1) I was surprised by the Animoto (Thing #21), the information about wikis (Thing #15), and how important comments are (Thing #4). I did not expect to encounter so many different Web 2.0 technologies that I didn't liek and couldn't see using personally or professionally. I love technology, and I understand most of the basics about computers. I guess I'm just an internet hermit though. I like my technology separate from "the web". The only improvements I would make would be a "facelift" go through and update things that aren't relevant anymore, or appear old, like the 2009 awards from the beginning. I plan to keep up with developments through my personal interests and my techie husband. He usually give me a heads up about new, upcoming websites and technology.
2) Feel free to follow me on my website - sarahliz.info anytime!
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Thing #23
The 23 Things was based off of this idea. Now that I know about the creative commons I will be more strict on using copyright materials in class. I am not used to teachers caring about copyright laws. I would also think that there would be "wiggle room" for educational use, but I know now that there isn't. I also think that should change, maybe not for "private schools" because that would ne harder to regulate, but for public schools there should be some room for educators to use familiar characters, stories, and even movies in order to help the students absorb the material.
Thing #22
I made this really fast, but I did make two other binders that were private becuase they hold information about my other classes. Again, I don't see a lot of usefulness in this type of website for me. I use desktop folder, bookmarks, and real diners for keeping my information, and I cannot imagine a time where I would actually need to share this type of information with someone else. My other binders are Ed Pych and SpEd. This one is Ed Tech. This method seems too cold and impersonal for me to use in the classroom. If I wanted to give them supplemental website I would included them on the class website.
Thing #21
I did this video of some personal pictures fairly quickly, but I like it! Animoto seems really fun. I can imagine taking picture of my students working on projects and turning them into cool music videos like this. I think I would definitely use this tool again.
Try our slideshow maker at Animoto.
Try our slideshow maker at Animoto.
Thing #19
I commented and uploaded a picture onto Ning. I am not interested in any of the other social networking sites. I don't have a lot of friends, and the ones I do I like to interact with outside of the internet. Social media has never had a history of interesting me. I only just signed up for Facebook and Twitter three years ago (when I like like 23). I see more harm than good in social networking, so i try to keep out of it as much as possible.
Thing #17
I don't get social bookmarking. It seems like an idea that someone came up with because they didn't know how to properly manage a bookmarks list in their browser. Also, the complaint about your bookmarks only being in one place is negated by Safari/iOs features that sync your bookmarks from your computer to your phone. I use folders in my bookmarking menu, so my bookmarks are always organized and easy for me to find. I can see the appeal in easily sharing your favorite sites with other etchers, but I think it all become too much too quickly. Tags or not I think that social bookmarking gets out of hand and unmanageable very fast. Like our class Diigo account. It's hard to find exactly what you're looking for and not everyone tags the same way.
Thing #16
Since I have a google account that i use regularly I choose a start page on iGoogle. I chose the winter theme since it's Christmas time, and I removed a joke section. I will not make it my permanent home page because I like to go looking for what I want rather than have a bunch of information thrown in front of me. I actually do, kind of, use an online calendar. It wasn't listed, but iCal allows me to share calendars with my husband. we share a bills calendar that reminds us of when to pay bills, and a calendar for our dog to remind us about his shots, groomings, and flea treatments. I love iCal because I can take it with me wherever I go because it's on my phone, computer, and my online iCloud account. I also use the reminders app, but usually only for grocery list. I don't like to-do lists because they can overwhelm me too easily. I would certainly use iCal for school. could make a class schedule and plan special dates to easily keep track of it all. I might even put is major upcoming assignment dates for my students so that I can remind them and I won't forget.
Thing #14
I used the bubble.us and MindMeister sites. I started off with my ideas for a research paper on Montessori. I liked both of these (they were very similar) because they flowed nicely. I did prefer the look and function of bubble.us just a little more than MindMeister. It looks a little my feminine to me because my friends and I use to draw bubble around our notes we would pass in class sometime when we were younger.
Thing #13
I made this in Google Docs, drawing. I did not like Zoho. I can't see myself using it in the future. I would use Word first and Google Docs only on the fly to fix an obvious error. I'm too nervous about losing and misplacing my files "in the cloud" so I don't like web-based applications. Google Docs is a more familiar format than Zoho which is why I would use it before Zoho.
Thing #15
I loved the wiki video! Actually using the APSU sandbox wiki was really fun too. I think wikis are very useful and I would love to use one in my classroom. Students could edit in whatever they liked and exercise control over their wiki space. I added my Thing #8 to the APSU Sandbox wiki.
Thing #18
I am already a member of Facebook and Twitter. I do not believe that these social networking site are appropriate for professional usage. With the recent change to Facebook, any of your friends can see things as simple as what you liked on someone else's wall. So, if you absent-mindedly like an adult-humored joke on a friend's page then your students and their parents might see it. Twitter's character length would restrict for making any really important announcements via that media.
Thing #20
I chose this video to go with one of the podcasts I selected for the LiveText assignment. I want to show that students different ways of enjoying the same story and figure out which one they prefer and absorb the most knowledge from. Personally, I love Youtube. It's easy to use and has more videos than I could ever watch. Professionally, I am hesitant to use youtube because of what might show up in the suggestions afterwards. I wouldn't want to expose my students to anything that was inappropriate and there is a lot of inappropriate videos on Youtube. However, it was very easy to find this video. It was the third result and a clear choice to me.
WebQuest
I made a WebQuest. It was actually kind of fun! Here it is in case you want to check it out!
= )
Global Warming
= )
Global Warming
Monday, October 8, 2012
Thing #4
Commenting helps to create a sense of community because it -is- the community. Without comments there is no exchange of ideas. Without comments there are no new opinions or feedback. A blog without comments is just an online journal. I found the "Be Controversial?" technique helpful and the idea that not responding to comment could be a form elitism. I love to put controversial news articles onto my SarahLiz.info site to see what other people's opinions are. This may be a bit more dangerous for your class website since parents can be (sometimes) easily offended.
I chose to comment on fellow students' blogs of people I actually interact with during class time. I think this helps because I have already been introduced to the person. I can put a face to the opinions and voice behind the words. I commented on Kelsi Clark's blog, Alex Hilton's blog, Catherine Barlow's blog, Samantha Fargis' blog, and Andrea Watt's blog.
For the non-student blogs I commented on Literacy and Laughter's post about their Book Lovers Bash and on 2nd Grade Stuff's post on Classroom Dojo (A classroom management app).
I think that I may be in love with the Classroom Dojo app. I commenting on the post about how I think it could be used to inform parents of their student's behaviors in class. I all looked at some of the other comments and found that several of the teacher's that used it loved it. On the Book Lovers Bash post I commented about how I liked to contrast of being rewarded for doing a good job on a quiet activity could be rewarded by allowing them a very active and noisy activity - like a dance party.
57314
I commented on a different thing of each of my fellow students. I wanted to pick some that I felt I could offer some assistance on and a new perspective. I tried to ask at least one question in each comment to try and encourage a reply and help build a connection. I think that it is very important to ask for feedback when you are giving a person feedback. It's great to know if what you said helped or if the connection you were hoping to make failed so that you can learn and grow and try different methods.
-On Kelsi's I commented on her thing 5 about school 2.0 and the possibly that good, traditional practices might fade away in favor of technology.
-On Alex's I commented on her thing 7 about various methods of learning and creating stories from random pictures.
-On Catherine's I commented on her thing 3 about how much I liked her idea of using a student run blog about school difficulties. I also warned about relying too much on student guidance and to remember that you are the leader.
-On Samantha's I commented on her thing 1 about how context clues have influenced my confidence in absorbing the right/important material. I asked if she thought her lack of confidence might be a gap in her early education, and something teacher's might should stress to their students to learn.
-On Andrea's I commented on her thing 4 about how I view my internet identity as separate or as only a small portion of my true identity and how that assists me in my management of my blog.
I chose to comment on fellow students' blogs of people I actually interact with during class time. I think this helps because I have already been introduced to the person. I can put a face to the opinions and voice behind the words. I commented on Kelsi Clark's blog, Alex Hilton's blog, Catherine Barlow's blog, Samantha Fargis' blog, and Andrea Watt's blog.
For the non-student blogs I commented on Literacy and Laughter's post about their Book Lovers Bash and on 2nd Grade Stuff's post on Classroom Dojo (A classroom management app).
I think that I may be in love with the Classroom Dojo app. I commenting on the post about how I think it could be used to inform parents of their student's behaviors in class. I all looked at some of the other comments and found that several of the teacher's that used it loved it. On the Book Lovers Bash post I commented about how I liked to contrast of being rewarded for doing a good job on a quiet activity could be rewarded by allowing them a very active and noisy activity - like a dance party.
57314
I commented on a different thing of each of my fellow students. I wanted to pick some that I felt I could offer some assistance on and a new perspective. I tried to ask at least one question in each comment to try and encourage a reply and help build a connection. I think that it is very important to ask for feedback when you are giving a person feedback. It's great to know if what you said helped or if the connection you were hoping to make failed so that you can learn and grow and try different methods.
-On Kelsi's I commented on her thing 5 about school 2.0 and the possibly that good, traditional practices might fade away in favor of technology.
-On Alex's I commented on her thing 7 about various methods of learning and creating stories from random pictures.
-On Catherine's I commented on her thing 3 about how much I liked her idea of using a student run blog about school difficulties. I also warned about relying too much on student guidance and to remember that you are the leader.
-On Samantha's I commented on her thing 1 about how context clues have influenced my confidence in absorbing the right/important material. I asked if she thought her lack of confidence might be a gap in her early education, and something teacher's might should stress to their students to learn.
-On Andrea's I commented on her thing 4 about how I view my internet identity as separate or as only a small portion of my true identity and how that assists me in my management of my blog.
Thing #12
Google Translate is, to me, an obvious choice for the most useful of the four Google tools listed. Google translate can work for any grade level. High school students could translate websites to expand their horizons and young children could use it to help them master numbers and simple words or phrases in other languages. Google Calendar would also be quite helpful for sharing a class schedule to parents and other teachers. It would incorporate well into a blogger site, or just about any other type of blog site because Google tends to make very universal tools.
I stumbled across some other tools that Google offers, and they actually have a page just for Educators. I absolutely LOVED Google LitTrips. It's a free service where other educators have taken their favorite book (across all grade levels) and incorporated that different places that the characters visit in that book into Google Earth. Students can look at real world pictures of the different places and learn trivia as well. I would love to play around some more and see what else Google offers, and I would encourage my classmates to do the same.
I stumbled across some other tools that Google offers, and they actually have a page just for Educators. I absolutely LOVED Google LitTrips. It's a free service where other educators have taken their favorite book (across all grade levels) and incorporated that different places that the characters visit in that book into Google Earth. Students can look at real world pictures of the different places and learn trivia as well. I would love to play around some more and see what else Google offers, and I would encourage my classmates to do the same.
Thing #5
Web 2.0 refers to how to internet/websites have changed. It is used to describe the new level of accessibility that the internet provides to its users. Social media and blogging have changed the way the internet is used. Anyone can start up a blog without having a background in web design. The takeover of Facebook and Twitter into how we connect to one another is also a part of Web 2.0.
School 2.0 refers to the varying opinions of modern schools and education should approach and use new and ever-changing technology with today's students. It refers to school reforms, with regard to technology. There is not just one widely accepted School 2.0 belief/plan/attitude. Each person holds a different view of what education should look like in relation to all of the new technologies and in how our students can keep up with "the global job market". However, I believe that it is vitally important for every new teacher to decide where they stand and to take action to see their vision of School 2.0 come into reality.
School 2.0 refers to the varying opinions of modern schools and education should approach and use new and ever-changing technology with today's students. It refers to school reforms, with regard to technology. There is not just one widely accepted School 2.0 belief/plan/attitude. Each person holds a different view of what education should look like in relation to all of the new technologies and in how our students can keep up with "the global job market". However, I believe that it is vitally important for every new teacher to decide where they stand and to take action to see their vision of School 2.0 come into reality.
Thing #11
Of the three tools given (Google Blog Search, Technorati, and Topix.net) I found Technorati to be my favorite. Google Blog Search was the most helpful for finding blogs, but Technorati actually found news article and other information that I would have never found on Google. Topix.net confused me too much. I didn't understand how to search or what I was searching for. I found that it said that it didn't search weblogs, and didn't really understand why it was even an option to look at. It had a terrible layout and was very ad-heavy. The easiest method was to search by topic on Google Blog Search; I found a really great website called Literacy and Laughter through that search. It didn't actually have an RSS feed button that I could find, but I book marked it because it's a really great class website that's updated frequently. I also found a great article on how to properly use Wikipedia in the classroom via Technorati.
Thing #10
RSS seems like quite a practical application, in theory. I think that RSS feeds get harder to search and expand everyday since more blogs are created everyday. I also find it hard to locate blogs that I find credible. I would worry, a little bit, about my RSS feed becoming stagnate if I weren't searching other avenues for new information and ideas. So, at that point I wouldn't find the feed very useful anymore because I really love to search. I bookmark sites that I like and check back periodically, and I like being able to control what I see and when I see it. I would use a RSS feed if I found a site (or sites) that updated daily or close to daily, and I was interested in almost every single post. Other than that I like to make rounds through my bookmarks once a week or every few weeks.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Thing #9
I found this "comic strip" at the comic strip generator website. I think it is a great way to show students that even if you find it on the internet, and the website indemnifies itself - that does not permit you to use a copyrighted image any way you want. Disney is not known for being understanding when their characters are used without their permission.
Thing #8
I thought that this made a pretty mosaic. I used the mosaic maker. I don't see any really useful application for this educationally, especially not in comparison to other technologies that can be used in the classroom. I also would not use this in my personal life, because I am not a fan of changing photos. Either the photo is good by itself or it isn't. I would rather make a mosaic or collage in real life that I could touch and display anywhere I please.
Thing #7
Thing #6 - WordPress
Back in 2009 CNET hosted a contest for the most useful websites/apps. I chose Wordpress from the list of 100 sites. Winner: WordPress.com
I chose this winner because over this past summer break (2012) I wanted to make my own website. So, my husband added my new domain to his account and I began to add different posts about my son or news stories that caught my eye. I was hoping to include research that I found interesting once the semester began. I find that the WordPress system has a lot of options, and I like the interface. My website isn't everything that I want it to be quite yet, but I do really like it. I find it easier to use than the blogger system, but that may just because because I started with WordPress first. The most useful feature is the plugin finder. You can search by the most popular the find what everyone has for the backbone of their website design, or you can search for something specific that you may need for one particular need.
If you are interested here is a link to my website
I chose this winner because over this past summer break (2012) I wanted to make my own website. So, my husband added my new domain to his account and I began to add different posts about my son or news stories that caught my eye. I was hoping to include research that I found interesting once the semester began. I find that the WordPress system has a lot of options, and I like the interface. My website isn't everything that I want it to be quite yet, but I do really like it. I find it easier to use than the blogger system, but that may just because because I started with WordPress first. The most useful feature is the plugin finder. You can search by the most popular the find what everyone has for the backbone of their website design, or you can search for something specific that you may need for one particular need.
If you are interested here is a link to my website
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Thing #3
I would like to use my blog both reflectively and for classroom use. I think the a blog would be a great place to reflect on teaching methods, and student growth (although not using names of students). I would also love to have supplemental materials of the class on my blog. I would never want to make it the sole source of certain material though. There are going to be students without access at home, and I would hate to feel like they are missing out because I chose a path they they could not access. So, I would have to very carefully consider what to put on the site for the class, and if there are other methods available to all students.
Thing #2
Creating this blog was a little difficult for me. I have been trying to learn the WordPress system since I started my own website this summer in hopes of learning how to use it to get ahead of the curve for my future as a educator. I know that I want to have a classroom website, but I haven't really figured out what I want it to look like yet. If you would like to see my website I made over the summer it is at sarahliz. (www.sarahliz.info) So, the process of learning another website's design and skeleton system has been a bit of a challenge for me because I confuse the two systems. Also, the avatar was extremely frustrating, mostly because i am unhappy with the very light shade of brown that I found. I attempted to make an avatar that resembled me, but my hair and my eyes are very dark. I chose the accessorize my avatar with a stack of books, because I love reading. Choosing a title, a web address, and posting my really name was fairly simple though. I don't really see any point in anonymity for a beginner's website (especially one that I am making for school), and I really love my sarahliz concept- so I thought I would just carry it over into this project.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Thing #1
The hardest lifelong learner habit for me would be habit #1 - Begin with the end in mind. I very much focus on things in a step-by-step manner, so I rarely begin thinking about the end.
The easiest habit for me would be habit #4 - Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner. This is probably the easiest for me because I know that I have all of the other habits to being a lifelong learner. I was raised by lifelong learners, and I have grown up to be one. I enjoy learning and want to instill that same passion in the students that I will one day teach.
The easiest habit for me would be habit #4 - Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner. This is probably the easiest for me because I know that I have all of the other habits to being a lifelong learner. I was raised by lifelong learners, and I have grown up to be one. I enjoy learning and want to instill that same passion in the students that I will one day teach.
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