Thing 17

Thing 17

I signed up for an account on Delicious. I was skeptical at first. I plugged in the search that the discovery exercise requested and I viewed and added several links. Then I thought to myself, I bet I could find stuff on here involving autism. I search autism and education and came up with GREAT resources that I will most definitely use now and when I teach. I also did a search on the TEACCH classroom and I was give amazing links to several viable websites.

                  I will 100% use Delicious in my SPED teaching career and even before that. This is a functional way to find research and anecdotal accounts. This showed videos and websites that addressed the topic. This kind of bookmarking will help to keep me current with the disabilities that are going to be present in my future classroom. This is an amazing site.

Thing 16

Thing 16

                  I chose to use the Ustart page. I found it incredibly easy to navigate and setup. I chose it because it was the most simple and straightforward for setting up. I loved the different features all in one location. Honestly I don’t see myself using this outside of thing 16. It’s not that I don’t like it but I already have all the different apps on my phone that involve everything that the startup page had to offer.

                  I loved the online calendar. I am an organizational guru. Organizing my days on an online where I can access them form anywhere is beneficial. There are several times when I have left my phone at home and having an online calendar would be an asset. Once I put in my to-do list into the calendar and looked at my week I saw that I was a very busy person and became slightly overwhelmed; only bad thing about the calendars that I could come up with.

                  I chose to explore zamar because I have a picture that I was trying to load onto a certain web page for a contest. The website said the file was incompatible and I had to change the document. I used it to convert the document and it worked! It was easy to use. I was able to add it to the site that I chose.

Thing 15

Thing 15

I honestly felt like a wiki space was a more organized version of a blog. I found in my research through the provided blog sites that you can’t actually edit someone’s posts unless you are accepted into the group or page. I at first thought that anyone one could just fly in and change words around at any moment. If I were going to use this in a classroom setting I would want to be able to make certain information not able to be edited. I actually thought the wikis that were given for us to explore were very interesting. 2 of them I found to be extremely beneficial to see a working version used in the classroom. The Education one that the teacher put together was a great resource to see a functioning site. Also our own Richardson3040.wikispaces is a fine example of how a classroom could use it for functionality purposes.

There were a few wikis that I went on that were not user friendly. They had way too much going on. The main page was flooded with way too many links and small font. Wikis like that would be a little overwhelming I would think. Then there were sites where they had won awards (which I didn’t know they gave out for wikis). Those site were very organized and not overwhelming at all.

I plan on using a wiki space in my classroom. It would be an easy way to coordinate with parents for special events or resources for the classroom. It would make planning best fit meeting where all parents can offer their schedules so I could find a day where most would be able to make it for group meetings. I thought the wikis were user friendly and appropriate for the classroom.

Thing 14

Thing 14

                  I love using mind maps for writing papers. I think that mind mapping is a useful way to organize scattered ideas. You are able to determine the most essential elements once you add all your information to the map. Once you determine those essential elements you can add them into a flow chart. The flow chart is a compliment to the mind map. It helps to organize the material in an outline format.

                  I used flowcharts.com for one of my resources to play with. It was extremely user friendly. I never really used mapping of any sort when I was in school. When I worked as a Para we used a lot of mind mapping and I found that to be an effective writing tool. Flow charts, to me, seemed to serve the purpose of an outline. In the organization of one of my many research papers I used it to outline my paper. It was clear concise and easy to follow.

                  For mind mapping I used the bubbl.us for my research. It was easy to follow and set up. I find that mind mapping is extremely beneficial to regurgitating facts out about a particular topic. I will most definitely use both of these for helping students write papers. Mind mapping would be great to keep track of facts when learning about different species etc.

Thing 13

Back at it again. I am tackling the most recently due things. This particular thing was a much needed discovery. I had no idea about the benefits of using Google Drive. I honestly, before now, had never heard of Google Drive before. We have a cheap computer that didn't come stocked with Word processor. It has been a very challenging time sharing one computer between two persons. This was an amazing discovery to find that the other computer could now be utilized for writing even if it doesn't have Word Processor. https://docs.google.com/document/d/12Qsled9YqbvMGwUfgsflz30KMALYIasqvt_sck6f_QA/edit?usp=sharing This is the link to the document I created in the Google Drive program. It was as easy as if it was Word Processor except that I didn't have to pay $100 for it.
I like Google Drive better only because it's more central to what I am already using. It is part of the current system that I understand, therefore, I am inclined to use it more often. I think this tool would make a great group work site. Everything they would need to build a project would be all in one central place. Also if they make it under one name they can share it among the entire group so that everyone has a copy; or they can work on their own portions individually and share it publicaly to create a giant project. 

Thing 12 Handy-Dandy Google

     I began my "Tour de Google" by evaluating the ease with which  I would be able use Google Scholar to search for articles on students in the with Autism Spectrum Disorder. There were a plethora of amazingly formative articles in Google Scholar. A problem I encountered with the articles was that you had to have a subscription to certain ones to get more than just a preview. It seemed like the most informative were the ones you had to pay for. I decided to also search self-regulatory strategies and social skills while I was on the topic of autism. I found some amazing research on a TEACCH classroom and on social skills and the use of ABA. This is going to be a very useful and appropriate tool for effective teaching practices.

 https://www.google.com/calendar/render?pli=1&t=AKUaPmYAGe5G9z7UpaG0ASmoaAx3COFMTDzPj1loOnS_XrMnirrmcuAdwbqnxQkrsYXujCALsl8A

     The second Google "special feature" I chose to look into was the Google calendar. I never knew Google did calendar, photo sharing, etc. This a very new side to Google I wasn't yet aware of. I went into the calendar section and created a new event. I put in that I had a project due for this class (things 1-12 and standards). It was so easy to add events that you wouldn't even need to read the tutorial to figure it out. The part I couldn't figure out was how to send it to someone else. It said that the calendar event could be share with friends and family. This would make signing up for conferences and meetings a lot easier if it was an open and active schedule. Also this would provide parents with school events at their finger tips. It would also be a good place to post homework assignments so parents can know what is due for their children that night (not having to worry their child has written it down wrong). This is an asset of a tool for teachers if they want to put the time into learning the in and outs.
As a side note this could make an awesome self regulation strategy for disorganized students. Teach them to be actively involved in their own independence. They may find joy in being organized by using a program like Google.

Thing 11

     Based on my tone in the last few things I have completed, you will be surprised to read that I rather enjoyed this search of other blogs. I'm sure I was suppose to search blogs that have to deal with education, special education, behaviors, or ABA. I actually searched circuit training for women. One of my biggest passions in life, aside from my family and my desire to be a BCBA, is to be a physically healthy and mentally healthy individual. I have found that magazines are not as informative as I would hoped they would be about providing me with new workouts. I typed in the circuit workout reference in each blog search engine and was overwhelmed by the amazing blogs I found. My favorite search engine was blogsearchengine.org. There was actually nothing wrong with any of the searching sites, I just found more relevant blogs (in quality and quantity) on this specific site.
     Out of the few sites listed for finding feeds I think they were accessible and none were confusing. I did however, find it difficult to determine whether or not I was subscribing to the feed. I did what I thought I was suppose to so hopefully I was doing it right.
     I didn't stray to far from education or physical fitness searches. I didn't encounter results that were strange just results that were mis-filed. I also didn't have to search outside the sites that were listed for us because I found most of what I would have wanted on those search engines.
Being able to search and track news feeds would be an asset for staying up to date with current research practices and trends.

Thing 10 What I was missing!

I have to say that the concept of RSS is probably my new favorite technology! I was always overwhelmed by having to go back to all the different sights and see if anything new had been posted. This allows me to see the blogs/articles/feeds that I specifically love, and filters them for new information/updates. This concept has made the job of  a teacher much easier. When researching new break through taking place in ABA all I have to do is go look at the Feedly RSS update for the information. Considering the field of study I want to pursue, being on the ball with the latest most innovative and irrelevant procedures is a must.
I loved how easy it was to setup. I did have a small issue with trying to search for concepts/ideas. It took me a while and a lot of trial and error before I figured that out. A little more instruction on the actual site about how to navigate may be beneficial. Overall the website was easy to navigate and I found relevant material in all my search (special needs, and physical fitness). 
I have already briefly touched on how this would benefit me in my future teaching career earlier. I want to be a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. This mean I will be doing a lot of research and a lot of study on the special education field, on disabilities, on behaviors, breakthroughs in related fields, etc. I would have access to updates as they are happening without sifting through article after article for relevant information.
The same way that I plan on using this to better myself and gain further understanding of my chosen feild, all teachers can do the same to improve themselves. Educational blogs could post new ideas or concepts that could be "borrowed" and reproduced for their own classes. The Cool Cat Teacher had some very insightful education instruction on her blog. I plan on referencing back to it as often as she updates. I want to be a master teacher and the only way that is going to happen is if I never stop trying to improve my abilities. I want to always be in a constant state of learning, not only for myself but for my students. 

Thing 9 Not to difficult :)

 

     These site were so much more user friendly than the flickr sites. Some of these interactive sites were very easy to navigate but caused several hindrances with my computer. The sites where you had to download a specific app were the ones that I had a hard time working with.
     Overall my experience with making these generators was a happy one. I clicked on the provided link on the 23 things blog page. Once on that page I hunted around to see what all I could do with the smiley faces (because they are so cute). I clicked on the link to make my own. I created my own based on my feelings about flickr and hyperlinks (slightly overwhelming).
     These are extremely cute and I think they would draw student attention to them. You could put reminder notes on the signs so that students will not need verbal prompts for directions already stated. You could also make a student feel special and put "shout outs" to students showing improvement in work or behavior. These could also be used to have students communicated how they are feeling.

Thing 8 Not making the cut!

     So I found this extremely difficult and frustrating. Every single site was incredibly difficult to navigate and had absolutely no helpful information for how to upload images to my blog. Most sites wouldn't give me a hyperlink unless I paid for a subscription. One of the several sites listed was incredibly convenient to use, although it was also not compatible with my specific computer (made the fun aspect of this assignment not so fun). The Big Hug Labs had some of the collest features on it. The spell with flickr was also a lot of fun to play with unfortunately neither would fully upload.
     My experience with these wasn't the best which means I more than likely wont use them because they weren't user friendly for a technologically illiterate person. Blogging and other links that have been listed have been easy and realistic for me to use, but flickr, hasn't yet made the list of Web 2.0 tools that I will incorporate into my class.