Is this the end or the beginning?

This has been a long and arduous journey for me.  I consider myself horrible at writing and expressing my own thoughts.  I think that is why I like teaching so much.  I take other peoples theories and coach young minds to think their way.  No real new ideas are mine. 
My favorite discovery during this trip was ustart.  I really want to create my own organizer.

My downfall is not knowledge of the content; its organization.  This whole course has allowed me some insight to becoming more organized.  That will be one step closer to becoming a good teacher.  It surprised me how unorganized I really am, and open my eyes to a future and better me as a teacher.


I think the biggest down fall to this course is that most likely by the time this really gets going the technology is out dated.  Technology moves so fast that its almost impossible to keep up.  Remind101 is an app that I have used several time this year and it allows me to text important topics to anyone who signs up to my number that is computer generated.  I can not text individuals and the students can not text me personally.

• How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher?

• How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be useful.

Thing #23: Creative Commons

Dr. Wall used an already existent program, idea and had and needed to give the respect to the entity that generated this completely new idea.  I copied this from Dr. wall bog showing that she and now I have give credit to said people.  

Credits

Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things, a staff development program for the Mesquite Independent School District. That program was based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers and adapted by the California School Library Association and others. Content and style for Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers has been borrowed and duplicated with permission, under a Creative Commons License.

Learning about creative commons and copyrighting during this course, I have found a lacking in my instruction.  I need to coach the students to correct behavior when writing a paper.  If they must use other peoples ideas they must give credit for it. I will attempt this feat by giving the power point that was generated from the portfolio part of this course.

Thing #22: Keepin' it together: LiveBinders.

The title of my binder is educational tools.  I have three tabs in this binder and they are labeled: Tests, Bell ringers, and Presentations. I could very well use this tech by speeding up the lesson plan process.  Because its shared, I can have co0llaboration with my peers on what they like about the test, how can I improve on the profession, or even what they dislike. Live binder
could allow the students to see pr ivied items for have the skill of using the tools provided them in the school system.  This would allow the student to enhance their career readiness.  One way I thought they could use this tool would be that they could have access to certain binders that showed them the copyright laws and creative commons of something and the importance of your own work.

Thing #21: Animoto.

Animoto was a new experience.  I loved how you could transport pictures that you already have and can put music to it in a jiffy. I am not a artistic person, but I see value in this to differentiate for a students' learning. Making a presentation of ideas for the model of the atom could allow a student that was a visual learner to master a model by putting the idea in a new and different way.

Thing #20: You tube and beyond.

I love this part of the movie.  I however now know this is poor teaching.  We must actively engage the students to achieve ownership of the material and this clip is a perfect example of students not engaged.  YouTube can be a resource for chemistry teachers in the demonstrations of chemical reactions that are far too dangerous to be performed near fragile young minds.  It also is a way for students to hear someone else say exactly the same way just through a different medium.  I have on countless time been asked can you explain that another way and I will get another student to restate it and walla.  Ownership by not only the person asking, but the person teaching.  It truly is wonderful when ever that happens.  YouTube would just allow another way to differentiate during those teaching moments.
When exploring other sites I noticed that vine was there.  Many of the students I now teach love this app.  They use it for the wrong reasons, but could be steered in the informational area with a little proding.  I found these vines that show various chemical reactions. These demonstrations can instill a sense of wonder to a future life long learner.  Would it not be wonderful to be the person who used technology of a demonstration to promote the next doctor or researcher.

Thing #19: Beyond facebook: other social networks.

• What did you discover about the best uses of social networking for educators?

When I started this thing I did not realize how many different social networks there truly are. Classrom20
allowed me access to many other teachers and technologist.  Teachers that have been seasoned sometimes find their selves in a rut.  They have fallen out of their relationship with the students being in the now.  Technology and social networking allow us to stay up with the times.  Social networking and Apps like Delicious can help collaboration to occur when differentiation is needed and even rejuvenation of spirits of the educator.

We as educators are always fighting the time issue.  One of the ways I can be more productive is to sometimes play.  Whether that be watching a movie, or face-booking (I am a lurker), I need a source to unwind to stay mentally healthy.  One site that I found appealing was IMBD because I love to watch movies; its a way to release stress for me and this site allows to know the upcoming movies. 

Thing #18: Explore social networking

I have tried for the longest to stay away from the tweet.  I believe that it is a dying fad.  There will be something new tomorrow and tweets will no longer be mainstream.  Not to say that is not what I am, just mainstream stuff.  I just believe that better will come later and it will have to be learned.  So 
here is my profile.  come and follow if you want.  I probably will never be on it though.
I do believe that knowing the lingo of what the students converse is very important.  The relationship we have with the students is probably the only thing that they will remember.  We are not just pushing them to be ready for the next level, but also, pushing them to become model citizens.  We can do this by knowing our students and what they live with each day.
If I were a tweeter, I believe that through effective use of the technology, the students could collaborate on homework, class discussion, or just to institute a feeling of the importance of feeling that personal ideas is a safe way of inquiry which leads to ownership of the material.

Thing #17: Tagging and social bookmarking with Delicious

While exploring the objectives of the assignment I noticed that the utube video about Delicious was much more informative.  The discussion about the application is wonderful.  I would love to be able to use the site for interaction with other teacher teaching the Chemistry class.  Chemistry is so abstract that differentiation of material is a must.  If I were able to access material that was relevant to the topic of the day, then I would have avenues to teach to different styles of learners.  Tags can be a very useful tool in that I could generate a word or phrase that was perfectly exemplify the topic that I wanted to research.  Then ALL I would need to facilitate "mind discussion" with my peers is to get some on board, the Delicious website, that research the web all the time for useful worksheets, explanation of material or even sample test questions. A pyramid of information  with like minded educators could start flowing, with just one tag.
After signing up with the site. I found navigating the site was strenuous.  I wanted to develop a tag immediately to see what would pop up.  After about thirty minutes, I decided to approach the novel idea of sharing to a later time. 
With some thought and coaching I think that my students could learn how to research via Delicious in order to write research papers.

Thing #16 Get Organized with Web 2.0 tools

I began this exploration by using the  remember the milk website.  I liked this site because of the ease of use.  Simple lists are how I function at the moment.  I have a list and work off the list until its done.  In my family, organization is not the important issues.  Eye liner and various makeups are the key issues here.  We "function" only by lists. Checklist #1 This was a quick list that I made that I have to do before the 22nd of May.
After further exploration I found a better site.  One that I may introduce into my organization skill department.  ustart was a site that I delved into and thoroughly enjoyed the ease of use and practicality.  I feel with more time on my hands that this maybe my new homepage.  I was able to go directly into my email account and even Facebook accounts.  I am sure that with more playing around I could insert the websites that I most likely peruse.  The link to my iCal is a must and the calendar helps me remember all of the things I have to go to with my spare time.  I would recommend ustart to my peers that were looking for ideas in increasing organization and efficiency through the use of an online calendar website.

Thing #15 What in the world is a Wiki

Wiki's are an item that most science teachers and educators in general are cautious about.  Since anyone can edit and change items as they so choose.  Information can not be seen as reliable.  Have you ever seen the commercial about the woman who did online dating and said she was going out with a french model.  The to have the gentleman come up and was nowhere near a typical model and all he could say was "Wei Wei!"
With that being said, I believe that wiki's can begin the students inquiry for a topic to steer them in a more educational reference.  Find out the topic and research what one may like then research in more scholarly resources.
While exploring the wiki's given I particularly liked the educational origami blog.  This blog was full of side sites that could be visited and found the web tool 2.0 useful along with the definitions of Bloom's Taxonomy.
I added an edit to the Front Page wiki for the completion of the final requirement Sandbox: Front Page

Thing #14 Go with the flow

Flow charts always seem to come in handy when trying to show relationships in chemistry topics.  Students tend to have a misconception in their minds and are not easily turned towards the light and flowcharts are an easily generated item that may change their ideals.
Take the relationship of pressure and temperature while holding volume constant.  Most students believe that there is more pressure as we go up into the atmosphere, Denver,  than when compared to sea level,  ~ca. Clarksville.  When you add boiling water to the mix and the temperature they get all discombobulated. Water actually boils at a less temperature in Denver than Clarksville, but longer to cook food in Denver.


Gliffy flow chart.

When comparing mind maps to flow charts, I see a student use more in flow charts.  Although, my lesson could easily be enriched when using mind maps.  I have more freedom to manipulate the mind map to generate a good lesson plan than being able to just upload into a presentation or make manipulative for the classroom which can easily be performed using flow charts.

Thing # 13 Google Drive

The above screen shot is the document that was created using Google Drive documents.  The link below is the address of this published material on Google drive.


My link to the blogs post into Google drive.

Below I took a screenshot of a Google drive form: this would be a typical bell ringer that I would give during the mole ratio unit.