A Thing: The 24th. (Me.)

You know, it's never really the end, I don't think.  There are only new beginnings.  In any case, I have just completed a journey here with you readers (however many of you there may be!)  And thus far, most of the posting has been geared towards you.  For once, here's a bit about something that's a bit of a tool, too.  (Me.)

I loved being able to embark upon creative endeavors, such as the image generators, and the Animotor videos.  I also loved being able to customize my blog and avatar (funnily enough, considering how cheesy it is).  Additionally, I simply loved being able to write.  I fancy myself a bit of a writer, but have failed to do it for quite a while, so this was refreshing.  Thank you, readers, for giving me a reason to do so.

This program has reminded me that, even when you think you know all about something, there is still so much to discover.  I have realized fully that the web is a tool that will never stop expanding, so long as it exists.  I have discovered a plethora of new tools to add to my own toolbox, as well as all of yours, along this journey!  We sure are going to be a handy dandy bunch, now, if I don't say so myself!

As far as the format I followed to create this blog, I'm not sure how I would improve it.  Some entries could use more focus, I believe.  I found that there was so much information I just did not know what to do with all of it, at times.

Regarding myself as a future educator, what I have learned is sure to crop up somewhere in my mind during my teaching career, even if I were to resolve today to try to forget it all, now that my course is over.  I have discovered so many useful websites and abilities of my own, as a result of this project.  I honestly did not think I would discover so many--but alas!

I will utilize all of the tools I have discussed to keep myself updated on the ever-changing nature of technology.  I will check blogs, rifle through databases, type away into search engines, explore tags all day.  I will do whatever it takes not to fall behind the trend and risk becoming any less technology-literate.

Readers, thank you for accompanying me on this journey.  I hope you find that you, too, have grown from this experience.  Howabout, if you think you have, comment about it?  I'd love to hear your thoughts, back!

Anyhow, until next time:
It has been a pleasure,
- toolboxjackson

A Thing: The 23rd One. (Credit.)

As we all find out increasingly often, as we get older, it is of extreme importance to acknowledge those who we take ideas from, and borrow material from.  They at least deserve this from us.  (Credit.)

For example, on 23 Things for Teachers (the guideline for this blog), it clearly states in this introductory sort of page that "*Note: This project is loosely based upon the website 43Things (which allows you to set and track personal goals) and the Stephen Abram article titled 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year(Information Outlook - Feb 2006). "  This demonstrates the proper way to give credit where credit is due.  It is in a basic, easy-to-access place, and is clearly stated.

Creative Commons licensing is not something that I think as many individuals are aware of as Copyright, itself.  For this reason, I urge you readers (if anybody's even out there) to inspect www.creativecommons.org, and learn how you can utilize more resources than you may have thought, so long as you give a bit of credit!

Now that I know about Creative Commons licensing, I plan to search for the Creative Commons-indicative icon that tells me I can use the work in certain instances, if I credit the original author.  This widely increases the amount of uncopyrighted material available to me, as a future educator.  You should let it increase your availability, too!  This tool will surprise you in effectivity.  Don't neglect to give it its chance to shine!  Add it to your box!

A Thing: The 22nd One. (Binders.)

We all know that being able to save things in an organized way is important in the world of education.  The tricky part is deciding how to organize the things you want to save.  How do you do it?  Where do you put them?  What if you lose them?  There's a cool tool that can answer all of these questions, that you might think you're familiar with!  (Binders.)

We've all been using binders since elementary school, but never quite like this.  LiveBinders is a website that allows you to create online "binders" which can be used to save links, which you can view the pages of from your binder, itself!  If you're confused about what I'm talking about, just look at this binder on theatre education I created, myself:  http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=700957.

See?  I actually made three binders, titled "Education Binder:  Theatre Links", "Neato Education Tools", and "Miscellaneous".  This allows me to have a narrow, specific level; a broad specific level; and a broad broad level, if that makes a bit of sense.  These binders could prove to be just as useful as physical binders, if an educator gave the proper assignment.  Perhaps an educator could teach a lesson on organization of not only physical resources, but immaterial internet resources.  The students could compile websites relative to the subject matter of the class, and create binders and shelve using these links.  The students could then share with others!  Binders are just as important an internet tool as a "real life" one.

A Thing: The 21st One. (Animato)

A good tool to have is always an alternative.  Alternatives provide you with interesting new ways to do what can often feel like the same old thing.  For example, in our last post, we looked at YouTube.  In this post, we will be looking at an alternative video hosting site that offers some shiny new features that set it apart from it's buddy.  (Animato.)

I created the video, My Current Life, In a Nutshell., using Animato, and I must say, I was expecting it to be much harder than it was.  A lot of the work is already done for you, such as creating the slideshow the pictures go into, and uploading usable music files to accompany the video.  Therefore, the process is a lot more user-friendly than one might think.  I uploaded some photos of mine from my Instagram account, picked a pre-made slideshow template and a pre-uploaded song, and viola!  I had created my own slideshow in less than ten minutes!

I would highly recommend this tool for teachers who get involved with the students in personal ways, who may want to create end-of-the-year slideshows.  I can also see potential in Animato as being a useful tool for students to utilize when creating projects!  The possibilities are not endless, with Animato--but they're close enough!

A Thing: The 20th. (YouTube.)

I'm going to start this entry off on a nostalgic note, by sharing with you, one of the first education tools I ever used.

That's right, folks.  A School House Rock jingle about the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America.  I learned this song when I was about nine years old, when I had to recite the Preamble from memory in front of my fourth grade class.  It proved to be an excellent tool, after all, seeing as I remembered the whole thing then, and still cannot seem to get the song out of my head, today.  However, the point of this post is not to bring you School House Rock jingles.  It is to bring you what brought you the School House Rock jingle.  (YouTube.)

YouTube is close to being the most commonly-used websites in the world.  It is a hub for video hosting, sharing, and searching, and a personal favorite site of mine.  I think that videos are an extremely useful, and borderline essential teaching tool, nowadays.  I always look forward to days when we watch videos in classes of mine, and I look forward even more to days when we get to make videos.  YouTube is quite user-friendly and offers help and support, if it is still not friendly enough.  I think that my school's library might do well to imitate YouTube's intuitive style and attractive layout.

Think about ways you could implement YouTube in your classroom, and as soon as you get the chance, (so long as your school does not have "parental control" sort of blockage which prevents you) do it!  This could be just what your classroom needs to spice up the curriculum with a little multi-medial zest.

A Thing: The 19th One. (More.)

In our last post, we explored some of the world's most currently popular social networking tools, but today, we are going to delve even further into the social networking, to find what no man has ever found before.  (More.)

Alright, so maybe someone has found other social networking sites before.  Just look at Xanga or Myspace.  Those existed once, didn't they?  And they were the height of popularity, weren't they?  Until the social networking tools of today came along, that's right.  However, there is still always use in looking for new social networking tools.  One component that is definitely worth considering is the popularity of the site, though.  The more popular a social networking site, the more it will benefit you, because the more popular it is, the more connections you can potentially have, because the more popular, the more users there will be.  For this reason of popularity, I decided to explore Pinterest.  It's all the hype amongst soccer moms and crafty college girls, isn't it?  So why not look into it?  

All jokes aside, Pinterest actually has a lot of potential as a tool for teachers everywhere.  I am a member of a blog site called Tumblr, and mainly what I use it for is a source of inspiration.  Pinterest acts as just this for a larger portion of its users, and educators could utilize it in this same way.  Pinterest is appealing, due to its vast breeding ground of craftiness and creativity.  It's like a treasure trove of ideas galore!  This could surely act as a resource for educators.  Pinterest uses a tagging sysetem, so all one would have to do is search the tags for whatever he/she is interested in finding.

Although Pinterest does not initially seem like it would be a very professional resource, as an educator, I could see myself searching for everything from projects my students could do to classroom decorating ideas on Pinterest.  It would be a great way to initiate some creative sparks, which are always a good thing to be able to conjur up, when trying to spice things up in a classroom environment!  The more tools, the merrier!

A Thing: The 18th One. (Networking.)

As a human being, we naturally require connections with other human beings, and as our world moves more and more towards the realm of the virtual and the technological, our connections must tag along, thusly.  This means that there is one thing of ours, that is the utmost importance, that must tag along especially closely.  (Networking.)

Without networking, we would know very few people--even no one, arguably.  It is crucial for educators to be able to establish social connections, just as it is crucial for any other member of society. Therefore, it is also crucial for educators to familiarize themselves with the new-fangled technological tool, social networking.

While I tend to believe that social networking tools don't really have a place in the classroom (they tend to just act as distractions), networking certainly does.  It is just as important for students to make connections as it is for teachers.  So, while it may not be appropriate for a teachers and students to make  online social networking connections, online social networking tools could prove as being very useful for student-to-student relationships, and teacher-to-teacher relationships.  Websites such as Facebook act partially as contact books, which, of course, is useful.  However, Facebook, and other sites like Twitter can strengthen bonds among peers and colleagues, as they also act as a means of sharing small thoughts and life events.  This personalizes the social connection between "friends" and "followers".

I have a Facebook, myself, which can be found at http://www.facebook.com/magjacks.  I have had an overall good experience with Facebook, since I created it.  However, I have found that it is moreso a distraction than anything else, a lot of the time.  I also think it may heigthen my awareness of others' approval of me.  For this reason, I feel that a certain maturity is required to use websites like Facebook. However, I think that having social networking connections is expected, nowadays, and that this is actually a mostly beneficial bandwagon to jump on.