Thing #10

RSS seems like a really handy tool, because in Blogger you can follow various blogs and see which ones have been updated via your dashboard but that's only true for others in Blogger. Just following various blogs via Feedly I like seeing everything I'm interested in all in one spot. I started following some education blogs plus a few blogs on running and baking (yes, I see the irony). I can get fitness tips for when I go to the gym plus that awesome recipe for what to make at the next church potluck all at one stop! Teachers can take advantage of this technology by keeping track of certain posts they want to use by clicking the bookmark icon on Feedly which puts the post under the "Saved for Later" section. We can do this for different posts from different blogs and have them all in the same place rather than having many different browser windows open.

Thing #9

The Happy Face Generator, Image Chef is definitely a blast and much easier to navigate that the other sites. Here's a nice, corny picture I made featuring myself and my boyfriend. That aside, this would be a great tool to use to create personalized notes for students, to help with relationship building. Even something as small as picture with "Happy Birthday (insert name)" will mean a lot.

The Comic Strip Generator was fun as well and great for personilization rather than searching Pinterest for the the school/teacher memes we are growing accustomed to seeing all the time. Here's a little something I whipped up. For all of these it's pretty much as simple as clicking on the picture, typing in your text, and clicking customize. You can either right-click and save your picture or upload it.

Thing #8

I used the Spell with flickr generator. I used it to spell out my daughters' names (Autumn and Hannah). Online generators can definitely be fun since you never know until you click the button what is going to come up. I would definitely use online generators as a way for my classroom decor and since I'll be teaching language arts, I'll definitely incorporate it into my teaching. As far as sharing photos online, I feel pretty okay about it. I've never shared anything that would be considered indecent or question my integrity, but it's weird to think about that any photo I've put out there of myself or my family it's essentially out there forever no matter what I try to do to delete it. All anyone has to do is do a right click and then that photo is in their possession. It's a bit of a double edged sword.

Thing #7

I've seen and heard various references to Flickr, but I have never thought to check it out.  As far as photos go I basically keep them on my phone, post them on Facebook, and that's pretty much that.  I always tell myself that I will go to Walgreens, print off copies, and get back into the scrapbooking game but that has yet to happen.  But I digress.
I didn't type any search keywords into Flickr. I simply clicked on Explore and went to The Weekly Flickr, and I saw this. I thought it was very sweet. Both my daughters love bears, so I thought I would pay a bit of homage to them. Whisper by Flickr

Thing #6

As a future English teacher, I'm drooling on myself a little over GrammarBase.  This goes beyond the grammar and spell check on Microsoft Word.  It tells you if you're being redundant, using passive voice, and just general punctuation mistakes.  Copy and paste a whole text into a box and in a matter of seconds you have words and phrases underlined in different colors depending on the mistake. One thing I do not like about this program is that it does not give you options on how to correct the mistake.  It gives you an offer for their professional proofreader to fix the mistakes for you at the price of $15.45 per page which I personally did not care for. This could be a great teaching tool since it does not give away the answers. A willing student could have his or her assignment put into GrammarBase and as a class go over the mistakes together. Knowing middle school students like I do, they would most likely turn it into a game to see whose assignment would be underlined the least. As long as they're taking in what is being taught that is perfectly fine with me!

Thing #5

      School 2.0 means to me basically what the original blog post said--school as it changes and evolves going into the future and seeing it incorporating technology.  Long gone are the days of blackboards and chalk and pretty soon long gone will be the days of whiteboards and dry erase markers! With smart boards and document cameras there is very little need for such things anymore.  Flipping through the top web tools for classrooms, I did recognize quite a few that are being use for my own children and at the school where I currently work.  I work in middle school and we use Edmodo and Mobey Max.  My children are in elementary school, and I'm seeing a lot of use of Wikispaces. 
     I think School 2.0 means very good things for the future, but educators need to be aware that there can be too much of a good thing.  Educators teaching the same content in the same school system need to come together and decide on a minimum of two tools to use for their students.  Using a new type of program can be a learning process itself before teachers are able to get to the actual content.  Students should not still be struggling to navigate through a program while the teacher has since moved on to teaching the actual material.  Fortunately, students today are very tech savvy but we need to be careful about bombarding them with the requirement to know too many programs. I love the article where Steve Hargadon mentioned that everything is becoming participative. We're "talking" and "communicating" more than ever before without even having to be in person or speaking on the phone. I liked his example using the book industry. If we buy a book from Amazon it can easily suggest 20+ other books we might be interested in based on this one purchase. We will most likely buy another book which we never thought we would. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, since such a thing can lead you down avenues where you otherwise never would have gone.

Thing #4

Commenting helps create a sense of community and interaction by letting the blogger know that what they are saying means something to someone out there and that further discussion is wanted and/or needed.  People who deem a post worthy of taking the time to comment must also be avid followers of said blog.  An interest or lifestyle must be shared, so that's where the initial connection is shared.  Take for example, "mommy blogs".  There is a website called Top Mommy Blogs with "mommy blogs" for every type of mom out there--working moms, single moms, stay at home moms, homeschooling moms, etc--so being a mom is in itself a connection that is easily shared.  Then narrowing that connection down to the type of lifestyle a  makes it even easier to form that community.  Note: As of Sept 19, 2014, I am waiting for the new registered blogs to be posted and then I will go through and post comments on them. But two blogs I have come across that hold some interest to me are The Nerdy Teacher and Learning from My Mistakes. These are both blogs by English teachers, and they talk about real in's and out's of teaching itself. They admit when they've made mistakes in front of students and, to sum it up, just saying that we're all humans and that is what's great about this career. We are influencing students and even more so when they see the human side of us. I simply commented on both these blogs that I appreciate everything that they appear to do for their students and that I feel that I'm not alone since I'm sure throughout my first year of teaching and beyond I will make my fair share of mistakes.

Thing #3

I would use a blog as part of my future classroom and have a direct link on my teacher website (which is generally required of all teachers to post homework, announcements, etc).  Parents might want to know more details of recent happenings in the classroom, amusing anecdotes, or pictures of special events at school.  Of course, being a professional educator this would not be the place to vent my frustrations of the day and of students causing problems.  Anyone with a lick of common sense would know that.  For me personally I would have to be careful since I tend to have a very dry, sarcastic tone and that generally does not carry very well in black and white text.  I think the blog might also be kind of fun for telling about my various adventures during the summer when I don't see students on a daily basis.  Students need to know I'm a real person, too!  Again, this would all be middle school appropriate. 

Thing #2

     I have had two blogs previously.  I had a blog at LiveJournal for about four years where I wrote about my every day life--life as a wife and mother, etc.  I homeschooled my children for a year and a half, and I had a blog solely focused on that.  Recently I commented to someone how much I missed blogging.  As of right now I am a single mom trucking along, raising my two girls, working full-time, and going to school.  I figure someone out there can relate to such a life. ;)

     I decided on the name "Ms. Caulfield's 23 Things" just to make it simple, since this blog is an assignment for class.  Maybe it will become something more once this course is over.  Who knows! The name in the URL (seemscaulfieldlearn) is a bit on the humorous side since I'm sure those around me will see me learn, grow as a perspective educator, and maybe a go a bit insane sometimes.  I reckon having a few moments of insanity is all a part of the learning process.

     Creating the blog for me was an easy experience since I have previous experience with blogger, not to mention Google has made it very simple and accessible for anyone.

     My avatar reflects me fairly well, I think.  Physically it looks like me with the glasses and red hair.  Some folks say I'm blonde, and other say I'm a redhead.  And of course, I am holding a cup of coffee.  Coffee has been my saving grace ever since school started!

Thing #1

I like to think I hold a bit of all the 7 and a half habits of effective learning, but of course some are more challenging than others.  One habit of effective learning that proves to be challenging for me is viewing problems as challenges.  When a major problem, whether in learning or in life, arises I tend to lose my cool a little.  I might outwardly express losing my cool or keep it bottled up, but I've never looked a problem in the face and thought "Challenge accepted!"  I allow myself to have a moment, compose myself, and I do get to a point when I simply press forward.  Problems in life eventually turn out alright in the end, and some can simply take longer than others. 
An effective habit of learning that comes easy to me is keeping the end in mind.  Once this program is done I will have my master's degree and eventually have a teaching position--I might even start teaching before the program is over! My boyfriend hit the nail right on the head when he said I was building rather than tearing down.  Each class I go to, each assignment I complete and submit, and each time an educational theory gets implanted into my brain I am building toward the future.  I will walk across that stage and receive my degree and find a fulfilling career.