It's over? It's just beginning...

I want to thank you for providing this class. It was an amazing eye-opener to all of the tools that are available out there. the format was good, communication from the teachers was quick, I liked that it was self-paced (yeah, I know was one of those that was always behind!). I'm not sure that I can say what was my favorite. There is so much out there that's cool. I had a blast playing with all of the different generators. I bet I could spend way too much time playing there. I think that the only one that didn't float my boat was the wiki. I really struggled with that one. I would have to say that is the one that I don't feel comfortable with. I would have to spend quite a bit of time playing around with it before I would be comfortable utilizing it in my class. Maybe the wiki thing could be separated out into its own class? I can see its uses, but I don't think it is covered enough. I don't know. I just know it was tough. I can see using a blog, google calendar, and google docs pretty quickly though. I have wanted to implement technology in my classroom, but I've always had doubts about it, because most of my students don't have a computer at home. This class has shown me that I can implement some things without my students needing computers at home. I also believe that this class has opened my mind to some ideas on collaboration with my peers at North, as well as, across the district and beyond.

Thing #23 Beyond Myspace: other social Networks

I knew there were other social networks, but never put much thought into them. I enjoyed looking at Classroom 2.0. I found some other Sped teachers and browsed some other entries and comments. I think it is a place that I will revisit and probably join.


Visit 23 Thingsters

The 23 Thingsters Ning is pretty cool. I'm glad its there and I saw the Web 2.1 stuff. I like the idea of staying connected with my classmates and teachers. It's a great place to start to find out what's new and happening.

Something that I've been thinking about for some time now is some way to network the high school Sped math teachers. Wikis, Blogs, there's so many different options. In the long run it would probably evolve into a whole bunch of stuff. I'm just not sure I could do it right. I mean I know I could use the tools and such, but in order for to be relevant, it needs to be dynamic and that's the part I'm not sure I could handle. Who knows? Maybe, just maybe, I give it shot.

Thing #22 Explore Social Networking

I have been using Myspace and Facebook for quite some time now.

My Myspace is www.myspace.com/bigdaddydill

My Facebook is http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1190355857&ref=name

I first began using myspace and facebook because my kids were using them and I wanted to see what it was all about. I teach Sunday School and have become "friends with" several of my students. This really gives me an insight as to what students are doing and thinking. This insight also helps me with my students. My students know that I have a myspace and facebook and several have asked to be my friend. I don't ask students to be friends, but if they ask me then I allow it. I like the idea that my students see that I'm human and have a life outside of school and I like the opportunity it provides me to be involved on another level with my students. The more I know about my students, the easier it is to reach them in the classroom.

I like facebook more than myspace because of the applications that are available and my college kids don't use myspace anymore. I like having the ability to see what's going on in my kids' lives and being able to communicate with them too makes it even better.

I don't know if I would use facebook or myspace for the classroom. I just don't think the two mix very well. That being said, I do use it for the classroom by gaining a better understanding of my students to apply to my classroom.

Thing #7b

Create Web 2.0 Flashcards in a Flash!

This is a great blog on different Flashcard tools available on the internet. I checked out a couple of the sites and they have great databases of cards already created, as well as, the capability to create your own. Teaching resource math classes, I see this as a great way to work on my student's rote memory of multiplication/division facts and simple addition and subtraction in a way that my students will enjoy.

Thing #21 Google's not just for searching anymore

There are a lot of online tools that Google provides. It's like the Walmart of the internet. Just like you can get almost anything at Walmart, almost anything you need online you can find at Google. The two things that I played with the most were Google Alerts and Google Calendar. I made my Calendar public, because I can see using the calendar for my classes. A definite positive. Google Alerts is not something that I can share, or if I can, I didn't find it. I played around with it and like how I get notified if I something comes in without necessarily searching for it. There is so much out there in Google, and I'm sure that it is adding tools and gadgets all the time, that its almost overwhelming. I think that people will have to be careful or you could spend all of your time looking and playing with this stuff that you'd lose your productivity.

Thing #20 Google Docs

I have used (briefly) Google Docs in one of my Master's classes. I think its a great way to collaborate on a document or presentation with other professionals. It's definitely easier than emailing on back and forth! It is a great tool for students on group projects. Besides the students working on one document, the teacher can look to and see what's going on and who's contributing. It is also a great way to share work with other professionals by publishing the finished product.

Thing #19 Voicethread

Voicethread is interesting. I can see how you could build one with a powerpoint presentation to highlight your main points with sound. It could be a very effective tool to use on those days that you have to be absent. The substitute teacher could show it to the class and give out the assignment. Students could use it for presentations. It would be really good for those students who are uncomfortable presenting to the class face-to-face.

Thing #18 You too can YouTube

Part 1 Scavenger Hunt

Two videos teaching content:

Math Lessons: Solving Equations with like terms.
2.3 Solving more equations(Tricks to make it easier)

One video how to do something:

How to use Chopsticks

One video that's fun or nostalgic

Roberto Clemente: More than baseball

Part 2 TeacherTube

I have browsed through YouTube and TeacherTube before. In my classes I have used motivational videos from YouTube and TeacherTube to show my students. It is a change of pace and allows me to talk to my students about where they are headed or where they want to go. There are some really good videos to watch. I tried to embed this video about teachers making a difference, but it wouldn't download for anything so here's the link http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=8498&title=Teachers_Make_a_Difference

Thing #17 Pocasts: No IPOD needed!

We just did a roll-in faculty meeting on creating our own podcasts! There is no doubt that podcasts can have a great effect on students. Teachers were telling stories on how other teachers are using podcasts. One teacher in another district creates a podcast over the material that will be covered in the next class and the students' home work is to listen to the podcast before coming to class. Pretty inventive.

I previewed most of the links that were provided. Some were very professional, where others like TechPodZone and Geek!Ed! were not so professional. The ones that kind of rambled on like TechPodZone I won't go back to again. It wasted too much time. Geek!Ed! was better, but not by much. They were playing "radio show" and not disseminating information. I also checked out the math links provided. Way over my Special education student's heads. I was frustrated using the computer with these podcasts because I kept wanting visuals that weren't there. However, I do think downloading to my Ipod to listen to as I travel, or listen to when not tied down to the computer would be better. I can see a need for some type of Sped directory of podcasts. Who knows, it may already exist. I'm gonna go look for it later.

As negative as it sounds, I did find some interesting podcasts. Education podcast with John Merrow from PBS I found interesting. I think it will help me look at education more globally, instead of just in my backyard.

I do believe that there is a place for podcasts in education and I am going to look for opportunities to use podcasts in my classes.

Thing #16 Librarything:Where books meet Web 2.0

LibraryThing was interesting. I could see how it would be a good place to catalog what you've read, find recommendations, create a reading list for students, but for me, I doubt that I use it. I might refer to it from time to time, but I don't see me using it on a consistent basis. It is a nice little tool that's out there and to know it exists is cool.

Thing #15 Social bookmarking and tagging with delicious

I have used delicious before, but it was good to refresh myself on its uses. I created a whole new account, even though I didn't have to, and just started bookmarking sites. I like having the bookmarks stretch across the screen, it makes it easier to use them instead of clicking bookmarks and finding the link, its just right there at the top. Good stuff. Delicious speeds up getting to the sites that I visit the most.

http://delicious.com/mikeydill

Thing #7a

Let's just put them all in jail 24/7

This article just fired me up! It seems that our new Secretary of Education thinks that the only way we can prepare our students to compete on a global level is to put them in school for 6 to 7 days a week. Why is it that those who know little about education think that the only way to get better is to spend more time trying to force feed the students? How about allowing the teachers to throw out all of the excess teaching to the test and allow them to put passion back into teaching? It seems that when teachers were allowed to teach passionately we produced students who led the world in inventions, beat everyone to the moon and became the richest nation in the world.

Thing #14 Discovering Web 2.0 tools

I chose the blabberize web tool. I had fun. There was absolutely no educational thoughts while I was playing with this. I was completely focused on playing with pictures of my kids. It was real easy to do. Just pick a picture, upload it, call in and there you go. When I finished playing I said to myself, "educational value? No way.", but now that I think about it, what a way to grab the students' attention, as well as a way to get them some information. Obviously, it would take some well thought out planning, but what teacher doesn't do that? Definitely a fun tool. For your entertainment pleasure, here's what I created with my son.

Thing #13 Online Image generators

This has been an eye-opening experience. As I've browsed the web on many, many occasions, I've seen images that were similiar, but had been personalized. I figured it was some software that costs lots of money or someone was an expert at Photoshop. Come to find out its neither! These image generators were fun. My only problem was my mind wasn't on education, but on playing around. So, I created a couple of images for fun. It was simple just point and click. I can see how this would be a great tool to personalize presentations or projects for my students. I also see how my students could use these tools in their projects. It is definitely exciting to think about all of the different uses.



Bleacher sign



Confucius signs

Thing #12 Create a slideshow!

This was pretty easy and pretty fun. Here's my slideshow...

I didn't know this stuff existed before. Now that I do, I see all kinds of possibilities for this...presentations, student projects, class wiki, etc...All kinds of ideas.

Photo Credits

Misty Fall Baseball http://www.flickr.com/photos/sis/266718134/ sister72
Baseballs http://www.flickr.com/photos/design-dog/1075402542/ Ian Ransley
Baseball Off Season solitude http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebusybrain/2592017556/ thebusybrain
Baseball http://www.flickr.com/photos/mwlguide/128652241/ mwlguide
Jr varsity baseball vs principia http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramphoto/2462891442/ micdsphotos

Thing #11 Photosharing with Flickr

I had heard of Flickr before, but never looked at it. It was amazing at the sheer number of photos that were available through Creative Commons. I can tell you that I have never thought of CC when it came to using photos from others, but now that I'm aware, its totally different. Because I teach math and my love of baseball uses a ton of math, I use baseball as a theme in the Spring. So, I chose some baseball pictures in my search of Flickr. I found some really cool pics, but this one is my favorite:

It was taken by Sister72 and can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sis/266718134/

I have to admit that I had some pretty limited ideas on how to use Flickr in the classroom. I figured it would be good for presentations, but David Jakes' blog had some really good thoughts and ideas. Because I teach math it's a little more difficult to use, but I've already got some ideas for geometry like different shapes and angles.

Thing #10 Creative Commons

I don't think that I've ever seen the Creative Commons logo. Then again, I don't think I ever looked for it either. I do believe that CC will impact our students. CC should simplify what can and cannot be used/edited for our students from the internet. We also need to teach our students about CC and its uses. I haven't used much from internet at this time. Right now everything I do in my class, I make myself so I guess its all mine. I've been searching for things for my classes on the internet, but haven't found what I've been looking for. The information in this "thing" will definitely play a role in what I do use in my classroom.

Thing #9 Play in the wiki sandbox

WOW! This "thing" had a lot to do. It was just like I thought it would be...lots of tools and things to add and play, almost to the point its overwhelming. I enjoyed making my page in the wiki, but I had a hard time with the table of contents. I went and looked at some of the pages to make sure I was doing it right and as far as I could tell I was, but it never worked. The rest of the work was easy, it was just a matter of getting everything pulled together. I believe that this is something that I want to use in my classes, but its got to be well thought out, planned and set up. Its obvious to me that this is not something to just jump in and start using. I guess I know what I'm doing this summer!

Thing #8 What in the world is a wiki?

I've heard a little bit about wiki's and I haven't been real comfortable with their use before, based upon my limited knowledge. After checking out these other educational wikis, I think that I'm starting to lean the other direction. I can definitely see a use for wikis in the classroom.

I think the key in using a wiki is going to be how its set up. The Primary Math wiki to me was set up backwards. The contributing classes blogs were on the main part with the math info in the sidebar. I liked the Holocaust wiki and found it interesting once I figured out where the information was. I liked how the Turn Homeward, Hannalee wiki, in their introduction, directed you where to go for the information.

Overall, I think that wiki does offer some interesting opportunities for the classroom, but I also think some collaboration with peers (in a wiki??) would be help bunches in setting up a wiki for the classroom.

Thing #7 Creating community through commenting

Everything that I read about commenting was right on. It was also a whole bunch of common sense. If you want to dialogue with someone, be polite, let them know how to communicate back with you, etc...pretty much common sense if you want to talk with anyone.

I love the fact that these blogs can develop into some very interesting dialogues. Like I said before, I don't mind sharing my opinion, but I really enjoy hearing others (probably more than hearing my own!)

Thing #6 Feed your Reader

I have used a different reader before because of my Master's work, but it was just for those in the Masters program. I never had a clue on how to look for other blogs that would be interesting to me.

The educational blogs that I found I like because of the opinions of the authors. David Warlick's 2 cents worth is entertaining and offers up opinions that cause me to think.

What I really like (especially this time of year!) is finding different blogs to get insight on my Texas Rangers! If you can't tell, I'm a huge (literally) Texas Rangers fan, and at times I just can't get enough info on my favorite team. Now, I've got some more sources!

Thing #5 - Getting started with RSS

It took a little work, but I finally got all 5 sites in my reader. I had a hard time with the Techlearning site and I'm still not sure it's done right. Anyways, on the NYT site I went with baseball (Like that was a surprise) and was disappointed that every entry I clicked on was unavailable. Now, it could have been the computer (I was reading on my conference period!), but who knows? I'll try again later. The one blog that really caught my eye and interested me enough to read the blog and all of the comments was Innovate or Die. This is in the Student2oh blog. The student wrote a very thought provoking blog, but the comments were just as thought provoking. Most of the comments were teachers trying to dialogue with the student, trying to gain a better grasp of his points, but he didn't really respond. His point is that students are no longer consumers of information, but producers with youtube, facebook, blogs, etc... a very valid point. What's intriguing to me is they are producing information, but is credible information? One of the commenters asked the same question and to this point, the author has not responded. I am interested to see if this post continues to grow or not. My guess is that this one has run its course.

Thing #4 Blogging begins with reading

Blogging, in general, seems to be opinion driven. Each writer is offering up their own opinion about some subject. I do believe that you really have to be careful to remember that is just an opinion, or if it is "fact based", you might have to do your own research to confirm the information. You just can't take it all as fact. To me, the great thing about blogging is the opportunity to respond with your own comments or to ask for clarification of a point from the writer. When you read a book or some other hard print material and you feel that you've got something to say or question to ask of the writer or to the readers, you are basically out of luck. However, with blogs you've got the opportunity to open a dialogue immediately. How cool is that? I really enjoyed the no homework blog. Not only did I agree with the opinion presented, the dialogue between the writer and those who commented was more interesting than the original post. The other blogs I read; sustained silent reading, cyberbullying and teaching brevity were all somewhat interesting, but the one that was a big eye-opener to me was the spy in the classroom. I've seen how students today use their cellphones and all of the gadgetry that they have, but I guess I was just oblivious to the fact on how it could be used in such a negative manner. Boy, do I have to start really paying attention to technology!

Thing #2 Thoughts about Web 2.0

I had seen the videos before, but decided I would watch them again. The videos make a good point about how the world is changing and I agree that we need to adapt to that change. However, one thing that sticks out to me is how much we rely on videos like those and just assume that they are right. The "Did you know" video shows that in 2006 the US is graduating 1.3 million college graduates and how that compares to the 3.1 million from India and 3.3 million from China. It makes it look like we are lagging way behind these countries. In reality, India and China are graduating a smaller percentage of their population than the US is. The main point of the video is correct, the world IS changing and we need to be prepared for that change. The world is becoming smaller because of technology as we are able to reach across borders so much more easily. The opportunity to learn and grow is, literally, at our fingertips and as teachers we have the responsibility to bring that world to our students. I look forward to the challenge of learning more on how I can use the internet and Web 2.0 to educate my students.

Thing #1 Reflections on Lifelong Learning

Before I started working on my Masters degree, I hadn't put much thought into lifelong learning. It's something that I've always done and something that I believe in, but have never really thought about putting a name on it. To me, its just a part of life and something that I have to do. Learning new things is something I do for myself, but also for my own kids and my students. In order to be a good parent, I need to know what's going on in the world so I can help my kids as they continue to grow in this ever-changing world. If I'm to be the kind of teacher that I want to be, I've got to know what's out there and what my students are doing. I've also got to continue to look for ways to reach my students and motivate them to be learners.

I'm really looking forward to completing this class. I think that the easiest habit for me is to begin with the end in mind. I have a picture in my mind of what I want to accomplish. The hardest habit for me is accepting responsibility for my own learning. I lead an extremely busy life and it is going to be easy for me to push this course off to the side and make excuses. It's already started...I'm late in completing this!!! The habit that is going to be the most important for me is the last one...Play. Those who know me may have a hard time believing this, but I hate to make mistakes and when you play on the computer, making mistakes comes with it. I'm just going to have to loosen up a bit and try some more things.