One last thing...

Favorite discoveries...probably that given enough time, I can do these things.  However, I did enjoy flickr, mashups, and animoto, probably for the personal applications.  Professionally speaking, there have been times when I wish I could do more technology based lessons, but I felt like I had fallen too far behind the techno curve to ever catch up.  This activity, if not completely, did get me on track to be far more techno savvy.  I will definitely take some of the tools I have learned and introduce them into my classroom.  I will also keep current on the new things that come available in the future, using many of the tools, such as blogger, RSS feeds, and social networks.  Okay, I will try to use the social networks, but no promises on that one.  There are tools, however, that I will definitely enjoy using, partly for their value in the teaching of a lesson and partly to just play with the minds of my students, hoping to keep them engaged. Using Web 2.0 Awards List, Blogs and RSS feeds, I hope to stay current on what is new in Web 2.0.

In closing, there are days that I really hated these 23 things...a lot of days really...but in the end, I have learned a lot and will experiment with these things in the coming school year.

Oh, and if possible, move LiveBinders to an earlier point in the 23 Things so that all the tools learned could be added to LiveBinders while we learned them.

Thing 23 (Creative Commons)

http://plcmcl2-things.blogspot.com/ is the link to the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and their version of the 23 Things project.  At the bottom of the site is the creative commons logo and link that takes you to the page to the right, telling you all about the use rights for the 23 Things project.

As far as what I will do with the knowledge about Creative Commons....well, I will know what it means, and therefore,  know whether I can use someone else's material in my own lessons.  I will also be able to teach my students about Creative Commons as I use it, so that they will become as smart as me.  Okay, maybe saying they will be as smart as me is a stretch.  Heck, they may already be smarter than me, especially regarding many things technology wise.  But I am gaining on them, 23 Things later.

Thing 19 (Other Social Networks)

Struggling to get my badge embedded into my Blogger page.  Any of you awesome classmates that have successfully completed this have any hints...or you can just tell me...on how or where I embed the badge info.  I tried looking for a gadget location in the layout, but I am now at a loss.  (Yeah to Katy for showing me how to copy my badge.)


"Yelp" seems pretty useful, especially on those days when you are not really sure what you want for dinner.  A good place to search through for a restaurant based on your likes and price preferences, just to name a couple of the categories.  And while I am on the subject of food, "Tasty Kitchen" is another good site, again for ideas when you are done with that same thing you make week after week after week.  And by the way, if you are wondering if I really like being in the kitchen, the answer is not really, but the way to a woman's heart, though maybe not through the stomach, might just be through the palate or, at least, by sharing in the cooking responsibilities.  Coming up with something different has been good to me.

Someday, when I am no longer taking classes, I think checking into one of the "book" networks will be on my list of to-do's.  I often forget what I have already read, but like that these sites, at least the one I did briefly check out, have "this person read this, so they may also like this..." suggestions.  I can't wait til the day I have free time again.

Thing 22 (Livebinders)

My binders are "5540 Tools" and "Geometry Links".  Still working on what to use for my third binder.  Perhaps it will just be a binder for favorites for person, non education, stuff.

Geometry Links  I am going to use this binder to place links to helpful sites and videos that I can share with my students during lessons.  I will also make this available to students so that if they have questions at home, they can search for meaningful sites/videos.  I will also try to embed it or link it to my CHS webpage, so that parents of my students can see some of the tools available to their children.

Thing 21 (My Animoto Video)

My Animoto Video

Okay...like this may have been the easiest of the 23 things.  Pick your photos, pick your music, sit back and wait....and you are done.  Animoto does all the work.  I love doing this one.  Not sure what I will do to incorporate this in my Geometry class, but it will be fun with my family.

Thing 20 (YouTube)

Pythagorean Theorem Rap "a times itself, a squared, b times itself, b squared, c times itself, c squared, a squared plus b squared equals c squared. What!" A cool "hook" for the students prior to teaching the lesson.  This link came from TeacherTube and is a good example of using this type of tool in the classroom.

Pythagorean Theorem in 60 Seconds is a great example of a very simple video teaching Pythagorean Theorem.  I like this one because of its simplicity.  Sometimes the simplest methods can be the best way to convey an idea or concept, even while using a Web 2.0 tool.

A Vision of Students Today   Although already posted on the assignment page by Anne Wall, I decided to add it to my blog because it says a lot about what students are going through today while in school.  I know that if all this existed back when I was in high school and college (the first time) I would have struggled with all the distractions created by texting, facebook, and surfing the web.  It is good that we, as teachers, recognize the world our students live in today.  It was my biggest lesson learned in my first year of teaching, just last year.

Thing 18 (Social Networking)

https://twitter.com/#!/Jim5540  My twitter link, though not real exciting at the moment, I think I will use it more to see what other people are tweeting about on certain topics and see where that leads me.  I am already a facebook user, though I use the term user rather lightly as I don't enter what I am doing daily, weekly, or even monthly.  It is a good communication tool for keeping up on my classmates from school, and sometimes on my own children, but I still just can't update on the things I do every day.

I think it is important for teachers, even if they chose not to actively participate on a regular basis to know about these social networks and how they work because they are important to our students on a daily basis.  Most have a hard time getting through the school day without sneaking onto their mobile to tweet, text or update some social network.  I know of one teacher that has set up a facebook account for his classes only, and posts lessons that they are to watch at night and be prepared to discuss them during class.  He has expanded his class period beyond the 50 minutes the students are actually in class.