One last thing before I go!!

The most important thing I have gained from completing the Learning 2.0- 23 Things is the all the technological information that will benefit me now and in the future. A lot of this information gained I still use even at the end of my journey through the 23 Things.. some I may never use.. and other information I have simply forgot already! Below I have answered each question separately:

1. What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
I really enjoyed making the animoto video and exploring Flickr.

2. How has this program affected your lifelong learning goals?
I think 23 Things has helped me expand my prior knowledge on computer and has made me more confident when using my computer.

3. Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
I was really enlightened on Creative Commons I had very little knowledge about copyrighting laws prior to the 23 Things.

4.What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
I thought the program was set up wonderfully and was easy to navigate and use. I really enjoyed the videos and information linked to each Thing.

5. How will what you have learned influence your practice as a teacher?
All the knowledge gained from the 23- Things will benefit me when I start teaching in the classroom. I can use the RSS feeds to stay up-to-date and the organizer tools to stay on task with my busy schedule.

6. How do you plan to keep up with new developments in web 2.0? Recommend a way that you have found to be useful.
I will have to motivate myself to look back at my old blogs to keep track of everything I have learned, but eventually I will remember all the information that I found most useful. Now that I have become an expert blogger I hope to one day start my own teacher blog and help teachers around the world who share the same love and passion for teaching as I do!

I want to thank Dr. Wall for introducing me to blogging and all the other fun features that are found across the internet and through learning 2.0- 23 Things.

Laura

Thing # 23

The above image is an example of a creative commons. I went to www.comicstripgenerator.com and typed in the word "dog" into the search engine. I then found this image on the first page through txt2pics.com. This site let me change the text, font, size, and adjustments of the text on this image. I even had the option to send my creation as a free ecard or buy as a magnet. This site has bought the rights to use this image, but the public is allowed to use this image for personal or educational use. This image is an example of how learning 2.0- 23 Things is based off someone else's work and modified for learning purposes.

Educators can now freely use images, videos, books, and much more because of Creative Commons or CC. Creative commons gives owners and companies the right to put certain restrictions on their creation, but also allows the public to benefit from their creations. As a teacher, I can use Creative commons to create a lesson plan or even use a photo in my classroom PowerPoint. This allows educators to freely teach without worrying about getting sued or in trouble for the illegal use of copyrighted material. Now that I understand Creative commons I can use this to protect my personal work or the work of a students. Creative commons is an educator's best friend!

Thing # 22

I listened to an educational podcast called "Really Learning Spanish" http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/2398014. I chose this podcast because I have always had a love for the Spanish culture and had an interest in learning to speak the Spanish language fluently. There are several episodes in this podcast that deal with learning pronunciation, meaning and spelling of the Spanish language. The episodes are like mini lessons that are both interesting and entertaining. The best part is that these lessons are completely free rather than spending tons of money on software that may not be helpful to everyone who seek to learn a new language.

I discovered podcastdirectory.com was the easiest directory to find podcasts that truely interested me. This directory had various topics to chose from such as arts, business, comedy, education, food, games, heath and much, much more. I found many interesting podcasts that I have now added to my RSS newsfeed. The one that truly interests me is "Really Learning Spanish" and I'm looking forward to hearing the next episode!

This Thing has really given me a better understanding of what a podcast entails and how it works. Podcasts are a great source of information that children and adults alike will enjoy and create. I know that I will soon have to make a podcast for my Education 3040 project, so now I feel more confident in creating my first podcast. I hope to make many podcasts in the future to enhance my teaching and broad my strategies of teaching.

Thing #21

Animoto is very user friendly and quickly transforms simple pictures into entertaining videos. On Animoto there are three easy steps to follow in order to create your own personal video. First you must select what pictures you want to use, then pick your music, and lastly make a title and your done! It takes about five or so minutes to upload then you can share your video with anyone you chose. I could definitely incorporate this into my classroom by making educational videos or just for fun. The possibiliites are endless with Animoto!

Thing # 20

Youtube is a wonderful way to view videos that are instructional, informational, and entertaining to people around the world. I like to view funny or entertaining videos when I'm bored or simply off task. I also have several friends that upload videos of their own music or funny adventures through college and everyday life. Youtube can sometime be addicting, but I enjoy taking a few minutes out of my life to have a quick laugh or learn something new.

I chose a video that my good friend Kayci Orr made with her friend Joe. She is singing "Follow you into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie. I picked this video because it was made by a student at Austin Peay and it just serves as a great example that anyone can post a video on Youtube!!

Besides the entertaining side of Youtube there are tons of ways to make it educational for future students. On Youtube you can incorporate educational videos into your lesson plans to give students another way to learn or grasp material. You could also search for videos on Teachertube, which is a site more focused on bringing educational videos and media into the classroom.

Thing # 19

I already mentioned earlier in Thing # 18 that I am a member of MySpace and Facebook, and I use Facebook frequently to stay connected with my friends and family. I know in several of my education classes it is encouraged that we join a social teacher network such as Teacher Pop so with this Thing I have officially joined!! I commented on one of the former students at Austin Peay that had to join Teacher Pop because of Thing #19 in 23 Things. I also explored and found great blogs on subjects such as Autism and Praxis 11 that were very helpful to me. Teacher Pop is a great site because it is specifically created for teachers. It is an easy way to stay connected with several teachers at one time and share ideas on lesson plans and teaching practices. I thought Teaher Pop was similar to Facebook, but more professional and geared towards my career.



For my next social community I signed up for Fuzzster which is a site for animal lovers to blog about experiences with their pet or see what other pet owners are doing. I chose this site because I have a beautiful Miniature Pinscher named Sissy who I love and adore!! I live on campus at AP so I don't get to see Sissy as often as I would like, so I thought this was a great way to connect with other animal lovers. If I can't see Sissy all the time at least I can blog about her!

Thing # 18

I had no problem with this thing because I already have a Facebook and MySpace account. I remember that I set up a MySpace account my sophomore year of high school in 2006. MySpace was really simple to set up an account, but I forgot my password so I can no longer look at my page. I haven't even looked at MySpace since high school because the new social networking site for college students is definitely Facebook. I set up a Facebook account my freshman year of college and I try to check it everyday if not at least a twice a week. I love Facebook it is a great way to stay connected with old friends and meet new friends. You can add friends and even become a Facebook stalker and snoop on everyone's page. Of course I would never stalk anyone on Facebook!

I think it is very important that teachers stay connected with each other on social sites such as Facebook or MySpace. In our busy lives it is sometimes easier to check our Facebook page and send a message to an old friend or fellow teacher rather than actually talk on the phone or in person. As a teacher you could post great educational sites or lesson plans that any of your friends could check out and use. On Facebook you could start a network with just teachers from you school or county where teachers could join and stay connected with each other without having to search through a hundred friends that aren't teachers. If your child's parent(s) have Facebook you could even add them and write messages to let them know how their child is doing in your class. Parents may look at their Facebook pages more frequently then if you were to send an email. If you did stay connected with parents you would have to make sure you didn't disclose any information to the public or for anyone to see. Also, when using Facebook you must always make sure what you say and the pictures you post are professional and classy.

Thing # 17

I have always added my favorite and most visited sites in my favorite link on my HP laptop, but now I know that this is the old way to tag or bookmark. Now there are social bookmarking sites such as Delicious, Furl, and Magnolia that let registered users add sites, tag sites, and be socially interact with other users and see sites they tagged. The keywords or tags can be used in many ways to connect with other users that share your same interests. After exploring all three social sites I discovered that Delicious seemed to be the easiest to manage and use.

The tutorial on using Delicious was very helpful and sparked an interest in me to explore this social bookmarking site more. I loved the idea of always having access of all your favorite sites all located in one spot. With Delicious you can explore other users or teachers that have similar interests and look at sites they have tagged. This is a great way to stay connected with teachers or friends across the country.

As a future teacher I can use Delicious and bookmarking for lesson plans, researching, or just finding new information. I can research sites and then bookmark them so I can visit them later to make my lesson plans. I could even teach my upper level elementary students how to use bookmarking sites such as Delicious for any researching or learning activities that may require many sites. The possibilities for using bookmarking sites are endless and create a new way to save important information that was once disorganized and forgotten.

Thing # 16

Staying organized whether at work, school, or home can be a challenge for some individuals and come easier for others like myself. If there is one thing I strive to accomplish is an organized schedule and living area. So I was excited to explore thing 16 which is getting organized with web 2.0.

The customized start page I chose was iGoogle because I am most familiar with the google applications. I had lots of fun decorating and personalizing my start page. There were a ton of options to chose from, but I chose a rainbow theme to have several fun colors all on one page. I added a weather, calendar, and clock gadget so I could stay informed and organized every time I saw this page. I don't know if this will stay my start page for long because it takes some getting used to but I will see how the next days go.

I explored CollegeRuled to set up my online calendar. CollegeRuled is a site that is only accessible for students who have a college email address. It can create detailed class schedules and calendars geared specifically towards accommodating college students' needs. I created a detailed class schedule of this semester and it was really simple, fast, and fun to make. Calendars and schedules are very useful to me in my everyday life. I don't even leave my house with out my Austin Peay student calendar! Staying organized and writing things down is the only way to remember every detail and event that happens everyday. Using a calendar is just a simple way to stay on task and not forget to go to an important event or date. In the future, I will use CollegeRuled to make a calendar or even a quick schedule of all my classes. I would recommend CollegeRuled to any college student who needed a little help staying organized!

Another site that I explored was Zamzar which allows anyone to convert files. This service is also free, so I know that I will definitely be able to utilize this site in the future. Zamzar even allows users to manage files, convert big files, and get up to 100 GB of online storage. I know that my computer gets packed with lots of useless storage, so Zamzar would a great way to store files while still keeping them in one convenient place.

I absolutely love to-do lists!! I make a new to-do list every week so I can see what needs to get done and cross out what I have completed. These lists make me feel more accomplished. I believe that everyone should have some kind of to-do list whether it be on your phone, computer, binder or even on a sticky note! To-do lists keep people organized and as a future teacher I will have to obtain great organization habits to keep control of my classroom.

Thing # 15

I have heard and seen wikipedia a number of times when exploring the internet or even in my classes. Wiki is usually always the first site that comes up when you are using any major search engine to find a particular topic. It is very useful for quick information, but many of my professors in colllege and high school would strongly discourage students from using wiki in any of their papers or for sources. Now that I have explored wiki a little bit more I have discovered there are many others options to it besides just obtaining information.

I really enjoyed the youtube video on explaining wikis it explained a lot that I have not known before. I also had no idea that "wiki" was a Hawaiian word for quick. As I continued to explore, I really liked wiki's concept to let people be able to edit, write, and send what they have wrote. This is definitely a faster way to connect with several people at one time. On wiki you can get connected with friends, decorate your wiki page, link pages easily, upload documents, you can edit or create anywhere in the world, and it's free! I found all this information on the article "Ten reasons why your next pathfinder should be a wiki" by Joyce Valenza. In the APSU 23 things sandbox I thought it was so neat that you can add whatever you want with just a click of a button. All you have to do is sign up for an account and the website can be made into your own. I really enjoyed searching through the many options wiki has to offer. In my future classroom I may use wiki to post a class discussion on a topic or even a class project. I think wiki is a wonderful way to stay connected with others while having fun and learning.

Thing #14

Above I created a mind map on Bubbl.us that shows my family tree. I thought this application was very simple to set up and use. I never knew that there were ways to create mind maps and flow charts online. I explored the link Bubbl.us(mind map) and Gliffy (flow chart) for this project. Mind maps can be used for more linear things like time, while flow charts can be more complex with choices and outcomes. I personally enjoyed using Bubbl.us because it was fun to create a family tree and see how all my relatives connected to the top. I could use this in my future class when I teach about family trees and heredity. Students could make their own family trees using Bubbl.us. The next link I explored was Gliffy I had a great time designing a floorplan of my dorm room. Gliffy had tons of options to explore such as floorplans, flowcharts, and shapes. I know that I could use this site in my future classroom to teach geometry or even have students build a floorplan of their home. Students could also use the flow chart to collect their thoughts for a paper or an English project. I thought Gliffy was a little difficult to figure out at first, but with a little practice anyone could become a pro!

Thing #13

I had never heard of the Zoho Writer before this class. I never knew there was a way to create documents, tables, and spreadsheets through an application on the internet! If I had know this I probably wouldn't have wasted all that money on the software to install Microsoft Word 2008, when I could have made the exact same documents and more on the Zoho Writer. It was super easy to sign up and I had no problem finding the applications. All the gadgets were set-up almost exactly like Microsoft's software.

For my first experiment using Zoho Writer, I wrote a short essay and I discovered that I could change the font, size and even position. Zoho Writer had all the same functions and gadgets that Microsoft offers. I could send the document straight to my email or even print it out directly from the internet. I didn't find many differences between Zoho Writer and Microsoft Word. Next, I explored more options at the top of Zoho Writer called "switch to" that included applications like Zoho notebooks, Zoho chat, Zoho docs, Zoho mail, Zoho sheet and much more. I tried making a sheet through Zoho that was very similar if not exactly the same to the Excel program on Microsoft. I used the Zoho sheet to create a list of all the activities I had to do for the next month. It was very fast and efficent to use! The only negative I found was that Zoho Writer doesn't save my document automatically like Microsoft does. It was very frustrating getting pop-ups to save while writing a document. All in all, I found that Zoho Writer was a very useful tool that I could see my self utilizing in the future.

Thing #12

The two Google tools I chose to explore more were the iGoogle and the calendar. First, I chose iGoogle because the you can be connected to tons of links and information in one click of a button. Setting up iGoogle was fast and simple even for me. I really like it because you can check the weather everyday which is great to find out what I need to wear for the day or even if the weather will be nice for outdoor activities. It also includes a clock and calendar all on the same page as the weather. I can watch the lastest videos for the day or even catch the lastest news feeds. All this information can be found all on iGoogle with just one click of a button, so no more looking up ten sites just to be kept up-to-date everyday. The second tool I found useful was the calendar on Google. I'm a very organized and structured person so I like to write down all my activities and know what is due when. I have a daily planner that I use to write down my whole life and it stays with me wherever I go. With the Google calendar I can use the same idea as my paper calendar except I can access this calendar through my phone or any computer. This is a wonderful and more advanced way to stay organized and it is even eco-friendly! I started my own calendar, but it will take some time getting used to switching from planner to computer is hard to adjust to at first.

Both the iGoogle and the calendar will be great tools in my future classroom. Teaching and planning takes enough of a teacher's time, but with these tools I can make use of every minute if my time. Now I won't have to waste hours searching and trying to find crucial information. I will have everything organized and together in one place. I can't wait to start using these important Google tools everyday!

Thing #11

I thought technorati was the easiest searching tool that had the best information. I liked how this site was organized and everything was easy to find. At the top of the home page, technorati had several categories to narrow your searchs including technology, business, entertainment, lifestyle, sports, politics, videos, and blogging. It even included the lastest news and had a list of the most popular blogs of the day. I found tons of awesome sites and blogs that caught my interest. The hardest site for me to navigate was the syndic8.com. I was totally lost and confused when I tried searching on this site. The home page was formated weird, and I thought it was cluttered and unorganized. When I typed in a topic to search this particular search engine was very slow and I got frustrated trying to find a blog that appealed to me. The only element I liked about syndic8.com was the fact that it showed the date the blog was created when I searched. The blog that I found most useful was called Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog. Mrs. Cassidy had wonderful ideas and videos for activities that she had performed in her own classroom. I thought this site would definitely help me out when I need a good idea or even in my first few years of teaching I can observe her videos and collect great information! Another great navigator and searching tool would have to be Google. I thought information was easy to find and related to what I was looking for. Throughtout the rest of my college years and into my career I could definitely find myself utilizing my new RRS skills.

Thing #10

Before today, I had never heard of RSS or "Really Simple Syndication". RSS is a very interesting tool that I would have never known existed if not for this Web 2.0 project "23 Things". RSS is a service that provides a way to follow all over your favorite newsfeeds and blogs all in one place. It has truely changed the way information is shared through the internet. This service makes following your favorite bloggers fast and efficient! You can create an account for RSS in two feed readers Google Reader and Bloglines. I chose to set up an account in Google Reader, because I am more familar with Google. It was super easy to create an account for my own RSS. It was literally less than one minute and I was an official RSS user!! I know that I could definitely use this service to keep up with the lastest information and not spend the time it may take searching and scrolling through every website. As a teacher, I could subscribe to my favorite sites and learn the most up-to-date learning techniques. Teachers have enough to worry about without adding all the time and hastle it takes to search for sites and actually find new resourceful information that could be useful in the classroom. RSS is a great advance in technology that hopefully will by utilized into many teacher's daily habits and routines.

Thing #9

The image generator I choose to explore was the custom sign generator. This site had tons of fun ways to paste your personal photos into a fake magazine cover or even make a personal ad of your own! The first picture is of my boyfriend and me on the side of a building. I used the fun templates link to create this image under fake ads. Now isn't that a Kodak moment?

Next, I chose to make a magazine cover of myself (because who wouldn't want to see their face across the front cover of a top selling magazine?). The magazine cover templates ranged from sports, home and garden, beauty, fashion, and even business covers! I could only find a picture of myself from a dance, so I just made myself into America's next top model!

This activity would be great for teachers to make their lessons fun and entertaining. There are tons of opportunities to learn from these sites! Many children are visual learners so using these sites could be great opportunities for children to practice taking photos and creating templates. These sites could even be incorporated into a instructional PowerPoint to make learning more personal and creative! Personally, I would use this site to make homemade cards for friends or even to make someone smile!

Created on: http://www.sillyscenes.com/

http://www.fakemagazinecover.com/

Thing #8

As I explored the different mash ups, I thought this customized jigsaw puzzle activity on Flickr was awesome! I chose a picture of George Washington to represent an important historical leader. In upper grades, I could incorporate this site in an activity to help students have a visual of what people in history might have looked like or even use this site in a geography lesson. In lower elementary grades, I could even introduce the 50 states by making a puzzle of the United States and have the students match the pieces together. On this site you can even make and buy your own personal 252 piece jigsaw puzzle! This site is a great resource for teachers to make tons of education puzzles.

I think Flickr mash ups are very useful and interesting tools that could be both educational and fun. I spent almost an hour just exploring all the options that Flickr has to offer. My students are visual learners and Flickr would be a wonderful tool to make learning fun and hands on. Now that I know the different options I will definitely be using these mash ups in the near future!

Thing #7

While exploring Flickr and taking in all the breath taking photos I began my search exploring the keyword 'owls'. Owls are such beautiful and elegant creatures! I searched to see what other people had captured behind the lenses of a camera. I had to search through tons of magnificent photos on Flickr, until I finally found the perfect owl photograph.
This photo was taken by John Dalkin who is an architect living in Birimingham, England with a love of photography. This "Bengal Owl" was captured at the Mary Arden's Tudor Farm, Stratford upon Avon, England on May 12, 2009. I loved how this owl was caught flying in mid air!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59303791@N00/3525453732/2.jpg

Thing #6

As I looked through the list of all the web 2.0 sites that got awards I was amazed at how many useful sites there were on the web! I love to read so the first link that interested me was books. I clicked on the link and began to explore. I chose a site called Lulu that got the first place award in the books category. I thought the name was interesting and I'd never heard of Lulu before. I discovered this site is packed with tons of books, music, software, videos, calendars, and even artwork to buy and sell. Lulu's logo is "Spread the word. Publish and Sell" this phrase fits Lulu perfectly! The whole site is based on selling, publishing, and promoting books through the web. This would be a great site for teachers to find resourses fast and even be able promote their own books. This site would definitely be more useful for adults, but could be incorporated into the classroom by teachers. Even college students could use this site to find books that don't break the bank. Lulu was so user friendy that even I could use it!

Thing #5

I have never kept up with technology and didn't even realize that web 2.0 had a meaning! I guess I have been way behind the times!! I thought the information and sites about web 2.0 were very interesting and enlighting to learn about. The two sites that stuck out the most to me was"What is Web 2.0?" and "Web 2.0: A Guide to Educators".

The first site that caught my interest was by Atomic Learning and was called "What is Web 2.0?". It was a short video of pictures and a female narrator explaining what web 2.0 is all about. I loved hearing the history of technology and how far we have come. America went from one room school houses where students only had chalk boards, to the industrial age and the mass production of textbooks and paper, and then finally to our advances in technology such as the web. I learned that web 1.0 was mostly read-only and used basically for learning and educational purposes. I had no idea that making a website was so difficult and wasn't user friendly back in the earlier nineties. Now we have advanced technology to web 2.0 which is read and write web. Web 2.0 is now very user friendly and easy to manuver and operate verses the old read-only web 1.0.

The next site I enjoyed was "Web 2.0: A Guide to Educators" this site had a short article that basically highlighted the important points of web 2.0. I thought it was really exciting to think that the web could one day replace the need for classrooms, libraries, bookstores, and even telephones. This movement is already taking place in today's world. I believe that web 2.0 has its good points and its bad points. In the future, I know that books and paper will become obsolete because of the web. This is good because this saves time, money, and makes our lives easier. On the other hand, I think the web makes things less personal and more robotic. Now people don't just call someone up to talk they have to text message, email, or facebook them.

Even there are negatives I know that the web will become a key role in the future of teaching. In the education field the web is very benefical to look up lesson plans, pictures, information and even videos to use as learning tools. There is an endless amount of opportunities that can be accomplished through web 2.0. I think the web is a wonderful resource for all teachers. I know that with this fast pace world techology will reach great heights and one day there may be no more classrooms everything may be digitalized on the web.

Thing #4

Commenting is a great to keep blogging interactive and fun. If you were always simply blogging to yourself with no one reading or commenting on your posts, blogging would become very mundane and boring. I would eventually lose interest in my blog and stop making posts. I liked what The Cool Cat had to say about blogging and how you can let other bloggers know that you admire what they have to say by commenting. I also think it is important to interact with people who have left you comments and keep the conversation and interest going.

The five blogs that I commented on from my Education 3040 class section 01 include: Megan Cox, Bradley Clifton, Kensey Brewer, Wendy McClendon, and Rebecca Lewis. I also commented on two students Cady Denton and Billie Albert that are in Education 3040 section 04. All the comments that I posted were encouraging and tasteful. I think commenting is a way to give others a pat on the back letting them know that their voice is being heard and others are listening. I will continue to comment on fellow classmates blogs to show them that I appreciate what they are saying.

Thing #3

In the future, I think blogging will be used more often in the classroom. In my classroom, I think blogging would be a great way to keep up with all your students. Students could blog to me everyday and I could keep track with how their lives are going. Sometimes it is a lot easier for a student to open up about an issue or problem through words rather than talking to the teacher one on one. I could write a blog about homework assignments and even the highlights of class each day. This blog would keep students connected and refreshed on what went on in the classroom. It is also a great way for the teacher to keep track of what has happened in the last weeks or even months. In my blog I could even share and post ideas of lesson plans and activities to help other teachers.

As a future elementary teacher I could not only introduce my students to more technology, but also make it available of the parents to blog too. This would be a great way to keep in touch with student's parents and even know what to expect from a student in class. I think elementary students starting to blog by first grade is a great way to introduce our new generations to technology.

Thing #2

This is my first time ever blogging!! It was quite stressful and confusing at first, but got much better later. The most confusing thing was creating that crazy avatar! I didn't think I would ever figure it out! I feel very accomplished that I have made it this far. I have been doing a lot of reading and re-reading of instructions to actually understand what to do for each section. After the first step I feel like it can only get easier from here on. Technology really isn't my strong point, but this blogging activity is really helping me!

I chose my posting name to be Laura Czecholinski just so I wouldn't get confused with anyone else. I thought "Laura's 23 Things" is a great blog name just because it is self explanatory. That avatar was fun to make, but I just had trouble trying to post the picture on the page. I chose my avatar to have medium brown hair with brown eyes, because that best represents how I look in real life. I am most comfortable in jeans so that is why I chose my avatar to wear jeans. I really liked the one shoulder top because it gives the avatar personality, which is something I have a lot of! My avatar also has on some pink sandals because they match the top and look very comfortable. The background reminds me of Nashville, which is a great place to hang out with friends and family. Even though this activity was hard at first the instructions were very helpful and discriptive. I believe that by thing #23 I will be an expert at blogging!!

Thing #1

I believe everyone is a lifelong learner no matter how old or young you are. You start to learn from the time you are born, till the day you die. Some people may believe that you stop learning once you graduate from either high school or college. I strongly disagree because I learn something new everyday whether it be learning to operate a hairdryer or even hearing the latest news on T.V., there are endless opportunities to learn every second of the day.

The easiest learning habit for me is #1: Begin with the end in mind or goals. I am a very goal oriented person I learn by knowing what I will accomplish in the end. I set high goals for my self to not only finish, but to know what I need to accomplish in the end. I try to give everything I do 110% no matter what it may be. I do not like to complete a project with only putting in half the effort. I strive to be an over achiever, so I can learn and accomplish things to the best of my ability. An example of a high goal I have now would be my goal to finish college in three years rather than the normal four years. This basically has to do with the high cost of college, but it is also just a self goal. Even though I may get stressed out or want to give up I always look back to my goal that I set in the very beginning.

The hardest learning habit for me is #6: Use technology to your advantage. I am definitely more of a pen and paper kind of gal. I loath trying to figure out the latest technology no matter how simple it my be to others. I would much rather talk to someone in person verses blogging a person on the other side of the world. All and all, technology really just frustrates me because it is so detailed and difficult to pick up on. A task as simple as emailing or even printing off papers, can boggle my mind! For example, it took me almost thirty minutes just to figure out how to create and open this blog on my computer. The only way I would use the latest technology is if someone sits down and shows me step by step how to operate it. There are way too many buttons, links, and devices on computers! Most of the time I stay far away from anything that is unfamiliar or foreign to me. I really hope that I will learn a lot of beneficial material on technology and uses in this Education 3040 class, so I can learn to appreciate technology more. I hope that by the end of this class I can be comfortable enough with technology that I could utilize it in my future classroom. (Look, I just used habit #1 and set a goal for myself!)