Thing #23 - Reflection

Woo-Hoo I am done! Didn't thing I was going to make it by the deadline. I signed up for this course to make good use of my time while I was trapped at home recovering from surgery and maybe pick up a few new tricks. I have learned from this experience that pain and creativity don't really go hand in hand.

I can't think of any lesson off hand that will make a dramatic change in my classroom but there are a few things that might end up creeping in. I am already using delicious regularly.

Thing #22 - Nings

I wandered around the teacher's sections. I don't see a lot of use for this tool in my classroom. Most of the blogs posted at the high school level were for ELA, English, and Social Studies with a smattering of biology and math. Most of the blogs were of a more social nature and nothing I was interested in.

Thing #21 Podcasts and Audio Books

That was relatively painless and very easy to use. I didn't have access to a microphone so I could not add sound. It will take a bit of work to create a podcast but I can see how it might be useful once it is all done.

This was very useful. Last semester I was trying to figure out how to use a YouTube video in class and ran out of time before I could figure in out. Now that I know how to do it, I can easily add videos to my presentations as I update them. The only down side is the it is the small square.

Thing #19 - Web 2.0 Awards List

What a neat site! I really liked how it was arranged and how the different cites were ranked. I checked out two different cites: .Docstoc and Onmidrive. The Docstoc had some interesting handouts already put together and Onmidrive was a cite that allowed storage of all your data at one spot that can be accessed in multiple ways. There were several things on the list that I will be checking out as a need presents itself.

Thing #18 - Online Productivity Tools

I first heard about these several years ago. They are a very nice basic service and nice to keep in mind for the students that do not have office. Microsoft office has a few more bells and whistles than the free products. We use enough of them to make the shareware versions not as practical.

Thing #17 Rollyo

Rollyo has possibilities. I had no problems creating my list and finding it. It took me a little while to figure out how to get the URL for the search I created but I finally got it ( http://rollyo.com/greshame/de/). I did not find the site particularly intuitive and am curious to how much the students would like it.

Thing #16 Wikis

Very cool! This is a tool that could be very useful. At the moment I am not coming up with a place to insert it into my curriculum but will definitely keep it in the back of my mind. Sure wish I had known about this last summer when we were working on writing curriculum.

Thing #15 - Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the Future of Libraries

The statement in the video "When I graduate I will probably have a job that does not exist today." really stood out for me. It is something that has been mentioned at several of the PLTW professional development meetings. As an educator that is a scary idea and really drives home the importance of teaching the kids to think. We need to be careful to use technology as the vehicle to get to a destination - not as the destination. Teach the process not the program because the reality is whatever technology we have now in our classrooms will be a dinosaur when the student hits the workforce - if it isn't so already.

I love libraries. They were my preferred playground as a child. Being surrounded by books and the ability to peruse the titles, read a little here and there to find just the right book is a wonderful tactile experience. I would hate to see that experience be lost. It reminds me of a Star Trek scene were they were discussing the luxury of owning a paper book. The fact is change happens and the library of my childhood is vanishing. I think modern library should be like a well designed home, containing enough items from the past to keep it familiar, warm, and comfy but with enough modern stuff to make life easier.

Thing #14 - Explore Technorati and learn how tags work

Tagging appears to be very useful and a wonderful way to index the web. I think it is one of those cases of a little more work on the front end making things much easier as time passes. Technorati looks well organized and a great tool for searching blogs.

Thing #13 -Tagging and Discover Del.icio.us

What a great tool. I have heard great things about Del.icio.us and kept meaning to sit down a figure it out. This was time well spent. I love tagging - I have always struggled with organizing my bookmarks and folders because of cross-over. Tagging takes care of that problem.

Thing #12 - Creating Community through Commenting

A common theme through the commenting etiquette was the need to be polite. Actually the advise given could pretty much apply to all types of communication. A lot of damage can be done with just a few words. One of the issues I have with blogging is that it is too easy to type first and think later.
My eyes were opened to how when the basic commenting rules are followed and the contributers added comments with relevance and depth the whole blog was so much more meaningful. If only it happened more often.

Thing #11 - LibraryThing

I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this. As a voracious reader I am constantly looking for new authors and with my eclectic preferences the best seller list doesn't really cut it. I found the groups interesting and a really neat way to get leads on new books and by seeing their library selection get a good feel for matching tastes.

Thing #10: Online Image Generator

The generators were very simple to use and if I am ever working on a project that requires graphics there were lots of places to search. I posted one of the word generators that I played with. To be perfectly honest I do not see a lot of use for this in my curriculum and projects. While it is nice to know these are out there (I did not realize that), I hated this assignment because I could see no practical application to my daily life and felt decidedly uncreative. I keep trying to think what necessary skill set use of this tool adds to my curriculum and coming up blank. I could see how you could use these to spruce up presentations but after tracking down video clips, simulations, and typing in formulas that actually add to the skill set - finding just the right graphic is not a priority. Sorry to sound so negative - I really am trying to keep an open mind but this activity almost had me tossing in the towel. After abandoning the generator search to look for something useful, I did stumble across a great site (http://phet.colorado.edu/teacher_ideas/index.php) that had a ton of useful simulations with suggestions on how to best implement them in an active classroom.

Summerwork

Thing Thing #9 - Useful Library Related Blogs and News Feeds -

The Google blog search was the easiest to use. The Topix site and the Bloglines would round out my top three. None of the sites were confusing but some of the others required a lot more reading/thinking just to begin the search and that isn't really were I like to spend the time. I did finally manage to find the original site/video blog for the octopus learning to count in binary which I am looking forward to using this year.

Thing #8 - RSS Feeders and Readers

This was great! It was easy to use and an efficient use of time. Searching the web has never been one of my higher priorities. Since time tends to be tight it doesn't get done. It will be a nice way to keep an eye on ideas and projects for my engineering class. It also is going to be a great way to keep an eye on new ways to approach tricky physics topics.

Thing #7 Cool Google Tools

Finally something I was able to see a direct use for in my classroom. The Google Notebook will be very useful for any group research project. It was much easier to find useful images through Google Scholar than Flickr, but it was a little frustrating that reading more than the abstract usually cost money. Picasa Web Albums was much easier for me to use as well. The Google Docs presentation had several nice templates and inserting videos and pictures was a breeze. This might be a better tool than powerpoint since all the students can access it and their operating platform (Mac or PC) should be irrelevant. I will have to experiment further to find out for sure.

Thing #6 Mashups and 3rd Party Sites

There were a lot of really neat things you could do with the photos on Flickr. I could see lots of applications for geography, history, or language classes. Not so much so for my subject. One of the things that my students need to do is create a portfolio of their projects. The trading cards might be modified for that use. I also used this time to do a little research on poster templates. This is an other format that might be useful in portfolio development.

Thing #5 Explore Flickr

I went to the flicker site and did a search for several key terms from the subject I teach. While there were many pictures present, I did not see any that would enhance the educational value of my presentations. It is a nice site and very easy to use. Next time I am searching for a particular image I will definitely try the site again.

Thing #3 - Avatar

I was at a meeting last week and one of the participants was complaining about his daughter spending her allowance on virtual clothing. I had no idea what he was talking about. I guess now I know, even if I do not understand why.

It was nice to see how to attach a html file and play with the page layout. Hey, I learned something new today.

Thing #2 - 7 1/2 Habits of Life Long Learners

As part of SBISD Play2Learn I am suppose to keep this blog recording what I learn as I continue through the process. Activity 2 was the 7 1/2 habits of an lifelong learner. We are suppose to list the one we find easiest and the hardest. As a professional educator, I am by default a life long learner. The habits are pretty easy for me. I think the only thing in the lesson that I do not do well is to put it all in writing. My goal for this course is to learn about this technology and see if it has any application for my science classroom.