Is it the End or Only the Beginning?

     My favorite exercises in this learning journey involved creating something new.  I loved the Youtube and Animoto exercises because I was given a lot of freedom with what I chose and I got to create something that was really cool.  I also enjoyed the activities that involved the social networking sites.  I feel like some of the other posts might be a bit boring because there are not many pictures to look at.

     This program has affected my lifelong learning goals because I now really want to know more about what is out there in educational technology.  I would love to develop something that my students can do online that will help them learn, and I would love to share that with other educators.  There is now so much out there and it is constantly changing.  My lifelong learning goals now include technology and to keep on a level that will continuously help my students.

     I was surprised at how much was actually out there for educators to use in their classroom.  This experience also gave me a new way to look at tools that I already had access to.  I plan on looking at a number of different things I do online in a new way and attempt to gear it towards my classroom.

     I think the best way to improve this program is to break things up a bit differently.  I know that similar things are grouped together for a reason, but I think that if the more fun activities were mixed in evenly the blog would be more interesting and people would enjoy it more, at least I know I would.  Other than that, everything was great!

     I have already spoken a bit about how this activity will influence my practice as a teacher.  Students love technology and they love doing activities on it.  I will try to incorporate much more of this in my classroom time.  I feel much more confident with how to do this and can't wait to start.

     I plan to keep up with new developments in Web 2.0 by simple Google checks and looking up the latest research.  A good way to do this is watch for new things on Pinterest and Twitter.  People are constantly posting new things out there.

     I hope to re purpose this blog when I get my own classroom or even start a new one just for my experience as an educator.  This is not the last that you will hear from me on the edublog front!  That I can guarantee.

Thing # 23

I found this Wiki for the 23 things blog for the Georgia Department of Education when I Googled 23 things.I searched around a bit and found a Creative Commons mark.  Here is a picture of it:

This shows that it was developed originally by Helene Bowers and that Shelley Paul, the person who is responsible for this particular site, is using it and has adapted it.  She also asks people who are planning to adapt her version of 23 things to contact her.

I think that I will use Creative Commons as a teacher as I discover new things that I want to use in my class.  If I find an interactive thing like 23 things for my students, I will make sure that it is covered by Creative Commons and that I can adapt it to my students needs.  I will also make sure to use images and other resources that are covered by Creative Commons.  I will also make sure that any original things I make that pertain to education I will put a Creative Commons license on.  I will want other teachers to have access to my work and fix it for their students' needs.

Thing # 22

     I created three binders in LiveBinder.  I named them Student Teaching, History for Fun, and Economics class.  Below i embedded my Economics Class Binder.  Creating my live binder account was pretty easy, but embedding it in the blog post gave me some problems.  It caused everything to shift around and wouldn't always show up when it needed to.

  I think that LiveBinder could be useful for assignments with students.  I could make a public binder and have my students use the links provided to create something.  I think it would be cool to put up different history websites and have them make a pretend newspaper of the times that were presented in the the binder.  I could even offer different binders that were specific to certain eras (for example: A victorian England One, Roaring 20's, Vietnam War Era, etc.).

Economics Class

Thing # 21

     This is the video I made using Animoto.  I used pictures from my Facebook account, uploaded a song that I had on my computer and liked.  I really liked using Animoto.  It was really fun to use and allowed you to pull stuff from all over your computer and the internet to incorporate.  It had great pre-made templates for you to use.  It's kind of a bummer that you have to pay for a full video, but I could see myself making more of these in the future.




Class Project

Thing # 20

     I actually really love Youtube.  I use it all the time and it is really easy to find a video that you are looking for through a description or a few key words.  It also links you to similar videos that you simply click on and they play.  I chose this Youtube video because it is a fun way to look at an economic principle.  It features John Maynard Keynes and Frederic Hayek.  Two very influential economists of their time with opposite view points.  It's a quick way to get an idea of their work and beliefs.  It uses good imagery and captures the personalities of the two economists as well.  There is also a Part 2 if you are interested and like the first one as much as I do.

     I think there are several features that could be applied to a classroom website.  I could collect different videos for my students to watch about different economic principles.  I think a search bar that is as easy to use as the one on Youtube would also be a good component to add on a classroom website.  I also like that similar video suggestions will popup and I think that would be useful.

      The new tool I visited was called Powtoon.  It is a site that allows you to animate videos and presentations.  Here is a screen shot of what I was playing around with while I was poking around the various sites.

     

     This site could have several  possible uses in the classroom.  The main one would be to spice up a presentation that you will give to your student.  It also allows teachers to make their own animated videos that they could show their class.  For some reason, students love watching videos, even if they aren't particularly interested in the subject.  This could really enhance the ability of an educator to reach their students in new ways.  As well this is something that students oculd play around with if they were to make a presentation.

Thing # 19

    I liked the discovery resources for this post.  I was only able to access Teachers Guide to Social Media and Pinterest for teachers.  The other two links were broken and I was unable to see the content that those two pages could have provided.  The Teachers Guide to Social Media provided a lot of information on how educators should just be smart when they use sites such as twitter and facebook.  This includes privacy settings and appropriateness.  Pinterest for teachers was about a site that Pinterest has set up specifically for educators.

     While I looked at the sites, I found that the best use of social networking sites for teachers is to connect with their students and their parents and to share information with one another.  A site called Edmodo was mentioned in one of the articles.  It is a way for teachers to communicate with their students on their level and it allows the teacher to communicate with parents as well.  Pinterest for teachers will be an excellent source for educators to share information that is subject and age specific to them.

      I am a member of Pinterest and LinkedIn.  Those are the communities that I am a member outside of Facebook and Twitter.  Now that I know there are others out there that could be useful I will make sure to sign up for those as well.  I found some of those on the list very appealing and I have used them before, even though I am not a member.  I use Yelp and IMDB often for restaurants and when I watch movies with my family and friends.  I found Open Source Food and Bake Space very appealing.  I love cooking and I love food and I hope to use these social networking sites for Thanksgiving.  I found these interesting as well and I will hopefully use them soon.

Thing # 18

     I already have a Twitter account.  I love using it to keep up to date with all of my friends, shows, and news.  My account is set to private so that only people who are following me can read my tweets and I have to approve of my followers, but here is a link to my Twitter account.  I kept my name as Rachel Hannabass because I wanted it to be easy for my friends to find me and I think that twitter is pretty secure.

     I looked up the #edtech hashtag and these are some of the tweets that I found about it.

     I think it was interesting to see the variety of people that were using this hastag and the different news sources and information that it led to.  Way more people were using educational hashtags than I expected and I hope that I can use some soon.  I liked the hastag search because it was easy and showed a variety of results.  The only thing I did not like is that it shows all results regardless of quality or relevance.

     It is important for educators to understand social networking sites because they can be very useful tools once they are properly understood and used.  I follow several education based organizations now such as The Tennessee Board of Education and it is useful to see the different thing that they post.  Twitter is an excellent way to stay on top of hot topics in education and tags can be used as a way to get in a conversation with other educators.
     
     The new insight I gained about twitter was that it can be used for way more than just social fun and following your friends and yes celebrities.  It can be used to stay up to date with what is popular in education and if anything controversial is happening in the area.

     There are many school applications for a social networking site like this.  Teachers can use it to follow one another.  A teacher could even start a twitter page that their students could follow.  It could talk about up coming tests and what assignments occurred in class.  This would also be a good way for parents to get involved with their students academics.  They could see that a test is coming up and help their student study.

Thing # 17

     I really enjoyed browsing around Delicious.  I started developing my own page and the tutorial was really easy to follow and to the point.  When I typed in educational technology, a wealth of information popped up from a multitude of people.  I liked the different options that were available to look at and it was interesting to see what other people said and tagged about the sites.  I am also amazed at how many times one source will get tagged for someone else's page and start trending.  For example EDyoutube had been tagged 1172 times when I last searched.

     I can definitely see this as a potential tool in the classroom.  It would be a great way to discover new ways to look up lesson plans and see what other people have experienced with those lessons.  It would also be a good way to share what you are doing in your classroom with other teachers in your school or district.  I agree that it is an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed anywhere, but I think that it is much more than that.  Especially because you can share them with other people and tag them into categories.

     I have already mentioned some of the ways that teachers can take advantage of social bookmarking sites previously in my blog.  They allow teachers to find new information and share with one another what works and what doesn't.  They can leave their own tags and comments.  It connects educators across the world and allows them to connect with one another.  I think the Common Craft Guys video explained it pretty well and I think it gives a good idea of how much these types of sites can benefit educators everywhere.

Thing # 16

     The start page I chose was Symabloo.  I liked it because it was easy to use and I love the big buttons to push where you would like to go.  Most of the tiles it came with were ones I use regularly anyways, so there was not a whole lot of editing.  I could not figure out how to take the ones I did not like off however and I consider them a waste of space.  However, it was easy to add new ones and they give you plenty of space to move them around and fill the spaces up.  I will probably not make it my permanent home page.  I have Google as my home page now and everything else is bookmarked.  It just takes too long load an extensive home page, and I like it being simple.

      An online calendar could be helpful to me because I can share it with people, including my students.  I could put up when test dates are going to be and then easily change it around and tell my students about it.  My biggest problem with an online calendar is that I do not have a smart phone.  I think that to get the best use out of one of them you need an android, iPhone, or tablet.  I have none of these.

      I chose Remember the Milk off of the list above.  Again, I think that this is a feature that would best be used with a smart phone.  I do think that it could be useful and I would recommend it to others.  I think that you could use almost any of the links on the list for both school and home.  As society and education gets more technologically advanced, more website like this will be needed.  Especially Zamzar.  The types of software that students use is always changing and it will be important for teachers to be able to convert their files.

Thing # 15

      I found two wikis that were really interesting and that I enjoyed immensely.  The first was ICT Magic.  I really enjoyed this wiki because it had a lot of imagination and originality put into it.  It had heaps of different information in it and was very interactive.  I really enjoyed the cookery section and the history section.  I also enjoyed that you could see the different edits that have occurred on each page and when they took place.

     The second wiki that I really liked was Resourcesforhistoryteachers.  I liked this wiki for similar reasons to ICT Magic.  This wiki is geared towards an older audience (specifically history teachers).  All the standards are laid out, and the information that pertains to each one is linked to the standard.  There are also pages designed to provide resources for different subjects.  I really liked the economics sections as well as the influential women section.

     I added my Thing # 8 blog post to the APSU 23 Things Sandbox Wiki.  It was surprisingly easy to use. I just pasted it in and edited it.  I even found some typos from my post and corrected them before I hit the save button.  It was way easier than I expected.  I could see myself using this in class for year round projects as well as in my personal life.  I am going to try to develop a project where the students add components of their lessons into the wiki.  They can change each others work and add in new pages if they wish.  They can even each have a page high lighting their work.  In my personal life, I will use this the next time I have a big trip that incorporates a lot of people. I think this will cut down on communication issues.

     The thing I found interesting about wikis are the quick way to come in and edit.  It is relatively simple.  I would be worried about the ability of people to change others work.  Sometimes, people work on an assignment for a lengthy period of time.  I know I would be a bit upset if someone just went in and changed something they did not like.

Thing # 14

For my flowchart, I chose Gliffy.  For my mind, I chose bubbl.us.  

I will try to use this tool for one of my assignments at work.  I will probably use the mind map.  I liked the layout of it much better and it was a lot easier to use than the flow chart.  It allowed easy connections to be made.  To make a new but similar bubble all you had to do was press the tab button on your keyboard.  

I would use these tools in my future classroom in several ways.  I would use them when I am presenting new ideas to students in lecture.  I would also use it in class assignments when I want the students to connect different ideas and events to one another.  They could use a mind map or flow chart to write out the evolution of economic ideology.  I would probably use a flow chart in a lecture and a mind map in an assignment.

I really enjoyed this activity.  It gave me a new way to incorporate technology into my classroom, and have my students interact with it as well.

Thing # 13

Here is my link to the Google Drive document for my blog.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed exploring the different tools.

Here is a Google Drive Drawing that I created for you!  It was pretty easy and fun and I used a picture that I uploaded earlier for my blog.

Students could use Google Drive for a lot of collaborative projects.  This could include each student being responsible for a different piece of the work.  As they work and see what the rest of the students are doing they can pick pieces off of one another's work and change their own.  As well students can see other people's work and add suggestions and comments on how to improve it.  I could use this in an assignment by requiring students to make a multifaceted report about a famous economist.  Each student would be responsible for their own work as well as the quality of other students.  As they work, the teacher can check up on what they are doing.

I looked at ZoHo and compared it to Google Drive.  I still prefer Google Drive.  I just think it easier to use.  There is too much going on with Zoho and it makes things a bit confusing,  As well I like Google Drive more because there are more Google users than Zoho and this would make it easier for students to use Google Drive in a collaborative project.

Thing # 12

My Photos and my Alerts.  I think that my photos are public, but I am not quite sure about my alerts. 

I liked my experience with setting up my alerts.  I chose to be alerted once a week whenever something new is mentioned about Hillsdale College, where I received my undergrad degree.  I don't think I can actually share it like I said before, but I like getting the notifications.  I also like that I can change what types of notifications I receive and how often I get them.  It's very useful and allows for a quick browse through if I want.  This could be used in education if a teacher sets up an alert for new education trends, alerts about their school, or set it up in a way where they could alert their student.

My photo experience was okay.  It was easy to drag new photos in and apparently it was already set up when I added new pictures to previous posts.  Those were all already in my Google Photos.  I think that this could be used in education to take pictures in the classroom and sharing it with parents in a closed group.  Parents like seeing pictures of their children learning and having a good time.  This could also be used in an assignment as well.  Students could add pictures into an album based on what the teacher asks.

Thing # 11

My favorite method for finding feeds was to use Technorati.  It was a good website and only came up with blogs or blog posts when I typed what I was looking for in the search bar.  It gives you a list of blogs with pictures.  After you click on the picture it takes you to a different page with a brief description, tags, and recent posts.  If you are still interested you can go to the actual blog site and take a look around.

The method I found most confusing was Google Blog Search.  It was like a normal Google search, but not everything that came up after you typed a search word in was a blog.  I typed in education and several of the results that came up were newspaper stories, ads, or links about blogs and not actual blogs.

I found several useful blog feeds while I was searching around the different sites.  The first was Edutopia.  I really like this one because it has a lot of useful information.  Many of the really good ones that I found were off of Edublog Awards.  I looked at many of the winners and runnerups, and most of them had very good information.  An unusual one that I found off that list was Jaden's Awesome Blog.  This is a blog that someone has helped a sixth grade boy write.

I did not actually find another search tool to look up new blogs or feeds, but I do like using Feedly.  We signed up for Feedly in our last blog post and I really like using it to find new blogs and feeds.

Thing # 10

There are several things I like about RSS and newsreaders.  They compile all the information for you and make it easy to browse through.  Instead of scrolling down a blog and continuously pressing the next page button many of the articles are organized with a brief description and picture.  As well there is a search bar in the upper right hand corner so that searching for specific words within a blog is easy.  I like the layout and the conciseness of it all.  All the pages are presented in a similar fashion so it is not a guessing game every time I switch to a new blog.

I think I could use this technology in school by keeping a lot of the different blogs that I read and use as a source of inspiration for what I plan on doing in the classroom.  I think it would also be cool to have a collectivized one for my classroom that the students could get on and use for research.  That way they would all be presented with up to date information that can come from various sources.  The students could also add their own research and sites to it.  It would kind of be like Diigo, but different because of lay out and use.  I will definitely use this in my personal life.  I love staying up to date and planning things and this type of tool will help with my goals.

Teachers can use or take advantage of RSS by simply using one while planning what lessons they will teach and what activities they will present to their classes.  By using a RSS the time they spend looking through various blogs and sites will be greatly diminished.  As well, they will be able to pull up past information without wading through newer information.

Thing # 9

I used Jack-o-lantern to create this image:

To create this image I just typed in the words I wanted to appear and pressed update.  It gave me this image.  It is pretty self-explanatory and quick.  I could use this in my classroom or in every day life to make decorations for either the classroom or for my home.  I think it would also be cool to make labels for the students using these around holiday times.

I used Tree-Heart to create this image:

To create this image I did something very similar that I did with with the pumpkin.  I typed my name into the word bar and pressed update and this appeared.  I could use this in both my classroom and home life for decorating.  I think it could also be a cool project for a history or social studies class.  They could use it to match historical figures to other events.

I did not like the other image generators that much.  They were slow and a little difficult to use.  These were my favorite because they were quick and easy and I liked the outcome of the pictures.

Thing # 8

For Thing #7 I played around with a couple of the Flickr mashup tools.  These included Colrpickr and Spell with Flickr.  Both were really cool tools and fairly easy to use.  I am posting the picture I made with Spell with Flickr.

Posting this picture was a bit of a challenge, and I had to Google directions separately on how to do it.  Apparently other educators have had a similar problem to mine.  I simply switched to HTML mode and added the HTML code that was provided on the website.

I think that Flickr and its mashups could definitely be used in the classroom.  Students can use them to compile different pictures for a project.  They could use a collage feature and put together different pictures of a famous family line or historical event.  I could definitely see myself using Flickr mashups in my personal life.  Especially Spell with Flickr.  I love it and think it is really cute.

I think sharing photos online could be really good, but I also think that it can be risky.  We want to share our experiences and what we like with others, but some people can overshare information.  I do love seeing what other people post, especially when it is art.

Thing # 7

Flickr was pretty easy to navigate around and find pictures.  I looked for pictures of and about London and I found some pretty cool pictures that fit into the word I put in the search bar.  I also searched for more specific places and things such as my hometown and where I went to College.  There a large variety of pictures to choose from and it is interesting to see what pops up.

This is an older photo of downtown Detroit during its heyday.  It was posted by the Library of Congress.  I love this picture because I love downtown Detroit.  It hasn't changed much in appearance from this picture and is kind of trapped in time.  A lot of the buildings have various stages of disrepair, but some are still very beautiful. I highly suggest Googling pictures of abandones buildings in Detroit.  They are amazing.

Thing #6

The site/tool that I used from the Go2Web2.0 list was Pinterest.  I love Pinterest and it is extremely useful.  I know that it is probably not the most original tool that I could have used for this project, but it is amazing.  

I like this tool because it organizes a large amount of other users' ideas and inspirations into one easy to search place.  It is also picture based so it makes it easy to browse through things quickly.  The aspect of this site that I do not like, is that people often fail to post original websites and ideas onto their boards and therefore the same ideas tend to pop up over and over again.  As well, because of its popularity scammers have started posting on this site.

The site's useful features include a search bar, a category area, and easy to use system.  You simply click on what you want to see and it enlarges it.  Click on it again and it takes you the website that it originated from.

I could definitely see many applications for Pinterest in a school setting.  Many educators use pinterest and post lesson plans, classroom management, and decorating ideas all on their boards.  Assignments could also be made to have students find ideas for projects in and out of class.

Thing#5

     These articles were all very interesting and applicable to Web and School 2.0.  Everything is becoming so interactive in this realm that learning is no longer a one way street where we read something, accept it as fact, and move on.  Learning with School 2.0 is now a complex interstate system with endless possibilities.  The end goal of education is the same, but the routes we can take to get there are endless.

     To me, School 2.0 means an interactive and new way for students to go through the education process and discover the world around them.  They can do this through social networking, blogs, interactive learning websites, Google searches, etc.  The possibilities are endless.  This also allows students to give feedback on what they find, and links them to similar ideas and topics.  It also allows students to develop a passion for something and develop it on their own if they wish.  My favorite blog on this subject was Steve Hargadon's blog on Web 2.0 and its future in education.  I highly suggest it for this assignment.

     For schools of the future, Web 2.0 means that so much more can be brought into and out of the classroom.  So much technology is being brought into the classroom and teachers are getting more and more inventive with its use during and after class time.  Teachers will be able to differentiate instruction even more and can assign more distant learning opportunities for students.

Thing #4

Commenting helps create a sense of community and interaction because it shows that people are reading one another's posts and that they care.  When a blogger posts, they would like a reader to comment on it so that they know where to aim further posts.  It helps identify the hot topics in education and discover the thoughts of those who read your blog.  If someone posts an idea, others can help develop the idea and further research on something.

I found two other points from the reading that I found to be very important.  The first is that almost every reading emphasized the importance of being polite.  Being polite when blogging or commenting is key to having a meaningful conversation on a blog because it makes people feel safe when they contribute.  The second is that you should leave your name when you comment.  Remaining anonymous doesn't help your own blog and people are more likely to say unkind things when no one know who they are.  Both of these points lead to the fact that people need to feel safe when they blog and comment in order to foster good communication and discussion.

These are the blogs that I commented on for this post:

#1 Tonya Van Winkle-  I chose Tonya's blog because we have had several classes together and I like what she writes.  She is a very good writer and I agree with most of the things that she posts.  She is great.   I commented on her use of hyperlinks because it made navigating to other blogs easier and one of the readings said we should use them.

#2 Whitney Butts- I chose Whitney's blog because we are currently in class together and I think we may have gone to high school together.  I liked her post about how she would use technology in the room.  I commented on her use of a blog as communication in her classroom because I have seen it done before and I think it is a really good idea.

#3 Stephanie Freeman- I chose Stephanie's blog because we are currently in class together and she has a lot of posts completed in hers.  I commented on her Thing #9 because she is so enthusiastic about it and has a lot of great ideas on how to use those tools in her classroom with her students.

#4 Jessica Brown-  I chose Jessica's blog because she is in my class, and I loved her post names.  They are creative and you can tell she puts thought into them.  I commented on her Thing #2 because she was very upbeat about it, even though this is something very new for her.  I commented what I did to give her encouragement.

#5 Alexa Aguilar- I chose Alexa's blog because she is currently in my class and I loved all the artsy things on her blog.  She has a lot of really good ideas on how to use the art tools in her classroom.  I commented what I did because I liked her ideas and knowledge of the subject.

#6 Confessions of a Modern Day Substitute- I chose this blog because this teacher goes through very similar things that I do when I go to school.  She seems to be young and is now a teacher like I hope to be!  I commented on her blog about parking because it is often a weird situation to park when you go to a new school for observations or something similar.

#7 Nom Nom Paleo- I chose this blog because I was allowed to choose any blog that I love reading and I love this one.  I have recently become obsessed with paleo food, and try to follow it whenever possible.  I commented on a recipe of a beautiful cake that I want to try because it looked delicious.

Thing #3

I have already used blogs in my teacher education program for various things and hope to use it in my classroom when I go out into the educational world.  This includes research for projects, creative classroom ideas, and opinions other teachers have on certain aspects of teaching.  

For projects, some teacher blogs have already compiled a wealth of information on the subject that you are interested in.  It is very useful because they have already done extensive research and have made it available to others.  One has to be wary though because sometimes the research is one sided and does not support both sides of the issue.  

Many blogs also have creative and new ideas on how to teach a certain subject matter.  This is very helpful and aids a teacher at looking at teaching in new ways that may help their students learn more efficiently.  I have found that some educators will provide resources and shopping lists on the lessons they teach to help those who would like to try a similar idea.

I will also use blogs to see what other educators think about issues such as No Child Left Behind, Common Core, Inclusion, etc.  It is useful to see where the trends in education are going and how that will impact what is going on in the classroom.  Teachers who have more experience and who may have a blog will have a different opinion on these things then a parent or a law maker for example.

The website that we were directed to is very useful and it is interesting to see all of the different blogs that teachers put out there.  They put a lot of time and thought in what they are producing for others.  I think they will be very helpful.  These were just some of the ways blogs will be used in my future as a teacher.  The list goes on and on with other helpful hints such as classroom management and communication.

Thing #2

My main past experiences with blogs involve reading them.  I became obsessed with the paleolithic diet recently and have several about the lifestyle and recipes that I subscribe to.  There are also a few travel blogs that my friends created while they studied abroad that I followed closely while they were away.  I have just recently started reading a lot of education focused blogs that I find interesting and helpful.  I started a blog last fall as I began gardening.  I loved guacamole and decided to chronicle my efforts on growing the different ingredients to guacamole.  Needless to say, there are quite a few gaps in posts because avocado trees don't grow as quickly as cilantro.

This may not sound like the most creative naming process, but the 23 things instruction tells us what to name our blogs and our posts.  I now know I can probably add some pizzazz to future post titles and I probably will.  Those titles will probably be centered around witty sayings and lyrics that pertain to the number of the post. 

Creating the blog was not too difficult because I have already used blogger to create a blog.  The directions were also very well laid out and clear on what the user was supposed to do.  Adding the avatar was a bit tricky.  This is probably because I was getting ahead of myself and wasn't properly reading the instructions.

The avatar does reflect my personality.  She's pretty cute with a care free winky face and cute but casual clothes.  I think this reflects who I am because I am generally pretty easy going, happy, and laid back.  My avatar looks pretty close to how I look in real life.  I made her look like me because it was kind of fun and a bit of a challenge to put clothes and hair on a little egg person so that people would know who she is supposed to represent.  I also think that who I am on the outside reflects who I am on the inside as well and I want to portray that.

Thing #1

The hardest lifelong learning habit for me is viewing problems as challenges.  This particular habit is the hardest for me because I will occasionally just get frustrated with problems as they arise and get stuck on trying to solve them.  This can distract from the more obvious issue and I might get sidetracked.  This can also be a good thing, however, because I want to see a problem through to completion.  I see this as a good one to practice because I think it would put certain situations in a more positive light and cause me to be more focused.

The easiest lifelong learning habit for me is accepting responsibility for my own learning.  This one may be the easiest for me because I love learning and take it upon myself to learn as much as possible.  I know that I am the only one who can read a book and absorb the information for myself.  No matter how many other people read that book, I can't absorb it by just sitting next to them.  This is a good one to promote among others because many people are keen to push the responsibility of learning onto the shoulders of others.

By playing with Web 2.0 tools, I hope to learn about new tools that I can use in the classroom.  I have learned a lot in my classes so far, but I know that there is so much more to learn that this blog and class will help me discover.  I would like to learn better ways to aide my students learning through technology.  This includes different ways to communicate with them and different sources to give them.  I would also like to find practical uses for this technology in class and how to link things together.

Setting up the blog was not too bad.  I have another blog that I set up with blogger last year and it has been a very similar process.  The instructions were very clear as well.  It's hard to describe my feelings as I work on this blog.  I knew I would have to do it when a classmate first told me about the class.  I'm kind of excited to write what I am doing out for the class and I am excited to see what they find as they complete this class as well.