Thing #23

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!