Thing #12

For thing 12 we were supposed to look into depth what all Google has to offer. Before starting the 23 things for this class I already had a Gmail account for work which works to all of our advantage. We are all able to pull up our "building chart" or "contact log", for example. But the best part about it is that we can set it to share and we all are able to pull it up whenever we need too. I think that this is a great advantage in my workplace now but you could also incorporate in into teaching. Let's say the 3rd graders at an Elementary school swapped teachers daily. The teacher could all share an attendance sheet on Google docs to be able to see who to expect in class. The other thing that I really enjoyed looking into was Google calendar. I know that now that I always have something to do but I am pretty good about keeping track of it in a hand written calendar. This would be just another form of that. If I were to create a Google calendar I would set mine to private. I didn't know that Google had such a wide variety of things to offer. It definitely is not just a search engine. 

Thing #11

My first blog to look at was Edublog. It was voted the best teacher blog in 2011 and seemed to be very reliable. Once I started looking at it, it was hard to get off. There were so many different categories to search it was unreal. You click what category you want to look into then the different blogs are listed in ABC order. It doesn't get any more simple than that. I didn't like Topix very much because the first page you come to is very cluttered and turned me off at the beginning. I started following one blog called Dare to Care by Denise Krebs. I read some of her blogs and they were very inspirational. Google is another way of searching for blogs and it is easy to use because I am so used to it, but in this case I would chose Edublog over Google. 

Thing #10

I had never heard of RSS reader before doing thing #10. I have always wondered what the orange button was for on some websites but now I know. I had a little trouble understanding how to search for the different pages at first but then I just started searching random things and came across some things that I would enjoy looking at. I like how easy it is to use and read other blogs, considering I am not the "pro blogger." Everything that you want is on one page instead on ten different tabs open on your browser. I like to read inspirational quotes and bible verses so I subscribed to those for my personal life. I also subscribed to various teacher blogs. I think that the students and parents can make a blog and be able to keep up with what is going on in the class room. I really liked being introduced to RSS and defiantly think I will be using it more often.

Thing #9

I used Image Chef to create these pictures. I liked the being able to create so many different pictures with my own words on them. Image Chef is a fun and quick thing to do. I think that you could use some of these picture in your class room. If you typed something on them and printed it off to tape up in the classroom. Other than that I think that this website would just be a free time activity or something to do at home. Here are two of the picture that I created. I love the life that God has given me and always a die hard Volunteer fan!

Thing #8

There are so many different things that you can find on Flickr, Flickr mash ups and all the different 3rd party tools. I created several different things with the sites but my favorite was the puzzle mash up. I think that you could use Flickr and Flickr mash ups in the classroom. I also think that you would have to be careful because I know that I could easily get addicted to using all of these different tools. So most likely the students will to. I will use Flickr in my personal life but I will have to use self control to stay off of it and do homework. This is a picture of my boyfriend and I at the beach this summer with the puzzle mash up.

Thing #7

Brothers birthday dinner, a photo by Allllie_Gator on Flickr.

I decided to post a picture of my family, because they are the ones who have got me to where I am today. I don't know what I would do with out them. Each and every one of them have made a huge impact on my life. I have heard of Flickr before but never really had the time to do anything with it. I recently deleted my Facebook because I would spend most of my time on there looking at pictures instead of doing homework. But I am glad that I took the chance to explore Flickr and understand it better. When I was in high school I had an account with Photo Bucket and from what I remember it is the same thing will some differences here and there. They are same in the fact that their main objective is for posting pictures. I think that you could incorporate Flickr in the classroom if you were doing a project and wanted to make a group for your class room so that the students could share their pictures and ideas with one another. I have always been nervous about keeping account of mine open to the public so I would most definitely have my picture private to my friends and family. 

Thing #6

I chose to look more in depth at Pandora. Pandora is an Internet radio for anyone to listen to whenever you want. You can search any style, genre, composer or artist of music that fits your personality. Pandora is a free website, unless you want to upgrade to the version without advertisements. You can turn Pandora on your computer or download the application on your smart phone. I made an account with the free version and although the advertisements are quite annoying I just try to ignore them. I think that you could use Pandora for soft music while the students are reading an assignment or maybe doing some homework for the night. I know from experience now I can concentrate better with soft music in the background. You could even use the music during transitions throughout the day. I really like Pandora as a whole and think that it would be a good tool in the classroom.

Thing #5

It is amazing to look back just a few years ago when I was in high school how things were compared to today. When I was in high school we would go to the library to use the Internet for a research paper or big project for pictures and such, but other than that it wasn't made out to be any big deal. I could tell that there was going to be a big change in the way the Web was going to be used though. This was around the time that Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and all sorts of social networking was coming about. Most people today could not live without Google or Emailing back and forth. Also, with having smart phones and iPads, being able to have all these different things at the tip of your fingers is an huge advancement in technology. I think that using Web 2.0 and School 2.0 in a classroom could open so many new doors to your students. I know that some of the things that I am learning in college today my parents learned over twenty years ago. I know things like History are always going to be the same but nowadays there are so many more ways a teacher can make it interesting and more easy to learn for the students. I know as a future teacher I will incorporate Web 2.0 into my classroom. Now that I know there are so many different learning experiences out there for my students, why would I put them to waist? I know that the Internet has changed drastically in the past 5 years who knows what is to come.

Thing #4

I believe that commenting on other followers blogs is really a great thing and it does create a sense of community. Having someone tell me that I have posted something that they like or want to use in the future makes me feel good. And even the opposite way around, if someone were to tell me that I needed to improve or fix something lets me know that they care. Having the perspective of someone else is always a good thing even if you don't agree with them. I chose to follow several classmates blogs to follow.


First I followed Ariel Griffth http://agriffith3.blogspot.com/. Ariel and I went to the same high school so I decided to follow her. She has some good post and great ideas. We has a lot of similar thoughts for example how we felt about the RSS reader.


Rebecca Black http://becca-black.blogspot.com/. Rebecca and I went to London on Spring Break together with our English class so I started following her. We also had a lot in common such as we both loved iGoogle.


Caitlin Ladd http://caitlinfaith.blogspot.com/ I met Caitlin in this class because we just happened to sit next to each other. We are both special education majors which I thought to be very cool. I think that she will be a great teacher and she has some great ideas.


Hayli Wrigley http://haylilen.blogspot.com/. I have had both of my education classes with Hayli this year so I thought I would follow her. Hayli was also not very fond of the RSS feeder either.


Last out of our class I chose to follow Samantha Lambright http://samanthalambright.blogspot.com/. Samantha is my roommate and best friend. So of course we have some of the same likes and ideas on most things.


I also chose to follow two other blogs that I liked. The first one is Cool Cat Teacher Blog http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/ and Love2Learn2Day http://love2learn2day.blogspot.com/. I commented on both of their blogs. The Cool Cat Teacher blog I found a blog about technology and told her about our class and how we just talked about social networking in the classroom. Then on love2learn2day I saw a blog about remaking classroom a organizing it. It was amazing! I believe that both of these sites will help me when I am a teacher in many ways. I hope to still have them to follow.

Thing #3

Considering this is my first blog and I am still in the process of getting the hang of everything, I think there are many good things that can come out of this. I am starting to like the whole concept of blogging. I can really see the usefulness in using it with teaching. Being a teacher plays a big role in a child's life. If one  teacher has an awesome way of teaching something and her children caught then why not share it with others? Your are not only helping your students but also other students around the world. I will have a blog when I am a teacher, so that if I come up with something I can share with other teachers that may be able to use the examples. Also, I will let my students parents know of the blog sight as well so that they can go on and read about what their child has done in class that day. Overall, blogging is a great tool with technology in the educational world.