Thing #10: RSS Reader and Add Feeds

Hallelujah! Thank God! Finally a 23 Things Discovery Exercise that did not take me half the night to figure out!
I can see how RSS and newsreaders are a real timesaver. That's what I like about them already.
I can also see how this might be used in one's personal life. For example, if you keep up with friends who are spread far and wide-or even if they are near-and you follow their blogs, this would be a good way to stay updated with what is going on in their lives. I can also see how schools might use this tool. The educator that I just read about uses this technology to stay updated on new and neat technology that might be useful to him. This would also be a way for educators who are collaborating on a project to stay updated on how the other team members are progressing on a joint project or to keep the other members updated on their own progress.
I can think of a bunch of ways that educators can use this technology. The first thing that I would do is subscribe to a bunch of newspapers. Anything to get students reading. Maybe the class could find and subscribe to the local newspaper of any state they are studying to get an idea of the local flavor of a place. In language, I would give my students extra credit if they found language or grammar errors in the newspapers, because it always irritates me to see common mistakes repeated in a public way by professional people, and it would motivate the kids to read. The students could set up a blog and submit homework via their blog and the teacher would know when they have turned in their assignment. The possibilities in science and math are endless! Think how exciting it would be to follow updates from the South Pole or the jungles of Brazil from people who are conducting interesting research. Or maybe students could just learn more about the culture and diversity of the world from reading updates by travel writers. Endless possibilities!

Thing #9: Online Image Generators

Here's the link to the Smiley Face Website: http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/









Here's the link to the Easy Button Website: http://www.customsigngenerator.com











Here's the link to the Bug Bunny Comic Strip Generator: http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/







I believe in the old adage that if you can't say something good, don't say anything at all. However, right now, if I adhered to that old proverb, I would have absolutely nothing at all to say. Doing this exercise was anything but fun. It was a grueling ordeal. I could not restate the process that it took to post all of these images or I would be typing all night long. I had to read, and read, and read, and read, and read, and read, and read to figure out how to do everything. Then I tried to do it, had to start over at least six times on everything, and finally got it right. When I finally got the images posted on the blog, it messed up the blog several times by trying to place every image at the top-despite the fact that the top wasn't what I chose-and then I had to go back and fix everything! I am very discouraged with the amount of time it takes for me to figure things out. I dread every assignment.
Despite how hard this assignment was for me, I do have some good ideas on how I would use the image generators in the classroom. First of all, I would use all of the image generators as motivators for the students. I would let the students design parting messages for the day and post them on the back of the classroom door. The cartoon characters could be of the student's choice and say things that the students found inspirational. Researching the messages might prove uplifting for the students, and it would improve their reading skills. I would change the messages fairly often, because I always got really, really bored looking at the same old thing when I was a kid in the classroom, and I think kids today probably do too. I want to keep my students' minds active and not bored! I would use the easy button and let the students design words for a word board. One week they could post a button that used an adjective to describe them, and the next week a verb. They could display as many buttons as they wanted as long as they didn't use the same one as someone else and one was never used twice. It would be a great vocabulary builder and get some great competition going. I might let the kids design signs with riddles or puns on them and display them at their desks. I just learned in my literature class how riddles and puns are usually a child's first attempt at playing with language and how important that this is. Bells went off. I never thought of them like that, and now that I understand, I just think that is the most wonderful thing for kids. I would let them post all the knock knock jokes they wanted.

Thing #8: Flickr Mashups

I used Spell with Flickr to spell out the name of something that I am not getting a lot of lately, what with all the projects due in my education classes and the 23 things to work on.
I thought some of the sites that I checked out were pretty neat, and I can think of many ways to use them in the classroom if I could guarantee that I could protect students from exposure to disturbing or pornographic pictures. Before I would even consider using any of these tools in the classroom, I would need to do some serious checking out of the security features of the sites and how to go about filtering pictures. I would also need to talk with someone much smarter about using computers than I am about that. But let us just say that all the necessary safeguard were in place and the children were protected from images they shouldn't be exposed to. Mappr would be a great site to use with geography lessons. The class could look for pictures from an exact site that they were studying. Clockr could be used to inspire children as they worked on art lessons. Spell with Flickr could be used to help kids practice their spelling words or to devise the biggest lists of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and so on. It could even be used to get students to improve their vocabulary by coming up with the longest word or the longest list of synonyms or homophones....the list goes on and on. Same thing with puzzles. The students could practice their spelling words. The students could make their own name tags for their desks. Flickr could be used to share classroom work with families. However, the biggest use of these sites would be the motivating factor. I would use having time on them as motivators for children to do their work and enjoy it!
I think sharing one's own personal photos online is okay as long as one realizes that anything that is put online is not really private or personal-ever. You may think it is, but it isn't. If someone really wants to obtain access to something on line, they can. So if you keep that in mind and use common sense, it should be okay. However, I would not post any pictures of my students online and that goes back to safety reasons.

Thing #7: Exploring Flickr

There are so many, many interesting, artistic pictures on Flickr! Photographic talent abounds on this website! It's an extremely easy site to navigate, but it offers so many options that it could take a while to explore all of them and learn how they all work.
I started my exploration of the site by clicking on the travel tag and looking there for awhile. Then I got sidetracked by doing a location search for geotagged pictures of the Columbia River Gorge. After that, I checked out a few groups, and the oxymoron "Lovey Eyesores" caught my eye. I had to browse that category to see how an eyesore could be lovely, and I discovered a photo with a juxtaposition of elements which appeals to me. Unfortunately, after spending a considerable and frustrating amount of time trying to figure out how to upload it, I discovered that the photographer had disabled downloading of their photo. After browsing flicker for another considerable amount of time I finally found a travel photo that I could LEGALLY post and figured out how to do it. The photo showed up as goobledegoop in the edit tab and I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. I finally realized that I had to be on the compose tab for the actual photo to show up. The photo above is just a picture that I thought was pretty. It was taken by leeyu_flickr. The link to the photo is http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5021314721_50614fcef7_z_d.jpg
I can see how using this site would be useful; however, this entire exercise has been a time-consuming and extremely frustrating ordeal for me.

Thing #6: Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

Wow! There certainly are a lot of Web 2.0 tools from which to choose to investigate. Some of them I have heard about, others I have not. I chose to take a look at Craigslist because I have heard about it, and it has also been in the news a time or two. I also have a car that I want to sell eventually, but I'm just too busy now with schoolwork to deal with a ringing telephone or answering email inquiries about it. But eventually.....
I started my discovery exercise in a naive fashion: by googling the word "craigslist." Hummm. Only 218 million possibilities popped up. Maybe I should refine my search a little. So I typed in the exact location of the town in which I live and-bingo-that refined the search just a wee bit shall we say.
The site has listings for several broad categories: community, housing, jobs, personals, discussion forums, and services. Underneath these broad categories are more specific categories for just about anything one could think about. It also contains instructions from the site administrators for setting up an account, getting help, and a tremendous amount of information about scams and frauds. In addition, there are personal safety tips, general information about the company, and directories.
First of all, let me say that I was really glad about the scam alerts. I found myself headed for trouble a number of times while just trying to browse the site and check out the categories. You can quickly get mired in smut unintentionally (for example, "rate my last hook-up") or click on something that might destroy your computer if you are not careful.
The most useful features on this site are under the housing and for sale categories. Most of them really are localized and could be very helpful for people seeking a place to live, just selling odds and ends, or just checking out what odds and ends are for sale.
The rest of the site, in my opinion, is not even worth exploring. I personally even found some of the category listing under "personals" offensive, and would not even want to explore them. I tried checking out some of the "community" and "discussion forums" categories and found that they quickly seem to degenerate into smut and offensive comments, regardless of the the category. It seems like there are a lot of mentally sick and angry people out there.
I could not see any useful purpose for this website anywhere in a K-12 school. It would be impossible to control the lewd content to which students would be exposed and would therefore be inappropriate for a school setting.
Here's the link to the site I checked out: http://clarksville.craigslist.org/.

Thing #5: "School 2.0"

After reading several of the perspectives listed for this subject, my reaction was one of admiration for the amazing ways and the amazing variety of ways that people from all walks of life have figured out to make currently existing technology work for them. My mind was swirling from thinking about the limitless possibilities that exist.
"School 2.0" means to me that teachers will use technology-just as people in other occupations have used it to enhance their lives-in new and innovative ways to help our students learn. Teachers will still be facilitators in conveying information; that will not change. However, we will not be the only facilitators in conveying information: the people of the world will be our assistants. Additionally, the tools in our arsenal of supplies-the technology-will definitely change.
What "School 2.0" means for the future is that schools and teachers simply must stay current with all of the the existing types of technology and bring the technology into the classroom for use. This will demand that teachers be not only extremely knowledgeable about the different types of technology but be competent in its use as well. As students interact with the world around them through the use of technology, the way they acquire knowledge will be changed. This will offer great opportunities for learning, but it will present some difficult challenges. Keeping students safe while still affording the opportunity for interaction will be one of the greatest challenges, I think.

Thing #4: Why Commenting is Important

I spent several hours reading the blogs provided in the Discovery Resources. I also read a number of links provided in those resources. I certainly learned a lot. I also felt completely overwhelmed by the amount of information available and the amount of information that there is yet to learn. What I did learn was interesting and informative. I learned about lurkers, trolls, flaming, court cases, ways of managing information and on and on. I'm still feeling a bit overwhelmed. Like I said, it's a lot of information.
I'm a bit skeptical of some of the information that I read. For example, that 90% of users are lurkers. Where do they come up with these numbers? I clicked on the study and scanned it to see if it met valid research criteria. At a glance, it appeared to. I still don't believe it. That would, according to my Educational Psychology class, make me fit right in with the people who don't believe research that they really just don't want to. I'll only believe it after I study it in depth, and frankly, I really just don't want to read a lengthy research study right now.
Commenting helps create a sense of community and interaction because it brings together people with shared interests. The people with the same interest may be seeking information, or they may be simply generously relating to others the specific knowledge which they have gained with experience. Commenting encourages other bloggers to share their expertise or point of view. In addition, commenting may inspire others to consider another point of view, and it may lead to an increase in the general knowledge base.
I think that coolcatteacher gave some very good advice when she said to remember the power of words and to beware of Darth Commenter. She's right that words can build up or tear down. I don't think that there is anyone out there that needs abusive or mean-spirited words aimed at them-even the worst of people. We lead by example, and hopefully our examples will be good ones. Of course, it all boils down to using good manners, and good manners for any true Southerner just come naturally. :)
I also linked to Wikipedia and read about the social and legal consequences of comments. Now that was some fascinating stuff to me. It really showed something that I already knew-the power of words. It is a reminder to be mindful of what you are saying and to remember that your words can have an effect far beyond what you may have intended or imagined.
I chose to comment on Sarah LaBean's blog (http://sarahlabeans.blogspot.com/2010/09/thing-1.html#comment-form) both in order to encourage her and also to commiserate with her. We share some things in common: similar character traits and outlooks. We both struggle with self-confidence issues with this class but find it easy to mentor/teach others. In addition, both Sarah and I have a tendency to view problems as problems, not challenges.
I chose to comment on "Teach Effort...Learn Life." MCiezkia's blog (http://teacheffortlearnlife-mciezki.blogspot.com/2010/09/2-of-23-things.html) because I liked the guy's attitude. I commented on how this will positively impact his future as a teacher. I also commented on the fact that I believe that I have spotted a fellow lover of words. He has a story to tell and an interesting way of telling it.
I chose to comment on Megan Artz's blog to encourage her in her continuing efforts to press on despite her occasional discouragement and struggles as a student. Since I also share the same struggles, I wanted to share an inspirational quote which I personally find inspiring and one which I hope that Megan will also.
I commented on Brittany's "thing #7" blog because she was having trouble downloading a picture from Flickr to her computer, and I wanted to give her some tips that I hoped would help her out. I wanted to hopefully save her the same misery that I encountered trying to download a picture on my "thing #7."
I commented on Sarah LaBeans thing #23 because she has finished all 23 things already! I congratulated her and told her I was a little bit envious. She deserved an acknowledgment for all of her hard work!
I commented on Cool Cat Teacher's blog about How to Create Your Circle of the Wise. She provided some sage advice on finding good RSS feeds in this post, and I just thanked her for the good information. A little box telling me that my comment would need approval before being posted popped up, and I don't yet see my comment posted. I'll keep checking back. P.S. I am amazed! Cool Cat Teacher actually took the time to wish me well in creating my "circle of the wise." How nice of her!
I also commented on Pioneer Woman's Ten Important Things I've Learned About Blogging. I told her that I found her tips useful. I also commented that I found the blog entertaining and that it had great photos. I commented because she really does have a good site and it is enjoyable to check out.

Thing #3: Ways To Use A Blog In The Classroom

First off, let me say that I am now beginning to like this blogging thing a little bit better. This change of heart is due to the fact that I just gained some valuable new information and ideas by reading Anne Davis' EduBlog Insights. I think that she offered some very good ways to use blogs in the classroom. I like the idea of having students use a blog to respond to literature assignments, to write their reactions to thought-provoking questions, and to keep journals. I just picked standards related to English and writing for my 3040 project. Many of the suggestions that Ms. Davis made directly address the standards which I selected.
I think that anything that one can do to get children interested in reading and writing is a good idea. Many children that might not be the least bit interested in reading or writing are interested in working on computers, and blogging might just be the way to motivate them to write and to read. (Sneaky... Kind of like putting vegetables into junk food...Carrots in carrot cake...).
I do have a couple of reservations to several of the suggestions that Ms. Davis made. She suggested using a blog to communicate with parents if you are teaching elementary school students. I think that is an excellent idea; however, a teacher needs to always make sure that she communicates pertinent information to all of the parents in her classroom. There are families that do not have access to computers, and these families should never be left out of the information loop. I think it is important to remember that and to be sensitive to the needs of all of your students and parents.
While using a blog to showcase student art, poetry, and creative stories is a good idea, and makes it available for many outside the school to see (like grandparents far away or soldiers deployed overseas), nothing takes the place of displaying examples of student work in the classroom and in the hallways. Students puff out their chests with pride when they see their work displayed. They receive recognition and accolades from other students, and it makes them feel good.
Providing online readings for your students to read and react to is a suggestion that just doesn't excite me. I would rather get young students excited about books. I have a personal bias, because I have never curled up in a chair with a good computer that I just couldn't put down. I've never kept a good computer by the side of my bed to read before dropping off to sleep. I've never bookmarked a computer site and gone back to read it over and over, just because I loved the way it sounded.

Thing #2: Create a Blog, Add a Post and an Avatar

This is the third blog that I have created. I decided on my posting name, and the name of the blog, because it was something I could easily remember. I believe that being knowledgeable about blogs is a useful and necessary skill to have in today’s world and might possibly come in handy some day. I can imagine where it might be handy in the classroom to reinforce writing and reading skills and for communication with students.
My experience in creating the blog was actually fairly easy. My experience in creating the avatar and posting it in my blog was (as usual) extremely frustrating. I still went around in circles and wasted a ton of time. I still would never have been able to do it without the hints and even then, I still had trouble. Much of my trouble stems from the fact that I still do not know how to use a Mac and am having to learn to use it. It’s about as much fun as being burned at the stake, having teeth pulled, or being smeared with honey and placed in an ant colony.
My avatar reflects my love of the outdoors and nature. For fun, I like to ride my bike on nature trails. I have enjoyed seeing some breathtakingly magnificent and beautiful places while riding my bike in the wilderness. My avatar looks as much as possible like me. I usually have flushed cheeks from riding my bike, either from the sunshine, the wind, the cold, or exertion!

Thing #1: Lifelong Learning

The lifelong learning habit which is the easiest for me is to take responsibility for my own learning. I realize that if I want to learn something, it is up to me to put forth the effort to learn it. Other people can help me, but ultimately, the responsibility for my learning falls on my own shoulders.
The lifelong learning habit which is the hardest for me is to view problems as challenges. I usually view problems as just that-problems. However, my attitude about a problem depends a great deal on the nature and circumstances of the particular problem. If the problem is something that I enjoy and am interested in, solving it is just fun. If it's something that I don't like, it's just a frustrating, vexing thing to be avoided.
By playing with Web 2.0 tools, I would like to lean to use the technology available to me to connect me with information that I'm interested in and that can help me accomplish things that I want to do. I love that information about anything is just a click away, but I hate that technology often isolates people as much as it can connect them. I'm not a technology person; I'm a people person. I really prefer face to face interaction with people. Unless I'm trying to learn how to do something, I would never waste a pretty day reading someone's blog.
Setting up the blog was not too hard. I approached it with a feeling of pure dread. Most things of a technical nature take me a while to muddle through and learn. I hate the frustration of experiencing difficulty learning new things, but I LOVE it when I have actually mastered a new skill and can put it to work for me.