THING #23

Wow, I discovered so many things during this experience. I thought I was pretty technologically savvy before this class so I very surprised the amount of resources I was unaware of. Even more shocking, was the amount of these resources allready downloaded on my teacher laptop. I honestly would have a five page blog entry to discuss they many things I have learned and plan to use.
The discovery I am currently using the most is del.icious. I have downloaded the tabs on my browser and use the "tag" tool every time I come across I great website, especially good blogs during this journey. There are certain sites I use on a regular basis and the bookmarking tool will help me quickly access these during the school day and at home.
A few of the sites or discoveries I will use right away this school year are: flickr, rollyo, teachertube, and Podcasting.


How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
As a lifelong learner my goal is to consistantly keep myself educated and continously update my knowledge base. As technology grows at a rapid pace, education has to keep up and attempt to stay ahead of our students. This was an extraordinary experience to learn the key elements to integrate technology into classrooms. I feel confident that I can successfully use techonology on a regular basis as well use technology tools to motivate and inspire my students.

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was very surprised at the amount of tools I did not know about. As I progressed through the course I was teaching my friends, family members, and colleagues about the newest technologies available. I can not believe how many resources are available for free and easily at our access.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I thought this was a very successful format. I agree with another blog I read, in that we had to sign up for alot of different websites and programs. Maybe at the beginning of the session next year, there could be a note or a note to learners that the project will include many log-in and passwords. Learners could make a word document or spreadsheet including all the information.
I know I have already forgotten so many of mine.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
yes, I travel during the summer and also take graduate classes so the online flexibility was extremely helpful for me. If this was a physical class, I would not have been able to make and would have lost out on this great learning experience.


How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?

23 Things takes teaching to the next level.



Now go and comment on some of the other Players' blogs?

Thing #22

I spent some time on the site Ning for Teachers. What I enjoyed the most on this site were the blogs. There are times where the only people in the world who can relate to the stresses of a teacher are other teachers. I read a blog about 5 things to remember to do in order to stay calm at the beginning of the school year. Hearing comments and blogs about this topic helped remind me that we (teachers) are all in this together and understand each other. I believe teachers have one of the hardest jobs out there so what a great social network to support one another and help each other out during the challenges of each school year.

Thing #21

I plan to use podcasting and videocasting in my classroom alot this year. There is nothing better to a student, then to produce something using his/her own voice or pictures. I struggles to get my microphone to work so used a musical background to go along with my pictures. My plan, when I can get the microphone working, is to use this to show my friends and family pictures of my wedding venue for my March wedding. THis is a great way to describe what each picture is as my friends and family view the pics. I sent them these pictures through a picture sharing site but now I can send them the pictures with commentary.

Thing #20

I found a video on TeacherTube that consitsted of a student discussing the procedures the class went through during their MockRock scientific experiment. I enjoyed this video because I plan to use this idea this year. This is a great way to involve technology into curriculum subjects. THe explanation each student produces on his/her video could be used as an assessment and a great link to send home to parents and families. I struggled to embed the video so I copied the link below. I will continue to explore embeding videos on to my blog.

http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=404&title=3rd_Grade_Mock_Rock_Activity

Thing #19

I actually found two sites that I found very useful for my personal life. Zillow is a Real Estate website that received a #1 ranking. It was very user-friendly and offered easy tools to search homes for sale in certain areas. I also found a social website that I might use to search upcoming events around Houston. "Upcoming" offered a list of various activities, events, shows, etc. around town for certain upcoming dates. This is very helpful when guests come in town or just as we look for things to do on the weekends.
Flickr was ranked #1 for Photos and Digital images. The most useful part of this site will be searching the millions of images for pictures to use in our classrooms. This site offers many excellent images of real life pictures. There are many times where students need to see a real picture of the topic or item studies. I can't wait to use Flickr to search for images as I plan my lessons.




What is special about the tool? What are its useful parts, especially with regards to Libraries and school? How might you use this tool in your own setting?

Thing #18

It is crazy that SBISD computers had open office tool already downloaded and I didn't even know about it. I look forward to experimenting with this program more and improving my competancy with it. A major advantage of this program is the capability to share documents easily with others and the easy access on any computer with internet. It will take awhile to get used to it, though, as microsoft is so easy and second nature to us all. I read on another blog, the concern with internet connection. This is something to worry about because internet connection is not always 100%. With Microsoft word one can complete documents with or without internet.
Google docs is wonderful. I really enjoyed looking at the public templates already availble. This tool can be very helpful for teachers and co-workers colaborating and sharing documents. I don't see many disadvantages to Googledocs except for the same internet connection concern.

Thing #17

Rollyo is a really helpful website. There are so many times when researching that the kids just want to use "google". They feel restricted when we give them one or two websites to choose from. I definetly will use Rollyo in my classroom. I searched for existing Rollyo searches and came across one for studying the Solar System. I changed the title name and edited to make it work for my classroom. I can't wait to share this site with my teammates and our librarian. After I finish the 23 Things I am going to have to go back through everything to remember all these great tools.

http://rollyo.com/hartma2j/hartman_3rd/

Thing #16

I am still getting the hang of Wikis and getting used to managing the SBISD library future wiki. I do see the potential for some great uses in classrooms. I will be teaching Science and Math this year in third grade. Student groups could post results of Science experiments on the wiki to allow students to compare/contrasts experiments. In math different approaches to problem solving could be listed on the wiki to allow students to view varying strategies. It would be great to find out at the beginning of the year if all students have internet access at home or close by. Homework assignments could be to post, at home, a reaction to a math problem or their thoughts on a reading assigned. The possiblities are endless.

Thing #15

I came across something very interesting as I was reading D.W.'s 2 cents worth blog. There was a post called Technology and Teaching. The post discussed a recent poll asking the question: Can a teacher be a good teacher without using technology? The basic idea in this post talked about technology in the classrooms and in education. It refered to the idea that a classroom with out technology is not in the best interest of the students. If a teacher is not up to date with technology than he/she should find another calling. Alot of comments were ragging on teachers who don't use technology, describing the non-use of technology as unacceptable, etc.



The reasoning behind the immediate need for techonology in classrooms (which I 100% agree with) is written in the blog as follows:



Today, being able to read and write and pass a test are not enough. They are not nearly enough. Today our students must become information artisans, able to learn, work, play, contribute, and prosper in a new and constantly changing and enriching information environment, and do so in a way that conserves the planet — rather than consum it. We can not do this today by scratching and printing on pulp-based paper. Teaching and learning must be digital.



My feelings after reading this blog post and the reactions of others following this blog were pretty strong. I absolutly agree that teachers should be trained, professionaly taught, and required to learn the newest technologies, to teach through technology, and to prepare students for the future using technology.

Is anyone outside of education aware of how much is demanded of educators? Do you know how many hours teachers work- beyond the hours of 7:45-3:45? I wouldnt be surprised if the hours a teacher works in the nine months of school are far beyond the total hours some professions tally through out the year. Has anyone looked at a teacher's paycheck lately? Did you know teachers are in the same pay category as Garbage Disposal workers?

As a teacher, I feel disrepected by society. I feel taken advantage of and used. 20 years ago, teaching was all paper and pencil. Teachers used textbooks and simply read the same story to the same kids.

Now, there are no text books, computers line our classrooms, every student requires a different method of teaching. A different book club, a different discipline plan, and varying mathematic levels are taught to each individual student during the same hour. The strong teachers change lesson plans, and academic plans every year to keep up with the newest trends and technologies. We even pay for professional development and certifications out of our OWN pocket with no raise.



On the inside so much has changed in teaching, the demands are higher than ever. Yet, nothing around us has changed. We are still payed the same as if all we did was walk in the room, open a basil and read or hand the kids a worksheet and sit at our desks.



I want educators to be held accountable to learn the newest technologies. Educators need to be held accountable to train and learn how to teach students technology applications. Teachers should be required to know and teach with the most recent computer softwares and programs. However, if this is the case, if this is where education is moving... will you please respect us more? Maybe even move our pay scale out of the gutter. If you are not an educator and ever thought teaching would be easy or "fun"....I Dare you to try it.

Thing #14

I learned something important during Thing 14. I was already familiar with Technorati so I thought I could just browse through it and have a strong sense of the site and how to use it effectively. My plan didn't work out exactly as I imagined. After a long time of my own personal seraching and experimenting I gave in and watched the two videos. The videos were extremely helpful and gave a brief but efficient run down of the Technorati updates. Sometimes it is ok to admit that you need to learn from others first, and then try to master the task at hand.
Following the videos I was excited to use Technorati and saw many great potential uses for myself. However, when I went to the site it did not appear to be updated the same way the video described. I decided to contact Technorati and inquire into my concern.

Did anyone else come across this?

What I did like about this site is the classic blog searches that included the similar heading you would see in a newspaper. I also like how one can view the top 100 blogs and popular tags. In a quick glance this could give me a grasp of popular topics around the world in that moment.
I did not ping my blog with the site because but if I ever start another blog of my own I will be sure to use this site to connect with other bloggers.