1)Actually setting up a blog was one of my favorite things, since I never in a million years thought I would do such a thing. Learning about podcasts and their possibilities will be really useful. I also liked creating an RSS feeds account, and Google Docs is something I plan to use frequently.
2)Initially I was intimidated when beginning this program, but I have learned that it is possible for me to gain ground technically speaking even if my pacing is not the same as my younger colleagues. In fact, this program has almost made we wish I was at the beginning of my teaching carrer rather than the later stage because of the difference I think some of these innovations could make in a student's discovery of knowledge and how powerful that can be.
3)To me, one of the unexpected outcomes, is just how vast and constantly changing the sheer amount of material and projected uses the internet holds, and that the 21st century truly will usher in a whole new perspective on education.
4)One of the biggest hurddles of the program was the time it took to complete each thing. I always felt under the gun to finish. Some of the videos were very slow and a couple never did play. A major challenge was keeping up with all the accounts we had to set up and different usernames and passwords. Is there an easy way to do it, like store all those somewhere for easy retrival? Doing it online and not sitting in a class was isolating, because there was no one to turn to and get immediate feedback or help from. Although I have to say, Vaughn was the best kickball captain and never made me feel self conscious about asking for help.
5)Yes, I would probably participate in a similar program.
6)This experience was stupendous,yes, an old dog can learn new tricks!!
7)I plan to comment on some more blogs right now.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Thing # 22: Nings
In checking out the Teacher Librarian Ning, I came upon the Missouri teacher of the year who had some terrific ideas using podcasts, it was incredible, you should check it out, http://www.speakingofhistory.blogspot.com/, it also brought out all of the "things" we are discussing here and how we need to change our way of thinking in education as far as delivery of information.
The Teacher Ning has a lesson plan site but few lessons were there, and nothing for science. But I can see its usefullness as a site to vent and pick up new techniques. Being new to blogging, I am not sure of using a Ning over any other blog site. I guess it narrows down replies to your blog, and you might find your have more in common with those responding to your blog and will then have more frequent discussions with the same people, and even become friends.
The Teacher Ning has a lesson plan site but few lessons were there, and nothing for science. But I can see its usefullness as a site to vent and pick up new techniques. Being new to blogging, I am not sure of using a Ning over any other blog site. I guess it narrows down replies to your blog, and you might find your have more in common with those responding to your blog and will then have more frequent discussions with the same people, and even become friends.
Thing # 21: Podcasts and Audio Books
This was great fun. And I almost know what I am doing!Lots of possibilities for the classroom. I can see a project for alternative energy sources, or making a podcast that students could download regarding homework, test reviews, short informational podcasts about questions brought up in class,etc.
Thing # 20:YouTube,TeacherTube and Zamzar
I was very excited to see this "Thing" about embedding videos because I tried to use a YouTube video last year on Rube Goldberg and was unable to do so. Hopefully this time it will be succesfull. This is a video about Rube Goldberg contraptions built by high school physics students. There is also a world wide Rube Goldberg contest every year. The basic concept is to show students how the use of simple machines to accomplish a very simple task can be done in a very complicated manner.
The number of sources to search for videos is incredible, and of course when you go to view one, you see other related videos you may not have thought of that can be useful. The well seems bottomless. The following is a Honda coommercial that is a great example of using the Rube Goldberg technique.
I was able to embed the video, but it will not play continuously. Any advice?!
The number of sources to search for videos is incredible, and of course when you go to view one, you see other related videos you may not have thought of that can be useful. The well seems bottomless. The following is a Honda coommercial that is a great example of using the Rube Goldberg technique.
I was able to embed the video, but it will not play continuously. Any advice?!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Thing # 19: Web 2.0 Awards List
I really, really liked Backpack. Alas it is not free. But it seems great to me, because I always need serious help with organization. And it seems easy to use, which is of the utmost importance. You can share your schedule with others on your team, so you can keep track of one another, making scheduling meetings easier, without running around to find people. You can have reminders sent to your e-mail or phone.
Flickr would be the next tool I would choose. It also is easy to navigate. You can set up groups of the type of photos that you wish to share, so that each class or subject you teach can have its own folder. You can use photos for each unit, to cover vocabulary or basic concepts that you will expand on later. Students can take photos you choose or choose their own and make their own albums to illustrate whatever you wish. And each students' is unique to him/her. I like that they can share these photos with you and you could reply if it is appropriate or not, because you can leave notes directly on the photographs. And depending what your subject is you can place your photo on a map to make it clearer say, where certain elements are most common in the world.
Flickr would be the next tool I would choose. It also is easy to navigate. You can set up groups of the type of photos that you wish to share, so that each class or subject you teach can have its own folder. You can use photos for each unit, to cover vocabulary or basic concepts that you will expand on later. Students can take photos you choose or choose their own and make their own albums to illustrate whatever you wish. And each students' is unique to him/her. I like that they can share these photos with you and you could reply if it is appropriate or not, because you can leave notes directly on the photographs. And depending what your subject is you can place your photo on a map to make it clearer say, where certain elements are most common in the world.
Thing # 18: Online Productivity Tools
It is impressive that Open Office could be used by students making a document by correcting spelling more easily as they go along, not to mention help them with vocabulary that may be new to them in offering alternative choices. Of course you could consider that a disadvantage too. I like that spreadsheet formulas could be expressed in words. Being able to use it on any computer is great.
Back on Thing # 7, I created a couple of documents using Google Docs, and am looking forward to using that when school starts, especially for meetings or sharing common documents with fellow teachers. I think it will take some getting use to, having people able to see and correct or "enhance" my work.
Not sure yet about creating presentations in Open Office vs. PowerPoint. They have some great features. But how will this work in with all the new activboards we now have at our school and are suppose to make daily use of?
Back on Thing # 7, I created a couple of documents using Google Docs, and am looking forward to using that when school starts, especially for meetings or sharing common documents with fellow teachers. I think it will take some getting use to, having people able to see and correct or "enhance" my work.
Not sure yet about creating presentations in Open Office vs. PowerPoint. They have some great features. But how will this work in with all the new activboards we now have at our school and are suppose to make daily use of?
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thing # 17: Rollyo
What a trip. I have spent all day setting up a searchroll. At least I think I have set up a search roll. I thought it would be easy, and I am sure it is for most people. I did like the video provided by Bruce Goodner. I revisited it several times! I can see how this will save time as students are looking for information on a particular research project or even just questions to answer concerning a specific topic like Newton's laws. My link to rollyo:http://rollyo.com/doffingco/doffing9/
Thing # 16- Wikis
Wikis seem to be one way to engage students in their own learning by making their education relevant to them. I see that lots of rules for use will be necessary, to maintain the integrity of the work the students do. But I also think that some students may be more inclined to participate. That being said, not all students are as attunted to the internet as we may think and some may even be resistant. I know, I just contradicted myself, but we have to be aware of the fact that students learn in different ways, and at different speeds. That doesn't mean I don't think we should'nt take advantage of using wikis, just be prepared for challenges that appear. Maybe this is my view because the wiki concept is so new to me. But I am willing to forge ahead.
Okay, I just read the assignment again, and I think I got off track. My experience in posting a comment on the Sandbox was at first confusing. I posted three times. I know that one appeared, although I am not sure it is in the right location.
Okay, I just read the assignment again, and I think I got off track. My experience in posting a comment on the Sandbox was at first confusing. I posted three times. I know that one appeared, although I am not sure it is in the right location.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Thing # 15: Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the Future of Libraries
Nothing has raised my consciousness more about the challenges facing libraries now and in the future, than reading these blogs. In fact I'm not sure it was even in my consciousness. It is exciting and daunting at the same time. Probably the most revealing aspect to me is that we really can't conceive of what technology will be in use in say, my grandchildren's daily life and education, and they aren't that old now. And because the discussion of such a topic is open world-wide, the possibilities could be endless.
I thought Rick Anderson's perspective that there should be less time spent with search interfaces and more time reading and learning was interesting. But the public, especially new users to the web, have to be trained to use the services. Perhaps time will eventually take care of that as we begin to learn from the crib how to navigate the internet and it becomes second nature to us.
I thought Rick Anderson's perspective that there should be less time spent with search interfaces and more time reading and learning was interesting. But the public, especially new users to the web, have to be trained to use the services. Perhaps time will eventually take care of that as we begin to learn from the crib how to navigate the internet and it becomes second nature to us.
Thing # 14 Technorati and How Tags Work
This is my most challenging posting....so far. I believe I have a good understanding of tags and their use. I have less understanding of how to locate them, though I have managed to do so, maybe by accident. It seemed so simple at the outset. To me it was easier to navigate in Technorati, but then I am almost afraid to venture very far. In one search the blogs could be sorted by relevance. How in the world would that work? Maybe I missunderstood. For someone with poor organizational skills, tagging is great and hopefully will reduce the amount of time( which seems to disappear in enourmous chunks) searching. I have just begun to find out what pinging is and what widgets are. Surely as time goes on these will become clearer, whether I use them or not. For school, tagging would be essential to find relevant material in a hurry, and also get input from fellow teachers.
Thing # 13 Tagging and discover delicious
It amazes me that we are constantly creating accounts. But then I'm new to this. Is there a device to keep track of all the different user names and passwords for each account? I did successfully register with delicious and without help. Using it is something different. I see the possiblities for working with co-teachers and/or team members. How neat to be seated in a meeting planning a unit and all be able to access the same articles at the same time because of the social bookmarking and make comments with immediate feedback.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Thing # 12: Creating Community through commenting
All the information relayed in the readings regarding leaving comments was very useful and thought provoking. I felt as a new blogger that coolcatteacher's blog encouraging newbies not to be afraid to leave a comment very supportive. And from the 10 commandments of Blog commenting, the very first commandment seems to me to be the most important, and that is to read before you write. How many times have I opened my big mouth before I really understood a situation fully?
After 15 tries, I finally managed to actually leave my first comment on someone's blog. At least I'm persistent. And thanks to my new best friend vwb!
Just made my second comment, both have been outside the SBISD family. I was drawn to both blogs by my interests in gardening and the teaching of special ed.
I have also completed commenting on 6 learn2play blogs. Now to see if I get any replys.
After 15 tries, I finally managed to actually leave my first comment on someone's blog. At least I'm persistent. And thanks to my new best friend vwb!
Just made my second comment, both have been outside the SBISD family. I was drawn to both blogs by my interests in gardening and the teaching of special ed.
I have also completed commenting on 6 learn2play blogs. Now to see if I get any replys.
Thing # 11 Library thing
For some reason I am not able to sign in. I don't know what user name and password to put in. All combinations I have tried do not work!!!!!!
Update: Somehow I manged to log in, thanks to Vaughn my kickball captin. It should have been very simple but wasn't, however I listed some books and with all the professional reading regarding teaching strategies, special ed and specific content related information, this will help me to keep track of just what I have read, seeing as how my memory often fails me.
Update: Somehow I manged to log in, thanks to Vaughn my kickball captin. It should have been very simple but wasn't, however I listed some books and with all the professional reading regarding teaching strategies, special ed and specific content related information, this will help me to keep track of just what I have read, seeing as how my memory often fails me.
Thing # 10: Online Image Generator
Well this is fun, and very, very time consuming. I have to stop or I'll never get to the other "things"! Using http://www.signgenerator.org/ and http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/ one can find cartoons with some relevance to play with, that students can relate to. I made a couple to illustrate not only vocabulary for a particular science unit, but one to help understand the formula for force. My favorite was the pocket albums in BigHugeLabs. This is a great way to get across the scientific method and students can make their own so it has more meaning to them.
Thing # 9: Useful Library-Related Blogs and News Feeds
Just when I think I might be getting a handle on things as far as blogging I encounter the next thing. I am not real clear on what I am doing but I am making the attempt with my older than dirt brain.
To me the easiet way to find a feed or blog is to go to google and enter keywords like newsfeeds or blog titles. In reviewing the search tools suggested on the lesson, I thought Topix.net was the easiest to use. I tried to register for the SBISD teacher blogs in Google Blog Search, but couldn't figure out how to do it. I am sure for others it was a breeze. The Syndic8 tool seemed promising at first, but every time I clicked a link it took foreveeeeeer to load, so I just quit looking at it.
The most useful feed, I hope, will be the Science and technology news feed from Topix and the most unusal I saw was their Offbeat feed. I think the inclusion of a standard feed icon in many websites will be very helpful to get a quick look at interesting feeds I might want to add to my reader.
To me the easiet way to find a feed or blog is to go to google and enter keywords like newsfeeds or blog titles. In reviewing the search tools suggested on the lesson, I thought Topix.net was the easiest to use. I tried to register for the SBISD teacher blogs in Google Blog Search, but couldn't figure out how to do it. I am sure for others it was a breeze. The Syndic8 tool seemed promising at first, but every time I clicked a link it took foreveeeeeer to load, so I just quit looking at it.
The most useful feed, I hope, will be the Science and technology news feed from Topix and the most unusal I saw was their Offbeat feed. I think the inclusion of a standard feed icon in many websites will be very helpful to get a quick look at interesting feeds I might want to add to my reader.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Thing #8 - RSS Feeds and Readers
What fun. I subscribed to several sites before I realized that I had to have a certain number of blogs also. What I like best about RSS and Newsreader is that the updates come to me, and I don't have to search for them. It is exciting because there will always be something to look forward to. I can see that this is a source for information about special ed issues( such as keeping up with sped laws as they change), as well as science issues that I may not have contemplated and that I can pass on to my co-teacher, not only regarding content, but also challenges regarding discipline. And it gives me a place to test ideas I might have with a certain amount of anonymity. Libraries could foward new blogs containing information on a particular subject to teachers or other interested parties, once they have been made aware of such desire for the information.
Thing #7 Cool Google Tools-Google Docs
This will be a great assest to have fellow teachers in the department work on the same document and to edit and modify as the occasion calls for.
Thing #7 Cool Google Tools-Google Calendar
Setting up the calendar was fun and useful. It will be particularly helpful when fellow teachers and co-teachers can see my schedule thus making it easier to plan meetings without conflicting events. Calendar address is: http://www.google.com/calendar/render#
Friday, July 4, 2008
Thing # 6 Mashups and 3rd party sites
Putting photos on a cube could be expanded into placing photos on all kinds of foldables, used in the classroom for introducing new vocabulary or review for quizes and tests.
Thing #5 Flickr
I am excited thinking that I am actually adding the image to my blog. At least I hope I am. I am about to find out.
It worked!!!
this picture and others will be great to illustrate the definition of "force".
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Thing #4
Hooray! I actually kind of , sort of, almost know what I am doing. Wasn't sure I could actually post any blog, much less add an avatar to my site. I am hoping the hardest part is over, but I don't really think so. Time will tell.
Monday, June 30, 2008
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