Flowgram Presentation

I think the version with the Flowgram presentation was a little too involved because I had such a basic concept for my lesson. If I were teaching how molecules bond to one another for a chemistry lesson I think Flowgram would be great, especially since we can embed web pages, so virtual tutorials can be included and it is always good to have a visual with such a complex concept. Images are images, without text or direct instruction, students can perceive images in a totally different way, a way that you had not intended them to.

I think Flowgram is an awesome tool to show how to do something or give a presentation on new software to teachers. I'm positive I'll be back to use it whenever I find it will enhance my lesson. Unfortunately, I had MAJOR problems with loading my PPT into Flowgram. I tried with slideshare and empressor and got the same error message, ARGH! I finally got my PPT to load into the Web 2.0 tool called authorSTREAM. It's basically the same as flowgram, but your audio has to be pre-recorded into your presentation. FLowgram is WAY easier to use, but this was a good learning experience:)

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by skimmy2181

I also had trouble embedding my PPT into my blog, it takes up the most of the screen, but the presentation works fine. I wanted you to be able to actually read what I blogged about, so I tried thumbnailing it and it takes you the authorSTREAM page with my presentation but no sound. HMPH, so I guess the one with the sound is better, but how will you be able to read my blog?

I'll embed the thumbnail for now, any suggestions? Okay, now my sound isn't working, but at least now the presentation isn't taking up too much space! Any suggestions?

I finally got my PPT repositioned, but there's still no sound. I contacted them and hopefully they'll be able be able to remedy my problem.

Is this the end or just the beginning?

I had the most fun getting familiar with Flickr and Animoto, creating my avatar wasn't too bad either, I have a bunch of backgrounds and outfits saved in m favorites.  Completing the 23 things has introduced me to SO many tools and options that I probably wouldn't have found or completed if I didn't have to do this exercise.  I am totally addicted to Web 2.0 tools, I find myself thinking that I can use them for almost anything and suggesting some tools to other class mates in my other courses.  I think the social bookmarking will be the most helpful tool as a teacher because I will have an online library of endless sites that I may need in the future.  

I think the 23 things has been appropriately modified from the 43 things due to the time constraints of this semester.  I truly enjoyed this whole "Thing", yes the pun was intended :)

Thing #23

If we haven't already noticed on the bottom of the 23 things page there is a *note* to give credit to the website 43things and the article by Stephen Abram.  Of course we need to give credit when it is needed, and I know we have all borrowed or modified lessons from the internet.  I have never really had a problem with that, but at least I know I can get licensing rights for my own creations. I will also make sure that my students are giving credit to whomever when using things that aren't theirs.  Online plagiarism is unacceptable.

Thing #22

I listened to "Philosophy of Education" from the Education Podcast Network, very insightful as far as how educators are supposed to pull all the subject matters into a cohesive way that students will be able to understand and take something away from the lesson.  The people had pleasing voices, which is pretty important because I don't really want to listen to an annoying voice.

I liked EPN the best because of the organization of the categories and it didn't have a lot of advertisements on the sidebar.  I think if I ever teach an online class, podcasts would be an invaluable tool, but I prefer face to face instruction, especially with elementary children.  Maybe podcasts would be more appropriate for older students.  I get really bored listening to people talk without visuals, so I don't think I'll regularly listen to many podcasts.

Thing #21

What a quick and easy way to turn your pictures into life!  I fully enjoyed using Animoto because it was SO easy and another because I can share my pictures through an musical slideshow.  This is a clip of my trip out to L.A., visiting my cousin.  He took me everywhere!  There was a "Koreatown", talk about culture shock.  I took pictures upon landing, I was glad to come back to TN.  Animoto called for at least 10 pics, but all ten weren't included, but other than that I had a great time using it.

Thing #20

I attended the Bonnaroo Festival this summer and it was so much fun! I didn't think I'd find anything from it on YouTube, but to my surprise, there's an endless list of performances that people recorded! I didn't bring my camcorder because I didn't think there would be anywhere to charge it, there weren't too many electrical outlets there in Manchester, TN. I was only about 50 feet from the stage during this performance. I saw Jack Johnson and all time favorite Pearl Jam in one night!  Some of those screams are certainly coming from me.

Thing #19

I think it's kind of neat to see who you share a birthday with, I have the same birthday as Leonardo Da Vinci! :) Try it out, it was so easy to embed this widget!

Obviously I'm a member of TeacherPop, and I think I am going to continue visiting! I like being able to connect with fellow teachers and it's great to see friendly faces! I am thinking about joining "Bake Space", but with so many other blogs, 'm going to have to try and find more time! I feel a little guilty just reading and not posting anything, but I still enjoy reading about cooking and other people's mishaps.

Thing #18

I have a MySpace account that I haven't checked in over 6 months and I totally forgot that I set up a facebook account my first semester at APSU, that was over five years ago! I really like facebook, http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=63704116&ref=name,
come and visit me, I want friends! It's so different than MySpace because it took my APSU email and instantly connected me with people from my school that I might know, and I did know some people and recognized a few names. For some reason my email isn't ready to be supported yet, but as soon as it is I'll find friends. For some reason I think facebook is more innocent than MySpace....I see a lot of people without P.O.P! That's just their home picture :)

I'd rather set up my own class blog rather than using either of these social networking sites. I know my students might have their own personal account, but the key word is "personal". I'd like to monitor what they are seeing and their comments, just to make sure it's school appropriate. Although, it's important that teachers are familiar with social networks for the class or to collaborate with other teachers. For example, facebook! I can be friends with people who have the same interests as me with just a few clicks, unlike MySpace where I'm scrolling through millions of pictures to find who I want.

Thing #17

Social Bookmarking sites are an awesome way to share your relevant sites with everyone. It almost takes away the need for my bookmarks tab in my browser, I'll keep the ones I use the most on it, but plan on getting used to using delicious! I can look under tags, share and store my sites, I'm really excited about this! This could be extremely beneficial to teachers because there are so many people networking, that a teacher can multiply their resources by A LOT! It's nice to have the option and share ideas with other people, especially due to the amount of of websites available to us!

The tags are extremely useful, because I might think "Oh, I need something for sight words, but someone else has tagged it spelling patterns, I have conveniently stumbled onto other useful information. 21 Classes had 10 different tags by 918 people! Imagine the possibilities. :)

Thing #16

I created a start page using iGoogle, but I already have a home/start page with Yahoo, and I really don't see the point in having two separate ones to check. I guess since I am so used to using my Yahoo home page (but I use Google for everything else), I stick with my Yahoo. My main email address is established and has been for over 10 years with Yahoo, I should just transfer all of it to iGoogle. But both are basically the same and I should be more loyal to Google, considering when I log into my computer, I go from my Yahoo homepage, check my email and feeds, and then go right to Google :)

I'm not a fan of online calendars, because it may remind me of stuff I need to know for the day, but usually I'm out doing stuff and I don't tend to tote my laptop everywhere I go. I need to be constantly reminded I make a list and carry it around with me and cross off what's been done. The list is worth me, so I won't forget and I don't have to be at my computer to be reminded. Although, I think when I start teaching it will be extremely useful, because I'll be in the classroom most of the day and I can have little reminders from my calendar right there in my room. To-do lists are too much work! Like I said, it's so much easier and force of habit that I'd rather have a paper, tangible list, but again, in the classroom, they'll probably be a lifesaver. I tend to lose track of time easily, so calendars and to-do lists will probably be a must in the classroom.

I have made the mistake of not copying the full URL on many occasions! I get so irritated, ARGH! Especially with journal articles from ERIC, there's this magical little thing called Tiny Url. All you have to do is drag the icon into your toolbar and PRESTO, that HUGE URL is now shortened into something short and sweet. There's directions if you can't copy and paste.

Thing #15

1001 Flat World Tales is an awesome blog, mainly because it's international! How cool to be able to read, comment, or edit other kids stories and blogs. Although, I did notice that there hasn't been recent activity on the discussion area. Some of the stories are really funny, and it's weird because I thought the kids from Korea would have some sort of different writing style and ideas, shows what I know and what I discovered and my students would certainly benefit from that. All students are invited to try and let their stories "survive" to get published and there are instructions to post their own versions. I found Mr. Burnell's meet and greet page a little shocking...maybe just TMI.

Salute to Seuss was also an interesting blog site, because who doesn't love Dr. Seuss? The site was well organized and easy to navigate through, considering that SO many students participated. One thing that annoyed me was that several of the links to view student/school's finished projects were broken. Overall, there are tons of lesson plan ideas and examples that I could show my students if we celebrated Dr. Seuss day, I didn't know one existed :)

Way to go Mr. Monson for creating the thousands project! It's really well organized, inviting, elaborate (yet easy to use), and informative. It's really awesome that he's getting his students excited about using wikis and encouraging other students from all over to participate! The questions are relevant to kids and many of them provoke higher order thinking, hopefully he'll continue with this project long enough so my students can get involved.

I wikied Pac Man, because my boyfriend and few other people are playing it right now, so it was the first thing that came to mind, not to mention that I love it too :) There's a plethora of information on him, personality or behavior of the ghosts, history, and newer versions. I looked under the history tab and there has already been 12 revisions in October alone, I didn't think there would be that many. Also under the discussions, there was one that I thought was funny, Pac Man was invented 36 thousand months ago (impossible that's 3000 years ago), and the person wanted a citable LOL. It's been revised since that comment. It goes to show that you shouldn't believe everything on Wikipedia to be a valid source of information.

Thing #14

I liked bubblus way better than Gliffy, bubblus was easier to use because I didn't have to keep dragging a shape, I could move the bubbles together or further apart in case I needed to add something during class discussion and overall it was more aesthetically pleasing to my eye. Gliffy seemed a little abrasive...maybe too formal. I think students would prefer participating and using mind maps, rather than flow charts.

Depending on what your activity is, either one is helpful, you just have to make it work for you.

My first Zoho

Well, here's my first Zoho document. I'd have to agree with Dr. Wall on it's ease, accessibility, and compatibility issues are gone! I have been so frustrated with all the new versions of Office, that I just decided to give up and stick with what I had instead of trying to download or borrow newer versions.

I think Zoho is also a great tool to be used in group projects when sharing information in different formats, because .doc is not .docx! It's all online and can be a solid base for all group members to access, view, and leave comments. The buttons are basically the same and I can tag a document into just one or more folders! I'm embarrassed to admit this, but all my word, excel, ppt, and even some pictures are ALL under "My Documents". I know there's someone out there that does the sameembarassed" src="http://www.blogger.com/wo/images/smiley-embarassed.gif" border="0">

This is what happened when I published my document in my blog, I guess I was expecting an attachment within my blog to click on to view, is this right? The word embarrassed is supposed to be a blushing smiley. Maybe I'll try this http://export.writer.zoho.com/ZExport.do?tstamp=1,10,2008

DON'T CLICK ON THAT, it was just an experiment, and we're supposed to blog about our experience using Zoho, so you're getting my experience play - by -play. I'll try again.

Thing #13

Thing #12

I created a notebook, very short that all of you can view I always forget (if you'd like, it's nothing special) it's really just a beginning notebook and an explanation on how and why I'd use it. I think it's a great organizer along with Google calendar. As sad as it may seem, my schedule is pretty cut and dry, I don't have any special events to attend or invite any of you to, I don't have any children, I basically would be reminding myself to get up and go to work or school.

When I finally do have a life that involves children, students, husband, appointments, birthdays, and all that jazz, I think the calendar would be the most useful and helpful. Like I said, I forget very easily, I usually have to write everything down or I'll forget about it until it's too late. So I can't even begin to imagine trying to manage and juggle home and work. :) The calendar allows you to create several different calendars. I could have one for my classroom and even import the cmcss calendar dates into Google calendar so I don't have to type all of it in, one for my kids extracurricular activities, one for personal stuff, etc. It's online, accessed through Google and from any computer with Internet access.

At one time I had a palm pilot, I lost it somewhere, I don't think I'll lose a whole computer if I do, I can find one somewhere.