What were my favorite discoveries or exercises: Flickr is something that I find myself clicking onto a lot—it is my goto source for pictures to help with lessons with my ESOL kiddos. Online Image Generators are a lot of fun. Sometimes a lesson needs a little something to make it pop, and now I know how to create a graphic, and there are lots of different styles to choose from. Photostory, is the most exciting thing to me. I think I will try to teach my students how to use this during our study of space.
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals? I see the importance of using technology more in the classroom. I am guilty of having the three computers in my room not being used effectively. I had a rotation for the students to work on Odyssey, but other than that, we didn’t use them so much. I am very thankful that I am on a team that got the Power To Learn Grant. Although it has taken a LOT of time teaching the kids to be independent and how to trouble shoot, they are very enthusiastic about using the technology to further their knowledge and sharpen their skills. Because of doing the 23 things, I am more willing to step out and try something new, and share it with the students for them to try.
Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? I really like the idea behind Rollyo. I liked being able to make my own search roll for the units that I do in the classroom to help my students be a little more successful at finding information they need on the web. We really like using EnchantedLearning.com, but the students can only take so many notes on the limited amount of information on that site. I hope that this becomes a reliable tool for me to use.
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? The only suggestion I have is to maybe move the RSS feeds section down a couple, BUT, I do like that there was a good mix of “things”. There would be some easier ones, then there would be one that slowed me down some. There is a good mix of video presentations, to help learning be a little easier. I really appreciated being able to work at my own pace.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? Highly Likely
How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities? Masochistic!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thing #22 Nings
Nings are a great tool for people to use to search out other people with the same interests. Seeing these educator nings makes me realize that teachers have similar issues, no matter where they are in the country (or in the world, in some cases!) I have found that looking through nings is also a great way to pass the time while sitting at your grandpa’s house—especially when he only turns on the TV for a few minutes a day!
There were two sites that I especially liked for their technology information.
laptops
elementary teachers
This is a good way to have discussions on particular issues that a classroom teacher has to deal with (forums tab). You can find helpful information about something you might be about to embark on---some pointers on what worked well for a teacher, and what things blew up, and how they would do it differently. I wish I had had access to this information as a new teacher! As a student at UHCL, I look forward to using the librarian nings to gather ideas of how to be an effective librarian!
There were two sites that I especially liked for their technology information.
laptops
elementary teachers
This is a good way to have discussions on particular issues that a classroom teacher has to deal with (forums tab). You can find helpful information about something you might be about to embark on---some pointers on what worked well for a teacher, and what things blew up, and how they would do it differently. I wish I had had access to this information as a new teacher! As a student at UHCL, I look forward to using the librarian nings to gather ideas of how to be an effective librarian!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thing #21 Photostory
How fun is Photostory!?! I am so glad that I learned about this fabulous program before my cruise in January! When I played with Animoto last year, I thought that was neat, but was limited in the music (or at least you are with the free ones). You have so much more control on this program, and I love how you can narrate your own, and you can use your own music straight from itunes! (Oh, geez. How does copyright laws affect this?!?) I created a story using the pictures I took of my class from last school year. This might be a cool program to use for book reports. The students can find pictures that go along with their story and narrate a summary, or book review. It is very user friendly. My only issue was deciding what songs to play with the pictures. I could have spent hours more looking through my music. I could see that if you were having younger kids picking out music, you might consider limiting their choices! I was working on putting some pictures in a power point to put on the class Wiki, but now I am going to see if I can post a photostory instead. The music I used with this story: Theme song from the TV show "Saved By the Bell", and "Fun, Fun, Fun" by the Beach Boys.
I found that I had to revert to the old editor in order to get the video button to link my photostory. (Yes, it took me a while to figure that out, but I was going to figure it out dadgumit!)
I found that I had to revert to the old editor in order to get the video button to link my photostory. (Yes, it took me a while to figure that out, but I was going to figure it out dadgumit!)
Thing #20 YouTube, TeacherTube, Zamzar
I searched Library 2.0, and came up with a parody of the A&E show, “Dog, the Bounty Hunter”…titled “Kat, the Library Fine Bounty Hunter”. While I found it slightly amusing, I decided that this wasn’t something I wanted to embed on my blog. You can look it up if it interests you! I also found a Bookcart Drill Team competition video…do we have one of these is SBISD? After watching some irrelevant things, some funny, some disturbing, I found one that struck a chord with me, simply titled “Web 2.0 Technologies”.
In math, we are about to begin addition with regrouping, and I found this great video on Teacher Tube to explain how to use the program of Kidspiration to model for the children how to add using base 10 blocks.
In math, we are about to begin addition with regrouping, and I found this great video on Teacher Tube to explain how to use the program of Kidspiration to model for the children how to add using base 10 blocks.
Thing # 19 Web 2.0 Awards
I discovered a tool titled “Flock”, which is a social web browser. Due to all of the exploring I have had to do with 23 things, I was not intimidated at all to explore, click, and I UNDERSTOOD what I was reading! If you become a Flock user, you can put all of your web stuff together in one location. Pictures, websites, RSS feeds, keep up with your latest webmail, people you follow, keep up with your blog, and on and on. Currently, I am thinking that this will be a great place to keep all of my library tools. Places I find while researching, RSS feeds related to my studies, pictures that I may take, or pictures of library set ups (such as Book Fair ideas!?!). You can also connect to a wide variety of media streams from here, such as; youtube, facebook, truveo, flickr, just to name a few. When you close out, this program asks you if you want to save your tabs before you quit, so you can return right where you left off.
Flock was very easy to download, and it has tabs for the different screens complete with directions of how to use each screen. There is also a Twitter Search area, so that you can search tweets for the subject you are investigating. One huge disadvantage to this program is that it is loaded onto one computer, so at the moment, your access is limited by your location.
Flock was very easy to download, and it has tabs for the different screens complete with directions of how to use each screen. There is also a Twitter Search area, so that you can search tweets for the subject you are investigating. One huge disadvantage to this program is that it is loaded onto one computer, so at the moment, your access is limited by your location.
Thing #18 Online Tools
I have been using Google Docs this semester with my 2nd graders. With the grant that we got from SBISD, we have ASUS laptops (we call them “minis”), and those did not come with the Microsoft Office package. The students are all set up with their own gmail address, and once they have learned the basics of Microsoft office, they took on Google Docs pretty easily since they are quite similar. This is great for mini-projects such as a slideshow or making a handout for what they have learned. I have used this with group work in Social Studies, Science and Reading so far. Because the students can share documents and presentations with each other, there doesn’t have to be a group of 4 huddled around 1 computer waiting to take turns to do “their part”, they can each be working on their own computer, working on their part of the project, and this helps with eliminating wasted time.
I have also had the students use Google Docs to share their projects with me so that I can easily see from ONE place what their status is as far as finishing. I don’t have to log onto each student’s account, I have them all listed in one place! One disadvantage that has reared its ugly head is that sometimes group members have “tweaked” some part that someone else did, and this has caused some hurt feelings. We have had to establish some rules similar to kindergarten block center of “if you didn’t build it, you can’t knock it down” to “if you didn’t type it, you can’t change it without permission”.
In a nutshell—advantages: free, more than one can work on the same project at the same time on different computers, similar to Microsoft Office programs, and it automatically saves, so the user doesn’t have to worry about where/how to save the project!
Disadvantages: have to set up each user with a google email address to start, items can be edited or changed and you may not like how it was changed, it saves to a server that you do not have control over!
I have also had the students use Google Docs to share their projects with me so that I can easily see from ONE place what their status is as far as finishing. I don’t have to log onto each student’s account, I have them all listed in one place! One disadvantage that has reared its ugly head is that sometimes group members have “tweaked” some part that someone else did, and this has caused some hurt feelings. We have had to establish some rules similar to kindergarten block center of “if you didn’t build it, you can’t knock it down” to “if you didn’t type it, you can’t change it without permission”.
In a nutshell—advantages: free, more than one can work on the same project at the same time on different computers, similar to Microsoft Office programs, and it automatically saves, so the user doesn’t have to worry about where/how to save the project!
Disadvantages: have to set up each user with a google email address to start, items can be edited or changed and you may not like how it was changed, it saves to a server that you do not have control over!
Thing # 17 Rollyo
This one is aggravating!! I loved the video that Bruce did. He should consider writing Rollyo for Dummies. Sometimes I can get Rollyo to boot up, and sometimes I can’t (seems to be that the evenings are the worst time frames). At one point, I got in, signed up, and started a rollyo for the moon and planets. I tried to get back in later to work on my blog post, and I couldn’t get it load, and got a message on the screen that said “didn’t connect, too many connections”, so I went and explored the next topic for a while.
The potential for this is great! I love the idea of being able to put certain websites in one place for them to find information. I can weed out nonessential websites, or websites that are too technical for them to comprehend, and provide sites with good information at their level of understanding. I hope this is just a glitch in the system and it’s temporary.
Note to self for future reference: Make a list of the websites you want to roll on a Word document (or similiar), then copy paste these links over to rollyo so that if you click on create roll and it WON'T, you don't lose all of your information. It's a pain rehunting the websites you want put together!
The potential for this is great! I love the idea of being able to put certain websites in one place for them to find information. I can weed out nonessential websites, or websites that are too technical for them to comprehend, and provide sites with good information at their level of understanding. I hope this is just a glitch in the system and it’s temporary.
Note to self for future reference: Make a list of the websites you want to roll on a Word document (or similiar), then copy paste these links over to rollyo so that if you click on create roll and it WON'T, you don't lose all of your information. It's a pain rehunting the websites you want put together!
Thing #16 Wiki
Last year, three of my teammates created Wikis for their classrooms. I saw the excitement that it generated with their students, but I didn’t really see how the students were getting very much out of it. One wiki had links to a bunch of different webcams, and the kids liked watching the animals that were featured. When I browsed through what they posted about, the spelling was terrible (okay, it’s 2nd grade, I know!), but they also weren’t really generating much information that I could tell. Now I realize that I was being a bit short-sighted. Seeing as how our classrooms are evolving into 2.0 classrooms, it was like baby steps for both teachers and students. The students were learning what it was like to be part of a collaborative learning community. Just like I wouldn’t expect a kinder student to walk in with perfect handwriting, so goes the Wiki. This year I have my own class Wiki going, and it is a learning process. I learned that I needed to teach the students to make relevant topics to post about, and I have had a few students start their own topics. There are pages created to go with things happening in our classroom, such as a page about science, and I add pictures of them learning, projects they do, and links (mostly to teachertube) to further their knowledge. They are learning how to be meaningful in their posts, and they enjoy checking it to see what new things I keep adding as we go along. I do have a love/hate relationship with this particular Wiki, maybe it’s the site that I am building from, but I have a heck of a time making a table on a page and making my text come out the way I want it to when I click “save”. I enjoyed the video from PB Wiki Tips---I have a slideshow made from when my class did air experiments, and now I think I know how to go about posting it.
The latest page that my students suggested was a Favorite Authors page, and we post links to author pages, such as Jeff Kinney and Tomie DePaola. Anytime something unusual happens, they want it posted on our wiki. It’s becoming an electronic scrapbook of sorts!
The latest page that my students suggested was a Favorite Authors page, and we post links to author pages, such as Jeff Kinney and Tomie DePaola. Anytime something unusual happens, they want it posted on our wiki. It’s becoming an electronic scrapbook of sorts!
Thing #15 Library 2.0
In the Jetson’s, you never see Judy or Elroy going to the library…hmmm.
It seems to me that Library 2.0 has many different definitions, but overall, it is describing the change that is taking place in the way that the library functions, and responds to it’s clients. I really enjoyed Dr Schultz’s article “To a temporary place in time…”, but all time IS temporary. Things are constantly changing and evolving. The way she connects the library to the progression of coffee in the world of economy was quite clever, and very relevant.
So, what does this mean for the school library? When students are doing research projects, they have much more information than what is contained in the four walls of our school library. I can not even begin to envision what the school library will look like in 5 years. A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have guessed how much more technology-based my own classroom would become! So far this year, I have already impressed upon my 2nd graders how important our SBISD Library Resources page is. From there, they can access online databases such as Discovery Education, Tumblebooks, and BrainPop (thank you for adding that in this year!). They also have learned how to scroll down to the kid safe search engines (Cha-cha has become a favorite with this group!). Other ways my teaching has evolved—using mini-laptops, itouches, video cameras, a class Wiki, and now I have a newly installed Activboard!
While reading John Blyberg’s article about 11 reasons why Library 2.0 exists and matters, I came across a quote from Sarah Houghton where she wrote about the need for “making libraries relevant to what people want and need in their daily lives” The school library needs to meet students wants and needs in order for it to continue to be a vital resource for student learning within the school system. Why should the library be any different than the business world? Evolve and meet the needs of the people, or disappear.
Back then: Marian the Librarian (from The Music Man by Warner Bros.)
Future?? (Click here to follow link to a story)
It seems to me that Library 2.0 has many different definitions, but overall, it is describing the change that is taking place in the way that the library functions, and responds to it’s clients. I really enjoyed Dr Schultz’s article “To a temporary place in time…”, but all time IS temporary. Things are constantly changing and evolving. The way she connects the library to the progression of coffee in the world of economy was quite clever, and very relevant.
So, what does this mean for the school library? When students are doing research projects, they have much more information than what is contained in the four walls of our school library. I can not even begin to envision what the school library will look like in 5 years. A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have guessed how much more technology-based my own classroom would become! So far this year, I have already impressed upon my 2nd graders how important our SBISD Library Resources page is. From there, they can access online databases such as Discovery Education, Tumblebooks, and BrainPop (thank you for adding that in this year!). They also have learned how to scroll down to the kid safe search engines (Cha-cha has become a favorite with this group!). Other ways my teaching has evolved—using mini-laptops, itouches, video cameras, a class Wiki, and now I have a newly installed Activboard!
While reading John Blyberg’s article about 11 reasons why Library 2.0 exists and matters, I came across a quote from Sarah Houghton where she wrote about the need for “making libraries relevant to what people want and need in their daily lives” The school library needs to meet students wants and needs in order for it to continue to be a vital resource for student learning within the school system. Why should the library be any different than the business world? Evolve and meet the needs of the people, or disappear.
Back then: Marian the Librarian (from The Music Man by Warner Bros.)
Future?? (Click here to follow link to a story)
Thing #14 Technorati
Technorati has made my head swim. This was my brick wall for 23 things. I watched the video a couple of times, then I would leave it alone for awhile…work on something else, and then come back to it. I asked teammates that did 23 things this summer how to use it, how they found it helpful---yeah, one of them said she never understood it, so she read another blog and kind of copied their response for thing 14. Helpful?!
Currently, I am not in love with Technorati. Maybe as I become more proficient with blogging, it’ll be a resource I use more often.
There are several reasons for people to blog. If one is blogging to be read by the world, then tagging is a must-do. I appreciate the sites that have a plethora of tags, so that I can find information quickly, such as pictures of particular subjects on Flickr. It has been a wonderful resource for my classroom—2nd graders are so interested in such a wide variety of subjects, and I am able to quickly pull up visuals for them to increase their learning and understanding of the world around them. I do have an easier time with putting tags onto my photos than on my blog!
Currently, I am not in love with Technorati. Maybe as I become more proficient with blogging, it’ll be a resource I use more often.
There are several reasons for people to blog. If one is blogging to be read by the world, then tagging is a must-do. I appreciate the sites that have a plethora of tags, so that I can find information quickly, such as pictures of particular subjects on Flickr. It has been a wonderful resource for my classroom—2nd graders are so interested in such a wide variety of subjects, and I am able to quickly pull up visuals for them to increase their learning and understanding of the world around them. I do have an easier time with putting tags onto my photos than on my blog!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Station Identification Break
We take a pause here in the midst of 23 things for a personal update. Since August of this year, I have learned how to use a Macbook (well, I had one day of training, and I'm not that sure what all I remember from it, but if I had one in my hands, I could poke around and figure my way through some of it now--it's been about 10 years since I have had a Mac in my classroom, and boy, they are waaaaaay different now!), I have 11 itouches being used in my classroom, so that has involved learning about different apps, I have learned how to use a "thumbtack microphone" and use the italk lite app for my kiddos to make podcasts (which I highly reccommend! It is VERY easy to use!), I have started a classroom Wiki, and have had to learn about Google Docs because the mini ASUS we have in our classrooms don't have Microsoft Office, and I also have a flip camera to use to document what my kids are doing with these items we got for a grant. Pile that ontop of these 23 things...I have thought several times that my head is going to explode from all of this technology I am having thrust upon me. Now to top it off, I am learning how to work/use the light board at church (Don't fool around with #21 on the board---the preacher doesn't like you to play with the baptistry lights during his sermon....ooops.). But now I am feeling so confident, that I have gone out and gotten a 16 GB ipod. Tonight I played on itunes and used a gift card to download some items from the itunes store, including the TV show "It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown". That is a first. I have had an ipod for a couple of years now, but have only had my own music loaded onto it. I'm playing in the big time now!! What's next? A Kindle?
I had no clue as to how much I didn't know. Wait, I still don't know how much I don't know, but I sure know a lot more now than I did 4 months ago.Sunday, November 8, 2009
Thing #13 Social Bookmarking
One thing that I have discovered throughout this 23 things experiment…RSS feeds, google reader, ect…..I NEVER have to buy another cookbook as long as these tools are around. When I followed the link from library2play to Delicious, check out what I found (and this does look truly delicious) Snickerdoodle Pie!
Okay, back to the serious business now (sigh).
Social bookmarking looks like it could be VERY useful in a classroom situation. If you have a group of students working and researching together, they can use the social bookmarking to share website amongst themselves on their topic. I am concerned about the ease as to which they can get to inappropriate content. Is there a particular one that provides tools with making private groups and the students are limited as to what they can access? Or would it take constant policing to make sure that students were only looking at appropriate places? Libraries and classroom teachers can take advantage of the bookmarking sites by being able to share with the students places of interests to visit when doing units of study. The adult can bookmark with a certain tag, and inform the students what tag to search for to complete their internet research. The students can use the tags to research at school and at home, and aren’t dependent on using ONE computer. If the faculty is involved in a particular study (such as improving reading strategies), then the librarian can provide tags for blogs, wikis and websites that can help further their learning!
I also like the fact that with my varied interests, I can easily organize these topics, and find things with a click of a tag!
Okay, back to the serious business now (sigh).
Social bookmarking looks like it could be VERY useful in a classroom situation. If you have a group of students working and researching together, they can use the social bookmarking to share website amongst themselves on their topic. I am concerned about the ease as to which they can get to inappropriate content. Is there a particular one that provides tools with making private groups and the students are limited as to what they can access? Or would it take constant policing to make sure that students were only looking at appropriate places? Libraries and classroom teachers can take advantage of the bookmarking sites by being able to share with the students places of interests to visit when doing units of study. The adult can bookmark with a certain tag, and inform the students what tag to search for to complete their internet research. The students can use the tags to research at school and at home, and aren’t dependent on using ONE computer. If the faculty is involved in a particular study (such as improving reading strategies), then the librarian can provide tags for blogs, wikis and websites that can help further their learning!
I also like the fact that with my varied interests, I can easily organize these topics, and find things with a click of a tag!
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