Gerri's 23 Things on a Stick

The end!

2009-07-30T12:06:00.008-05:00

This was SO interesting! I had no idea there was so much out there-I know I've barely scratched the surface. I took a web 2.0 tools class last summer and came back excited about Voice Thread. I did a fun project this year with it and I'd like to figure out more ways to incorporate it. I think I can learn a few tools and use them in different ways. So here's my to do list:

Voice Thread
podcasts
Flickr
Delicious
BigHugeLab-all that photo fun!
RSS
iGoogle
keep electronic to do list
check out Ning network on a regular basis
sign up and try the teachersrecess network
keep up my Google website
online scrapbooking (will be taking a class in August)
Picassa webalums
Library Thing
Keep up the 23 Things blog
Figure out a way to share projects within our school
Ask someone to help me and keep me going and not giving up

I can't find a Thing 23 for the question prompts. So I'm doing my own thing here!

I was surprised how much STUFF there is and how usually easy it is. And if you have trouble-someone can help you pretty quickly. Obviously the more you do, the easier it gets. It seems to me that more teachers should/could be familiar with the tools that are out there. If we don't try to keep up our students will be so far ahead of that school will feel irrelevant and out of touch with their worlds. With so many choices, teachers have to make choices about what is best for their students.

Thing 22

2009-07-30T12:01:00.002-05:00

Blog about how you plan to keep up with the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 tools.
Recommend a way to keep up that you have found useful.

I think we're very lucky at Highlands to have so many tech-savvy people-and so many who have taken 23 Things on a Stick. I think their examples and support will be the biggest thing I look forward to. I would love to meet on a regular basis to talk about what tools people are using and to challenge each other to try something. I will try to check on Ning network and the 23 Things network-I am confident there will be good ideas there. I have book marked netvibes.com/micwalker and will return to it as a familiar place to learn how to do things.

Thing 21

2009-07-30T11:43:00.007-05:00

Are you a member of any online communities?
Are any of these social networks appealing to you?
What did you find that was interesting and that you might use later?

I joined Ning-Classroom 2.0 and visited the 23 Things on a Stick site. I noticed some blogging about Everyday Math. I'm sure I will find some interesting things to check out.

Social networking around school topics (will probably join the teachersrecess network) are of interest to me. I am sure there is one about Reggio inspired education-will check with Katie O. at our building. I think I will come back to the Ning-Classroom 2.0 network at another time. All the networks take time and just need to find the time to do them-especially if I can find something that is interesting and helpful. All I need is one good find and I'm sure I'll be back.

Visit 23 Things on a Stick

Thing 20-Facebook

2009-07-29T12:00:00.009-05:00

I did not sign up for Facebook, but I viewed all the Expert Village how-to videos about Facebook. I don't know...why does a 60-something grandmother/teacher need to be on Facebook? I set up a Shutterfly share site for my small family-2 kids and my dad. They are really the only ones who want to see my vacation pictures and pictures of the grandchildren. My son has a link to his Flickr site on the share site-so we're all happy. My daughter regularly posts pictures of her kids. Shutterfly notifies all of us when new pictures are downloaded.

I would be very surprised if my son or his wife had a Facebook account. My daughter, who is 32, is an avid Facebooker. She tells me about all the people from elementary school, sports teams etc that she has connected with on Facebook. It is fun to hear about what they are doing. I can see how addicting it is-updating, checking, finding friends etc.

There are lots of opportunities for kids to learn the good, bad, and ugly of online social networking. Sometimes I can't believe how naive/stupid people are about what they say or post online. I don't want my face and activities out there for everyone-parents, students, former students/parents to see. I enjoy my privacy and I'm not quite ready to give it up for the perceived value of social networking!

I did find a teacher network online. It is called teacherrecess (teachersrecess.com) and I seriously thought of joining.Here is a link to the free virtual tour :

Thing 19-Podcasts

2009-07-29T11:01:00.005-05:00

This was fun. I listened to a podcast from podcast.com about stuff you should know about altoids. Then I found a podcast from a third grade class in Webster NY that outlined their study of a nearby pond through the year.

It made me think how I might use a podcast with my first graders. I'd love to listen to podcasts-again it's the time to find them! Perhaps there would be a topic or person that I could follow on podcasts.

I used Gabcast with my students last year. They wrote poems and read them into the phone. Then hopefully parents and other family members listened to them online. I had a link from my class wiki.

The thing I would find the most helpful is to talk to other teachers in my grade levels who use podcasts or Youtube or whatever and find out what they do or talk about how we could integrate the technology into what we do and how we could use it to do what we already do in a new and perhaps more fun way.

I went to gcast.com and signed up for an account-although I think I have one with gabcast (or are they the same?) What I dislike is that they now charge $99 a year to download by telephone. So I will have to learn how to do it another way because $99 is not doable.

Thing18-You-Tube

2009-07-29T10:34:00.004-05:00

I think it's pretty funny that people can post home videos on the web and other people spend time watching them! I have to say it is fun to look at them-but can be a huge waste of time.

I looked at a few videos about Alaska-having just taken a 2-week trip there.

Last year I read a book to my class about a woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her Greenbelt Movement (Can't think of her name right now) They loved the book-so I went looking on the web for a picture of her etc. I found a YouTube video of her speaking. We watched just long enough to hear her voice, see how she was dressed and to put a real person with the book.

I took a minute to look at TeacherTube. There was some fun stuff there. I'm not sure I need to post any class videos on the web because I have been able (at least in the past) by trial and error to post some videos on my class wiki. I assume I will be able to do the same on my new Google web page.

As with anything, it takes a lot of time to find appropriate videos to share with students. And then as a first grade teacher I have to weigh its value against all the other things I want students to experience.

Thing 17

2009-07-29T09:34:00.002-05:00

I had no idea something like this was out there. Wow! What a resource for students and teachers. It's a little overwhelming. It seems that our students will need, even more than before, the skills to dig through resources to find the information they need. I read Sue and Patty's blogs and found out that Lisa is already hooking students and teachers up to these resources. I thin first graders will start with a book or other simple resource. It's amazing how quickly they branch out-which is probably a good argument for making sure kids learn to read early in their school careers.

Thing 16

2009-07-29T09:19:00.002-05:00

How might the RPC and the Teacher Guide help you help students plan and manage research projects?
Can you think of any uses for library projects—could you use it to help manage a timeline for a project of your own?

I can see how this would be helpful to people with writing projects etc. I would think as kids start bigger projects in grades 3-5 that making a plan like this would be great. With little kids I do something like this pointing out the steps in writing from prewriting to publication. If kids have experience with this through elementary and middle schools, they should be more competent by high school and college. I guess they can always fall back on the computer generated schedule.

Thing 15-Online Games and Libraries

2009-07-28T13:13:00.003-05:00

I guess it's my age-but these seem like a waste of time. I don't really get why people would become involved in a virtual world. I guess the virtual library is an attempt to meet the online virtual world where they are. The pirate games were fun-but I've got too many other things do than play computer games as a pirate. I can sort of see how/why people get "hooked" on the games and virtual worlds. It was odd to see other "pirates" out on the deck.

I don't see any use for these in elementary school. I would certainly discourage kids from getting involved and would support parents who don't want their kids on the computer in virtual worlds.

Thing 14-The Library Thing

2009-07-28T12:31:00.003-05:00

I signed up and put in a few books from my shelves-just to see what it was like. It was fun and I can see how I might use it. I usually read books recommended by other people or books that look good at garage sales. Garage sales aren't always the best source-WAY too many romance books. But once in a while there are some good one-and for 50 cents or $1 you can't go wrong.

I had thought of using Shelfari with my second graders last year and then decided it would be more fun for 3rd grade and up. I hope teachers will try it with a little older kids. In grades 1 and 2 (where I spend most of my time) teaching kids to read and getting books for them at their reading level is the key. After that, selecting books and knowing what other kids are reading becomes more fun.

I will definitely check back to my Library Thing account at a later time. I added it to my Delicious account. And... I think I figured out how to access Delicious from my iGoogle homepage.

I wonder how could I use it to share book lists with parents-either for their own reading or for helping fluent readers make book choices?

Thing 13-Productivity tools

2009-07-28T11:16:00.003-05:00

Which start page did you choose? Why did that one appeal to you? Will you make it your permanent home page?
Did you find a tool that has some uses for you at the library or at home? Which tool(s) would you recommend to others?
How can the online calendars be useful to you?
What about the to-do lists—helpful, too much work…?
Did you try out Backpack? What did you think?
Did you try any of the other tools in the list? Any good ones we should all try?

I'm at a point where I want to make things as easy as possible. I'm feeling comfortable with Google applications, so I think I will stick with them. I need to help my husband with the idea of a home page on our home computer. I'm very open to figuring out a homepage on my school computer-if that is even possible. I can see the value of using some of these tools with a group of teachers from the same grade level or school. I would need someone to help me organize it all.

I use the outlook calendar at school and have added a Google calendar to our grade level Google web page. I think I could easily use the Google calendar for school stuff to be published on the website and then another one for my school stuff and personal stuff. It's obvious that a homepage where I could access those calendars easily would be helpful.

Backpack looks very comprehensive-I'm sure there are many people who could find a use for it. I feel like I could do it if someone said, "Let's do backpack" and then would help me figure out my part of it.

The to-do lists look very useful. I make to-do lists and then usually lose them in the shuffle. So having it available on my computer would be nice. I assume I can access that from my new homepage or maybe add it to my delicious page. I can see now that I am going to have to have a way to organize all my tools-which I guess is why I need my homepage. I have a feeling someone will have to hold my hand through setting it up and then I'll be ready to roll. I think I will go back to this Thing at a later time when I can spend some time figuring out a to-do list site and a homepage. iGoogle looks pretty easy to deal with. I'll give it a try.

Ok...I just set up my iGoogle page with a nature header and weather gadgets for both cities my kids live in as well as Burnsville and Minneapolis. I added the Discovery First grade calendar and my own. So we'll see how it all works.

Thing 12-Digg etc.

2009-07-28T10:42:00.004-05:00

How do you think you can use these tools in your library or at home?
Do these tools seem to be a productivity enhancer or a productivity detractor?
Have you ever read a story/item as a result of seeing it on one of these sites?

I found the sites interesting-I still read the newspaper every morning and watch national and local news on TV. I don't have time for the popular, flashy or sensational news stories. I did click onto the New York Times site and enjoyed that-the video stories were interesting and I would probably go back to that site.

As a teacher of little kids I find that teaching them about the news is nearly impossible. Newspapers are not appropriate and children's newspapers like Weekly Reader are time consuming, often boring, and usually don't have news-just some non-fiction selections.

I guess for people who frequent the sites, they are getting some news-everybody's sense of what is news is different.

Downloaded Photos!!!!

2009-07-24T09:02:00.007-05:00

I was able to download this mosaic and Warholizer from Big Huge Labs. That was fun and easy. Thanks Michael! Now I have issues with making the picture bigger while keeping the clarity-but maybe that's because it's in a blog and pictures don't need to be big.

Thing 11-Delicious

2009-07-23T17:29:00.005-05:00

I found Delicious to be VERY easy and I was quick to add a whole bunch of websites. Then I explored the tags for Reggio and was able to bookmark several interesting sites that I am anxious to go back and explore. I will definitely come back to this one and use it more. I'll explore more about how to get it organized. I talked with my son and he said he has used the tags tab to search for maps of parks and other information-figuring that if someone found it and thought it was helpful he would too.

Thing 11-tagging

2009-07-23T16:19:00.005-05:00

Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere?
How can your library or media center take advantage of tagging and del.icio.us? Look at the sites in the Resource list above to see how libraries are using Del.icio.us.

This was fun-and I can see how it could really help me get my stuff organized. I will start out using the tags on my Flickr photos.

I know that the Highlands Media Center has done a fabulous job tagging books in our media center-I'm anxious to make more use of that! I would love to be able to access that from home like the Delicious site.

Thing 10-Wikis

2009-07-23T15:56:00.004-05:00

I was thrilled when I figured out how to do a wiki. I made one to share our service learning project which was helping flood victims in Rushford, MN. I'm not sure many people looked at it, but I learned a lot.

Then I heard about teachers using wikis for parent sign-ups. So I built a pbwiki for classroom news and parent sign ups. I used the wiki as a class webpage with lots of links to class projects such as gabcast, slide shows, videos, picasa webalbums and weblinks.

Parents were slow getting used to it. Since I made the wiki private, I used everyone's email addresses to invite them and then they made their own password. Even at that (and plenty of email reminders) I'm not sure the site had as much use as I would've liked. But making them sign up for conferences and volunteer opportunities got them on the site.

I'm not sure how I will use the wiki now that I have a Google website with Google docs to sign up on.

http://room24news.pbworks.com/FrontPage This is a copy of my front page

Slides of Student's Poetry from Poetry-in-the-Round
Look at a powerpoint about the history of Edina
Listen to students read their original poems: Passwords: edina highlands
http://www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&id=28847
Music Informance video
Check out videos of students reading their published stories: Personal Narrative
Photos from this year and last year: http://picasaweb.google.com/gerschinckle :

FIELD TRIP SIGN-UP-for APRIL

CAMP VOLUNTEERS-MAY 27, 28

Our Daily Schedule-Subject to change at any time!
Blue and Green Groups-What are they? Who's in each group?
Math Volunteers
Reading and Writing Volunteers

Thing 9-Collaboration

2009-07-23T15:38:00.004-05:00

Which of these tools is easier for you to use?
How do the features of each compare? Does one have features that would make you choose it over the other?
What would the Founding Fathers think?

Finally something that feels familiar and very usable for me. I've been using Google docs for my Google website and have found them easy to use. It's interesting that there are tools that seem to be similar-how do people decide which one to use? I think I will stick with Google-there seems to be many applications. I've used Google spreadsheet and forms and docs.

It will be interesting to see how these tools change documents in the future-how will we know that documents haven't been changed without our knowing.

BigHugeLabs: Do fun stuff with your photos

2009-07-23T14:06:00.002-05:00

BigHugeLabs: Do fun stuff with your photos

Posted using ShareThis

Thing 8-Need some help!

2009-07-23T13:40:00.006-05:00

OK...I've made a picture mosaic click on everything to download it to my blog-get all the messages that it;s downloaded-but I can't seem to get it to be on this blog page. I'm obviously missing something and I'm done doing the same thing over and over and getting no results. HELP!

The mosaic picture is under this blog-but I want to know how to put it in the blog so the mosaic can be seen.

I went back and tried the folded album that prints 8 pictures on one piece of paper. You cut and fold and end up with a little book. I've done something like the little book with kids before. I'll have to figure out a way to use it more.

BigHugeLabs: Do fun stuff with your photos

2009-07-23T13:35:00.001-05:00

BigHugeLabs: Do fun stuff with your photos

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Thing 7-communication tools

2009-07-22T17:42:00.002-05:00

I remember a time, not that long ago, that I thought e-mail was not my choice of communication-give me a parent/teacher notebook or the good ol' phone. Now...I love e-mail and have gotten better at using and managing it. I'm not sure how different it would be without it. As for IM and texting-don't use it-although with the right cell phone I'd like to try texting-I need a keyboard please! I can see how IM (now I understand the difference between IM and texting) would be helpful-especially if set up ahead of time. My husband uses it when he works from home or to communicate "same time" with coworkers across the country.
I listened a little to the webinar on Delicious-which again sounded interesting-but not sure how I would use it. I'm sure if someone suggested a way to use it or invited me to join with a specific purpose I would.
What is always amazing to me is how much communication has changed in just the last 5 years. I can't imagine what it will be like for my grandchildren. I remember when our telephone was a party-line and the first time I saw color TV. How silly will these things look when my grandchildren look back at their childhood?

Thing 6-

2009-07-22T16:57:00.004-05:00

Well, I finally was able to post something to my blog. It's a trading card with my avatar. It was fun looking at all the different things on the web. I can't believe people have time to use them...and what do they use them for? Oh well, it's fun playing with them. I tried out my webface, the license plate, the Andy Warhol pictures (that was pretty cool!), and word mosaic. I will definitely go back again and play some more!

BigHugeLabs: Do fun stuff with your photos

2009-07-22T16:56:00.001-05:00

BigHugeLabs: Do fun stuff with your photos

Posted using ShareThis

Thing 5-more photo stuff

2009-07-22T15:21:00.003-05:00

I'm having a hard time posting pictures on my blog. I'm sure once I figure it out it will be easy. Spell with Flickr was lots of fun. I took my granddaughter's name and spelled it. It was fun looking at all the letters. It looks like lots of fun stuff-not sure how I can use it in class with first and second graders. Perhaps I just need to hear what other people have done. I'm sure I could make posters etc. I might have more fun using pictures of my grandchildren in the projects-I'm sure they'd get a kick out of it.

Thing 4

2009-07-21T21:25:00.003-05:00

Well, this has taken me much more time than I had imagined. I've used Picasa for years and I guess I've figured it all out. I think I can now download photos onto Flickr and can certainly see how using the tags to find pictures would be helpful. In fact I went looking for other Mt. McKinley pictures and ended up liking mine the best. I also looked for other photos of the places we went in Alaska.

100_3407

2009-07-21T21:24:00.003-05:00

100_3407
Originally uploaded by schinck

We had a perfect day to see Mt. McKinley in Alaska.

Thing 3

2009-06-12T14:51:00.003-05:00

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?
How can teachers or media specialists libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
Which tool for finding feeds was easiest to use?
What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?
Find any great sources we should all add to our feed reader?

This was my introduction to Google Reader. I had to play alot (what else is new?) and was able to add a feed for the newspaper and some 23things blogs. I'd like to find some educational blogs-especially some Reggio Amelia practitioners. I can see that when I have a good handle on it that having all the the websites in one place would be helpful. I'm still trying to figure out how I would use it. I don't think I understand it well enough to figure out how to use it. Maybe some people will have ideas for me.

I used the search section on Google Reader to search for inquiry-based teaching and Reggio Inspired blogs. It seems to have taken on a life of its own. I have issues navigating on the site and deleting some stuff (I assume I can delete), but it seems to be mushrooming. I think I will close it out and deal with it another time.

At least I have a better understanding of feeds and how they might be used. Again, I need some practical advice about what to follow.

Thing 2

2009-06-10T10:56:00.003-05:00

I liked the comment, "You can always find time for what is important." I know that exercise is important, but don't always find time for it. So does that mean that I really don't think exercise is important? But I think 23 Things is fun so I know I will find time for it. Now I guess I just need to make exercise fun. RIGHT! I will find the time in the mornings-the next few days before 2 grandchildren and their mother come to stay with us for 2 weeks. When they're here there won't be much time. Let me tell you, I can better understand how challenging this is while being a parent to children at home.

I'm participating in 23 Things because I've had a taste of some Web 2.0 tools (Voicethread, Gabcast, Picasa) and have enjoyed using them with my students. Who knows-there might be more out there that I can use (you think?)

I've enjoyed using the internet-but have only scratched the surface. I've used the internet to plan summer trips-figuring out what to see and where to stay. That certainly saved time and made for fabulous trips. I can see how people can get addicted to the internet and spend way too much time at it.

I took a Web 2.0 class at Tech Camp a summer or so ago and was overwhelmed by all the web tools. I saw Voicethread and saw a use for it with my second graders. It was fun to do-I learned a lot. The students loved making it and viewing it. I was disappointed that more parents didn't at least look at it. I invited them to make comments, but none did. Students read their poems into Gabcast and again some parents listened (to their own child) but not to others. Some sent the link to relatives to listen. I've used Bubbleshare to post some powerpoints on my wiki.

Our school library feels like it is heading for Library 2.0. I know the Destiny system feels L2 and I know we have ways to connect with labeled stuff. It will be fun to see how school libraries evolve and whether they will lead the way or will it be public libraries.

I'm looking forward to learning lots of new stuff in 23 Things. I'm anxious to see what applications I can use in my classroom.

Thing 1

2009-06-10T10:11:00.002-05:00

Here we go!
I'm excited to see what I can learn. I thought it was fun to make an avatar. I bet kids would love it, too. Although I'm not sure what they would do with it. Any ideas?