Summary!!

Is it really the end or really the beginning? That is a good point. I feel like since the 23 things blogs are over that this is the end, but I will be using many of these tools in the future and in my classroom. I learned so much from these sites and although I was frustrated some of the time, I was able to figure most of the things out. My favorite things in the course were using animoto, you tube, and remember the milk. My lifelong learning goals were affected by a few of the sites, I would use them in the future to organize my lessons or lesson ideas for the classroom. I was surprised by the fact that I could write in this blog like I have been and keep it up! I said I would never use a blog, but I guess since I had to for the class it kept me motivated to keep going. I did learn alot in this class with the 23 things, and most of the things I have never even heard about before! I will keep up with developments in web 2.0 by checking out diigo as much as I can. Every semester new students will post new links to sites that could be beneficial to me. Some days were harder than others, but some were more fun than others. Overall, it was a journey where I learned alot and I will take these experiences with me in the future.

Thing # 23

http://resa-23things.blogspot.com/
As educators, we all should be familiar with creative commons because it's important to set examples of not plagiarizing. Our students need to know the consequences of plagiarism and the rules to follow so that they do not get stuck in a situation in which they may be confused on the matter. Creative Commons is really helpful because it narrows down for students their options on what they can choose to help them with their work. Sometimes it's hard to determine what is up for usage and with creative commons, everyone can benefit from sharing their work because the rules are followed and everyone basically gets what they want. As an educator, I would use creative commons in the classroom so that specific authors can benefit from their work being shared correctly and the students can benefit from using photos, for example, on a project to display their points. We can also get ideas for our classroom or teaching it is all up to the author.

Thing # 22

http://livebinders.com/shelf/my
The titles of my binders are livebinders blog, which is a site where teachers can get advice on how to work and use their livebinders. The second one is the apsu 23 things binder which is helpful for us because we can follow each other and get advice from our peers. The last binder is reading rockets which is an extremely helpful site for students, teachers, and other educators like librarians and speech pathologists. I would also use the reading rockets site to look up book choices for my students or to get helpful study advice for the class. On the other tabs I posted sites such as hippocampus and another educational website. These sites provide grade level material and special education links that can assist educators in the classroom. The other livebinder is your first binder and it's basically a beginners guide to starting and setting up your binders. I would use livebinders in the classroom for lessons because you can plan ahead of time and get all the information you need and save it into your binder. Once you begin you can pull up anything that you need because it is all saved in one location. Students can also use the site to help them store information in  one area and keep it all organized. I personally would not use livebinders in the future, unless I had more patience! It was very frustrating to work with this website because it's confusing! I was not able to embed the icon and link to my blog with one of the livebinders, so I posted the link to the livebinders site, with my 4 choices.

Thing # 21

Guatemala
I loved using animoto. I would use this site for my own personal use and I would use it in the classroom as well for educational purposes. It's super easy to use and it's FUN! I used pictures from my mission trip to Guatemala.

Thing # 20

After searching around YouTube, I did a search on autism and speech therapy. I chose this video because several individuals commented and left feedback. I think that the advice on teaching the nouns to the child the way that the therapist did were helpful because some people learn by hearing sounds and by seeing pictures of the object and they can match the two up. Videos like this can be helpful for me and I can also share my experiences and advice through YouTube. I like using YouTube because you can find ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. Sometimes negative footage appears like violence, so one would have to be careful when doing a search. Students can use videos in powerpoints or presentations, which I have done before. They can be great resources when used properly! Overrall, I love YouTube!

Thing # 19

I joined TeacherPop, and I left a comment on their page.

The other social networking sites are great because they can match up to your interests. I'm not a member of any of the sites listed, but I have used IMDB before to search for movies or actors. I liked project playlist because it's free and lists tons of different artists. You can even set up your own playlist to what you prefer. I have also used Yelp as well. It's a great site for finding any place you want to go! I used it when I was travling in the summer and was searching for a place to find breakfast. All you need is an idea of your destination and where you are located (city, state) and it lists tons of restaurants or coffee shops. I would probably use many of these sites posted, except for fuzzster.com. I don't have any pets right now so I find this to be more useful for the pet owners to share information and advice with one another.

Thing # 18

When facebook was becoming a big thing with everyone my age, I admit that I was still living in the myspace days, and I didn't want to join the facebook world. I decided to join to stay in touch with friends that had moved away and talk to family that was out of state. Facebook is a great way to share photos and videos, but it is more of a site for younger people. I wouldn't use it for any educational purposes. Twitter is a different story. I refused to make a twitter account because I thought that it was completely pointless. However, after being in this class and having to follow edcational twitters, I realized that it can be used as a great resource. I began to follow many SPED educators and speech-pathologists who would share their stories or advice. I still don't really "tweet" because I don't have any idea what I am doing, so I just read what everyone else has to say. It's important for educators to be familiar with how social networking works, especially twitter. They can stay informed and post on up to date information and ideas on certain issues, subjects, and advice. Teachers can also use these types of sites to inform students or other educators on assignments or things that they need to be aware of. Some may even have their students create accounts to share information. I personally wouldn't have my students do that, but I would use the site myself as a tool to gain information and ideas.

Thing # 17

The Delicious social bookmarking website can be used as a tool for the classroom. Teachers can tag certain sites and share them with other educators or even with their students. Students can also use this site as a helpful resource to gather information and keep it all in one location. It's great because information that you need can be accessed from any computer. You never have to worry about being frustrated with finding that one site that is hiding under your favorites! Teachers can use this site to search for topics under their own subject area or what interests them and they don't have to worry about going through sites that are going to be a waste of time. I would personally use this site for myself in my free time to do assignments or find information. I would also use it in the future as an educator.

Thing # 16

I chose to use iGoogle as my start page because I am familiar with Google. It's a good way to stay connected with news and information. You can customize it to your educational interests with iGoogle and take away or add things that you want to display. I would use it as my homepage because as soon as I logged into the internet I would be informed on current events in the educational field. Online calendars and to do lists are very useful to me! They help me stay on track with my goals and standards. I would definitely use them for the classroom. For example, you could print off a blank calendar sheet and have the students fill in their homework assignments or you could even scan them yourself and print off copies for the students. I love to use Remember the Milk. It is a great to do list, and even comes in app form, which I use regularly. They are great to use for personal reasons as well. I don't think they are too much work, but that is my opinion. It might vary for different people, but I try to stay organized as much as I can. It can be hard to sometimes when things get stressful, so these sites and calendars can be helpful. I would recommend them to others for sure! Google Docs is also a great site to use for your own personal use and in the classroom. I would say it best comes in handy when you don't have access to a reliable word document, excel, or PowerPoint. It is so similar to those documents that you can hardly tell the difference.

Thing # 15

By using, Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki, it can be useful for librarians and educators to collaborate with each other on different ideas and thoughts. They can manage, organize, share, and edit each other’s thoughts on different topics and issues. They can also post advice on book discussions and recommending books. Teachers can be involved with the site by collaborating with them and editing information when new updates are out or have been changed. I would use a Wiki for sharing my own personal experiences and information on certain topics. I would use them in the classroom to share my educational advice and get helpful tips from other educators. I thought that it was interesting that you can edit another person’s information. It can be helpful when others are collaborating on the same topic at the same time, so the information is current and up to date.

Thing # 14

I chose to use the Venn diagram from gliffy.com. Since I chose third grade reading to be my main area of focus for the class, I created a diagram that displayed the similarities and differences between the characters of Charlotte's Web. If I were to use this diagram in a classroom setting, I would print off blank Venn diagrams, and have the class fill in what they thought were differences between the three characters and what they thought were similar characteristics. The mind map from, bubbl.us, is a great site to use for mapping out ideas or outlines of a certain topic. It can be helpful if you are studying something to plan out the different characteristics and what categories go where. I would use this site for personal studies to study dates or methods.

<iframe src="http://bubbl.us/view/7c5f9/ec3a1/50ciYyjUHoM7A/" width="600" height="400"></iframe>
Each can be used in a classroom setting or for your own personal use!

Thing # 13

Zoho is like a huge Microsoft word document that is easily accessed throughout the web. It's a lot like Word and contains formatting tools and font specialties. It even has ways to publish your file through Zoho to your blog. The fact that one can use this site to create and share documents over the internet without the need of the installation of desktop programs, for example, Microsoft Word, is a great resource. It makes things so much more convenient and easier! In the Google Docs, I was able to create a PowerPoint. I wanted to make it simple, so I just listed a few things on the slides about Google Docs, and how they are useful to us. Students can collaborate using this site because not only can you create power points, but you can make spreadsheets, documents, forms, and also draw! Students can work together to share information and it's very convenient because these documents can open easily through Google Docs, so there is no worrying about if your PC will be able to run the programs or if you will have to find a computer that has them already loaded. I prefer to use Google Docs out of the two, because I am more familiar with the spreadsheets and PowerPoint layouts. They both are extremely easy to work, and I am fortunate that I have the opportunity to use these sites to my advantage. I unfortunately have never used any of them before!
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=dgp7qmbs_0g3jvp6gr

Thing # 12

This has so far been my favorite activity out of the 23 things! I really enjoy using the Google Translator. I have used it before, when translating from English to Spanish. It's a great resource when it comes to the classroom because if students are having trouble with an assignment, they can translate a phrase or word. Teachers can also use the site as a reference to other translations of different languages and they can teach their students about it. http://translate.google.com/#en|es|Hello.%20My%20name%20is%20Kellie.%20I%20really%20love%20to%20use%20
the%20
Google%20Translator!%20It's%20really%20fun!
The iGoogle site is very resourceful as well because you can display all of your favorite interests or categories in one location. If you're an educator then you can have all of your important sites and favorite references right at your fingertips and receive constant news feeds and updates. http://www.google.com/ig

Thing # 11

I found that by using Google Blog Search, that is was definitely the easiest. I am assuming that since I have just always used Google in the past to search for topics, that I am more familiar with it. I did actually find several good resources for blogs by using the Google Blog Search. Topix.net was a good site to use as well; I found a few sites that can be useful to me as an educator. Syndic8.com was confusing and not very helpful to me because I couldn't really find my way around the site. I did not like Technorati because everytime I opened the site it would kick me off the internet. I found the Google Blog Search to be the best for me personally, because I was familiar with it and it's easy to use. I discovered that the article, http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/107737.aspx, could be very useful to me in the future as an educator. It discusses different books that a special education teacher can choose for their students.

Thing #10

I like that RSS is a quick and easy way to gain access to information. It's beneficial to us because we can use it to our advantage in the classroom or in the library. We can easily access any information that interests us because it is all in one convenient spot. We can use these in our personal lives and in our educational jobs as well because all of our information that we want to save or use can be easily accessed in one location. We can also have constant feeds coming in from many different or similar interests. Teachers can use this to locate information easily and take advantage of the other aspects that are available. It's a great and useful site!

Thing # 9

I found Image Chef, http://www.imagechef.com/, to be a fun site to play around with. It's a great site to use in the classroom because it has a fun artsy feel to it and it's a way to express yourself. There are ways to create photo frames, word mosaics, and slideshows. Teachers can use the site for themselves to create fun projects for assignments or they can have their students find something from the site to express their information that they took after learning a certain topic. There are many reasons why we could use this site, one being that it is a fun way to be artistic and use animations. I chose to use the word mosaic in ImageChef because it seemed fun to use and experiment with. I created a Happy St. Patty's mosaic, I think it's a great way to display certain holidays, birthdays, or celebrations in the classrooms and help everyone to learn about each other.

I created this awareness ribbon because it is important that we have knowledge in all forms of teaching and they we are familiar with disabilities.

You could definitely use these links to your advantage personally, or they can also be used in the classroom or the library. For example, they can be used to help establish awareness on certain issues or important topics or they can also be used to help study certain celebrations around the world.

Thing # 8

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59478291@N04/5444071852/

I had some fun with Big Huge Lab's create your own jigsaw puzzle. You can upload a photo from your computer, and it will turn it into a jigsaw puzzle. There is a way that you can have it ordered and delievered to you, so it could be a great game or learning activity in the classroom. After you make the puzzle, you can have it framed on the wall! I was able to create it in the Big Huge Lab's website, but it let me link the photo to Flickr so I could save it, and copy the link. I would use this site, among the others, for personal as well as for the classroom. If students were learning about a certain place or animal, it could be searched online in a photo, put to a puzzle, and then the students could create their masterpiece! Even if it were to spell out a word or a phrase, it would still be a great way for them to learn.

I like sharing photos online; I do it more with friends or family, not necessarily to the public. However, if it were for educational purposes then I would definately open up my pages to those seeking advice or for myself. These sites are a great way to share information and they can be great learning techniques.

Thing # 7

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59478291@N04/5443835010/in/photostream/
I have never used Flickr before, but I have heard about it from friends. I think that it is a great site for photo sharing and tagging. It's also a great video place! I can see myself using this site in a classroom setting because it seems alot more safe than what some people may use to search for photos. I created an account in Flickr, and I uploaded a picture from my trip to Guatemala. I was in Antigua, Guatemala and there was a gorgeous volcano in the background. I have used a site similiar to this called photobucket. It has photo sharing capabilities and you can store/upload photos as well. I really like photobucket, but I think that Flickr is my new website. It's really fun, and alot like facebook in that you can tag others. I would use this in my classroom to upload pics and store them for certain lessons. When it comes to sharing photos, I'd never post something that I didn't want others to see (good/bad). I used myspace in the past to share photos, and I use facebook now. I think that those are more social and definately more public. I like Flickr because it's very safe and private, but you can also decide to share with everyone.

Thing # 6

I came across a site that was very useful to me! Evernote, is a website that lets you save your notes, photos, ideas, thoughts, etc.! Anything that is helpful or you enjoy can be saved, tagged, or bookmarked though this website. It works with nearly every computer, mobile device, and even comes in app form (already got mine!) It basically helps you to remember anything/everything so there is no way to forget it! The only thing that I dislike about it is that in order to upgrade or expand more options is to download more apps or go to other websites to download their information to be compatible with Evernote. This is only if you want to explore what else is out there and create more opportunities, say if you own a business or are an educator, and want to incorporate more. I'd say that it would definitely be worth it though! What I found to be extremely useful is the fact that you are able to tag/bookmark certain things. For example, say you need to find your source of information in a matter of minutes, but can't remember what page number or book it is in. You can simply go to http://evernote.com/, log in, and everything you saved is right there waiting for you! I can definitely see this site being useful in a classroom/library setting. It is actually used in schools/businesses/teams with sponsored accounts today called, Evernote Premium. It's very safe and secure; all you need is your log in name/password. It holds up to 500,000 notes, photos, and can capture/share whiteboard discussions.

Thing # 5

School 2.0 to me means that there is a new direction that education is taking for the future. Since society has moved into an informational economy, there has been an increase in the technologies that we are using, and what we will be using in the future. In the past, one was able to receive their education in the classroom or library, but we are in a new day and age where we can locate any information from our home or around the world. It is not just limited to one place anymore, which makes it such a great opportunity. In What is Web 2.0, the video demonstrated that the internet has grown into such a vast form of a way to access information. In the past it was considered to be the read only web/web 1.0, because there was a difficulty in expenses. However, web 2.0 was created which can include sites like teacher-tube, flickr, facebook, blogger, etc. In today's world, students, teachers, and administrators can turn in their pen and paper to use blogs, podcasts, and even student/educational networking sites to learn. In Web 2.0 Is the Future of Education, schools of the future will be more apt to wanting more technological advances in their classrooms because it helps the student feel more engaged in activities. It also helps to unravel their imagination, which can help them to want to learn and be more active in participation activities.

Thing # 4---so many things to do in this thing!

Commenting helps to create a sense of community and interaction because it unites people from all over the U.S. and even the world to discuss matters that interest them the most. They are able to interact through comments. The importance of commenting is crucial to blogging. If you want your blog to be resourceful and successful, then you want people to read and comment on it. It's important to care about the topics that you discuss, so that they will be interested in wanting to know more about you and what's really behind that blog. Commenting someones blog can cause them to want to continue to blog! Once the conversation is started, it can blossom into an amazing story of information. It can be a great way to bonce ideas off one another and share information with someone that you have a lot in common with.

I chose to follow Theresa Green, Jorge Jimenez-Cano, Korina Biemesderfer, Melissa Clemens, and Amber Kerns. I chose to follow (from outside the group) Jill Haney and Jerry Webster's blogs on SPED.
Theresa Green and I share so many similar thoughts and attitudes about blogs (the good/bad) however, we both agree that they can be great tools for the classroom.
Jorge-Jimenez-Cano's blogs really were a reflection about his profession and it showed that he is really dedicated to learning the different aspects of technologies in education.
Korina Biemesderfer's blog is creative, just like her, and I have the same opinions with her, as with Theresa, on how blogs can be essential to the classroom. I also found blogs to be a great way to share photos, videos, and other useful things other than just words!
Melissa Clemens blog is very colorful and bright. She listed the reasons why it's important to blog and comment, and she has a great way of wording her thoughts.
Amber Kerns blog is similar to how I view my own opinions of myself. It's much easier when we come across a problem to see it as another situation that we must deal with, but it is only a life-long learning experience that we must face.
Jerry Webster's blog discussed in one of his previous entries about a man named O. Ivar Lovaas, who developed a therapy for autism. He passed away recently at the age of 83 in California. He was a great individual who changed the way that people viewed autism. He published an article that basically stated that it can be treated and he also reported that after training children had been able to catch up with their peers.
http://specialed.about.com/b/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/health/23lovaas.html?_r=2
Jill Haney's blog is quite interesting as she talks about her two chilren, one is autistic and one is nonverbal. She mentions that while she is still getting through the ups and downs of Excel, her daughter has already mastered her Wii and DSi games. Her son, before the time he was one, was able to operate electronics the way a three year old should be. http://blog.pcieducation.com/

Thing # 3

I mentioned that I am not a blogger-type, but I think that after reading the EduBlog Insights by Anne Davis that blogs are a great way to stay connected and plugged into what's going on. Sometimes it's not that simple to get information that you need right away. You might have to drive to a certain location to get it, or talk to someone to find out what you need to do, and there are certain situations in which we are in a hurry. I think that by using blogs they create a faster, more reliant way to get information, when we're referring to educational topics. If we were to use blogs in the classroom, it could create many opportunities for students and teachers. Students could have their assignments posted by their teachers and they could have discussions via comments on any questions that they might be having. Teachers could also communicate with other educators about tips, ideas, or lesson plans. If it were to get really popular, then parents might also be on board with being able to communicate with their child's teacher and discussing grades and projects coming up.

Thing # 2 Blogging is not my thing

I am definitely not a blogger, but I am going to try and make the most of this! I decided my names for this blog would be somewhat secretive, I am not really trying to throw my name out there. I chose the school's name and my last name. Very original, I know. I have never blogged before, and I have never seen how people can have fun writing on this. However, I think it will be a good learning experience for me, considering that technology is changing so much. It wasn't hard to create the blog, I think that the instructions were very simple and easy to follow, once you get started. The avatar that I created fits my personality, I did wind up going back and changing it though. The one that I created before was definitely not me at all, and I realized later that I had dressed myself in an old lady attire. I am very laid back and my outfit would describe that very well. I am always wearing jeans and I love being comfortable. The accessory that I chose was a coffee cup, which suits me, because of my job, where I work in a coffee shop.

Thing # 1

Lifelong Learning and Learning 2.0
After viewing the lifelong learners tutorial, I learned how important it is to nurture our own learning processes.  A few interesting thoughts that came about from this video were that it's never too late or too soon to learn.  The seven and a half steps to lifelong learning are very important because they demonstrate one's own path to success.  I personally think that the point about viewing problems as challenges is the hardest for me.  We should view problems in life, not as problems themselves, but as a challenge that we can overcome.  After we deal with these experiences, we can look back on them and learn or reflect on what came about or what we could have done differently.  They are meant to be viewed as learning opportunities.  The easiest point for me would be the last and half point about playing.  We spend so much time staying focused on the big picture that we sometimes forget to relax.  Life is not about stress and it is important to play every now and then, because it's crucial for our brain's development.