Thing 23

This has been an exciting and yet exhausting course. Before beginning 23 Things, I had little knowledge of what Web 2.o had to offer. I struggled with many of the tasks, but was impressed with my ability to complete all the "'things" without going totally crazy. The tutorials were a big help!!! I have learned so much and I am so glad that I took this course. When I browse the Web now, I feel so much more educated when it comes to the language, terminology, and symbols that I come across...I know what it means!!!!

I know that I need a little more practice before incorporating some of these tools into my classroom. I know I want to start by adding a blog to my current web page with pictures and videos so that I can communicate more effectively with my students and my parents.

I think technology is very important for student success. Districts need to spend more time and money training staff with the necessary tools that would allow them to incorporate some of the things that Web 2.0 has to offer. It must also take a strong commitment from the staff, who may feel that there is already too much on their plates.

I will be sure to mention this course to my friends and colleagues. Thank you!

Thing 22

The link to my wiki is http://speechclassisfun.wikispaces.com/

I enjoyed using wiki and I think this is a great opportunity for educators to share our ideas with other teachers and others people who are interested in a specific topic. I am hoping to utilize wiki via my school web page in hopes of reaching parents who are concerned with their child's speech development.

Thing 21

One Wiki I found interesting was the Arbor Heights School District http://arborheights.wikispace.com/ . I felt it was not cluttered and it was easy to browse. It was also nice to see that parents appeared to be involved as well.

I also browsed a few sites from the Examples of Educational Wikis. I thought some of the school districts did a great job and it was nice to see that many were being run by the students. I also enjoyed looking at the pictures that some added to their site.

This would be a great tool to incorporate in any school district. I agree that it could increase collaboration between staff and it would increase student involvement with both their peers and with staff. What a great way to continue classroom discussions via the Wiki. I also like the fact that you can access a Wiki from any computer. The only downfall is the monitoring. It would take a dedicated staff to monitor regularly.

Thing 20

Since I enjoy watching Nova on PBS I decided to subscribe to it using iTunes. I like using iTunes because I am familiar with it and it's directory and iTunes store is easy to navigate. I did browse some of the educational sites that were recommended and found some I did like and others not so good (too long or narration boring). I am looking forward to incorporating podcasts with my students. I really would think my students would get a real thrill out of hearing themselves on the computer. The only downfall is that many of my students do not have access to their own computer.

Thing 19

I had a lot of fun browsing the many podcasts that were recommended. The first one I checked out was Mr. Langhorst's Web Classroom http://www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~elanghorst/blog. One part of the site I especially liked was his oral review of a test. What a great thing for students to take part in. This would really be good for struggling students who may miss important information regular class time and any other students who want the extra study time.

The other site I enjoyed was Storynory http://storynory.com/ I thought this might be cool for students when they are learning about fables etc.. I thought the narration of the stories were pretty neat. I think students might like the idea of hearing someone else read for a change.

Another site I enjoyed was Jamestown Elementary http://slapcast.com/users/Jamestown
How cool to have students do their own podcasts and have other people listen. What a great way to build literacy skills!! This would be great for my speech students.

Thing 18

I choose this slide show because I thought the pictures were fantastic. I really enjoy photography so this was very cool for me!!! I was amazed that I was able to embed the slide show with no trouble. I think I am learning something :)

Fantastic Photography

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: grandes paisajes)

Thing 17

The sites I browsed were Zoho Show, LibraryThing, 30 Boxes and Knowtes. Zoho Show looks like a great site if you want to do a power point presentation. I like how it helps you make decisions on layouts etc.. I really like LibraryThing. I know that I will go back and revisit this site. I like that you can get recommendations on books, you can tag your books and explore other peoples tags. 30 Boxes looks good too. This might be a great site to help you get more organized at home with dates etc.. When browsing the Knowtes site, I thought this would be a great tool to help students study for a test. I played around in it for a little bit, it was a little busy and I got confused at times, but with a little more practice, I might find it to be beneficial for myself and my students.