Thing 23

WOW!! What an awesome ride! This has been a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

I am glad to find Filckr - it is a site that I know I can use with my students. I feel like I really had to stretch to complete some of the tasks in the 23 Things. I felt pretty good when I achieved the goal. I am surprised by the number of different applications I tried - some were really useful; some just junk to me.

I like the way the program is laid out, especially the help sessions provided by Vaughn and Liz. If it weren't for them, I would probably be stuck and unable to finish.

I will attempt the next round of "things" next summer. It requires a lot of time, but I really think it is worth it. I feel like I have learned so many things.

One word - thanks. You provided me with a way to improve my skills, which will result in my students learning more.

Thing 22

I read the 7 things you need to know about Nings. I investigated all the Ning sites listed. I didn't feel like I wanted to be a part of anything I saw. Then, after mulling it over, I got to thinking maybe I could design a Ning for the student's state reports, famous American reports, book reports, etc.
One year I did put some of our projects on line and grandparents from New York actually enjoyed their grandson's work.
Possibilities?!

Thing 21

I have used Photostory with my second graders as the presentation piece of their Famous American research. They were proud of their product. We had a presentation for parents in our library. Their comments let me know it was worth all the work.

Thing 20

I loved finding the Schoolhouse Rock series of videos on Teacher Tube. Many of those are valuable for my young students. I did not know that there were so many useful topics within that site. I will surely use that with my ActivBoard.
I have been introduced to YouTube by my granddaughter some time back. She constantly shows me crazy things that kids are watching that are posted there. I never knew that it might have a real value!
I liked Blinkx as a video source. I found a good video on How to resist a bully.

Thing 19

Very interesting! Many of the things we have been investigating are here. Once again, you could spend a lot of time checking them out. It did make me feel good to see so many names I recognized. I liked .Docstoc because there were some useful documents for elementary teachers to view. I tried to find a game for my students, but I didn't see anything that was better than the ones I know now. I really want educational games for them.
I had fun with the cooking site, Im Cooked. I liked the video cooking part.
I can see how I would use Web 2.0 Awards, when I really need help to find a certain subject and have no idea of where to go.

Thing 18

Google Docs is awesome. I enjoyed the informational videos about several of the applications. It seems like their gmail has some neat bells and whistles. I liked the idea of putting a document on a server and having others collaborate, but can we trust their server? How do we know it is secure enough (not that we are doing any government business)!
Open Office looks a lot like the Microsoft to me. I don't see any advantage, except maybe cost.

Thing 17

Rollyo sounds like a super idea, especially for my young ones. When we do "research" it will be nice to be able to limit their searches to the sites that I find are the best for their topic.
Here is the Rollyo I created for my second graders to use during their states research:

Trout's Bookmarks

Thing 16

Wikis are the "way to go" when collaborating. I get it. We participated in building a wiki with Lynette Breedlove in a GT workshop a few weeks ago. Each pair of teachers added a book review to her wiki. Now I see after doing some more reading about them, we could have a wiki for lesson planning with my team. That may make our Tuesday afternoons run more effeciently and effectively. I think I can use this new way to coordinate information.

Thing 15

WOW! The ideas here are mind-boggling. It is hard to think of libraries expanded to the point that customers get everything they need through their computer. I loved the analogy of libraries being boats. I can really see that. I have many "just in case" collections myself (not just books). Maybe that is a product of being around a long time. I understand that the libraries must change to serve their market. I am glad to be able to be a part of that change.
PS- the video was powerful

Thing 14

I enjoyed discovering the top 100 blogs in Technorati. I went to the School Library Learning 2.0 and found some pretty stupid entries - one woman writing about moving boxes and another trying to decide whether or not to attend NECC. I really don't care about that kind of stuff. I was trying to find someone's thoughts on something new and interesting for the classroom.
It was easy to search their blogs, but I couldn't find tags in Technorati. I'll keep trying.

Thing 13

This was an interesting investigation. I like the idea of several tags - that will help me to find things when I forget exactly how they are "labeled". I enjoyed exploring Digg and StumbleUpon. I see how you could spend a lot of time just "looking around".

Thing 6

Flickr is a trip! I loved the color pickr. My students could use that app when they create their color poems. I have used big huge labs trading card maker many times with students for science and social studies projects. Results are always nice.

Thing 12

I wonder if I will ever find the time to "just sit and read" from various blogs. When making comments on a blog, I hesitate to use my real name most of the time, but now I understand the importance of it. I am just not too comfortable putting my thoughts "out there". I think it is different when you are really face to face.

Thing 3

I had some trouble deciding what the blog should look like and what I wanted to do with it. Creating the avatar was fun. I learned to do that on the WII with my granddaughter!

Thing 11

I love LibraryThing! I think I will be able to use it to find titles for my book club. We are always looking for wonderful reads.

Thing 10

I liked Dumpr. There were many interesting ways to use pictures from my files. I have used several things from Big Huge Labs. The projects did not disappoint. I have used Wordle. It is all fun.

Thing 9

I am worn out from spending hours looking out all the different sites and trying to figure out what I could really use from them. I liked the Cool Cat Teacher blog. I found some interesting things there. Superglu is still a mystery to me. I thought Syndic8 was tedious. I am not sure how these 2 would be at all useful to me. I think Topix would be great for tracking a particular news story. I can see a use for that site.

Thing 8

I can see a need for RSS since the Houston Chronicle is going up by $5.00/month. It is time to use an electronic newspsper and avoid the huge pile of paper that has to be taken to the recycle bin.

It will be easy to use Google Reader to get the news I want each day.

Even though I work with 7 and 8 year old children, there are many events that they should be made aware of - so I can see news items on my new Activ board already.

Thing 7

Google is an easy to use site with lots of possibilities. I set up a new home page and created a calendar. My students use google maps and images for projects. It is all good.

Thing 5

I enjoy many of the ideas on Flicker. I have used trading cards with second graders for several different content areas. They are pleased with the outcome and so am I.

Thing 2

I truly believe that as long as you breathe, you should be learning. Last summer, I was overwhelmed when I tried the 23 Things by myself. I am back at it again. I really enjoy learning things that help me be a better teacher, but I am not sure that I will ever have the time (or desire) to do a lot of blogging.

Thing 1

My goal is to learn all I can this summer. The hardest thing about this will be creating the time to work.