The assignment was to create an account with Delicious and see what information we could find using the search "educational technology." This was my first time and the site and I really liked it. The screen wasn't cluttered and navigation was fairly easily to follow.
I found several interesting article. One that I thought tied nicely into our course of study was discussing how to use Facebook in the classroom. Another that I particularly liked went to EduHound which had links to a ton of different activities.
I think this site could be useful for linking, researching and sharing information in the classroom. It's definitely a site I'll be returning to for future exploration.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Thing 16
I've used Mint in the past and I like it pretty well. There is always concerns that your personal info can be stolen since you're storing it online but, honestly, anyone trying to skill my credit cards are gong to be hugely disappointed in how little they get I'm not overly worried about it.
I downloaded "Remember the Milk" (RtM) to my phone and I like it a lot. You can write to-do lists in Notes but they don't transfer from day to day so they aren't as useful as they could be. RtM allows you transfer from day to day and prioritize so you know what must be done and what should get done. RtM allows me to modify, have set weekly tasks, plan the week in advance and have the wonderful sense of satisfaction of checking it complete. Of all the option, I like this one the best.
I use my phone calendar and I would truly be lost with out it. I'm in the 'if it's not broke, don't fix it' category with most things. If you haven't set up a calendar I think an online one is great to start but I don't think I'll be switching out from what I currently use.
Lifehacker is a pretty good site too. There's lots of instructions for just about anything. I end up there a lot when I'm googling how to do something.
The personalized start-up page was not a big hit with me. I have Windows 8 which is a similar concept and I try to have as few tiles as possible. Mostly it's just an aesthetic dislike with me rather than an issue with functionality
I downloaded "Remember the Milk" (RtM) to my phone and I like it a lot. You can write to-do lists in Notes but they don't transfer from day to day so they aren't as useful as they could be. RtM allows you transfer from day to day and prioritize so you know what must be done and what should get done. RtM allows me to modify, have set weekly tasks, plan the week in advance and have the wonderful sense of satisfaction of checking it complete. Of all the option, I like this one the best.
I use my phone calendar and I would truly be lost with out it. I'm in the 'if it's not broke, don't fix it' category with most things. If you haven't set up a calendar I think an online one is great to start but I don't think I'll be switching out from what I currently use.
Lifehacker is a pretty good site too. There's lots of instructions for just about anything. I end up there a lot when I'm googling how to do something.
The personalized start-up page was not a big hit with me. I have Windows 8 which is a similar concept and I try to have as few tiles as possible. Mostly it's just an aesthetic dislike with me rather than an issue with functionality
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Thing 15
It may sound silly but I had no idea there were any other wiki besides 'Wikipedia'. "Everyone knows" that you are not supposed to cite Wikipedia as an authority but there is no such rule against reading it. When I am trying to find out more information on a topic I often start with a Wikipedia entry which it great for background information and reference cites for other material. Beyond that, I didn't know that wikis were a thing.
They are a thing! They are a great thing! I spent a big chunk of time wondering around http://resourcesforhistoryteachers.wikispaces.com/. They are chock full of information for all grade levels. In particular I liked poked around the political science and economic links. I think I've said this in other posts but the amount of material available is almost overwhelming. For just about any subject there are teaching resources for the taking so long as you are willing to put in the tiniest bit of effort. I'm sure once I'm in the classroom I will find a million and one things to do but there are lesson plans for all subjects and wiki sites are a terrific place to start looking at a few.
They are a thing! They are a great thing! I spent a big chunk of time wondering around http://resourcesforhistoryteachers.wikispaces.com/. They are chock full of information for all grade levels. In particular I liked poked around the political science and economic links. I think I've said this in other posts but the amount of material available is almost overwhelming. For just about any subject there are teaching resources for the taking so long as you are willing to put in the tiniest bit of effort. I'm sure once I'm in the classroom I will find a million and one things to do but there are lesson plans for all subjects and wiki sites are a terrific place to start looking at a few.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Thing 14
I'm almost embarrassed to admit that prior to this Thing I hadn't heard of the term 'mind map'. I can see how something like that would be good for brainstorming ideas. It could also be very useful in determining how to organize a presentation or research paper. The flow chart is always a useful thing when it comes to organization or teaching a linear topic. Here's a flow chart:
Next, I tried a mind map:
I can definitely see how both of these tools would be very useful in the classroom. They are, however, tools that I need more practice using.
Next, I tried a mind map:
I can definitely see how both of these tools would be very useful in the classroom. They are, however, tools that I need more practice using.
Thing #13
This post's assignment is to look at Google Drive and create a document, drawing or presentation.
Here's a drawing that I did:
Here's a drawing that I did:
I thought Google drive was just as easy to use as Word or OpenSource or any other document service. I looked at Zoho but you needed to create an account to look around. I'd prefer an option of 'test-driving' before signing up for yet another account.
Google Drive could be very useful in the classroom. Students would be able to work on projects together, from accessing shared Drive, thus allowing class-time to be used on other projects. It could also allow for real-time editing of projects and teachers. Students, for example, could turn in rough drafts, see the editing done by the teacher, and then modify immediately without the hassles of emailing documents back and forth.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Thing #12
If I counted it out I probably google upwards of 20 times a day but that's probably a conservative estimate. When I'm too lazy to look in the official statute book I will search for "Kentucky Revised Statutes." When I need a new recipe I'll immediately google one. It is my go-to resource. I think it's utterly amazing that we have the world at our fingertips for the searching. If I need to know some random fact about some random thing it's just waiting to be searched. I fairly certain once I'm in the classroom and someone has a question my response will be "Let's google it!"
I set up several Google alerts. Some are for the EDUC 5500 class like "bilingual education" and "school to prison pipeline." Those will be particularly useful in the next few weeks while I work on my topic presentation and research paper. But I did set up a news alert for "cows". I have a theory that cows are the placid, easy-going bovines harmlessly grazing in the field. What they really are sinister beings plotting our demise one or two people at a time. I read (and post to Facebook much to my friends' chagrin) all the articles I come across about 'cows gone wild'. I'm sure my friends will be thrilled to find out I won't be missing any future news stories.
I also explored Google Books. I wanted to see if I could use phrases to pull up books or poems. My grandmother and then mother used to say an old nursery rhyme to us when we were little so I typed in "there's a wise old owl in the tree". The first link is for the Northwest Journal of Education, Volume 15, page 13 published in 1903. Here is that link: http://books.google.com/books?id=fukBAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA13&dq=%22there's+a+wise+old+owl+in+the+tree%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NQElUvqfAsissQS8-4CoDg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22there's%20a%20wise%20old%20owl%20in%20the%20tree%22&f=false. When I typed in "the wise old owl in the tree, in the tree" a link to an storytelling resource was the first site. Here's that link: http://hive-arts.org/resources-links/some-favs-fingerplays-nursery-rhymes/autumn-near-the-hive/. The version from the hive is slightly different than my grandmother's and mom's but here is it copied from the site with my remembered changes. It's said very quietly until the "WHO" which is said much louder. No matter how many times we heard it, we always jumped at the correct time.
A wise old owl in the tree, in the tree.
And he sits quite still all the day
His wise old eyes look at you and me
In the most surprising way
And when all the world goes to sleep at night.
And there isn’t even a ray of light.
Mr. Owl hoots up sets his wings for a flight
WHOOO says the owl in the tree.
I think these sort of tools could very useful in the classroom. Google alerts could be set up for current events projects and research projects. Google Books has a great wealth of material which could be used for the same.
I set up several Google alerts. Some are for the EDUC 5500 class like "bilingual education" and "school to prison pipeline." Those will be particularly useful in the next few weeks while I work on my topic presentation and research paper. But I did set up a news alert for "cows". I have a theory that cows are the placid, easy-going bovines harmlessly grazing in the field. What they really are sinister beings plotting our demise one or two people at a time. I read (and post to Facebook much to my friends' chagrin) all the articles I come across about 'cows gone wild'. I'm sure my friends will be thrilled to find out I won't be missing any future news stories.
I also explored Google Books. I wanted to see if I could use phrases to pull up books or poems. My grandmother and then mother used to say an old nursery rhyme to us when we were little so I typed in "there's a wise old owl in the tree". The first link is for the Northwest Journal of Education, Volume 15, page 13 published in 1903. Here is that link: http://books.google.com/books?id=fukBAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA13&dq=%22there's+a+wise+old+owl+in+the+tree%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NQElUvqfAsissQS8-4CoDg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22there's%20a%20wise%20old%20owl%20in%20the%20tree%22&f=false. When I typed in "the wise old owl in the tree, in the tree" a link to an storytelling resource was the first site. Here's that link: http://hive-arts.org/resources-links/some-favs-fingerplays-nursery-rhymes/autumn-near-the-hive/. The version from the hive is slightly different than my grandmother's and mom's but here is it copied from the site with my remembered changes. It's said very quietly until the "WHO" which is said much louder. No matter how many times we heard it, we always jumped at the correct time.
A wise old owl in the tree, in the tree.
And he sits quite still all the day
His wise old eyes look at you and me
In the most surprising way
And when all the world goes to sleep at night.
And there isn’t even a ray of light.
Mr. Owl hoots up sets his wings for a flight
WHOOO says the owl in the tree.
I think these sort of tools could very useful in the classroom. Google alerts could be set up for current events projects and research projects. Google Books has a great wealth of material which could be used for the same.
Thing #11
I used Technorti and BlogSearchEngine.org to look for feeds. Both sites were easy enough to use and fairly self explanatory but I liked BlogSearchEngine.org best. Technorti brought up plenty of options but they were all general. The tags were nice but not tagged for what I was looking for. BlogSearchEngine.org came back with options closer to what I was looking for in blogs. I found several politics news feed, both conservative and liberal like Reason and Slate, and I also found several teaching blogs that look interesting. My favorite was a link that led to a Pinterest board titled "Creative Teacher Blogs" so it's the best of both worlds there. When I used Google Blog search and typed in "teaching high school government" it was mostly posts ranting about the uselessness of teachers and the evils of teachers' unions or extolling the benefits of unions. I just closed the tab and went back to the other two options. On unrelated to class searches I found an recipe site for clean eating that looks good.
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