Thing # 19

I made an account on the Ning network, TeacherPop a couple days ago but have not been able to upload a photo or leave comments because I am still waiting for my profile to be approved. Another website that I looked into was Bake Space. I am always looking for new recipes and this website is great to do just that. I love how you can search the website for recipes by how you want to cook, what ingredients you have, or what type of food you want. I also love that you can share your own recipes. I decided to join this online community. I am also on pinterest and love that online community as well. 

Thing # 22

 http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=882720
 Livebinder is a great website to use to make folders to catergories different information that you find useful on the web. You can use tags as well which I like that about it. It is similar to other resources such as Pinterest where you can also make categories and place information about those topics in each one. I think it would be a great resource to have as a teacher but having too many different websites where you place information will also defeat the purpose so therefore people should choose one such as livebinder or pinterest instead of having more than one.

Thing # 21

http://animoto.com/play/0WDJDqgzD84hvM4Zn8V1hQ I loved using Animoto.com. I wish you could make longer videos than 30 seconds for free but I think the 30 second videos would be great introductions into a new unit for teachers to gain students attention. I made a simple video using pictures of me and my children and loved the different theme options that were available to use. I recommend this recourse to anyone who wants to make a fast and easy video.

Thing # 23

Looking on the Learning 2.0 I found out that the 23 Things was based off of a 43 Things. This is a great example of how creative commons works. I knew some about copyright before taking this class but I did not know about creative commons or how copyright applied to teachers. Knowing this information will be very important for me in the future. Teachers need to know what and how they are allowed to use the information that they find on the web. If I did not know this information I could get in a lot of trouble and that would not look good as a teacher. I plan on referring back to what I have learned about copyright and creative commons for when I start teaching my own students.

Thing # 20

 I love YouTube! I think YouTube is such an amazing resource to have. There are videos on there about anything and everything. YouTube can be used for entertainment purposes, teaching purposes, or just to gain knowledge or watch "how to" videos. I can not think of anything that I dislike about YouTube except I wish there was a way that you could filter it out so that kids could use it and not run into inappropriate videos. I chose a video on teaching special education because that is the field that I am interested in going into. I have a huge passion for not only students but especially students with disabilities. It is such a rewarding job to be able to watch children's lives change in front of you and see how you have made a difference in there lives. I honestly believe that teachers and anyone else who works with these children learn so much from the vary students that they are trying to teach. I love how the video says that these students with disabilities are like puzzle pieces and just need a teacher who is willing to put the puzzle together. Needless to say this video touched my heart. And yes I even cried! If that doesn't show how passionate I am then I don't know what would! http://youtu.be/2XsaK3pWyII

Thing # 18

It is so important that educators know how social networking works! Most students use social networking to communicate with their friends. A teacher should know how to use social networking so that they can better relate to their students and know how their students communicate. If used appropriately, social networking is also a great way to keep in contact with the parents of the students in your class and be able to update them on how their child is doing in the classroom. I have had a Facebook account for a while now so I am very familiar with Facebook and how to use it. I love the fact that almost every business and even colleges have their own Facebook accounts. It is a great way to find fellow classmates or other students who share the same major. Having a way to communicate with others who share the same future career path as you is really important and a great way to get help if needed on a certain topic.  I do not think that the use of Facebook in the classroom would be a good idea. There are a lot of inappropriate information on Facebook. I plan on teaching elementary school and therefore Facebook is definitely not appropriate for them. 

Thing # 17

After creating an account and exploring Delicious.com it was easy to see why creating bookmarks and tagging resources can be so useful. There are so many great websites out there for teachers to use to improve their teaching as well as worksheets that can be used in the classroom. Using an account like Delicious to bookmark these websites saved a teacher a lot of time when he or she needs to find a certain resource that they have previously used. Teachers are so busy and time management is very important for all teachers. Bookmarking and tagging is a great time management skill to have. Most of the time a teacher could Google what she is looking for, but why have to take the time to find a website when you could simply bookmark i! Love the idea and use of Delicious. I plan on using Delicious or some other bookmarking website when I start teaching to save all my resources to. :)

Thing # 16

I chose iGoogle to create my homepage. I had never heard of iGoogle or that you could create your own homepage on Google. I loved it! I am a calendar and to do list type of person so being able to put all that information on one page that I can access anytime was awesome! I plan on using this homepage until Google gets rid of it.The online calendar is so useful. I have a very crazy hectic lifestyle and the calendar allows me to keep up with all of my appointments and places that I have to be. I have it set up to send reminders to my phone 30 minutes before every event and it keeps me on top of everything. The to do list was a new add for me. I usually make to do lists everyday just writing them down on paper. Using the to do list creator on iGoogle allows me to have access to my to do list from my phone instead of having to carry a piece of paper every where I go! I love that!I recommend both the calendar and to do list on google to everyone!

Thing # 13

I personally did not like Zoho Writer. I was a little confused at what the point of one or what it would be used for. To me it was the same thing as using Microsoft Word to create a document. I guess people could use it instead of Word if they would prefer. I do not plan on using Zoho Writer in the future. Google Docs was very similar to Zoho Writer but after using Google Docs I understood that both Google Docs and Zoho Writer could be used so that the documents or presentations created can be accessed from any computer. This could be useful instead of saving documents to email or flash drives. Other than this reason, I do not see any reason to use either one of these if you have Microsoft Word. 

Thing # 14

I had fun creating a flowchart and a mind map. These are great tools for teachers to use and they are actually a lot of fun to create once you figure out how to do so. I made a flowchart with flowchart.com of a family tree. I then made a mind map with bubbl.us on the different options for what to cook for dinner. I plan on using both mind maps and flowcharts when I have my own classroom. :)

Thing # 15

 I found wiki to be a very useful resource. I love the fact that you can add and edit to other peoples ideas that they post. I used http://bighugelabs.com/jigsaw.php to create a jigsaw puzzle using a picture of me with two of my children. I think creating jigsaw puzzles for the classroom can be a fun and great way to do something different that the students will love! It is so fast and easy to create a jigsaw puzzle. The teacher could quickly make them for the students or even walk the students through how to make their own! Looking at the different wikis that were out there for educational purposes, there was so many different great ones to look at! There were ones for every educational subject possible and I think all teachers should know how to access them and use them!