THING #15

I don't ever remember this Sandbox playing being as stressful. This was probably one of hardest aspects to grasp and I know I will be doing a lot of reteaching in this area. I spent many hours trying to figure out some of the formatting, being a secretary, I like to use tabs and I did not see that that was an option beside just the bullet format and when I inserted my photo it came it too large and ran off the page and was having a difficult time find the edit prompt. I also encountered a few problems when I droped in nd incorporating other aspects and widgets. I have truly done the bare minimum on this but have worked longer in the Sandbox. I know this is something that I will be working to try to perfect moving around in - I will conquer the "SANDBOX WIKI." This truly is out of my comfort zone. I am planning on doing my own wikispace and continue this "lifelong learning experience."

SUMMARY

What a great learning adventure this has been. I never realized how much is changing in technology. Wow, am I glad my grandkids are going to be a product of the 21st century and the truth is technology will change over and over and over. It is changing at such a rapid pace that I'm amazed how each of the instructors can stay up on these changes. I guess it's true when it is said that change is inevitable. Thank you for allowing me to get out of my comfort zone and self-pace my way to the finish line . The one area of this session that was frustrating for me was the "SANDBOX". (man have sandboxes changed from my day of Sand in a Box)... I know Google Reader will be a valuable asset to me as well as Google Docs and DELICIOUS the bookmarking tool is going to me my New best friend. I can truly understand the frustration of teachers knowing that the format of teaching must change to meet the needs of our students and it is apparent that technology is our Future. Thank you for taking me on this journey.

THING #7b

I was reading the blog on Michael Jackson and all the drama that is associated with the death of a public figure. It's sad to know that even in death, there is so much uncertainty for his children. One has to wonder what he was thinking if he would nominate Diana Ross to serve as the guardian of his children if Katherine could not serve as their guardian. His estate is said to be worth more than $500,000,000. I guess I'm in such "Tech" overload that I decided to read on the lighter side. This has been a sad week with the death of Michael and Farrah.

THING #23

I had never heard of these social networks and was excited to explore their capabilities. I enjoyed exploring the Discussions. It gives me insight into how these networks can be used in the classroom. It is hard to imagine some of this since my job isn't directly related to students and classroom so it helps to get perspective from the teacher . I do worry some about the networking in school because there is always that small percentage that will not adhere to the acceptable use policy and therefore makes it hard to manage. I can see where NING might be useful to a classroom teacher for certain units, and posting assignments as well as the discussion among the students. This is another way for the student to think outside the box and to express in writing what his/her mind is thinking. It is a great way to network and gather information. I can see that maybe NING would be a great social network for families too.

THING #22

I never thought I would be one to enjoy social networking, don't get me wrong...I love socializing and networking, but I have always been afraid of these sites. However, Facebook has become my families networking site. Our schedules are so busy that we do not have time to have long conversations but I can always see what's going on in their lifes. Who would have thought that your grandchildren would enjoy networking with their grandmother. This has been a wonderful communication tool. My grandson is 20 years old and he allows me to be his friend on Facebook. It is amazing how he will comment on photos I have posted or just drop a note to say hi and catch me up with his "social" life. I must say I was concerned with the security on these sites, but I am careful when I post photos or videos that I restrict the view to only friends. This makes me feel a little more comfortable. This aspect of still scares me.

THING #21

I am overwhelmed at everything technology has to offer. I had no idea that Google tools could be so useful not only in my job but in networking my family. The Google Notebook is a great resource tool that I didn't even know existed. This Google Engine is as powerful as the Little Engine that Could. I set up some web albums in Picasa and have shared these with my family. Now that I am getting use to tagging it is a great way to pull photos and share with appropriate family members. I also wanted to network with my kids and their activities, so I have set up a Google Calendar. With two granddaughters in sporting events this is the perfect way for all of us to share our activities and schedule around any activities the kids may have. I believe my family is going to get computer savy before this class is over.

THING #20

My mind is racing... I can really visualize where this application will be a great tool for my office. I am already using the Google Docs with the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendents to gather information into the Staff Meeting Agenda each month. The first few months, some of the individuals would prefer calling instead of going into google docs and inserting their agenda items, but after a few months, we are all trained and it is a great tool. The only think I do not like about it is the fact that it does not hold formatting regarding tabs and if it does, please share. I also did a spreadsheet for my husband's family and sent to a contact at each household and they inserted their relative information, i.e., demographics as well as birthdates and email addresses for other siblings. This is a great resourve for the entire family. I can see so much networking that will save time between individual departments that we try to gather. One important form is the telephone and contact list that personnel does. My brain is in overtime now.

THING #19

I can see where teachers would be extremely excited about this application and to see how an entire class could interact and express their thoughts. It is amazing to see all the different technology how it is used to stimulate all children. Since I am not in a classroom sometimes I was a little hesitant with all the technology my grandchildren are exposed to because I felt they need to learn the way we learned and not depend on a gadget.. However, now that I am into so many of the different aspects of what our students are experiencing I can see that this is a new way to motivate and to reach all students. Man, I wish I could be a student now but in a younger body since their minds just pick up on all of this. I can see where voicethread can be used to teach higher level thinking skills and to help students who have a hard time writing down their thoughts to be able to verbally express those thoughts. Here is a site that I found regarding intersting ways to use wordle, voicethread, and ninento DS in the classroom.

THING #18

I could get lost in this assignment. Your searches are unlimited on this application. For my job related video, I found the following Steve Jobs MacWorld 2008 instructional YouTube on Keynotes and there are a series of these tutorial You Tubes. Dr. Henrie is wanting us to move from Powerpoint to Keynotes since the presentations are crisper and brighter and graphics are eye catchers. However, I am having a hard time finding instruction on this and this YouTube seems to fit my need perfectly. I enjoy scrapbooking and find that this seems to help me be a little creative when doing presentations for work so I bookmarked this YouTube on scrapbooking. I have really not taken time to scroll around in You Tube until this assignment and now see why my grandchildren can spend hours on this site. The choices or limitless. However, for my fun or nostalgic site anytime Simon can be at a loss for words it is worth capturing, so I picked the Britain's has Talent with Susan Boyle. I think I could become addicted to surfing You Tube.

THING #17

Podcasts is an interesting concept. Who would have thought that we would return to the days when sitting around the radio and listening to weekly shows would return on an individual basis. I listened to Grammar Girl and enjoyed it and could see where teacher's could use this in their classroom setting. I loved The Dragon Page Podcasts and the fact that it is a discussion type of podcast regarding education and school issues. For my job, podcasts would have to be more job related. However, I found several podcasts that I have subscribed to through Itunes. I subscribed to the CNBC Radio Highlights as well as the TVs the Girl Girl. The first I subscribed to to keep me updated on what's happening in our country since I have a hard time finding time to tune intthat I am excited about is Storynomy which is story books for kids. I plan on getting my grandchildren interested in listening and then recapping the story to see what they comprehended.

THING #16

This Library Thing is way cool. What happened to the days of going to the library and browsing all the card catalogs to find your book and cross reference by the author. I would have never thought that it is now at your fingertip and you never have to leave your house..not even to purchase the book if you own a "KINDLE." I do not see too large of an impact on my job through the Library Thing. However, I can see where the classroom teacher and students will love this and the time it will save searching for a particular books through the use of the tags. I love John Steinbeck and reading through the list of his books made me want to take time to enjoy a book and get back to reading for relaxation.

THING #14

What is a Wiki... I have been listening for months when the administrators have returned from one of the technology trainings and hearing all about wikis, now I can say I understand a wiki. What a great tool for the classroom teachers to encourage group projects and collaboration and networking. As I read through these wikis I immediately thought of my grandchildren that are in school. This would truly encourage all the students to think outside the box and to become active participants in group projects. I loved the Salute to Seuss, and to think that the final result came from the culmination of talents from PK through Sixth graders. I am amazed at the creativity that this activity cultivates.

I can see where this could be useful in administration, especially when we are working on certain large projects and have several people working on the same concept. This is the way we could track all the changes in one place instead of everyone submitting changes and having to combine the changes to one document. My mind is still spinning on thinking of ways we can collaborate and make this a useful tool in our office. I think I can..I think I can.. I know I can...

THING #13

Well, I know know that delicious doesn't mean a dessert. Glad I got that cleared up. Now on to business, I am trying to get accustomed to the aspect of tagging; visually, I can see where it will be very beneficial. I have been in the habit of filing my bookmarks into category folders, so this is just fine tuning and will give me a little more flexibility with searches and finding different sites. The sites I have bookmarked are the state websites, i.e., TRS, TASB, UIL, TEA, and several MISD sites along with some tutorial sites for computer technology resources. While searching through I found an interesting site for iphones which I bookmarked as well. And like a kid in school, I didn't read the entire directions before I took the bull by the horns and got in the ring.. and I exported my bookmarks from one of my computers. I am very excited to know that I will know have access to my sites at other computers, this was always a frustration to me.

THING 7a

I am interested in receiving updates regarding Mesquite. I have a feed from the Dallas Morning News for Mesquite. It is nice to read some of the good things happening in Mesquite. The one feed that I probably would have overlooked just skimming the newspaper at night was the article regarding the school bond ratings of AA. Another site I subscribe to is The City of Mesquite. However, this is not through a true feed it is through email. Through these notifications, I am aware of what is going on in the City of Mesquite regarding possible crimes that I otherwise might be oblivious too. Through the feeds, my husband has learned to be a little "computer savy" because he keeps up with the Stock Market.

THING #12

This is FOCUSED PLAY for me. I am loving all of the sites and can see where I can really let my creative side flow throuw. The Blabberize is going to be one of my favorite toys for the computer. Watch out "PEEPS" I can really spice up some presentations.. The other application I can find myself utilizing both at work and at "play" is Picnik and Wordle is going to proof to be very helpful in some of my presentations. After exploring PollDaddy I can visualize where it might be useful in some areas of our organization, but my mind is in overload and this one will require more than focused play for me. I am so excited to experience these applications for work as well as home. Who knows I might be able to teach my grandchildren something on the computer. Won't they be impressed that their Nonnie is learning technology too!

THING #12

THING 12

THING #11

I am really excited about this Thing 11. I have played around in some of these programs, however, being able to understand what I was doing is really getting me pumped up to take it to another learning. I love the creative aspect of each of these sites. Being a Uverse subscriber for cable, the Flickr photos play directly onto my TV which is great when we are together and I'm able to play all the pictures for the family. The Mosaic Maker is one of my favorite and the spell with Flickr is just a fun application as well as the Happy Face generator. Now, if I can find, no I will make the time to get familiar with all of these sites. My brain is in overdrive!

THING #10

The pictures are photos of my precious family. My grandmother died at age 101 and my mother is now 85 years old and the others are those of my children and grandchildren. I am blessed.

THING #10

My husband is from Maine and we go there every other year. The last year we were there we took a cruise up the coastline of Maine to view the lighthouses. This was absolutely breathtaking. There are thousands of lighthouses in North Amerca, but without a doubt, the Portland head Lighthouse is the most photogenic.

Flickr will probably become my new "best friend."

THING #9

"We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining - they just shine."

I love lighthouses and chose to capture some of the beautiful photos taken of them. This one was posted by Spirited Rob/Roland Migchielsen, who is a Dutch psychologist. This photo was taken of the Heceta Head Lighthouse near, Florence, Oregan. To view other photos by this photographer you can view his collection.

THING #8

Currently, I do most of the power point presentations for the Superintendent's office and other administrators. I have always been concerned about the copyright laws especially regarding the use of students and since we are in education and they are our reason for existence we love to incorporate students into our presentations . However, our office has purchased several cd's containing photos that are freeware so we do not have to be concerned with copyright laws. I am excited to know that through the use of Creative Commons I will be able to share slides, photos and information without fearing Mrs. Copright (Mary Woodard). I know how sensitive the copyright laws are and am glad to see that with the use of the internet it is being addressed in a way that is protecting and useful. If I have seen the cc in the websites I've searched, I've never paid attention to it, but now I will be very watchful and be sure to bookmark these pages for additional references. Man oh man I do think my brain is in overload with all this information and just hope that I can catalog the information.

THING 7

I love following blogs and have for several months now. However, I have always been a little hesitant to leave comments especially if I do not agree with the blogger. But after reading 10 Techniques to Get More comments on Your Blog, the purpose of commenting is a networking tool to use for discussion and input. I can certainly see where blogging could be a useful tool to the classroom teacher; however on the down side I'm afraid of too much negative feedback. It is a wonderful tool to be able to globally network without leaving your home or office. I must get out of my comfort zone and try commenting a little more instead of just reading.

THING #6

Wow--- what a window of knowledge to receiving and archiving information. I can see where networking and compiling varied perspectives of opinions on certain issues is going global. However, I am a little overwhelmed and overloaded on all that I am learning. I am trying to process what information is critical for my job performance. Since my job indirectly affects classroom learning and so much of this information is geared int hat direction, I am trying to rethink to my position. I have chosen to follow several legislative websites in order to stay informed on changes that will affect the areas of my job responsibilities. Also, as with anyone, I am also following several family blogsites and a daily devotional website to jump start my day in the right direction. I am seeing where the teachers of MISD can greatly benefit from the support and networking by using the reader.

THING #5

Google Reader is a real time saver. Note just for the general surf addict but I can see where it will be a great time saver for receiving feeds on updates from all the legislative websites as legislation bills are enacted regarding education so we can make sure our policies and procedures are in alignment with the new bills. I can see where all individuals would be interested in receiving these feeds; my husband would be very interested in the stocks sites.

Thing #4

Who would have dreamed that we would use blogging as a way to connect people and their thoughts and as a tool for teaching. Blogging allows you to the opportunity to express your thoughts and not worry about the grammatical aspect. I feel that blogging will bring out more creativity in students. What a way to teach kids and adults it's okay to express yourself and being able to write it down in a way is a self-helping technique as expressed in the blog by Patrick the fifth grade at risk student.

THING #2
Man oh man, I thought I knew what was going on in the classrooms, how things have changed. Even though I work in administration and understand the "tech talk" regarding promethean boards and wikis, and kindles and elmos.. I had no idea of the impact into the classroom and teaching. All I can think of is the days I watched STAR TREK and thought how cool this would all be if we could have all that technology..and look where we are in the 21st century. I only hope my mind can keep up with all these technology and we don't loose all that personal touch. I say this as I'm sitting in my bedroom looking at my lonely record player and I'm thinking how proud we were when we upgraded to a 4 discs cd player and now there are ipods to take the disc players place.. Oh my I am aging as I am learning. This might not be too good on my health!

June 29, 2009 4:23 PM

Technology is uncharted territory for so many of us. I definitely am one that embraces continuous learning; however I am a little resistant with some of the technology. I love the fact that my iphone keeps me connected to family and friends and I also have access to my emails on one small cellphone. However, I hate losing the personal touch...a handwritten note from my grandchildren. I would have never dreamed that we would be embarking on an age where texting would take the place of that letter. I also worry that technology has made my children and grandchildren accepting to the use of slang terms that are accepted in texting and when they are doing an assignment this slang filters through without a second thought. The fact that we can access any information by just googling is awesome, but does one know how to find a phone number the "old fashioned way" - the yellow or white pages.. and reading the newspaper has now become part of the past. However, my husband refuses to give up this vice and will never read the paper on line. I like most love the fact of shopping via of the internet; however, I also worry about my personal information being in the guts of some computer somewhere and landing in the wrong hands. Bottom line, change is good and please don't take my computer away, I remember typing all those Curriculum Guides with carbon paper...What a nightmare and I also remember the first computer we brought into MISD, the Burroughs system and I thought, I will never learn to use that thing but you know what I embraced the challenge and I embracing this challenge...