Thing 18 - Slideshare

Jeopardy Mathathon Fractions

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I choose this PowerPoint because jeopardy is a game that I play in my classroom for review. Even if I don't use this presentation it gives me the starting point for changing the questions to any subject we are working on. I think slideshare has many useful presentations, and even if the presentations don't work perfectly it allows you to change some of the presentation to fit your needs without doing all of the formatting.

Thing 17 - Knowtes

I tried to use the virtual flashcards program because I thought it could be one that I use with my math lab students. Some downfalls are that the students need to have an account to be able to add decks to practice with, and some of the decks out there already do not have all the flashcards necessary for my students. For instance I explored a subtraction facts deck which didn't have all of the facts I would expect students to know. I think this could be an interesting tool to use, but I think I would have to manage it completely. I could create decks on my own account and have students log on to my account to access the practice decks...I have a feeling that I need to think about this some more before I could use it in the classroom.

Thing 16 - Google Documents

I think this is probably my favorite thing so far. I could use google documents with my math colleagues to edit and talk about the common assessments that we have. We all have busy schedules so getting together on a regular basis is not the best option anymore. With google documents it is easier to create, edit, and communicate more frequently. In addition this would be great for a language arts class for the editing process. I'm not sure that math would be the easiest thing to do with google documents, but maybe they have the equations editor to make it easier. The only concerns I have with using this at school is that 1) students need to have a google account or e-mail address and 2) the availability of accessing the computer during school or at home. Overall I give this one a big thumbs up!

Thing 15 - RSS

RSS is very easy to use, but I just don't see it as something I will make time for. There are always great things on the web to read, but I haven't really found a blog that I would want to look at regularly. And I really don't see myself wanting to look at multiple blogs on a regular basis which is what this site is really useful for. If I required my students to keep a blog or many of my colleagues keep blogs I would consider using bloglines on a regular basis. Right now, however, I don't believe that bloglines is for me.

Thing 14 - Delicious

My Delicious account is janowern. I had a delicious account in college and after revisiting the site I don't think it will be something that I use on a regular basis. Most of the time I use the same computer to do my work so the favorites list works just fine. I see the benefits of backing up my favorites on a delicious account so that if my computer ever goes I will still have all of my sites. I also think that using this site to direct students to appropriate websites for research projects is a great idea. For math I could see this as a way to direct students to practice math sites, math games, or even math teaching videos. It could be a site students use over the summer to keep up their math skills or a way for them to do practice during breaks or before a test or quiz. I think Delicious will enhance productivity because you can access the sites on any computer so you can add or edit anytime you don't have to wait to go home to access the website you can't remember.

Thing 13 - Tagging

Tagging could be a useful way to organize resources because it does narrow down the search for materials. However, I tend to think tagging is a lot like using a search engine like google. If you type into google math+integers+adding you will get sites that are tagged for all three of those items. A social networking site using tags will only bring up sites that other users recommend which is a positive and a negative. If someone is recommending a site I would hope that they thought that decision through, but it is possible that the site really isn't all that great. I tend to think that I will still use search engines more than social networking sites especially since I joined Delicious once before and havn't looked at it until I started the 23 things. I am hopeing that my experience this time will be a bit more useful.

Thing 12 - Add a Widget

Embedding code is very easy. However if you add the widgets to the layout of your blog then people will be able to see them all the time. I guess it just depends on the look you are going for. The widget I picked is a game that I really like to play. I think that myspace and facebook are so popular because they make relationships easier. It is much easier to keep in touch with people on a networking site than calling or even e-mailing. I also think that these sites make having relationships easier as well. Telling a friend anything through typing is easier than having an actual conversation with the person. I don't believe that relationships through networking sites can ever come close to face-to-face relationships; however, these sites are useful for keeping in touch with people on a more regular basis.

Thing 11 - Comment?

I find commenting rather difficult because I'm not really sure what to respond. Then if I do respond is it my responsibility to check the blog again to see if there are any more replies after me? When I saw that my blog got its first few comments I was excited; however, that didn't really motivate me to comment on others blogs or even make me want to respond. I would think that comments get people motivated to write because they know people are reading it. I think students would be more motivated to write if they could get comments from people other than the teacher all the time. Students get better at writing if they write a lot, but I wonder if a blog would really encourage students to do their best writing...