Thing #23: Creative Commons

Alright, so I have found a website here that is a 23 Things for Teachers in MI and was taken from "Helene Blowers, Technology Director, Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, and has been modified for use by Wayne RESA. The original program is loosely based upon Stephen Abram’s article, 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year(Information Outlook - Feb 2006) and the website 43Things." So whether or not APSU borrowed from the 23 things or the 43 things, we'll just say that there are a lot of programs similar to ours out there and I'm sure we are not the originators.


As far as me in the classroom for the future. I will definitely be frequenting sites that are CC friendly to gain ideas for classroom activities, lessons, and anything else that is needed to make class awesome.

Thing #22: Live Binders

I think Live Binders will grow exponentially as this tool is useful on several levels for several professions, not just teaching. With that said teachers do have an awful lot of binders that could be preserved with this online tool. I liked this tool, just need some more time to get it completely figured out.

U.S. Presidents 1890–1910

Thing #21: Animoto

Well it was a little hard to find the spot to do just the 30 second videos. I kept getting redirected to the pricing plans, but once I found it it was a easy to use.  I might actually pay for the full length video membership because the impact this could have on a PowerPoint or just by itself can really get a class interested.  Not to mention its easier than scouring YouTube to find an appropriate video with music that's not vulgar. So overall this is a really cool tool.



Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Thing #20: YouTube...God's gift for comedy...sorta

I added a video of Blackadder's cause to WWI mainly because it's hilarious. YouTube will more than likely be a favorite tool of mine to gain attention of the class and bring humor to history and then bring it to relevance for the students.

Thing #19: More social networking, but professional

I may not be as opposed to social networking with the ones geared more towards the professional world. After all, the main reason I deleted my facebook was that I just lost interest in everyone complaining about their life like their life is the only one that matters. However, TeacherPop seems to be more constructive and useful for a future teacher. So we shall see where that one goes.

Thing #18: Not so Facebook anymore

Alright, I had a Facebook but recently deleted it so my link no longer exists but I used it extensively and just decided that it wasn't something I cared to have anymore as I had a lot of "friends" that I actually did not talk to anymore. I also decided that I didn't need to generate random posts about my life to a public forum. However, I do feel it would be advantageous for teachers and administrators to understand what evidently 41.6% of the U.S. population has and uses. There is a pretty good chance that the majority of every student in a given school will have either a Facebook or Twitter account and more than likely both. Since, 42% of the U.S. population has  a FB account creating one for a class in which classmates can interact, receive updates, or use a discussion forum would potentially further learning and social interaction, well online "social" interaction. It however, will never replace real world "social" interactions that are important for student development.

Thing #17: mmmm.....delicious

Easy to use, and powered by something I already have log-in info for, Yahoo!. As far as classroom use, potential for research but the information seemed to be mainly opinion based so I would say there is a greater potential for the teach rather than the student for an everyday use. Although students may enjoy it for personal use for topics they enjoy. I could definitely see these style tools used for planning lessons, or gaining knowledge of fun interactive activities in classrooms. I actually plan to keep in touch with this website to check out fully its potential advantages in my own classroom in the future.

Thing #16: On-line productivity

So I had already created an igoogle start page and although useful, slowly just stopped using it. I think I usually quit using them because they get cluttered and always look unorganized, kind of jumbled. As I had stated previously online or real calenders just don't stick with me, I forget write things down in them, so to-do lists are right there with calendars. I guess instead of writing things down, I ask my wife because her memory is great and mine not so much, guess that's why I forget to write in calendars and to-do lists. But if used to their potential I can see the potential benefits. But for me just not practical....yet.

Thing #15: The Wiki-experience

I checked out the Westwood Wiki since it was a class wiki and posted my image that I generated to the 23 thing sandbox. I kind of like the idea of a wiki for a collaborative tool between say all history classes of a school year. It would be a way they could collaborate and teach each other while I watch the content being displayed and can track those that contribute. It will teach the students how to work as a team in situations where the students might not get to work with someone face to face. I think wikis have gotten a bad reputation because of unprotected public wikis but ultimately they can be a great asset for a classroom.

Thing #14: Go with the Flow - Not Quite

Alright so I decided to check out Mindmeister.com and Gliffy.com. This is just my opinion but MindMeister was just complicated for something simple. I feel like there are too many options to make your mind map "pretty" without focusing on the important thing, user friendliness. I like to think I'm fairly computer savvy and like things to make my life a little easier but at the end of my run in with MindMeister I just felt it would have been simpler to use a flow chart or a graphic organizer on MS Word or something.

As far as Gliffy.com goes it just didn't seem like something I'd use very often, however I did enjoy the fact that I did not have to create a login with my email and a new password in order to use the website. But for me just eh, not my style I guess. However, I did think it would be cool if the tools would let you create your classroom outline for our future project but it was office center and not classroom centered.

Thing #13: google docs - 1; zoho writer - 0

I know zoho's the underdog and everyone loves the underdog but sometimes they are the underdog because they're just not gonna be as good. Nothing against zoho.com but you're just not google. Google already has the following and the other tools necessary for success. No need to create a new login or any new email subscriptions. Google is like the walmart of Internet needs, one stop shop.

This is definitely useful for classroom collaboration between students and or teachers. Anything that is done with google docs can be shared with anyone that the author chooses.

Thing #12: better late than never

So I already knew Google was for much more than searching for things. So I just set up a calendar since I haven't done that yet. Nothing is on my calendar because as in the real world for me, I buy calendars and never use them. So my virtual calendar is free but still not used, I don't really know why either. But never the less here's my link to my calendar
http://www.google.com/calendar/gp?hl=en#~calendar:view=m

Even though I don't utilize calendars fully right now, I'm sure once I'm in full swing teacher mode I'll live and die by my calendar. So an online version would be beneficial to help keep parents informed and there's no relying on a student to bring the paper home I can email a parent directly bypassing the potentially forgetful student.

Thing #11: Exploring the World of RSS Feeds

Create a blog post about your experience that answers these questions:
*Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use?
*Which Search tool was the easiest for you?
*Which was more confusing?
*What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels?
*Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?
*What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?


So I don't know if its my browser or not but I never went to a website that had the little orange feed symbol in the corner but I did just add a RSS feed gadget to the sidebar of the blog using the URL. I guess that's the same thing but that was real simple. I chose to follow CNET, teachinghistory.org, and classroom20.com. The CNET should be pretty interesting to see what the new electronic innovations will be. I used Google to search for "good RSS feeds to follow" and found some lists. CNET was on there and I said "hey that should be interesting." 


That about wraps up adventures in RSS feed land.

Thing #10: RSS Feeds

Alright, as I have established, was not a huge fan of blogs, but that's changing. So i'll yet again be a little skeptical about using RSS Feeds. I don't know how much information will be too much information per hour but I'll see. Setting up the RSS feeds were simple enough to do so if you do like to keep involved with one it's not hard to do. There is some weeding out that has to be done, especially if you are trying to find something factual instead of opinion based. All in all it could be useful but I probably won't rank it in my top ten to use in the classroom unless I find something pretty cool using it.

Thing #9: Image Generators

Many of these are great tools that can help with creativity in classroom signage and PowerPoint. This also helps personalize images for your class specifically and not the generic things that students have always seen in every classroom before them. I created a for dummies book cover because I think it's amazing how that company took off and now there's probably a for dummies book on buying the dummy book. The tools are easy to use and pretty fun to create random things with. Below is the link to the website I used.

http://www.images-graphics-pics.com/signs/books/dummies/cover.asp?pic=&title=Easy+Application&text=American+Imperialism&text3=Your+one+stop+guide+to+expanding+your+empire!&text2=I+did+it+and+know+own+several+islands!&book=Dummies&tag=&time=0029

Thing #8 Flickr Spelling Bee

So for my Flickr mashup I decided to play with Spell with Flickr because I've always liked that concept of spelling words with everyday things, honestly just been too lazy to get out and take the photos myself. But there are classroom uses for these apps maybe not so much for history with spelling one but there is the app that puts pictures in the map (mapper) that could be useful. Overall they are very user friendly, which I like.

Thing #7: The Flickr Experience

I have heard of Flickr, but have never used it, mainly because if I wanted to share photos I have just put them on Facebook. However, the use of Flickr would be better suited for a classroom experience in my opinion, mainly because it will separate personal and professional life. Flickr was easy to use and set up as it linked to my Yahoo! account so the sign up process was fast. I would definitely use Flickr to show photos of important times in history for my classroom.

Thing #6: Classroom Skype the World

Skype could potentially be one of the most useful tools in a modern classroom, School 2.0.  Skype would allow a class here in Clarksville, TN to communicate with a class say in New York, Washington, even England.  The point is that Skype could and should be utilized as a modern day instant pin pal project.  The basic necessities are a webcam, computer, and internet; and Skype of course.  Just imagine when studying WWII if you could Skype a class in Germany. With modern day technology in smartphones, if a German class took a field trip to a concentration camp a class in america could take it as well. With a little coordination and some luck, the possibilities are endless. Below is the link to the features page of Skype, pretty much anything you can do with skype is outlined here:

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/features/

Thing #5: Putting the 2.0 in Future Education

As stated in most of the resources, School 2.0 isn't a completely new school just one that is modified. No longer will we as teachers and students be forced into the same routine of textbook, worksheets, and lectures. Interaction between students and teachers is further encouraged with the use of Web 2.0, smartboards, and iclickers. As long as the funds are there and communities are willing, School 2.0 has the potential to bring America back to the forefront of education. The mindset that education is more than memory recall but actually criticially thinking through different processes that apply to life and the future lives of our students.

Thing #4: Comments are Welcome

Without comments coming into your blog the blogger will feel like he/she is typing into thin air (more so than usual, where does all this information go anyways? Greatest unsolved mystery: the INTERNET lol). Moving on. Comments also help shed light on different perspectives that the author may have not thought about so therefore leads to changes in peoples lives, real changes through introspective means. The Cool Cat Teacher Blog was pretty informative about how to write your blog to increase comment activity. Never thought that trying to write in an open ended style would be so important. Also, the ProBlogger forum was quite straightforward, ask for comments. So I will, everyone, feel free to comment on anything on my blog. From the fish tank to the sheep party with my avatar lol.

I have decided to follow Pertl's Progress, School Blogs, Dillon's Blog, Barton's Way to Success, and Educational Technologies blogs; for no particular reason but I am sure that by the end of this semester there will have been plenty of reasons, but as of now I had to pick five and the most logical way at this point was random. I will also try to find two other non-class blogs to follow. I haven't commented on blogs quite yet but I'm getting there so I will update this post once that has happened.

Stay Classy Clarksville

Thing #3: EduBlogging

To be honest I never thought that I would ever consider blogging for class involvement or management. However, the use of a blog is endless in an educational setting. Anywhere from setting a calender, posting due dates and homework, all could aide in the communication with parents and students to help keep 20-30 students and their parents informed and up to date. Also with a blog I could post powerpoints, class notes, helpful readings and potentially incorporate homework assignments into the blog.

Thing #2: Adventures in Blogopolis

Welcome to Blogopolis. Okay, to be honest I was not keen on the whole idea of "blogging" mainly because of the connotation that comes to mind when thinking about people who blog. Most notably, for me, is complainers about something, anything...whatever. However, with that being said, this class is forcing me to look at things from outside my normal perspective.  As far as setting up a blog goes this was much easier than I anticipated, and for some reason I was under the impression that it cost some money; not a lot but something. I mean you pretty much just create a log in and password and boom, you are a genuine member of the blogging family. When you set a blog up you can also add an avatar, cartoon you, and create a blogger name, pseudonym. I chose to just go with bmoore26 because it was set up automatically, there's potential it will change. Also the avatar is somewhat what I look like because it just easier to be yourself. Anyways, this is a short summary of the building of Blogopolis (my bog city).

Update: name has changed, just to my name, and I just found a sheep on doppleme.com so i added the sheep to my avatar just because it was funny. Also changed the background so i guess it's a "sheep party" now. Don't know why but I thought it was so goofy it was great. I also added a fish tank...thought that'd be fun.

Thing #1: Habit of Discovery

The habit of discovery is realizing that everyday something can and will be discovered. The 7 & 1/2 Habits of lifelong learners is just the recognition that we should all be aware of whether we like it or not we are all lifelong learners.  However, in order to truly harness the capabilities of learning and the application of our compounded knowledge, we must be aware and actively seek out knowledge in the daily challenges of our lives.  The habits are simple: Knowledge Goals, Responsibility for Learning, Take the Challenge, Have Confidence, Assemble Tools to Help, Use Technology, Teach Others, and Remember to Play.

As far as goals are concerned I feel that I set goals successfully, long and short term. I have always found that when you set a goal it actually helps you achieve what you desire because the end result is on your mind and you can work backwards to achieve success.

However with out the next habit, accepting responsibility for your own learning, the goals that are set may never be reached. You must be an active participant not a bystander in the pursuit of knowledge. Personally, I can struggle with this habit as sometimes learning comes easy and therefore it is easier to become lackadaisical in pushing myself for more.


The next habit is detrimental to a person's success in being a lifelong learner.  If a person views every challenge as a crisis then learning will feel like a whirlwind instead of a challenge.  This is something I can handle. If I do not know the right answer most of the time I do not like to stop until I figure it out.  Not that I always have to be right, I just want to know what is right.


Another habit that I feel I am capable to handle is having confidence as an effective learner.  Everyone starts somewhere and the basics we learn is the foundation of our future knowledge.  Every small challenge met and goal accomplished builds confidence.


A method for success is creating a learning toolbox, yet again another habit that I could work towards being better.  In the past I have just used the tools I needed and forgot about them when I was finished.  However, my new goal and challenge to myself is to keep track of the toolbox that I use for future needs.


One habit that I do utilize to my ability is the use of technology. I feel that the use of technology is essential in teaching our students.  Not only do they need to know how to use technology for their future, it is also a method of delivering content to the students in a way that they (1) understand and (2) find interesting.


The next to last habit is what my current goal pertains to, teach others what I know.  The purpose of my college experience is to gain knowledge in my content area and out. Also, I am learning to teach.  I need to learn to be effective in passing my knowledge to the generations that follow.


Lastly, being a lifelong learner has to be fun. The 1/2 in the 7 & 1/2 habits is to play. If something is not fun or interesting the likelihood that the habit continues is low.  Students love technology and everything not related to school because to them, until now, it has not been fun.  However, with the technology integrated into classrooms they have become more interactive and now use something that the students are familiar with, technology.  Technology for our future students has been used for play and entertainment.