Thing #12

I decided to try out Google calandar and it is absolutely amazing!!!! I love how the calandar is organized. It's organization makes me want to be organized! It gives you the option to fill in your individual days, providing plenty of space for details, your weekly schedule and 4 day schedule and agenda. I like that you can choose who can view your calandar, so you can make plans with your friends or co-workers. Also, they have an option where you can send out invitations and people can RSVP through your calandar. I'm excited to explore the Google Calandar even more. I feel like a calandar is very important for me to be able to function and keep up with myself. This calandar will help me remember meetings or in-services I need to attend, or dates I need to remember to accomplish certain tasks by.

I also looked at Google Notebook, which actually allows you to clip information as you surf the web. This will be very useful when doing research for projects as a student, or finding clips for my students for WebQuests and stuff like that. The best part is that you can access your notebook or notes from any computer!!! No more lost notebooks for this girl!

Thing #11

I tried all the search tools listed but I still like google's blog search the best because it is the most familiar to me. Technorati had a lot going on on it's page. I found it very overwhelming and the text was really small. I liked how in Topix I could add my Zip Code in the search box and all the local news popped up. All of these search tools seemed the same. They all had search boxes and you had to type what you wanted to find. I really didn't see other tools to search for feeds. Some of the pages had categories to choose from. Everything was very broad. I really didn't find anything unusual since I really didn't know what I was looking for.

Thing #10

I decided to create an account with Google Reader. It seemed like the easiest way to go since the guy on the original video I watched showed me how it worked. I liked that Google Reader had the option of bundling. I signed up for all the News feeds and the most popular education sites. I also signed up for Cool Cat Teacher since Dr. Wall recommended it. I checked it out. It looked pretty neat.

I like that RSS and newsreaders send all the latest information to me. It saves a lot of time that I may have spent visiting all the different websites. I hardly use the web for anything but email so RSS isn't really helpful to me at this point, but I can see how it is a very useful tool. I'm not sure how I could use RSS in school. I guess I could just keep up with the latest education technologies and news by reading up on the feeds I signed up for.

Thing #9

I really had a hard time with this exercise. I really wanted to create a puzzel using one of my own pictures, but every time I tried to upload my picture, the computer said error. Then I tried to create a liscense place and it wouldn't work for me. I also wanted to create a wordart thing, but the only shape to choose from was a heart and I couldn't think of anything to write inside except what their example said. Sooo I found this Monopoly Card generator. I have the Lottory Scholarship on my mind, so that was the chance card I created. I also created a smiley face holding a wooden sign using Smiley Face Sign Generator. I liked this activity because there were lots of smiley faces to choose from and so many possibilities of things to write. I really don't see how these programs could be included into your lessons. All of this seems like fluff, and I usually wouldn't waste my time on creating stuff like this.

Thing #8

I used Mosaic Maker for my mashup and had so much fun using the photos from Flickr to create my mosaic. I chose to do flowers because they are colorful and all of the flowers have water on them because I was looking under the category "rain."

I think that this could be used in the classroom as a project. For example the topic could be pollution, and the student could search for photos involving the harmful effects of pollution. It is a fun and creative way to learn more about our world!

I really like the idea of being able to share photos online. I think that it would be cool to visit a place in which you took lots of pictures while you were there and then compare your photos to someone who has been to the same exact place. I bet the photos will be completely different. The only thing I worry about is not knowing how to cite the photos that I'm using. I don't want to claim someone else's photos!

From Left to Right, Top to Bottom
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5
Photo 6
Photo 7
Photo 8
Photo 9

Thing #7

I chose to use the word rain as the keyword I typed in to the search box. I found this picture taken by marinnazilla and I really like it. I love how you can see the splash of the raindrops hitting the wet pavement. I love that the person in the picture has rolled up her jeans and is barefoot. I can't wait for the weather to be warm enough to be able to run around barefoot again!

I had fun exploring what Flickr had to offer. I actually used Picnik the other day when I needed to shrink a photo for my WebQuest. It was very easy to use and very helpful. After seeing what Flickr was all about, I had the urge to take some pictures! I probably won't open an account on Flickr since I rarly take pictures anyway, but I enjoyed the website.

Thing #6

I noticed that YouTube was one of the Web 2.0 tools we could choose from. I've never actually gone to YouTube before for fun, but I have found it very useful to find videos for presentations. I just had a project due in my special education class about students who are deaf or hard of hearing. I typed in some keywords and found a clip to the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. It is a movie about a music teacher whose son his deaf. The clip was exactly what I needed for our presentation and I think our class enjoyed watching the clip. I feel like a teacher could incorporate some of the videos from YouTube in his/her class to make the class more aware about a certain issue or so that students can hear someone else's perspective on an issue.

I like that the site has a search box so you can find what is offered by putting in some key words. I don't like that you have to have exact wording if you are trying to find a particular video. I also don't like that there are no censors on the video. You never know what is coming up and if it is appropriate or not. I would definitely never let my students explore YouTube on their own!