Thing #12

Google search is obviously one of the most popular websites in the history of the internet.  Search isn't the only thing that Google is good for though.  Google translate is also a very good tool that Google has came up with.  I personally have used it a lot since I am trying to learn German.  It helps a lot to check my work and make sure I am saying and writing it correctly.  Another Google tool that I enjoyed was Google Alerts.  This notifies you as soon as news updates happen.  This is a great way of getting news to you as soon as possible.  This would also give you a chance to show your students the new news updates daily for a starter of the day.  These are great tools for the classroom!

Thing #11

For this exercise, I had a difficult time trying to figure out which one to use.  I thought all of the options were so helpful and pertained very much to the topic.  I decided to go with Topix because you can find blogs from people around your area.  This makes getting to know people around your town so much easier.  I didn't have a difficult time with any of the search tools.  They were all pretty straight forward.  I found a lot of feeds about teaching methods like how to make classroom activities more fun.  That will be very useful for me in the future.  I never found any unusual feeds.  I just found people with opinions different than me which I guess could be considered unusual to me.  I will definitely be using Topix again!

Thing #10

RSS is an amazing thing.  It makes finding out all the new news so much easier.  Whenever an update on a blog comes up, it automatically lets you know through Google Reader.  The blogs that I subscribed to were Cool Cat Teacher, Ina Garten, Fun Teaching Methods for Teachers, How Can Teachers Use Technology in the Classroom, and Tobuscus-Know Your Meme.  I could use RSS whenever I needed to know any updates on the blogs that I have subscribed to.  Teachers could use this to their advantage by being able to show their students the blogs for their class every day considering that it shows the updates every day.

Thing #9

http://www.imagechef.com/ic/make.jsp?tid=Fireworks+Text

This exercise was really fun for me.  I used Image Chef to pick which one I wanted to use.  It had so many templates to choose from.  It was interesting looking at all the different templates and choosing which one I wanted to show to everyone.  I chose this one because fireworks always get everyone's attention and as you can see by the text, I really enjoyed making this haha.  All of the different generators could really show a child's creativity and help make any classroom activity more fun.

Thing #8

These mashups were so much fun to look through.  All of them were so tempting to use in my blog but my favorite one was the Jigsaw one (http://bighugelabs.com/jigsaw.php).  I loved making a puzzle out of my favorite band's cd cover.  It was really interesting.  In the future, you could use the mashups for future classroom photos, just to make them a little more interesting.  I think that sharing photos online is perfectly fine.  The only thing I have against it is how people think it's okay to put inappropriate pictures up for everyone to see.  Other than that, I think it is a great way to show people how you really are as a person.

Thing #7

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/2494191157/

On Flickr, I discovered this photo by Kevin Dooley.  I loved it because it was very artistic but still extremely simple.  The fact that there are two shadows intrigues me.  The contrast in lighting is also very beautiful to me. Kevin did a very good job at taking this picture and I just had to make my blog about this one.  Flickr is an extremely easy way to browse photos that pertain to any subject you want.

Thing #6

http://www.go2web20.net/site/?a=Powtoon
The website that I chose for this blog is called Powtoon.  This website lets you create animated power points for your classroom.  I feel this is a very good way to get your students interested.  Students always get bored during lectures but if you had animations to go with it, I feel it would keep their attention to the lecture so much better.  The best feature about this site is definitely the fact that you can create video presentations.  This feature will keep any student's attention.  I had absolutely no dislikes for this website.  I feel it would be a very helpful tool in the classroom.

Thing #5

Reading the different perspectives of how people define Web 2.0 is always refreshing to me.  I enjoy seeing how other people see how technology is good or bad.  In Steve Hargadon's blog, he shows 10 different trends on what makes Web 2.0 good.  I completely agree with all of them.  I feel that Web 2.0 is the way to get classrooms more active and organized.  To me, School 2.0 means that any student can learn anything and everything through the power of technology.  Learning doesn't stop in the classroom.  In the future, using technology will give students better computer skills and allow them to learn wherever and whenever they want.

Thing #4

Commenting on posts is extremely important.  It lets the blogger know what other people like about their posts and how they can possibly improve on their blog.  In The Blue Skunk Blog reading, it says that writers like knowing when they're being read.  I think this is so important because it lets the writer know whether they should continue writing or not.  Another important point by The Cool Cat Teacher Blog is to make sure you leave your name with your comment.  Without your name, the blogger loses the importance and authenticity of their comment.

5 Blogs from our group:
Rachel Lichtenberger(http://licht3040.blogspot.com/)
Elizabeth Howell(http://elihowell.blogspot.com/)
Markesha McCombs(http://markeshamccombs.blogspot.com/)
Lauren Williams(http://laurenkaycee.blogspot.com/)
Calla Carpenter(http://carpenter3040.blogspot.com/)

2 Blogs from outside of group:
Brown Eyed Baker(http://www.browneyedbaker.com/)
Toby Turner-Toblog(http://tobyturner.com/blog)

I chose all of these blogs to comment on because they all had a point that I completely agreed with. And their blogs were all neat to look at haha:) Great job to all of y'all!!