Is this the end, or only the beginning???

NO! NO! I do not want it to be over!! It been about 2 weeks since I wrote anything on my blog because I knew this day was coming. Don't get it twisted! I'm glad this class is almost over but, I really enjoyed the 23 things assignment. I was so excited to start a new thing, I was like a kid in a candy store. WOW the things I learned!

I have gone picture crazy, literally. Some of my favorite things to do was Animoto, flickr,picasa web album and,smilebox I already had a facebook account but this is also one of my favorites. I facebook everyday.I have a igoogle page I find this very useful in my day to day activities.

Many of the programs that I learned about I will continue to use because they were very useful. My igoogle page has all my needs right at my finger tips. I have all my RSS feeds on my igoogle page. All my google alerts, and when I'm searching I just bookmark anything I want to keep. I store all old work in my live binder because I do not use that often just for storage to look at something I did not want to get rid of.

I really did not expect to learn as much as I did. I thought it was just useless work to fill the day but, it was an excellent program. The only thing I would change is some of the things are redundant and could be better used if they were all applied to the same source so a student would not feel like wow I just done that!

Overall for me personally I wish it could be a little longer, maybe not for the class but maybe if a student who choose to continue to work the program, Give them ideas on how to keep advancing while learning new technology. I plan to keep searching and using new technology as it come along I have google alerts on my igoogle page to inform me about the latest and greatest technology.

Again, this was an excellent program. I recommend it to anyone. Formular to technology or unformular its great for all.

Thing 23

Creative Commons help you share your knowledge and creativity with the world. When it comes to Creative Commons copyright and licenses they have stepped outside the box from the traditional "rights reserved".

Our 23 things assignment is called 2.0 23 things for teachers is a staff developed program for the Mesquite Independent School District. Content and style have been borrowed and duplicated with permission under creative common licenses.

As  an educator I find this tool extremely useful. When it come to copyright our students are bombarded with extremes on what they can can cannot do. One major problem our student face is plagiarizing their work in school. With creative commons I see a vast number of students improving their skill while working with a legitimate proven source to help over come this problem.

I will use and support creative commons daily as I teach and educate my students in the classroom. There are many useful creative challenges that I can use to inspire my student with creative commons. Allowing my students to discover new ideas using blogging technology. Understanding the importance of commenting on someones blog. The possibilities are endless. I know becoming and English middle school teacher is a challenge within it's self but I'm so excited, I just can not wait to get started.

Thing 22

I created a live binder account. One of my binders is called educational resources. I used some information that I received from my Google alerts and made a binder for this class.

I also have a binder with children games and other resources for middle school students. The last binder that I made is just called Janie's amazing sites. These are just the site that I am personally interested in.

Having access to live binder in a classroom environment would be great for students to have and learn from. I could share with my students on how to create a binder but I think there are a lot of more interesting technology for now. Live binder is a great resource for college students or someone continuing education. Right now I do not think live binder is a particularly good resource for middle school or grammar school students. This is just my personal opinion, I'm sure if a grammar or middle school teacher found a good way to Incorporated this technology this would be a great resource.

Here is my Educational Resource Live Binder enjoy

http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=214622

Thing 21

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

HAY CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!!!!

I did it! I set up an account with Aminmoto, made a 30 second video with my grandchildren.

I really enjoyed doing this exercise. Everything I learn I teach my sons everybody want video cameras for Christmas. We have created a video of our family, up loaded it on a CD and instead of Christmas cards we will send out this video. I can not wait for Thanksgiving we plan to add those pictures as well. I think this was the best exercise of all the 23things.

OH YEA I FIGURED OUT HOW TO EMBED THE CODE :)

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I kind ah went crazy and made two this is fun I need some new up to date photos we took these pictures about 3 summers ago when I was in Chicago

Thing 20

Here is my video that I found from You tube. It is nothing professional I just thought it was kind of cute.

While exploring I realized that some of my family member that I will not name had already introduced me to You Tube. At the time I did not know what I was watching, they would just say hay Janie come look at this. Some of the things they had me to look at were kind of crazy. GIRL FIGHTS were some of the first videos that I saw but I did not know they were YOU TUBE this big fantastic place where people uploaded all kinds of interesting and crazy stuff.

I have an account on You Tube now, I had to get it if I wanted to watch some of the videos. I don't know if I will be uploading anything other than pictures but, my boys still want video cameras.

I embeded the code check out one of my favorite cartoon characters. CANDANCE

Thing 19

I am a member of APSU Ning network, Teacher pop. This was a very interesting site. I will try and continue to use it after this class but I have joined so many different sites I wonder how will I keep up. HOW ON EARTH DO SOME PEOPLE KEEP UP?? Teacher Pop is a good site for educational material but I think it's just for socializing with teachers and classmates.

I joined a site called Gather, and in this site there was another group called Kids In The Kitchen! Yea! something I enjoy. My husband and I are both chef's and our oldest son is an excellent cook. My 11yr old son is on his way. This summer we sent him to camp with the YMCA and the theme was Kids in the kitchen. He really enjoyed it. So when I saw this group about kids in the kitchen I was very curious. My son reads the post with me and we work together on finding good easy recipes that he can try. Wow I will continue with this group for sure.

I have to work on taking some photos of myself, that's something I do not have a lot of.I do have a lot of family photo's because I'm the one taking all the pictures. I put a photo on my Teacher Pop about 5 years old but I think I'm recognizable. I committed on Dr. Walls post about unwritten rules, and I also wrote on the community post. I wanted to send everyone in my class a gift, but when I saw it was not for free. WELL YOU KNOW! I placed a chat widget on my blog and facebook popped up. I guess that mean you can chat with me where ever I'm at. COOL!!


Now finding and making a video, this is my biggest challenge yet.

Thing 18

I currently have a facebook account, I use it to keep in touch with friends and family. I also signed up forhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/137494276493/ I

 will use it to learn what is going on in the Claxton building. I also have a twitter account, but I do not really use it.

Facebook has become an essential part of student life for most college students. It serves as a way students can communicate with teachers, classmates and different type of clubs. 

However social networking sites may be a way to reach students I think that there should be a sense of maturity while using this as a learning tool for students. I like the litle skit that Fieneas and Furb use on the Disney Channel about internet safety. Yea I watch cartoons:).

I learned that everyone on facebook does not use twitter and everyone on twitter does not have a facebook account. Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one that did not use twitter.

I would have to say that I like facebook better. My reason for this is prior to actually learning about posting and social networking I like the games. I played farmville everyday until I made a city. Yea you can check me out and become my neighbor on cityville, I'm totally addicted. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly to say on twitter other than hay come and be my neighbor or friend on my facebook account I just love it. I have conversations all the time with people I do not know. 

This is were maturity comes in. Our children are very vulnerable we need to watch and monitor there moves.

This social networking site could be very useful in a classroom but like I said previously SAFETY before TECHNOLOGY is a TO DO!!!!!!

If you want to look me up my name is Janie Walker I friend everybody.

Thing 17

Bookmarking is another exciting and powerful aspect I enjoyed with web 2.0. Once I started using a social bookmarking service and tagging all my bookmarks I found that it was much easier to do a quick search and tag to find the many websites that are interesting to me.

I joined delicious and found out that it was a part of Yahoo which was interesting I did not know that. I made my bookmarks available on multiple computers that I use, and the bookmarks that I already had was easily added to delicious.

Now guess what! My primary source of information is Google. So what did I do? All my bookmarks are now on my Google account, everything is in one place and one account provider just making my life easier trying out all this technology.

I also bookmarked http://apsu23things.blogspot.com/2008/08/23-things.html I thought this was fun to do.I  also bookmarked the sandbox http://apsu23thingssandbox.pbworks.com/w/page/11343369/FrontPage

I will continue to use all the tools that I have learned about there just making my life easier

Thing 16

Wow what another great exercise. I was really impressed with the idea that Google wasn't just a search engine. I created an igoogle page and I continue to use it. THAT'S MY START UP PAGE :)

I also created an online calendar from 30boxes that I am sharing with the class. It just has some of my activities for the rest of the month on it. I am good with this part of the exercise. As I said before I am an older student and I have all type of calendars everywhere:):):):):):). I have a wall calendar hanging in my bedroom, posted on the wall in my bathroom, one hanging on the refrigerator in the kitchen. My igoogle page has a calendar, my cell phone has a calendar, it also has a special ringtone for each apt that I have on a particular day. I have several calendars that I use particular school assignments. I'm calendar CRAZY!!:)

http://30boxes.com/widget/8381228/JanieWalker/6412522aa39c44b59ed7ce6218476ae7/0/

As far as any other tools and programs are concerned I better take it slow. I do not want to get burned out on all the new technology I'm learning about. Creating or converting file to PDF I do not think I need that right now. My computer is pretty advanced I have not had a problem with send my files out. I have looked at several of the programs but they require some form of payment. I do not think that I need this right now but will keep it in mind for the future.

I also made a to do list that I thought was pretty neat. This reminds me of small chores that I might want to accomplish around the house. I did not share this because the only thing I could think of for this was my grocery list::) Just like my calendar I have these all over my house too.:):)

The most useful tools for me right now are my calendars and my to do list. I keep up with all my assignments, when there due. It also works well with my life at home keeping things straight. Making sure my son is at apt on time and the correct day. That is one of the main reason I started keeping so many calendars.

Thing 15

Wow Wiki's are great!! I explored many wiki's out there. This was a true learning experience. I am one of those student that did not know exactly what a wiki was, and was using it on occasion. I am glad that I found out exactly what it was and how to use it.

I am an older student and I guess until I came to Austin Peay I have been out of touch with all the new technology. I am glad that this was one of our exercises in our 23 things.

I edited a page in APSU 23 Things Sandbox wiki.and had a blast. I had to stop myself and leave room for someone else.:). I posted my igoogle page because this was what I was most proud of. There are a lot of things that I could have shared but to me this was the best one.

Thing 14

I choose to use flowchart.com, I really think this can be useful in any classroom setting where there will be quizzes or test involved.

You can drag/drop clip art onto the page you are working on. You can also have unlimited pages the the flow chart open at one time. The best thing I like about it is the real time collaboration. This is awesome!

I put together a little flowchart of my own and hopefully I can get the students in my current class to experiment with me. I have placed a link on my page and we can work on this chart together in real time I'm just trying to make sure this system works. So please feel free to change and make positive suggestions. Thank You

http://flowchart.com/editor/#c77bd29a48ce7626:86673

I also tried bubbl.us mind maps this one gave me a headache I did not understand what I was suppose to do. I think this is a tool for brainstorming ideas that you may have about a topic and then working on a method to put it together for future presentations. This could be useful for student who are working on a project because I think they can collaborate with each other in real time.

I did not like or really understand bubbl.us. I do not think this would be a useful tool for me.

Thing 13

I created a Zoho account and in my opinion I think this site would be best used by a person establishing business contacts, advertising, I am still trying to think of ways that I could incorporate this into a school setting.

I did like the Google Docs, and the Zoho Writer there both similar version of Word and Power Point. I did like some of the features Zoho Writer had, the one that really caught my eye was the chalk board. I am going to try and use that for my livetext presentation I think that will be kind of cool.

I wrote a short story using the Google Doc I plan to start a new blog after the class and write short stories everyday to maybe peek peoples interest. Who knows I might end up writing a book :)

CHECK IT OUT TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK

Thing 12

After taking a long look at all the Google tools I felt a little exhausted and excited at the same time. I never knew Google had so much to offer. I use Google Chrome all the time and never put two and two together.

I already have a Picasa Web Album that I started in a previous class, but I use it all the time. It was the top site to me until I meet flickr.

The igoogle page I WANT ONE! I made me one and I love it. The igoogle page I'm continuing to learn how it works before I paste it to my blog I'm trying to have some real cool stuff. Every time I open from Google Chrome the normal Google Logo show's up. I want to be able to go to my browser and my igoogle page opens if anyone can help me do this I would greatly appreciate it.

Everything is right there in one place. My alerts, my calendar, my Picasa web album. I even have my RSS feeder attached. (I THINK? ).

If I had known about all the tools that Google offered it would have saved me a lot of time when I am on the web. Looking back at the beginning of this lesson I thought it was going to be something very trying but it turned out great. I enjoyed this part of the assignment it has made my life a whole lot easier.

Now if I could just remember how to post it to my blog?????? :)

I just finished my igoogle page and it's great. I took my time and figured it all out!! YEA!! I have all my feeds, everything that I look at all in one spot. All I have to do is point and click. WHEW what a relief. I wanted to do this for myself, because its something I use all the time. and just mastering the technology to better accommodate my life just makes me proud I figured it out!

GUESS WHAT!!! A PERFECT SCREEN SHOT FROM A PC YYYYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAA!

Thing 11

I really did not have a pacific way to find feeds, I signed up for all the RSS feeds that were suggested by Dr. Wall. After reviewing each one I found them to be very interesting.

During my search there were so many that I felt a little overwhelmed. I use Google a lot in most everything that I do. So starting off I used Google.

Unless you have a particular idea in mind and know exactly what you want and what you are looking for the majority of the sites can be pretty confusing. There were a lot, I mean a LOT of really unnecessary things people were writing about.(In my opinion).

I really did not use any other search engines just Google, but I also clicked on some links inside of a page that I retrieved from Google.

This assignment was a real challenge it let me know that there is a world of all sorts of information out there and to be able to come up with a good RSS feed that I will enjoy and learn from I just better start from the basic's the ones from my class will do for now.

I will continue to look and try and find something that I am interested in and can learn from. Becoming an English teacher is my goal. Succeeding as an English teacher will come from all the things I learn on the way. Finding a good RSS feed will be one on the things I accomplish

Thing 10

ImageChef.com I Am Awesome

Finally something I can do that's not giving me a headache or stressing me out!! Thank you Dr. Wall. I love the RSS feeder. It was easy to do and I understood it.

I joined the 5 sites that were suggested just until I can maneuver around various sites to see what I would enjoy on a daily basis.

RSS is a site that I will continue to use on a daily basis. It has a lot of good information for teachers to learn and follow interesting theories. Personally for me I could use this technology in my class for me to keep up with new information in our schools because they are growing at a very rapid speed.

I do not think this is something my student would enjoy or care to do, but as time and technology move on who knows I will surely keep it in mind and stay abreast of the up coming school information to see if it is something that would be used in the future.

I took Dr. Wall up on her challenge and made a public page. I have not done anything with it yet but when I did it I felt like I really accomplished something good and cannot wait until I get started.

Thing 9

This picture collage made with Smilebox

These are pictures I made with the happy face generator. It took me awhile because I could not figure out how to put the picture on my blog, but finally I did. SMILE!!

This photo collage generated with Smilebox

Thing 8

This is a picture that I made with the mashups Mosaic Maker. I believe Flickr can be a tool used in the classroom as long as the parents are in agreement. I understand that a lot of people do not care to share photo's online.

I enjoy sharing photo's. I personal have discovered and learned how to use various photo sharing sites.

To use a particular photo sharing site in your classroom I think it should be closely monitored. Children today can sometime be cruel and uncaring. Technology in the classroom is one thing, were teaching our children a new way of learning. Bringing online photo's into the classroom is just another form of bullying if it's not closely monitored. Do the teachers really need this? Of course depending on the maturity of the child, it could be something really great. I think we need to take a closer look at what were giving our children access too.  

Thing 7

I have created a flickr account and uploaded photo's, here is one you can look at now. I hope I did this correct I am not that good with taking pictures.

I really enjoy flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigmamajj/6157120543/

This is a picture I took of my dusty entertainment center in my bed room.
Can you guess what show is on the TV?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigmamajj/6160524361/

Thing 6

There are many different sites on web 2.0 that I use and are awesome.The site I choose to explore is the Picasa Web Albums. Picasa Web Albums it is a google web photo-hosting service. Users get 1gb of free hosting, and images can be uploaded and manipulated using Picasa.

 I took an English class last year here at Austin Peay and that was the first time I was introduced to Picasa. We had several things to do that we learned while using the new soft ware. I made a brochure explaining each unique technique on how to use Picasa. I chose this particular one because after the class I still continue to use it. What fascinated me recently with Picasa, I thought I lost all my pictures when I took my computer to the shop to replace the hard drive. The repair man told me that he could not recover my pictures because the part of the hard drive that they were on was  corrupt. I was very upset and just forgot all about it.

Several months later I wanted to use Picasa again. I had to re download the program to my computer again. Once I did that LOW AND BEHOLD all my pictures that I had came back when I re downloaded the program! I don't know if many people know this, I just know I learned something new. Talk about a happy camper :) I just wanted to share my experience its like everything I had was saved in outer space.

CHECK IT OUT!

https://picasaweb.google.com/

Thing 5

 Web 2.0: A Guide For Educators is a learning tool for teachers to use technology in the classroom. How to integrate technology into their classrooms? How to use it and the best way to use it. It interested me because it has all types of information on building a blog, webinares, tech forums, and a list of many types of resources. It also guides teachers to understanding the technology and the changes they are going through trying to continue having a positive learning environment in the classroom. I know we have all experienced that old foggie that just does not want to change. Well A guide for educators is just that, teaching teachers how to change and making there life a little easier and keeping the standards of learning.

The transformation of education, this is what school 2.0 means to me. A social network of teachers
collaborating to enhance the preparation of students learning. Student from all over the  world eager to learn in a very positive and productive way. When I was in high school it was a fashion show of who had on the coolest outfit. The teachers could not tell if they were there to learn or put on a show. Today with all the high powered technology student are eager to tell the teacher about different sites they visited and what they learned. Instead of reading about different countries you can chat with or blog about what you learned from the actual person in that country. The integrating of many different types of technology in the class room is most powerful and intriguing.

Schools of the future have a lot of advantages today, more than we had when I was in school. Although I like the idea of technology in the classroom we still need to remember the basic. Having pens and paper, going to the library to get a book and find out the information needed for that subject of interest. We cannot just rely on technology, although it is good, so are the basics. Just last night her in Clarksville we had a very bad thunderstorm. THE POWER WENT OUT! I was right in the middle of writing my blog. I have a battery on my computer but the internet provider was down. I thought to my self what if it didn't come back on for days or weeks, then what. I quickly changed the direction that I was writing about. The transformation of education is great, but  we still need for our student to know that although this is the direction schools of today are going  we still need to know and understand how it started. The basic the old fashioned way will never go out of style. I still like coming to school wearing something new and showing it off.

Thing 4

My personal experience with commenting on a post or in a classroom discussion was the best. Having the ability to share your thoughts with someone who might be working at the same goal as you, is just awesome. Learning new idea's no matter how far or close you are to one another.

Committing on someones post helps you to appreciate the idea that someone is interested in what you are saying and they are helping you by giving you another point of view for the same exact question that you are answering.

I committed on Blair Offutt his ideas about 3 things. He had some wonderful ideas about communicating and using technology in the classroom. I shared with him my experience with taking an online class from Phoenix University, it was great. I also talked about how students might act using blogging and chatting. I compare it with how in a traditional classroom you might not get everyone to participate but technology like this we might not be able to type fast enough for our student we would have mass participation. WOW! Wouldn't that be great:)

I committed on Tabitha Beard's post about thing 5. She talked about 20 ways for student to become more involved in their education. I thought this was a very good idea but also I think that they should understand and want to learn the traditional way to learn things. Technology although great I shared my views about understanding that knowing the traditional way to do things would also help enrich their life. Technology today is very powerful. I also shared my view about how overwhelming the technology maybe for some older educators. There is a lot of good information out there and as long as it stays simple enough for all ages to comprehend this is excellent! :) We all can learn new and innovative ways 

I also committed on Candice Casadys thing 4. She talked about the importance of committing on peoples post. I agreed ed with her about this. I also told her that I had her name written down in my book as one of my previous posted commits. It just felt like dajavo posting another commit because I distinctly remember her beautiful background.

One of my favorite post was when I committed on Melissa O thing 10. Her post was excellent about the RSS Feeder but I was so impressed with her picture we did not even talk about the RSS Feeder. I click on her picture went to that site and made one just like it and posted it on one of my sites. She also committed on my picture that we had to put on diigo and told me the answer to my question I asked about the television show that was playing when I took the picture. I do not know about Melissa but for me I was so happy that someone read my post and by answering my question, made me feel important and happy at the same time. COMMITTING IS GREAT! I hope I get to commit on all my classmates at least once if not more. This should have been on thing 4 OOPPSS:)

I also committed on Elsa Leininger thing 11. We basically had the same idea about the RSS Feeds. We both joined the ones Dr. Wall suggested as a starting point. I told her her post was sweet and straight to the point.

I was impressed with Brandy Cardwells post on her thing 12. I told Brandy that I used Google for awhile but did not know about all the tools they had to offer. I agree with her that some of the tools are more useful for teachers other than students. Brandy also had a eye catching page and made me stop and take a second look. I also committed on how wonderful her page looks, and asked if she could help me with mine.

Thing 3

There are many ways that I could use my blog in my teacher education program. I am doing one right now. Collaborating, keeping in touch with my professor and fellow class mates. Were all working together continuing to learn and bringing together new idea's. Having my students set up a blog would be a great creative idea. Technology is a very good way to keep children engaged  in learning. I would have various links to different libraries on my blog this would surly make our young learners interested in reading all over again, instead of the traditional way going to the library to check out a book. It does not matter what grade level and the type of curriculum they are studying, blogging is the wave of the future. Technology in the class room. 

Thing 2

It took a little while, but I finally did it. I created an Avatar. This is really fun. Once I figured out how to get an Avatar it was pretty easy. I created it in my profile picture because I'm still trying to figure out how to get her on the comment page :) I decided my name would be something simple, my name and the class that I am currently taking. This way everyone in our class to include our professor would be able to find me. My avatar does not really reflect my personality. I am still trying to figure that thing out.:( My experience in creating this blog is that I know now what I did not know::)). It's great I am learning a lot. As you can tell from my blog I have been playing around with the settings, and design. I like they way we are working and learning new things at the same time. So far so good.

Thing 1

The easiest thing for me to do is have a goal. According to the 71/2 habits that's one of the first things you should set in place. The hardest thing for me would be making sure there were very few obstacles in the way. There never seems to be enough time in a day, or days in a week. Family, friends, church, and my goals it's a lot. Creating a good pathway to accomplish my goals would be a logical way that I could use to conquer this quest that I am on. I would have all sorts of things in my toolbox, to include my list of resources. I can check my progress each night. I like staying up late anyway so that would not be a problem for me to check my progress each night. I would definitively sign my contract. To me this is just saying I will do everything I say I will.