Is It the End, or Just the Beginning?

I am so glad that I did the 23 Things assignment this semester.  I was never too interested in computers (mostly because I did not know how to use the different applications in it), but now I am much more confident in my abilities. 

One of my favorites Things from this project was discovering the Animoto site.  I was amazed at how simple it was to create a decent-looking video that I was proud to show other people.  I know I will be using that site again in the future. 

This program has affected my lifelong learning goals because I now know that I do not have to be afraid to try new things on my computer, and that great things can come from using the resources around me.  This will influence my practice as a teacher because I now have multiple resources that I know I can turn to for good and useful information for my classroom.

I cannot wait to use Web 2.0 tools in the future.  I am excited to see where they will go and how I can use them in my future classroom.  This was a great experience and I am glad that I am now a more knowledgable person in the world of computers, and more specifically, all of the Web 2.0 tools that are out there.

Thing # 23

In order for me to figure out that the 23 Thins Blog was based on someone else's creation, I started looking in the 23 Things FAQ page.  When I was reading through the questions, I found one that asked about the 43 Things page.  This was an obvious indicator that the idea for 23 Things came from another site.  Since the 43 Things page was mentioned in the FAQ page, it is giving credit to that site, making it OK to use.  Now that I have knowledge on Creative Commons, I now know how to give people credit for their work properly.  I now feel more confident with using other people's work in my classroom in the future because I can give them the proper credit for their work.

Thing # 22

The titles of the binders I created are Web 2.0, Useful K-6 Sites, and Multiplication Sites.  I will admit that when I first started my account on LiveBinder, I was apprehensive.  I did not really see the use in it and was worried I would not like it.  It turns out, however, I was wrong.  I love that I can essential "bookmark" all of my favorite sites in one place and have them all at my fingertips. 
I tried to embed one of my binders on to my page, but I was having a lot of trouble with that and could not figure out how to do it.
I think that I would use this site in my classroom for many reasons.  It is a great way to stay organized.  I can keep all of my favorite websites in one place and be ready to use them whenever the opportunity arises.

Thing # 19

Overall, I think that TeacherPop is a useful site.  I like that there are multiple blogs, photos, and videos that I can view that can benefit my future classroom.  I decided to post my badge to my blog and upload a video to my TeacherPop page. 

When I explored the other social networks, I particularly enjoyed www.flixter.com.  I am a big movie watcher so I liked that it let me know how popular movies are, what is in the theatre, and what is soon to come out.  I also liked that I was able to search for movies by genre. 

The only networking sites that I am a member of are Facebook, Twitter, and TeacherPop.  I would say that I am definitely most active on my Facebook page, since I had this page the longest and I have more "friends,"photos, and videos on this site. 

Thing # 21

I am completely impressed with Animoto!  I never thought I would be able to create a video!  On top of that, I decent-looking video!  I enjoyed working on this Thing, probably more than any of the other Things.  One thing I instantly thought of when using Animoto, was that a teacher could use this when making, for example, an end-of-year video of the class including all of the things they've done that year.  Although that is just one example, this can be used in the classroom in more than one way.  I definitely plan on using the Animoto site again in the future in both my personal life and my professional one as well.

Thing # 20

I chose this video for my blog because, as it says in the description of the video, it is a homage to Web 2.0.  It shows how the computer and internet have evolved over the years and it shows the different sites and applications people use with Web 2.0 tools. 

Personally, I love YouTube.  I am constantly on this site, however it is usually for my own entertainment rather than informational uses.  I could very much so see how this site could be useful in the classroom, since it has millions of videos that can be used in educational ways.  Although there are many videos on this site that are extremely un-useful in the classroom, if you know what you are doing, you are bound to find something that could help you out.

Thing # 18

I have had a Facebook page for quite some time now, and I am pretty sure I have a slight addicition.  It is so easy to navigate and search for friends, interests, games, and even educational pages such as Cool Cat Teacher.  When it comes to Twitter, however, I did not have an account until I started this course.  I did find it to be very interesting, though.  Not only can you search your own personal interests, but you can also search educational pages, such as TeachersNet and educationnation. 

It is important for educators to know how to work social networking sites because if they are used correctly, it is possible to find pages that can help aid you in the classroom such as the ones listed above. 

This Thing did not really help me gain any new insights on Facebook or Twitter, since I have had both accounts for quite some time now (Facebook much longer than Twitter).  I would say that I like Facebook more than I like Twitter, simply because I am more comfortable with the site since I have had it longer.  I also think that while Facebook allows you to search for educational pages, I personally think that Twitter provides more in this area.  The pages like the ones listed above provide many different ideas and strategies that can be applied in the classroom.

Thing # 17

Social bookmarking is a great way to stay up-to-date on information relative to what ever topic it is you are interested in.  The first time I was introduced the social bookmarking was when I signed up for Diigo at the beginning of this semester.  I had absolutely no idea what the term "social bookmarking" meant let alone how it can be used.

Now that I an educated on what social bookmarking is, I can now use it effectively and to my benefit.  There is an obvious connection between social bookmarking and the classroom--sharing amongst other teachers!  This is a fantastic way to share useful sites, projects, teaching methods, and much more between different.  A teacher who teaches in Tennessee could have a really great lesson on volcanoes and be able to share that idea/lesson with another teacher who teaches in Nebraska!  It's a great way to be able to have the best information and receive it quickly.

When I typed "educational technology" in the search bar on the Delicious site, literally thousands of links came up.  Then to the right of the screen I noticed that you can narrow your search to something more specific like "science" or "brainpop."  This allows you to find what you are looking for more quickly.  Overall, I think sites like this and Diigo  are great ways to stay connected and relevant to the teaching community.

Thing # 16

For my start page I chose iGoogle, simply because I am more familiar with Google than any of the other choices.  I also thought that iGoogle was a little easier to personalize than the other sites.  I actually did set this page as my home page on my computer!  I thought that it was more visually appealing than my previous home page, and thought it would be a good idea to try it out for a few days to see how I liked it.

The online calendars can be extremely useful!  I know that many times when I want to write something down in my planner, I don't have it with me!  However, with an online calendar, I can upload my calendar from wherever I am and add to my calendar.  This also gives me the opportunity to check my calendar whenever I need to.

My favorite online to-do list was Remember the Milk.  This is probably because the title was the most interesting and the site was visually appealing.  I really like that you can load your list to your smart phone and have it with you when you shop.  I love this idea!

I think that the online calendars could definitely be used in the classroom--not for the student's benefitm but the teachers.  This would be a great way for him/her to stay more organized without having to keep track of a hard copy of their calendar.

Thing # 15

I have always felt weary of Wikis.  When you're in school, the teachers alway tell you not to use Wikipeida as a source when writing a paper; therefore, I have always had a negative connotation towards the term "Wiki."

However, after doing this exercise, I have discovered that Wikis are not always a bad thing.  When used in the right context Wikis can be beneficial when learning new things.  Collaborative work is a great way to study new topics and having a wiki page aids this effort.  I posted my mashup from Thing #8 on the APSU sandbox and I was impressed at how easy it way to go through that process.  I also enjoyed that I was able to look at what my other classmates are working on without having to go to each person's individual page--everything was right there on one page and made it very simple to look through.

I now know that Wikis are a great tool! 

Thing # 14

Flowcharts and mind maps are great tools in the education realm.  They are a great way to write your ideas down in a way that makes sense to you.  I chose to use Gliffy and bubbl.us as my flowchart and mind map sites.  Personally, I liked the bubbl.us stie to be easier to use.  I found it to be easier to navigate, and I have discovered that I like mind maps better than I like flowcharts.  Here is what I created on bubbl.us:

I thought this was user friendly and very simple to navigate.  I honestly did not even look at the mindmeister site because bubbl.us looked so much more appealing to me. 

These are definitely great tools to use in the classroom because it would be very easy to show a student either site I selected, teach them how to use it, and let them get to work.  Students could easily get their ideas written down and I think it could very much help them to stay organized, especially in something like writing a paper.

Thing # 13

I found the Zoho website to be quite interesting.  I loved that there were so many options such as the writing tool, a calendar, and a planner.  I found the writer tool to be great.  It seems so much like Microsoft word; that made it very easy to navigate.  I also enjoyed the calendar because, as I have said in a previous post, I'm all about organization.  The calendar seemed very well laid out and simple to follow. 

The drawing to the left is something I created using the Google Docs drawing tool.  I actually really enjoyed creating this.  I found it to be much simpler to use than the drawing tools on Microsoft word (the classroom drawing we did in class). 
Google Docs would be a great way for students to collaborate together in class.  For example, if  they had an assignment in class which required them to make some sort of creation, perhaps and emblem or a birds-eye view of a room the create, the Google Docs tool would be a great way to use that. 

Personally, I liked the Google Docs site better than the Zoho site.  I found that Google Docs was easier to use, and I thought that it would be easier for younger children such as the ones I plan on teaching to use in the classroom.

Thing # 12

Google is such an amazing resource, especially for teachers.  I chose to use the Google Calendar and the Google Translate.  I had previously talked about Google Calendar in my Thing 6 because it is what I chose for my emerging resource for Web 2.0 tools.  I love Google Calendar because it is such an easy way to stay organized.  I created a calendar previously, https://www.google.com/calendar/render?pli=1, and I was able to separate my different  tasks by color such as birthdays, holidays, and appointments.  This is awesome for teachers because there is so much work to do, it just makes organization that much easier.

The other tool I chose was Google Translate.  I have played with this before and I love using it.  I took French class in high school and I won't lie when I say that I have forgotten a lot of it.  It is nice to be able to type whatever it was I wanted to know in French and be able to refresh myself on how it should be said.  My link to this website is http://translate.google.com/#en|fr|Do%20you%20speak%20French%3F%0AWhat%20is%20your%20favorite%20color%3F%0AI%20love%20you.%0AI'm%20hungry.%0AI%20am%20a%20female%20American.  I wrote down a few things in English that I wished to know in France and they are written down if any of you would like to view it.  Google Translate can also be useful in the classroom.  Whether you are a foreign language teacher or you are teaching first graders how to count in Spanish, this tool can be used to aid you in that aspect.

I love using Google and I think that it is great that all of these tools are free to the public.  "Googling" things really is what the world has come to and that is definitely not a bad thing.

Thing # 11

I think that these search tools are a great resource.  Of the four that were listed on the 23 Things page, I found that I like using Topix.net and Technorati.com the best.  I liked Topix.net because I liked that on the main page, there was information based on the city you live in.  I simply put in my zipcode and as I scrolled down, I found the latest news on Clarksville, which I thought was great.  I liked Technoarti.com even more because I found a great blog for elementary school teachers on it called Primary Education Oasis.  I felt that Technorati was a little bit easier to use than the other search tools; it was more clear cut and I felt like the results found were more geared toward what I was looking for.  Topix.net did have many results on education, but not exactly what I was looking for. 

Thing # 10

I had always heard the term "RSS" before, but I never knew what it meant.  This tool is amazing! I love that all of my favorite sites are all in one place.  Now I do not have to have five different tabs open at once in order to look at all my favorite sites.  I am all for being as organized as possible and having my Google Reader account set up helps with that tremendously.  I love being able to read updates on all of my most often checked websites all at the same place.  Currently, I follow Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, Cool Cat Teacher Blog, ESPN.com, WSMV News, and The Weather Channel, along with the classmates I chose to follow at the beginning of this assignment. 

Having Google Reader can definitely benefit me in the future as an educator.  This would make it possible for me to link all of my favorite teacher-related blogs in one place and even be able to follow the blogs of fellow teachers.  This just shows another way the Web 2.0 tools help teachers become more advanced in their learning strategies and staying ahead of  the curve with the latest information.

Thing # 9

For  thing # 9, I decided to use the image generator website http://www.imagechef.com/ to create my different images.  I created some images for fun, such as the one to the left and I also created some that had the potential to be in a classroom setting, like the one below.  I had a lot of fun creating these images because, like many of the other projects we are working on, I had never used, let alone heard of these sights before. I think that image generator sights are a great tool.  I of course think that they could be used in a classroom or library setting.  I work in a library and I know that all of the time we are looking for new ideas and ways to create fun signs and these websites could absolutely hep in that aspect.  This goes the same for a classroom setting.  Teachers are always trying to create a colorful and exciting classroom and creating something using these websites could definitely help in that aspect.  They could even be on a powerpoint or other project that the teacher is working on.  This, of course, can also be used for personal use.  People can use this to create cards, flyers, or even to upload to their Facebook page.  These sights are surely a great way to stay creative and have fun. 

Thing # 8

I thought that creating this mashup was very fun.  I had never heard of mashups before so I quite enjoyed exploring all of the different websites and finding some cool ways to use them.  For no particular reason, I chose to use the website Spell with Flickr to creat my name.  I loved how many different options for letters there were and I enjoyed creating this.  I feel that using mashups could be extremely beneficial in the classroom because there are an endless number of things you can create with these tools.  I thought that it would be cool to use the Spell with Flickr tool to create different banners for your classroom or other different things.  The possibilities are endless.

Thing # 7

I found flickr.com to be a very useful site.  I had never used it before, so I was very interested in figuring out how it worked.  After creating an account I spent some time exploring different ways to search for pictures.  I have always found different photos of things in nature to be beautiful so I used the keyword "nature" to search for a picture that I thought I would enjoy.  Sure enough, I discovered an awesome picture of a duck swimming in crystal clear water.  I loved how sharp the image was and how you could see the water just rolling off of the duck's back.  This amazing picture was taken by Cubagallery and can be found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubagallery/4671360294/

I feel that this website could be extremely useful as a teacher because there are a limitless number of pictures that you can use for references and even to use as part of a lesson plan or to add to a powerpoint.

Thing # 6

I chose Google Calendar as my Web 2.0 site.  I chose this because I am very big on staying organized and I thought this was a great way to keep my thoughts in order--virtually.  It has many great features such as color-coding, multiple viewing options, and the ability to view it on your phone or gmail account.  You can also receive notifications via e-mail to remind you of upcoming events.  You can use different colors to associate with different genres, or even create two separate calendars altogether.  As for any dislikes, I do not have any at  this present moment.  I feel like the website was very thought-out and well designed.  It is simple to use, and a great way to stay organized.  I definitely feel that this can be used in a school setting.  Maybe not necessarily for a student, but for a teacher.  This is a great way to keep all of your things in one place, instead of having sticky notes everywhere or flipping through a paper calendar that sits under all of the papers you have to grade at your desk. 

http://calendar.google.com/

Thing # 5

I thought that the article Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators did a great job of expressing their belief in using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom.  They are correct in saying that if we as professional educators do not use the tools that are at our fingertips, our children of the future can fall behind.

"And for education not to step up and maximize these resources for teaching, learning, and driving innovation is to risk becoming marginalized as a viable influence in helping to shape the 21st century."  This sentence says it all.  Our world is rapidly changing and it is in part because of the use of Web 2.0 tools.  We are 'shaping the 21st century' everytime we get on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and many other Web 2.0 tools, and who's to say we can't use these resources educationally?

I also enjoyed the video at the bottom the Thing #5's page.  It did a great job in showing how different using pencil and paper is as to using technology.  Being digital is faster, easier, and it is much more versatile than pencil and paper.  It is so much easier to share your ideas with other people (in our case teachers) and get really help you in your future career.

In my opinion, School 2.0 means using the same basic concepts as Web 2.0 (blogs, chats, Twitter, etc) and applying them in the classroom setting.  Whether you are trying to communicate more effectively with parents or trying to get higher participation in your classroom, using School 2.0 resources can be extremely effective.  I believe that in the future, schools everywhere will be using these resources.  Some things are already being used in the classroom, but I think that they will take over completely before long, making a highly technologically-based and interactive classroom.

Thing # 4

Commenting is an important tool when you are blogging because it helps show other that you agree (or sometimes disagree) with the point they are trying to make.  It makes you, as the blogger, feel good about what you are writing and encourages you to write more because you know that there are people out there reading your blog.  You feel a sense of community because  you are creating a type of network full of people that share interest in what you are writing about, even if  you have opposing viewpoints.

I enjoyed reading the blog about how to get more comments on your own posts because not only do you need to comment on other people's post to create a community of commenters, but your posts need to be comment-friendly.  Also, when you get other people to comment on your posts, you may even respond back to them, making it a more conversational experience.  This is referring to tip #4- Interact with contents left.

Another point I found to be important was from the Cool Cat Teacher blog: create a hyperlink to what you are talking about.  I found this to be very interesting because if you are writing about something you are passionate about, posting a hyperlink supporting your idea really helps create validity in your viewpoint.

From the class, I am following Brandy Cardwell, Bretlea Appleton Education 3040, Chris Earheart, J Patterson Education 3040, and RKeithblog.  My two blogs I decided to follow outside of the 23 things community are Braves & Birds, a blog about the Atlanta Braves, and NFL Nation Blog, a blog that is about the National Football league.  I chose to follow these blogs because they are both things that I am very much interested in.

Most of the time when I commented on a blog, I was in agreement with the author of the blog.  It is nice to know when someone has the same viewpoint as you and I decided to let them know that I was in agreement.


When I commented on the NFL blog, I posted something about the Pittsburgh Steelers, my favorite team.  More specifically, I made a comment on their quarterback because everyone seemed to be talking about him because he is injured.

For my other blog I decided to follow, Braves & Birds, I made a comment about the Atlanta Braves.  I talked about how they lost and are out of the post season, something that recently happened and people are upset about.

Thing # 3

Blogs in my opinion could be extremely useful as an educator.  I feel like it could be used in a couple of different aspects.  Whether it is used for your students, parents, or even fellow educators, I think it could be very useful.

I think that if you are teaching in middle school or high school blogs could be a great way for you to reach out to your students.  Children of the younger generation are great at accessing this type of source and it would be an easy way for you to keep your students up-to-date on new/important information, or to simply keep them involved.

It might also be an easy way for teachers to keep in touch easier with their parents.  Having a blog that states all of the different activities and perhaps standards that you will be covering in class could help the parents feel like they are more aware of what their children are learning about and not having to rely simply on their child giving them a sheet of paper at the beginning of the month.

Lastly, fellow teachers can keep each other informed on different strategies they are trying, projects they are doing, and other things that teachers would like to share with fellow instructors.  Not only would teachers be able to share with local teachers, but teachers throughout the whole nation as well and I think that this could be very beneficial to all  teachers.

Thing # 2

Creating this blog was an interesting experience for me because I have never had a blog before. Creating was, for the most part, easy.  I hit a few speed bumps, but for the most part a sailed through the creation of my blog.  As I was creating this page, I decided to simply use ccasaday (the first letter of my first name and my last name) as my posting name.  I did this to keep my blog professional as well as making it easier for people to know who I am.  The name of my blog is Candice Casaday.  I did this for a similar reason as my posting name, to give people an easy way of knowing who's post they are reading. 

I was a little disappointed when I created my avatar.  Unfortunately, I could not find any hairstyles that looked like mine, nor could I find clothes that looked like something I would wear.  Therefore, I just created someone that looked as much like me as I could get it to be. 

Overall I would say that creating this blog excited me.  I am looking forward to being able to express the way I feel about the different assignments and I am looking forward to making my future posts.

Thing # 1

I found The tutorial to be very interesting.  I  thought there were good points made about being lifelong learners.  You never really know how much you actually learn until you think about.  I'm sure the old saying that "you learn something new everday" stands true, and this tutorial helped me to see that.  The habit that I found to be the easiest was to begin with the end in mind.  It is easy for me to have a goal and see myself doing it.  For example, I would love to learn to play the guitar.  I can see myself in the future playing my favorite songs, but then we get to the hard part: getting myself to that point.  The habit of accepting responsibility for my own learning seems to be the hardest thing for me.  Pushing myself to go out, get the guitar, and get lessons is something that I have yet to do, but wish I would.