Thing 14
Include your Delicious username in this blog post so that others can view the bookmarks that you have chosen to share. Then reflect on how you think social bookmarking can be used in your teaching. Does Delicious seem to be a tool that can enhance your productivity? I
My Delicious username is marybethc. I loved being introduced to and using this tool! It was fun to explore and add bookmarks -- there were so many ways to add bookmarks -- this site is very user-freindly. I can see how over time, I could form a network with the user names of people who seem to bookmark areas that I'm interested in. I believe this would enhance my productivity. Not only could I access bookmarks on whatever computer I'm using, but I would have so many ways to search that are significantly more select than Google!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thing 13
Share your thoughts about tagging. Is tagging a useful way to organize your digital resources and why? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages? What is important to think about before assigning tags to bookmarks or other Internet content?
Tagging seems like a real time-saver. So many times I have bookmarked a site and spend too much time looking for it in my bookmarks. This system seems much more efficient since the internet is so huge. One must be careful what is tagged and how it is tagged because the Delicious site is public. I wouldn't want an inappropriate site attributed to me That's why it's important to investigate sites thoroughly before putting them out there.
I think using the Delicious site myself will make me feel less overwhelmed. There's nothing like experience to make a person more comfortable with a process. I hope this will be useful to me in finding sites for me to use and share.
Share your thoughts about tagging. Is tagging a useful way to organize your digital resources and why? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages? What is important to think about before assigning tags to bookmarks or other Internet content?
Tagging seems like a real time-saver. So many times I have bookmarked a site and spend too much time looking for it in my bookmarks. This system seems much more efficient since the internet is so huge. One must be careful what is tagged and how it is tagged because the Delicious site is public. I wouldn't want an inappropriate site attributed to me That's why it's important to investigate sites thoroughly before putting them out there.
I think using the Delicious site myself will make me feel less overwhelmed. There's nothing like experience to make a person more comfortable with a process. I hope this will be useful to me in finding sites for me to use and share.
Thing 12
I added this widgit because I like to read and reflect on quotes. I use them for journal reflections in class quite often.
Review the widget you selected. Are you getting comfortable with embedding code? Do you belong to other online communities? Are relationships formed online as meaningful as face-to-face relationships? Why do you think MySpace and other social networking sites are so popular with kids today?
I am getting more comfortable embedding code. I'm amazed how easy it was to drop this into my blog. I was also AMAZED at the variety of widgits I could add to my blog. I had fun looking through all the sites that offered choices. I hope I can find these same sites when I no longer have my 23 things page to click on!
I am not a member of any online communities so I have no personal experience with online relationships. Nothing can match the power of a face to face relationship, but writing is also powerful and can reveal one's deepest thoughts. I imagine these relationships could be very significant. I asked my daughter who does belong to online communities and she admits that she does have meaningful relationships with people. When these individuals do not communicate for a certain period of time, she gets concerned and misses them.
Many online communities like MySpace and FaceBook are not a community of strangers. Most of the connections are already face to face relationships. It's just a great way for these kids to keep in touch over long distances. Judging from my own children, however, they absolutely love their FaceBook pages. One younger child has a MySpace page which he mainly uses to communicate with kids from his school.
One thing is certain -- these online communities are here to stay and it's worthwhile for teachers to consider using them as a way to tap into a method of communication that students are already attracted to and comfortable with using.
I added this widgit because I like to read and reflect on quotes. I use them for journal reflections in class quite often.
Review the widget you selected. Are you getting comfortable with embedding code? Do you belong to other online communities? Are relationships formed online as meaningful as face-to-face relationships? Why do you think MySpace and other social networking sites are so popular with kids today?
I am getting more comfortable embedding code. I'm amazed how easy it was to drop this into my blog. I was also AMAZED at the variety of widgits I could add to my blog. I had fun looking through all the sites that offered choices. I hope I can find these same sites when I no longer have my 23 things page to click on!
I am not a member of any online communities so I have no personal experience with online relationships. Nothing can match the power of a face to face relationship, but writing is also powerful and can reveal one's deepest thoughts. I imagine these relationships could be very significant. I asked my daughter who does belong to online communities and she admits that she does have meaningful relationships with people. When these individuals do not communicate for a certain period of time, she gets concerned and misses them.
Many online communities like MySpace and FaceBook are not a community of strangers. Most of the connections are already face to face relationships. It's just a great way for these kids to keep in touch over long distances. Judging from my own children, however, they absolutely love their FaceBook pages. One younger child has a MySpace page which he mainly uses to communicate with kids from his school.
One thing is certain -- these online communities are here to stay and it's worthwhile for teachers to consider using them as a way to tap into a method of communication that students are already attracted to and comfortable with using.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thing 11
What do you like / dislike about leaving comments? How did you feel when you received your first comment? Why do you think commenting is so important in online communities? What might this mean for students who share their writing online?
I feel somewhat apprehensive about leaving comments because I realize they're "out there" for anyone to read. Our little community is rather safe and secure, but that will not always be the case when participating in on-line communities. Still, I can see why a special interest blog would be useful ONLY if people commented. People visit the blogs FOR information and feedback. That's the appeal of the particular blog. However, blogs can be negative, too. My daughter had a nerve injury in her foot. She participated in a blog and received some "bad" information. She eventually stopped reading it and stuck to the advice of her doctor. She also participated in a blog for those applying to a certain graduate program. She found that it was better not to participate there either because each university approached the admissions process so differently.
When I know that my comments will be read by others, I take more time writing my text and checking for content and correctness. I suppose that's a good thing, and demonstrates the importance of having an audience. If students were to write on a classroom blog, perhaps they would pay more attention to their writing and the content of their comments because they knew the message was going out to the "public".
I liked receiving comments. It made me feel that my thoughts were appreciated and useful to someone. I also liked when my questions were answered or I received tips to make things easier,
What do you like / dislike about leaving comments? How did you feel when you received your first comment? Why do you think commenting is so important in online communities? What might this mean for students who share their writing online?
I feel somewhat apprehensive about leaving comments because I realize they're "out there" for anyone to read. Our little community is rather safe and secure, but that will not always be the case when participating in on-line communities. Still, I can see why a special interest blog would be useful ONLY if people commented. People visit the blogs FOR information and feedback. That's the appeal of the particular blog. However, blogs can be negative, too. My daughter had a nerve injury in her foot. She participated in a blog and received some "bad" information. She eventually stopped reading it and stuck to the advice of her doctor. She also participated in a blog for those applying to a certain graduate program. She found that it was better not to participate there either because each university approached the admissions process so differently.
When I know that my comments will be read by others, I take more time writing my text and checking for content and correctness. I suppose that's a good thing, and demonstrates the importance of having an audience. If students were to write on a classroom blog, perhaps they would pay more attention to their writing and the content of their comments because they knew the message was going out to the "public".
I liked receiving comments. It made me feel that my thoughts were appreciated and useful to someone. I also liked when my questions were answered or I received tips to make things easier,
Thing 10
Here is a video recording of a rap called "Knock out Illiteracy". I found it on YouTube and embedded it right from the YouTube site.
Some students might react positively to hearing this message from someone other than a teacher!
I tried to download another video from YouTube called "Literacy Empowers" but I was unsuccessful. I didn't know what image format to ask for and the Zamzar didn't default to any certain format. I will ask the right people a few questions and try again later. I'll edit my post and add it. The reason why I was so interested in this video is because I read a book titled Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, concerning his quest to build schools for tiny villages in Pakistan. He was repaying a village for their kindness when he was recovering after being separated from his mountain climbing party. His efforts launced the endowment of a philanthropic organization called The Central Asia Institute by a wealthy American businessman as he was dying from cancer. Mortenson built dozens of schools in Pakistan, and some in neighboring Afghanistan. The people were grateful and adopted a whole new attitude toward America based on their experience with this one man. I can't help but wonder how many of these schools are still standing after all the destruction that is currently taking place in Afghanistan. My hope is that a new administration will make ventures such as this a common way to reach out to those who view Americans with suspicion.
I am excited about the idea of being to embed or download videos! I love being able to click on your videos in each "thing" on this blog and gett instant instruction or information. I see a lot of possibilities for this capability in my classroom.
Here is a video recording of a rap called "Knock out Illiteracy". I found it on YouTube and embedded it right from the YouTube site.
Some students might react positively to hearing this message from someone other than a teacher!
I tried to download another video from YouTube called "Literacy Empowers" but I was unsuccessful. I didn't know what image format to ask for and the Zamzar didn't default to any certain format. I will ask the right people a few questions and try again later. I'll edit my post and add it. The reason why I was so interested in this video is because I read a book titled Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, concerning his quest to build schools for tiny villages in Pakistan. He was repaying a village for their kindness when he was recovering after being separated from his mountain climbing party. His efforts launced the endowment of a philanthropic organization called The Central Asia Institute by a wealthy American businessman as he was dying from cancer. Mortenson built dozens of schools in Pakistan, and some in neighboring Afghanistan. The people were grateful and adopted a whole new attitude toward America based on their experience with this one man. I can't help but wonder how many of these schools are still standing after all the destruction that is currently taking place in Afghanistan. My hope is that a new administration will make ventures such as this a common way to reach out to those who view Americans with suspicion.
I am excited about the idea of being to embed or download videos! I love being able to click on your videos in each "thing" on this blog and gett instant instruction or information. I see a lot of possibilities for this capability in my classroom.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thing 9
What do you like or dislike about YouTube? Did you find videos that would be useful for teaching and learning? Is YouTube banned in your building?
I like the timeliness of YouTube. For example, when Tina Fey was doing Sarah Palin skits on Saturday Night Live, you could catch them on YouTube if you missed them. I've used it before to play music that sets a mood or informs about the culture and environment of certain times in history. Last year I found some old love songs on Valentine's Day (in a high school Mythology elective)that contained references to characters from Greek or Roman mythology. I sometimes teach Film Literature and YouTube is great for finding clips or trailers of classic films. I have also used Taylor Mali's routine on proofreading in Expository Writing, though I stopped it before he came to the end of the routine which conains slightly questionable material. In fact, that's what I dislike about YouTube -- it has much content that is vulgar and inappropriate. Some of its videos also make fun of school and teachers which makes teenagers open to that negative thinking. It's not that teachers would use this in their classrooms, but teens can tune in on their own and find plenty of this kind of material.
I was surprised to find such a variety of subjects when I searched for terms having to do with the English classes I teach. For example, there were tons of videos about grammar, of all things. I'm sure I could find one that would give a great explanation of a grammar skill -- and my students would appreciate the fresh approach, a new voice, and effective visuals and images.
I looked up "literature" and found some promising topics. Looking up specific titles was frui tful too .I also like to use YouTube to find something amusing to introduce a concept. Students appreciate the change of pace especially if the video is entertaining or funny.
I checked out the two school video sites. I like that these sites are school appropriate. It seems to be a place where student made videos can be housed and shared. I'm sure I'll check these out from time to time now that I know they exist.
I do not have trouble using YouTube at my school, though I don't believe the students can access the site at school. They cannot use Google Images (or Wikipedia), for example, while teachers can bypass the filter. This poses problems when students are trying to make presentations at school. Last week I assigned my Mythology students a presentation of a myth. Some chose to use Power Point, but had to go home to search for images to use on the slides. I understand why this filter is necessary, but it does prevent students from getting thier hands on the good stuff out there.
What do you like or dislike about YouTube? Did you find videos that would be useful for teaching and learning? Is YouTube banned in your building?
I like the timeliness of YouTube. For example, when Tina Fey was doing Sarah Palin skits on Saturday Night Live, you could catch them on YouTube if you missed them. I've used it before to play music that sets a mood or informs about the culture and environment of certain times in history. Last year I found some old love songs on Valentine's Day (in a high school Mythology elective)that contained references to characters from Greek or Roman mythology. I sometimes teach Film Literature and YouTube is great for finding clips or trailers of classic films. I have also used Taylor Mali's routine on proofreading in Expository Writing, though I stopped it before he came to the end of the routine which conains slightly questionable material. In fact, that's what I dislike about YouTube -- it has much content that is vulgar and inappropriate. Some of its videos also make fun of school and teachers which makes teenagers open to that negative thinking. It's not that teachers would use this in their classrooms, but teens can tune in on their own and find plenty of this kind of material.
I was surprised to find such a variety of subjects when I searched for terms having to do with the English classes I teach. For example, there were tons of videos about grammar, of all things. I'm sure I could find one that would give a great explanation of a grammar skill -- and my students would appreciate the fresh approach, a new voice, and effective visuals and images.
I looked up "literature" and found some promising topics. Looking up specific titles was frui tful too .I also like to use YouTube to find something amusing to introduce a concept. Students appreciate the change of pace especially if the video is entertaining or funny.
I checked out the two school video sites. I like that these sites are school appropriate. It seems to be a place where student made videos can be housed and shared. I'm sure I'll check these out from time to time now that I know they exist.
I do not have trouble using YouTube at my school, though I don't believe the students can access the site at school. They cannot use Google Images (or Wikipedia), for example, while teachers can bypass the filter. This poses problems when students are trying to make presentations at school. Last week I assigned my Mythology students a presentation of a myth. Some chose to use Power Point, but had to go home to search for images to use on the slides. I understand why this filter is necessary, but it does prevent students from getting thier hands on the good stuff out there.
Thing 8This inage was generated on
http://www.bighugelabs.com/flickr/
The application is called jigsaw
In the same post in which you placed your creation, briefly describe your experience completing Thing 8. Which of these tools intrigues you and why? Was it easy, frustrating, time-consuming, fun? Share some of your ideas for using the images you can create.
This was fun, but time-consuming. I liked the flickr tools -- spelling, color generator, and mosaics. I couldn't find a way to copy any of these to some of the ideas in the generators that I wanted to try. That was frustrating. I think that some of this might be applicable in the classroom, definitely. However, I have so much content to teach and i don't even have enough time as it is to complete the basics. Students would love having lab time to play around with these applications, but I fear they'd putz with color and font and other layout techniques that they'd never spend the time they need to spend on the content of the project, which is where the real time should be spent.
Thing 7
Think of ways you may be able to use Flickr in your classroom and share your ideas. What issues might you face?
This is an awesome site. I will say, however, that I did tag all my photos (downloaded from my trip to Europe in 2007) with RESA23, but none of them showed up when I searched that tag. I'm not sure what happened or how I should look that up.
Another question I have is whether I can download just my own pictures or whether I can download pictures from the internet, from Flickr, or other sources. I thought I saw some pictures downloaded that I recogized from my exploration of Flickr, but I could be mistaken.
This could be a useful site for use in the classroom. I could download photos of a certain topic and show them to students, or send them there to view the photos and read descriptions. Students could use these photographs as springboards for writing -- narratives and description come to mind. Students could make Flickr accounts to accompany their own personal narratives or to illustrate their imaginings of what characters and places look like in the literature we read in class. A similar feature that I was introduced to at a tech in-service day at my high school is Photostory. This site offers a fantastic way to have students group photographs and link them together with transitions that make the photos come alive. Appropriate music can be added right from a collection on the site. I played around with that site and added images right from Google to present the myth of "Cupid and Psyche" -- all in a matter of minutes.
Issues I could face using Flickr is the public vs. private photos. I wouldn't want to require that my students' personal pictures be out there in the public. We would have to have a group of "friends" so that the collections would only be visible to a select group. Another issue would be training. When we use these applications in the classroom, we have a wide range of skill. Some students will need training, some will not. I imagine most of the students will pick this up easily, certainly faster than their teacher! I think a drawback for me is that it takes me longer to use these applications than my students. I can use them, but if something goes wrong, I don't trouble-shoot very easily and that wastes a lot of precious class time. I'd need to get more comfortable using any application myself before I'd use it for an assignment. Using such applications would certainly make presentations more interesting than a bunch of xerox copies and some words printed on a poster board!
Think of ways you may be able to use Flickr in your classroom and share your ideas. What issues might you face?
This is an awesome site. I will say, however, that I did tag all my photos (downloaded from my trip to Europe in 2007) with RESA23, but none of them showed up when I searched that tag. I'm not sure what happened or how I should look that up.
Another question I have is whether I can download just my own pictures or whether I can download pictures from the internet, from Flickr, or other sources. I thought I saw some pictures downloaded that I recogized from my exploration of Flickr, but I could be mistaken.
This could be a useful site for use in the classroom. I could download photos of a certain topic and show them to students, or send them there to view the photos and read descriptions. Students could use these photographs as springboards for writing -- narratives and description come to mind. Students could make Flickr accounts to accompany their own personal narratives or to illustrate their imaginings of what characters and places look like in the literature we read in class. A similar feature that I was introduced to at a tech in-service day at my high school is Photostory. This site offers a fantastic way to have students group photographs and link them together with transitions that make the photos come alive. Appropriate music can be added right from a collection on the site. I played around with that site and added images right from Google to present the myth of "Cupid and Psyche" -- all in a matter of minutes.
Issues I could face using Flickr is the public vs. private photos. I wouldn't want to require that my students' personal pictures be out there in the public. We would have to have a group of "friends" so that the collections would only be visible to a select group. Another issue would be training. When we use these applications in the classroom, we have a wide range of skill. Some students will need training, some will not. I imagine most of the students will pick this up easily, certainly faster than their teacher! I think a drawback for me is that it takes me longer to use these applications than my students. I can use them, but if something goes wrong, I don't trouble-shoot very easily and that wastes a lot of precious class time. I'd need to get more comfortable using any application myself before I'd use it for an assignment. Using such applications would certainly make presentations more interesting than a bunch of xerox copies and some words printed on a poster board!
Thing 6
Why did you choose a particular photo? What is it about the photo that you found interesting?
I searched many topics. The first I found was a multi-photograph collage of Barack Obama that had the word HOPE as part of the composition. The letters were individual photographs much like the letters that spell out 23 THINGS on the home page for this class. For some reason, that collage would not copy.
I also searched "mockingbird" because that is what I am teaching right now, but went on to "Thanksgiving" and finally "Michigan". That's where I found this beautiful photograph of a road through the woods in autumn. Nothing can compare to the vibrant color of an autumn landscape. My dad has a cousin who has a summer home on Bois Blanc Island off of Cheboygan in northern Lake Huron. I have only seen this place in summer, but this photgraph is what I imagine it would look like in the autumn. It's glorious to be able to walk in such a setting. I can imagine the sun glinting through the trees, the birds chirping, the chipmunks and squirrels skittering in the underbrush, and my breath, visible in the chilly air. So seldom do I get a chance to enjoy such simple pleasures. It reminds that I should find more opportunities to take a walk in one of the many places in this magnificent state I live in (beleagured as it is of late with financial woes of one kind or another).
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Thing 5
RSS can be a difficult concept for some to grasp right away - what questions do you have? What didn't work or doesn't make sense? How might you use RSS in your personal or professional life? Find anything in your searching that you'd recommend to others?
I managed to get some blogs into my bloglines account. All three methods of adding them to the bloglines account worked eventually. I'm still a bit confused about the folders. Some don't show up in the left hand column. I'm thinking that perhaps I need to have a blog in the folder before it shows up in that list.
Maybe it's because it's late and I'm tired that the search in the two sites you provided was confusing. It just seemed like a lot of work to search the sites. I will re-visit that tomorrow and add a few more sites to my 4 folders. I feel I need more computer savvy to make this process easier. I constantly find myself having to get off the internet to check something on the 23 things blog. Then I have to log on again. It's so cumbersome. I must be missing an obvious shortcut that's right at my fingertips! Still, I'm confident that like anything else that's new, a lot of practice will make it easier.
There's no doubt in my mind that a specialized education blog would be a useful tool for getting new ideas for the classroom. Sharing ideas is powerful -- the creative process is enhanced when people can dialogue with one another and bounce ideas around together. Plus, the information is current so topics are timely.
I managed to get some blogs into my bloglines account. All three methods of adding them to the bloglines account worked eventually. I'm still a bit confused about the folders. Some don't show up in the left hand column. I'm thinking that perhaps I need to have a blog in the folder before it shows up in that list.
Maybe it's because it's late and I'm tired that the search in the two sites you provided was confusing. It just seemed like a lot of work to search the sites. I will re-visit that tomorrow and add a few more sites to my 4 folders. I feel I need more computer savvy to make this process easier. I constantly find myself having to get off the internet to check something on the 23 things blog. Then I have to log on again. It's so cumbersome. I must be missing an obvious shortcut that's right at my fingertips! Still, I'm confident that like anything else that's new, a lot of practice will make it easier.
There's no doubt in my mind that a specialized education blog would be a useful tool for getting new ideas for the classroom. Sharing ideas is powerful -- the creative process is enhanced when people can dialogue with one another and bounce ideas around together. Plus, the information is current so topics are timely.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Thing 3
How might you use a blog with students? How might they respond to a blog assignment? What concerns about blogging with students do you have? How might you use a blog for other educational purposes (other than with students)?
I teach English and I intend to use my blog to have students chat about books. Somethimes they'll chat about books they've chosen to read independently. They can share their reflections and recommend books and authors to one another. Other times they'll comment on specific questions about readings we're doing in common. I'm not sure exactly how I'll do this because I'm just learning, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it as I continue with this program.
I am concerned that the students write appropriate posts. I can see from the video that I can get an alert when a post is made and I can view the post before it is added for the public to see. That seems like a good idea to prevent undesirable messages.
I can see using a blog with other people in my department to share ideas and techniques pertaining to classes we teach. I could also see a blog as useful between teachers of different departments for communicating about students that we share. This would be sort of like a "team" approach that I used to experience when I was in the middle school. We also have a faculty book club at my high school. We sometimes have a tough time getting a date to meet that's good for everyone. We could maintain a blog and have our discussions on line, or at least communicate our ideas from a meeting with those who could not attend and read their comments even though they're not at the meeting. Our book club is in the year-long process of promoting the reading of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. A blog would allow staff to share ideas about how they're promoting the book in their discipline.
I'm eager to see what else this course has to offer, but right now, blogging seems like a great place for me to start using some of what Web 2.0 has to offer to educators.
How might you use a blog with students? How might they respond to a blog assignment? What concerns about blogging with students do you have? How might you use a blog for other educational purposes (other than with students)?
I teach English and I intend to use my blog to have students chat about books. Somethimes they'll chat about books they've chosen to read independently. They can share their reflections and recommend books and authors to one another. Other times they'll comment on specific questions about readings we're doing in common. I'm not sure exactly how I'll do this because I'm just learning, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it as I continue with this program.
I am concerned that the students write appropriate posts. I can see from the video that I can get an alert when a post is made and I can view the post before it is added for the public to see. That seems like a good idea to prevent undesirable messages.
I can see using a blog with other people in my department to share ideas and techniques pertaining to classes we teach. I could also see a blog as useful between teachers of different departments for communicating about students that we share. This would be sort of like a "team" approach that I used to experience when I was in the middle school. We also have a faculty book club at my high school. We sometimes have a tough time getting a date to meet that's good for everyone. We could maintain a blog and have our discussions on line, or at least communicate our ideas from a meeting with those who could not attend and read their comments even though they're not at the meeting. Our book club is in the year-long process of promoting the reading of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. A blog would allow staff to share ideas about how they're promoting the book in their discipline.
I'm eager to see what else this course has to offer, but right now, blogging seems like a great place for me to start using some of what Web 2.0 has to offer to educators.
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Honestly, I don't read many blogs right now, but if I did (and I have a feeling I'll be adding some blogs in my folder!) this service would be indispensable. With everything in one spot, I could keep up with all the blogs that interest me. I had no idea such a feature was available on the internet -- which shows me how much I. have to learn