"Thing 10"

First let me say... I am down to the wire. Without going into a lengthy explanation because we are all busy, (lol). I'll just say that time permitted me to complete, but so last minute. I've been busy using the tools and learning and working on integration ideas that I lose sight of the task.
Second, I have enjoyed this lessons in Cool Tools for Schools; many many of which I will continue to use and implement into my daily planning and classroom use and collaboration. I look forward to future updates from Polly.
For this final lesson I look at many of the tools, but the two that stuck with me the most are Evernote and Scrible. Scrible will be a great tool to use with my students to encourage proper documentation for exams and written projects. How many students hand in papers without an invalid works cited list? Now, there is a tool to assist. I have used a different tools for document lists like apacitationgenerator.com for many years to assist. I'm excited to have another resource to use that will be beneficial.
And Evernote! Oh ya! I have been seeking for ages for a secure online place to add my personal files and organize them for a more efficient use. This would also be a great tool for students research papers, group shared projects.
I can't say enough how I enjoyed these sessions and look forward to further integration. Thanks Polly!

"Thing 8"

Collaborating, Connecting & Sharing... I have to say that this is something that our district does not do well in my opinion. I am encouraged after the exercises for "Thing 8" to work out a plan to more collaboratively work especially with my ELA team to create a collection of tools, plans, and collaborations for us to use.
The first tool I looked into was Google Docs. At first With most new tools I had a little trepidation about the usefulness for my particular situation, but found it to be a little enlightening. I could use Google Docs for a plethora of personal tools including curriculum resources, lesson/ unit plans, but also see a use for this in the classroom for discussion boards and literature circles.
I also looked briefly into Scribd and was pleased again at the prospects of document sharing abilities and thought this tool to possibly be useful in sharing curricular files across a district.
Another tool I examined was Google calendar; I create a yearly calendar with important dates for our district and would find this useful for instructors and student's in helping keep organization at hand.
I will continue to use these tools and hopefully further commit them to more district use as well.

A Little Taste of NYC!

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Create your own personalized photo books at Shutterfly.com.

"Thing 9"

I am going out of order... I found that Thing 9 was of more interest so I skipped to 9 for now; Databases & Search Tools. I began by adding a Google widget to my blog as this seems to be the most popular search engine and most well known among my students. I then have decided to explore SweetSearch.com. I initially searched grammar; I thought I'd begin with an easy topic that I use annually with my students. I was impressed with the search and the descriptions that followed each result. I then searched greater, looking for a unit/lesson plan and again was pleased with the results. There was much clearer, definitive results than with just a general Google search. (I must say tho that this seems to be a Refined Google search. I am partial to Bing, but have used Google also so I took the Bing It On Challenge also. I was impartial and I still like Bing better than Google as a search engine. I would surely use SweetSearch.com to begin students in their research followed by Bing. They are both easy read, comprehensive search engines.
As far as databases are concerned, we have limited class use for databases as we are such a small school with a very small classes and library that students wouldn't benefit from said databases, but as an instructor I do benefit from several databases including those created by our Tompkins County Public Library and other collections like those on Goodreads.

"Thing 9"

I am stepping out of order here... completing Thing 9 before 8 use it was of more interest to me.  I've added a Google search engine widget into my blog decided that I'd explore Sweetsearch.com since I've never heard of it before and it sounded like a great useful tool for research based on the review that it is created by experts, teachers and librarians.  My first search topic was grammar; I thought start eas

"Thing 7"

AudioBoo Podcast Blog...
I decided to use my podcast as my blog this "thing". So, listen for my blog. :)

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1290721

"Thing 6"

What! Just a few days ago on Facebook there was a post for yellow cake fudge, an easy microwave recipe for fudge that you make with cake batter, butter and confectioners sugar and I said to myself, "what! How have I not heard of this before?"... So even though I've heard of Pinterest and have seen multiple posts in Facebook I didn't realize what I was missing with Pinterest. A wealth of information shared is an understatement, but the visual appeal and ease to search is very alluring. I can see how one becomes addicted. Two hours had passed in what seemed like 20 minutes and I had pinned countless sites.
I could easily see how this may help me personally; I quickly found quilting patterns and clothing styles I want to make/buy. Professionally... My initial though was that this will be a tool possibly to share and find lesson plans, but as I search I've realized much more such as organizers, resources and plans. Another professional purpose I see is using this as a resource for my department to share resources and tools in a group. Use with my students... I would use this as a research tool or a student grouping tool based on interests, a tool to use for group assignments in project presentations.
With all that being said, I might have to be incognito as not to be caught slacking on my housekeeping duties as I'm drawn to my newest friend and interest... Pinterest!

"Thing 5"

I recently attended a professional development with Kathleen Odean, The Best Nonfiction Adult Books.  If you haven't attended a professional development with Kathleen Odean or hosted a professional development in your consortium I highly recommend it.  She is full of resources & knowledge. 
In her presentation she suggested many available free resources including Flickr, Animoto, and Voki and had created examples.  So, I was pleased to see a number of these resources recommended by Cool Tools for School. 
The first tool I explored for Digital Storytelling & Presentation Tools is Animoto.  I am very impressed by this tool.  I've been using PowerPoint for presentations since college and this is definetly the next level of Picture/Video presentation.  I've created the video and shared it on my blog, so let me know what you think?
I will most surely incorporate this tool into my ELA class in conjunction with PowerPoints and again I feel that this will be a useful tool for book presentation, book shares, culminating projects, character analysis and much more. 
Voki is the second tool I reviewed.  I am probably sounding like a broken record, but I'm excited about this tool also.  With the population I work with (all boys) they are often reluctant to present oral information in front of the class and this is a great way to work around that.  Book Talks... Yes!

Spring in Bloom

Spring in Bloom

My First Animoto video.  These are my photos.  I own the rights to them.  They are photos of my flowers.

"Thing 4: Photo Sharing"

Over the past several days I have explored Picasa.  I downloaded it to both my phone and my computer.  I have found some great features including the editing tools and the advanced features such as picture collages, movies and posters.  I incorporated one of the picture collages I created into my blog and a picture; they are all pictures of my gardens and of inspiration.  I could see these applications useful in my class for students to create photo collages, movies, poster for culminating projects.  I could also see them for research presentations, book reports and group collaborations. 
I tested out BigHugeLabs, but wasnt a big fan.  I like things to be easily read, neat and organized; I found it to be visually confusing and in disarray.  That being said, I have heard alot about Pinterest and had not explored it until this lesson.  I like exploring others thoughts and ideas and images.

"Thing 3: RSS"

I have found a new love! I signed up for the RSS Feed- Feedly. I added a few of the pages I regularly visit and a few I'd like to visit more often but never have the time to and was surprisingly impressed. It was really everything I wanted to know in one page.
I could definitely use this feed in my work and personal life. I could foresee using this to keep better track of education trends and current events as well as a learning lesson for students on how to quickly access information without drawing 20 different pages. And personally I have all my social media in one place ad there is an easy link between them.
I will definitely be adding an RSS widget to my blog site.
Great Tool. So excited!

Random #1

I've been thinking a lot about blogging and tech use since starting this school tools class and have decided that I still haven't quite figured out how to get your blog to get feed and feedback... Hmmm!

Tweet, Tweet

Signed up & explored Twitter Today for a brief time.  

Found that my 14 yr. old niece has a Twitter account.  LOL.  And here I am just signing up and looking for tweets to follow... I am very familiar to FB and use that frequently, although less lately.  I am not sure yet how I will use twitter, but more to follow.  

My Brief Bio...

So a little about me...
First and foremost I am a mother.  My son is the pride and joy of my life.  Secondly, I am an educator.  I have been teaching high school English and Special Education for 14 years.  I enjoy gardening, walking, and spending time with family.  I also enjoy learning new tech tools for me and my class.

Thing 1: Blogging

I am a little nervous about blogging and also a little anxious.
I have read a few blogs here and there, but only about crafting and children anecdotes.
So, a learning blog... I can't wait to see where this goes.