Module4/RSS

Below is what I have written in the Discussion Forum describing my experience with establishing and adding subscriptions to my Google Reader. As it has been a couple of weeks since we did this, I have added more feeds. I am encouraged by how much there is out there addressing Character Education at the secondary level. When I started my research and classes for this five years ago, there was not much at all on Character Education at the high school level. That is changing a lot right now. I am close to 50 subscriptions that include Character Education primarily, but also gardening, herbs, cooking and a couple of my favorite authors. I am trying to get more comfortable with how everything works. I know the more we use these tools, the easier it becomes. For now it still feels like I'm tripping over myself, but I'm excited to be learning all of this, so that keeps me going.


"I subscribed to six feeds on Character Education. The Muscatine Community School District has opened Google accounts for all staff members and I used that account to set up these feeds. We needed to set up a gmail account in order to do this, but have a different e-mail address. I'm not sure what the difference is. This is what tends to feel overwhelming to me. Trying to keep track of all these is a challenge.

But I think the RSS feeds can really  help to organize all our favorite resources.It will also update us on different subjects, saving us time on research. I have created a folder for my Character Ed feeds. You're right...this can be addictive. Everything looks good! I also created a folder for these Web 2.0 tools that we are learning about and have added ten feeds. I think if I have all the tools in one place, I will be more apt to use them more consistently. This could be fun!"

Flickr

This uploading Flickr files has been quite the challenge. To be honest, a potographer, I am not. The only time I was attached to a camera was when my babies were young. When they started taking pictures, I was pretty much done.  So most of the photos I posted were taken by my kids. I posted pics of my three daughters, Shannon, Bridget and Madeline (Midge), and my boy child Kenny. They are the loves of my life. There is also a phot of my sisters and me. My daughter Midge helped me find, upload and post these photos. I had told my kids at the beginning of this class that they were on call, because I was sure I would need some help. This is the first time I had to ask. And I am grateful for her help.
But I could definitely see students using many parts of this tool for class. Again, like the Diigo, what's so cool about it is the fact that you can get to it from any computer. I had to be on Shannon's computer to upload these photos and now I can get to them from anywhere!

But feel free to check out my photos at the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61667108@N07/

Diigo

I am loving this new tool we are looking at called Diigo. I am particularly appreciating the organizational capabilities as opposed to past bookmarks. I also really like that we can get to our bookmarks now regardless of what computer we are at. I love the tagging and the highlighting that allows me to remember why I was looking at a particular site, what I intend to use it for and the ability to highlight specifics in the articles.
I have already been using it on a personal as well as professional level. I have bookmarked recipes, gardening sites, authors and the possibilities are endless!

Wiki

I just created my first wiki!!
http://secondarycharactered.wikispaces.com/
Please feel free to comment or make suggestions. I have a feeling all of this will take a bit of time to evolve. It is a work in progress!
There is so much to learn, just figuring out what all the wiki managing tools do. I want to post links to my favorite CharEd sites. I want to know who is doing CharEd in high schools across the country…what works and what has been tried and faded away.
The most frustrating thing for me has been organizing all the log-ins, user names, passwords, etc…feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I know this will get easier as I continue to learn to navigate these strange new waters.

April 9, 2011 10:32 AM 

My Web 2.0 class

Hi! I am currently a student in a Web 2.0 Tools for the 21st Century Classroom. One of our assignments is to create a blog for reflecting what is happening in this class. We can also set the blog up to allow for the curricular area that we teach in. So that is what I did.
I teach Character Ed at the secondary level and am interested in connecting with others who are doing the same. It seems that Character Ed is a big deal at the elementary level and at the middle school level. How prominent is it at the high school level across the nation? Let me know what's going on at your high school to promote Character Education.
But I will also be using this blog as a tool for some reflection for my current class.