Thing #21

I actually really enjoyed this Thing assignment. Especially once I got the website to cooperate. I had some difficulties with uploading more than one photo at a time and for a while I had to refresh the page after every time I would upload a picture and it wouldn't let me do another one afterwards. I so ended up making a quick video of my family because they mean the world to me; link is at the bottom of the post. I think this is a cool website and easy for people to use (as long as they aren't technologically challenged like myself). I could see this being used as like a project for the the first week or two of school as a way to have students introduce one another in a fun and creative way. Instead of having to do the awkward stand up and say three things about yourself and so on.


My family

Is it the end or just the beginning??

To be perfectly honest, I am so glad this assignment is done. I mean it was very educational and I got a lot out of it, but my word did it take forever with some of the blogs. Also I think I downloaded somethings incorrectly due to the fact that my computer is a little bit slower now...but I digress...I think that the title means that it is only the end of this assignment and soon to be the end of this class, but it is the beginning stepping stones to what we hope to be our dream careers. Teachers! I mean who wouldn't want that job? Well I didn't when I was in middle school and high school. I said the last thing I ever want to be is a teacher...and now here I am...funny how these things work out....

Thing #23

Learning 2.0 - 23 for teachers  did not originate from myself. I was just assigned to follow the instructions given from the link I listed in the beginning. The original creator of the 23 Things was hoping to guide people, obviously teachers in this instance, to become more organized. Even become more connected to make lives easier for themselves, other teachers, as well as their students. I personally have no clue how I'm going to incorporate the Creative Commons Licensing to my future classes. I will have to do more research on it and make sure I never use anything without asking for permission first...or else that would make my future lessons on this topic pointless for no student will listen to the teacher about not committing a crime when she herself did the very same thing she was telling them not to do. Basically using the "do as I say, not as I do" rule.

Thing #22

LiveBinder is an interesting website. I liked how when I made a binder and allowed for it to have access to google which made my search even easier. I did like the websites that came up with my search. The names of my "binders" are Art Project Ideas, Art Supplies, and Artists. The reason why I chose those was that they would allow for my students and students' parents to see what I have in store for the most part. Maybe they could even give me suggestions on which projects they would rather do.
Here is a link to one of my binders: http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=818737

Thing #20

All I have to say about the "What Teachers Make" video is: wow! I mean, WOW! He was able to put so much power and emphasis into expressing what he wanted to get across about teachers, what they do and accomplish. He was very moving.
I am an avid YouTube user. I am always on it, whether I am watching it to find videos to catch me up on what I missed on my favorite TV shows or to just watch random funny cat videos. Yes I am admitting to that. But once you start it's hard to stop...anyways...I decided to do a search on inspirational teaching related videos in hopes to find ones as the one previously mentioned. I watched several videos and the one I liked the most was the one shown below:

I always enjoy reading inspirational quotes, so of course I thought this one was great and felt the need to share it with everyone. 

Thing #19

I did signup for the TeacherPop website, but am currently still waiting for approval. So I shall continue on with the next part of the Thing 19 task.
I am obsessed with music. I need it for just about every daily activity. When I workout, working on framing, walking from class to class. It always calms me or just matches my mood depending on what it is. So when I was given an option to tryout a network made strictly for music, not gonna lie, I was ecstatic. Playlist.com is a fabulous website!! I was able to find playlists for all my favorite artists and add them to a giant playlist or create my own so that I can listen to them at anytime. It's so cool!

Thing #18

I am from the generation where everyone practically thrives off of social networking. Some are obsessed, some use it off and on, then there is the rare species that never uses it at all. What I mean by obsessed with it is that the person has an account in every new networking cite and are on it every day. My guilty pleasure is Facebook. I am on it practically everyday and post just about everything on it. I basically treat it like twitter except there are no character (amount of letters I can use to post) so I get picked on by my family--mainly my little sister--for posting my life story on there. Which now that I go back and look at what I post...she is right...I really need to work on it. I just like it because I was able to find people that I use to go to elementary school with while I lived in Germany 10 years ago. The night we all got back into contact was the coolest thing ever. Especially because I got back into contact with my best friend from second-fourth grade. So I see how the social media is necessary. It helps people keep up to date with everyone care about without needing to call them every day...not necessarily a bad thing...it allows for everyone to share things that they think whom ever is their 'friends' on Facebook would like.
I did create a Twitter account so can't wait to see how this goes....

Thing #17

Hmmm...what is there to say about the website Delicious. I had a hard time figuring it out due to my ineptness in technology. I've read others' posts that said that they loved it and that it was great to use. If only I had their skills...Oh never mind. I went back and tried it again. It is an awesome website. I like how when you type in something in the search bar and other peoples' bookmarks popup and they give you an option to view them and decide if you would want to bookmark it to save it for later.

Thing #16

Well where do I begin. iGoogle is actually pretty neat. I forgot that I actually had an account setup for it when I signed up for a gmail account forever ago. I like that I can personalize it to match my personality...granted it is just the my main profile for iGoogle but still. I mean, who doesn't like to express themselves in anyway--within reason--that they can. I cannot express how cool online calenders are!! I am now addicted to them because I live off of the one I have on my phone. I try and try to use actual planners, like book and pencil, but it never works out. I always start out strong with the 'I will do it!' mentality but it never lasts long. Like maybe a week at the most. I really, really, really need to get better with 'to-do' lists because I always lie to myself and say that I will remember to get it done...yeah right...I never remember whatever it was that I promised myself to not forget till the last minute. I'm pretty sure my horrible procrastination wouldn't be all that bad. It's definitely one bad habit I am having a hard time to shake. I liked the Sticky Notes because I am always on my computer so it's a lot harder to lose actual reminders that are in my computer...the actual little yellow pieces of paper never stay in place for very long or they always get jumbled up....

Thing #15

I like the concept of being able to add your own comments or tweaking someone else's work. I'm not meaning that in a mean way, but sometimes there are posts you see that have a word spelled wrong. So of course you would want to "help a sista' or brotha' out". I mean if I had posted something for the world to see and I had said or spelled something wrong, I would like for someone to either let me know or just fix it for me. Lord knows I am not the greatest speller in the world. That's just a minor example of what I find interesting about the wikis.

Things #14

For the mind map portion for this assignment, I used the bubbl.us website. I tried that one out first and I actually enjoyed it. It really is quite simple to use--though it took me a minute to figure it out because I am tech-challenged at times--and a little fun. I don't know why I chose the topic I used to do my 'brainstorm', but it just came to me and I just went with it. Here is a sample of what I did:

(I apologize in advance if what my 'brainstorm' says offends anyone--this is just what I wrote)

As for the flowchart section I used the flowchart website...yeah....didn't like that one at all for it was too complicated for me to use. I mean I did get something done but it was the most basic option I could do. I tried to do the family tree or the brainstorm template...didn't go over so well. Mainly because I didn't know how to get it to work or get it started. No matter how hard I tried. So I ended up just using the vertical timeline template. I did like using that one, mainly because it was really basic. Here is a sample of my handiwork:

Yes there is an option to make it all colorful and pretty, but I didn't realize it till after I saved it. Oh well, it gets the point across.

Thing #13

Zoho Docs is a pretty cool website. I like that it gives you more options in spicing up your text and so on. It even allows for whatever you write to be edited by others and will let you know if something was revised by someone else. Like if you shared a word processed document or a spreadsheet of some sorts it will let others make corrections and give you advice on what to say in your, for lack of a better option, a lesson plan or something. Meaning that your fellow teachers could let you know if they have tried what you are planning to do and can tell you what they thought worked better for them. Or maybe even just comment on it and say that they never thought of that and want to give it a shot themselves. I also liked the concept of using the Zoho Show. I thought that was a pretty niffty, yes I said niffty, feature. After clicking the tab it provided a short film telling us what we can do to share your presentations, how to fix it or make it stand out.
In the Google Docs I was exploring around and I actually found an old document I did in high school that I shared with a friend. We were working on a project and we needed to send documents back and forth to each other. So my friend had sent me the document and I had no idea how to get to it--I needed this document (high school days) about six years ago. But it all worked out in the end. I think that it was cool that you could also have someone else edit your work. Like at the top of the page it next to the "Edit" option it said, "last edited was made 6 minutes ago by greeneyesHEK". Granted that was myself that had "edited it".  I tried messing around with the document and it wasn't as easy to work with as it was on Zoho Docs. However, I like that you could make a quiz or something and you could possibly have your students create a test of an assigned book they read or from a chapter in a text. Then have other students take the test and then create a spreadsheet from the results of their "quiz". 

Thing #4

If you want people to like and comment on your blog, it's only right that you do the same for them. It'd not right to expect everyone to just "worship" what you have to say. It's not only gracious, but also nice to do the same for others. It also allows the opportunity to learn something new. Like they could post a link to something similar to what you posted so you could either get some new ideas or the better what you have said. Because there is always the chance of being misinformed and people have the tendency to state misguided information. So it is always nice to give little inputs here and there. Also, commenting instills a sense of community. As though you belong to a certain group.

Blogs I commented on:
Mallory Johnson Thing 12
 -She made a post about using the Google Calender and I did the same thing.
JoBeth Turner Thing #3
 -I commented on it because I liked her concept to how she thought blogs would be useful for when she becomes a teacher.
Karalina Roelle Thing #6
 -She posted about one of the links given for that blog assignment that I hadn't had the opportunity to try and she was very informative about the process of it.
Stephen Smith Thing 9
-I really, really liked the little creations that he did for his blog. I could picture them clearly in my minds eye as something I would see on a classroom wall.
Lacy Jack Thing 4
 -Okay, her blogs are simply awesome! I love how she used a numbered picture to go along with every "Thing" post. So very creative!!
Pintrosity
 -I found this blog via Lacy (above). I mean, I was so obsessed with her blog why shouldn't I check someone else out that she liked. I'm glad I clicked on the link because it led me to a bunch of cute photos and ideas to try.
Health Food Blog
 -But of course I had to find a blog that was somehow related to some of the health topics I've discussed. I found some really good recipes on this blog that I am eager to try.

Thing #12

Okay, so lately I've become heavily reliant on my calender on my phone due to the fact that my life has become crazy busy as of late. So finding another style of calender to try was pretty neat. Granted I did have a hard time trying to figure out, still can't, how to link the calender I already have on my phone to the to the new one I was attempting to create on Google Calender. I really like the concept of it and I could see it being used to link teachers schedules together so that everyone can keep posted as to what the others are doing. Like see what field trips each other takes so that they can get some ideas. The other thing I tried was the Google Alerts. I've set up alerts to receive updates whenever the following has some new information (School Library Learning 2.0 & Healthy Diets). Which will be nice because the first will be helpful in finding information that would apply to my major and the second would help me further along my mission to bettering myself.

Thing #11

I found Google Blog Search to be the easiest one to use in finding things I needed. When I typed in "school library learning 2.0" blogs that met the criteria  popped up immediately without any problems. I tried to use Topix and typed in exactly what I did when I used Google Blog Search. The interesting thing was that the website had a completely different search engine linked on it so when I typed information in it just led me to a different website entirely. So I'm not entirely sure that I knew what I was doing when I tried to use that sight, or again, my occasionally technologically challenged side was acting up again. Which is a high possibility...anyways....the last one I tried was the Edublog award winners link. I thought it was also interesting, like I liked that when I clicked one of the links listed on the site, all things that were related to it came up in alphabetical order; which I thought to be an interesting concept. Granted I couldn't exactly type in what  was specifically looking for, so I had to go on a scavenger hunt to find things I needed that were related to the topic I was searching for. So it took a little longer than what I was wanting to do in putting effort into my search.

Thing #10

http://rssfeeds.webmd.com/rss/rss.aspx?RSSSource=RSS_PUBLIC - 24.0 posts per week

http://perfecthealthdiet.com/feed/ - 2.3 posts per week

http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@global/documents/rssfeed/t1_1.xml - 4.0 posts per week

http://www.futurity.org/feed/ - 51.1 posts per week

I am obviously a health nut, or at least I am trying to be. Hence the posted links above of the pages I subscribed to on Google Reader. How do I feel about Google Reader? I guess I'll have to say it's very interesting if not a little difficult to use for it took me a while to figure out how to properly search for blogs on there. Granted I was a little challenged in figuring out how to use it, I think it is a good website to for teachers to use so that they can follow each others' blogs. Possibly their blogs will be about "What to do when a student acts up?" or "How to make (insert class here) fun."

Thing #9

For the one above I used a Logo generator to write out my name in a creative way. I was allowed to select the color I wanted, what I wanted to say, and how big I want it to be. I could see this being used to post stuff on the wall. Like the alphabet or something of the like.

http://www.text2logo.com/

 

For the little smiley face above, I could see one of these little guys being used to list like the class rules and such. They come in many forms, like silly, serious, with props like the one with the iPod I selected. 

http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/

I can honestly see one of these above in my classroom, because I would like for my students to think of themselves as super stars because I think they would all be special in their own way. On the website it originally started out as an example of the words "love you" in the shape of a heart. I was able to select it all to be in a different shape, color, and even able to change what it said. I could have added images mixed in, like smiley faces or something of the like. I can imagine this site being used to create posters to decorate a classroom.

http://www.imagechef.com/ic/word_mosaic/?

Thing #8

1. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/silversldr/8486306974/in/explore-2013-02-18">Fire and Ice</a>, 2. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidgutierrez/2258380266/">Sunrise Rising Sun</a>, 3. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/raymondp1138/5636870208/">Sunrise at Sunset Point, Bryce Canyon NP, UT</a>, 4. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattyh/6229222/">Sunrise</a>

Obviously I am obsessed with sunrises. I just can't help but find them to be extremely gorgeous and mind blowing. I think that the Flickr Mashups are pretty neat. It can allow to group things together that are similar, like I did, or you can compare things. I think it would make for an interesting assignment for a class. Like you could create a mashup of the cycle of a butterflies' growth, starting from the beginning and so on.

Thing #7

Fire and Ice by Josh Bozarth Photography

Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/silversldr/8486306974/in/explore-2013-02-18

Tags: 

lake

erie

sunrise

frozen

water

fire

ice

canon

7d

sigma

10-20

clouds

landscape

seascape

michigan

I've only heard of Flcikr and never actually used it till now. If I ended up on it at sometime prior to this assignment I honestly have no idea how I got there...the wonders of internet surfing, never know where it'll lead you. Anyways, I've always enjoyed looking at nature related photos. They always sooth me yet amaze me at the same time. The reason being is that more often then not the photographer doesn't need to edit the photo due to the simply beauty of the world needs no editing. For it alone is beautiful. For example, the image above that I found is simply breathtaking. I honestly didn't need to look very far to find a picture to blog about because this one appeared as soon as I oped the site. No I'm now saying that I chose this one because it was the first thing I saw and just wanted to be done. I picked this one because it is simply spectacular. I mean how can you not be mesmerized by this picture. 

Thing #6

For this one we were suppose to select a site or tool and explore it. I chose Popset (http://www.popset.com//) because, to put it mildly, I am obsessed with taking photos. On my Facebook page I know I just annoy everyone who has the misfortune to decide to friend me on there because I just know that I have got to be annoying them with all the photos I take. Mainly they are what are called "selfies" because I like to post pictures of my physical progress in my weight loss. I've been working at it for years. Also I like to look at everyone else's photos. It's cool how I am able to keep up to date with what everyone is doing, even those I haven't seen in years. That's why I chose Popset because it enables me to fuel my obsession. The only way I was able to fully experience it was to download the app. What was cool is that it was free which is hard to find for really awesome photo apps. I've tried it out a few times. The filters you get to select are nice and not seen very often. I'm not a big fan of the fact you can't really adjust how much of the filter you can use or not. At the top of the post is obviously a screen caption of the app. You are given the option of posting it to Facebook or share it to another website. I like that you can write a caption if you would like. It's a lot like Instagram but a whole lot easier to use. I'm guessing since it is meant to be used by either an iPhone 4 or 5 so it tends to be a little bit slower on my iPhone 3Gs. Regardless I like the app and was happy that I found it. However, I do not necessarily see how this app could be used for a school setting. Possibly the students could be sent on a hunt for certain items that are related to what they are going over in class. For example, they are studying plants in science and the teacher tells them to go out and find the ones on the list. Then ask for them to post it so that their teacher and fellow students could see with a brief description or an interesting fact on the plant.

Thing #5

Hmmm....what do I think about the whole concept of "School 2.0"?....I honestly don't see anything wrong with it because sadly, in my opinion, a majority of this generation is heavily dependent on technology in one way or another. I mean as the years progress, technology progresses. So I see no, major, harm in schools upgrading along with them. Having everything a little bit more web based makes it a little more convenient. Although I personally rather hold assignments in my hand rather than try to read them on a computer screen. It is cool that online classes bring students all over together. It's not just for kids in the certain state. They also tend to be more flexible. Granted, though I am shy, I'd rather have human interaction for certain things like class and such. I don't know how that works for me it just does. So honestly I don't see the "school 2.0" thing to be so bad it just isn't really my cup of tea.

Thing #3

For my teaching blog, I would post the assignments we worked on in class. Like my notes and such as well as an example of what the work was suppose to look like. I would attach links to possibly "how-to" videos if I was able to find one that was relevant to what we did or about to do in class. I would possibly post links to websites that had educational games for my students if their parents gave them access to my blog. It would all be informative and educational, of course, or else it wouldn't be a teaching blog.

Thing #2

Okay, I like to consider myself technologically savvy but creating my blog was no walk in the park for me. Lord knows why that was the case, it's just how it turned out. The hardest part for me was finally figuring out how to get my little DoppleMe avatar thing to finally cooperate. That was the most difficult part, and after I finally figured it out I felt so stupid afterwards. I kept signing up to make the darn thing, but I was unaware of the fact that it gave me a password. I thought you just created one and were done. Like you could just save it and that was that. Nope...once I finally figured out that I had to use the password they gave me it was smoother sailing from there. Then I just needed to figure out how to use it for my blog profile picture. I made that part harder for myself than it needed to be. Well obviously I finally figured it out or else you would be seeing the standard image given to any new profile member. I like to think that my avatar represents me in some sort of way. Granted the DoppleMe website only gives you so much to work with so it is not a complete replica per se...The hair and eyes are fairly accurate, and I guess the expression works. Though generally when most people see me they say I look tired and I've been told angry. They also say this while it's in the morning and I don't consider myself to be much of a morning person. Yet I didn't feel like using the angry face because who would want to read the blog of an angry person...well I guess someone would because people tend to find peoples' rants to be pretty hilarious, myself included.
The most blogging I've ever done is just via Facebook. But I guess that doesn't meet the standard requirements of a basic blog. Or does it? I mean I get to write basically whatever I want to and people can comment on it. So I guess I've had more blogging experience than I thought.
I like to consider myself to be an avid reader. Reading is my obsession. The only thing I really got in trouble for at school was reading in class. I just couldn't help myself. It's always so hard for me to stop in the middle of what I was reading because I have to know what happens next to the characters. The only way my parents could punish me growing up was to take away my books. Oh the horror! I would always be on my best behavior when that happens because I would start to have withdraws from not reading every day. Yet for some reason, as much as I love to read, I hated having to do assigned readings. Like any book I was giving it was a struggle for me to read. I guess because it was something I wouldn't generally pick out for myself to read in my spare time so I saw it as a form of torture to have to be made to read a book I didn't want to.

Thing #1

We were told to watch a tutorial about 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learning. The habits listed were fairly basic yet some of them I know would be difficult for myself. The first habit, beginning with the end in mind, is actually the easiest for me because no matter what I do I strive to reach my goal. For example, I've taught myself proper ways to learn how to workout and lose weight. With each new step I create a new goal and have so far maintained it. I think the hardest of the habits listed, for me personally, would have to be Habit 4. Habit 4 says to have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner. I'm not entirely sure that I can consider myself one in everything I do. The reason being is that A) I'm extremely shy, B) I second guess myself in somethings, and C) I consider myself to be a bit of a "Welcome Mat." So confidence in anything for me has never been my strong suit. Sure it has gotten better over the years, but it's not all that great.
But hopefully I will be able to work on this habit as well as the others, and better myself in becoming a well rounded Lifelong Learner.