Is It the End or Only the Beginning?

I really liked the opportunity of doing this project and learning all the materials that were consisted in this blog. Before this I never knew how blogs were set up, or how easy they were to do. My favorite activity was the Animoto blog post. I enjoyed this a lot and I'm actually going to use this website very soon to make something for a friend of mine. I learned so many websites these past couple of months that are all about teachers and what they are doing in their classrooms, and what future teachers are going through as well. 

My classroom will most definitely be having a blog for all of my parents or fellow teachers to look at. I hope to be one of those people on Pinterest being repinned for her blog, classroom ideas, and worksheets.

Thing #23

The "23 Things" is based off of this other idea from Stephen Abram's "43 Things I (or You) Might Want To Do This Year". "23 Things" is different from "43 Things" due to "23 Things" is all about helping future teachers learn about what is out there for them to use in their classroom when time comes. Abram started 43 Things because he wanted to show people that the internet is actually a good resource and they could use it for all different kinds of reasons, not just to search for information or get on Facebook. I will incorporate using Creative Commons to teach my students about plagiarizing and to collect their materials the correct way. By giving my students the examples of what to do and what not to do will hopefully help them understand what is okay for them to do.

Thing #22

Kindergarten LiveBinder 

The titles of my binders on LiveBinders are Kindergarten, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade. I chose these names due to I am a Pre-K-3rd grade Education major, and that it would be easier to find items for these children to do on the internet. When I start using this in my class in the future each binder will be a certain grade and inside the tabs will be the different subjects, and the sub-tabs will be the activities. This will make it easier for the students to find stuff for them to do on the different subjects they are learning through-out the year. At the beginning of the year the binder will be empty, but throughout the year it will get bigger and bigger.

Thing #21

Twins

So I made this video of these two boys that I have been watching since they were 6 weeks old. I have watched these two boys grow up, and I decided to make a video of the pictures that I have taken of them recently. This website is super easy to work as long you already know what pictures you want to put in there, and where they are located on your computer. I really liked using this, and it can be used for many different things. I could use this for weddings, baby showers, reunions, birthdays, and so much more. I might actually be upgrading my account later on to use for future events. 

Thing #19

I am a member of so many online communities that I just lost count. Yet one of the ones that was mentioned was Flixster, I actually have an account to that one before I even started this blog post. I love Flixster due to it is a website where all my movies that I have gotten UltraViolet downloads for. I can either watch the movies on my laptop, desktop computer, or on my iPad. I have a whole variety of movies on there, ranging from Harry Potter to Hotel Transylvania. 

TeacherPop was very appealing to me, and I will definitely be using it in the future when I become a teacher to be able to communicate with other teachers like me. I honestly believe that TeacherPop is similar to Facebook in many ways, but it is only for teachers. I left post on TeacherPop, and I also commented on someone's post about what I like and think about TeacherPop.  

Thing #20

YouTube is very easy for anybody to figure out, and you can save videos you watched, see your history, and follow people. I follow many different people on YouTube so I can see what they are up to, and a lot of TV shows have pages as well so if you want to see previews on them you can look there. You can find almost anything on YouTube from music, books, shows, movies, and other things. I chose this video due to I like how the teacher had the students reenacting the Battle of Bunker Hill. The children did a good job reenacting this battle, if they were "shot" they fell to the ground and the others stayed standing.

Thing #18

Mary Ann Swaney is my name on my Twitter and Facebook, but I have only set up a link to my Facebook. I have had both of these social media's for awhile now. You can find out so much stuff on these sites, and also follow, like, or be friends so many different things. Almost everyone and everything has a Twitter or a Facebook, you will be surprise what you find on there. 

I really think that it is important for teachers to use these social media websites due to that you can read things from people all of the place, and not really know them. Also another thing is keeping in touch with parents on Facebook and Twitter, you also can post almost anything on Facebook. Twitter is a different thing, you can only type so much into one message before they tell you to delete or you have to write to statuses. 

I could see Facebook being the one more people use. I could make a group for my classroom and make it private and invite the parents of my children to it. On there I could post news, whats going on in class, and also post photos from projects we do in class. Many schools actually have groups to keep parents up to date on dates and activities that are happening in the community.

Thing #17

I could see using this in my classroom due that I am not going to have enough computers for each of my students to be on at the same time in my class. So with this website my students would be able to see the bookmarks that they have saved on any device that allows them to get on the internet. They even have an iPhone app for Delicious. Teachers can take a huge advantage of this being a social website due to that they can look at others for some ideas and websites that they have used. You aren't by yourself looking for websites, but you have thousands of other teachers who use this website to help them.

Thing #16

The start page that I chose was iGoogle, I use Google a lot so I thought why not just create a start page for Google. It has everything I like on it such as my Twitter and Facebook are linked up to it, then I have a weather app on it as well. I actually might use this as my permanent homepage instead of Facebook, due to when I ever I click on the internet I go straight to Facebook and I get distracted. I always to scroll down and see what is happening or play game on there. By using iGoogle I wouldn't have to worry about that anymore, and I could probably get more work done. I'm not going to promise anything. 

Online calendars can be very helpful due to you can get on the internet basically anywhere now if you have a smart phone. I have iPhone, so I always doing something dealing with internet. With these online calendars people don't have to carry around book calendars and worry about leaving them at home. I honestly use the calendar on my phone, and also I have a calendar that I write in. I don't know what it is but if I don't write something down I will forget it. 

The to-do lists are a little much. If I have a to-do list on my computer I am more likely to stay on the computer and do something instead of working on my to-do list. Yet if everything on my to-do list deals with a computer it isn't too bad. It all just depends on the person and what they more comfortable doing. 

I would recommend all of these things to my friends and my students. Like I said it all depends on the person and what the feel most comfortable with, and want to deal with.

Thing #15

I'm not quite sure if I would use Wiki in my classroom due to the children having free range and changing things to what the want to it to say. To me this part of the blog was kind of confusing, it took me awhile to figure out what to do. As a 19 year old college student being confused, I'm pretty sure a elementary student would be confused. The concept of Wiki is interesting, I don't think it could be use for lower grades but I believe that high school students could use them.

Thing #14

I really liked Bubbl.us it was simply for me to use and I didn't have to choose the shapes of the bubbles for my ideas were going to be. This way it is easier for children and they wouldn't be spending all of their time deciding which bubble to use, and just focus on their mind map. Which then brings me to Gliffy, this one would be better for me to use and not the students to use. I can use it as the teacher to make flowcharts that are creative and catch the children's attention. Even though I said I would use it, I had a hard time understanding what all of the buttons do. I feel like so much was going on at one time on that website. If I really had something that I wanted to use that website for I would diffidently find out what all of those buttons mean.

Thing #13

Zoho Writer reminds me of Microsoft Word, but yet it is online and you don't need to buy the program. Zoho makes it cheaper for the people who don't have the money to buy the Microsoft programs to still get the same tools by using their website. Google Doc is very similar to Zoho in which they can both due powerpoints, word, spreadsheets, and other programs as well. I am more familiar with Google Doc than I am Zoho due to previous classes. What I like about Google Doc is that once I share with people I choose they are able to comment and make changes to the document. I really liked that due to not everyone has the same schedule, and we were all able to collaborate our ideas at the same time from multiple places. I could use Google Docs in my classroom for many things. Such as instead of getting multiple papers from a group assignment that I want them to email to me or share with me, they could just put all of their ideas on one document and give it to me that a way. There is just so many ways I can use these programs, but personally I would stick with Google Docs because I just feel more comfortable with it.

Thing #12

So I decided to actually explore all of them instead of just two.  I have heard of all of them and also used all of them, except for Picassa Web Albums. I use Google Calendar to keep all of my events organized, but I don't think it would be a good idea for me to post that on here for everybody to see. I might get some stalkers, and nobody got time for that. I used Google Translate to help me back when I was taking Spanish in high school. You didn't hear that from me though, it was a life saver. I haven't personally used Google Alert, but I have heard of what it is and how it works. I would be getting so many emails if I were to set up Google alerts. So I started playing around with Picassa Web Albums, and it was really interesting. I had never dealt with it before and I already had 4 pictures on there. Right now I might now use it since I am comfortable just using my computer for the place for me to save my pictures to. But I think when I start teaching, and I want to share my pictures with my students or parents then I might use Picassa. 

Thing #11

So I decided that I would give each of those search tools a chance to see which ones I liked, and the ones that I didn't. I liked that when I used Google Blog Search and typed in "school library learning 2.0" that it sent me to "The 23 things". Even though it was a different one that we are used essentially it is the same thing. Topix.net is a different story though. I liked that it gave me a bunch of news feed about Clarksville, but it was so confusing trying to figure out what everything was. It looked like somebody just threw it together, and did not like about organizing it. Technorati was actually really easy to use and find blogs are things. I am always looking for blogs about classroom organization and ideas for the classroom. I found a really good one and it is now connected to my Google Reader. The one that was easiest for me to use was Google Blog Search, but it is always different for each person on how easy they think something is.  

Thing #10

I have heard of RSS(Really Simple Syndication) before this entry, but I never knew what it really meant. Now I have an understanding of what it stands for, and the means to use it. What I like about the RSS is that instead of going to different webpages to look at everything, I can just go to one website and see all of my favorite websites up on one. It makes things so much simpler, and it also has it where I can have some of the things as read or unread. That means I could come back to something later when I have more time to completely read it and I know I won't be hunting everywhere for it either. I could create a bundle for each subject that I am teaching, and in each bundle I would have different websites for the students/parents to go to if they need help with anything. This could really be beneficial for me and also for my students. 

Thing #9

http://www.imagechef.com/ 

http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/

These generators can be used for many different things around the  classroom or for personal things. As you can see the two that I have posted here deal with fame and awards. The star with my name on it could be used for students who have been good for a certain amount of time, and they be put on the wall of fame. The other picture that I have up with the smiley who is holding an award could be used for students who have won an award. I found a lot of different things on the websites that I used that I can use for something else in the classroom. These generators can be used to make things more creative and less dull. The students could also use these generators themselves to make cards to give to their family or for other things. 

Thing #8

I used the Spell with Flickr app to spell out Alpha Gam. These mashups could be a good way to decorate your classroom, and to help children make words. It shows them that they can make words from multiple sources of letters. By doing this you can have some fun with your students when they are learning how to spell.  You could make name signs for your students for their desk, instead of just giving them boring name tags. I have a hard time myself writing bubble letters, and making my letters huge and pretty at the same time.  I personally don't mind sharing photos online, but not all photos need to be uploaded onto the internet. Very personal photos that show off inappropriate areas of your body need to stay personal and not public.

Thing #7

Technology class, a photo by maryannswaney93 on Flickr.

My photo is of Prof. Wall when she is talking and explaining to us about her trip to Guatemala. I thought I would be sneaky and take this picture to surprise her when she is looking through our blogs. There is a possibility that I might use Flickr for my classroom and personal photos. When I was looking around Flickr I could just about find anything I wanted to on there. I could possibly find some really good photos on there that would deal with what ever lesson I was teaching at the time. The only other site that I have used that reminds of Flickr is Instagram. They are a little different in some ways, but I use Instagram more right now but that might be changing soon. I really don't mind having my photos for the public to see, I post pictures on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all of the time. As long as I don't think the picture I post is degrading or makes me feel bad of myself I am okay with it being posted for people to see. 

Thing #6

The site that I decided to explore was Pinterest. I would be lying if I said that I had no idea what Pinterest was. I am ADDICTED to Pinterest, I have an app on my iPhone and my iPad for it and I am constantly on it. I have over 50 boards on it with at least a 100 or so pins on each board. My boards range from clothes to ideas for my classroom. What I like about this tool is that I can find anything and everything I want on Pinterest, one of the things that I don't like about it is that if you really want to buy something that you find, but the link that is connected with it has expired. The thing about Pinterest is that you have to be invited by someone who already has a Pinterest. I know a lot of teachers that use Pinterest to help them find ideas for the classroom that deal with organizing their room, worksheets, or little projects to do with their students. I will defiantly being using this for my classroom, and for other reasons in my life.

Here is the link for Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/

Thing #5

School 2.0 is the future of education when it comes to technology. So many kids now a days know how to work a computer by the time they are 5, I didn't learn how to use the computer until I was in elementary school. I really only used to get on the computer at school to take AR quizzes, and to play games on it. In school today kids are constantly using computers to do stuff that deal with school or for personal reasons. School 2.0 uses a lot educational techniques that we have known for awhile and incorporates it to now to advance our education further. As teachers we are going to have to teach our students how to properly use technology because that  is the future. If the students don't know how to work technology they are really not going to make it far in life when it is their time to get a job. Technology surrounds us everywhere.

Thing #4

Commenting helps create a sense of community and interaction on blogs by allowing discussion between the people who read the blog.  One thing that I found important when I was reading about commenting was that we have to teach our children how to comment about things. If you read something on a blog that you like, comment about it and talk about it with that blogger. Another thing is remembering the power of our words, sometimes people comment and they are harsh and rude. I honestly believe if you have nothing nice to say don't say it at all. If it is just a careless thing that is okay to write, but when you want to be rude and cruel that is just unnecessary. One more thing is you have to be careful of what you write, I know people make mistakes but sometimes they can be huge ones. People judge you on what you write, and how your sentences are structured. That is one thing that us teachers need to be good on is our grammar skills, if you do not have that you are doomed. 

I commented on Sherry McNeily's blog first due to her name was right below mine on the list. I commented on how she starts off her posts, because she makes it her own, and doesn't just answer the question right away. 

My next comment goes to Kristen Tallon's blog, she sits next to me and she also lives in my neighborhood so I thought I would stop by her blog. I said that I agreed with her on how to use blogs as teachers, and about how I didn't think about putting links on the blog for students to use to help them study. 

My third comment goes to Carolin McDaniel's blog, Carolin is in my math class as well as this one. I commented on her picture of the Neuschwanstein Castle she put up. I commented how my family lived in Germany before I was born, and that I hope one day I can visit that castle myself. 

My fourth comment goes to Ben Campbell's blog, he is also in my math class with me and Carolin. I commented on how I liked the quote "The world is our classroom", I agree with statement. I'm constantly learning new things in and out of the classroom.

My fifth comment goes to Autumn Kirkland, she is on the committee for Circle of Sisterhood with me. I loved how she said she uses Picasa to edit photos and give them to friends for Christmas. She gave me ideas for gifts in the future.

My sixth comment goes to the blog named Kindergarten Schmindergarten. She posted pics of her classroom right before open house and she gave a lot of organization tips on her classroom. She gave me a whole lot of ideas for the future classroom since I am a PreK-3 education major.

My seventh comment goes to the blog named 

Thing #3

There are many ways I can use a blog as a teacher, some ways could be by posting about what we did in class that day or that week. The blog would help keep the parents updated about what is going on in the classroom. It also gives the parents a chance to communicate with each other too by commenting on the post I make. It would also make it easier for me to communicate with the parents all at one time. It also would be a good place for me to put list of supplies or post pictures that I take during class for the parents to look at. 

Thing #2

I really have no previous experience of writing or reading blogs, so you could say that this is my first one but not my last one. Even though I don't read blogs, I do read a lot of books, but I am not a big writer though. I had a good experience with making this blog, it was really simple to make this blog. My name for my blog is really simple, it is just my name I couldn't really come up with a good name for it so I just used something easy to remember. My avatar reflects how much I love New York, I really just want to visit that amazing city and explore it!!

Thing #1

The easiest habit for me would be Habit Six: Use technology to your advantage. Using the different kinds of technology in the world comes really easy for me, honestly I don't know why my parents are not technology savy at all. Yet my brother and I are really good with technology objects, we are both constantly on some kind of technology item or wanting the newest technology that has been made. It just comes easy to us! The hardest habit for me would have to be Habit 4: Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner. I am always second guessing myself when it comes to my education experiences. I am always wondering if "Is this answer correct?", "Why did I get such a bad grade?", "I probably did this wrong!" I am not the only person who asks these questions or says these kind of things. I am constantly worrying if I am truly am going to remember everything that I was taught. Just the normal questions everybody ask themselves through out the day. 

This is my first time doing a blog, so you must give me some time to get use to it. Setting up the blog was actually easier then I thought, I have heard people saying that it is hard. I could actually get use to having a blog for the future for when I become a teacher. I hope to learn a lot from Web 2.0, it is really interesting about what you can find on the internet when you know where to look at.