The End...............Or not

I really enjoyed finding Dropbox and Livebinders. I feel like these will be very useful to me because they can be accessed from anywhere. I also liked Flickr and Animoto. I think these can be useful in the classroom for me and my students. It provides easy, secure ways to make presentations to share. I had never thought of looking online really to find tools to use for my career, I've always just really used the internet for fun or for research for projects. I never really thought of it as a tool to use. I will try to pass this knowledge on to my students. So they will see the internet not only as a place to have fun but also as a tool. It will give access to many things that we would other wise not be able to have. I'm not sure I will continue using my blog but the idea intrigues me a bit. I see it possibly being more for personal use but I would still keep up with other teachers in my field. Maybe i could use this as a classroom blog. Right now i work at a daycare int he school age room. This could be a good test run to see how this could work.

Thing #23, Creative Commons

I found this in the credits on the side of the page for this blog.-"Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things, a staff development program for the Mesquite Independent School District. That program was based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers and adapted by the California School Library Association and others."
This shows that this was adapted from somebody elses' work and credit was given to them. You can see that is licensed under the creative commons where the worked can be used and modified for certain purposes. The Creative Commons is a very useful place and allows creators to say how they want their work used. This is something all students should be exposed to and should understand. I will make sure my students unserstand how to get permissions to use others work and how to give credit to them.

Thing #22, Livebinders

Livebinders is really interesting. I feel like this could really be useful for me kind of like dropbox. I really like the idea of being able to save my stuff and being able to access it anywhere I am. This is my Ser vs. estar binder. Sometimes native English speaking students have some confusion over having two words meaning "to be". I also have a binder called Present tense conjugation. My other binder is called Spanish speaking countries. This can be very useful in keeping all your ideas together so you do not have to search for them. Students could use this when doing projects to help them keep all their work in one spot.

Thing #21, Animoto Mr. Roboto

A Small Slice of Life

This is a video I made with Animoto. I like the concept of it and it was very easy to do. I think this could be useful in some ways in the classroom. You could make short introduction videos to a lesson like studying a county or others things. Students could share their own videos. WE could make short introduction videos for everyone in the class.

Thing #20, Youtube

This is a video about the uses of ser vs. estar. This can be a confusing concept for English speakers having two different words meaning "to be". Having the rules set to a tune will help students remember. You tube can be very entertaining but there can also be a lot of junk you have to sort through. There is a video out there for anything you can think of and this can be useful. It would have to be a very carefully monitored situation letting students use Youtube since there is a lot out there that might not be appropriate for school. I have used Vine before. It is used to make short videos and post them. This could be sueful for smqll projects in the classroom.

Thing #19, Social Networking Beyond Facebook and Twitter

I use Goodreads frequently. It helps me keep track of all the books I've read. It also gives me a way to follow what my friends read or see what is trending so I can find new books to read. It could be a good way to find books in the area you teach and see what people say about them.

Thing #18 Social Networking

I have had a Facebook account for probably five or six years now and have had a Twitter account for a year or so. I use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends and with pages that I like. I rarely use my Twitter account. I just never really got into it. I think it could be useful to have either a Facebook page for your students to look at that could have assignments listed. This could give students a way to look over directions again or if they were absent have a way to see what was done in class. Parents could also look at this page as a way to keep up with what their students were doing and what is being expected of them. I am not sure that Twitter could be as useful. It could be useful in sending instant updates but I do not know that it could be used to give a large amount of information.

Here is a link to my Twitter,
https://twitter.com/tellinfishtales
I have tried to get more into Twitter but have not been able to do it. Maybe it is because I do not follow many people I know and I have never been into to following people I do not know.

Hashtag searing is a bit irritating. They have been over used so it no longer streamlines searching for specific content. You will get some results you are looking for but you also will get a lot of other things.

Thing #17, Delicious

Delicious is a nice way to look up things and it stream lines the results for you. The links at the top are the ones most book marked by people. I did not see where people made comments about each link, telling what they found useful or not about each link. I might have been looking in the wrong places though. Not all the links are tagged but many have quite a few tags. Having a lot of tags can make things easier to find because you are not limited in your search fields. Having a lot of tags could also make things harder to find by having things that are not really what you are looking for pop up. This could be a useful tool for students doing research on something. It could streamline their search and be a place they could bookmark the information they have already found. This information would not just be bookmarked on their computer but be available on any computer that has internet access. Teachers could also use this in the same way. They can also follow others and join networks and see what others in their field are bookmarking.

Thing #16, Get Organized

I liked the look of the Symbaloo home page. It keeps icons of all the things you use on a regular basis right on one page for you. I also liked ustart. The set up is similar to what a Facebook page looks like with little boxes for each site you use and a real time feed of what's happening on them so you don't have to go to each page to look. I could see myself using either of these for my home page. I have not decided yet which one I would like to use yet. I like the website remember the milk. I have to write myself reminders all the time. This has an application you can put on your phone for when you are out. It could be useful for students to use to help them remember their homework, turn in dates, or when a test is coming up.

Thing #15, Wiki Wiki What?!

Wiki pages are in theory a good idea. A way for everyone to share their knowledge with others and everyone can be part of a huge learning community. This ends up not being exactly true. People can post their knowledge but who is to say everything they have written has any truth to it? The problem is that there is almost no way to monitor everything everyone posts to a wiki site and so misconceptions or half truths are out there. Many people think that because they found on a website that looks legitimate that the information must be true, so they end up getting false information themselves. Wiki pages could be useful in making a page for each class so they could share their ideas or things that they have found relating to the subject that they are studying. It is pretty much open for them to post whatever. This is a good thing but it would have to monitored.

Thing #14, Flowing Right Along

I tried out a few flowchart websites to see which were easier to use. The site I  found that was the easiest for me to use was Flowchart.com. It seemed easier to use and to follow. Flowcharts have a set of key points that are organized in a hierarchical way. They show how the key points are related and gives the person looking at the chart an overall view of how it all relates to each other in the bigger picture. I feel like this would be a good thing to give to students to help them follow a process or in subjects where prior knowledge has to be used to understand the next concept. Mind maps flow clockwise from the top and have radial branches. These are good for the thinking process but I do not know that these would be good to give to students because they way they layout are not as easy to follow. The mind map website I felt that was easiest to work with was mindmeister.com. I think flowcharts would be the best thing to give students to learn concepts but students could use mind maps for themselves to organize information.

Thing#13, Test drive google

Google drive makes sharing documents very easy. There is a button on the document you made and you push it and you can make the document public. From here you can pick who sees it and if they can just view it or if they can edit it. This can be useful in a school setting so all students can be involved in creating a document. If the students do not finish their work in school when they are doing a group project, they can share their document online with each other. This makes it easier for them to collaborate in case they can not get together outside of school to work. Many students also already have email or access to the internet, this would make it easier for the teacher to share documents with their students. I tried Zoho but I did not like it as much. It did not seem as user friendly. It seemed more like something you use in business than with children.


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V_Oe3E8vK-QHUSjZULwGdfbYZLuv5nt6QBbWFwyg4ZM/pub

Thing #12, Google Me This

I made a daily calendar with Google. I can see how this would be helpful in the classroom to help keep track of activities. If you wanted you could make a schedule and send it out to your students or their parents so they could keep up. I also used Google translate, This is a useful tool for students who might not know a word and do not have a dictionary handy or they need help translating a phrase. Students can not totally depend on this tool though because you do not always get the translation you are looking for. It is kind of like using spell check if you have a real word plugged in there it will translate it but you might have misspelled the word you were looking for and ended up with another word.

Thing #11, Sometimes I get a good feedling

When searching for other blogs or websites to follow I found that using Google Blog Search was easier for me than Technorati. Technorati just seemed to have too much going on. I felt like I had to search through too much stuff to get what I wanted or I did not find what I wanted at all. I might not have been using these sites right so that could have been the problem. I found another site for helping Spanish teachers. I also found sites that just help teachers in general with all kinds of things like lesson plans and making tests. There were odd feeds, some were about comics. I am sure there is a feed for everything out there. You can also find feeds be looking at what feeds friends or colleagues follow.

Thing #10, RSS- it's so easy

RSS and newsreaders make getting your news very easy. You can just subscribe to what you want to read about and the news that you want to hear is sent right to you. No more digging around on the internet sorting through all kinds of things trying to find the information you want. I have subscribed to things that will help me in my personal life and in my profession. In my personal life I want to read about art, authors I like, music, and I have started trying to be more healthy and would like to get more information on these things. I also subscribed to some sites about my profession, I hope to be a Spanish teacher so I am looking for information about this. I am following five different sites that give information about teaching Spanish. I am excited about many of these because they give you ways to keep you students interested in learning and how to make learning fun. I want my students to be lifelong learners, to have a passion for learning. I feel these sites will help give me the tools I will need to do this.

Thing #9, Generator-ator

I chose jibjab.com as my online generator. This site is free to use but you can pay $12 for a year for more content. This site makes e-cards. I have made quite a few cards on this site for different holidays and for just because. It is always humorous what comes out. I think this could be used different little video entries to catch students attention. This website also has a website for smaller children. It is called storybot.com and puts the childs' face in a song like Row Row Row Your Boat,  or little online books. There are also applications for the ipad and iphone.

Halloween e-card I made for my friends.

Thing #8 Mash It Up!

I used http://bighugelabs.com/ to create this and then uploaded it to Flickr. All of these are personal photos, taken from my Facebook and Flickr accounts. I liked putting this together as a kind of visual representation of my life over the last few years. I think this could be useful in making presentations for students. Students can also use this easily. Flickr is also nice in that you can find photos of almost anything. Sharing these photos online does not bother me because they are not overly personal.

Thing #7, Flickr, Share It!

Finding a photo of pretty much anything on Flickr is easy. You just type a keyword in, like wildlife, and the it pulls anything that has been tagged with that word. Sometimes you have to sort through a few that are not exactly what you want because users tag their own photos. There are photos ranging from professional to everyday people just adding photos of everyday things. This is a picture of the Roman aqueducts in Segovia, Spain. There is no mortar in between the stones to hold it together, it is held together by weight alone. I took this picture when I did a study abroad in Spain in 2009. It was very interesting to me because I've never been able to see anything this old before and it still functions. It is also interesting to me thinking of the Romans being in Spain.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/melissax1/6790753832/

Thing #6, Web 2.0, So Many New Things!!

 I choose powtoon.com as the website to explore. It is a free website to make slideshows or videos with fun animations. You can upgrade if you want and this gives you access to more pictures, music, and the export quality is higher. Paying is not necessary to make this a great website, they have plenty of things available on the free account. I think this site would be very useful in making slideshows to introduce new concepts to your students because the animations will get their attention. It would also be easy for the students to use themselves to make presentations. It is similar to PowerPoint in that is has templates for use or you can create your own. You control how long each slide plays and when the animations come or go. 

Thing #5, 2.0 Means it's better?

School 2.0 is using technology in the classroom. I think this would be very useful in teaching a foreign language. Some students will never get to physically travel to the countries we will study about so I think that bringing the country to the student virtually will be of a big benefit. The students will be able to learn about culture, see pictures of historical sites and learn the history of a place. They will be able to hear the music of the country. Using the internet would also enable us to communicate with people from the countries we learn about. The students could have pen pals and practice using the target language or we could have a podcast with students in other countries using the language we are learning. I think this would open up learning for people around the world to learn from each other. I think eventually more things will be done using technology. The students of today grow up using these things, why not give them more tools they can use.

Thing #4, This whole blogging thing

Commenting on others blogs creates a sense of community because you let other people know you are listening. It's why people write blogs, so they can share their knowledge and people comment to show their appreciation and/or to add to the discussion. By reading comments you can get peoples opinions that you might never have gotten before, people that could be anywhere in the world. Making a meaningful comment is the best way to go. If you do not agree with the person, do not tear them down. State your opinion a a constructive manner and give the reasons as to why you feel this is true. Give your audience something to talk to you about. Ask people what they think about what you have said, this will make people feel more welcome to giving you their opinion.
   I have decided to follow http://musicuentos.blogspot.com/. This is a blog done by a Spanish teacher in KY. I want to be a Spanish teacher and I want to see what it is like in the classroom and how people are teaching students to learn and to make it stick. I want to know how to instill in students the desire to learn more so they will go out on their own and find things. I am also following http://bilingualteacherclubhouse.blogspot.com/. There are so many ideas on this blog that I feel will help me not only to teach Spanish but to improve my skills as well. They offer many free resources that will be very useful. This blog has options for Pre-K through K, 1st-2nd, 3rd-5th, middle school, and high school.

Thing #3 What am I going to use this for?

Since I want to teach a foreign language a blog could be a very good way to reach out to the international learning community. I want to teach Spanish. This could be a way that my students could follow blogs of students in a Spanish speaking country. This could give them practice reading in the language and they could respond to the posts which would given them practice thinking, writing, and responding in Spanish. The reverse could be true for the Spanish speaking country as well with improving their English skills. I could also use this blog to connect with other Spanish teachers. I could get ideas from them and learn from their experiences as they could mine. My blog could also be used by my students as well. I could post blogs for the students to read and respond to. I could have them find information online and start discussions with them.

Make it or break it.....espera, don't break it!, Thing #2

        Starting down the path of learning what technology will be useful for me to give my students the best learning experience possible. I have never felt a desire to blog although I have noticed I am better able to share my feelings through writing than speaking sometimes. I can see how it could help professionally if you were posting to a blog where teachers in your subject area also posted or could follow you. I have never followed a blog or really ever thought of following one but I can definitely see the benefits of it. You could read each others ideas and  and help each other out. It would help when you are looking for new ways to teach your students. You can connect with people from all over the world and find new ways to reach your students that you might have never thought of. I came up with the name for my blog because I am wanting to teach Spanish. It seemed extremely easy to me to set this blog up. I never really knew what went in to it. I do wonder if anyone will follow me though and if they do will I be able to keep their interest.
       The avatar I made some what reflects me with the hair color and game system in hand, a book in my hand would be more likely though. I can see myself making more of them for however I'm feeling at the moment. I think it is fun to have it not look totally like me. I think sometimes having the avatar look different  shows sides of that would not normally be seen if you were to just look at me. It might be fun to change it to look nothing like me though.

7 1/2 Habits of Life Long Learners, Thing #1

     There are 7 1/2 things that can help you become a lifelong learner. These are: Start with the end in mind, accept responsibility for your own learning, view problems as a challenge, have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner, create you own learning toolbox, use technology to your advantage, teach/mentor others. All of these I do in some way already. Some I am better at, for example, start with the end in mind. I know what I want at the end of this. Sometimes it seems surreal like it is never going to happen but at other times it seems like the end is right around the corner. The habit that I have the most problem with is seeing myself as a competent, effective learner. I am in the last few semesters of classes of the subject area I want to teach and I find myself struggling. I do not want to give up because I have put so much work in already but I know I can do better. I just need to drag it out of myself. Also I feel like teaching and mentoring others is a very good way to help you learn and feel more confident in your subject area.

       I feel that lifelong learning is something everyone should strive for. It keeps you young, you can never learn enough. There is always something interesting to know. I really enjoy learning and I enjoy sharing what I have learned with others. I feel it is how we grow in life. Knowledge is power especially when you know what to do with it. Knowing a second language is a benefit that will help you in all areas in life. I hope to give my students this advantage. Knowing a second language will also give them access to new areas of knowledge and I hope this will inspire them to become life learners.

       Using the Web 2.0 tools will help my students and I in many ways. It gives access to many others cultures and sights that my students might not ever get to experience any other way. It would be fun to find pen pals or have a podcast with somebody from another country so my students could a native speaker. There are so many things we could do I feel like the possibilities are endless!