Is this the end? No, it is only the beginning.

So is this it?

Of course not.

For starters, I believe the 23 Things blog is only a way for us to get a jump-start to our social networking, technology using, and teaching career.

What I most liked about the 23 Things program is that I can write freely, telling whatever true feelings I have about a new tool or discovery I found in this program. Also, what I liked was getting to play with all the tools that many teachers use today! Getting to know all the resources that are available to teachers helps me to feel more like a teacher already. 

My favorite (fun) discovery in this journey is Spell with Flickr. I enjoyed getting to make such a cool creation that even my future students would find enjoyable, while learning how to spell! My favorite (assistant) discovery was the LiveBinder I created for myself. It is great to always have a resource used for better organization in my life.
If I could change one thing... I would change the use of Wiki. For teachers, it is not so bad because we are constantly learning and changing our knowledge, so Wiki can relate to our minds. However, I do not believe Wiki should be exampled as a good resource for students.
All in all, I have learned a lot from my blog discoveries and my Instructional Technology class. I have acquired the skills for using more technology and have learned how I can incorporate it into my future classroom.
If it is at all possible, I will do my best to keep up with my blog and to read others. This way I can still share and learn new ideas for my teaching practice on a day-to-day basis. A few points were made that got me thinking to, so I have created a resolution for myself:
I will write down one important thing I learned every day at school. Whether it be a sentence, comment, story, quote, or even one word, I will write it down! After writing it down, I will create a blog post talking about that one small or big thing I learned at school that day.
Good luck to all those future teachers!   

Creative Commons: Thing Twenty-Three

For Thing Twenty-Three we are asked to explore the Creative Commons and explain how it is important to a teacher.

I have learned in my Instructional Technology class that it is very important to pay attention to all the works and pictures you present or display to your students. Whenever sharing a picture or some type of information, one should always properly cite or give credit to the author of that work. 

Also, I learned that it is important to always be a model to your students. If you are very careful and use only Creative Commons information or imagery than your students will look at that as an example of what he or she should do when presenting or citing their own information.

We also learned in my course how to put together a paper explaining Creative Commons and its importance that is readable to the grade level we are teaching.

I learned quite a bit from this activity and now know how important it is to pay attention to all resources you find relevant to your subject matter.

   

LiveBinders: Thing Twenty-Two

For Thing Twenty-Two we are asked to set up an account with LiveBinders. I actually enjoyed this very much. I never knew such a simple web 2.0 tool could become so useful to me as a teacher-to-be. I can save any websites or resources I find useful and add them to the specified binder. This is great and perfect for teachers because I believe it is always important to stay organized!

The link or embedded code to my LiveBinder is below.

My Binder 

Animoto: Thing Twenty-One

Thing Twenty-One has asked us to put together a small video clip on the tool called Animoto.  With Animoto, you can put together small clips from pictures or videos. You can change the style, the song, or even the way the pictures are displayed. Animoto can be useful in the classroom because it uses the skills of creating and using technology to put together personal or academic related videos for learning.

I myself, put together a clip of the people I call my family.  

I figured it would be important to share a small clip with pictures of strictly them. 

This blog is suppose to reflect on what we learn. Though these two men are not a web 2.0 tool I recently discovered, I learn something new from them almost everyday!
  My Animoto Clip

Conjunction junction: Thing Twenty

For Thing Twenty we are asked to explore the wonderful world of Youtube. As already stated in a previous blog, I find Youtube very useful in education. Students love videos!

I chose to share a Schoolhouse Rock video from Youtube. I watched these videos (that first debuted in the 1970s) in middle school. These videos help me to learn the basis of grammar. However, other than videos such as Schoolhouse Rock, one can explore other videos made by people or teachers just like us.

Explore and see what you can find useful as a teacher-to-be!

TeacherPop: Thing Nineteen

http://www.facebook.com/blair.evans.549

Thing Nineteen asks us to join and explore Ning or TeacherPop. The badge I created should be shown above :)

I believe it is necessary to join great networks such as these in the education field. As teachers, we should always be looking for ways to improve. Having a special social network just for teachers, helps us to share ideas and give opinions so that we can make those improvements. 

It is also always important to communicate with fellow teachers. It is nice to have a relationship with those who understand the same day-to-day basis as you do. So join TeacherPop and get to knowing all those future teachers just like you!

Social Networking: Thing Eighteen

For Thing Eighteen, we are asked to explore the wonderful social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. 

I myself have tried Twitter once before, however I did not like it as much as I do Facebook. 

And yes, I do have a Facebook just like everyone else on the planet. 

Take a look at my Facebook page if you would like :)

I do enjoy having a Facebook. Although I do feel it can be a distraction at times and could cause problems for people in the real life and not just the social life. However, it is important for children or students to stay social throughout life. Socializing is important in a young person's learning life. 

I do not think any schooling should be linked to Facebook, because it is just for socializing rather than real academic work. Unless one wants to make Facebook for academic learning.

And in that case, it would be great for a student to learn and