Summary of 23 Things.

YAY I am done with the 23 things!

This program was so interesting, I have had more fun playing around with all the new tools we discovered during this exercise. My favorite tools we learned to use were flickr, zoho writer and google docs, social networking, wiki's, and Animoto! I think each of these have possible uses in the classroom. I definitely plan on creating a classroom Wiki for students to be able to share and look up information with each other! I want the communication between students, parents, and myself to be very open. I want everyone to understand what is going on. I think this open communication can be done using Web 2.0!

I was surprised there were so many programs out on the web that I had never heard of or used! I am a veteran of social networking, but I didn't know anything about Wiki's. I feel there is still so much for me to learn and these were just the beginning steps to help me with life long learning. I hope to continue to explore these programs and applications as I go through school and become a teacher. I think a way to keep up with the constant changes of Web 2.0 is just to google Web 2.0, there are so many useful links that pop up that a person could explore and learn so much from! One new website I just discovered the other day was Google Buzz! It seems to be a lot like facebook but in its very beginning forms! I am interested to see where this takes me in the coming months!

I think the only thing I would improve or fix about this assignment is some of the links and videos posted didn't always work! That was frustrating because I wanted to know as much about the topic as possible! The links wouldn't have been posted if they weren't important.

I really did enjoy this assignment, which is perhaps why I am done with the 23 things long before they are actually due! I look forward to implementing many of these is my classroom. Hope everyone had as much fun as I did!

Thing # 23.

In this final thing we are exploring Creative Commons!

The 23 things assignment took advantage of using copyrighted work using a Creative Commons license.

This picture was used at the beginning of thing # 13. Dr. Wall appropriate attributed the creator of the picture by posting a link to the webpage.



This photo was done by

http://www.flickr.com/photos/niallkennedy/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

.

When this photo was found on flickr, if you click the rights reserved button on the bottom right hand side, it will show you what that creator will allow you to do with their picture. In the case for this picture a person is allowed to share and remix the photo. Dr. Wall shared this photo with us and properly cited the original author.

This is what a person should be looking for if a photo has a creative commons license and is wondering what can be done with a photo:

Creative Commons license will have so many uses in classrooms. It will allow me, as a teacher, to use content that has a copyright and allow me to know what is allowed or not allowed to be done with the content. I think it is wonderful that flickr and google both have Creative Commons license areas that people can find legal content to use. I will definitely be using these from now on to find photos, movies, and other content that is legal to use. I will also be sharing this information with my future students so they know what is allowed and what is not. I will expect them to use Creative Commons licensed material in their projects and presentations. I think it is so important for students to know about the ever changing copyright laws now that the web 2.0 is becoming such a large influence in our society! I want to educate my students properly on these issues so they will never have to question if they are using legal content and have the possibility of getting in trouble later on.

Thing # 22.

Today's thing has us looking at podcasts! I have spent the last hour or so listening to different science podcasts. Yes, I found them boring, funny, or beyond complicated! I did come across several that I liked, including the one I am going to share here. This podcast is about water-a fascinating chemical, according to these authors!

The podcast can be listened to here: Water podcast from Science Made Fun. This podcast was interesting, informative, and not too difficult to listen too. The man's british voice made listening without any pictures easier for me, although I am not sure if I could learn from a podcast since I am a visual learner! I put an RSS feed to my google reader for the Science Made Fun group so I can stay up to date if they listen any new podcasts.

I found the Educational Podcast Directory the easiest to use. This website was nice because the podcasts were broken down by subject so I could just click on science and narrow my search further within that group. The website was easy to move through and the podcasts opened and loaded quickly which is nice. I found that some of the science ones were just a bit too long, but the group I subscribed to theirs were to the point but informative.

I am not daring or creative enough to ever create my own podcast. I also have a problem listening to something that doesn't have anything for my eyes to do, perhaps this is why I struggle just listening to talk radio. So I am not creating my own podcast, but I did find several podcasts I am going to try to listen to regularly, such as "The Week in Science" podcasts that update each week. I will also be adding this to my google reader.

As for you that create a podcast, good luck and I will be listening!

Thing # 21!

For this exercise we explored the website Animoto! This is a website that allows you to upload pictures and set them to a video with music!



I had never heard of this website until this class. Signing up was very easy and so was getting started. I don't really like how you have to pay for a longer video of 30 seconds, but I feel that a 30 second video can say alot if you select the correct images! I really liked how it will go and find pictures on a different website. For example, I linked to my facebook to find photos of our wedding since I wasn't on my personal computer while doing this thing. I added my own music using an MP3 file from itunes. I couldn't find a song I liked using their music so I figured I would attempt to upload my own! Overall, this website was very cool! I am thinking I could find several ways to use it in a classroom such as making a movie of pictures from class at the end of the year and posting it either on the blog for the class or the wiki site I created for the class!

What I didn't like about the website was how long it took to seem to put it together at the end. As I sit here writing this I am waiting for my movie to be made by the website and I am not sure if its working or if its stopped itself and caused an error! I would also like if you could add more pictures to the 30 second time-8-15 pictures is really not all that long!

Overall, I really enjoyed this exercise! I even might possibly make a movie for my husband for valentine's day using my favorite pictures of us and vacations!

Thing # 20!

I am fairly familiar with youtube since I enjoy watching weird, funny, and instructional videos online! I am convinced that no matter what the subject some sort of video can be found on youtube. The video I added above is a chemistry video that is about the elements of the periodic table! I was shown this video while in school! Yes, I know it is horribly corny but seeing what some of the elements are and putting them with a certain thing will help students remember them! So this is why I chose this video to post on my blog. I tried to find other fun and exciting chemistry videos, but some either were lame and pointless or just not real chemistry!

I like youtube, I think there are many good videos out there that could be beneficial for a classroom. Look at how many Dr. Wall has shown us in class or posted on the 23 things website. I think that youtube also has some very trashy and tasteless videos out there also, so I think that is something to watch when you are searching by keyword! You never know what you will come across while looking around on this website.

I think that some of the features of the website could be applied to the library website for searching for educational videos. I think if we could approve certain videos for students to watch online at school it would be beneficial for helping them understand the subject matter better.

Thing # 19.

For this thing we are furthering our understanding of social networking.

As I said in the my last post, I am already an active member of both facebook and myspace. I have also tried twitter, but don't really see much point to it! I have joined some other military social networking sites for wives-when you move alot you tend to be extremely lonely and are always looking for social outlets in the places you go!

For this exercise I joined Goodreads and the Ning Teacherpop site for APSU. I really enjoy reading so I decided to try one of these social networking sites. To my surprise two of my sister-in-laws are already members of Goodreads so that is pretty cool! I like that I can find recommendations for good books and then keep in contact with people that like to read also.

I am also going to look into the cooking social networking sites to see if I want to join one of those in the future. A cook can never have too many new recipes to try out! This would be a great way to share and find new recipes with other people who have similar interests!

I think I will try to use all of these social networking sites in the future!

The Teacherpop social networking site is very cool! I really like that this is a safe place for teachers to have an online profile that is positive and a great place to share information! I hope that everyone in our class can take advantage of this website and use it as a common place to get to know each other outside of school! I think I will continue using this website especially as we all venture out into the teaching field and find what works and what doesn't from what we have learned!

This is the Ning Widget I decided to add to my blog-so lets hope this works!



This is the link to my profile on the Teacherpop website-so please add me as a friend!


My profile

Thing # 18

For this exercise we were told to explore social networking sites! Well this was extremely easy for me-I already have a myspace and facebook!

I created a facebook way back in 2004 when this website first appeared. I have gone through the many stages of facebook and the creators are ALWAYS changing it-for better or worse, some of you may know what I am referring to! I have had a myspace for the past few years, but in all honesty I prefer to use facebook these days. Pretty much everyone I know has a facebook and if they don't it doesn't take much convincing for them to create one!

Here is a link to my facebook: Nicki Facebook

Here is a link to my myspace: Nicki myspace

Sorry both of these profiles are private since I don't want to change the settings for public viewing. However-please feel free to friend me and I will add you!

I like facebook and myspace because it allows me to stay in touch with family and friends who don't live in Tennessee. With the military I meet so many interesting people, but because we move so often its hard to remain friends with them-however that is where social networking sites come into play. I can keep in touch and up to date with my friends lives even though we are scattered all over the world! Even though I do really enjoy these sites, there are always downfalls to social networking. The top example I can think of is stalkers or drama that is associated with them. I used to leave my myspace and facebook open but I didn't like being messaged by random men asking to be my friend so I eventually made them both private. I know the drama as a military wife can be overwhelming and facebook just seems to add to that if you get caught up in it! Something to be aware of regarding these websites...

Facebook seems to have a better privacy settings regarding pictures and information. I know that on facebook you can block certain people from seeing aspects of your profile and who can see your photos-friends, friends of friends, or public. I usually just select friends. I prefer to use facebook because it seems to allow you to do so much more. I like being able to see peoples status updates, applications added, photos added etc. I know myspace has some of these same features, however I don't feel they are as user friendly!

I think that social networking is important for educators to be aware of. I think if a teacher has their own personal website like facebook or myspace they need to be aware of what type of pictures are posted and the privacy settings regarding their page. Students will of course go out and try to find their teachers to see what their lives involve outside of school! Even though it is your personal life, you still need to display a level of professionalism now that you are shaping this country's youth! I also think it is important that if you are friends with your students on these pages to be able to report if you see something illegal or troublesome-such as inappropriate pictures and so on.

As for social networking in the classroom-I think it would be pretty cool to have a facebook group dedicated to my chemistry class. It would be a place students could ask questions to each other regarding hw and just a place to stay in touch with each other. Once again I think there needs to be limitations here so the students don't take advantage of the website-however I hope that the students I teach are mature enough to use this type of social networking and not to take advantage of something fun that can be used in a classroom!

Thing # 17.

For this exercise we were asked to explore the world of social bookmarking websites and tagging!

I looked at several website, Del.ioio.us website for apsu23things, Furl, and Ma.gnolia. I really enjoyed seeing what other people had tagged for important information regarding all the topics we study in this class. I had a chance to play around with all the different tags that people have used for the material within Del.ioio.us. I really like the idea that I can share information that I find useful and meaningful with other students in this program via the Del.ioio.us website.

I think this type of application could have many uses in a classroom and school setting. In regards for me using this as a teacher, I would like to create a tag for my students in order to use information I find important, as well as add links and information they think is important. I think this would be a wonderful resource for students to use; it could be a place they could share information with each other in order to further their studies and developments of ideas.

I also think it would be wonderful to have a tab for fellow science teachers to post and bookmark information here. I think it would be a great way to share information among teachers and get feedback regarding the information. If teachers started working together more regarding sharing of ideas, perhaps the classes would be more equal and students wouldn't deem one teacher a good vs bad teacher!

Thing # 16.

For this assignment we were told to explore the world of online organization websites.

For the customized start up page, I chose to use google. Once again I am a google fanatic, so far in the other exercises we have discovered many uses for google, so I picked igoogle to explore also! I noticed the screen shot on the page for thing # 16 was done in igoogle and I liked the way the set up was. When I clicked on the igoogle link it was easy to create an account and get set up! I REALLY like how you can change the theme and add or delete the gadgets. I added several news websites, facebook, myspace, movie trailers and so on! I almost feel that even though this is mean to organize me I can add too many distracting things to this page also! I might never make it off my home page if I have everything at my finger tips!

Here is a screen shot of my igoogle:



I have already made this my homepage! I love being able to see everything all in one spot!

Online Calendars I think are a good way to be able to access your schedule from anywhere: home, work, school, etc. I am one who plugs everything into my phone, but it would be nice to be able to access the same information online in a larger format! I know google offers a calendar, I will have to look into this more!

I also played around with the online to do lists from remember the milk. I am not sure I will ever use this website-it seems complicated and time consuming to figure out how to use. I did however, download a sticky note program, from Sticky notes.net! It does require you to download something to the desk top, but I really like how you can see or hide the sticky notes on the computer! I like how they can be organized also! Plus it helps that they are pink!!

I think that igoogle is something that I will for sure use at home and possibly at school when that time comes. I am hoping that I can find some more gadgets that perhaps will relate to science. I can also see the use of the sticky note application at school. It will be helpful to leave little notes regarding students, grading, meetings, etc. that I can have access to on my desk top!

Thing # 15.

For this assignment we were asked to explore the world of Wikis! All through high school and college, I referred to Wikipedia as a first source for a subject. I often times use it for definitions or quick things I need to look up on the Internet. However, in college, I was always told Wikipedia was not considered a scholarly source. Until I understand what a wiki actually was, I never understand this statement we received from professors! Until this exercise, I had no idea that anyone could go into a wiki to add, change, or delete information! The idea is phenomenal, but I can understand where the information from another college student or person posted to Wikipedia wouldn't be considered scholarly!

I think the concept of Wiki's are wonderful! I like that people can add, change, or delete information all with a simple click! However, I do think they need to be more controlled, especially to avoid wrong information or spam being posted on them. I am one of those people who if they read something online, I believe it to be true for the most part, especially in relation to subject matter. However, with Wiki's, I can see how what people post is not always 100% informative or correct.

I can see using a Wiki several ways in a classroom. I think it would be a great place for a teacher to make a website to post important links, homework assignments, upcoming assignments, etc. I think because the creator doesn't have to have knowledge of html cod to design a web page, this is a wonderful tool teachers could take advantage of!

I became a member of wikispaces and found that you can search for wikis. I searched for chemistry and found several high school teachers that had public open wikis but posted homework and links on them for their students! Here is an example:
Example chemistry wiki. I think this is wonderful that the teacher wants students to post ideas and things that they think would help other students understand the concepts of what they are learning! I would LOVE to create one of these for my students in my class.

Thing # 14.

For this assignment we were asked to explore different websites for flow charts and mind maps. It took me a while to decide what the difference between the two were.

For the flow chart I explored the Gliffy.com website. I had fun playing with the shapes and connecting things. In addition, I found that you can add pictures to it as well, thanks to yahoo image finder. I chose to explore gliffy because the website was easy to go into, it doesn't even make you create an account to use the program. I can imagine using a flow chart in the classroom to try to further develop an idea. I searched google for examples of chemistry flow charts-I found several. Even though this one is far too complex for high school chemistry, I think one day the use of flow charts will come into play in my classroom.

This picture is from

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clf/ / CC BY 2.0.

In order to explore mind maps, I chose to look at mindmeister. I plan on using this tool to help brainstorm ideas for papers. I have already tried using it for the copyright and fair use tutorial. I used to always make bubble outlines on paper, however using this type of a program will make it neater and easier to see relationships between my ideas. I enjoyed using this program; it was self-explanatory. If I messed up, which I did often, I found it was easy to delete connection points or text. I like that you can change the font color and background colors. I would like to use this for keeping track of key ideas and support by color. I will be using mindmeister again in the near future for the several research papers that I have to write.

Thing # 13.

For this exercise we were to explore the world of online document creators such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs. I decided to explore Zoho Sheet and Zoho Writer. I have used google docs before just to open attachments that I didn't want to download to my computer. I wanted to explore other options out there as well so I signed up with Zoho. I made two documents that I have to use for work-a bill for a company and a schedule. When we got a new computer at work we no longer had Microsoft Office. I have been struggling to convert documents back and forth between word on my home computer and the document software at work. The formatting and spacing never stays the same and I usually have to recreate the entire document in order to make it look presentable. HOWEVER, with Zoho, I will be able to not use word or the other software at all and use Zoho to share files with companies we work with and to be able to work on documents at home and at work!

I created the schedule in Zoho Sheets which is like Excel. It was easy to type, make tables, and to change the size of the columns. This program seems to operate like Excel. It has a graphing function which is so important for chemistry to analyze data. I can only begin to think the uses of this type of program will have in a science classroom. This will allow students who do not have Microsoft Excel on their personal computers to still be able to complete labs and graphs at home. I will also be able to pull stuff up in class in order to show example to the students and how to work the program. There will no longer be a problem converting between different programs and having data not transfer the same way!

Zoho Writer is very similar as well to Microsoft Word. I created a bill for a company that I usually email using Microsoft Word. I often times had to take work home with me because the person I was emailing couldn't open a document in the word processing system we use at work. Once again I can use Zoho Writer to share this bill with her that she will be able to see. I didn't find anything that this program couldn't do that a person using Microsoft Word wouldn't be able to do.

I published this document in Zoho Sheets, it is an outline of the February Schedule. February Schedule.

I am very exited to learn to use these programs more for work, personal, and one day in the classroom!

Thing # 12.

For this assignment I chose google alerts and to explore Picasa Web Albums further.

A link to my public web albums can be found here: Snow Day album!

I occasionally use Picasa when my Dad sends me something from his web album, but I have never used it to upload pictures. To my surprise the pictures from this blog and my family blog are both in their own folders, however they are private. Creating a new album was self explanatory. It was easy to upload the photos I took of my dog, Rusty, during playing in the snow today! After uploading them to the album I gave each photo a comment and then saved them. When creating the album Picasa gives you the option of who you want to share your albums with, so I made mine public for this class. In the future, I will probably keep these visible to only my family and friends.

I also chose to explore the google alerts tool. Since I am already an avid google user, it was easy to sign up. I just had to search for a key word, select what I was looking for, I choose world news, select how many times a day I wanted it-I said just once, and then how many I wanted it to send. As soon as I completed this, I received my first google alert. I also added a google alert for chemistry. As of right now, I am not sure what type of alerts I will receive for chemistry. I am hoping its news related and research related so that it could be a possible use in the classroom when I begin to teach.

I think both of these tools have a good possibility for being used in the classroom. Picasa could be used to keep the families involved with projects, labs, or other things going on in the class. It could also be a way to post pictures from a field trip. A public Picasa album could also be used by the students in class in order to upload real world examples for the subject they are learning about, such as well water testing for chemistry-I did this once and it was so interesting and fun! I am sure I have pictures of it somewhere! As for using google alerts in the classroom, I feel that having a chemistry alert will allow me to get up to date information on news and research that I could share with my students!

Thing # 11.

For this post we were asked to explore the world of RSS further and add more sites to the reader we selected in thing # 10. As I said in my last post I decided to go with google reader.

The method I found the easiest was to search the websites I liked for the RSS icon and then add the website to the reader that way. I found the other search tools overwhelming and confusing. The searching process took me to pages that I wasn't sure if it was a blog or website. I tried using all the different search websites, I found Google Blog Search link the easiest to use. I liked how you could click a category on the side and review the posts for that topic. The Technorati tool was fun to use once I understood how to use it. To begin with this was the most confusing, the website itself has ALOT of different options to find blogs and websites on. I began by searching the food section and found many different websites/blogs that I wanted to add! I think this will be a great resource for finding new things to try out.

All of the search tools were slightly confusing. I found it time consuming to search for the "perfect" site to add to my reader. After spending more time with these search tools, I am sure I would become more familiar with them and would find more things to add to my reader!

Some of the feeds I came across to add to my reader were news feeds, science feeds, health feeds, and food feeds! I am not sure right now how useful these would be for a classroom setting, but for my personal benefit they make searching for news much easier! I came across feeds for celebrity news and gossip, random people's blogs about life, and so on. I am sure there are more strange feeds out there that I have yet to discover!

I found just going to websites I always went to but never new that RSS existed for was the best way for me to add them to my reader. I also googled RSS websites/feeds and explored those websites that came up. Several other directories came up, but I am not sure how reliable the information is! I am now concerned I have added too many feeds to my reader and I might have an information overload! Only time will tell!

Thing # 10.

For this exercise we were supposed to discover RSS websites. Little to my knowledge through google-I already was subscribed to google reader! I even had a page to follow since I had long ago subscribed to a friend's blog. I decided to use google reader because I like all the other programs google has to offer. It seemed self explanatory and was similar to the email.

Adding other links by RSS was a bit confusing at first, but once I discovered you could just click on the little RSS icon on the main page, you could find which link you wanted to add, for example a world news page. I am an avid news reader. With my husband being deployed frequently I always like to be up to date in the world news and happenings. Now that I have all the worlds news from CNN and Fox News showing up in one place, this will make reading it much easier! As I said above I also follow a friend's blog about her baby, this will also help me see if she has updated it, rather than having to go to that website daily to check!

As for the use of RSS in a school setting, I could see many applications to the science field. I already added a link to science news, which gives me the most up to date news in the research of all science fields. I am sure with a bit more in depth searching I could find a link for chemistry related research and add that. I think its important to show students up to date research in the field and how it relates to work in the "real world." This would help make them see that chemistry is just more than a required class to take in high school, which is one of my main goals in teaching-to build interest in hopes of helping them pursue science as a career!

As I discussed above, teachers could use this technology in order to help students see real world applications of the material being taught. I think if a teacher cares enough about the material they are teaching, supplementing with real world examples will only benefit the students more! It will help them see a real world application and hopefully peak more interest in the subject matter. This will just take time and effort on the teachers part!

RSS could be even be taught to students as a way to keep up to date with information that they are interested in, just like we are doing in this class! I think this would be a great resource for social studies teachers that are trying to get students to pay attention to what is going on in the world!

So this is a link to my public google reader page-so far I haven't shared alot of websites that I have found. However, as I become more familiar and take advantage of this, I will be adding things I find interesting! So I hope people come back to actually take a look at it.

My google reader page: Nicki's public google reader page!

Thing # 9.

This web 2.0 Badge was made from:Web 2.0 Badges!











I might be the only person to think this is funny, however I am a nerdy scientist! I made this from this website:
Hetemeel.com Dynamic Images











ImageChef.com Photo Frames

As I have said in previous posts, I am not the most creative person! This exercise was actually challenging for me since I don't do well with art related projects! It took some looking around on these websites in order for me to come up with something! The web 2.0 badge, I thought was cool-especially since this class places such an emphasis on this idea! The Einstein picture I found entertaining especially because I love science! The last one I figured I would make a cute picture with my dog-who doesn't love their pets?

Each website had specific, easy to follow, instructions on what to do. Some websites had you pick your own picture and text to put in. On each image I created, I tried to copy and paste the image into the blog, however that didn't work. I had to save each individual image and then uploaded them to the blog using the blogger website for images.

These image generators could be used to make posters of the subject you are teaching or just to make funny things to make the students laugh. For example, I could use the Einstein picture and get it made into a poster and put some quote about how much better chemistry is than physics (my personal opinion)! An image generator could also be used for a power point presentation during class to help break up the material using funny pictures! In my search for online generators for different things I happened to come across some other generators also: a science lab generator-it creates a general format and the teacher puts all the data in. Another one that I found was a graph generator. Both of these online generators would be useful for me in a science classroom.

Thing # 8.

I created a collage using Mosaic Maker from flickr! It took a while to find favorite pictures on flickr, but I was able to link it to my flickr account, facebook, and upload pictures from my computer! This was fun but was a tad time consuming! I am actually now using this for my computer background!

These mashups and flickr could be used in the classroom in many ways depending upon the subject being taught. The map application that allows the user to put all the places they have been would be cool in a history or social studies classroom in elementary, middle, or even high school. Even the mosaic tool I used could be used in an art class or a class just wanting the students to learn how to work the computers and the internet. There are so many unique applications and mashups that people have created that the exploration process could go on forever! If a teacher was wanting to use some sort of program to create something for a class or have the students participate using one, it would just take some time and searching for the correct application!

Sharing of photos online is fine in my mind. People who post and share photos online know what they are putting out there most of the time. I feel that if you post pictures online and share them with the public, the person should be able to take responsibility for whatever reactions the photos receive. I share photos online through facebook, myspace, and my personal blog. I had never posted pictures online on flickr until I created an account for this class. I usually make sure to set the privacy settings on my photos to friends and family only. For the people who do share photos, I think the main thing to remember is that what you post becomes your responsibility!

The pictures in the mosaic came from flickr from these people: 1. Concrete Heart, 2. Paper Heart, 3. Heart in the sky, 4. Chickadees In Love, 5. You Can Love Yourself ♪, 6. Cloud Love, 7. three of hearts8.

Thing # 7.

This is my big dumb dog, Rusty. He is a two year old golden retriever that we rescued from the Middle Tennessee Golden Retriever Rescue, in Franklin Tennessee! We have had him for about a year; he was a wonderful addition to our family! These pictures were taken within the first few days we had him. He was in complete heaven now being an inside dog, which is the picture of him laying on his back! The other pictures shows him watching tv, he was clueless about how to live a life inside! If you are looking to get a pet, PLEASE check your local animal shelters and rescues before you buy a puppy! We have rescued all three of our pets and they are the sweetest animals ever!

I had never used Flickr before until I created an account just a few minutes ago! I have several family members who use the site and I have pulled pictures or icons from it for my myspace page, but never for my own personal photos. The experience was fun! The website is very easy to navigate around. I use picasa on occasion because my Dad puts all his pictures with that website. I have tried editing photos using picasa and often times just become frustrated because I can't find the tool to do what I want or lack the patience to figure it out! With flickr the editing tool was SOOOO easy to use. I have always wanted to put words and borders around some of my photos, and now I know how! I will definitely be using flickr for my own personal photos. I am not sure if this website will have much application as a science teacher. I suppose I could use it to search for pictures of scientists and experiments to show my class.

If I do use flickr for my own personal photos, generally I will not make the photos available to the public. I don't mind having my animals or other photos not of me made public, but if its me or my family I prefer to make them private or semi private. With this day in age there are so many people using the internet, I prefer not to have my ENTIRE life made public by using these type of sites.

So far this was my favorite website to explore! I can see many applications and am so excited to be able to edit my photos!

Thing #6.

Web 2.0 website I chose to explore was: ifoods.

I picked this website because I LOVE to cook! I clicked on the link Dr. Wall posted to the winners list in order to narrow down my search. I scanned through the categories until I found the food section. I visited the first two websites, but I found that they were more difficult to use and had less of a selection of recipes. ifoods was the third place website for this category.

This website is very easy to use. This website is dedicated to cooking! It has numerous recipes, several which you can watch a video to see the preparation of, which is a HUGE help to most beginning cooks. I loved that it gives tips and even has a dictionary for odd items that someone who isn't used to be in the kitchen would need to look up! Scrolling through the list I came across more than a few I had to read about! It also has a search option if you are looking for a specific recipe. For example, if you are looking for a simple pasta recipe, you can simply type pasta and the search button will find the recipes that the site contains. Another plus about this website is it gives a serving size, how long the prep time and cooking time are, and how healthy the recipe is based on a scale of 1-10 (1-unhealthy-10 healthy).

The problem with this website was that not all the recipes that you can click on have an actual recipe attached. I found several recipes on this page that did not have a recipe to cook from. For example, I clicked on a salmon pasta recipe that had a short 2 minute video but did not have the actual ingredients to make it! Other than this, I did not find any other reason to dislike this website!

This website could easily be used in a cooking class in middle school or high school. The students would be able to search ifoods for a recipe to cook in class or to cook on their own. Some of the recipes are simple and could be put together in a class period. It would give the students a chance to learn how to navigate the website and to learn about the interactive world of web 2.0.

I know I will be using this website from now on to find recipes off of!

Thing # 5.

The first article I read was Minds on Fire: "Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0." The things that stand out most clearly in this article were the discussion between the Cartesian view of learning and the social view of learning. As the article stated, Cartesian learning assumes knowledge is a substance that is passed from teacher to student. Social learning is the idea that the content is socially constructed through conversations about the subject and interactions with others. Also discussed in this article was the shift in mindset, from learning about to learning to be. In my own experience in school, I found the perfect example. I took 6 years of French, studied it in middle school and high school. I could read it fairly well, take tests well, but when it came to holding an actual conversation I was awful. It wasn't until I went to France (learning to be), that my French conversation skills improved! This is just one example of many that I could think of that would benefit from shifting from "learning about" to "learning to be." As the article discussed, learning about needs to take place as the same time as learning to be! If the students are taught this, it will encourage them to be life long learners throughout their careers!


I found this article extremely interesting because I was having a similar conversation with an old teacher at work. As I was telling her about the web 2.0 and learning 2.0, she was concerned with students missing out on learning to think for themselves and missing the "basics" of school-reading, writing, and math. I thought it was funny that the teacher and I could have two completely differing views on how to teach. The older generation of teachers, clearly do not believe incorporating this type of learning into their classrooms because it takes away from the "basics." The farther I read in this article, it began to mention about how diverse the job market is becoming and how we are teaching students for jobs that possibly don't even exist yet! In my mind with the internet being so widely used, we would be doing children a disservice by not having them learn to interact via the internet.

The other article I read was "New Literacies: Enrichment or Essential?" by David Jakes. This article was a bit odd. It posed more questions, rather than presenting information. Once I had time to process and think about his three examples of how technology could be used in schools, I found it fairly interesting. As we have discussed in class, students become excited to learn and use computers in school. I think that if more teachers incorporated them in their classrooms students would be more eager to learn. By allowing the students to publish their work online, it gives them a voice. Having a blog, creating a video from a short story, and working together in a group project that is published allows each student to express their individuality. However, most importantly if this content is online, it allows others to read and discover the author’s voice as well! I think it means more to people when their work is published online, rather than just knowing the professor will be the only one reading it!

School 2.0 is the future of education. It will incorporate the internet, working together online with other students, free and open software programs, etc. With the internet becoming ever so popular, it only makes sense that the students of the next generation know how to use and collaborate with people online. As I discussed earlier, some teachers are concerned that this new form of teaching will leave out and miss something that the older style of teaching taught. However, I believe that this is the best possible thing for students. It will allow them to expand their view points and see that there is more out in the world than just their classroom and books. If web 2.0 and school 2.0 have already come this far in the past two years, I can't imagine where the education system will be in 10 years if these new learning techniques are adopted. Student will be more willing to learn if they see the content being used in their community around them! Growing up learning in a school 2.0 atmosphere will hopefully teach them to be life long learners and always have a thirst to gain more knowledge!

Thing # 4.

For this post, we are supposed to explore the world of commenting on blogs. I am one of those people who will lurk on blogs, discussions boards, and even facebook! My husband calls me a stalker because I read blogs of people we went to high school with, but I don't ever comment on them! Perhaps after reading several of these articles I will start commenting more!

Commenting on blogs help create a world of interaction online because writers like to see who is reading their blogs. I always think to myself who is reading my blog. I know for this class, you all will read portions of my blog, but I wonder if I have faithful readers every time I post something? I never will know unless those people stare to comment! I think it is just as important for readers to comment on blogs, as it is for the writers to comment back and acknowledge the reader exists! Through the discussions in the comments it makes the blogging world interactive; its a place to exchange praise and ideas for the blog they are discussing!

I think one important point I read was that the writer of the blog needs to be accepting of all comments, even if its not supportive of the idea in the post or points out poor grammar and spelling! I know no one likes to be told they are wrong or did something incorrect, but it is important to be considerate of others ideas. It is important to be kind and gracious to the readers so that they keep coming back and being supportive! The other thing I find most important about commenting is to invite comments! I know on some of the blogs I follow, soon to be commenting on, they often times ask for feed back about ideas and photos posted in the post. I think its important to ASK people to leave comments to start this commenting interaction. In addition to asking people to leave comments, it doesn't hurt to make the commenting easier to do by not having the readers sign in!

Blogs I follow:

Two not from class:
1. Charmingly Chandler (not posting the link because this is my friends baby blog and its private)-I follow this blog because one of my friend posts updates about her daughters life and the trials of being a mother. She is a wonderful writer and is wonderful with photo shop, so looking at her posts are always entertaining and fun!

-The comments I make on this blog are to make my friend feel like all the effort she puts in regarding pictures and formatting of the blog are appreciated. I make them to tell her that I appreciate what she does because I like to read her blogs on studying breaks. Looking at what makes someone happy in life makes me happy for them! She does a wonderful job of having fun things like Wordless Wednesdays, which either include pictures of a video of her daughter. She is true and real when she writes, she writes about the great things of being a mother and the not so great things. She gets stressed and falls behind sometimes, but overall she is consistent for her readers and apologizes if she falls behind!

2. From House to Home-this is another personal blog I follow. It is following the house renovations of my friend and their first new home. As a first time home buyer myself, I constantly feel like I want to update, modify, or completely redo a room in our house! This blog follows the remodeling of a house room by room, starting with the day they found the house!

-I comment on this blog to point out ideas I like or dislike for them.. Once again the author does a wonderful job asking for readers opinions about designs, colors, or overall remodel ideas! I like to see other peoples ideas because one day we hope to build our own house when we are out of the military and have the freedom to settle down! I always try to be supportive with the things I do like and for the things I don't like I try to explain why! However, she clearly has the right to say why she does or why she doesn't agree with me!

3. Angela D. O'Conner-I chose to comment on her blog because she is my friend in this class!

-I commented on her thing # 9 post with her Valentine's day picture. It was very cute and festive seeing as we are coming closer to Valentine's Day!

4. Michelle's Journey Through the Web-I chose to read and comment on her blog because she is also another friend in this class!

-I commented on her thing #1 post for her 7 1/2 habits of learning. I told her that her easiest and my hardest were the same and explained why I felt play was the hardest for me! I also tried to be supportive of her most difficult habit, confidence as a life long learner. I think its important for all of us to be supportive as we go through this program!

5. Kate Newsham-I chose this blog because she is in several of my classes!

-I commented on her thing # 2 post. She discussed the idea of possibly changing her avatar based on her mood. I really like that idea, I am thinking as I feel like I am making strides towards my professional career, perhaps I will update mine on my blog as well!

6. Tim's Thoughts-another class member!

-I commented on Tim's thing # 2 post. I saw that he hadn't posted an avatar yet, so I reminded him and gave some encouraging comments regarding that. I also said I look forward to reading his blog. He seems concerned about learning some things in this class, but I hope through his blog he will discover the Internet and computers aren't as complicated as they appear to be!!

7. Valarie O.-another class member!

- I commented on her thing # 1 post. Once again we share the habit play as one of the most difficult things for us! She is also teaching this semester and I am interested to see what she tries for technology in her classroom. Also to see what the students like and dislike, what works and what doesn't! I look forward to reading her blog!

Thing # 3.

Using a blog is a wonderful idea. It keeps students, in this program, connected to other student’s ideas, challenges, and successes in the program! It gives students a common ground to post websites, thoughts, and other program links they find. Not only does it allow someone to compile information, but other students can see it also and comment on the uses of it.

As for using it in relation to my future classroom, I envision having a shared blog where students can post hypotheses, results, and conclusions drawn from experiments. It would be a place for the students to comment on other student’s ideas and discuss how an experiment went, if the results were expected or flawed, if something else happened entirely, and why it happened.

In addition for the students being able to post and share ideas, I also envision it as a place I could post detailed steps on how to use certain programs, such as graph making in excel and other programs that relate to chemistry. I would like it to be something similar to the blog we use for the 23 things, where it is a step by step process and has screen shots so the students know they are on the correct path!

I think using a blog in the classroom is an advanced idea, I just hope that by the time I enter the professional teaching world the internet access problem has been somewhat resolved!

Thing #2.

The posting name for my blog is not really creative, it is my last name and this semester! I never have been extremely creative or imaginative, so this is fitting for me! I guess I have always been a plain Jane, I think the saying goes. I tried to be a bit more creative with the website name (future science teacher), but in reality it is not so creative either especially since that will one day be my career!

Creating the blog was enjoyable and easy. I already had a blogger account because I have a blog for my little family! I found it was the easiest way to keep far away parents, loved ones, and friends up to date on what is happening here in Tennessee! Naming the blog was the most difficult, like I said above I lack imagination when it comes to naming! My poor children better hope I come up with something a bit more creative for them when the time comes...they will probably be called Baby 1 and Baby 2 judging by my naming skills for this blog! All the steps for creating the blog were generally straight forward, especially since I have used this blogging program before. I look forward to being able to use this after I get out of this class and to keep adding it to it if I find something useful for when I begin to teach.

Creating my avatar was fun! I have always seen similar programs for myspace or facebook, but I didn't know you could add one to a blog. I intentionally made my avatar look like me. I gave her a similar hairstyle, although longer than what my hair is now. I gave her glasses since I wear them. Plus, I think my glasses make me look like a huge nerd, so I figured it would be appropriate that an online avatar had them also! When I told my husband I was creating an online avatar he told me I was a nerd, so then I felt my glasses were VERY appropriate. I put her in a pink shirt, one of my favorite colors, and then in blue jeans. Since this is my blog, I only felt it appropriate that the avatar on my page represent me because I am the author!

Thing #1.

After watching the tutorial for the 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners I found that the easiest would be begin with the end in mind and the most difficult would be to play!

Beginning with the end in mind has always been a strong suit for me. When I first took chemistry in high school my junior year, I fell in LOVE with the subject. My senior year I took a college level chemistry course which gave me college credit if I attended the University after graduation. I knew what my declared major would be, chemistry; I had NO doubt in my mind. I had friends that changed majors numerous times, but I kept my major the same during my 4 years in college. It wasn't until after I graduated college that my direct mind set wavered a bit in regards to where I wanted to go with chemistry. I made it successfully through college with the end in mind from the beginning, however the last few years have posed some challenges! After trying another graduate program for chemistry, I found I highly disliked it. After putting some thought into what I wanted to do, I decided on teaching and here I am!

As for the most difficult lifelong learning habit, I would say it would be the last one, play. Growing up I was very scheduled....I was a gymnast for 16 years and always was at the gym. I had to learn how to budget my time with school, homework, and practice! Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of time for play. Even after leaving the sport to attend college, I picked a major that was beyond demanding, it consumed my life. I have a type A personality, so I tend to do everything to the fullest and attempt to over achieve in what I do. With that said, I never have really played much in my life. My husband calls me an over achiever and sheltered, since to this day I don't really know how to "play". Being out of school for several years has allowed me to play and have more free time, however I still am uncomfortable trying new things! Now that I am working, in school, and married I seem to have even less time to play! However, I am going to make it my goal to get out and play, it really does give my mind a rest and makes studying easier!

As I worked on this blog, I realized I am a lifelong learner. When I wasn't in school, I found myself picking up random things to read about and learn about. I love the school setting and the challenges I face while attending class. I know with my love of school that I belong in the classroom teaching! I will always continue learning about chemistry and hopefully will be taught a few things by the students that I teach! Writing this blog, I realized how rejuvenated I feel about the path I am taking. I am excited to be back in school and look forward to learning about all the new technologies out there that I have never used! I know that I will be able to use many of them when I start teaching in the classroom!