Summary of 23 Things

Wow!!!  I finished!!!  I learned so much.  I heard people talk about Facebook, Myspace, blogging, podcasting and the list goes on.  I would always say "I want to do that"  but never took the time to do it.  This class made you take the time.  Sometimes it was a lot of time.  I wish there were a few more instructions in some areas.  For instance, getting utube to post on my blog.  Even with all of the frustration I know far more than 23 things.  I always say that Mesquite ISD has the best continuing education for teachers than any other district.  We have some amazing staff development people.  I appreciate the opportunity to have learn so much over the summer.  I can't imagine taking this class during the school year.  

Thing #23

At first I thought the site was a little dry. I listened to the tour and the woman that was speaking had a monotone voice. I thought I would never make it through the introduction. Then I started searching the site. I found a first grade group that had wonderful ideas. Once I found a group that I could relate I found the value in the Ning site. I will definitely give this site more time. I can use the resources that I find with others to improve my students success in the classroom. At times it was frustrating because I wanted to see sights immediately and I would have to sign in each time. This was very time consuming. I do like this site and it warrants more exploration time.

Thing #22

Myspace and facebook are completely different. One is defiantly more professional than the other. Myspace is very cute. It reminds me more of a blog. Facebook is a place to network with other people. 

I have such wonderful co-workers. I must be the last one on our campus to get a Facebook. But I got on and those that were online quickly came to my aid. My daughter helped me with a few tricks and I was off and running. 

I like Facebook because I don't have to decorate. Facebook is more interactive.  It seems to be more useful. I like the chatting and I don't have to wait for a response, it's instantaneous.  My daughter whom is 17 likes Myspace better.  I think she likes it more because of the music and the graphics that all the kids like to add.

It's important to know how social networking works because that's what kids are doing. They are networking every chance they get. I don't see that much in first grade but teen and tweens are networking hourly. It's good to be where the kids are so that I know what trends, music and insight into their personal life. Teachers need to be very careful with what they put on their Myspace or Facebook. Students are watching what we are doing and teachers should always be seen as role models.

Thing #21

I discovered Picasa and love it.  I can easily download video and pictures to my blog right off my computer.  I think it's easier than Flickr.  I never knew that Google had so much to offer.  My igoogle page is convenient and was easy to make.  Google is very user friendly.

Thing #20

I was real excited to use this program.  I got my document together and then I had a problem being able to view my document online that I had made in excel.  I copied and pasted the same document on a new document in google docs and I can view it without any problems.  I made a testing data sheet for rigby for the 09-10 school year.  I like the online option for documents but I wonder if I have to save all of documents into google doc before it is able to be viewed.  My team at Thompson is awesome about sharing documents it would be nice to keep the documents that we use year after year on the web.

Thing #19

How many times I wanted to set my students in a corner and let them talk to the tape recorder or tell a story to a tape recorder because they need to be heard and sometimes you have to cut them off because their stories go on and on forever or because of time, not everyone gets to be heard. It would be nice for them to tell a story to the computer as a station. Or have them type the words to practice their writing/typing skills. This is a really neat program. I look forward to using this next year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSAjnFGgkIo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSAjnFGgkIo

Thing #18

Utube my favorite. I have a seventeen year old daughter who got me interested in Utube last year. There are some funny things out there on the web. I shocked sometimes that people put their most embarrassing moments on a public sight. I learned how to tile and make a shower pan out of concrete. I learned how to do the Thriller dance by watching educational dance videos.