Reflections

• What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey? I really enjoyed Flicker and learning about different and creative things to keep my class interested and focused on learning.

• How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?this program really hasn't affected my goals it has just reaffirmed my idea that one can never stop learning.

• Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?I had no idea how many websites and programs were out there to help teachers. This has made me feel like I am not alone and that there are people out there willing to help me.

• What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?I believe that having to create so many different accounts on various websites was time consuming and unnecessary. Especially for the websites I did not enjoy and know that I would never visit again.

• How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher?This has taught me that there are no excuses for a boring classroom full of lecture. Teachers need to be on the hunt all the time for tools that will help their children.

Thing #23!!!!!

I believe that Creative Commons is a good tool to show students that you can legally use someone else's work for themselves. It is nice that in this day and age there are still people who want to share their ideas and ask nothing but to be mentioned. This is a god-send to teacher's who trade ideas all of the time. Now it is legal and easy to find ideas for the classroom

Thing #22

• Which podcast did you listen to? Math is Easy on Podcaastalley.com
• Which of the directories did you find the easiest to use? All of them were pretty easy to use I just had to update some of my software.
• Has this Thing inspired you to create a podcast yourself or with your students?I actually have already created a podcast for this class. I believe this is a fun way to have your students get involved with technology. I would love to have my students create their own podcasts. Also, for students with a visual or hearing visibility might benefit from having podcasts that the teacher has created just for them,
• Did you find a podcast that you might subscribe to and listen to regularly? I really didn't find one that I would use on a regular basis. Honestly, I am just too busy to be able to reap the benefits of podcasting.

Thing #21

Cesar and I

Hope you enjoy. I loved this site. If I was not a poor college kid I would be the pro version. But this is useful inside and out of this classroom.

Thing #20

I love YouTube. I use this site a lot. It is amazing to me how one can find educational videos and people pulling pranks on each other all in the same place. I chose this video because I created a lesson on the order of operations and thought it would be cool if I could find a video to share with my class. This website will be very useful in my classroom to show videos like this one about mathematics. Attached is the video that I chose. ENJOY!!

Thing #19

• Are you a member of any online communities?I became a member of TeacherPop and I am also a member of Facebook.
• Are any of these social networks appealing to you? I believe that teacher pop is a very cool idea. I love anything where teachers can come together and share ideas to help make there class more successful.
• What did you find that was interesting and that you might use later?I would use teacher pop a lot when I become a teacher. I think it is so cool how there are so many teachers who comment and tell others about useful websites and things for the classroom. I love how close teachers are. They stand together and really try and help each other succeed.

Thing #18

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=1302841003

Facebook is a fun site for teachers to connect with each other to share ideas and frustrations with their job. However, it is important to keep in mind that anyone can see these posts so one needs to always have a certain sense of professionalism when posting or commenting. Also, I believe that teachers do not need to become friends with their students. There needs to be a barrier so that student's and teachers know their role in the classroom.
I do not believe that these social sites should be in the school at all. There are too many negatives that could come from these sites and I believe school's should not encourage these sites any further.

Thing #17

Bookmarking seems like a good idea if you can save information by bundling and sharing it. On Delicious the tutorials helped me to understand why using features can be helpful in working with groups of people. Sometimes we are not able to look at always look at everything we want to and this bookmarking gives us the opportunity to come back at a later time and finish exploring or share what we have found with others.

Thing #16

• Which start page did you choose? Why did that one appeal to you? Will you make it your permanent home page? I decided to use igoogle to create my start page with. I added several gadgets to play around with like the weather gadget.

• How can the online calendars be useful to you?
  Online calenders can be helpful if you use your computer a lot and find it easier to see your calender as soon as you open up your Internet browser.

• What about the to-do lists—helpful, too much work…? I did not like the to do lists. I like to use pencil and paper and make out my lists. I have a laptop that I use for homework and things that require me to use my computer but i do not like to have to use it everyday and just find it must easier to carry around my list on a post it  note. if someone is attached to their computer this may be useful for them.
  
• Did you find a tool that has some uses for you at the school or at home? Which tool(s) would you recommend to others? I do like the weather gadget and there are many others that are fun and interesting for people. I just would not recommend this for anyone who does not plan to get on their computer everyday. To me it is a lot of unnecessary work.

Thing #15

I like the idea of wiki's. Being able to share and post experiences with friends or fellow teachers. I believe that it is just important to keep in mind that anyone can post on a page and this does not make them an expert in their field. It is the people's opinions and suggestions. I feel like their are many ways to have your voice heard now more than ever before which is a very good thing. However, I do not believe that I will use wiki's in my professional life at all. I just do not like the idea of having everyone see my posts and commenting on them. It is just a personal issue that I have. I believe some things I would like to ask my colleagues and not have them posted on the Internet.

Thing #14

Well I tried out bubbl.us and Gliffy. I like both the flow charts and the mind maps. I found the flow charts to be a little more organized and easier for me to sue and understand myself. These tools would be great for students who are trying to  map out how to write papers. I am wanting to teach at the middle school math level and could therefore use these tools to create charts on how to correctly solve math problems. the flow chart would be a perfect tool for the children to easily see the steps and how they relate to one another.