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. 

Wms Thing #18

Though I just established a Twitter account, I've enjoyed Facebook for over three years.  Facebook was a great asset to keeping in touch with my family and friends during Army deployments.  During peacetimes, I am able to plan events, share pictures, and maintain contact with friends and family members that I only see occasionally.  Facebook also enabled me to find old friends and family that I'd lost contact with.  Recently, I've joined and established groups that enable me to stay abreast of current and upcoming events.  The Army Career Alumni Program (ACAP), 101st Airborne Air Assault Division, APSU, and now APSU College of Education ae just a few groups that I am a member of through facebook. For usage in the classroom, I initially thought establshing a Facebook page for parents and students (depending on age) to obtain information, updates, and reminders.  After all who doesn't have facebook.  According to the stats...not many.   I was actually shocked that only 41.6% of U.S. citizens actually use Facebook.  Many report it as a gossip column, but all of that greatly depends on your friend selection.  Below is the link to my Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/stephanie.williams.507

Wms Thing #17

Until today I really had no idea what Social Bookmarking entailed.  After exploring the Delicious Social Bookmarking site, I am now better equipped to manage an abundance of useful information.  Prior to obtaining knowledge about resources like Delicious, I always manintained folders within my favorites at my home and work computer.  My only problem was that I could only access my tools from my home or work computer.  To fix the problem, I began making folders within my email accounts that contained sites and resources to the tools that I desired consistent access to.  Sites like delicious allow me to do so much more.  In addition to establishing foldiers similar to those in my emails and favorites, I can now add tags, search for more information similar to that in my folders, and share the information.  In the classroom I think such a tool would be great for sharing information, learning, and study materials among teacher, parents and students.

Wms Thing #16

Because I often have many minimized tabs, sticky notes with reminders and appointments, Web based applications that improve productivity are just what the doctor ordered.  For setting up my homepage I used IGoogle.  IGoogle enabled me to place all of the pages and applications that I use in one central location..my homepage.  In addition to my news, weather, Facebook, email inbox, calendar, things to do horoscope, bible verses all now being centrally located my navigation time is redcued greatly. 

For the calendar application, I tried the 30 boxes.  Because 30 boxes allows consistent updates and sharing, I think it would be a great resource for planning purposes in the classroom setting that could be shared with students and parents. 

In managing my things to do, presently, I have sticky notes, printed calenders, and index cards listing all of my appointments and schedules. Worse, I despise the taste and smell of milk.  Who would have imagiend that of all of the web applications used to improve productivity, I enjoyed the "Remember the Milk" application best. "Remember the Milk" enabled me to consolidate all of my different manual to do tools, could be easliy navigated, accessed from anywhere, could be shared, and most importantnly could be added to my phone. 

I have plans of continuing all three productivity applications in both my home and classroom as they can be all used to stay abreast of both ongoing and upcoming events, which is helpful to educators, parents, and students.

Wms Thing #15

Finally an opportunity to publish a few more Wms Things while ill:(  I really enjoyed Wiki.  Wikis are collaborative content management systems.  Many sites can be used for providing consistent informational updates and widely shared.  While deployed to Iraq in 2008, I had the responsibility of maintaining my unit's Virtual Family Readniess Group page.  The page was updated at least 2-3 times per month.  Pictures and stories about missions, training events, birthdays, and other holidays  were placed on the site to keep family members abreast of the things that their Soldier took part in.  Once the site was established it was fairly easy to maintain.  Each unit First Sergeant provided their updates for their company.  Once each unit's input was provided the battalion's page was completed for the month.  In the classroom I would use a similar site for the same purpose (providing weekly and monthly newletters) to my class and their families.  I think it would be a great asset for teachers to provide systematic updates that produce a school or particular grade monthly newsletter.

Wms Thing #14

I have just completed "Going with the flow"viewing and exploring the various tools for mind maps and flow charts.  The longer I remain in this class, the more I am convinced that I have worked hard "not smart" for the past 6 years.  During the past 6 years, I've had the tasks of creating flowcharts for executing training, charts that depict training plans, and organizational charts for operational plans and capabilities briefings...AAAUGH.  These tools would have been beneficial for me in the Army.  However, I will definitely put them to good use in the classroom to develop plans, brainstorm problem solvers, perform sequencing and other reading skills.  The chart below depicts a Reading Counts 3rd Semester goal plan for students to focus on improving reading and comprehension skills based off of past "imaginary" benchmark testing. 

Wms Thing #13

I have just completed the navigation processes between both Zoho Writer and Google Docs.  Google Docs gets my vote.  While Zoho site has an abundance of tools and applications for business purposes, navigating through those applications are as easy as I presumed.  To compare the two resources, I made a spreadsheet planning the summer vacation of my friends and I.  Both products provided the necessary information to establish a budget, share information on each of our choices, costs, and expenses.  Google Docs actually had the template with formulas readuly available.  I appreciated that I was able to manipulate the data to acually fit some of the costs that we may possible incur.  After inputting all of the information, each of us was able to determine how much of a budget we were required to maintain for the vacation.  Google Docs actually calculated the information into a pie chart breaking down the total budget into percentage of each expense.  Check it out.....

 
With Zoho, the same spreadsheet was created.  However, the ease of the creation was not as great as Google Docs.  In Zoho, I attempted to find a similar tool.  My first quest was to search the product links.  In the product links I searched planner templates without success.  There was nothing in the templates that compared to the document provided by Google docs.  After searching and searching through the various templates and Zoho apps, I decided to create a spreadsheet similar to the one provided by Goole Docs.  The spreadsheet created in Zoho wasn't extremely difficult. I think that can be attributed to the foundation being provided by Google Docs.  While I had the most difficulty inputting a pie chart, the remaining info input was similar to that of Google Docs.  Below is the screenshot of the chart:

The link below is to the HTML view of the chart.  I am at my wits end trying to copy it to make it visible on the blog.

https://sheet.zoho.com/public/stephanie.wms107/2012-summer-getaway-with-zoho-2?mode=html

I think the usage of both applications will be great in a classroom as it affords the teacher to share grades, assignments, projects, and my favorite PLANNING!!

Wms Thing #12

Local news reports Clarksville Police throughout the city responded to a Hostage call.  Meanwhile Presidents Obama's proposal to raise the dropout age falls flat.  These are the most updated news alerts that I've received thanks to Google Alert.  The first alert was selected to keep me abreast of local news while the second keeps me abreast of news on education.  Both alerts could be beneficial for me in the home or classrooms as it keeps you updated on the latest news and information.

Also, between the Army, APSU, and Spring Meadows Nursing Facility, I have an immense amount of things to do and not enough time to do them.  As a result, I also selected the Google Calendar.  The greatest thing about this tool is that I can share my chaotic tasks with my husband.  In the classroom Google Calender can be visible to students, parents, and other staff members to enable the widest information dissemination.

Wms Thing #11

The RSS process for me began rather difficult.  I began the process by using the links on the APSU D2L page.  After the link went to the page, I clicked the subscribe box.  However, I didn’t discover that I hadn’t subscribed to the feeders until after I’d gone through the entire process.  Next I attempted to add the URL in order to subscribe, that was unsuccessful as well.  Finally, I  used the search engine on Google reader and was able to see the numbers increase for the number of blogs on my page.  Nonetheless, the efforts were worth the work enabling me to subscribe to several sites. 

While viewing Edublog, I found the categories of the award winners to be very interesting.  Voting was closed so I didn’t spend much time on the site. However, I have intentions of revisiting the site to browse for possible subscription.

I really wish I’d used the Google Blog Search for the school library learning before Thing #2 of our project. The site consists of multiple Web 2.0 tools as well as tutorials for everything that we’ve done so far in completing the 23 things.   

Next, I viewed Topix net which was beneficial to me as it consisted of both local and world news.  Topix.net is actually a newsfeed that I would consider using in the classroom for up to date local new information.  Topix.net also appears to be easy to navigate for the younger students that I plan to teach.

Technorati didn’t spark my interest.  One of the ways that I selected the feeders for subscription was based on the information provided that was interesting to me.  If the first five feeds of information was of no interest, I merely closed the site.  Technorati listed threads in reference to the body piercing bill; a 98 year old’s value of volunteering; and Mother Ivres love.  Technorati for me was unusual.

Wms Thing #10

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is yet another application that enables mass sharing of information.  RSS allows you to view several information threads at one time in the same place.  This tool is great for someone like me who has anywhere from 5-8 windows opened at the same time shuffling from one to the other in search of information.  So far I've subscribed to the following sites:

• E Online
• ABC News
• Cool Cat Teach
• Army Times
• Fox News
• Fox 411
• Weatherbug
• Ticketmaster

In the classroom in addition to using some of the tools offered in the Cool Cat site such as lesson plans and vocabulary tools, I will use the tool to share information among the students in the class.  Additionally, I would implement a news share or current events discussion block of time at the beginning of each day. 

Wms Thing #9

Image generators can literally make your wildest dreams visible...free of charge.  I used the Foto Trix and Image Chef site.  In the Foto Trix site I used the magazine cover tool of a picture of my husband and I while both serving in Iraq (fitting for this app).  While in Iraq, the locals that worked on the base camp had a shop that made magazine covers with personal pictures included.  Both my husband and I as well as the majority of Soldiers on the camp brought a large amount of these pics at $15 each.  The covers we made consisted of our kids and other family members.  They were as shocked to receive the magazine covers.  However, there level of suprise doesn't come near ours as we just discovered the same app four years later...free of charge.  I suddenly have the urge to stamp the letters s u c k e r  on my forehead, I am sure if I look long enough I'll find an app that does it;)

With the Image Chef site I took the family on a trip that my husband has been trying to take for the last couple of years.  Yep you guessed it we're all at the ball game supporting our Dallas Cowboys;) 

  

Wms Thing #8

Life for me has just gotten a little easier with Flickr.  Flickr Mashups have so much more to offer.  Since Thing #7, I've discovered the wonders of Spell with Flickr and Jigsaw.  I was in awe because I was able to make similar photo puzzles to those that I'd paid $20-$30 as a photo package in most photo studios.  I could be on to something here with all of the different tools provided by Flickr. Flickr is beneficial for me in multiple aspects (church, home, and work).  At work I make many programs, presentations, and flyers that are usually quite time consuming.  Flickr has just save me an enormous amount of time in completing what normally took longer than a hour to complete.  In the classroom I plan to use Flickr to enhance my classes's handouts, newsletters, and bulletin boards.    

                

Wms Thing #7

Buna Ziua (Hello in Romainian)


Flickr is an awesome site, once I got the hang of uploading the pics. I guess it can be attibuted to my old PC. Flickr offers opportunities to share pictures worldwide. In the classroom Flickr would be an excellent tool for History, Art, or English. Flickr's photo galleries can enable students can take a virtual tour around the world without leaving their desks.


At home I typically use facebook for all my picture sharing needs. However, my parents and older close family members detest facebook. On many occasions I have to compile several discs to share pictures with them or purchase photo prints.  However, with Flickr, as long as it doesn't afford gossiping, I can save money on disks and postage and edit viewing capabilities of my pictures.  Below is one of my favorite pictures.  Let's just say Charlie had his angels....and I have mine;)

Wms Thing #6

The Web 2.0 site that I find extremely useful is YouTube.  Until recently, I’d only associated You Tube with music videos and only used it for that reason.  My 11 year old had  homework on multiplying lattice (something that I’d never heard of).  Because of my lack of knowledge, I was unable to assist him properly.   By searching Google I immediately noticed a site for You Tube as a tool from the search.  The site http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP06KwoWknM  provided me with several videos that enabled both of our understanding of the lesson.  I have been using the tool every since and I will continue to use it as a supplement to lessons in my classroom. 

Wms Thing #5

The traditional classroom as we know it with chalk boards, desks, and chairs have rapidly changed with the onset of technological advances.  Educational instructional strategies have drastically changed since the earlier eras as well.  Web 2.0 and School 2.0 is a product of our everchanging society.  School 2.0 offers opportunities of education abroad rather than just one location.  The implementation of these systems will require educators to become more adept overhaul old patterns that were once useful in their instructional strategies. Instructional strategies must now be adapted and tailored to educate students collectively, individually, and abroad

Wms Thing #4

Today’s technology offers an immense amount of tools that provides open communication.  Social Networks, blogs are just a couple of the popular forums today.  Because many of the sites offered today afford two way communication.  Commenting is essential to enabling the sites goal of establishing a community of sharing knowledge, ideas, and information..  I posted Blog comments on  A Soldier’s Perspective Blog site with a thread titled “Is America Ready for the Return of Combat Troops?” My response was:
CJ, I really enjoyed your article as it makes several valid points. I am a Soldier still on Active duty that deployed 3 times. I face many fears of uncertainty, because the military has been my life for the past 22 years. While I like others who are pending retirement have had some time to plan for the departure, those over 30,000 Soldiers that you speak of haven't. Unfortunately are economy isn't prepared for their return. Our nation has been at war for the past decade. A proper preparation in returning the troops to a society that doesn’t impose any more issues on their health and stability may take even longer. VA Reps at the BDE level is a wonderful idea, unit trained reps would also be a plus in the early identification of any possible issues. The emphasis of continued training that has been emphasized for the purposes of war should now be reallocated to the many today Soldiers that will be civilians tomorrow.

Next I posted in a Tech and Learning site titled “Ready, Set, Go: Apps to Align the IEP to the Common Core Standard” which addressed how special education teachers help  students attain the Common Core Standards and meet their IEP goals.  Tech and Learning.  I responded to the site by informing the author that the information that she provided was beneficial to me in that I was preparing to enter the Special Education field. 

Both sites are very important to me at such a time as my transition from the military into the civilian sector as a Special Education teacher.  So far the blogs I commented on from the class were: 23thingssavail, apsueducation, hornerliscious23 things, lifelonglearner, and killebrew123.

In Stephanie Vail’s (23thingssavail) post, I responded to Thing #6 that discussed the benefits of the Web’s Dropbox.  Stephanie and I are both in the online 5520 course.  I always enjoy her posts during the discussion threads.  Besides sharing the class and our names, both Stephanie and I have a habit of forgetting things on the printer or data sticks.  We both benefit from the dropbox. 
My response stated, “Great tool Stephanie. I have a bad habit of losing data sticks, so this is a very helpful site for me. Thanks”  I posted the comment because I found the site offered to be a great tool.  Also to let her know that she wasn’t alone in the areas of forgetting.

In Katy Martin’s (apsueducation) posts, I responded to Thing #3 that discussed the importance of blogging in the classroom.  Both Katy and I shared views on the uses of the blogs within the classroom.  My response stated, “Katy, great post.  I think the blogs will make life much easier on educators in providing updates, reminders, and notifications to our students and their parents.  No more worries in regards to the letter that the student tends to forget to deliver.  Our only worry now is that the parents and students utilize the blog system to obtain the information provided.”

In Amy Horner's (hornerliscious23things) posts, I responded to Thing #10 that discussed the number of suscriptions that she'd completed.  Both Amy and I agree that the number of tools and applications offered in Web 2.0 can become addicting.  My response stated, " Amy, the features are very addictive.  I have a hard time determining which one I like most.  The most beneficial aspect of any addition is admitting the potential problem.  You've identified it already so no worries;) The PLT is in the bag!!"

In Melanie Reece's (lifelonglearner) posts, I responded to Thing #12 that discussed the tools that she'd selected.  Both Melanie and I agreed that the Google Calendar was an awesome tool.  My response stated, Melanie, in the chaos of my day to day schedule, this is just what the doctor ordered. With the schedule I am able to juggle a number of things while simultaneously organizing and sharing my chaos with my husband".
  
In Jennifer Killebrew's (killebrew123) posts, I responded to Thing #1.  One of the issues that Jennifer stated was viewing problems as challenges.  While this was a present issue for Jennifer, for me this was an issue of the past.  My response stated "Great post Jennifer. I have always tried plaaning things out. The one thing that assists me in coping with possible problems is that I actually write a list of what if situations. Though there are cases where the problems are slightly different than I predicted, me writing them caused me to mentally prepare for worst case scenarios. Hope this helps:)

Wms Thing #3

In my quest to become a teacher, I spend countless hours researching teaching tools, ideas, and lesson plans.  Because of the many uses of Blogs, a teacher could benefit greatly from the use of it.   Blog offers a onestop shop for sharing ideas, information, lesson plans, and activities among teachers.  In addition to a Class Weekly Newsletter, I would use it as a tool for interaction between the class and parents to provide daily notifications and/or reminders of both present and future events. 

Wms Thing #2

Until today I had no prior experience with Blogs.  As a result, setting up a blog for me appeared a little difficult.  However, as I continued to navigate through the various tools, I am becoming more familiar with them. I anxiously await learning more.  

Initially, I viewed Blogs as being similar to Facebook posts.  However, after spending the last couple of days on Blogger, there is appears to be a distinct difference.   While facebook is more of social networking, blogger affords journaling and networking experiences.  Because of the distinct differences, I selected a name that pertains to me at this very time and place (my last name, my current and future role in society).   Basically, I am a Soldier preparing to be a teacher.

Setting up my avatar was interesting.  Not only does she have my hairstyle, but she has a laptop in her hand.  Since entering Grad School, my family swears that I sleep with my laptop in my hand.  Today's students have an immense amount of knowledge in the use of technology. As an educator I aim to stay one step ahead, even if that means sleeping with my laptop;).

Wms Thing #1

The "7 1/2 Habits of Higly Successful Learning" contained many interesting thoughts.  I found that at least five of the habits would be quite easy for me.  I consistently find myself easily demonstrating all of the habits with the exception of Habit 7 1/2.  In choosing one thats easiest, I would venture to say that Habit number one usually comes easiest.  Establishing goals at the onset of any project usually enables me to stay focused, establish priorities, and implement systems that ensures that my plans are carried out as inteded.  Unfortunately, when several goals are established, I find it difficult to incorporate any play time into my schedule.  However, to avoid the results of becoming dull from "all work and no play", I continue to make positive strides in defeating this task.