Family photos

Isn't this supposed to be over?

I enjoyed using Flickr and some of it's mash ups. Finding new blogs that I think will provide me with good information that will keep me on my toes about what is new in technology and learning. The RSS feeds were definitely helpful with the blogs and news sites I like to keep up with. I can definitely see myself using the collaborating documents when I become a teacher so my students can work on projects together without having to get together if it isn't possible for one or more of them. And who doesn't love YouTube for finding fun quick videos that can help get students engaged in a new lesson? This program has definitely shown me how much is out there and that I have not been keeping up with all the new technological developments on the web. I know I will have to stay more up to date, so I don't fall behind and not know what my students are talking about. There are a couple things I will take away and be sure to use like Creative Commons, this experience has been more time than I have ever been in front of a computer and it will be nice to not have to stare at a computer screen all the time anymore.
I'm not sure where I will go from here with all of the information that I have learned. I'm still processing so much of it that I;m not sure I will realize how much it has effected me for a while. I may end up maintaining this blog for personal/professional reasons, although I will not be posting nearly as much as this class has required me to do in such a short amount of time. I guess it's all a matter of how I feel about this once I've been able to take a break and it's not a required assignment. Who know where it could take me...

Thing #23, Creative Commons

School Library 2.0   This link is one of many that I found that have similar 23 thing blog posts about Learning  2.0. I was unable to find the original exclusively, but I think finding so many blogs that have the same concepts rearranged or described differently and having the creative commons copyright at the bottom leads me to believe that this is what I needed to find.
I think Creative Commons will be a tool that will be vital for me to provide the best lesson plans and activities for my students without getting myself in trouble. Creative Commons could make the site a little more easily navigable list of sites, but maybe the more I try to use it the clearer I will be able to understand it all. This tool will allow me to know what people do and don't want me to use and for what purpose I am allowed. Also, Creative Commons will help me explain copyright to my students, so I can do my best in keeping them from making mistakes on what they can and can't use.

Thing #22, LiveBinders and Lesson Plans

The titles of my binders are History Teaching, Geography, and Government. I made those three binders because they are they subjects I am in the process of trying to get my degree to teach in. Since my main degree is in History and I'm by far more comfortable with this subject than the other two that's the binder I chose to post. I can see how LiveBinders could be used in the classroom. A teacher could have binders for each lesson that could be for just them or something they could share with their students to either work on homework, gain more information, or help them study for a test. Using LiveBinders would allow parents to feel safer with their child going online and randomly searching for more information that the student and parent might not be sure if it is correct or not. This is a great resource for teachers, students, and parents.

Thing #21, Making video-slideshows

Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.

Animoto was easy to use and kinda fun. I can see how making quick slideshows could jumpstart getting kids excited or engaged into a new lesson. I understand why they charge for their service because they make it very simple for those of us who are not nearly advanced enough to make these kinds of videos on our own. truly the price isn't anything outrageous and is actually quite reasonable. This is another one of those sites that I will have to bookmark and remember when I begin teaching as a wonderful resource for slideshows that takes images as opposed to just flipping through pictures.

Thing #20, YouTube all kinds of uses

Link to the video on YouTube 


I like a lot of the videos on YouTube and have several times looked up music videos and helpful easily understood tutorials for classes that I have been confused during. I chose this video because I am fascinated by the American Civil War and the amount of pictures mixed with bits of the songs of the day was a great presentation of so much, I also like that included information about happenings during the war for each photo. I think this could be a good video to keep track of and possibly use later in a lesson. There are a lot of features that could be used in YouTube that could be applied to so many websites and functions of a classroom. I honestly never thought to look up anything other than music videos on YouTube before, but knowing how much additional stuff is on this site will be very helpful in the years to come. It is definitely a multi-use site that has proved it's worth.

Thing #19, More social networking!

I joined TeacherPop which I can see as a fun an interesting way to stay connected to teachers and future teachers. I looked at Bake Space because I love to bake and any new and interesting recipes are always fun to try. I like the idea of swapping ideas about baking and cooking. I'm familiar with IMDB although I didn't realize it was considered a social network. I used it simply as a way to look up movies and actors; I'm not a big commentator on other people's opinions or ideas at least not on the internet. People tend to take things way too seriously and it usually develops into petty bickering. Yelp I have never used but I know a lot of friends who do and it's a great concept to be able to look up all sorts of places and find out what people think especially if it was a place you had never tried before. Some businesses who participate with Yelp also do special offers and giveaways for loyal customers.

I have made sure over the past few years to limit my social networking. For a while I was keeping up with a MySpace and a Facebook; I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was when everyone I knew stopped using MySpace so I didn't have to worry about checking it to see if any information was being given there as opposed to Facebook. When Google+ started I refused to join even though I love Google I did not want to have to worry about another social networking site. I like the idea of networking for professional reasons, but I definitely see that when I get to the point of networking for professional purposes I will most likely stop using all other forms of social networking because I think it's important to not lose too much time in front of the computer instead of participating in real life.