Is it the end or only the beginning?

Wow I can't believe this is finally over!  I feel like I have learned so much that I would have never known.  I am not computer savvy, but I strongly feel this project has helped me come a long ways.  I did hate having to make a login for every website.  I feel like I am a member of a thousand websites now haha!  I am sure that I will use some of these tools the rest of my life, and there are some that I will never look at again.  

My favorite exercise on this journey was animoto.  I really liked making the picture slide show.  It was fun and very user friendly.  Trust me I need all the help I can get when it comes to web apps.  I also liked the happy face generator app.  I like things that I can alter to catch my student's attention.  It was easy to create and would be easy to place in a PowerPoint presentation.  I feel like this program has made me step outside of my comfort zone.  I have always tried to avoid technology, but let's face it this is the future of education.  I must evolve with it if I want to have a career in education.  What I have taken away from this program is that I need to educate myself on technology.  I struggled along the way because I do not challenge myself in technology like in need to.  The only thing that I see could be done to make this program better is to update some of the tasks because I feel as though some might be out of date.  

I now know that there are so many things available to me that will make me a better teacher.  This exercise just showed me a few, and I know that there are so many more out there.  I feel like I learned things that will make me a much better teacher.  I plan to start researching more technology applications that I could use in my classroom.  I believe it is necessary for my success to do this at least once a week.  I would like to thank you for opening me up to a new world.  I would have never known about any of these apps if it wasn't for this project.  I might have even became an occasional blogger.

Thing 23

I looked at the bottom of Thing 23 and found this Creative Commons License.  I haven't noticed these on any of the other pages, but it was because I was not looking.  As a teacher, I will do my best from now on to use Creative Commons in the right way.  I will use them in PowerPoint presentations because I am constantly pulling things off the internet and adding it to my PowerPoint.  I will also try to teach my students from now on how they need to use Creative Commons in all presentations they do for school.  I want to give credit where credit is due.  

Thing 22

Chemistry Experiments

The three titles of my binders are Chemistry Experiments, Chemistry Lesson Plans, and Biology Experiments.  I decided to place my Chemistry Experiments binder in my blog.  If anyone wants to look at this binder the password to access this binder is Chem Exp.  This could be easily added to class.  I could have my students access a binder according to the Chapter we were studying in class.  In that binder I could post more resources to help his or her understanding of the subject.  I could also post homework assignment that require them to visit the websites I have placed in my binder to answer the questions from the assignment.  You could go many different ways with these binders.  This is a nice app to use for all teachers.  I liked this one.  

Thing 21

Thing 21

I really liked this website!  I think I liked this part of APSU 23 Things better than any of the rest of them.  I had never made a picture video to music.  I have always wondered how people made slide shows like that, but I have come to find out using this website it is not that hard.  I like how people can get a glimpse of my life in a short 30 second video.  I thought it was really easy to use and I like how it could access my pictures on Facebook and Instagram.  This is very user friendly.

Thing 20

I love youtube! I am constantly looking at youtube videos, but I usually get on there just to have a few laughs.  I like how easy it is to navigate the site.  Just type in what you are looking for and up pops several videos.  I chose the Periodic Table song.  The reason why I chose this is because I have to teach the periodic table to my students, and many students struggle to remember the periodic table.  Anything that can help my students remember the elements is a great help to them and it might also keep me from pulling out my hair.  I can see many components of this website that could be great if added to my library website. The only problem with this is that youtube is blocked at my school, so if the student did not have access to the internet outside of school they could not watch the videos.

Thing 19

I like the idea of having a social network that is centered towards teachers.  Teacher pop seems easy to navigate and very similar to Facebook.  I do not think that I will join another social network besides the ones that we have already joined in the APSU 23 Things.  Even though I do not get on Facebook that much anymore, I still like it the best.  I guess the reason for that is that I know how to use it.  We all are creatures of habit.  I would have posted to other people but my request to be a member is still pending.  I will check back again later to see if I can do more things on Teacher Pop.  

Here is a link to Teacher Pop badge

Badge

Thing 18

Social Networking

I would like to start off by saying that I have a Facebook and Twitter.  The only thing wrong with that is that I maybe look at them once a day.  Now my students on the other hand can't wait till class is over to check their Facebook and Twitter.  When I was in college I use to get on Facebook every 15 minutes.  Now I just get on there to see what some of my old friends are doing these days.

I think it is important as educators to understand social networking.  The reason why I say this is because the students we teach live their lives through social networking.  It is almost like they cannot even have a conversation face to face anymore.  I honestly don't think I could gain any new insight on either one of these sites because I literally felt like in college that I lived my life through these social networks.  I think I use to be one of the robots I teach.  What I like the most about these sites is that I can keep everything private.  I like that I can make sure that only my friends can see what pictures I post or what people post on my wall.  I do not want everybody to know what is going on in my life.  I especially do not want the students to know.  I think Facebook has the most useful features simply because it can do anything.  I feel like twitter is just a text message.  You can't really get to see someone's life just by a tweet.  I believe this could be useful in a classroom setting because students love these social networks.  If we could add our homework to a Facebook page, I feel like more students would do it just because it is on Facebook.  This is the life we live in and we better get with it or get left behind.

This is a screenshot of my Facebook page.  The lady in the picture with me is the teacher that is right across the hall.  This is from our high school's prom.