The Last Thing

I have really enjoyed these 23 things. I have explored all that web 2.0 has to offer and I have gained so much. I would have to say that my favorite discoveries are flickr.com, the generator, animoto, and the mashups. All of these things can be incorporated in the classroom or I can just use them to have fun. I thought that I knew everything there was to know so the fact that there was a whole other world on the computer really surprised me. I really like the exploration aspect of web 2.0. There is so much to learn and so many ways to incorporate the things learned. It can all be added together or modified in a way that will help students learn. I am now probably more involved with social networks than I was before. I definitely feel a greater sense of freedom on the internet now that I know so much about it. There are so many options. At first it was a little overwhelming and I was a little frustrated with it when I couldn't find things right away. After I worked on it a little more, it became much much easier and now it's so much fun. I think if there were multiple things where it was mandatory to include more than one thing at a time people would start to really memorize the different sites and that would strengthen the program or the goal of the program at least. It would force the things learned to become like second nature for the students. I think it has helped me to keep an innovative and adventurous mindset about me. I think that this program has opened my eyes to all the web has to offer. All I have to do is explore, which is fun and much easier now! I will be a much better teacher because now I have all of these resources to incorporate into my daily lessons and activities. To keep up with the developments in web 2.0 I will continue social networking and I will do searches. I think if I stay on social networking sites, chances are someone on there will be more advanced in technology and can help introduce me to all of the new developments in web 2.0 so I can stay up-to-date.

Thing 19

Visit TeacherPop


I like how this site applies to teachers. It's a great site just for teachers so I really liked that aspect of it. I also went to goodreads, shelfari, and crafts. I really liked the first one. I wasn't sure what it was about,but after searching the site, I found it is just like an online book club. The members will get on the page and rate books that they've read. Something that I really liked about this was it can be personalized so that anyone can form a reading list of what they want to read and what they have already read. I think this would be a very useful tool in the classroom. I could ask the students what books they would like to read and incorporate some of my own ideas to form a reasonable reading list. That's one idea. Another idea may be to record all the books the students have read. I could see what books students like more or less. This is a great way to make a really interesting and fun reading list for the students. The crafts page is something I could use as well as far as the ideas go. I also liked how on goodreads we could collect our favorite quotes. I think this is my favorite out of the ones I looked at. Back to teacherpop though, I think this site will be extremely useful. Teachers could make sure they have all of their coworkers on their page so that they can give and take ideas and rely on one another. They could form a strong sense of community among the group of teachers. Everyone is sure to benefit from this site because it will only strengthen them as professionals. Lastly, I chose to respond to John McFarland's comment. I had a challenging time with the ning badge, but I looked at the bottom of the page and found the embed code. :)

Thing 23

This program started out as Learning 2.0. It was created by Helene Blowers and was modified by the California School Library Association. It then became Learning 2.0-23 Things. This belonged to the Mesquite Independent School District. This is the foundation for what is n now Learning 2.0-23 Things for Teachers. All of this was made possible by Creative Commons. I really like the creative commons website. I see myself using this quite a bit when I am a teacher. The website allows me to do a search and use the material I find for lessons or class activities. I am sure I will use the photos from flickr.com in my classroom. I think it would be really neat to take all of the pictures I find that pertain to the lesson I am teaching and make a poster using all of the photos. The students could also use these pictures to create something. I thought that was a really neat point or idea behind creative commons. It does not restrict creativity at all and allows us to take and build upon others work. There are no restrictions with creative commons. I may also print out written works found on the creative commons site. All of these materials can be used to really help the students and the teachers learn and be creative.

Thing 22

Interactive Tools for Teachers

The three binders I have are called 1.Interactive Tools for Teachers 2. Science and 3. Reading and Language Arts. The one I chose to embed was the Interactive Tools for Teachers. I really enjoyed all of them and they are all really helpful. This one, however, has a few of my favorite websites. These are the most helpful to me and I really like how I can organize things by categories. This will make life so much easier. When teaching, if I need a lesson, I can just click on the category that I need and find it pretty easily. I set all of my binders to private. I could have set it to public, but I chose private since I'm a beginner. The other binders that I saw were really neat and I really enjoyed looking at them. They were so neat and I liked how everything was so easy to see and access. When I become a teacher, I may make a binder that the public can see because it is really beneficial and provides teachers with really great resources and lesson plans. It could be fun for interests outside the classroom as well. It doesn't just have to be for lesson plans. I am really interested in dolphins and whales. I could create a binder just for that. I love how the possibilities with the binders are endless. It will definitely help me keep lessons and different subject activities organized while having a rich resource folder to improve and enhance each lesson.

Thing 21

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

This was so much fun! This is something I can do during my free time or for my classroom. This would be great to use for displaying a science fair project. Also, this would be great with adding visual emphasis to a lesson. If we were talking about natural disasters for one lesson, I could put a slide show of volcanoes or something like that. I also think that parents will appreciate this. I could take pictures of the students doing different activities throughout the year and I could make a slide show or short film out of it. I could also do this throughout the year, which may help to make the parents feel as if they were more involved. This would make a great gift for the end of the year. I was so excited to learn how to do this. This is something that I will definitely use more in the future. :) It was really easy putting it all together. I really liked how I was able to go to flickr.com to use all of the pictures in my video. It really allowed me to be as creative as I wanted with the short film or movie. I have always wanted to do a documentary. This may be something I could use to do that. If the documentary film is educational, this is something I could use in my classroom as well.

Thing 20

I went to Youtube and looked through some of the videos they had. I really like the idea of Youtube. Anyone can post a video. There are a lot of educational videos. In some cases channels will post a video. Or maybe someone is posting them. Either way, I am able to see what was on the history channel about a variety of different topics. This was the video that I chose to embed. I hope I am doing this right. It's called education today and tomorrow. I thought this was interesting. Something else I thought was interesting is the youtube videos that explain youtube and how it came about and how it connects individuals. It talks about how it allows for communities to evolve. I thought this was important especially for educators and those who are in the process of becoming a teacher. They can join the teacher community through sites such as Youtube.

Thing 17

Bookmarking and tagging is something that everyone can use. It gets rid of the monotony of just looking through the sites. I really like exploring the web and finding new sites, but I always forget where I found them, what they are called, or sometimes how to spell the URL address correctly. Bookmarking will definitely take care of this issue as I can tag all of my favorite sites. This will definitely benefit me as I become a teacher. I can gather information that will help me learn about different things that are important to know about teaching. I can help others at the same time too. I can find really great sites and tag them and then others will be able to use them. I think that I will use this quite a bit as a teacher. I think if there is a site like the one mentioned about homework help, I could print off that information and use it as a handout for class or to strengthen a certain activity or lesson plan. It will be a lot of fun searching through everyone's tags and finding things that will help me and my classroom grow. At first I thought it would be challenging, but after watching the different tutorial videos and reading about it, I found that part of it's appeal is the simplicity and convenience behind it. It eliminates the fluff of the web and provides a quick and easy way to access information from anywhere at any time. Tagging and Bookmarking show that it is possible to have your cake and eat it too. :)

Thing 18

I chose to do the facebook page. I have had this page for a little over two weeks now. I notice a lot of people will use facebook to let others know what they are doing. It is a way to let others keep up on your own personal status. I haven't participated in it too much. If people use it for educational purposes, I think it is a great site for teachers. Usually people check their facebook quite a bit. It is a sure way to get a quick response and information or help if that is what is needed. Social networking is really important for all educators. It allows them to expand on their ideas, values, etc. based on school. In turn, it allows others to do gather information and ideas. Teachers and parents can converse using facebook or twitter. Twitter seems to be more sophisticated. Facebook seems to be something that all ages equally enjoy. Facebook has more options for the page. It is a lot of fun to add pictures and information to the profile section. The fact that Facebook allows pictures on the profile section, may make parents feel more involved. Though there should not be pictures of the classroom on the page, other aspects of the classroom could be added. Different projects or all of the students art work could be added to the page. Parents may appreciate this. Also, the facebook page shows friends when you're online. Parents could send messages if they have a question about their child. Facebook could be used for older students and classroom I'm sure. However, for my age group, I may just put art or projects on the wall. An upper level class may make a site and participate in social networking that way with an initial goal of learning and sharing their own knowledge. They could have like news pages and get creative that way. That would be a fun and interesting way to get the students to participate in reading and writing, depending on what age group it is. I think Facebook and Twitter are great sites for older students, teachers, and parents. http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home

Thing 16

I was really excited to do thing 16. I am always looking for ways to become more organized. I chose to use pageflakes. It is extremely informative. I really liked the online calendar. I have been trying to find an online calendar for the longest time so that was the first thing I went to. I really like how it has an annual reminder programmed into the calender beforehand. It seemed really helpful. I think the reminders will probably be one of the more helpful aspects. I also like the access availability. There are computers everywhere, especially on campus. If I forgot my planner one day, I would be able to keep up with what's going on through my online calendar. To-do lists are always helpful. It's just another way to make sure goals or projects are getting done on time. This ensures that each person is more productive or at least it helps with productivity. I will probably use the calendar at home and at school. This was the easist for me and the most useful.

Thing 15

The Book Lovers Wiki showed a lot of book reviews. This may be used in libraries. If a teacher or a student would like to find out more information about a book he/she is interested in, this wiki page would definitely help. People on this site can blog and inform others. Right now I am working on the sandbox thing. It is taking a little while to load, but other than that, I like it. I think this would be a great way to see what others have to say as well as write down my own thoughts and opinions. Overall, it is just a great way to trade information. I chose to put a picture from flickr on there. I wrote why I chose to use flickr. That has been the thing I have used the most out of everything else. It is really fun to use too. :) I also posted thing 3 in the comment box.

Thing 14

The flowcharts are pieces of information that lead to a main point or central idea. A mind map shows the development of thoughts that will eventually support a bigger idea. I chose to use the mind map. It was a lot of fun creating this. I chose bubbl.us to do my mind map. It challenged my knowledge on the topic I chose. This may be a useful tool in the classroom. If I wanted to see how much the students really understood about a topic, I could ask them to make a mind map. This would allow them to challenge themselves as well. In addition, I would be able to see which points are more clear than others based on the information left out of the map. This would also help them study for something. It would be a way to help them make connections, remember,and, more importantly, learn the material. This would be a great way to see if the material being taught is really being understood. Just an idea. :)

Thing 13

http://docs.google.com/demo/edit?id=scAC6qodTLXjsY41OhvT-lu74&hl=en&dt=spreadsheet#document

I really like the google docs. However, I had some trouble getting the URL transferred and the actual document that I wrote. These are the links I was given, but they are not showing up. My favorite aspect of the google docs is the presentation portion of the site. Zoho writer seemed to be almost like word just more advanced. Google docs has this link that allows you to invite others to collaborate. I think this would be extremely useful for teachers, parents, and students who wanted to share their ideas and receive feedback on ideas of their own. I really like all of the options that google docs provided. I would have to say that I like google docs better. I will have to keep working at copying the URL though. Other than that, I really like it and can be productive in several ways. -Myleah

http://docs.google.com/demo/edit?id=scAC6qodTLXjsY41OhvT-lu74&hl=en&dt=spreadsheet#spreadsheet

Thing 12

I chose to do the alert and the language translator. I really liked both of these things. I really like the alert. I chose to get alerts on dolphins and Hawaii. I can see how this will be extremely useful in the classroom. If we are following a subject in the classroom, we will be updated on what is going on because of these alerts. Also, the language translator will be helpful if there is a student who speaks a language other than Spanish or English, I will be able to translate lesson plans until I find additional help. With the alert, there is so much variety and I could sign up for anything as far as alerts go. It all was really fun. I love the alert page. :)

Thing 11

 I found edublog easiest to use. Edublog was the easiest for me.At first, I thought they were all equally confusing; however, on edublog I found it easier to just subscribe to using the facebook page. I am not really sure if that means they will send me information through facebook, but I will find out soon. There were feeds with a lot of ideas about the classroom and some people were just writing their opinions.  There were some that people were using just to inform others on things not pertaining to education at all. That was a little unusual, but understandable.  Facebook is one way to locate newsfeeds. That is what I did with the edublog. I had to subscribe through facebook. It was a little difficult getting to that point. However, I think for each one or each newfeed, I could go to the facebook link on each newsfeed and subscribe that way from now on.

Thing 10

 I like how helpful and informative it is. There seems to be a variety of topics on the page, which will be extremely useful.  In the classroom, I could just expand my knowledge on the topic I am teaching about. I could include a lot of the material or, at least some, into my daily lesson. In my personal life, I could learn about different interests and see what people think.  It seems like it would be more convenient than other sources. It does a lot of different things. There are blogs and a section for news. If teachers want to save time while being productive, the RSS is something they will find extremely useful.  To share your blogs with others! A public page seems to be similar to facebook. It is used to share thoughts and ideas as well as receive feedback on those. 

Thing 9

http://graphics.pryat.com/signs/parody/post-it-notes/note.asp?pic=&allow=&text=I+hope+you+all+have+a+great+day%21%0D%0A%0D%0A%3A%29Myleah&fontsize=14&font=hand&move=20&move2

I chose to use the sticky note generator because I see this as something I will find very useful in the future. I could use it to remind myself and others of upcoming events or other important notes. I really like the creativity it allows for everyone to be. There are so many ways to use this generator and I think the students will find it helpful and interesting too. I think maybe if it's something fun with an important note, that might help the students keep updated. As far as the sticky note goes, I think parents would find this more useful. In creating this I just typed in what I wanted to say and I also adjusted the position of the words. It was really simple and I really like the outcome!

Thing 4

Commenting helps people form their perceptions and attitudes and may strengthen their original thoughts and ideas as well. I addition it creates a support system in a way. People can give and take and rely on someone to interact with them in way that is productive and beneficial to them. Commenting helps shape thoughts and allows for ideas to grow. If there were no comments being made, there would be little mental growth. Various views are needed to move forward and commenting allows for this to happen. I commented on TPlummer, Jodi, Sosborne22, apsubunger,Mary Barczak's 23 things. On all of these I commented on thing 3. It was really interesting to see how everyone decided to use the blogs to benefit themselves and their students as well. I also commented on John McFarland and biologynortoneducation's 23 things. Thing 1 and thing 8 is what I chose to comment on. I thought all of these blogs were extremely insightful and full of great ideas.

Thing 8

On Flickr

I chose to spell sunshine using the flickr mashup. I have always wanted to be able to do this. It just makes things more interesting. If there was a powerpoint or a lesson, I can see where this would be really neat to use. I really like the flexibility of all of these sites. It allows me to be creative with something as simple as words or letters. It was a lot of fun. In my personal life, this could be used to send letters to parents or to anyone really. I was really excited about this. I haven't been to the sites where I could mash up pictures. I rarerly put my pictures on anything, but I think it would be fun to take pictures of the students. That would be fun way to collaborate everyone's picture. I'm getting a lot of ideas from all of these sites. I was intimidated by technology and still am a little bit, but at the same time, it's really inspiring.

Thing 7

 This website was useful because it had such a variety of pictures. I think this would be useful if there were like a theme in the classroom. For example, the picture I posted could be made into a collage with a bunch of other pictures. My project topic was fifth grade science and this goes with that. Pictures just help intrigue students and, in addition, serves as a visual aid. I never knew that a site like this existed. I enjoyed seeing all of the pictures. I like the diversity of genres as well.  Fiji from Jim Patterson Photography.
From Batikart
From Kees Straver

All of these pictures are from http://www.flickr.com/
I chose all of these pictures because this is what I think I would choose if I were teaching a lesson on the ocean or coral reef ecology. The pictures are really great and extremely focused and detailed. My favorite picture out of all of these is the picture of the coral reef. I found all of these pictures by typing in coral reef in the search bar.

Thing 6

For thing 6 web 2.0 tools, I chose amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/ to search and explore. I found that there are a lot of different things on the websites that could be incorporated into the classroom and library. There are several educational childrens' books. In addition, there are other things like toys and games that could be used in the academic setting. Something that I thought was pretty interesting is on the side bar is a list of differnt ages. However, this is only in the toys and games category. This is good though because a selection of these could be used in the classroom. For example, there could be some games or toys in the students' age range, but then there could be games for older children. This would be fun way to challenge the students. At amazon, there is a category bar with a huge variety. Technology is one of the categories and it could be used to engage the students in that way. Almost anything can be found at amazon.com. If a teacher wanted to get updated on the newest things, they could join the Twitter page and amazon.com would send them information on what they wanted to know. The teacher and the classroom would always be up to date. In all, my favorite thing about amazon.com is the wide selection of books they offer. The books that are in the classroom don't have to be strictly for children. For example, in the classroom or library, there could be a variety of non-fiction books to include history, science, english, etc. I really love this website and thing 6 has taught me that there's so much more to all of the websites and sometimes exploring is all it takes to make a great classroom or library.
 Myleah

Thing 5

The Web 2.0 information was interesting. The web evolution was a concept I never really thought about. I see that Web 2.0 allows interaction opposed to Web 1.0, which just allows the gathering of knowledge. To me, Web 2.0 means expressing ideas and exploring new ones. Ultimately that is what the Web 2.0 seems to provide...a place to teach, learn, and explore. Before I read these and saw the video, I thought of websites like Facebook and Twitter as strictly social and not really educational. But now I can see that if used appropriately, it can be very productive and beneficial to all involved. Students can use this to express their thoughts and gain feedback on different ideas. For teacchers, it expands views on different topics and will create a better, more well-rounded teacher. With thoughts and ideas constantly being viewed and responded to, it will help teachers grow, which will benefit the students in the end. Overall, the Web 2.0 has provided a place where productive interaction and individual growth can take place. In addition, teachers can communicate this way. It may help them to create a supportive atmosphere to rely on when they need ideas or assistance with their class. If this were done, it would also create a stronger sense of community for all of the teachers.

Thing # 3

I never really thought of incorporating technology in my class in anyway. I see where it is extremely important and useful though so my eyes have been opened, which is good. For parents that aren't able to attend meetings or for those who are not able to really get physically involved, blogging could be used to make sure all of the parents are updated with classroom activities. Blogging can also be a place where parents express their ideas and inform the teacher and other parents what his/her child best responds to. For example, more parents may write in a blog that a certain way of teaching a lesson is more productive for their children. In addition, I can get ideas from others' writing. This will only make the classroom atmosphere that much more interesting and, more importantly, educational. Blogging ensures gaining knowledge that can be incorporated in so many ways.

Thing Two

For my posting name and my blog name I decided to use my first name. I did not really think about using anything else. I will be more creative next time. Creating everything has been really fun. It has been a challenge for me. I think the most difficult thing for me was just overcoming the intimidation of doing something that I had never done before. I have already created a little Avatar, but I just read the rest of the directions so I will have to put that on my page. Right now I am trying to put a real picture of me on the page, but I may save that for another day. I had fun making my Avatar. It looks like me. I tried to get the features and coloring as close to mine as possible. That is the next best thing to a real picture. I chose a pink top and orange shorts for my Avatar because that is my favorite color combination. It reminds me of the hibiscus even though I have never seen any either of those colors. Overall, I have learned a lot. Using all of the technology and different things is not my strong point, but I am excited to learn all of the little things I can do online. It has been a lot of fun. :)

Myleah  

Thing One

I really enjoyed this tutorial. There were a lot of new and interesting ideas to ensure growth and learning. The easiest habit for me is setting goals. The second habit, taking responsibility of learning, is easy for me. The most difficult habits for me is anything having to do with technology. I know this is very important so I'm willing to learn. The tool box of different resources was something I never really thought about. That was new to me. I use different websites to get ideas for my classroom and the different activities; however, I never looked at it like that. Overall this tutorial was extremely interesting and I already feel I have gained a lot.