PhotoPeach:
Oh my goodness, I love PhotoPeach! Yet another web 2.0 tool that is new to me but is easy and so much fun to use! I will definitely be using it again! This is a short video of my best friend's wedding shower we threw for her along with pictures from her wedding day. :)
Wedding Fun with My Best Friend, Erika! on PhotoPeach
Final Evaluation:
1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I enjoyed many things on this journey! Some of my favorites were: becoming more familiar with Google Docs and Zoho Docs, being introduced to LiveBinders, understanding more about what a wiki is, how to upload a video to YouTube from your phone and then to a blog from YouTube, and then being introduced to PhotoPeach! :)
2. How has this type of program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
This program has assisted my lifelong learning goals by introducing me to many new web tools and stretching me to learn a lot. I have been in learning mode the entire time, and my eyes have been opened to how much is out there that I don't know anything about and how much I am capable of learning and knowing.
3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I think I was slightly surprised and sometimes overwhelmed by how many web 2.0 tools really exist, many that I've never even heard of until this class. I have so much to learn and explore!!
4. What could I do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I think the format of this project was run perfectly. I love how each week you encouraged us to have a certain number of "things" completed in order to keep up with our assignments, but you also allowed us the freedom and flexibility to get them done when it was convenient for us as long as it was all completed by the due date. I think the amount of time we were given to complete the assignment was perfect as well. Each "thing's" description was well explained and the directions and expectations were clear. Thanks for helping guide us in a new and fun learning experience!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Thing 15: Things like Skype
Honestly, I haven't used skype before for educational purposes, but I have some teacher friends that have, and I would like to start in my own classroom. I have used it mostly to communicate with out of town friends and family. It is such a great thing to have to not only be able to communicate with loved ones not close by but also be able to see them face to face.
After thinking through possible ways to use it in my own classroom, I can see its many benefits to education and my students. One way I think it would be neat to use it could be in social studies having an live interview. One of the units we study in social studies is Native Americans. I think it would be really neat for my students to be able to interview a Native American expert or museum curator or even an actual Native American who lives on a reservation today. Really, in social studies when studying history, first hand interviews would be a great addition to classroom teaching in helping the students absorb valuable information about a subject.
After thinking through possible ways to use it in my own classroom, I can see its many benefits to education and my students. One way I think it would be neat to use it could be in social studies having an live interview. One of the units we study in social studies is Native Americans. I think it would be really neat for my students to be able to interview a Native American expert or museum curator or even an actual Native American who lives on a reservation today. Really, in social studies when studying history, first hand interviews would be a great addition to classroom teaching in helping the students absorb valuable information about a subject.
Thing 14: Podcasting and Bookmarking
Podcasting:
What a great thing to know that Texas Education podcasts exist on iTunes. I have never heard of them, and as an educator I can see how helpful it could be to have access to them. I watched a few on math, and one I liked was a Geometry video called "Using Properties of Transformations". The first math unit in the year that I teach is Geometry. One of the lessons is on transformations, translations, and reflections. Sometimes the students get mixed up on which is which, so I like the idea of showing a podcast like this to use as reinforcement.
Bookmarking:
The bookmarking sites I'm most familiar with are Delicious and LiveBinders. I've had a Delicious account for about a year. We created an account for a class taught by Dr. Wilson, and I've used it to bookmark different websites I've used for projects, planning, lessons, etc. I would like to see myself using it a lot more and getting familiar with some other bookmarking sites out there as well.
What a great thing to know that Texas Education podcasts exist on iTunes. I have never heard of them, and as an educator I can see how helpful it could be to have access to them. I watched a few on math, and one I liked was a Geometry video called "Using Properties of Transformations". The first math unit in the year that I teach is Geometry. One of the lessons is on transformations, translations, and reflections. Sometimes the students get mixed up on which is which, so I like the idea of showing a podcast like this to use as reinforcement.
Bookmarking:
The bookmarking sites I'm most familiar with are Delicious and LiveBinders. I've had a Delicious account for about a year. We created an account for a class taught by Dr. Wilson, and I've used it to bookmark different websites I've used for projects, planning, lessons, etc. I would like to see myself using it a lot more and getting familiar with some other bookmarking sites out there as well.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Thing 12 and 13: Discovering and Using YouTube
This is a really neat video! It was such a reminder to me that I have so much to be grateful for in my life. I lose sight of the really important things sometimes, because I allow the little things get me down or I start to focus on what I don't have or what I'm not, instead of focusing on the many things I do have and the many things I am. I watched this video at just the right time. Just when I spend too much time complaining and being a Negative Nancy, God pointed me in the direction of this video to snap myself back to reality and help me to realize all of the wonderful things I have in my life to be joyous and positive about!
Inspirational Video
This is a video I took of my dog, Cooper, at the beach. I thought he would be terrified of the water, but as it turns out, he LOVED it! I feel more comfortable embedding videos now, so I feel like I learned a lot doing this assignment! :)
Inspirational Video
This is a video I took of my dog, Cooper, at the beach. I thought he would be terrified of the water, but as it turns out, he LOVED it! I feel more comfortable embedding videos now, so I feel like I learned a lot doing this assignment! :)
Thing 11: Web 2.0 Tools
The tool I chose from the first list was Live Binders. I really enjoyed exploring this tool. I like how easy it is to create separate binders and then individual tabs within each one. I have a large binder in my classroom that I currently keep all of my hard copies of all of my material related to math units 1-12. This would be a great tool to use for something like that. It would allow me to have access to all of the papers, etc., but I could also insert helpful website links into the online binder that are useful to helping me teach a particular unit. The only downside that I noticed about this site was that it is very time intensive. It wouldn't be something that I could do in a short period of time. It would likely be something that I'd have to work on over the course of an entire school year and then plan to use it the following year possibly.
The next tool I chose was from the larger list, and it was called photovisi. I really enjoy taking pictures and doing fun and creative things with them, so I was looking for a tool that I could use my own pictures with. This site is a collage making photo site, so I was able to play with different templates, backgrounds, and colors. The only downside was that because there are so many advertisements on the site, it was a little confusing on what was part of the site or what would take me to a different site and had nothing to do with photovisi. I make a slideshow for my 4th graders at the end of the year using pictures from the whole school year. I could use this program to make photo collages to include in the slideshow. I think the kids would love that!
The next tool I chose was from the larger list, and it was called photovisi. I really enjoy taking pictures and doing fun and creative things with them, so I was looking for a tool that I could use my own pictures with. This site is a collage making photo site, so I was able to play with different templates, backgrounds, and colors. The only downside was that because there are so many advertisements on the site, it was a little confusing on what was part of the site or what would take me to a different site and had nothing to do with photovisi. I make a slideshow for my 4th graders at the end of the year using pictures from the whole school year. I could use this program to make photo collages to include in the slideshow. I think the kids would love that!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Thing 10: Online Productivity Tools
I really enjoyed exploring Zoho Docs. At first, my thought was how could anything be better than Google Docs. I've gotten so used to using Google Docs that I am a little biased. But, I was pleasantly surprised with Zoho Docs. It is user friendly, and while it's similar to Google Docs, I actually found it to have some perks that Google doesn't. I created a document and called it my to-do list. I tried figuring out how to post it to my blog but was having some problems doing so. I also explored creating a spreadsheet which I actually do a lot with Google, so I think I will try my next one that I make in Zoho.
Overall, it just seems like Zoho has more options than Google. I could be wrong, since I've only used Google Docs for word docs and spreadsheets, but the Zoho layout seemed to have a lot of tabs and options. I like that you can upload music, pictures, and videos as well. You can also use tags to help organize your documents and create your own groups. I think as I spend more time practicing and using Zoho, I'll feel even more comfortable and confident with using all it has to offer.
Overall, it just seems like Zoho has more options than Google. I could be wrong, since I've only used Google Docs for word docs and spreadsheets, but the Zoho layout seemed to have a lot of tabs and options. I like that you can upload music, pictures, and videos as well. You can also use tags to help organize your documents and create your own groups. I think as I spend more time practicing and using Zoho, I'll feel even more comfortable and confident with using all it has to offer.
Thing 9: Play with Wikis
I enjoyed reading the many posts that others have put on the Technology Poppers Wiki. I got a lot of great ideas from it and think it serves a great purpose of collaborating with other professionals in the teaching field. Posting my idea to it was easy to do, and I didn't have any problems with it.
I think having a school wide wiki at my school would be so beneficial to many of the teachers. Each of us could go in and post about technology tools we've used in our own classrooms that went over well and we feel others could benefit from trying too and possibly those that didn't go over well. It would be a time saver for many, and they could avoid trying ideas that may not have worked well within the classroom for someone else. It could be a sounding board for teachers; a way to collaborate and make teaching more effective for the students and teachers.
I think having a school wide wiki at my school would be so beneficial to many of the teachers. Each of us could go in and post about technology tools we've used in our own classrooms that went over well and we feel others could benefit from trying too and possibly those that didn't go over well. It would be a time saver for many, and they could avoid trying ideas that may not have worked well within the classroom for someone else. It could be a sounding board for teachers; a way to collaborate and make teaching more effective for the students and teachers.
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