Thing #17

I like delicious for the same reason I like the site dropbox.com. It allows me to bookmark things and then access them from other computers. I am so bad about forgetting to save things to a flash drive so having something I can access on every computer is very helpful. This could be used in sharing information among coworkers or having your students share information or ideas for projects. The only thing I was not particularly fond of was the layout of delicious I felt like it took awhile to get used to it.

Thing #16

My favorite start page would have had to be Google. I have used Google for many years now and it is simply the best. I looked at all the others and honestly I just couldn't see myself using the other tools on a daily basis. I like the different tools it offers and I know how to use them all well.

I also really like the Ta-Da list. It was really simple and straight forward. However, I already have a planner with all my lists and I don't think I need the Ta-Da program.

Quite a few of the programs I got frustrated with because I could not figure them out. So obviously if I can't figure it out then it probably is not the best tool for me to use.

I think that some of these tools I found would be really helpful in helping me stay organized and on task.

Thing #15

In terms of research, Wiki can be a teacher's worst nightmare.

The whole point of a Wiki is that many people can contribute. So for example if there is an article about JFK, I (having no history expertise) can go in and change major facts that the article states. This feature makes using Wiki's for research almost completely impossible because there is no way for anyone to be certain what information is coming from a reliable source.

Now although it is a horrible reference, Wiki can be an awesome tool in the classroom. I think it would be awesome to set up a Wiki and have it become a class project. All the students would be researching and collaborating and would gain a vast amount of knowledge.

I think with enough monitoring that it would be a great way to have group or class projects.

Thing #14

I chose Gliffy and Bubbl.us.

I love these tools! I think that by far these charts would be the most useful for actual activities in the classroom. The flow charts could be used to help students brainstorm ideas for writing a paper and they could map out different alternative scenarios.

I feel that for the most part the charts followed the same basic concepts but they could both be used and interchanged in a classroom. I also think that these charts would be excellent study guides for history tests because the student will be able to place the event in order of occurrence.

Thing #13

Zoho is not my friend. I had so much difficulty with this activity. I realize that the point of this class is for us to find new resources but this one is not one that I see myself using at all. I think that Microsoft Word does just fine for me. I do like some of the features and can see how some people would use them very actively. However, I am not going to be one of those people.

I can see how this could be used in a classroom. I think that Google Docs provides an excellent way to allow students to collaborate and work together. However, once again I did not find this to be very user friendly and I feel that students would have a hard time understanding how to use this tool.

 In my opinion both of these tools can be easily replaced by other tools which are much easier to figure out.

Thing #12

I never knew Google had so many useful tools! My favorite is the Google Alerts I think that it is a fantastic tool to use with students. It would make sure that I as a teacher am up to date on different subjects in the news. It would also be good for the students to do Google alerts on their own. For example if we were doing a science project then they could have alerts set up for any new information about that subject.

I also really liked Google Translate. I took Spanish in high school and it is very hard to find a reliable translator online. I entered a variety of phrases and they were all correct.

So as far as I can tell this is a very good resource for a accurate translation of words and phrases. I don't think it will be overly useful to me because I do not think that 3rd graders will use Spanish too much. In my opinion Spanish is a little more upper level than I will teach.

Thing #11

I am not completely new to the Google Reader or blogs so for this activity I added feeds that I already knew I was interested in however I did add a few that I found through the suggested searches.

As I was using these search methods I must say I was not extremely impressed. I felt that for the most part they were not user friendly. However, I found Google Blog search to be the easiest by far. I felt that the others were dated. I ran into many links that the site was no longer even active. I did not find many good ones through the searches. The only one I did find was one that I already knew about and had simply forgotten to add it.

Thing #10

I am really impressed with the concept of RSS Readers. I think that they definitely have a major place in classrooms and personal lives of teachers. Google readers really can save me a whole lot of time searching around blogs and other news. However, I think that I would rarely use it in my personal life. I like to wander around the internet in my spare time and I think that using a RSS reader in some ways limit your opportunities to find other sources that you might find while just wandering around different blogs. In the classroom this would help me tremendously to stay organized and find my resources quickly.

Thing #9

I chose to use the generator on www.happyfacegenerator.com/ because I felt that I could really use this in my classroom in the future. I played around with this generator for quite a while and found myself thinking of more and more ways to use this in a classroom. I think that it would also be a good way for students to be able to express themselves. I found that the generator was extremely simple to use unlike other generators I have used in the past. All you really have to do is choose a face expression and then place your caption in the lines shown. This generator is very user friendly.I think this would also be a cool way to decorate a classroom so the students could participate.

Thing #8

This took me forever to figure out how to do, but I was finally successful!
I think that in the context of pictures that this tool is not very useful. However, I think that if you used this tool for reading words it could be helpful. There are also many other ways that it may be helpful, but I think reading and English topics would be the most helpful.



CREDITS:
1. Morfosis., 2. Jump, 3. Jump, 4. Jump

Thing #7

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcin_owl/3912135739/

Well this was by far the easiest "thing" to do! I explored around Flickr and found so many beautiful pictures. I went and searched ballet images because I used to dance. I picked this picture because of its beautiful simplicity.
From what I saw just exploring a little bit of Flickr I can see many ways that it would be helpful in a classroom.

Thing #6

The site I choose is www.dropbox.com . Dropbox is an amazing site! The idea of the website is that you can upload a file to the website and after that you will be able to access it from any computer. I think this would be an amazing tool as a teacher. There is also the option to set up folders that a student could retrieve documents off of. I think that this would increase the amount of accountability for students. There would no longer be an excuse that they forgot their homework at home because they would have access to it from any computer. I think that there are unlimited ways that this could be used in a classroom. The best part? It's free!

Thing #5

Student 2.0 will open many different opportunities for teachers and students. I think that it will encourage some students to interact in ways that traditional teaching methods may not allow. However, I think that for the most part it will promote a detached way of teaching. I am a strong believer in face to face communication. Although technology is good in some ways I think that at times it limits face to face communication to the point that ultimately hurts the child's education.
I think that in a classroom that I would be hesitant how much I would use this tool. In some ways I think that it would be awesome to allow a child to interact with teachers in a different context than the sometimes intimidating atmosphere of a classroom. However, I feel that it reduces the impact of a classroom in some ways that I would not be willing to sacrifice.

Thing #4

Commenting on blogs is very reassuring for bloggers. I think that by responding to someone's thoughts that you make sure that they are not feeling stupid about their thoughts. By commenting you are helping build the confidence of your peers. Commenting also opens a door to many other discussions and interactions between teachers.
By far the most important thing that I read in the articles about commenting was to disagree in a respectful manner. I think that blogs do open many doors to communication, but if comments were no longer respectful then in my opinion would turn blogs into gossip channels like Facebook and Myspace.
The blogs I chose to read were: Mary Hutchinson, Paige Walker, Whitney Cassetty, Tammy Waters, Jonathon Long, Successful Teaching, and Joe Hoyle: Teaching - Getting the Most from Your Students.
I choose these classmates because I browsed many of my fellow classmates blogs and theirs are the ones that got my attention. I choose my two out of class blogs because I found that those blogs were centered around the information that I want to surround myself with as I learn about being a better teacher.

Thing #3

A blog can help teachers in so many ways. A blog can offer a way to communicate with students, parents, and other teachers. It can also help some kids ask questions without the fear of feeling stupid. It can allow students to give and receive help from other students as well as other teachers. As for parent communications, this can allow teachers to let parents into the daily happenings of their child's school life. However, I think that the most useful way a blog can be used is to communicate with other teachers. This allows teachers to be unrestricted in the number of peers that they can get in contact with and gain advice from.

Thing #2

I picked my posting name by picking something that I would not forget. That is my downfall when it comes to making profile and accounts is I can never remember all the different usernames that I have made. After I got through the process of naming and giving all my information I had no trouble getting my blog started. I always have trouble with the initial set up process because I always wind up spelling one thing wrong. I think my avatar does portray me somewhat. I am a very straight forward person so what you see is what you get. I like structure and organization. I am really making myself sound like a boring person, but I promise I'm not!

Thing #1

No body likes to fail at things. I am no exception to this statement. Therefore, my hardest habit is seeing a problem as a challenge. For the most part people's gut reaction to a problem is "Oh crap..". However as a teacher I feel that I need to strive to overcome this reaction. As teachers we have to be able to help our students with their problems not make them panic by our bad reaction.
I think my easiest habit would be to use technology. My whole life I have been surrounded by technology. My dad is a computer programmer so technology for the most part comes easily to me simply because I have seen many complex computer problems solved. I was also fortunate enough to go to a school in which technology classes were offered at essentially all grade levels. This prepared me in ways that I am just now beginning to appreciate.