Thing #18

I'm well-versed in the world of Twitter and Facebook. Facebook is a great way to interact with family, friends, and coworkers, and Twitter is better for media and updates. APSU has several Twitter and Facebook accounts, and they're a great way for students and faculty members to be aware of new events around campus (because if we all "heard it through the grapevine," no one would know). However, you do have to be very careful on who you interact with and what you say on social media. A lot of potential bosses will go through your Facebook before hiring you. While you may not post anything inherently wrong, you may speak your mind more on social media, and your opinions might clash with the opinions of the boss, which can cause problems and hard feelings. I think Facebook is the better site. Twitter is more for updates, while Facebook is more social and interactive. A lot of teachers add their students as friends on Facebook, and if they have a school-related announcement to make, they'll post it on there (and most kids will know about it), but I would not add students to my personal Facebook, but I think a class page on Facebook would be a great way to go. The majority of kids have one, so it will be a great way for them to be informed if any abrupt changes were being made in school.

Thing #17

To be honest, Delicious is pretty much exactly like Diigo. I did search educational technology in the tags, and it was all of the same stuff I had seen before by looking it up on Google. I also searched through other tags, and I couldn't find a lot of things. Maybe it's because it's not an "up and coming" site on par with Pinterest, but there wasn't much that I found on there that I couldn't find on a regular Google site.

To get new ideas for the classroom, I think Diigo or Google is a better bet just because they have more variety. Personally, I think it's easier to have a class blog and to post important sites on the blog so the students don't have to sift through tags. However, if they're doing a project and have to look up websites, this may work for them.

Thing #16

For the start page, I used Google (can you tell I'm a Google girl yet?). It was the easiest because I use my Google account the most, and it was neat to choose what new updates I wanted to see on my homepage.

As I've stated before in a previous entry, the calendars are useful reminders. I know all of my important dates, but they tend to sneak up on me, so they're a great at refreshing my memory.

To-do lists are great! I always write mine down and I lose them along the way, so this is a great way of keeping track of things. It's also great for setting personal goals. I have a list of books that I want to read for the summer, and I will use Remember the Milk to help me reach my goal.

Zamzar is AWESOME! I have been looking for a great file converter, and I'm glad I've found this site! I will definitely use it. I would recommend it to people who are tech junkies that always need to convert files. It's great!

Thing #15

In school (and even today in college), I am told to STAY AWAY FROM WIKIPEDIA, and any non-academic website, but I never listen. I love Wikipedia, and it's been a staple in my education since middle school. Although it's true that not all of the information is accurate, it's pretty easy to tell what's true and what is just trolling. Therefore, since I've been told time and time again to stay away from Wikis, I was surprised that this exercise encouraged me to use them.

I knew there were other Wikis out there based on TV shows, movies, music, etc., but I didn't know that educators used them. I think it would be cool to have a classroom Wiki and to have the students add onto the Sandbox. I would make it an assignment for my history students. I would assign them a time period or an event, and it would be their job to add onto the Wiki. It could be used as a study guide for tests and final exams. I think it's cool for students to collaborate together on a website. If academics can collaborate on thesis papers, why can't students collaborate on the Internet?

Thing #14

I like flow charts! They are extremely helpful and help me organize my cluttered mind. In history, flow charts are helpful in mapping out stages in historical events, such as the French Revolution or the Civil War, and the evolution of the American political parties. They provide cohesion and clarity to a subject.

I've never heard of a mind map, and they seem a bit too complex for me to use in a history class. Like Dr. Wall said in her blog, I think they are better for creators than readers. If you're a writer, a mind map would be very useful when detailing the characteristics of your plot and character traits, but I think it's too complex to work in a history class. For history, one would need something linear, so you could see the cause-and-effect relationship.

Gliffy is really cool because you can create all sorts of diagrams (and educators LOVE diagrams). This is perfect because, to me, it's easier than using Microsoft for diagrams and charts. You can even create floor plans! I thought that was pretty neat. Mindmeister was pretty cool to explore. As I said, I have never heard of mind maps, so it was interesting  to explore. While I don't think mind maps would have a place in my classroom, they would be great elsewhere, as in an English or creative writing classroom.

Thing #13

To be perfectly honest, Zoho and Google Docs are pretty much the exact same thing. I didn't see much of a difference, although the Zoho website isn't as cohesive and clear as Google. I prefer Google Docs because it's aligned with your entire Google account, which most people have. With Docs, you can share a document with other people and they can add onto it, and you can see their changes instantly, which is great for group work. Zoho has pretty much everything Google has. Zoho is great for businesses because it has accounting software and other apps for small businesses, but in a classroom setting, I prefer Docs because most school use Google in some form or fashion, and it's the simplest and easiest way to share documents with students and teachers.

Thing #12

Google is the best website! It's so efficient and user-friendly, and they have so many great applications like Google Earth.

I decided to use Google Translate and Google Calendar. I absolutely love Translate! I have some Vietnamese relatives on Facebook, and I copy and paste their statuses to Translate to see what they're saying. I also like to type in funny phrases and translate them into different languages. Most languages have an audio option so you can hear it being spoken in that language, which is really neat. I like to see what my name sounds like in different languages, and the pronunciation is very, very different, especially in Dutch; it sounds like "Mohawn."

I'm a very disorganized person, unfortunately, and I never messed around with Calendar, but now that I have, I think I'll use it. It will definitely help me keep things organized better than a planner, because I always seem to lose them or never use it at all. I made a birthday calendar for all of my friends and family. I know when everyone's birthday is, but it often sneaks up on me and I have to scramble to get a gift or card at the last minute, so it will definitely be useful for me. Google Calendar has an alert system, so you can get an alert for a birthday on your phone days in advance. Now I don't have an excuse to send off belated birthday cards! :)




https://www.google.com/calendar/render?pli=1&gsessionid=vfkW6HTuvbhyjlu93KUJ6A

The educational possibilities are endless. For Translate, it's always helpful to hear how things are pronounced in their own language, so in my history class, we can see how a certain name or town is pronounced so we can say it correctly in the classroom (I HATE mispronouncing things, so this is very helpful for me as a teacher because I don't want to mispronounce it and look stupid). For Calendar, you can make it public and have your students see what the agenda is for the day and what is due. Google is a website of endless potential and possibilities, and it will definitely be a cornerstone for my class!

Thing #10

I have never heard of RSS readers until this class. I've always seen the symbol on websites, but I had no idea what it stood for. I was surprised to find out that they are very useful! I love reading blogs and looking up different websites, and sometimes, I'll forget them, or the blogs will be hard for me to track, but with RSS readers, it's easy to keep track of all of your favorite websites. Plus, the reader will update you when the blog owner has posted a new entry so you don't always have to check every day for it.

RSS readers are a great way for other teachers to stay on  track of their favorite educational blogs. Teachers bounce ideas off of one another, so with RSS, they can always be up-to-date on new techniques for their class. I know that I will use RSS now in order to keep tabs on my favorite blogs. It's easier to keep it on Google Reader than having to sort through my bookmarks!

Thing #9

Online image generators are fun! I've played around with a couple of them before. My favorite one is MorphThing; you can morph celebrities' faces together, as well as morph your face with someone else to see what your baby will look like. This past summer, I morphed myself and Olympic swimmer Nathan Adrian together, and the result was one cute child.

I like the magazine Rolling Stone, so I thought it would be cool to put my face on a cover using a generator on FaceMagazineCover.com. It was simple and easy to use!

For a high school history class, I think it would be funny and entertaining to morph historical figures' faces together to break up the monotony of class time; students could also create their own magazine cover using a historical figure or event. With these image generators, the possibilities are endless!

Thing #8

The mashups on Flickr were neat, but most of them I wouldn't use, personally. A lot of them were basically the same; there were many that allowed you to tag photos on a map, which I wouldn't do unless I was travelling. I did like the Flickriver, which allowed you to view photos on a photo stream. I hate having to click "next" and having to wait for the upcoming photo to download, so this app was pretty useful.

http://www.darwah-group.com/ppp/concept/spiel/phpflickr/download.php?user_name=msingleton2013&normal=4&orientation=h&lang=uk&type=username

I made a calendar of my Flickr pictures from Printr Killr. It's a pretty cool project, especially for elementary school teachers to make for their students' parents.

As I've stated in the previous blog, Flickr would be a great place to help my students preserve their high school memories, and certain apps like the calendar maker would be a great souvenir to give to them as they go about their lives.

Thing #7

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93766503@N02/8529318361/

This photo is of my cute little dog, Chompers! He's a Min Pin, and we've had him for six years!

Flickr is a pretty cool website! I have a friend who's an up-and-coming photographer, and she posts a lot of her work on here, so it's neat to see her unusual and creative photos on here. It's also a great way to share photos to relatives and friends who live far away. I have never used a photo-sharing website, but it was surprisingly easy and quick, and the photos were uploaded really quickly! It would be cool to use in my classroom. I wish I would have taken more pictures in high school, so I could take pictures for my students (with their permission, of course), and post them on here so that they're on the web forever and they won't have to worry about losing them. I love photos, and I treasure all of my pictures dearly, so I know that these pictures would mean a great deal to my students.

Thing #6

Because I am a self-professed "Grammar Nazi," I chose GrammarBase. I'll often second-guess myself about my grammar, especially when I am writing a paper (or writing this blog), and I will often Google it to make sure I am correct. GrammarBase will proofread your text for not only grammatical errors, but for plagiarism as well! Plagiarism is quite confusing, and I've heard of several cases of students failing a paper due to plagiarism that they didn't know they committed, so I think this site is a helpful tool for all college students.

Thing #5

Steve Hargardon mentioned in his blog that web 2.0 will have a greater impact on the world than the printing press. As a history major, I scoffed at this claim, but then I realized how true it might be. Social media has been a huge part of world events, such as the Arab Spring revolts and the 2012 elections. Web 2.0 is also the future for education; it's a wonderful tool to enhance learning and comprehension, but I feel that it's now less of a tool and more of a complete way of life. I love technology, but I think that we as a society have become too dependent on it, and this spills into education. While technology can be a great learning tool, I'm afraid that too much emphasis will be put on adapting to new technology rather than having it as an enhancer for the material. It is my philosophy that education should be simple and clear, and technology can add unnecessary complexities.

While we may be the "smartest" generation in terms of technological advances, we're also the laziest and the dumbest. Technology  A lot of people are having a harder time reading traditional clocks because they rely on their cell phones to tell time. Social skills have plummeted due to texting. Maps will become obsolete due to GPS devices; when I was in elementary school, we learned how to find cities on maps using the grid system, but now I doubt that they do that in schools these days. Soon, no one will know how to read one because everyone relies on Tom-Toms to get them from point A to point B.

I think technology is wonderful, but it does not make a good substitute for knowledge and common sense. Children should learn how to read from books, not from Kindles. We should teach our students cursive handwriting, not depend on typing. Technology should never be at the forefront of education, but aid students in learning.

Thing #4

Commenting is very useful in the world of cyberspace. It provides feedback, constructive criticism, encouragement, and it also creates a sense of fellowship. Back in the day, many people had pen pals or sent postcards to people in foreign countries; communication was mainly restricted to people in your social circle. Thanks to the Internet, we can now interact with millions of people, and we do so through social networking and commenting on their blogs and other personal pages.

The CoolCat Teacher blog mentions in their first point that commenting on someone's blog lets them know that you "hear" them, which is important. A lot of people, especially young teenagers, use blogging as a means of expression. Perhaps they don't have a trusted adult or confidante to tell their struggles to, so they resort to blogging. By commenting, we can share our stories and personal troubles, and help those in need not feel so alone in their strife. We can also encourage others through commenting. Many people document their weight loss journey via blogging, and many find it useful to track the progress of others to encourage them to reach their goals.

The Blue Skunk blog says that people like to be heard and know that there are others that read their blog and are interested in their lives, which ties back to my point earlier that blogging is a form of expression for a lot of people. A kind comment can definitely make anyone's day, and it's always great to know that other people are interested in your life.

Alena Glassford made awesome points about how "the computer is the new paper," which is completely true. Everything is rapidly turning electronic or digital. Things have progressed so much since my elementary school computer classes, and she mentions the rapid development of technology. I mentioned how it was funny that little kids have cell phones now, and that it is crucial how we as teachers must keep up-to-date with technology because our careers depend on it. Education is always transforming and evolving to adapt to new technology, and if we are going to be effective teachers, we must adapt with it as well.

Emily Sehi found a cute blog that features crafts for kids, and features crafts especially for boys. She made a good point by mentioning that boys can be more difficult in art class because many of them are not interested in arts and crafts. I said that we as teachers must adapt to the class and make it interesting for them so they can be engaged in learning.




Brittany Lowen created a mashup of books for Thing #8, and one of the books featured was Holes by Louis Sachar. I have never read that book, but I've read Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Sachar, which was one of my absolute favorites books when I was in grade school, so I mentioned I was happy to see it because I really enjoyed reading his hilarious books.


Ryan Whipkey's blog entry stated that blogs have a place in the classroom to help inform parents. I completely agree with him, especially when it comes to older students. After elementary school, parental involvement isn't as encouraged as it was in elementary school because the student is developing their own study habits; plus, there aren't any more spelling words to go over or school pizza parties to chaperone, so parents take a backseat to their child's education as they get older. A blog would be an easy and simple tool to help engage parents and keep them up-to-date on their child's education.

Chassity Halpin explored the Google Translate tool for her Thing #12 entry. I absolutely love Google Translate, and I use it all the time to see how things are pronounced in different languages and to translate phrases. I am one-quarter Vietnamese, and I have some of my cousins from Vietnam as Facebook friends, so sometimes I copy and paste their statuses onto Google Translate to see what they are saying. Most of the time, it doesn't work out, but it's still fun to use!



I visited my cousin, Andrea's blog. She's a talented photographer, and I love looking at her photos! She posted an entry about genealogy, and I commented on how much I enjoy it, too. We have a pretty exciting family history (we're related to Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes)!

Laura Steele of 105.9 the Rock has her own blog on the classic rock radio station's website. She had a link for a list of the best Led Zeppelin love songs of all-time (just as an aside, I am a H-U-G-E Zeppelin fan)! I thought it was a good list, so I commented that I thought so.

Commenting is a useful, but sometimes overlooked, action and can help bond and encourage Internet users.

Thing #3

Blogs can be a very effective teaching tool, especially with middle and high school students. Kids communicate mainly through technology these days, and while personal communications is always best, we as teachers must find ways to reach out to students, and we can by using technology to our advantage.

Some of my teachers in high school would add their students on Facebook, and if they had any school-related announcements, such as test dates, they would just post it on there. I wouldn't use my personal Facebook profile in that manner because I don't think that's professional, and it's important to keep your personal and professional life separate. However, a class blog would be a great way to communicate with your students and give them web 2.0 tools to learn.

I plan on having a class blog for my students. I would have the syllabus and schedule on there. I would give them study tips and other websites that would be beneficial for their learning. I would also do "On This Day in History..." posts. I think it's cool to learn about what happened every day in history. One of my history teachers in high school used to write down famous people's birthdays on the board, and that's something else I could incorporate into the blog. I plan on using PowerPoint in my lectures, so if they miss class or didn't catch something on the slide, I could post them on there so they would have them at hand. Also, kids might feel more comfortable asking questions online than in the classroom, so if they ever need my help after the school day, this blog would be a great way to reach me.

 Just writing this makes me more excited to be a teacher! I cannot wait to be a teacher and to have my own blog and teach my favorite subject all day!

Thing #2

Blogs are a lot of fun! I love reading about other people's thoughts, opinions, and experiences. I've had a few blogs that I created, but I never kept up with. I do have a Tumblr blog, and I use that just about every day, but I usually repost things rather than write them.

My posting and blog names are pretty simple. As a future teacher, that is important because you must always maintain professionalism, albeit in Wal-Mart or on the web. And because my names are straightforward, the readers will know exactly who I am and what my blog is about, so there is no confusion.

Overall, creating the blog was pretty easy. I had a hard time figuring out how to put the avatar on here, but other than that, it was pretty smooth. Blogger is one of the easiest blogs to navigate and use, so it has been easy learning my way around the site.

My avatar looks nothing like me. The eyes and hair aren't the right color, and it doesn't really look as Asian as I do, so there's really no resemblance. I did make myself more tan that I am, though! :) My avatar has a Starbucks cup because I LOVE coffee, and I have learned in college that coffee really does help me get through the day!

Thing #1

I believe that it's important to never stop learning. High school and college may end, but the possibilities for learning and education are endless, and we should never cap ourselves off to learning. Not only will it make life more rewarding and interesting, but it will help one become more well-rounded and allow for personal growth.

In the list of the "7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners," the very first one is the hardest for me. I do set up goals for myself, but I often get discouraged or lazy and I abandon them not long after I start (one of my New Year's resolutions is to maintain my goals, so let's see how that works out :) ). I do have many goals for learning. My grandma is from Vietnam, and I've always wanted to learn the language. I would also like to (eventually) get my Ph.D in history and become a professor. I have these goals in mind, but the problem is if I have the stamina and the will power to see them through.

The easiest for me is probably #6, "Using technology to your advantage." My family has had a computer since I was about three, and ever since then, I've been hooked on it. Computer games such as Putt-Putt and Freddie Fish helped me with my counting skills and learning my colors. Barney and other children's TV shows helped me learn my ABC's and reading. To this day, I still use technology to expand my knowledge. If I have never heard of somebody or if I am not informed on a particular subject, the Internet is the first place I go. I have a strong hunger for knowledge and I hate not knowing things, so I do believe that those qualities will help me be a lifelong learner, and technology, when used properly, can be a helpful tool.

One should always have a zest for life, and a key to that is to never stop learning. As a lifelong student, one could learn more about themselves and the world than they ever did in school.