Thing #13

Here is a custom postage stamp I made of my husband and I. We were in the top of the Arch in St. Louis (too bad you can't tell from the picture). I used http://www.imagechef.com and then went to photo frames. On their site you can make custom candy hearts, a sidewalk message and much more!



I wanted to do Spell with Flicker but the sight is not currently available.
Instead I made a comic from a photo I found on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkunz/3400590998/, Jer_Kunz).



I would definitely use these to "spice" up my personal blog. However, with my students I could use this comic strip type app/mashup or others to peak their interest in a new topic.

I had no idea I too could make my own custom images. I thought it was only companies and people who paid for it. I was so excited when I learned I could do it too. I should have realized I could find a way to do it online for free since you can do so many things on the internet.

I enjoyed exploring these things I didn't know I could do for free!!

Thing #12

The following describes briefly how I would introduce some things we will learn in First Grade. I would pause to explain as each slide came across the screen.

Welcome to First Grade!! Here are some things we will be learning about:

In reading we will be sequencing things to know the order they go in (e.g. breakfast, school, lunch, go home).

Also in reading we will be visualizing (picturing images in our heads from books and stories).

We will also be comparing and contrasting (finding some things that are the same and different in books and life).

In math we will be adding and subtracting (adding is getting more and subtracting is taking away).

Also, in math we will be measuring things to see how long they are or how much space they take up or how much they can hold.

Photo Credits:

1. SEQUENCE of boy swinging into water (http://www.flickr.com/photos/skayne/1315552519/, blythe83)

2. VISUALIZATION of boy with eyes closed (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tourist_on_earth/3221993400/, tourist_on_earth)

3. COMPARE/CONTRAST (similarities/differences) of pumpkins (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mnicolem/3295249900/in/photostream/, MNicoleM)

4. MATH of girls near a chalkboard (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/3597217248/, woodleywonderworks)

5. MEASUREMENT by boy in a book (http://www.flickr.com/photos/goldberg/483891481/, Goldberg)

Making a slide show and trying to embed was not difficult or time consuming. The time consuming part came before when I was trying to find the picture that best portrayed my idea. I am really glad I learned how to do this because I had seen my friends use it in their personal blogs and now I can too!

Thing #11

I had no idea that Flickr was that relevant to me and could provide a lot of photos that were already labeled by CC. This is exciting and makes following the law so much easier. I also

was inspired by the lesson ideas and suggestions for using Flickr in the classroom. I never thought it was more than just people uploading pictures of their family, friends, and vacation. Clicking on pictures leads to new and more pictures! I didn’t choose a theme to get pictures for so I decided to find pictures of math/ELA topics we would cover this year. Here is a picture from Flickr that has a CC logo:

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/skayne/1315552519/, blythe83). This is a good example of sequence to show students and maybe (just maybe) they can connect to something (schema).

I have heard of mashups but I did not know what they were until today. I like sharing photos online but there is a concern that people can use it for the wrong purpose. For my personal use I made a jigsaw puzzle of my husband and I at his graduation. While exploring the mashups, I am not able to see how using these can be helpful for education. Maybe the Motivator or the Movie Poster (http://bighugelabs.com/) could be used educationally about a vocabulary word or book.

Thing #10

I really have never noticed the CC logo on websites but then again, I don’t notice things that very often. I really enjoyed learning about this as I majored in Legal Studies and worked in law firms before changing careers to education. I believe CC is HUGE in helping us (educators and others) so that we stay far from the reaches of any legal entanglements. I have used some things on the internet like clips from the web or videos from teachertube.com but as far as I know that is the purpose of the content. I share some content on the web, but usually it is my own created content (typed words or photos). Even after reviewing CC I am still not completely clear on all the legal things we can and cannot do. I plan to look into CC more so I know how to help communicate academically with my students (and with family and friends in my personal blog) through technology while staying out of legal trouble. The negatives for using CC are that it may protect you as much as they say it will from copyright infringement.

From OER Commons, I found an article that was helpful: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/721. It reminded me to do things and gave me some new ideas that would be helpful in the classroom as far as organizational skills. This (http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/741) was also helpful in reminding and reassuring me that what I am doing is right in line with how I should organize my paperwork.

Thing #9

Honestly, I had a difficult time beginning to make my own wiki. I thought to myself that this is what it must feel like when someone is learning to use computer programs for the first time. However, once I got used to and played around with it, it was much easier to figure out. I figured it out by looking at what other people had done, the instructions and good ‘ole trial and error. I was confused by the “[toc]” because nothing seemed to be appearing. After about an hour or trying, using, working, and getting distracted, this is my end result: http://misd23things.wikispaces.com/WikiSticks.

Thing #7a

In my Google Reader, one of the blogs I have in my feed listed the following article (http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=762190). It talks about the positive aspect of teaching abstinence sex education from 10 different authors in 6 different studies. (Disclaimer: I have not read the actual studies so I do not know how accurately they were done but I would assume they are done thoroughly and correctly). The author, Valerie Huber, reported "The most significant finding in terms of the effectiveness of abstinence education was that those students [included in the studies] were less likely to initiate sexual activity or to discontinue [sexual activity], which is exactly the purpose of abstinence education." This article caught my eye for many reasons including the fact that my husband will soon be teaching abstinence to his 7th graders. I hope school districts realize the value of this education and keep it or turn to it if they are doing a different approach.

Thing 8-Stretch

When I looked at Wikipedia I searched for "cell phone" and it came up with "mobile phone". I noticed the majority of the facts were tagged with a footnote that tells where the author got their information. The information presented seemed valid but it is really difficult to tell. Just by reading/skimming I cannot tell if most information is correct even with all the footnotes. If I wanted to/had time I could check out the sources listed and see if they come from a valid study or site. I never noticed the “Discussion” or “History” tab to look at what others have said about it or review previous versions. People were discussing anything from what to call the title of the wiki (cell phone, hand phone, mobile phone, etc.) to adding a feature to an actual phone about typing a novel on your phone. Since the topic is so popular and current there are over 500 pages of revisions (so even more actual revisions). This was very interesting and eye opening. I wouldn’t feel comfortable updating a wiki unless I felt I was very versed in the topic.

Thing #8

From reading about Vicki’s first experience (http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2005/12/wiki-wiki-teaching-art-of-using-wiki.html) with utilizing wiki’s with her students, I think this is a great idea and can be very useful. However, it needs to be used with the right age group and the teacher needs to have a firm grasp on how to use wiki’s before trying to teach the students. The extent that she used this with her students would not work with my first graders.

In this wiki (http://www.ahistoryteacher.com/~ahistory/apwhreview/index.php?title=Holocaust_Wiki_Project) I noticed it is almost identical to the format of wikipedia.com including the tables and image location on the site. What I would change is have it more user-friendly where all the information was one or two clicks away instead of 3 or more clicks away. In Jennifer’s wiki (http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/#toc1) I found it did not look like what I would consider a wiki. It was difficult to navigate and figure out what was a wiki and what was something else. I would have a website and then separate links for my blog, wiki, calendar, etc. in order to make it easier to navigate. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to subscribe to her page to access the wiki or not. I found this wiki interesting for use in younger grades (http://schoolsthen.wikispaces.com/). However, the information is not edited by the students so it differs than many other student produced wikis. The good thing about this site is it allows students to become familiar with the process of wikis and learn something along with it that involves the school community (parents, friends, grandparents, etc.). I would try to incorporate student input by having students write a comparison post in contrast to one put up by an adult to show the difference between school then and now.

I would like to try using wiki’s with my first grade students and this site (http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm) had a few good ideas of what type of wiki to start out with. Some ideas that I might try from this site are making a “virtual tour of [our] school as [we ]study “our community” in elementary grades or creating a “wiki ‘fan club’ for your favorite author(s).”

Thing #7

I know commenting on blogs is important but sometimes it is not as quick as it should be (depending on if the blog allows non-members to post on it without having a member idea; e.g. a blogger.com on a wordpress.com blog). I love it when people post thoughts or comments on mine and it often opens my eyes to new ideas, links, or encourages me to continue in my way. This time it was easier to post comments than other times I have tried outside of this class. I think that fact that we all have the same blogger.com account is helpful.

Thing # 6

I have recently been adding and deleting RSS feeds. I am a hands-on learner and love to play around with things so I can figure them out for myself. However, it took me a lot longer than it should have (1.5 hours!!) to finally stop reading blogs and clicking on links (It is addictive!). I enjoyed this experience and found some very interesting articles that I will have to look into more in the future and how I can use some of the things that they talk about in my class.

One post I found very interesting is how to find and use legal images for your blog (http://literacyispriceless.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/finding-and-adding-high-quality-legal-images-to-your-blogs-papers-and-reports/). I have briefly thought about this but not enough to look for information about it. I am considering having a class blog but not sure on the how and what just yet. When I do I will need to read up on this article and others like it to make sure what I am doing is legal. I am sure I will not need a lot of images as most of the images I will have will be of my students.

I also read this article about using songs to learn academic material (http://literacyispriceless.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/rap-hip-hop-vocabulary-history-and-more-word-up/). Last year I taught 3rd grade and bought a Multiplication Rock CD and the students loved it (they would remind me if I forgot). This is actually the same way I learned my multiplication facts. We are to help students learn and be excited about the material and this is one of the ways to do that. We use little jingles to help student remember things so why not even in upper grades?

THING # 5

In this article http://www.techlearning.com/article/24800 I was intrigued by yet another technology “answer” to a current problem in our schools. There is so much out there that can help our students which is exciting and important. However, before jumping into another program we need to make sure to look at it from all angles and see if this will really help our students in the long run. Is the money worth the investment if you will.

Pearson makes great products like Waterford that Mesquite ISD uses with K-2. Their programs are research based and have great success. However, even with great success it can not be entirely the answer we are in need of. The current product is Prevent which essentially identifies at risk students who are in danger of not graduating and “falling through the cracks” which is not meeting “No Child Left Behind.” I have not done much reading or research on this topic but I believe these programs may be just a band-aid and not the “cure” we need to help our students. If they are identified by Prevent it is not too late but in a sense it could be because nothing was done before this point. I believe the answer to helping our students succeed lies much deeper within our society, teachers, and parents. However, that is a debate for a different blog at a different time.

THING #4

Education blog writing can be a very open type of writing but also a very cautious openness. What I mean is you can’t use names unless with permission and have to be careful how you phrase things. Blog reading is fun in that you can follow someone’s thoughts more than you probably would in a normal conversation. You can jump from post to post or “thought” to “thought.” Commenting on blogs adds a new dimension so it is no longer simply a story or a post, it is more of a conversation that can end when the posts stop. By commenting back and forth, the author and the commentator can elaborate and gain a better understanding. Blogging can facilitate learning in that it is like a person on your level explaining something to you or talking about something you already know so you gain a different perspective.

Web 2.0 in class

Initially when I heard about Web 2.0, I had no idea what exactly that meant. Once I found out about 23 Things and the interest in the class, I was excited to learn all the 23 Things. I wanted to know more about RSS feeds and blogging but didn’t get to researching it on my own so now I am learning and having fun doing it. I know technology will continue to change teaching as I know it because where I began (3 years ago) we only had a computer with e-mail and now we have Promethean boards coming and possibly Elmos! I am sure there will be new and different things in the next 25+ years I will be teaching.

Out of the many Web 2.0 tools that are out there to utilize, I would love to begin a class blog. This blog would allow students to use their computer skills to type, format, and add a post to it. They would see the “fruits of their labor” and be excited to share their learning with others (family and/or friends). It is very important for students (and myself) to become more familiar with new technology, which is why I am taking this class. I am preparing myself and trying to prepare my students for the future where there will be jobs that mainly require computer skills.

23 Things here I come!!

My Lifelong Learning Habits

I read the following article/slideshow a few days ago called 7 1/2 Habits of Effective Lifelong Learners. Of the 7 1/2 Habits, the following are the ones I found to be challenging, the easiest, and the most important. The most challenging habit for me will be viewing problems as challenges because to me it is easier when you are outside the problem to see it in a positive light. The easiest habits will be learning while having an end (goal) in mind, creating your own learning toolbox, and using technology to my advantage. The most important habits of all (for me) are to accept responsibiltiy for my own learning (not playing the blame or blame shifting game) and having confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner. In my opinion the last habit I listed is crucial for keeping all the other habits in check.