Thing #7a

Google Reader is a really cool, convenient tool for keeping up with news that is of interest to me. Time however, makes it hard to check up on my Reader every day. I am not overwhelmed in the "avalanche" of posts, but think of it as something to look forward to doing when I get caught up with some stuff.

I did take a gander at some post recently and discovered a really interesting post dealing with literacy. The article dealt with a blog post response that the author found interesting. A Japanese teacher stated that in order to be able to be fluent in Japanese, then one must make reading Japanese an everyday tool for finding information. She made the allusion to learning technology skills to learning Japanese. If we expect students to learn and understand technology in the 21st century, then they must use the information for the rest of their formal education. I relate to this being a foreign language teacher. People ask me all the time what is the best way to learn Spanish. I simply tell them to make it a priority to learn, and to practice, practice, practice.

Thing #14

In this Thing, I chose to show off my prize bass from my fishing trip with my dad. Using picnik, I was able to edit the picture to bring out the green in the fish! I felt that this would be a fun way for students to show pictures of things that they are interested in. I could have them present in Spanish descibing the things that are going on in their pictures. This could also be fun to use on social networking sites to edit photos for friends to see.


I'm Sorry, I couldn't resist. I used the application Blabberize to make this picture talk. This could be a fun way for students to tell a story or to read instructions to a project. It's also fun to send to your friends and have the picture sing a song.


This application was just fun. By uploading a picture onto the Jigzone website, I was able to turn it into a puzzle that reveals the sharp dressed couple within. This could be fun for mysteries or questioning problems. Have the students work out the answer and then put the puzzle together to verify their answers.

Thing #13

Man, was that ever fun! I had a hard time deciding which image generator I wanted to use. After playing around awhile, I finally decided that I had better just choose something, or else I would have been up all night experimenting. I chose the Spell with Flickr to post my Spanish introduction. This was fun because I could go back and retype the word each time getting a different combination of letters. The other image I chose was through a program called mytattoons. I was able to make a cartoon me! I feel like something is missing however... I just can't seem to put my finger on it. Oh well, after it was all said and done, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I feel this could be useful in class by merely allowing students the opportunity to express themselves. Kids are so much about being unique and individual that I feel the image generators allow them the freedom to show off their talents that they may not always get the chance to demonstrate while reading Shakespeare or reciting vocabulary. I could see kids using the Spell with Flickr to make custom vocab lists and the mytattoons to describe themselves. This would be useful when we use body vocab and adjectives. I can use them however... to make a ROCKIN" Blog!!!

Thing #12

Well, I enjoyed making my slideshow, but I had a time of it putting it on my blog. I originally tried Rock You, but to no avail. I took the advice of a friend and tried Slide which worked the first time. I chose the pictures in my slideshow due to what we are studying in class right now. Día de los Muertos is a Mexican cultural celebration honoring the dead. I feel more able to embed things onto my blog now, but only because it was so difficult to get to work the first time. I am having a blast, don't get me wrong, I just spent a lot of time on this Thing #12.

My pictures come from Flickr, credit should be given to: Productora Mutant, annpar, groovehouse, el_catrinero, and moon dragon.

Thing #11

I teach Spanish and over the last 7 years I have always displayed pictures, either from the web or ones I have taken, in order to reinforce vocabulary being taught. This is sometimes a challenge because I either haven't taken a picture of the vocab word listed or the pictures I find using Google Images aren't very good. With Flickr, one could spend all day and pick and choose the best photos of whatever he or she is looking for. I think Flickr mashup would be fun to make interesting photos for one's blog or Facebook. No matter what picture you choose Flickr and some of the accompanying applications allow the user to put his or her creativity into use. I could see this as being very useful in art classes or for projects needing a collage-type setup. This photo of a matador by Chema Concellon reminds me of a trip to Guanajuato, Mexico. Still, man faces beasts in different forms, computers for example, just another "olé" to add to his belt.

Thing #10

I had honestly never noticed the Creative Commons logo on the websites I visited before watching the two videos on Creative Commons. I do believe that Creative Commons will impact the way in which students learn and create projects. Just the other day I had 3 students from a couple of years back come to visit me with a song they had mixed for an English class. They had taken a bass line and beat from some R & B song and had replaced the words in which case they described some book they had read. I was impressed! They had made a 5 minute song in lyrical form with rhymes and rhythms. "How did you do that?", I asked perplexed that these 3 could do such a difficult task. Apparently they used some computer software to make an instrumental beat and then used a microphone from Guitar Hero and made up a rap of their very own. In class I am always using pictures, music, and video from the web. I am sure that I have shared pictures on the web at some time as well. Never did I know that there was a copyright label on the pictures I had taken. I sure didn't know that no one else could use those pictures without my permission. I love that Creative Commons has taken things that others have made and have made them available to others to use or "remix" as per Lawrence Lessig. Knowing that I can take these works and use them for educational purposes makes me that much more eager to get out there and find things that I feel would help my students to learn. The only problems I could see using the Creative Commons is someone taking a work by someone who had meant to represent one thing and make it represent something bad.

Thing #9

Well, its been 50 hours since my last post. I've been working on my wiki. After I received permission to play in the sandbox, I set out to make not just any wiki, but THE wiki. After my third failed upload to the site I threw my self back away from the computer cursing the day I decided to become technologically savvy. "It's better than me", I whispered below my breath, and somewhere from within my computer, I would have sworn I heard a chuckle. It was then that I decided I could beat it! I cracked my knuckles and geared to push myself forward and with a victorious yell, I thrust my chair forward to defeat the evil wiki. "Not this time", I smirked as I double bracketed the [[toc]] as opposed to the single brackets on the instructions page. From somewhere in my computer I felt it had suffered a blow. "Each title must be a heading", I sneered as I quickly changed the title from normal to heading. "Oh there you are!", I triumphantly exclaimed as I discovered the Powerpoint presentation I had uploaded had lodged itself behind the editing tool. "I'm king of the wiki!!!", I shouted as I rose from my chair and kicked my defeated powerless computer to the floor. Well, maybe that last part was a bit over the top, but that's what I felt like doing. I called a dear friend who would understand my grief to share with her my sorrows of the wiki. "It is conquerable", I told her, "and we shall beat it once more if need be." Victory was ours and we will be better next time. All in all the wiki is very fun and useful, it's just difficult to set up the first time. My wiki page is available to anyone interested.

Thing #8 - Stretch

Wikipedia is a pretty cool online resource for information. I rummaged through and found information on my favorite fictional character... James Bond. Thanks to all the links attached to the website, I was able to visit multiple sources for the British agent. The organization once again made skimming through for desired information very easy. I have questions as to whether or not all the information on the Wikipedia site is accurate, but feel that thanks to the links to other websites, I can at least cross reference information to easily determine the validity of information.

Thing #8

Wikis and Readers and Blogs, Oh my! Well it seems there is another technological advancement of which I was unaware (Surprise). Wikis, or "quick reads" as translated in Hawaiian, are similar to blogs except the "commenter" has the ability to also be the "blogger". I hope I'm keeping up with the jargon.
As I searched around for some wikis, I found one where a group of 6th graders made up their own medical clinic. Inside I found different types of doctors and their specialty. Each doctor dealt with different aspects to the human body. As a kid, I would have found that amazing, as an adult I find that impressive.
I continued on my self-made quest, to see which of the wikis was clearly the best. After a while I began to feel like a goose until that is, a wiki for Seuss!!! I read the wiki, with nary a jerk, amazed at the detail of the childrens' work. Videos and stories were there clear as could be. Even a spelling error, corrected by me.
After this jubilant excursion, I pressed on to find a wiki for 1st graders dealing with comparisons of schools today and the past. Did you know that children didn't have wikis in the past? One woman even wrote in to tell that there were only 12 students in a classroom. Wow! How do I go back in time?
Some of the things I noticed while searching wikis were that the tools to edit and make a page were so simple to use, that even I could do it, (and I did). The pages were organized by subject which made browsing very simple and easy to move on to topics. I feel that a student asked to partake in both the making and editing of wikis would take pride in the work done and would be better off for the knowledge gained. I don't know that I would necessarily change anything from the wikis I saw. I do have some ideas for how it would be used in the classroom. One thing I would love to do is have verb conjugation charts, and stories where students could change/add/correct verb conjugations that were shown. It would be a Spanish editing page. Could I tell who had done what? I would need to have some sort of guidelines to keep kids honest and not mess around. Cool Cat Teacher gives warnings for such behavior, maybe I could send her an e-mail?

Thing #7

Do you know that feeling you get when you are speaking to someone and they remind you that you have something to add that, in your opinion anyway, will rock their world and cause them to pound their head with their palm as to say: "why didn't I think of that?" Well, that's how I have felt as I have been reading some of these blogs. I patiently read through the blog and the comments that followed only to release THE response. Commenting just feels right, now that I had learned the correct way to do it thanks to Cool Cat. I didn't dare to be the Darth Commenter that she describes in her blog. I found that it easy to get sucked into the pessimism train that follows a Darth Commenter, but I wanted the author to know that I "heard" him, so I changed my tone and sent a positive comment that I am sure everyone will read and thank me later for posting. Seriously, as I was reading through the Dallas Cowboys blog, it was alarming how many Darth Commenters there were. I wonder if they would still be Darth Commenters if the Cowboys were 4-0? Just a thought.

Thing #6

"Addicted much?", was the the question I was asked as my somewhat nosy French teacher neighbor passed by my room this morning. "Just doing an assignment", I reassured her as I failed to turn and give her my attention. I was reading a blog by David Warlick dealing with Starbucks and "the impoverished civic life." It was after she had entered her classroom and began getting ready for her day that I realized that I hadn't even had a humorous comeback. "Have I become addicted?", I asked myself. All this new information has been presented to me in such a short amount of time that it's all I can think about. I'm losing sleep thinking about all the cool new RSS sites I could be adding to my Google Reader. I don't know if I can take much more... Oh look, here's a blog on blog addicts and one on Attention Deficit Disorder. My point... I guess my point would be that as I have read through many of the blogs posted on the internet, there is no end to the amount of information that can be attained by merely seeking it. One blog discussed how scientists are contemplating posting their research results on the web for anyone to see. Though I love the idea of young scientists going out and making a name for themselves by learning vicariously through others. I also know that many of my greatest lessons were learned by failure.

Thing #5

Lately, I have gotten out of my comfort zone and have begun to familiarize myself with technology. Prior to 23 Things, I had no idea the usefulness of Blogs, RSS, and Readers. Now that I know I wonder why I waited so long to understand their usefulness. Just recently I discovered the RSS application, and how it works. I was amazed at how I could subscribe to websites and have new information delivered to me instead of having to go and look for it. By setting up my Reader in my Gmail account I was able to subscribe and begin reading on topics as such as Creativity in the classroom, to a Netflix type program for children's books. I enjoyed the diversity that was presented and all together in the same scroll down list. The blog on Creativity intrigued me because it talked about how creativity is absent in today's schools. Many times when students attempt to show their creativity, they are swatted down and told to follow normal patterns of behavior in school. The next blog deals with the complexities of starting a Netflix type program for children's books. They seek a way of borrowing books without breaking any laws. Overall I have enjoyed the Reader application and can't wait to see what else this course has in store.

Thing #4

While reading some of the articles listed on the Thing #3 page, I discovered something that I had never understood... BLOGS!!! As I read some of the entries people posted, I realized that people had interesting and insightful views on various topics. As I read through the posts left by readers, I felt as if I were in a forum of debaters adding tidbits of information and facts. In terms of a genre, I felt like I was in the middle of a good suspense / thriller / mystery. The initial blog writer reminded me of Sherlock Holmes. He presented information, and as the omnipotent mystery solver he allows Watson, those responding and adding their two cents, the chance to add insight and or pertinent information on the topic. As I scrolled down the page and read the responses to the blog, I felt the posts were very helpful additions to the story intially posted.

Blog reading is both similar and different from other types of reading in many different ways. One way it is different is that blogs allow readers the chance to comment on the material presented. When someone reads an article in a magazine or a published website, they read information and are left to process the information in their head. Blogs allow the reader the chance to put their thoughts into words, in written form. It allows them the chance to summarize and make sense of what they read. I read a blog dealing with brevity and discovered that the responses were...well...brief! I noticed that people were putting their responses to the importance of brevity into practice. Other blogs not dealing with brevity, had responses that went on and on.

I feel that blog writing is different from other writing because it allows the writer the chance to give their thougths and opinions with the expectation for feedback. Blogs may be written by someone who wants to keep their identity. Blogs allow them the chance to throw out and receive feedback without the fear of judgment or diapproval.

Commenting on blogs allows readers the chance to add insight and different perspectives on subjects. Readers may find the comments to be more thought provoking than the initial blog.

I suppose there is a blogging literacy by the way in which people respond. Responses that I read were less formal and seemed to be less grammatically correct.

The blogs I read seemed to be very appropriate to my profession. I feel that I gained some insight into some topics I wouldn't ordinarily search.

Thing #2

After reading the article "A Day in the Life of Web 2.0", I was both reassured and distraught. I was reassured in the sense that mankind if need be, could carry on with the world from home without fear of the morning commute. I was distraught, because the same technology that brings us all together, is the same that will keep us all apart. Recently I was chatting with my sister while she was on Facebook. We held an entire conversation only to end with her asking me what we had talked about. I'm curious as to how this Web 2.0 will play out in the end. Will it be the tool that enables man to be more productive and better off, or will it just enable man?

One way that I feel Web 2.0 will allow me to teach digital learners is by allowing me to post podcasts on the web available to my students. It seems Apple has created an interesting little toy known as the i-pod, i-phone, and the i-i-i!!! With this device a person is able to plot in a GPS location, plan a business meeting, and order flowers for his mother all while jogging down a country road. I don't see why students couldn't download podcasts to listen to while waiting to see a movie. Technology is what drives the children of today. Whereas I didn't get my first cell phone until I was 24, most of my 15-year old students have mastered texting by their side without looking. Recently I decided it was time to get my Masters degree and decided to get the GRE study book. The book comes with a CD/DVD which you place in your computer and study while on the computer, and the test itself is on the computer. I feel it is time I catch up with the times.

Thing #1

After viewing the "7 &1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners", I initially didn't feel that any of the habits were going to be hard for me to adapt. Later I discovered that the 3rd habit "Viewing problems as challenges", was one that I would have to reconsider. Being a teacher I sometimes find that my income does not always exceed my "outgoing" if you will; which I discovered this Summer when my A/C went out. It was 104 degrees the day my condenser stopped working and my girlfriend and I had been to New York the week before and had spent mucho dinero. I wasn't worried because I had money saved up and would be able to pay no problem. Then another big financial boom came down upon me and forced me to spend even more of my hard saved money. I was growing very weary and becoming quite negative, but because of my frustration I realized it was time to go on a budget because I had spent my entire month's salary 2 weeks before payday and was emptying my savings just as quickly. It was time to change ME!!!

The habit I felt I would be most able to follow was the 1st which is: "Begin with the end in mind". I rarely begin a project without first knowing my end goal.

The habit I may have the most trouble following will more than likely be the habit 6: "Using technology to your advantage". I feel I use technology to help me somewhat, but know I could be using it to better benefit my place in the world as well. That shall be my goal this week budgeting on a spreadsheet.