Thing 24 begins chapter 2

My favorite discoveries were the ones that allowed me to make something and use my creative ability. Things 2, 8, 9, 13, 14, and 21 were definitely among my favorites, but among those my absolute favorite was Thing 21, where we were able to create a comprehensive video out of random pictures. The only thing that bothered me about the assignment (and I don't think this is something that can be fixed, not to mention that by the end of the semester I had found an easier way to do it that didn't annoy me) was that every time I exited the 23 things (which was a lot since I used the links in the blog), when I came back, I was back at Thing 24 and had to go all the way back down to the bottom (through every class of people) to go back to the list of things, and (assuming I remembered which Thing I was on) finally go back to the thing I was working on. As I said though, towards the end of the semester, I finally found an easier way to navigate through the blog, and I don't think this problem could be fixed anyway. I have learned a lot that will influence my practice as a teacher. Everything that we have done throughout our blog will help us in some way to become better teachers. I will have to really stay on top of myself to keep up with web 2.0 because I tend to forget about all of the resources available, even once I have learned about them and used them for an entire semester. However, some of the things this blog has introduced will help me to keep up: things like livebinder, de.li.cious, and Google Reader. My hope is that, eventually, it will become habit to check these things and keep up with the technology so that I can continue to use it to the advantage of my students and myself.

Thing 23 to protect and publish

Here is another site that shows that the 23 things we have been participating in is not an original idea. This site has the same information that we have gone over in a format that fits the school's needs. Therefore, though it looks different from ours, it is basically the same concept.

As a future teacher, I can use the Creative Commons, not only to cover myself and use copyrighted material in an appropriate manner, but also to publish my own material. There will probably be several times during my career that I will see or do things that amaze me to a point where I will feel like I need to share it with other people. This is what the Creative Commons is for. It allows people to publish their creative work under different settings for other people to see. I can use it to publish my own work, as well as to help my students publish their work (with their permission of course). The possibilities have the potential to be endless.

Thing 22 for organization

• What are the titles of your binders? 
• Embed one of your binders in your post. Click on the Options button under the binder you have selected to share, and then click on Embed. Copy the code and paste it into your blog post.
• Discuss how you might use LiveBinders in the classroom, including possible lesson ideas for students.

I made three binders as instructed. The first that I made is called College of Education and I have this binder to organize all of the things that I will need while I am still in school. The second is called As a Future Teacher for me to store items that I would like to be able to access when I graduate and get a job. The third is called Resources I would like to share and that is the one I will post here. It is a binder that I want to use for resources I can share with my colleagues, students, and parents. 

This, of course, is only one way that I can use LiveBinder in my classroom. As with most online tools, I can use it to communicate with my students and I can even use it to help my students learn how to organize and give them an easy way to do so.

Thing 21 charts out my years

My Facebook pics

This was definitely fun (and quite easy too). When I signed up for the account, I was able to sign up with Facebook and use my Facebook photos to create the video. This is by far my favorite tool we have learned about.

Watching the Tube with Thing 20

I love that we have started getting into sites that I am familiar with. First Facebook and now YouTube. I love YouTube and I use it for just about everything (except actually posting videos--that really isn't my thing). I look up music on YouTube and instructions and basically anything else I might need to look for. I chose this video because it sums up everything we as teachers need to be aware of in order to teach a number of different students. The wonderful thing is that it sums up everything we have been learning class after class in only one minute and 45 seconds. 

Thing 19 on other social media sites

I have been a member of TeacherPop for awhile but I am yet to really do anything with it. I am not big on social networking in general so it becomes a big out of sight out of mind kind of thing. Regardless, I enjoy facebook and I love the idea of TeacherPop and some of the other social media sites I looked at. I love the idea of having a place specifically for my colleagues and me where I can go to talk to them specifically about teacher stuff that only they would understand. I will probably stick with TeacherPop because it already has a lot of my colleagues as members. 

Visit TeacherPop

Facebook thing 18

My facebook page

The importance of knowing about social media--and more importantly, how to use it--is vital for educators. It is extremely important that educators understand that EVERYONE can see ANYTHING they post on either of these sites: your friends, boss, parents, and students (if you add them) will know when you post a status, picture, or life event. This means that, as educators, we have to be very professional and think before we post anything on facebook or twitter (or any other site for that matter). I prefer facebook over twitter simply because it is easier for me to do things on facebook (probably because I have had an account for so long). I have problems understanding the concept of twitter. With that being said, in my opinion, facebook is the more useful of the two. I can see the potential for school application on these sites. For example, Austin Peay College of Education has a page on facebook that they can post events on for the students in the group to see and stay up to date. Something like that can be used with a classroom as well to communicate between coworkers, students, and their parents.