DONE!

Well this experience hasn't been as painful as I thought it would be and I have actually learned to use some awesome tools in the classroom and in my personal life.  (Hello Live Binder!)  I will try my best as a teacher to implement my knowledge of these tools in the classroom, but it does boil down to where I teach.  I might be teaching in a low income school where technology really isn't available.  However, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.  I plan to try my best to keep up with the new and emerging tools coming out because as a culture, we are moving forward with technology all the time.  It is something teachers need to keep up with , too.  I have often thought about having my own blog to record "a students guide to becoming a teacher."  It would record the process behind becoming a teacher and share new teaching techniques, including new Web 2.0. tools.  However, finding the time is key.  It has been a great journey, and I now know many things I once didn't and I have a new attitude towards technology and teaching.

Thing # 23

The whole copy righting thing has me a little nervous and more determined to fully cite or give credit to any source I use.  The consequences for plagarism are severe, especially in the academic world.  Ever heard of Academic Suspension?  I know a few people who have received this for not citing sources in their research paper.  I plan as teacher to dedicate a class period to teaching students about copy righting and the dangers it poses if credit is not given where credit is due.  I also plan to make my students research the topic and learn what the different symbols mean.  After they have finished I plan on making them sign a contract stating that they understand copy righting and promise not to violate this.  As for the 23 blogs accreditation, it is listed under the credits.  Here is the statement:

Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things, a staff development program for the Mesquite Independent School District. That program was based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers and adapted by the California School Library Association and others. Content and style for Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers has been borrowed and duplicated with permission, under a Creative Commons License.

Thing # 22

I created three different binders in relation to history, the subject I will be teaching.  I made an Ancient Sumerian and Egyptian binder, an American History binder and a European history binder.  I can see myself utilizing this tool in the classroom because it is extremely simple to use and a great organizing tool that students can easily access.  It is also a great tool for the students to use, especially in research papers, where they can put all of their resources.   I honestly wish I had known about this when I was doing my research paper this semester as this would have helped me organize my sources for easy access.  As I will be teaching high school, I do plan on giving my students a research paper and this will be the perfect place for them to keep their resources.  Also, I can see my students doing future projects using these binders in which they research topics and present them to students in these online binders.   I love the idea of being able to find websites and put them into one binder in one place, and organizing them the way that I want.  Below is the link to my American History binder.  The access code is americanbinder.

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit/381581?tabid=1e7e1871-efdf-dfa2-ec11-e380edf12589

Thing # 21

My Animoto Video

I made a video of my rabbit.  The process was fairly easy and when I chose the free edition, I had many great choices to choose from as far as backgrounds and music.  Everything was easy to download and edit.  I did try to download the Mama's and the Papa's California Dreamin as the soundtrack, but it didn't work so I settled for what was in their library.  I also synced this to my facebook, where I could easily chose an album or individual pictures.  I think this is a great and creative tool for the classroom because it can allow students, especially art students, to compose an album of their favorite things.  As far as history I can see this as a beneficial tool that students can use to recognized certain cultures, geography and buildings or famous people in history.  And the best part is how simple (and free!) it is.

Thing # 20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moo1a01l7Gs

I chose the video above because it fits perfectly with this class and the subject I plan on teaching.  It talks about how to combine technology and history together to make it more fun and interesting for students.  In my years of schooling, I have noticed an increase in teachers using youtube.com for educational purposes.  As a matter of fact, it is utilized in my educational psychology class for almost every class.  Of course now there are other places to obtain educational videos on the internet, and places where you can even upload your own educational video, such a teachertube.com.  This is an easy and obtainable tool that I can see myself utilizing in the classroom.  I know for some of our blogging topics, the youtubes videos that have been provided have been extremely helpful and useful in completely the assignments.  And honestly, videos are a nice break for the teacher and students from constant learning, and sometimes students can even learn more from videos.

Thing # 19

I am an avid reader and constantly on the look out for new books to read.  I decided to join GoodReads and see what it was about.  This website was appealing to me because I was able to chose which genres I liked and choose what I wanted to read along with rating books I have read in the past.  I have already set my account up and for the last hour I have been exploring the website and looking through their books.  I will definitely keep this account and use it regularly, especially before I buy a book.  I like the idea of sharing my thoughts as well as listening to to others on different books.  This site will no doubt help me on my summer reading.

http://teacherpop.ning.com/profile/MariaDonald

The above link is for my Ning account.  I tried to upload my badge here but it didn't work.   I hope this is fine to do for my one of two things.  I also set up my profile and added a picture of myself.  I have to be honest in that I don't see myself using this for the time being.  Maybe in the future it will prove useful, but right now I have no use for it, nor the interest.  But as mentioned above, I do love the GoodReads and can't wait to tell everybody about it!