Thing23

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
One of my favorite exercises on the journey was the wikis and videos. I think they will be very useful for me during the school year.
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals? This program has brought some resources to me that will enhance my teaching skills as a teacher and a learner.
Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? I expected this program to be difficult for me to work through but for the most part it was user friendly.
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? I think it would be great to have like online chat people to help with technical difficulties.
If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? I think I would participate.
How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities? Phenominal!

Thing22

Nings seems to be a very good resource for me. Since I am working on my PhD, I can use this resource to connect with other teachers around the world who are studying similar subject areas. I plan using this website more (Ning in Education).

Thing 21

The photostory was a little difficult for me and was pretty time consuming. I can however see how it can be used in the classroom. A picture is worth a thousand words. It is my hope that students can look at the pictures and from there use them to write down their thoughts and feelings.

Thing20

I am a 7th grade special education teacher. I chose a video that would help students remember material. This would be a useful strategy to share with other teachers who have students that are struggling in this area. Here is the link to the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6uYhDU5tvg

Thing19

What was most special about this tool is that it was organized according to category and ranked according to popularity. This could possibly save time when searching for items. If the rankings are according to success with the sights, I could see how that would eliminate time in going to areas that may not lead to the success you are looking for. In addition, the variety in the rankings allows flexibility in the sites. Schools and classrooms could use this as an organizational tool for research with students.

Thing18

I didn't see any real advantages with Google Doc. To be very honest, it was very similar to Microsoft except it is on the internet. Because there are so many tools that come along with Microsoft, I would say it would not be advantageous to waste time getting on the internet to do a document or spreadsheet when everything is already set up and readily available for me to use.

Thing17

It was pretty easy to create the search engine. I chose a topic that would benefit me during the school year...Reading Comprehension. The name is Reading Rollers. This is the link to it:
http://rollyo.com/search.html?q=Reading+Comprehension&sid=569985

Thing16

Wow...wow....wow...! I can definitely see how this would benefit my language arts classes for literacy circle exercises. It is very interactive and different from pencil/paper work. I was very excited about Wikis and how much learning will take place in utilizing them. I am always looking for something that will add a little something, something and this is it. I am really excited. Seriously!

Thing15

Library 2.0 is a place for me to continually learn how to teach my students better. It is engaging to me and in turn will allow me to engage my students. The possibility of allowing student to be interactive are endless.

The perspective that I will briefly focus on is "a temporary place in time". Because of the constant movement in technology, the opportunities for students are wide and ever changing. There is always an easier way to get information into the hands of students and this is an avenue that they can take advantage of.

Thing14

I spent quite a bit of time on Thing 14. It may benefit students at a minimal level that I teach, but that is all. In my opinion it is not age appropriate for the grade level that I teach. I could maybe see the keyword search factors being more beneficial at the high school level. I can't say this was my favorite thing. I was a little confused the whole time.

Thing13

I suppose that I could see how this could help my students with research(at least keeping up with places they have been). However, we only do research at the end of the year which is really unfortunate because research is a big deal especially when they get to high school and college. I will say that the links were difficult to get through.

Thing12

Point 1 : When commenting on blogs one should keep in mind that if you are going to respond do so in a meaningful way. Two word comments like "you're right" does not benefit the blog author. It is better not to comment than to make meaningless comments that don't stimulate conversation or bring enrichment to the blog.

Point 2: When you want to criticize something someone has said in a blog, do so in good taste without insulting the other person. In other words you can disagree without being disagreeable.

I posted comments on two blogs one was concerning Julia Child the french cook and the other was on basketball. My attention was drawn to these two blogs because I am a chef for one and I love basketball.

Thing11

This was by far one of my favorite Things. I absolutely love reading and getting to know new authors. What was beneficial about library thing was seeing other book lovers who have interest that are in common with me. I wrote down several books (more than 5). Gary Soto is an author that I would like to know more about. Lois Duncan is one that I grew up with that I want to experience how her writing has evolved.

Thing10

I actually played around with the comic strip generator. I really enjoyed going through the various cartoons. Some of them were familiar and some were not. This would be a wonderful way to teach students how to use dialogue in their writing. I think this will raise their level of interest and illicit more participation in the class.

Thing9

I found Topix one of the easiest sites when I veiwed it. Syndic8 seemed to be the most difficult for me. I didn't really see how this could be of use to me. I was actually at a lost as to what I was to receive from this experience.

Thing8

I can appreciate Google reader because I can see how the news stories and other features can be used to pull nonfictional pieces of material for my students. Nonfiction pieces of writing are huge piece in teaching reading comprehension and other aspects like author's point of view.

Thing7

1. Google Calendar: I really enjoyed exploring the Google Calendar. I could really use this calendar to help organize me at work,church and other personal areas. What is really great is that the calendar can be accessed by my cell phone.

2. Google Scholar: I was very interested in Google Scholar. I think this would be a good tool for exploring literatrue with my students. It would be an especially good avenue for enhancing literature at the secondary level.

Things6

After going through the materials on mashups, I didn't see how it would benefit me a whole lot in the classroom. I suppose it could possibly be helpful in allowing students to make connections in some type of reading exercise. I could see it possibly enhancing comprehension.

Things5

Students need to know that in life sometimes things can be overwhelming and crash in on them. A good foundation can withstand or take many beatings and overcome whatever obstacles that they may encounter. Remembering this will motivate them to keep going in what they want to achieve no matter what happens in their life.

Things4

I registered with Library2Play.

Things3

Most of the process was fairly easy. Getting the avatar to show was not easy to do. I'll update when that is successful. Right now...moving forward and will come back to that. I have been working at this far too long.

Things2

I thought the easiest of the 71/2 habits was play. There is not enough play in school and life in general. It is easier for one to learn through play than many other ways. It is highly underrated. I didn't find any of the habits particularly difficult.