Source: thechive.com via Erin on Pinterest

Source: frenchbydesign.blogspot.com via Midori on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.com via Kathy on Pinterest

 

Source: cdryan.com via Dienaba on Pinterest

Yonderfel's Castle

This book was about a king who is generous and kind to everyone. He allows everyone to stay in his castel for free. When the mean ogre landlord demands more money from the king and the king cannot pay, all his people turn their backs on him. They leave and say this is what you get for having a potatoheadedninny for a king. They all forget his kindness. He is left alone to knit all day and night.

A great flood comes and everyone remembers the castle on a hill and the kind king who lets anyone in. He saves almost everyone from the ragging water. The last person in the flood water is the mean ogre. The king must decide whether to listen to his people and let the mean ogre die, or save him like he did everyone else. The king, being kind and generous, saves the ogre. This is a great book about kindness and how some people do not value kindness - unless it is given to them.

The only strange part is in the end the people see the value in the kings kindness, but the book doesn't really explain how or why they have a change. This whole in the plot could be used as a teaching moment by having students fill in what or why the people where changed. It is a good book - good story, great illustrations.

http://www.philnel.com/2011/05/14/teach/

Potterwatch

The Farm Elisha Cooper

The Farm 

By Elisha Cooper 

Orchard Books An Imprint of Scholastic

I love this book. The illustrations are beautifully and simply draw.  When I first saw it at the library I had to grab it. It was so enticing. The beautiful water colors were just the kind of illustrations I love. After reading the book I found that the story was as wonderful as the illustrations. In the beginning the barn is described - "Dust covers everything: shovels and buckets, swallow nests and spiderwebs, a toy tractor, a chair with three legs, the handprints of the girl and boy in the concrete floor. Even the barn cats are dusty." Such nice imagery. I felt like I was standing in the center of the barn a looking all the way around.

The illustrations continue to get better through the book. They give a wonderful feel of a real farm. Cooper said she wrote the book because children's books do not depict a realistic view of farm life. People on farms grow food. Not these cutesy pie animals. This book is a wonder real version of farm life. The book goes through the season on a farm. And every time period: "On the farm, even when it is dark, so animal is always awake." On my list of great books. Written and illustrated beautifully. 

Thing 24

The last thing. I have really enjoyed going through all these things. It was nice that all these tools were all together in one place. I feel like - as I have said before on this blog - for a long time I had checked out of technology. I was burned out after years of dealing with computer stuff. So I abandon technology for a while. I also felt that I would never really be able to jump back on that train - it moves so fast. Doing these 23 things has reinvigorated me. I remember all the things I enjoyed about technology and computers. I even want an iPad. They seem fun now. Before I thought no, never, no thanks. I am done with all that business.

This has been fun. The only thing I can think to offer is to encourage people not to use their primary email when signing up for all this stuff. I am not getting overloaded with spam and stuff, but every time the apsu sandbox gets alter - I get an email. I am getting a few weird emails - it is a super small amount. But I wish I had used another account. I have no excuse - I knew better. I have emails for this sort of thing.

I feel like in the end I have a running start in order to jump back on the train. I was really surprised to find I no long was sick of all the tech stuff, and that it was fun again. I am happy to know that it is fun when no one is knocking on my door to say a "database or server or whatever has crash and I didn't save any of my work for the past 2 hours. Can you get it back for me?"Using these things to keep me organized will be key, I think. This semester the biggest thing I have learned while observing in schools is organization is huge. It changes everything. I love little tools to help me do this. I am sure I will hold on to these things. Most especially my del.ici.ous account. I love that. That is by far my favorite. I also love all my new blogs. They are my second favorite. I especially like the ones that come to my email every morning. I am so happy to see them everyday. Awesome. I know I will keep going with this stuff now that I have restarted. I can't stay away. As for my blog, we will see. I am so busy right now, but I like having this little place to put things - even if it is just for me.


One last thing. Just for me
Sarah Kay - If I should have a daughter.

Thing 23

I really liked the Duke University students comic book. I found it helpful in understanding all this stuff. I also learned just how complicated it all is. I was surprised by how much many of the musicians, etc asked for use of their work. And while reading this I thought this is crazy. Like the main character, what has happened to artists? Are we all so greedy? But thinking about it I came to the conclusion that it isn't all that simple. This is complicated and there are people who do things unfairly. And, I know from close friends, that students today do not respect or understand the idea of taking from the internet and using as your own work. It is shocking how lightly this subject is taken. So the more I think about it, this should be taken seriously. The internet and computers makes it so easy to plug in other people's hard work into your own.

I have certainly learned that as a teacher I must be careful. I will have to look for this creative commons license. And I also have to not be afraid to ask for permission. It is true that I never really thought to hard about this before now. As an English major many years ago it was the sin of all sins to take another writers work and put it in your paper. I am a bit horrified at how easily people do it so openly, get caught and think nothing of it. I had not transferred this idea to pictures and music before now. It is stealing from another person. As a teacher I think it is important to model the correct use of other people's work - even if it means my work is not quite as cool as it could have been. The idea that I had to modify is a teaching and learning moment too.


*Note: This project is loosely based upon the website 43Things (which allows you to set and track personal goals) and the Stephen Abram article titled 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006).

CREDITS

Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachersis based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things, a staff development program for theMesquite Independent School District. That program was based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers and adapted by the California School Library Association and others. Content and style for Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers has been borrowed and duplicated with permission, under a Creative Commons License.

Thing 22

I made three binders. The first one I made was for my Just So Stories Unit plan in 5501. Because while going through the tutorial I thought this is perfect for lessons. Just perfect. And right now all that lesson plan stuff is floating around in my head and needs to be organized. The second one I made was for me right now. It was a Math 1410 binder. I have tons of math webpages to help me study and get through my math homework. It was nice to see many of them in rows. I foresee my Math binders becoming multiple binders with more specific topics. But for now this one works for what I need. The last binder I made was for all the education resources, blogs, lessons, etc I have found. And going through many of those I found things I had totally forgotten about!! Some really cool stuff was buried at the bottom of my bookmarks folder for this. It is good to see the best spread out on the tabs. Much easier to see and use. I picked the ones that could be of help to me through this last part of the semester. This could also be used to group together websites for certain problem areas that students have. Like for the assessment assignment, when looking for websites that could help students improve in certain standards I didn't find just one website - I usually found several games, instructions, stories, etc. This could be a great tool to group those all together and have students go through them on the computer. In the end, I see these binders as being a huge help to organize a teacher, as well as being extra practice to help students master certain skills. For now, I see it has a huge help to get me through all my school projects.

Just So Stories

Thing 21

This was a lot of fun to make. I can certainly see myself spending lots of time uploading and seeing what comes of it. I can also see paying for longer videos. This was incredibly easy to use. I can see how this could be a lot of fun in the classroom and inspire creativity in students. I can also see using this to celebrate their accomplishments. I can see incorporating this into Holiday parties to show them how far they had come and all the great work they had done so far during the year. I could see students being excited about seeing themselves as well as their classmates on the big screen.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Living Room Dance

Thing 20

I use YouTube often right now with my Math 1410 online class. We are required to make videos of ourselves explaining different math concepts. They have to be uploaded for the class to watch. This is the first time I have had to create a video of myself and share it. I get a little nervous about that. I have watched many, many videos on YouTube, though. All the old cartoons from when I was a kid are on there - Charlie Brown and such. We used to play them for our son when we didn't have cable. I have also found so many videos that have helped fix household problems. But mostly I use it for music. Just recently I added this video to my FaceBook account:

Danny MacAskill - "Way Back Home"

I like to watch this before I take a math quiz. It makes me feel like the impossible is possible.

I have found recently that YouTube was a huge help in explaining math concepts I am confused about or have just forgotten. I have also found a cartoon version of many of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories which is helpful for my 5501 project. I find that some times with these old stories a video can help stick it in students minds after reading the story. This Kipling video is extremely accurate so it would be helpful. In the end I love YouTube. It is always there to help me out. I even used it to help potty train my daughter. There are bad things about it, but I think the good out weighs it.

Thing 19

I have never joined any other social networking site outside of Facebook. I liked looking at the food ones and was interested in the library one. I may join the library one, but I will probably not comment too often on either of these. I like to read things, but not always comment. I am totally sick of reading about politics and avoid it at this point at all cost. I would rather do almost anything than read the comments on Gather's site. I have to admit, though, most were above the usual super crazy weirdos who spend time commenting on those sites. That was good to see. Though - as my neighbor said - she is thankful for things like Leaf Chronicles website comment section for giving these folks an outlet. That is true - but I really would rather be blissfully ignorant of it all. As far as being a teacher, the library site would be the most helpful.

I also added my TeacherPop bling to my page. And uploaded my picture. This site looks interesting. I like that it is closed to students and is for teaching purposes.

Thing 18

I have had a FaceBook account for several years. In the beginning it was a lot of fun, but it has since deflated. It is really important that teachers understand these sites since their students are on them all the time. And even though teachers are not involved in their students social lives, these things are often the most influential things in a student's life. Teachers need to understand how things like FaceBook affect their students.

I didn't set up a Twitter account because the one thing I am sure about is that no one is interested in things I am doing all the time. And I feel like setting one goes completely against the grain for me. With FaceBook it feels more like interaction - even conversation at times. Twitter doesn't give me that feel. It is feels very alone - even lonely.

I know from teachers who teach older students that they routinely have to "ignore" student's request for friendship. Which I believe is the right thing to do. But I also know many parents of elementary school teachers who have "friended" their child's teacher. I would feel weird about that - like I was invading their privacy. The thing I like least is that these sites blur the lines of "friendship." I love and care about my family, but I don't always want them in butting into a conversations between me and my friends. I miss that I used to be able to hold that line pretty well. Now it is much harder. Of course I can block them, but it is such a hassle to do all this. At the same time it is easier to share news and pictures with them - and feel like people are part of my life I rarely see. I guess, though, in the end I would prefer to keep things separate - with some of my family members. But there is no going back once the door is opened. I can't "unfriend" people. That feels mean and cold - and I don't want to do that. I think for teachers it would be a really tough spot to be in to be friended by a parent. I would really, really not want to accept it. When I become a teacher  I have promised myself to hold that line or delete my account.

Thing 17

Del.icio.us could be a huge help to teachers. Like the tutorial said there are huge amounts of sites out there and it is totally overwhelming. Doing my Unit Plan and Lesson Plans for 5501 I have found tons of stuff I think "wow! that is awesome." I bookmark it and think - gosh I hope I can find that again in that black hole of a bookmark section I have. Sometimes I can find things, but really I have to remember they are there. THis does not always happen, so having the tags would be huge. Having all the worksheet ideas for math, language arts, social studies, or science put together and divided into subsections sounds like a huge time saver and mind saver. The sharing function would also be beyond helpful. Why re-invet all these searches. You know that other teachers who have been teaching longer have done the leg work, borrow from them. Another time saver and mind saver.

After reading about the Del.icio.us site I created an account - immediately. My bookmarks are a mess. I find so many useful things, bookmark them, and then spend forever looking for them or forget they exist. I love the idea of tagging them and organizing them like in a file cabinet. That seems so much more useful then my current system - which is more black hole-ish. I also liked the idea of going through other people's bookmarks. Help with research! Awesome. Also a huge time saver. This might be my favorite "thing" yet. I am a bit of a hoarder - not like those people on tv, but I like to keep things "just in case." I have too many bookmarks and folders, etc. It is an unhelpful mess. All these sites I "keep" might be helpful, but I cannot find them or don't remember them. Maybe this will organizing can continue into my house. I would love to get things nicely organized there like my new Del.icio.us bookmark site.

I see huge potential for this being helpful in the classroom. It can be neatly organized - even divided into units. A click of the button you are at the sites you need to show examples, print worksheets, get information. I can also see borrowing from other teachers and building upon or incorporating other ideas into what you have.
yep, I am sure after working with my new Del.icio.us site - it is my favorite.

http://www.delicious.com/catherinemshea

Thing 16

I chose the yahoo start page. I made one in google and yahoo, but the yahoo one is something that I use most often. I even pulled some of my favorite blogs and recipe updaters into that. I like the homepage better than the news feed. It included the weather, my email, facebook, etc. I think I will make it my homepage. It does contain most of what I go to the computer for.

I tried remember the milk. At first I thought there is no way I will ever type all the things I need to remember in here. That will take too much time. I like the idea of these things, but in practice I always drop the ball. Maybe if I had an iphone. Well, there is always a million reasons for an iPhone. I thought at first the reality is I will start this and never update it. Then I saw the share feature. I thought well if I used this with another person to coordinate that might work out. I thought teachers could work together on projects with this. I like the that these things and the calendar send me messages to my email. I do find that hugely helpful, but I am doubtful about me remembering to update these devices. I did like the check off box on don't forget the milk - that is the best part of lists. Crossing things off!

I made a calendar in another post -
calendar

It has been emailing me things I need to remember, and I really like it. After this project I plan to keep it just between me and my husband so we can share it. We struggle to remember each others schedule as well as our children's ever increasing schedules.

Thing 15

I checked out many of the wiki sites listed for Thing 15. Many of them were really neat ideas. I really liked the book wikis from the library. I have recently started just a word document of all the great books I read to my kids. I don't want to forget them. I would love to have other people contribute to this list. The library is so full of great stuff and I feel like I read 10 great children's books a week (and 20 ok ones). Then I give them back and its like they fall into an abyss. Never to be heard from or seen again. I think about the great, great ones often. But many I forget. This could be so useful - if organized well. Which is the big part! As noted by teachartlearntech in her thing 15 - it is a little chaotic in the 23 things sandbox. Which - as she also noted - is kind of the way it goes with a blank place to post. And that could be useful - giving people a bulletin board place to post is very useful. But I guess what I am envisioning is a little different.

I added to the Sandbox on 23 things this link:
I admit I have not - before now - included this in my blog, but I really wanted to because I love this project. I sleep with my books which drives my husband crazy. Even though these days I get very little time to read, they are such an important part of my life. I hope to instill this kind of love of books in at least a few students. I also love sharing crazy, amazing projects with students. They are so inspiring. I hope one day to have a bed like this!!

heartanddesign.blogspot.com

Thing 14

First I made a flow chart from Giffy -

Venn Diagram for The Beginning of Armadillos

This is connected to a real project I am working on in another class. I like this and think it would really nice to use in a real classroom. Very user friendly. I didn't have to give them too much information. So far, Giffy is my favorite. 

I am struggling with mindmapping - I am not sure my brain works with mindmapping. I have been staring at it for some time. I keep coming back to it, though. I think it looks cool and seems like if I found the right project it would be wonderful, but without that I don't know where to begin. 

Thing 13

I checked out Google Docs which I have been meaning to do for some time. It does look just like word - it may be missing some of the super special features, but reality is that most people never use those. Most of us need a few basic features from Microsoft and all the other stuff just wilts and is never used. This Google docs thing is awesome. Perfect for schools. Especially with Microsoft being so incredibly expensive. If you can get students to computers outside of classrooms you cannot always get them to expensive word processing, presentation, or spreadsheet software. This is an awesome way around it. No license problems, you can save right there in google - at least for a certain amount of time and space. This is an awesome educational tool. I admit I prefer google docs because it is familiar. I got lost and was - honestly - impatient with Zoho. I plan to give it another try.

I remember when these things were first coming out. Everyone turned their noses up at them - they can't be as good as the "real" microsoft thing. They were then and they are now. I was at one of the non-profits I have worked for in the past and no one wanted to use this stuff - even though all they were doing was typing a document. Because it was impossible to buy them all licenses they hand wrote everything. It was silly. Most of us don't need all the amazing things all these programs can do - it is just a waste. I am going to point my parents to this - I don't know why I didn't think of it before. It is easy to use, no loading anything, buying anything - or calling 800 times to ask questions about it - just kidding.

I made a form in google docs in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday day.
The Foot Book Form

The answers to the form are stored in a spread sheet in google docs in my account. And that is just cool.

Thing #12

I started by setting up a calendar. This tool seemed like it could be hugely helpful at the moment for my husband and I. We constantly seem to struggle to keep up with each other's things, our kids, and what is supposed to happen for summer and spring break, etc. He doesn't see the calendar I stick on the fridge - that is just some thing that sits in front of the ice cream. This tool could be hugely helpful to teachers too. I imagine keeping all the schedules and due dates organized is a job in itself. Having a calendar pop up on your desktop and say "HEY! this and this are due today" would be a huge help. I know I struggle to keep up in just every day life.

My Calendar

The next thing I tried was the google translate.  I used the book video below since it is French. The title is:

Vidéo Promotionnelle du Livre Pop Up "Il était une fois..." de Benjamin Lacombe édité en France par le Seuil Jeunesse.

Promo Video Pop-Up Book "Once upon a time ..." Benjamin Lacombe published in France by Threshold Youth.


Mot de l'éditeur :

Huit contes classiques évoqués par une double-page au mécanisme ingénieux, dans un livre magnifique qui associe prouesse technique et talent artistique.Retrouvez les personnages des contes les plus célèbres : Alice, Pinocchio, La Belle au bois dormant, Barbe-bleue, Peter Pan, Le Petit Chaperon rouge, Madame Butterfly, Poucette mis en scène par Benjamin Lacombe et en volume par José Pons.A la fin du livre, un point de vue de Jean Perrot, grand spécialiste des contes et de l'image de jeunesse, viendra éclairer l'ouvrage.

Suivez le lapin Blanc...


Editor's Note:

Eight classic tales evoked by a double-page ingenious mechanism, in a wonderful book that combines technical prowess and talent artistique.Retrouvez characters fromthe most famous tales: Alice, Pinocchio, The Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard, Peter Pan ,Little Red Riding Hood, Madame Butterfly, Thumbelina, directed by BenjaminLacombe and volume by Jose Pons.A end of the book, a point of view of Jean Perrot,specialist tales and picture of youth, will illuminate the work.

Follow the White Rabbit ...


That was so neat! And, though I am far from an expert in French, I believe it is quite accurate. I can see where you could run into trouble with it, but for little things here and there it could be hugely helpful. I can see this as something that could be a lot of fun teaching students about languages and other cultures. Talking to students about sentence structures in English and how they differ in other languages. Students could translate their very own words into Icelandic. This could be addictive. It is a bummer they don't have a recording for all the languages - but maybe that will come.

sonas ar mian leat (Irish - wishing you happiness. ) This was one where I thought this could get you into trouble. Irish can depend on the spelling (whether or not is anglican), word choice (meaning doesn't always fit neatly in. Sometimes whole sentences are whittled down to one word.), etc. Irish is tough on purpose, so probably not a fair assessment. Still mostly good tool and fun. 
sláinte 

Thing #11

I cannot say that I found the search tools - outside of Google - to be helpful. I found Topix.net good for news. I really didn't like the design of Syndic8.com. I found it hard to go through. I immediately felt tired when I looked at it. Too busy. Too disorganized. I have enough of that on my own. 

Going from the list I find the best blogs through google. And those blogs lead me to even better blogs usually. One good blog usually leads me to numerous other fantastic blogs. So far I find that to be best way to find stuff. I found this video on one of my recent treasure hunts:

This is from educating alice. I love it. I found this blog through Phil Nel's blog - Nine Kinds of Pie. Phil Nel is a professor at Kansas State in Children's Lit. They have a great program there. I knew of him - but not his blog. I found the blog through a post on 100 Scope Notes. And on and on and on. This is my best favorite way to find things. I feel like I find treasure that way. It makes it more fun.

I subscribe to these blogs through my RSS feed, some of them email me (which I like best), and, most recently, I have added them to my customized start page. That is my second favorite place. The ones that email me I keep up with best. I also added them to a tool bar on my blog, so I can find them quickly when doing school work.

Thing #10

I waste a tremendous amount of time checking for updates on my favorite sites. I try to use bookmarks. I have tons of folders of stuff tucked here and there. But some of those things are never updated. They just exist. It is a very, very inefficient, mixed up system. I waste time constantly and it drives me crazy. But I am addicted to my sources - I cannot just give it all up. I was just thinking the other day "if only there was a way to make my own webpage where all this junk got dumped and I could just roll through it quickly here and there all day." Ask and you shall receive - here it is the RSS. How did I miss this? I think I was too lazy to check into it, read about it or learn how to do it. Not that it was all that hard, but it takes more time!! And I was already wasting to much on my computer. I also assumed it was to high powered to be of use for me.

I went ahead and made a google one with the usual ones I check. It turns out that I have a RSS automatically through my yahoo account so when I hit that little RSS button it goes straight to my yahoo email "frontpage." This is what yahoo has been bugging me to create - I ignored them. I regret that now. Could have saved me tons of time. I will see what I like best - truthfully, so far, I like the yahoo set up. This may be because I have had my email account there for years, and all the features and designs in yahoo are familiar. I am going to give google a chance, though. All the coolest, smartest people I know swear by google, so I feel like I might be missing something.

Since starting this class I have come across tons of blogs and the like that I think "Oh! I have to watch that. What they are saying is interesting, important, creative, inspiring, etc.." But where do I put this - I started putting a couple on the "blogs I follow" feature on this blog so I could find them quickly and easily. Also I have made many bookmarks. They get lost in the jumble of all the websites I bookmark. This is so much better. This could be so helpful to a teacher - who has time to check all this stuff!! Certainly not teachers. I love that all my favs will be on one page. I know this is something that will help me in my personal life, student life, and will some day help me in my teaching life.

Thing #9

I think my dog has an anxiety problem. Or maybe this is just anthropomorphizing, but she always seems worried. She does live with a 3 year old who likes to dress her up and take care of her like she is a baby.

I made this image with http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/. It was a little tricky/ fussy some times. I had to reload the page a couple of times when making it. And the saving instructions were written for the pc - not the mac. And for some reason it didn't save my text the first time, so I had to go back and re do it. I think some of these problems, though, were operator error. I have a tendency to plow ahead and not read instructions carefully. There are lots of fun things you could do with this in the classroom. Student photos with quotes, characters from stories, characters stating math rules, etc.




I made this one with http://www.imagechef.com/. There were tons of things to do in here. I like mosaics so I went with the word mosaic. This was super easy. Much less fussy than the photo one up above. You can change the color, word, symbol, or design. There was a lot of ways to go with it. I kept it pink with love and added the sunshine because this is what my daughter liked.




I made this one with the idea that these could be used as signs in the classroom. The heart above didn't lend itself to anything outside a Valentine's party. The sign could be helpful to tell students where to turn things in. I tried it with Homework - but the word was too long. The shape lost meaning.










ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

This is a quote from one of my favorite children's books The Three Questions by Jon Muth. It is his own adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's The Three Questions. I wish I could have had another slide - to complete the entire quote. I also wish I could control the speed, font size and choice, and how the words are on the page. But it is free - so I guess I cannot expect to get all those things with free. And for free it is quite cool. I could think of little things that this would be good for - just for fun. You wouldn't want to use for important information. It is too distracting. But things like hang up your coat. sit down and do your work page, etc..

Thing #8 Photo Mash-Ups

I read Educating Esmé over winter break. It was the journal of a first year teacher in an inner city school in Chicago. Kind of a tough read at times - she had some rough times. But she was an amazing teacher. One of the things she did was a personality board. She did this to get to know her students and so they could get to know each other. I think the Mosaic feature would really fun to do with your students. Hanging their pictures around the classroom - I believe - builds a sense of pride. Gives students the sense that this is their space. Which, hopefully, in turn makes them feel safe, respected, like they belong, and like they want to respect this place.

This mosaic came from my facebook profile pictures which is why there is a few weird ones in there and duplicates. I wish I could have chosen the photos - but I didn't figure that out. I also wish I could have changed the centering on at least one. 

When I looked at all the mash ups I could think of the fun things you could do to draw students in. Surprise them with words written in crazy letters (as my daughter would say)





This was fun - oh so easy. I cannot wait to spell my kids names for them! They will love it. The photo mash ups are so cool - I am a little overwhelmed by them. This has opened a new door for me. I do so much with photos - just plan old boring photos. The idea that I can play around with them so easily is exciting. Encouraging students to get creative and take projects to a new level is so exciting.

Thing #7 Flickr

I had a flickr account years ago. I used it to put up pictures of my kids for their grandparents. The truth is I put the photos up and never really explored the site. While doing the tutorial - which I never did - I made a Flickr badge for my blog. I really liked that - and it was so easy. I need to upload a few current photos to it.  Flickr tells me that I am nearing the 200 limit and I need to upgrade to flickr pro - this costs $24 a year. At this point I have moved on to Shutterfly - which is easier for the grandparents to use so I probably won't do that. But it is nice to see those old photos again.

The thing I was most excited about so far is the Commons, Places and the Galleries. That is so amazing! These photos can be so much help to a teacher. I could spend a lot of time in the commons. I found this garden photo from the Smithsonian from 1930. It doesn't look like a real place! Looks more like a movie, but it is California, so may be it was. 

Arcady [slide]
Originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution

















I found other images that were so beautiful, but I was unable to share them here. I tried looking through the groups. There is so much there it is overwhelming. I ended up looking through the paper fetish group. I love collage type art - and I hoped to find something interesting. There was some people who were selling things - I think. Kindle covers which, though nice, were not what i was looking for. I did find this nice one from czekocyna. It is a bit Valentine's-ish. I found it hard to get these photos in my blog. I did the first one with the blog it feature, but I wanted to second one to go into this post. Not as easy. So I just copied the HTLM code and put it in the blog. Just like the old days.

Thing #6 Discovering Web Tools 2.0

The web tool I have chosen is Etsy. I am a devoted Etsy fan. In fact, on occasion, I sell scarves on Etsy.  My shop at the moment is empty because I am here in school. It has been really hard to find the time to make things. But I really enjoyed it when I was doing it. I often buy gifts for myself or others on Etsy. I love that I do not have to live in New York City, Paris, or London to get amazing, unique handmade or vintage things - I can be in my living room in little ole Clarksville, TN. I am excited every time I open the home page or daily email. I have a long, long list of favorites I keep tabs on. I am inspired by all the amazing crafters and artists out there making beautiful works.

The only down side to etsy is that it is hard to go through. It is so full - I feel like there are tons of things I never get the chance to see. When you search etsy it will show first who has most recently posted. It costs money to post - not much like 5 or 6 cents, but that can add up after a while when you are trying to sell things as inexpensively as you can and cover all your costs. I always wonder what is on page 547 of the searched pages - is that where the perfect, unique, amazing thing I am looking for actually is? And not on page 3. Etsy is huge - and I know they are working hard to make the search part of it work better. I know this is a huge job. It is still a wonderful site - the first thing I ever bought off Etsy was amazing ring from Singapore.

Thing #5 School 2.0

School 2.0 means more exciting ways to learn with students. When reading Web 2.0 A Guide for Educators I was really excited about the online video tools. That seemed like a really fun thing to add to a reading or social studies assignment. Students love to make films - but also to edit them! That would be really fun. I imagined my son would be over the moon to do that. So I clicked on the links to the free online software in the article. What I found was that jumpcut, eyespot, and spymac are all gone. Toufee is still around and you can have a 14 day free trial with it. This lead me to think what has replaced it because this stuff didn't just go away. It has probably grown and changed since the article. A quick google search brought up many, many more which at the moment I didn't have time to go through, but I will. My son will love this. A lot of these might have a hard time competing with the programs that come with computers now, too. My kids love to play with photo booth on our Mac -

They made this video one snow day last year. It was a lot of fun. And I see huge potential for this sort of thing in the classroom.

Technology is a huge part of students life. They come by it naturally. It must be part of the classroom or what is going on in there will seem obsolete. I am excited about the things School 2.0 can offer. I see ways to reach students that where not there before. I see ways to engage students who are bored and uninterested. It is a great way to foster creativity. School 2.0 means a future of children ready to develop the next great thing. I imagine if I was in school with all this technology I would come out ready to jump in head first. I see the students grabbing the torch and running with it.

Watch the full episode. See more Digital Media - New Learners Of The 21st Century.

Aired on PBS on Feb. 13th.

Thing #4 Commenting on Blogs

In the previous post I said that blogs would be good for in class journaling. I was also thinking that this would be important to help students understand the idea of public. When sitting at our computers in our pjs in our living room making comments on things - we feel right at home. We are not as careful about the way we say things. And we don't think that things we have said can be interpreted completely differently then what we meant. Then, of course, there are the times when we say things we shouldn't have said. Letting students comment on each other's blogs, then discussing the blogs and comments within class is a really good way to show them just how public and open to interpretation blogs are.

"It is important that we model for children the right way to disagree on a topic and to show that we can do it while remaining civil and not attacking the other's right to their opinion," from Cool Cat Teacher blog. I really liked this idea from Cool Cat Teacher. Modeling behavior for students can be the very best teacher sometimes. And having the ability to discuss things in a civil, smart, open and educated way is a million dollar skill. This is truly something students will use every day. Every single day. 

It is important to encourage comments and to comment back. Otherwise a blogger is just out there spouting out what they think. That seems kind of self centered and silly. The whole point of a blog is to find people who are interested in or dealing with things that you are dealing with and create a conversation with them. The blog community is some place when those who are thinking about the same things, but are thousands of miles apart can come together and chat. As Problogger said, "it creates a culture of interactivity and gives the impression to other readers that your comments section is an active place that you as the blogger value." 

While it is important to encourage comments you want to make sure it is a safe place to comment. You don't want potentially smart and helpful people run off by mean, unfair, and out there commenters. So it is important to set boundaries. As stated by Problogger, "setting rules can make commenters feel safe - knowing that some will enforce rules about respect within the blog. If you know there is a moderator who will delete any sort of personal attack on you if you have a different opinion you may feel more inclined to express that opinion." If potentially smart, insightful commenters feel they will be respected they are more likely to engage in a conversation. People with a different, fresh perspective sometimes offer more to the conversation then those who agree with your position. Being a moderator who respects and appreciates his or her audience is important. There are a million blogs out there. If you ignore those reading they will find some who doesn't. We all want to know some one is listening - kind of the reason for the blog. So, as Problogger said, you should reward comments. And really this works every where in life. Everyone likes to hear that they are smart, interesting, have something good to add to the conversation or that you are just listening to them. Works in the classroom, or the real world. It creates self esteem which in turns creates the feeling of safety - which makes you respected and listened to. It is all a cycle. 

"If you died today and don't share 'your secret,' it will die with you and you will miss the chance to leave behind something far more important... a legacy." This is from Cool Cat Teacher Blog. I believe what she means is don't be a chicken - get out there and say what you think. I am going to try not to be a chicken, not to have thin skin, and get out there and learn something from the many, many conversations going on out there.


Thing #4 Part two... (this is still under construction)
I am still trying to read all my classmates blogs. I have commented on two:

1. The first was going goder's post about using blogs in the classroom. I really liked her idea of using a blog to post art work or videos made by students. A virtual gallery would be an inexpensive way to share with the class, other classes, make comments, and make it feel public. I liked her blog on a whole. Very down to earth.  I am a follower on her blog.
2. I commented on teachartlearntech post about the blogs she follows. I really liked poppytalk. I could spend way too much time there. She has a lovely blog - such nice images. I am also a follower of her blog. 

Blogs I follow:

1.I also follow - A Year of Reading. I really love this blog. It is written by two teachers and is all about books. I sometimes find things I have already read and I really like reading their perspective and other's comments on the books. Most of the time I find something new and illuminating there. This blog is a treasure.
2. I follow - 100 Scope Notes. This blog kindly comes to my email. It is written by an elementary school librarian. He puts up books but also cool art projects, interviews, and leads me to many other blogs. He posts often and I always find him amusing or interesting. 

Thing #3

There are many ways that using a blog would be helpful to teachers. The first would be to post activities or units studied in class. You could talk about what went well or not so well and ask for help or ideas. I took a poetry writing class years ago and I always loved critique day. People would give you ideas for free. You could take the good ones and toss the not so good ones. I loved it. Often people would propose an idea that I wouldn't take, but would lead me to other ideas. They would be the catalyst to something else. This requires a good and insightful following. Which, I think, would take time to build up.

I know many teachers who use blogs to post to their students. This could be an excellent way to communicate outside of class and facilitate discussion. Students could discuss assignments, help one another, or find extra resources.  It can also keep parents informed about what is going on in the classroom. I know some parents feel in the dark sometimes about what is actually being taught. They also feel unsure about how to support their kids in their studies. This could be a good way to offer the extra information for the parents who are looking for that. This requires that parents have computers, internet access, and know how to get to the blog easily. These things can be obstacles.

I like the idea of each student keeping their own blog. A teacher could assign a blog as a journal while reading a particular book or story. Students could read each other's views/ interpretations of a story. This could all be done through the classroom and students wouldn't necessarily be required to have to a computer at home.

Thing #2

This is not the first blog I have had. I had one a few years ago. It wasn't a good fit. I really - in the end - didn't know what to do with it. I could not find my voice there and eventually deleted it. Then Facebook came a long and I found that this was really what I was looking for. I just wanted a place to keep up with my friends that are all around the country, post pictures of my kids and see theirs, and make a few (I hope) quippy comments about my life as a mom. I found the making of this blog easy as far as the actual creating. I found it hard because it reminded me of my last failed attempt at this. I feel self-conscience and nervous about it.

These feelings lead me to only put my last name in the blog. I originally wanted to name it Catherine's Spectra Specs - my url still contains that name. Spectra Specs are the weird colored glasses that Luna Lovegood wears in Harry Potter. I thought that might not be right for class. I like the name in my url. It helps me to feel a little hidden. If this go at a blog works out I think I will change the name back to that. I like it.

My avatar is wearing jeans and tee shirt - which is my usual uniform. I think if I could have made her hair a little messier it would represent me a little better. It seems no matter what length I make my hair it is always a little messy. I had hoped by the time I turned 35 I would have had it under control - that has come and gone and there is still no control. I have given that goal up - along with my goal to some day be cool.

Thing #1 Life Long Learning

I like to think of myself as a life long learner. I enjoy learning new skills, I love a good challenge, and I always want to try new things. I had a job for many years where I worked on dinosaur type computers. It was a small non-profit agency and they had little money. We needed ferrari type computers to do our jobs, but we had were minis. It was so much fun to pull those computers apart, rebuild them, put in new parts, and fix major melt downs. I really enjoyed the challenge, and the constant figuring of puzzles. I was never afraid to break the computer, and I was always confident that we could work something out. There are many instances in my life where I have felt when facing a challenge or learning something new I could not fail. This is, of course, not always true. But I am always happy that feeling of invincibility returns.

There are places and times, though, when this is not true about me. And most of the time this happens in groups. I am not good in a group of adults. My shyness creeps in. I feel self-conscience and worry about every word that exists my mouth. I find it almost impossible to find that feeling of invincibility. Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice says, "with every attempt to intimidate me, my courage always rises." I say this quote in my head some times - I wish I could be like her. Witty, charismatic, charming, and have the ability to stumble in public, shake it off and keep moving forward. I don't have these same failings around kids - I feel comfortable around them. Nerdy and dorky, or what ever I am - I don't mind being that person in front of kids.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the amount of information technology offers. It sometimes feel like there is too much news or too many choices. It can be nice to have so much right at my finger tips, but often I want a little quiet from it all. Especially the news - I feel overwhelmed by all the sad, tragic, horror stories from every small town around the world. The piece of technology I have the most trouble with is the phones - I don't want to be that accessible all the time.

So I guess when I look at the 7.5 habits I find that when I work solo or with kids I find the habits come easier. I don't mean that everything I do works out perfectly - that certainly doesn't happen. But I pop back easier, quicker, and see each mistake as an opportunity. This is not necessarily true when it comes to being in groups of adults. I usually would rather melt in to the wall.