One Last Thing

There is so much technology that I was not aware of.  I have learned so much by taking this class. At times I was very frustrated and overwhelmed by the many Things I had to do. However, I have learned so much and I am proud of myself for finishing this course.  I have gained so many new tools to help make me a better teacher and use more technology in my classroom.  I will encourage my students to use more of the technology resources that have been provided for us. I can't believe that I actually made a blog, embedded videos, and pictures in it.  This class allowed me to expand my mind when it comes to technology.  There are several Things that I enjoyed more than others and I can incorporate in my classroom to enrich the curriculum.

Thing 23

There are other social networking sites other than Facebook and My Space.  I do not have a Facebook or a My Space account, however, I am thinking about joining Classroom 2.0.   I like Classroom 2.0 because it is a site for educators to share ideas and resources.  Classroom 2.0 allows teachers to read comments and ask questions.  Teachers  can network and discuss topics, ask questions, and share ideas. 
One site I really enjoyed was the English Companion.  This site was a place were English teachers can help each other by asking questions, getting help with teaching various concepts.
http://englishcompanion.ning.com/?xg_source=ningcom 

Thing 22

Social Networking allows people to connect, reconnect, form relationships, and share interest and ideas on line.  Many people use My Space and Facebook  to social network.  Both newtworks seem to have their pros and cons. With My space you can keep in touch with your friends through email, blogs, forums, and bulletins, and you can add music to your page. The cons to using My Space is that anyone can contact you. I am not sure this is safe for teenagers that create My Space pages.  I think it is important that educators know about social networks because our students use this to communicate.

Facebook is a great way to keep up with friends, upload photos, and meet new people. 
I do not have a Facebook or a My Space account.  I have no interest in Social Networking at this level.  I took this class so I can learn more about using the computer and I am not so sure this is one avenue that I am ready to fully explore. 
I did create a Facebook page using an alias. I was able to find some of my family's member's page. I requested to be their friend, however, I doubt if they will add me to their page since I used the name Thomas Cook.  


http://www.facebook.com/gettingstarted.php?step=contact_importer#!/profile.php?id=100001359269085

Thing 18

I love using Teacher Tube and You Tube.  Of course like most things on the internet, I have to sort through different sites to get what I want.  There are videos, speeches, clips and raps  for just about any topic.  The students love it also.  This gives teachers another tool to help their students learn various concepts.  My wife went searching for a concept to help her students better understand a Science concept. The kids loved it and always wanted her to play it before they left class. She used it as her closure for the lesson and a a grabber for the lesson the next day.  Using Teacher Tube and You Tube is another way to meet the needs of those students that my be visual and auditory learners.
There is a negative side to using Teacher Tube and You Tube in that students need to understand that not everything that is put on their is going to be error free. They need to do their own research on different topics before settling on a particular site. One video I discovered that I thought would be great for my students is a speech form the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

Thing 21

I had fun playing around in Google. It has so much more than I was previously aware of.  I set up 2 Google Alerts. One alert is from TEA so I will know the new information about various changes that may occur. The other alert I set up was about diabetes since it runs in extended family.  My only concern with Google Alerts is that it will overwhelm my account with alerts.
I looked into the  Picasa Web Albums and it seems like it was easy to use. I can see my wife using it for her many digital photos. Google calendar can be used to keep me more organized. The problem would be finding the time to put all the information on the calendar. Google Earth has some interesting 3D pictures that would be good for Science Students.I never realized that their was so much to Google. There is a lot the teachers and students can use for extended learning.

Thing 20

I am not sure if I have gotten a good grasp on the concept of Google docs. My wife showed me how her school uses it to keep a record of student discipline. The teacher logs on and puts in various information on a student like parent contact, out of dress code, detentions, etc. It seems like a great tool to use but I am not so sure if I am comfortable with creating  Google docs. I see how they can be used for spreadsheets, inventories like a book list. One good thing that I saw was that once I put something on Google docs, I can access it from any computer. There seem to be many features of this program that I will explore later. I would like to using the Instant forms to create a survey or poll for my students. I can have them to create and Instant form and they can compare their findings.  

Thing 7 b

I came across and article that I found has some interesting and encouraging information. It was titled Negativity: 3 Home Truths You Need to Hear.
The article stresses that we need to let negativity go and to not focus on the why-did-this-have-to-happen-to-me type questions, move forward to solve the problem by asking the right questions, and hopefully we will learn something positive from the negative. The 3 truths that we need to hear is that other people don't live perfect lives, life isn’t always a smooth ride, and those who take risks get rewarded.
People need to get out of your comfort zone and take a chance.
http://www.dietriffic.com/2010/12/09/negativity/

Thing 19

Voicethread can be used by teachers and students. Teachers can use it when they are doing a book study or a professional development concept the campus may be covering. I like that it is another way to transform Powerpoint slides to add audio snippets. The students can use it for group projects. I can really see the GT students excited about using this. They can work from home using various technology resources like webbams and text. I really think this would be good for English classes because it is another way for students to have other students edit their papers.
My favorite Voicethread  was Library from A to Z  .
I thought it was very cute and it gave me some ideas for my little boy.  

Thing 17

I added Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips and Just One More Boo  
to my Google Reader.  I particularly do not care for podcast since I like to read.  I found some of the podcast annoying. However, this program might be good for our ESL, Dylexia, and some of our Special Education students that struggle in reading. This would also be helpful for those auditory learners.  Teachers could download different podcast to school computers and the students can subscribe to it.  One great thing about podcast is that it is free and whatever you download, it stays on the computer.

Thing 16

The Library Thing website was very interesting to me because I love to read. I like how it recommended another selection of books within the same genre.  It will be interesting to learn from others' points of view about various books. I can use this in my classroom to encourage my students to read different novels and compare the opinions of others. I can also use this at home for my own children to get different titles of interesting books they can read.

Thing 15

Delicious.com 

This is a great way of bookmarking good information that I find without overloading my personal bookmarks on my computer.  The tagging part was interesting. Trying to come up with one word to tag the information was hard.  However, I like the fact that I could add tags to categorize my bookmark.  Overall this assignment was pretty easy. I used the time to look up and tag sites I could use for later this semester.  I also learned how to share my bookmark with others. This is a great way of teachers networking together.
http://www.delicious.com/telvinculberson/mockingbird

Thing 7a

In my Google Reader, I found an article title  Jets Fined $100,000 For Sideline Trip. The article tells how the New York Jets were fined by the NFL because their Coach tripped a Miami Dolphins player on the sideline in a game.  The league fined the team because they wanted to emphasize that clubs are accountable for the actions of their employees. I found this very interesting in that the Coach was not fined. He was suspended but he should have been fined also. The club has millions and I doubt that $100,000 is going to hurt them.  However, if the coach was fined than he would think twice for deliberately tripping another player running down the field. I think this sends the wrong message to Coaches.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/31/sports/football/31alosi.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Thing 14

http://www.jigzone.com/
This was my favorite. I could get lost doing jigsaw puzzles. I really liked that I can upload a photo to create my own jigsaw puzzle.  This can be a good site for my students as a brainteaser or something to do after they have finished their assignment in the computer lab.
http://www.toondoo.com/ 
I can use this site to Create and share your own comic strip. This would be useful to my students to create storyboards, newspaper boards that address the cultural content of novels. 
http://tadalist.com/
This is a great site to help keep me organized.   I can create easy list and sort and check them off when I have completed them.

Thing # 13

I like creating the images. It was something fun to do and I can put them up in my classroom. The websites were helpful in giving me a steps to create the images and how to save and download them.  Students can also use this in their projects to make them more interesting. They can also use this make catchy phrases to help understand concepts. To make these, I use ComicStrip Generator and the Sign Generator.

Thing 12

Picture 1     http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyshi/
Picture 2      http://www.flickr.com/photos/glassslippergourmet/
Picture 3      http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidsilver/
Picture 4       http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstephenconn/3073665923/

One of the projects I have my students create in English is a story board. I thought I would do a short storyboard about my wife. It starts out in Philadelphia and ends in Texas. I enjoyed creating the slide show. However, I ran into some problems while trying to embed the slide show. It is necessary to be in Edit HTML mode when trying to embed the slide. It was a little frustrating trying to embed without that little bite of detail.

Thing # 11

Using Flickr was relatively easy. I found many pictures that were relevant to the novels that my students read.  I found a lot of pictures for the novel To Kill a Mockingbird  .  There was a set of images that followed the order of the story.  My students can use Flickr to help them do story maps or storyboards on the novel  we read.  The only negative thing I will note is that it took a lot of time to find good pictures.                               

This picture I choose is from the novel Romeo and Juliet. http://www.flickr.com/photos/16968576@N02/
by clasic_lasuperlativ's photostream

Thing # 10

Creative Commons
I found that using Creative Commons was very easy.  I just click on the Creative Commons Search Tool and typed in what I wanted to find. I have never noticed the CC logo on websites as I downloaded material.   I do not think the CC logo will impact the students but it will impact how I use material from websites, and I will communicate the same message to my students about fair use. I have learned that Creative Commons will allow me the freedom to share and reuse material that I got off the web legally.  The only negative thing I see about Creative Commons is trying to get the students to buy in to using material legally.

Thing # 9

When I first started setting up my wiki, I was very frustrated. After about an hour, I printed out the instructions and made several mistakes it got better. It actually became really interesting and fun to create my wiki in the sandbox. Once I got familiar with it, I was able to change the color of my letters and do different fonts. At the end, I decided to get creative and download pictures of my children playing on the beach to my wiki. It did help to look at others and see what they did on their wikis.
http://misd23sandbox.wikispaces.com/csand

Thing # 8

I definitely can using a wiki in my future.  I like that the wiki websites are informative and give a lot of information.  I like the Code Blue wikispace because it  general links so that the students can explore the body systems.  It even include a link to BrainPop so the students could watch a movie on the Urinary System.
The Primary Math Wikispace was set up a little differently than Code Blue. The Math website was not as informative as Code Blue.  It was set up to share their math learning.  I really liked the Kindergarten Counting Book.  It gave great ideas on how to visually demonstrate to elementary students on how to count to 100. The only thing I would have done was make more math problems to go with it.
In my classroom, I would use a wiki to post assignments, deadlines and also give a brief summary of the book we are reading in class. I can also use it to post extra credit assignments and use it as a tool to communicate with parents.

Thing # 7

I like to read the blogs, however, I am not comfortable with expressing my opinion on someone's blog. I can learn a lot of interesting information by reading them. If I come across one I don't particularly agree with, I will just one on to another one since their are so many  out there. If I do comment, I try to make sure that I am leaving meaningful comments.    

Thing #6

I have a better understanding of RSS feeds after doing this activity.  I enjoyed  searching for different bloggers and information. I found some that were interesting and I added them to my reader.

One particular post that I found that was interesting was http://www.dietriffic.com/2010/12/15/food-swaps/.
It gives information on making better choices at mealtimes so that people can get more of the important nutrients their  body needs to maintain good health and manage their weight. It is important to start the day with a good breakfast so that the rest of the day is balanced with the right food choices.

I am interested in School Administration so I looked for feeds that had to deal with this topic. An interesting blog that I subscribed to was School Administration News Update .   It goes into detail how there is a lot on administrators' shoulders.  There is the business of the school day, people at your door, phones ringing, angry parents, undisciplined students, and numerous emails that need to be open. In order to get through the day, administrators need to be proactive and task oriented so that nothing is left undone.

Thing 5

I found that using the RSS reader very informative. One particular blog I found that was interesting was from
http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/34962.       It addresses the need to find creatives ways to motivate our students.  Some students need intrinsic motivation while others may need extrinsic motivation.  It is unfortunate that there are many students in our classes that do not  seem to have any motivation or want to do work in school. Some ideas on motivating these students are based on rewards programs. The bottom line in this article is that we need to show students why they should try their best in school.
  

Thing # 4

The blogs I have read are:
  Why Can't We Do This?
Why I Don’t Assign Homework
The genre of blog writing seems to be more informal than formal and a faster way to give and receive feedback.  It is sort of like a chart room but a little more formal because the content is more serious.  Blog reading is different than other types of reading because I am reading someones comments, thoughts, and messages on a subject matter and different opinions all at once. They are similar to other types of reading because blogs can also give a wealth of information. I just have to sort through what is good and what is not.
    Blogs are different than other types of writing because they are  interactive. Blogs can be formal or informal.  Students can write blogs to help each other on homework.  A teacher can have a blog to help his/her students with homework on just keep parents updated about current  events going on in the class.
Most of the commenting I have read seem to be positive. Commenting contributes to the writing because it gives other view points the author may have not considered.  Blogging can be an awesome tool to facilitate learning because  it is a great way to communicate and share thoughts and ideas.

Thing 2

Web 2.0 is changing the way we should be teaching in the 21st century. Our students are so far ahead of what we do in the classroom.  They are familiar with blogging and texting.  They use facebook, wikis and other technology resources. As a teacher, we need to take advantage of this.  We need to incorporate blogs and wikis as part of our curriculum. Using these tools with today's digital learners will hopefully engage our students in the lessons.  I would want to use it to promote ownership of learning.  I would use these tools to creating engaging lessons for my students.

Thing # 1

1. The learning habit that may be most challenging to me is using technology to my advantage.  I am not familiar with a lot of the different technology resources but I am willing to learn.

2.  The easiest for me is teach or mentor others. I do not mind helping other teachers be successful, especially in my subject area. I also accept responsibility for my own learning by taking different Staff Development classes to help me in areas like incorporating technology.

3.  The most important habit for me as I take this course is to begin with the end in mind.  I need to set goals and sometimes I may need to modify these goals.

English

6th Weeks ends on Friday, Oct.1.