Thing #12

I have always been a fan of Google Translate and have actually found myself up staying up late losing track of the time playing with it. It is easy to use and very fun in my opinion. Being an aspiring history teacher, I am sure I could find tons of usage for this tool in my classroom. Useing Google Translate I was able to translate from English to Spanish a greeting to my future class:

English - Good morning class. My name is Mr. Richardson. I will be your History teacher for this semester.

Spanish - Clase Buenos días. Mi nombre es Sr. Richardson. Yo seré su profesor de Historia para este semestre.

The Link for Google Translate is http://translate.google.com/.

The second tool I decided to try was Google Calender which I also found quite helpful. I can not only keep track of everything I have going on in my hectic life with it, but I can program exactly when I want my alerts sent to me. I can choose to have them sent via email, cell phone or both and I can set them both to alert me at different times. I have my email set to alert me seven days prior to a date on my calender and I have my phone set to alert me one day prior to an event. The link for Google Calender is https://www.google.com/calendar/.

Thing #11

Being a big fan of Google, I found GoogleBlog to be my favorite. Just like with the regular Google page, you simply type in what you want to look up and POOF, a list of everything related to that topic is put in front of you. Being a history buff, I searched for feeds on the American Revolutionary War and found several informative websites. A nice one in my opinion is http://www.americanrevolutionarywar.net/ which gives a straight forward account of the American Revolution. To be completely honest, I did not find any of the search tools to be overly complicated. I have always had a fairly decent understanding of computers and thus have been able to navigate rather well.

Thing #10

In regards to RSS and newsreaders, I like the fact that one no longer has to constanly check and reload a page to see if anything new has been posted. With this sort of technology, the site automatically updates and then informs the user. This would be a useful tool for educators to provide to their students to help them broaden their understanding of the subject matter outside the classroom bounderies. This is also a useful peice of technology as is can constantly provide educators and students with new bits of ideas, information, and opinions on whatever feed they are subscribed to.

Thing #9

I used the same generator to create all three of these images. The website I used was http://www.comicstripgenerator.com. When you go to the website you will have the option to type in a keyword or words. The generator will then pull up images related to the keyword(s) with blank word bubbles that can then be filled with you own custom text. I belive this would be a good tool to use to generate fun images that could be put at the begining of a powerpoint presentation to help keep the class entertained while they are learning. I find fun little images tucked here and there into a powerpoint can make the difference between a lesson learned and a nap taken.

Thing #8

I was able to make this puzzle out of a picture taken of me at a Civil War reenactment. This puzzle photo was made at http://bighugelabs.com. As far as this "mashup" goes, I dont see it being of much use in one of my history classes; however, I could definately see it being used in classes that are more elementary oriented. I am very strict when it comes to posting photos online. I do not agree with people posting things that could harm their personal lives. As long as the photos posted have a purpose other than just to make jaws drop, I do not see a problem with it. One must be careful in the classroom though, because not all sites control what goes on them as well as others do.

Thing #7

I found Flickr easy to use. I also found that Flickr images are all protected by some sort of copyright. I feel Flickr would be a good place to find images for use in powerpoints and other visual aids for my future history classes. I would use Flickr over other sources for the exact reason that its images are protected and one can always referance the author on Flickr. Since I am a History major, I decided to look up some images of General Robert E. Lee. I found this photo of his tomb and thought it was inspiring. Below is the link to the photo and the author of the photo is 93diagonalley

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13970608@N05/7770678738/

Thing #6

I found Skype to be quite useful. Skype ( http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home ) is an online program that allows users with web cameras and microphones to see and talk to each other in realtime. I used Skype to talk to my daughter a lot when I was deployed to Iraq and even at that distance it worked rather well. I could see skype being used in the classroom to help students who have to miss school due to extreme circumstances such as illness for example. If a student is at home with something contagous but has access to a computer, a teacher could log on to skype with that student and then the student could watch and listen to the class from home or in the hospital. This would allow the student (provided they are physically able) to keep from falling behind and to still be able to participate in class. The only issue I have with Skype is the same one I have will everything on the internet. Sometimes connections are good. Sometimes they are not. And depending on how well the connection the school has is, or the student's connection for that matter, the ability to support this type of web service may or may not be possible.

Thing #5

School 2.0 to me means the Education system integrating with the current online technology. In TechLearning: Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators, the author discusses how over half of students between 12 and 17 are already using much of this technology and to them it is simply commonplace. The author also discusses how the education system would be foolish not to take advantage of this technology to further the advancement of how we teach. I agree that as educators we must use every tool at our disposal to better facilitate our students.

In the past, computers in schools have been used mainly to teach typing skills and a few other odds and ends classes. For the most part, they were not used to their full potential. As is discussed in the Web 2.0 post on Wikipedia (a source I am using ONLY because it was already provided on our 23 Things website) Web 2.0 is not about everyone using the internet, but HOW everyone uses the internet. I feel the future of schools is going to become very internet oriented. Hopefully in the near future, more education only type websites ans servers will be created so that schools and educators will be able to maximize the opportunities that the internet (if properly used) can offer to education.

Thing #4

Why Commenting is Important

Commenting is important in blogging because it provides feedback. It is difficult to continue a conversation when the only person you are talking to is yourself. By providing feedback on someones idea, you allow for the conversation to grow and continue opening up to new ideas and ways of thinking. One point I found important was in the blog How to comment like a king (or queen!). The idea was that one should not only leave a positive/negative comment but explain WHY they left the comment in the first place. This allows the reader to understand the commentator's point of view. The second point I found important was from 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog. Technique #4 stated that one should interact with those who comment on their blog. In short, if someone leaves you a comment, then comment on their comment. Keep the conversation going. Show them that you are listening to them as much as they are listening to you. 


Five Class Posts

1. Ashley Saunders and Thing #12 - I commented on Ashley's post as I liked the information about the Google calender. I felt that this was a tool I would be able to make good use of in the future.

2. Howard Spurgeon and Thing #9 - I commented on Howard's post because, as an aspiring history teacher, I will be able to make good use of eye catching material throughout my classroom in order to supplement my curriculum. The website Howard provides ( http://www.signgenerator.org/ ) can provide just that.

3. Josh Clements and Thing # 7 - I found Josh's post helpful as Flickr goes hand in hand with Thing #9. Visual aid will play a big part in my teaching strategy. While I believe in lecture, I also believe that good visual aids can greatly enhance the learning experience.

4. Jillian Anderson and Thing #11 - I found Jillian's post helpful as is provided information on how to find blogs that interest me. This would be a useful tool to provide to students, in order to allow them to communicate with each other outside of the classroom, and to provide their own input and ideas on the subject provided.

5. Monica Marshall and Thing #10 - I found Monica's post helpful because I too detest having my email bombarded by multiple different sites. Her post provided information on RSS that will allow me to consolidate different sites into one, allowing me to keep track of my favorite sites without having to have my email flooded constantly.

Two Random Posts

6. Kathleen Lax and Thing #6 - I found Kathleen's post helpful as it provided information on streaming live video. This would be helpful in my opinion to students who feel they need to go over a lecture again or who may be out of class because of an illness. By streaming live/or recorded video, I could provide students who are home sick with a way to still listen to the class lesson so that they do not fall behind during their absence.

7. Amy Schoneman and Thing # 4: Amy's post was helpful because it displayed how feedback on blogs was helpful. Without proper feedback on our blogs, it is difficult to find new ideas and opinions on our own ideas and ways of thinking.

Thing #3

Blogs could be useful in my classroom as a way for my students to communicate with other classmates in different classes of the same subject. I would be able to create a blog and then allow my students to comment and discuss via the internet, the material posted. This would allow them to interact more with the material and each other. It would also provide them with the opportunity to think "outside the box", if you will.

Thing #2

I found that setting up my blog at blogger.com was quite easy. I have never been a "blogger" nor did I expect it to be something I would get into in regards to the teaching profession. Creating my avatar was also easy, although I do not see how it is relevant to teaching. In my opinion, that part could be left out. Once my Blogger account was set up, I also found it easy to create my first blog, and now that everything is set up and ready to go, I expect this to be a smooth process. I decided on the name of my blog because after years in the Marines I have found that being a "Nerd" is so much easier on my back and I love hitting the books over trudging through the mud and muck. Thus I created "Nerdy Time with J.D. Richardson". My avatar reflects my personality because I hunt a lot, thus the camouflage shirt. I attempted to make it look like me as much as possible. Personally I feel that some of this is not quite relevant to the classroom.

Thing #1

After reading through the 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learners, I felt that it connected closely with my own ideas regarding learning. The "I can" attitude is very important to me as it is what keeps me going in the field of learning and education and it is an attitude I wish to pass on to my future students. Habit 1 was the easiest for me to grasp. As a Marine, I am a goal oriented person and I can clearly picture the end result I wish to achieve, as well as what it will take to get there. Habit 4 was the one I felt most difficult for me, as I am, at times, overly critical of myself, and I tend to hold myself to a somewhat stressful standard. This can lead to nme second guessing my self, which is something I am constantly working on. I agree that it is never to late or early to begin learning. I am currently in class with many students who are eight or more years younger than me. I may have been a few years late getting into college, but I guess it's better late than never.