Kim's Blog

Thing #16 YouTube - Minnesota MS Bike Tours

2008-07-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

This is an addedendum to my U-Tube pust attempt. This is the only way I could get it to work. I tried to putting my posts in proper order, but I could not figure that out either.

YouTube - Minnesota MS Bike Tours

Thing #22 What did you Learn

2008-07-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

Learning the tools taught on 23 Things on a Stick was enlightening and very informative to say the least. I am glad to had the blog to fall back on to remind me of the many things I am afraid I'll forget. I particularly enjoyed leaning about Flikr and the organizers, iGoogle, Google Reeader, both for students and myself. I was glad to be more informed about what the students (and my daughter) keep talking about (MySpace, FaceBook, Flikr..). I intend on revisiting these tools throughout the year with my students.

Thing #23

2008-07-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

Wow! That was a lot of time and great learning! I now have an iGoogle, a Facebook profile, Flikr account, Google reader and so much more. My goal is to try to incorporate at least one per week or month when school starts. I love it when I learn things that an be applied both home as well as work. I now feel more empowered as a teacher, parent and person in the areas that were studied.

Thing #21 Beyond MySpace: Other Social Networks

2008-07-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

I was relatively familiar with these sites thanks to my daughters involvement in NING. I looked at many of the other sights. The one that I particularly liked was web junction. There have been times when I needed resources for immigrants, but was not quite sure where to go since I moved here from CA. I find that site helpful for other reasons as well. It is another useful resource for the classroom.

Find more photos like this on 23 Things on a Stick

Thing # 20 Libraries and Social Networks

2008-07-28T15:37:00.000-07:00

Today, I reluctantly joined face book. I had been asked to join earlier, but did not trust it. In fact, a student had invited me to join her group, which I did not do. My daughter has been bugging us about it for a while now. My husband had been asked and joined, so I figured it must be o.k. I could believe how many people I knew on it from both here in Minnesota as well as where I lived in CA. Another example of it being a small world!

Thing #19 Podcasting

2008-07-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

Podcasting is not new to me. I do not have an Ipod and was thrilled to learn I could do this with my phone. I tired downloading, which took forever. I downloaded something i had wanted to listen to for sometime now about teens from Shaunti Feldhan(sp?).

Thing #17 ELM

2008-07-28T12:49:00.001-07:00

I found ELM very helpful. I need to write he out line of our new curriculum and found information I can incorporate into the first unit using ELM. My students would also find it useful for one of the first research projects they will have to complete. immediately included on my Del.icio.us book mark.

Thing 16. Student 2.0 Tools

2008-07-28T11:53:00.001-07:00

I set up a calculator for both sites and think that the one Research Project Calculator would work best for my students. They are both great for helping students get organized and establishing a plan of action. So many get stuck not knowing where to begin. I loved the idea that they can be reminded by email. You might have noticed the new clock on my page. I also added one to my igoogle page.

Thing # 15 Online Gaming

2008-07-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

I looked into both games. I spend more time with the pirate puzzler. It was cute. I can see how this could be quite educational for you are required to make educated decisions as you play. My daughter is very accustomed to games like these. The interaction with the characters is fun. I can't help but think how this generation is so used to the constant pace of games and animated interaction. I have often wondered what the end result will be for student's attention spans if not monitored. Obviously, childhood obesity has risen. Kids need more exercise. Mood and character seem to be effected if not monitored carefully. Many times I have thought ADD is a result of the overstimulation of the media/entertainment. I don't mean to get off on all this, I have just been pondering this for some time now.
Yet, at the same time, I am guilty of wanting to incorporated this kind of tool into my own curriculum.

Thing #14 Library Thing

2008-07-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Since I have a teenage daughter and need to be somewhat selective of what she reads these days, I found this tool refreshing. However, it is very similar to the one offered by the public library. Maybe it is th site they where telling me about some time ago.
This site is useful for researching supplementary tools before having to go to the library. I could see this as a valuable resource for students to make the best use of their time at the library for given projects.

Thing # 13 Online Productivity tools

2008-07-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

Created by OnePlusYou

Another thing to look forward to!

Created by OnePlusYou

However I can't seem to get it started.

I also set up an iGoogle account and found my MS TRAM and Coleman's reference to the MS TRAM under my Star-Tribune feed.

Thing # 12 Digg

2008-07-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

I had never seen Digg before now. I enjoyed the fact that one could interact with other about what was written, albeit controversial or not. I looked up items on the elections. What started me in that direction was that I had just completed the MS 300 mile bike ride across Minnesota (TRAM) to raise Money for multiple sclerosis and on one ride got into a conversation Senator Carlson Nick Coleman from the Star Tribune at a couple of the rest stops.
I think Digg could be used in my classroom as a means of reacting to international news as it pertains to the Spanish-speaking world, not to mention following our elections (in a limited way) as reported in Spanish.

Thing #11del.icio.us

2008-07-27T17:58:00.000-07:00

I found it easy to manipulate this step. I have my Flikr on there as well as many of my other sites. (javascript:location.href='http://del.icio.us/home';) I organized my favorite sites on del.icio.us, tried them out and added more. I think this could be very helpful for my students. Many times I utilize helpful sites that support my curriculum. It would be nice to have them store them all in one place. What is the best way to lead them to do this? I have always included these links on Edline to do the same, but is tagging them in this way more advantageous?

Thing # 10 Wikis

2008-07-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

I am familiar with Wikis since we have to use them at school. I have wanted to try them in other areas of my life. I am searching for their price and how to avoid all of the advertising. I think they would be great for planning big events as seen in the video. I started one on wetpaint.com about getting ready for the MS ride across Minnesota (TRAM). I also tried doing the same on Zoho.com. Since we ride on a team, having a wiki is very convenient since we will be camping from site to site. I am still looking up everyone's emails to invite them along.

Thing #9

2008-07-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

I tried both Google.doc and Zoho. I needed to send a document to the ladies at church and sent it to my husband to proof-read. I first sent it to myself on another server to see if it worked. I am eager to hear what my husband thinks about it after work.
I wanted to introduce him to this site/process because he is working on a book and has someone editing it for him and thought this would be and easier way around it.
I also think this would be useful between students for projects...

Thing #6

2008-07-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

I hope you can enlarge this. It is a Spanish flash card for the image of my new kitchen.

Thing #8

2008-07-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

Thing #7

2008-07-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

I regularly use Email so this is very familiar for me. I am always eager to learn new things about how I can use it more effectively, though. In the classroom, connecting students with Spanish-speaking pen-pals via email is an idea I have considered to integrate technology into the classroom. I use email often with student/parent/teacher communications. It has been very helpful for students wanting homework due to absence or other questions.
IM/texting is also a tool I use on a regular basis with my family. It is one of the many ways I connect with my teenage daughter,(who can text a mile a minute)! Communicating with librarians was new to me and I am eager to put this to use. One of my friends is a librarian and took this class recently. I plan on asking her if he communicates with Meebo...
I have used web-conferencing for conferences outside of school. Just a thought, what if our staff-meetings were all via the web... Then those of us who work partime and have to miss many of them would not miss out. Doodle I have used to communicate with my TOSA.
I would like to give twitter a try someday. After learning all these tools, it seems they are are all competing with each other to do basically the same things, yet in slightly different ways. In the end, if I signed up for them all, there is no way I could keep track of all of the user names and passwords I chose (of course I would keep a written record) You get the point.

Thing #5 More fun with Flickr

2008-07-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

I have been trying for hours to get this to work right on my computer. I think I have the steps down, but I can not get my computer to consistently upload my photos on the small screen on the organizer so I can not send or post anything. I have tried to send it to my own site, changed some settings on my browser... Otherwise, I would be overjoyed to be able to use this once I get it figured out. It would be great for my classroom as well as for me personally. As I mentioned earlier, we just purchased a new home and we could share the photos (which I had ready to upload). Until I figure out what is going wrong, I will post this and move on. It has already consumed so much time.

(Next day in coffee shop.) I finally got it to work! I chose to use other pictures that my daughter sent to me. I will still do a house mashup soon. Check the site and look for "Vegetable Farm." www.flickr.com/photos/vegetable_farm/sets/72157606108665392/show/

What fun!

Thing 4

2008-07-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

Thing #4
I have heard of and used Flickr in the past, however only minimally. I had no idea how much one could actually do with this resource. I can think of many ways to use it to share photos, share our new house (with captions!) , etc. I was able to explore some places I love albeit through the lens of someone else's camera. Flickr would be great for sharing the travels of teachers to relay specific information for his/her students.

I included a picture of my family and me when we rode on the MS TRAM (a 300 mile ride ride to raise $$$ for multiple sclerosis a few years ago. We are riding again this summer if you or anyone is interested in supporting us, we are still looking for donations:) Flickr would be a great way to share the ride with all of our sponsors!
One could get lost spending many hours on Flickr if not careful. I look forward to using this in many ways.

Thing #3

2008-07-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

Once I found the video I had no trouble setting everything up. I can see how a person could really benefit from this technology. However, as much as I liked having everything right before me, one could get lost spending far too much time on the computer as I myself did. I got frustrated with some sites not having feeds...
I look forward to exploring this further. I called up a friend and walked her through it as well. I like how there are learning tools on it, like Spanish word of the day...

Thing #2

2008-06-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

I am eager to learn more about what 2.0 has to offer. I think this could be a powerful tool in the hands of my students, not to mention myself. I envision my students being able to communicate as pen-pals in Spanish as well as complete various research projects together without the inconvenience of having to have mom or dad transport them to the library. In essence, no more excuses about not being able to collaborate as partners due to their schedules. Also, if think the ability to interact with their learning is much more effective than merely regurgitating learned information. I am eager to show husband and my 9th grade daughter the possibilities 2.0 has to offer.

Thing #1

2008-06-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

I think the 2.0 idea is fascinating and am eager to learn more about what it has to offer. I am sensing that this gives the learner more power/opportunity to interact with their learning as opposed to merely regurgitating information. I can see how this could be useful for my students to interact in Spanish with each other. My students could interact with research projects as well as pen-pal types of communications.

Thing #1 Kim's 23 things on a stick

2008-06-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new adventure in learning about blogs....