and this blog when I have time to post a new thing. I do try to read other students' blogs when I have time to get as much out of this project as I can. People might not think of Yahoo has an online community but there are so many applications and programs that Yahoo has. The one I use some times is Yahoo Answers. It is a forum for people to ask questions no matter how practical or important they are but there is a sense of community. People can be open, honest, and help each other out, even if they don't actually know each other. It can be nice and beneficial to seek advice from people who do not know you because they will have unbiased opinions. Questions are categorized to make communication of ideas easier. I used to get on Yahoo answers all the time and now I just use it as a way to keep me from getting bored every once in a while. It is still one of the online communities I take part in.
The social networks that appealed to me from the list provided were those that involved music and books (my two biggest passions). I already knew about IMBD because I use it regularly. It is great being able to look up the cast for a movie and see what other productions actors/actresses have played in. It makes it so much easier to find and watch films that my favorite Hollywood stars have done and TV shows they have guessed starred in. I love this site because of how quick and reliable the information is. They also have short bios that I like to read. The other two sites I played around with and really got interested in are Project Playlist and Shelfari. The first is very much like Pandora, except there are no commercials. However, with that said, the advantage Pandora has  is that it lets you create stations that will play new songs as well as older ones. I liked exploring this network and the fact that you can follow other people's stations. I just do not see myself using it much in the future.
I will use Shelfari later on. I got sucked into the world of books and sharing them with others. I started adding books to my shelf and I could not stop...I looked up all my favorite books and wrote reviews for them. I like that this also lets you follow other people and you can connect to people that you do know through Facebook, Twitter, etc. Shelfari allows you to create a list of books you have read, plan to read, and ones you are currently reading. This is a great way to keep track of books I want to read and I am very glad I found this network. There are groups you can join that relate to your favorite genres. I also loved that this goes through Amazon.com so I did not have to sign up for something new and I do use amazon all the time. I highly recommend this to book lovers like myself!
I sign up for TeacherPop and posted some pictures, creating an album I titled "Important People" because they are people who have made me who I am and that I could not image life without. At some point in the future I may add pictures of other people that have had such a large impact on my life...this was just getting started. I also commented on my album explaining why those particular people where significant in my life. I also left a comment on the main page about how I thought TeacherPop is going to be helpful in my professional life and that it is nice to be a part of a community like that. One thing I really liked about this site is that it has a guide for using Facebook as a teacher. It will most certainly come in handy in the future, seeing as how social networking is so popular and only going to continue to gain people's interests. Everyone who is going to be a teacher should look at this document.
I see that these networks can be of great use to educations. They are great ways to share ideas, communicate, and learn.

Thing #18

YES! I get to talk about Facebook!! Now I must admit I resisted social networking for a while when Facebook first became popular. I did not really see the point of it, but in the last few years I have been rather addicted to it. I think educators need to know how social networking works because it is a huge part of society. So many people have a Facebook or Twitter account. As teachers it is likely that we will run into Facebook posts that aren't so nice; social networking can be positive or negative depending on how it is used. I was watching a special on Facebook one time and there was a story about a teacher who got fired because of a post she put on there about some of the parents. Educators that have Facebook pages need to be careful using the site and their students may even "friend" them on Facebook. Social networking is fun to do for personal reasons, but I do not see its usefulness in the classroom or school setting. There are hundreds of applications on Facebook that can be distracting and take students away from productive website in learning. I would like to know what other people might see as a good use of social networking sites in classrooms and schools. I just don't see any!
There was not any new insights I got about Facebook since I am an avid user of this site and play around with games and such all the time. I did however learn something new from the Twitter tutorial. I had heard that Twitter was the equivalent of updating a status on Facebook (and that was all it was). After watching the tutorial I realized it is more than that. People can choose whose posts come into their feed, whereas on Facebook everyone you are friends will comes through. Even though you can hide posts on Facebook and make it so certain people's posts are rejected (or just delete them from your friends list), I like that Twitter does that. Both sites allow you to share links and thoughts on different subjects, and another awesome thing about these sites is that they can lead to reconnecting with people from your past. I think that is one of my favorite things about having a Facebook; I have been able to find and chat with people online that I haven't seen since elementary or middle school. These are the friends that moved away or ones that I moved away from and I love being able to catch up with them. I also like "friending" new people that I meet so I can see what they are up to as well. It allows you to stay connected with family, coworkers, and old friends. My closest friend at home Colleen is not a talk on the phone kind of person and neither am I. Our prime sources of communicating when I am not in MA are texting and Facebooking each other. It is a wonderful thing!!!

I cannot think of anything I dislike about either of these sites. As long as they are used carefully and not to vent your frustrations (that could get you in trouble) they are far more beneficial and enjoyable. Facebook just has more features that's all. Twitter seems pretty simple.  Here is the link to my Facebook page if anyone wants to take a look. http://www.facebook.com/alexis.wylie

Thing #17

Tagging and social bookmarking tools can be useful in the classroom. A teacher can keep any websites he or she wants to use in one place, and they can be shared with other teachers as well. Social bookmark has the potential to create a sense of community among educators online and in a person's personal life because book marks can be shared. This activity reminded me a lot of the Google Reader exploration where you can stay up-to-date on all your favorite sites and such. It is basically the same concept since everything stays in one place (just log into your account and its all right there). It does seem to have the advantage of making life a little easier for teachers. From this one page you can take your class so many places on the web and quickly. When you click on the websites they come up in a new tab instead of replacing the page you are on. I really like that all these bookmarked sites can be accessed from anywhere. Teachers need to be able to have resources at there fingertips and this can definitely help. We as educators can take advantage of this tool by using it to keep track of sites that may be useful in our lessons and to find ones that can useful. It can be helpful in doing research because just typing in a few key words can bring you thousands of resources to look through. We can back up our information and find reliable sites. I would probably use this tool more in my career as an educator than in my personal life. Like I said in my last post habits are hard to break and I will most likely continue to go about typing in every website I want to go to into the address bar, instead of going to one place that has links to all of them. This is partly because I do not want to have my email flooded with messages; I have found that signing up for anything online can lead to this problem. Everytime I look at my email, there are so many that I don't even care to look at. They are nonsense emails that just take up space in my inbox. I am simple saying that I am trying to me more careful than I have been in the past about what I create accounts for online to protect my email and myself in general. I now have this Delicious account that I may use in the future when I am a teacher, not so much right now. I think I would prefer Google reader though because it felt like the same thing to me. And Google is just awesome!!! I for one would be lost or just very bored with out it.

Thing #16

I chose the iGoogle start page because I already have a Google account and would not have to create or sign up for something else. It was simple, fast, and easy! I did not like that it gave me about five different options for backgrounds, but one was purple and that is all I need. I love purple everything!! I was quite happy when I figured out how to change my blog background. If I play around even more with iGoogle I am sure I can figure out how to make changes and do other things. I use Google all the time so was the best option for me and it is nice putting news and other interests I have on the start page. When I am at school I tend to feel behind on current events and news of any kind really. Even with that said I will probably not use iGoogle as my homepage. My main email account is through Yahoo! They also allow personalized home pages and you can put whatever you want on them just like iGoogle. I am not willing to part with my Yahoo page because I use that address for everything and check it several times a day.
The online calendars can be useful the same way that calendars on Google can be used, as I discovered in a previous activity. Parents can see it more publicly and know what events are happening at the school or in the classroom. It allows teachers to keep track of important dates and can easily access their calendar online. In this day-and-age where technology is advancing so quickly and everyone is getting online, it seems to be more practical than having wall calendars. Those can be ignored pretty easily when a teacher is extremely busy and rushing around. Teachers would be reminded when they open their email of appointments, meetings, etc (like Google calendar). There are many benefits to online calendars.
The to-do lists applications would be helpful, but I also think they would be too much work. I do not see the point in keeping my to-do list online, when sticking post-it notes to my desk has been working just fine. I spend enough time on my computer that these notes would be hard to forget, they are brightly colored in right at eye level. It was fun using an online to-do list, I just would not use it on a regular basis. Actually I think I would forget that's where my to-do list is. I found tools that are definitely useful for school and some that may be useful at home. I would recommend online calendars, and Google Docs (or Google anything!).

Thing #15

I did not find this activity as much fun as previous ones, but I do think it could be used by teachers. Teachers can create wikis for their class(es) to share and learn. The class can post things that they learn from different lessons and it can also create a sense of community with everyone sharing information in the same place. There are various types of wikis out there and I did not know that some could be more carefully monitored by having to sign up to use them (like APSU 23 things sandbox). But it seems like there could be a problem though, when I went to add to the front page everyone else's posts came up to, giving me the impression that I could change their stuff. I did not actually try to do this so I do not know for sure. I would not want someone to change the things that I put on there.
I have never been a fan of using Wikipedia because anyone can edit the information, therefore it is not always reliable and my teachers/professors have always said not to use it. The other wikis I think would be better to use for teachers or for personal reasons. In this activity I copy and pasted projects from thing 8 and 9 but for no particular reason. I wrote just a bit about why I created those projects for my 23 things (my love for children and just liking the pictures). I changed the text color to match my pictures because I like when things match. I kept it simple! The way I like everything!

Thing #14

The two tools I used were Gliffy.com and Bubbl.us but for no particular reason. I just clicked on them and had some fun creating charts. I really liked how Gliffy has a variety of organizers and charts that you can create online like venn diagrams, and floor plans (to name a couple). It was not easy to figure out how to create an account and get started because on the page you get linked to there is no option to do so. However, one I got in there was just so much to experiment with and I definitely will use this in the future. It is a great way to create the kind of organizers it takes to prepare for essays or just to organize your thoughts on any topic/project. I could play around with Gliffy for hours I think and not get bored with it. Bubbl.us was pretty enjoyable to, except I did get a bit frustrated trying to figure how it works (connecting bubbles and moving them around). I do like the simplicity of it...there is nothing that can create a distraction, it is just bubble maps. These tools will come in handy as I continue in my own education and in my future classroom. I can provide good examples of maps and charts for my students, and they won't have to read my awful handwriting. I used both tools to make a flowchart and map of idea for the unit plan that we are beginning to work on in my 3070 class. I have been kind of torn between a few idea and I used these maps to see how they would play out day-to-day. I though it may help me decide if I saw the break down more clearly for each.
I do not see there being too many differences between mind maps and flowcharts. There are many ways to set them up and various types. A person can create either to look however they want, a way that best helps them sort their thoughts and have a visual representation of them. I had always been under the impression that the terms where pretty interchangeable (like synonyms). Both have the same general purpose and are effective in acheiving that purpose.  

Thing #13

I had never heard of Zoho before this activity and I do like the fact that it s a free way to create documents, but I like Google Docs even better. I like that it allows you to create different types of documents not just ones you could produce in Microsoft Word. Google Docs is like a combination of some of Microsoft Office programs; it lets you make spreadsheets like excel as well as word documents. I have had previous experience with Google Docs that contributes to my preferring it over Zoho and Microsoft. Every semester I go on religious retreats held by other universities and as a staff member I get a lot of emails. The most important ones involve staff assigments and tranportation, which come in the format of Google Docs. The thing I love about it is that when someone sends you a Google Doc you can open it and add to it, and it will save automatically. Everyone puts thier information in and it all stays nicely in one place that you can go back to and change if necessary. Google Docs also has the benefit of being free. All you need is a Google account. I am not so sure I would use Zoho much in the future when I have other options. I found it more confusing and harder to navigate for some reason.
These programs will be great to use in the classroom. When a teacher assigns group projects, students will be able to share them easily and can edit them from home. They do not have to be in the same room even though it is still good to communicate in person. Google Docs will definitely make collaborating on projects and other assignments more fun and less stressful for students. They do not have to worry so much about scheduling a time, date, and place to meet. I think even the students who do not do well in groups will be motivated and active in doing group things. We have all had that experience when given a group project/presentation where there is one person (at least) that does not participate and makes everything harder for the other group members. Being able to share documents and such through technology may just help with that problem because those people can at least do their part while they are sitting at home.
The document I created with Google Docs was the first thing that came to mind: a preadsheet of all 12 grandkids on my Dad's side of the family from oldest to youngest, our ages, birthdays, and where we fall in the order. I thought it would be interesting to figure out the average age and to my surprise it was a lot higher than I expected. But I did realize that would be because most of us are right around the same age. As you can tell if you look at it there were 8 of us born within a matter of 7-8 years...I like to refer to it as "the original 8". That is how many grankids there were until one of my uncles married a woman who had a child from a previous marriage, and before another uncle got remarried to someone ten years his junior. We have a couple of very new editions to our family that have really stretched out the age difference, but did not really effect the average. I did even realize as I was putting in birthdays that Google Docs was putting the full birth year (I typed 89 and it put 1989).
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqVYGyWKgaqgdGRPdGZIeU5jZDNzMGxOMzYzRlBmVGc#gid=0

Thing #12

Google Calender can definitely be used in the classroom. I would use it to keep track of assigment due dates, field trips, parties/special events, and meetings. As one of my classmates mentioned in a blog post the calender can be posted on the teacher blog so parents can see what is going on. It may even get more parents to be involved in class activities. This was fun to explore and figure out. I like that you can color code events and such as I did on the calender I started. I used one color for my classes, one for social events, one for games coming up, when I plan on going to the gym, and one for my Newman Club meetings. I did not make it a very detailed or descriptive schedule because I just wanted to get a feel for this tool and what options it has. It lets you see your schedule by the day, week, month, etc which can really come in handy (you can look at whatever view you want). Google Calendar can also be connected to a mobile device and will give you the option of receiving email reminders for the events. This tool is a good one for teachers. Here is the link to my calendar https://www.google.com/calendar/render?tab=Tc&pli=1

I had a lot of fun using Google Translate! I really like how it translated as you typed and that when you were done you could highlight different parts of of the translation it would also highlight in the section you typed to show the correlation. I think it would be useful in trying to learn to get the general idea of how to speak another language. I mostly played around with English to Italian translation just because a large part of my ancestry is Italian. My grandfather's parents (on Dad's side) were 100% Italian and it is a language I have not really been exposed to. I could have played with this Google for a long time and not get bored. I think this would be useful in the classroom because it would introduce students to different languages and possible prepare them a bit for when they actually have to learn a foreign language. It would just be a nice activity to imcorporate in a lesson at some point in time. It could even show students how similar some words are in different languages and help them understand prunciation and sentence structuring in an English class like I plan to teach.
This is the link and it's rather long because I kept typing  http://translate.google.com/#en/it/my%20family%20is%20Italian%20and%20I%20would%20love%20to%20go%20to%20Italy%20one%20day.%20I%20would%20like%20to%20learn%20how%20to%20speak%20the%20language%20and%20eat%20a%20lot%20of%20Italian%20food.%20Lasagna%20is%20my%20favorite%20food%2C%20but%20I%20do%20love%20pizza%20and%20pasta%20as%20well.%20It%20would%20be%20amazing%20to%20see%20the%20Vatican%20and%20other%20famous%20landmarks%20in%20Italy.%20I%20think%20this%20translater%20is%20so%20awesome%20that%20I%20just%20want%20to%20keep%20typing%20and%20reading%20the%20translation.

Thing #11

I think all of the methods of finding feeds were easy: Google blog search, topixs.net, technorati, and Edublog Award Winners. However, I did like Google blog search the best because it brought up exactly what I was looking for and did not have a lot of stuff to distract me. Topixs.net and technorati had political news story and various heading and sections that made me loose my focus a bit. I was not really sure where to search and it did not produce as many results as Google blogs. I found feeds through Google that would be helpful to me as a teacher when I first have my own classroom and could use for ideas and information. There was a blog called Life as a beginning Teachers and I started reading it; I realized she had some great ideas and insights into life as a new teacher. There was other blogs for new teachers that I found interesting and that could be encouraging for those going into education as well, like Reality 101 is a place where new teachers share their thoughts and stories. I did find any unusual feeds in the activity or other tools to locate newsfeeds. Google blog search really provided all the help that I needed and it did not take long to find blogs I wanted to subscribe too.

I really liked reading The Cool Cat Teacher Blog post about creating your circle of the wise. I agree with what he says about finding the people who inspire you. As a teacher it is important to inspire our students and that is exactly why I want to teach: to inspire youth to read and want to read. If we do not find the people who inspire us, then why would we want to read what strangers think and have to say? I have never been one to just read autobiographies unless I was interesting in learning about a specific persona life. For instance, I read Shania Twain's autobiography by choice because I had heard about how tough her childhood was and her whole success story. But it was totally different hearing it and then reading her words for myself, her thoughts, and stories. I am truly inspired but what she has overcome and the outlook she has on life after what she has been through; her story made me appreciate what I have and not to take any of it for granted. I found it quite humorous that in his blog Cool Cat Teacher says, "Life is too tough to have real AND virtual people dragging you down". He is so right and creating a circle of the wise is a good thing to do.

Thing #10

I really like that RSS is a way to keep up with all my favorite sites and stay informed. It is great to have everything in one place that I can look through and read without having to switch between tabs or type in the website everytime I want to go back to it. It was aggravating when I had went to google reader in internet explorer and my browser would not support the page, but I quickly found out on google chrome it worked just fine. I sort of had a field day with subscribing to sites. I think this could be use in the classroom setting when teaching students about current events or ideas that are out there about certain topics. If there is a video or news story I want to share with my students (that pertains to the lesson) I can go to my reader and fid it there. It is a good way to keep track of blogs you follow and any other website that can help you when you are teaching. RSS is also beneficial to my personal life because I can once again stay informed and updated on what is happening with my favorite sports teams and tv networks. This provides entertainment for me and is very convenient to have everything in one place. Teachers can definitely take advantage of this technology by subscribing to blog, news sites, etc. that will be helpful in running a classroom and learning new ways to teach. They won't have ot go searching for things and will be able to quickly find the page or infomation they are looking for. I am glad this was a discovery activity because I will be using RSS in the future for personal use as well as in my prefossional career.

Thing #9 continued

created_at_www_FotoTrix_com_jpeg, a photo by lexibri on Flickr.

I found the process of creating this image rather frustrating because a certain size picture needs to be uploaded and there are only a few on my computer that were small enough. I could have looked for a random picture on google but I like using my personal pictures better. After I uploaded this pictre of my cousin Jacob, all I did was look through the many layouts/magazine covers they had on the website. I put this picture into a few different kids magazine and liked this one best. I thought it was slightly humorous that it's called Little Tikes Adventures and Jake is at the mall eating a donut. That counts as an adventure, right? It probably was for my cousin because he loves food and is eating all the time. I am entirely sure how I would use this in the classroom other than to make my students laugh by creating these types of images with their pictures. This might get them to read even if they do not realize it; I found myself reading the little headings on some of the magazine covers I looked at and children will probably do the same. I image they would want to know what silly or comical "stories" might be in a magazine like that. I see more practical use in these generators in my personal life.
the link to where I created this http://cmtk3.webring.org/l/rd?ring=signgeneratorima;id=2;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecomicstripgenerator%2Ecom%2F

Thing #9

harryandemmy_at_www_FotoTrix_com_jpeg, a photo by lexibri on Flickr.

The process behind this was just uploading the picture, looking through the images on the website, and after looking at sveral picked the one I liked best. To get it on my blog I saved the image to my computer and then uploaded it on Flickr (because it is connected to my blog). I sent it from Flickr to here; it was easy that way. I know see that Flickr can be more useful to me than I thought, especially when I want to add pictures and other types of images to my blog.
To explain this photo: these are two of the kids I babysit regularly when I am at home in Massachusetts. Harry is currently ten and Emme is eight, and I have been watching them since they were really young (practically babies). This was one of the few images that was small enough to upload on the generator, but I am glad I got to put there picture on here. These kids have had such an impact on my life and are part of the reason I decided I want to teach children. They are two of the sweetest kids I know, even though they have tendencies to be a little defiant (as all kids do). They always run up and give me the biggest hugs and it just makes my day every time. Watching them grow up is not easy because one day I won't be able to babysit them anymore but they will always have a special place in my heart.
the link for this image generator http://cmtk3.webring.org/l/rd?ring=digitalleonardo;id=34;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecustomsigngenerator%2Ecom%2F

Thing #8 continued

Thing #8 continued, a photo by lexibri on Flickr.

This is the second mashup I used...Puzzle maker. I really enjoyed playing with these mashups and 3rd party tools, more than I enjoyed Flickr by itself. These tools could be used in a classroom to make learning more fun by creating these puzzles and other tools. Every student likes the opportunity to do something more interactive than simple listening to the teacher speak, and it keeps them focused and paying attention. I would use these more in my personal life just to entertain myself and share my pictures in new and creative ways. I have no problem sharing photos online (I do it all the time on Facebook as I mentioned in thing 7). I have always loved experimenting with photo editing and I like making collages with my pictures. I actually have several that I made on the walls in my room. I like seeing images change from color to black and white to sepia, and other effects. Each brings something different to the picture without distorting the memories behind them. Ever since I got my digital camera a few years ago, taking pictures has become more or less a hobby of mine. I just love capturing moments in my life that I can look back on someday and share with my childrem (if I ever have any). I may use these tools to bring something new and exciting to my classroom, but for the most part I will use them for my own personal amusement.

Thing #8

My creation, a photo by lexibri on Flickr.

I made this using the Mosaic Maker mashup and pictures I had on Flickr

Thing #7

010, a photo by lexibri on Flickr.

From left to right: my brother Austin, sister, Amanda, and me. You may not be able to guess it by looking at this picture but my sister is older than I am and my brother is younger. This picture was taken this past summer while I was home and I put it here on my blog just because they are both so important  im my life. Being a middle child is never easy, but I got lucky enough to have a sister who has always set a good example for me and a brother who makes life joyous and full of laughter. He is the most optimistic and good-natured person I have ever met; there is no way to bring this kid down. My sister, being not much older than me, was my best friend growing up. We played Barbies, house, dress-up, and pretty much everything else together. I cannot image my life without either of them!!
I am not sure I will use Flickr much in the future, even though I did create an account. I find it even easier to upload and share pictures on Facebook. Plus there is games, and other things you can do on Facebook (so many apps). I may use Flickr to share pictures of my class and activities we do on a blog since I know how to connected the two now. That is how I posted this picture, by using Flickr's blogging tool. I found that to be a really easy way to get pictures from there on to my blog. Other than that feature I was not too impressed by Flickr, in all honesty. I have been using programs like Picasa 3 and Picnik to store and edit pictures before I upload them to Facebook. I have a lot of fun experiementing with the different colors and tools like red-eye, blemish removal, and text that you can add. There are several other things you can do too and I love that aspect of these programs. I do not mind having my pictures in a public place because I have them all over Facebook, but I  am also very careful about what pictures I put on there. While Flickr still allows for categorizing photos, it only lets you upload a certain amount of pictures at a time. On Facebook you can upload as many as you want at once and Picasa automatically adds any pictures recently imported on my computer when I open it.

Thing #6

There are so many choices that it was actually hard for me to pick one. I did not realize that their are over 3,000 tools that are a part of Web 2.0. Some of them like Amazon I use all the time; that is where I buy all my school books from to save money. I was also surprised when I saw Picasa and Picnik on the list. I just discovered them a few semesters back in a class I was taking and I love using them too...they are free! And there really is nothing better than that.
The tool I did finally choose to discover was Pandora. I am a big music lover and would be totally lost without my iPod. Pandora is an online radio station you get for free. YES! MORE FREE STUFF! The only thing I do not like about this tool is the ads and commercials that come up. I rather dislike commercials, especially ones I can't see. When I am listening to the radio in my car and a commerical comes on I change it everytime until I find a station playing a song. Thankfully it never takes that long to find something, but with Pandora you can't really skip over the commmercials. That is a bit of a problem. Other than that I really like this tool. It is useful because you can create your own channels, whether it be country (my favorite) or rock and roll or Christmas music, Pandora will play only what you want. You can even create a channel for your favorite artist(s).
The only way I see this tool being applicable in a school or library is if a teacher wants to play music for the class while working on an assignement, or if they are having a celebration of some sort. It could be really useful in a music class to have students listen to different artist and composers. Otherwise, I just don't think there are any practical uses in a class or library (those are supposed to be quiet). http://news.cnet.com/8301-13546_109-10236913-29.html?tag=mncol this link is to the page about Pandora
www.pandora.com this link os to the Pandora website itself if any has not checked it out yet.

Thing #5

I have been well aware of how much I use technology, especially the internet and social networking sites like Facebook, but there are so many other tools and resources online that I never really thought much about. It is interesting, to say the least, to read about the perspectives on Web 2.0, School 2.0, and the future of education. It is not hard to see the changes that are already occuring; when I observed last semester in a 4th grade classroom the teacher was using powerpoint. In my 4th grade classroom we definitely did not have something even that simple. Powerpoint is used all the time now and in every class. To me school 2.0 is the increase in technology being used in classes and all the changes that are taking place in such a short amount of time. It's this technological revolution before us! I think it is amazing how far technology has advanced even in my own lifetime and it will be interesting to see where technology ends up before I die (which hopefully won't be until I am like 90). School 2.0 is inevitable and will benefit future generations because information will be at thier fingertips moreso than it is even to us right now. The click of a button opens many doors and opportunities for learning...it has been said "if you don't know it, just google it". We can find absolutely anything we want to on the web! It is wonderful! It is great for the future of education that informations is easily accessed and can be indentified as reliable or not without too many problems.

I found some of the points made in the different perspectives on education and web 2.0 intriguing yet not surprising. In A Guide for Education it mentioned that a 2007 survey that was done by the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed 55% of youth in America between the ages of 12 and 17 use social networking for communicating. I can only image, 5 years later, how high that number must be. Even generations before us our social networking...MY OWN GRANDMOTHER HAS A FACEBOOK! It's crazy! She just got a laptop for the first time over the summer and is now a daily Facebook checker. It really is incredible what we can do on the web these days and I think it is a really good way to stay connected and get reconnected with people and not just on Facebook. Skype is a free way to live chat with people on your computer, from a completely different country even. I think this article was right about how education should take advantage of Web 2.0 and maximize student learning and interaction in the classroom. Technology is far more helpful than hurtful in teaching students. The comment Teacher 2.0 makes about the popularity of twitter overtaking more blogs, podcasts, and forums was also interesting to me. The writer seems to think it is a bad change and she may be right. I know nothing about twitter since I do not have an account, but I wonder...do twitter users think it's a good change? What benefits would twitter have over blogs, etc? Or is this person wrong?

Thing #4 (part two)

I chose to comment on the blog's of names I recognized in  my other classes. They are not in the class I am keeping this blog for, but are in my other classes (whether on line or in a classroom). I was interested to see what they would have to say about this project. I read  The Brennan Breeze blog and Rand's 3040 Reflection blog. On both I made comments about parental involvement, as they discussed it in the ways blogging can be used to create community and interaction. I agreed that it can be a great way to get parents involved but also included my own experiences of parents who do not want to be involved. I work in a preschool back at home and I know that some parents do not care so much. However, I do feel that they may be interested in looking at a blog for thier child's class and I know there are lots of parents who do care. I wrote that they had good ideas of how a blog creates community and I said all of this because I think it one of the more important aspects of blogging about the classroom.
I also really like the cleverness of the blog name The Brennan Breeze and it made me want to change my blog name to something a little more original. I enjoyed her blog because she put so much of her personality into it and her posts. You can get a good sense of the kind of person who wrote it with her little jokes and commentaries. I think I will incorporate some of that in my blog from her on out...this I did write in my comment on her blog as well.

I commented on blogs from our class by just clicking on five that were listed. The first one I read was Marianne Spencer's and my comment was about how touching I found her story that went with the picture she posted and the importance of personalizing and sharing yourself in your blog. It's kind of the whole point, along with creating discussion and community. I agreed with her statements about the preciousness of life and how God calls us to life. I have very similar believe and enjoyed reading her story. The other point she made that I agreed with was the goodness of putting pictures on your blog because it  tells people more about you. I shared a story with her about my aunt and uncle that related to the one she shared and I did that because it may not be my story but I understand where she was coming from in her comments.

The second blog I read was Kala Thomas's and I wrote that I also like the idea of sharing comments and experiences on a blog. It is a fun and great way to learn things about your classmates and get to know them as people through their blogs. I felt that an art class, as she plans on teaching one, would be excellent to have a blog and that I would be interested in looking at those types of blogs to see what young people are creating. I then looked at Ashley Saunder's blog and really connected with her first post. She talked about the habits of lifelong learners and how number 4 was one of the big ones for her. I shared with her that I struggle with it as well and why I think it has been a problem for me; it's the one about being a confident learner. I wrote how I feel I could overcome this habit and referred to the saying about people being their own worst critics. I find it very true and that to fix that anyone should try to be like the little engine that could.

My forth experience commenting on a classmates blog was reading Danielle Witter's and I found it very insightful. She had a lot of good ideas and ones that had not occured to me. I put that in my comment and how I will remember her great thoughts. She suggested putting a calendar on a blog to keep parents informed about what is going on in the classroom, discussion questions that finish what was said in class or gets students to write what they did not get to say, and interaction with classes in other states and countries. This last one really interested me and I think it is an excellent idea and can defintely help students learn about other places and cultures. The last blog I commented for this post was Alana McLeroy and I simple answered her question of the day. Which I thought was a great way to start discussion and communication. I wrote about this being my first experience and how I am enjoying it. Also that I plan on using it the future and I am glad I have the chance now to explore blogging, commenting, and following other people's.

I was compelled to write comments because I found ways to connect to my classmates through their personal stories and ideas. I learned a lot of other ways to make blogging useful for a teacher and his or her class.

Thing #4 (part one)

Commenting on other people's blogs creates a sense of community and interaction because it creates conversations about all sorts of subjects and can also creat relationships. It seems to me that blogging would not be as much fun and worth doing if it did not spark a debate or start conversations between people with similar ideals and perspectives. Commenting gives the person who created the blog something to think about and allows them to learn how other people see things. I thought it was important that in How to Comment like a king (or queen!) the blogger says, "meaningful, relevant, real world comments add power to the blogs that you frequent". Where would the world of blogging be if people did not comment on each others' blogs? How could it possible have any real meaning if it just sits there with no one interacting? I also found it imporant that Drape's Takes Blog includes a piece about ways to respond to a post's comment. It says, "giving your readers a sense of validation, building a deeper relationship of the reader, and actively participating in the dicursive field we call the blogosphere". These are all reasons why commenting creates community and interaction. Comments do not always have to validate, but they should not annilate either. They should be constructive and kind even in opposition.

Thing #3

In my future classroom or teacher education program I might use a blog to reflect on my experiences as a teacher and described what worked and what did not work in the classroom. It would be a good place to share my experience with other inexperiences teachers, as well as experienced ones. I think it would also help me establish the way I want to run my classroom and how to handle different situations. I can use a blog to gain insight and advise from other teachers and as I gain my own share it with others. Also, a blog will allow me to communicate with parents and post imporant information about the class. There are more benifits to blogging than I realized before looking at EduBlog Insights on the web. I can see myself really getting into the world of blogging.

Thing #2

I had decided on my posting name and the name of my blog by trying to keep it simple. The project was called 23 things and I just thought that was the best way to go and include my last name. However, after looking at other blogs and seeing the names they came up with I felt compelled to rethink mine. I just changed it to The Wylie Things so it would still have my last name but be a bit more interesting. Also, I wanted to make it something I could remember easily. I found creating the blog fairly easy and fun, but creating the avatar was confusing. It took me longer to add the avatar than set-up the blog and write thing #1. I would not say my avatar reflects my personality because as the saying goes  "you cannot judge a book by its cover". I did try to make it look as close to my real self as I could. I guess that could be a refection on my personality because I have always been a fan of blending in rather than standing out.

Thing #1

It is easy to forget that we are all lifelong learners, especially for me. After reading through the pointers for lifelong learners and the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners, I have discovered that the easiest habit for me is accepting responsibility for my own learning. I have always known that how much I learned in school and in life was a hundred percent within my control and every grade or outcome was a refelction of my efforts. No one else was responsible for my success but me. The hardest habit, on the other hand, is having confidence in my ability to be a competent and effective learner when I can see what knowledge I lack, how difficult retaining information can be, and the things I have forgotten overtime. I have been referred to as "the smart one" before, but often felt that it is was a rather inaccurate description of myself. I realize I need to start believing more in the "I will, I can, I do" attitude that is mentioned in the 7 1/2 Habits tutorial. Also, that I can look more clearly at how past experiences have taught me inportant lessons and skills like being responsible and that every once in a while it is okay to put myself first.