Summary is Impossible

First, I'd like to thank Kelly Soliz for helping me through this experience. In the beginning, I believed I had made a mistake and honestly considered dropping the course. I felt ignorant and depressed with the first few lessons, and I don't remember feeling this way about past courses. Kelly pushed me to keep moving forward, and I thank her for that push.
After finally beginning to catch on to the "things", I can't even begin to explain all the "things" I've learned in this class. I signed up with the thought that I would learn a few tricks on the computer. I walked away overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge I've gained.
First, I never would have believed I would have my own blog. And I certainly would not have believed how easy it was to start my own blog. All the tools are at your fingertips. All the toys are there to choose from. All of it was amazing to me!
Linking sites of my own interest was so simple! Now, I know I can not only add sites to my blogs, but I can add feeders, pictures, slideshows, maps, youtube and teachertube videos, puzzles, other peoples' blogs, and more. It's never been easier to follow someone's site, without having to remember the URL to physically access it. Now it is so easy...and right on my blog.
Knowing we will have access to Google, in my opinion, will allow us to use many of the technological items we have been introduced to. Teachertube would bring collaborative techniques into the classroom. Flickr and Creative Commons would allow the students to possibly access pictures which were relevant to their research.
I can see a great deal of potential in using Google Docs. Teachers could collaborate on lesson plans, ideas for projects, things that have worked for them in the classroom, etc.
I love the Delicious bookmarks. I can now access my bookmarks no matter who's computer I am on or where I am. That's a great tool, in my opinion.
I will admit there are two things I've learned I am still not comfortable with, but I believe with time, I might change that. I still have difficulty with Podcasting and wiki.
I want everyone to know, in my opinion, 23things was, by far, the best course I have ever taken part in in my years of PFK classes. I have learned more valuable information than ever before, and believe I can take this information back to the classroom.

THING #23

I continued my explorations through Ning and found a few more goodies. One of the items was several word games, which would be a fun way to expand our students vocabulary. We're always looking for ways to broaden our knowledge, as lifelong learners, why not spend time broadening our vocabulary to share that new-found knowledge.
After a bit more "browsing", I ran across this item. I know it may sound a bit "elementary", but I really liked the idea. We, as teachers, very rarely receive an "atta-boy", so this actually caught my eye. I know of a few teachers I'd like to say: "Wow...you are doing such a great job. The kids are so lucky to have a teacher like you!!"
Finally, I must admit I had to force myself to stop browsing and finish this assignment, so my final step in Thing #23 was to add a slideshow and a badge from the 2.0 site on ning. And with this complete....I'm back to ning to look around a bit more!!!

THING #23

When I joined ning.com, I started scanning through the subjects, and was overwhelmed, to say the least. I did find a few things that caught my attention. One was a blog directed toward learning Spanish. When I started looking into it further, I found a really great tool for my personal use. It actually worked in a flashcard format. First, it revealed a sentence, then it verbally gave you the sentence in Spanish. I've looked at this format before, but it usually cost a lot of money for software, that you may or may not use. There have been so many times when I wanted to know "How" to say something in Spanish, and now I have a place to go ask and feel comfortable asking. This is a novel concept, and I feel this could be useful in learning more Spanish. With our demographics changing in Mesquite, this could be beneficial.
After looking at the aforementioned blog, I ventured into my personal interests and found a really interesting blog on photography. I actually posted, revealing I'm new to photography (can't really count the millions of family pics over the years) and would like to learn more about improving the quality of my photography. I am hoping to find information on how to look for the perfect shots, what equipment is the best, and just ideas in general.
I found a blog on a tool I have heard of before, and actually haven't thought about in a while, and wondered if Mesquite has access to these? Sounds like a way to get the students interested in competing to get answers correct. I know when we have board races, they really get excited on the competition. It would be like their very own Jeopardy game in the classroom, and being able to quickly share the right answer could be fun!

THING #20

We actually collaborated on a document in Google Doc. We decided to share some of our funniest "moments" with things students have said in class. At first it was difficult for me, because I went totally brain-dead when I tried to think of things. A lot of the things that made me laugh were during our "Abstinence" training, and a bit colorful for this venue. I know I've heard a million things my students have said, that have made me laugh, but recalling them for this project was difficult. Regardless of the actually content of our Google Doc, I think it has endless possibilities.
Many times in ICT we discuss different ideas of how to make our lessons more beneficial to the students. I can see this as a "brain storming" forum to share thoughts within out department. It could cover anything from projects we might be considering, to grading projects. I can also see this as a collaborative effort, within the entire school. This could be the tool needed to discuss improvements in curriculum or campus improvements. As I stated, the possibilities are endless!!
On a personal note, I believe this tool would be useful in compiling some of my writings. I often come up with thoughts, and don't write them down. Later, I try to remember what I was thinking, and can't remember a thing. (This is probably an age thing, but hey...its better than the alternative.) This could be useful in allowing me to write down the thoughts, and then return at a later time to decide what I will do with them.

THING #17

I'm not sure I understand everything about the podcasts, because most of the things I looked at, struck me as trying to read a foreign language. I did stumble on to one that I found interesting. It actually discussed computer in more "layman's" terms for those like me that don't understand all the terminology yet. This is the site I found, and then it divided into other specific information at this site.
I listened to one that talked about using technology in the classroom. It discussed Power Point and Keynote. Another one of the episode was explaining how to incorporate wiki into the classroom instruction.
I really like the podcasts, and I can see them as beneficial tools in the classroom. Being able to listen to the information is helpful, but on some of the podcasts it appears you can interact with the podcasts.

THING #18

I started my search looking for videos on goal setting. Teachertube had limited videos to share, but I did find one that was interesting. Many of my students experience confusion when you ask the difference between short and long term goals. Others aren't quite sure what you mean by goals. This video explains the terminology and what they need to think about when setting goals.

I would love to be a talented photographer. In my mind's eye, I can see the shot, but I just don't have the knowledge to use it the way it would photograph best. I've never taken a class. Blame it on procrastination, putting kids through college, or just plain "no time", but I do want to get into photography in the near future. Imagine the things we see, and in a moment they're gone, never to be seen again. Then imagine capturing that moment on film. What an awesome thing to do.
I found a "beginners" guide to photography and decided the best play to learn is start from the beginning.









As I scanned through utube, I ran across another issue that is inconceivable to me as an educator, a mom, a human being. That issue is school violence. There are many history-making events I have witnessed in my life, and during most of them, I can tell you where I was and what I was doing at the time. When President Kennedy was shot, I was standing on the street watching the end of his car as he passed me, and the others, waiting to get a glimpse of him. I was a child at the time, but I still know the feeling that washed over me when he was shot within moments of me seeing him and the First Lady wave in my direction.
I remember sitting in a team meeting at school when I witnessed the Twin Towers hit on 9/11. I remember my emotions go from "what a tragic accident" to "anger" and then to "deep sadness".
I remember watching CNN when Columbine was invaded. I remember feeling shock, sadness, and disbelief.
Every one of these things had an impact on me, but the latter of the three scares me to death. The violence in schools today was unheard of when I attended school, and I wish, for once, history would revert to that time period, at least in reference to school violence.

I Love Slideshows!!