Thing #20 Youtube

Youtube....is anyone else a Youtube junkie at times? I picked this video because it is a great Motivational clip to show to students when they are lacking motivation or say the famous "I can't" line. I always tell my students "Dream bigger than you know you can achieve" and that they can be anything they want to be in life. Youtube is blocked at my school but there are ways to get around this. All you have to do is download the videos onto a flash drive. I am glad that Youtube is blocked at school because students would become easily distracted by this site. I would not want to be held responsible if one of my students went to inappropriate videos. I have used TeacherTube and this is a great site to use where students can watch videos or create their own videos. I love the Youtube Edu and will use this in my classroom. The only thing that I dislike about Youtube are the ugly, sometimes nasty comments.

Thing #19 TeacherPop-Ning

Wow, this has been one of my favorite 23 things. I have always been skeptical about social networking sites and I am not exactly sure why? Anyway, this "thing" opened my eyes because I wasn't aware of all the social networking sites. I just automatically think of Facebook or Myspace. I have really enjoyed setting up my TeacherPop and can not wait to make some friends and maybe mentors along the way. I think it is important for educators to have mentors or someone you can go to for certain advice. TeacherPop will give me that opportunity. I also checked out the Goodreads site. Reading is one of my hobbies so I decided to check out Goodreads and I spent way too much time on this site. I think I might be addicted! I also would recommend the Fuzzster if you are crazy about your pet. I have a Yorkie and I have not been able to find any local breeders. I thought this might be a good way to find breeders and make some money :) haha ..Also, Craftster is really amazing.

Thing #17 Social Networking

Educators and students should take advantage of social networking/bookmarking sites. I always save my useful sites in the standard bookmarking fashion, and when I really need a my URLs I never have them with me. Social bookmarking sites such as Del.icio.us, Furl and Ma. gnolia allow us to forget the hassle of creating hundreds of separate folders. You just simply use the tool bar to organize bookmarks. However, these sites are more than just great organizers. Educators could create, research, publish, and have a way to collaborate with other users world wide. Educators could share their great ideas with others, and the beginning teachers would have another source for gathering new materials. More importantly, staying organized with your research is a huge bonus. This is where students could create bookmarks and add tags to share with other students and their research projects. Using these sites might also create a sense of unity among peers that would encourage others to open up and share their ideas with the class.

Thing #18 Social Networking

Here is my Facebook account: MK May (alias name)

I believe that social networking sites can be beneficial to educators. The main benefit is collaboration! Educators need to stay up-to-date with current ideology, technology, etc. More importantly, it is a great tool to see what teachers out of state are doing. This offers global collaboration and gets educators out old habits/routines. Not only do these sites offer collaborative features, they also offer great support lines.

Dislikes--Home page is really crowded!

Likes--You have the ability to control privacy settings and the advanced search for finding friends

I wouldn't use Facebook in the school setting because it is not advised at my school, and many social networking sites are blocked at my school. However, I do see the benefits of using social networking sites for personal use at home. I believe educators must know how to use these sites professionally or they risk being in dangerous situations. That is why I don't use these particular social networking sites as part of my classroom or school application unless it is community based?

Insight--It was interesting to see how much Facebook has changed in just a few years. I used to have a Facebook account but I deleted it because I wasted too much time on it and couldn't keep up! They have made it more user friendly and the setup was definitely easier this go around.

Thing #16 More Web 2.0 Tools

I chose iGoogle as my start page because I have a Gmail and this one just made sense. I did make it my permanent home page because it has everything that I need: e-mail, news, weather, calendar, and Google search. The online calendar is useful to me because I can set important reminders, look at my month at a glance, plan future events through my Google calendar. I also looked at BackPackit and found this site extremely user friendly because of the sidebar. Also, BackPack incorporates calenders, notes, images and files. The to-do list that I have been using is Remember the Milk and I have found it to be really useful but somewhat time consuming. All you have to do is create tasks, locations, or events and you get an instant reminder. Eventually I would like to get the app for this site and be able to use it on my phone! I think I would use this site more if I had it on my phone and did not have to log in with my computer. Another cool tool that I found handy is the Stickynotes. I'm in love with Post its so this site was instantly attractive to me. The tools that I would recommend for home:

1. iGoogle

2. Backpack

These are the sites I would recommend for school!

3. Remember the Milk

4. stickynotes

Thing #15 Wiki

How might I use a Wikki? Well, I've brainstormed numerous possibilities:

1. Literary Circles?

2. Wikis for unit plans? Maybe you have a great idea but need some materials? Other educators might be willing to share?

3. Wikis for research? Students could create a Wiki Research page instead of the standard research paper. Each group would have a specific section?

4. Book Reviews? This is like the Princeton Book Lover's Wiki

Yes, I'll admit I'm a control freak so the concept of a Wiki is alarming in some ways. However, I think they would be an awesome tool where students use technology to publish ideas, research, etc.

Click Here to see my Wiki: Sophomore Seekers

I created this Wiki for my Sophomore (English II) students. It is a work in progress....Eventually, I would love to post units, literary circles, research projects and other materials!

Thing #14 Go with the Flow

Bubbl was a great tool for me because I found it easier to use than Mindmeister. I used Bubbl to create a brief outline of one of my lesson plans. This would be great to show students as an introduction to the lesson to show them how certain skills build on one another. Also, in this particular unit plan students have to create a graphic organizer. This would be an excellent tool for them to use when designing their graphic organizers because it is very intuitive. Students can even print the organizers when they are finished! I would recommend this site to students because its free and easy to use.

I also explored Gliffy and was able to begin creating documents right away. However, the only negative thing about this site is you only get a 30-day free trial. This site is cool because it creates flowcharts, Venn diagrams, Floor plans, and other interesting diagrams. I can see why they charge you after 30 days because there is so much stuff! I think this would be a great resource for students, but there are other sites (such as Bubbl) that are free.