#23 Yippee!

It feels good to be here (especially since the deadline tomorrow)! Although I have been frustrated at times, I have really enjoyed this experience. I'm glad I took good notes, though, because I will definitely need to go back and review some of the items.

I just loved the experience of creating and posting items on a blog. Creating an avatar was neat too. And I just don't think I could live without my Google home page! LOL! Other favorites included, making the Photostory, looking at TeacherTube and YouTube videos, and reading other people's blogs. I also feel as if I've learned a new language--and for that, I'm grateful. It's neuroplasticity in action!

It is important to me to stay up-to-date with everything. I thought I was doing a pretty good job; however, this program made me realize that I was lagging behind in the technological world. I was surprised to find out that there's so much out there and it's expanding daily!

For the most part, I found the 23 Things format user friendly; however, I spent a lot of time searching other people's blogs when the information was not clear. For example, (although I did not have trouble personally), a lot of people seem to struggle with posting their PhotoStories and podcasts. I found directions on Vaughn's blog, Library2Play, but it would be nice if those directions were posted directly.

Being able to go through the program on my own time was wonderful. I had mixed feelings about reaching this point. It felt good to look back and see all that I accomplished. On the other hand, I was sad to see it end. I would certainly participate in another program like this (and I really hope one will be offered in the future).

To sum up the program: definitely (yes, it is my favorite word) worth the time and effort!

And now, I'm off to continue my journey. I know this is just the beginning....

#22 Nings

Nings are interesting--some people seem to have more time than I do, though. I spent most of my time exploring Ning for Teachers. It seemed like a good place to swap ideas and lessons. I enjoyed reading all the different blogs posted there. I would like to try create another blog on this site and keep it current; however, I barely have enough time to keep up with this blog. So, I'm just not sure how that's going to happen once the school year starts. But I'm going to try. There's so much to explore and so little time!

#21 Photostory

Using Photostory was easy and fun! I spent hours playing around with the various features--transitions, music, etc. That’s not to say that making a Photostory necessarily takes that long—I willingly chose to piddle around. Now that I have the hang of it, the next one I make will definitely take less time. The hardest part was getting this to upload correctly. But after several attempts--Viola! I think kids would enjoy creating a Photostory of their own. They could research an event in history, gather pictures, and display them along with text. I find Photostory more user friendly than PowerPoint.

#20 YouTube and TeacherTube

This was so much fun! I stayed up way too late looking at all the cool videos (and at some that were ... well ... not so much). However, just like Lay's potato chips ... once you get going, you just can't stop. My favorite videos are the ones that have a significant message--they are usually ones that you have to read. Here's a great inspirational video from YouTube: (Remember: YouTube is blocked by the district's firewall, and sorry--I didn't have much luck with ZamZar. I may try again later).



Although it is lengthy, I just had to include this one. It's this an updated version of one of my favorite video found on TeacherTube. I've shown it to my teenagers numerous times. It rocks!

#19 Web 2.0 Awards List

It's neat to have all of the award winner links in one place: Web 2.0 Awards List. I liked SpanishPod, although some of the content is not appropriate for children. And while it is free to listen to lessons, you need a premium subscription to access some of the other features. I also saw some of my other new favorite sites such as, Del.icio.us, Google Docs, PBwiki, and some of my old favorites such as, Zango, Google Earth, MyHeritage, and Craigslist. After reading Double Learner sb's blog (Thing #19: Web 2.0), I look forward to checking out Writeboard and Backpack, but right now my hands are full with SpanishPod. So much to explore, so little time!

#18 Online Productivity Tools Oh My!

With Google Docs I liked the many features such as, uploading, sharing, inserting videos, and the capability to edit and present with others in real time. The toolbar buttons make all of this very easy to do. Vaughn (see VaughnL sb Thing #18) also mentioned that you can edit pdf's (especially when you can not access the most current version of Acrobat Reader). How cool! I also like the fact that it is FREE and you can access it from any computer. I wasn't able to download Open Office (I still haven't figured out how to get past needing administrative rights to download items to the school's laptop). But for right now, I think Google Docs will keep me busy.

#17 Rolling with Rollyo

While I'm not too sure how I'll use this feature personally, I had fun creating my own rollbar. Check it out at Language Arts & More (please note: you will need SBISB passwords to access some of the links). Carolyn suggested creating Rollyo rollbars for students (see Thing 17 from It's a Puzzle sb). Although it might be a little time consuming (with young kids), older kids could be directed to add addresses in their own rollbar, which would make it safer to surf the net.

#16 The Wonderful World of Wikis

My favorite wikis so far are the Book Lovers Wiki and the Sample Literary Circle Wiki (10th Grade English). These would both be great for classroom use. I can totally see kids posting book reviews and literature discussions in these formats. I also liked all of the Curriculum Connections. I was wondering, however, how do you create a wiki that is protected (like SBISD's sandbox portion)? I haven't read ahead to see if that's one of the assignments. But if I used wikis in the classroom, I would want to make sure that only students in my class could add to/edit them. So, if you know how, please let me know!

On another note: Although my son refers to them as "retarded", I must say that I love all of the CommonCraft videos. They are hilarious! I love how the author shoves papers off of the table and says, "Boo!" with a thumbs down sign. It's a little corny I must admit, but I like the simplicity and they clearly get their message across.

And my favorite part about the whole 23 Things experience ... Wow! I'm learning a second language!

#15 Library 2.0 & The Future of Libraries

I am very proud to be in a district that strives to stay "with the times." The video, A Vision of Students Today, really struck a cord.


Not only do we need to continue to make our libraries stay current and integrate technology, we also need to make sure that happens in the classroom. I agree that we must strive to make "the library a social and emotionally engaging center for learning and experience." (See the article, "Into a new world of librarianship" by Michael Stephens at http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/3.htm). We no longer expect to see children quietly reading in the library, nor do we expect students to sit quietly in rows, where the teacher stands in front of the room and blabs all day. Rather, we expect to see students actively engaged, self determined in their learning, working and talking with peers. Using technology in both the classroom and libraries alike is the perfect way to accomplish such goals. Students want to show what they know--often surpassing the knowledge of the teacher. There are people who are stuck in the past (just look at the "experts" running the State Board of Education (S.B.O.E.) who have doomed children to revisit the 1960's--what a nightmare!) Libraries are not just collections of documents and books, they are conversations, they are convocations of people, ideas, and artifacts in dynamic exchange. Libraries are not merely in communities, they are communities: they preserve and promote community memories; they provide mentors not only for the exploration of stored memory, but also for the creation of new artifacts of memory (taken from Dr. Wendy Schultz's article, "To a temporary place in time."

#14 Technorati

Technorati is neat because it saves time when searching for blogs. It's interesting to see "What's percolating on blogs right now" (found on the main page), but I'm not sure how much I'll use Technorati personally. I will continue to read other people's blogs to look for ways to use this in the classroom. Right now, I don't have any ideas.

#13 Delighted with Del.icio.us

Wow! Another great time saver! I've been using the old way of bookmarking for so long, tagging seemed like it was going to be overwhelming. However, after I got going, I was instantly hooked! I'm now tagging everything. And I love del.icio.us . The icons are easy to use and helpful.
I then tried learning a little bit more about Furl and Ma.gnolia. I didn't quite understand the difference between the three sites. However, I stumbled upon Bruce's post (see Bruce's 23 Project: Thing 13 Tagging and Discovering Del.icio.us) and the article he recommended: Furl and Del.icio.us: Almost Perfect Together. They were very helpful! I see I still have a lot more to learn....

#12 Blogging with Style

When I first started out as a blogger, I felt isolated and disconnected from the rest of the world (I felt like I was talking to myself). After reading Cool Cat's post, How to Comment Like a King (or Queen!), the point about writing a meaningful comment resonated with me. What do I have to say that's important? Who am I in this whole blogging world? Those are just some of the questions that popped into my mind when I began (and they still arise from time to time). But after awhile (after the newness has worn off a little), I'm discovering how addicting this all can be. I have begun to feel the power of writing to an audience. By interacting with others, I have also gained new ideas and insights. So, while lurking is o.k., I'm beginning to understand the importance of leaving comments from time to time--especially when I feel I have something worthwhile to say (and sometimes even when I don't). And I don't know about everyone else, but I feel compelled to write back to someone after he or she have left a comment. After all, if someone took the time to write a comment, the least I can do is to respond back. While searching around, I stumbled upon this older (slightly different) version of the article above: Ten Blogging Habits that Win by Cool Cat. There are two different things mentioned I find important. First, it mentions the fact the title of each post is important. I know it's the first thing I look for when reading other people's blogs (and also something I know I can improve upon). Second, it mentions the importance of incorporating pictures into your posts. Makes sense! While I do not recommend PhotoBucket (as mentioned in the article), I agree that including pictures makes the reading even more enjoyable. I just haven't quite figured out the best way to do that (besides using flickr or piscasa--neither one helps much here). If anyone knows of a good place to start, please let me know! In the meantime, guess I'm off to lurk (and comment) on other's people's blogs. How fun!

#11 Library Thing

I absolutely love this site! Simply wonderful! What a neat way to share books you are reading. Students could easily create blogs and post their book items. It would be a great way to share "Must Reads" and book reviews. I added several books and then posted My Library on my blog. It took me awhile to figure out how to add a widget, but now it's there! Viola!
For anyone whose interested in adding their own Shelfari bookcase, go to http://www.shelfari.com/ or click on "Get Your Own Shelf" below the bookcase (it will guide you through the steps). It's fast and easy! Try it out today!

#10 Comic Strips Rock

If only this were true!! As we all know, educators do not get 3 months of vacation. Oh, well! You would think I'd learn by now and just STOP checking my e-mail. These laptops are both a blessing and a curse. :)

But making this comic strip was super fun. I really liked the Custom Sign Generator. I can see students really getting into designing their own magazine cover, trading card, or scrapbook page. Students could use these with all content areas!

#9 RSS and Newsreaders continued

I found the Google Reader Search to be the easiest to use although I also liked Google Blog Search . I tried others such as Technorati and Edublogs' award winners but didn't have much luck finding any new feeds. I intend to continue to search other's blogs to see what types of feeds others found helpful/interesting. So, the search continues....

#8 RSS and Newsreaders

What do I like about RSS feeds and Newsreaders? Just about everything! It will definitely save time and it's fun and easy to use. I put a quick link on my homepage and now I can see new information instantly. I subscribed to various education sites (such as Open Education and The New York Times Book Reviews) and then added some others just for fun. I will now be able to keep track of the latest books, movies, recipes, and more. I also subscribed to SBISD EdTech and A Library By Any Other Name.

#7 Google Tools

After playing around with Google Calendar, I sent it to my husband. Now he is going to make a calendar of his own so that we can synchronize our schedules. How neat! I found Google Calendar very user friendly and will definitely use it from now on.

I also made my own web page. This is certainly the best thing so far. I liked how you can add gadgets and move things around.

#6 Mosiac Mashups

I tried using different tools, my favorite being the Mosiac Maker. I can see using this with family pictures. Because I do not have family pictures uploaded on my laptop, I chose to do a mosiac using various butterfly pictures. Younger children could do this, perhaps making a mosiac that shows the lifecyle of butterflies, using a different layout. I also used the Trading Card Maker, Flickr Color Pickr, Motivator and Movie Posters. I think I will have students use one of these Flickr toys to present projects that are integrated with Science. I think it would be best to have students take their own pictures so that they can download the photographs as I found the pictures on Flickr to be limiting.

#5 Flickr Fun

I just fell in love with this picture! It definitely makes you want to be there. This picture is of Auckland's North Shore. Simply Beautiful!

Here's a note from Chris: the sets of stairs to this beach (which is located in the middle of the cliff) is the only way to get here. They're so steep I almost had a heart attack climbing back up!

#3 My Avatar

Creating an avatar was super cool! It will be cool to read other people's blogs. I will definitely continue this journey tomorrow. How fun! That is, minus the sometimes slow navigation :)

#2 Lifelong Learning

Gosh! Where do I start? I find it hard to choose just one strength and weakness to focus on since the 7 1/2 habits are all interrelated. The easiest habits for me are: beginning with the end in mind, accepting responsibility for my own learning, and creating my own toolbox. I have always believed that we are in charge of our own lives. I tend to be very goal driven and independent (although I like to receive input from others). I am a very big believer in accepting responsibility--not only for one's own learning--but in everything we do. Nothing gets accomplished when the blame is shifted or excused away. And of course, we can always, and should, strive to do better--everything can be improved upon.
The hardest habits for me are viewing problems as challenges and playing. Sometimes--OK, most of the time--I take life too seriously. I don't like to encounter problems (face it--who does?). I can get easily frustrated at times and often find myself wanting to just throw in the towel. Of course, that rarely happens. Once I have time to contemplate the problem and thinking about possible solutions, I feel better. I would like to work on viewing problems as challenges. The thing that really resonated with me was "don't say it or think it unless you want it to become true." I think that just might become my new motto!