Looking Back....One Last Thing

I survived 23 Things!!

I had several favorite things.
My all time favorite was blogging. I have big plans for a family blog, a classroom blog, and whatever else I can find to blog about. Blogging was something that I always wanted to try but never really had the time. 23 Things taught me that it is very easy to do. I also liked all the little picture things. I think those will be fun to use in the computer lab with my students. I really liked Wordle and the Flickr spelling too.

Lifelong Learner?
I think that I was a little timid about technology before. I also was in survival mode this past year. It was my first year and there were so many things thrown at me all at once. I am hoping this year that I can use many of the tools that I learned from this class and incorporate them into my classroom. I also think that I need to take the time to just explore what is out there. Many of these Things that I learned are right there on the internet and I just had no idea.

Unexpected Outcomes -
There were many times when I wondered why I even bothered taking this class and thought that I should just drop it. About that time, I would learn a new Thing and I would be ready to plow ahead again. One thing that did surprise me so to speak was the time that I put into this class. There are some things that I whipped right through and others that I would 3-4 hours on. Looking back tonight, I am glad that I finished!!

Would I do this again.....hummmm?
I think that I would. I learned a lot and can't wait to use it all in my classroom. =)

Web 2.0
The most effective way to stay knowledgeable is to use it daily. I plan on doing that in my classroom as well as depend on my Google Reader. I also subscribed to several technology blogs on Classroom 2.0 & Ning.

My own final thoughts-
I would recommend this class to other district employees. I will say that this class is very time consuming. I am glad that I did it during the summer when I didn't have other school things to worry about. Four weeks seemed like a long time but really it wasn't especially when you can only do one or two a day and you spend 2-3 hours on each Thing.
I will say that my facilitator was very helpful as well as the others. She was very quick to help out and answer questions. Thanks Tracey!!
I think that it would be helpful if past Thingsters could be notified if they add new things to the class. Like little mini refreshers. Just a thought!!
Overall this class had been a great experience and I am glad that I did it.

Thing 23....Whoohoo!!

Well, you know what they say about first impressions...When I first started reading about the other social networks, I was thinking that I didn't have time to keep up with any thing else. I actually proved myself wrong!! I ended up joining Classroom 2.0 AND tagged some of the blogs to my Google reader.
I found some very interesting groups to join. I liked how you could do a search on a topic that interest you. I also liked the fact that I could read the latest stories on the home page to see if any of those were interesting. I found a group for elementary teachers that focus on reading. I also found several groups that focus on technology in th elementary classroom.
I think that social networking from both Classroom 2.0 and Ning have a lot to offer. They could be a valuable resource for information on just about anything that you would want to know about. I appreciated the fact that they were all educators and were coming from the same place that I am.

Thing 21

Google fun!

I very quickly made this movie from photos on Picasa 3. If seemed very easy! Picasa was very easy to down load and then it retrieved all the photos from my computer with one click. It left them in the groups or albums that they were listed under in my files. It did take some getting used to.

This would be a great tool to use for end of year scrap books. It was very easy to edit so you could add photos to it through out the year. There are also many other things you can do with Picasa besides movies. You can crop, edit, add captions, watermarks, and lots more to photos from this Google application.

My other favorite tool was Google-411. I did not know that this exisited. What was even more surprising was that you can send a text message to Google 411 with a search, such as Joe's Pizza & Pasta, Mesquite, and it will send you the message back in a text. It will give phone number and address. Super cool! I think that Google has many useful tools available. It just takes a little time to sit down and explore them all.

Thing 20

Google comes up with the most amazing tools! I really liked the Google Doc. application. I created a newsletter and a spread sheet to use in my classroom. I think many times we put the same information in too many places. Google Doc is great way to minimize that.
Three ideas:
1. Our grade level does one newsletter and then each add what we would like it to say. Who ever is in charge of the newsletter could type it on Google Docs and then the other three team mates could add any additional information. This would eliminate the back and forth between the classrooms and copies that we do now.
2. Acceleration groups in the spreadsheet - we have kids that come in and go out or move and we add another student to their slot. This would be a great tool for the entire team to collaborate with the acceleration teacher.
3. I think that this is a great way to collaborate with student teams. They can work online from home on projects and then set meeting times to work together. This would also allow the teacher to monitor progress of the group.
Overall I think that Google Doc. is a great way to share information. It is just like anything that you do on the internet, you would want to be sensitive about what you are putting out there.

Thing 22

Who would have thought that Facebook (FB) would have been one of the 23 Things?? I think that it is very important for educators and parents to know what their children are doing on the internet. If you are aware of what they are doing on the internet, the less likely they are going to be doing inappropriate behaviors.
I personally love FB. I have had my account for almost a year now and have reconnected with many people. I can communicate daily with family members that I otherwise would not if it weren't for FB.
I also have/had a MySpace page. I didn't ever really get into it though. It seemed like a lot of work to keep the page up.
I think that FB is much easier to update and keep current. I like the fact that I can update it very easily. It is very user friendly.
I do not really see an educational use for FB. It is called a social network. As an educator, I am very careful about what I put on FB. I may say that I have had a bad day but do not ever put anything about students or incidents that may have happened. I also struggle a little about not having parents of my students on my FB. I do not accept friend requests from them. I also try to closely monitor photos that go out on FB.
My philosophy is you never know who is friends with who, so if you wouldn't want your mom, principal, Dr. Henrie, or fellow teachers to see it or read it, don't put it on FB.
I think that best part of FB is the ability to reconnect with those you love on a daily basis. It is a fun way to keep up with those you might now see everyday and even those that you do.

7b

As I read my google reader, I came across this blog that I thought was appropriate for back to school. This article, Money Saving Tips in the Classroom,offers ideas for teachers to use to save money in their classroom. It also allows you to submit your own ideas to her and she will post them on the site. I also liked this link because as you read to the bottom, it gave additional links for you to read such as How to help your students keep their desks clean.
This blog link has been one of my favorites to read. They have many meaningful articles for teachers. They also have a search if you are searching for a specific topic. I am learning to add to the google reader as well as take away the ones that are not as good as I thought. This is definitely a tool that I will continue to use after this course concludes.