Thing #23 - Comments on 23 Things

"23 Things should be required for any teacher in SBISD who teaches technology! It should be required for any teacher!!" That's my describe-the-program-in-one-sentence...

Yes, I would definitely participate in any subsequent Web 2.0 trainings/programs...this one was so helpful and enlightening! I enjoyed MOST of the "things", which made it well worth the many hours I spent. I would...and HAVE... recommended this program to anyone and everyone, even to those not teachers, or retired!

Thing #22 - Nings

I went to the teacher blogs on technology, but none had what I would like to find...video technology and/or broadcast assistance. I have to come up with lessons for the broadcast class and needed some ideas. I was hoping to find them there, but did not run across any that fit the bill. I created an account and if I run across any helpful blogs in the future, I will add them to my "Favorite Blogs". I love being able to insert my avatar into these projects!

Thing #21 - Podcasts

I used Photostory to make my movie. There were certain features I didn't like, such as the fact that every single title had to be formatted. I couldn't just copy and paste a formatted title onto another slide and then change the text. That was cumbersome. I also couldn't coordinate my sound settings with the settings the program kept using, so I was not able to get any sound or music on mine. I will work more on that when I don't have 24 hours to finish my 23 Things! :-)

Well, I tried to upload my movie to Switchpod, but it's the wrong format. I imported my video into Movie Maker successfully as individual slides, but was going to have to completely remake my movie! This is frustrating!

Thing #20 - Video Hosting Websites

After trying for over an hour to embed my video from TeacherTube, I have given up...and I thought I knew a lot about HTML. This one was too hard for my 50+ year-old brain...whoa! There it is!!! Hooray!

Thing #19 - Award Winning Sites

I went to see a Real Estate site called Zillow.com. I was able to look up properties in my daughter's home town and surrounding areas. (She is a house-flipper!) You can choose a maximum price range, bedrooms, baths, etc. Plus, you can select whether or not you want to see all available properties, or only foreclosures. It lists your selection and tells you how long it has been listed on the web site. It also gives you a satellite view where you can zoom in and out.

I'm not sure how valuable this site would be for my classroom, but the teacher sure could get a lot out of it!!

Thing #18 - Open Office & Google Docs

Open Office may possibly turn out to be the best thing since ClarisWorks Draw! I tried some of the tools and like it much better than the draw capabilities in Word. Does anyone know if I can download Open Office on all my lab computers? Computer Literacy has an Object Oriented Graphics segment that, in my estimation, has severly suffered since changing over to the Dells.

Google Docs also has a great deal of promise!! Two very exciting discoveries!

Thing #17 - Rollyo Customized Web Searches

This was a good one. I created a searchroll for my Multimedia kids that they can use when researching copyright laws.

Thing #16 - WIKIs

As I said in my contribution to the "sandbox", I think I might be able to encorporate a WIKI into my History of Computers segment. Maybe two or three students per group could add information they find on a particular person in computer history, like Babbage or Steve Jobs, etc. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!

Thing #15 - Libraries

It had not occurred to me that my two friends who are librarians at Houston Public libraries would not be having the same number of patrons visit their libraries as they had in the past. Of course! they would have fewer visitors! Patrons will find most of what they need with Google, but there is still that need for some human assistance, and I believe there are those of us who still need the comfort of a good book that we can hold in our hands, curling up on a soft chair, and escaping to another world by flipping pages...not having to scroll down...

Thing #14 - Technorati

Good source. I enjoyed exploring, and was even able to add my avatar to my profile.

Thing #13 - Social Bookmarks

"Delicious" (insert periods!) is great. I will enjoy using this tool and getting to know it better. This will be a very useful tool for my classes. In Computer Literacy, students can learn about social bookmarking during their Internet unit. Multimedia students will be able to bookmark relevant sites and access from home or library while doing research.

Thing #12 - Commenting

#9 on the "Ten Commandments of Blogging" is a good one. I would much rather read comments with some humor than "just the facts, Ma'am". Although I got some good pointers reading about the Ten Commandments, I didn't care for the comments left on that site when I was there! They were repetitive and just the thing it says not to do: "Yeah, me, too!", etc.!

The other site I got a lot from was the first suggestion on the CoolCat Teacher Blog: "Write a meaningful comment." Unfortunately, I often don't have time to give a great deal of thought to a meaningful comment spiced with wit and humor...so I generally leave without saying anything.

Thing #11 - Library Thing

I added my five books. Except for the "Cat Who" books, I guess I really enjoy learning about history while I read. I never paid attention during high school, so this must be the way I can get my history lessons! It seems that there are an awful lot of people who like my books as much as I do, going by the number of members who listed them.

Thing #10 - ImageChef

Blingy heart! I also found some cool stuff on Webfetti. Here's the link to the bling heart:
http://www.imagechef.com/ic/make.jsp?tid=Princess+Heart. Since I do Multimedia, this will be a good project for the kids to do during the Web Mastery part of the class.

Thing # 9 - Finding Related Blogs

I had a hard time with this one. Every one of the methods suggested for finding blogs gave me grief. All I wanted to do was to add Patsy Lanclos' main blog site to my Google Reader and I just danced around all she's got out there. I finally found one site using Google Blog Search and got it loaded onto my Google Reader, but it's not her main one. Blogline Search Tool didn't do anything for me. I plan to go through the Atomic Learning lesson on RSS after I complete the 23 things.

Thing # 8 - RSS

This is very cool. I have subscribed to the news bundle. When I went to the Iditarod web site, I didn't see the little orange icon I have to click on, so I guess they don't have that. I will start looking for the icon on my regular pages, though.

Thing # 7 - Google Tools

I teach and use Google Advanced Tools in my class, but was happy to learn more about all that is available. I signed up for a Google Alert to keep track of the Iditarod, which we also follow in class in the spring. I made a Google Notebook on the Iditarod as well.

Thing # 6 - Mashups and 3rd Party Sites

These all look great. I would like to try the mosaics when I have two minutes to work on them!

Thing #5 - Flickr

I spent entirely too much time finding a great picture. I also discovered I had used Flickr back in January of 2006, and had posted a picture of my niece!

Thing #4

I am not sure if I'm to post my comments on each thing on the Library2Play blog, or on my blog, so I'm going to do both...I am enjoying learning about blogs...my kids ask in class and I have been in the dark. Now at least I can communicate with them! Thanks!

Thing #3 - Avatar

I have some questions...why am I not on your list along the right side of your blog? Did I ever get correctly registered? (Oops...answered when I got to Thing #4.)
I was able to get my Avatar onto my new page, but I can't move her around to where I'd like it to appear. Any suggestions?

Thing #2

The easiest Lifelong Learning habit for me would have to be the Teach/Mentoring one. I have always enjoyed sharing my knowledge, and I love to teach. The most difficult one is being able to view problems as challenges...I view problems as problems...

Blog Overview

Objective:
I've felt for quite some time that people have a responsibility to share their skills if someone else would like to know, experience, or improve that skill. Especially in the area of crafts...there seem to be fewer and fewer people who can do the textile crafts listed below. Therefore, this blog is created so I can help people with their questions about textile arts and, my other love, technology. Although this is only a partial list, I am happy to share what I know and to help others on the crafts and skills listed below. If your question is beyond my skill level, or if the textile or technology subject is not listed below, I can certainly try to find the answer for you!
Textiles:
Crochet
Knitting
Quilting
Sewing
Embroidery
Technology:
Mail Merge
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Word
Web Page Creation & Management