Thing 23

Image from http://thehookhandedman.tumblr.com/post/10229613912

Technology certainly has changed how we communicate.  Look what may happen to the Post Office.  Who would have imagined?
A dropbox? a google reader? a RSS feed? slideshare? Three months ago I had NO idea what these were, along with not knowing how to create a blog.  It took a couple of posts to discover how to spell check!   Little by little, as painful as it was, I slugged through each unit, making silly time-consuming mistakes, trying not to complain. Hours would go by at times as I would stare at the screen, experimenting. That's what I learned. How to experiment. How to learn for myself without asking my husband (a techie) or my daughters (who all make it look so easy and tell me what I am learning is already out-dated!).  I also learned a lot of tech. lingo along the way.   At work today I was having trouble making a distribution list on Outlook. Instead of asking a colleague, I googled 'making a distribution list on Outlook'. After watching it, I could do it myself.  I find using the SmartBoard easier.  I'm not afraid of  playing around with it and exploring.  Being resourceful and persistent are key. A day or two away would refresh the mind, though I found I would forget how much I learned if I spent too much time away.
I certainly hope now that this course is over I can compare and evaluate the different tools at at least use a couple of them to make life more efficient, creative, interactive and fun.  I'm already using Google Reader, delicious, and keeping up with some blogs.
Now, I'm happy to say, YOU CAN BORROW MY LAPTOP!  -

and, deadlines are a good thing!

Thing 22

Where is the edit button on the Wilton 23 Things wiki page?

https://sites.google.com/site/goalsettingforteachers/

I found creating a wiki a bit complicated.  Things that seemed easy watching your video didn't come automatically when I was setting mine up.  At first, I picked and educational theme that was complicated and too difficult for this exercise.  I can see the purpose in a teaching/learning setting to have a wiki where your class can add information.  For my purposes, which was collaborated goal setting,  I think a Google Doc would be better.  

Thing 21

Now I know what a Wiki is!  As a collaborative project for a class or group, I see it as being very worthwhile. Each person can add their own thoughts and information.  As it grows, it can reflect the ideas of the group.  As I was searching through wikihow, I noticed there were many wikis for the same thing, with slightly different wording.  I'm wondering, why wouldn't someone edit an existing wiki instead of creating a new one?
The educational website of Hamish McLean (Director eLearning in New Zealand, 5/6 grade teacher) is impressive.  You must be a member of his wiki to enter it.  WOW. http://electroniclearner.wikispaces.com/
What lucky students he has.
One major hurdle in using some wikis is that you don't know if the information is coming from a reliable source.  For medical questions I would  first check the Mayo Clinic website because it is a highy reputable hospital.   I checked "How to be a Kindergarten Teacher" on wiki and it really didn't give consistent, reliable information.  Some how tos work best as a video.  I looked at a "How to do the Breaststroke" on wiki and it looked very complicated.  On my walk this morning I thought I would write a simple wiki on "How to take a Walk".  Surprisingly, there are a lot of them out there, but I'm still going to do it.  Stay tuned!

Thing 20

It took SO long to install itunes! I installed/uninstalled at least 5 times. Each time I went to the itunes store and the message came up and asked if I wanted to run the program. I checked yes, and then it asked me to repair or uninstall. I was stuck! Now it works if I go directly from my itunes icon on my desktop to itunes. WHEWWWWWW! I subscribed to Garrison Keillor, Poetry PBS News Hour, Stuff for a Stylish Home and Alan Watts. Some titles looked interesting, but when I actually sampled them I couldn't imagine spending the time listening to them. I chose people I already listen to or read. I know itunes has a list of what I've subscribed to, but where do I see the ones I subscribe to that are not from I tunes?
Still have some playing around to do.

Thing 19

Image from thecreativepen.com

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=111457335&m=111455633
This podcast is about the use of technology in kindergarten. The teacher has no tolerance for other teachers that are not using it. Instead of thinking of it as TV or entertainment, she feels it is the way to get information and we should teach children safety on the Internet and what to do if you go somewhere you don't want to be, just like we teach safety at home and in school.

http://www.scpr.org/news/2011/08/23/28409/walton-foundation-gives-15m-promote-charter-school/
Walmart has given the Charter School in Sacramento $15 million dollars. With state cuts in education, this is one way to help.

I was unable to find a podcast that I would actually use in my teaching, but these are two that I found interesting. There is a world of ideas out there. Sometimes I get pigeon-holed in one way of thinking and doing things. These podcasts opened my eyes to a new way to appreciate what teaching tools other teachers/districts are incorporating and what's going on in education at a national level.

Thing 18

Paper Art

View more presentations from Raquel Santos

This was something cool from slideshare. It lent itself to this type of presentation in a clean, crisp way. I looked through lots of them and it was hard to find one that was creative and tasteful. I could definitely see using this in the classroom. It could be used as a story-telling tool, each page illustrated/written by a different student. How cool would that be? Then their parents could access it through slideshare. I didn't create a Prezi project but can see using that for literacy as your show did. What a great way to teach reading and writing in a creative, fun way! for all types of learners!

Thing 17

Bubbl.us

O.K.  So Bubbl is pretty cool.  I could see using it for a skill mapping project or use it to create bubbles for the children to fill in, like this like the one above.
I tried to make bigger boxes with smaller type set, but couldn't figure out how.
It took a little playing around, but all in all, quite easy.
30 Boxes looked like a great way to stay organized. Like everything, you need to commit to one program, so everything is in the same place. Right now I'm still using a big write-on calender at home and at school. Maybe it's time to make the switch!

Thing 16

Making this 'Favorites' spreadsheet gave me a few moments to think about my favorite things!  I have a category titled 'favorite places'.  Mine is Algarve, Portugal.  Anyway, back to work here . . What a handy tool! Right now I'm thinking it would be a great way for my own children to enter in what they want for Christmas. How old-fashioned actually writing a Christmas list has become! This would be a great tool to use to gather ideas at school. Instead of meetings where everyone doesn't have a chance to offer their ideas, they could have access a central document to share their ideas. The meeting could be held afterwards, to share and discuss thought-out ideas previously gathered on a google doc.  What a time-saver that would be! I'm going to try this at school for our year-end goal writing.  Our team likes to collaborate, and this will be perfect.

Thing 15

I added a dropbox and put some work that I did on my home computer, that I usually email to myself at work, in it.  On Tuesday I'll check to see if I can retrieve them from dropbox.  This seems a bit easier than emailing things to myself.  It's a new way of thinking.  I also opened dropbox on our main computer but it doesn't have microsoft works on it.  I'll  need to download the program.  I figured it would be easier to open dropbox than disconnect/connect/ re-connect the printing cable when I wanted to print from my labtop.  It's a wonderful tool and can help keeping school files available while I'm at school. 

Thing 14

image from Beaver Country Day School via google images

I had trouble getting the delicious buttons onto my toolbar. I upgraded to Foxfire 6, and I still got the message that they couldn't be installed. Miraculously, I looked up, and there they were. Some things I'll never understand . . . .There is so much JUNK out there! It is hard to find 10 sites to bookmark. I can't believe all the adds on many of the sites. It's frustrating to scroll or click through. A lot of poor design, undeveloped, obvious, and boring ideas. I did manage to find some great sites though, and within the sites themselves, options for other available information. I tried looking at the sites others had bookmarked, but didn't have much luck and it was very time consuming. Some of the sites were unavailable. I didn't want to sign-up to join any sites either. I feel as though I've signed up for so much already. Hey, any ideas out there for remembering all these passwords? I certainly see possibilities with delicious. I hope I can access this from school. I will share my information with my colleagues and I know I will be using it since I discovered some relevant, nifty ideas!

Thing 13

app archive art audio bachmann bench book booth cartoon comment complete conde contents contest contributors covers culture desk digest digital edition events fair fiction golf hendrik hertzberg issue james john lizza magazine movies nast news podcast politics profiles read ryan site subscribe table talk town vanity video vogue week yorker

created at TagCrowd.com

This is cool! It may be a good way to share information, but like the tutorial mentioned, anyone can add information, so it's not the same as getting it from a reputable website. People may have different opinions on what the tag names are, so again, as mentioned in the lesson, I may not be getting/giving all the information that's relevant. Hey, at least I know what they are now! I'm not exactly sure how I would use them in kindergarten. It could be a poem of sorts. Maybe together we could enter descriptive words in plain text and then print out how it looks as a tagcloud - as a different form of the written word . . . .

Thing 12



Creative Commons  Travelin' Librarian



I finally joined Facebook! I've been meaning to get together with my college buddy's for dinner, and I will try to do it through Facebook. I was the only one that was not a member, but now I am. It will take a while to build my profile and 'friend' friends.I like that it gives you the ability to set up groups and let's you decide what information you want to share.   My own children actively use Facebook, too actively, as far as I'm concerned. I can see some benefits. When it comes to getting or giving information, it is instantaneous,  but so is all the gossip!  I can understand, from a work perspective, how information can be shared, both by grade level teachers and within a professional group not limited geographically.
I do see the merits of having a twitter account.  I would be more apt to do so if I worked with older students.  Hoping edline does the job for my kindergarten parents!

Thing 11

Hop and Scotch  http://www.weebly.com/weebly/main.php
That is my Weebly webpage.  I wouldn't say it is easier than Powerpoint.  At first, it seemed like a song but when I started dragging down icons, I ran into trouble.  The column icon needs to be in place before pictures can go side to side. When I jumped from theme to theme I would loose the main picture I chose.I'm not too happy with the page I created, but it's time to move on.
I do like colored pencils, I really do. (On this blog, Skip?)

Thing 10

I never knew to click the compose button before writing.  I was wondering where spell check was!  I choose this Donald Duck cartoon because it is what I wanted to watch this morning. . . . . . .

Now, I just clicked on the video icon and got this directly from youtube.  I thought that wasn't possible.
I tried using KeepVid but couldn't figure out how to download from there.  Then, I tried the next one.  I was able to download and save to my desktop, but I didn't know where to enter the link to get the video into my blog.   (We were shown how to enter a picture by clicking the landscape icon.)  Now, that I know to click on compose, I know where the video icon is. I see now that I can browse and pull it from my file.  This is certainly a 'learn as you go' adventure!  My daughter tells me Tumbler is more user friendly.

Thing 9

source: http://fezfilms.net/leau_life.html google images

Youtube is GREAT! I discovered this experimental film maker while reading the New York Times online a few years ago. The above picture captures his painting style, but this documentary captures the essence of his work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOA53rMmH54

I commented on this youtube video letting him know how much I enjoy his creativity and talent. He also creates a video clip once a month for the Times. The blog can be found at http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/jeff-scher

Can I share something funny? Ilearned how to swim from a youtube video!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMoJVla31tc
Recently, my rotator cuff became sore from swimming. I did see some youtube self help video research, but for some things, I think you need the real thing, like a real doctor!

Thing 8

I used http://bighugelabs.com/popart.php and a picture taken of me this morning to create this pop art design. You can even shuffle the colors around! The biggest problem for me is keeping my photos organized when I download them so I know where to retrieve them. There are many fun ideas on this website. I'd like to try a photo mosaic. Look at some of the designs in the gallery:http://bighugelabs.com/gallery.php

Thing 7

What a handy tool Flickr is! I am NOT an over-achiever, so I did NOT check out the other photo sharing sites. I down-loaded pictures of my garden, and titled each picture with the name of the flower. I have always wanted to keep account of what was what, and this is a great way to do it.
As far as using it in the class, I think displaying children's artwork is a great idea. I also liked the idea of using initials instead of names. Of course I would need to get approval from everyone first. Is our district blocked from Flickr? If so, I'm sure there is a place for photos in edline. Here, I will share a photo of my garden with you . . .

Thing 6

Where is the picture?

THERE! I guess I had to write some text first! Was I supposed to set up a Flickr account as well? Well, now I have one! The reason I choose this picture is because I LOVE ANTHONY CARO'S SCULPTURES! I went to the Met and loved this one, in particular. This photo captures my total experience: walking on the roof on a hot summer's day, over-looking Manhattan, in total awe of the massive beauty of his sculptures. I saw a few people taking pictures that day. I wonder if this could be one of those pictures!

Thing 5

Stop doing this for a couple a days and you can forget about picking up where you left off!  I needed to reacquaint myself with all I had done . . . . .and not done.

I was able to add blogs to the folders created by 2 of the 3 methods.  I didn't have Mozilla Firefox, so I downloaded it, but was unable to find the icon in the address bar.  It was difficult to hear the voice on the youtube video as well.    Do I need speakers?  Then I realized that it was our very own, very talented MH!  So I take back what I just said!

With so much going on in the news, I added a PBS blog in my News folder.  Now when they say, "Follow our blog at  . . . . ." I can say "OK!" 

I find the blog formats of some of the design sites fresher and just more enjoyable to visit though.  It's understandable, considering it's the nature of their business.   Take a look at this clean, crisp format: http://www.desiretoinspire.net/

Google Reader

Wow.  I wasn't going to stop until I finished Thing 4.  It is so easy to get caught up in this stuff!  I thought when I added a couple of feeds they would be in my google reader so I had to keep referring to the video to figure out that I needed to add them directly to the google reader.  Even before that I wanted to have my folders ready so I tried to create them without anything to put in them and it was impossible.  I also copied and pasted some things that didn't take.  They were just web pages.  It took me a while to figure out that that was why.  I did the same ones a couple of times, feeling as if I was loosing my mind.  I did use the add subscription button to search for topics, which was pretty neat.  From there I could automatically add it to the appropriate (already created!) folder. It took me way to long to find Manage Subscriptions.  But once I did, things were easy.
So . . . . . . I went from lots of icons on my laptop so I would look cool, to moving stuff into My Favorites, and now, I have ever-updated information in my google reader.  I'm looking forward to being a more current learner in the areas of:  News, 23 Things (though I'm thinking my version may be 4 Things) Gardening and Health!   So now when I wake up in the morning I'll check my email(s), skim NYTimes online, read my reader updates . . . . .will I ever make it to Thing 5? 
And why is it so hard for me to go back to publish post from preview post?  Is it because I am left-handed?

Thing 3

I have done so much today!  The most rewarding activity was finding a blog of a kindergarten teacher with some great links to check out.  It took a lot of weeding through, but well worth it.The site is:   http://larremoreteachertips.blogspot.com/  and the name of the blog is Chalk Talk.  Now how cute is that?  She should win an award for that name!    I am amazed at the wealth of information shared, solely for the sake of sharing.  (Of course you run into the sites with pop-ups, adds and services to sell as well.)

Now, two questions.   I am having trouble finding other people in this program to comment to.  I looked on the right of the blog and didn't see any members.  Help.  And sometimes when I write a comment and need to select something from a drop down message there isn't anything aplicable.   What am I missing?

Thing 1 and Thing 2

So far, I am doing everything wrong.  I'll be surprised if I finish this course.  It was hard for me to even figure out how to get to the blog I set up! let along figure out how to post something.  But maybe that's why I'm taking this class.  and Yes.  I'm thinking differently now about what and how I write.  Usually I don't bother with capital letters and apostrophe's in my emails to friends.  (Work, of course, is a different story.) I am also used to writing  off the top of my head, without censoring, because I am writing to a friend.  Knowing this is a blog, and it is being monitored by Skip and Matt,  I need to be much more professional!    I was planning on doing this first thing in the morning, but then I got lazy, and would garden, read The New Yorker, go for a walk . . .things I enjoy so much more than this. To be honest, even when I was supposed to be working on this I would check my email and read the New York Times online.   But I'll give it a try.