TAKSed Out in Texas

Week 9: Thing #23

2008-07-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

OH MY GOSH!!! Where do I begin? This has been a wonderful experience for me, although more time consuming than I had originally anticipated. I started this experience as a test to see if it was possible for me to go back to school to start working on my doctorate. After a few weeks into the program, my answer was a definite "NO!" I started out clipping right along, but then I really started running into a lot of new things, which was very time consuming. With teaching full time, being a married single parent, chasing after a one-year-old and helping an eight-year-old get through 2nd grade, I got very behind. Luckily, once summer came around I was able to get back on track.

I know there were so many things that I wanted to and needed to spend more time on, but I plan to go back and revisit several of the things I learned. One of my first goals is to create a family blog. Most of our family lives out of state, so this would be a wonderful way to keep in touch.

I would also really like to tackle the next Web 2.1, but right now my brain is feeling really tired and needs a little break.

This was an awesome experience, and I have already encouraged many others to do it. I learned so much. Just when you think you know a lot, you take a class like this, and realize how much more is out there. And, I know this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Signing off for now!

Week 9: Thing #22

2008-07-10T14:56:00.000-07:00

Audio Books and E-books

I enjoyed looking at these, but it seemed like all the titles I wanted weren't free. Oh well, I found some good sites to order audio books from. I like to use audio books in my classroom for certain learners. I'm becoming more familiar with e-books.

Week 9: Thing 21

2008-07-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

I have added my Bloglines, to which I added the Teacher Created Materials podcasts. I have been receiving these in my e-mail, but I thought it would be easier to add it to my bloglines.

Week 9: Thing #20

2008-07-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm a little embarassed to say that it has only been in the last few months that I have really even examined YouTube. I have found some humorous TAKS videos of teacher skits and such. I checked out Teacher Tube and signed up, but I wasn't all that impressed with the few videos I checked out. Several of the videos kept stopping due to buffering, and it got really frustrating.

Week 8: Thing #19

2008-07-10T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here are the books I added to my library.

Week 8: Thing #18

2008-07-10T13:22:00.001-07:00

I checked out Zoho Writer and found it to be very useful. I think I would use this as a collaboration tool with other teachers. Often, I will start a document to use with our kids, and it would be nice to send it to the other 5th grade teachers to have them add/change/delete items. Right now we have to e-mail, re-save it, and re-email it. Plus, this would be great for students who are working on a report at school but who need to finish it up at home.

Week 7: Thing #17

2008-07-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, I finally posted something to the Curriculum Sandbox. It is a listing of a few of my favorite websites for teaching language arts. I was a little confused here, but it was much easier than I thought. Kinda scary, though, how easily you can edit the page. If I used something like this in my classroom, you would definitely have to monitor it very closely!

Well, I need to keep movin'. Only a couple more weeks to go of my Web 2.0 journey!

Week 7: Thing #16

2008-07-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

I think wikis could be cool, but I don't feel like I've learned enough about them yet. I see how they would be neat to have for your classroom, but I would also be worried about what would get posted there. When I have more time, I would like to attempt to set up a wiki, like the one we have for this class. I usually have to do things myself to truly understand their pros and cons. I'm going to need more time on this one, so I'm going to move forward for now.

UPDATE on del.icio.us - It worked! All of my favorite school sites were imported and now I can access them at school and home, or anywhere else! VERY COOL!

Week 6: Thing #14 and #15

2008-07-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

I thought Technorati was pretty good also. I did a search for, what else, TAKS! Some neat things came up. I also looked at the tags to see what was listed. I also watched the video, "“A Fair(y) Use Tale” to learn some history of copyright, and I found it to be very interesting. Copyright is such a big thing right now in the age of the Internet. Until this exercise, I was not familiar with Creative Commons and Library 2.0. I learned a lot.

Week 6: Thing #13

2008-07-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought del.icio.us was pretty cool. I am always working both at home and at school, and now I have a way to access both "Favorites" in one place. I even created an account and am in the process of uploading my files from my home computer. It seemed pretty easy, so I can't wait to see if it actually works like I'm hoping it will.
http://del.icio.us/crensberger

Week 5: Thing #12

2008-07-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

I really liked Rollyo. I think it would be great for my students to use when they are researching a state for their 50 states project. I definitely plan to use this!

http://www.rollyo.com/index.html

Week 5: Thing #11

2008-07-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I downloaded Omnidrive because it looks pretty neat. I would love to be able to access p:drive files at home, and I am hoping this might be a way to do that. I looked at the Ning networks, but I didn't really find anything of interest. And, my travel IQ wasn't as high as I had hoped. However, I will be doing it again to see if I can improve it!! I think I might even have my kids try it after we study states and capitals. I also think it would be fun to have available for parents and kids to do together during Open House.

Week #5: Thing #10

2008-07-06T17:42:00.000-07:00

This is so cool! The Comic Strip Generator is my favorite. I plan to use this a lot in my classroom, especially with my presentation station. Unfortunately, after several hours, however, I was unable to upload my cartoon. It keeps telling me there is no ending tag to match. I'll try again later, but I must continue moving on! (I finally figured out that you must be in the "Edit Html" part of the posting in order to paste the link. Live and learn!!!)

Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com

Thing #9

2008-07-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

I tried all of the different search tools for RSS feeds, and honestly I can't really get into this. I'm going to keep working on it because I think as I work with it some more, I will see its advantages. However, I am going to move on to the next thing!

Thing #8

2008-07-06T14:34:00.001-07:00

I don't think I fully understand RSS feeds yet, but I did set up a Bloglines account with 6 feeds.

Thing #7

2008-07-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

Now that I am back on track, I have realized how time-consuming technology can be. BUT, it also reminds me of just how much is available on the web.

Thing #5 and #6

2008-07-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Yay! I'm finally getting back on track. I have now had fun playing with Flikr. Time to get movin' on to Thing #7!

Thing #4

2008-03-10T11:31:00.001-07:00

I registered my blog with AISD, but I haven't figured out how to register it with Web 2.0 in California. I'm starting to panic because I have fallen way behind due to TAKS, of course! I set up a Flikr account but haven't worked with it yet because all of my photos are at home, and I have more time to do this during my conference time at school. I have got to get movin'!!!

Thing #3

2008-02-13T11:54:00.000-08:00

I finally created my own blog after more than a week of trying. I had originally tried setting it up at "edublogger," but I started realizing that my blog didn't look anything like anyone else's. And, I don't like to be too far from the norm, so I started over at "blogger." It turned out to be much easier. However, I now have 3 blogs. Two of them at "edublogger" and one at "blogger." I must say I am happiest with this one, and I am excited that I am starting to get the hang of it. Practice makes perfect!!!

Thing #2

2008-02-13T11:50:00.000-08:00

I had already watched the tutorial on the 7 1/2 Habits, but I went back to figure out which one I thought was the easiest and the hardest. For me, I think the easiest one is "Using technology to my advantage." I use the Internet and the computer for everything. I don't know what I would do without it anymore!! The hardest habit for me is to "Begin with the end in mind." Sometimes I just have to let the journey lead me. Because of the way my life is, I have a hard time thinking and planning too far down the road. Sometimes I just have to take life as it happens.

Thing #1

2008-02-13T11:48:00.001-08:00

Well I am going back to make sure I am doing everything I am supposed to be doing. I did read about the program a couple of weeks ago, and I am ready to get going. I am doing this Web Community 2.0 to see if I can handle it with my busy life. If I can, I would like to start working on my doctorate degree this summer or in the fall.

Avatar Complete

2008-02-12T13:21:00.000-08:00

I finally created an avatar that I like. Now, I am moving on to publication.

Thing #3

2008-02-12T12:43:00.000-08:00

Okay - well I have FINALLY gotten my blog set up (I think) It took me awhile because I first set it up in edublogger, but this interface seems much easier! Now we'll see about an avatar.