Thursday, September 29, 2011

Thing 12 - Google's Not Just for Searching Anymore. . . .

It was fun to explore some of Google's tools.  I signed up for the Google Alerts.  This tool will be useful for my Research project.  Google is going to do some of my behind the scenes work and search the web for "cluster grouping and academic achievement" for me.  Guess I'll just put my feet up and enjoy my coffee. . . ..  No seriously, this was super easy to do and whatever Google finds on this topic, it will send me an alert to my email account.  How awesome is that?!  I would use this in the classroom in the same manner for my students who were researching topics.  The only negative would be that it may overwhelm them by the amount of information that comes in as alerts.  Maybe only use it when the topic is something obscure, like cluster grouping and academic achievement?

While the Google Calendar tool is really cool, I'm "over-calendared" as it is with my own Outlook calendar on my Mac and Iphone.  Not only that, I use the calendar tool that is built in to the APSU OneStop email account to keep track of my work/APSU to do's.  Further, I use the D2L Calendar to notify me of up and coming due dates for school related items.  I'm an uber-organizer, but even I don't need one more calendar. 

I played with the Google translator.  I can see that this would be a very fun tool when you are traveling, or if you are learning a foreign language.  Say you need to find the train station.  All you do is type in "Where is the train station?" and "Tada!":
 I can see using the translator in the classroom if you are teaching a foreign language and a child is really stumped on how to say something.  Or, maybe you could use it on your IPhone while you study abroad.  The possibilities are endless.  Glauben Sie nicht?

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Thing 11 - Finding Good Feeds


This is how I feel now that I have my Google Reader set up.  For those of you not in my age bracket, the above superhero is He Man, Master of the Universe.  I now have the news that I want at my fingertips and in my inbox.  I feel so powerful!  If you want to see me rotate, while holding the sword, click here.
 
I added SchoolLibrary Journal grades 5 and up feed to my Google Reader.  I live in a house full of readers, and we are always in the market for a good book.  Also, I truly believe in the power of literature to teach history, math, whatever (!) in an approachable, memorable way.  History was so boring to me in school.  Now, I learn history that I should have already known through books like Bud, Not Buddy or Out of the Dust.  My daughters experience history through interesting literature, like George Washington’s Socks.  Guess what? They like it!  They learn it!  My girls can’t be the only ones, so that is how I plan to teach.
I went to Topic.net and LOVE that you can get the local Clarksville news on an RSS feed.  Yeah!  I can know what that big boom I just heard really meant.  Now that’s news you can use!
 
I followed your recommendation, and Google blog search was by far the easiest and in my opinion, most professional.  I found none of the blog search engines were confusing. Technorati has an awesome name, so of course I had to check it out.  It would be great if you are into the Entertainment Tonight sort of scene, but any search engine that has Lady Gaga on the opening page makes me think they aren’t going to provide me with good, newsworthy information.  This tool does have top risers and fallers of blogs, including top tags and videos.  If you were looking for entertainment, I’d go here. However, when I typed in the same strand here that I did in Google Search “school library learning 2.0” I got “Zero”.  I typed in “dogs” in my search and got 4,240 blogs.  See my point.  I only have time for real, useful news.  If I want entertainment, I’ll turn my IPhone on to Farm Story.  See, isn’t my farm awesome?
 Image citation:
ddgcom.  "He Man Master of the Universe1."  Devianart.com.  No date.  25 Sept 2011.  http://ddgcom.deviantart.com/art/He-man-Master-Of-the-universe1-162381938.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Thing 10 - RSS Feeder

Dr. Wall must have read my mind, as I was thinking that these blogs, wikis, tweets are fun, but who has the time to search through all of them?  Tada!  Really Simple Syndication (RSS).  Apparently, I had already set up Google Reader in one of my other Things -- Really, it must have been an accident, because I know there was no conscious thought to it.  Super easy to set up.  I added the following subscriptions:

Teacher:  The Pioneer Woman; The Cool Cat Teacher; Dangerously Irrelevant and Do I Dare Disturb the Universe.

News:  National Public Radio (NPR)

Play/Exercise:  Running Catholic

I love that via RSS, the blogs I'm interested in can come right to me.  I chose the teacher type blogs, so that I can get direct feeds from teachers on what is new, teacher tips, lessons, and more.  Plus, it's fun to get insight into other teachers lives.  I was surprised to find that NEA does not have RSS available.  I currently get an email every morning, but would now prefer to get updated through my Google Reader, since it's so much easier.  It's like opening five or six newspapers, but they have been pre-read so you just have to look over the headlines, etc. and decide what you REALLY want to read.

My car radio stays tuned to National Public Radio (NPR) in the mornings, unless the news is so stressful that I need to change the station so that I can be at peace in the day (I usually change it to something that I can really clear my lungs by singing with -- you don't want to hear me, either!).  I had to hunt for their feed, but it really didn't take more than using the search and typing in rss.  NPR is my morning alarm, too.  Oftentimes I feel as if I don't get enough news as I'm working, schooling, running the kids somewhere, making dinner . .  you get the picture.  NPR streaming straight to me via the Google Reader lets me at least browse the headlines so that I know the current state of affairs of our country.  Besides that, I love the personal stories they air that really let me experience the true lives of people in places that are only mentioned on the news. 

I put the Running Catholic in my reader because I need motivation to keep running.  Not only is he a runner, but he's a Christian.  It's always nice to get some scripture to help keep me peaceful.

RSS feeds will help me to stay current as a teacher, and as an informed citizen.  I'm not quite sure how I'd use it in the classroom for the students, unless I was working with older students, say in a social studies class.  Maybe open the day with students looking at the feed for bell work -- they'd have to choose an NPR story and say why they chose that.  Just an idea.  I have a while to think about it more.

Thanks for reading!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Thing 9 - Online Image Generators


Totally fun Thing!  I could play for hours!  I used the Happy Face Generator to make the logo above.  There were too many choices of glitter -- I felt like a 1st grader who was told that even though there may be 10 choices of glitter color I had to limit myself to one.  Sometimes life is so unfair!  I like to open my new blog post with something fun and inviting.  Who can't feel welcome with Hello World, or my last post of Toodles!?  Anyway, welcome to my blog.  Take your shoes off, set a spell (Yikes!  I'm showing my age -- do any of you even know about the Beverly Hillbillies?).

Here is what I'm going to refer to as my I LOVE ME Wall.  Who can be upset when they see that I am awesome!  No, really, there is an "I Am Awesome" tool in ImageChef that will make an I Am Awesome slideshow for you, too.  Check out mine to the right of my page.  Now, how can you feel bad when the whole world loves you?


I wanted to share a few of my other images that I made on Comic Strip Generator.  I love Marvin Martian.  He is so misunderstood.  My favorite coffee cup has his image, so I immediately looked him up to see if he was one of my comic strip choices.  Yeah!  I found him and now, may I present to you, my Marvin!
I love dogs, so of course I had to search for a dog comic strip, too.  Here are my doggie friends.  Now, who can name them?  I'm sure you know the movie name, but why not provide that, too?


Now, my reflections.....The process was simple.  I was told to have fun and I did.  Text boxes were provided and I simply put in the words that I wanted to appear and "Shazam!" there you have it.  Image generating tools could add depth to children's projects and writings (and be fun!!!).  Talk about a way to get kids interested in text.  Give them a cartoon strip where they have to make up the words, and guess what, even your most reluctant writer/reader will be begging for more.  Personally, I need to stay away from these Things until I get more sleep.  Total addiction! 

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Thing 8 Flickr Mashups

I uploaded some of my own pictures on Flickr so that I could play.  I made the photograph journal of our trip to the Smithsonian.  Neat!  I used the Mosaic Maker to make this.  I wasn't real comfortable with adding pictures of my family, as I just am not sure that I want to have pictures floating around on the world wide web for anyone to grab just in case I had a bad hair day and forgot to click "private".  It's better to err on the side of caution.

I also made the following with Big Huge Labs Billboard toy.  Aren't my puppies cute?  It says Chillax on the billboard.


While I enjoyed spending an enormous amount of time playing with many of the fun tools that mashups provide, it was insane how many hours I wasted just playing.  Good thing I'm in this class and can honestly tell my husband that I'm doing homework!

Seriously, I do see the fun in creating neat things, like my billboard above, for personal use.  It's great to share photos and be able to manipulate their presentation, too.  I could also see that for extra credit in the classroom you could encourage students to engage in this time intensive, yet fun, tool.  I don't think that I would let elementary students use these tools, as they may not have the where-with-all to be sure to make pictures private.  Middle schoolers would have a blast with this and I'm sure they wouldn't have as tough a time creating as I did.  Technology skills are still in the infancy phase for me.  I'm sure that by the time I've finished this class and Thing 23, that I will have at least reached the teenage phase!  Drive on!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Thing 7 Exploring Flickr

Flickr is an awesome photo-sharing Website.  It uses tags to make it easy to search for just the right photo.  You can set up your own account and add your photos, tag and caption your photos, and share them with your friends, family, and the whole world if you so choose. There are more groups than you can imagine.  Groups can be made public, private (invite only) or private.  Groups serve as a pool for photos and videos and they share a discussion board.

My project focuses on the Great Depression.  I wanted to incorporate photographs for my fifth graders that will serve as writing prompts as well as providing them with information about this particular time in history.  Standard 5.5.08.2 Describe how the Great Depression affected American society as a whole could easily be addressed by looking at several pictures and allowing the students time to write about one that speaks to them.  Within Flickr I was able to find a Great Depression group that contains 270 photos!  It was so easy to find awesome pictures.  I'd love to give this link to my students and let them go for it, however, after reviewing the photos, I wouldn't be able to let them loose.  One of the pictures contained a naked boy, which would not make my students' parents happy!  Another photograph contained foul language.  It's better to err on the side of caution.  I'll pick and choose carefully the photos I'll be sharing for my students writing assignment.
 
The photo I chose to blog about, was one that most people have seen.  It too came from the Great Depression times and shows a totally exhausted woman in tattered clothing holding a baby, while two young children cling to her and hide their heads.  The caption says that this photo was taken at a pea picking camp during the Great Depression and that this migrant mother just sold the wheels off her truck for money to feed her children.  The desperation of the times is so clearly seen in this woman's face and furrowed brow.  How strong she sits so that her children feel protected, however, her face tells the world that she is desperate.  This particular photo wouldn't upload, so checked with some friends and learned that the picture that I blogged about is copy protected, meaning that I can't add it in to my blog -- learned something new! -- but I wanted to share anyway, so I linked it.  Then it occurred to me in one of my middle of the night wakings (I REALLY NEED TO RUN!) that I could do a screen shot of my migrant mother, too.
 
So, since I couldn't share that photo, I shared another from the Great Depression.  The reason I chose this picture was that, honestly, it reminded me of my grandmother's house.  She literally lived in a tar paper shack before she moved in with my aunt.  This would have been a mansion for the many migrant families in the 1930s.  Another reason I chose this picture was that I could.  I have spent hours trying to find pics that I could upload.  I have found that a lot of people remove the share feature on their pictures, so it may be easier to take my own pictures and then upload them to my blog.  Hmmmm, maybe I'll become the next Pioneer Woman.  Right!?


Image Citation:
RetroSnapshots (no real name given). “Great Depression Migrant Mother.” Usedcarspecialist. 7 Feb 2009(uploaded). 20 Sept 2011 http://www.flickr.com/photos/45198576@N00/3260877191/.
Dan Iannone. “Great Depression Image 18.” Dan Iannone originalby LIFE Magazine. 25 Nov 2008 (uploaded). 20 Sept 2011 http://www.flickr.com/photos/don-iannone/3058899454/.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Thing 6 Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

Thing 6's assignment was delicious!  No, really, I chose delicious, the online bookmarking tool, which claims to be the "tastiest bookmarks on the web" as well as the "biggest collection of bookmarks in the universe".  I have to agree.  This site features tabs including Fresh Bookmarks, which contains the newest bookmarks, Hottest Bookmarks, which are what they say they are, hottest or most popular, and my personal favorite, Explore Tags.  The Explore Tags include popular tags and groups them logically.  Here, you can either type in a tag to search, or use one of the popular tags listed.  For example, I chose the education tag.  It was no surprise to me that Khan Academy was on the top of the list of popular education tags.  Khan Academy is one of my favorite education sites and apparently I'm not the only one using it.  As of this posting, Khan Academy had 23,996 tags as per the delicious site.

There are many things to like about the delicious tool.  I was impressed that I could search for any tag I want in the search section.  For example, I put in 5th grade math, and came up with over 1,800 tags.  Well, that could be a bit overwhelming, however, delicious offers filters to help me overcome the temptation (or is it frustration?) of peeking into each site.  There are only a few things that I disliked about this tool.  First, I think that the grouping and tags should be listed alphabetically.  I'm an organization freak, so bear with me.  However, the search engine negates the true NEED for alphabetizing, so I guess I could cut them some slack.  Additionally, it would be divine if the tag indicated if a site were FREE or not.  I guess that would have to come from the person actually tagging the site, but still, I can dream......  Well, what do you know?!  I usually have my best thoughts or reminders in the middle of the night (why is that?).  I pondered why this tool didn't have a sort feature for free.  This morning I went back in and guess what?  You can search by the tag free!  Awesome!

The application for schools is unlimited.  As a teacher, I could create my own delicious page for my students.  I could also search this site using it's awesome search engine to find websites that could supplement or reinforce my content.  I could add website that could be accessed during center time to work on reading, spelling, math, science, whatever!  The only down side to this Web 2.0 tool is that it could potentially pull you into the cyber world for hours at a time --- like it has done to me during this Thing!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Thing 5 - Perspectives on Web 2.0/School 2.0 and the Future of Education

If I am to be an excellent teacher, I must stay current with technology.  I must blog, tweet, and chat, so that I can speak the language of my students.  I enjoyed the fast pace of the video "The Machine is Us/ing".  This video showed that code is hidden from today's Web 2.0 users, which makes it easier for us to participate in this invention that Tim Berners-Lee intended to be "a collaborative medium, a place where we (could) all meet and read and write" (from Wikipedia Web 2.0) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0.

As a non-traditional student, I remember the days of Fortran and Cobol, writing in code and sometimes on cards that had to be punched out and fed into a card reader.  Life is so much easier now!  The coding is now transparent.  As I was typing, I accidentally hit the Edit HTML button above.  Uh oh!  I thought, but then realized that what I was writing on the Compose page, was simply being coded FOR ME as I typed.  How wickedly cool is that!  So, back to the question, "What does Web 2.0 mean to schools in the future?".  Well, just as I learned Fortran, Basic and Cobol "languages" and suffered through the tedious process of card punching and sorting through all the error messages, I realized that we have technologically progressed.  We have learned from our mistakes and are making it easier for students.  Too bad many of us have lost large patches of hair from pulling it out LEARNING from all those mistakes.

The Horizon Report pointed out current technology including grassroots videos (think YouTube), collaborative webs (think Facebook), and mobile broadband.  As videos and social networking sites are "old technology" I was impressed with the mobile broadband aspect.  While vacationing in Washington DC this summer, I had the opportunity to see that the Smithsonian museums use mobile broadband to provide additional information to interested people, just by texting or scanning a code on your smartphone.  Awesome!  The Horizon Report also pointed out some emerging technology, such as data mashups and collective intelligence.  While I "get" that mashups are the collection of several websites in one site, I can't visualize it yet.  I believe that the collective intelligence piece must be like the data they collect from tweets.  I still have more to learn.

Anyway, how does Web 2.0 further apply to schools in the future?  For the students, they are in for some really cool lesson plans, webquests, interactive learning and more.  For the teachers?  Gaining access to lesson plans, tips, ideas, etc. through blogs, tweets and chatrooms is powerful.  As long as we embrace technology and use it in our classrooms we will engage our students. 

That being said, I feel it's important for us, as parents and teachers, to teach students when to step away from technology and "unplug".  For example, my girls are only allowed technology on the weekends, unless a report is required, etc.  Anyway, my youngest loves to listen to Harry Potter books on her IPOD and my older girl likes to listen to podcasts of Adventures in Odyssey on her computer.  I've noticed a glazed over expression on their faces (much like when I'm totally involved in a book on cd while I'm on a long car trip), and sometimes they snip at me if I ask, talk, or look at them.  That is when it's time to "unplug".  It doesn't just apply to the little people.  I've seen grown adults texting while walking in a parking lot, driving cars, in the middle of a girls night out while eating dinner.  We have to have balance in our lives. We will have to give kids and students boundaries and remind them that technology is a tool that we should use and manage -- not let it manage us and replace basic human interaction with technological interaction. 

Okay, I'm off my soapbox!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Thing #4 - Why Commenting is Important

After reading these blogs, I agree that commenting creates or enhances a sense of community and interaction.  It's just human nature to want to know if your audience hears you.  It's great to have a voice, but if nobody is listening it gets frustrating.  Having a blog without having any meaningful comments is like asking the kids to clean their room for the tenth time and they give you the deer in the headlights look, and "Did you say something, Mom?".

The bottom line of the blogs, at least my interpretation, was that we should all follow the Golden Rule -- treat others the way you would like to be treated.  Add a comment, if you have something meaningful to say or care about the topic or thank the author if you feel so inclined.   I was not surprised to learn that only one out of every 100 readers comments on a blog.  Seems to make sense to me.  In this crazy, busy world we live in, who has the time to comment on EVERY post?  Additionally, it makes sense that controversial posts will get the most response.   Just like a child, if you are poked with a stick, you usually poke back, right?

I must admit that after reading the Cool Cat Teacher's blog http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/08/how-to-comment-like-king-or-queen.html, I went back and added a photo of myself and some personal information to my own blog.  Her advice about sharing something about yourself made sense.

Names of 7 blogs (5 from class & 2 others) why I selected, the comment and why.

1.  I responded to Janie's request to name the tv show that was playing in her photo.  I must admit that I originally posted my response in Flickr then realized today, that I didn't post to her blog (I'm still learning -- still in training wheels, but getting ready to ditch them as I'm on Thing 9 starting tomorrow morning!

2.  I responded to Jeanie's post to my blog on September 20.  I commented on her response to thank her and acknowledge her taking the time to view my blog.  I am reinforcing good blogging behavior.  Thanks, Jeanie!


3.  I posted to Jessi's blog on September 22.  Her trip abroad interested me.  It also showed me that we have something in common as I traveled there, too.  Anyway, here is exactly what I posted to her blog.

4.  I left a comment on Ashlee Appleton's blog on September 23.  Her 7 1/2 Habits comment on needing to play more caused me to reflect and realize that I needed to, also, which I stated in my response.

5.  I left a comment on Sarah Felts' blog on September 25.  I noticed that her Flickr photo didn't show up on her blog.  If anyone reads my blog and sees a typo, something missing, whatever, PLEASE post a comment so that I know and can fix it!  Thanks!

6.  I did it!  I posted to the THE REE DRUMMOND's Pioneer Woman blog!  I love the photo contests that she has, so I posted to the winner of the Charlie photo contest.  On 10/6, I said "It is so nice to get humorous pictures and stories from your blog.  These days, gloom and doom seem to permeate every aspect of our lives.  Thanks for reminding us to laugh and enjoy life!  I appreciate you, Mrs. Ree Drummond!"  Once my post is approved it should show up here


7.  I posted to my friends running mommy blog weeks ago, but she is super busy and hasn't approved my post.  I posted that I enjoy reading her stories about running and that she keeps me motivated to keep running.  I'll shoot her an email and tell her that I NEED it for this class.  Isn't technology awesome?  Should I text her, too?

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Thing 3 - Blog Registration

Well, I think I registered it properly!  Please let me know if I didn't.  The uses of a blog seem limitless to students in a teacher education program.  For example, when taking Math 1410 and 1420, we used posts on D2L if we needed help with a problem.  Well, the WEB is much more reliable, user friendly, and easily accessible than D2L.  What a great way to help with any problem, not just Math.  Also, if you have those dreaded team projects, a blog would be a fabulous way to share information with a group quickly.  You could add links, photos, etc, pretty easily.

As a teacher, a blog is a great tool to use to share links with your students and families.  You could post a link to Spelling City after you entered that week's spelling words to help your students study.  You could have a list of homework and any upcoming tests.  You could also post your email address so that parents can just click and email you personally.  Postings and/or links to additional practice for certain subjects could also be listed.

Thing 2 - AVATAR!

I did it!  I did it!  I did it!  The stress in my neck is there as I tried to do it right, which of course did not happen the first time, but it was not a problem but a challenge now (see I learned from the last Thing). I got it after only two trial and error periods!

I decided to have my Avatar name match my blogsite name.  It just seems logical and natural.  You'll notice that I also kept with a theme. My blog design is outside and so is my Avatar, complete with dog.  Yes, my Avatar is realistic.  Hey, I'm even wearing my favorite color green!  Only non-realistic element to my Avatar is that when I'm walking I usually have two dogs with me, a husband and two small children riding bikes or maybe a scooter.  See you can't get EVERYTHING with an Avatar, can you?!  I did find it a bit of a challenge creating the blog and the Avatar, but I'm sure that everyone in Clarksville heard my shouts of "Yes! Yes! Yes!" when I finally got that Avatar on my blog! 

Fun activity.  Can't wait to do Thing 3!

Melissa O.'s Thing 1 - 7 1/2 Habits

Well, not being one to comfortably post my faults, as I am well capable of seeing all my faults, I'd like to start with the positive.  From the list of the 7 1/2 habits, I find it easy to begin with the end in mind and can see or create a goal and develop a pathway for getting there.  The habits, yes, habits plural, are that I don't often view problems as challenges (more like things that need to be checked off a list) nor do I take enough time to PLAY!  I have found a cure for that in exercise.  I find that life is much happier (for me, my family and co-workers) when I take the time for ME and exercise.

What I really want to learn is how to create the AWESOME PowerPoint and WebQuests that my friends who have taken this course have shown me.  Wow!  If I can do that my students will for sure pay attention in class!

My feelings when setting up the Blog were mixed.  One, I didn't want to embarrass myself (or Dr. Wall!) and show my age by taking forever to "get it".  The feeling passed when I promised myself I'd play with it until I got it.  I'm pretty pleased that I was able to modify my original post when I realized I needed to add more reflection and content.  Wicked!

This is going to be fun!

I'm looking forward to reading everyone's blogs/posts!