This Chapter is Ending, But Another is Beginning

I really enjoyed learning about Flickr, Live Binders, and the different imagine generators. Each of these items that I learned about, will be used in the near future in many different ways: like in power points, in my future class room and even in my music fraternity. This program has opened my eyes up to new information that I had no clue some of it was even out there. It has changed some of my lifelong learning goals in so many ways. The biggest way it has changed them is that I am going to make sure to always stay on top of my game with technology and making sure I learn something new about technology I can use in my own classroom one day. There was nothing that was unexpected for outcomes to me. I wish there were more things to tell the truth. I really enjoyed learning about different things on line. I plan on using a lot of the tools I have learned about using from my 23 Things blog. I figured I will just keep searching for more information from blogs or websites with information on new developments in web 2.0.

Thing 23

Before I ever enter the Technology classroom I was always being informed about plagiarism. What I have always heard about plagiarism, a thousand times, is that it is against the law and how we should never sink down to the level of doing such a thing. I had no clue that some of the images that I had used for power points were not supposed to be used. I thought that if it was on Google then it had to be o.k. to use but during this class, I learned more about copyrighting and creative commons. I learned that there are some things that are o.k. for us to use because of creative commons but we have to do what the person that had created it ask for us to do to be able to use it. I will be able to use these resources in the classroom to teach my students about creative commons and how to go about finding pictures that they can use and tell which ones can and cannot be used.

Thing 22

LIVEBINDERS!  I am so excited to see that this is one of the blogs I get to write about because I have had an account for three or more years now and I love this site!  For those that have not been using this website for as long, it is a great tool to be able to bookmark websites in sets or "binders".  This website has kept up-to-date in the technology world by creating an app for the IPad.  I use the website and the app all the time.  I personal have so many different binders on LiveBinders.  I have six binders I have created (Food, Education, School, Shop Til You Drop, Fun, and TV Networks).  Each of my binders hold different things.  My Food binder has websites that I like to go to for recipes, School has all the websites I use every day for APSU, Education has websites that I have gotten from past teachers that are great resources, Shop Til You Drop has websites for shopping, Fun has the webpages I go to in my free time, and TV Networks has websites of some of the TV Networks that I visit the most.  I also have countless binders saved that other people have created!  This website would be a great use in the classroom.  One way to use it in a classroom is to make a binder with websites you want your class to use when researching information for a project.  Another way to use this website in the classroom is to make a binder of games so that the students can play safe educational games to practice what they are learning in class.  The binder I am going to share with everyone is my School binder.  

Thing 21

Animoto is a great website to make video clips of your personal pictures. I have used many different video makers, and this is one of the easiest ones to use. The only big thing I do not enjoy about it is that you have to pay to make longer videos. With this said, this does not mean it is all bad. It is really simple to use. You are able to make videos with pictures on your Facebook, Flickr, or from your computer, which is really neat! This website has it were you can either upload your own music for the slide show or you can use a song they have on the website. Then you have so many different video set-ups to choose from. The different set-ups already have the way the pictures will show on the video when it is played. Then you are able to also enter text where you feel needed. All in all, I really love this site.

Make your own slide show at Animoto.

Thing 20

Videos from websites like Youtube can be great resources to use for any subject in a classroom. As I have seen first hand, Youtube is a great way to find help on how to use a graphing calculator do certain things. I love using Youtube: you can find educational videos that can help you out in a class or videos that will make you have a brighter day because you needed a good laugh. I really liked that when you go to brows that there is a tab that is labeled Education and by clicking on this tab you can find everything that is related to from teachers uploading there class videos to help on different subjects. The video I really liked and decided to post to my blog is The Last Lecture: Achieving a Dream. As Randy Pausch said, "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, we just have to play the hand."

Thing 19

Visit TeacherPop The two social networks I chose to join was Flixster, Craftster, and BakeSpace. These three very different social networks represent some of the things I love {For example, I love to bake, do crafts and watch movies}. Each site is great for there own reasons. Flixster allows you to keep up with movies you want to see and what others want to see. Someone can also find the ratings other people have given a movie so that you know if the movie will be any good or not. Craftster is a really neat site showing different crafts for anyone and everyone. It allows everyone to be able to open up their creative juices and create different and neat things. Bake Space makes it easier to find good recipes that anyone can handle fixing! As you can see each of these websites are truly amazing!

Thing 18

Social networks have been around not for many years. They are slowly evolving every year and becoming more and more dominate in today's society. Here are a list of questions I will be answering in Thing 18: Why is it important that educators know how social networking works? What new insights did you gain about these popular sites? What did I like or dislike about each of the sites you explored? Which site had the most useful features? Can I see a classroom or school application for any of these sites? To answer these questions, I have had to do my own reach of mine own by joining at least one social network. I personally already am apart of two social networks that are popular and have been apart of others in the past. Now to the first question: Why is it important that educators know how social networking works? It is very important in many ways for educators know how social networking works. The first reason why it is so important that educators know how it works so that they maybe be able to help others or receive help from others on certain situations. The second reason it is important is if you understand social networks then you understand a little more about cyber bullying. The third I find it important is so that teachers can stay in the in. They know what is going on, what new break-through are occurring, and possibly what new trends are occurring for their students. To move on to the next question, what new insights did you gain about these popular sites? I have gained some new insights on social networking but not many. The reasoning behind why I have not gained many is because I have had a few different sites over the years and I already understand it well but this does not mean I did not learn anything new. I learned more about Twitter and how to use it to get information out there with in so many characters. I learned that a lot of people use twitter and it can be a great way to keep in the "know" with what is going on. Next, what did I like or dislike about each of the sites you explored? Which site had the most useful features? I enjoy being able to keep in touch with old friends and you can block people that you do not like. There is not much I do not like about social networking sites. Finally, Can I see a classroom or school application for any of these sites? I would personally rather have my own personal webpage or even a blog instead of have a class Facebook. I have multiple reasons for this. One reason is that there will be parents that do not allow their children to join these social networks. Speaking from experience, I had two friends that were not allowed to join Facebook until they were seniors in high school. Another reason is because most schools have most social networks blocked, well at least the popular social networks that is.

Thing 17

Delicious is a really neat tool that has the potential to use in the classroom. You could use this in the classroom to see what your students think about some of the information that has been applied. This is an easy way to create bookmarks and be able to access them from where ever you would like. Teachers can take advantage of this site by setting up a class group and having everyone join and then the class bookmarking websites they find neat/cool to use and you can also share information this way also.

Thing 16

Just like a few other students, I already had a Google home page set up. I like using the Google homepage because so much of what I use is somehow connected with Google. I use a online Google Calendar to keep me posted from where ever I am what I am supposed to do on a certain date, as long as I have internet that is. It is really simple to share calendars with other people and you can add people's calendars to your personal one. To-do list are very helpful but I rather just do my to-do list on my Ipad with the remember the milk app! It is supper easy to use and can transfer information fast to your website account so that you can get your to-do list whenever you want it! One tool I found was from College Ruled. It is where a student can create his/her class schedule and be able to discuss with other students about different things.

Thing 15

Wikipedia is known by most people but a good percentage of these people do not know that there are many of websites that individuals can use to gather ideas and information from other people. So, if you cannot tell, in thing 15 I will be talking about wikis. After trying to edit a page I quickly learned that it is a lot harder than what it looks but once you are in understanding of what, it becomes a much easier process. The way I could use wikis in the classroom is by using them in different group projects. I can use wikis personally by finding how someone taught a certain subject area so that I know how to better my lesson plans.

Thing 14

Mind mapping and making flow charts are great ways to get organized. I recently have been trying out new tools to be able to make these two things simpler to create and not so time consuming. I have tried different tools like ones you down load a program that you have to pay for, but receive a free trial for, like Smart Draw 2012; and I am been trying out websites that you do everything online. The two I have enjoyed the most is Gliffy and bubbl.us. They both have things I enjoy a lot on each of them. Gliffy is a great web-based creater in general. You are able to make a lot of different things from this tool. Not only can you make flow charts and a mind map but you can create things like a classroom layout and a lot of other neat things. Which SmartDraw is a program you can download for $200+ that does everything that this free website does. Bubbl.us makes making a flow chart/mind map supper simple. It does not have too many bells and whistles. I has the most important things without trying to confuse everyone that uses this programming.

Thing 12

In Thing 12, we are asked to check out some of the great tools that Google has to offer.  In the past, I have gotten some experience using some of the useful tools Google has to offer.   The two tools I have used in the past were the Picasa Web Albums and Google Alerts.  The web album is great for easy sharing with family and friends that might not live that close and to be able to give people a copy of pictures you have taken, instead of having to send them in an email or taking them to be printed off.  Google Alerts, when I first tried it out, I ended up not liking it one bit.  The reason for me not caring too much for it was because I had set it up horribly and was constantly getting emails about up-dates that were not relevant to what I had asked to be alerted on.  Since then, I have learned exactly how I am suppose to use it to were for know on I will not receive emails about things that are not relevant to what I had asked for it to.   With this all in mind, the two tools I decided I wanted to use was going to be Google Calendar and the Language Tools.  Google Calendar is truly a neat calendar.  You are able to put in everything you might want on your calendar and be able to share your calendar with friends.  You can link other calendars to your own, which allows you to add the information on to your calendar without having to re-add all the entrees was on the other calendar, which would take up too much time.  When people invite you to different events, you can set your calendar to automatically decline it if you already have plans during the time.  You are able to organize your events with icons.  This is a simple way to add a little fun element into your calendar.  If you are trying to set up an event with a group of friends, then Google Calendar can even help you with that.   Google calendar can be set up to be able to search your friends’ calendar to see when they are all open to be able to have a lunch.  If it gets late and you want to go out with your friends but you do not know who is free, well Google Calendar even has you covered there by allowing you to be able to easily see who is free or not.  If you are trying to plan out that big Easter egg hunt for next year, then Google Calendar has a great and simple way to be able to look at the whole year in a glance.  If you want to know when you next class or meeting is, then you can also set your calendar to tell you this.  As you can see, Google Calendar has a lot of great features and then some.  This is only a few that really popped out at me. Google's Language tools is one of my favorites that Google offers.  I find it most useful when I have come across a website that is not in English.  All you have to do to see it in English is to get the webpage's url and copy/past it on the section for translating webpage on the language Tools area for Google and it will translate the whole site for you so that you may view and read what is on the page.  You can also do smaller translations by just typing in the translate box and pick the language you want to translate from and to.  It is very simple to use and can be a very helpful tool for educators is they have a parent that cannot speak English, which would mean that you would never have to use the student to be the mediator for you which is best.   Finally, they have added a new part to the Language tools since the last time I used it, which is putting in a search term, and Google will look in different languages and give you a list of websites in different languages that have been translated for you to read.  I find that this is an amazing tool for the pure fact that some countries have more information of certain topics in the original language that has not always been translated into English.  This new part of the Google language area, allows you to be able to get German, French, or etc. information from websites written in the home language giving you more websites that you can use for a reference.  There are also a few other features that have been added since the last time I used this but I will leave them for you to check out!  {I did have some awesome screen shots to share with everyone, but blogger was having problems with me adding this post with any Pictures in it.}

Thing 13

Zoho and Google Docs are both great web-based tools that students and teachers can both easily use. Both of the on-line tools are similar in that someone can write a document that Microsoft never has to touch. So someone that is not able to purchase Microsoft Office, they can still have other choices out there for them to do the same work but on a product that is free. Zoho and Microsoft have many similarities but the one thing Zoho has that Microsoft is still working on is that Zoho makes it really simple to be able to share documents with others. Now Google Docs, people can create writing documents, spreadsheets, and a drawing. Like stated before, both are great sites and both of this sites are really user friendly.

Thing 11

For me in Thing 11, the easiest tools given to search on to use was definitely Google Blog Search and Technorati. They were both simply made. The Google Blog Search is pretty much like Google, which leads to having nothing too complex and everyone can just get on to this search and know how to use it without having to watch some kind of tutorial.  Technorati was also had a simple set up allowing people to be able to use the site with ease.  The two Search tools I did not really enjoy were Syndic8 and Topix.  There was multiple reasons that I did not like these two at all.  The biggest reason for not caring about Syndic8 was that once I got to the page, it had so much junk on it that it made it seem confusing.  I like for things to be simple and they went twenty-million miles passed a simple layout.  The reason I did not care too much for Topix is that it took me too long to get a hang of using it.  I like to be able to get on to a search of any type and know the best way to use it and I was not able to do that with the feed finder. I found a lot of neat feeds during my search on  the tool given.  I pretty much was looking for feeds on technology and education.  I did sneak a few blogs in about my favorite pro football team, The Denver Broncos.  These tools are such a great help when trying to find new feeds to add.

Thing 10

 Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and Newsreaders are here to save the day.  They are here to save everyone time from having to look all over the internet to see what is going on in every blog, newsweekly, or web page we like to follow.  This is a really simple concept that has made life easier when trying to keep up-to-date in everything that is needed in our lives today.  I love that you can just put the websites URL in and the newsreader/RSS will keep up with the changes that are being made.  I like that on most pages, you do not even have to copy the URL to start following the page.  They have created a little button that seems to becoming universal on websites that are commonly followed.  This button on the web page allows you to be able to just click on it and as long as you stay signed into your newsreader/RSS, then it will start to collect information from that site also.  I am able to use this technology within my schooling and personal life by being able to find blogs that fit to my needs, whether it is an education blog or a cooking web page, and being able to keep up with all of them by having to check one place for them all instead of in twenty thousand different places.  Teachers are able to take use of this also by creating a public with any reader of choice and putting blogs or websites that would help there students out within the class.  Teachers also can create a public reader for just them so that they can have Education blogs that are telling what is new in teaching and other things to this extent.  Finally teachers can use it for private use and keep blogs in there reader that can help them improve what kind of a teacher they are, help them teach a lesson in a new way, or even give her or him ideas on what they should be planning their lessons to be.

Thing 9

 Using a picture generator can be great way to use fun little comic like pictures to get your students to have fun and enjoy class.  Picture generator can be a great tool to use within a school and even your everyday life.  You can create the students' favorite character saying things that support what you are teaching the students that day or just to have something for the fun of having it.  This can be used in everyday life by creating the picture you want and what you want it to say, then making it into a poster to hang in your office, classroom, child's bedroom, etc.  You can come up with our own inspirational posters or one just for fun. 

Thing 8

Flickr and Flickr mashups can be used in millions of different ways.  In the classroom for me, it would be a little more difficult than with most other subject since I want to teach middle school math.  Even with that said, it is still very possible that I can use this in my own classroom.  I could do exactly what I had done with my own name above with all my students’ names.  I could print them out and have name tags made with them and have them ready to go on the first day of class so that they will just be able to find their seat right off without me having to waste class seating them.  I could also use Flickr to find pictures to correspond with a word problem to make it more visual for the students.  In everyday life, I could use any of the different apps that there were to choose from.  If I wanted to make a collage fast and easily then I could with one of the apps.  My feelings on sharing photos online are great.  With having a photo online, then you do not have to worry if the picture will rip or ruin in any other way.  I still have my concerns with putting pictures online.  You just have to know what you should put online and what should never see the day of light again.  You also need to make sure to make pictures you do not want everyone to see to have some kind of privacy setting on them.

Thing 7

After I had read thing seven, I thought I would just look around Flickr and find a picture I liked but once I had made my account, I could not resist to just go ahead and choose a few of my own pictures that I have uploaded.   Setting up my Flickr account was super easy and it was also just as easy to upload my photos to the website. I uploaded a handful all at once just so I could see how well it would work with up loading a bunch of pictures at once.  It held its grounds when I did this because it did not take long at all before they were all successfully added to Flickr.  After the pictures were added to my account, the page it sent me to next was to tag, title, and whatever else I wanted to do to the photo kind of a page.  It was supper easy to tag the photos and everything else. I then left this page and started just messing around with all the pictures I up loaded and made two different groups that the photos go in.  It was really easy to make the groups after I loaded the pictures.  I know in the past with other picture sharing web-pages, it was not as simple to just make a new group of photos up with not loading new pictures right into to the folder instead of transferring them from a different area.     Just to give a little insight on the pictures I have put in my Flickr and Blog.  I uploaded

Pawpaw A few years before he Passed.

pictures that showed the people that mean the world to me.  The top photo to the left is a picture of my grandparents, the top right picture is a picture of my family about to eat Christmas Eve dinner, the last top photo is my dad and I at one of our favorite football team's football game (GO BRONCOS!), the bottom two pictures are my nanny and my pawpaw.  My family means the world to me and I do not know what I would do without them!                                       

Thing 6

The Web 2.0 tool I been checking out is Remember the Milk .  This is a free website and is really simple to use!  Remember the Milk is a "to do" list creator.  When adding a new "to do" to your list, you are able to mark the importance of the item (rather it is in high demand to get done asap or it is not too big of a deal if you complete it before the date you have set), put what time and day the item is due, and put notes on each item in your list.  You are able to create different list and able to label if each item is personal, work, or other.  Once you have completed the item on your list, you are able to mark it completed and if later you decide you want to un-mark it, then you can.  This tool is truly amazing because you can also get the app for it and use it on you Iphone, Ipod, and Ipad.  I personally have the app on all of my apple devices and can see the same list on each one.  You can even use the app on the Iphone, Ipod, and Ipad off line, which is great for when you are not near WiFi. This is something I will be able to not only use in my career as a teacher but also in my day-to-day life.  I would be able to use this to make sure I went over everything that I had to in the class period or for about anything I may need to make a to do list for.  This is something I would recommend for everyone of all ages.

Thing 5

What is School 2.0? This is the question at hand. Not many people really know what School 2.0 is and at firt, I hate to admit, I was not fully sure if I even understood what it exactly was. Once looking more up and reading about School 2.0 I learned that I did have some understandings on what it was. For those who do not know what it exactly is here is my personal deffinition: School 2.0 is the new technology that is being incorporated into the school system everyday. Thinking back, what may seem not long to some, we did not even really know what a computer was. I was first introduced to a computer from my mom's work but the first time I got to get my hands on one was when I was in elementary school in second grade. My second grade experience was the beginning to my use of computers, which it is odd to think back to then because the only thing we were able to do on the computers were play the CD-Rom games that the school had purchased. Looking at today’s elementary students though, they are able to do so much more!  They are able to create blogs, web-pages, podcast, and a bunch of other things easily.  These three tools can enhance a teacher’s lesson by a thousand times!  The child is more likely to retain the information after they had applied it with using one of these three things alone.  All educators are met with the challenge of having to learn new technology yearly!  Some of the changes are simple ones and others are far out there to some educators.  As an educator, we have to be willing to never stop learning because once an educator has stopped learning a new trick every year, he or she is just failing their students by not giving them the full education that they deserve!

Thing 4

Sharing your thoughts and ideas are a major part of our community. If people did not share their feelings, thoughts, and ideas, then we would not be as far advance as we are comparing 2012 to 2000 alone. Without someone giving their inputs on other people’s ideas, some of the cool gadgets we have today would not be found in today’s world. With this said, sharing our comments on other people’s blogs is very important in so many different ways. By commenting on someone else's ideas, you are being able to influence the writer and other people whom read the post. Commenting on other’s post can extend a theory, give the writer of the blog more information on the subject at hand, give them information on related subjects, or give another reader a better understanding of what they have just read. Commenting on other peoples’ blogs/post also can provide support. Commenting can show that you care about what the writer is saying and show that someone does read their blogs and care about what they say.

I enjoyed reading Your Comments? & 10 techniques to get more comments on your blog. Both of these were great resource to have looked at. Your Comments? gives a few good resources to further your knowledge on how to comment and etiquette of commenting. With me talking about commenting on others blogs, here are seven different blogs I have decided to comment on.  Each blog name is hyper linked to go to the blog I commented on and below the hyper link is a screen shot of my comment I left on the blog.

Krissy's 23 Things:

Blankenship's Blog:

Mixon's Magical 23 Things:

Jessica Stewart's Educational Technology Blog:

Cleanup's Thoughts:

The Brennan Breeze:

Rittenberry's 23 Things:

Thing 3

There are so many different ways that I will be able to use blooging when I become a teacher.  My three top ideas that come to mind are as follow: Creating a blog to help other teachers that may come to the same cross roads in their teaching career; having my students keep a blog either of their daily work so that oth'er students that did not understand can see what everyone else did or just to be their personal journals; and creating a blog so that the students and their parents can keep up to date in what is going on in class.  I feel that these three ideas would be some of the best ways to use blogging when I become a teacher. Creating a blog of personal experiences, with keeping from using students/parents or co-workers names unrevealed, so that other teachers that may run into the same situation can see that they are not the only one’s out their dealing with the same things.  It could also help other teachers decided how to handle their own situation or see how another teacher dealt with the same problem they are having.   Even though this is a great idea to do, you  have to make sure to not use names.  Once you use names of the people you are talking about, you can start getting into so major trouble.  If the parent of a student you mention in one of your post sees the post and sees you were talking horrible about the child, then they can raise cane and cause you to lose your job, depending on the situation.  Then you could also have the problem of talking about something that happened between yourself and a co-worker.  If they see it then it can cause matters to become worse than before.  If the blog is going to be used for this reason, then make sure you do not use the real names of people within your post. Having your students create their own blog is also a great idea.  If a teacher does this, then they could have their class keep a personal journal or for something like math, the students could put certain problems in the journals so that if a classmate is having problems solving the equation, they can figure out what they might be doing wrong.  The last thing you could do with a blog that popped in my head was a blog for the classroom in general.   You as a teacher can keep calendars, parent letters, and different reminders for both the students and their parents.  Once again, you, if you are a math teacher, could put problems like the ones on the homework on the blog and show how you solved the equations so that the students at home can see what they are doing wrong when they are working their equations. 

Thing 2

Creating my blog and avatar was a very painless experience. I easily decided on my name for my blog, Brooks's 23 Things, by the title of the project's name with my last name. I wanted to keep the name of the blog simple and easy to remember. The avatar was the best part of thing 2. I had fun making the avatar mirror me in some ways. I decided to have my avatar look like she was ready to teach with a causal dressy outfit on.

Thing 1

Even though there are 7 ½ habits to choose from, it is hard to figure out which one I really have problems with until I really started to sit and think about which one truly gives me a run for my money. The only habit I have a problem with is habit 1. When I am starting a project or a paper, I react in two different ways towards them. When it comes to projects, I usually am ready to go with a goal in mind but when it comes to other things like writing papers, this is a totally different story. It is almost impossible for me to set out goals for when I have a paper to write, since I am not a big fan of writing in the first place. In the past I have waited until the last second to even think about writing papers instead of setting goals and sticking to them. I have gotten better over the years about setting goals and I plan to still keep working on setting my goals and keeping to them.

The rest of the habits, I feel like I have them under control. With habit 2, I understand that if I put “trash” in, then I will get “trash” out. I have learned to limit my own television time over the years so that I could have that time for better things like reading or spending time outside. Habit 3, has always felt more natural for me to do because I never see anything as a problem. Seeing things as problems can not only make you worry because you have a problem but it can also make you stress yourself out. There is never any good reason to add stress when there is truly nothing to stress about. The next habit, habit 4, at one point was a challenge for me but over time I have grown into a young and very confidant person. I truly do believe what they were saying on this slide about “you are what you say and think.” Habits 5 through 7, I know have always seem easy for me to do. Finally 7 ½ is my favorite one! I feel that if you do not give yourself enough you time or “play time”, then you will end up stressing or over working yourself, which can end up causing yourself to shut down or become sick. The things I would like to learn is like π, it is a never ending rational number. I will never be able to learn all I want to learn from using web 2.0 tools but I know I will keep learning. On that note, I really do not have anything specific I want to learn, I just want to learn something new everyday. Also, this blog was very simple to set up!