Thing 23 Reflections

WOW! I finally did it! I completed 23 amazing activities!

• What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? My favorite activities as I believe they will benefit my current position right now is how to use Google docs and Classroom2.0. Those are my 2 highlighted activities thus far. However, there have been so many other venues that I will also carry with me. Using the RSS feeder really is pivotal. I have already added it to my personal home email account. I am so sorry that I didn't know about it before. But, better late than never. This is going to be a great addition to help expedite my online reading and blog following.
• How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals? I have always been a "techy" at heart. My first Master's degree was in Instructional Technology. Technology will always have a very big spot in my heart. Yet, as my position changed and life changed, I have that so much has changed in the last 4 years and technology has moved on without me. Much of my last 4 years has been spent learning curriculum K-6, understanding the management of campus/facility/staff & faculty as well as learning and relearning the states expectations for TAKS/STAAR student achievement. 23 Things has really "made" me catch up and get with the technology program again. There is just so much still to learn and utilize. I hope not to get so stagnate again in regards to best practices in instructional technology.
• Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? Ummm, all of it? Really, so much was new learning in some way for me so there were a lot of aha moments throughout this adventure.
• What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? Concept of the class is great! My biggest obstacle is the time required for a class like this. I really feel like this particular class could rival taking 6 college hours. My greatest hurdle with this class was that every exercise required more than just a cursory overview of 45 minutes. Most of the exercises truly require 2 hours to completely satisfy the rigor of the activities and the learning that is to be achieved. And, 2 hours is being very generous. Some of the required reading and activity completions could easily take 3 hours. Maybe I am just a slow learner? But, this class was very time consuming. My family is my first priority once I arrive home from work - not my computer. And, at some point I have to get some rest. I don't do well on 6 hours sleep. Perhaps you could extend the time frame by a week?
• If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? Absolutely! I hope you do!!! Please consider another learning avenue as this course.
• How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher or school librarian? As a campus administrator, I hope to be better aware of current technologies that I want to see teachers using in the classroom. Also, I realize that our librarian could be doing more in the classroom to assist teachers w/ the integration process. Librarians are the campus media/technology specialist, right?
• How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be useful. I hope, I hope, I hope I can still get into the 23 Things activities and begin bookmarking a lot of the sites that we used. I didn't do that until the end and that was a big mistake! There are way too many things that I should have bookmarked for future reference. Delicious....here I come!

Thanks for the class and the thought behind it. If I was the creator or curator, I know this class would have a very special place in my heart.

Kind Regards 23 Things!

Veronica Westlake

Thing 22 Classroom20

Classroom 2.0 is a fantastic tool and something I will be sharing with my teachers prior to school starting. I was so impressed w/ the site that I will most likely share it on Facebook so my teachers can get a start checking out all of the reading materials and forums/blogs to follow. Initially, I was a bit overwhelmed just taking it all in. But, I followed the suggested reading/points of interest found in this activity and that definitely helped to focus my exploring.

• Welcome - Thankfully, the Welcome gives a brief synopsis of what the site is about. Also, the mention of creating an account and that the site watches over SPAM really made me very comfortable with the sites motives as not being a place for selling new curriculum. Yea!
• Forum - The forum was a great place for me to start. The post are specific and I was able to look over what I wanted to learn more about and read over the new information other educators are finding. Again, this overview is not a hard sell of new products but of productivity software that is enhancing the curriculum. It was evident to me that the folks that hang out here are vested in their student's success and their own personal growth as educators.
• Groups - The Groups arena focuses the content even more based on what the teacher teaches and the specific areas the educators are working towards. While the forum is a great place to browse, I would prefer my teachers to spend more time looking for what group they should belong to to learn more about integrating technology into their own grade level or content area.
• It is my goal to be well versed enough regarding this website that I can point teachers in the right direction as well as finding my own resource group where I can find information that will also make me a better instructional leader. I have found that we must lead by example. With that in mind, this particular site will certainly make that easier for me.

Thing 7b

I revisited my google reader account today. I loved this article from Tech Savvy Educator about using SoundCloud to remake digital story telling. While SoundCloud requires you to have a login, you can record and share your sounds for free.

The author states, "It would be interesting to use SoundCloud to have students record their own reading using a tone that is discordant with the original intent of the author. It would certainly be a great way to demonstrate how important voice, tone, and mood are to a story, and give your students a chance to express themselves through performance."

With the new ELA Teks coming out, I can see how this type of activity could be used to teach author's voice. Fun! Another interesting app to check out and share with teachers.

Thing 21 Twitter

Firs, let me start by stating that I have never been a big Twitter fan and I think that will be obvious with this post. I reviewed all of the suggested tweets on twitter. To be honest, twitter is my least favorite thing that I have. Of the suggested tweets to follow, I only found the following 3 to be of any kind of use.

Alan November, TCEA, and rmbyrne.

Of these 3, only the TCEA twitter site seemed completely relevant to me as a technology teacher or as an educator looking to integrate new ideas directly into my classroom. There were direct links to new apps to be read about and downloaded, job openings and articles related to teaching experiences.

I love Alan November, but some of his tweets, as thought provoking as ever, always come across so cerebral that I think if his tweets more like a "sage on the stage" commentary on world views in regard to learning, technology and politics. Yes, he is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the technology world. And, I do believe his impact on instructional technology is powerful and well intended for our students. I just don't think his tweets are worth the time to read. Go figure?

Rmbyrne....um, who cares. Again - nothing that I found directly valuable to my own experiences. Perhaps if I heard him in a staff development session I would think differently about his approach or his new teaching. I appreciate that he is a technology advocate and a Google Certified Teacher. Other than that....who cares about his tweets?

I also looked at the David Warlick site...he tweets that he was surprised Texas had yoga mats in the hotel he was staying in. Again, who cares?

Thanks but no thanks, Twitter. I'll keep me tweets to myself.... Maybe I will change my opinion one day?

Thing 20 - Google Docs

LOVE LOVE LOVE Google D ocs!

I started by creating my word document. I keep thinking I have found the "best" things so far, and yet this has to be the most applicable "thing" for my current position as a campus administrator.

My word document was shared w/ my Principal and office staff members. I made a Back to School To Do List. Everyday, or at the end of each day, I am constantly making and prioritizing my list of things that I have to get done. What I see myself doing is using this platform at home and the office. Also, I really see me using it w/ my Principal. She can share documents with me and communication can be enhanced. Also, as data is always at the forefront of our teacher conversations, I can see using the spreadsheet as a way to share preliminary data with teachers and administrators.

The shared google doc that I created will give us a jumping off point and I hope will focus us as the new year begins. My document was shared and it is open for my co-workers to make necessary changes.

Likewise, the spreadsheet and presentation device are very similar to Microsoft Office devices as that is the creator. The interface is very user friendly and there is no reason that I can think of why teachers would not be able to jump into this arena and begin creating and sharing amongst campus administration and their peers.

Thing 19 - VoiceThread

WOWZA! How cool is this and where has it been hiding?

Personally - I can see tons of ways to share photos and information with family members. What a fun way to have some "facetime" with several people all at one time. The site reminds me a bit of an impromptu skype session. But, I like this particular site better because it gives conversations a content based beyond the usual conversation piece that could jump from subject to subject.

Professionally this is an amazing collaborative tool for students and educators alike. My vision for this is to see students working together building their product. Also, the teacher would be facilitating everything off/online monitoring students progress. This platform would give students time to allow their project to evolve and the peer interaction could be monitored by the teacher. On the flip side, with cyber-bullying to consider - I would also want my students to understand that all post and comments must be on target and follow the academic goal.

Another hurdle would be making believers out of the teachers that are hesitant to allow students this kind of forum. I have no doubt that the kids would have no problem picking up this tool and creating amazing products.

This is definitely a promising tool and I hope to see teachers place this tool in their students hands. It is readily available so I say, "Go for it!"

Thing 18

Well, who doesn't love YouTube? I have been using that site as a resource for quite some time. However, I am disappointed that I never knew about TeacherTube until today. That is equally a great site and suited to my professional growth. I found different videos that are specific to any category a teacher might seek. However, much to my chagrin, the site was up and down. I had a lot of trouble opening some of the video sites. It was very hit or miss. Maybe the heat wave is just giving me some problems this afternoon?

Either way, the TeacherTube has been bookmarked and I will have a new trick in my bag when considering ways to address curriculum.

YouTube Videos: Teaching

How To Teach a 3 Year Old the Alphabet

10 Little Numbers

Phonics Song

Nostalgia Video

Still the One by Orleans

How To:

Fix a Ceiling Fan

Thing 17 Podcasting

I previewed and subscribed to Grammar Girl, Math Dude and Why? The Science Show for Kids.

• What did you think? I love Grammar Girl and have been subscribing to her emails for quite some time. Now, I have added her to my RSS feed and I am finding that I prefer that format because it keeps up with the updates. I am new to Math Dude and The Science Show for Kids. I read over a few of the Math Dude's suggestions and I find that some of his suggestions would be better used by a Math teacher. However, I still find the site intriguing as it reminds me of my prior math classes in High School and College. Last but not least, I found The Science Show for Kids to be a useful site to elementary Science teachers. However, as with any kind of curriculum, the materials must be read prior to sharing them with students. One post in particular discussed the Big Bang Theory. That topic makes me nervous as I believe the Creation Theory is best left to parents to teach. However, I understand that the discussion is part of our curriculum and will be covered. My point is that all materials should be previewed prior to sharing.
• Do you have any ideas about incorporating existing podcasts into your classroom or professional learning? I think a teacher using a podcast for sharing information with parents and students can be a critical element missing from many classrooms. I can see how podcast can even be used as a way to record a teacher's lesson and share that lesson w/ students as a homework tool.
• If you already use iTunes (or other podcatcher) and/or have an iPod or other MP3 player that you use for podcast listening, please share a bit about your experiences. I do use iTunes Podcast on a weekly basis. Personally, I subscribe to InTouch.org and Lake Pointe Church. I have also used educational podcast to help me learn Spanish and become fluent. Subscribing through iTunes is the easiest way in my opinion to listen to audio podcast.

Thing 16 - Library Thing

I absolutely love to read. Often, I read books based on suggestions from friends. This LibraryThing is just amazing and mind blowing all at the same time. I can't believe this website is out there! Where have I been?

I would love to see educators share their professional readings here at this site. Right now I am reading, Teaching Self Control. This title required me to find it by completing an author search for Martin Henley. Unfortunately, there were no recommendations or reviews. I guess I could change that now that I know about this website! I could see other teachers collaborate at LibraryThing to discuss their thoughts and/or opinions.

Personally, I just read The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I did a search for this book to find other titles that would be similar. I really liked that the search was completed for me and also showed me the rating other readers gave other titles.

Thing 15

I recently completed tagging several bookmarks on Delicious. The link to my bookmark page is: http://www.delicious.com/tvlake

Overall, I found the experience very informational. There were bits of the process that seemed overwhelming when I started the discovery part of tagging. While the process of tagging isn't difficult, I can see how somebody that is a novice at tagging would see their bookmarks evolve w/ better tags.

Professionally, I can see sharing the individual site of bookmarks with other teachers. Then I would hope it would become a collaborative site shared amongst other educators. I can see that it would be a great way to share informative information.

Thing 7a

I am actually glad to see this assignment come back around. I haven't checked the RSS Reader in quite a long time. It is definitely overwhelming going back to see so many unread feeds. After taking some time and doing some house keeping, I did find a great article about apps for your iPad, Kindle and phone. I have been following Beth's Thoughts on Technology in the classroom.

If you have some time, take a look at this article. It has quite a bit of useful information for teachers using iPads and other portable devices.

Thing 14

I chose to use the productivity tool known as Picnik. I found this site to be very user friendly and easy to use. Again, my goal would be to place these tools into the hands of our students. Since it is web based, kids could work from home editing their pictures. Or, access from school would also be simple enough. I also liked that this site is linked to many social networking sites as well as Picassa Web Albums. I found the editing feature very beneficial as the site offers suggestions for auto fix and what the editing features offer.

Using Picnik, I downloaded a picture from Facebook and edited it then reposted the picture to my Facebook account. Like I said, very user friendly! Here is a look at the edited picture.

Thing 13 - Mash Ups

This picture was created using the Billboard option. There are several options to choose from like this Wildlife option or some as fun as a billboard in Times Square or Broadway. To date, this has been my favorite creative site and I hope to continue using it in the future! Again, placing this into the hands of our students is the ultimate goal. The ease and use of this particular site will encourage educators to take the plunge and start creating!!

I created this Motivational Card and fell in love with this option. You see this type of work all over work places today. They are especially appropriate in educational settings. Again, what I love about this particular mash up option is the ease of it and how user friendly it was with my time. It takes only a matter of moments for creations to be completed. Wouldn't this be a fun beginning of the year activity for kids? I would love to see kids create this as a way of goal setting or introducing themselves to their class. Great beginning idea for a digital portfolio!!

This particular picture was created using the Trading Cards option. This was my first attempt to create and I found the site, bighugelabs.com very user friendly. What can I say, I absolutely love this site. It would be incredibly easy for any educator to use this site to make pictures to enhance their curriculum. Even better, it is enough to use that the students should be making their own trading cards. What an AWESOME option!

To sum it all up, BigHugeLabs is definitely going to be bookmarked on my computer and shared with my staff!

Thing 12 Slide Show

Success...yet it took a bit of time. I ended up having to create an account in order to upload. The "learning wheel" wasn't provided but I figures it out and I suppose that was the goal of this activity.

I really liked using www.slide.com. I found the site to be very user friendly once I created an account. The pictures I used are my own so I don't have to credit any other author. These pictures were taken this spring in Quinlan, Texas along Highway 276.

I loved the possibilities of posting to social networks like facebook and other blog sites. I will definitely spend more time on this site and learn more of the possibilities.

Thing 11 Flickr

This is the view from my patio! Not likely, but I do wish my patio view did find me in the rain forest! The picture is taken from my tour and Flickr experience. The photographer is noted as being provided byCubaGallery. CubaGallery's creator is a photographer by the name of Andrew from New Zealand. His particular pictures are copyrighted so they must be notated and can not be altered.

My Flickr experience focused on using the Creative Commons site. I found this site to be very helpful is knowing what and how pictures can be shared and used. What I found most helpful were the explanations as they pictures are sorted by groups letting the user know how the pictures can be used. As an educator, this is particularly helpful as many teachers download pictures to use in their classroom.

My previous experience with Flickr has been quite limited. While I knew about the site, I didn't fully understand the possibilities the site has to offer. While I always like to play it safe when using or "borrowing" other's work from the web, I find the Creative Commons portion of Flickr my best option. Or, it is at least where I would go first for available and free photographs to use in my classroom to enhance the learning experience for my students.

Thing 10 Creative Commons

Well, it's about time! While I am sure each campus has a media specialist that knows and understands Fair Use and Creative Commons, how often do our librarians share this amazing information with the teachers? Again, why I am so glad about this new learning as I can now share this information with my teachers! This is absolutely wonderful. Also, the explanation about Fair Use has always been a bit confusing and referencing it has often been very muddy; lending myself to mostly opinions or interpretations about what it means. Creative Commons seems to take the "mumbo jumbo" and complexity out of it.

While I have never shared curriculum on the web that I have created, I know several teachers that use Promethean Planet and create flip charts and place them on their web site. With that being said, how many of those teachers are using pictures taken from Google Images or some other web site and really don't have the rights to use that content?

Also, Creative Commons has enough merit that it should/must be shared with teachers and students so as they begin creating powerpoint presentations or digital story boards, that they are using content that is available and "free" to use without the worry or complications of staying w/in the Fair Use Guidelines. Honestly, I don't enough folks, myself included, that want to read through that and accurately interpret how to use digital pictures and other available web content.

Thing 9

The Patio Perspective Wiki

Yea! Up and Running yet not quite complete yet!