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   

Tagging: Thing Seventeen

For Thing Seventeen, we are asked to create an account with Delicious and explore the site under "educational technology." I found different websites that could be very useful. One I found was the TeacherTube. I had no idea there was such a site out there! You can look up videos just as if it is YouTube! I think this tool is wonderful because you can review how one teacher may have taught a lesson you are about to approach or find ideas for your own lesson. You could maybe even learn about ideas you have never known. With the Delicious tool, you can bookmark a great website you see, such as the TeacherTube. 

Also, you can log into the Delicious web tool through your Facebook or Twitter. This can help you to see what your fellow teachers or co-workers are using with this tool as well. It can help teachers to collaborate or share ideas in their classroom!

Organization is key: Thing Sixteen

For Thing Sixteen, we are asked to explore fun Web tools such as making a homepage or using gadgets such as a to-do list or calendar. 

I find such tools as these, very useful for teachers! We already know as future teachers, our time needs to be planned out and on schedule everyday. it is important to have a good homepage such as the iGoogle or a calendar that keeps everything up to date for us. 

I myself made a homepage with iGoogle. I chose my own theme and deleted gadgets I found less useful. 

The Backpack tool is also very useful for teachers. As stated on the website, the online calendar is great for keeping of with life's loose ends.

The to-do lists are perfect for me. In my planner I keep now, I write down every little thing I have to do in a day. I also put check boxes next to each item so I can check off as I go throughout the day. If I don't write down everything I need done in a day, I will forget that one important thing.

These organized web based tools are perfect for teachers, especially like me!    

Wiki: Thing Fifteen

For Thing Fifteen, we are asked to experience the world of wiki. Wiki is an interesting site to explore. I think it is amazing how one can change or edit into anyone's information he/she has given on that site. 

However, I have been told by all of my teachers that I am NOT to use wiki for any researching. This is because wiki does allow anyone to post or edit information. 

Although, wiki can be a great resource for children to use for their own information exploring. Children can use wiki to learn how everyone's opinion is different on many subjects.

Wiki would be a great tool to use in the classroom on teaching students different ideas and opinions on ideas or information in today's society.    

Flow/Mind: Thing Fourteen

For Thing Fourteen, we are asked to explore different flowchart and mind map web tools and decide how we can use these tools in different ways and areas.

I created an account with bubbl.us|brainstorm and mind maps. I started creating a small flowchart for my term paper in History 1220. It was very cool to have my brainstorming in a neat order. Especially for me to go back and look at to see what else I have to consider. 

The difference between the mind maps and flowcharts is that flowcharts have the more simple way of organizing information and brainstorming whereas mind maps seem have a more modern style or organizing your information. Mind maps have many different points drawing off the one main idea or focus of the subject. However, flowcharts begin with the focus and draw off different sub points and ideas from the main focus. 

Either tool one may use, flowcharts and mind maps are a great way of organizing information for not only a teacher but at student as well. These charts help to draw attention to the main areas at which a child should be looking upon in whatever subject area a teacher may be teaching that day.

Flowcharts and mind maps are a great web tool!   

Zoho & Google Docs: Thing Thirteen

For Thing Thirteen, we are asked to explore Zoho and Google Docs.

The first I explored was Zoho. I created an account and decided to sign up for "Challenge" which is a site where teachers can create quizzes or test for students to take online. I created a small quiz on culture. I related it to the small power point I made for my Education 3040 class. I would love to teach Social Studies so I thought this would be a fun little activity for me to practice! 
Next, I created a small quiz on Google Docs just to get the hang of it. I did further explore what all is possible to do on Google Docs. A teacher can create a spreadsheet, make forms, drawings, documents, and even create folders. Below, I have created a link to the tiny quiz I made up relating to standards 3.1 in 3rd grade Social Studies.
Culture Quiz
With Google Docs, a teacher has many resources he/she can use to incorporate in the their classroom. It is another fun and easy tool I have enjoyed learning about!

Google Translate: Thing Twelve

For Thing Twelve, I explored different Google tools that are offered. Apparently, Google is also used for many different searches, as well as keywords. There is Google Calendar, Google Translate, and Google Alert. I myself, tried out the Google Translate. I translated "Good morning" in English to Irish. In Irish it is "Dea-maidin". I found this as an interesting tool. The link to my creation is below.

http://translate.google.com/#en/ga/Good%20morning

I find this particular Google tool useful to incorporate in the classroom. When teaching Social Studies, when learning about other cultures, such as African heritage and Kwanzaa, students must learn about he language Swahili. This would be a fun tool to pull up in my lesson and let students name off words to translate in Swahili. It is always awesome to find another useful and fun tool to use in my future classroom!

Blog searching: Thing Eleven

For Thing Eleven, I explored different search tools for finding blogs to add to my reader. I actually found this particular exercise confusing. I honestly preferred searching for blogs on my Google reader. The easiest method otherwise is the Google Blog Search. There I did find the School Library Learning 2.0. It was very similar to the blogs we are making now. The other tools such as Topix.net I did not find as easy. It was confusing and I was not quite sure to where to start searching. One interesting website I did find is TeachersPayTeachers.com. This website lets teachers share their resources with other teachers. This website also features blogs by many teachers all around. I did not find many other ways for finding tools for blog searching. Though it was confusing, I do see how this tool can be useful when wanting to find or search specific blogs. Especially ones that are relevant to your lesson or classroom!

RSS: Thing Ten

For Thing Ten, I signed myself up with Google Reader and subscribed to five different feeds related to teaching. 

Cool Cat Teacher Blog

Free Technology for Teachers

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman

learning.now

Dangerously Irrelevant

While searching through the different options for subscriptions, I took a small peek at each one to decide whether or not I would enjoy the feed. A few of the feeds have different tips or ideas for the classroom and a few others have funny thoughts to think about while in the classroom (or just funny thoughts to get you through another school day). I believe I could use the Cool Cat Teacher Blog or learning.now for the classroom when needing new ideas for teaching my students. These blogs also offer different resources I can use to incorporate into the classroom. For example, I noticed one feed on the Cool Cat Teacher Blog about the day Neil Armstrong was named an astronaut and what his parents' feelings were about it. This is not only interesting for me to watch or read about, but for my future students as well. Every young child has aspirations of becoming a doctor, lawyer, or astronaut! This would be perfect for them to watch and learn about. Now, for my personal life, I find blogs such as the Confessions of a Pioneer Woman to be good. The lady of the blog shares funny thoughts of her personal life that may give hard working people (such as teachers) a laugh for the day or week!

This technology is a great resource for everyone, especially teachers, to take advantage of. It is really simple to log onto my email and get to read each feed that is relevant for my classroom in one place. I can even check at school real quick and pull it up in my classroom in the middle of a lesson. For example, if I am teaching a lesson on the first walk on the moon in Social Studies and I want to mention something extra about Neil Armstrong. I enjoyed learning about another useful tool to use in my future classroom. It really is that simple!

Generators: Thing Nine

For Thing Nine, we are asked to use generators.

Honestly, whenever I first started reading the discovery exercise I thought, generators? How could I possibly use or enjoy such a thing and what exactly is a generator doing in a classroom? 

Well, all it took was a little exploring and playing around with this 2.0 tool for me to believe it is awesome! Fun graphics and pictures ALWAYS catch the eyes of children. Using funny smileys with signs reading off the class or stating an assignment can grab the attention of a student for him/her to read further. I played around with the smileys myself. I would leave to teach Social Studies so I made a graphic pertaining to this subject. I also created a 1957 Tennessee license plate reading "EDUCATOR". I simply got onto the links (listed below), played with generators, saved a screen shot, and uploaded the pictures I made on my blog. Generators are a tool that can be fun not only for the teachers but kids as well!

http://cmtk3.webring.org/l/rd?ring=digitalleonardo;id=34;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.customsigngenerator.com%2F

http://www.images-graphics-pics.com/signs/smilies/sign-generators.asp?page=1

Spell with flickr: Thing Eight

Thing Eight ask us to use a mash up and create something new for our blog. I decided to use Spell with flickr. I believe this was a very fun tool to use. All I had to do was type in a word and it spelled it out for me, easily! After your word appears, you can change the image of the letter that appears by simply clicking on that letter. There are many images for letters you can choose from.

I chose the word EDUCATION for my image. I tried to choose an image that reflects learning and teaching in some way for each letter as well. This tool could be used for simply teaching spelling to students in the classroom. If I could have exploring all the different possibilities, I know elementary children will too. This could get my students excited to spell. Each week I could assign each student a word or two from the spelling list and have them use this tool to create a new image on a word they learned that week! It would definitely get my students to thinking and having fun at the same time!

           
           

"ABC, it's easy as 123":Thing Seven

For "Thing Seven," we are asked to upload an image from Flickr. I chose option one and decided to just explore the website. There are useful qualities in this website. It is always to explore everyone's pictures and see what goes on in his or her world. As a teacher, just searching the keyword "Education" many pictures show up that relate and represent education all over the world. I myself, did use the keyword "Education". The one picture I found that I did like is by James Brauer. The picture basically has three alphabet blocks, reading A B C. The picture is named, "The Importance of Early Childhood Education." I find that early education is the most critical. Children are always changing and developing. It is important that they learn life values and lessons early ahead. As teachers, we are to provide the base knowledge that children will need in later years for high school and college. 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/k12cornerstones/5916756206/ 

YouTube it: Thing Six

For "Thing Six" we are ask to explore a Web 2.0 tools from the awards list. For this particular blog posting I chose YouTube. Yes, just as everyone else, YouTube is nothing new to me however I find this tool very useful for everyday life. YouTube not only has videos for entertainment but many videos that can be related to any class or subject that a student needs help with. There are instructional videos for how to use Smart Boards or even helpful hints with any math class. In many ways one can like this tool and there are not any dislikes I find in this tool myself. It gives users the opportunity to create an account with no cost. Even if a user does not have an account of his or her own, one can still explore other accounts their friends or family may have. When searching a video, other videos appear that are similar that may help you or entertain you. Whenever you explore other videos and information users give out, you can create an account and give back by sharing your own information or videos you may think the world needs to see. As already stated, YouTube is also useful for school-related topics. You can search any subject or problem you are learning in class and find many instructional videos to help you out. YouTube is one Web 2.0 tool that can keep students interested in not only entertainment but learning as well!

School 2.0 future: Thing Five

Web 2.0 tools are the next step in developing technology in the education world. From what I have read, many 2.0 sites are promoting the use of these tools for not only teachers, but the students and parents as well. So far, I have enjoyed using the Web 2.0 tools because it has given me a broader since as to how technology now fits into education.

To me, the term "School 2.0" means turning education to a new direction in technology for students. In the article I read, Web 2.0: A Guide For Educators, it stated that students between ages 12 and 17 use social networking for communicating about everything, including school-related issues. Web 2.0 can help students become much more interested into school and learning because of the tools they can use. 

Schools in the future will have students using Web 2.0 for school as much as Facebook for social issues. Students may even excel in the classroom and achieve higher grades because they will be up to date with new information and what is going on in the classroom when he or she is not present. Web 2.0 will introduce a future of new learning!

Commenting builds confidence: Thing Four

For "Thing Four," we are asked to discuss the importance of commenting and pick 5 of our classmates to comment on. Commenting helps one as a teacher to not only interact with classmates or co-workers, but helps one to get involved! Interaction is one of the top important tools of being teacher because a teacher must interact with students, other teachers, the principal, and also the parents. Having a blog and commenting on others helps to interact with many people!

Out of the readings I took a peek at I noticed the statement, "You show the blogger that 'you hear them'." I found this very important because as future teachers we all need encouragement and the satisfaction that we can grab attention on important topics. The second statement I found said, "Writers like knowing they have been read." I know that it gives me more confidence to know I am being heard. Commenting only proves that one is being heard.

The 5 classmates I chose for this particular 23 Things are:

1. Ava Jayne

2. Emily Rittenberry

3. Doshanna Richards

4. Marilea Blair

5. Susan Peterson.

The sort of comments that I left were such things as "Well done!" or "Powerful words!" But also, I made statements and thoughts. I would like to always go into better detail so my classmate knows, I hear them and I love commenting!



Future benefits: Thing Three

In the future, blogger can be beneficial to me in my teaching years and the education program itself. In the education program, I can blog about all my education classes and teachers, as well as, my field experiences and student teaching. Sharing my ideas and encounters can help with receiving feedback from other education majors who have already accomplished the experiences I am facing. Blogger can also be helpful in my very own classroom whenever I am in the working field. Students can check out my blog for a summary or comments on the lesson(s) from the day or week. Parents can check out my blog for the same as the students or additional information they may not be familiar with. Parents and institutions I work for can check out my past blogs just to be familiar with how I teach or go about the classroom.

Blogger is definitely a web 2.0 tool I will keep within my reach for the near future.



Avatar me: Thing Two

For "Thing Two" we are instructed to describe our experience with creating a blog and uploading an avatar. Creating my blog was not very hard for me. I could easily pick a name for the posting and what not. I chose to name by blog "Blair's 23 Things" because my real name is Cristina and that is how it is presented in the class list so naming it "Blair" can sort of give everyone a heads up as to what name I am called. Actually creating and posting a blog is not very hard for me. I enjoy getting to write freestyle and just share whatever thoughts come out of my head. I actually enjoy this part of the web 2.0 tools project. Lastly, I will explain my avatar experience. An experience and learning process is definitely what it was! It took me asking Mrs. Richardson a week later to help me with not only uploading my avatar to my Blogger profile but where I could even find my avatar after I had already created it. Fortunately, I got the avatar all straightened out quickly. This is the first time I made an avatar of myself as well. I gave myself my green eyes just for personal touch and placed my hair in a ponytail to show my working side because I work a lot and my hair is usually in a ponytail. And to end with, I put myself in simple clothes to express my simplicity that just may stand out through my blogging.

I am only a beginner: Thing One

This is my first time blogging and I would like to take a few sentences to describe this experience. For starters, it is definitely a learning process for me whenever it comes to technology in general. So, as a non-efficient technology girl I had to take careful steps with beginning the 2.0 web tools. It is hard setting up a blog to me because there are so many tools, gadgets, and work that go into a blog. Creating a name and getting started was just the beginning! However, I know as a teacher-to-be it will benefit me in later years. I can keep my blog to discuss experiences when I am actually working in the classroom later. I can give and receive feedback from other teachers who also blog. Though hard to dive into use with, web 2.0 tools will help with my career.

For "Thing One" I had to watch a short tutorial about the 7 1/2 habits for lifelong learning. Each habit is beneficial and inevitable for teachers but out of the 7 1/2 habits I will describe which was easiest and which was hardest. Habit number 1 is what I, personally, found easiest. Habit number 1 stated, "beginning with the end in mind." I may be a somewhat slow learner, but I am good at planning and setting myself goals. As a teacher, setting goals for not only me but my students is just what I plan on doing. Habit number 6 is the habit I found the hardest. Habit number 6 stated, "use technology to your advantage." I already said that it is a learning process whenever it comes to technology so I am nervous whenever I am told the best thing to do is use technology as much as possible. I have talk to a couple of teachers who say they personally do not feel the need for much technology in their classrooms so I always figured I could be the same way. However by week 3 in my Education 3040 class, I have learned that will not and should not be the case.