Thing 24 of 23 Things: Is This The End or Only The Beginning?

Didn't know that you can fit 24 things in a total of 23, did you? Well the Final Thing is suppose to be a reflection of all of the other reflections. A Mega Thing even. On the list of things learned on  APSU's 23 Things is that it doesn't take much time to complete these exercises. I beg to differ in my case. I'm the kind of person who likes to check out everything in an assignment, so it always takes me forever to complete something. That's a flaw in my system, however, not of this program! (Ok, so now on to the reflectin'). A couple of my favorite discoveries during this learning journey are:

Thing 22 of 23 Things: Keepin' it Together: Livebinders

I especially favor this discovery for it's endless possibilities to keep me organized in my teaching career. I can use this Web 2.0 tool for professional use and keep Pinterest for personal use! 

I was saddened by the fact that APSU did away with our portfolios in LiveText. I liked the idea of an electronic portfolio that a future employer could click through during an interview. LiveBinders has come to my rescue as a happy replacement.

I can save lessons plans and other classroom activities that I find online for later use as inspiration. I can also save my own lesson plans that I find to work really well in my classes. As I gain more experience in teaching, I can build my Curriculum Vitae and store it in LiveBinders.

and  Thing 21 of 23 Things: Animoto:

A video of my photos on Animoto was super easy to put together. I plan on using this Web 2.0 tool frequently in my teaching career to digitally capture my little artists at work and their finished products. I'll store the videos in a LiveBinder!

Completing 23 Things has opened my eyes and mind to new ways to make learning fun and meaningful. I definitely plan on integrating technology into my art classroom. I think I'd like to re-purpose this blog as my future classroom blog.  I can link it to LiveBinders as well! Until then, I'll keep exploring Web 2.0 tools and share them all with you! 

...and what's this about 2.1 tools? Oohh...an upgrade of some kind? Smells like the next blog entry! See you next post!

Thing 23 of 23 Things: Creative Commons

For our 23 activity in 23 Things, we are to find an example or attribution that shows the Learning 2.0-23 Things for Teachers blog was based on the work of someone else and modified from its original. Here is a screen shot of the attribution listed on the the APSU 23 Things blog:

The circled text in this screenshot reads: "Credits - Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things, a staff development program for the Mesquite Independent School District. That program was based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers and adapted by the California School Library Association and others. Content and style for Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers has been borrowed and duplicated with permission, under a Creative Commons License". (I love using screenshots in my posts!)

Because thThere are so many neat ideas out on there on the internet for lesson plans, class activities, etc., that it would be very important to check for a Creative Commons License. (Or at least ask the original author for permission to use their idea). One idea I'd like to use in my future art classroom somehow is a Disney movie scene mashup to relay a message. Students of all ages will be engaged in learning from this technique because Disney movies are a big part of American culture. I would use the same scene snippet for each of the same words, however, for easier listening. Well, that's all for now. See you next post!

Thing 22 of 23 Things: Keepin' it Together: Livebinders

For Thing 22, we are to create an account in and explore LiveBinders.  From the description on APSU 23 Things, it sounds a lot like Pinterest--which I am head-over-heels in love! I'm writing this blog post as I go through the website.

Creating an account is easy--it's just like any other online account setup. LiveBinders sets up your first binder for you, equipped with everything you need to know about LiveBinder basics. When you create your own binders, you can group them by bookshelves, just as on Pinterest, you can organize your pins by pinboards. .
Let me take a step back and say that when I first started the education program at APSU, we created electronic portfolios of our work on a website called LiveText. (I like the common vital stat in LiveText and LiveBinder!) The idea of having an electronic porfolio sounded so neat to me. I envisioned my future employer clicking through my portfolio during my interview. Not only would I have my Philosophy of Education stored there, but sample lesson plans as well. Everything would be just a mouse-click away.

This semester, however, we found out that we would  no longer have our portfolios as part of our LiveText account. Many students were relieved to not have to complete one. I, on the other hand, was disappointed. What was I going to do now? I Googled other e-portfolio related websites, but wasn't very satisfied with what I found. Now, thanks to Dr. Anne Wall, I have been introduced to LiveBinders! One of the sample binders listed in LiveBinders Basics is an ePortfolio which I quickly clicked on!

I plan on using LiveBinders beginning now in my teaching career. Starting with this exercise, we are to create at least three binders for education purposes. Mine are 1) ePortfolio, 2) Lesson Plans, and 3) Lesson Plans/Activities for Inspiration in the Classroom. Here is the third one:

Lesson Plans/Activities for Inspiration in the Classroom

You have the option of filling in your binder using Google. That's what I did with the third one just to see what it would do. I thought I could delete what I didn't like afterwards. You have to try it, if you haven't yet. I did a search for Elementary Art Lesson Plans and it auto-tabbed several websites that I already love! Amazing!

I like that you can keep your binders private or make them public. You can also create a passkey so that only people with permission can view your binders. I also plan on using LiveBinders with my students! I can store online research sources for my students to access when needed. I'll also store art related Web 2.0 Tools and games for students to access when they are finished with their work. Oh...the possibilities really are endless! Well, I'm dying to go play with LiveBinders some more, so.....see you next post!

Thing 21 of 23 Things: Animoto

For Thing 21 we were to create an Animoto account, which was hassle free, and make a video from at least 10 photos, which was super fun! I chose to upload photos taken during the Zombie Buffet 5K I ran in October of this year. It is the most exciting and entertaining race I've ran so far, and making this video is a fun way to capture that feeling....well as much as you can in 30 seconds! Check it out:

Make your own photo slideshow at Animoto.

There are several themes to choose from that are free. I plan on paying for an account when I begin teaching. I'll be using this tool to create snippets of my classroom of artists working on their projects. These would be fun to display at Open Houses and End-of-the-Year parties! Well that's all for now. See you next post!

Thing 20 of 23 Things: You, Too, Can YouTube

Thing 19 of 23 Things: Beyond Facebook: Other Social Networks

Thing 18 of 23 Things: Explore Social Networking