Thing 23

WOW! How do you sum up all that I have explored and learned in a simple blog? I started this course feeling fairly knowledgeable about the web and what it had to offer. I was quickly handed a hefty dose of "humble pie" as I muddled my way through this course. I realized I was only skimming the surface of all that is out there to help me on a personal basis but even more on a professional one. Working with special needs students leads me to constantly looking for new and exciting ways to meet their individual needs. I will never look at lesson plans the same! :) I only wish this course would have been stretched out a little longer to allow more time to explore the "things"
I am so grateful for all the time and work that has been put into this course. I look forward to using these tools in my classroom.

Thing 22

The 2 Web 2.0 tools I chose to explore were Tadalist.com and Da Font. The Tadalist allowed me to actually make Brayden's daily schedule as a check off list. He loves the computer and would much rather use it to mark off his daily activities as opposed to the pictures we are currently using. It would be a wonderful incentive to get him to complete his work as well. The Da Font web site has fonts of all shapes and sizes. The ones that caught my eye made me think of the PBS show WordWall. The font actually looks like the word as in the word Catcus. This was very helpful to my students in the past and would be a great benefit in the classroom.

5d

I loved the story I found on my About.Com link for Special Needs Children. The title is "A Whole New Kid? No Thanks" Terri Mauro talks about the new found desire for many parents to have "A Whole New Kid." So much that many books are out there promoting this idea. Mauro goes on to say that she doesn't want a new kid and how she is perfectly content with the ones she has devoted so much of her life to. I loved how she said that as parents, we all have that time where we know our children, whether they voice it or not want different parents and how hurtful it is to us. Just imagine how children must feel when they see these books and hear about it on talk shows. It makes you stop and think. No, my children are not perfect, as a matter of fact, they are far from it, but they are mine!!

Thing 21

Pageflakes are very useful and helpful to busy individuals like myself. One page can cover so many different things. You can see your daily schedule,a To-Do list, the weather, and other helpful things to keep you organized.
I can also see it being used as a tool in the classroom to benefit the parents. Each flake could be used to create the classroom newsletter. You could have the calendar, the upcoming events, letter of the week, PTO news, songs for the students and many other things. The parents would be able to log on to get the information as opposed to having it lost between school and home. Of course, you would also need to take into consideration those who do not have access to the Internet and provide a hard copy when needed. My pageflake is titled PNelson.

Thing 19

Creating my podcast was far more extensive than I realized. Once I saw the time that it took, I had to rethink my application of this Web 2.0 tool in my classroom. I'm sure with practice comes speed and the ability to navigate from page to page quicker than I was able to today. I still think podcast will be a great asset in the Special Education spectrum. Working in a self-contained classroom has me dealing with many different academic levels and podcast would be awesome to alleviate the competition I often see when students are not "keeping up" with their peers.
The first thing I would create in a podcast would be a students spelling words for them to use to take "practice test". This individual attention would alleviate the issues that come up when students have a "modified" list of words.

Thing 18

I think Podcast will be an awesome tool for my classroom. I subscribed to Georgia's Podcast through The Education Podcast Network. I enjoyed a podcast on weather and enjoyed the child's explanation and pride in their work. Podcast will be a valuable tool for me because my students are on many different academic levels. I can create podcast to suit each child's individual needs. The students that I have with autism will probably benefit the most from podcast.

Thing 17

I was very excited to explore Classroom 2.0 and found some very interesting topics.
I thought I would enjoy the Microblogging experience seeing as I am an avid fan of text messaging, but for my students and the needs in my classroom, I was not impressed. Just another beauty of Web 2.0!! So many things out there to meet so many different needs.

Thing 16

Having 3 children who range in age from 16 - 22, I was constantly hearing terms that were foreign to me when they all started to "MySpace" and "Facebook" Things like, "I commented you", "I tagged you" and my favorite was "I poked you back!" :) My daughter kept encouraging me to create my own "MySpace" and like so many other adults, I felt it would be nothing more than a waste of my time and totally inappropriate in my profession. Little did I know that she was secretly creating me a "MySpace" as a Christmas gift. :) She was so excited and proud of herself and of course I had to accept this gift like any other she has handmade. Little did I know how fun and social they can be. When several of my colleagues told me to get on "Facebook" I did and have enjoyed it tremendously. Not only have I reconnected with long lost cousins, and gotten the latest scoop on the family tree, I have also been blessed to find friends from elementary school.
As more and more of my co-workers get on "Facebook" I am seeing how easy and practical it would be to use social networking for professional purposes. Many days, we do use our "Facebook" more than actually emailing through our school account.
I think having a PLN would be very helpful and beneficial. Any time, you collaborate ideas and practices, people will benefit.

Thing 15

This was my first experience with Google Docs and I must admit I am hooked!!! I loved all the different aspects and tools that were available. I loved how they were user friendly and very easy to understand. I will be using Google Docs with my students on many different levels.

Thing 5c

In Students 2.0 I was able to read a young ladies blog as she prepares to graduate from high school and the anxiety of choosing her college. My daughter and I have just gone through this and I found the reading very comforting and even comical. I'm glad to know the feelings of worry and concern we had are typical at this stage in a young adults life.

Thing 14

I love YouTube! I have used it on several different occasions simply because there is a video out there on just about anything you need to know. One of my favorite videos was actually the reading of the book, Why Is He Different? It's a story from a child's perspective on his classmate that has autism.

Thing 13

I had never seen Voicethreads before this lesson. I can't wait to use this with my students. A lot of my students are shy and or withdrawn and getting them to interact during lessons can be very frustrating. I would love to see their reaction when the lesson includes their own voice. Voicethreads would allow me the opportunity to let each student read a page of a story at their convenience and comfort and then compile it all for the class to enjoy. Hopefully, this will build the child's self esteem and they will read aloud on their own.

Thing 12

After looking at several Web 2.0 sites, I think my 2 favorite for my classroom would be Wordle.net where I created this document for the students to try and find their name. Our Class.
I also liked Picnik. Using pictures with children who have autism can present a challenge, but this site offered a lot of exciting ideas to help catch my students attention.

Thing 5b

I've enjoyed checking my Google reader and as you can imagine my CNN link was mostly about the death of Michael Jackson. I found it sobering and a gentle reminder that no matter our views on people their passing will always impact others.
Michael Jackson has no doubt left a lasting impression.

Thing 11

When I saw that I was going to have to create a slide show with my pictures from Flickr, I was overwhelmed. I didn't give myself enough credit and only chose 3 pictures. Once I got the process down, I realized I could have done more. I can't wait to take the pictures of my students I take over the year and create a slide show for the end of the year.
I wanted my slideshow to show all the different emotions children face today in an ever changing world of technology. The pictures from Flickr are a good example of that and the design of the iPhone was perfect to express the power of Web 2.0.

Sources:

Photo Sources:

1. Nicole's Emotions

2. YS Feelings and emotions DSCN2881

3. Happy Feelings

Thing 10

I was introduced to Flickr by my brother in-law. He lives in Florida and this is the only way I am able to see my nephews. I truly did not know the magnitude of Flickr before this class. I am so excited about the possibilities this opens for me in the classroom. Working with EBD students, we are constantly discussing our emotions and feelings and the proper way to handle them. I chose emotions/feelings as my topic when searching for pictures. The picture I have chosen to post in this blog is actually something I would like to do with my students. I love how it shows Nicole with many different emotions. You can enjoy others photos of Nicole at //www.flickr.com/photos/allyaubryphotography/2535453766/

Thing 9

I thoroughly enjoyed this lesson on Creative Commons or CC. I use pictures a lot with my students who have autism. It's very hard to have a basic generic picture for them to look at, when I am trying to convey a specific task for them to complete. As wonderful as clip art, and even the program Boardmaker is, there are times I need to show them Fruit Loops cereal or Goldfish crackers. Every time I've found the images, I've had that little alarm go off inside wondering if I was doing something illegal. :) This was a very informative and helpful lesson.

Thing 7

I was amazed to see how diverse a wiki can actually be. Where simply counting objects as in Kindergarten Counting Book http://http//kcountingbook.wetpaint.com/ or as detailed as in Go West http://http//gowest.wikispaces.com/ a wiki can be whatever you need it to be depending on the students grade level. Teachers and students can work together to create a lesson, that will be of benefit not only to them, but to all the others who visit their sight as well. This was the case in the Thousand's Project wiki by Mr. Monson's class. http://http//monsonclassroom.wikispaces.com/ As other teacher's allowed their students to add to this ongoing list, not only did Mr. Monson's class benefit, but so did every one else.
The possibilities of using wikis in the classroom are endless. You have the ability to cater to simply your class and their needs, or to open yourself and your students up to others who want to offer their help and suggestions.
I enjoyed reading Wiki Wiki Teaching http://http//coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2005/12/wiki-wiki-teaching-art-of-using-wiki.html
and had to smile at the students squealing in the halls with excitement about working on this project. I love getting students to work when they think it's fun.

Thing 6

I love the concept and idea of Diigo! I can't begin to tell you how many times I have spent hours at home finding web sites for the classroom only to get to school the next day without my web addresses. Then you spend the good part of the morning trying to remember exactly what the address was only to never find it and then have to go another route. I did however feel Nicole's pain of tagging. I felt like my tags were beginning to all be the same. I'm sure as my sites increase, I will be able to differentiate a little better, but for right now, it seemed like everything I had should fall under "teaching resources" :)
My Diigo site is
http://http//www.diigo.com/profile/panelson

Thing 5A

Setting up my Google Reader was exciting and some what overwhelming. Within minutes of subscribing, I had several items to read. I never knew this type of reader was available. I love the fact that I can find things of interest and subscribe to them so I can see all the current updates and comments. I look forward to adding other subscriptions to my reader as I find them. My favorite subscription so far was Novel Tells Tales of of Special Education Classroom http://specialchildren.about.com/b/2009/06/30/novel-tells-tales-of-special-education-classroom.htm
I also enjoyed being able to subscribe to all the blogs of the participants in this class. It's been a lot easier and quicker to read their updates through my Google Reader than to try and go to each of their blogs.

Thing 3

http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/21340 is a link that will bring tears to your eyes, but also warm your heart and give you the inspiration to continue doing what you do. The blogs title Making a Difference says it all. It is an inspiring story from TeachLearningBlog. It tells the story of a young man named Abel, who through no fault of his own ended up in a very unfortunate set of circumstances. With both parents making poor choices, he started following their example at an early age. Through technology and the gift of a laptop, this young man was able to turn his life around and sit before us today as a nursing student in college. He attributes his entire success on technology and a supportive teacher. The blogs writer was right when he said, "I know that technology alone will not accomplish our goals, but partnered with a good teacher or mentor or coach, technology can reach students like Abel."

Thing 2

Blogging is a wonderful tool to give you the insight and opinion of another. While most opinions will be substantiated with facts, the majority of blogs are simply the writers opinion and preference on a particular matter. That in itself is what makes blogging so inviting. What is desirable for one may not be for another. When reading a blog, you want to remember that the writer is not the final say in the matter. This is why reading the comments on blogs are also very important. Comments will offer so much to the original blog that it's not uncommon for the originator of the blog to comment as well, sometimes with a new perspective or view on the matter. It's very easy to get defensive when someone makes a negative comment on a blog that you feel very strongly about. Common courtesy can go a long way, remember this when reading/writing and commenting on blogs. The beauty of blogging is that it offers an insight to things from a very personal nature.
I loved the comment made on the Teaching Brevity blog. http://students2oh.org/2007/12/16/teaching-brevity/ "The mark of great writers is not how many words they use, but which ones." Blogging allows us to to use our words in a very powerful and productive way, especially in a classroom. Students are more willing to write their feelings, fears and emotions down than they are to speak them. As the educator, we must be willing to sometimes read between the written words to see what the student is actually saying.

Thing 1-B

Web 2.0 has given the Internet a whole new meaning, purpose and use for everyone. I love the comment by Tim Berners-Lee - "It's not a web of computers, it's a web of people" Where the Internet was once nothing more than a glorified "yellow pages" or encyclopedia it has now become the lifeline for many people. People of all ages are involved with blogging, Myspace, Facebook and many other types of networking that allow active participation and involvement. Where a student once may have struggled with a homework assignment, they can now log on and simply post a comment and have help and support from their friends and even teachers. Knowing this information, I did the one thing I swore I would never do. I created a Facebook account. :) I have been amazed at the number of students who will "message" me who otherwise would have never called or even emailed me for help.
Web 2.0 allows the educator to challenge students to bigger and better things. Years ago, my report on a given topic would have required poster board, die cut letters and encyclopedias. It would have also consumed the entire space on my kitchen table. Students now create PowerPoint presentations and actually have fun doing it.
It's a lot easier to get a student to complete an assignment when they are enjoying the work.
Web 2.0 has given educators the advantage of meeting students right where they are, while still providing a solid education.

Thing 1-A

My name is Patty Nelson. I am an EBD parapro at YES. I began my career with the Barrow County school system in 1999. Dr. Roy Morgan was the principal at BES and I was a substitute teacher. Our numbers in SpED grew and Dr. Morgan approached me one day asking if I would consider coming on as a full time SpED parapro. When YES opened the following year, the SPED numbers leveled out and I was asked to take a position in kindergarten. I worked in kindergarten for 7 years, was a Title parapro for 1 year and am currently on my 2nd year as an EBD parapro. I am blessed and very fortunate to say that I love my job!! As a SpED parapro, I am always trying to find new "ways" or "techniques" to help the children learn. I was blessed this past year to have children with autism in my class. Their facination with the computer and internet was the inspiration for me taking this class. I hope to better utilize the resources and information that is available to me via the internet. I'm excited to see how Web2.0 will help me to do this in the classroom.