Thing #19 - More social networking

Visit TeacherPop


I like Teacher Pop... this is something I'd probably find useful.  I think it's a good forum for pre- and in-service teachers to utilize when wanting to share ideas or learn about something.  I uploaded a picture, but I think the photo has to be approved.  I also posted a comment in the forum and asked everyone's opinion on an assessment question... maybe I'll get a response...

I have been a member of IMDB for a while; I enjoy movies and learning little facts about them...I especially like the 'goofs' and will try to pick them out when I'm watching a movie.  I have read many of the user comments on the discussion forum, but I don't like to get involved in those conversations because they turn ugly pretty quickly.

I checked out Goodreads and really liked that site too.  Good 'Thing'!

Thing #18 - Social Networking

I have been on Facebook since 2007.  My settings are private, so not everyone can see my personal information.  I also have to give permission for tagging of pictures and posts of me.  I do not 'friend' people I work with, nor would I ever 'friend' my students.  I don't even 'friend' classmates here at APSU unless we've become actual friends and get together outside of school.  I am only friends with people I actually know in 'real life' and do not accept friend requests from friends of friends.

However, I would consider creating a new Facebook page for my class and invite students to comment and post about school.  I would have very strict rules about my page and there would be absolutely no cyberbullying or rude comments.  Of course, most districts have Facebook blocked on their system, so it's not something we could use during school hours...and if some students don't have computers or internet access at home, or their parents refuse to allow them to have a Facebook account, it's useless because they will be left out.

I am not a fan of Twitter.  Been there, done that, don't like it, nor do I see educational value in it.

Thing #17 - Delicious

Before joining Delicious, I perused the site; it's easy to use and has a similar background to Facebook...hmmmm.   Honestly, once again I find myself not impressed.  While I understand I would be able to access my bookmarks anywhere instead of just on my computer, I find it just as easy to just type whatever it is I'm looking for into a search engine like Google or Bing.  Many of the same websites will come back, and quite frankly, I don't care what other people say about sites; I will be the judge of whether or not they are useful TO ME.  I saw all the comments on the right side of the page, but again, just because some people find the sites useful doesn't mean I will.  I would rather explore something on my own than go by the comments of strangers.

Personally, I have no interest in sites like this or Pinterest, although I do see some value of using it in the classroom:  teachers and students can share information and it can be useful when writing a research paper.  It's also an easy way go back and quickly access the information one has gathered.  Will I use it in a Special Education math classroom?  Probably not.

Thing #16 - Organizing with Web Tools

I chose iGoogle since I use other Google products and find them to be really user friendly.  I doubt I'll make it my homepage since my Mac has all that information already available on the Dashboard.  However, it is a handy tool - it's like a one-stop for everything you need.  I added widgets for quotations, moon phases, movies, translation and currency converters.  Here is a screen shot of my iGoogle page:

I'm not a fan of creating online to-do lists; pretty sure I mentioned that in a previous blog.  I like to have a tangible list I can carry around with me and manually cross things off as I go.  It gives me a sense of accomplishment and I feel it takes WAY less time to write things on my list than it would be to input them into a device of some sort.

Thing #15 - Wikis

The first time I encountered a Wiki was about 5 years ago when I was working as a one-on-one instructional aide to a 9th grader with autism.  His English class was presented a lesson by the librarian on research, emphasizing MLA citation and the pitfalls of some websites when doing research.  I already knew about Wikipedia, but I had never seen a classroom Wiki before that.

I thought it was pretty interesting that students from all over could collaborate without actually having to be face-to-face.  I think this is a valuable tool.  Of course students must be aware that other students are editing these Wikis and not all information may be 100% reliable.  It is important that they cross-reference items to be sure they have the most up-to-date and useful information.

I may or may not use a Wiki...with all the other possibilities out there it may not be worth it.  Also, some schools require the teachers have a personal website, so why would I stress myself out running two?

The Sandbox thing was actually a bit annoying.  I did not find it user-friendly at all and spent too much time fumbling around on the site just to figure it out.  But I did figure it out and posted something about Thing #7 on the front page.  I think it may just be easier to create a Facebook page for my class.

Thing #14 - Go with the flow

I had some fun playing around with Gliffy, as you can see by the image above.  To me, it was quite user friendly and intuitive.  I can definitely see some uses in my classroom.  In math many times we have to take steps to work through a formula and a 'map' would be a good way to illustrate these steps.  These flow charts are useful for specific items that depict a sequence of activities.

I also enjoyed using Bubbl:

These types of mind maps are visual and can help my students structure their information and ideas.  I think this is useful for brainstorming ideas because they aren't as structured as a flow chart.

Thing #13 - Web-based applications

I found Zoho and Google Docs to be quite similar and both user-friendly.  I don't really prefer one over the other and since I have Microsoft Office on my computer, I doubt I would personally use them.

However, I have been in groups before that prefer to use the online web apps because it's easier than downloading the document from an email, editing it, saving it and then uploading it to an email to send out to your group members.

If everyone has access to it, than anyone in the group can go in and edit it easily.  I see the value in having our students use this when they are working on group projects because not everyone will have Microsoft Office at home; but if they have the internet, they can get to Zoho or Google Docs!

here is one of the documents I created in Zoho:

https://writer.zoho.com/public/bdbd51b85b9d8b8e07304f5e0dd452f3b1010d9fecb8b4ee1fba11c44bbf3cbc9ece6500d2ba5d8a