One last thing

Is it the end or just the beginning?

I must agree I was not looking forward to this blog project. I am very glad I allowed myself to open up and look at the project for new experiences. I learned a lot of things I had no idea. I think to this point I still have been checking my google reader page to read all the news/updates on webpages I added. I think I will use some of the knowlegde i gained in this project but I will have to figure out how and when. I liked how the project started with the 7 1/2 habits. I still remember watching the clip and thinking wow this is quite interesting. Also ZOHO is amazing. I could not believe the advancements. I know I will not buy another word program just to stay updated.

THANK YOU

Thing #23

Creative Commons

I never knew there were so many different licenses and if i knew them I did not know what exactly the specifics were. I think it is important to know what one can use and not use. If i assign a research paper or assignment involving research I will make sure to introduce my students to the concepts presented by creative commons.

2.0-23Things for Teachers blog

I googled "2.0-23Things for Teachers blog" and found this website "learning 2.0" which is similar to apsu 23 things except the instructions are short and not as detailed as the ones we were able to work with.

Thing #22

Which podcast did you listen to? Which of the directories did you find the easiest to use?

I listened to Art podcasts on the Education podcast network. I also think that this website was the easiest one to use. I do not like websites that look confusing and I felt that podcastdirectory.com and podcastalley.com looked confusing. The learn out loud website looks like a great tool but you have to pay to use it which I think defeats the purpose of podcasts.

Has this Thing inspired you to create a podcast yourself or with your students?

I was listening to one series from a classroom and it was students speaking about things they learned. this inspired me to possible use it in my classroom. Art students often struggle with expressing their thought in the right terminology. Maybe podcasts are easier because they do not have to stand before a classroom to express their thoughts.
Plus it can be posted to the class website for parents to listen and engage in discussion.

Did you find a podcast that you might subscribe to and listen to regularly?

I subscribed to the podcast titled CastYourArt and added the RSS to google reader.

Thing #21

Animoto is easy, fun, fast to use. I enjoyed it very much.
I like visual things and I believe that I could use this tool to create interesting step by step instruction clips for my art students. Or maybe put together a sample of artists work instead of presenting a PowerPoint.
Nevertheless, i enjoyed it very much and again am surprised how much fun the 23 things have become.

Thing #20

What did you like or dislike about the site and why did you choose the video that you did? Can you see any features or components of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to your library website?

I Know we talked about this clip in education but i was so fascinated by it so i wanted to talk about it on here. Youtube.com is great but I see a lot of issues with it for educational purposes. Anyone can post clips to it and a clip could be inappropriate for students. So I do not know if I use the website alone as a component for the library website. Clips could be posted to the website but as soon as the clip is over youtube gives the option to look at other clips related to this one. With supervision youtube is a create tool for educators.

I love the website because you can find everything and anything.

I know i will use it for introducing artists, art styles, techniques because i want to present and use tools and materials that are already ready to go.

Thing #19

Visit TeacherPop

I think teacherpop is great. It is basically set up just like Facebook/Myspace but the membership has to be approved which helps monitoring who joins and displays themselves on the social network.
For the thing I uploaded a picture, left a comment on Jessica's profile because I liked her presentation on ADHD in class the other day, as well as adding a badge to my blog. I like the approach of teacherpop because its simple and easy to use.

Thing #18

Facebook vs Myspace

I already had accounts to both as well as german sites similar to Facebook and Myspace. I had them to socialize with my friend around the world because it is easier to stay in touch than email or real snail mail. One can post comments, pictures, blogs, etc. Its is basically an endless possiblity social network. Mostly I have it for friends and do not use it to make new friends. I ususally search people after meeting them in person although others have these sites to collect as many friends as possible. Lately, I have found myself spending too much time on myspace, they lauchned new applications such as texas hold em and poker. I like playing poker and the good thing is that nobody plays for real money. anyone can play and win. My husband and I spend some evenings sitting in our livingroom, each on a laptop playing against eachother. Its nice but I miss REAL SOCIALIZING. As much as it helps to stay in touch with friends and family i miss seeing them in real life.

For this blog i guess i would like to conclude that facebook would be the site i would use for educational purposes. although i know about cases where teachers were friends with students and got in trouble for it. therefore i believe there is no educational use or purpose until the ban is lifted.

Thing #17

Oh boy.

Ok i have to admit, at first I was not crazy about the blog project but I would have never learned about some of the stuff.

This things is amazing or delicious. I will definitely use this tool and also tell my family& friends about the tool. I searched art lessons and immediately found millions of bookmarks from other educators. I do not like to just copy and paste a lesson plan of the internet but sometimes I find myself against a wall without new creativity. In this case i would google something but I have never had as much luck as I did just now.

Delicious is amazing and I am going to finish this blog post so I can explore further, I have to write 5 lesson plans for my Art education class.

Thing #16

Which start page did you choose? Why did that one appeal to you? Will you make it your permanent home page?

Spring Flowers appealed to me because it reminds me of some floral painting. its fresh but also shows history. I just liked it. I made it my permanent home page because i did not like the one that had been made for me.

How can the online calendars be useful to you?
What about the to-do lists—helpful, too much work…?

I decided to do the TO-DO list because i usually write lists down. I like that i can create them like this so I did. I used the ta da list and i have not figured out if i can post it to my blog but when i do i will. Here is the link to my to do list (click here).

Did you find a tool that has some uses for you at the school or at home? Which tool(s) would you recommend to others?

I love love love google so i must say that i already use google alot. i learned some new stuff about google today. i knew that i could change the the background but I never tried it. i love the profile now. I love the to do lists and if i have the time to go online to create one i will.

Thing #15

I have heard of wikipedia. Mostly because professors tell college students not to believe anything that is posted on Wikipedia for the fact that everyone and anyone can alter the posts or could have written it in the first place. I personally look up wikipedia before researching a unknown topic. At least I get an idea of what it is I am looking for which makes scholarly research so much easier.

I had never heard of wiki's for educational or anyother information gathering. I explored some of the websites and it is amazing.

Yeah Wiki's are great.

Thing #14

As you can see above I decided to explore mindmeister and gliffy flowchart (which I didnt know how to upload being that it was a word file). I actually had looked at the assignment and didnt have time to do it that moment. Yesterday while I was working on the internet scavenger hunt I decided to look into the flowchart because I was looking for a fast and easy way to make a worksheet. It did not end up being fast and easy but I think it could be a great tool to use in the futur. I would have to spend somemore time with the tool though. Mindmeister was a little easier to work with. I enjoyed it and believe to make use of it when I start teaching.

Thing #13

ZOHO

I am still impressed how the zoho writer was able to post a document into my blog. I might start writing my blog post there because it is a lot better than the format that blogger offers. Zoho has so much to offer that it was a little overwhelming for me at first, and still is. I think the Zoho can be very beneficial for personal and professional purposes because just like Google Reader, everything is in one place from word processing to presentation tools ect.

test 1

This is a test and it works...wow I am impressed

Thing #12

The is more to Google?

I enjoyed exploring the igoogle, google calender and the Picasa Web Album.
I liked igoogle and Picasa Web Album for personal purposes. Just like i enjoyed the Google Reader for the reason that everything thing is in one thing i enjoy igoogle and picasa web album.
The google calender I thought might be helpful later on for teaching. Planing and keeping on track is so important in a hectic environment like teaching.

Thing #11

*Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use? *Which Search tool was the easiest for you?

To be honest, non of them. I enjoyed finding feeds in the Google reader, there it was easy.

*Which was more confusing?* What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels? *Or what kind of unusual ones did you find? *What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?

The most confusing I though was the last one in the list Technorati, and I think it was only because I watch the tutorial which was hard to understand. The man speaking must me a native dutch speaking person with a heavy accent. I know I used to have an accent and people could still understand me. Anyways, I think the websites to find feeds are to overloaded with other information. I like the simplicity of Google Reader which I will use.

Thing #10

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

I did not want to believe the tutorial but its true its so much easier and less time consuming. I now can stay updated on German news. It might sound weird but I choose to read German news to see what is going on in both Germany and America. I do not trust Fox news or anything like that. I also subscribed to an art education blog. I read some of the recent blogs and must say if it had not been for the assignment I would have never looked the blog up.

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life? How can teachers use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

I think this technology is great for the school. I could stay updated on recent events in Art as well as Education. Finding the time to read the news is hard enough at the moment. I can imagine that I will catch myself reading in between classes/breaks and this tool will have it easy and fast.

Thing #9

I explored the following Generators:

Comic Generator

Happy Face Generator

I enjoyed exploring the generators. Both links were very user friendly although I believe they are a little slow and outdated. Its free so I really do not mind the slowness. I think they are great tools to make little things more interesting. I might use such images in Power Point Presentations or on handouts because they catch my attention.

Thing #8

-Flickr Mashups-1. F*ck the police, 2. IMG_6252, 3. Stompie changes colour again, 4. Protest Girl - G20 Protest '09, 5. G20 Protests, Melbourne, 6. G20 Protests, Melbourne, Australia, 7. _MG_0982, 8. _MG_1053, 9. _MG_1109, 10. _MG_1153, 11. Faces of Peace, 12. dancing in the rain, 13. "but I gave my bonus compensation back!", 14. G20: Last Man Standing, 15. G20 Protests, London, 16. G20 Protests, London

I chose the Mosaic Maker because I like the mashups it created. I think the tool is very user friendly for a beginner. I also looked at the Color picker and I think if the link still exist when i teach color theory to use it for students to play and explore the color with images. I love photography and created an account with flickr because i saw the potential to share my work with the world. plus i can create mixtures of my own work as well.
I have mixed feelings about sharing my photos online. I guess i would have to research the facts on reserve rights and ownership.

Thing #7

-Flickr-

OMG, i love flickr!!! Out of the 23Things so fare this is what i can connect most with. I love photography and without looking very long I found this amazing picture. I will explore more later but I wanted to write a blog about this. Last night I want a recent movie with Angelia Jolie, Changeling, it was a good movie. The movie in short is based on a true story. Its about a mother whose child goes missing and the police in the public eye is doing everything to reunite the family. They end up bringing a child home to her which is not hers. They do not believe the mother and further accuse her of not doing her job. She ends up in a Psych ward because she goes public in the press about the police not finding her son. They eventually find out what happened. The son was kidnaped and kept hostage on a farm and a sick man was killing them. After this information goes public she is released from the ward and with help of a lawyer gets the police officers in trouble. At the end of the movie the sick man is hung. Throughout the movie the mother never gives up.
Long story short I picked this picture on Flickr because it reminded me of the movie. The woman in the picture obviously has a lot of self confidence and bravery to stand up against a line of police officers. I would like to get more information about the context of the picture, whether it is documentary or set up. Nevertheless it is a great photograph and i will keep looking for more by the artist, Matthew Scandrett. When I looked at the page again I found answers to my question. The photographs was taken at the G20 protest in London.

Thing #6

Social Networking Mainstays- Twitter-

Being that the last thing talked a lot about social networking I wanted to contuine the experience. I already have Facebook and Myspace so I wanted to know what Twitter was about. After watching the clip on "what is Twitter" i became very interested and joined. The first experience I made is that Twitter is so big at the moment that I got a message "Twitter is over capacity". I am smiling right now because the image below is hilarious.Next I would have to report that the website is very slow and not as easy to figure out. for example i wanted to personalize my profile and it took me a while to figure out how to get a picture up etc. I believe that myspace/facebook was/is easier to figure out. So my conclusion would be that Twitter is not as user friendly but i am still in the starting phase so i will keep myself open minded. But i have to say that the website people have to work on the "over capacity" issue. This could for many be a deal breaker because who in this day and age likes to wait. 10 minuets later, and i finally have a picture up. :-( Well i thought i did. omg I am so frustrated now. OK i give up for right now and I will update on the Twitter experience later.

Do I see myself using Twitter for its use in a school or library setting?

At this point(5:15pm on april 6th 2009): NO. I believe twitter needs some work. it is very slow and reminds me of myspace/facebook two years ago. I see potential in the tool Twitter but it is not at the point it needs to be for me to want to use it.

Thing #5

My reactions and thoughts regarding the articles I chose.

New Literacies: enrichment or essential?

Davis Jakes discusses in his article the technological advances that should be used for educational purposed. Myspace and Facebook social networks are already used widely by young individuals so why not use the same idea for educational purposes. I agree which is why i would set up blogs similar to the myspace/facebook phenomena because the last years have shown that they work.

What does "School 2.0" mean to you?

"School 2.0" is the means for students not only to learn in a traditional classroom setting but within the their own home and community. It is an extention of "web 2.0" which is based on social (or student/educational) networking and the read and write web. To be the "school 2.0" is another tool I can utilize for student based learning. There are so many tools for student based learning (software and free tools online) that can help students individually learn in the best suited way.

What does it mean for schools of the future?

I am not sure how to answer this question but the movement is always forward. Schools in the future will use more and more technology because it has shown in the past to help and foster learning.

Thing #4

Why does commenting help create a sense of community and interaction?

Blogs create a sense of community and interaction because it is a two or more way communication that every one can engage in. Commenting on someones post not only shows interest in what the blogger wrote but is the starting point for a discussion.

Two other points from readings about commenting that I found important.

• 7) The power of words -"Beware of Darth Commenter"- it is true that there are some bloggers out there that are just unhappy with everything and unsatisfied with anything that is written in blogs. Take any comment with a grain of salt.
• "The ten Commandments of Blog Commenting"-i love this website and I believe if bloggers follow them we will not have a Darth Commenter.

The seven blogs I selected to comment on.

1. Mosleysblog (Jackie M.) I choose Mosleysblog first out of our group because she is the one who is almost done. I wanted to see what she wrote on the 23 things and I choose to comment on thing 18 because i agree that myspace/facebook are great personal tools to stay in touch with friends and family around the world.
   
2. Troy M. - Life through music- I picked troys blog second because I know from class he is a Music major and I wanted to read what he had posted so fare. I commented on thing #4 because i enjoyed how he made his post not only about the project but informed the reader first about his experience in real life. I also liked his title for his blog. i believe it to be very original and very true to his person.
   
3. Saville S.- Chandara- I choose this blog next because I did not recognize the name from class. I read through the blog about thing #2 and agreed with her that this blogger tool does not leave much room for individuality.
   
4. Pamella M.- Ms Pam - I choose her blog next because there are not many to choose from. I am glad i read her blog because i quickly realized that i have things in common with her ideas.
5. Jamie D. - jamie23things -Lastly i picked jamie's blog because she had the same struggles in picking a name for her blog.
6. I did a Google search on "blogs about art" which is how i found this blogs that i commented on. - thinking about art- this blog had many very different works of art posted and gives the reader the opportunity to comment on the art. I choose to comment on the piece of art titled "funny faces", i like the title but more i liked the use of color that hints to something not so funny.
7. Google search "blogs about i hate mondays"- Reasons I hate mondays-i agreed with the 10 that were posted. It is monday right now and i am not quite out of the weekend.
   

Thing #3

How will I use blogs later on in my teaching career?

I hope to not only create a blogging community with my students but possibly with my parents and other peer educators to share experience and advise. I hope that this blogging community will exist not only because of grade requirements but beyond the class experience. Things that might be discussed: recent event in art, homework, difficulties with project etc.

Thing # 2

How did I decide on my posting name and the name of my blog?

I decided on my posting name after i had realized that I did not want to display my real name. I changed it to Kat teaches America because even though I live in the USA I still think about my home, Germany, a lot and wanted to reflect my uniqueness.

What was my experience in creating the blog? Was it hard for me or easy? Why?

Well I learned that I should have read the instructions on APSU 23 Things first because it could have been a lot faster if i had followed the directions. Overall I am surprised how easy the web page makes it for the person who is creating the blog. I thought it would have been a lot hard and complicated than what it turned out to be.

How does my avatar reflect my personality? Did I create an avatar that looks like my real self or someone totally different? Why?

I believe that the avatar reflects my real person. I created it to look like me and to have my personal hint to it. I enjoyed doing so because I had to take a closer look at myself which is not something I do often anymore. I actually got out a picture of myself to help me stay focused. The background again reflects the fact that I am not a native American and to remind me of where I have come from and where i would like to go.

Thing # 1

Lifelong Learning and Learning 2.0

7& 1/2 Habits

After watching the online tutorial on lifelong learning and how to best use the habits to my learning experience I was reminded of a class discussion at my former University in West Virginia. We talked about the importance of lifelong learning and how it was vital to our teaching philosophy. After watching the tutorial I thought about the habits and which ones I find harder and easier to realized and acknowledge every day.

#1 setting Goals
#2 taking responsibility for my learning
#3 problems vs challenges
#4 confidence in my own learning
#5 creating the toolbox for success
#6 using technology to my advantage
#7 teach/mentor other
#7 1/2 play!

I have sent many goals in my life and have not gone through with them which is why I am a non traditional student in college. I took a detour to achieve my goal of becoming a teacher because I thought I knew everything and I had did not need to learn anymore. I had a rude awakening but I am thankful for it because it brought me back to my original goal and dream of wanting to teach and mentor other. I would say that I feel very good about #1 and #2. Hard for me is to relax and consider problems as challenges and not to let them become a crises. I believe I have some confidence in myself and have figured out what I need to have in my toolbox to be successful. A lot of willpower and determination, support from the ones I love and reminding me of what it is I want in life. Lastly I have issues with #7 1/2 because I take learning serious and forget that playing is apart of the learning process.