Thursday, April 25, 2013

The world is not flat


I will admit that this 23 Things exercise was frustrating at times.  It did, however, expose me to a plethora of teaching-related tools, resources and ideas while serving to expand my identity as a teacher.  This program has reinforced, several times over, the fact that it is crucial for teachers to stay as current as possible with emerging instructional technologies; our students, will without any doubt.  Exposure to the technology-based tools during my journey through the 23 Things provided me with some additional insight into the resources available for teachers and I aspire to remain a part of this community throughout my career. 

23 and one to go


The answer to part one of the 23rd Things can be found in the credits portion of the 23 Things Page.  The specific graphic which describes the Creative Commons description is posted here: 
Here is the original description:
Credits
Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things, a staff development program for the Mesquite Independent School District. That program was based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers and adapted by the California School Library Association and others. Content and style for Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers has been borrowed and duplicated with permission, under a Creative Commons License.
I will be educating my students on Creative Commons licensing by utilizing the power point demonstration that I have previously created in my Instructional Technologies class.  Knowledge of copyright laws is very important considering the massive amount of media available to today’s students. 


22 Binders

I can see the value of maintaining a LiveBinders account, but I did not find the site to be very user friendly and I became frustrated rather quickly while trying to add content to my binders and shelves.  I created three binders:  Personal Teaching Resources, Social Studies, and Historical references.
Here is a link to my binder:  Teaching Resources Binder

Animoto

Service

I really enjoyed this Thing.  I will certainly return here if I ever end up in the dog house again, inevitable of course.  I am sure that my students will be able to use Animoto in a few different ways.  I can see this being used as an initial project for them to complete which will serve as an introduction of themselves or as supporting media for a report on their summer vacations.  Great "Thing". 

Thing #20


To say that YouTube contains a vast amount of informational videos would be a huge understatement.  As a teacher resource, YouTube provides the educator with content that can be used a primary source for teaching as well as educational videos that are great tools for supplementing lesson plans on almost every subject imaginable.  I find myself on this site almost on a daily basis and I doubt that I will ever cease to be amazed by the level and diversity that can be found here. 
I found a very educational video regarding an individual's "thought" on higher education.  Enjoy. 

Thing #19



I like TeacherPop.  I think that sites like these that are comprised of professionals working in a specific field serve as both a good support group and a location to retrieve and share valuable, career-based information and resources.  I am now a proud member of this site and I am sure that I will frequent it on a regular basis. 

Egg on your Face-book


Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, in my humble opinion, provide more opportunities for people to hurt others than help them.  The only reason that I maintain a Facebook page is to keep in touch with some of my family members.  I have a very minimal friends list and it is going to remain minimal.  The subject of Facebook has already been addressed to us students here at the University on more than one occasion and it has been recommended by staff that we privatize our social networking pages to the highest extent possible for our own protection.  If it were not for the fact that I have no other way to communicate with some family members I would not be a Facebook subscriber.