Thing 12

Google calender and iGoogle was awesome! The calender was neat because I could keep track of all my due dates, this is especially useful for when I begin teaching. iGoogle was very neat, I set up so many different gadgets on there. There are gadgets like the weather, quotes, calender, notepad, and news. I even made this my home page now!

Thing 11

This activity actually helped me a lot finding blogs and websites that used RSS feeder. I think I would use Google blog search and Topix.net the most often. Google blog search was awesome in just typing in a subject you wanted to find more about and it presented a list of blogs you could consider. It was really easy and since everyone knows how to use Google itself, it was not much different at all. I found another vegetarian health blog and change.org was very interesting. I subscribed to change.or/education...I think every teacher should! I thought Topix.net was really neat! I can see how some people wouldn't find it as useful because it's mainly news that is local. But I could not subscribe to theleafchronicle.com or a weather site so this worked out perfectly. I love reading news that is going on where I live and this was the perfect site for anyone who is interest in that. I couldn't see myself using syndic8.com or Technorati, not necessarily because it wasn't a good site but just isn't anything I am really interested in. I think I will keep those in mind and look around them more when I have the time. Maybe there is portion of those sites that I just haven't discovered yet.

Thing 10

To be honest I have never heard of an RSS feeder, but now that I think about it, I have seen that RSS icon before. It was confusing at first to subscribe to site that I wanted. Many sites that I visit daily unfortunatley do not subscribe to RSS. But I do think I could use the Free technology for teachers while I become a teacher. I do think I can use this in a classroom, there are so many sites I will have to visit daily with little time and this Google reader will make it much easier. This is a big time saver! I subscribed to just a few things now. I did ABC news and even a Vegan blog I am constantly on for recipes! These "Things" we have to do really makes me more apt to use the technology around me everyday.

Thing 9

I used Smiley face generator http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/. It was neat you do have to mess around in the spacing part of your text. I chose that quote because I believe physical activity is very important to a child especially while they are in school. Child obesity is a very important subject and is increasing. Schools are not able to support many physical education programs today, and this is a growing problem that I feel very concerned about. Anyway, I do think I could use these generators to make very useful cartoons and signs to show to my class.

Thing 8

This word is self-explanatory. Educate! I used Spell with Flikr http://metaatem.net/words/. I think I could use some of these creative ways to display lessons in a classroom. It is interesting and once you play with the options a little bit you'll get the hang of it. I am comfortable with sharing pictures online. Just follow one simple rule, don't post something that you obviously wouldn't someone to see. But really, pictures do say a thousand words, and if sharing a photo or two of mine will get the message or lesson across I'm all for it!

Thing 7

Flickr was interesting. I have had friends in the past that talked about their flickr accounts but it never occurred to me to make one of my own. I don't know about anyone else but I had serious problems uploading a url into this, especially one that was going to allow me to use it in the first place. After an hour and a half of messing with it, I just chose to make my own account and use one of my photos. This photo is me during my cycling class here at apsu. I really enjoyed this class since my boyfriend and many friends inspired me to start building and riding my own road bike. It's a new hobby that I've been really enjoying the past year. Flikr is a good site but until I can understand it more will I then decide if it's worth using in the classroom.

Thing 6

While I was browsing the Webware 100 winners I came across Diigo, the website is http://www.diigo.com/. This seems like a very interesting site that I believe I can use personally when I become a teacher and for my students for higher grade levels that may be doing research. It is a site that can collect and access information from any computer. Once you find a site you want to use later on you can add digitals highlights and interactive sticky notes. There is a part on this site that is called the "cloud" or "My library"  where all the items you collect go into on the diigo server, which helps you access this anywhere and on any computer even the Ipad and Android. The highlighting process can become very detailed. It's very good to show to a class when teaching. There is even a Diigo educator account! You can create a student account for the entire class. I'm excited and about to make a personal account right now.

Thing 5

It's obvious that our everyday lives have been taken over by technology. Many people that I have talked to seem quite hesitant because their lack of knowledge of technology. When it comes down to it, people don't need to be the most computer savy person to understand and use technology today. Certain technology is there to be simple and useful as long as you come with an open mind. Yes, it's different to many people but the times are changing and if you want to stay in the educational field you must be on your game! As I was reading Web 2.0: A guide for educators, it stated, "that 55 percent of all online American young people between the ages of 12 and 17 use social networking sites". It's crazy to think that our youth today depends on online networking, gaming, and communication. By personal experience, I still consider myself young at 20 years old and my 9 year old brother knows more about online gaming then I did at age 9! So with that set aside, I do believe the new age of Web 2.0 is a very important key to our present and future learning. It just makes sense, we've replaced libraries with online data bases and writing letters to emails and text messages. We want to learn more conveniently, quickly, and more often.  Incorporating Web 2.0 into the classroom seems essential now days. If kids are already using it outside the classroom why not bring something they understand and like to do into it as well. Web 2.0 opens up many once before closed windows to the educational community. Children learn so diversely therefore our teaching strategies must keep up.

Thing 4

There are many reasons why commmenting is important to the blogging community. You are able to stay current on topics that are going on in the education field. Commenting is important because it makes the blogger feel that they are expressing thoughts that are important to other people as well. Relationships grow and it's important to have fellow educators come together. Ideas are shared and it is very ideal to obtain an open mind in a field like this. When people have many comments on their own blog it draws atention to even more bloggers who might be interested in the topic.

I chose to comment on Megan, Brittany, Joan, Holly, and Cheryl's blogs from my class and Christie Jennings and Amber Duncan. I chose them mainly because there was at least one thing that was brought to my attention about his or her blog. I commented on either Thing 1-4 because those are the Things I am currently on and the ones I could understand the improtance of at this moment to make an understanding comment on.

Thing 3

There are so many ways that I could use blogs during my teaching career. Blogs can be useful for my personal growth as a teacher, in my classroom, and for parents. If I used blogs during my career I could record many useful techniques that I find very helpful. I can get shared ideas form other teachers as well as tips and pointers. I can even see how I begin to grow in certain areas I wasn't so sure at in the beginning. I can learn more about education issues that I am concerned with and discuss them with other teachers.

My class could benefit from using blogs. I could post homework and discussion boards allowing students to comment about any assignment they are having trouble with. They can help their peers and share ideas about certain subjects they feel strongly in. If a student ever falls behind in my class, I can post assignments and teaching tools such as power points for he or she to review. Extra credit and class projects would also be simple to display on a blog type setting.

Parent and teacher communication is very important to a child's school education. Having a blog would allow me to keep in touch with parents and their concerns, issues, or ideas on improvement. They would be able to follow along with the due homework and keep track of what their student should be learning. I can post calenders with due dates so students and parents can always stay prepared. There are many ways I could incorporate a blog within the classroom and these are examples of just a few beneficial ways among many.

Thing 2

Creating the blog was pretty simple as long as you follow the steps. I could see how someone that does not get around to using a comuter as much that it could be intimidating. I do think this site is interesting. Creating an avatar was entertaining as well, I don't think mine really reflects me as of today but maybe I will play with it again later on!

Thing 1

After watching the 7 1&2 Tutorial I believe the easiest thing for me to do is number one, Begin with the end in mind. I must have a goal before I proceed to accomplish anything. Having realistic goals helps me remember the big picture why I am wanting to learn this new trait in the first place. Goals help me not feel so overwhelmed and distraught. Sometimes I have to remind myself of my goal to stay motivated.

The hardest for me to do would have to be number three, View problems as challenges. After a while of trying your hardest it's very discouraging to run into many obstacles along the way. Nevertheless, I understand I must not give up and refer back to number one, remembering my goal. After realizing as being a life long learner it may not come so easy, I must use those challenges I face in a positive and effective way of learning.