Summary (Thing 24)

"Red Rover Red Rover Send Becky, Johnny, Jan, Sue, Larry, Bobby the Bus Driver, Phyllis's cat with one eye, Sam, Molly, Minny, Marvin the Martian....oh yeah...and Amanda"

Pity, I never broke the chain; I always ran the 13 minute mile...even after cutting through the football field...on a BIKE! Well, maybe not, but organized sports were never my thing. Organized anything was never my thing. I am too laid back for fierce competition. I hate heat, and I want to marry the air-conditioner inventor (zombie corpse and all), and I just don't get the "we" thing associated with sports.
Some of this probably has to do with the fact that I LOVE solitude. I love it more than air conditioning. When I was a kid, I remember being so anxious to go home...and sit...and watch t.v.....but not really watch it, just have it's noisy company in the background...and just sit and think. I could sit for days because this mind of mine never stops. It's like toddlers on Twinkies or something "spinning, fast, random and loopy"...ooh, like the Tea-Cups at Disney World. Except this ride has a malfunction and the gear is stuck in warp speed.

Why am I writing this? (sigh) I don't know. Procrastination. Fears. Insomnia....AND

It's this fruit fly gnat that keeps buzzing by my ear, and with each pass he whispers "pst."....(buzz buzz buzz)...."PpSStTT"...(buzz buzz)..."Puurrr" (oops, he turned into a cat dressed like a fruit fly, suspended in air by a theatrical harness). Anyways..."pur puuurrr PURPOSE. WHERE'S YOUR PURPOSE?!"

I have been looping around for days now,   dwelling on this cat/fly/question that just won't go away. But, even as I type, I can see my  "cat in a fly costume" spinning around. Ope, his tail just got tangled in the rope. He has a fat belly, andhe  reminds me of the yellow fat cat from An American Tale. Yep, poor thing, he's still stuck. I just walked by and pushed him.

I do that with everything though. If you could push your way into my head (without the whole death aspect and all), you would be able to see all of these thoughts spinning in circles. Water molecules in a pot of boiling water. You could probably reach out an grab a thought.

Explaining this can be a lengthy process. It often involves minutes of confusing 1/2 sentences;then a finale of napkin sketches and "junk-mail envelope" artwork...to illustrate my point.

The more I read, the more I understand about this right-sided brain of mine...and my visual spatial self. It is complicated though. I got a 3/15 on an assignment for another class...not because I didn't understand, but because I don't think that she understood me. Perhaps I should have used a mind map, photo mashup, or web-based software application (yeah, I used some hip lingo there)...and now I am laughing at myself for using the phrase "hip lingo."

Okay, so what is my point? Well, I know that my random visual mind is not the only one in the world. I know that there are students in classrooms right now who are getting 3/15's because their thoughts are lost in translation. Things 1-23 explore Web 2.0 tools that can assist these students, ways inwhich all people (students, educators, professionals, and even the social network lurker) can benefit from its use.

I don't think this is long enough. My insatiable need to procrastinate is fueling my fingers to type type type, instead of finish my other assignments.

Addictive. Assistive. Awesome. and Always evolving. That's Amanda. (oops) I mean, that's Web 2.0.

Thing 23

Thing 23: Creative Commons
Well, sort of. I can't find that icon to save my life...but here's a chunk of what I did find :)  The Twenty-three things is in part  based on the website 43 Things.

It is important for educators, students and the public to understand copyright. Creative Commons makes sharing material and resources easier than standard copyright. Creative commons allows a creator to choose how he/she would like their work to be applied and used by others.

Thing 22

Topic: Podcasts

Library : Libraries to the Rescue

NGA Podcasts

The National Gallery of Art has very useful podcasts for art educators. These would be useful as an introduction to a lesson or for students to review material.

Another site of note is Sketchcast. I discovered it by accident. It allows you to add a voice recording to an online drawing. It is very addictive!

Thing Twenty: YouTube

Well, despite being handed a huge heaping helping of hidden curriculum the past few weeks, I am here. Obsessively overusing amazing alliteration in attempts to alleviate anxiety...but here nonetheless.

Alright, now that I've somewhat gotten myself to focus, oh, wait, just lost it...(staring at the screen, tapping my index fingers on the keyboard with major attitude...minutes...focus...eh, let's talk about You Tube. Not my original intent, but this video will make me smile. Let's watch it together, shall we?



I've had that one saved for a while. It makes me happy. Well, not happy...that's not quite the right word. It makes me calm. One might even say calm, cool, and collected...minus the cool part. As I was highlighting the words to italicize them, I hovered over each one, wanting to replace them with words more telling, more accurate...but I didn't. I don't know if they exist. For all the good and all the bad, all the certain and uncertain, insightful and shallow...for all of the ways that life makes us feel, sometimes words are not enough. For myself, I use art as my second voice; I use it as a way to reflect something in me that a mirror cannot.

Once I'm actually in a classroom, my job will consist of showing students the technical aspect of creating that mirror, how to look at it, what to do with it once they do, and how to voice its meaning to the rest of the world (if they so choose).  I am not, nor will I ever pretend to be a master of all trades.  I think using instructional videos in the classroom would help students grasp disciplines that fall within my weaker skill-set.  I, not so secretly, love the idea of learning with my students. I think that there is a lot of value in that practice. Perhaps I'll address that in a later post.

With adequate previewing and screening of videos prior to use in the classroom, I think that resources like this are very beneficial. Below I have listed some links for quick reference.

TeacherTube
YouTube
K-12 Education on YouTube

Top 22 Sites Similar To YouTube from iSoftwareReviews

Thing 21

Topic: Animoto

Be careful of what you wish for. It just might come true. Animoto allows you to create short or full length movies with pictures or video clips. You can add music as well. Discouraged because I have been slacking in the "Mom photography" department, I silently wished to myself "I really just wish I had something interesting to make this video clip with."

Little did I know, my wish would soon be granted....and BOY WAS IT GRANTED! Take a look at my video I created using Animoto.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Now, not everyone will have the joy of having their living room redecorated with baby powder. Even so, there are many instances that would warrant the use of Animoto, especially in the classroom. Other than for personal uses, Animoto could be used in the classroom to showcase student artwork or projects. Individuals or groups of work could be displayed.

Students could make videos of examples of a particular style of art or artistic period. Teachers could use it as a way to assess student learning. For example, if the assignment was to "make a video with 10 examples of Renaissance Art" and a student includes pictures of contemporary art or Egyptian pyramids...then teachers would know that specific areas of concern need to be addressed.

It was pretty interesting making the video. The events that led up to it however...not so great. Memorable and entertaining...but not great. (I had just had the carpets cleaned 2 days ago!)

Thing 19

Topic: other social networking sites

Thing 18

Thing 18: social networking sites

I have had both a Myspace and Facebook account. Of the two, Facebook (or as some would say, "FB") is my preferred social networking site...but only because that's where my friends are. If they were on a different site,  I would probably use that instead. I don't have many "friends," but it is because I'm somewhat of a FB snob. I use it to keep in touch with a handful of people.

I understand the positive and negative implications of using a social networking site, and while I can censor my own actions, I cannot do the same for others. This is important to remember...especially if you are the person with 800 "friends." In conservative or professional fields, as that of education, it is essential to be aware of elements such as these, as they can have an impact on employment.

There are many other websites educators can use to communicate with parents and students. I would explore other options before using Facebook for school purposes.

I created a Facebook badge that is on my blog page. You can view it from there, or you can click HERE.

Thing 17

Topic: Discover delicious

I don't really know why this was so hard for me to complete! For weeks I've been looking at "Thing 17: not yet completed"...the title I used to save this spot in my list of blogs (so Things 1-23 could remain in chronological order). Each time I logged in, I would just stare at it, silently sigh, all with an Elvis lip and scrunched up nose. This 3 Step process seems to be the universal "Amanda"s disapproval-hesitation-procrastination/ugh-I-don't-want-to-do-this-ONE!" expression.

"Bookmark on Delicious" buttons are the new end punctuation mark for sentences, so it seems. In all actuality, I think the pop up window that displays all 5 trillion feeds/bookmarks/save-this/link/email/download/print options had given Mr. Period Question Mark the boot a long time ago. I just didn't know what those little buttons were all about.

So, what is Delicious all about anyways? The short version is that it is a way for you to remember (bookmark) and share your favorite webpages with others. Hence, the descriptor of social bookmarking.

Delicious would be great...if I didn't already have 5 other tools just like it. I use Stumble Upon, Zotero, some I have saved in a folder on my toolbar, some I have in an email folder, some are on my USB drive, some are stored in the North Pole. The point is...I have stuff bookmarked EVERYWHERE. To make matters more complicated, I have not perfected the art of tagging...so categories are not sorted efficiently. Too much of a good thing isn't a good thing; it's overwhelming!

I did learn some new terms, and I have provided links to them.

Linkroll
Tagroll

Social bookmarking sites are like super-sized value meals or funnel cake: Once in a while isn't going to be too bad....every five minutes, though, is a little too excessive and bad for your health.

10 Minute Mail

10 minute mail is AMAZING! For all those sites that you want to try but don't want to join...this website gives you a 10 minute email account. It's great for "confirming" emails.

Don't use this if you are going to need access to this email address later. It's only valid for 10 min (although it does give you the option for more time). So, what I did was use the address that they provided to create and conirm my account. THEN, I made sure I did all editing that I had to do. So, for my facebook page, I edited all of my profile info BEFORE I LOGGED OUT. This fulfilled my requirements; I can view (as a guest) but I can not make changes to the profile account.

Granted, this won't be useful for everything...but it definately helps.

Thing 16

Topic: Letter 1

Dear Zamzar,

I thought you would have called me before tonight. Seriously, how long does it take to send a quick little text, email, mail carrier on horseback, or message in a bottle? Apparently not as long as it takes you to find me. So many problems could have been avoided if I had your file converter...which WORKS, by the way...with EASE and beautiful SIMPLICITY.....but no! You had to hide from me and make me wonder where your were for MONTHS!

So, I'm letting you know that from this point forward...we are through! Don't try to make up in the morning. Don't send 5 dozen roses that create puncture wounds when you try to take them out of the 10 lbs of government-issued bulletproof cellophane wrap. Don't call me your girl...it's OVER! I'm downloading my OWN file converter.

Not yours truly,
Amanda

P.S. You can keep your online Calendar, your online Post-its, your new iGoogle homepage, and all of your other stuff you left on the steps for me to trip over. It's cluttering up my computer screen and I prefer to write these things down anyways.

............................................................
Topic: Letter 2

Dear Zamzar,

We both said some things we didn't mean. I actually really like roses, but not as much as I LOVE you. I tried the 13 Day Free Trial Download-able Converter...and it didn't compare to you! You're online. You're accessible from ANYWHERE. You're free and only take 4 steps. You're the love of my life. Let's give it another shot, shall we?

Smooches,
Amanda

P.S. I meant what I said about the homepage stuff though.