Is it the End or Only the Beginning??

I feel so accomplished by finishing the 23 things. However, I thought it would take me much more time than it actually did. This proved to me that a lot of times, I overwhelm myself by just looking at an assignment that involves technology before I even attempt it. The 23 things project has really helped me to become more confident in my knowledge of technology and resources. I really liked all of the exercises on this learning journey. Some of my favorites included the organization tools and creativity tools. I definitely think what I have learned will influence my life as a teacher. I now have more resources and more ideas. I also have a network that I didn't have before. Just making the blog was huge for me because it is something that I had never even thought about. Now, I want to blog about everything! I plan to keep up with updates by keeping my blog and following other with the same type of blogs and interests. I always want to be up to date with teaching and teaching technology. I do think that this project will impact the effect I have on students in the future! 

Thing 23

I searched for information about Learning 2.0. I found that the original learning 2.0 program was a site designed to encourage staff members to explore new technology. Then, they got rewarded if they completed all 23 things. This is much like our list of 23 things. Ours has been modified for our class, and after completing the 23 things, we will be rewarded with an A! (hopefully)  ;)


The website for the original 2.0 has information on how to accurately duplicate and modify it without copyrighting. I found this to be very helpful. 


Original 2.0


In the future, I will use Creative Commons when I am presenting any information to my class. This starts good habits for not only myself but for the students also. 

Thing 22

I made 3 binders. The titles of my binders are APPS, IEP MEETINGS, and LESSON PLANS.

Lesson Plans

I would use all three of the binders I made in a classroom. These are very helpful. In a special education classroom, the less clutter you have the better! This is a way to have all the binders and organization you need on your computer. It makes things so much easier. This would be a good site to have students make their own homework binders on. This way, they can't say "I lost my homework" or "my dog ate it". They would each have their own binder. The teacher could upload worksheets to the homework binders. This would also save paper! (which I LOVE!!) 

Thing 21

Make a video of your own at Animoto.

I really enjoyed Animoto. I wish that you didn't have to pay to have more features, but what is free in this world? This was super easy to use. I made the video above in about 5 minutes. If my computer was faster, it would have been about 3 minutes. This will definitely be something I come back to in the future :)

Thing 20

The video above is a simple educational video from youtube about colors. The creator of this video (ELF Learning) has so many educational videos that I love! As we become teachers, we have to become aware of ways to keep our students' attention. At home, most kids have game systems, cell phones, computer, tv's, and so many more electronics. What makes you think that you will be able to keep a child's attention with just a lecture and traditional chalk board? I think youtube videos are a great way to keep their attention. It is such a fun way to learn. 
I like youtube a lot. However, I do not like how easy it is to find videos that are not appropriate. I feel that if youtube was permitted in the classroom, it would have to have major restrictions. I do think it is a very useful tool for teachers. 

Thing 19

I am a member of facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest and now TeacherPop. It amazed me of how little I knew of all the social networks out there. I like that there are networks devoted to certain areas of interest. All of the education networks were interesting to me. 

• Classroom 2.0 Ning
• Educational Networking
• Teacher Librarian Ning

I also found a few craft social networks that were interesting to me and I will most likely join. Another site that I found interesting was the tasty kitchen. It is likely that I will come back to several of these sites in the future. Several are very informational. I love the education sites because I am all about teacher networking! :)

Thing 18

Morgan's Facebook page

Morgan's Twitter Profile

Above, I have put links that will take you to both my facebook and my twitter profile. I think it is very important for educators to know how to use and access social networks. Almost every organization now has a facebook or a twitter or both. It helps with networking. Different people have different opinions about both of the sites. I, personally, like facebook better. I just recently made a twitter, and the main reason I made it was for networking among teachers in special education. Many teachers in special education use twitter to post information and experience that they have while teaching. This helps me to gain knowledge and stay "caught up" in the world of education. I really do like both sites. I like how both have options of keeping things completely private.  I dislike how some people abuse the sites with material that, in my opinion, doesn't need to be on the Internet. I feel that Facebook has the most useful features when it comes to education and educators. Many classrooms already use facebook along with organizations. Just by making this blog post, I became a member of the college of education facebook page. Both sites are very helpful in networking among teachers. 

Thing 17

I can see social bookmarking being used by teachers to form a teaching community. It makes it easy to research and find new and exciting ideas for your classroom. The Internet is a huge network which is why tags make it easy to find exactly what you are looking for. I also think that this can be very beneficial to students when they go to do research. Almost every update to the Internet or to websites is made to make finding information easier. Social bookmarking and tags are definitely ways to make research and organization much easier. 

Thing 16

For my start page I chose iGoogle. It was so simple and quick. It took me less than 30 seconds to create it. All I had to do was customize it so it knew what I was interested in. It was awesome how it automatically had links to most of the websites that I visit on a daily basis. I love how it is all right there on one page. I do think that I will use this on my computer at home or at work.

The online calendar would be very useful for me. I like any type of planner, organizer, or calender. The online calendar somewhat has all of these things intertwined into one useful tool, and I like that. I also like that I am able to share my calendar with others. This could become very handy in my career as a teacher.

After exploring the different websites, I was so relieved to find Zamzar. I am now asking myself why I was not aware of this sooner! Often, my teachers put files on D2L in pdf format, and many times that means it will not load very well on my laptop. However, now that I know about Zamzar, I will be converting the pdf files into word files all the time. The best part about it is that it is free!

I would recommend all of these tools to anyone, especially prospective teachers. I am all about some organization!

Thing 15

I really enjoyed this exercise. I never knew so much about wiki. It is definitely something that could be used by teachers not only in the classroom but for collaborative teaching as well. I found it interesting that anyone can make changes to a wiki. This is what turns most people away from wiki, but I think it is great. It creates a community with many different opinions. If you are worried about something you are reading not being a fact, you can simply see who posted it and where they got their information.
As a teacher, I would use this as a tool to communicate with other teachers about their experiences and maybe even share some lesson plans.
I also think it would be a great idea to use this as a tool for students to have discussions and collaborate for projects.

Thing 14

I really like Gliffy.com. I explored the website for a while and noticed how easy it is to make a flow chart. I also learned what all a flow chart could be used for. I, personally, understand processes better when a picture is drawn for me. This is basically what a flow chart is. Flow charts make it easy to see casue and effect. They help to compare relationships between whatever you are including in your chart. (data, processes, people)
Bubbl.us is a website for mind maps. I immediately liked this website because the first thing I saw was "Brainstorming made simple". It was very simple. A lot of time the hardest part about completing a project or a paper is getting it started. This website makes it easy to brainstorm ideas and have them all laid out right in front of you.

Thing 13

It was so easy to sign up for the free Zoho account. I really enjoyed exploring the whole website. One of my favorite things about the website was the Collaboration apps under the Productivity Apps tab. I feel that this will be something that I come back to in the future as a teacher or student. 
I spent a while exploring Google Docs. It has a lot in common with Zoho but is also very different. Both require the user's own creativity to really work it. I created a poster with Google Docs. Both of these resources would be great to use in a classroom. Students could work collaboratively using Google Docs to make presentations, projects, and visual aids. Both resources make it easy to not have to worry about copyright because it promotes creating your own document. I really find both productivity sites very helpful. However, I do prefer Google Docs over Zoho. Google Docs feels more familiar to me. It seems a little bit easier to use, and I feel would be easier for students to use as well. 

Thing 12

I am guilty of using Google for everything! Anytime I am unsure of something, I "Google" it. I use Google as a verb on a weekly basis. I used Google Calendar to make a calendar with my quiz dates, homework, anniversary, etc. It is VERY easy to use. You simply click on the day of the event, type in what the event is, edit the time, maybe even the color, and save. It reminds you through email. I thought this would be very helpful when I become a teacher. Teachers could make their calendar, with the syllabus included on the days, and then make it public for all of their students to see. It is easy to access and very easy to read. I obviously did not add all of my important dates, but I did get the month of February on mine. Here it is. .

Morgan's Calendar

I also used Picasa Web Albums. Being that it is Valentine's day, I was in the mood to show off some pictures of me and my sweet fiance. It was very easy to upload the pictures. Also, I had the choice to choose whether to make it private, public to the web, or public to only people who have the link. I chose "public to only people who have the link" Here is mine...

Morgan's Web Album

I thought that this would be a great website for special education teachers. A lot of times parents of special needs children like to stay updated on how their kid is progressing in therapy, classroom activities, and classwork during the school day. It would be great if I, as a teacher, would have time to take a few snap shots of the children, upload them to this website, and only provide the parents with the link. I think it could be very useful. :)

Thing 11

The method that I found easiest for finding feeds that interest me was to simply go to google reader and search from the subscribe box. It is simple to type in a key word there, and many different blogs come up that relate to your search.
The easiest tool for me was the google blog search when just typing in random subjects that interest me. The received tons of results and had a lot to chose from. It was hard to keep from subscribing for too many. I also liked using Technorati. It was pretty helpful and reliable in finding just what interested me and what I was looking for.
I didn't find any of the search tools very confusing. I guess the most confusing part (which wasn't very confusing) was finding where on the website was the link to subscribe to the blog. Some were easier to subscribe to than others.
Overall, I found a lot of useful feeds. One of my favorite subscriptions that I find very useful in my personal life is Daily Devotionals : Baptist Bible Hour. I have a very hectic schedule, and sometimes I don't find the time like I should to pull out my Bible. This blog makes it easy to simply click on and read a great daily devotional without having to get to my Bible.
I also found Lucky Dog Rescue Blog . It shows how powerful a blog can be when reaching out to the public. I encourage you to visit this blog and view the stories of all the sweet animals that have been rescued because of the information provided by this site.
I came across a blog titled Weirdomatic . It is a blog that is a bit unusual but in a way very interesting. It is a blog that is "A resource for most interesting, funny and weird pictures gathered from around the web". It is a fun time passer!
All of the tools I used to find blogs and resources were very helpful and I am sure that there are many more! It seems like there are way too many blogs to ever run out of information for any topic.

Thing 10

I like several things about RSS and newsreaders. RSS allows me to view a live feed of topics that I am interested in without all of the in between. It is easy to log in to Google Reader and immediately start reading what I have subscribed to which is what I am interested in. Also, it suggests other blogs and informational sites that I may be interested in based on what I have already subscribed to. I thought that was pretty neat because it is always introducing me to new information.
This technology could definitely come in handy for school and my personal life. All of the blogs that I chose to subscribe to are about education or teachers. I also plan on subscribing to a few for recipes and maybe a wedding blog or two.
Teaching special education is all about networking between family, the student, and other teachers. I will be taking advantage of RSS to stay up to date in my field. It will also help me to view updates from other teachers and people who can relate to special education almost immediately instead of having to search for a while before getting to the information I need.

thing 9

Comic Strip Generator

Happy Face Generator

Image Chef

I made the 3 images above using 3 different websites. There is a link beside each picture that will lead you to the website it is from. I loved exploring these different generators. I feel like I could use all three of these generators in teaching. Decorating a classroom is a big deal to me because I have been in many boring classrooms, and I hated it. I love to look around and see color and animation. These would be helpful in making bulletin boards, class projects, and decorating the whole classroom. The generators are also neat for your personal life. I could think of a lot of things they could be used for starting with just trying to make a friend smile. Many of the images I came across were humorous.

Thing 8

As I was exploring the different Flickr Mashups, I couldn't decide which ones I wanted to use. I love creative stuff like this. I made my name from the Spell with Flickr and then I made a little photo mosaic from Mosaic Maker. I would love to use these two apps in the future with teaching and in my personal life. I thought the "spell with Flickr" would be neat to make classroom name tags and bulletin boards. My mosaic is several pictures of me and my little brother whom is my inspiration in becoming a special education teacher. This would be a fun project for a classroom when everyone is getting to know one another. It would also be fun to get to know what the kids are interested in by what they included in their picture mosaic. I have mixed feelings about sharing photos online. I think it is an awesome way to stay in touch with family (by showing pictures of your kids and family), and if I was a photographer I would totally show off my photos online. The only problem is making sure nobody else can take credit from your work. I've also heard about people using your personal pictures as their own, and that is also a little scary. However, I obviously like the idea of sharing pictures online enough to love apps like these!

Thing 7

Flickr

Flickr amazed me. I'm a huge fan of pinterest, and I had no idea that flickr and pinterest were so much alike. You can type almost anything in that search box and receive tons of images, tags, and groups. I love photography, faith, peace, anything inspirational, and weddings! These were the first things that popped in my head when I went to searching. I found so many images which led me to even more interesting groups. I could stay on there all day long! The picture above caught my eye the most. It is beautiful photography by Lauren Dahlhauser. Also, underneath the picture is a poem that I also love!
Here is a link to the page that includes the picture and the poem: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lauren211/4887464808/

Peace

"What is peace? ?
Peace is when you care for others,
Peace is when there is no violence in the world,
Peace is much more powerful then evil,
Peace is easily found when you give others what you desire,
Peace is the answer to all the wars in the world,
Peace is when there is unity among all the people,
Peace is when your soul can rest,
Peace is when there is hope of good above,
Peace is when there is love for others,
Peace is when there is acceptance in the world,
Peace is bringing joy to the world,
Peace is in helping others."
~ Uzma Nadeem

Thing 6 (:

RememberTheMilk.com 
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/

This website is in the category productivity. I am a big planner person. I write everything down that I need to get done and when I need to have it done by. I am glad I discovered this website. It is basically an awesome planning device. Users can create to-do lists with it and access this list from almost anywhere. There are apps for it for the ipad, iPhone, and regular cell phone. You can also access it through GMail since it is a site through Google.
I like this site because it is so easy to access without ever having to go back to the actual website. You can also receive email on it, and access it offline any time you want.
This is something that I could definitely use in my future as a teacher. Everything that needs to get done is right there, and it will remind you of when you need to have it done by. It is also useful for students to keep track of assignments and tests. It is a very helpful website.

Thing 5 :)

I read the articles: Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators & The Horizons Report

I completely agreed with the article Web 2.0: A guide for Educators. It talked about how technology has replaced paper, classrooms, phonebooks, libraries, and bookstores. I can completely relate to this. I use my ipad to look up phone numbers, restaurant menus, and I even have a kindle app which allows me to read any book I wont with the click of a button. This saves me from ever having to go to a bookstore because I do it all online on my ipad. Although this seems awesome (and it is), this is all just the beginnig of where technology is headed. Everyday I find something more handy when it comes to technology. It saves you time and money in the long run. I can't wait to see what kind of technology I will be using when I become a teacher. Also, I'm sure the technology my kids will be using in the future will amaze me even more. It's exciting!

After reading The Horizons Report, I realize that teaching is going to be far more different for me than it is for who I am being taught by now. The technology that is now difficult and hard to use will eventually be technology that everyone can easily use. This is because technology improves every day. The article said that each year, more than a billion new mobile devices are manufactured. What does this mean for me in a few years? It means that I will have tons of technology to choose from when deciding what works best for me, my classroom, and my family. Web 2.0 is becoming increasingly more relevent in educational settings. All of the increases in technology indicates a steading change in education and how people go about getting their education.

I think that Web 2.0 is very importants. It means a lot to me because it is something that is going to emerge more and more whether I like it or not! I think that it will only improve schools in the future. In the long run, I believe that it will save money, time, and the environment by saving recources. Technology interests children and adults. Why not use technology to make their education more interesting too? I can't wait to see what kind of technology I will be using in my own classroom one day. :)

Thing 4!

Commenting on blogs and receiving comments on your own blog helps create a sense of community and interaction. If I spend a lot of time posting a blog and then recieve no comments, I feel like there is no use in blogging because it feels like nobody is reading it. However, I know that sometimes I read through blogs, and I do not post a comment even though I normally have plenty of thoughts I could share. Posting comments can cause the blogger to start posting more blogs about that subject. If there are never any comments on the blog, it might make the blogger feel as if there is no interest in that subject, and they move on to another. Therefore, if you are interested in a blog, comment on it! Start a conversation about it! This will lead to more opinions, facts, and ideas. It could also lead to that person reading and commenting on your own blog which will then lead to a community with a bunch of interaction! :)
Two comments in the readings that I found important about commenting are: Invite comments and Interact with comments left. Inviting comments in your blog encourages people to participate in the conversation more so than if you were to write a blog that seems it doesn't need any comments. People feel more comfortable commenting on a blog where they were invited to do so than a blog that makes a statement and doesn't ask for any input back. Interacting with comments left on your blog is very important. Who wants to say something to someone and get no response in return? I don't! More people are going to be willing to comment on your blog if they get responses back to their comments in the first place. This causes conversation which cause communication.

Thing 3

My major is special education. How will I use a blog in my future? I believe that a blog will be very useful for me. Not only will making a blog of my teaching experiences be helpful to other teachers, but following other teacher's blogs will help me to improve the environment in my classroom. I have seen many blogs about special education on the Internet. They are helpful when a teacher has questions that only a special education teacher in the same situation could answer realistically. The special education blogs form a network of teachers that are able to come together and be the best teachers they can be in order to make sure each student can get the best education possible. I am so glad that I have been introduced to how easy it actually is to be the blogger and not just the blog reviewer.

Thing 1

After viewing the tutorial over the 7 1/2 Habits of Successful Lifelong Learners, I realize that almost all of the habits are included in every day learning. I find that the easiest habit for me is habit #7 which includes encouraging and teaching others which is what I LOVE to do. This is why I am a special education major. Also, I find that the more you teach others, the more you teach yourself.  
The hardest of the 7 1/2 habits for myself would be "View problems as challenges". I have a hard time viewing problems as challenges because I do not always like a challenge! I, like most people, like for things to come easy for me. When they don't, this can be rather frustrating. Therefore, I want to work on viewing problems as not just a "problem" but as a challenge that I can turn into a goal and eventually mark off my goal list! 
I am going to work on accomplishing all of the goals on this list because I feel it will make me become a better learner in the long run. :)

Thing 2

experience creating my blog and avatar


When I was told to create my blog, I first had to come up with a posting name and name of my blog. Luckily, I already had a blog set up through blogger for my reading class. Therefore, I just went off of the titles I had already had. I wasn't very creative in coming up with a name because boring is easy to remember!
Overall, creating my blog was very easy. I am not very intelligent when it comes to technology and computer programs so I didn't expect it to be as easy for me as it was. I like it!
My avatar somewhat reflects my personality. She is wearing a lime green shirt and lime green shoes because lime green is my favorite color. I tried to get a peace sign shirt but it was locked, so she is a little bit boring. Her hair and eye color match my real hair and eye colors though!
If I were to create a new avatar, I would probably make a really silly one :)