thing #23

I have truly enjoyed the journey through 23 things and I am looking forward to using them in my teaching this next school year. Hopefully, I will be able to continue my learning with new "things" in the future.

What were your favorite discoveries or exercies on this learning journey?
I really enjoyed searching You Tube for Math videos. I found so many that would be great to use in class. The most challenging and fun thing was creating my own video with music. Although it took some time, I know I will do this again. I also enjoyed the text and image creators. I will use these tools again to create comic strips, puzzles, etc.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
It has inspired me to learn more about Web 2.0 and to use what I have learned this summer. I can't wait to show fellow teachers and students the great features of 2.0.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
Before I started this program I looked at other teacher's blogs to see what I was getting into. I wasn't sure that I had the technology experience to complete the program but I am pleasantly
surprised that with just a little help I could do all 23 things.

What could we do to improve upon this program's format or concept?
I really liked the format of this program. Each step of the way I was provided with great information and examples and I really appreciated the fact that I could work at my own pace and at a time in the day that was convenient for me.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future would you participate?
I most definitely would participate! I think there is a part two to this program that I hope to tackle next summer.

How would you describe your learning experience in one word or one sentence, so we could use your words to promote 23 things learning experience.

A challenging and rewarding journey through 23 new things.

thing #22

Nings are social networking websites much like My Space or Facebook. I spent some time at Educator's Ning and found many conversations that would be fun to participate in. I joined in on a group giving advice to new teachers. The great thing is that I can have several Nings going at once. I could be part of a Math group, a Stratford group, a sewing group etc.
Nings would be great for students in a class or working on a project.

thing #21

I am not going to lie! I had to have my daughter help me with this videocast. I found that uploading the pictures was relatively easy. But, after an hour of trying to upload a song to play with this video I decided to seek her professional help. Technology is second nature to kids and it only took her a few seconds to have the song uploaded from my CD (Romanza by Andrea Bocelli) to the slide show. I also found that the instructions for posting the video in my blog very helpful. I was able to successfully publish it in about ten minutes. I would love to use this program again. It would be especially good to put a videocast together of family Christmas celebrations and send it out the family. I can see where it can be used in the classroom too!

thing #20

I visited Teacher Tube and You Tube and settled on this video of the Quadratic formula. I thought my students could really relate to the rap song. Both sites were easy to navigate and I spent a great deal of time watching videos! It took me a while to find the embedded code on YouTube but once I found it then it was easy to publish in my post. I was amazed out how many educational videos on Math I found on both sites.

thing #19

I am familiar and use many of the Web 2.0 Awards such as google maps, Youtube, urbanspoon, and Craig's list. I spent some time on Yelp and found a restraunt that I have heard about for some time, knew the general location, but could not remember the name. I read wonderful reviews on the Italian food it serves and booked a reservation for my anniversary! I definitely added this site to my favorites.
I decided to explore Awards that are not necessarily geared toward Mathematics as I have already registered for sites specific to Math. I settled on Writeboard which is a sharable web based text document that allows you to save every edit, rollback to any version and collaborate with others. It is also free! Although I can see a wide use in English and History, I think it would be great for projects in Math. It would allow students to work in groups from home and it would be a way to see the creative side of students.

thing #18

After exploring both options, I found that OpenOffice is much like Microsoft Office. I would probably never use it and would opt for Microsoft Office since I am most familiar with the program. I did like Google Docs though. I went through the different templates and chose the following three that I think I would really use. 1) a To Do List (my whole life is organized via lists) and 2) a monthly budget manager (I have never had a budget before) and 3) a trip planner (organizes miles, costs etc) We shall see how I do on a budget!

thing #17

Rollyo is a great tool for me to use with my classes. I could see myself posting my rollyo on my syllabus at the beginning of the year. I created a rollyo that will alow students to get help with homework, extra practice problems and games. I agree with everyone else that the SBISD teacher that made the Rollyo video did a fantastic job. It is so easy to understand. What a great teacher he is!



http://rollyo.com/msueheine/heine_geometry/

thing #16

Wikis are easy to use and I can see myself using this with my classes. It is a great way to get students involved and talking to each other about special projects or problems. The PB wiki I viewed was extremely helpful and I will go back again at the start of school to revisit adding a syllabus and a calendar to class wikis. This is definitely one of the best things in "23 things".

thing #15

Tell me it is not so! I have fond memories as a child of going to the library each week for yet another Nancy Drew book to read and it is hard to hear that the library is antiquated. I enjoy collecting and reading hard bound books but the world is changing. I do agree that teachers must change (video was an eye opener) the way they teach and libraries must change to meet the new student needs. I can definitely see that digital collections of journals, books and blogs would provide a much larger collection that one library could ever afford. Library 2.0 meets the needs of the patrons and meets the users in there space (internet) as opposed to the library. It is user friendly and can be constantly upgraded. I do see a need to integrate the the 2.0 service with our curricula and make easy button commands such as Google Page Creator to help students and teachers.

thing #14

Technoratti allows an easy search by directory, blog posts or tags. I really enjoyed reading blogs on this site because you are gettig regular real people critiques of movies, plays and news and not those thoughts of paid critics. You are able to read rare human uncut experiences and view photographs of amateur photogs.
Web blogs such as DEL.icio.us use tags to organize content which narrows searches about desired subjects. It is to tag favorite websites for easy call up and share with other people. Tagging has allowed me to find previously viewed material quickly and these keyword searches allow me to shop on line a lot faster too!

thing #13

I found this website very interesting. While there would be limited use of this site in my classroom I can see where Science, English and History could really benefit from using deliscious.
I did explore the different tags on art and photography and found a wonderful site called The Disposable Camera Project. They left cameras all over the world with instructions to take a picture and leave it for the next person to find... eventually with the hope that the camera or pictures would return home. Everyone left comments on the website and some of the photography was amazing!

thing #12

I have been so busy posting to my own blog that I had not thought to respond to others. I did learn that your comments should be meaningful, respond to your commenters, share something about yourself and remember the power of your words. I responded to several blogs, some unfortunately before I read thing 12. I am definitely improving my technology skills!

thing #11

I signed up for Librarything and added a list of books that I have recently read and some on my TBA (to be read list). There is something satisfying about seeing the list that I have read over the past two years. I also like the information you can find on a book before you purchase the book. I got lost in reading everyone's comments about different books and was surprised to find that some groups read together in small chunks of time. The most valuable I found to be the tab Local. It gives you access to Houston libraries and bookstores that visiting authors are scheduled to appear for talks and signings. I have enjoyed meeting authors in the past and listening to their thought process and how they chose the settings of their books. I think this could really be used by English teachers and their students but would have limited use for Math teachers. It was fun to see what everyone was reading.

thing #10

Create your own Rubik's Cube

Exploring the text and image generators was really fun. This is something that I know I will use again. I used Image Chef and created a flower text for the subject I teach. You will see it at the bottom of my blog. Dumpr was the image generator that I used to create the Rubik's cube with shoes (my favorite thing to buy) Glogster also looked interesting and definitely worth exploring at a later date. These generators would be really great to use in powerpoints for class.

thing #9

Investigating Useful Library blogs and new feeds was interesting but took forever. I kept reading all the interesting blogs! Some of the sites were definitely better than others. Technorati was one of my favorites. I like the layout of this site and the fact that it allows you to search by topic quite easily. Atomic learning is another useful site. It has technology tutorials as well as projects. I found a tutorial that cleared up some of my challenges with powerpoint backgrounds etc. I will definitely use these two sites. Google Blogs and Cool Cat Teacher will be useful for classroom use, too.

Topix.net provides news feeds but is not my favorite. I did not like the layout and I have other feeds in my google reader that I think are easier to use. Syndic8.com supplies RSS feeds.

thing #8

I really love google reader and rss! This feature gives you all your favorite websites in one location. It is truly addicting. I subscribed to 6 different websites that post to my reader. I love fashion and shoes so I subscribed to fashion trendsetter and also E! online, Houston Chronicle, food network highlights, cnn news, weather channel and geometry junkyard. As a teacher, geometry junkyard gives ideas, worksheets, projects etc that I can use with my students. Principals and teachers would find it easy to use and organize all of their favorite educational websites on one easy to read page.

thing #7

I have used Google before but had no idea of all the cool tools google has! Using the gadgets in igoogle, I customized my google page with a UT header and all my favorites such as news, weather, entertainment, music etc. I also set up alerts to my email for weather. I explored google earth and found my house and Stratford High School. I had done this before and was surprised to find my house pictured with Christmas decorations! I viewed the bottom of the ocean, too. Picaso is definitely a feature that I would like to come back and explore again. I think I can create a book of digital pictures and email it to Wolfe Camera for easy pick up.

thing #6

I had so much fun exploring all the different features on bighugelabs.com! The first application I used was the Warholizer. This photo was taken on my tour of the Vatican. What a cool way to display photos of my recent trip to Italy.

















I also enjoyed using the Hockneyizer Application. This is a photo of Castello di Verrazzano in Tuscany. My family took a tour of this vineyard and had a wonderful dinner!
















I used the Jigsaw Application to create a puzzle of the Trevi Fountain in Rome. The custom is to throw a coin over your shoulder in to the fountain....this gurantees your return to Italy. I threw tons of coins!

thing #5

The picture I posted from Flickr is of the Louvre in Paris, France. I used the search function to find pictures tagged Geometry. I can't believe you can tag one picture with 75 different key words! I used Kodak.com in the past to upload my photos for my family to see. However, I think Flickr is much easier to use.

thing #4

Hopefully I have just registered my blog! So far ... so good!

thing #3

Created an account on Yahoo! to make my avatar today! I followed all of the steps but my avatar refused to show up! I decided to save it on my computer and then upload it to my blog...it worked!

thing #2

I am definitely a lifelong learner. I love to cook, read, travel and sew. I still remember buying my Bernina sewing machine and taking classes on monogramming and embroidering on my new machine. Before I knew it everything in the house had a personal touch. When my daughter was born a friend taught me how to smock. I bought a smocking machine that very day and began to build a library of plates or templates and I still have the 30 or so dresses I made and smocked for my daughter.
I am very good at surrounding myself with the tools I need for any challenge I undertake. I love taking classes, particularly with a friend. It is easier for me to learn when I can bounce ideas off of another person and it is more fun as well. I do find it hard sometimes to use technology to my advantage. I have some skills on the computer that I use daily at home and in teaching but nothing that qualifies me as a blogger. We shall see how this goes!