Reviewing Completed Blogs and Wikis

I am enjoying reviewing the completed blogs and wikis from 23 Things. There were many good ideas. I was especially interested in ideas for wikis and learning podcasts. I am going to research teachertube.com since it was introduced at a WRESA inservice this week. Great opportunities to engage in teacher dialogue and collaboration on how to make the product (TEACHING) better.

School Improvement Conference

I have just returned from a three day stint at a School Improvement Conference in Lansing, Michigan. It was intensive and gratifying. The tools we received with support our work in the High Priority Schools. I enjoyed the reflection journaling and practicing different protocols. The camaraderie of the vintage people and the exuberance of the youthful people made the experience interesting and exciting. Our presentations on the School Improvement Process - Common Voice - One Plan was comprehensive and well done. The day with Dennis Sparks from National School Development Council was stimulating and thought-provoking. I hope my other colleagues attend in September.

Adult Learning

I had an experience a couple of weeks ago providing an inservice to a group of adults on Microsoft Word. I was pleased and honored that I was asked to train this group of educators. Did I have enough knowledge to meet their needs? As a teacher, I surveyed my group to assess their needs and adjusted my presentation to fit them. Knowing the group was varied in skill levels, I also attempted to hit all modalities of learning ( visual, kinesthetic, auditory). The group was excited and well-behaved for vintage personnel and WE learned a lot that day. They have already asked for another session so that was a good evaluation I believe.

Karooba Endless Educational Trivia Quiz

Adventures in Creating

I recently worked with Microsoft Publishing and Word to devise a possible template for a newsletter. I love designing these types of projects and look forward to being a part of a team of colleagues that create together. Perhaps we can find a way to work onsite in different locations. Was that with Slideshare, Delicious or Wikispaces? We learned so much in 23 things I will have to revisit my notes. It was Wikispaces. Anyway, gathering pertinent and relevant data, and then adding a little spice with photos and quotes is my idea of FUN!

I Found MY Blog

For ten days I have been searching for my blog. I forgot that I used the gMail account to set it up. I could see it through another blog but could not edit or write posts. I put so much work into this I did not want to lose it. I added a new widget that I noticed on another blog (Show Yourself) and miraculously it appeared and I figured out my solution.

My First Blog after 23 Things

My first blog is about how wonderful I feel being an American citizen being led by such an intelligent couple. Their love for family, friends and country are exemplary and definitely one we can admire and emulate. God bless the Obamas.

Reflections of Tweety's Adventure

My Adventure is similar to Tweety escaping her cage, let out by some unsuspecting stranger, flying within her surroundings near her habitat, experiencing the view and testing new waters. "OOOOO, I tawt I taw a puddy tat" she exclaims only to find a ferocious tiger ready to devour her. More time on task is needed and perhaps the owner will periodically let her out of her boundary to experience life in another world. Tweety is ready to share her story with others. What other "old birds" will listen? Will they see her excitement? Will they feel her frustration? Will they help to make the next adventure better so that Tweety can "inspire, instill and praise" life and learning.

This completes my official thoughts on this course.

My Wiki - Thing 22

I have begun my wiki for K-12 education through Wikispaces. They offered a promotion so I began with my idea for a wiki for Priest Elementary School. The name of the wiki is PriestLearningCommunity. I made several titles of pages for the wiki. i will continue planning there. I need collaborators from the school and have sent out invitations to those I believe would be interested. No response as of yet. Time is an issue. Since so much of it is undeveloped it is not for public view.

Wikis Wikis Wikis

I love Wikis. I can see the potential in these sites for student instruction, classroom management and lifelong learning. As noted in 23 things these sites can enhance:
- Collaborative writing
- Brainstorming
- Creation and organization of content and study guides
- Lesson summaries
- Group notetaking
- Dissemination of classroom information
- Literature circles
- Collaborative textbooks
- Resource collections
- Vocabulary study
The idea behind several contributors would lead to collaboration and editing by more than one person. There is a space in wikis to use many of the tools we have learned in 23 Things. Perhaps our collaborative can begin a wiki. Volunteers anyone? I would like to experiment with this approach, similar to the one explained in the Common Craft video. As usual, LeFever rocks with his explanations!

Subscribing to Podcasts with Tweety

I reviewed EPN and Pod Alley was frustrated by how many podcasts were no longer available. Then I ran through a few which were not of good quality. I guess I am hard to please. I finally stubbled on EPN's DreamExtreme. I liked the concept of working with students on different subjects, allowing them to report out, knowing they had to do the research. I also liked the theme in their song and would like to teach it to a group of students. I have found another use for podcasts. I also viewed several videocasts and still have a preference for them. Perhaps other users who have found quality podcasts can share them.

PODCASTING AND TWEETY

I do not prefer auditory learning as a style but without it, where would I be? Lately I have been so distractable. I was glad this was one of the latter Things since I was sure that I would not enjoy this venue. Well, it was not so bad because the videos were good at explaining it and helping me to SEE its extrinsic and intrinsic value. I did not like the Ninjas analogy!!. The WRESA segments needs further study but it show that there are good podcasts out there for use with students and adults. Perhaps I can make my own podcasts for the auditory learner.

Tweety and Thing 18 - Slideshare

I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEE SLIDESHARE! I LOVE POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS. ALTHOUGH IT IS BETTER TO DEVELOP YOUR OWN TO FIT THE NEEDS OF THE CLIENT, IT HELPS TO HAVE IDEAS TO INSPIRE YOUR WORK. SLIDESHARE IS GREAT!

Knowledge Management 101

Check out this SlideShare Presentation which I embedded so that I can review at a later time :

Knowledge Management 101

View more presentations from bajuliano.

A Well Managed Classroom

Check out this SlideShare Presentation which was a collaboration between the Principal and the PLC:

A Well Managed Classroom

View more presentations from marshpb.

Tweety Explores Thing 17 - Online Productivity Tools

I explored all the online productivity tools. I had explored bubbl.us before and found the student version of Inspiration easier to use. Of course it is not free. The Zoho site was unavailable. I did not care for Remember the Milk. It was not easy to use. 30 Boxes did not appeal to me. I already use 2 online calendars. LibraryThing was great for someone who reads a lot and enjoys communicating about the books. I was interested in Knowtes since I am a visual-kinesthetic learner and flashcards is one of my learning models. I needed an invitation into the site but did not have one. Perhaps Leslie has one and will invite me in. Any of these sites could be used in your personal or professional life.

Tweety Explores Google Docs - Thing 16

Since I am not a part of RESA's 23 things, I am unable to work with the spread sheet they provided. I did explore Google docs on my own and I see great potential here. How many times have we tried to update rosters, forms, documents only to not have all the participants available? If we have everyone's email, they can update their information online in the original document! I shared some test data with Priest administrative cabinet and it was only for their eyes. No one else had access. It was in graph form. I am interested in whether changes can be made to that since only spreadsheets, presentations,and documents were mentioned. The possibilities for collaboration is thought-provoking.

Tweety Revisits RSS in Bloglines

I went to Bloglines to experience RSS again. By the way, these was not one of my favorite places to visit. It appeared to have many feeds which would take up my time. I had pushed Abstract Art and 2872 feeds were there. I wanted to mark them all as read but I could not resist looking at least one hundred of them AND saving three. I will revisit the site. I added a comic (Dilbert ) and interest feed.

I am thoroughly overwhelmed now. Through this journey, I have explored NIng, Flickr, Facebook, Delicious, Jing and Bloglines. I probably have forgotten a couple, I have joined them all. Eventually I will have to determine what fits my needs. I imagine this decision will take some time so I will continue the journey and hope it stablizes my ramblings.

Explore Thing 14 - Delicious

This experience was to say the least Tasty! I placed several Common Craft videos and several bookmarks into my newly registered Delicious account. I would be helpful to access your bookmarks from the web and not always from your resident computer especially since I have computer compatibility issues at my work site. This will take time to build because I know I do not want all of my bookmarks for public consumption. I love this idea for sharing and look forward to telling my colleagues about it.

Explore Thing 13 - Tagging and Social bookmarking

I found the Common Craft video to be completely understandable and comprehensive. I wish some teachers could make their presentations simple and visual too. I know that I will enjoy the social bookmarking and tagging. I am an Apple user and use Mobile Me. The concept of sharing is similar. I am excited about registering with Delicious since sharing with my colleagues is important to me.

Tweety Adds Widgets in Thing 12

As you can see I have already added a cherry clock. I could not resist. I love gadgets. I was fascinated by the PollDaddy and decided to give it a try. I wonder will anyone actually answer the poll.

Tweety Explores Thing 10 - Embedding Video

This is a video of my son who entered a contest at MARS Advertising. I thought this was hilarious. Enjoy!

Tweety Explores Thing 11

Connecting to the learning community has been easy to do.  Commenting on blogs and sharing ideas are an essential extension to blogging.  Many of my colleagues are becoming interested in 23 Things since I embarked on the journey.  I utilize Facebook and comment often.  I am looking forward to developing a "Blog Community"  that is interest driven.  I am already in one which is Education driven.

Exploring Thing 9 - Online Video

I have already had the pleasure of viewing YouTube.  I did watch two hilarious clips, one about Free Hugs and one of Math with Ma and Pa.  It took me back to my math teaching days.  It was so funny.  I commented on both.  My son, Michael, did a video  for a YouTube contest.  It looked complicated but he said my four year daughter shot the video!  I plan on researching this area a little more---downloading video clips.  There is great implications for teaching here.  It is important to find content that is relevant and credible.  Perhaps as we continue the journey, people have suggestions for good video teaching clips.  I do not know if my school allows YouTube.  I will check the next time I service the school.

Another Adventure with Thing 8

I revisited Big Huge Labs and ImageGenerator.org. I looked at Badge maker, made a Jigsaw puzzle of my granddaughter Jalyn and reviewed other creative images. I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing the free backgrounds from ImageGenerator and tried several of them on my blog. None of them were quite the ticket but I enjoyed exploring. I found out I am particular about what I post as "my product".

My Mosaic Creation

My Mosaic Creation
Originally uploaded by marshpb

Isn't this gorgeous? But where does the man in cornrows come from. He is not my type of jewelry. Maybe he is someones. None of my jewelry popped up but I still think this effective. I wonder can you rearrange them so the people are not altogether?

Tweety's Creation in Thing 8

My Creation
Originally uploaded by marshpb

I finally am able to show a creation. I used Spell with Flickr and I was not enthused by its choices. Many were too rustic for my taste. I then tried Flickr Color Pickr which was interesting to PLAY with. Sudoku with Flickr was uneventful since I did not choose topics which had enough pictures in my Photostream. I will  revisit this topic later. Flickr Montager held my interest but I always wondered where a picture came from that did not fit the category. I spent a lot of time trying to upload my montage of beautiful ethnic children (tag) but to no avail. Flickr Memry game (Concentration) was fun and I did send one to a few colleagues. Was it easy? Some. Was it frustrating? Oh, Yes, Was it time-consuming? Yes Fun? Most of the time. The ID Card was done through Bid Huge Labs and it was easy and fun to make.

Tweety Explores Thing 7

I thoroughly enjoyed this "thing".   I relish going through photos and when it was time to download some of my own photos I found another way to preview all my photos without going through each roll.  I had many duplicates (from trial and error days) and now I can delete them!

When deciding which ones to upload, I tried to decide what would be interesting to others.  Here is just one.  

This is the Priest Elementary School STAT TEAM---communicating, collaborating, cooperating at a STAT Team meeting at the Southfield Library.  Oh by the way we CARE about TEACHING and LEARNING and each other.    

When  I think of this section, I visualize the learner, adult or child, uploading a picture or graphic and discussing in detail their thoughts about the picture, their views on the people or activity and what they think is going to happen next.

Tweety Explores Thing 6

Exploring Flickr was interesting. There were so many photos to explore, choose, organize, edit and share. I took one hour to select this photo. This rose reminded me of my deceased mother, who adored flowers of all kinds. She especially like the rose only to say that it does not stay with us long enough. Neither did you, Mom!

Tweety Explores Thing 4 and Thing 5

Well, I finally returned to my blog.  I updated a few things and went to Bloglines to check my feeds.  Wow, they had grown and I now know I will be more selective about choosing them.  One of the bloggers I read suggested I  join Google Reader and I found it easier to navigate.  I also added a photo slide show reminiscent of some of my island adventures.  I visited several blogs found one which had a wealth of information on it---a little to compressed but it appears that the blogger is very knowledgeable so I will follow him-- Web 2.0 in the Classroom is the name of the BLOG.  My main comment about RSS feeds is that it allows the information to come to you.  Less searching for it.  I have left several comments to bloggers and now I am excited about Thing 6.  I love photos and pictures.

Exploring the Link-Next Blog

I was fascinated about how many of the blogs I viewed were ethnic in nature and several were being used as business sites.  Mmmmmmmmm---maybe an idea for my beading hobby.  I am going to incorporate a couple of pictures here to see if I have the correct idea.  I was wondering about placement but I will just experiment.  I can always delete or change.  As I thought the placement was a bit challenging but with a little effort it can be done.  As our  BLOG continues, some pictures might add interest and sometimes clarity to the viewer.

Tweety Explores Thing 3

I was embarrassed by the wealth of information I did not know!   Blogging, ok I get it, but the extent to what can be added appears to be the beginning of a website.  The detail that some of the creators used was interesting yet in some regards challenging.  The blogs in all cases were not clear as to their intent.  I visited several blogs and delved deep into a couple of them.  I enjoyed the high school journalism one since I was once editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper.  I would have relished using this tool for communication.  I did not like the Hobo blog.  I was not searching for his brand of cynicism.  I felt intrigued by the G-Town Talks which led you to various types of blogs done by various personnel.  One of those blogs spoke to "Kids Generating Ideas and Creating Content".  It was right on the money!  As you explore this site, it is more a website that puts to use the blogging, wikis, podcasting, digital storytelling, RSS (haven't figured that one out yet), social bookmarking and social networking (such as Facebook) all by SECOND GRADERS and their teacher.

I could not stand it any longer.  I wanted to know what RSS is and does.  So I googled it.  Then I read Wikipedia.  Then I clicked on a link to YouTube and was given a succinct demo of what RSS is and what it does and how you can subscribe to these news feeds.  I will check them out later to see if they will continue to interest me.  This is learning!!!!

As I reflected on these blogs, I began to think about photo essays, Constructive Response to a Project or problem, a Principal blog, journaling (public or private to teacher).  I am sure other ideas will form later on.

Tweety Explores Thing 1 and Thing 2

I began this journey because I am always interested in learning new things and meeting new people.  My supervisor registered in this course and earlier in the year I saw the posting and neglected to return to the site.  When our group was informed of her learning adventure, I said to myself, "Boy, that was what I wanted to learn about".  You see, I am somewhat literate in technology but I tend lag back when the new projects or devices come up.  What is a blog? What is a wiki?  What is a podcast?  How do I begin?  Well, this course could certainly help!  As I begin this journey,  I know that each step along the path will help me become a better student and I will be able to assist and support my colleagues as they want to learn more.  The article and video were very insightful and offered many ideas that would require additional reflection since my grade level interest is elementary and most of this information was for middle and high school students.  In order for educators to bring this venue to our students, we must acquire literacy ourselves.  I am excited about this opportunity.  As I consider the likelihood of someone reading my post,  I am not afraid, only cautious, making sure that my language and intent are understood but that no personal information which could only be gained through me is available for public gain.