One Last Thing

Where to begin...This was quite a journey. I feel pretty accomplished because when I began this program I knew nothing of the technologies we explored, and now I feel at least aware of the amazing things (no pun intended) and resources that exist in the virtual world. I also feel more connected than ever to my students because I existed in what I think of as their world. When I think of the technologies I enjoyed learning about, I have to admit that learning to set up and maintain a blog of my own was my favorite. I also enjoyed and got excited about the Google Reader, the image generators, and learning about the world of Creative Commons. It gives me a thrill to think that I know how to create links in a post and embed photos. Wow! I did that.

I would definitely participate in another discovery program, and I believe this program has changed the way I think about learning; I hope to use in classroom some of the ideas I thought of and those I intend to steal from my colleagues' blogs. The process of integrating these new skills and resources into my teaching seems a little too big when I think about in total, but I intend to take small steps.

As far as improvements to the program, I would have to say I was disheartened at first because of a lack of communication between me and my facilitator, but I am convinced that was a strange technical problem with gmail. I do think that the site should be checked and updated to make sure that obsolete and blocked sites are not part of the discovery exercises, but overall I am pleased with my experience. This was my first online class and I think I like the self-paced format. I recommend that the course dates be extended during the school year because we all have so many other time consuming tasks to take care of. I sometimes felt very stressed and pressured for time, and I think it made a difference in how much attention and time I could devote to each thing.

Thing 16: The Library Thing is on the Loose

Sorry for once again posting out of order; is it as annoying to my readers as it is to me? I enjoyed the librarything thing. It has multiple possible uses, from creating a personal library list to enhancing and tracking a book club to preparing for classroom lit circles. Searching by tags would bring up common themes that students could explore, and would allow a larger number of titles from which they could self-select a text. I went ahead and made an account, and I even started to catalog my own personal library; I have a long way to go, but it was nice to get started. I will hopefully be able to have the time that is not available during the school year to complete this worthy task. I noticed the same thing that Salinger did, it is easier to find potboilers than the long simmering classics that stick to the ribs. As an uber-nerd, I am disappointed in this lack of depth, but I am hopeful that the more users and visitors the site gets, the more varied the selections will be. Am I naive?

Thing 23

Is it too late in the process for me to feel overwhelmed? I feel a bit lame as I think of my overall impressions of Ning and Gather. I think the premise and idea for the social networks are exciting and full of potential. Tailoring social networking to the specific interests and concerns of a particular community is the perfect way to make a networking site professionally useful; in fact, it seems more personally useful to network with those that share your own particular interests. However, I found the sites visually overwhelming and a bit confusing. There seems to be so much going on that is difficult to make heads or tails of the information. I did find the Steve Hargadon Interviews on Gather interesting and useful because of the exploration of fundamental issues in education. I think I just need more time to learn to navigate these sites. I have to say that I tried to capture the Ning badge and a widget with no luck, but I was able to attach photos to my Ning page and I commented on Rhonda's page. Again, I probably need more time to mess around on both of these sites. Overall, I believe that these networks are the place where we as educators can join with our colleagues to explore and address important issues in education. Maybe this is a way for us to regain some semblence of a feeling of ownership and empowerment in an industry that often makes us feel like we are too small to have meaningful influence. Let's hope so.

Thing 22

My experiences with Facebook and Myspace are as follows: 1) I succumb to peer pressure and set up a page 2) I get really excited and spend time setting things up, posting pictures, choosing songs and wallpaper, etc. 3) I become overwhelmed with the number of friend requests from people I went to school with 4) I get behind on responses to posts and start to feel guilty 5) I quit going to my page and eventually forget my user name and password. The last step is why I am not including a link to either of my social networking pages; I can't figure out how to get into them at this point.

I think there are pros and cons to these sites. They are a great way to reconnect with old friends and to get the satisfaction of ongoing feedback and communication. However, I watched my roommate maintain "virtual" friendships that were nothing but superficial while avoiding real relationships. I also think that the act of un-friending people has consequences for both parties involved in the "friendship". None of these consequences are good.

I think educators have to be knowledgeable about networking sites because many of our students inhabit that world. It is a way for us to stay in tune with what our students experience and perceive in their worlds. I think there are classroom applications if classroom pages are set up or if teachers had official school related pages that students could access.

Thing 21

Google Book Search allows you to search for full texts. I could totally use this in my classroom and personal life (heck! It could take the place of dates I am not having). I think that many of my computer savvy students would rather read a text on the screen than the text on the page. Just the simple fact that it is computer-based might entice students who would not normally read to give it a screen or two.


Google Notebook WAS USED to allow you to cut and paste links, articles, whatever into one place when doing research. However, it hasn't been un-usable since January 14, 2009. Again, I hope that the folks who maintain the learning 2.0- 23 things site will take time to edit and check links because it is frustrating to get excited about a possible resource and find it unavailable. I would have loved to explore how this resource could benefit my seniors who are researching right now; I guess this is an example of the internet world changing too quickly to keep up with.

Thing 20 - What's up Doc

Lately, I have heard many of my friends/colleagues talk about using Google Docs in their classrooms for a plethora of exercises, but, while a great tool, I just don't see myself ever actually using it. I am just much more comfortable with pen, paper, and a dusty old text.

However, that doesn't mean I can't think like I would use Google Docs (even if I don't remember tomorrow morning how to actually use it). This six-weeks, my Seniors have been working on their research papers. There have been several documents (dialectical journals/T charts, outlines, documentation formatting) that I've wanted my kids to have access to no matter where they are. Thanks to very friendly librarians, I now have these posted for my kids to download at their leisure. I would assume (although I didn't actually do it myself) these documents were posted using Google Docs. And, if it will work for this assignment, I would use it for all my writing assignments, including class lectures, make-up work, and test reviews. It would also work well within the department as we align curriculum and create common assessment or instead of a staff notebook (all the forms we would normally waste paper on would be accessible through Google Docs). Really, for someone with the skills who is organized, this would be rather handy, but, for me, I still prefer the old fashioned method: memo graph!

Thing #19

Actually, the coming and going voicethread reminded me of John Madden outlining a play. Writing everywhere! This also reminded me of my final year of college. Education majors were required to take a "media" course: it cost money, it was required, but we got no actual credit for it. Anyway, we were given a list of projects we had to complete in a given amount of time (kind of like 23 things), including making a transparency, computer generated test review, a foam-core mounted poster, and (my favorite) a stop motion video. Back in the day this was big time, but, even then, I thought it was pretty impractical. How many public schools do you know of that have the ability to foam-core mount or make stop motion video? Not to mention that the time involved in doing this is ridiculous. But, I was required to complete these and other stupid projects nonetheless. Now, I find the skills learned in 23Things much more valuable, but VoiceThread is not my favorite. If I'm going to go to all the trouble, I might as well include video (that way they get both my beautiful singing voice AND my happy, smiling, 5'9" supermodel face). :)

Thing 18

Like most American kids of the 70's and 80's, I was a devoted watcher of the Saturday morning cartoon (SMC) line up. Granted, tv then wasn't what it is today. We didn't have three different cartoon channels dedicated to showing 24 hours of jolly goodness. Nope! We got our fix once a week.

One of my favorite parts of SMC, was the public service announcements starring that little yellow dude. What was he supposed to be? No clue, but I learned not to drown my food in goo, how to make ice cube popcicles, and even how to make cheese wagon wheels (a healthier snack alternative. Needless to say, I was thrilled to find I could jump back to the days of no stress and footy pajamas just by going to YouTube. My little yellow friend was easy to find - I just searched for the words "sunshine on a stick" (part of a verse from one of those PSAs). I also found an old commercial for one of my favorite childhood treats: Hostess Twinkies and Fruit Pies. I swear, I was eight years old again, sitting in front of tiny black and white wearing nothing but my underoos! It was Fantastic!

Thing 17 Beware the Pod-people

Podcasting . . . can we say YUCK?! I prefer to delude myself into believing that I really am a 5'9" super model, thank you very much! On the other hand, a pre-recorded tirade my sub could use to threaten my students when I'm out would be nice. I previewed the NPR Books podcast and the Webster's Word of the Day podcast, and I think both have classroom applications. It is worthwhile for students to hear about new literature because it reminds them that books are indeed a part of the modern existence of many people; the word of the day site is a wonderful resource for my TAKS prep students who have English language problems because they can hear the proper pronunciation of English words. I used the iTunes podcast directory to look up The Onion on the advice of Salinger, and it was well worth it!While I have the ability to create my own videos, my students do not . . . some barely speak English. I teach a section of TAKS English to Seniors who have previously failed the TAKS and need to pass to graduate on time. Because most of them do not speak much English (if at all), I must show them how to write one essay they can use for a variety of prompts and then have them memorize it. We write the same essay over and over and over and over again until the can write it by heart in their sleep. There just is no room for podcasting. And, as I've mentioned before, access to the technology is limited. 40 laptops (sans camera) for the entire 2800 members of the student body just isn't cutting it. I can see the possibilities for podcasted lessons that can be used to adjust the pace of the reading of a text or that illustrate and emphasize key moments and concepts in a text, but again, podcasting seems like a faraway dream until technology is truly integrated for all students.

Thing # 7B: Lunch With Lou, Ole!

I love "The Onion"! Whenever I am truly depressed about the state of the world, I read a reader post from "The Onion" and I feel instantly better about my own cynicism. "Lou Dobbs Leaves CNN" is a perfect example. Check it out! How brilliant is it to report that T.V.'s least imigrant friendly pundit is being deported as an illegal hispanic imigrant? I love the philosophy that "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." It has nothing to do with political orientation; I just love to see pedantic blowhards get theirs. I wonder if my therapist will say this points to my feelings in inadequacy? Oh, who cares! I pay him to listen to me.

Thing # 7A: Awww, My Old Friend The Reader

I found a really cool story on my reader post for NPR, and it made me think of something hopeful in education. The story is "Two Graphic Novels Explain Science, Colorfully", and it sparked a wonderful daydream for me in which students can't wait to do their science homework because it is in a form they love, a graphic novel. Graphic novels are now the most common fodder for movie ideas in Hollywood: Ghost Rider and Watchmen are just two recent pieces turned into blockbuster films. I think students would love for at least some of the curriculum to be in a mode they like and are rather expert in. It makes us look "cool" and it makes science a little more entertaining, which hopefully means more teachable.

Thing #15 umm, umm, good!

Delicious: worth the wait at the dinner table? I am not sure. As with many technologies I have explored so far, I found the use of the site and the process a bit overwhelming and at times it didn't seem to work. I received several error messages that told me to try to bookmark later, and I found several sites that were no longer there. Having said that, the idea of compiling, sharing, and categorizing all of my favorite sites is pretty cool. I do believe that delicious has applications in the professional realm, including a way for departments and individual teachers to share resources and even create virtual guides to meeting talking points. The ability to tag is also useful; it helps me sift through multiple bookmarks for what I want or need at the moment, and it gives others clues to what they would find interesting or useful. I definitely think I will continue to explore this technology and try to find ways to use it to help me organize and share resources that I previously just jotted down and hoped I would come across when I needed them in the future. Check out my delicious links about Lord of the Flies, a bibliography maker, and service dogs .

Thing #14 Word!

I posted an idea using wordle because it was easy to use and superneat. Blabberize was impossible and did not seem to work as advertised. My idea was to use wordle to create an "I" poem ( you know: a bio-poem using parts speech to be descriptive) about yourself or a character from a text. I think it speaks to the skills of students who are good with words as well as visually creative students. Some of the tools allow editing and sharing options that allow creators to connect with others socially. Again, some of these tools are clunky and you have to register or pay for features. I don't think I will use those tools if they are not user-friendly and cost money just to access the cool bits.

Thing # 13 The Lucky Number

Image mashups are cool! I had trouble getting to some of the sites, and I was a bit frustrated that the map site said it would not work because as it claimed, it has not supported flikr since 2007. I am sure the discovery activity for the thing just needs to be updated. As you can see from the documentation on each of my pictures, I used the smiley face site to create the picture on the left and a comic strip generator for the alien. I think this is a skill that students could master to enhance their existing projects, but I am at a loss for how to make this the major meat of a project. I am more impressed with the fun social possibilities for mashups; I can also see the selections I created also being used to create political cartoons. Hey! That would be a way for government students to use this tool.

Thing #12: Electric Slide

My slideshow is a tribute to a very mischievous kitten named Toby. I just adopted him, and he is obsessed with unrolling the toilet paper and carrying it to his secret hidey-hole. Based on his commitment to this project, I am convinced he dreams of nothing else. The frustrating part of this thing was the fact that half of the listed slide sites were inaccessible through the school network, and I worry that students who do not have at home internet access are out of luck if asked to use these functions. Therefore, I hesitate to set them up for failure and disappointment if our district will not allow them to utilize these technologies. What a shame.
1. sleepyhead bella by wicked one
2. cimg1671 by 9.81 meters per second squared
3. img_20070120_0001 by cosimba2

Thing # 11: I saw it Flickr and then disappear

What a trip! Some of the journey was rewarding and fun, but I often questioned if the destination was worth the trouble. Yes, I took the tour, but it felt like too much information to process at the time; the map was confounding. I found myself floundering around the rest-stop instead of hitting the road; the road looked too scary to travel alone. And then my guide arrived. I'm talking about you, Rhonda! It was nice to travel in the footsteps of someone who has been there and done that. Rhonda helped me navigate the cumbersome process of avoiding obstacles like forgetting to give an author attribution or leaving off the URL address. And then there were KITTIES (thanks, c0simba2)! I am creating a brief story of my new kitten, Toby, and illustrating his bigger-than-life personality. It was pretty cool to find pictures that seemed to capture what I was thinking and envisioning for my tale. I can imagine students creating mini biographies using images from Flickr, and subsequently, presenting these stories to the class as an example of amazing creativity and a way to view themselves and their world. What a wonderful starting point for a student journey through a myriad of topics and issues. They could even follow this personal pictorial with a character pictorial from the text they are exploring. Now that's a destination I would like to visit.

Thing #10 Anything But Common

Wow! I am amazed and comforted that there are brilliant and creative people out in the world thinking about things like Creative Commons. I formerly believed that I, and all other teachers and students, would just have to take our chances and hope that what we used and sampled and modified would never be challenged based on copyright law. I have noticed CC on websites, but I think I just assumed it meant the same as C; I never even questioned it before now. I use audio and video clips from the web in my teaching, and now I can be relieved of culpability, real or imagined, by noticing the copyright status of the content I am interested in. I have also shared content on the web, again, with no thought of fair use. The web has the feel of a car; we are willing to curse at strangers and steal their lanes because we are insulated by the glass, plastic, and metal of our moving vehicle, and the insulation and anonymity of the screen/screen name feels similar. I think this is the potential danger of CC. Restricted use is still restricted, and the explicit permission granted by the CC is easily aberrated to include all uses. I definitely think the positive possibilities of CC outweigh the possible negative abuses.

Thing #6 Reader, Reader, Pumpkin Eater

Here I am again, correcting a mistake. Sorry- all of you fans and followers (the hundreds of you!)- I forgot to blog about thing 6. I have to say reading the posts that come in on my reader is a mixed bag. I love the feeling of being updated about everything and feeling in-the-know, but I now recognize that my brain will only hold a certain amount of information before it does a Spring cleaning. I believe that I will have to train my brain to process, file, and store blog updates and information in a new way. I am actually excited to imagine that I can build new neuro-synapses through this process. The think of interest I am most consistently excited about is the NPR updates. I am a total NPR nerd, and this makes me feel even more "connected"; I see the endless possibilities for people to become even more involved with things they are truly passionate about just by following reader post updates.

Thing #5- A Reader On the Reader

First, my apologies. I just noticed today that I am missing a post for things 5 and 6. I am rectifying that now. About the reader function in gmail: BRILLIANT! Anything that makes the overload of information less overwhelming and more managable is great. I find myself feeling satified rather than mystified when I am exposed to only the latest posts from sites and blogs I am interested in. I am having a great time reading the Literary Kicks posts. A complete literary/word nerd like myself is in heaven when I see a post entitled Does Literary Fiction Suffer from Dysfuctional Pricing?, and this site is full of things like this. It is finally a comfortable feeling to be linked to blogs because it is like having a subscription to my favorite magazines, and they are delivered daily. I am still struggling with the "read" function, and I have an overwhelming urge to click "all read" every now and then, but I think I will manage.

Thing #9- I Have Sand in My Shorts

What rock have I been living under that has isolated me so much from technology that everything about it- EVERYTHING- seems so foreign and difficult to me? I went to the sandbox, I took my shoes off, I stepped over the edge, and I found myself in a swimming pool gasping for air. O.K. I will forgo the drama for a moment to outline my experience. Thing #9 has taken me longer to complete than any other thing, however, I have been able to use what I have learned in previous things in a way that made my new skills feel practical for the first time. I think I get creating links now, and following the formatting instructions actually made sense as I completed each step in the sandbox page process. I played in the sandbox for a while and viewed the pages of others to get a feel for things, and I think I actually have a feel for things (in the loosest way possible). My sandbox page is as complete as it can be without Thing #10, and I will add that component as I can. I am cautiously excited that I am building something now, instead of the random wanderings I engaged in previously, but I stress the word cautious. I am curious to see when/if I recognize that Web 2.0 skills are in my grasp and applicable to my educational goals, for myself and my students. I am looking forward to playing in the sand and squishing it between my toes...I should probably take my shoes off first. That is the scary part.

Thing # 8

Wikis are a new and uncharted territory for me. I looked at several of the educational wikis on the list, and the variety of form and function was both amazing and intimidating. The "codeblue" wiki seems to be just a list of links, and though I am sure that is useful, I don't quite get how interactive it is. I saw the list of topics in the left frame, but I was not particularly intrigued because of the very "flat" look of the site. The "1001 Flat World Tales" site was much more engaging because it had a great look and the function of the site seemed organic and useful. I love the global educational opportunities this wiki offers, and it makes me want to create something like it, if only on a local/schoolwide scale; I can envision a vertical project like this one being successful in my department or school. The "Discovery Utopias" wiki is another site that is an epiphany of possibilities for student engagement. The nature of the site i.e. the discussion tab and left frame topics creates a rich and complete "world" in which students can be creative. It is the cure for the disease of lost creativity I bemoaned in an earlier post. All of the wikis get me thinking about ways in which I can use a wiki to enhance the educational experience of my students, but I have so many random ideas that pop up (everything from an ongoing writing workshop on rhetoric to an interdisciplinary wiki site that connects writing/literature and art) that I will have to explore more wikis and really plan for the learning outcomes I want. I know that I don't want something thrown together and half-baked; I believe that discourages wiki-curious teachers from giving wikis a shot.

Thing # 7: Commenting on Commenting

I want to post something that is occupying my mind since reading ninjamickey's Thing #7 post. How do I overcome in the blogosphere what spoken language so generously forgives? The mistakes: missed words, inability to spell, tangential thought processes, the randomness (and I argue, joy) of verbal conversation. We refer to blogging as "conversation", but a lazy neo-ludite such as myself finds it disconcerting, even scary to be launched into the strict and merciless world of blogging. Is this the creation of an insecure mind that knows colleagues and admired friends are viewing every mis-spelling and linguistic hiccup? Of course it is. All I can think of right now is how many words I butchered, and how many misused phrases I integrated into this diatribe! And so, how does this relate to commenting on the posts of others? It makes the process a bit forboding, ominous, alarming, terrifying, dismaying, intimidating...o.k., see what I mean? I actually looked in a thesaurus to make sure my list was descriptive enough. Commenting is putting yourself out there. Like my colleagues have pointed out, it is easier to make substantial comments on the blog of someone you know, in the flesh, but much scarier to post to someone who exists only in the great beyond of internet space and time. I know how Rhonda and Salinger and Ninjamickey will interpret and respond to what I post because they are "real", I can read their facial ques, sense the boredom or surprise or disgust in their sighs and eye-rolling. How will a blogging stranger take my typed banter and comment if they don't know my facetious (yeah, I looked it up) inflection and eyebrow raising? I am terrified. Perhaps it just takes guts and practice. Let's hope so.

Thing #4 Linking to a blog post

I feel more than a little hopeless that the education system can be improved when I see the way students are slowly (and sometimes not so slowly) being pressed into a uniform mold that strips away their curiosity and creativeness. I see it in curriculum standardization, staff development, and even in my own misguided attempts to plan lessons that make sure all students know the canon of knowledge I have decided is required. Kris Bradburn of Wandering Ink. outlines the "murder" of creativity using the book "How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci" as a lens through which education can be viewed and criticized. I was horrified as I read because I recognized every misguided teaching attempt that educators make, stuffing and pressing students into either a blob of blandness and robotic response or a sharp edge zealot, fanatically regurgitating pre-packaged knowledge bites that represent EDUCATION. What are we doing? What are we creating? What is the end result? My stomach turns as I have the inevitable panic attack that signals my inability to comprehend and cure for what feels like and incurrable disease, taking the art out of the artist.

Thing#2 Thoughts on Web 2.0

After I confronted my fear of the machine, and grieved the loss of the paper arts, I thought about how Web 2.0 will change education and communication for the better. I believe it will enable teachers to connect to an overlooked population of learners who feel either disconnected from or isolated by what will become the exclusive "antiquated" use of written and therefore static materials. Having said that, I fear the web-based world, even as I recognize that makes me distinctly out of touch. I don't know if my objections are fear based or elitist, but I wonder if I will be able to harness the obvious power of the new, ever-changing web 2.0 world in a way that is more than simply lipservice. I am not quite committed yet, but I am fascinated enough to want to explore more of this powerful system.

Learning Habits

The most challenging habit for me to employ is self-confidence. I am at heart a Neo-Ludite; technology has never been something I felt comfortable employing, and I am anxious about my ability to successfully learn and utilize new technology skills. I kind of "know what I know", and it is often an ego hit when I am outside my comfort zone. I think the most relevant habit for me as a lifelong learner is the habit of beginning and ending with the mind (goals). I live life in the mind, and work best when I set specific goals and work towards them. It would be a lie to say that I am always focused on the goals I have set, but it definitely a point of personal and professional growth for me to be goal oriented. I think that taking advantage of technology will be the most important habit I need to employ as I work through this course, and I am hoping that the "doing" will lead to understanding, and by extension, will reinforce the other lifelong learning habits.