My Experience of 23 Things...

     Remember this guy!  I knew I could do it even though I have to say there where some late nights when I did not think I would EVER get to this post and yet now that I am finally here I know it will not be my last...I have really enjoyed blogging and I know that I will continue to do it.  I have learned so much that it is very difficult to say what exactly was my favorite "Things".  However, I guess if I had to choose it would be creating my avatar and live binders.  I loved creating my avatar and I remember how excited I was and well it began this journey.  I also loved the live binders because they seem extremely useful for a quick reference while I'm in college and I believe that they will help me to create great lesson plans.  
     This blogging journey has helped a non-traditional student like me to see that technology is not nearly as scary and intimidating as I had once believed.  I now feel comfortable using new tools and I even feel assured enough to recommend them to others.  This outcome surprises me because I was terrified at the beginning of this process and I just knew I would struggle along and poke my way through and yet I really didn't.  I did okay!  I even had fun! 
    I don't feel like this program needs any improvement at all because like I have said before, "If I can do it anyone can!"  The tutorials made the process painless...I promise and it's all extremely useful in our lives and future careers!  I love taking a class and saying that!  In addition, Dr. Wall explains everything in class and is very approachable.  That makes all the difference!
     Everything I learned in Education 3040 and while working on the 23 Things assignment will definitely help me in my future classroom.  I have said before that I was intimidated by technology and I had convinced myself that as an English teacher I would have little need for it.  This idea was quite comforting.  However, I was wrong!   My eyes have been opened and now I see!  I can use blogs to help my students feel more comfortable expressing themselves, I can set up blogs about the books we are reading in class, I can even set up blogs to discuss other books that maybe we don't have time to read in class but I would like to encourage my students to read,  I can use technology to introduce new information, organize my day and lessons, and save myself time while staying up to date on the most current information! 
     I plan to do all the things I just listed and keep myself current on technology and new concepts in education.  I will blog and incorporate a blog into my classroom.  I will use power points, (but not too many), just enought to add to my introduction of a new topic or to reiterate an important idea.  I will definitely use google calendars and templates to organize and make my life a bit easier.  I will also use RSS feeds to stay current on the latest news and reviews of literature.  I do not always have time to watch the news so I will more than likely rely heavily upon any easy way to get quick information. 
    I just want to give a special thanks to Dr. Wall all my blog friends/followers, as well as Anne and Sara...Thanks for all your help in class!!! :)

The 23rd Thing!

     Yes, I did it!  It is 11:30 at night the Friday before its due and I am finally there!  Yes, I know I have no life!  Young people just think you're life will be as boring as my soon enough!  :)  Anyways, about the assignment...If you look on the 23 Things For Teachers assignment page you will see to the right under the title, "Credits", that Learning 2.0-23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0-23 Things, a staff development program for the mesquite Independent School Distict and that program was based on Learning 2.0 designed by Helene Blowers and adapted by the California School Library Association and others.  It is borrowed and duplicated with permission under the Creative Commons License.  This explanation contains numerous links to these people and organizations, etc...
     I will use Creative Commons in my classroom because I cannot teach my students not to plagiarize and then do it myself.  I will use only sites that contain Creative Commons and I will always provide links and give the true authors/creators credit for their work.  I will also teach my students that just because the information is easy to obtain it is not okay to steal someone else's work. 

The 22nd Thing!

     I love this tool!  I will definitely use this during my time in college as well as when I become a teacher!  I already organized so much of the material I hope to teach!  I inserted tabs that will make lesson plans a no brainer and I even downloaded my power point that I did for this class, ( which I think will be acceptable for my classroom).  Having all my favorite literature and poetry in one place is going to save me a huge amount of time.
     Live Binder was so easy to use and I will recommend to everyone.   http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=87170

The 21st Thing

     I really enjoyed this assignment it as well.  It was a lot of fun.  I made a video of my pets and I think it turned pretty good.  It was an extremely easy process and I think that if I can do it anyone can!  I believe this would be a neat idea for projects for kids.   You can add text to the videos so I can see how it could be used in the classroom and of course theater and music classrooms would have a great time with it!
   My Furry Friends

The 20th Thing

     I really enjoyed this assignment.  I love U Tube and I was already quite familiar with it.  Mostly  I use it to watch videos, especially old ones, so I can remember the good 'ol days!  LOL!  However, I didn't want to torture you with that so I found the cutest animals ever singing to music!  IT IS SO CUTE!!!!  I love everything about U Tube however, I think some people use it for the wrong reasons.  Like everything else it has to be monitored when children are involved.  I think it would be great for school as long as it was monitored. 
Enjoy the video...I think you'll love it!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgqCVlMtrNc

The Nineteenth Thing

http://teacherpop.ning.com/profile/TammyWaters
I joined teacherpop and the above is a link to view my page.  I also left a comment for Dr. Wall and uploaded some pics.  I tried like everything to add my badge to my blog but had no luck.  So, if anyone reading can tell me how please do :)  I like Whats On My Bookshelf and GoodReads.  I think I would enjoy joining either of them.  I think teacherpop is a good network for connecting teachers and will be beneficial for me as well.
Finally got the badge!  Yes!

Thing #18...

     Okay, we all know by now that I am not the best person to call when in need of tech info...but this class is carrying me kicking and screaming into the big world of cyber space...its scary but I'm managing!  Well, I did not have a Facebook account before I started college in 2009 and since I started college the Education Department has terrified me with horror stories about them, so I graciously decided not to create one.  I am a very private person anyway.  However, I had already created a Twitter account for this class.  Thus, I choose Twitter instead of Facebook.  I added a lot of websites about authors, books, and English teachers.  I actually think I will like following these people and sites.  Especially the ones concerning books!  I love to read and I am always trying to find the next wonderful one I will read. 
     I believe that this type of social networking will be highly beneficial to me as a future educator.  I want to stay on top of the best books.  I want to be up to date on the latest reviews.  I definitely want to have the most current way of analyzing and teaching literature!  I gained a lot of insight from this assignment and as usual I found that technology is not all that bad.  So, yes this will be of much use in my future classroom. 
https://twitter.com/#!/Roscoe2911

The Seventeenth Thing

Oh me...well here we go again...Just kidding!  I just got to get back into "things"...LOL!  I really enjoyed Del.icio.us.  I think it will be quite helpful to me as a teacher.  I can also see how it would be helpful to students.  As I consider myself to be an organized person, I naturally love anything that will allow me to become even more organized.  In addition, the ability to share info and links with my peers as well as students will be extremely useful.  I think this will also help me to stay current on the latest technology and information pertaining to my career choice.

The Sixteenth Thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     First of all, allow me to say yes...I am on the Sixteenth Thing!  Okay, now that I have got that out of the way back to the assignment.  I chose iGoogle start page because I use Google a lot for this class.  I will probably leave it as permanent because I like it.  It has a little frog and it is so cute!  I also added some little turtles.  It makes me smile when I have had a long day.  It is organized well and will help me to keep up with the news, (since I no longer have time to watch it)!  I already have an online calendar and I have "a constantly reminding me of something" in my phone!  I also have a written planner so, I don't think I could get much more organized.  What I need is just a few more hours in the day!   I would recommend the start page and the calendar because they are pretty basic and fun to use without becoming obsessive...like me!

Thing # 15

     Wikis are wonderful!  I looked at some of the examples of how schools are using wikis and I was amazed.  I had heard of and shamefully used Wikipedia...when I was really in a hurry and just wanted to know the basics!  I promise!  HOWEVER...I had no idea!  Wow! 
     I used my blog post from Thing 9 for the sandbox assignment.  It has a pic of a slug trying in vain to get to Thing 23!  (I thought it was cute!) Thats how I feel right about now!!!  Anyway, back to wikis...I believe there are numerous ways in which they could be utilized in the classroom.  I would probably use mine for literature purposes...maybe book discussions...

Thing #14

I chose Flowchart.com and Mindmeister.  These were both fairly easy to use.  I also looked at Gliffy and it seemed to have a lot more diagrams and things that could be utilized. Mind maps were my favorite, however. I feel like I would use them more in my classroom.  Mind maps are an important tool for teaching because they can be used to connect ideas and help students analyze information and learn more efficiently. 

The Thirteenth Thing!

     I enjoyed both Zoho and Google Docs.  However, I  have used Google Docs before so it seemed easier to me.   I had fun with this mind template...I was working on a power point for Huckleberry Finn so it was fresh on my mind.  I think the templates would be highly useful in the classroom.  They save a lot of time!  I think both Zoho and Google Docs would be easy for students to use.

Thing # 12

     I explored all the Google Tools but I chose the Calendar and the Alert tool.  These were extremely user friendly.  Hey, if I can do it anyone can!  I really liked the Google Calendar tool.  I had stumbled across this before so, I was familiar with it.  It was nice to get myself a bit more organized.  I am OCD so this is always so organization is never a bad thing for me! LOL! 
     The Alert tool was very user friendly as well.  Now, I will automatically get updates and see new discussions about teaching Literature in high school!  This feature will help me in my teaching career because it will keep me current on what intersts me and my students.  The Calendar tool will help me to stay organized for life!!!!!  The link below will help you set up your own calendar...
Print your calendar

Thing Eleven

     Okay.  I had a little trouble with this one but once I figured it out I was fine.  The easiest way to find feeds was to search Google Blog Search and just type in what I was looking for.  I found several education blogs that interested me.  I subscribed to 10 Must Read Classics of Great Literature, Still Learning, and Suite 101Middle/High School Articles.  Now those feeds are permanently reachable under my favorite feeds on my computer. 
     The whole process was intially confusing.  However, the Google Blog Search was the easiest and most user friendly, in my opinion.  I tried the other ways and did not like those as much.  I think these feeds will benefit me personally as well as in my career.  I chose feeds that will help me with teaching English, particularly literature.  I feel as if literature will be the funniest part of teaching English!

The Tenth Thing!

I really enjoyed this activity.  I was able to search a lot more blogs and I discovered some that related to my hobbies, my career choice, education needs, etc...I like that all my blogs are there together and I can keep up with the things that interest me a lot quicker and who does not need to make their life more convenient?!  I will use this throughout my life from now on because I have all my interests now at my fingertips!  As a teacher I can use this technology to keep up with the latest news concerning my profession.  I can also use it to get more ideas for my lesson plans and things of that nature.

The Ninth Thing!

http://www.signgenerator.org/ Well, I picked this comic strip picture because when I  was browsing the comic strips it made me laugh and then I knew what  I would do with it.  I hope it makes someone LOL!!!  It is exactly how I feel because I am having such a hard time finding the time to do all the "things" in my life right now!  I think I could use Text generators to make cute decorations for my classroom and notes to parents.  I think I could really have some fun with them in my personal life too.  I have already sent a few as e-cards!

The Eighth Thing!

     God Bless America this took me awhile to figure out!  I could not get the pic to my blog!  Well, finally it is done!  The eighth thing is done!  This is a picture of my flower bed from last summer!  It took a lot of work so I had to show it off plus it is nice to see some flowers after this long winter we have had! Now that I can sucessfully use this I can see that it would be really nice for my personal life as well as in the classroom.  I can make postcards and stuff.  I can also decorate my classroom with these and use some of the other apps to create handouts and assignments.   I don't know I'll have to get creative and try something!  I do not mind sharing photos online of this nature but I might not publish pictures of my kids...I don't know I am just a little wierded out by it...

The Seventh Thing!

     I had a great time searching this site!  I decided to search for Ireland pictures because I have always wanted to go there!  From everything I have seen and read it seems like it would be a beautiful place to visit.  This picture captures everything I love about Ireland.  It is a picture of the cliffs of Moher.  I have read so many books that take place in places like this...I just love it!  It even has a castle!  The picture was taken by sternenn8's photostream...Tell me what you think...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21588513@N08/2856264420/in/pool-98698640@N00/

The Sixth Thing!

      I chose Google docs for my assignment.  I was really amazed with all the fun features it had!  I especially liked all the different types of templates.  I found a template for making out progress reports, calendars, graphic organizers, blank vocabulary worksheets, and lesson plans.  As a future English teacher, I can see that the graphic organizers and the vocabulary worksheets would be especially helpful.  The graphic organizers are a fun way of tying in a lesson and helping students to see the point I am trying to make.  The vocabulary templates will be useful, as well.  They are templates with divided sections for the word, prefix,  suffix, root, defintion, and part of speech.  I could also use the template for progress reports, calendars, and lesson plans.  I could see all these applications being beneficial in the classroom.  I am also excited about using them for my personal use.
docs.google.com

The Fifth Thing

     Okay, if you have been reading my posts you may have realized one I am a non-traditional student and two I am not a tech wiz.  I am learning though.  My first thought about becoming an English teacher was "Whew, great I won't have to know a lot about computers!"  Well, that was before I went back to college and realized that there was really nothing so intimidating about technology.  I have even began to love it.  I could not live without internet, now.  Before, I really could have.  I could take it or leave it.  Really.  However, now I see how beneficial the web will be for me as a teacher and definitely as a college student.  I have found so many online resources to assist me in teaching English!  I cannot imagine how teachers ever taught without it!  Yet, I can still imagine that there are probably quite a few older teachers who will not welcome School 2.0...what do you think?
     School 2.0 means opening the classroom up to the world.  It allows students to actively learn and participate in important issues that affect their lives.  It allows students to connect and join online communities that give their voice power.  It also allows teachers to stay on top of the latest information and not wait on a text book that may be out of date by the time it actually hits the classroom.  It allows teachers to share ideas and information with other teachers, as well.  It also would be beneficial for snow days like we have been having so much of lately!  I am not sure that the kids or teachers really want that though...hey everyone needs a snow day every now and then!

The Fourth Thing

     Commenting on blogs is important because it connects people to eachother.  When you take the time to read someone's blog and are nice enough to comment it means something to that person.  It helps them to feel like their thoughts and ideas are valid and who does not need that?  I think we all need to feel validated.  In addition, it connects people who have similiar interests.  This creates a support system in a way for all the people involved.  So, the concept is great and I think it will be very beneficial for me as a college student and when I begin teaching, as well.
     The blogs I commented on where: School blogs, Nanniemary, apsu23stritzel, dillions blog, and Rocky Watters and Smooth Landings.  I commented on these blogs for a number of reasons.  I commented on School blogs because the girl who posts that blog is going to be an English teacher like myself.  I commented on Nanniemary because the creator of that blog seemed to be a non-traditional student like I am.  I commented on apsu23stritzel because she sits next to me in my Education 3040 class.  We seem to have  a lot in common and she is a great help to me in class because I am not the most tech savy person!  I commented on dillion's blog because he made a nice comment on my blog and that drew me to his blog where I found  a lot of interesting ideas about blogs and teaching.  I commented on Rocky Watters and Smooth Landings because she began following me first and I read her posts and was interested in a lot of what she had to say.  After I began following each of these blogs I realized  I had more in common with all these people than I thought I would.  It has been and continues to be a really interesting and enjoyable experience for me
     I also followed two other blogs.  The Reading Workshop blog and Miller's English 10 Classroom Blog.  I made comments on those blogs, as well.  Mostly just to show my support in what the people were doing.

The Third Thing!

     I really enjoyed creating my blog!  However, I have to admit the process intimidated me in the beginning.  My children have forgotten more than I will EVER know about technology!  Don't worry I didn't cheat and get their help I did it all by myself!  (But, I was awfully tempted! LOL!) 
     I am going to teach English and I was unsure at first what role technology would play in my future classroom.  But, now I can see the light!!!  I have already found a lot of websites that integrate technology with literature and grammar.  I can also see how important blogs could be to my students.  I think they would allow them to speak their minds easier and I feel that they would help me in numerous ways.  I could assess what they are learning, determine what objectives I need to focus on more, and well just have some fun!

The Second Thing!

My experience creating my blog and my avatar was fun.  I really enjoyed myself.  I decided to name my blog 23 Things because our assignment in my Education 3040 class was 23 Things.  My avatar really reflects my personality.  I am going to college to become an English teacher and I am a book worm!  Do I look the part?

The First Thing

     The easiest habit for me will be the first habit, begin with the end in mind.  I am wonderful at setting goals for myself.  In fact, sometimes I set goals which are quite out of reach.  However, when I set a goal, I put my heart into it and  I will not give up.  The most difficult habit for me will be the third habit, viewing problems as challenges to be overcome.  My first instinct when a problem occurs is to call it a crisis and act accordingly.  I get overwhelmed and stressed out.  However, eventually I calm myself down and create a solution.  My new favorite saying is:  "It is what it is".  In other words, accept the problem and DEAL with it!