Is it the end or only the beginning?!

Wow, I never thought that I would every make it to this last and final blog. But I did and it wasn't as bad as expected. There were more fun and exciting blogs than stressful ones. Some of my favorite blogs were the to do list, Fliker, Animoto, and LiveBinders. But these are just some of the blogs that I thoroughly enjoyed spending time completing. There was only one main blog that I remember not liking at all and it was the RSS Reader. It was hard and confusing. Although it would come in handy for most people, I just did not like it. I will use most everything I have learned during the 23 things when I am a teacher. Some things like Facebook and Twitter I do not thing incorporating into the school system would be effective. I don't think that there could be an changes done to the project. 


My resolution is to continue to blog. I have always wanted to journal my life, and had even though about blogging it for other to read. I just always think to myself "Who would want to read about me?" I think that this blogging project has prepared me for the future. 


This was a great project and I am really glad that I was able to complete them all. I can't wait to use everything I have learned in my future as a teacher.

Thing #23

Creative Commons is a good thing to be familiar with for everyone. Everything out on the Internet belongs to someone, somewhere. Before you can just take and do whatever you want with it you need to make sure that the owner of it doesn't mind. Personally I am really bad when It comes to taking quotes or a picture off of Google Images. Now I know to look for the Creative Commons symbol somewhere on the page or to make sure it has been copyrighted. I found a Learning 2.0 23 Things created for library employees. 

http://sjlibrary23.blogspot.com/

Thing #22

I think that LiveBinders is a really great thing for teachers now and teachers in the future. Considering most of everything we do nowadays in on the computer and Internet why couldn't you have a binder full of things to do at the touch of a button. I always try to be very organized with school work and around the house. I think that is a very important quality for a teacher as well. I made three LiveBinders named Ms. Allies Reading, Ms. Allies Games, and Ms. Allies Spelling. I can see myself using LiveBinders when I am a teacher. One great fact is that it is a free website. The next it is organizational. The last it is effective and could be used to interact with parents.




http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=363167

Thing #21

I really enjoyed using Amimoto. It is a very fun and creative website. I made an account that was for free but there are options to make an account that you have to pay for that offers more selections to chose from. You could use Amimoto for school as a teacher or just as something fun to do at home. I think if a teacher wanted to incorporate Amimoto into his or her classroom it would be good. With the free version you are limited to only a 30 second video which isn't very long. The teacher would most likely just have to buy and upgrade for the classroom. It would be useful for projects, homework, and even a fun get to know each other game. The teacher could also make a video for the end of  all the pictures throughout the year.


My Animoto Video

Thing #20

I saw this video on posted on pinterest a long time ago from YouTube. As soon as I saw it I was showing my whole family and all of my friends because it was so inspirational. I have been using YouTube for a long time. I do not personally have an account but I will get on a look at new movie trailers or music videos. I think that if there was something important enough to show in class and was useful to the lesson, sure YouTube would be helpful. Having a visual from the lesson is always good for the students to have. 

Thing #19

I made an account to Teacher Pop and explored it for a while. I also looked at Ning but didn't register because it cost after 30 days. Social Networking is growing more and more every day. Pinterest is a new social networking site and has become very well known. Everyone I tell about it falls in love immediately and eventually become addicted. Just like me! I go see movies a lot so I also use IMDB. Cooking is not one of my strong abilities which makes me sad because I want to be able to cook for my family one day. So I really enjoyed looking at the tasty kitchen website for helpful idea. I really do enjoy social networking.

Thing #18

I have mixed feelings about Social Networking all together. Although I have active accounts to both Facebook and Twitter and use them on a daily basis, I still don't like the idea of it. I once deleted Facebook because I would spend all my time looking at picture and status updates when I really needed to be doing homework or cleaning. I believe that is how it could be for everyone too. Most of the time we are on Facebook or Twitter we could most likely have something more productive to be doing. On the other hand, I think Social Networking is good because it allows you to have events, keep up with birthdays, and maybe even find a long lost friend. If you use Social Networking in the right doses then it is good. As a teacher I would not use Facebook or Twitter in the classroom. I know that teachers now have a hard enough time  now trying to get their students off of it. There would be nothing on these Social Networking sites that i couldn't incorporate with something else.


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aburkepile
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Allllie_Gator

Thing #17

I could see myself using this for the classroom but other than that I don't know any other real reason that I would use it for. I think it would be great for teacher in the same school and school district to all have this to collaborate together and get new ideas. It also is very organized and easy to access and free to make an account. I can't really see children using this website to be beneficial unless it were for a project.

Thing #16

I chose to use iGoogle as my start page. I added social networking, sports, weather, and entertainment as my gadgets. I really enjoyed playing around with it and designing it the way I liked. I did set this as my home page whenever I open safari on my computer. I thought that the online calendar and to-do list were very helpful. It would take some time to set up and get all of you events put into place but it would be worth it in the end. I could see myself using these tools when I do become a teacher and have a desktop computer at home or at work. I don't think I would get much use out of it now because I never really get on the computer unless I am doing homework. I just carry a calendar and write my to-do list down. I would recommend all three tools to any one. Everyone has such a tight schedule with the busy lives we live so I'm sure that it would come in handy. 

Thing #15

I have always been told not to use Wikipedia for writing research papers because the information is not reliable. I believe that to be true. But on the other hand I think that if you were using a Wiki for a group project or like the video explained a camping trip with your friends it would be very useful. It saves the hassle of emailing/texting/calling three or four different people to get the information. It is all in one spot for you all to see whenever you would like. I looked at the apsu23thingssandbox wiki just to get an idea. 

Thing #14

I chose to explore Gliffy (flow chart) and Bubbl.us (mind map). I really enjoyed both of these websites. I personally am a visual learner so if a teacher were to have this on a powerpoint of some sort I would help me out a lot. I like to see things step by step. My favorite website was Bubbl.us. It was really simple to use and you don't even have to make an account to use it. The first thing I thought that this would be good for would be a science project for students. They would be able to put their experiment in the center bubble and from then on expand on to what different things that that find out. But really any teacher could get really creative with these websites. 

Thing #13

While I was Exploring Zoho Writer i noticed that it was very similar to Microsoft Word. I have been taught how to use Microsoft Word since elementary school so I don't think I would change to Zoho Writer. Although I haven't always used Google Docs. I made an account for work about a year ago so that I could open spreadsheets along with other employees. I haven't ever really got the hang of it until now. I really like Google Docs for many reasons. It saves your work automatically every so often so that if something were to happen to your computer it would still be there. I also thing that it is neat how you can share documents between whoever you chose. I think that this would be a very useful tool for children doing a group project of some sort. They would be able to communicate back and for on who is doing what. They are even able to check and make sure that everyone has got the work done before the actual project is due. 


Here is a Picture I created with Google Picture:

Thing #12

For thing 12 we were supposed to look into depth what all Google has to offer. Before starting the 23 things for this class I already had a Gmail account for work which works to all of our advantage. We are all able to pull up our "building chart" or "contact log", for example. But the best part about it is that we can set it to share and we all are able to pull it up whenever we need too. I think that this is a great advantage in my workplace now but you could also incorporate in into teaching. Let's say the 3rd graders at an Elementary school swapped teachers daily. The teacher could all share an attendance sheet on Google docs to be able to see who to expect in class. The other thing that I really enjoyed looking into was Google calendar. I know that now that I always have something to do but I am pretty good about keeping track of it in a hand written calendar. This would be just another form of that. If I were to create a Google calendar I would set mine to private. I didn't know that Google had such a wide variety of things to offer. It definitely is not just a search engine. 

Thing #11

My first blog to look at was Edublog. It was voted the best teacher blog in 2011 and seemed to be very reliable. Once I started looking at it, it was hard to get off. There were so many different categories to search it was unreal. You click what category you want to look into then the different blogs are listed in ABC order. It doesn't get any more simple than that. I didn't like Topix very much because the first page you come to is very cluttered and turned me off at the beginning. I started following one blog called Dare to Care by Denise Krebs. I read some of her blogs and they were very inspirational. Google is another way of searching for blogs and it is easy to use because I am so used to it, but in this case I would chose Edublog over Google. 

Thing #10

I had never heard of RSS reader before doing thing #10. I have always wondered what the orange button was for on some websites but now I know. I had a little trouble understanding how to search for the different pages at first but then I just started searching random things and came across some things that I would enjoy looking at. I like how easy it is to use and read other blogs, considering I am not the "pro blogger." Everything that you want is on one page instead on ten different tabs open on your browser. I like to read inspirational quotes and bible verses so I subscribed to those for my personal life. I also subscribed to various teacher blogs. I think that the students and parents can make a blog and be able to keep up with what is going on in the class room. I really liked being introduced to RSS and defiantly think I will be using it more often.

Thing #9

I used Image Chef to create these pictures. I liked the being able to create so many different pictures with my own words on them. Image Chef is a fun and quick thing to do. I think that you could use some of these picture in your class room. If you typed something on them and printed it off to tape up in the classroom. Other than that I think that this website would just be a free time activity or something to do at home. Here are two of the picture that I created. I love the life that God has given me and always a die hard Volunteer fan!

Thing #8

There are so many different things that you can find on Flickr, Flickr mash ups and all the different 3rd party tools. I created several different things with the sites but my favorite was the puzzle mash up. I think that you could use Flickr and Flickr mash ups in the classroom. I also think that you would have to be careful because I know that I could easily get addicted to using all of these different tools. So most likely the students will to. I will use Flickr in my personal life but I will have to use self control to stay off of it and do homework. This is a picture of my boyfriend and I at the beach this summer with the puzzle mash up.

Thing #7

Brothers birthday dinner, a photo by Allllie_Gator on Flickr.

I decided to post a picture of my family, because they are the ones who have got me to where I am today. I don't know what I would do with out them. Each and every one of them have made a huge impact on my life. I have heard of Flickr before but never really had the time to do anything with it. I recently deleted my Facebook because I would spend most of my time on there looking at pictures instead of doing homework. But I am glad that I took the chance to explore Flickr and understand it better. When I was in high school I had an account with Photo Bucket and from what I remember it is the same thing will some differences here and there. They are same in the fact that their main objective is for posting pictures. I think that you could incorporate Flickr in the classroom if you were doing a project and wanted to make a group for your class room so that the students could share their pictures and ideas with one another. I have always been nervous about keeping account of mine open to the public so I would most definitely have my picture private to my friends and family. 

Thing #6

I chose to look more in depth at Pandora. Pandora is an Internet radio for anyone to listen to whenever you want. You can search any style, genre, composer or artist of music that fits your personality. Pandora is a free website, unless you want to upgrade to the version without advertisements. You can turn Pandora on your computer or download the application on your smart phone. I made an account with the free version and although the advertisements are quite annoying I just try to ignore them. I think that you could use Pandora for soft music while the students are reading an assignment or maybe doing some homework for the night. I know from experience now I can concentrate better with soft music in the background. You could even use the music during transitions throughout the day. I really like Pandora as a whole and think that it would be a good tool in the classroom.

Thing #5

It is amazing to look back just a few years ago when I was in high school how things were compared to today. When I was in high school we would go to the library to use the Internet for a research paper or big project for pictures and such, but other than that it wasn't made out to be any big deal. I could tell that there was going to be a big change in the way the Web was going to be used though. This was around the time that Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and all sorts of social networking was coming about. Most people today could not live without Google or Emailing back and forth. Also, with having smart phones and iPads, being able to have all these different things at the tip of your fingers is an huge advancement in technology. I think that using Web 2.0 and School 2.0 in a classroom could open so many new doors to your students. I know that some of the things that I am learning in college today my parents learned over twenty years ago. I know things like History are always going to be the same but nowadays there are so many more ways a teacher can make it interesting and more easy to learn for the students. I know as a future teacher I will incorporate Web 2.0 into my classroom. Now that I know there are so many different learning experiences out there for my students, why would I put them to waist? I know that the Internet has changed drastically in the past 5 years who knows what is to come.

Thing #4

I believe that commenting on other followers blogs is really a great thing and it does create a sense of community. Having someone tell me that I have posted something that they like or want to use in the future makes me feel good. And even the opposite way around, if someone were to tell me that I needed to improve or fix something lets me know that they care. Having the perspective of someone else is always a good thing even if you don't agree with them. I chose to follow several classmates blogs to follow.


First I followed Ariel Griffth http://agriffith3.blogspot.com/. Ariel and I went to the same high school so I decided to follow her. She has some good post and great ideas. We has a lot of similar thoughts for example how we felt about the RSS reader.


Rebecca Black http://becca-black.blogspot.com/. Rebecca and I went to London on Spring Break together with our English class so I started following her. We also had a lot in common such as we both loved iGoogle.


Caitlin Ladd http://caitlinfaith.blogspot.com/ I met Caitlin in this class because we just happened to sit next to each other. We are both special education majors which I thought to be very cool. I think that she will be a great teacher and she has some great ideas.


Hayli Wrigley http://haylilen.blogspot.com/. I have had both of my education classes with Hayli this year so I thought I would follow her. Hayli was also not very fond of the RSS feeder either.


Last out of our class I chose to follow Samantha Lambright http://samanthalambright.blogspot.com/. Samantha is my roommate and best friend. So of course we have some of the same likes and ideas on most things.


I also chose to follow two other blogs that I liked. The first one is Cool Cat Teacher Blog http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/ and Love2Learn2Day http://love2learn2day.blogspot.com/. I commented on both of their blogs. The Cool Cat Teacher blog I found a blog about technology and told her about our class and how we just talked about social networking in the classroom. Then on love2learn2day I saw a blog about remaking classroom a organizing it. It was amazing! I believe that both of these sites will help me when I am a teacher in many ways. I hope to still have them to follow.

Thing #3

Considering this is my first blog and I am still in the process of getting the hang of everything, I think there are many good things that can come out of this. I am starting to like the whole concept of blogging. I can really see the usefulness in using it with teaching. Being a teacher plays a big role in a child's life. If one  teacher has an awesome way of teaching something and her children caught then why not share it with others? Your are not only helping your students but also other students around the world. I will have a blog when I am a teacher, so that if I come up with something I can share with other teachers that may be able to use the examples. Also, I will let my students parents know of the blog sight as well so that they can go on and read about what their child has done in class that day. Overall, blogging is a great tool with technology in the educational world. 

Thing #2

While choosing my posting name it was not hard. I normally do not like making up some sort of name for myself when using different websites. So I decided to just use my full name, Allie Burkepile. It makes it easier for someone to find me. While creating the blog I was a little confused at times. It took me a little getting used to but now I am getting the hang of it and actually enjoy blogging. My avatar describes me very well in a sense. I have short blonde hair, with green eyes. Although my eyes are not as green as my avatar is was as close as I could get. My outfit also reflects my personality because as a teacher I will need to look professional while working. 

Thing #1

As I was reading the tutorial called the Seven and 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong LearnersS, I thought of some different things about myself. Habit one is set goals, I love setting a goal for myself. It is even better in the end when you have accomplished that goal. Also step six would be my other favorite. I have always enjoyed technology and being able to use it while teaching other students is great. The hardest habits for me would be to view a problem as a challenge. I always try to tell myself that whatever I am going through is just a bump in the road and everything will be okay in the end. I cant wait to work with 2.0 tools because it will make things so much easier!