Thing 23

I have really enjoyed exploring all the options presented in the Library2Play 23 Things.

1. I enjoyed using photostory to put together a slide show/presentation. This was really easy to use and fun. I also didn't realize how many relevant videos were available through TeacherTube and YouTube. Being able to introduce Algebra Songs into the classroom should add an element of fun learning to the class. Flickr was another great site more for my person use. Docstoc had some nice handouts for Algebra that I can see using next year.

2. It has made me realize that I really need to be better at keeping up with what is out there on the internet. There are a lot of resources. I need to set goals to incorporate some components into each week's lesson or each unit. It is very easy to fall behind on the latest things available. I need to set realistic goals, however, as in many cases alot of searching time is still needing to find the appropriate materials.

3. I didn't expect to get much out of the Nings but reading other teachers' experiences with the difficulties of teaching was very helpful. As a new teacher in a small school getting to read different perspectives was helpful. The ones written with a sense of humor on some of the topics were great.

4. There are a lot of things to explore and it can be overwhelming in keeping track of what each resource does. Possibly covering less material but more in depth would help with this. Also making sure that explicit directions are given for embedding things in the blogs would be helpful or that all components are operating as specified would be helpful. I struggled with this at some points.

5. Absolutely! I learned a lot and enjoyed it.

6. Eye opening.

7. On my way to do so.

Thing #22

I really didn't expect much from the Nings. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I explored Nings for Teachers. I explored some of the blogs and found several that put a smile on my face. Several of the authors had a great sense of humor and helped put the big and little problems of teaching in perspective. It was a great way to let off some steam on some the difficulties of teaching without having to get togeather with someone in person which is not always doable do to scheduling difficulties.

Thing #21

I really enjoyed playing around with photostory. It was very user friendly and created a very professional product.

Thing #20

I didn't realize how many videos were available on Algebra through YouTube and TeacherTube. In YouTube I found some fun algebra songs on slope and on number types. On TeacherTube I looked at videos on exponents and adding negative numbers. I can easily see using these short clips to summarize the material presented at the end of the lesson. Having an alternate format or way to explain things can be incredible effective. Also it breaks up the class when it is not just my voice or the voice from Holt on line explaining things. It will take time to find and preview the ones that would work best with each lesson.

Below is the link to the video with the song on slope from YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCFaSvbwKe0

Below is the link to the video on adding negative numbers from TeacherTube
http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=308&title=Adding_Negative_Numbers

Thing #19

I really enjoyed looking through some of the Web 2.o Awards list sites. I eventually played around with .docstoc from the Education list. I chose this as Algebra was listed as a subtopic and I was hoping to find some new things I could use with my class. I am a new teacher and still building up my repertoire of material to use in class. The students are engaged more when the format is varied. There were a lot of good documents. However, it would take awhile to go through and use them. The titles and tags were helpful for this. I did print out a couple to use this year and will probably go back to the site as an alternate source of new material. It is great that in a lot of the worksheets the problems are worked out. There were also powerpoint presentations included.

My son and I also played with the sample spanish lesson one the Mango language site.

Thing #18

I can see some real advantages to Google Docs. The fact that multiple people can edit a file without having to send it back and forth is probably the biggest advantage. Moreover the ability to access your document on any computer is a big plus. It's similarity in layout to microsoft word made it easy to use. There were some great evaluation forms provided for assessing how well a group member contributes to a group project. We had a school tracker file that we all edited and saved on Sweden. This could easily have been done with Google Docs.

Thing 17

Rollyo is a great way to guide research projects in the classroom. It was easy to use. Given the overwhelming amount of information available, Rollyo is key for narrowing down the choices so that students can work efficiently. It also ensures that the sites assessed are reputable with accurate information, assuming the teacher has previewed the site first. Teachers should always preview the sites the students access and presumably if a teacher is listing a site on Rollyo he/she has previewed it.

http://rollyo.com/debra_hurwitz/judiasm

Thing #16

I think anytime you need to organize a collaborative project or event, a Wiki is the way to go. I teach Algebra and students could use it to describe ways to solve various word problems. They could work as groups to generate problems that require a specified mathematical operation or methods for solving problems. In terms of TAKs preperation, the students could report on test taking techniques, modifying and expanding on each others input.

Thing #15

The concept of library 2.0 is great. Increasing assecibility to the most up to date and relevant information and data are key to successful libraries. Things change so quickly today and libraries need to be able to keep abreast of these changes in terms of updating their resources. Access to the "library" without having to actual be in the physical space is what it is about.

I strongly agree with the comment made in one of the perspectives that the services provided have to be usable without training. Without this component all the changes won't improve things but rather hinder all but a select few people in using them. Adequate computers to access the new format and style will be required as well.

I will confess however that I still love reading print material in a way that is more satisfying than on line reading just as I find having print photos more satisfying than digital images. Ah well I'll try and keep up with the times.

Thing #14 Technorati

I found it fun to look around at the popular sites to see what is interesting people in general. Of course the results are biased towards those interested in the web and computers. Therefore a lot of the most popular blog sites were related to applications on blogs etc. I expected more of them to be directed at current events. Probably this varies depends on what is happening in the world.

Technirati is also useful for finding people with common interests, allowing one to set up collaborative conversations. Being able to assess the level of influence of a blog is an interesting feature as well.

I really like the tagging feature of the many tools. I hadn't been aware of it and see it as critical for organizing, saving and retreiving information.

Thing #13

My son and I had fun exploring the Delicious site. The use of tags is a great way to keep things organized. It would be a good way to guide students in doing research by setting up tags ahead of time for sites and articles of interest for a project. Accessibility from anywhere is a key feature for classroom usage. I didn't realize there were so may social bookmarking sites. I was impressed with the quality of the material that came up when searching different tags. We "stumbled" on some really interesting things by typing in different areas of interest like underwater sea creatures.

Thing #12

I hadn't fully realized the value of commenting until reading the information for Thing 12. I think it is critical to only make relevant and meaningful comments on topics that are important to you or your family or society. Realizing how powerful words can be and being respectful of differing opinions is important when writing comments.

It was fun to go through some of the other blogs to find ones to comment on. I felt reassured that the experiences people were having with the program were comparable to my own.

Thing #11

Ok I am an organizational freak so this site really appeals to me. If I ever had the time I would love to enter the books I have as well as the ones I've read. It is fast and easy to add the books. The local feature is great for knowing what is happening in the area without having to call/check a bunch of websites. I quickly looked at the Tea group as I am a tea drinker.

Thing #10

I played around with the happy face generator and the Kid-Friendly Image Generators. The one above is from the happy face generator. It also had some options for making sign holders that would be easy to modify to contain classroom messages. I also played with the Trading Card Maker. All of them seem very easy to use and are a great way to quickly add graphics to text without having to reinvent the wheel.

Thing #9

I found the search tools easy to use and straightforward. I looked at Google, Blogline, Edublog, school library, syndic8 and atomic learning. Google blog search on Spring Branch ISD brought up the Straight talk site which had an interesting blog from students on what makes a class good. Atomic learning had a lot on how to use feeds. Blogline's found the Math Dude with algebra videos that could be incorporated into the classroom. Sindic8 came up with an odd blog on puzzles and jokes and riddles appropriate for the math classroom when I searched under the title of Algebra. I would probably stick with Google just for convenience but the others all seemed comparable as well. I couldn't discern an advantage or disadvantage with any of the sites based on my limited usage so far.

Thing #8: RSS

This is a great time saving, organizing device. Obviously it is great for following news stories and updates but for me it is a fast way to check for updates on sites that I forget what I have already looked at or don't visit very often. For example after going through a site looking for relevant flipcharts in my classroom, this would quickly allow me to check for all updates. Similarly for at home for topics for which I am only interested in updates. For example looking for new vergetarian recipes or weekly commentaries on bible stories or holidays for kids. I love being able to have all areas of interest go to one account/address.

Thing #7 Google

I am amazed at all the features available through Google.

I created a google calendar. I would love to get organized enough to use this tool for our family as it was very user friendly. Being able to display the calendar in different formats is nice and being able to access it remotely by multiple family members is very useful. I can see setting up a course calendar in Google for the students to be able to view with particular assignments and test dates.

I also set up a Google alert to follow summer kid activities in Houston. Again tracking a news topic is a great classroom activity.

I played a little with Google docs and can see how it would be useful for student write ups that were done in groups.

Google Advanced search let me get some very specific references. It was helpful in looking for videos in Algebra which I could integrate into my classroom presentations next year. I can also see having the students look for 2-3 relevant videos on a specific topic and then have them present them to the class as way to increase student interaction.

Thing #6: Mashups

The mashup applications seem endless. I am amazed at all the ways you can organize and integrate photos by combining Flickr with these other applications. I am way behind the times! I'm lucky if I get the photos off the camera and printed at Walgreens once or twice a year!

In addition in the classroom setting, I can see having each student generate their own trading card as a way to introduce themselves to the class or as a component of our Social, Emotional Learning Curriculum. They could also use them to present step by step procedures for solving different algebraic problems. The Motivational print option would be great for creating posters for the classroom as well. The FD Toys site has some great applications that would turn photos into wonderful gift ideas as well. Mappr also is interesting with its geographic tie in and Trip Planner is a great tool.

Thing #5: Flickr

Flickr looks like a great site to organize student photos and comments for class projects. I liked that the privacy settings for the geo photo option could be different from those set for general photos. There are so many photos under each tag that searching for certain photos on a topic would be very time consuming. It is fun to just look through and grab what ever attracts your attention that you think you might use later on. The descriptions of the copyright types was very clear.

Thing #4: Registering

I have now registered on line.

Thing #3 thoughts on setting up blog.

The only difficulty I encountered was in getting the avatar to post. I could not do it with the html/java script option. I had to save it as jpeg and copy it. My kids had fun helping design the avatar.

Thing #3: Comment on 7 1/2 Habits

The easiest one for me is is to "Begin with the end in mind". I am very good at organinizing things and planning projects to achieve a goal in an organized manner.

The hardest one for me is "Viewing problems as challenges". I tend to get frustrated with problems that interfere with my achieving my goal in a timely manner.

I am a firm believer in Life long learning and am very excited to explore some aspects of the world wide web that are not familiar to me.

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