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!