Thing #23

I did it!!! I completed 23 Things!!
1. My favorite discoveries – I really like bighugelabs.com. Also just learning about blogs was fun and educational.
2. This program made me realize how little I knew about web 2.0 and all the opportunities that exist for myself and my students. I realize that I still have a lot of exploring and learning to do.
3. Unexpected outcomes – well, it was hard but rewarding! Along the journey I ran into some personal road bumps. The Monday after Spring Break my mom went in for gall bladder surgery and they found cancer. She has been in the hospital ever since and I have used Facebook as a way to stay in touch with many people. I was telling a friend how exhausting it is to have to retell the story over and over for all the people who care about my mom. My friend said you should start a blog. I was blown away! This friend is not in education and not really a computer geek so I was shocked that her comment should have been something I should have thought of. So my plan is to start a blog where I can keep everyone up to date on my mom’s condition. A few months ago I wasn’t even sure what I blog was and I would have never seen myself as a blogger.
4. I’m not sure if there is anything that could be done to improve the program.
5. Yes, I would participate in another program like this. I know that I still have lots to learn and I like things to be laid out so that I have a plan of action to complete.
6. My experience was sometimes very frustrating but always rewarding and worth it!

Thing #22

I had heard the word Ning but I wasn't quite sure what it was. I use Facebook a lot but now after checking out a couple of Nings I can see how valuable that can be because you are networking with people with similar professional interests.



I searched on Educator Ning and found an interesting post on using Nings with Middle School Students. I found this interesting because I teach 8th grade and was curious about using nings with my students.



I also checked out Teacher Librarian Ning and found out that I could spend a lot of time on this site. I found a book trailer that caught my eye. It is for one of my all time favorite books: The Best Christmans Pageant Ever. I had just recommended this book to one of my students so I would love to go back to class and share the video with him.

Thing #21

I love Photostory! I have used Movie Maker a few years ago and I thought that was great but this is even better. It was super easy to import pictures and I had a blast creating music. I am happy to say that this is one thing I can actually do at school, wow!! I'm having my yearbook kids create videos to show during lunch on the scrolling announcements. They each are creating a video for something from the yearbook. I figured that this would pump up the excitement of the yearbooks which will be delivered soon and will hopefully help to sell the extras that are coming.

My English students are actually using this at the end of the six weeks to create movie trailers. I can't wait to see how those turn out.

I created a video which celebrates my daughter's 15th birthday. My daughter, my sister-in-law and I all went to Disney World to celebrate. It was the first time for both of them to visit and we all had so much fun.

Thing #20

You Tube and Teacher Tube are both wonderful resources. I am sad that they are blocked in my school district but who knows maybe one day they won't be. It is also good that there are ways around the blocking. I had actually heard of Zamar before and how it can be used to convert files so you can watch the videos when the site is blocked.


I know that my daughter lives by You Tube. She uses it for everything from checking out cheer moves to how to apply eyeshadow. I can spend hours on both sites! My students will be reading short stories by Edgar Allen Poe this last six weeks so it was only natural that I looked for videos that could help with this. We also read Poe's poem "Annabell Lee" and I was excited to find many videos of the poem. I know the kids will enjoy watching the video instead of just reading the poem. I embedded the clip that I plan to show my students.

Thing #19

I enjoyed playing around on the Web 2.0 awards list. I was drawn to lulu.com. This is an interesting site which allows you to publish, buy and sell books, music and calendars. You can also use the site for creating and publishing your art work and music. I was drawn to this on a personal note because I have a secret desire to write a novel. I also enjoy scrapbooking and I like the fact that I could publish a calendar or photo book. I have a tradition of creating a homemade calendar for my mom every year for Christmas. This year I will be very busy and I could see using this site to create my calendar. On a professional basis I could see sharing this site with my students. I have several students who are currently working on writing a novel. This site allows you to actually them to write a book and then publish it. I know some kids are creative enough that they would try to sell their books. As a librarian I could share this site with all students especially those who I know are into writing and creating. I also know that there are very creative students who could use this site for their art and music.

Thing #18

Well, I started by exploring Open Office which honestly confused me at first. I didn't really see the value in it but then I went to Google Docs and saw the light. I found this site a lot more user friendly. I particularly found the testimonials from students and teachers very helpful. I like the fact that people can work and collaborate together in real time. I could see students completing group PowerPoint's together without actually being together. I would need to play around more to find some disadvantages but right off the top of my head I'm wondering if I can get to these sites in KatyISD. Once again I learned something new.

Thing #17

I have to be honest...at first I was a little lost with Rollyo but after watching the video it all made sense. I really connected with the video because I teach 8th grade English and every year my students research the Holocaust. I can see how helpful Rollyo will be next year but I couldn't wait that long. I know that we will be reading some of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories and poems before the end of the year. I usually ask the kids to do a little research about Poe so I created a Rollyo search for sites that the students can use. I like the idea of Rollyo so much better than just setting the kids loose on Google.