I first heard about the “23 Things” while with Steve Schiller on a summer vacation. He knew I was interested in tech stuff and he told me – “Kel, ya gotta take this class called 23 things.”  So, I inquired about it as soon as school started! I am so thankful to him for the information! I have learned so much and am looking forward to dolling up my classroom blog. My parents and principal will be in awe after I apply what I have learned.

Here are is my class evaluation – I did read over and ponder the questions and decided it would be easier to respond to the prompts listed in order.

• What were your favorite tools? My favorite tools were those that I can immediately use- I’ll call them the blog enhancers. I will be  applying them  to my classroom blog soon! I am really excited about that! I did enjoy all  the cutsie ones too: slideshare, flickr, blabberize. There are so many applications that I will visit and use in  my personal life. The Things that were for means of sharing information: googledoc, podcasts  and especially wikis, will give me an edge in my professional life. I am so excited to have an idea about these applications and can’t wait to introduce the concepts to my colleges.  
• How has your thinking changed from Thing 0 to Thing 23?  My thinking has changed from “yeah, there are lots of things I don’t know and only the techies have the knowledge”- to “Yeah, there are a lot of things out there- (More then I could have dreamed) and yeah…I can do some of them!” I have become a techie!!! I had started Blogging for my parents on my own in January- with very basic skills I created a blog that wasn’t as exciting as I had seen- now I can dress her up! I can’t wait! 
• Were there any surprising outcomes? I think my confidence at navigation has surprised me. I have colleges coming to me asking how to do things.
• Will you use any of these tools in and/or out of the classroom?  Yes! I will put into practice what I have learned starting Monday- no kidding. I am so geeked about the blog enhancers and the wiki sharing. 
• Has this program changed the way you think about the Internet or its use in education? It has increased my knowledge, therefore I do see applications in eduction I had not considered. As an early elementary teacher I will be looking for appropriate ways to introduce the things I have been practicing. I believe you have  to enhance your teaching in order to keep yourself and others fresh. It is a changing world and I now have an idea of what I can  change in my classrooms.
• Has anything about your thoughts/ideas about Web2.0 changed?   I had never heard of Web2.0, so this question isn’t applicable to me.
• What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or content? I liked the flexibility the class allowed and that I could  work at my own pace. It was very helpful to see everyone’s progress. I think that was a blessing and a curse. If we all had been on the same thing, You could have helped us work through some of the issues- (plugg in problem in Thing #19) together- like in a wiki.
• If we offered a “23 More Things” or “Beyond 23 Things” program in the future would you be interested?  YES!! YES!! SIGN ME UP!  I feel I know just enough to be dangerous! I would like to know more about wikis and using similar tools to be more effective. In this current state our district is not going to have the means to let us met to solve problems. I believe these tools will help us collaborate and make decisions.
• How would you describe your learning experience in one word or in one sentence, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things class to others?   Informational!  A great  opportunity and resource!  A must do for educators in 2010! TIME WELL SPENT! and you can’t say that about every class- thank you

I think this application will be used for at least two concepts in my district by the end of this school year. Reeths-Puffer will not be pulling teachers from there room for meetings and the first grade staff really needs to work on common assessments and our report card. I have suggested that we use a wiki to do this. Not all are comfortable with this.

Ok, I just created a page for First Grade teachers to share ideas about our report cards. I invited my hall-mates to see if it works – if so I’ll sen it to to all the RP first grade teachers and I will get this ball rolling!!!

http://griswolkwiki.wikispaces.com/Frist+Grade+Report+Card+Blues

I just can’t imagine how my life would be had we had wikis when I was at Western! Maybe not as much fun, those study “sessions” were really fun!

I did join our fearless tech person, Anne Riley’s, wiki and I am sure we will be working together through this means if we get the MACUL Team Champion Grant I applied for. Cross your fingers, we will know on Monday the 11th!

I did enjoy http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page. It was filled with tidbits of information and I can see myself using this site. Would anyone like me to make a carton wallet?

I went back and found the young teachers lesson on measurement and added a comment that I liked her anticipatory set. I think when I get the projection system in my room that will allow the kids to see on the screen and not the 28″ screen  they will enjoy the videos much more.

I had a great laugh watching the Banana Splits Gang, reminiscing, and even found some Go Go Gopher episodes.
You do need to be careful what you are watching when you surf, however. There is a lot of junk out there to. When do all these people have time to do this stuff?

I think I have seen this thing on the sidebar of my google or yahoo accounts. Maybe with an advertisement for wrinkles. They do catch my eye, because they move, but I think with the addition of sound  you would get more attention. Would I use it- yes…like a PowerPoint presentation. I would imagine there is a timing element for the frames. I will find out more as i go deeper in to it.

then…there was this awsome YOUTube segment at the end of the slideshow- It has become my Christmas carol! I put it on my facebook page!

While taking this course I have an awareness of so many other applications, I plan on diving deeper into a few of them after the deadline of this course is met.

I have used REMEBER THE MILK – getting the address from the Chronicle,writing it on a scrap piece of paper (before my delicious account) and dabbling with it. It’s cute. I am a list maker and am finding it hard to move away from my Steven Covey  planner – just got my bills on line this summer. I am slow to trust, but doing better…

I have asked Santa for a Palm Device- I might hold out for a IPhone- but hate the thought of the monthly bill- ( I have a plan that is VERY BASIC- $9.99  for 100 minutes- no frills- my monthly phone bill is $12.00- no lie)

I explored WRITEBOARD. I think this is just the thing to use when working on a grant or other documents that need collaboration. I find that we are taken out of our classrooms less and less (Don’t get me wrong- I don’t like to be out of the room) but we still need to meet- and after or before school is to difficult- We could use this applications very effectively.

LOVED Blabberize! Would have done one myself but was using my net book and do not have pictures stored on it. I am assuming I can come back to these THINGS after the class is over. I will save it on my delicious account.

Well, I did come back to Blabberize, uploaded a picture and went through the steps only to find that I am not equiped with a microphone – shoot! I will have to put this on hold longer.-

I did go back and do a blabbersize! It was a hoot- I had to call into a number to get it to reord my voice over- and it was a little hard to get the mouth just right- but it was cute- not really willing to share- used a picture of a friend and it didn’t turn out to flattering, but funny!!!

Reflection: There are so many cool applications and things that I am learning, I really need some time to “play” with them some more. Looking forward to using some in the classroom and some, most definitely, at home!

We need to thank the web gods for  transformativeness (I love the sound of that word).

As an educator I have created several documents and have shared hundreds with my colleges. Almost daily someone in my hall has created something and is willing to share it – we are all about working smarter. We share then tweak to meet our own needs as easily as we breathe.We  stand on each others shoulders- I love that quote.

I was not aware that “the moment I hit save after creating a document”  it was protected. I thought the clip on the big C and CC did a good job of explaining Creative Commons. I had a brief encounter with Creative Commons in THING # 11 in the introduction to flickr. I wasn’t to sure about what it meant. Now I understand why someone would want to share their work.

I have not noticed the cc during my ventures through my THINGS, but will look for it from now on.

I did wonder through the EPN sight and found most of the podcast to be informational, but not very entertaining. A time and a place for everything! I have to admit that I was so comfortable with the itunes platform that I didn’t really give the EPN a good chance. It was a bigger learning curve for me and nothing of interest jumped out.

I would love to do a pod cast in my classroom and will look in to adding it to my blog this new year. I did movies last year, but wasn’t sophisticated enough to add the sound. This will be a goal and I know Dana Stolzman will help if I ask nicely!

I think I will have the class do a small research project this spring and do th podcast on what they lean. That is what I found  Willow Dale Elementary did with fish facts. We will do mammals in conjunction with a science lesson. It will be our celebration of learning!

I checked out I Tune U also. I have been keeping an eye on Michigan MI Learning  for a few months. The lessons that are held her are for later elementary grades. I did subscribe to a UCLA podcast called MINDFUL MEDITATION. I am in hopes of using it over the holiday break!

Some were just music, with maybe a child reading a brief rule or poem - one  you needed to be within 450 ft of the elementary building itself, but still I was not finding what I was thinking a PODCAST would sound/look like …maybe I’m wrong.

I sent out the Christmas cards and settled in with a cup of coffee to meander through some more casts and find one that I could model in my classroom.

I learned that I wasn’t to far off base -

In its simplest form, a podcast is an audio file (usually in mp3 format) posted to a website, so that others may listen to it. Many podcast are automatically delivered over the Internet using either RSS or Atom syndication. Subscriptions to podcast are usually free, and once subscribed to, it can be automatically downloaded over the Internet and accessed with an iPod, laptop, or desktop computer.

Pod-casting can be used to assist students’ vocabulary, writing, editing, public speaking, and presentation skills. Classroom teachers can create a podcast of daily assignments/lectures and publish it for their students. Likewise, students can create and publish content and deliver it to their teachers or to other students. Many educators have found that when students create content for a larger audience (beyond their classroom walls); they have more interest and motivation to work harder to improve the quality of their work. (wikia)

Now I can see doing a lesson, having the kids retell, redo, restate orally and sharing it with grandma in Florida. You could have the kids do jokes or sing. I know Dana Stolzmans at RP Elementary does that with her kids- but I still was thinking more of lectures or foreign language courses using pod-casting.

The closest I came was one that kept on popping up in others THINGS and when I googled ELEMENTARY PODCAST it came up – from Willowdale Elementary in Omaha, Nebraska.  I found a first grade “willow cast” on fish facts. I am not sure my kids would listen to this- no visuals and can’t really see anyone but grandmas really enjoying this form of “lesson”. I guess as a final celebration of a research project a podcast would be fun.