Thing #4...Finally

It's Comment Time

     Comments are, in my opinion, just as important as your blog.  The one single way that you can promote a good taste about your blog is by commenting on others who share information that you respect, are mentored by, or just like in general.  They will share your name and promote you as well as you can do for yourself.  You must be the nice guy for a while.  That's the nature of good blogging.

     

       Just a few suggestions for your future following.

"My blogs" by: Ms. Keith    

"My blogs" by: Mellissia Troyer

• "Lots of Literature for Kids From Chalkboards to Smartboards" by: Tiffany Anderson
• 
  
• "My blogs" by: Rachel Jones

• "My blogs" by: Ms.Moates

  
  

  2 Cents Worth By: David Warlick

  Always Learning: Teaching Technology Abroad  By: Kim Cofino

  
  

  Don't be scared.  Leave a comment.  They will be very excited to see it.  I remember some of the first comments that I received when writing my first few blogs on education.  They were the only reason I felt as if I was making any kind of difference in the world of the web.  To those who have commented me:  Thank you for your time and your mind.  You are the reason I keep writing.  

  
  

  Commenting is an art that will be learned only over time.  It is important that you point out very specific points made by the author.  This simply shows that you have given some acute attention to the person and their main idea.  By doing this you are showing some of the most respectable responsibility that a fellow blogger holds.  You must know that comments are what creates the community of bloggers.  If your comment is empty and doesn't hold any value then you are better off not leaving one.  

  
  

  Like I said, "Time Will Teach You."  Your comments are valued, so make them valuable.  

  
  

  
  

Thing #23

My teacher is a Fraud?

23 Things Wilton Teachers Need to Know About Web 2.0 is brought to you by the Wilton Tech Institute. Email hepferm@wilton.k12.ct.us to contact the project facilitator.  



I didn't know that this wasn't Dr. Walls Creation!!!  Excuse the double negative, it's just an exclamation. 


This doesn't meant that my teacher is suspect to being a plagiarist.   She used the material that has been used by many others by following the laws laid before us by the Creative Commons Attribution License.  She followed the correct directions.  


Let me just give you a quick lay of the land.  Copyright laws have been extended over the past few years. The old law stated that work was protected for 14 years.  Well, that changed.  Due to the greed of money, copyright now lasts a lifetime, the producer of the work, plus 70 years.  Yes.  You just read that right.


Don't get upset though.  We can use stuff to teach!!!  As long as we aren't bothering the sales, and reputation of the work for sales, then we can use work under the Fair Use Law.  For example:  I can use any rap song I want to explain iambic meter, so long as I don't sell the lesson or use it in a way that would devalue the music itself.  


23Things is a program that was used under this law.  The past 23 blog postings have been prompted to me from a pre-existing set of prompts that were slightly modified to meet the needs of the course.  It is copyrighted material, but it is out to be shared for educational purposes with a Creative Commons Attribution License.

By using these rules and regulations with care and responsibility we won't have any conflict with the laws of the copyrights, which by the way are probably still in affect for another 100 years, at the least.

It's smart to review these laws for your own, that way you can know for sure if you are abiding by lawful actions upon taking up the responsibility of altering any instruction or, also, adding instruction by use of material covered by licensee.  Be mindful that your actions are a reflection of your own research, and you can't research too much of the wrong thing when it comes to copyright laws.

Share this information with your students!  Especially if you are a teacher that addresses students in high school, as they will be researching topics, and will most likely be tempted by the greedy side of why a piece of work is copyrighted.

Be Careful With Your Work!!!

Thing #22

Please Don't Steal My Essays

     

     I just got my first LiveBinder!!!  It seems to be a pretty efficient way to store my papers.  By using an online live binder I am able to access by papers from any computer with an internet connection.  Here is one of them Just For An Example!

English Resources: Essays

     Now, if you have a hard time getting into my binder, it's because I put a code on it.  The code is 1234.  I didn't want to make it too hard on myself to remember.  I didn't create a passcode tab in the binder, so don't get your hopes up on stealing all of my papers...


     I also created another two folders, one called British Lit, and American Lit.  These binder tabs act more as a tag for myself.  This site has a way to tag every folder, that way if you need to find something on the fly, you can search your tags first to narrow the search.  We all love saving time.  The site is free, and the set up is as easy as Click, Type, Save.


     I now have access to my papers anywhere I go.


     Another great thing is that I can share resources with others by sharing an entire binder, or a tab.  I just send a code to the person and they have full access to all of my work.  They can download them for revision, use my articles to study, or even just have a nice information based read.  


     I would highly recommend this if you are a person that enjoys backing up every thing that you do.  There is value in your work and you should take full advantage of every kind of back-up technique you can find.  Again, DON'T STEAL MY ESSAYS...please.

Thing #21

Animoto

   Animoto is my new online fixation.  I just wanted to share a video with you of some of  my engagement photos.  Enjoy.

    I know, I know.  You're bursting with tears over the sweetness of this video.  It is a good one. My wife would whoop me if I didn't include her in my fun blogs.  

     This video was created using Animoto.  It took about 5 minutes to make, but it was well worth it.  This is a great tool to have, and it's free for videos limited to 30 seconds long.  I just found out about the site today, but I feel like I have already mastered the basics.  Its user friendly layout is all you need to make an artsy photo gallery for any occasion.  Send it to a best friend, a lover, or like me you could just send it to the whole family and remind them that your anniversary is about a week away and hope that they send you some money or a gift.  Either way, I just wanted you to know that this exist.  You can use your own music from your iTunes library (as seen in the video above of a song that we used to listed to), and you can even choose the order of the photos as they transition on screen.  

 So what are you still reading this blog for?  Go Make a Video!

Now, for those of you who are future educators, take advantage of this tool.  Your students can use it for in-class projects.  Even better, you can use it to send to parents in emails as a weekly newsletter.  Make it exciting for you parents to trust you with their kids.  You've earned the respect, now Own It!

Thing #20

It's YouTube Time!

     I love YouTube.  Chances are, if you come to eat dinner at my place, we will end up watching videos back and forth for about two hours.  That's just the nature of the website.  It is addictive to say the least.  I placed a video in just to make your head spin a little.  It's quite motivational, as well.  If you put your mind to something, you can do it.  This video just points out the patience that must be behind your persistence.  

     YouTube has so many tools for adding videos to a blog.  This one took about 30 seconds.  I hope that gives you an idea of how easy it is to work with YouTube in correlation with your own work.  Give it a try.  It makes you seem tech savvy, also.

     super easy navigation

    

     Navigation is one of the major key factors in sites that include large libraries and databases of information.  Servers must be on their toes for the quickly changing demands for video web hosting and people are making the most use out of it by using blogs and personal sites to share their favorite videos.  There is even a genre known as Vlogging.  You guessed it, video blogging.

     I enjoy how organized the site is, and I also find that it has a diversity that is unparalleled by any other Non-Member site.  There are videos that can also be used for education.  Instructional videos are becoming more and more popular as the demand is just starting to reach a head in the classroom.

     Expect a lot to continue to flow from YouTube.  They will not stop, nor should they.  They are a close reliable resource for your classroom!  Just watch for language.  You never know what might have strong language.  Happy Video Hunting.

Thing #19

Visit TeacherPop

Are You in the Club?

     

     Are you making the best of the social networks that are available?  TeacherPop is an online community that is built by a teacher from my University.  TeacherPop is  connecting new teachers with one another every day with a social network that is much the same as any other network, but it is focused for educators.  This is the future.  Soon, lesson plans will be things that people will share across the country with ease and personal touches.  It's already being done via downloads, but sites like teacherpop are going to change the way we, as educators look at the world that we teach with. 

      I am apart of several different sites that are moving forward in a professional manner.  I love music, as I am a musician, therefore I follow what is new, upcoming, and exciting for me in that environment.  

     One site that I would suggest to anybody that is interested in communicating with others over a professional network of musicians is:  PureVolume 

     

   PureVolume is an open site that allows you to communicate with others who share the same taste in music, as well as the same ideas in music.  Share music and talk it over with friends; it doesn't get much better than that.

     By having a firm grasp on what is out there for social networks you are including yourself in a never stopping wave of change that will never hesitate in motion.  This is a lesson that students should know.  There are resources that involve other people's thoughts, reactions, and so forth.  By understanding that students can research bias and demographics on social media sites you are giving a new taste to your teaching.  Engage students in reaching into new places that are available to them.  They will learn so much on their own if we let them.  Homework could simply be, "Find a Band that you believe in, then write about why you believe they are a band worth investing in."  Easy enough.  Students will be working on creating a bias belief in a personal favorite and supporting that with rhetoric.  Two birds, one stone.

     As for educators, there will always be great ideas that are thrown around with other professionals on sites such as TeacherPop.  Join up and find your niche. 

Thing #18

Friends, Hashes, and Likes

     I, like many others, have been involved in Facebook and Twitter for quite a long time now.  I use Facebook for a friend site.  A place to see comments and pics that exceed the professional line created by the 140 character limit that sets twitter apart from other sites.  Using these sites should be a major part of an educator's resources.  

     These sites provide a constant flow of information that can be shared, re-shared, and re-re-shared.  Twitter allows people to retweet messages in a way of sharing the information as a cited comment that refers back to its original writer.  This is definitely a pretty cool concept that has been executed by the twitter community.

Hashes

     The hash system is a way of bookmarking and sorting information that is tagged under a certain topic.  Any one person can search a hashtag name and find posts that are in some way connected to the hash.  For example, if I was looking for a good laugh then I could search:

#Angrycat 

     or

#peopleofwalmart

     I do respect both of these sites for their creativity, and I do feel that it is a great way to communicate with others.  For teachers, this is a great way for sharing information, sites, and resources.  However, I would argue that this should remain a personal site for personal uses.  I have seen many bullying cases that have derived from such sites.  

     I recommend both of these sites for educators, but I do advise to proceed with caution.

Feel Free to Follow me at www.facebook.com/madilinegrant