Thing #24 As explored by me....

So at the end of this exploration, I am grateful for the single MOST beneficial education project I have ever done. I already had a blog up and running for personal use, but this project has helped me realize what kind of impact a daily or weekly blog for my students could be. Also, this has taught me all kinds of new resources that I can use that aren't the plain tradition things that tend to not work well with today's tech savy kids.

All of these things can be used personally or professionally, and that can be beneficial to people not in the education fields as well. I feel this has made me a better teacher candidate, and I can't wait to see how it will grow in the next couple of years to keep up with the ever changing technologies.

I am so grateful to have a chance to do this project and transfer it into my classroom as an effective teaching tool and resource. :)

Thing #23 As explored by me...

Creative Commons!

The little "cc" badge on the bottom of the post lets us know that these things are used and some rights are reserved. It also tells us that the thing can be modified, but credit must be given where credit is due.

I hope to use the Creative Commons resources to make sure what things I use in my classroom that were not originally mine are okay for me to use.

Thing #22 As explored by me...

Real World Math

This livebinder is about real world applications of math that students learn in the classroom. The other two are more for help in math when they are at home. The names of these are Extra Math Practice and Math Worksheets. The Extra Math Practice has links provided to games and activities that can be used in order to reinforce ideas. The Math Worksheets can be used by parents or other teachers to use in classrooms or at home to help the students. I think these binders will be useful when I have a classroom of my own, and they will only need a little tweaking to have whenever I need them!

Thing #21 As explored by me...

Family!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I loved what could be done with this website! It is a great way to organize things, and even lesson snippets to a fun tune for the kids to watch as a supplement. It is easy to use, and the thing you have to think hardest about is what pictures to use, what order to use them, and what music to put with it! It is extremely useful!

Thing #20 As explored by me...

This video is fantastic! It is humorous, and it can prepare future teachers for those parents. It provides a wealth of excuses that any parent could come up with, and future teachers can use this to look up what can be done to fix each of these problems that parents may say their students have. I found this from YouTube and it was extremely easy to transfer and embed it into my blog.

Thing #19 As explored by me....

I love goodreads. I am not entirely sure how I have not managed to find this yet! My favorite part is that people can post reviews all in one place instead of trying to find all the different reviews throughout the internet. This can save so much time when I am looking for books to use in my classroom that are appropriately written. For instance, if someone reviews a book and mentions that it is geared to a certain age group it will help me know whether or not to use it in my classroom or even recommend it for a student to read on the side.

I also liked how Teacher Pop can be used for so many different things. From that site, I can find resources on how to have appropriate conduct as a teacher in the many different types of school environments. Also, it is handy when looking for resources that others may have posted.

Thing #18 As explored by me...

Mhmmm... Twitter and Facebook!

Two of my favrite pages! This is a link to my Twitter. If you want to follow me please sent me a request, and the same thing with friending on Facebook. This is the link to my Facebook. Both of them are set to private, so you can't just creep on me, but you can become my friend or follower!

Educators need to know about, and be active on social networking sites. Through the knowledge base of having full access to these social networking sites they can know what to expect to their students to be talking about. For instance, when I was in middle school I knew more about what was going on in the social world versus the political world and situations. For instance, I follow the History Channel and everyday I get multiple tweets sent to my phone to let me know what happened on this date in history! Very nifty :), by the way, this day in 1931 "The Star-Spangled Banner" became official!

Also, teachers can use Twitter (monitored, and approved before class) as a conversation start for classes such as Social Studies, or Literature it it has to do with books or media. Facebook could be utilized through groups for the class. There can be a groups for my class. One group could be for the parents in order to keep them up to date on classroom happenings. There could be a group for my students to dicuss classroom material and ask each other questions. Finally, there could be a group for fellow teachers who teach similar things in order to help each other come up with new and engaging teaching ideas!

I love both sites, but it depends on what I am wanting to accomplish as to which one I choose to use. I use Facebook more to connect with people, and keep people in the "loop" of my life and what is going on. Twitter is more for finding information out. I have a great group of followers who strive to answer questions and respond to my tweets when they know I am trying to specifically find something. I will continue to use both of these for quite sometime, for personal and teaching purposes!