Thing 9-- Online Image Generators

I made this picture at Foto Trix.

I made this graphic at Image Chef.

I made this picture at Slide.

I made this graphic at Custom Sign Generator. (Seriously, I need to clean my house. My children are little tornadoes.)

For me, this "thing" fell right in with the 71/2 habit for lifelong learning...PLAY! At this point in this blog project, I really looked forward to completing #9-- it sort of pushed me through some of the other "things" (just like the video at the end will be doing!). I can see how our students will sometimes need to PLAY! I am sure that there are ways to squeeze some learning opportunities into fun activities like this...maybe using a word of the day in a cartoon or sign. Just having the chance to be a little creative can be very refreshing!

Thing 8-- Flickr Fun

I made a word using Spell with Flickr!

I made a picture mosaic using Mosaic Maker.

I made a slideshow using Flickr photos with the tag "animals" and Splashr.

I thought making these things was a lot of fun. I think it's pretty neat that Flickr allows these 3rd party sites access to Flickr photos. I think the Web 2.0 community is pretty cool! I also thought it was awesome that I used Flickr twice to make the Mosaic Maker: once to get my photos and then the second time to upload my mosaic into my Flickr account! (I got a giggle out of the button asking me if Mosaic Maker had my permission to access my Flickr account...it said "ok, I'll allow it!" Teehe!)

Thing 7-- Flickr

I decided to take some pictures of my cat, Tattoo. I put him into my avatar, so here's the real guy:

Then my cat Stormy jumped in the way:

and then I had to take some pictures of Chewy, too:

Bless his heart, he's not very photogenic.

I have used Flickr in the past, mostly for fun photo things. I primarily use Photobucket for picture "storage" when I am using html to edit sites. I feel rather safe with my pictures on the web. I do have a great number of my kids' pictures in various places, but I am not really concerned with it. I will be more concerned when my children are older and they are themselves on the web, searching for stuff and what not. I am not oblivious to the dangers on the web, but I also know it is a BIG BIG place.

Obviously, as teachers, we are going to need to get parental approval to use tools like Flickr. Maybe it will put minds to rest when they are told that Flickr (as does Blogger for that matter) has privacy features.

And yes, I am SO a cat lady!

Thing 6-- My Web 2.0 Find

First of all, Etsy is AWESOME! It is the ebay for crafty folks. I am not a fashion person, but I am obsessed with handmade jewelry and bags. That's not my main "find," but I had to give Etsy a shout-out!

(But, what a cool way to teach students about business- maybe in Home-Ec! Have students create something and then sell it in a real world setting!)

I chose wikispaces as my neat-o Web 2.0 find! I consider myself to be fairly web and computer savvy, but I had NO IDEA what a "wiki" was. I never stopped to wonder why Wikipedia is a wiki-pedia. (By the way, Wikipedia gets a totally bad rap. I am not saying using it as a resource in research is a great idea, but I admit that I usually use it as a starting place...and it's never been wrong for me. I am not saying it never will. I'm just saying it's a generally cool place!)

So, a "wiki" is a website where a lot of different users can edit the content. This specific wiki hosting site is geared toward teachers, too. This would be a great way for students to work in a group on projects and the like (great for students with interpersonal intelligence!). I want to teach 4th grade, and I have no doubt that 4th graders could handle this...in fact, I have to ask my five year old to fix the sound on my computer ALL THE TIME! Amazing!

Thing 5-- Web 2.0 & School 2.0

I read Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail and Learning 2.0, Wikipedia - Web 2.0, and Web 2.0 Is the Future of Education as well as watched the video on this page (which freaked me out a little bit because it reminded me of The Matrix!) I think the whole concept of School 2.0 is necessary. Not only is technology expanding at an unbelievable rate and our students will need to keep up, but it has been noted that our students will need a place to go as they will outnumber universities!

Web 2.0/ School 2.0 has affected me personally. I took most of my core classes online through the RODP program. This allowed me to stay at home with my children, and I was so grateful for this! I found that online courses generally focus on critical thinking as opposed to memorization of facts and what not (I was even allowed to use my text book for tests in some cases). This is, I think, a shift we should all be making as educators anyway. I admit that I love being in a classroom setting, but my experiences in online courses were still invaluable to me.

Also, I have had some experience with online parenting message boards/ forums. I even met an ARMY wife who was stationed in Hawaii. Her family (the "B" family) has since moved to Fort Campbell, and she is now one of my closest friends. I think the way the web is bringing people together is simply amazing. As a teacher, I am going to be very passionate about multicultural education, and I want to do my part to change the world through my students! I want to use Web 2.0 technologies to bring different cultures "closer" to my students, perhaps even through "pen" pals!
My Michaela and Scotty and the "B" kids, September 13, 2008, Posted with Permission

Thing 4-- Commenting

My Classmates:
I am making an effort to not only comment on five of my classmates' blogs this semester, but to comment on all ten of them. We have a small class, and I do not think this will be too difficult. I have added their blog links to my sidebar so that I can access them easily!

Two of my favorite blogs:

Confessions of a CF Husband

and

Crazy Aunt Purl

The first is the ongoing story of a man whose wife has Cystic Fibrosis. I have followed their story since January when their baby girl was born. Both the mom and baby survived all odds (the mom, Tricia, was awaiting a double lung transplant when she and her husband found out that they were pregnant and were advised to terminate the pregnancy; and the baby, Gwenyth, was born about four months prematurely). Tricia has since received a double lung transplant and is now undergoing chemo as she is battling transplant related lymphoma. This is a wonderful family who has faced so many hardships, but they continue to pull through by the love they have for each other.

The second is the blog of a southern lady who moved to LA years ago. I read her book about surviving her divorce and began to follow her blog after I had finished it (late last year). She knits, she has cats, and she is very hysterically funny- and is a terrific writer.

Oddly enough, I have not commented on either blog! I will certainly do so now.

My thoughts:
After reading The Ten Commandments Of Blog Commenting and How to comment like a king (or queen!), I more fully appreciate that commenting is not only for the commenter, but it is for the blogger, too. I can easily see how comments on a student's blog would make him or her want to continue blogging and how students' comments can be a wonderful learning tool as they are able to share their individual ideas.

From the readings, I really liked the idea that it is okay to use emoticons (Commandment 3) in your blog comments (I once read an article in which the author suggested that they were annoying, and it made me very self conscious of my smilies!)

:)
:-)
:*D

I am a very expressive and animated conversationalist. I use my hands quite a bit when I am speaking. I know from experience that it is not always easy to "get" what a person means by reading his or her words. It's great to add a little something...! ;)

I also appreciate the blog etiquette in writing. This might be something that would be great to show students before beginning the blog process. It's perfectly okay to disagree, but manners are always important. I think it's easy to let loose on the internet because one is not face-to-face with a person, but the rule of thumb is: if you wouldn't say it to the person's face, don't post it online. Also, it's never a bad idea to say something NICE first!

Thing 3-- Register

I have completed the registration form! I like how simple it was to register, and I am glad to see my name on the list of class participants on The 23 Things page.

Until this class, I had not thought about the usefulness of blogs in a classroom setting. Because I love web design, I have however thought about creating a class website (like this one I made for an EDUC 2100 project). Now that I have gotten involved in this project, I am wholeheartedly in favor of a class blog! I think a class blog- or individual student blogs- is a great way to get students involved. Already from this project, I know my classmates' names (there is not that many of us, but I still know more names in a class than I ever have), and I feel like I know them a little bit and am encouraged to interact with them. I can see myself asking students to blog about assignments they have read. This will allow them to reflect on their reading, and as a teacher, it will allow me to make sure they are understanding what they have read. I think it would a great way to get parents involved, too! As a parent, I would love to see my children involved in their school work in a fun, exciting way!

To my classmates:
TIP for anyone wanting a new blog template- just search Google for "blogger templates" (or wordpress, etc.). There are a lot of neat ones out there! Here is a cute site (with some education/ teacher themed blog backgrounds): The Cutest Blog on the Block. Hope you are all having FUN!

Thing 2-- Blog Set-up & Avatar

I really enjoyed playing with this avatar. I tried to make her like me, and I added a cat to represent my cat, Tattoo. This was a fun exercise. When it comes to exploring the web, I understand why creating an avatar was one of our first tasks because it was an opportunity for self expression while simultaneously getting the chance to see that the web doesn't have to be "scary" for those who are uncomfortable with computers.

I have another blog on blogger: Michaela and Scotty Stuff so I was excited to set up this one! I used an ancient version of Paint Shop Pro and some digital scrapbooking supplies. I love, love, love digital design so I am always excited to make stuff for a new project! The following is a slideshow I made with Rock You (that's a Web 2.0 thing!) of some digital scrapbooking pages I have made so everyone knows what digital scrapbooking is (you create pages on your computer with a graphics program like Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop) and print them out either at home or upload them and print through an online printing place. It's FUN!

Create Your Own

Thing 1-- Lifelong Learning

I enjoyed watching the tutorial on lifelong learning. My grandmother had Alzheimer's Disease, and there is a lot of research that suggests that keeping one's mind active can help to deter the onset of Alzheimer's so I make it a point to engage my brain with sudoku puzzles and crocheting and reading, reading, reading. I also really enjoy working with web design so this project is right up my alley!

My biggest strength in the 7 1/2 habits to lifelong learning is habit number 4: to have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner. Thanks to my wonderful mother, I have always believed that I am capable of learning anything that I try to learn. Some things come less easily than others (probability and statistics!), but if I make an effort, I know I will succeed. My weakness lies in habit 3: view problems as challenges. I am quick to grow very frustrated, and this is something I try very hard to work on. Although I love working with computers, for example, I also find them more aggravating at times than anything else on the planet!

I am looking forward to uncovering the rest of the discoveries in this project!