Thing # 23

I can't believe I am at thing 23. This has not been easy or quick. I learned so many new things. I have more confidence in my ability to improve my knowledge of technology and I'm less afraid of it. I really want to try and use some of these strategies in my lessons. I hope this stays on the Library Resources page so I can go back and review if I forget how . The avatars were my favorite thing. Those are just fun. Lifelong learning is part of what I do. There are so many ways to apply that as a lifestyle in school and out. This exercise shows me that I am capable of learning on my own. That is my unexpected outcome. I think it might be nice to offer some classes on the harder exercises, specifically podcasts. I would participate in another online class. One word - Excellent.

Thing # 22

The Nings are so interesting. I have never subscribed to a social network and spend plenty of time chasing kids off of them when we do use computers in class. I really have no use for an unlimited number of "friends". These are different. The ning could be used to use technology in a constructive way. I can see using it for my Child Care class. We spend part of the week acting as classroom assistants at a preschool. Students could post entries about experiences at the preschool. They could answer a specific question or just do some journaling. This might encourage participation and lead to discussions that would enrich the experience for the entire class.

I visited the three nings. I was amazed at the numbers of participants on each one. I liked teacherlibrarian the best. It had the most interesting layout. I could have sat in front of that map all day. So many people have so much to share and I hope I will take advantage of this resource.

Thing # 21

Have fun? This is not fun. It is confusing and frustrating. I checked some other blogs to see if I could get some direction there, but was not able to find any help. I read through the information and watched the videos. The one on podcasts did a good job of explaining the concept. The book report was boring and monotone. I, for one, don't want to hear myself so I would probably never do a podcast and play it in class. This is something I need to see demonstrated in order to be able to do it. I'm going to have to get some outside help. I hope I can do it by July 30 since I am leaving town and won't be back until Aug. 6. Grrrrrrrr!

Writing From The Woods

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Thing # 20

It is official. I have reached my level of incompetence. I was able to go to youtube and teacher tube but I don't understand how to download and embed. I really think this is too hard to do on my own so I'm going to go and get some help so I can finish. Youtube has much more than lots of embarrassing videos of kids. I looked at several but didn't find anything that was particuarly useful for me. I found one called "Balanced Diet" on teachertube. It has pretty good information on food groups and is not too long. I could use that. I do hate the way they start and stop. It is annoying!

Thing # 19

This one is amazing. There are so many categories represented. This tool allows users to spend less time looking for the best sites. I went straight to food. My two favorites were imcooked and urbanspoon. I'mcooked is loaded with things I can use for my classes. There are hundreds of videos on technique. Most aren't professional chefs but there is a very good and short one on knife skills. Several I watched were funny and useful for pointing out mistakes or health violations. There is also a search engine to help me find exactly what I'm wanting to demonstrate. I'm going to show these using my projector. This is really fun. I love to read about restaurants and urbanspoon is all about Houston. Restaurants are grouped by price, location and type of food. This is a real find. Naturally I tagged them both!

Thing # 18

I looked at openoffice and google docs. I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by all these options. Both sites have pretty good tutorials but I would really like to take a class on these so that I could weigh the advantages of each. I'm a visual learner so I prefer to see how things work. I really don't want to register or download these. I am still learning to use the programs that came with the computer. I am amazed at what is available though.