Thing #23 The End!!

1. Favorite discoveries/exercises. I have several favorites. First, is Delicious. I've been putting websites on there and using tags to label which class and topic the sites are for. I have to figure out how to organize the sites so students don't have to scroll through a ton of sites looking for what they need.

I also like Google Advanced Search. I've used it to look up information on one topic. I expect to use it a lot.

LibraryThing is neat. I have a rather large class library now... I've been working on it for a couple of years and add to it each year. I'm going to put all the books on it. I can keep track of what I have. Students can access it to see what is available in my room and find out about the book before deciding what they want to read.

2. Life long learning goals. This program has been a really sharp learning curve. I know very little about what is available to use and had never heard of Web 2.0. My use of technology is very basic. I've learned A LOT and have found really useful information for my history classes, such as http://sovietposter. blogspot.com Now I need to keep working with what I learned, so that it becomes easier and I can create a variety of learning opportunities for students.

3. Take-aways/unexpected outcomes. Nothing struck me as unexpected. I knew there was a lot out there that I had never explored, so that is why I signed up for this program. Because of being assigned to look for blogs, I found the John Wayne site. I had not thought before of looking for a fan website. Turns out it is a blog and it is fun. I told a friend, who is also a big John Wayne fan, about it today. I'm also glad to find the NCSS Ning. I'm going to tell teachers in my department about it.

Actually, there is an unexpected outcome. I was asked to write curriculum this summer for a new district Economics program. It is an independent study program for students who are taking Economics at HCC. The students need activities and lessons on Fridays at their home campus. It needs to be very easy for teachers to monitor. Besides looking at Plato and other sources, I've gotten ideas from doing this program, including using the structure of the program for the Economics lessons for the students, if that is okay.

4. What to do differently. I don't know. I really like this format. I like being able to work on the lessons at home when my daughter is in bed. When I go to workshops, I have to send her to my parents' house. She has fun, but prefers being at home. The instructions were good and understandable. It was possible to just click on links provided or to explore even further from that. I like the independent study aspect of the program.

5. Another program. Yes, I would definitely participate, especially if it were in the summer. I need more practice with what I learned. There is so much that needs to be done all of the time. One goal I had this summer was to exercise, but that didn't happen. I did paint, unpack boxes, hang pictures... lots of things connected with moving. Having the structure of this class got me on the Internet and exploring information that will be helpful for my classes. The structure gets me doing it and since I didn't even know what to look for, the information in the program guided me as to what to do.

6. One word or sentence. Enlightening. Useful. Very interesting (sorry... two words). This program guided me to expand my knowledge by exploring the technology world where I had never gone before (apologies to Star Trek).

Thank you!