Reflections

While I am a board-and-marker type, I have learned many things in 23things that will be useful to me.  Some of my favorite tools are Flickr, Animoto, teacher chat boards, and Facebook (more for personal use).  I struggled with several of these tools,but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy Animoto was.  What a great way to put together pictures from a field trip or other schoolactivitiy.  As for improving the format or concept, I really have no suggestions.  I think 23things works well as is.  This experience will definitely influence my practice as a teacher.  For one thing, I will not be afraid to try new technology. (The computer has always sort of scared me.)  I will use what I have learned to make classes more interesting for my students.  I think I might even use a blog like 23things in my class (giving attribution, of course!).  I will try to keep up with new developments in technology that will help me in the classroom.  I think a good way to do this is to join an educational chat board.  I resolve to use new tools and keep up.

Thing # 23

The video was great!  I found the button that shows that the original work from which 23things was created is licensed by Creative Commons.  You are free to share and remix under these conditions: give attribution to original author, use only noncommercially, and share alike which means if you alter or build upon the work, you may distribute resulting work only under the same or similar licensure.  Under the Creative Commons button is a blurb that says 23things is licensed by Creative Commons.

In my classroom , I will try to find Creative Commons works that I can use and/or revise for use by my students.  It is much better than worrying that you have broken copyright law.  I realize that I will have to get Creative Commons licensure myself if I decide to distribute my work, even to students.

Thing #22

http://www.bigcontact.com/shakespodospheare

I couldn't get the blogline link to work, so I just included the URL for the site I chose.  I looked in Education Podcast Network and found a reallly good directory.  I checked out Shakespodosphere  which has podcasts of major British literature, especially Shakespeare.  There were readings of Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, and Julius Caesar.  There were a  couple of lectures on there as well.  I listened to Shakespeare's Sonnets: Selected Readings.  What beautiful language.  I can definitely see using these in the classroom.

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009

Thing #21

I had so much fun making this mini-video!  I decided to use my own pictures instead of Flickr to make it more personal.  I've already posted it on Facebook for my family to see.  I think it would be neat to make one with pictures from this year and email it as a greeting to all my friends.  And it was so easy to do. Animoto does all the work for you.  I could see paying for it if I had lots of time to play.

The video link is above the title "Thing #21."  I'm not sure how it got there.

Thing #20

I like YouTube because it is a good source for informational and how-to videos.  I like some of the music videos as well.  It is also a good search database.  I chose this video because it teaches teens about ethnic diversity.  I'm not sure what features I would want on my library website.  I have to give it some more thought.

Thing #19

Besides Facebook and TeacherPop, I do not belong to any online communities.  There are so many social networks to choose from but I particularly like 43 Things.  It is a goal-setting community and includes lots of suggestions for goals.  These include reading more books, learning sign language, and running a marathon.  I chose learning Spanish.  There are 16,974 people signed up who want to learn Spanish.  The site shows some of the photos of these people, at the start and next to blog posts.  There were a lot of posts that reported on progress, some that gave tips, and I found one that listed the most common Spanish phrases along with the English translation.  At this site there are links to Learn Spanish in 10 Days, Official Rosetta Stone, and Spanish Translation.  I think that when I finish my college work, I will begin to learn Spanish and probably join 43 Things.  I think it would be a great motivator.