Thing Ten - Wiki work!

Well, I jumped in that water and got all wet again! But I didn't drown! I made a wiki! It's not much to look at yet, but I added a page for the Where's Wanda Wiki that I mentioned in the last post. I hope it works well. We'll see. It was easy to make the wiki. I did mine open to the public because I want Wanda to be sent all over, but I'm thinking of making a private one that the kids can post to in computer class. Looking at the teacher help for wikispace, It should not be hard to give them access, wikispaces does it if you send them a list. I'm still concerned about it staying appropriate, but I'll just keep an eye on it and see. My space is here http://wolterswikiworld.wikispaces.com if you want to check it out! Feel free to add to the page called "23 things" and test it out.

Thing 9 - Wiki Wiki!

I think the concept of the Wiki is great, but I think security and "vandalism” must be a big issue. The sites I visited were protected and you either has to be part of a select group, or at least sign up, in order to edit and/or post. Some would allow you to post, but then it’s just a blog, isn’t it? I had trouble deciding if they were websites, wikis, or blogs. There were good ideas out there though. The “Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki”, http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page , had a lot of good information for librarians and IT people. It wasn’t as user friendly as others, but I could see it as a wiki rather than a one person website or a blog. In “Kyli and Brittney’s wiki space” and “Brittany’s Space”, http://bjordan.wikispaces.com/ , the students organized class notes to help study for English class. This would be great as a wiki for group study. Other group members can correct wrong information, fill in missing information and express opinions. It ends up being a great study guide! The “Study Hall site, http://studyhall.wikispaces.com/ , was excellent too. Homework is easily displayed and accessed. Different teachers hyperlinked subjects titles to pages where they put in helps, homework, links, and notes for students. It was easy to get around in.

On one wiki page, http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm , I found an idea I may try at school. It is for “Where is Wanda Wiki” an online version of Flat Stanley. The third grade teachers at my school have their students send out Flat Stanley’s and track where Stanley visits. I’d like to coordinate that with a Wanda Wiki. I’m thinking of sending her out in an email to a couple people and asking them to write on the wiki page and then forward the email to a couple more people. We can track it in computer class. I am concerned about appropriate information being added since we are an elementary school. When I make a wiki, I’ll see if I can get it to work.

Thing 8 - more RSS

These search engines made things easier. Even though I used Google Reader for my feeds I found the Bloglines search tool the friendliest and easiest to use. I think for starting to use RSS these tools are very helpful. I think from now on though, I'll just watch for the feed icons on webpages I like and visit regularly. Going through these searches I was tempted to add a lot and there's no way I'll be able to keep up with everything! I'll just watch for things that truly interest me as I browse on the web and visit favorite places. This will be very useful, though, to keep trck of news for classroom subjects. Much faster than searching for something new about a subject , for example endangered animals or current events.

Thing 7 - a wombat

wombat
Originally uploaded by adacutandpaste

Totally new to RSS. I had no clue what it was. I must say it’s pretty cool. I had a hard time finding things of interest that had feeds but I found some. Local GR news, animal conservation and news sites (thus the wombat), Olympics, and news about Yellowstone Park where we hope to go on vacation next year. I think I’ll find more as I browse the web now that I know what I’m looking for.

Thing 6 - Technology

I'm enjoying the flickr site, and an FYI, if you have sbcglobal.net, ATT.net or another AT&T internet connection, you have the flickr pro edition free. Didn't realize that it was extra special before because I hadn't explored.

The comic maker in flickr is similar to the "ComicLife" software. Or district just purchased this software and I am looking forward to using it with students. It allows you to make comic book pages using your own pictures or pictures freely shared on the web (be careful what they choose to download for this - make sure it is freely shared, but there are a lot out there) It will be a fun alternative for some reports and writting assignments. You can download a 30 day free trial of the software on the net at http://plasq.com/products/ for either Mac or Windows. It runs around $25 to buy a single copy but buying multiple copies for schools, or better yet districts, makes it VERY cheap. Give it a try. It's not hard to learn!

Thing 5 - Mashup Sea Star Card

I like all these toys!! I made a jigsaw puzzle to email to my daughter, and this trading card. I want to come back soon and play with more flickr toys! They are pretty user friendly!

Sea Star Card
Originally uploaded by adacutandpaste

thing 4

I had a flickr account but never did anything but upload pictures to share with family. I learned how to tag, discribe, group, share, edit (the auto fix works GREAT!) AND how to add it to my blog! Wow! Just an FYI ... this is a cute little Sea Dragon we saw at the Georgia Aquarium. I chose it to share with you because dragons are wonderful creatures that you can't see just every day! I hadn't even known they existed. Lifetime learning at it's best!

DSC04322
Originally uploaded by adacutandpaste

3rd Thing - Habits

Lifelong learning is kinda fun! That being said, I think my strongest habit is actually half a habit! That is, my strongest is PLAY. I love to play, especially with new technology! I'm not afraid to try things out. Probably the second/third strongest would be to teach/mentor others. Sharing is good! I love to help and get others excited about learning new things. along with that goes the "accept responsibility for my own learning". You can't very well mentor someone on something you know noting about, can you. So I make it my responsibility to learn, just so I can pass it on!


I guess my two on the bottom habits would be "View problems as challenges" because I have my fingers in so many pies that, sometimes, there are a LOT of problems. So sometimes I get overwhelmed. The other bottom one would be "Begin with the end in mind" I tend to set my bar pretty high and often the "END" seems unatainable. I have some difficulty with accepting lesser end products in myself. That's a problem, and we know I don't see problems as challenges! But, knowing these are my problems, I can try to look at them as challenges instead! Wow, lifelong learning can be confusing too! Good thing I like to play!!

Here's me with the end in mind - or under foot at least!

23 Things – The First Thing

I'm ready to get my feet wet! I know about blogs, I've read blogs, I've commented to blogs, but I've never made a blog - until now! I am hoping to learn how to improve my classes, increase communications with students and parents, and pass along the knowledge I acquire to the teachers I work with. I want to learn to podcast, wiki and blog and to figure out how to utilize all this in my class or on my web page. I also feel there are many terms I've heard, but am unsure of what they really are, for example widgets. I picture them as little tiny robots with lots of gears. Probably comes from watching too many Disney movies with my kids when they were younger. Hopefully I can learn enough to not look or sound like an idiot, especially since I am the tech person for my school!