Thing #7a

When we subscribed to blogs in Thing #7, one of the "fun" ones that caught my eye was Flickr Most Interesting Photos . I love pictures (probably because I stink at taking them), and it's just interesting to see what others are able to do with a camera. I check it almost daily, just to see what's there, and there are always fun, interesting, beautiful pictures, along with some that just make you tilt your head with a perplexed look on your face. The uploads/new items can be quite numerous, so I don't always get to see all of them.

One that was in there today was I'm Old But I'm Happy (I didn't embed the picture because it is copyrighted -- all rights reserved, and I didn't know if I could or not). I just love it. There's nothing spectacular to it, just an elderly gentleman in a row boat, but it is beautiful in its simplicity. It reminds me of my grandpa, who loved fishing and took me out onto the bayous of Florida as a child. Enjoy.

Thing #12

When I first read over this "Thing", I was really excited to check out several of these tools. The more I explored, however, the less excited I became.

My first venture was http://30boxes.com I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE calendars (being the concrete-sequential person that I am). I have been looking for some type of calendar (besides publisher) to use at school. I send out a calendar to the staff every Monday of what is going on that week at school: Sports events, band/orchestra/choir concerts, benchmarks/milestones, etc. I also send a calendar once every six weeks containing all the tests that will be given, their dates, and who they affect. I have done this the same way the last 4 years. It works, but I keep looking for something more efficient. I thought I might have found it when I saw 30 Boxes . However, when I entered the sight, I found that it didn't have very many formatting options. It's very plain, and doesn't give me the flexibility of changing the date range (or perhaps it does, and I just couldn't figure it out -- that is entirely possible, but then, shouldn't it be easy to figure out?). So . . . on to another tool.

The next tool I explored was Ta-da List . Again, it appealed to the organized side of me. I thought perhaps they had a new spin on the plain ole To-Do List. Not so much. You title the list, type in the items on it, and that's about it. As you finish an item, you click on the little box next to it and it marks it complete. Honestly, it's a lot less hassle to write it on a piece of paper and put a line through it. It's more trouble for me to sit down at my computer and type up a list.

I don't like being a Debbie-Downer, so let me end on a positive note: Even though 30 Boxes didn't appeal to me, it inspired me to search the web for free online calendar applications. I found a few that I intend to explore more, and see if they have any possibilities. Otherwise, I will stick to my old format for calendars, and my paper-and-pencil approach to To-Do lists! I will post a comment to this blog if I find anything. OR, if anyone who reads this has a fabulous site to share, let me know!

Thing #11

Ooohhh -- I had so much fun with this activity. I thought of so many signs I could make for my office. The possibilities with image generators are endless -- both professionally and personally. Sign-making (see left and below) for school, images for making cards (one of my few crafts), and picture-sign combinations are just a few things that come to mind.
I found that some of the images you could save to your computer, but others you could only embed into your blog, which is somewhat frustrating.



I created the above images at Image Chef.



Spell with Flickr was a blast. Again, I wished I could have saved this image to my computer, but could not find a way. I played with it for a while and started thinking that's all it would let me do because I couldn't find any links for embedding or saving. Quite by accident I found the box with the html code for embedding. I don't know how, but there it was. I went back after embedding it in this blog (it's the first thing I did for Blog-Thing #11 because I was afraid I wouldn't find it again -ha!) and figured it out.

I have great plans for these websites -- I see many practical jokes in the future of my colleagues!

Thing #10

So, here goes my attempt at "embedding" my slide show. Given my problems in the past with hyperlinks and such, I'm not too hopeful. At least the attributes will be correct. Warning: this isn't the most exciting slide show -- there are only 4 pictures. However, the point is that I learned to use a slide show site -- I even changed the background and format.

Photo Credits:
1. The Dom Cathedral (Kölner Dom) in Cologne, Germany WWII, May 10th, 1945 by David C. Foster

2. Hohenzollernbrücke Bridge, WWII B-24 VE "Trolley Missions", Cologne, Germany WWII, May 10th, 1945 by David C. Foster

3. Images of Nazi Germany... by Sherlock77 (James)

4. Images of Nazi Germany... by Sherlock77 (James)

Thing #9

As I entered the Flickr website, I thought to myself, "What the heck am I going to search for?" As I'm no longer in the classroom, no ideas came immediately to mind. I decided to simply search for pictures of Germany, as it was one of the words that caught my eye on my tour of Flickr, and it's also a place I've been and have fond memories of. One of the first pictures that popped up was the one you see by David C. Foster. You can find it at The Dom Cathedral (Kölner Dom) in Cologne, Germany WWII, May 10th, 1945 .

It took me back a couple of years to when I taught 6th grade social studies (i.e. world cultures) and we did a unit on WWII and Nazi Germany. The pictures in this collection were quite fascinating. Honestly, I'm not quite sure what I would have done with them, but I'm quite sure I could have used them as story starters (some from the perspective of the pilot, others from the perspective of the photographer, and yet others from the perspective of someone who might have been on the bridge as it collapsed). Whatever I would have used them for, the pictures are worth way more than a thousand words in a history book. The possibilities are endless.

Flickr was quite eye-opening and a little overwhelming to me. The more I clicked on tags or subjects, the more they changed and expanded. I will definitely have to play with it more to get the hang of it.

Thing #8

I can't say that I've ever seen the CC logo on any site, but that's probably because I wasn't looking for it. I can say, however, that I wish I had known it existed.

Several years ago, a friend/fellow teacher and I came up with a way to help our students summarize and recall information from things they read. We called it the "WHATSUP" chart. It caught on with our kids, and we used it regularly. Fast forward a couple of years to a class I'm taking for my Masters degree. I used the WHATSUP chart in a project on student assessment. It was among several different tools teachers could use for student assessment, all copied and neatly tucked into a pink file folder, one for each person in the class. I thought nothing of it. That is, until another couple of years later when my friend and co-creater is in a staff development where someone presents the WHATSUP chart as a learning tool. This particular teacher had gotten the idea from a staff development she had taken at Region X. My friend and I were, all at once, stunned, flattered, and wishing very much we had put our names on the thing so that we could have some credit.

I mention the above story because had I known that anything you create is automatically copyrighted . . . well, honestly, I don't know what I would have done. I do know that had we known about Creative Commons , we would have GLADLY shared our idea and let others expand upon it. Our goal was to help ALL readers, not just our own students. In retrospect, we would love to have some credit for the idea. My creative ideas are few and far between, and the fact that one of them is out there makes me incredibly happy. Lesson learned: Put your name on your paper!

Thing #7

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I LEARNED FROM THING #7 IS HOW TO CREATE A HYPERLINK W/ JUST THE NAME OF THE ARTICLE/PAGE!!! I wrote that in all caps because I have been trying to figure out how to do that since Day 1 of this voyage. I learned this during the discovery activity of this "Thing", while reading the articles. In How to Comment Like a King (or Queen!) by The Cool Cat Teacher Vicki Davis, Ms. Davis states that you should hyperlink to your post if you've written about something you commented on. She gives an illustration with all the parts listed (see below).

For a concrete-sequential learner like me, it was all I needed. I'm hyperlinkin' like a champ! (I would like to give credit to Selena Knight - Knight Reader - as well, as she sent me instructions. I, however, wasn't doing something right and couldn't get the things to work! Selena -- you rock, and are going to have to show me the easy way later.)

I realize this wasn't the point of the exercise. I realize commenting keeps the conversation going. I realize that if you have quite a following, commenting could be exhausting, especially if you try to keep up and "counter-comment" every comment someone makes to your blog. Lucky for me, I'm new at blogging, and can answer any comments left for me very easily (Thanks, Angie!). Whereas I don't see myself as a fervent blogger or commenter in the future, I do see the importance of adding concise, relevant, and heart-felt comments to blogs that I read and for which I have strong thoughts/opinions. No one wants to be a lurker!

Thing #6

Finding a couple of blogs I wanted to subscribe to wasn't the cakewalk I thought it would be. In fact, it was quite frustrating. I found one right off the bat, http://achatwithmary.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-award-maker.html
It contains ideas for implementing technology into your everyday lessons. Great -- I thought I was on a roll. Not so. For the next 30-40 minutes I clicked on 20+ links to blogs that were either uninteresting, didn't apply to my situation, or whose "voice" I didn't care for. Finally, I found one called G.R.O.W. -- Girls Rising Onto Womanhood (http://girlsrisingontowomanhood.blogspot.com/). I really identified with the Virginia teacher mentoring her female students. However, there was no way to subscribe to this link. The search continued.
I finally subscribed to

Education in Texas. It was one of the first ones I found, but I skipped it thinking I would find something better. The blogger is quite opinionated and topics are often political in nature, but I find that even though I don't always share his opinions, I do like the points he brings up and the fact that he has an opinion.

Thing #5

Write a reflective blog post telling about an item of interest from your reader.

The most interesting thing about my blogger is not really what's in it -- it's that it exists. The more 'Things' I do, the more I realize how technically informed I am NOT. I had never heard of "RSS" or "Readers" before this assignment. I suppose I can attribute that to the fact that I wasn't a blogger. The more I read about "Readers", though, the more I realized it was much simpler than I had at first realized. I liken it to setting the content on my homepage, or setting low airfare alerts on your favorite travel website. With the reader, you're just subscribing to your favorite blogs.

I must confess that I skimmed the 3 educational subscriptions that we were assigned to subscribe to, but the subscription I found most interesting was the one I found on the New York Times: "The Frugal Traveler". I clicked on the link for The Frugal Traveler in Paris ( http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/the-frugal-traveler-in-paris/ ), wherein the author, Matt Gross "seeks out high style on a low budget", this particular week in Paris. Readers can follow him, and those that have been to whatever place he's traveling to can offer advice and suggestions for getting the most for his money. As an admittedly frugal person, I find this sight and the suggestions fascinating. If I make it to Paris in the near future, you can guarantee I'll be looking at his blog!

Thing #4

Blogs give writers the ability to share their thoughts and opinions in a forum that, 10-20 years ago, could only be done in a discussion group or, if you were lucky, on a conference call.

I don't know that blog reading/writing is that much different from reading out of a magazine or newspaper. Aside from the absence of timing deadlines and length constraints/restrictions, the writer makes a statement, supports it with {sometimes} facts and {sometimes} opinions. The difference comes in the fact the reader can interact to a certain degree with the writer. As Arthus Erea stated in response to a blog comment to his blog "Teaching Brevity" http://students2oh.org/2007/12/16/teaching-brevity/ : "With questioning and reflecting come learning and understanding. With learning and understanding come questioning. With questioning comes discovery." I think this is the epitome of blogging.

Blogging would give students yet another way to express themselves and teachers another (faster/more efficient) way to give students feedback. It is the cyber-equivalent to writing-passing to the person on the right-comment-pass back cycle.

Thing #2

How might you be able to use these new tools to to engage today’s “digital learners?” Why would you want to?

I’m so overwhelmed right now, I don’t even know how to answer this question. The article describing teachers X, Y, and Z, and students 1, 2, and 3 using blogs, wikis (BTW—I have no idea what this is), podcasts, social calendars, social bookmarking, etc., fascinated me. It’s amazing how we are evolving (I say “are evolving” b/c not all schools are at—or have the ability to be at—this level) as educators, and using these technologies to our advantage. I have no problem admitting that the students at my school (and my own children at home) are more technologically savvy than I am. It used to be that “working in groups” was fun and exciting for learners. Now, however, if we don’t learn to tap into their technological interests, we’re missing a tremendous opportunity. If we as educators are going to maximize our students’ learning experiences, we have to stay ahead of the technological game (or at least keep up!).

As far as using these tools to further my own learning, I see an exponential amount of opportunities for collaboration between myself and my colleagues.

Thing #1

The habit I consider to be the most challenging is creating a toolbox. #1 -- I never can think of anything to put in it. I know there are resources out there, but when it comes to listing them, I draw a blank. #2 -- I tend to be quite independent, and adding "human resources" (probably my most important tool) to my toolbox I find incredibly hard. This is not because I think I can do it all, but because I don't want to inconvenience anyone by asking for help, and thereby taking their valuable time. I have, over the years, learned to depend on others' strengths, and realize it is give-and-take.

The easiest habit: Accepting responsibility for my own learning. For as long as I can remember, I've believed that the day you stop learning is the day you die. Educators especially should always seek out new ideas, but I believe in actively engaging myself and learning something new everyday.

But most important to me of all the habits is beginning with the end in mind. I realize that sometimes the plan gets off course, or you have only a vague sketch of a plan, and things come together during the process. However, having that end-goal is so very important, as you waste valuable time and energy if there is no vision.