Is It the End or Only the Beginning?

Wow have I learned so many new things. Not only have a learned about some of the most popular tools on the web but I have gained so much more knowledge about technology in general. One of the standouts I have in my mind would be any tool that helped me organize as a person. I love to keep up with things in an orderly fashion so I found great joy in working with the tools that helped me do that. The ones that did not seem to helpful were the pictures and video making. Those seem to be on a personal level and not so much use for the classroom. I felt as if it was a waste of time and not really helpful. Something that I did take away from this project was the fact that the internet has so many options that I had no idea about before this. I have always been familiar with the internet but never knew all the options that were available to new teachers. Being a new teacher is going to be something that is scary at times but having this blog, and other blogs to share one another's problems makes everything a little better. Sharing ideas is something that can ease a new teachers mind and help them understand that they are not alone. This class has no lie been difficult to keep up with but so many new ideas have been taught that it seems like it is worth it in the end.

Thing #23

This video I found talks about Teaching 2.0 and all the aspects it has in the classroom. When I started looking up resources about Web 2.0 and how teachers are teaching with these wonderful new and exciting resources, I found so much! The world is always changing and having these incredible resources is such a great way to expand our teaching skills. There is nothing wrong with the traditional paper and a pen but sometimes students need more. I believe with all of the technologies we have available for us today students can learn even beyond the paper and pen. These 23 things are found in many different businesses and schools around the United States. It can help people become much more familiar with the internet and the ever changing technology of our time. Creative Commons shows us the importance of the internet and how we need to use it to be safe. It is a great resource and will defiantly be in the back of my mind when I begin to teach one day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly5QGZVaQqk&feature=related

Thing #22

I actually started out having a hard time with this site. I could not figure anything out until I got the hang of it. Once I realized how to work the site I loved it. I really like being organized and love the fact that you can have a binder with one set of resources. After you set up each binder you want it is very easy to come back and view your resources. It took me a while to figure out each binder and what I wanted to put in it. My three binders are Miss Rhodes Reading, Lesson Plans Ideas, and Inclusion Tips. Miss Rhodes Reading is full of fun 1st grade activities related to reading. Lesson Plan Ideas is websites referring to new teachers and how to spice up your boring lesson plans. Inclusion Tips was something I wanted to include. That binder is full of inclusion tips for the general education teacher. I defiantly can see myself using these binders and referring a lot back to Live Binders. I will always love my hard back binders for whatever reason but having these electronically is such a big step and I like it!
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=366408

*I could NOT figure out how to embed this icon. I just linked the URL to my binder(s). Sorry.

Thing #21

I liked this project. Animoto was very interesting actually. I love to do projects like this when you can personalize your own video with your own pictures and music. I am not sure how much use I would get out of  this in the classroom. I find it more fun on a personal level. I think that the children could collect their own work and maybe create a video sharing all the work they have done throughout the year. However, that idea might be a little too time consuming and not worth it in the end. I did not have a hard time uploading the pictures, it just took a while to put my own music up and to process the whole video. I loved to see my finished project but felt as if it was a little time consuming. In my video I included pictures of my boyfriend, sister, mom, dad, and Daisy, my basset hound. The first picture is of my boyfriend and I when we met in the 7th grade. Hope ya'll enjoy!
My Animoto Video

Thing #20

I love YouTube. Of course, everyone has explored or used YouTube at one point in time. I think YouTube is a great way to use the internet to find a quick video for pretty much anything! As we all know YouTube is not always appropriate, especially for young children. It is just like Google and once you type in something to search who knows what will pop up. This is one, pretty big, negative about YouTube. Other than the inappropriate aspect of YouTube I think that it can be used in the classroom on many different levels. There are many quick easy to find learning tutorials that can be shown in a class. The video I posted is a quick reading of "Cat and the Hat" by Dr. Seuss. My focus for this class was 1st grade Reading and one of our assignments was to study "Cat and the Hat." If I was really teaching this lesson this video would be great to put up after an activity so the students could have a better understanding of the book, and who doesn't love a little cartoon clip?

Thing #19

I joined Teacher Prop because it looked very interesting. I am familiar with most social networking sites but I have never explored anything like Teacher Prop. I love the fact that people can communicate with one another on a different level. This world is no completely technology dependent on many levels. I feel if people have that connection they feel more able to communicate about school related things. I am a member of the basics like Facebook, Twitter, and now Teacher Prop. I feel as if these sites can be very helpful in many ways. I think that the only negative thing about these sites is the fact that there is no limitations. No limits can be a good or a bad thing for students. As teachers we want our students to think outside the box and explore their imagination. However, there might be times when the students need to be reigned in and controlled when it comes to the internet. I believe if the sites are monitored the right way then there is no problem with these social networking sites.

Thing #18

Of course, Facebook is the most popular thing on the Internet these days! This is a great way to stay in touch on so many different levels. I have had a Facebook and Twitter account for awhile now. I love to get on Facebook more because you can catch up with everybody's news, sometimes too much! Twitter is a little bit harder to explore and work with. I mainly just follow the celebrities to see what everyone is doing. I know, who cares, right? Anyways, I believe that Facebook can be a positive thing in the classroom. I just now discovered the APSU College of Education page and joined it. I think that if the school, or even the classroom had a Facebook page where they could go to and share information and also stay in touch for different reasons. would be a great idea. One negative I would have to mention would be students and even teachers personal Facebook pages. I do not see that as a positive thing for the students to be friends with the teachers just because you might be crossing that personal line. It might not be a big deal to others but I would rather have a general page for both teachers and students could visit without having to see what a student did last Friday night. I think that is very important and since Facebook is so big right now that could get the students more involved!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?viewas=100000686899395