Is the the end or only the beginning?

After completing the 23 things, I look back and found many things useful. I really enjoyed the flikr mashups and the youtube. It was also very useful to learn about the RSS feeds and podcasts.

Thing #23

http://sjlibrary23.blogspot.com/ I found that blog which was very similar to this one. I think that as long as you follow the laws of using other peoples' ideas, it's a great way to expand your knowledge and creativity. If we just used what we knew on our own, we would have little to no creative juices in our body. What we see around us inspires us to do more and learn more. Just have to be sure we give proper credit to the people that we get these ideas from.

Thing #22

Live Binder is a great website that will be wonderful to have for teaching and even finishing college. It's nice that you can share your binder or keep it private. I found it kind of difficult at first uploading files to the binders but managed to figure it out. I think with a few more times of use, I'll be a master at live binder. I also really liked that you can use google to automatically put stuff in your binder then can edit what you what to keep and didn't find useful.

Your First Binder

Thing #21

I really enjoyed using Animoto and am even considering paying for it. They made it so easy to get my pictures right of off facebook so there was no uploading and searching through the pictures on the computer.

Try our slideshow creator at Animoto.

Thing #20

I love using Youtube for almost anything. I have been in several classes where the professor would use videos to help explain what we're talking about. I think Youtube is a great tool for any teacher of any grade level for any subject. There's a plethora of videos, and sometimes it just takes a different way of explaining for students to really grasp what the teacher is saying. I chose Bill Nye the Science guy video because it relates to what we'd use Youtube for and it brings back old memories.

Thing #19

I signed up for lastfm.com and became a member there. I liked that you could listen to different genres of music. Imdb is another community that I like to view occasionally. I am also a part of the online community, Pinterest. I really enjoy that website, it's basically a virtual bulletin board for you to "pin" ideas and quotes, and images for future reference. I've already started pinning useful ideas for when I become a teacher.

Thing #18

I chose to go the route of Facebook, because I already have an account with them. I refuse to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, teaching kindergarten or first grade, Twitter won't benefit me much anyhow. I searched the facebook site for U.S. Department of Education and liked their page. That will be a great way for me to keep updated on the ever-changing world of politics. I never thought about using Facebook for professional reasons as far as teaching, and will definitely be taking advantage of the different sites and groups on Facebook. Social sites are also a great way to get information out to students in older grade levels. It would also work as a discussion site for students needing help with homework or assignments. With the way that social websites are expanding, I believe there is definitely a place for them in the classroom in the near future. Here's the link to my Facebook Profile

Thing #17

Tagging and social bookmarking is a great tool for anyone. It can be used to find helpful information on just about any subject or idea. While using Delicious.com, I was able to quickly find a few websites related to teaching that will be helpful when I am in the classroom. It will also be great to see fellow teachers' websites that they find helpful for more resources. It's like a giant collaboration board for any group of people to post, share, add, etc.. ideas, websites, and resources.

Thing #16

For thing #16 I already had a head start. I made a home iGoogle page awhile back (during the thing with the RSS feeds) and have been enjoying it very much. I was able to customize it to my liking. I'm even keeping up with my favorite blogs through my home google page. It keeps a link to the most updated post from the blogs I enjoy right there on the homepage. As far as the to-do list, I started one through the Remember the Milk site. It was a great time for me to start this list, since I'm going home on Saturday and have much to do before then. I'm trying to get it all done. I started adding things to the list, then before I could even finish my list, I was already checking things off my list. That sure is a good feeling. The CutePDF converter is a great tool. I had to download it last semester for one of my classes and have used it many, many times since. It was super easy to use, and is great for teachers because it guarantees that all assignments submitted online will open for the teacher. All of these tools will be helpful for teachers, the Google homepage is great for teachers to stay updated on news and blogs that they're interested in. The to-do lists, and cutePDF converter are pretty self-explanatory. Once I get in the classroom, I know I will be armed with all sorts of organizational tools to help me succeed.