Thing #20 I Also Heart Youtube!

I've been a big fan of Youtube since 2005. It's not only great for entertainment purposes, but also for information on just about anything. I've gone to Youtube for makeup tutorials, crafting tutorials (like above), recipes, to listen to favorite songs, math help (this has helped me immensely), you name it!

Another great video site is the Teaching Channel. I've found a LOT of useful and informative videos on this site for all aspects of teaching and classroom management. Check it out!

Thing #19 Even More Social Networking!

I joined TeacherPop, uploaded my profile pic, and tweeted it! I think this is a great social network site for local APSU preservice and inservice teachers. Another social network that I've been a part of for a while is Goodreads. I love this site! You can keep track of books that you've read as well as add books to your bookshelf to read later. Other features include having friends so you can see what they're reading as well as write and read reviews of books. Highly recommended!

Thing #18 Tweet Tweet!

I love social networking! While I'm not a huge fan of Facebook, I love using Twitter to quickly make an update (usually of a show I'm watching haha). I've been using a personal Twitter account since 2008. For this class, and one I may use during my teaching career, I made a new twitter account. If you have one, follow me here!

While Twitter is a great resource to update information to your class at home, it is important to keep in mind that not all families have internet access or a Twitter account. I have found through my own Twitter that it is a great way to get information about education on the state and national levels. Also, I have found many resources through following other teachers' Twitter accounts. If you don't have a Twitter account, I highly recommend trying it out!

Thing #17 It's Delicious!

While I have been on StumbleUpon a few times, this has been my first time using Delicious.com. I found it very easy to sign up and search for tags. I found some useful links from the educational technology tag to add to my "stack". In order to read the comments left about certain links, you have to click on the number of times that particular site was added to people's stacks. Delicious.com is a very useful site for teachers, particularly if you are linked to other teachers in your content area. I'm always interested to see what other teachers have found to be useful in their own classrooms.

Thing #16 Getting Organized

Which start page did you choose? Why did that one appeal to you? Will you make it your permanent home page?

The start page that I chose was the iGoogle homepage. I have always loved using this as my homepage because it is so customizable and gives easy access to calendar, time, and to-do lists.

How can the online calendars be useful to you?

I chose the 30 Boxes calendar because I have never heard of it before. It was very simple to set up. You can also create a 30 Boxes calendar mash-up by incorporating personal photos into a customizable calendar.

What about the to-do lists—helpful, too much work…?

I chose the Remember the Milk online to-do list organizer. It was easy to set up and add to your to-do list. I like how you can use this with Google Calendar and can also be used as an app on your iPhone. You can pretty much access your Remember the Milk to-do lists from anywhere which makes this extremely handy for busy teachers!

I like all of the organization tools I tried and would recommend them to anyone. I think my favorite of the three is the Remember the Milk to-do list organizer. I like how it is so easily accessible. Plus, I love lists!

Thing #15 What the Wiki?

I love Wiki when I'm looking up general things that I would like further information about. However, it is always necessary to keep in mind that anyone can edit the content. The aspect of this "open community encyclopedia" is quite unique and should only be used for personal interests, not as a research tool.

I was a little confused when trying to post to the APSU 23 Things Sandbox Wiki. I wasn't quite sure how to post. I signed up for it then edited the page with my Thing #9 about image generators. In all, I think that a collaborative page is a great idea as long as the content is structured and organized and not a mess.

Thing #14 - Going With the Flow

I have to admit that I tried using Gliffy to make a flowchart, but even though I consider myself pretty "techy", I was somewhat frustrated with it. It isn't the most user-friendly tool but it is quite handy for anyone wanting to create a flowchart. After my frustration, I tried out Bubbl.us and I had a much happier experience when I created my mind map. The mind map I created is a useful writing strategy called POW+WWW, What=2, How=2. I will more than likely create more mind maps as well as graphic organizers with Bubbl.us.

Thing #13 - Zoho is convenient-o

After exploring some of the features of Zoho and Google Docs, I have found that both of these apps are extremely convenient for teachers and classrooms. Zoho's document feature, Zoho Writer, has a format that is very similar to Microsoft Word. This provides familiarity and ease of use. Documents can be created and easily edited and saved, as well as shared with the class or submitted directly to the teacher. Zoho Writer also has a chat feature. Students may submit questions to the teacher or collaborate with other classmates on a project. I will definitely incorporate Zoho into my classroom. It's a user-friendly, convenient, and effective tool.

With Google Docs, the user can create document, presentations, spreadsheets, forms, drawings, and tables. All of these can be saved and shared. I explored the drawing tool and made the image above. Teachers can use this tool to make signs for their classroom. All of the features of Google Docs are extremely useful for any teacher. The convenience of this is that documents can be easily accessible from any computer or iPad.