Reflection #17 is being productive on-line

I tried some of the tools listed and I did not care for them. They were slow and did not respond the way I wanted them to. I do not care for mind maps, I never got the hang of them and my mind is so jumbled I can't follow them. I use my yahoo calendar for daily reminders and things far in the future, so I would not use "remember the milk". With "LibraryThing" I can see it being used as a classroom discussion tool, but I can see students using it to steal other people's ideas and thoughts making it so they dont' have to read the book themselves (maybe I am too pessamistic on some these applications). The "LibraryThing" could be used if you are an avid reader to review books before you by them. If you find some fellow readers who seem to share you point of view you could limit the number of "bad" books you buy. I did use ZOHO to make a small presentation and I have decided that I prefer my PowerPoint program. If I did not have Microsoft Office or if my work computer did not have it I would spend more time, because it is slower and I am unfamiliar with it, learning ZOHO to make me more productive with it. Once again I wonder if these applications are blocked at school? If they are sluggish on my home computer, how sluggish would the be on our school system?

Work together while being apart or Reflection #16

I learned about Google Docs last year while in a football pool. I using my dad's computer because mine was in for repair. He did not have Microsoft Office so I could not open the spread sheet he was sending out with updates. I used Google Docs to open the spreadsheet so I could read it. Google Docs can be used to open and read documents, spreadsheets, and other files created by different applications. All I had to do was save the new updates to my computer and then use Google Docs to open it, it was easy and it worked well for the situation I was in. I had forgotten about it until I opened my Google Doc account and I saw the spreadsheets there. As I am doing this at home I wonder if we have access at school, I ask this because some sites and applications are blocked. I can see this as a powerful tool if yoou are working on group projects. It allows everyone to work on the project from where ever they are with out having many different copies floating around. You can track who made what updates, this would allow a teacher to see who did what on any given project.

Reflection #15

I have cleaned up my feeds, there where hundreds of unread feeds. I can see it as a useful tool, but I can not picture myself checking it on a daily basis. My home page has feeds that I use to check the news I am interested in. I am not the type of person who really follows the news so following the feeds does not really interest me. If I see a headline on my home page that I am interested in I will will the story other than that I have no real interest. As a new teacher I probably should follow current events closer as a way to help keep my students up-to-date, but I have not made that step yet. If my class relied on current news stories I could see how subscribing and checking these feeds daily would be an excellent way to stay on top of current events.

Reflection #14 is Delicious

Choices choices choices again there are so many choices. I looked at many different math tags, lesson tags, education tags, and other tags. There are so many different sites. While Delicious helps you find what other people have found useful it still is just a search engine. I opened many sites that where for elementary and middle school classes, but I am a high school teacher so these were really no help. I am a new poor teacher that was directed to many sites that charged you for lessons or to join. After some amount of time I did find my 10 sites, I am bloggenstein so you can look for me to see what I thought was useful to a high school math teacher. I do beleive this site can help you find some things to help teachers find lesson plans and classroom ideas. I still beleive that there has to be a better way, but I have not figured it out yet.

Happy Holidays to all!!!!

Have I been tagged or Reflection #13

I wonder, will I ever be tagged? What will it feel like? Will I know it? Social Bookmarking just another search engine. It just uses users tags to sort the web sites into catagories. I see no real difference between google and Del.icio.us other than the users do the sorting. I found the best way to search through tags was to use the "search tags" option where I was able to type in the words I wanted. It lead to a few dead ends, but it was a more of a self driven search other than the generic search box at the top of the site. I equate to a reverse game of 21 questions, instead of asking questions to solve what the object is you tell it word by word what you are searching for. Which leads to the question on who is tagging what? I am curious what the tagging options are for web sites. I guess I will learn that in #14!

Reflection # 12: Widgets Galore

Quote of the day



Word of the day

Reflecting on your Reflections or Reflection #11

I left comments for 23ThingsforNichole and Blogging Along with Elizabeth. I feel good leaving positive comments about another person's thoughts and concerns. I can see blogging as a way to feel like a good Samaritan by being positive with others. Many blogging communities, such as this one, are built by professionals looking for positive influences on our careers. We use it to share ideas about education and technology. Other blogs are started by people with strong opinions about hot button topics; i.e. religion, politics, and racism to mention a few. I (we) will not agree with all of their opinions and biases. Does the sense of anonymity add to some people's bravado. Can it lead to blogging as a way to be rude, offensive, and disparaging to others. Do people search for blogs that they blatantly disagree with and visit them and show them their disdain for blogs ideas of others. Will students feel more freedom to post things on a web site that they would never say in class or will the students knowing they still have to face each other in class keep it "civilized"?