Wms Amazing Endings/Beginnings

This has definitely been a rewarding experience.  I was extremely suprised by the number of resources available to assist in today's technological savy classrooms.  While I anxiously awaited getting to this point in the assignment, I also look forward to putting the knowledge into effect.  The experiences and discoveries that will be most remembered are:

1.  Wikis - the collaborative content management systems that will be helpful in establishing information updates to my students and parents.

2.  RSS is Really Simple Syndicate that can be used to access all information that pertains to my interests of news, entertainment, and education.

3.  Social Bookmarking allows me the access of all of the websites that have been saved in my favorites and now accessed from anywhere.

4.  Remember the milk manages my list of things to do on my phone minimizing my various manual calendar print outs, sticky notes, and index cards.

5.  Live Binders enable me to store all of my documents and resources in one central digital location, freeing up my closet spaces, drawers, and luggage.

Technological advances continue to be more prominate in today's classrooms.  I can easily see using all of the tools provided in this class in order to enhance learning in my classroom.  Additionally, the class provided means (blogs, Teachpop, Facebook) of staying abreast of both changes and challenges, by establishing open means of communication with other educators.

Though I feel that I subscribed to far too many accounts (one thing I'd change aobut the program).  I plan to keep abreast of upcoming educational changes through Teachpop and my RSS feed.   I will use Google Reader to stay abreast of of 2.0 updates. 

Wms Thing #23

APSU's Learning 23Things for Teachers was modified from 23 Things originally created in 2006 by Helene Blowers who at the time was a Public Services Technology Director for a Public Library in Charlotte and Meckenburg County.  She began the Learning 2.0 program which encouraged the library employees to learn new technologies.  Employees that participated and completed the 23 things received an MP3 player.  Creative Commons is a system that permits the modification of the original 23 things as well as other works. 

Creative Commons affords guidelines for educators, authors, artists, and students to follow in both sharing and copying information.   Some of the greatest works can be developed by working alongside of copyright stipulations.  With the use of Creative Commons the old rule of "all rights reserved"  is quickly transformed to "some rights reserved".

Wms Thing #22

Live Binders is a great tool to keep up with an immense amount of papers and links.  I have just completed establishing my Live Binders for the following topics and resources:

• SPED Teaching Strategies
• SPED Laws
• Learning Disabilities

My Live Binder Shelf titled Teaching Tools consists of:

• Interactive Websites
• Summer Reading
• Writing at the Elementary Level

For me Live Binders will be beneficial at home and school.  At home I've become a closet hoarder with papers stored anywhere one could imagine (drawers, boxes, luggage).  My husbnad will definitely appreciate Live Binders.  In the classroom I will use Live Binders to establish a digital library containing the many helpful resources stored in my binders, those retrieved from other educators, and past research data.

Wms Thing #21

I really enjoyed creating my own video using Animoto.  The site provided extremely easy navigation.  I am presently working on my video for my retirement ceremony.  I was excited as I thought Animoto is just what I've been looking for...I just have to decide if I want to pay the price.  I am leaning heavily towards it since  I can use the application at home to make home videos with the millions of baby pics of my family and I.  In the classroom I think it could be used at programs, pep rallies, and on the sites shared with students and parents.  Students have a way of being motivated when they are able to look back and reflect on some of their experiences captured on big screen.

Wms Thing #20 Optional;)

Note: The following link is for anyone else that didn't learn the Lattice method of Multiplication in school;)

Wms Thing #20

YouTube has been a great source of entertainment for me for the past few years. I use it to look at music videos, clips from some of my favorite shows, and sports clips. I have just recently discovered the many how to videos on the site. My first encounter of a how to video occured while helping my fifth grader complete multiplication using lattice methods....(RUH in my Scoobydoo voice????). I had never heard of such. However, I was amazed when I typed "how to do mulitplication using the lattice method" in the Google search bar a YouTube video appeared. The video was useful to both my son and I. Since then I've used YouTube as a study tool to supplement what my children are learning. Additionally, it keeps me from looking as though I'd never seen the work...imagine that!!!

In the classroom I plan to use the many tutorials and videos provided by YouTube to supplement my lessons. Amazingly small children learn best when music is available. I always found the alphabet songs that teach the alphabet, sounds, and object were great. One of my favorites is below:

Wms Thing #19

Social Networks are great for sharing information among various.groups. Presently, I have joined MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Flixster, ProjectPlaylist and now TeachPop.  While it appears that I have taken on too many accounts, I am presently filtering each site for accomodations of my needs (information, music, and movies). 

My Facebook and MySpace appear to be serving the same purposes, so I will eventually close the MySpace account.  Twitter is fairly new to me.  Flixster is great for obtaining movies.  I use my Skype account to reach family members during deployments.  Project Playlist works great for my many music listening needs.  Finally TeachPop will bea great site for obtaining and sharing information between other educators. While some of what I consider needs appear as wants...believe me I need them;)  In the classroom these sites can be great for sharing information for questions and answers, projects, lessons, current events, and calendar updates. I just have to determine which sites are more accessible to parents.