iS tHIS tHE eND oR tHE bEGINNING??

WOW! I can't believe this is the actual end of this project...done, later, outta here!!! Yes, while it's true I'm happy to be done with this portion of the technology project, I am also happy to have learned some more about web 2.0. This project has definitely taught me a "thing" or two! While I find it hard to maintain social networks while working, going to school, and taking care of the kiddos, I think I will definitely utilize it more when I'm not in school. For sure, I will use many "things" as an educator in and out of the classroom.

tHING #23

Wayne RESA's 23 Things is based on The Learning 2.0 program originally designed by Helene Blowers, Technology Director, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, and has been modified for use by Wayne RESA. The original program is loosely based upon Stephen Abram’s article, 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006) and the website 43Things. This online program was built using freely available Web 2.0 technologies that include: Blogger, Flickr, YouTube, Wikispaces, Delicious and Bloglines. As a future teacher, I will use Creative Commons licensing by going to creativecommons.com and researching information through them to ensure correct sharing procedures are being conducted.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

tHING #22

The titles of my binders are: 3rd Grade Math Problems Music Websites For Students STEM Interactive LiveBinders is a technology tool that I will probably use in and outside of class. The education binders offer a lot of valuable information that can be shared not only with my future students, but with my children as well.

4th Grade Math Word Problems

tHing #21

Make a video of your own at Animoto.
I really enjoyed this "thing" and I'm not just saying that. I enjoyed it so much that I uploaded it to Facebook and plan on making more in the near future. Before Facebook, I used to use myspace which allowed you to pick your own music and add picture videos. Anyway, that was the only feature on myspace that I preferred over Facebook. Now I can share music with pictures on Facebook, just like I used to do on myspace.

tHING #20

I love YouTube! If I'm ever looking to find a video, I pretty sure I'll find it on YouTube. This past weekend I went on a marriage retreat and watched this comedian explain some of the differences between men and women. I thought it was pretty hillarios! Therefore, I have embedded in onto my blog to share with this class. This clip only shows part of his act, but the rest can also be found on YouTube. If you get a chance, you should check it out.

tHING #19

Visit TeacherPop
Since the start of this class, I am a member of several online communities. However, the only one REALLY appealing to me at this point in time, is facebook. While I can see the value in some of the other social networks, I simply do not have time for them. Work and school take up most of my time. When I'm not occupied with one of those, I like to spend my spare time with my family. Every now and then, I'll go on Facebook and post a picture that I would like to share with friends and family. However, once this semester is over, I can definitely see myself utilizing more of these online communities such as TeacherPop.

tHING #18

I am one of the 41.6% of the U.S. population who already has a facebook account. Before facebook, myspace was the big social network that I was affiliated with. However, my sister told me how she found a lot of people we knew on facebook, so I signed up for an account. I still used my myspace for I had a fancy home page with a song of choice (which was a pretty neat feature by the way). However, as time moved on and I got more of a life, lol, I stopped using myspace and only use facebook as my means of social networking. As an educator, I think it is very important to understand how social networking works for several reasons. One reason is that it is important to know what NOT to post. You don't want parents or the principal at your school frowning down upon you about something you did on the weekend...assuming it wasn't very "TEACHER" like. Second, you could set up a class page that allows parents and/or students to communicate and share thoughts, ideas, and pictures. Last, it's just fun and part of our culture!

tHING #17

Tagging and social bookmarking is a new technology tool for me. I never knew such a tool existed before the start of this activity. At first, I was a little skeptical. While realizing its ability to find pertinent information faster, I felt too stuck in my ways to really consider it as an everyday tool. However, after watching the related videos and tutorials, I am convinced that I will definately use it in the future. I not only see its potential as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be assessed anytime from anywhere, but I also see it as a valuable educational tool. Teachers can take advantage of social bookmarking sites by tagging educational information that is available to all.

tHING #16

Although it wasn't my first choice, I ended up going with iGoogle for my intro page.  It has many options and is extremely user friendly. I liked all the different themes and gadgets it had to offer. I'm not sure if I'll use it as my home page, but I will definitely consider it. 


Online calendars can be useful in many ways. It is a great way to stay organized from any location from any computer. I also like that it will send reminders to your email which can be accessed by phone...ANYWHERE!


I happen to have the new iPhone 4S, and was able to download "remember the milk" to my Siri application. It was so easy to set up! I tested it out by telling my iPhone to "remember coffee mate." At first, it thought I said, "remember the coffee me." So I tried again, and it registered. Pretty neat. Can't wait to see how or when it reminds me!


If anyone reading this has the iPhone 4S, I would definitely recommend using the "remember the milk" application. In the future, I think it will prove to be a very useful tool, in and outside the classroom. 

tHING #15

Wiki is a tool that I think I will definitely use in the classroom. I thought I knew what Wiki was, but after working through the discovery exercises of this "thing," I realized that I was wrong. For example, I did not know that users of a shared Wiki could change or edit things that another user posted. In the classroom, students should be required to work collaboratively with other students through a Wiki when working on a group project that allows instant feedback from the teacher as well. 

tHING #14

The flowchart websites that I chose to explore were Gliffy and Bubbl.us. I didn't have to register to start enjoying the benefits of creating charts. I could definitely see myself using Gliffy in the future to create a flowchart or venn diagram. It also had a floor plan template and swot analysis template that allowed easy comparison of internal and external factors. I created an example of almost all the available tools through Gliffy. Bubbl.us was extremely friendly easy. It had minimal options which allowed easy creation of a flowchart. I was able to easily change tier colors and relationships. After completion, the user can click and print out the flowcharts for future reference. I think I will create a schedule for my daughter using a Gliffy tool.  

tHING #13

I have never heard of Zoho writer before. I find it very interesting and promising! So far, this is my favorite thing of the "23 Things!" Just the other day I was in the library and wanted to work on my research paper. I freaked a little because I didn't have my thumb drive and wondered how in the world am I going to save my work. I ended up working on it with Microsoft word, saving it to the desktop in the library, and then emailing it to myself. It all worked out okay in the end, but what a hassle. It would have been nice to log onto Zoho writer and create the document online at the library, and retrieve it later at home, or anywhere for that matter! I think I would be a little nervous to work on a lengthy research paper using this word processing tool. I think I would have to test out some shorter assignments that didn't weigh as heavily on the grade percentage of the class. Time to test out all the things this writer can do: Okay, so I just practiced "copy" and "paste." It did not allow me to right click to do it. I had to hit command C and command V...no big deal. I also easily changed the font, color and size of the letters. It was almost identical to MS Word. The watermark thing is kind of neat. Thought I chose a lighter color though. I cannot remember if MS Word has this feature, probably. mistysikes - that is what appeared when I hit the icon of the person.  Now, I think I will practice working on saving and retrieving this. I will keep my fingers crossed for I am nervous that I will do something wrong and lose everything I just typed. The spacing before and after paragraphs was a little tricky for me, but I finally figured it out. 

Google Docs is as easy to use as is Zoho. I think I like them as equally as much. The drawing component of Google Docs is a fun and easy way to create pictures and/or diagrams. In Google Docs, it is easy to collaborate with students because with the click of a mouse, the user can share, save, send any document, spreadsheet, slideshow, and drawing. The real test will come when I use it for a "real world" situation.

tHING #12

The first Google tool I decided to utilize was Google Calendar. It is so user friendly and am glad that this activity encouraged me to explore it. For purposes of familiarizing myself with it, I added my work and school schedule, along with my daughter's extra curricular activities. It allows you to view it by day, week, or month. I like the agenda view the most! It displays all upcoming commitments. The aspect I liked most about it was the ability to copy and paste the the browser address to share content via email. The second Google tool I chose to explore was Google Translate. It allows you to translate all languages from and to and vice versa. In addition to being a valuable personal organizational tool, Google Calendar can also be a valuable tool in the classroom. It can help you stay connected with parents on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Google Translate will definitely help in the classroom if faced with a child or family who is not fluent in English. Google Translate should also be made known to the families of a child who do not speak English.

tHING #11

I liked the "Google Blog Search" tool. It allows the user to type in any topic of interest. For example, I typed in "American Idol" and a blog by the name of "mjsbigblog" came up amongst many others. I chose this one because it also highlighted other current shows of interest. In my previous post, I said that I was a little disappointed in the user friendliness of RSS feeds. However, after spending a little more time navigating my way through the available website tools, I am more optimistic! I will definitely be able to stay on top of my news and entertainment all at the convenience of 1 website!

tHING #10

After watching the youtube video, I was really excited about the possibilities of RSS (really simple syndication). However, after searching my most often visited sites, I was a little disappointed to learn that they did not have an RSS link. In a couple of other instances, there was an RSS link, but for some reason, it would not load onto my google reader. Lately, I don't do much surfing on the net. I get most of my news via satellite radio on my way to work. I am currently taking four graduate level courses and working 30 hours a week. Therefore, when I'm on the computer it's either to check my personal, work, and educational email, check online banking, d2l, and Facebook (my guilty pleasure). My 1st grade daughter's teacher uses shutterfly as an online forum to communicate with the parents. So I was VERY excited to see that it had an RSS link. However, it must have been a broken link, because every time I clicked on it, it would just freeze up. In addition, I was also disappointed because Facebook didn't offer any kind of RSS links. In summation, I may have been disappointed to how RSS feeds worked for me, but at least now I know what they are and how they work. Now, I will definitely be looking out for the little orange symbol for I feel teachers can really benefit from sharing information via this method!

tHING #9

This website was fun...relatively speaking of course! It allows you to choose from several different text designs, font style and size, and background color. For a small fee, it will allow you to download these creations without the "www.txt2pic.com" advertisement on it. Not sure exactly how I could use this particular component in the classroom, perhaps I could use them in classroom blogs with students and parents. These graphics can be created at: http://www.txt2pic.com/glitters/43.htm

tHING #8

My creation, a photo by msikes1 on Flickr.

In my last blog, I stated that I probably wouldn't use Flickr because I didn't think I had a use or need for it. However, after exploring some of the mashups, I am convinced that I will probably use it sometime in the future. As you can see, I made a magazine cover. It was a really neat application found on http://bighugelabs.com/ that allows you to upload to flickr that allowed me to upload to blogger. I think it would be fun to chronicle academic events of a classroom on a magazine cover, and can definitely see myself doing something like this. I also think my daughter would have fun poking around with some of the other applications found on bighugelabs.com. Although I don't normally publish public photos, I don't see the harm in sharing them with friends online...as long as it's nothing incriminating ;)

tHING #7

My Kids, a photo by msikes1 on Flickr.

I'm not sure that I would ever use Flickr. While it seems to be a useful sight, I just don't think I would use it. I suppose the main reason for this is because Facebook offers similar capabilities, at least the ones that I would be interested in using. Overall, I found it easy to upload photos, add tags, and edit titles and captions. I would probably recommend this sight to someone if they were "anti" Facebook, and were interested in sharing photos with friends and family.

tHING #6

I chose Pandora Radio, and I absolutely fell in love with it!!! It is one of the best websites I have ever been on! While assisting a teacher in a 3rd grade classroom, she mentioned this website to me for she often plays music in the classroom when the students are independently working. However, I never went on it myself until this blog requirement came about. It is a free website that does not require registration to start benefiting from its wonderful features. It gets all its money from advertisements. It's quick, easy, and fun! All you have to do is enter an artist or song that you like. Then it will create a radio station for you based on that information. I love love love it! I can see myself using this in the classroom to stimulate creative thinking or just use it for fun around the holidays. 


http://www.pandora.com/#!/stations/play/737966126082864085

tHING #5

To me, web 2.0 means an alternative way to utilize the information provided to one on the world-wide-web. Unlike the "regular" web, web 2.0 allows instant access to information without all the windows. Access to this information is incredibly fast and EASY! One can gain access through their phone or computer. Web 2.0 also allows a group of kindergarteners to learn interactively through video games. In the literature we were required to read for thing #5, it stated that web 2.0 may even be utilized on the microwave oven someday! Could you imagine gaining even quicker access to information while waiting for your popcorn to stop popping???

tHING #4

Commenting is essential in order to get the most out of blogging. Without commenting, blogging would not be a back and forth type of communication. Instead it would be more of an online journal. The comments I made thus far were made for different reasons. Some were made because I knew who the bloggers were. Others were made because I liked and agreed what some of them had to say. In one instance, I decided to read one's blog solely based on the template they made for their "23 things." I usually don't respond to blogs that I don't agree with. "Usually" being the key word. Because every once in a while, I feel that something should be said if you feel strongly about something. But usually, I just go on and read another. 

tHING #3

There are many ways in which weblogs could enhance the student and/or teaching experience. As a student, I could start a "book" blog geared towards the campus I attend. At the end of each semester, I could post books that I no longer need and try to make a few extra bucks! During the semester, I could add websites that may be helpful in finding books at an economical price. In addition, I could add tidbit information such as what books professors REALLY use. As a teacher, I could blog about helpful techniques that I may stumble across while in the classroom, or post a lesson plan that I feel is worth sharing. Really, the possibilities are endless. Blogging is a social arena where students and teachers can interact and gain more knowledge of the world as opposed to relying soley on the schools or classrooms in which they work or go to school. 

tHING #2

I don't exactly consider myself to be computer "savvy," but at the same time, I'm not illiterate when it comes to using simple programs and navigating through the internet. With that said, on a scale from 1-10, with 1 being the least difficult and 10 being the most difficult, I would rate the whole process of creating a blog an avatar an 2 or 3. 


I decided on a simple title to explain what my blog was about because I'm all about simplicity. I tried creating an Avatar the would resemble my true self as much as possible. I would like to think I look better than the choices that were given, but I suppose that is subjective...ha ha! The creation of the Avatar was very easy. I would give that a 1 on my scale! I had a little trouble pasting my Avatar to the gadget section, but after reading through the instructions once more, I realized it was user error, go figure. Overall, I'm glad I was able to conquer what was expected of me for Thing #2!

tHING #1

I agree that "attitude" has everything to do with how successful one will be. Life long learners take on the world with an open mind which allows them to change their current perspective on life or amend it based on new information and/or experiences that they may encounter. Not only do they learn in the classroom, but they learn from everyday life experiences. Life is ever changing, and the life long learner recognizes and embraces this fact with open arms and a positive attitude!


For some reason, most of the 7 1/2 habits come relatively easy for me, which probably explains how I've been able to spend the last 10 years of my adulthood in school via classroom and distance learning. Anyway, If I had to pick which habit came the easiest for me, I would probably have to say habit #2. Habit #2 states: accept responsibility for your own learning. I agree with this statement 110%! I whole heartedly believe that you only get out as much as you put in. In other words, grades are a good indicator for how much effort a student puts in. For example, if I make a B, I know I only did "B" work. Years ago, I took an Earth Science class. It was rare that any student got an A on the tests. I, myself usually got B's. As a result, my classmates would complain of how hard the tests were and how impossible it was to get an A on any of them. I never could join in on the hype because I didn't agree. I felt like I deserved a B. I studied a fair amount, but I knew I could have studied more in-depth. I did however manage to make an A on one test...barely, but nonetheless, an A, which I felt was well deserved for I actually put in a little more effort in my studying. In summation, life long learners keep moving forward because they take responsibility for their own learning, as I do in my own learning. And that is why habit #2 comes the easiest for me!


The hardest habit of a life long learner for me to grasp is habit #7 1/2. Habit # 7 1/2 states: play. Sounds simple enough, but it's a lot harder for me I think than the average person. In fact, I may be have OCD (over compulsive disorder) when it comes to being organized. It's hard for me to relax and have fun if I know something needs to be done. In an effort to make myself grasp this habit a little better, I am trying not to allow myself to do any homework on Saturdays. Saturday is going to be my own little "play" time. This kind of makes me think back to a scene in the classic movie "The Shining" with Jack Nicholson. The particular scene shows Nicholson becoming crazed and typing over and over on his type writer, "all work and no play make Jack a dull boy." I know that's kind of an extreme and creepy example, but there is some truth in that statement. One shouldn't become so consumed with trying to succeed and reach their goals that they let the present day get away. Play is an important habit that life long learners have incorporated into their lives, and it is one that I will try to work on more. 


Finally, I hope to gain a real working knowledge of web 2.0 so that I can use it as a tool. Not only as a student and future teacher, but as a life long learner as well. So far, I have found that obtaining an account and setting up a blog is rather easy. It should all be down hill from here!!!