Thing #23: Not the end, but a whole new beginning..

Well, I'm at #23. At the beginning, it seemed that it would be a long road. It was, butthere was a lot of information that I never even knew existed that I was able to learn about and adventure into.



1. My favorite discoveries were Flicker and the online image generators. I'm not a creative person and these two exercises helped me discover other avenues of being creative.



2. Now that I'm at the end, I feel like this still goes along with my easiest and hardest habits I picked for a life long learner. Any exercises on play was definitely the easiest for me. The exercises the were the greatest challenge for me frustrated me, but at the end they were they greatest learning experience for me.

3. I was just surprised by all the new vocabulary I learned in these 23 tasks. I knew I would be learning new things, but I thought it would be more of a building of knowledge I already know.

4. I would have enjoyed more of the 'In Plain English' videos. I was great! Sometimes the exercises were confusing. There were hard to understand for the 'novice'. I went through this exercise with another collegue who helped be my support. I couldn't imagine doing this alone.

5. I would choose to do more with another discovery program. I would be hard to do during the school year though. I enjoyed this learning experience.

6. Challenging, but a great learning experience!

Thing #22: Ninging...

I went to the three sites. As a counselor, the librarians sites were interesting but didnt interest me that much. The Ning for teachers was the most interesting for me. I would love to see a Ning for counselors. There is often questions we have for each other relating to credits, graduations and college admissions that we could network between cities and states. I did see one middle school counselor posting and there was some interesting topics on bullying.

I love the idea of networking with Ning. It's a nice alternative to MySpace and Facebook.

Thing #21: Photostory

The hardest part about this was getting an idea for my Vidcast. It took awhile for me to download. I'm not sure why, but it scared me and I started all over again. I didn't like my voice being on it so I used music.

I can definitely see using this at times for something besides powerpoint. Students would enjoy using this for an alternative to a book report where they have to write or stand in front of the class. It gives the students a chance to show their creative side.

Another great tool!

Thing #20: Videos & More Videos

The posting of the videos were pretty easy. I picked this video on the importance of technology in classrooms which helps students to be life long learners (going along with our life learner video at the beginning.


Incorporating videos into lessons makes the lessons "come to life" and can also bring humor to the lessons. There are all types of videos,some serious some funny, some just there to be there I guess.

Here's one for my love of math and rap...



And I had to throw in a counseling one...

Thing #19: Web 2.0

I visited the Awards list. It was amazing how some of the sites I've already visited and liked were on the awards list. Good choices. Here are a few of the sites I visited and enjoyed:

BackPack: I think this is a great tool for teacher's who work in teams and are doing lesson plans together. They can add notes, worksheets and all types of files all on one page. It's easy to use and share. Libraries could post their calendar of events for the week and reservations for the school to access. They can even add new books as they arrive with descriptions. For my personal use, the calender and todo list is EXCELLENT!
I like the feature of using dividers, maps and pictures all with a click of a button.

Writeboard: This could be an excellent tool for English teachers. The best feature I liked was being able to see the edits being made as well as the previous work. An English teacher could edit papers for students without even collecting them and using their red ink pens! A student can produce a final product without rewriting a whole paper. I could definitely use this when writing college and scholarship recommendations for my students.

Mothersclick: This website is great for my own personal use. I love the way you can post questions as well as view answers on the site. It was all types of great information for all types of moms: working, stay home, first time moms and even mothers of multiples like myself.

SpanishPod: I love the idea around Spanish Pod, but it does cost. There is a week trial and limited access to try it. Spanish Speaking students can use this tool for strengthing their English. It would be good for writing papers or learning speeches. I like the feature of listening and being able to contact representatives to help as well.

I enjoyed discovering!

Thing #18: Google Docs Rocks!

I watched the video and played around with Google Docs. The tutorial presentation was easy to follow. I actually uploaded and worked with a document I already had. It was easy to manipulate and figure out. I had trouble downloading the Open Office program. The tutorials were hard to understand as well. I wasnt impressed by the first impression.

The advantages of having an online tool is being able to access the material anywhere, anytime. The disadvantage is sometimes not all fonts are available when uploading and existing file.

Thing #17: I'm rolling with Rollyo

I created my search roll. It was pretty easy. I had problems importing my favorites. I'm hoping that since I made it public other's will add to it. I think it's a wonder place to visit other's sites and look and see who's going where! This is a great tool. I'll definitely be using it.

http://rollyo.com/doublelearner/college_and_career/