Thing #18 - Sir Tweets-A-Lot?

I'll begin by saying that I have not been a big fan of social networking sites for a long time.  Now that doesn't mean that I hate social networking or anything like that, but I just don't have that natural drive to maintain that level of connectivity and transparency that everyone else in the world seems to have.  I had a Facebook page back in the old days (when you had to have a college email to even create a profile) but was always bad about keeping it updated, and was even worse about seeing what my friends were up to.  Was always a chore to me.  So like I said, don't hate social networking, just not interested in doing the work necessary to keep the pace with everybody else.  Perhaps I'm a bit old fashioned in that I still prefer face-to-face human contact over seeing what comments appear in my news feed.  

But enough naysaying.  Obviously, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are here to stay, and certainly have their place in our society, as well as the modern teacher's list of essentials.  Being able to keep up with fellow teachers, admins, and even groups such as school districts or individual schools enables teachers to stay up-to-date on the latest news, events, etc.  As far as usefulness is concerned, I think Twitter wins out over Facebook, but only slightly.  Facebook is certainly geared towards social (instead of professional) interaction, with a bit of professionalism on the side.  Twitter is also social, but its layout and functionality (keeping those posts short and sweet!) make it a better choice for a teacher seeking to follow exemplary teachers (such as @coolcatteacher) and keep up to speed with trending topics.  In considering class or school integration of social networking websites, I feel they may have a place though it would need to be very limited.  I liken their academic use to a classroom discussion: often beneficial, but requires a large dose of teacher mediation to keep on task.

https://twitter.com/#!/scomey11

Thing #17 - Bookmarks and Webpages

I see social bookmarking as a valuable tool for the modern teacher's resource arsenal.  After signing up and exploring delicious.com, and familiarizing myself with the application, I see it as a great way to save and organize that small portion of the internet deemed relevant to you (or me!).  Having the ability to bookmark, then organize sites with tags, makes a site list containing hundreds of entries quite manageable (thereby keeping that long list actually useable).  The social aspect is also very important, as it allows other, like-minded individuals to create and share bookmarks easily (since everything on delicious.com is public).  That means there are lots of people bookmarking and tagging, for instance, good lesson plan websites.  The power of numbers at work, it's a beautiful thing.

And how can teachers take advantage?  Easy!  Just sign up and start looking for relevant tags, and you'll find a slew of related websites, already explored, tagged, and commented on by actual living people!  It's like a search engine, only better!

As a side note, I also took a look at StumbleUpon, which is not entirely unlike delicious.com, but different enough (in my mind) to be considered something other than a social bookmarking site.  Rather than maintaining control over what you see and where you go, StumbleUpon keeps track of your chosen interests, then takes you to a different content-related website every time you click the "stumble" button.  While this can be a fun activity, and may expand your horizons and list of resources, I must conclude by saying that StumbleUpon is better suited to those with some spare time on their hands.  For those who want to utilize social bookmarking for fun and profit (not in the financial sense, more like the time-management sense), an app like delicious.com is just what the doctor (or internet librarian) ordered.

Thing #16 - Production Costs...Time (So Save It When You Can)

Upon completing Thing #12, I immediately switched from my old Yahoo hompage to a snazzy, customized iGoogle homepage, and never looked back.  I love having control over what shows up on the page (entertainment news, YouTube trends, Artist of the Day, even daily comics like in the newspaper!) and I don't have to wade through all the stuff that doesn't interest me.  This certainly helps streamline the amount of time spent doing less-than-vital online activities (you know how it goes..."I'm gonna get on and write this reflection really quick.  Hey, what's Lindsey Lohan doing in the news again?" *click*)  Needless to say, none of the other homepages interest me in the slightest, since I have integrated my entire online life into Google (Gmail, GoogleDocs, GoogleMaps, and of course, plain ol' search engine).  As far as I'm concerned, iGoogle is the best startpage a guy like me could ask for, and it matches everything else in my wardrobe so well.

Online calenders intrigue me, but little else.  I can see the value of adding events and reminders and the like, but ultimately have never felt drawn towards using them.  However, I do occasionally use the calendar feature on my iPhone, which works pretty much identically to any online calender app, but with the additional benefit of being in my pocket (accessibility at its finest).  As a student, I have a short list of important dates and appointments to keep track of, but feel very certain that things will change dramatically when I'm teaching.  When that day comes, I think I'll rely on GoogleCalendar to keep my schedule straight.

I went and signed up at Rememberthemilk.com, and checked it out.  I've heard the name tossed around in conversations recently, and saw this opportunity as a good excuse to see what the app is all about.  Basically, I was unimpressed.  Deeper contemplation on the issue leads me to feel that maybe our society is becoming over-organized, to the point of becoming cluttered (albeit in a more structured fashion).  At Rememberthemilk, you can make lists, organize lists under different tabs, share lists with others, etc.  In my mind, using this type of app is just another thing to manage, beyond the items that you had to take the time to list in your head, type up in the app, organize, and check off.  Whew!  I'd be better off with an old pen-and-paper honey-do list.  The one thing a productivity app does have going for it is its medium; keeping lists and events online does make them harder to lose. 

Recommendations? Google.  Use it for everything.  Especially if you're not so tech-savvy (like myself).  They'll do all the heavy lifting for you (like Hamburger Helper!).

Thing #15 - Wiki-what?

I'll start by saying that I am a big fan of wikis, and use them constantly (both for academics and entertainment). I think the concept provides a really valuable outlet for collecting, organizing, and sharing information. I use Wikipedia for just about everything research-related, though I do believe it's important to take the info found there with a grain of salt (the downside to user-edited content), but overall Wikipedia is a great starting point when beginning research into a new topic. I found my way over to the 23 Things Sandbox, and added an image and some notes (first time I've actually edited wiki content, I'm the "look but don't touch" type).

 I also took some time to check out a few of the wiki links on the 23 Things blog, and found Welker's Wikinomics to be especially cool. I think the best thing about a wiki is the underlying assumption that its creators want us to add to and edit it, whereas regular blogs and websites are usually less inclined to promote that.  I also think it would be a great class project to construct a wiki based on the subject being taught, giving each student a list of people, places, concepts, etc. to write short encyclopedia entries about, then post the to the wiki.  The end result would be a unique, valuable resource that the students will (hopefully) have a bit of fun putting together.

Thing #14 - Flow Ride, Take It Easy...

For this assignment, I took some time to mess around with Gliffy and Mindmeister, dealing with flowcharts and mindmaps, respectively. Both websites were pretty easy to get the hang of, and I had fun creating a couple different examples. I don't currently have any other projects or assignments that I could utilize these applications with, but perhaps that's for the best (just kinda playing with them casually, sans stress). I made a fun little flowchart on the Gliffy website, just to get a feel for it. I myself am not a huge fan of flowcharts, as I feel that they're a bit confusing and cumbersome as far as visual aids go, but that's just my personal observation. I certainly do understand how a flowchart can be useful in the classroom, especially when sequencing is important to a lesson (be it steps for completing an equation, determining a chain of historical events, setting up an experiment, etc.) I derived a bit more enjoyment out of making a mindmap on Mindmeister, probably due to my preference for this type of layout. Rather than a sequential or directional context, which must be planned out beforehand a mindmap allows its creator to brainstorm and add topics related to the central topic, determining connections and/or directionality afterwards. However, I realize that everyone learns differently, and utilizing these types of visual aids can be quite beneficial for learners.

Thing #13 - Writes and Wrongs!

Thing #4 (pt. 2) - Yeah, I'm Talkin' to You

Commenting was much less painful than I originally anticipated (surprise!).  Since I've already discussed my perceived notions on the value of comments, I'll move right into my list of who got commented:

First, the classmates (go team!):

Melissa B ( of Bullock's 23 fame) made a comment on my own blog (first!) about my thoughts on Thing 4.  She made a good point about using comments to, at the very least, keep a conversation fresh and viable.  Really appreciated the comment, and encouraged me to reply in kind.

Matthew B's 23 Things I Did and You Are Reading About - made a comment about his Thing 7 post, he had some good insight (and, presumably, some good know-how) about the inner working of Flickr copyright issues.  Having had some trouble with the activity myself, just wanted to share that I appreciated his own input into the whole matter.

Stephanie W's Stephanie's 23 Things Blog - left a comment on her post about Thing 11, discussing the merits (or lack thereof) of certain feed-finding tools.  Her comments augmented my own conclusions, and so I figured I return the favor with a little comment to let her know I got her drift.

Kelly W's 23 Things - left a comment about her Thing 8 post.  She had a great idea for a customized motivational poster that I really liked, and just wanted to let her know.  If nothing else, commenting can let us authors know that someone's actually looking at the content we generate. 

Nathan D's Ned's Ed Web - made a comment about Nathan's Thing 9 post.  His images were laugh-out-loud funny to me, and I had to let him know that the humor was appreciated.  Reminds me how important it is that we maintain a sense of humor in this, our chosen profession.

And on to the other guys:

Left a comment on The Nerdy Teacher - responded to the author's post, titled #NothingButPositiveTweetsThisWeek Part 2.  The author talked about the effort required to maintain positivity through the work week, and had some good insights about its payout.  As I'm not a teacher yet, the post reminded me that, though our careers will most certainly have their share of bad days, positivity is a choice, and in the end, life is better if you decide to keep up with being positive.

And rounding out my comment-spree, I ended up at Major Nelson's Xbox Live blog, and commented about something I have a great love for: video games.  Just chimed in over my excitement for an upcoming release.  Relevance?  It's important for us adults to have some fun once in a while.  A relaxed teacher is a happy teacher, agreed?

And so there you have it- the non-commenter left comments all over the place.  Gotta admit, it was actually pretty fun.  Gave me a sense of connection, and I'll undoubtedly be checking back later on to see who commented on my comments.  Here's to keeping the conversations alive!  Thanks for pushing me to be more involved, Thing #4.