Thing #7a and 7b

I follow several blogs but one in particular that always interests me is Ewan McIntosh's Digital Media and Education.  He posted one blog, Using Facebook In the Classroom that gives information about how educators can allow students to utilize this application safely.   


I also follow the blog of an Associate Professor in the Educational Administration program at Iowa State University.  Scott McLeod's blog, Dangerously Irrelevant always challenges my thinking.  In his latest post, Caring, Engaging, Leading and Learning he makes a statement that hits the nail on the head.  He says, "The teacher, and his/her ability to promote student learning and achievement, is the single most important factor that will influence a child’s success in the classroom and beyond."  I could not have said this better if I tried.  It is our duty as instructional leaders to hire professionals who are enthusiastic about teaching and provide opportunities that will empower our teachers to ignite fires in the classroom.  


I follow the Texas Association of School Administrators job blog site.  I find it interesting to see what is out there in our state and how they pay if they have pay scales.  The job descriptions are interesting to read.  Not all districts have the same expectations of their particular types of positions.  I was hoping this might help me find an Assistant Principal position but I found the listings to be all over the board.  Perhaps in the spring more postings will be closer to the jobs I want to pursue.  In the meantime reading them is educational and informative.  


I am anxious to have the time to look for and find more blogs, as well as, expand on mine outside the education world.  I want to find some that are just fun and funny to read.

Thing #14 More Web 2.0 Tools

After looking at most of the cool websites my favorites were 30 boxes, blabberize yourself, mixbook, and letterpop.

I did begin a calendar for myself in 30 boxes.  I found it very easy to use and share.  I don't think anyone besides me can edit my calendar but whoever I share it with can view it.  Blabberize yourself was fun.  I created a couple of photos with the audio and had a blast.  I think our kids could use this to teach one another concepts from class.  I'm going to suggest a few of my teachers allow students to play with this and experiment as they review concepts before a test.  These are easy to download to social networks and share as well.  

Mixbook is awesome.  I intend to create some Christmas gifts at this site.  Teachers could use this to have students create books as projects after reading novels.  They would be able to illustrate what they learned about the novel by creating their own depiction of an aspect of the book.

Letterpop will make it simple to create our annual Christmas/New Year's letter to family and friends.  Since it allows the upload and posting of photos there's no need to use anything else.

All of these sites eliminate the need to visit a photo shop or drug store for printing photos, newsletters, business cards, and anything else we can think of.  Visiting these sites makes me want to search for other similar sites to see what is out there for use in creating all kinds of things.

Thing #13 Online Image Generator

I created this collage using Big Huge Labs' mosiac maker.  I used Flickr to download some photos from our Rose Bowl trip this past January.  Flickr made it easy to upload with specific instructions.  I'm going to use the Big Huge Lab's site to create collages for my family for Christmas.  My son worked for UT Longhorn football for four years and we have lots of photos.  This is one way I can create a lifelong memory album for him.  I'm planning on making this collage into a poster he can frame too.  I'm learning so much fun stuff I can hardly stand it.  I also posted this collage to my facebook page.  There was an application in Flickr that allowed me to post at the click of a button.

I also went to Comic Strip Generator and made this little cartoon. There were easy directions listed and it only took a couple of steps.  I sent this to my hubby in email.  He got a laugh out of it!!!!!  

At Happy Face Generator I was able to create the following happy face sign.

All of these images and creations can be used by teachers and students in various presentations or projects.  The toughest part is knowing where to go to get them and teaching them how to use them.  I can see the happy face used to gain student's attention in Promethean flipcharts or with Prezi's.  THe collages can be used in English/Reading/History classes to have them create collections that represent a story they have read.  The possibilities are endless.

Thing #12 Creating Slideshows using Creative Commons photos

Photo credits:

1) Embryo; dyed skeletal system by domo_arigato

2) Insula; human nervous system by Gjertrud Hals

3) Muscular system by Mohamad Itan

4) Integumentary System by By whitney.tanner16

I chose to create a slideshow to illustrate the Human Body Systems for use by my 7th grade Science teachers.  They can use the short clip to introduce this unit to the students.  I'm so excited to learn how to do this.  I'm going to try a vacation slideshow to send to family next.  This could be a great Christmas gift!!!

Creating this was so quick and easy.  It's nice to know you can use different slide show creation sites with Flikr photos or your own personal pics.   This is a great way to introduce lessons or have students create their own slideshows to show what they learned at the end of a theme or lesson.  Since the sites to create are free teachers can allow students to try out their talents creating learning portfolios.   We can also use this on our announcements as we show students all over campus and at school events.

Thing #11 Photosharing and Tagging with Flikr

As I was browsing in Flikr I enjoyed all of the images and searching on various topics.  The photos are beautiful, different, unique, vivid, and creative.  Since I am in Instructional Specialist for Math and Science I began to discover images I could use to teach Science concepts.  I found several interesting photos to teach the body systems in 7th grade Science.  The most unique one was the image of the skeletal system.
This photo is of dye in a embryo to illustrate its skeleton.  Photo was taken by Mike Jagendorf.

As I read through the assignment and looked at Flikr I realized that some of the photos I chose were not coded with the Creative Commons logo.  I had to go back and find selections that allowed me to use them.  I'm more aware of what I use now due to the cc education.  Flikr is a much better site for photos than Google Images.  I was surprised at the creativity and the millions of categories.

I can work with the teachers on my campus to use Flikr to illustrate vocabulary, allow the students to get creative in their assignments using Flikr properly by creating Wiki's   so that everyone can share ideas and learn from one another.  The use of this technology will motivate the kids to do more with the content areas.  

As I looked at David Jakes, Classroom Uses of Flikr I went crazy.  This site is full of ways teachers can use the Flikr site to teach content concepts.  Check it out.  His blog has links within it that are very interesting.  I am going back to search more after I finish this post.  Check out Flikr Lesson Plans.  I sent this link to my History and English teachers.  There were a couple of links on Storyboarding.   

My mind is racing and I can't wait to take this back to my teachers and see what they create for our students to learn from.  WOW!!

Thing #10 Creative Commons

As I go in search of things on the web now I am more aware of copyright. Although I do understand it (somewhat) and try to respect the law, I do get confused on what I can and cannot use. Now I realize this may be due to neglecting to seek out the copyright on a webpage or site. I returned to Google Images and looked at a few. There in print were the words "This image may be subject to copyright." But how do I know for sure? I didn't see a CC anywhere on the webpage? Does this mean I can't use it?

I visited TeacherPlanet to look for the copyright statement and did find one at the bottom of the website. I didn't see a CC anywhere. I'd never heard of CreativeCommons until I worked here on this Thing #10. To be honest, I never really worried about copyright infringement either. I just thought if it was out on the web it was for public use. I will definitely pay attention to the sites I visit and what I use from now on. I'll be more responsible and teach students about the responsibility of copyright issues. This was eye-opening. I taught Math for 17 years and haven't had a need since college to apply the copyright rules. I know that is no excuse and I'm determined to set a good example when I have opportunities to explain this to anyone. CreativeCommons makes it easy to allow my own creations to be shared with everyone. I like that and I like knowing I can go back and look at how they made my creation different, even better.

Thing #9 Setting Up My Wiki and Playing in the Sandbox

Playing in the wiki sandbox was a bit frustrating but once I got going things just flowed.  At first I couldn't figure out how to join the wiki.  I later found out it was because I wasn't logged in.  As I went to the sandbox site, I realized I had to join and be accepted.  I did join and didn't have to wait long until I noticed I was accepted but I realized it by accident.  I never did see a Fall 2010 link that listed my fellow participants.

As I began to edit my wiki page (Toes in the Sand) in the sandbox I realized how easy it was.  I was surprised at how easy it was to add photos.  Now I want to learn to upload video but I have to take video first.  I'm grabbing my camera tomorrow at school to click away and post a few seconds of video.  I played around with the fonts and colors of the text.  I want to go back and look at the educational wiki's now that I know how they created them.  I am also curious about what other formatting options are available, such as the brackets around toc for the table of contents.  The photos I uploaded were placed at the top to the left.  I want to find out how to move these about and place them where I want them instead.

I can't wait to show my site to some of my teachers and find out how they could use this in their classrooms or on class projects.  I feel that I know enough now to teach them to use the basics and maybe they can assign something like this to their students and the kiddos can teach us a thing or two.

I also added a couple of websites to the 2.0 Web Sites.  I also placed my blog site, TLACBookStudy  in the 2.0 Tool Integration Ideas so that others can see how I am applying what I am learning.

I'll be going back to the other wiki's my fellow classmates created to get some ideas.

Thing #8 What is a Wiki

To wiki or not to wiki, that is the question.  At this point, although I have read each and every link on the "23 Things" assignment sheet I am still a bit puzzled as to how to utilize this technology.  I was wowed when I read The Flat Classroom Projects wiki based on Friedman's book, The World Is Flat.  I have more research to do in this area though.  I can envision some ways of using this in our classrooms to reach out and communicate with students in other countries but I may have to depend on my teachers and students to figure out how to make that come together.  As I go through this class though, I have found that if I take this technology I am learning about to my teachers, they get excited and find unique ways to present and use it with each other and many times with our students.   I am modeling the use of wiki's with my science teachers by creating a supply list for their 3rd six weeks.  We will see how that goes.

I also read the CodeBlue wiki which has links on its wiki leading to information about body systems.  I shared this wiki with  my 7th grade Science teachers and they are using it as a teaching tool in classrooms.  I am encouraging them to allow the students to create a wiki about a research topic and play around with it.  We can begin this year and build on it from year to year.  I am finding that the teachers feel as though there is no time to incorporate this.  I'm struggling with how to assist them in incorporating this type of activity into their day instructionally.  I've contact Kelly Soliz, our Technology Resource person,  to see how we can get started and stay on target in the scope and sequence of our curriculum.

If you get a chance, take a look at the Discovery Utopia Project.  It is quite intriguing.  The site has students creating a utopian society with all of the bells and whistles.  This site allows students to do some in-depth thinking and research, yet fosters their individual attitudes about what they learn.  As they learn more about what societies and governments are they can tweak their own virtual society.

Most all of the wiki's were organized in the same manner.  They had a menu on the left and their content on the right.  They shared links, had collaborative ideas, and were easy to navigate through.  Most had helpful links in case you had questions about the wiki.

I'm still wrapping my brain around the application piece of a wiki other than creating a supply list as I mentioned earlier.  I will continue to look over more wiki's and explore how to implement them into our classrooms.  I need more wiki walking!!!

Thing #7 Creating Community through Commenting on Blogs

I found it difficult to leave comments on the blogs I read.  I enjoy reading them but feel I don't have anything of value to contribute.  Since I knew I had to post a comment, I dug deep and tried to be as reflective as I could.  Reading the posts makes me more conscious of what I write in my own blog.  When I read The Somewhat Daily News by miltonsmommy I was intrigued about her perspective on phones as recording devices in the classroom.   Teachtech-23 Things said she was a lurker and didn't like to comment.  I agree and I guess I'm more of a lurker as well.  My husband is a lurker too.  He subscribes to and reads his Orangebloods daily but never comments.  In fact, his computer logged him out of the site the other day and he rarely logs in so he couldn't remember his username and password.  He had never recorded it anywhere. It took him about 30 minutes to figure out what it was and get a new password sent to him.  GOOF! He comments out loud to the posts but never, ever actually types in anything.

I also don't feel that I have enough interesting blogs to post that anyone would want to read them.  I feel they should be entertaining or impart knowledge.  Who knows.  We will see what tomorrow brings when it comes to comments.

Thing #6 Feeding my Reader/Subscribing to Feeds

(I've been using my Google Reader for a few days now and each day I log on and skim my subscriptions I find it easier to go through them and choose what I want to read more thoroughally.  I enjoy doing the searches for various bloggers and news so I can hone in on what I really want to read and see.  I added a couple of feeds that I deleted two days after I added them.  I found they were of no interest to me after doing a quick skim and it wasted my time.

The educational blogs are the most interesting.  I subscribed to the Texas Association of Middle School Administrators job section since I am seeking an Assistant Principal position. This has allowed me to apply for a couple of positions and its very useful to me.  I'm going to take a look at Region 10 and see if they have a feed as well.

Another feed I look through each day is What's Hot In Google Reader.  While I was reading through the feeds today I found this link about McDonalds chicken nuggets.  You have got to read this, its GROSS!!!!!  I'll never eat another chicken nugget from McDonald's after seeing the photo and reading this article.  I warn you, it will make you sick, especially if you just ate one of those nuggets.

While scrolling through TeacherJays Edublog I found the following link teachers can use.  I am quite impressed with the site. http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/  This site is full of useful ideas and lessons for teachers. Check it out.

I've also subscribed to Flikrs Most Interesting Photos because I love photography and I am hoping this may give me the boost and some insight into taking better photos.  I've had a 35 mm digital camera for over a year now but haven't taken time to practice with it.  We shall see if I can take good pics like I am seeing on Flikr.

This google reader was a headache when I first discovered it because I was overwhelmed  Now I'm discovering how to make it work for me, not against me.  Toodles, time to read more feeds.  ENJOY!!