Throughout this blogging adventure I learned a lot about recourses I didn't even know existed. Some of my favorite discoveries were the Wiki and the flow chart makers. I didn't realize until this blog how handy Wikis could be and that many different people could get on and edit them. In my chemistry class I'm drawing flowcharts all the time, and with my slight OCD, sometimes they aren't always perfect. Gliffy allowed me to create a flowchart super quick. These apps could be a great way for students to review for an exam.
With all of my new tools in my toolbox, I hope to integrate as many of these tools in my classroom to aid my students in learning and keep myself organized. To improve the blogging experience the tasks could be updated. Some of the activities were things I already knew how to do, or had resources that I enjoyed more. For example there are awesome presentation generators out there like Prezi. Those are the types of things you will use everyday in your classroom and will be engaging to your students. As a whole I'm glad that this is my last blog post. I enjoyed learning new things, but will probably not keep up this particular blog. I do hope to be able to better use my teacher website for my students, and this experience has really helped me realize what all needs to go into keeping up a blog.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Thing # 23 Creative Commons
Below is an example of how the 23 Things was taken from another source and modified for the technology class at APSU:
CREDITS
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Thing # 22 LiveBinder
Gas Law LiveBinder
You will need this access key to visit this LiveBinder - khschemistry
The titles of my LiveBinders are Gas Law, Chemistry Resources, and Classroom Management Tools. I chose to embed my gas law LiveBinder in this post because I really like the way it allowed me to put a demonstration of the gas law, then a worksheet, and a quiz. I see how this could be really helpful in some situations, but not so helpful in others. For instance if you have all of this stud already organized on a flash drive, it might not be worth it to you to create the LiveBinder, but if you were just starting to teach it would be a great way to organize all your information. For students, I think it could be a great way to compile information for a research paper. I like the fact you can access it from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection and don't have to worry about leaving it in the back of a computer and losing it, like a flash drive!
You will need this access key to visit this LiveBinder - khschemistry
The titles of my LiveBinders are Gas Law, Chemistry Resources, and Classroom Management Tools. I chose to embed my gas law LiveBinder in this post because I really like the way it allowed me to put a demonstration of the gas law, then a worksheet, and a quiz. I see how this could be really helpful in some situations, but not so helpful in others. For instance if you have all of this stud already organized on a flash drive, it might not be worth it to you to create the LiveBinder, but if you were just starting to teach it would be a great way to organize all your information. For students, I think it could be a great way to compile information for a research paper. I like the fact you can access it from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection and don't have to worry about leaving it in the back of a computer and losing it, like a flash drive!
Monday, April 14, 2014
Thing # 21 Animoto
My Video
I have more photographs on my phone than I do on my computer so I decided to make my video using the Animoto app for the iPhone. The app was really easy to use. I picked pictures from when I was in Key West over spring break. I really like the way the video turned out, It makes me feel like I was back on the streets in Key West. The themes you could pick to put your pictures to were really neat and there was a variety of options. Even with me using my phone, it was easy to link my video to my blog. Enjoy!
I have more photographs on my phone than I do on my computer so I decided to make my video using the Animoto app for the iPhone. The app was really easy to use. I picked pictures from when I was in Key West over spring break. I really like the way the video turned out, It makes me feel like I was back on the streets in Key West. The themes you could pick to put your pictures to were really neat and there was a variety of options. Even with me using my phone, it was easy to link my video to my blog. Enjoy!
Thing # 20 YouTube
First of all, I love Kid Present and so do my students! I was excited to open up thing # 20 and see Kid President, so I decided to share another one of my favorite videos of his. Okay back to the post.. I really enjoy integrating YouTube videos into my Prezi presentations. YouTube videos are engaging to students and can help students see the real world application of standards. Sometimes I'm my class some students will be confused as to what I'm trying to say and getting another person to say it is as easy as opening up YouTube. I am glad that YouTube is controlled in CMCSS, and can only be pulled up on teachers' computers. This helps teachers use YouTube to facilitate the learning and not be a distraction.
Another useful tool in the classroom could be the video hosting site vine. This website allows you to put short video clips together, and repeat the whole video on a loop. This would be great for all science classrooms. You can take clips of something, like hatching a chicken egg, and loop it together to see the whole process very quickly. I found a vine of chemistry students making ice-cream. I usually do this lab with my students to show the affect of freezing point lowering by adding salt particles to ice. In this video you just see the kids shacking the ice-cream bags, then eating the ice-cream, but when teaching colligative properties if you were to show this, your students could tell you what exactly was going on in that bag.
Thing # 19 Other Social Networks
I think there are two main uses of social networking for educators. The first use is the collaboration of resources between teachers and the other being a professional way to communicate with your students. The main two social communities I use are Facebook and Twitter, but I did sign up for the Tasty Kitchen social network, because every recipe I saw in the few minutes I looked at that site looked yummy.
Your options are really endless when talking about social communities, but enough is enough for me. I don't have much time to get on Facebook and Twitter as it is, I don't really need to join anything else at this time. I think they are good to know about, but people who become so consumed in every little thing posted, doesn't really have time to be the best teacher they can be.
Your options are really endless when talking about social communities, but enough is enough for me. I don't have much time to get on Facebook and Twitter as it is, I don't really need to join anything else at this time. I think they are good to know about, but people who become so consumed in every little thing posted, doesn't really have time to be the best teacher they can be.
Thing # 18 Tweet Tweet
Follow me on twitter!
It is important that educators understand the importance of social networking, because its all our students know these days. Students use phrases like "follow me" or "hashtag" in everyday language, and if you understand what your students are talking about, they will be shocked. Educators also need to understand the importance of social networking to be able to collaborate with people across the world in their field, and follow the newest developments in your subject area.
I have used twitter for years, so I didn't necessarily learn anything new, but I did begin to realize how twitter can be an educational tool, and not just for pure social means. My search of hashtags made me think I could put together a hashtag for my classroom such as #KHSChemistry and students could see the trending posts. Following this trending hashtag would allow students to discuss what they did in class or to get help from each other on homework questions. To see hashtags I believe you have to have public tweets or be friends, so you could also create a twitter account for your classroom and allow teachers and students to follow the account. You could tweet your weekly schedule, homework hints, and reminders to your students. Students would really enjoy and appreciate such a use of twitter, because its something they check so often!
It is important that educators understand the importance of social networking, because its all our students know these days. Students use phrases like "follow me" or "hashtag" in everyday language, and if you understand what your students are talking about, they will be shocked. Educators also need to understand the importance of social networking to be able to collaborate with people across the world in their field, and follow the newest developments in your subject area.
I have used twitter for years, so I didn't necessarily learn anything new, but I did begin to realize how twitter can be an educational tool, and not just for pure social means. My search of hashtags made me think I could put together a hashtag for my classroom such as #KHSChemistry and students could see the trending posts. Following this trending hashtag would allow students to discuss what they did in class or to get help from each other on homework questions. To see hashtags I believe you have to have public tweets or be friends, so you could also create a twitter account for your classroom and allow teachers and students to follow the account. You could tweet your weekly schedule, homework hints, and reminders to your students. Students would really enjoy and appreciate such a use of twitter, because its something they check so often!
Thing # 17 Social Bookmarking
After creating my Delicious account, I see the bigger picture behind social bookmarking. I never thought about how you bookmark stuff on your computer, so when you go to a different computer you can't see those bookmarks. Wow, that is a huge inconvenience that social bookmarking takes care of. Teachers could use tags to bookmark resources for each unit they teach. This would be something you could connect to that cool Wiki I talked about in my previous account. So that if a teacher needed a lab for determining molar mass, teachers could look at resources others have posted, and pick the lab that best fits their needs. Teaching really is about not having to recreate the wheel, so why not collaborate and share recourses, it just makes everyones life's easier. I could see this being useful in my classroom as well. A common question I get in my class is, "why do we need to know this?" I could have students who ask this question bookmark websites that connect what we are doing to real world situations. Students could tag these bookmarks and compile many reasons that what I am teaching them is relevant to them.
Thing # 16 Get Organized
I chose to look at a UStart homepage, simply because this was the easiest of them to remember the name of. I liked how when you first opened the homepage it included things like, weather, a monthly calendar, and top news articles. I typically use Safari on my computer and it comes with a homepage that links to all your top viewed websites. UStart was very different, containing a lot more information than just your most viewed websites. I didn't like how you had to link all the websites to your homepage. I liked how my Safari homepage would automatically do that based off my most viewed websites.
Using 30 Boxes I created a monthly calendar and added a few dates to it. The calendar was really easy to set up and use, but not very convenient to my lifestyle. I need a calendar in front of me that I can pull out and check at any minute. I think managing this online calendar would be more of a hassle than its worth.
Zamzar is a very helpful tool i will be using in the future. This website allows you to convert one file type to the next. There are 4 simple steps to turn a file into a different format, just upload the file, click the type of file you want it to change into, type in your email, and click submit. They will email you the fine converted to the correct file type. This will be very useful when you have a PDF, but need to convert it to a Word document to be able to type on the document. There are many times I can think of off the top of my head that knowing about this website would have been really helpful.
Using 30 Boxes I created a monthly calendar and added a few dates to it. The calendar was really easy to set up and use, but not very convenient to my lifestyle. I need a calendar in front of me that I can pull out and check at any minute. I think managing this online calendar would be more of a hassle than its worth.
Zamzar is a very helpful tool i will be using in the future. This website allows you to convert one file type to the next. There are 4 simple steps to turn a file into a different format, just upload the file, click the type of file you want it to change into, type in your email, and click submit. They will email you the fine converted to the correct file type. This will be very useful when you have a PDF, but need to convert it to a Word document to be able to type on the document. There are many times I can think of off the top of my head that knowing about this website would have been really helpful.
Thing # 15 The Wiki
Before thing #15, I had seen Wiki's and heard of them, but didn't realize how many possibilities there are within them. I visited the examples of Wikis provided, and enjoyed seeing how others used Wikis in a variety of ways. My favorite was the Resources for History Teachers Wiki, which allowed teachers to collaborate resources for teaching history. I learned that edited material could still be viewed at a later date, which made me feel more Wiki friendly. At first it scared me to think someone could just come delete my work and replace it with theirs, but then I realized the importance behind the collaboration on Wikis. I added text on the APSU 23 things sandbox from a previous post on my blog.
What I find most interesting about the Wiki is that there is a built in tool that can track each edit that is made. To truly collaborate you should be able to discuss why someone took it off your Wiki, and why they replaced the text with what they did. I would be interested in creating a Wiki for chemistry teachers in CMCSS. This would allow us to share resources and activities that works in our classroom. We could talk about how we taught lessons and receive input in what worked or didn't work for other teachers on the same pacing.
What I find most interesting about the Wiki is that there is a built in tool that can track each edit that is made. To truly collaborate you should be able to discuss why someone took it off your Wiki, and why they replaced the text with what they did. I would be interested in creating a Wiki for chemistry teachers in CMCSS. This would allow us to share resources and activities that works in our classroom. We could talk about how we taught lessons and receive input in what worked or didn't work for other teachers on the same pacing.
Thing #14 Go With The Flow
I love using flowcharts in my notes, because they help students visualize which topics relate and what makes them different. I always just drew the flowcharts on the board, because I had trouble getting them in a presentation the way I wanted. The above flow chart was made using Gliffy very quickly. I could use this website to create flow charts for my notes, screenshot them into my presentations, or print them off and have students fill in extra information on them. Bubbl.us is a mind map creator. I feel like this would be more beneficial to me as a teacher when planning out my instruction for a particular topic. It gives me more freedom to make changes as I go and interconnect my thoughts. Students could also use this program though when brainstorming or coming up with information they know about a particular topic. Both flow charts and mind maps are very useful in the classroom.
Thing # 13 Google Drive
Google Drive Discoveries
Below is a screen shot of the Lesson Closure quiz I made using Google Forum
I believe one of the best applications of Google Drive is the ability of students to collaborate on the same document. That eliminates one person doing all the work compiling the information. Each student can now be focused on their part of the document, and then edit or make suggestions to other students' work on the same document. This will also probably motivate your slackers to get their portion done, because everyone can see your progress as you work through your part of the assignment. I really think Google Drive is creating applications that will benefit teachers in the classroom.
Zoho seemed more business focused. You also had to pay for this application after a 14-day free trial. I felt like Google Drive was easier for me to use. I am already familiar with gmail, so I found all the buttons I needed pretty easily. Zoho may not be affordable for a school system to purchase for each student. Google Drive is a much better choice for public school educators to use.
Below is a screen shot of the Lesson Closure quiz I made using Google Forum
I believe one of the best applications of Google Drive is the ability of students to collaborate on the same document. That eliminates one person doing all the work compiling the information. Each student can now be focused on their part of the document, and then edit or make suggestions to other students' work on the same document. This will also probably motivate your slackers to get their portion done, because everyone can see your progress as you work through your part of the assignment. I really think Google Drive is creating applications that will benefit teachers in the classroom.
Zoho seemed more business focused. You also had to pay for this application after a 14-day free trial. I felt like Google Drive was easier for me to use. I am already familiar with gmail, so I found all the buttons I needed pretty easily. Zoho may not be affordable for a school system to purchase for each student. Google Drive is a much better choice for public school educators to use.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Thing # 12 Google
The first google tool I chose to investigate was Google Scholar. In previous classes where I had to find specific articles or articles on a specific topic, I typically ran into trouble. The majority of the time I would find a title and an abstract that really interested me, but couldn't locate the full text. Google Scholar could come in handy as an extra database to check. The search engine is really easy to use. You can search very generally in the main search bar, or narrow your search parameters by using the drop down arrow to a more advanced search. You can use Google Scholar in almost any classroom. Basic more elementary uses could include searching for any article and teaching the student how to correctly site the work. More advance uses of Google Scholar in the classroom would be researching a particular topic and writing a correctly styled MLA or APA paper.
Next I decided to use Google Plus Photos to backup my wedding pictures. I had to download the app for the program, the upload all the pictures. Uploading the pictures took awhile, but it was something I needed to do and totally worth it in the end. Google Plus Photos links similar pictures together and plays them as a loop. This was really neat with our wedding pictures because it liked pictures together of us walking down the isle and our first dance. This would be really neat to use in an educational setting especially in a science class. A student could be in charge of taking pictures of the process of a chicken hatching or a science experiment, and then load them into Google Plus Photos. It would create a quick look of the experiment and could be shared with anyone. Enjoy below a screen shot from my Google Plus Photos creations, or click the link above to enjoy them all!
Next I decided to use Google Plus Photos to backup my wedding pictures. I had to download the app for the program, the upload all the pictures. Uploading the pictures took awhile, but it was something I needed to do and totally worth it in the end. Google Plus Photos links similar pictures together and plays them as a loop. This was really neat with our wedding pictures because it liked pictures together of us walking down the isle and our first dance. This would be really neat to use in an educational setting especially in a science class. A student could be in charge of taking pictures of the process of a chicken hatching or a science experiment, and then load them into Google Plus Photos. It would create a quick look of the experiment and could be shared with anyone. Enjoy below a screen shot from my Google Plus Photos creations, or click the link above to enjoy them all!
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Thing #11 Finding Feeds
Through searching for blogs to add to my RSS feed, the options were endless. I found the Google Blog Search to be the most helpful and easiest to use. Others were harder to find the blogs I was searching for. When using the Technorati blog search, I typed in "Chemistry" and all sorts of blogs came up that were not chemistry related. I added a few blogs to my RSS feed, either about chemistry research and development or instructional strategies for teachers. I enjoy reading chemistry research in hopes to find an article written on a high school student's level. The above image was what I found on a few blogs. All i had to do was click on that logo, and select Feedly as my RSS reader. It automatically took me to a link where I could subscribe to the blog on my Feedly account. Other blogs were not so user friendly.
Some unusual blogs I found were lots of relationship blogs from my keyword, chemistry. Just by getting on social media, I found many links to my friend's blogs. I never really took time to read them, but now that could also be something I ad too my RSS feed.
Thing #10 RSS Reader
Before this assignment, I had no idea something like this even existed. A RSS reader is used to communicate updates of you favorite websites to one general location that you can check. This saves you tons of time, versus going out to all these websites to see if any new information has been posted. I really like the fact that once you go on this website and set it up to link to all your favorite websites, thats all the work you have to do. From then out it does the work for you. In school this would be great if your students were asked to update blogs or discussion boards. The RSS reader would tell you immediately when something was posted, and you wouldn't have to go searching for this information. In my personal life I can use the reader to keep me up to date on the latest news of all the websites I regularly check anyways.
For my RSS reader I set up I connected to websites about teaching, education, and chemistry. These websites will keep me up to date on the latest research in chemistry along with the most current information on how to be the best teacher I can be.
For my RSS reader I set up I connected to websites about teaching, education, and chemistry. These websites will keep me up to date on the latest research in chemistry along with the most current information on how to be the best teacher I can be.
Thing #9 Image Generators
I was a little bummed, because I could only get the Image Chef generator to work. On ImageChef I just had to pick the image I wanted to use, then type in the text. It didn't have many options on the style or placement of text, therefore it was really simple. I created a few images I could use in my classroom. The first two would just be signs I could post either in my classroom or outside on the door. The last image I put a chemistry joke i usually tell my students to help them remember the chemical symbol for sodium is Na, not S. I could use this image generator to hang up these jokes on my chemistry wall.
Thing #8 Flickr Fun
In the above image I used the Spell with Flickr website that allows you to spell out words with images of letters from Flickr. It automatically creates the image for you. Then if you don't like a letter it used, you can just click on the letter and it changes to another picture to that letter. This was super easy to do. It many be a neat way to make name tags for desks or other things in your classroom.
In the puzzle picture, I used the Puzzle Creator website along with a wedding picture of my bouquet and our wedding rings. This website was super easy to use. All I had to do what upload a picture, then download it to my computer. I could see this being used in the classroom with younger children. It could be a lesson on uploading pictures and using web tools. The students could also present their picture along with a speech, or just as show and tell.
I believe that sharing photos online has its pros and its cons. Its great to have a backup of all your photos so that if they were to ever get lost, you would still have copies electronically saved. Its also good to share pictures with family and friends that you don't get to see every day. I think you have to be careful of who you share your pictures with though. I always try to keep my privacy settings set so that only my friends can see my pictures. I am also very careful of who I add as friends. YOu do not want he wrong people seeing a picture that you have publicly posted.
Thing #7 Flickr
Sitting at home on this 3rd snow day in a row, I figured I would opt for option 1 and search images of ice and snow. I found this beautiful picture on flickr titled Ice Close Up by Lucid Nightmare. At first i was going to create my own flickr, but realized you have to have a yahoo account. I don't have a yahoo account, and didn't feel like making another junk email account just to use flickr, so I did not create an account. Kinda a bummer, I may make one in the future to be able to use flickr. The website was really easy to navigate. I simply typed in the word ice and found just the picture I was looking for. Downloaded the medium size, loaded it to my blog, and ran into no trouble at all. While watching the video about the new things on flickr, I realized the amount of pictures they allow you to put on their website for free is incredible. Its always a good idea to have some source to backup your precious pictures and flickr just may be the thing for you.
Thing #6 Web 2.0 Tools
While looking through the tools from the go2web20 website, I found a very helpful tool called Mailbox. Mailbox is an app for your iPhone that I downloaded instantly. People look at my iPhone and say, "oh my! you have 2,000 emails on your phone. Doesn't that red bubble drive you crazy!" Well yeah it does, but the way the iPhone email organization is set up to me just doesn't appeal to me. So unfortunately I have thousands of emails that need to be deleted, but instead they just sit in my inbox. Mailbox claims to have redesigned the inbox to make email light, fast, and mobile-friendly. YOu can quickly swipe messages to your archive or trash. Scan an entire conversation at once or snooze emails until later with the tap of a button. Mailbox doesn't fall short of their claims either, this is a must-have app for any emailer on the go. I do not really see much use for this app in a library setting, but librarians could certainly teach students how to use it to manage their own mobile email accounts.
Thing #5 Web and School 2.0
School 2.0 means that educators need to begin to prepare students for a word where the web has no limits. Where its not really necessary to know how to write a formal letter, because all you will ever send is emails. Anything you ever need to know how to do, you can simply google it and find a credible source. The thinking behind School 2.0 is to teach our students all the possibilities of the web so that they will be able to enter the world as a value to an employer.
Schools in the future may begin to stress more on the applications of different software. Schools already have many students taking state assessments on the computers and are integrating computers into every classroom. Teachers will begin to collaborate any maybe even deliver lessons over YouTube for their students and other students. The possibilities are really endless with School 2.0 and even the large steps I see coming for School 2.0 will just be baby steps when we look at how far this concept takes us.
Thing #4 Why Commenting is Important
Commenting helps create a sense of community and interaction by becoming a part of the life of the blogger. Typically what happens is if you comment on someone's blog, they will go read your blog in order to learn more about you. Blog commenters are usually very supportive and will point out what they agree on before criticizing kindly on what they don't agree on. Comments always elaborate on why, so that you know exactly why the commenter agrees or does not agree. Two points from the readings I found important were to always try to comment back even if its not publicly and to leave blog entries open ended or controversial to promote comments. These suggestions will help you get more comments and create the sense of community every blogger hopes to acquire.
The titles of the 7 blogs I chose to comment on were: 23 Thing from Mrs. Cruise, Mr. Jones 23 Things, The Amazing and Wonderful 23 Things According to Mrs. Pigg, Morgan's 23 Things, Mr. Braem's 23 Things, Science Teacher, and Coaching In and Out of the Classroom. I chose these blogs because I felt like I could most relate to what these people were saying, and they were enjoyable for me to read.
I commented to Rachel Cruise - "Your wedding pictures are beautiful! Any homework that allows you to look at wedding pictures and relive the moment sounds like great homework to me! I'll have to look into trying you these apps!"
I commented to Joshua Jones - "Your ability to connect with other people, no matter what age,"\ will be so helpful when teaching. I guess I would say the same for me, but didn't realize how important it was to teaching. I have to connect with high-schoolers, coworkers, and parents. These people range in age, but i feel like I am always able to relate somehow to them. It will make your job easier in the long run!"
I commented to Kyrie Pigg - "I like your idea of setting up a blog as a communication tool for parents. Teachers usually are given a website, with no instructions on how to use it. A blog would be much easier to manage, and you could just link it to your website! It would also be a way to post work/notes if a student was absent or lost theirs."
I commented to Morgan - "I also at first thought commenting on a strangers blog was like reading about their most personal thoughts, but after reading the articles I understand the importance of commenting. Bloggers blog to see what other people thing about certain topics. Without comments, the bloggers would never get any feedback and thats exactly what they are looking for!"
I commented to Riley Braem - "I think that your students and parents would love these uses of blogs in your classroom. The world is becoming so tech savvy, that many parents would probably prefer a blog or a central location online to communicate information through."
The reason I commented these things on my classmates' blogs was because after reading these post I felt like I had something to say to them.
On the Science Teacher blog, I commented on her post about gardening. Being a gardener myself I enjoyed all the tips and tricks she gave for planting. I also enjoyed how she talked about the joy of teaching children to garden and provide food for their family for many many years to come.
On the Coaching In and Out of the Classroom Blog, I commented on a post about things students can't do during the day. I enjoyed this blog because it was quite funny. He discussed the lull that many students have right after lunch, and how to combat them with things like running in the halls, sliding down rails, throwing paper airplanes, and rolling chairs in the halls. My comment was about how much I appreciated his humor even with all the stress of teaching. Next time i am tired or stressed i will have to use some of his tactics!
The titles of the 7 blogs I chose to comment on were: 23 Thing from Mrs. Cruise, Mr. Jones 23 Things, The Amazing and Wonderful 23 Things According to Mrs. Pigg, Morgan's 23 Things, Mr. Braem's 23 Things, Science Teacher, and Coaching In and Out of the Classroom. I chose these blogs because I felt like I could most relate to what these people were saying, and they were enjoyable for me to read.
I commented to Rachel Cruise - "Your wedding pictures are beautiful! Any homework that allows you to look at wedding pictures and relive the moment sounds like great homework to me! I'll have to look into trying you these apps!"
I commented to Joshua Jones - "Your ability to connect with other people, no matter what age,"\ will be so helpful when teaching. I guess I would say the same for me, but didn't realize how important it was to teaching. I have to connect with high-schoolers, coworkers, and parents. These people range in age, but i feel like I am always able to relate somehow to them. It will make your job easier in the long run!"
I commented to Kyrie Pigg - "I like your idea of setting up a blog as a communication tool for parents. Teachers usually are given a website, with no instructions on how to use it. A blog would be much easier to manage, and you could just link it to your website! It would also be a way to post work/notes if a student was absent or lost theirs."
I commented to Morgan - "I also at first thought commenting on a strangers blog was like reading about their most personal thoughts, but after reading the articles I understand the importance of commenting. Bloggers blog to see what other people thing about certain topics. Without comments, the bloggers would never get any feedback and thats exactly what they are looking for!"
I commented to Riley Braem - "I think that your students and parents would love these uses of blogs in your classroom. The world is becoming so tech savvy, that many parents would probably prefer a blog or a central location online to communicate information through."
The reason I commented these things on my classmates' blogs was because after reading these post I felt like I had something to say to them.
On the Science Teacher blog, I commented on her post about gardening. Being a gardener myself I enjoyed all the tips and tricks she gave for planting. I also enjoyed how she talked about the joy of teaching children to garden and provide food for their family for many many years to come.
On the Coaching In and Out of the Classroom Blog, I commented on a post about things students can't do during the day. I enjoyed this blog because it was quite funny. He discussed the lull that many students have right after lunch, and how to combat them with things like running in the halls, sliding down rails, throwing paper airplanes, and rolling chairs in the halls. My comment was about how much I appreciated his humor even with all the stress of teaching. Next time i am tired or stressed i will have to use some of his tactics!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Thing #3 Blogging in the Classroom
I think one of the most helpful ways I could use my blog in my classroom would be to update the blog with daily notes and assignments. I already use Prezi, to present all my lectures to my class. I could link all of my lectures to my blog. Students that missed class could visit the blog to get the information they missed from class that day, or students could look over all the post for a certain unit to study for an upcoming quiz or test. I could also post a pdf of worksheets handed out in class. Students could print the worksheet from home if they missed class that day or misplaced the worksheet. It would prevent me from having to make extra copies to provide for the students. I wouldn't want to use my blog for extra information that wasn't presented in class due to many of my students not having internet access at home.
Thing #2 Creating My Blog
As a blogging newbie, this is my first experience with blogging. I have many friends who blog, and occasionally I will read their blog. I have always thought it would be something I would enjoy, but I haven't taken the time to sit down and figure it out until now. For my blog posting name I decided to just use my own name. I named my blog KHS Chemistry just in case I ever wanted to use it for my classroom. I created the blog during my first night of my technology class, therefore it went pretty smoothly. Creating the avatar was a little bit more challenging. I had trouble figuring out how to post it to my blog. It took some time, but it turned out I was simply just not coping and pasting the whole html code into the right box. My first posts were petty simple to get started, hit publish and look at me go I'm already blogging. I attempted to make my avatar look like me just because i thought they were supposed to. With very limited options I do not think it really turned out to look like me at all, but its simple and I'm a simple person!
Thing #1 Lifelong Learners
The easiest habit of the lifelong learner for me is setting goals. As a high school teacher, I believe making it though each day is a small victory. I set goals daily, some very short term such as a to-do list, and others more lengthy. Just recently I set out to learn how to knit, and after numerous YouTube videos and lots of pulling apart my mistakes I have made quite a few scarves and head warmers. I fell like many of the habits of a lifelong learner are necessary in accomplishing your goals, such as accepting responsibility, turning problems into challenges, and having confidence.
On the other hand, I seem to struggle most with the 1/2 habit, playing. In the past year I worked as a full-time teacher, went to school for my masters part-time, planned a wedding, got married, bought a house, and remodeled it completely in 5 months. Even though I enjoyed each and every one of those things, they were all work and no play. I fell like the job of being a teacher is never ending and there is always something I can be doing at all times. I don't stop enough to go play and get my mind off my busy lifestyle.
On the other hand, I seem to struggle most with the 1/2 habit, playing. In the past year I worked as a full-time teacher, went to school for my masters part-time, planned a wedding, got married, bought a house, and remodeled it completely in 5 months. Even though I enjoyed each and every one of those things, they were all work and no play. I fell like the job of being a teacher is never ending and there is always something I can be doing at all times. I don't stop enough to go play and get my mind off my busy lifestyle.
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