Thing 23

I'm glad I was a participant in 23 Things. Although I had a slow start, I managed to get through the things. This has definitely changed my perspective on using the web for the classroom. At times I felt a bit rushed or lost and some of the things will have a more immediate impact on my classes. Nevertheless, I will need time to absorb most things until they become more automatic. When I reach a point of ownership, I'll stop fumbling and begin to use these applications in more creative ways. I will be spending time this summer exploring and refining my abilities with web 2.0 applications and make connections to my area of the curriculum so that my classes will be more enjoyable and relevant for my students. Thanks to the folks at RESA for the offering and monitoring of the projects.

Thing 22

I edited the resa wiki by adding the tagteam timeline to the list. I created my own wiki after opening an account on wikispaces. I'd like to spend more time (and I will) editing my wiki and adding different things to it. When I become comfortable working with these, I will be ready to use them in classes. For now, I need to practice more. The wiki will require more planning for me to use it. Unlike the blog, the wiki will be a collaborative effort and others will have the capability to edit it.

Thing 21

As with so many other tools, I will need to continue to explore and experiment with wikis. However, the potential for collaboration and course work is immediately evident. I came across a wiki developed by a middle school class that was studying Ancient Greece. The wiki included instructions, rubrics, graphics and backgrounds that were quite interesting. The teacher/student efforts combined for a very good project. Some of the other wikis I viewed were instructional in nature from the How To wiki site. These are great examples of exchange of information for practical purposes with the contributors adding their expertise.

Thing 20

I've used my ipod for music. I have a lot of music. I always knew there were podcasts, but I didn't want to muddy the waters of my ipod with other things. I was procrastinating. I've subscribed to Grammar Girl and to another vocabulary podcast. Both of these are good and I can use them immediately in my classes. Nevertheless, more exploration is on the horizon and the potential is tremendous. I am very interested in creating podcasts for myself and my students.

Thing 19

This is something that I want to learn more about. There are some interesting podcasts but I'll need to preview more to find those useful for my classes. Here's one on vocabulary and another by my favorite cowboy philosopher, Baxter Black.

Thing 18

Here's a presentation from slideshare.

Joy Of Learning

View more presentations from John Connell.

I thought I'd post something from the education file. Although somewhat lengthy, there are some good ideas in this presentation. Food for thought.

Thing 17

I'll need to do more exploring. I enjoy exploring, when I have the time and when I find a good and useful tool, I'll make the time. I tried a few of the listed tools but was frustrated by some of the catches. Needed an invitation for Knowtes, didn't get it. Needed a confirmation for my email on the 30Boxes calendar, didn't get it; it may be fun to explore this but it may be a redundant tool anyway. I'll check it out, if and when the email confirmation arrives.

Thing 16

This has the potential to be very useful for collaborative efforts. I'm sure it is already. However, I need more practice and experience with it. I tried to create a document, but I am not sure if anyone else can play with it (edit etc.). I wanted to share with the world or even a few people, whose email addresses I thought I knew. But I ran into a problem. I got a window indicating that those friends could not share the document. Oh well! I'll keep experimenting.

Thing 15

Subscribing, unsubscribing, managing feeds and tags are not yet an obsession or a habit with me. However, as I gain experience and practice, I am sure that these activities will become a habit that increases the organization of and participation in the networks that become significant to me and my classes. A routine of reading and deleting or finding more useful connections will enable me to stay up to date on the topics I choose to follow.

Thing 14

Social networking is the key phrase in this tool. I've used bookmarks extensively on my own computer, but Delicious takes this practice to a new level. It will take some getting used to and a new perspective on organizing for the tags and student involvement, but my instincts tell me that this will become a useful tool for course work.

Thing 13

Naming and organizing tags will become an important activity for me as I begin to use a website that uses social networking as a means to share information. Naming files on my own computer has sometimes presented a problem in the realm of retrieval. Since tags can be used by a community of participants, finding the lingua franca will be of great importance.

Thing 12

I finally posted the solar storm for thing 12 after looking at a million widgets. I had trouble trying to post others and couldn't get both the widget and my blog on the same posting. Resorted to adding the widget from Blogger and then, creating the posting. I spent way too much time on this. I need to move on to 13.

Thing 11

Just as the reading of blogs seems a matter of pick and choose, finding blogs that elicit a sincere response seems to be an activity that is guided by the muse. So many ways to go, and time is a limitation. As educators, we need to make careful choices and provide precise instructions that define our curriculum and keep our students on task. An exchange of ideas is certainly essential in a learning environment but, as I learned from the last activity, some postings attract spam and editing becomes a necessary and additional task.

Thing 9 and 10

You Tube is ubiquitous. So many people (students included) talk about what they've seen on You Tube. I love languages and etymology. I stumbled across a site that discusses word origins and history but it is somewhat controversial. I am posting a link so you can make up your own mind. See for yourself.


Here is a lesson on the word "budget".

Thing 8

This was some of the most fun yet, but also frustrating things. I can see many uses for the classroom with image generators and the like. I was able to do some interesting things with photos. However, I was not able to experience the full benefit of the so called "free hosting" sites. Some of these that I selected, did not make it easy for the simple minded, technical novice. After signing up with username and password, I was sent to other sites to create accounts where I still could not upload the items that I had created. There were interesting capabilities and potentially good applications, but ultimately unusable features.

Thing 7

This activity is the type that interests me and that I think will be quite useful for my classes in the near future. I simply posted the first photos that popped up on my computer and these are rather mundane compared to those posted by others in our group. However, my goal was to complete thing 7 more than to make any kind of artistic statement. So, mission accomplished.

Thing 6

The distortion and color in this photo are magnificent. I've taken and seen several photos of this structure but this is one of the most unique I've ever seen. The confluence of the sublime and the ridiculous provide a spectacular impression.

Thing 5

Three different ways of subscribing to a blog seems superfluous, but I think these methods might come in handy. Most of the places I visited had an easy way to create the link. However, some of the more obscure postings that I could encounter may need another method to secure a place in a folder. By the way, I would like to know more about moving links from one folder to another.

Thing 4

I suppose I could spend forever wandering the labyrinth of blogs and news services et cetera that populate the internet. I like exploring. The RSS feature will allow me to stay connected to and organize the places that I would like to revisit. As this evolves from the exploration mode to a level of organization and interest that corresponds to my classes, the form and function of the bloglines will become more useful and functional.

Thing 3

I've been away for a few weeks working hard and then, hardly working. However, I have read most of the blogs of the participants and find them all fascinating. The quest reminds me of some lines from Victor Hugo, to paraphrase-
What put the whole population in commotion was the double solemnity of the Epiphany and the Feast of Fools-
There are so many great thoughts, ideas and suggestions and some decry the humorous anecdotes and observations as a waste of their time. No doubt there is much to sift through and digest, and we all desire to find things useful for our students and ourselves. Nevertheless, I have discovered many realizations as well as laughs and find them all valuable.
Windows are eyes.

Thing 1 and Thing 2

I'm slow and lumbering with this type of technology. I'm still working with scrolls and titula. Nevertheless, new things are inspiring, and although creating a blog was a daunting task, I am sure that maintaining it will be fun and informative.
Using cell phones is an interesting concept, but it is a concept that may be at odds with the policies of several schools. I will endeavor to keep an opened mind. The i pod is something that has the most intriguing possibilities at present, and is a tool for which I could find immediate applications.