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!)