Is it the end? Or only the beginning?

One of my favorite discoveries was Thing 17. I love the website Delicious and intend on using it for a long time.  This whole experience has made me realize all the possibilities that were at my fingertips with the internet that I was unaware of before. I think the YouTube and the Facebook/Twitter blogs were unnecessary. YouTube is not allowed in most school systems because the schools have to monitor websites and YouTube is not filtered. To keep up with the Web 2.0 developments, I will keep up with some blogs. 

Thing 23!!!!!!!

One more to go!

Now that I know how Creative Commons licensing works, I am going to be more diligent when I go to create things with items I find online. I remember looking at the website in class. I will use it to tell my students and others I know about how it is a serious matter. I wouldn't want someone taking all of the credit for something that I took the time to do. I imagine others would feel the same way.

Thing 4

I chose to wait until towards the end to do Thing 4 so I would have more options to comment from.

Commenting helps create a sense of community because it creates conversation about all things. That way people don't feel like they are just posting things and not knowing if anyone cares. It is a way to create personal growth. There are a lot of things to be learned, and the internet makes it an easier process.

The five blogs I commented on were: Natalie Spradlin, Rebecca Black, Kelly Poole, Sabrina Watson, and Robert White.

Thing 22

I kept it simple with my binders. I have one on alphabet letters and activities, one on whole brain teaching (posted below), and one on classroom management.

Power Teaching

This binder has multiple videos because I feel there is more impact from the videos.

I could use LiveBinders as a way to organize things we did one day, or that I intend to do one day, and the parents could look up what was done if they are interested.

Thing 21

Animoto is relatively easy to use. The selection of items if you choose the free subscription is extremely limited, which I was not fond of. I'd like to see what else is available as video backgrounds if you were to choose the more expensive package. Although it was very limited, there were quite a few songs on there and I liked that you could upload your own.


Try our slideshow creator at Animoto.

Thing 20

I use YouTube for a lot of things. At my high school it was a website that was blocked with their internet, but now in college I use it for presentations since it is not blocked here. I think videos add a great quality to learning. At church I help run "OneWay Street" which is out environment for elementary kids, and they watch videos of stories from the Bible during the large group session before they go back to small group to further discuss it, and I had a small group leader come to me and tell me how it was amazing how much they remember from the videos even when you think they aren't paying attention.

I think this video is amazing! There were several like this on YouTube.

Thing 19

I have a Facebook account and now because of Thing 19 I am in the process of getting a Teacher Pop account. Below is the badge:


Visit TeacherPop

I don't know how I feel about this site yet. It seems similar to Facebook, which I said in a previous blog I don't care much for getting on. It seems to be a difficult process to just join this site. However, I was pleased with how easy it was to use the badge.

I did like the Craftster website. I enjoy doing crafts and this website has a ton of different ideas. I could easily find something I want to do with the kids in my class.

Thing 18

It is important for educators to know how social networking works because it is becoming so popular. Tons of teachers use social networks, and they all can talk about educational topics or even have pages just for education talk. I have a Facebook, and I have had it for awhile, but I don't check it often. I enjoy it for purposes of sharing things with my family or connecting with my youth girls who don't have cell phones yet. However, I don't generally like getting on it because it seems to be a good place to waste time when I could actually be spending time with someone or doing something productive somewhere else. I don't find Facebook or Twitter to be particularly helpful for education purposes because they are mostly just for socializing. The ability to post links and things of that nature could be helpful though. I will be teaching early elementary grades, so this is not something that I will really be able to use in my classroom.

Thing 17

Delicious appears to be a good tool. I bookmark a lot of websites, and I have folders they all go in, but since there are so many I get unorganized. Also, there are times when I want to access my bookmarks, but they are on my laptop, which I don't always carry with me. I enjoy the tags on the websites because when you go onto Google sometimes things you don't want pop up. Teachers can take advantage of a social bookmarking site by seeing sites other teachers use that they find effective.

Thing 16

For my homepage I chose iGoogle. I chose this because my homepage was already Google, and I like opening my web browser (Google Chrome) and having Google Search open automatically, and with iGoogle I still have the search bar pop up. Also, I like that the weather is on my iGoogle because I check the weather quite frequently and that I can add a recipe "gadget". I love cooking and am constantly looking for new recipes. I'm not fond of the idea of having everything online for multiple reasons. If I can't get internet access and I have everything like my calendar or notes online, I won't be able to access them. I keep a planner with me during the school semester, and when I don't have a planner I just use my phone calendar. Also, I have one in my room on my wall that I keep up-to-date. I don't need another one. I also feel it would just be easier to stick to paper and pencil for a to-do list. Generally I can type a to-do list on my sticky note application on my computer or on my cell phone.

Thing 15

I think using a Wiki is interesting for me. All through high school we were told to avoid websites that just  anyone could edit. I think it is great that you can create items with different people, but I see it more as something that is just for fun things to do. 

Thing 13

When using the Zoho Writer, I noticed it is a lot like Microsoft. I don't entirely see the point in using it. I prefer to use key strokes as much as I can, and I'm used to Microsoft. Also, if you need an e-mail to sign in to Zoho, then you can just e-mail your documents when it comes to sharing them. Zoho, to me, is like mixing Microsoft Word and Dropbox. It is a nice tool, but I probably will not use Zoho Writer although it was an east site to use.  If I were to pick between Zoho Writer and Google Docs, I would definitely choose Zoho Writer. There are more options on Zoho Writer and it seems more user friendly.

My Project from Google Docs:

Thing 14

I used Bubbl.us and Gliffy.com. I really enjoyed using the mind map on Bubbl.us. It was an extremely easy website to use to organize my thinking. I typed a topic and then hit Ctrl + Enter to make a subdivision of that, and just kept going. I will definitely be using that website again for upcoming papers. I like all of the different options that Gliffy had.  You can choose from a blank document, Venn Diagram, flow chart, floor plans, and much more. Bubbl would be more efficient for my particular thinking process; however, I enjoyed both websites and could use them both frequently.

Thing 12

Picasa and Google Translate were the Web 2.0 Tools I chose to further explore. I was really impressed with the Google Translate. It had any and every language. This could be helpful if I have a student who has at least one main care taker that does not speak English when a letter needs to be sent home. All I would have to do is type it up in English, paste the letter into the text box, and it would translate it so I could copy and paste it to a document to print and send out. I found Picasa to be very interesting as well. It had a lot to do. I think it would be really helpful so I could connect with the parents of my students online. When I do activities in my classroom, I plan to take pictures of the students as they do things. Using Picasa would be an easy, efficient way to have the pictures in a place where the parents could view them and see what all is going on in the classroom.

Thing 11

I am not very fond of these techniques. It was mildly confusing to figure out what was going on with my RSS, but maybe that was just me! This Google Blog search was the easiest for me to use. Mostly because it is a familiar format because I use Google.com almost every day. Also, it gives the most relative results. Another site I enjoyed was Edublogs.My least favorites were Technorati and Topix. Technorati gave irrelevant responses and was just all around unhelpful. They both were far too busy as well. So, I will probably be sticking to Google unless I have more time to just search through things on Edublogs. 

Thing 10

I like that RSS and newsfeeds keep you from having to visit each site to check for yourself if it has been updated. It saves a lot of time. I can use these to keep up on all of the websites, such as blogs, I enjoy reading information from. For teaching it will be useful for resources and I can also come up with my own things for people to subscribe to if they wish. With some of the websites I chose, I can be kept updated on all of the newest findings in education which be important for me to be the best teacher that I can be.

Thing 9

These generators are very versatile because they have any kind of image you could create. I used ImageChef.com to create an image to represent my faith, and I used the Comic Strip Generator to make one with Bart Simpson about homework. I could definitely use the Comic Strip Generator to create laminated signs as reminders for the kids for things around the classroom such as in a classroom library/reading corner I could use a picture of a comic to remind the children that the library/reading corner is a quiet place.



Thing 8

I could use mashups for many things, both personal and teaching. I could create multiple mashups for special occasions like my wedding to have on display. Also, I could make a large photocopy of the Spell with Flickr for my last name as decor piece in my home.When it comes to teaching, I could use the website that creates puzzles for the students using pictures of their families or for things that they need to learn. I think sharing photos online is a great thing. I use photos a lot for presentations and I rely on things like Google Images and other online resources to get pictures from. It is also a great way for people to connect and share pictures with those they are close to emotionally, but not physically.

Thing 7

Photographer: blmiers2

Flickr seemed to be pretty simple to use. I was looking for photos from Alaska hoping to find some pictures of the Denali National Park. All I had to do was type "alaska" in the search bar and tons of Alaska photos came up. It was difficult to find the URL of this image. I had to go to the properties when I right clicked it on it to find the URL, which was not listed in the Help.

Thing 6



This Web 2.0 tool is very helpful. It is essentially an online file cabinet. You can upload different documents into different files, similar to saving documents to a computer. You have the ability to share documents with others who have dropbox as well. You type in their username or e-mail and choose the correct account to share with. Your things may also be private. Another thing that makes this a useful site is when you upload a document to dropbox, you can sign in on any computer and download it. This could be helpful for things such as powerpoint presentations, so you do not have to sign into your personal e-mail where everyone can see what you are doing, giving you more privacy. I could see myself using this when I become a teacher for multiple things. If there was something I wanted to work on at home for work, but did not have my work computer at home with me, I could work on it at home, upload it to dropbox, and download it on my work computer. Also, if there were assignments or projects that I wanted to share amongst other teachers in my grade, I could do the same.

(The image is a link.)

Thing 5

If I had to make a definition for School 2.0, I would make it based of the difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 in the Atomic Learning video. Web 1.0 was read only; whereas, Web 2.0 is read and write, so it is more advanced and is easy for everyone to use now. School 2.0, to me, is already in the making. Schools are already becoming more technologically advanced. I observed in a kindergarten class that had an overhead projector and two computers, which I felt was a little excessive since they were only in kindergarten. School 2.0 makes me think of schools having all textbooks online or on something like a Kindle or Nook and no longer using paper by replacing it with something like D2L. I imagine that to be an improvement for older kids; however, I do not think that will be appropriate for younger children who spend too much time on electronics is. With technology being "second nature" to kids, like techlearning.org says, it won't hurt to wait until students are older to make it more prevalent. Advances in technology are great, but I believe it should be saved for the older kids because the possibilities are endless with what they can manage. Younger children need to focus more on their social, emotional, phyisical, creative, and cognitive developments first. When it comes to teachers, the web is an amazing thing with endless possibilities as well. Finding things like activity ideas, discussing with other teachers what was successful and unsuccessful for them, and things of that nature become easier immediately. Also, when I observed the kindergarten I noticed she had a mic like most of my high school teachers did. I felt that was definitely a great use of new technology because younger children can get loud fast.

Thing 3

There are several things I would probably use a blog for my future classroom that would be beneficial. I myself have read blogs from other teachers for things like activities they are doing with their students and things of that nature, do I think it would be beneficial for other teachers that come after me to see things I write about. I could write about things I tried that worked or failed miserably. Also, a blog could be ideal for parents to be able to see pictures of things their children are doing in class, so they can see how they progress and be more connected to what is going on in class, especially since I will be teaching younger students.

Thing 1

While reading the 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners one thing really stood out to me, and it stood out to me because I firmly believe in it. I strongly believe that it is never too late nor too soon to learn something. I hadn't put much thought into that until last semester when I had Mr. Brown who told us about how he gave a task designed for 5th graders to Kindergarteners. He said it took them a bit longer than it would have with 5th graders, but the students caught on and came up with multiple ways to solve the problem. I thought it was brilliant. He said that as long as we prepare them and give them the tools, any student at any age can accomplish any task. I believe the habit that is hardest for me is "begin with the end in mind". I struggle with this because I am a very visual "right-here-right-now" type of person. The easiest for me, however, is a tie between habit six: "use technology to your advantage" and habit seven: "teach/mentor others". Generally when I have a problem to solve, I will go online and try to search online to find my answer. Also, when I try to teach an individual something, it helps me with learning and seeing different perspectives as well.

Thing 2

Creating a blog was interesting. I use the internet frequently, but blogs are never on my docket. I chose to name my blog Hayli_Wrigley mostly because we had to include our last name and I'm not extremely creative with choosing names for things online. It wasn't too difficult to create the blog. The instructions that were given made it easier than if I had just decided to put one together myself. Creating an avatar was funny. I think the avatars sort of look like a man! I made my avatar look as much like me as I could. I don't typically stand like the avatar though! I chose a purple shirt for it because purple is my favorite color and jeans because that is generally all I wear.