Sunday, December 5, 2010

Team Challenge/Team Vegas - 2010 Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon


Tuesday, August 17, 2010

video test

Sunday, August 2, 2009

11.5 - thing 11.5 (evaluation)

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
my favorite thing would have to be the wordle. i am excited to use this during the school year. i also hope to continue finding lots of ed tech ideas on twitter that help keep me up to date on the ed tech front.

2. How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
this class helps take things i have previously done and sparked ideas on how i could do it differently in the future. i will keep coming back to this blog to see how i can incorporate some of these things in to our power to learn grant we received.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
nothing really surprised me. i had heard about and played with most of the things we did, but i was able to apply it to school and not just home.

4. What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
i love the way this class is offered. although i wish it was offered during the school year also. i hope that more classes like this are offered every summer/year!

11.5 - thing 11 (digital citizenship)

my digital citizenship lesson would last through out the entire school year. i would actually start with the teachers. i would start with the aup from the district, which i need to review to make sure i am teaching it correctly. students need to be taught how and where to find reliable information when searching the internet. so many of them automatically go to wikipedia where information can be changed by anyone at any time. most students i have taught believe just because it is on the internet-it must be true! constant modeling and reviewing are necessary through out the year. i want teachers to take more responsibility for what their students are doing while on the computer. some use computer time for busy work and some actually take the time to enhance lessons with information. i have found many teachers also trust in the filters that the district provides and they dont bother checking the links that their students go to.

Friday, July 31, 2009

11.5 - thing 10 (virtual worlds)

as much as i like to be online and explore sites, i dont get the virtual world stuff. a couple of months ago while at a meeting, someone mentioned second life. i went home and decided to check it out. i wish i would have had some of these help sites that are listed on the library to play site, i might have tried a little harder to understand it all. i probably gave up too soon, maybe i will try it again now that i have some direction.

i am not sure how this would fit into elementary curriculum.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

11.15 - thing 9 (sharing)

i saw blogs on slide share in the spring but really did not see what it is about. i think our students could use these this year as the laptops we are getting for the power to learn grant are not coming with the microsoft programs. i will look more into these sites when we return to school to see how easy they would be for students to use.

i did checkout the white house on slideshare. it was interesting to see what documents they put up for all to see.

i sent the 280 slides to my plt teachers.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

11.5 - thing 8 (screen capture)

I chose to use the freescreencast as it said no downloads. however after creating my account, it asked me to download the software to create my screencast. i am using someone else's computer to do the rest of my assignments while on vacation-so i am not downloading this. i will look at this once school starts.

i have done this type of thing before. at fwe we have some document cameras. the doc cam that we purchased allows us to do this exact thing. using it to record lessons and then posting them on a wiki or website allows students to use the video clips as a reteach or a review.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

11.5 - thing 7 (tv sourcecs, hulu)

i wish i would have known about these when i was still in the classroom!

the first site i checked out was the national archives video collection. these videos would have added a lot to my lessons in social studies.

this video (i tried to convert it on zamzar but it keeps telling me that i have no file extension??) talks about the great depression. i think more students would grasp concepts if they could see primary source examples and not just read about it in a text book.

i also watched the tornado video on blip.tv. it was interesting to see how a tornado is formed. however the video had a very adult ad at the bottom, not sure i would use this in a classroom for fear that another one would show up.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

11.5 - thing 6 (itouch)

fwe bought one in the spring and i have enjoyed playing on the itouch.... i know i have a lot to learn, i just dont really know where to start-other than playing games. i keep thinking there is something that i am missing out on.....

i have tried to stick with dowloading free educational apps, but a few fun ones have snuck on....

pop math lite, lemonade stand, tangrams, math dr lite, states and capitals, planets, stars... just to name a few of the apps that i have downloaded.

with the power to learn grant that we received, our students will be using itouches. our hope is for them to take them home and use them for homework. we are still not sure of the logistics. our original vision was for students to communicate using their classroom wiki, as well as possibly using education apps.

i am trying to find some of the apps that are listed in the top 100 free apps, but it is telling me that i need to update my ipod software...but i cant find where to do that. any help???

Saturday, July 11, 2009

11.5-thing 5 (microblogging)

facebook! i love it. i have a mixture of different friends on there-camp, grade school, family, former and current coworkers, and former students and parents. i have not used it for work, just for personal connections.

twitter....i signed up for twitter back in the winter some time... just because i kept getting invites from my friends.... i didnt really use it.... then i was doing some research for our power to learn grant and i came across a bunch of educators that use it to post ideas and articles they have written or come across. i have asked techy questions and gotten help from a bunch of different people. i have posted some things about what i am doing but i mainly read it to see what info i come across. lately i have been getting a lot of adult content profiles asking to follow....i just signed on for the first time in over a week and there were 23 of them wanting approval. i know this can and does happen with email and other sites like this but if i were asking children to have an account, this would be an issue....


i dont know how using facebook/twitter in the elementary setting work. i was talking with a tech friend who asked why we dont use twitter for our school. i am not sure how that would work or go over. i am pretty sure if we used it, i would be the one responsible for posting and updating and i am not sure i want to take that responsibility on at the moment. its hard enough keeping our website up to date. as far as facebook, i think it could be used like a wiki. i know when i taught 5ht grade, even 3rd grade, the majority of my students had myspace profiles.... i know some have facebook now also... i just dont know how that could be monitored for class use since a lot of them spend so much time on it at home....maybe if a class group was set up?? my kids were wiki pros and i liked the control that i had over that... i just dont see that happening with facebook....

i dont think i really answered the question here.. ha

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

11.5-thing 4 (video hosting)

i have used teacher tube in the classroom numerous times. i find that it is quite easy and usually quick. when i taught 5h grade, my students made photostories when doing research on the civil war .


each student uploaded their video to my teacher tube account and then embeded it onto our civil war magazine wiki.
i plan on uploading one of these, but i cannot access my teacher tube account at the moment.


i have uploaded personal videos to youtube, but i do not think i would put student work up there.



i have used youtube videos in the classroom, thanks to the help of zamzar.

schooltube-i was introduced to this at tcea this year. i have done some searching and watching on the site, but prefer to use teachertube or youtube. they seem to be more user friendly.

What would be some advantages of having teaching/learning videos available on online at sites like these?
absent students or students needing a reteach or a review could access lessons online from anywhere with an internet connection. work uploaded on line could also could be viewed by parents/relatives to see what is being taught/created in class.

What about student created work -- would there be advantages to having it uploaded? uploading student work could be used as a test review or for students who missed lessons.

11.5-thing 3 (like skype)

i am a big fan of skype! i use it to talk with my parents and sisters. i love that i can talk with them for free, but i REALLY love that i can see them with a webcam....that was my christmas gift for everyone things year....

in the spring we applied for and received the power to learn grant. part of our grant includes skyping with classes in and out of the district. we hope to poll our parents and get a pool of experts that we can skype with to enhance our lessons.

while doing research for the power to learn grant, i came across 2 blogs that sparked a bunch of ideas: http://mrcsclassblog.blogspot.com and http://mcclungsblog.blogspot.com. both of these teachers use the ustream feature in your classroom. i watched one class learn about the parts of different bugs. i am not sure of all of the features of this website, but i am interested to find out more. i am curious to know if what you are "filming" could be recorded and then embeded in a wiki or a blog.

i see many uses for these things and cant wait to see how they work next year.

once i get to a place where i have better luck with wireless connectivity, i want to dive deeper into the 50 ways to use skpye in the classroom.

11.5-thing 2 (bookr)

bookr

i am having difficulty with this. i am sure i am missing something totally easy, but i can not figure out how to add pictures to the pages in my book. i am also missing how to put my book on this entry.

i would have students use this instead of ppt or word when creating stories or vocabulary books.

any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

11.5-thing 2 (animoto)

animoto



this animoto was created and shared during our veterans day morning annoucement broadcast. i taught my teachers during the 0809 school year about animoto. my 4th grade teachers and some students created animotos on the different texas indian tribes that they studied.

11.5 - thing 2 (glogster)

glogster



glogster would be a fun way to explain understanding in any academic area. i think science or social studies would be easiest. tying in our power to learn grant- the students could use this to make a poster about going green or during the bird unit.

11.5-thing 2 ( wordle)

wordle



i used wordle to create a word cloud about a place that means a lot to me....camp nakanawa. i was first introduced to it in 1988 by my aunt who spent many years as a counselor. i spent the next 7 summers having the time of my life, meeting lifelong friends, and becoming a better person. being a teacher keeps my summers free and 3 years ago i came back to be a counselor. my wordle reflects things about camp that i keep close to me no matter where i am.

if i were doing this with a class, i might have them choose a character or events in a story they are reading and have them create a word cloud. i would have liked to use this when i taught 5th grade social studies, maybe using the characteristics of our 20th century proejct, or our study of the presidents or colonies.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

11.5-Thing 1: Registration

Got my blog registered for the 11.5 things a while back. Using the same blog-http://techtalkamy.blogspot.com/

Hopefully I can get these things done before the due date!

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Wordle Ideas

Saturday, May 9, 2009

keeping up with your classroom library

http://www.librarything.com/

lets you store your library titles online

Thursday, April 30, 2009

what you know about taks??

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

parade of games in ppt


The Parade of Games web site was created to provide educators and trainers with easy-to- assemble educational games in a technology- enhanced environment to support key learning points. The site demonstrates the creative use of popular game shows and other familiar games to reinforce learning.


petes powerpoints


Friday, April 24, 2009

podcasting in neisd, sa

https://podcast1.neisd.net/

Monday, April 13, 2009

twitter for teachers wiki

http://classroomtweets.wikispaces.com/Why+Twitter

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Library of Congress on YouTube


New: Library of Congress on YouTube
by Jamie http://selfmadescholar.com

The Library of Congress now has its own channel on YouTube. There are already dozens of academic videos, historic clips, and early films. Here’s how they describe the project:
“Timeless treasures and contemporary presentations from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. As the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, we are the steward of millions of recordings dating from the earliest Edison films to the present. In addition, we sponsor events, lectures and concerts that are free and open to the public.”
Many of these free events have been captured on video and are available via the Library of Congress YouTube channel. Check it out.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

no walls


tint url

As you read articles or blogs on the internet, you may have run across some link that begin with “http://tinyurl.com” or “http://snurl.com“, but you weren’t sure what it meant. Those are just two of many websites that offer a URL shortener.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

paperless classroom using an activboard

http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/virginiayoung/

Thursday, March 12, 2009

library2play blog

Saturday, August 2, 2008

animoto....mary kate and ashley at nakanawa

Friday, August 1, 2008

website resource

http://kids.allmyfaves.com/

while some of these sites listed are not appropriate for school... i think there are some good ones for the kids... as time allows, i will check out more of these sites.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

www.toondoo.com



i came across this site while looking at other peoples progress. i actually found it on jane bonds comments on thing 19. i can see a lot of creativity from the kids while using this.

Friday, July 11, 2008

thing 23

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
my favorite thing had to be 6. i love taking pictures and now i have fun things to do with them besides making slideshows. being a fan of the wiki already, i do have to say that is a favorite also!


How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
it reminded me of some things that i knew about that were pushed out of my mind. i am ready with fresh ideas for my new adventure as tech coach. i am ready to show teachers they do have time for technology!


Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
when i first started i thought i could breeze through this in a couple of weeks... well.. over a month later and i am still working on it... i have found some new toys that i wish i would have known about while still in the classroom, but i will now be able to share them with the teachers that i work with.
there were a few tasks that i just could not get, and that was really frustrating to me. i am usually able to figure things out pretty quickly when i play around.. the ones that really got me were the photo creations... i think it was thing 10...

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
i am not sure... at first i thought more time.. but i am finishing with a couple weeks left (i think there are some things i need to tweek and finish). i am not sure if this same amount of time to complete is the same during the school year or not.

oh! the one thing i would like to see is the links that are posted...i would like them to open in a new window or tab and not in the same one. especially in the things that you need to look up several links to complete the task.



If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
absolutely!

How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?
addicting


Now go and comment on some of the other Players' blogs!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

thing 22

i was a little overwhelemed when i opened this site. it was not as user friendly as i would have hoped. i did not see anything that i could use at this time, but i will check back once school starts and i know what the teachers i am working with need.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

thing 21 part 1



i could not get this photo story to load using the movie insert button on the toolbar, so i used teacher tube to embed it.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

thing 20 recap

this one was easy for me. i used youtube this past year to share the school house rock videos with my students. we used them in social studies, mainly with the american revolution. my kids LOVED this! at first they were skeptical with the animation looking very old, but once we covered the material and then listened to them over and over, they realized that it really made sense and was helpful...not just a video to watch.

as for teacher tube, i found some good stuff on it. the video i chose to post was one that one of my kids made. we uploaded them to teacher tube, so we could embed them onto our civil war wiki.

thing 20 part 2

thing 20 part 1

thing 19

i had fun looking through some of the sites listed on http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0/short.

i looked at the cocktail builder and the hair mixer. i am thinking i can not use them in the classroom, but it was fun to look around on them.

i have a facebook, it was listed on the awards list. i have reconnected with some old friends that have scattered across the country and some all over the world.

i would like to explore this site more to see which ones i can use with students.

thing 18

i do not like to download things to my computer, so i chose to explore google docs.

an advantage would be that you could view your docs from anywhere. a disadvantage would be that anyone could view your docs and possibly make changes.

i would possibly use google docs to store helpsheets for teachers to use with different technolgy applications and software.

thing 17

in rollyo, i typed in tennis drills. i amm currently teaching tennis at a girls camp in tennessee, and we are looking for new drills to do. it took me a little bit of searching to find what i was looking for. i have decided that i am going to use this search for the next couple of days so that i can become more comfortable with it. i am a google fan.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

thing 16

i LOVE wiki! i have used one in my classroom for the last 3 years. i had 2 going this year.

one was for my kids to interact on daily, https://markham.wikispaces.com. it had homework assignments, weekly adgendas, resources, etc.

the second one i started was during our civil war unit in social studies, https://markhamcivilwarmagazine.wikispaces.com/. my kids amazed me with this one. i taught a regular 5th grade class and a gt 5th grade class. my regular students did more of a biography project (either on a general or a battle) and made a photostory. we uploaded the "videos" to teacher tube and then embeded them onto their own page. my gt students wrote a fiction and a nonfiction article on any topic they wanted. they also made a podcast using audacity, the podcast was an advertisement for a product or a service.

i think wikis could be used for any classroom or project.. they are easily updated and maintained.

thing 15

for this thing, i read Away from the “icebergs”. (well i skimmed them all but this was the one that caught my attention)

to me, library 2.0 means getting the technology out in the classrooms and schools, and into the hands of every student. i have heard for a couple of years in my previois district that soon the taks test and textbooks will all be online or on mp3 players/pda. i think this is a fantastic idea, especially the textbooks. they could be updated more often. the american history book that i taught from this past school year ended in 2000, although we talked about what has happened in our country since then, it would have been nice to have a guide to show the highlights.

when i did research with my kids this year (and for the past couple of years) i always brought in books, encylopedias, magainzes, and newspapers for the kids to use. but 90% of my kids used the websites provided to aquire their knowledge. i did strongly suggest, ha, that they use at least one book or encylopedia for their research. but they found it easier to locate information online. we took all our notes and cited our information all on the comptuer. i found that the more techonolgy we used, the more excited and engaged they were.

i feel like i am rambling and not really covering the topic i am suppose to. :)

libraries in the future are going to have to be more than books on shelves. the kids want the technology to be there. they use it at home. it should be carried over into the school setting as well.

it will be interesting to see how fast changes happen and where libraries will be in the near future.

Monday, June 16, 2008

thing 14 part 2

i added a page element for the technorati. it was pretty easy, i used the html page element. i was happy that it worked, i am having trouble adding html links in my blog. i am sure it is user error.

thing 14 part 1

Technorati Profile

thing 13

i could see this being used for research, maybe upper level. as with anything, it would need to be screened before kids use it. i wish i would have known about it before last school year. i found some good stuff i could have used while teaching american history to my 5th graders. i plan on going back closer to school starting and seeing what i can find that would help the teachers i will be working with.

thing 12

blog 1: mcgraw family blog, this is my friend in nashville. she just had a baby in april and has blogged about her preganacy and now life with baby number 1. it is great to be able to watch sweet cora grow and change, as well as her momma, ann.

blog 2: confessions of a cf husband, i am not sure how i stumbled across this blog. it is the life and tribulations of a man who is married to a woman with cystic fibrosis, they are also new parents. it is very interesting to read to see what they are going through. i am amazed by the strength that he shows.

thing 11

this was an easy one, but it could take up a bunch of time to load all of my books in it. it would be nice to have all my books cataloged in the system, but i dont have that kind of time at the moment. to me, this would be a good way to find other books that are similiar to my favorites. as for the groups, i looked around a little bit but did not join.. i tend to join things then never do anything with them.

thing 10 part 2

this was frustrating to me. i could not get any of the tools that i tried to work. i tried the fake magazine cover, the comic book creator and the scrapbook creator. i spent about 30 minutes on it. i am now giving up on this one.. although i will come back to it at some point. i have the perfect photo in mind!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

thing 10

ImageChef.com - Custom comment codes for MySpace, Hi5, Friendster and more


image chef

thing 9

Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use?
Google reader was easier, but i dont really like it. i prefer the news stories and blogs that i want to read come to my RSS feeder on my desktop.

Which Search tool was the easiest for you?
google reader was easier. it was more user friendly to me.

Which was more confusing?
none were confusing to me, i just dont like to have to go to a website to find what i want to read. i guess i am already set in my ways when it comes to finding information that is interesting to me.

What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels? Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?
i found a couple of sites on fitness and good recipes to try. i am going to keep looking to see what else i can find that would be helpful in my personal life as well as helpful for my job.

What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?
i have searched for some things to add to my rss feed/blogroll but typically if it is a site that i frequent and the feed button is clickable in my toolbar, then i subscribe to it.

thing 8

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
i like that i can see what sites have been updated with out going to them. i have vista, and there is a sidebar feature that had an RSS feed. i use it for my favorite stites but also news updates when i dont get to watch the news.

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?
i would love to find some educational tech sites with information i could share with teachers at my school. i need to spend some time looking for those this summer.

How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
i would think author sites or publisher sites would use this to keep readers up to date on what is coming out. kid friendly news sites could be intergrated into lessons.

thing 7

i have used some of the mentioned google applications.

google calendar: i am looking at this for the upcoming year as a way for teachers to schedule time for me to meet with them or help in their class. i am thinking about putting it on a wiki.. I HEART WIKI!! but i am not sure that is the most user friendly way... need more thinking time.

google earth... my students used this last year to look at places that we talked about in social studies. they also used it when we did our holiday campaing trail. another way we used it was to plan our dream vacations.

picasa webs.. i use this at home to see the pictures of friends and their growing children.

google scholar: this would have been nice in college or if i ever decide to go back to school.

google docs... this might be a great way to share help sheets on tech applictions with the staff at my school. again, i had planned on using wiki, but i will have to look and see if this would be a better way to share.

google docs update.. i uploaded a document but i am not seeing how to put a link on here to my document.

thing 6 part 3

Photobucket

thing 6 part 2

Photobucket

this was quite frustrating for me. the picture i originally wanted to use was too big. i tried to resize it, once it was small enough it was too pixelated.

this was picture 2. i think i "cheated" to get this posted here. i used photobucket instead of flikr.

i would have loved to have known about this last year. i would have had my kids do this as part of their 20th century project.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

thing 6 part 1


My creation
Originally uploaded by acm10705amy

thing 5


ropes/november2007
Originally uploaded by acm10705amy
i have my own flikr account. i use it to share pictures from my classroom with parents.

thing 4

registered!

thing 3

i had previously created an avatar, so i made some minor adjustments. putting the avatar on my page might have been a bit easier had i READ the directions on how to do it, and not skimmed them.

thing 2

the easiest thing for me is habit 7 1/2....playing. i tend to remember more when i have spent time "playing", especially when it comes to technology. i can hear something ten times, but until i get my hands on the equipment or software, i does not stick.

the hardest thing for me would have to be creating my own learning tool box, habit 5. not so much creating my toolbox, but remembering what is in it and when to pull that tool out. it seems after a lesson was taught, whether it would be 3 days later or almost immediately... something would come out of left field and i realized that would have made my lesson 10 times better.

thing 1

i am really excited about this! i was actually introduced to this while teaching in cy fair, but never really took the time to explore it and complete it. i am glad now that i did wait!

i am ready to learn new things!