One Last Thing...

I really enjoyed working and playing my way through the 23Things.  It is a great way to see what's out there.  I NEVER would have happened onto even a tiny fraction of the great tools and resources were it not for this activity.  I can't really say what my favorite discoveries are at this point--because there were so many!  I found so many things that I'll be using in the future, and, more importantly, I realize how important it is for me to teach my students how to use these tools and resources.  I really feel that many of my standards can be taught in an improved way by incorporating what I have learned.  The only suggestion I would make is to give students more time to complete the 23 Things.  To complete all 23+ in a meaningful way is a daunting task for students who are working/teaching, taking other classes, and taking care of family.  I look forward to sharing with my colleagues. I also know that I need and want to take a technology class more often than every 8 years or so!!!

Thing #23: Oh, happy me!

Under Credits credit is given to the original 2.0-23 Things and another adaptation of this original, and it is stated within these credits that it is being used with permission under a Creative Commons License.  I think that I remember seeing somewhere else (or possibly several places) that the 2.0-23 Things was based on someone's 43 Things.  ( Or, maybe I'm just delirious.)  Rather than continuing with my horrible attempt at paraphrasing, here are the actual credits copied from the blog:  

Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers is based on Learning 2.0 - 23 Things, a staff development program for the Mesquite Independent School District. That program was based on the Learning 2.0 program that was designed by Helene Blowers and adapted by the California School Library Association and others. Content and style for Learning 2.0 - 23 Things for Teachers has been borrowed and duplicated with permission, under a Creative Commons License.

*Note: This project is loosely based upon the website 43Things (which allows you to set and track personal goals) and the Stephen Abram article titled 43 Things I (or You) might want to do this year (Information Outlook - Feb 2006).  

In the future, I will look to the CC website for more information and leads to educational tools and materials that can be shared with permission. I will definitely spend some more time looking at Curriki and Connexions.  These both appear to be quality sources of usable- or should I say reusable-educational material. 

 

Thing #22

I listened to NPR's Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!  I really enjoy this show and only listen to it on the radio when I'm lucky enough to remember to tune in.  I decided to look for this show in particular when I began this "thing", so I just did a Google search, found the show, and subscribed through my Yahoo reader.  If you ever need a laugh I highly recommend this podcast.  They get great and interesting guest and regular panelists, current newsworthy topics, an intelligent and entertaining host, a laughing, live audience, and a home audience contestant--what could be better?  If you're interested, check it out at the following link:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=35

Odeo's Studio is no longer available, but the Plan Your Podcast Tutorial was very helpful--from its outline for what equipment is needed, to planning, to how to create your podcast.  I have no immediate plans for creating a class podcast; however, it is definitely something I would consider in the future.  Maybe, when I'm not so busy completing school work and grad school work, I'll give it some more thought. :)

Thing #21

Using Animoto was fun and interesting.  Of course, I couldn't use photographs that I had already uploaded to Flickr or Picasa, I needed to work with something different.  The only thing I didn't like about Animoto was the fact that I had trouble selecting a free clip. Each time I clicked on something I liked, I was informed that it was an upgrade and would cost me.  :(  However, persistence paid off, and I was able to get one for free.  It took a while for the photographs to upload, but the music selection was fine, and I think I found something that suited my photos.

Presenting for your listening and viewing pleasure, Europe (a.k.a. old buildings and even older music):

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Thing # 20 Part II

I really like YouTube.  I must admit that before I started working on this degree (again), I really spent a little too much time watching and laughing at YouTube videos.  I also looked from time to time for videos that would be appropriate, entertaining, engaging, interesting, and could be used to instruct students.  However, YouTube is a blocked site at my school.  I have used TeacherTube in the past, but the selection is so much poorer than on YouTube.  There are ways to get around this block, but I would never think of doing anything like that. :)

I thought this YouTube video from Whose Line is it Anyway was worth watching.  I hope you do, too.  Please forgive the mention of the bad place. Oh, yeah, there was a very quick means to include the video on blogger!

Thing #20 Part I a.k.a. The Fun Part

Thing #19

I am patiently awaiting my TeacherPop approval so that I can post a comment, upload a picture, or get my badge!  More later....


Visit TeacherPop

Okay, I have now had the opportunity to upload my photo on TeacherPop and embed the badge on this blog. I like the fact that not just anyone can get on providing a secure chance for collaboration.
 

I looked at several of the other social networks on the list provided.  I liked the Project Playlist but left before I got too carried away.  I also liked Bake Space.  The name misled me a bit; I thought that it would only be concerned with baking.  What could be bad about this network?  Great tried and tasted recipes of all types categorized in an easy to locate manner and nice photos of the food all at the disposal of its members.

I am not currently a member of any of these networks.  ( I am awaiting my membership approval for TeacherPop.)  GoodReads and Bake Space are interesting to me.  I would consider looking at them in the future.

Thing #18

I set up a Facebook account.  I sent friend requests to several of my friends and colleagues.  We'll  see how that goes.  :)  It was easy to navigate, upload a profile picture and place some select information in the profile.  I was surprised at how few of my high school and college friends were listed.  Although I don't know why I'm surprised, I didn't have one either!  The students will drive you crazy trying to "friend" you and worse---the begging that goes on about it at school!  My own kids and all of their friends have accounts and thoroughly enjoy them.  I didn't, however, friend request either of them---I couldn't take the rejection :(  I looked at MySpace, but chose to go with Facebook.  I always thought that MySpace was more for the REALLY young, while Facebook is used by teenagers and adults.

As educators, we need to understand what our students are using.  The more we know, the more we can help educate them about the responsibilities associated with use of such social networking tools.  Since many students use technology explicitly for socializing (via social networking and cell phones), we need to help keep them informed of their rights and the rights of others.  I'm sure that there would  be uses for this in a classroom setting, but I know that it would be a "hard sell" at my school.  Because of the hate crimes being committed using this type of technology, many parents forbid their children from using MySpace or Facebook.  Therefore, I think it would be difficult to promote as a required school  tool.

Here's my Facebook profile address:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Cindy-McClenathan/100001701576780

 Remember, don't pity me.  I have friends, really, just not Facebook friends. :)
I just opened my fb account today :)

Thing #17

I think that bookmarking is great.  In addition to being accessible from everywhere--as opposed to computer specific like favorites--everything is sorted!  So, if I can trust myself to give meaningful tags to things I'm bookmarking, this could be a great time saver!  I don't know that my bookmarks would be helpful to anyone else, but I'm sure that the bookmarks of others could potentially be helpful to me.  It would be great to be able to see what others have found on particular standards to be taught.  The fact that you can see how many people have tagged the same item, used the same item, and who the people are is invaluable!  I can see students benefiting from such a site as well, particularly when they are researching a specific subject or topic. The tutorial was easy to follow, and although I did not set up a Delicious account at this time, I may in the future.

Thing #16

I tried both iGoogle and Pageflakes.  I ended up setting my home/start page with Pageflakes.  I particularly liked the built-in task list on Pageflakes and the fact that you could set up subsequent pages.  I might want several items to be readily available, but I might not like them all flashing in my face from the start!  It was very easy to navigate, change theme, move columns, and add and delete various items as your wants and needs might change. There was not an Austin Peay logo ready in the theme section, so I'm still torn between UT and the cork bulletin board type effect.  I probably will not use the page I set up as my start page at this time.  I think I need some time to digest everything we've looked at while completing the 23Things, really think about what I would actually use, and design a page to suit my needs at that point.

I used 30Boxes to set up my online calendar.  It's great!  It was simple to set up, easy to load birthdays and other important dates in for the year.  It was also very quick and easy to add, edit, delete, or update information on the calendar once set up.  I will use the online calendar now that I've tried it.  It's great to coordinate work and school deadlines along with appointments and other obligations.  My desktop blotter-style calendar cannot physical hold as much information! You just have to pass the mouse over the item on the calendar to get the time and any other detail entered in the description by the calendar user.  I probably will not use the share feature, alas, who else really cares about all my deadlines?  :)

My life is one big list of things to do.  I am convinced that I would accomplish nothing were it not for these lists.  That being said, I don't know if I would really use a ta da list or one of the other online list tools because I am frequently far away from a computer when I need to make my lists and even further away when my lists are being executed.  I always have at least a post it sized list on my desk, one on the counter at home, one in my car, one in the team planning folder, and one in my plan book.  I think for my personal use, I am better off coordinating the dates on an online calendar and keeping the lists all over --where they belong. :)  That being said, I did like the task list on the Pageflakes start page.  I might eliminate my desk list with that.

I also looked at some of the other listed means to improve productivity and organization.  I may have misunderstood, but when I read the terms. it appeared that there were charges associated with using Zamzar to convert files to different file types.  I also looked at Lifehacker.  This seems like a good source for both new ideas and warnings.  I was particularly surprised by the article about toasted skin syndrome.  Could this be real or just urban legend?  I would think that if your laptop felt that hot, you would have the sense to get it off of your lap.  Maybe that's just me.

I would definitely recommend online calendars and task lists to others.  (Even though I don't care for the latter.)  I think many of my colleagues would enjoy bringing all of their important dates and commitments together in one, big, happy place!

Thing #15

Well, that was a lot of information about Wikis! Where do I start? I have previously declared my love for Wikipedia on one of our class discussion questions. Wikipedia has provided information to my family on topics such as who starred in the movie "Blah Blah", which campus is larger Penn State or UT Knoxville, and where did the city of  "Blah" get its name? Although this information may not be the most accurate, on such topics we are willing to accept the feelings and beliefs of the majority!

The best part of wiki, in general, is the fact that the "audience" for the post can also be editor and contributor. As was stated in the information found in Thing #15, the element of collaboration is the wiki's best feature and quite possibly its worst enemy. When I posted on apsu23thingssandbox, I couldn't resist editing a word in the post that followed mine. I'd like to say that it was the teacher in me that made me do it. Unfortunately, I might have done it just because I have the power to do so! :)  While working on #15, I also made a slide show on Sliceshow.com which offers many features for customizing your slide show. The uploading of the pictures for the slideshow was also easy and fast.

I think designing your own wiki to share ideas with other teachers of the same subject and grade level could be very interesting and beneficial. I suppose the best way to start would be inviting those who are in your school and your school district first. Then, I'd probably check out the highest performing schools in the state and attempt to invite some of those teachers as well. That being said, if I were contacted by someone outside my district, I would probably be skeptical and would probably not join or contribute.

I also set up a family wiki using Wikispaces.com. It was simple to set up, invite guests, and get started. I'll share the address in this blog as soon as I can be sure that my family is being cooperative, appropriate, mannerly, and won't embarrass me!  I'm sure that they'll control themselves, but....just to be safe, I'll wait.

Here's the link to my family wiki:

http://macwiki5.wikispaces.com/

They seem to be afraid to make any entries! :)

Thing #14

That was fun!  I enjoyed working on both Flowchart and mindmeister. It has been a long time since I had to create a flow chart, so it took me a little time to remember how to use the shapes. Once I refreshed my old memory, I had no problem creating a colorful chart that students might enjoy using to differentiate the difference between verb types. Flowchart was easy to use, and I think that my students would enjoy designing their own charts for several of the grammar concepts that we will be working on this year. The  flow chart would help my visual learners as well as others who don't remember the right questions to ask themselves when categorizing various words into their proper parts of speech.


I also used mindmeister. The introductory video was interesting and helpful. I didn't work on my lifetime goals, however, I did work on my goals for the week. What a great way to get organized! I am a very task-oriented, checklist type of person, so this made making a list that much more fun. I was disconnected from the program twice while I was working on it, and became a bit overwhelmed with my own "to do" list for the week! I decided that I had better stop playing on mindmeister and start working on my actual list. I can see my students using this as a means to organize essays. We always use graphic organizers before we create rough drafts, so this would make that process into an even more efficient and entertaining process.




http://www.flowchart.com/
http://www.mindmeister.com/

Thing #13

It was simple to set up a Zoho account and equally easy to use Zoho Writer.  Writer (like Word) was easy to navigate and the tool bar(s) with the drop down feature made for an easy transition from using Word to using Writer.  I found Zoho Sheet and Zoho Show to be just as simple to use as Excel and Power Point. The flexibility associated with using online word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation tools coupled with the fact that the Zoho services are free, may mean that Zoho and other services like Zoho will become stiff competition for Microsoft Office. Also, like Google Docs, Zoho allows for easy collaboration with others.

Thing #12

I used Picasa Web Albums to upload the picture (and album)  seen at right. Sign up was easy and probably even easier since we now have so many Google tools. I made my photographs from The Virgin Islands public on Picasa and limited my photo selections to those without any people in them---or, those without any person that could be recognized. The process of uploading the photographs was slow. I found something else to do while I waited for that to happen. Okay, so I am a little impatient. The editing tools (Picnik) worked well and were easy to use.

(Click on photo to enlarge.)


I also set up a Google Alert. This was very simple; again even more simple because I was signed in to Google at the time. I set up an alert for [Tennessee Standardized Tests] and will receive information on this topic daily via my Google email account. You can check the type of information you would receive before setting up your alert. Deleting an alert was simple as well. I just went to Google alerts, manage account, and deleted the alert I had set up for this blog.

Picasa would be as useful in the classroom as Flickr. There were many beautiful pictures available for students to enjoy and use. The Google Alert would be great for students working on a particular current event or those researching a current topic for a paper or report. It's a great tool  for tracking any ongoing situation or topic in which you are interested.

To view more pictures taken in the American Virgin Islands use the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cmcclenathan5/TheVirginIslands#5523201883700569170

Thing #11

Wow. Why did I want to add more feeds to my RSS reader?  Oh, yes, to complete thing #11.  Topix.net was by far the easiest to use. It was simple to enter the area in which you were interested and set up a feed. Topix fulfills two basic needs: the need for news and the need for the opinions of others about said news. I set up a feed from my hometown and now can keep up with what's going on and what everyone thinks about what's going on!  It's the best of both worlds--fact and fiction all in one!

Syndic8.com was the most confusing for me. I never really did get the hang of it. If it was the only option, perhaps I would have persevered. Google blogs was also easy to navigate although I experienced a bit of difficulty selecting the right search words or phrases to yield the desired results. I'm sure that was my problem-I mean challenge-not theirs.

I liked Ed Tech Journeys a blog which I found on the Edublog's award winners listing. I could relate to and was entertained by his writings; it was not surprising that his blogging had been recognized. Using Google Blog Search, I found many other versions of the 23 things---it was fun to look at how they had been adapted for different groups.

News feeds were not at all difficult to find. I used Google and Yahoo and just searched "news feeds" and was not disappointed. You could easily subscribe to news from anywhere using Yahoo!News or News.google.com.

Besides the Topix for my hometown, I did not add any additional feeds to my RSS reader. I really enjoyed reading many of the blogs I came across, but I have no desire or time (at this point) to devote to the reading of anymore than those which I previously set up. I can definitely see adding more feeds in the future!

Thing #10

The great part about setting up an RSS account is that you can go to one spot and have all of the information come to you. It's both convenient and time saving. It's currently useful because it is enabling me to keep up with the class blogs (1-3) that I am following. Having a feed such as (4)Free Technology for Teachers is a convenient way to view the latest technology and educational uses for technology.  Keeping current with all that is going on in the nation with regard to education, can happen with the help of (5) CNN Education News.

This may also be used to effectively keep up with student blogs. For instance, if your students are blogging their journals or literature summaries, you could keep track of all of them in one spot. It would be great to set up a news feed so that students could keep up with current events. I can definitely see ways that this technology could be used effectively both in the classroom and for me personally.

Thing #9

I started by checking out Image Chef.  How fun!  All of the images were extremely easy to set up and just as easy to import into the blog.  And....who doesn't need a flashing neon sign every once in awhile?  I think that it would be fun to post class information like this!  I can't imagine that my seventh graders would miss notification of anything with this flashing at them from the projector or T.V. screen.



Fan Sign Generator was also easy to navigate and had many sign templates to choose from. I definitely spent a little too much time generating signs. Again, I could imagine using some of these to get students attention.  I can also imagine students using these to add some interest to some of their creative work in class.




Both of these were very simple to use. You just added your text, selected a font, font size, and your personalized sign was generated. They were also very simple to copy and paste onto a blog. I couldn't resist one more form Image Chef.  I need to stop now!


http://www.imagechef.com/
http://www.fansigngenerator.com/                                                                                                      

Thing #8

Playing around with the Mosaic Maker and some of the other mashups was really fun, and I could totally see how it could become addictive!  While "creating" my fall mosaic, I "created" far too many other mosaics and spelled far too many words in Spell with Flickr.

I would definitely use this with family photos, particularly from vacations or big events.  I could also see my students enjoying using this and Spell with Flickr to add some creative accents to their newsletters or personal writing.

I would not make personal pictures-those of family or friends-or school photos of students available to the public.  However, I would place travel, nature, and other photographs not containing people on Flickr.  I would also hope that no one would make personal photos of me available for the world to view--particularly not photos of me on a bad hair day!

Mosaic Description and links to Flickr photographs contained within:

1. tired leaves, 2. Autumn Spider, 3. fall is here, 4. Rhapsody in autumn hues, 5. Untitled, 6. summer going down the drain, 7. 20100922_3148, 8. Tennis Anyone? 162/365, 9. 20100922_3139

Thing #7

This was by far the most (and only) frustrating "thing" so far! I enjoyed looking at all of the pretty pictures on Flickr, and it was very simple  to set up a free account and upload pictures from my camera and flash drive. There's where the simple part ended for me!!!  I  could not get the correct URL for my uploaded pictures.  I could  get the page address, but as was stated in the instructions, this is not what is wanted. :(   I believe that I checked all of the correct boxes when I registered my photographs, but, alas, it just wasn't meant to be.

For now, I shall just share my lovely (?) photo of a mother(me)-daughter, shared birthday cake.  I hope to revisit Thing #7 later this week and remedy the situation.

Page address (for now): http://www.flickr.com/photos/cmacpictures/5026824923/
Photo address (whoo-hoo!): http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/5026824923_0bd446c827.jpg

Thing #6

I really enjoyed looking at the award winners. I have used several of those listed, but there are many that I have never tried. One of the award winners that I think would be very helpful at school is Google Docs.

Currently, the teachers in our county have to post all weekly plans on a county wide share file; this file can only be accessed from a school computer. It would be great to be able to share these files on the internet, so that teachers could enter their plans from any location where a computer and internet connection are available.

Similarly, our midterm grade reports (generated by each team of teachers at the midpoint of each 9-week grading period) and ICU reports (a before and after school study hall which provides intensive care for students with "sick" grades) can only be accessed from computers at school. We actually have to make a schedule to enter midterm grades in order to give everyone access during regular school hours. Without constant updating the ICU file is useless. These programs could easily be uploaded as a Google Doc file and our team of teachers could access these files from anywhere and at anytime.

In addition, students would find Google Docs very useful when it comes to partner or group writing projects. I think that they would really enjoy the fact that they can all have a say in the editing process instead of relying on the anchor in the group or the volunteer document typist to do all editing and revising. Finally, I think my students would enjoy all that this would bring to the process of publishing a hall newsletter or newspaper.

And….it’s free!

http://docs.google.com/#all

Thing #5

If we accept that Web 2.0 = "everyday, non-technical people using the web to enhance their own lives and businesses." (Richard MacManus, Web 2.0 is Not About Version Numbers or Betas)...

Then, Schools 2.0 = teachers (in all subject areas) and students using the web to enhance instruction and learning. The web enables educators to share information and collaborate with one another without waiting for a staff development day or a department meeting. In addition, it allows teachers to share and engage in conversation with a world of educators--not just a department or school. These same web applications enable students to explore the world without being confined to resources available in their textbooks, their classrooms, or the school library.

As educators we not only need to use these resources to our greatest advantage for preparing instruction and presenting information, but also teach students how to utilize these same resources. It is our obligation to use these resources for "teaching, learning, and driving innovation" (A guide for Educators). One message is quite clear: students are all very familiar with these resources, however, we need to teach the means by which these resources may be used by them to research, to learn, to create.  Students need to see the Web as not just a source of entertainment, but as a valuable source of information and enrichment.

Educators are obligated to teach our students how to take advantage of currently available technological resources. Educators of the future will have the same obligation. Schools in the future will face challenges in trying to provide an appropriate and current education that truly prepares students to successfully learn and work in a rapidly changing world.





   

Thing #4

Commenting is the means by which your journal entry becomes a conversation; commenting creates dialogue from monologue. Finding out what others may think about your ideas creates that sense of community. Sharing your reaction to someone else's ideas, builds on that sense of community. Adding your insights, and even your opposition, strengthens that sense of community.

• Inviting questions may invite more comments to your blog (10 techniques for getting more comments). It was suggested here that actually asking for comments might entice some readers to become writers themselves. 
• Another comment made in the same post was that you shouldn't forget to comment to those who have made comments.  In other words, if you ignore everyone's responses to your posts, some may eventually stop commenting. As is true with any conversation, there must be a give a take in order for the conversation or discussion to continue.
• Don't comment just because you are hoping to improve your chances for receiving more comments (How to comment like a king or queen).  Only comment if you feel that you have something of value to add to the discussion. Just as is the case with any conversation, only your thoughtful and thought provoking thoughts will truly be appreciated.

So far, I have commented on 3 classmate's blogs: (1) C. Sensing's Thing #1 because I enjoyed her positive attitude, (2)Sirman's because I liked her idea of using blogging for class journals, and (3)E.Coleman's because she and I were in agreement about what was most difficult and easiest as far as the 7.5 are concerned!

More later!

Today, I commented on (4)Hook's blog because of his reference to the 10 ways to increase your blog traffic and the percentage of "lurkers";  I just didn't want to be in that 90%.  :)  I also commented on (5)M.Wilson's entry about Open Table.  She made some very good points and included a personal testimonial.

Some from the "blogosphere" at a later date!

Okay, the day has come and I did make a comment on the blogs of two strangers. It was a little scary, and I felt like I was invading people's personal space as I peered at their pictures and read their words. Some of the blogs were far TOO personal for me to make a comment. I ended up commenting on one called (6)Photographic Expressions which consisted of an aspiring photographer's photos flowers and trees. I attempted to compliment the blogger on her photos. The other blog was called (7)Necrodancer and I selected and clicked on a "quick remark" on the blog about fashion. The blogger made several good points about dressing for the size and shape that you have and included a lovely interpretation of a muffin top.

Thing #3

I think that I'd like to create a class blog for each of my 5 classes.  I'd have the students take turns and enter summaries of the days activities, directions on how to complete any written assignments for the day, and points of interest (which will frequently have very little or nothing to do with the lesson). The blog address can be displayed as a link on my online grading program, and all students (but particularly those who are absent) can not only access the calendar and their current grades, but also get the inside information on what REALLY happened while they were out. Obviously, all posts would  have to be approved before they could be posted. 

I also like the idea of posting photos and class activities. Again, I use a parent and student accessible online grading program, but it would be great fun to share photos from dances, class activities, field trips, and spirit week with parents as well as students. These photos are usually only displayed in the school halls and classrooms and are viewed by students only. I'm sure that the parents would enjoy viewing their students in action!

Finally, I really like the idea of posting examples of good writing on a class blog. Currently, I project essay samples, but it would be very helpful for my students to be able to look more closely at both successful and unsuccessful essays. Hard copies of such items get lost (sometimes before the day ends), and it would be great for students to have access to such resources when they find themselves finishing one of their own essays at home or in the computer lab.

Thing #2

That was fun!  I enjoyed creating the blog and the avatar. The posting name and name for the blog were really not very innovative; it was my understanding that for our purposes, the title had to have our last name...mine is long enough without adding anything else! It was easy to create the blog. The instructions at each point were easy to follow and the directions made the entire process go very quickly. Creating the avatar was fun as well. I set out to make mine look like me. I tried for the right eye, skin, and hair color along with some "lovely" outfits. Now that it's completed---- my only hope is that it bears no resemblance to my "real life self." In the future, I may make some changes to the screen design and the avatar, but for now I am happy with mine as is.

Thing #1

I found the 7 and 1/2 Habits interesting. After giving some thought to each of the habits, I would have to say that habit #2, accepting responsibility for your own learning, is probably the easiest for me. I am a naturally curious person (my family calls me the great interrogator---certainly not always meant as a compliment), so I am always interested to learn something new and willing to put in the time and effort to do so. The most difficult for me at this point, is habit #3, viewing problems as challenges. On a good day, this is not a problem, but on a day riddled with problems (I mean challenges), it can be tough. I was very happy to see that play made the list of habits!  Habit 7.5 is also no problem for me!

I would like to learn to use some "things" that will make technology use more fun for both my students and me!

Setting up the blog was fun. It's something that I probably would not have done if it wasn't for this class assignment!