Thing 17 - More Web 2.0 Winners

I got a little carried away checking out all of the winners (cocktail builder was quite fun), but finally decided to explore one that could be useful at school. Revolution Health seemed to be a really good site for some of the health issues we see at school. It is pretty hard to just Google "ADHD" and expect to come up with really valid search results. I like that this site had descriptions of medications and also a place where someone could find a doctor or hospital. I could just type in my zip code, what specific ailment/condition for which I needed a doctor, and up popped a list for me to scan. Another helpful part of the site was a section describing different types of insurance plans and giving more details on what those plans offer. This site seemed to offer answers to many of my questions all on one site, saving me time from searching each specific question over and over.

Thing 16 - Teach Digital

1. Digital Students at Analog Schools
I liked this video because it was centered around an age group that we haven't talked a lot about yet - students at the universities. I felt like their main point was that by continuing to teach the way we always have (i.e., lecturing), universities are not really preparing students for the future. The new jobs being created are centered on communication, creativity, and being able to express yourself/your ideas in different ways. One line that stuck out for me was that students want us to connect learning with something relevant to them. How many times have we heard, "When will I ever use this?" If we continue to make the connections of learning in school to skills in the outside world, the results could really be amazing.

2. Sir Ken Robinson speaking at TED
First off, Sir Ken Robinson was a fantastic speaker and very entertaining. I liked many of his points, including the fact that the future is unpredictable, so how do we really know what is the most important subject to be teaching? His story about his son being in the play with the three wise men made such a good point as well -- that kids are not afraid to be wrong. However, by adulthood, they have been taught to be afraid to be wrong. I never really thought about that point, but I do believe it to be true. There are many times I wish I could go back to the free-spirit of an elementary student, ready to take chances and risks even if I fail. With all of the different job opportunities there are now, I don't think it is fair for us to be the ones choosing what is the most important subjects students should be learning. We have to stop seeing a student who is interested in art only being able to be an artist (like Picasso or someone). Their creative, artistic minds can take them in so many directions these days, not just sitting at an easel painting pictures. My favorite part of his speech was at the very end when he said, "We may not see this future, but they will. And our job is to help them make something of it." There have been so many times when I come to realize, I may not see the results of the work I have put in with a student, but hopefully someday the time we spent together will help them to have a happy and fulfilling life.

3. No Future Left Behind
This video was interesting because it was all coming from the perspective of middle school students. Since that is the population with whom I work, I could really hear their voices coming through. I felt like their main point was that they really do want to learn and experiment, but they still need our help to get to their future. I liked the quote, "I can't create my future with the tools of your past."

Biggest learning takeaway from all three: Kids are ready to take on the future and want us to come along on their journey, but we need to make sure we are up for the challenge.

Thing 15 - How to Use Podcasts in Schools

Of all the "things" so far, I have had a hard time thinking of ways that I will use this one as a counselor, but I can definitely see how teachers could incorporate them into the classroom. One point I liked at the very end of the Podcasting in Education video was to have the student take on the task of finding podcasts. I can see maybe working on organizational skills, self-esteem boosters, friendship, etc. with a student and have him/her find a helpful podcast to share with me the next time we meet. I think it is so important to incorporate the technology that the kids are using, so I will keep my mind open to podcasting in the counseling office. Cell phones and mp3 players are almost an attachment to the kids' bodies these days, so if I can, I will find ways to incorporate that technology.

In our building, I do not anticipate any pushback from administrators. So far, if an idea is brought to the table that is going to enhance the learning environment in the school, it is supported. I don't think they would like it to take the place of regular instruction, but it seems like mixing things up would help to keep interest of the students (and help teachers to stay up to date).

Thing 14 - Learn About Podcasting

I have heard so much about podcasting recently, but never really took the time to look into it. Since I am not in a classroom daily, it was hard for me to think of ways to use podcasting with students in the role I play at school. I think that podcasting will continue to grow and be a very popular tool in education. When I think of the middle school students with whom I work, it seems like only a small percentage of them would really benefit from (or could truly take advantage of) podcasting. So many of them still need that one-on-one interaction with the teacher, giving them an opportunity to ask a question immediately. I can see how it could really start to catch fire as the grade level increased though. I would have loved to have something like this when I was in college. To be able to hear the lecture over again and make sure I recorded the notes correctly would have been a huge help.

1. Michigan State Superintendent, Mike Flanagan
http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-37818_45256---,00.html

I thought this was a very important podcast for educators. Sometimes it gets overwhelming reading article after article about what is happening in the schools, so to be able to just sit and listen to someone explain it made things much easier. I think it is so important that educators keep updated on all of the changes being made, and it seems like this podcast could really help people become more involved.

2. Radio WillowWeb
http://mps.wes.schoolfusion.us/modules/cms/pages.phtml?sessionid=cc17faa3b4b3cc4b4356056651b975f8&pageid=115312&sessionid=cc17faa3b4b3cc4b4356056651b975f8

I was interested in checking out some podcasts created by students, and found Radio WillowWeb to be one of my favorites. One of the biggest challenges at school seems to be getting kids motivated to do the assigned work. It seems like if we offered them the chance to demonstrate their knowledge through a podcast, we might get a more enthusiastic response. It could be something that the students could show their parents or grandparents and really take pride in. I think if the teachers also mentioned that their podcast could be helping other students, it may give the kids even more motivation to really make the podcast something special.

Thing 13 - Sharing Your Vision

I really like this Thing! I cannot even count how many times I have been to a presentation and the presentor cannot load his/her PowerPoint onto the computer provided by the site. And I'm sure it can get annoying dragging your laptop from place to place and then going through the hassel of getting everything hooked up correctly. I like the idea that we could have a presentation going on our counselor blog also. We do a "Mastering Middle School" workshop at the beginning of the year for parents and their children; many times families are not able to attend because of work issues. To be able to have our slideshow on our website available to them whenever would be great! I think it could really open the communication lines between home and school also.

I ended up making a silly slideshow of my dogs in Slide. Again, like so many of the Things we have been learning about, I think using a tool like this would be so much more appealing for kids to check out. To be able to share picture slideshows of student events, add some music, or even video, to it and then share with everyone is such an asset. This is a great way for teachers to collaborate also. It seems like it would save so much time to have a presentation available for everyone on a certain site, versus going through the process of emailing numerous people, attempting to send attachments, etc. This is one of the first things I will be adding to our counselor blog when we return to school.

Thing 12 - Productivity Anywhere You Have a Browser

I decided to check out the Remember the Milk tool -- once I saw the word "list" my interest was drawn. I am a big list person, and seem to always be trying to figure out the best way to keep all of my tasks organized. I am not sure if I would use this tool right now, because I do not have Internet on my cell phone. I kind of need something that I can access wherever I am, and not need a computer to do so. Maybe someday when I upgrade into the "cool phone" group I will take advantage of this tool. I definitely like the idea of keeping it all in one place though, versus notes on my dry-erase board at home, sticky-notes all over my desk, a quick note stuck in my purse somewhere, etc. I also like how you can create your own personal categories/headings so that you can keep tasks needed to be done at school separate from those needed to be done at home.

I didn't get a chance to really delve into Knowtes, but I am definitely going to check into that more at some point. Hopefully that will turn into another tool to show to the students with whom I work.

Thing 11 - Online Productivity Applications

I really like the idea of Google Docs being used for certain types of projects. I can definitely see it being a useful tool for students who may need help with organization or possibly do not have a consistent routine as far as when a computer will be available. If they could just go to the library and jump on a computer there (or even at a friend's house), the worry of availability would be eliminated. I think it is probably a challenge for some of the middle school kids with whom I work to remember what they saved a document as, or creating folders to keep their work organized. If they were to use Google Docs, the ease of having it all in one place could really increase the amount of work that actually gets turned in on time. I also like the idea that if students were doing a group project, they wouldn't have to worry about which version of Works/Word each one had when emailing attachments back and forth.

I don't think I would use Google Docs for a real elaborate project though. I can see using this with my partner counselor to review an article we are writing for the school newsletter, but I wouldn't feel comfortable having a document that is even somewhat confidential on the Internet (no matter how secure they say it may be). And, it seemed to be lacking some of the applications/options that Microsoft Works offers.

I do not think that Microsoft should be nervous at this point. Like I stated above, for simple projects that are not confidential, Google Docs could be a real time-saver. However, for the more complicated or detailed projects that people or businesses are working on, I still think Microsoft will have more to offer for a long time.

Thing 10 - Create Your Own Wiki

For my wiki, I decided to make a page with goals that we would like to meet in our school counseling office in 2010. I am definitely the list-making type of person, so I can see myself really getting into something like this. I like how it could be a place where my partner-counselor and I could communicate our ideas to each other all on one page. It seems like I have a bunch of sticky-notes or short emails to her, but those tend to get lost in the shuffle. Having a wiki would allow us to easily keep all of our ideas together, and add on when needed. I thought it was very easy to get started, and found myself liking the idea of a wiki much more once I was actually creating one. I could see maybe using a wiki as a form of a needs-assessment for our school too. I am always interested in hearing what teachers and students think are areas of need from the counselors, and this would allow people to quickly communicate those ideas. Again, it would be ideal because other people could see what their co-workers have written, and could then add on more comments or input to the idea. It seems so much more efficient than sending out a billion emails and trying to convey everyone's ideas in a clear manner.

Thing 9 - Wiki Wiki Wiki

This was an interesting topic for me because I have heard about wikis for some time now, but never really looked any further into it. It was a little confusing to me at first why someone would choose a wiki over a blog, or just a webpage in general, but then I started to see how the wiki allows for much more interaction from its members. It was neat because on some of the school/classroom wikis that I found, there was general information on there, but then the students could add their own personal touch to certain sections. In my opinion, as long as the teacher has time to monitor something like this, I think the buy-in from students could potentially be greater with a wiki than a blog since kids would be reading information posted by their peers. But, I can see the disadvantage of really having to monitor what is included in the wiki, so that someone isn't posting false information that is just going to make a topic even more confusing. I'm not sure if there is realistically enough time for that in a teacher's schedule. Here are three of the wikis I visited:

1. mrsibrahim.wikispaces.com
This wiki caught my eye because it was for a classroom of 2nd grade students. I wanted to take some time to explore it because I was not sure what a teacher would be able to do with wikis when working with that age group. I liked how each student had their own page included within the wiki, so that they could write about themselves and include personal stories. The wiki was pretty easy to navigate, not an overwhelming amount of information. I thought it was really cute to read what the kids had written about certain lessons covered -- always interesting to get the perspective of a 2nd grader. I think it could be a way to see if the kids are really understanding the content or not.

2. bear-den.wikispaces.com
This wiki was created for an 8th grade world history class. It was quite a bit more detailed than the elementary wikis that I looked at, but that makes sense because of the amount of content being learned at a higher grade level. I was very impressed with the amount of information on the wiki. Students could find vocab lists, test reviews, possible essay questions, etc. He even had a spot on there with an updated number of exams he had corrected and how many he had left to go! I wish that our classes would have had something set up like this when I was in school. With our busy schedules, it was always so hard to coordinate with other people to find study times. I really like how this promotes collaboration with kids too. It seems like so many times, the competitive spirit of academics can take over and students don't want to share study materials. As a student who did make study guides for myself and worked very hard at school, I can see where I might get frustrated if everyone was not contributing to the wiki. If it were the same people always putting up good ideas and the rest of the class just kind of "using" their information all the time, I can see where that could get annoying. It seems like there should maybe be some sort of requirement for the class that you contribute to the wiki at least three times throughout the semester or something like that.

3. stanleyyelnats.wikispaces.com
This wiki was targeted more specifically at giving input on a book that the students had read. I think this is a really neat idea. What a cool way to get the different perspectives on a story from all of its readers. I could see how this might actually save some class time, as a teacher could look over the wiki and then pick out certain posts that the class could discuss. I think this might be an interesting way to get the opinions of kids who are not as confident speaking in front of the class. Some students might have a much easier time expressing themselves through typing versus oral expression. It would at least be an avenue to get more of the class involved I would think. This page was very easy to navigate through, and really just kept it simple, which was nice. Some of the other wikis had way too much information.

Thing 8 - Locate Feeds That Interest You

When learning about RSS feeds, I basically went to the websites that are of usual interest to me and subscribed. I ended up having a variety of different sites -- education, sports, community news, favorite authors' blogs, etc. It is so nice to be able to have all of the feeds in one place - saves a lot of time. The Google Reader Search was really the easiest way to find things for which I was looking, so I stuck with that for the most part. I think this, just like most of the other topics we have covered, will be a learning process as I discover which feeds are the most helpful. It is a great tool though, and now it seems the only thing I need to find is the time to read my feeds!

Thing 7 - Learn About RSS & Set Up an RSS Feeder

This has been one of my favorite lessons so far. I have heard about using an RSS Feeder for awhile now, but never knew the steps to get started. I can already see how much time and frustration this is going to save me, both for work at school and in my personal life. There is so much helpful information out there, but it just takes so long to go from one site to the next, and scroll down, and look around, then go back again --- the feeder makes things so much easier! I like that I can choose my favorite sites too, so I know they are going to be credible sources and I won't have to spend time looking around all over the web for things. I feel like this is going to help me stay connected with things going on in the community, and really, all over the world, much better. I have felt for awhile now that I don't pay close enough attention to things going on in the "outside world," and know that this feeder is going to help me so much.

I can see students using this to do a quick check on current events or checking their teachers blogs. I know that I get frustrated searching all over the Internet for information, so I am sure kids are even more easily swayed away from taking time to look things up. If they had a quick and easy feed to look at, I think they would be much more apt to look deeper into things.

One thing that I will have to watch is not over-loading myself with feeds. I want to be able to pick a few really good sites that I know are reliable, and stick with those. I am really excited to start using this though, I feel more connected already.