Thing 12:

Google has become a commonly used verb in my vocabulary. It is my go to search engine! Google alerts is interesting. I like that you can narrow your alert results or keep them broad and general. You can also decide when you receive the alerts (as-it-happens, once daily or weekly). You can also get all the results or just the best ones. I think Google Calendar would be a great tool for teachers. They can post their daily schedules on there, so parents know what subject(s) their students will miss if they leave early. Teachers can also put field trips, other special events, and various reminders on the calendar to share with parents. Google Translate would come in handy with communicating with parents, like at parent-teacher conferences, who may not speak English at all or very well. I like that you can even attach a file to it and it will translate it. If you are not sure which language it is to begin with, Google Translate can handle that too.

Thing 11:

I liked Google Blog Search the best just because I am more familiar with the Google interface. I also liked Technorati; it gave me more relative results to what I was looking for than Topix did. Topix had pop-up advertisements on it, so that loses some points for me. It was a little more confusing for me to navigate. Bright Hub Education was a neat blog that I came across using Google Blog Search. It offers lesson plans, fun activities, and even teaching tips and strategies. It covers preschool all the way through high school. It even offers homework help! It has been added to my RSS feed via Google Reader.

Thing 10:

I like that RSS and Google Reader are easy to use. They make relative information convenient. I think it would be great to use once I start teaching, when I need ideas for lesson activities. I can have all the sites in one place, instead of having to visit each individual website. I subscribed to Apps in Education, Free Technology for Teachers, the Education Optimists, I Heart Nap Time, Juggling with Kids, and Smashed Peas and Carrots. The last three blogs are where I have previously found some awesome crafts to do with kids. Free Technology for Teachers was on the recommended feeds from Dr. Wall. It gives some great technology tips for teachers to use in their classrooms with their students. Apps in Education and the Education Optimists are the blogs that I chose to comment on for Thing #4. I wanted to keep up to date with them as well.

Thing 9:

For this thing, I used Image Chef and Happy Face Generator. I think these generators would just be something fun to incorporate into the classroom. They could be printed off and put on a bulletin board or a calendar. Seeing an image of a reminder like that might help some students remember whatever it is.

Thing 8:

Using Flickr in classroom could be beneficial when you need to show your students something that they cannot see locally. Flickr mashups could be fun for the students. I used the Spell with Flickr mashup only because it was the easiest one to use. Students could use it to create a name tag or to tell others something about themselves. I also liked the idea of the Mappr mashup because you could put multiple photos on a map to chare with students for a geography or cultural lesson. I think the Jigsaw mashup could be fun for students especially the ones who strongly exhibit logical and visual intelligences. Sharing photos online is an iffy subject for me. Anyone can see and possibly take your photos, if you are not careful. However, if you want a lot of people to see your photos, it is great way to do that.

Thing 7:

Photography is one of my hobbies. I have worked at a summer daycare for the past five years. At the end of each summer, we put together a slide show of photos of the kids for Family Night. At one of those Family Nights, a parent and I were talking about my photography and he recommended that I get a Flickr, but I never did. So, now I am seeing what I have been missing out on! Flickr looks like it is very easy to use. I noticed that you can upload photos from third party apps, like Picasa (which I use to edit my photos). So, that is very convenient! It seems to be a social networking site specifically for photographers, which is unique.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Ghandi

Photo credit:  Feggy Art

I found this photo here. This is one of my favorite quotes. I consider myself to be easily inspired and I want to inspire my students. I hope that all of them will change the world in some way, no matter how small. This quote will definitely be displayed somewhere in my future classroom. I would really like to have a bulletin board dedicated to inspiring quotes like this one. Maybe, if I end up teaching the upper grades, I can have my students pick out their favorite quotes and put them on the bulletin board as well.

Thing 6:

I chose to explore Grooveshark because I love music. I had heard of Grooveshark, but never checked it out. It is very similar to iTunes and Pandora. You can upload music to the site. You can create playlists which might come in handy in the classroom. You could have a playlist for transitions between subjects and activities. You could make playlists for each subject. You can search by song title, artist name, or album name, which is very useful. The only thing I did not like is that Grooveshark does not have stations for similar sounding artists like Pandora does. However, it does have stations sorted according to the genre of music. This site could be used to help musically intelligent students that might be in the class. Grooveshark could prove to be a very useful tool in the classroom.

Thing 5:

"School 2.0" is basically the entire point of this class. We are also experiencing it in the other classes we are taking, by use of D2L. "School 2.0", to me, means learning on a whole new level by teaching using technology, sometimes even outside the classroom. I think schools of the future will increasingly use more and more technology. I mean we already have homeschooling available online. What is next? I think "School 2.0" will allow teachers to better modify their lessons and mold them to address the various learning styles in their classrooms. "Web 2.0:  A Guide for Educators" confirmed my thoughts. The Internet is constantly growing and changing. More and more people are using it. The Web has become second nature to many kids. The Web has also become part of daily life for most of them. The Horizon Report (2008) mentions:  "Web 2.0 and social networking tools are increasingly being adopted for educational use," and I have to agree. That article also addresses the increasing amount of various portable devices which eases the transition into "School 2.0".

Thing #4:

I think commenting helps create a sense of community and interaction because you talk with people who have similar ideas and views to your own. It is a great tool to share experience with others. The Cool Cat Teacher Blog mentions that through commenting, "you show the blog author that you 'hear them'". Others can reaffirm your thoughts and ideas, and vice versa. The Cool Cat Teacher Blog also says that by commenting, "you become part of the life of the blogger you are reading". This is very true. When you start commenting, sometimes you cannot stop. So, you keep up to date with the blog and consequently the blogger's life.
I chose to comment on the following blogs from our group:

• 23 Stehle HOOTs
• Ava's 23 things at 32
• Hemingson's 23 Things
• Mixon's Magical 23 Things
• Blair's 23 Things

And these two blogs from outside our group:

• http://eduoptimists.blogspot.com/
• http://appsineducation.blogspot.com/

These blogs caught my attention for one reason or another. I just commented on posts I agreed with. I also gave some of my opinions and ideas. As far as the blogs outside our group, eduoptimists gives some great info and the author is a parent. So, it is great to get that perspective. Appsineducation offers some awesome app suggestions for teachers to use. However, not all of the apps suggested are free.