Final thoughts

I sit here at my computer thinking about where I started and where I am now. This experience has really been a stretching, mind boggling time. I was so excited to get started. Then, well, I discovered that there was so much more to technology that I didn't know. I have watch the other members of this Fall 2008 class develop their wiki's, create avatars, and add interesting and unique features to their blogs. I may not have made it that far in my learning yet... but I have just started.

If I was asked by anyone in this district at this time if they should take this course, my answer would be YES!!! I am leaving this experience with so many new techniques and ideas that I have a new kick in my step. I am still playing with the idea of podcasting. I find my RSS reader to be fun now, though not at first, and I can link information. I don't know why I thought that was hard! I guess my only regret is that this course is ending. I have not yet mastered everything there is...so I will continue to be a life long learner, searching for the knowledge that I need to better myself.

Thing # 23

Social networking is really unique! I definitely like Ning and all the aspects that it entails. I wasn't a real fan of Gather. It just didn't interest me at all. I found many resources on the Ning sites that I thought would be useful in both my professional development and teaching. Quality ideas from other educators always spark ideas for my own classroom. I also liked the Texas School Librarians Ning site. I like to keep up with children's literature even though I don't have much class time to use the library. Whenever I can suggest reading material for a child it makes me feel great. I will continue to visit and join the Ning sites. they are a wealth of information that will help my own personal learning journey continue.

As I was looking through the Texas Librarian site, I found two links to science fair project sites that sparked my interest. At this time of year, my students are always asking for help. The sites are in English and Spanish . My thanks to Shirley Lukenbill for this information. So many of my student's parents want to help their child with their school work, but the language interferes. Now, maybe we'll get a few successful projects.

Thing #22

Looking at MySpace and Facebook was an interesting experience. I know that many of my older students, my own children and nieces use these spaces all the time. To be honest, I have looked over their shoulder as the on their sites, but never really even considered on of my own. I decided to establish a Myspace account for myself. It was very easy to set up. I went throughout the site and looked at applications, music, videos, etc. Some of the content I felt was ok and others weren't in my opinion. In today's world, these sites are a part of our society and used by our students. The impact they have and will have on children will be very powerful. Ads, various music formats, videos, etc. will be seen by those who actively use these sites. We need to be forward in our thinking and try, as educators, to use this technology to our advantage. We will always have "the good, the bad, and the ugly" in our world. We must try to instill in our students the safety nets that they will need to competently use technology in their daily lives.

I found Facebook to be the more enjoyable site to maneuver through. There wasn't' a large amount of extra information except suggestions for people I might know who also have accounts. My daughter and son won't be happy that mom has a Facebook account, but oh well!

I can see these types of social networking sites begin to be used in the educational setting more in the future. Parents, other educators, and students could have access to assignments, use them as a communication tool etc.

Thing #7C-RSS reader

I was looking at my reader this evening and came across a post that was near and dear to my heart. Exercise and weight loss seem to be the bane of every 40-somethings existence. This year I have a made a commitment to myself to exercise more, try and watch my diet, and hopefully trim down a little. Victoria Davis another educator, offers a little inspiration in her blog post. I am not alone in my quest!

Thing #21-Goggle Tools

I searched throughout the extra google tools and began a calendar. I also created a family web page so that my children away at college will know what is going on at home. I plan to update it often so that they will know where we are and what we are doing if they can't reach us. Goggle has so much to offer. I really didn't realize the extent of material that I would be able to use under the "goggle" umbrella. My husband was watching me work this evening and he got interested in some of the google tools. I can't wait to finally teach him something on the computer! I plan to continue using these tools, especially the calendar, at school and at home. I may even start a class web page at a later date.

Thing #20-Google Docs

Goggle Docs is now one of my favorite sites that we have explored. I went in and made a . I also looked at the spreadsheet and started thinking of unique ways to use it within my program. Though I am not expected to give grades to my students, I do like to keep the classroom teacher informed of a student's progress in my class. The spreadsheet would be an easy way for teachers to have access to information such as a student's language level, progress on skills tests, etc. I get very tired of sending e-mails to approximately 30 teachers. Teachers could access a spreadsheet document to check this information without me having to search for common information. Another use for the spreadsheet would be if other teachers would post their assignments where I could access them and help gear all of my teaching toward their classroom activities. This would save time and paper! Teachers usually give me a printed copy of the the weeks lessons-lots of paper that is not necesary. This would be my technologic dream!

Thing #19 - Voicethreads

I found voicethreads to be interesting. Unfortunately, I do not have a microphone on my computer at home, but i do at school. I plan to set up an educator's account at school, so that I can use this technology with my class. It would be beneficial for my students to here themselves and their use of English in projects. Most of my older students know how to do powerpoint. Adding their voices would be fun for them and make their projects more personal. I look forward to experimenting with this technology.

Thing #18

I am absolutely amazed at the content that I found on Youtube and Teachertube. I found my favorites on Teachertube. The Fifty States Song song is one of my favorites and I got to sing along. To be honest, I can't remember all of the words but I know that my students learn this and it will be fun to have as review. On Youtube, I found a cute cartoon character that teaches basic skills. His name is Crawford the Cat. I sometimes get students who are "newcomers" to our country. This video clip would be beneficial in practicing basic language structures that are used in English.

Thing #17-Podcasts

First of all, let me start by saying that I do not own an mp3 player but i can't wait to get one. I have watched my children play around with IPODs etc. for years, but I had not interest in one. Now I do! I found this exercise to be really beneficial. My Spanish speaking skills are lousy and because I teach ESL everyone thinks I should speak Spanish. Well, I found a great podcast called Coffeebreak Spanish. It's basic and easy to follow. The lessons are about 3 minutes long and presented in a simple format that's easy to remember. Maybe there is hope for my Spanish speaking abilities yet! Another site I think I can use for quick mini-lessons in the classroom is Grammar Grater. This gives short little lessons on topics we all should know about English grammar but sometimes forget.

Thing #16- Library Thing

What a wonderful site! I am an avid reader and have wanted to be a librarian for quite some time. I can use this site to search for books to suggest to my students and for my teenage son. I do not like to recommend a book to a student that I am not familiar with. I also like to know a little about a book by an author I've never read before I read it.

The organization of this site makes it easy to use and can become a resource for both individuals and educators alike. Being able to locate and find books in many ways is wonderful. I sometimes only can remember and author or part of a title. With this site, I can create my own unique library list.

Thing # 15

I think that this site was one of the most interesting that I have looked at. Tagging sites and having a space that is only mine has really helped me keep up with the organization of my family's computer. So far, I have tagged things to make my life easier. Next, when I have time, I would like to look for and tag sites that interest me. The only complaint that I get from home is from my son. He doesn't like the extra bar for delicious at the top of our computer. Click here for my delicious site.

Thing #7B- Reader revisited

ESL Students Writing Problems Are Mainly at Sentence Level is an article that truly relate to what I do everyday in my classroom. It is hard to take a child, any child, and teach them to be strong effective writers. It seems that the last skill that my student's learn and the hardest is writing. I like this article found In my RSS reader because I truly feel that my students miss some basics while learning English. Taking them back to the sentence level in writing and then going forward makes good sense to me.

Thing #14 part 2

I just had to do a wordle for fun. I hope you enjoy it!

Thing #14

I looked at all the sites listed and liked several of them. The one that I thought I could use was Quizlet. I am always looking for interesting ways to help my students learn vocabulary. This site gives you the ability to create flashcards. We are very concerned about teaching second language learners content vocabulary so I thought that this would be easy for me and my students.

I also like the 30 boxes site. I always need a calendar to keep me organized!

Thing #13

http://www.imagechef.com/



http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/deck.php

I had a great time with the image generators. The first image was made in Image Chef. I am a soccer mom and found this cute jersey to reflect my son's team name and his number. The second image was made in Trading Card Maker. He was a ghost for Halloween last year.
I thought this made a cute card to send to relatives.

I found most of the sites I tried quite easy to manage. I did have a little problem uploading the Halloween image to my blog, but it worked out in the end.

I could see using these image generators to create student interest when using computer applications for projects. Many are simple to use and would be motivating to students. We all like to add some fun to our work andthis would be one way to do so.

Thing #12

Here is my slide show made in RockYou.com. This process was really easy. I enjoyed the experience. The pictures are from Flickr by Larry King.

Thing #11-Flickr

Monarch by Shona Leah

I found Flickr to be an interesting site. After losing a ton of family pictures on a crashed hard drive that were never burned to CD, I like the concept of being able to back up pictures and that other people can view them. In creative commons, I searched for pictures that depict the stages of development of the Monarch butterfly. I have been raising these beautiful creatures in my classroom for many years and liked the idea of locating new images to share with my students.

Thing #10-Creative Commons

Every year the librarians have us sign a page about copyright infringement. We get told do not, do not, do not.... copy copyrighted material. I was very interested to learn about the creative commons site. I have noticed the cc on material before, but I really didn't know what it meant. The concept of copyright from the minute a work is produced is interesting.

I can see that the ability for educators and students to use portions of or all of some materials will open a world of creative license which hasn't existed before. Materials can be used to instruct students in areas that might not previously have been available in a form that could be viewed or used as a reference. Student projects are bound to be improved with the use of visual and auditory features. I do worry about the impact of the use of the internet for research when students do not give adequate representation to the creator of the work. However, being an elementary teacher, I really don't think that this will be a problem in the area in which I work.

I, personally, have no experience with using the computer for anything other than email and to search for sites of interest. I tend to acquire the extra things I use in my classroom from non-computer sites. I have downloaded things from a few sites, but nothing really major.

Thing #9 --The Wiki, part 2

Today I played with my wiki again. I still don't see it up on the list on the MISD sandbox page. I think it's lost in my computer somewhere. I also looked at a couple of other wiki's on the MISD page. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that everyone elses title is in their TOC box! Leave it to me to discover something after the fact! Anyway, if my wiki, which is made doesn't show up soon....
I really don't know what I did wrong. Any advice out there?

Thing #9-- The Wiki

To begin with, let me say that I want to call my Wiki experience "The Wicked Wiki". I began with a great amount of enthusiasm for this project. I set up my wiki space and was off. Then I began to run into trouble. I can say that I looked at every technical source I could find that was suggested, but I still had trouble. In my Table of Contents box, I managed to get my title. I also mangaged to erase or loose my wiki information many times (Yes, I was saving it. ) Alas, it came back. However, the title is still in the TOC box.

I also learned that I need to work on uploading images. This is just not something that I had ever done. I usually left that to my children. Over all, I look forward to working with my Wiki space again. I will continue to slay all my technical dragons! Shawn'space is now a working wiki or a work in progress.

Thing #8 --Wikis!

Wiki's are a whole new way to use technology to inspire students. I looked at every wiki site in the list provided. Since I teach elementary age students, I was especially interested in the wiki's for this age group. To say the least, I was impressed.

As I read through the wiki sites, I noticed the varied ways that they had been set up. Some were simple and others were much more complex. Kindergarten Counting Book was really special. I was amazed that children this young could establish and manage a wiki. The students should be so proud of their work for the content that was contained in the space and the learning it exhibited.

Next, I navigated through the Oregon trail in Go West with 3rd graders. I saw students use examples of webs, writing, and pictures to express their learning. We are using Thinking Maps this year on my campus for the first time. What a powerful application for these to be included in a student wiki.

Another aspect of the wiki that I found interesting is that student expectations were clearly laid out. As a mother and a teacher, I would love for my son to be able to access a site where the informaton for projects etc. was accessible to him both at home and school. Discovery Utopias really laid out the expectations.

For me to run a successful wiki in my classroom, I need greater access to computers. Maybe I'll get brave and take the laptops to my room. This would be a pretty scary experience since
I am in a portable and the carts won't exactly go up my ramp! Another option might be a day or two in the lab if it is not being used by the regular classroom teachers.

I would want to organize my classes wiki's so that even my most limited speaker of English would find the experience a successful learning tool. I would start very simple with webs, maps, vocabulary, and basic writing activities and build upon this as my students became more comfortable. I also must continue to learn more computer skills so that I will be able to help them post videos, pictures, etc.

Thing # 7

I am a direct, face to face, commentor. At first, I found that posting comments in writing was a little daunting. After I completed my first post, I felt a little more empowered. I enjoyed reading the blogs that I found interesting and those of people participating in this course. The things that I have read are insightful and have left me with room for thought. Since technology is here to stay, I feel that I will continue to read and expand my knowledge through the thoughts of others. I may not always comment, but I will continue to feed my reader and feed my brain.

Thing #6

I think that I may be finally be getting the hang of all my new "tech" skills. I have been feeding my reader and found many interesting blogs.


Teaching students a various language levels always brings about new and different challenges. I spent several evenings looking for blogs specifically related to ESL. I expected to find a plethora of information, but to my surprise, I found many blogs that covered the various aspects of teaching grammar to these students. While that isn't exactly what I was looking for, these blogs did contain some new ideas that I can apply to the classroom.

Another blog that I enjoyed was within the Blue Skunk blog site. In this post, teachers are reminded of what it is like to be a first year teacher.l This blog is in response to Joe (http://www.soyouwanttoteach.com/10-things-i-wish-i-knew-as-a-first-year-teacher//). As you read the post, memories of they didn't teach you in college return and you can recall the learn by trial and error method that we all experienced the first year we were in the classroom.

Thing #5- Reader

Ok, let me start by saying that I am feeling much more technically challenged than I probably should at this stage of the game. I am fairly sure that I now can tell the difference between a blog and a website. I have had several difficulties with "things" on my computer. I did manage to find a blog site that I not only like butI think I can use! The site I am refering to, http://greatsentences.blogspot.com/, is a collection of sentences that educators can use in teaching various aspects of grammar to their students. Educators are able to add theor own notable sentences to the list as well as pick an choose others for use in instruction. Because I work with second language learners, I will be able to use this site for quality examples to aid in student instruction in my classroom.

Thing # 4

Wow! The blogs I read were interesting. I read them way out of order as the mood struck me. Here is what I thought. The first blog I read was about the ripe environment/. The author, Ben, persented 10 concepts that a learner must have. Several of the items on the list were powerful and eye opening. I looked at myself and other teachers around me and realized that we are rather linear in our approach. We have so many things that we must do and expectations to push our students to meet, we tend to lose our focus on expanding a child's learning into a more global world. The child in Patrick's update tore at my heart. I see him in so many children that Iwork with and it seems that I have so little time to provide a world rich in technology that could motivate a child like Patrick.

As I read Second graders Write About Our Missing Duck, "Duck Diaries" by a second grade class, I began to dream of my ideal classroom... a computer for every child where creativity, as well as required skills, could take off..... .

Spies Like Us details the flip side of the issue, there is always a negative side to every good thing that comes along. Students who use their technologic devices to cheat, blackmail their educators, etc.. give the world of technology a bad name. What a shame!

I read almost all the posted blogs. In their varied writing styles, variety of subjects and theories, I came to a conclusion. As an educator, I must continue to develop my knowledge to help my students be prepared for what comes next....whatever that may be!

Thing # 2

The article by David Warlick really opened my eyes to the technological advances that are available today in the modern world of education. I can see how motivating these activities would be, especially for older students and educators in upper grade classrooms. As I think about the use of technology in my classroom, I can see many ways, especially the podcasts, that would be beneficial for my students. Being able to hear good language roll models would be of great benefit to the second language learner. It would also help build their comprehension and listening skills without the student struggling through more difficult text. Content area reading material is always difficult for my students. I can't wait to learn more about all of the topics in this course that I know nothing about.

Thing # 1

I have always thought of myself as a life long learner. However, after watching the video, I have decided that I need to make a few changes in order to "really" be in this category. From now on, I am going to be more persistent in setting goals. As I begin this course, I am setting a goal that I WILL complete these activities and be more computer savy for the 21st century. The 7 1/2 habits were very empowering. Seeing each habit listed, I could see areas that I need to work on and this new technologic challenge will be just the thing to get me started as a new and improved life long learner not the semmingly lazy one I was before.