Thing 9 Exploring Image Generators

My favorite two image generators are a sign generator and a newspaper article generator. As you can see above, I made a sign that says welcome to my blog on a chalkboard. This was a very easy process. I just went to the site, picked my template, typed in the text I wanted on the sign, and I even got to pick the format and font of the text! This could be used in education for signs to print and to display information on a teacher’s blog. For library use, educators could use these generators to add quotes to book characters to encourage children to read. Even just posting guidelines is an option.

Above, I made a newspaper article. This is very unique and can be made in many different ways in the classroom. For example, this newspaper article can be a letter to the students on the first day of class. This was very easy as well. I typed in the name I wanted for my newspaper, the date, the headline for my “article” and type in the story I want displayed (in this case it was for a newsletter type thing). This can be used to help students write stories to be displayed around the classroom!

 

Newspaper generator:

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

Custom sign generator:

http://www.customsigngenerator.com

Thing 8

Using Flickr and Flickr mash-ups have endless possibilities. In my personal life, Flickr is a way I can share photos with others and have a place to save them all. Now that I know about the mosaic, I would like to make some of my family for my home. This could also be done with students in the classroom. As I stated in my previous post, Flickr is a great way to show children of different cultures. When we show our children different cultures, we show them that although everyone is unique, we also have a lot in common. I would like to use Flickr as an art project in the classroom. I also plan to keep using Flickr and it's mash-ups to make my blog more interesting and unique. 

I love sharing photos and looking at other people's photos online. I feel that sharing photos online is excellent. However, it has to be done with permission of every child's parent in your classroom. Also, the privacy of the children is extremely important. 

This mosaic: I created this mosaic to show the different cultures of children around the world. Of course, there are more cultures, but this is just an example of something I would love to have in my classroom. 






 The photos above were found on Flickr and Mosaic Maker was used to construct the above mosaic.
 1. http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamju/6246663230/ 2. http://www.flickr.com/photos/itwasallyellow/1814721417/ 3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/muaaustralia/3636573347/ 4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalebisrael/6216405024/

Thing 7 Exploring Flickr

Children are a wonderful gift . . . They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.

I explored Flickr and found many amazing photos taken by others. The link to the photographer who took this photo is at the bottom of this blog post. I encourage you to check out his other works and comment on this photo! I absolutely love Flickr and have made my own account. I have yet to upload my own photos, but plan to do so from this point on. 

My favorite part about exploring Flickr is that I can browse from millions of photos taken by people of different cultures that may live on the other side of the world. Nonetheless, I can see what they see. This is an invaluable resource. I plan to use Flickr in my classroom in order to show children photos of diverse students. I will show them the same pictures that help me to see through the eyes of another culture. As they would be able to see from the photo above, children in Asia have many things in common with children in America! We can talk until we're blue in the face, but sometimes it takes proof to truly teach. In this case, a picture could really be worth a thousand words!



Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jason_weemin/535636763/in/photostream/
This photo was taken June 7, 2007 by James D' Great

Thing 6

I found a site that is an amazing tool for use in school. It is called QUIZinator. It can be found here: http://www.quizinator.com/ I haven’t found anything that I dislike about this tool yet, besides the fact that it seems a bit complicated and could takes some time to get the hang of, like any other new web tool. This tool allows teachers to make quizzes, tests, worksheets, study guides, and many other documents. Its most useful features are that it can classify your questions by subject area. It lets you choose which types of questions you would like to make such as short answer, multiple choice, true/false, ect. You can rearrange answers, take out questions, and combine many questions to make new documents. It gives you an option to save every question and every past document. There really are tons of options with this site. You’ll just have to check it out yourself J Best of all, IT’S FREE!! If you decide to join the site, here’s a link the short tutorial: http://www.quizinator.com/documents/Quizinator-HowTo-Guide1.pdf

Thing 5

Web 2.0 and School 2.0 has many implications and opportunities for the future of education. School 2.0 can bring education into the community and home lives of many children. It will give students access to learning tools 24/7 and parents a chance to interact with their child’s learning. For teachers, School 2.0 gives us the option to give assessment that can be graded instantly and anonymously. Practice can be more hands-on than what it used to be in the traditional classroom. I love technology and learning new ways to make learning a more hands on activity. However, as educators we cannot forget that every child will not have parents that are as interested in their lives as we expect them to be. I truly hope that School 2.0 will bridge that gap for some students. For one, it may cause parents to be more involved. For two, learning can be interactive after school hours so teachers can be available for homework and tutoring. School/Web 2.0 has so much to offer and I am excited to explore the possibilities!

Thing 10

I already had a Google reader and an RSS feed. I saw Thing 10 and just had to jump ahead so that I could use this feature. I had actually forgotten about this feature until I saw it on the 23 Things list. Many of my fellow students have amazing ideas that I didn’t want to miss because I didn’t have to time to click on each blog to check for new updates every day. I am already subscribed to 45 other blogs that I have found prior to this assignment. Actually, I’m going to take this opportunity to get reacquainted with this feature and to remove blogs that no longer interest me. In my personal life, I use this technology in order to keep up with the bloggers that interest me. I have cooking blogs, intellectual blogs, and even humorous blogs that I read just for fun. In my professional life, I could begin to use my reader in order to follow other teacher blogs, and even to follow fellow students for inspiration during college. Many teachers have blogs in order to share their ideas with the rest of the world. I can “beg, steal, and borrow” ideas from other teachers and modify them to fit in my classroom. For example, keeping up with teacher blogs I enjoy gives me the opportunity to see how well lessons have worked for other teachers. Also, networking is a key part of becoming a professional. I can use the RSS feed to meet other teachers and build a professional relationship with them.

Thing 3

      With technology advancing at hypersonic speeds, it can be difficult for teachers and parents to keep up with the children. One way to combat this is through a blog. Many parents wish to stay updated and in the know about what their children are doing everyday in school. They are eager to stay involved in students’ lives and would like to help further their children’s knowledge. A blog is a great way to keep communication between teacher and parent open at all times. In this day and time, parents are constantly on the move. Teachers have many students to accommodate. A classroom/teacher blog can be of great assistance. When I teach, I would like to post the weekly schedule on my blog and discuss our objectives for the week.

         In addition to posting the objectives, I will post activities that can go along with our classroom lessons. There is a plethora of educational games available on the Internet as well. I would like to post links to these websites with reviews on them so that I can recommend them to parents. Children spend so much time on the Internet…they may as well be using that time to learn while PLAYING! I can post items such as book reviews/recommendations for parents who have trouble choosing books for their children. Clubs and extracurricular activities can be a common topic. This will be a place to remind parents of upcoming events.

         I would like to have a question board available to parents so that they can discuss educational topics or developmental topics pertaining to their children. This way, they can ask questions and advice from both myself and other parents.

         I would enjoy a separate blog of teaching tips and valuable information so that I can exchange ideas with other professionals in my field.

Thing 1- Lifelong Learning Habits

Thing 1

After reading the 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learners, I can confidently say that Number 7 Teach/Mentor others is my biggest strength. I have never wanted to be anything other than a teacher and a mom for as long as I can remember. I get a genuine happiness and sense of fulfillment when I have helped someone to learn. By teaching others, I not only help them to be lifelong learners, but I learn from them as well. Students think that we are only teaching them, when in actuality they are teaching us a great deal as well.  I believe that Habit 7 ½ also has a soft spot in my heart as I am a teacher candidate for grades K through 6. Playing is essential to child development and to happiness for children….it is also essential for my own happiness!

Habit 1 Begin with the end in mind is definitely my weakness. I sometimes get stressed and overwhelmed. I should begin to write down my goals and aspirations and steps to take in which to accomplish them. I find it much easier when I have a plan. I am hoping that I can use blogging to keep track of my goals, the steps I need to achieve, and the ones I have already conquered.