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!!