It had a chance to experiment with animoto.com. The video shown at the end of the SBISD Convocation in August was created from animoto. Here is my test run with pictures of my cat, Corn Pop.

Thing 23 - Fin

Some of my best discoveries were de.licio.us, flickr, wikis, and Google everything. It was very helpful that we were required to get actively involved in most of the things. This helped me learn at a deeper level. Also documenting each activity helped me reflect on my experiences. My blog contains all my information and my creations and I can share it with others.

Even though I may not benefit from each Thing, it was good to be exposed to them. I would not eliminate any of the Things. In the future I would participate again but it would need to be over the summer and for a long period of time.

This learning experience was the best professional development I've taken in many years.

Thing 22 - NIng

Checked out Ning and was not really impressed at this time. I searched for a group of Technology Teachers. Found a few things but nothing that I can use at this time. I can check back soon and see what else is out there.

Thing 21 - Podcasts

Downloaded Photo Story (after logging into "home"). Upon logging back into my usual login, this software was nowhere to be found. This is the 3rd time I've had to log in to "home" to download something for this course and I never had this problem. So after all these problems, my PhotoStory is not very fancy. Just went in and played with it briefly.

Thing 20 - YouTube, TeacherTube

So glad to see TeacherTube. I've posted family videos on YouTube but feel that 80% of the stuff on YouTube is absolute garbage. Teens using a cellphone to video a friend doing something inappropriate/illegal. Or I see people who finally own their first video camera and feel a need to post a video of popcorn popping on the stove top. The district SHOULD continue to block YouTube but I hope that the controls on TeacherTube are tight enough to keep it "pure".

Below is a video I plan on showing my students in the fall when we start Photography.

Thing 19 - Web 2.0 Award List

I visited many of these sites. It is nice to know that sites are being recognized in these different areas. I need to check it each year to see what is new out there. I found a new travel site called Farecast (beta version)that is similar to orbitz and priceline. A cool, new feature they have is that it shows a graph of the price of an airline ticket in the future. It could help you determine the cheapest time of the month to travel.

Thing 18 - On-line Productivity Tools

I have known about Open Office for awhile. I don't have a personal use for this but I know several people that could benefit from Open Office. I also need to share this with students that may not have the Office Suite at home.

This would be great for people buying macs. Since Office for Mac costs over $100 this would be a great alternative.

Thing 17 - Rollyo

I saw some value in this one but it took me awhile to wrap and rollyo my mind around this one. I decided to visit some other player's blogs to see what insight I could learn. I created a Searchroll that I thought I could use in my Multimedia class. Upon testing it, I determined that it would not work the way I wanted it. So, I deleted it.

Upon playing around, I found a great Rollyo already created that I can use to solve some of my school/computer problems.

During the school year, I'll find a good time/place to come back to Rollyo.

Thing 16 - Wikis

Wikis are a great idea but you need to remember that there is a time and place for one. Since it becomes modifiable by all (unless set as private) so beware. At this time, I have an idea for a wiki for a personal use to collaborate the plans for a trip.

Thing 15 - Library 2.0

The video was quite interesting. I had my husband watch it and we discussed it. Initially, I was in favor of the students, wanting more technology and less human interaction and lecture. However, speech is the most important form of communication. As a mother, what did I encourage my young children to do - speak, ask questions and listen to me do the same. It is only after a strong background in speech can we become proficient in reading and writing (working with technology).

Question: Will colleges always teach through lectures? Could technology someday replace lectures COMPLETELY???!!! (I hope not - Am I too old and small-minded??)

Library 2.0 is doing a great job keeping the on-line library more accessible and up-to-date. What a difficult job! These guys MUST think outside the box!

Thing 14 - Technorati

I enjoyed watching the video of the employees at Technorati. It takes a special talent to think out of the box and create things like Technorati, del.icio.us, and all the Google applications. I still haven't found the niche to be big blogger but it's nice to know that Technorati is there if I need it. Tagging in del.icio.us is quite a helpful tool. I've shared del.icio.us with several other people and plan to teach my Multimedia students it's value.

Thing 13 del.icio.us

This is mighty tasty! The capability to see what others have tagged (on a similar topic) is powerful. It is easy to get hooked and spend HOURS doing "research". As a Tech Apps teacher, I will be able to do research on a topic from any computer and then view the information on my teaching computer. I think this should be taught to my Multimedia students.

Thing 11 - Library Thing

I think this website is really good and helpful. At this time, I don't think I'll get actively involved. I did not check out any of the groups.

Thing 12 - Commenting

I liked the suggestions offerred at Ten Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog.
I think being honest and humble are important. By asking questions, you are inviting comments. It's important to interact with the comments that are left by your readers.

Thing 10

Not as user friendly as I hoped. I first viewed other team player's graphics and read some of their comments. Some of these website have errors and don't work correctly or not as expected. Even the "Kid Friendly" site had some problems. I found refuge at Image Chef - I hope my animation ends up working...

I sent a cool one to my daughter as a "pick-me-up". I could add these to my school webpage or class documents to add excitement and intrigue.

Thing 9

Now that I'm looking for the RSS feed logo, I'm surprised at how often it IS NOT there. The Google Blog Search was quite friendly - once again. On some, can't remember which ones, the search would send me to pages and then there would not be an RSS logo. Why? This added to my confusion.

I did get some juices flowing and set up a feed to help me with an ongoing problem I've been trying to solve in my computer lab. Found some good tips!

Slowly getting the hang of things.

Thing 8

This one has consumed me for several days. In fact, I was thinkning about it while trying to sleep last night - this is not supposed to be happening in June!! I have very little time in my life to read, read, read information on the internet. Therefore, I rarely visit sites with daily updates. So, it's taken some thought to see how I could benefit from this.

I subscribed to Google Reader and found it easy to use. I linked up with one of their Bundles dealing with Photography. Over the past few days, I've viewed the updates.

I realized that I could use this on my school website to notify students when there is an update to my calendar or other pertinent information.

Libraries could use this to keep up-to-date on research information taking place or community changes that are happening that could impact their school (ie., School Awards or Competitions, Disasters (local or national), Re-zoning information, TAKS test results)

The process to make it work is Really Simple but I need more time to put it to use.

Thing 7A

Want some mental stimulation, learn new words and have someone else donated money to a good cause, all with one click??!!!

Go to www.freerice.com and enjoy....

Great for teens preparing for the SAT/ACT.

Thing 7

What would we do w/o Google?!!! Those guys keep working hard to make the internet a Productive Place to work. I have started using their Calendar, Docs and Alerts for personal use. I've played with Google Earth in the past but had a hard time downloading it today.

Google Docs would be good for students to move documents from home to school.

Thing 6

Sweet...

Lots of goodies at http://bighugelabs.com/flickr and http://www.krazydad.com/colrpickr. I love the many options at bighugelabs (puzzle, calendar, cube, cd cover,pocket photo, borders, movie poster, pocket photo album (can’t figure it out), warholizer, mapmaker). At the krazydad site (a mashup!), you can select a color and search flickr for photos matching that color. I think this is really cool and a good example of a mashup.

At bighugelabs, I really like the warholizer. Below is my favorite photo (of bluebonnets) that is warholized.

Thing 5

I did a search on "Rule of Thirds" to help me teach a Photography Lesson. This photo also shows texture, pattern, and depth.

I'd like to use flickr.com in my Multimedia class but it will require the students to understand and follow copyright rules for this website.

Thing 4

It's official. I'm now part of the kickball team. In the 3rd grade, I could kick that red sphere over the heads of everyone. I was always picked first. Maybe someone will want me to be a captain!!

Thing 3

It's done! Not as hard as I thought. I figured out how to paste in my avatar by myself and THEN went back to the instructions to see the HELP that was given. I need to read ahead before I go off and work on my own.

I'm ready to start rolling....

Thing 2

The easiest habit for me is accepting responsibility for my own learning. Since I became a teacher, I've taken many classes to learn new things, get additional certificates and keep up with technology.

The hardest habit for me is teaching/mentoring others. Not really teaching students but mentoring to other teachers.

Thing 1

Nice intro to get started on this techno journey. It's good to start off slow, it's June!