23 Things down.....

Well, this is my last blog for the 23 Things exercise. It's been a fun ride, but it's time to go. My last exercise is just a simple 6 questions.
#1 What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? My favorite thing was probably Thing #10, dumpr.com. I loved all the different ways to edit your photos
#2 How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals? This program has shown me a couple awesome teaching aid web sites that would make learning fun for students while giving me a new way of teaching.
#3 Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you? The unexpected outcome was the amount of fun I had with educational websites. I knew there was cool websites, but educational cool websites?!?!? NOWAY!!!
#4 What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? I think one way to improve this experience would be to start off by having people follow other peoples blogs. Not only would that increase blog chats but also give the blogger a fun, interactive experience.
#5 If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate? I believe I would try other programs. I like the idea of new websites I can use on a daily basis, and I'm prety sure there are a lot more sites out there.
#6 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? "Necessity", I think every teacher should be informed of new, fun, and imaginative websites that will make their class not only educative, but fun. I love the idea of students being taught "Outside the Box", rather than the norm.

Thing #22.......1 more to go!

With Facebook now more popular than ever (my Mom even has an account), many offsprings have been created. One that I came across was Teacherlingo.com. this social network is specifically made for teachers, and it's genius. Now teachers can easily find lesson plans from other teachers their grade level, plus much more. This site has so many different things and groups to be apart of that can be so useful to teachers.

Thing #21

Photostory was a blast to use. There were so many options to edit your story available that, I think, would hold the students attention span. I think with a couple of hours....or minutes, anyone could create a wonderful story.

Thing #20 is associated with YouTube and TeacherTube. Before today I never heard of TeacherTube, but as you can suspect TeacherTube is an offshoot of YouTube. I still prefer YouTube just because it's a easier to use. The clip that I used is just a simple introduction to the library. Since I teach three year old students I really don't think I would use TeacherTube that much.

Thing #9teen

Thing 19 is pretty much a pot luck of awesome websites. The one I chose was Lulu. Lulu is book based website, but it's magic is aimed at amateur writers. Lulu gives regular, hobby based writers a chance to be published. The amazing part is that it's so easy to do. Another option they offer is a scrapbook type application where all you have to do is upload and edit your pictures into a prefab page. Next thing you know your picture book is finished and now available for anyone to buy your work. I think this would be useful for teachers because they can collect the writings of their students and combine everything in book form to be sold as a fundraiser at the end of the year. Just an idea.

Thing Number Eighteen (#18)

I have been using Google Docs for a while and find it a pretty handy thing. I think the best thing about Google Docs is that it's web based, so you are able to access your documents anywhere the internet is available. Of course the bad thing is that it's web based, so there is a chance your account can be hacked into and your documents be looked at or stolen. Also anther negative is that Google Docs, I think, isn't as complete as Microsoft works. One awesome thing about Google Docs is that users submit their own templates that they have created, thus finding one that you can use is easy.

Thing #17

The more I think about it, the more I'm digging the Rollyo website. Rollyo is an awesome idea. Here's the breakdown, imaging a search engine where you decide what websites you want it to search, plus when you find another website you can add that to your searchroll. If you want to shop for shoes, I know I do, you can set your sites to search only shoe based websites. This searchroll is one of my favorites SHOE SEARCH. Imagine teachers using this tool for something even more important! The possibilities are endless on what kind of search engine you can create.

Thing #16

Wiki is probably the hottest internet thing to happen in some time. With websites like wikipedia, info about everything is so easily attainable now. One of the many great things about wiki is the ability for other people to edit info that needs to be changed. Team activities can be easier to do now that meeting in person is not necessary, among other things. Wiki websites are the future of information sites.

Thing #15

I recently read a blog "Into a new world of librarianship". It was an informative look into how librarians are changing to fit into the new age of computers. With info so easily attainable from anywhere, plus books now able to be downloaded on phones, I believe it will be hard for libraries to maintain a successful future. I think we will come to an age now where libraries will be online and librarians will be able to answer questions via library chat rooms. I hate writing these thoughts but, I fear this is where technology is taking us. With Kindle and iPad sales increasing the number of virtual books, i shutter to think that books will cease to exist 30 years from now.

The Famous Thing #14

Okay, back to Technorati. I know see why tags are useful. instead of just looking at 1 website, by using tags, you can bring up other websites that share the same composition. when using this blog in the future, using tags will definitely increase traffic to my blog. I searched for "School Library Learning 2.0" and came up with 36 web blogs, which increases the chance of me finding great information on this topic. I will soon try to create a widget to put on my blog, wish me luck.

Delicious #13

Lucky number thirteen consist of the website Delicious. When I was reading this, I have to be honest, I did not understand why this site would be useful. I mean, they want you to create an account and save your favorite websites on your account? Uh HELLO! I have that on my computer already. Then I got to thinking, this is actually pretty genius. I cant tell you how many times I've wanted to show someone a website but could not remember the name of it. This website allows you to save bookmarks on their website so you will have access to them anytime you are online. The main purpose of this challenge was to master the art of tags. Tags are simply that. Tags are a simple word that describes the site. say your looking for phone reviews for Tmobile users. Well then simply put: phone, review, T-Mobile. This website would be very useful to students simply because with only a couple of main words, Delicious will find bookmarks that coincide with their search.

Thing #12

This is one "Thing" that I am familiar with. I have and love commenting and having online conversations through blogs. I think it's the 21st century way of having a debate with a random stranger. I know we're taught to not talk to stranger.....but having a conversation with someone that has a different perspective is an unbelievable way looking at things a way you never might have seen before. I also have to note that people speak their minds a little ore over the computer, probably because they don't have to talk face to face, or are embarrassed of what the other person might say to them.

Thing #11

LibraryThing is a website made for book lovers. It's like a book social networking site heaven. I love to read but find it hard to find books that will keep me interested simply because of the little time I give myself to read. I added my top 10 favorite books that I have read on my LibraryThing profile page. One good thing about this site is that there are now over one million users that have put their two cents in on what they would recommend I read next. Now instead of reading one million books, LibraryThing makes it easier by breaking people up in groups of their interest. In these groups so much is chatted about between members. Since I enjoy great poetry, I joined a poets group. I now have a couple of Poets that I never heard of that I am dying to read.

Thing #10

This has been my favorite "Thing" so far. Working with pictures has been a hobby of mine for a while, and finding new sites that offers different ways to customize my pictures is always entertaining to me. I absolutely fell in love with both Big Huge Labs and Dumpr. Both these site offer so many templates and photo tools to keep you busy for days. Educators can easily create photos or awards for their students. Below is a museum template with an image that I created using Dumpr from my last vacation on Isla Mujeres. I love this picture and always thought it belonged in a museum, and now it is. =o)

9th Thing

Technorati is hands down "THE" RSS Reader mecca. Their web site is soooo easy to use and offers so much! A simple search for easy recipes, that should have taken me 10 minutes, had me clicking away all morning amazed at all the info I was finding. I love this website as I am hooked on all the cool things to find and read about. This website was far and away easier to use then the Google Reader. I say easier simply because Google Reader is really crowded with ads and you don't know what is the actual page you're looking for sometimes. The Google Reader site was just hands down too busy, and plain. Going back to Technorati, I spent several hours finding easy and unusual recipes that were so simple and easy to make that my family probably would love to eat. I cannot wait to see what else I can waste time searching for, maybe cheap travels, or jewelry, or shoes, or.....

Thing #8

RSS Feeds are the subject of Thing #8. RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication”. They are the perfect thing for people who don't have a lot of time to waste. Imagine if you could put all your favorite blogs in one place and before you click on the story, a summary of what it's about is given. BAM! It's here! Simply set up an account (almost every search engine site has them), then once set up, you can add as many blogs as you want to your account. This saves having to bookmark each individual site then having to click here, then there, then scrolling down, then blah, blah, blah. Your account will have all your blogs together in one list so all you have to do is scroll down and find the one you want. Our mission was to pick at least five blogs. I picked out a variety of blogs ranging from travel, to educational ideas, to current events. Having done this I have already read about cool ideas to do with my children during the summer months. I think every person, especially educators would benefit from this tool, simply because of the amount of time you can save, and the ability of choosing what you want to read about.

I choose you Thing #7!

This time our web item is Google Tools. Believe it or not, Google has so much more to offer than just being a search engine. Our task was to pick 2 of the many tools and explain why we like them. The first of my two choices is Google Alerts. Google Alerts is a tool that when set up, it will email you results of your choice. This choice can be anything from a developing story to the score of your favorite sports team. My second choice I am familiar with. iGoogle is a home page that gives you the option of what gadgets you want to see when you log in. these gadgets range from games to headlines to random pictures. these are just 2 of the many different tools that Google has to offer.

Thing #6

Mash-ups, not music but of the web variety, are hybrid web applications that take features from one application and mashed up with another. The 3rd party site that I am reviewing is are hybrid web applications that take features from one application and mash it up with another. The mash up website that I absolutely love is Five Card Story, http://web.nmc.org/5cardstory/index.php
Here's the website in a nutshell. Flickr gives you five random pictures, of those five you pick one. Repeat the process four more times. When you have your five pictures chosen you then connect the pictures by writing a short story. An exercise like this could do wonders for students and ability to improve their imagination.

Thingo Numero Cinco

Well here we are at Thing #5. Thing #5 is the website "Flickr".(www.flickr.com) Flickr is probably one of the coolest picture manager sites on the Internet. Here you can find masterpiece photos from professional photographers down to a two year old taking shots from their Dora the Explorer cameras. With Flickr you can do several awesome things with your personal "pics" (that's short for pictures) once you upload them. First thing you can do is edit your pictures, such as remove red eye, crop, and add different effects. The next step is to organize your photos. You can actually create albums by name, places, even by which camera you used to take the photo. This website is super popular, which means there are pictures of nearly everything on here. This site is super easy to learn.

Creative Commons is a great option that is available on Flickr. Many Flickr users have chosen to offer their work under a Creative Commons license, and you can browse or search through content under each type of license. Go to http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/ for a complete explanation.

Flicker Picture taken from the album of Wolfgang Staubt @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfgangstaudt/2242006950/

Thing #3

My next assignment on my project was to design an avatar that represents me. As you can see from my avatar there are a couple of things right off the bat that you might notice: #1. My husband is nowhere to be found.....which is bad. #2. I'm walking away from Vegas on foot.....which is bad for my husband also. #3. As you can see, I'm dressed to go shopping! Purse in hand, comfortable clothes and shoes, I'm ready to do some damage.....which is REALLY bad for my husband.

My First Blog Post!! WooHoo!! (Thing #2 pointers)

As I start on this "journey" of blog writing, my goal (which happens t be step 1 of the 7 1/2 Habits tutorial) is to express my honest opinion of 23 chosen websites. FYI for the readers just tuning in, this blog will start with 23 reviews of various websites hand picked by Spring Branch I.S.D. Along the way, I may pop in a thought or 2, about some nonsense that comes to me. So......Thing #2. Thing #2 consist of a tutorial of 7 and 1/2 habits to become a highly successful lifelong learner. All habits are pretty much basic knowledge, but the easiest for me would have to be #3 - View Problems as Challenges. I can relate to this habit because I'm super competitive, and the best person to challenge is yourself. The hardest habit for me would have to be #7 and 1/2 - Play. Listen, I know this is easy, but for me I tend to play too much. To much to the point where I'm having so much fun I forget the objective. (Which can be awesome at times)