One Last Thing

I can't help but think, "I did it, I did it, I did it!", as Dora would say! This was my second chance at completing this class, and I finally made it!

I am amazed at how much this class has taught me, and at how much I will still continue to learn from my day to day "playing" with all of my tools. I never felt as if it was "work" to complete all of my "things" which made it such a fun experience. I loved that it was work in the fact that it was challenging, but it was so engaging that I never realized how long I was actually spending on each of my things. That was probably the hardest part for me because of my young daughter, but I figured out how to manage it all while keeping everyone happy! (as I am now typing with a toy being pushed into my lap! ;)

I am encouraged by my peers at my school who have already completed the class and who are completing it this summer. Knowing our school community, I know we will continue to inspire each other by sharing our blogs and ideas for using all of our new Web 2.0 tools. I am off now to add my blog to my signature line for my email which will force me to maintain it, and to share my blog with my Facebook friends. I have a daily routine of checking my iGoogle and Facebook, so I will be sure to include to my routine adding to my blog at least once a week this summer and at least once a week during the school year, working my way up to everyday. I'm sure my students will hold me to that resolution! I loved the idea of answering, "What have I learned today?" on my own blog. Isn't that what we expect of our students?

Thing #20

Google Docs

For some reason this was one of the most difficult "things" for me to complete, not because it was hard, but because I could not think of an application for it as I was working on it! I have decided to create a presentation for my parents of their grandkids that my sister and I can both work on together but from separate states. I think that was why I was stumped. I was trying to fit in the collaborative piece of the puzzle. Initially when I was exploring through the templates, I immediately thought of a grade level calendar that can be created and shared among my team. I also love the thought of many of my students being able to peer edit their compositions on the laptops. (If only each student had a laptop at all times!) We do a writing assignment in the beginning of the year calling writing roulette where each student adds to an ongoing story, and I can see how it would be so much fun to do on the laptops. I also will try to use this tool for communicating ideas with my peers in stead of having a million emails floating around of everyone's responses. Another idea I have is for my students to publish their compositions in Google Docs as an easy way for me to provide feedback and a quick and easy way for them to peer edit.

Thing #23

The Ning Network

While exploring the Ning Network and Classroom 2.0 I found a discussion about the use of collaborative calendars which I found useful in making my decision to use my google calendar on my blog and using it to share with colleagues. I remember reading somewhere that we didn't need to keep up with all of the information that was on the network, and laughing as I found myself digging deeper and deeper throughout the network.
I had joined the 23 Thingsters the other day because I guess someone had sent an invitation for me and I didn't realize it was for one of our assignments. I love that we can all be connected through the Mesquite network,and I wonder how many people will continue to keep up with it. I think that is my problem, I feel like I might have too many social networks happening at one time! It will take some getting used to...I will have to spend some time trying to tailor just one of the networks to meet all of my needs personally and professionally. I love having so many people connected with just a few keystrokes. You can't ask for any better than that! I found this inspirational video that reminded me of a good friend that used to teach with me, and I thought I would share. Enjoy!

Thing #22

Social Networking

I have had both a myspace and a facebook account for a few years for the purpose of connecting with family and friends. My most recent activity has primarily been on facebook since the birth of my daughter 20 months ago so that I could share photographs of her with my family and friends who do not see us very often. I have seen the positive and negative aspects of using these social networking tools, and am still on the fence on the effectiveness of their use. I have a few friends who post information they have enjoyed reading in online magazines and newspapers, and I enjoy the dialog that occurs as a result. It is nice to have an army of "friends" who can answer a question quickly or provide advice or assistance with just about any topic. I enjoy these aspects of online social networking, but worry about the consequences of having so much information "out there". I can see how students could benefit from being connected in this manner for the positive aspects mentioned above, but so many young (and old) haven't realized the repercussions of some of their actions on these sites.

Thing #7b

I found a video from my google reader on the Learning Network blog of the New York Times that I made a connection with from an article my students and I read in one of our weekly news magazines. I remember we had a pretty interesting discussion about what my students thought about having robots as teachers. This video was found on a blog that had accompanying questions to use to guide a classroom discussion. I hope I have or can retrieve a copy of the article that discusses this same topic because both the article and the video discussed the use of robots in Korean classrooms. It will be interesting to see what happens with this concept in the future.

Thing #21

I love my iGoogle page because my email, weather, YouTube, calendar, and google reader are all right there in front of me! I just discovered that I could add my calendar to my blog too.




This will come in handy when I create my class blog to add my calendar for my parents to see of our monthly events. I also like that I can share it with others through email pretty easily.

Thing #19

Voicethreads

Well I have definitely found my answer to adding the audio to my blog that I was hoping I could do. I originally thought I would do podcasts, but I know that I am also a visual learner, and appreciate the added visual of the voicethreads that podcasts don't offer. I loved the voice thread of the students measuring volume! I can't wait to assign a photographer during lessons for students to document their learning and share it on our class blog. How great to use as a tool of assessment for understanding. This would be such a motivator for so many students. The teacher who used the voicethread for his bellringer assignment was also pretty cool. I can see how voicethreads could be used for students who need extra assistance reading text. They can just pull up the voicethread of the assignment. So many students would love to be the recorder for the class! Voicethreads can also be created for "how-tos" for solving math problems or for students to explain their illustrations from their science or math journals.

On a personal note, I can't wait to use voicethreads for adding audio to my daughter's pictures on my personal blog. How fun for her to "hear" the story behind each photograph. :)