Is it the End? Or Only the Beginning?

• What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
• My favorite exercises on this learning journey have been the youtube exercise and the animoto.

• How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?
• This program has expanded my lifelong learning goals.

• Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
• Yes, I found several new uses for google! I didn't realize that it could be used for more than settling an argument or finding an image or address... It really is so much more than that.

• What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
• I think that it should be updated. The instructions are not always as they may have been when this program was last modified. Testing of links may be useful before the next semester. For example, animoto's link for posting on blogger was not working when I tried. I needed additional information on other options to embed the video into my blog. 

• How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher?
• I will use these tools that I have obtained from this course in my practice as a teacher. I will certainly be using the online storage so that I can access my work from home or school.

• How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be useful.
• I plan to keep up with the new developments in web 2.0 by using them often. I will adapt as the web continues to transform. One way that I have found this to be useful, again, is through the google navigation. I  knew that it had a lot to offer, but it is a great resource for teachers!

Thing # 23

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/


This shows that 23 things is based on someone else's work, but is modified for APSU students. I would have thought that this was based on this site. I think that I will use this more in the future, but I have found it difficult to navigate since I was introduced to this site several months ago. I think that I will eventually use it as a teacher in my classroom for new ideas and activities.

Thing # 22

MY BINDER

I didn't like this site as much as the others. I found it more difficult to navigate and much more complicated than it needs to be. I do like that you can easily add sites based on a google search, but I don't think that I will use this as often as I will the regular google, by pinning and bookmarking. 

Thing # 21

http://animoto.com/play/Wv05cxl8Q3pMfFoAR28YXw

The link to add the video directly to blogger isn't working, so here is the link! Hopefully I can upload it from youtube shortly!. I have made videos online before, but this one is much simpler! I will definitely use this in the future.

Thing # 20

I chose this video because it is hilarious! I saw it on TV last year and thought that it was real! What a disaster!
I love youtube. I have used it from everything like how-to videos to music videos. I actually took public speaking online a few years ago and used youtube as my way to send my videos in to my professor and classmates.
I know that youtube isn't always available in schools because it isn't closely regulated and monitored, but I think it is a great way for students to learn things. For instance, I learned how to tie a tie on youtube. I mainly use youtube for comedy purposes, but I have used it for step-by-step instructions before.

Thing 19

<embed wmode="opaque" src="http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/index/swf/badge.swf?xn_version=124632088" FlashVars="backgroundColor=0xFFFFFF&textColor=0xFF1A45&config=http%3A%2F%2Fteacherpop.ning.com%2Fmain%2Fbadge%2FshowPlayerConfig%3Fxg_source%3Dbadge%26size%3Dmedium" width="206" height="174" bgColor="#FFFFFF" scale="noscale" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"> </embed><br /><small><a href="http://teacherpop.ning.com">Visit <em>TeacherPop</em></a></small><br />

Hopefully my badge worked! :))
I think that teacher pop looks like a great tool for student teachers and teachers. This is a great way to share information. How cool is it that it was created at Austin Peay?!?
I am a member of several online communities through facebook and twitter. However, I am not on any other social networking sites outside of those, well until now! I joined teacher pop, and it looks amazing! Can't wait to use it more! Craftster looks very cool, I love doing crafts in my down time, so I will likely check that out after finals! I also see that IMDB is on there, I would not have thought to place this among the other sites, but I have been using that for years.

Thing #18

For thing # 18 we are asked to explore social networking. I am a huge fan of social networking, as I have been on social networking sites since I was in high school. It all began with myspace, then when I got into college for the first time, in 2004, I joined facebook. When facebook began it was only for college students and you were required to have a university email address to access the site. Now, everyone can join! After a few years of facebook, I joined twitter. Twitter is an interesting way to connect with people of similar interest. Needless to say, I have years (10 years actually) experience with social networking and I think that I have seen it all so it is difficult for me to gain anything from this exercise.
I think that it is important for educators to know how social networking works because it is a great way to connect with others. It is however, a technology that is accessed by students and parents alike so that should be kept in mind while posting. Many people have the idea that their social networking is private, but it is far from it! My favorite of the sites is facebook. There are apps on facebook that are mostly annoying games, but some are useful. I cannot see these social networking sites being helpful in the classroom. In fact, I think that they should be saved for home use only and not in the classroom or workplace.

www.twitter.com/jessicatheteach

Thing # 17

I think that delicious is a good tool for education students, but I do not see much value for it in the classroom. I doubt that it is allowed in the Montgomery county school system. It also seems too broad to get work done quickly for students. I think that it is an interesting tool only if you have time to browse, I don't see this site being very popular among many students. Several of the links that I clicked were inaccessible (yes, I am sure that I am connected to the internet). The idea of this thing is like pinterest. Pinterest is a newly popular site that took off with the concept of social networking and tagging for ideas. Stumble upon is a less interesting version of pinterest in my opinion. Teachers can definitely take advantage of ideas on pinterest and stumble upon, using bookmarking. I follow several teachers on pinterest and already have several ideas of what I would like my classroom to look like as well as many activities that I would like to do with my students.  

Thing # 16

I chose the google home page or start page. Google is becoming the online computer backup, so I might as well have all of my things in one place. I prefer to keep everything in one place so that they are easily accessible from anywhere. I may even consider exchanging my iphone for a google powered phone. I have recently downloaded all of the google apps and I hope that they will help me sync with my computer more easily including the calendar.  The calendar that I like the most is the google calendar. I have used the MSN calendar before, but I think that google is beating everyone in simplicity, yet modern ideas. I do like the remember the milk app, I have had it on my iphone for several years and it is helpful when there are so many things to get done each week. I have not yet synced this app with google, but will do so very soon! I find all of these tools to be very useful for both school and home. They are all versatile from personal to professional  life as things can get quite hectic!

Thing # 15

The sandbox is a very cool tool to help students work on a wiki together. This was interesting because I can easily access the work that all 23 things students are doing in the sandbox. This is a great tool for online learners! I can see this technology being used in the future for online courses in universities or students who are unable to make it to classrooms because of illness (in public school systems).  I already use wiki for several things including research for school. While the sources are not as reliable as scholarly journals, they do offer several ideas that are interesting in most cases.

Thing #14

FLOW CHARTS!
I love flow charts! I typically only make them in windows programs or by sketching by hand, but had no idea that there were other options out there on the web that made this just as simple. I used mind meister and gliffy.com. I think that mindmeister would be a great way for students to develop their writing ideas and show their work and thought process for English and reading classes. I think that gliffy.com would be a great way for students to explain how things work possibly in science. Gliffy also has a program that allows users to create a floor plan which can be especially helpful for students of design as well as teachers when deciding on a classroom setup that best suits the classroom.

Thing 13

This is my drawing created with google docs. I prefer google docs to zoho because it is a program that I am a little more familiar with and it is much easier to navigate through. I think that google docs is a technology that I will certainly use in the future because it is so versatile. I can access my docs from my iphone, and on my computer. All documents can be converted easily from one technology to the next.
I think that students will enjoy using this application because they can access their work easily from school to work, and show parents what they are doing in class without going through the trouble of emailing.

Thing #12

First of all, let me start by saying this: I LOVE GOOGLE! :)  Google has helped me win several arguments, it has helped me answer my random questions, and has confirmed what I already thought to be correct. I use google at least two times per day, and I am not ashamed! Ok, with that being said... let's do this...

I used google translator. I have used this several times before, just to see if what I was doing in Spanish was correct, but it's not always correct. In the English language, we use the same words for several meanings, and Spanish does the same, with less variation, so they don't always translate properly. I played around and used the phrase "I think that would like to go to the mall today. Maybe I will ask my sister to join me. Perhaps she would like that." and the Spanish translation is "Creo que me gustaría ir al centro comercial hoy en día. Tal vez voy a pedir a mi hermana que me acompañara. Tal vez le gustaría eso." Now, if I try to translate back to English, I may not get the same thing! It actually says "I think I'd go to the mall today. Maybe I will ask my sister to accompany me. Maybe you'd like that."

Picasa is also a very cool tool to have for photo editing! Photo editing was once a disc that you had to purchase, (for big bucks!) but now you can access that all online. It is simple, and much less time consuming!

Yep, I STILL LOVE GOOGLE! :)

Thing #11

I found http://technorati.com/ to be pretty easy to navigate. I found it to be the easiest for me. I really prefer google over any of these though.
www.topix.net was my least favorite. It brought me straight to Clarksville's news, and had some pretty inappropriate material that I would never want to be associated with. This makes it the most confusing and interesting, I suppose.
The most useful would be the technorati.com website, because it had some stuff that I could use.

Thing #10

I really like the RSS and newsreaders. I have several different sites that I visit often, and this way I can just look at the blogs all in one place. I knew that there was a way to do this, but I was only familiar with the apps on my phone that allowed this. I think that I can use this technology in my classroom by using articles that I am interested in, and I can learn from others ideas for their classrooms. I can see what did and didn't work for their students. Education is constantly changing, and if I can see new ideas all in one place, that saves me a ton of time!I am not sure how to add my reader as public, and the help site wasn't working, so I added it to my google, if you want to access it, you can try to from here! here are a few of the sites that I subscribed to so maybe you can check them out. paleomg.com    crossfitsolafide.com

Thing #9

http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/

http://www.dangersigngenerator.com/

These generators can be a lot of fun to use for classrooms. You can make funny signs for students and even use characters that they like on movies or tv!

Thing #8

This is my collage! I made it using the facebook app "Mosaic maker" 

This tool can also be used with flickr. I think that it would be a great way to teach my elementary students about different things. If I want them to identify different land types, this would be a great way to have them label each. It would also be a great way to let them see different images side-by side- so that they know what to look for and how to identify differences.
My feelings about sharing photos online are very open. I have been using social media sites since I was 18, so this doesn't come as a new concept to me. I think that it is a great way to keep in touch with family members that you wouldn't see otherwise. Christmas cards with family photos are a thing of the past. It is much easier to upload some candid photos of your kids for the entire world to see!

Thing #7

380819_657394005618_2008835664_n, a photo by jessicastewie on Flickr.

I added this photo to my blog for thing #7!

Thing #6

I chose Facebook for my thing #6. I am incredibly familiar with this site, as I began using it in 2004 when it was only available to college students. I was a freshman in 2004, and there were only a few people from Austin Peay on this site, most were only using myspace (a thing of the past now). I think that facebook is a wonderful tool for both personal social interactions and promotions for businesses. For teachers, discretion should be strongly encouraged, just to be on the safe side. This tool should not really be used for the classroom, because it can be abused entirely too easily. There were no outlets for library usage that I could find.
webware award for facebook

Thing #5

After reading a little more on Web2.0, it looks like it is only really defined by what can become of the internet. It can be used for several different things, which is what the 23 things will be teaching us! Most people don't realize that there really is an unlimited resource out there on the internet, and with just a little digging, you can do anything within reason! Technology is developing more and more each day and the possibilities are becoming much less limited every minute. Technology is so exciting!

To me, web2.0 just means the internet for it's many possible uses. We can use if for business, schools, personal use, etc. It really just means what can happen next with the internet. For schools now and of the future, this means that students have many more resources available to them for research and development of ideas. 

Thing #4

Commenting on blogs can be a great way to connect with others who are teaching across the US, or even worldwide. I think that it is a great way to share ideas about what does and does not work with students as far as educational ideas with students within the same grade. For example, if I am teaching 3rd grade, I might follow a blog of another 3rd grade teacher in Montana. I will comment on his/her classroom ideas and try to use a few in my own classroom. I would also comment on his/her blog and s/he would probably comment back on mine so that the sharing of ideas is constant. This is a great way to encourage each other to try new things to see what works best! This creates a great sense of community for teachers across the US, because eventually we will all be teaching the same thing at the same time!
A few of the points of reading and commenting that I found important were: 1) To get input from peers 2)To learn new ideas and concepts from others 3) To let others know that you appreciate them sharing ideas.
I commented on Kilmer's Thing #1 to say a quick hello and let him know that I look forward to working with everyone on the 23 things. 
I commented on Jeri Thomas's Thing #12 to let her know that I cannot wait to play around with the translator.
I commented on Margaret McCoy's thing #3 saying "I really like your idea about children posting their work to blogs! Parents can easily monitor their progress that way! Also having them post questions is also a great idea because I know most kids will not ask questions in class for fear of humiliation."
I commented on Taylor Bumpus's thing #1 to let her know that I too succeed and struggle with the same learning habits.
I commented on Sunny Peterson's things 5&6 to let her know that I am also intimidated by technology at times, but find no problem with using it for personal use.

Interesting Blogs and Websites

http://www.mrkaysclassroom.com/class-jobs.html

teachers.net

http://www.clearvieweducation.com/blog/2009/100-best-blogs-for-teachers-of-the-future/

http://twitter4teachers.pbworks.com/w/page/22554523/Elementary%20Teachers

Thing #3

For my education program, I can use a blog for future students to read so that they can better understand the expectations of the education program. If I post work, they can view it so that they know if they are on the right track. Not that I always am, but I can also talk about my mistakes with the assignments so that maybe they won't make the same ones. 

For my classroom, I may use my blog for several ideas. I could keep parents updated on progress throughout the year as well as offer details about projects that the students will be doing. I think that I could also post ideas and examples of work so that parents are aware of what the expectations are. It could also be a unique tool for displaying artwork that the children do. Classroom behavioral issues may be addressed in a blog. For instance, if children are talking too much during class, it may be posted on the blog for parents to see so that they may instruct children to talk less during class so that the teacher may teach and students can learn more during class time. The blog can be used for parents to get to know their teacher better by reading past blogs. It will likely make parents more comfortable with the teacher. 

Thing #2

Thing #2

Creating this blog was interesting. I have created blogs before, but this one was a little difficult for me to navigate. I'm sure that once I get the hang of it, I will prefer this one. It seems to have a variety of features that I can't wait to play with!  

I am familiar with many blogs since I grew up with technology. I had computer access from the age of nine. My parents bought our first personal computer when I was just in 5th grade. Of course, this was when it was only on dial-up (provided by AOL, probably version 1.0 or something) and it moved at a snails pace, but hey- everything was a little slower " back when I was a kid." Nonetheless, it was a very exciting time in my household, so that's how I began my love of the world wide web at an early age. I began blogging around the age of 14, and I really wish I could find the websites that carried my blogs because I would love to have a good laugh! Since then, I have viewed several blogs as a way to keep up with old friends and family members, as well as read instructions on how to "do it yourself" for at home projects and crafts. I am getting a little off subject here... 

Back to creating this blog- yep, it seems pretty cool... Can't wait to have a better look around. I added a profile picture. It's one of those face in the hole type pictures. I would recommend anyone create some of these for a good chuckle! Mine actually looks just like my mom's high school picture. :)

My avatar looks nothing like me, but hey I tried! I I was surprised that they had so many options, like I could add a bottle of champagne to my avatar... I didn't want to bring that little lush to class though! My avatar does represent who I want to look more like- a real smarty pants!  

Happy blogging everyone! 

Thing #1

Whew... I thought I was technologically savvy until I went in circles trying to figure out this blogger! 

Thing #1-

Of the 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learning, the habit that I find easiest is accepting responsibility for my own learning. However, this has only come with age and experience. I am a non-traditional student at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. I decided to go back to school only two years ago at the age of 24. I went to college right out of high school with no real desire to learn on my own. The independence that a university offered was a little too much for my sheltered mind to accept. After all, in high school, someone usually held our hands through assignments and thoroughly explained assignments several times before they were due. So, needless to say, I was overwhelmed. I had always done very well in high school, so how was I forgetting assignments? I was not accepting personal responsibility for my own learning. Of course, it must have been the professor's fault that I was not completing assignments! It was almost always someone else's fault. Only because I was not accepting personal responsibility. Now, on the opposite end of the spectrum, I am here again at Austin Peay, paying for my own tuition this time around, and accepting responsibility for my own learning. I have always had the desire to learn, but this time around I was (and still am) ready to continue expand my knowledge so that I can teach others one day and hopefully spark in them the desire to learn at an early age.

The habit that is hardest for me is viewing problems as challenges.  I understand that problems can usually be solved, but I typically avoid problems altogether when possible. I know that not many people go out looking for problems, but I prefer for things to work together perfectly all of the time! No, really, I understand that problems help build character and teach lessons, but I find it difficult to be optimistic when it comes to a good problem or challenge.

I chose my blog title only for it's initial purpose. I know I can change it later, so if I choose to use this as my classroom blog, I can always change it later and make my work available to others or even hide it if necessary. 

...On to the next thing! :)