Eagle Banding

embedded voice thread

Cool applications

Check out Cool Cat's blog about her favorite applications. http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2009/04/122-for-you-cool-cat-teachers-favorite.html

Thing 13

For thing 13, I have created a twitter "twibe". A twibe is a group of people with similar interests. I have called the twibe Monroe Co. Mi. Educators. Only after creating it, did I realize that the word "comie" is in the middle of the url. No, it's not a political statement, just the abbreviation of county and Michigan with the first letter of educators! Thank God we aren't back in the fifties, someone would surely be interrogating me!! I found out about twibes by following Vicki Davis a.k.a. Cool Cat Teacher on Twitter. I started following her blog after finding out about her at MACUL last March. In following her Blog through Bloglines, I commented on her blog and began to follow her on twitter also. When I learned about Twibes, I joined the Ed Tech twibe and had the idea to form the Monroe County Educators Twibe. I envisioned it as a forum where we could discuss education topics and share ideas.
In this final post, I am to reflect on my "things" experience. As you can see from the above statements, learning new "things" about web 2.0, leads to more things and more things... I really worry about the people who are still using dittos (yes, they are out there). My parents always taught me that to remain "young" you have to keep up on technology. My dad was a Professional Engineer and had one of the first Texas Instruments calculators (back in the 60's). I remember because it cost $125 which was a lot of money back then. You can buy the same thing now at the dollar store. Literally. Keeping up on technology and changes is extremely challenging. But at half a century, I email, text, skype, social bookmark, tweet, facebook, myspace, and blog. I am a member of a "flat classroom" group and two twibes. Wow, my parents would be proud.

Thing 12

When initially watching the diigo youtube video, I felt like I was watching the old ginsu knife commercial...just when you think you've heard all that the product can do...wait there's more!! I admit saying that diigo is delicious on steroids is an understatement!! By the time I was done watching the youtube video, my brain hurt...I actually had one of those thoughts "maybe I'm just getting too old for this..". But then I gathered my senior self together and tackled it. I dumped all my delicious bookmarks into diigo and added a few more. The feature that I am looking forward to the most is the sidebar "webslides" feature. With students I plan on attempting to use the hi-lighting feature for making reports (upper el students. I am not yet sure how I envision it for lower el students.

Thing 11

Being a special educator, I have had experience with UD before. I attended a conference session about universal design at MACUL last March. My notes are all at school but I do recall the presenter talking about the extensive podcast collection at the state level of high school text books. While I can't take advantage of that, maybe some of my colleagues could look into it, I'll blog the info as soon as I get back into work and look at my notes. I also have software that does much like the "read the words" site. I received this software as part of the STELA project through the Monroe ISD.The Dial2Do reminder that I emailed myself came out with a few missing words, but I like the fact that you could listen to it also.

Text to Speech Bonus!

Thing 10

This would be fantastic for using in the classroom!! My kids love to go to Google EArth and find the school, the local gas station...etc We could label their houses, the school, and things of importance to them. I can't wait to use this! (The maps would not be public, however) :-) I have used Google earth to "fly" to Mt. Vesuivus when we were reading about that, to Matinicus island when we were reading about that, and also showed the kids France, Italy and Egypt. They love google earth. I always have to wait unti just before lunch so I can actually get them out of my room!! They would stay all day and play with google earth.

My Google Map of London

View London in a larger map

Google Search Bar

Thing 8

I can honestly say that in the previous 23 things class as well as this 13 more things class I have never been as frustrated as I was with Jing. Loading it was a bit of a hassle, first my trend antivirus program didn't want to accept it, then I had to load some Microsoft software..but once I got it loaded I thought I was home free. I began to capture images on with the video only to find that once you started recording, you couldn't change the video capture window size. Then I went to plan B wherein I got everything the same size and did the video capture. Then I realized that you had to narrate as you were going along, not after like you can do with photostory...ok, start again. This time I couldn't get all of the pictures the same size and you can often see computer background that I didn't want there...you can redo narration like when I said "nest" instead of "next" and fumbled over my words a little. It's just not something that I am very proud and like the third attempt at a project...my first was singing accapella to some beautiful sunset photos...scrapped that idea...my next was narrating some old family photos...not all the same size so scrap that idea...my final attempt was a story from Project Read" teaching young children the sounds of the digraphs ch, sh, th, and wh.

Thing 7

Thing 6

Creating the cartoon was a blast! I can say that I will definitely use this site this year. My students will think it is great! I tried to get on the ToonDooSpaces but it said it wasn't ready yet. I like the extra security of that site. The site was very easy to navigate.

Thing 6

by ldishaw | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

Thing 4 finally done...yea!

Well tonight I finally had a chance to complete thing three. I Skyped with Amy Brown. I had previously used Skype quite a bit but only with family members. Amy said she had used Skype but only with voice, not video. I used Skype with my daughter who lived in Kalamazoo and my grandson who lives in Wyandotte. I only had one Skpye conversation that I am reporting on, because the deadline for class is at hand! The quality of the connection was decent. I've had better and I've also had worse. Amy's camera must be better than the "cheap ones" because the picture clarity was far better than when skyping with my daughter on her $20 special. There was however, sometimes when I could hear my own voice echo, and sometimes it froze or there was a longer than usual lag. The freezing and lag I could see as potential problems when used in a classroom, aside from usual technology difficulties. I've explained how I have used it personally. Professionally I could see how students who had extended absences have found it beneficial to be able to skype. Amy and I had a good discussion about summer school tonight (she's teaching it and has some of my former students), so I can see how two teachers could share student information, ideas, etc.

Thing 5

I could think of all kinds of ways to use voice thread. I have used Photostory to do some of these. It is very motivating for students to hear their own voice. Voicethread can be used to comment on book reviews, narrate photographs, or as a project such as the fourth grade class project that I embedded. I imagine all sorts of ways that I could use it and I am hoping through my flat classrooms membership, maybe, possibly, I can find a classroom similar to mine somewhere across this great planet that would be willing to read the same book as my students. Then we can do a collaborative voicethread project and the kids can hear each other's voices. I can also think of lots of ways this could be used from Kindergarten to the University level.

Voicethread

http://ed.voicethread.com/share/428910/

Join the Twibe!

I just created a Monroe County Educators "twibe". For those of you who may not know, a twibe is a twitter group wherein the participants have something in common. I thought that it might be easier than blogging to ask questions or share ideas. If you are already on Twitter, you can join the "twibe" at http://www.twibes.com/group/MonroeCoMiEducators . I also joined a twibe called edtech...there are lots and lots of twibes!! I'm feeling a little like I'm speaking Tweety Bird....

Thing 2 of 13 more things...Twitter

I joined twitter some time ago, but only was following Barack Obama and a few friends. Then I began following some fellow professionals and it became more interesting. I do more tweet reading and following than actually tweeting myself. I think I would do more were I to have a cell phone that I could use to tweet. Until that time, I am limited to tweeting on my computer so the most interesting thing I would have to tweet is "I am sitting in front of my computer" when asked "What are you doing?" As far as social networking, I much prefer Facebook wherein I can share pictures and videos also.
As far as twitter I do think it was kind of cool that since I am following CNN, I knew right away when Walter Cronkite died...even he would have been amazed at the speed of the news in this "information age".

Web 2.0 summarized

Web 2.0 Tools in Your Classroom

View more presentations from markwoolley.

This kind of sums up this class, I think. From slideshare......

A Blog worth checking out

There is a blog that you web 2.0 participants may be interested in. It is http://123elearning.blogspot.com/. Please take a minute to check it out..I added it to my bloglines, after I found out about it from another blog that I follow.

What if?

The embedded video entitled "What if?" is from a site called "grown up digital". I saw it on a blog that I am following...thought it was interesting.

What If?

Find more videos like this on grownupdigital

Thing 23a

I titled this Thing 23a because there may be so much more to add after tonight. I whole 23 things class now behind me, I find myself with so many ideas and questions that my head is swimming. Attending the MACUL conference this year just solidified everything that I had learned through this class as well as what I have learned by "just playing". So many people as me "How did you get so good at computers?" Aside from my dad being an electrical engineer and therefore always interested in the latest technology, I learned most of my computer skills by just playing. The hardest part for me is to "walk away" from my PC and do the things that need to be done...does someone beside me hear my lonely vacuum calling?
The personal and professional use of web 2.0 is not a problem for me. My biggest challenge is pedagogically. I struggle how to get my colleauges to recognize that the use of technology is not "more to do", merely a new way to do what they already do. Once you get used to it, it's actually less work! The other challenge is that everyone I work with is at a different evolutionary place in their "tech life". It seems pretty universal that my younger colleagues are much more adept than the "senior staff". As a senior member myself, I know that we may be at a disadvantage growing up with dial phones that didn't move with you, and computers that took up an entire room, but it is possible to keep up with technological changes. Not easy, but possible.

Thing 20

Twitter for Teachers

Reading Jim's blog entry about Twitter in the classroom, I was reminded of a web 2.0 presentation I saw at MACUL. Steve Dembo was the presenter and you can check out his PREZI presentation at http://prezi.com/19654/ One of the presentations is about edmodo, or "What if twitter had been invented by a teacher?" Check out edmodo by going to http://www.edmodo.com/ If you have time, check out the other links in Steve's presentation. His session was worth the whole conference for me. (Although I had already heard of Bloglines and Delicious-thanks to this class!)

Thing 22

Well I registered for LearnPort today. I had a little difficulty, however. Because I have a 30 hour continuing certificate, I do not have a date of "expiration" or whatever they called it. Kind of makes you feel like old cheesse. It wouldn't let me register without entering a date in the column so I finally recorded the date of issuance of my certificate (1987). It makes it look like my certificate has expired, I suppose, but I didn't know how else to proceed. I think it is likely that I will take advantage of this service, although I am in no need of CEUs. I just like to continue to learn new things. A wise man once said, "You have never become, you are always becoming and if you think you've arrived, I feel sorry for you." I also made a vow to myself that no matter how close I got to retirement, I would never become "stale" or a "lame duck". Staying current helps me feel young(er)....she says as itunes plays Fleetwood Mac sings Silver Springs in the background. Although I did not sign up for any classes today when I signed up on my work computer, I do plan on signing up for something over the weekend....good thing I bookmarked it on Delicious!!!

Video Clip Thing 21

Downriver Community Voices is a group of which I am a member. I can be seen third from the right in the middle row. In simpler terms, in the opening credits I am directly under the number 8 in the date 2008.

Thing 20

Podcasting. Ok I'll admit I'm a little freaked out. When I went to GCast and read the "user agreement" (something my father taught me always to do although I admit, I don't always :-/) I saw that it said "Although we have attempted to outline above the terms on which you may use the Service in straightforward English, please be aware that these terms, if accepted by you, create a binding legal agreement between you and Company. We strongly urge that before accepting these terms you print out a copy and review it with your attorney, manager and other representatives and if you have no such representatives that you seek other independent qualified guidance." What? I need ot have a lawyer look at it? Help!!! I am not sure I should agree to the terms...did anyone else read this? Is anyone qualified to give me some guidance here?

Thing 17

I have thought a long time about the whole wiki...thing. Wiki spaces, wikipedia, etc. On the one hand when it comes to information in this, the information age, most often it would stand to reason that more is better. More people contributing means more information. Then it occurred to me that information is only as good as the integrity of the people posting it. I could add to a wiki space on brain surgery but the information would be far less than reliable. If a wiki were limited to only those you knew had knowledge on a certain topic, then it would be fine. To me that would be more like just collaboration on a topic or web site. True wikis that can be edited by virtually anyone are only as reliable as the people posting the information. I may be a bit skeptical, but in this time of people hacking into computers and creating viruses, worms, and Trojans, what is to keep them from sabotaging a wiki site?

Podcasts/Thing 19

Tonight I listened to the podcast "Earth and Sky" and it told about Saturn and seeing it in the night sky. I think this would be really great for kids because they can follow along (reading) while the male and female voice are saying the words. It is especially helpful for the population that I teach (students with Learning Disabilities). The second podcast I listened to was "Grammar Girl". It talked about using "I was" and "I were" in sentences and when to use each in writing. I am still listening to it as I type as it is an audio only podcast. I did learn something, though. A colleague had made a bulletin board for Principal's week in which students wrote "If I was Principal...." Now I know that it should have been "If I were Principal...." I thought that sounded more correct but had no idea when to use was and when to use were. Now I know. Wow, if I were 8 years old again, I could share that at family dinner. We always had to tell one thing we learned in school that day. It's probably why, to this day, I long for knowledge and am bound and determined to stay current with technology although most days it makes my head swim!

Thing 18

Ok I added the feedjit to this blog but despite several attempts, I couldn't change the Grand Rapids to Newport....it said it was changed and even tried redoing it 3 different times...it really thinks I am in Grand Rapids I guess....

Thing 13

The sunrise picture was enhanced with Picknik and the Museum picture of my two lovely daughters was created on dumpr.net, I can see many many possibilities for use in my classroom with these tools (especially the dumpr site) How fun!!!

Thing 12

I have been a member of Flickr for a while. I also keep photos and order through the Shutterfly site. I like it most as a photo back up (in case the hard drive decides to crash!). I also save photos on zip drives and have some printed out. It's always hard for me to envision how to use something like this with my students. A great deal of my students do not have internet access in their home at this time. I'm sure in the next few years, that will change...it seems to be a few more each year. Below I have also added a flickr badge. While the pictures don't change in front of your eyes, they are different every time you look at the blog. I wanted to do the other "checkerboard" looking badge, but it wouldn't accept the html code for some reason...kept giving me an error message. I'm not going to give up permanently, just for tonight.

Badge

www.flickr.com

Thing 11

As far as Slideshare, it was interesting to note that the service is "out there" but I really don't see any use for it personally (at least at this point). My students tend to use Photostory 3 for presentations. Those are saved as a .wmv file and can also be put on a blog. My students enjoy Photostory 3 (a free microsoft download) because they can illustrate, narrate and put music to their stories. I have a webpage through our district but have always hesitated putting student work on it...I really don't know why.

Lighthouse SlideShare

Lighthouses from over the world.

View more presentations from Roelof Van den berg. (tags: lighthouse alto)

Thing 10

Well I set up a Google Document. I remember hearing about this at the MACUL conference 2 years ago. I thought it was pretty cool then, but never had the opportunity to "play with it". I can see the advantages. First, you can have several people collaborating on a document. I instantly thought of my two daughters who are both in college and have several group "projects". It would save having to email documents back and forth. Secondly, (again thinking of my one daughter) I realized that by using Google Docs, you could work on a document no matter what computer you were on, as long as it had Internet access. My oldest daughter is constantly emailing herself a paper so she can work on it either at home, at work, on her laptop, or at the computer lab at school. With Google Docs, she would have access to her document regardless of where she was. My husband, who is anal about saving a document in several places, remarked "What if Google went down?" My first thought was, "Yea, like that would ever happen", but then I reassured him that you can save the document in multiple places. It also pretty liberating to think you can access a document without having to worry about having your zip drive. A further advantage came to me as I was listening to the wind howl in the middle of the night last night. If you had a power failure and you had to have access to a document, you need only find a PC with Internet access and power!

Thing 8

Delicious....hmmm kind of sums it up doesn't it? I always knew there must be a way of getting all of your bookmarks on the web so you could access them from any computer. My husband and I currently have 2 pcs and 2 laptops. At work I have an additional laptop and a pc. I also have been known to use my daughter's computer when at their houses. It makes so much sense to be able to access your bookmarks anywhere!! No more trying to memorize urls or googling to get the name of a site over and over!

Thing 4

The "Did You Know" clip from you tube, I had seen before maybe at the MACUL conference? It is very powerful and really makes you think. My favorite quote from the "We think" video was "Ideas take life when they are shared". It really made a lot of sense. If you don't share an idea and keep it to yourself, then it can never be acted on and become a reality. Sure, there may be plenty of ideas that go nowhere, but how will you know an idea's potential unless you share it with someone?
The 21st century videos were interesting also. There was some duplication of information, and I think I have seen at least one of these before also.

Thing 3

I have been blogging rather regularly since last October. My mom had passed away in Sept of 2007 and it wasn't until Sept 2008 that I took a "adult loss of a parent" class through Arbor Hospice. During that time, we had talked about the importance of making journal entries or some type of outlet and I decided to start a blog for my siblings and myself (it now extends to nieces and nephews also). I invited all to participate but fully decide that if I were the only one blogging on it, it would still be good therapy for me. As part of the process, I entered pictures, and even a video that I created using "Photostory3". I would encourage anyone to view it...but posting is limited. Boy that made me feel powerful!;-) You can view it at www.calkinsfamilymemories.blogspot.com
I guess my biggest concern with blogging is that, because conversations are limited to text, you may offend when you don't intend...if you get my meaning. It kind of reminds me of sometimes when I am texting someone or reading their text. Without voice to ear conversations, things sometimes get misconstrued.

Renaming my blog

I renamed this blog tonight. I had originally started taking the 23 things workshop through Wayne RESA...I couldn't get into the official "class" because it was full. I decided to start completing the 23 things by myself...but only got so far. I had created this blog, but had no one to blog with :-(....I renamed this blog tonight in hopes that now through the 23 things class at MCISD, someone out there will blog with me.

I was also inspired to start a blog with my family in memory of my parents. It has restricted posting, but you are welcome to view it at www.calkinsfamilymemories.blogspot.com