One.Last.Thing

Summarizing My Thoughts:

My favorite area of this project was 'Photos & Images'(Thing No. 7-9). I loved looking through Flickr pictures, uploading my own account, and creating and playing with editing tools. I always see people with really interesting and fun pictures and always wondered "where did they find that?" or "how did they do that?". Now I can do that because I know where to find that! I also have found that blogging is pretty fun. I didn't think I would like the "Blogging" (Thing No. 2-4) section as much as I have. I have also discovered through playing around with my blogger site that you can actually get allow ads on your webpage and get paid for it! (Yes, get paid real $ for allowing ads).

I really would like to keep up with technology and web tools. Some of these were a little difficult for me, such as the RSS feeds and podcast. The longer your shut your self off to new things, the harder it will be to learn them later. Many technologies stem from each other. I hope to learn and keep up with the basics and hopefully the specifics will come easily. I think with a grow emphasis on technology, my students will enjoy learning in a more advanced and update manor, which in turn, I believe, will benefit them in their academic lives, professional lives, and maybe even personal lives. Technology is our future and so are out children.

I am surprised by how much I like writing these blogs. Many of the Things I have done through this project I have been very excited to write about and share. I think I will probably use most of them throughout the years. I will probably have to give myself a little push to play around with the podcast more. I definitely think I will keep blogging. I also love the many of the Google tools, like calendar and documents. I will definitely use these in my personal life as well as my classroom.

For the most part I found that the format of this project was very helpful. It introduced the Thing, had many resources provided for help, provided ideas, and examples. I may not have been familiar with what the Thing presented, but I never felt confused about what was expected of me. The links provided were very helpful and useful. I also liked that other people have commented on Things. Those comments were useful because if I have encountered a problem, chances are someone has too and has commented about it. The only thing I would suggest is updating some of the links used in the Things. There were a few that appear to be expired. (Thing No. 4- 10 commandments of blog commenting; Thing No. 4- Commenting using an alias v your real name; Thing No. 5 Minds on Fire; Thing No. 10- Getting started using Google Reader; Thing No. 11- Feedster.

Now that I have been through all 23 Things, I realize that I am kind of far behind on technology. I think it is very important for students to start off with a good understanding and grasp of technology so that as it is enhanced, they can keep up with it. I would like to incorporate all the tools I can into my lessons. Using Google Calendar would be a good organizational tool to help students stay organized. I think using The 23 Things as an assignment would be a good project for students as well.

By using all of these tools, I will be aware of updates and new technologies incorporated in these tools. Also, through this project I have subscribe to podcast and blogs that give updates and feedback on technology and classroom uses. By keeping up with these, I can venture off and explore the topics and tools they introduce.

Resolution:

I really hope I can keep up with technology as time passes. I do not want to be the old boring teacher who uses wooden pencils, paper, and books. I want my students to learn academics in a meaningful and lasting way.

Through the rest of this class, I am going to continue to read other students blogs to get different ideas and read about their experiences. I also am going to create my own blog. I want to write about my experience going through graduate school and entering the life as a teacher. Because of the work load the graduate program requires, I have promised my self that I will blog at least once a week, which I think is manageable. I hope to be teaching in a classroom within the next year or two and I know that I will definitely create a classroom blog for the students and parents to keep updated on what is going on in class. I think communication between teachers and parents is absolutely critical and provides the students with support while in school and out of school.