Thing 12 - Google Stuff

I choose Google Books and Google Translate for my two things to play around with on Google. Both are fun and easy to navigate when I wanted to quickly look up an item. Google books has the seach option where you can simply type in a keyword to what you are wanting to find and it will give you several different books that have that certain word in the the title or description. You can also search by author or title if you know these. Several topics I searched were special education involving tactics and teaching methods as well as case studies and other classroom stories. On a fun side note I also read horror and especiallt zombie themed books so by using this I found several books that I have not read before. As for Google translate, what can I say but it is fun to look up inappropiate words at times! I found myself typing in everything from common words that we use everyday in the English language to words that are almost impossible for me to spell at times in English alone. You can type in most any word and see the correct way it is spelled in most any other language in the world. To see words that we use daily that are spelled in five to six letters and then see it in another language where it may be more then one word alone to make your point makes me always wonder how did that come to be. I am always traveling when possible so knowing how to say certain things in different languages is always helpful.

Thing 11 - RSS Feeds

Feedly was actually easy to navigate as I just typed in the topic or pulled from their suggested ones. I could then narrow the search down to individual feeds from there. I followed what I tend to enjoy the most and that is different sports feeds from the Auburn tigers to the Chicago Bulls. I also looked into several education blogs on special education / needs and found several interesting articles and discussions. These will come in handy as I am in the classroom and may have a questions that someone else may have insight into. The Google Blog search seemed to be the one I was most comfortable with as I use Google daily anyways. None of the three suggested were all that hard to navigate though or find the items that I was looking for. I did feel that Technorati was a bit busy on the main page but once I played with it for a bit it seemed ok as well.

Thing 10 - RSS

I used the tool and can see where using RSS feeds can be beneficial in the classroom when the need exists to gather particular information or data quickly. It does cut down on the searching through pages, blogs, and posts to find items that you are looking for or interested in. The fact that it can take a subject or certain topic or headline and provide me with quick findings was helpful. For me, I do not plan to use this in my everyday life as I will simply go to the sites that I trust now but am open to using it in the classroom when it comes to large information based projects and or reports. Any advancement in technology is a plus in education especially as we, as a society, move towards more and more tech enhanced classrooms.

Thing 9 - Image Generator

http://cdn-users1.imagechef.com/ic/stored/2/140219/samp3ff03b58f439c31a.jpg

http://cdn-users1.imagechef.com/ic/stored/2/140219/sampdbcca6a80886c506.jpg

http://cdn-users1.imagechef.com/ic/stored/2/140219/samp830ca31f16a841b4.jpg

Here are just a few images that I altered to have fun with. I used ImageChef to create these and I know after looking online that there are several sites out there. In a classroom this would allow for so much creativity and fun for students to make their own items. With the ability to upload and modify a photo, create a meme, or simply recolor photos to appear different then the original was fun for me. These can be used in various projects as visual aids or in lessons that a little humor or creativity may be involved or needed.

Thing 8 - Mashups

http://bighugelabs.com/output/jigsawf7a765750262e284b9bf022aa04e556012a58029.jpg

Once again, using Flickr or any other photo sharing site is not something that I would do own my own in my private life but as a teacher I cans ee how this could create some really fun activities. it could be used to creat puzzles as did, create silly photos of themselves or other classmates, or even create works of art and let the students show off their creative minds. When you share a photo in a public setting you must be aware that anyone can obtain access to that and in the case of minors in a classroom permission granted is a must first. 

Thing 6 LOST - HOW DO YOU RECOVER A DELETED BLOG????

Thing 7 - Flickr Pics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/116647979@N03/

My experience with any photo based website has been limited as I just have not had the interest in participating in one.  I have, of course, posted photos to FaceBook and MySpace back in the day but Flickr was new to me.  I found it to be interesting but still not really something that i would use all that much.  As for a tool in the classroom I can see how it would work great for a "Know Thy Self" project or any project that may be history or literature based.  You could have the students post images and photos that represent the specific topic and thier interpretations of such.  

Thing 5 - Teaching 2.0

All of the 2.0 references and articles simply mean that education is adapting to the world of growing technology around us. When I was an Undergraduate in 2004 at JSU we had very limited use of technology as I do here in graduate school at APSU. Such tools as Livetext, D2L, and now with this blog project have not only made learning more fun and easier to me but as has shown me that there is so much available to us all. To be able to use these tools and resources in our future classrooms is going to be a must as we, as a society, become more dependant on technology. This can make education easier in that communication will all students if they are homebound or sitting in the classroom possible. You will be able to assign group work and projects with the students working together over the web and not having to be in the same location to complete tasks. On the downside are we making our children to dependant on technology and encouraging them to be less social and involved? Technology is great but we, as a society, must establish the balance between using these resources as a tool or as a crutch. Sometime the face to face meeting or instruction is better in that we can convey our message directly withoout any confussion while other times just talking to others helps us grow as people. I, for one, would be lost without our current "toys" but it still schocked me to go into a fourth grade classroom while student teaching in a math class and see students that could not do simple calculations without the calculator. This troubled me in that will these children be able to do anything, not just math, without the use of some type of tech available? Once again though, if properly used and overseen, these tools are great resources that can make our classrooms a more fluid place to be in. Anytime you have something at your disposal that will make your job or life easier you should learn to use it to the fullest advantage.

Thing 4 - Commenting

With this Blog being about commenting and involving yourself and your thoughts into another persons life here are my thoughts. Anything of this nature that we blog or write about we want people to take notice. We want to feel that some one out there is reading and understanding (or not) what you are saying or trying to say. Not only can you find common connections between people you do not know you can establish friendships beyond the blog. We all want to feel accepted but in turn we have to understand that if we put ourselves out there for open comments to be prepared for the negatives as well. Not everyone may agree with your though process and may try to prove you wrong so as to discredit you or your blog. This may happen so just be prepared. Anytime we open ourselves up to the world we are giving small pieces of ourselves to others that follow us so remeber that sometimes not putting everything out all at once is not a bad thing. Here are the following people'slogs that I commented on:

Rachel C. - I commented on the DC or Darth Commenter is her blog number 4.

I like your comments on the DC or Darth Commenter and the need to just ignore them and move on. Sometime it is hard to let comments go and move on. People will "troll" your page or blog just to leave rude or negative comments looking to get a response from you and get under your skin. If you reply to these individuals in a negative way yourself you may discredit yourself and your blog and also set up the possiblilty for future negativity. If you are putting yourslef out there for the world to see or read though there will always be those people who just like to stir the pot and atempt to tear you down. As an advid Facebooker I see some blogs and pages that are constantly comented on by people just to cause trouble and make people upset and to watch the responses is sometimes funny and sad at the same time. It all depends on how you choose, or not to, respond.

Joshua J. - Thing 3 on How to use Social Media to reach out to students.

To give in and just accept that this is the way things are in education is the best at this point. To not use the social meida outlets at our disposal would be a waste on our part as all of the students that we will come into contact with use these outlets themselves. Sometimes I feel that social meida and such are hurting society in that are we forgetting howe to communicate face to face but in turn I see that with these you can connect with so many different people in so many ways. If I was allowed to create a Facebook page for my classes would the students be able to stay up to date better then a piece of paper that is shoved in a backpack? Would they listen better since I would be on their level of what is being used to communicate at the moment? These are two questions that you have to ask yourslef when venturing into the world of social media in the classroom and I say "ok I'll give it a shot". On the other hand will they shy away from you as you are the uncool teacher and they don't want to be seen associating with you on Facebook or other outlets? Only time will tell how this will work out for each of us in our classrooms.

Candice S. - Thing 3 Blogging for Parents

I really like your idea of blogging to connect with parent's. I plan to be in Special Education and to have the ability to share with the parents what their children will be involved in each week will be an invaluable tool. To be able to post lessons, thoughts, and ideas about what we are doing and possible ways that the parent may be able to assist their child will be such a great resource to have. The key will to make sure the parents understand what is being presented and how to access your blog so as there will be no excuses as to them no knowing what there children are learning and involved in. You may have the parent who is not computer inclined and then you may have to print up the blog for them but in the end the ability to say this is where we areto each and every one of them will be invaluable in the learning process.

Lynn K. - Thing 3 - Communication

My wife is an English/reading teacher now for five years on the high school level and I have encouraged her to start using a blog. With this being my first experience with blogging I find that this could really take off in a classroom setting. The possibility of being able to not only update your students and see their progress, as in our current class, but to give them tips and ideas as how to proceed in different areas is such a wonderful tool. As far as the split goes that will be a battle that we all will fight as shorthand becomes more and more popular in our culture....IMHO, LOL! We, as teachers, could almost use our own blogging and other social media skills to promote proper handwriting techniques and other skills through our pages. The student may not care but noone can say that we didn't try. Hopefully if we make a habit out of it so will they. We shall see......

Morgan B. - Commenting on other's blogs

When we blog it should always be expected tha tresponse to follow as long as you are reaching the correct audience. I feel the same way at times commenting on others blogs when i do not know that individual or are not that familiar with what their topic may be. The comfort I find in this is that we are all in this together and working towards the same goals so hopefully no one will receive negatives from anyone. The downside to this is just that though. When you open yourself up to comments you have to be prepared to take the good with the bad. How you handle those and respond or not is up to you and how far you may wnat to deal with the comment.

Reality 101 Special Education Blog - Ann-Bailey: We can do hard things

As a future teacher and the husband of a current teacher I see these effects on my wife during these months as well. Currently she has had most of this week off due to the extreme weather in her school district so I believe that she will feel a bit more recharged next week. As for the testing I like your thoughts on the mid-year tests and having the ability to make the changes needed moving towards the end of year tests. I feel as if systems do over test at times when teachers could be using this time to cover more information. I also understand thought that we must be able to gauge their progree and at this point testing and testing again seems to be the preferred way. we can do the hard things though and each day that we walk into a classroom should be seen as a challenge and not as a problem.

Reality 101 Special Education Blog - Rob: Why I teach

We as educators, and future one's as myself, should always instill the ability and the want to constantly learn each day in our classroom and our world. At 34, I still learn new things everytime I turn on the tv, open a book, or read an article. My goal is to learn something even if to others it may seem trivial. This excites me and should excite anyone that is concerned about their own personal growth. Everyone has the ability to learn and it is our jobs to find what excites our students and helps them grow.

Thing 3 - Blogs and the Classroom

With working on my own blog and learning the in's and outs I can see many ways that as a future SPED instructor I could utilize blogs. it might be interacting in daily journals with the students on their experiences in the class or life or it may be a lesson on a reading experience they have had. These blog can also be used to help parents have an online view of what is going on in the classroom and what their child is learning and participating in. This tool can also be used to get to know your student sand their habits, lifestyles, and stories so as to better instruct them as individuals. After searching the web I found another blog spot post that lists 33 ways to use blogs in the classroom and how they will work.

The website to find these is listed below:

http://web20intheclassroom.blogspot.com/2008/10/ways-to-use-blogs-in-your-classroom-and.html

Create a blog to communicate class/school information with parents. Post field trip information, field trip forms, parent helper calendars, general classroom guidelines and more.

Create a blog with daily lessons listed for students who are sick or gone. Each day, try to designate a classroom "scribe" who is responsible for posting lessons/materials covered.

For really young students - perhaps students just learning to write - use a blog to showcase individual art projects throughout the year. Use a digital camera and scanner to put creative endeavors up for display around each holiday.

Create a blog which provides additional, age-appropriate material on thematic units you study throughout the year. Link to supplemental videos, podcasts and websites to encourage extended learning.

Create a blog where students record narrations of their favorite stories (use the free software Audacity to create sound files). Students can read published work or their own work. Accompany it with scanned illustrations they have drawn.

Create a blog where students list class hypotheses before each class science experiment. When experiment is done, results can be posted and compared to initial hypotheses.

Create a blog where students share stories about their favorite holiday, or a blog about special holiday traditions in their family.

Create a blog which lists creative writing prompts or striking visual images. Encourage students to post after self-selecting a prompt/picture. Let this evolve so that students begin writing the prompts for other students.

Create a blog that has children reviewing children's books.

Create a blog where every member of the class posts about a favorite vacation. Embed maps, use Google Earth or even create a "collaborative google map" where everyone "pins" their favorite vacations on one map.

Create a blog where you list various statements that are facts and others that are opinion. Students can leave comments explaining why each is either a fact or opinion.

Create a blog where students post most memorable learning moments on a recent field trip. Could also do a Know - Want to Know - Learned (KWL) activity on the blog.

Create a blog where students describe a typical day at school. Invite other same aged students from different global locations to contribute the same type of information on the same blog. Let students ask questions and leave comments to gain cultural awareness. Students can then begin to share/compare thematic units being learned, novels being read, field trips being taken, etc.

Create a professional reflection blog on lessons that you teach. Analyze strategies and techniques that work well or don't work so well. Research and link to alternative ways to approach the lesson next time.

Create a blog that lists science fair projects chosen by each member of the class. Have students journal about their successes, frustrations and learning as projects develop. On day of competition, have students post pictures of completed projects. Let students comment on projects they thought were particularly interesting or fun. Generate "comment awards" for most complex project, most intricate project, most explosive project, etc.

Create a blog where students create a timelines (use online webware such as timetoast.com) - perhaps for events in a novel or story, or for historical events being studied. Could also be used to predict the future!

Create a blog where students collect data on science experiments. Use blog to display information gathered from Google spreadsheets. Students can create/embed graphs and charts explaining relationships of data.

Create a blog that archives favorite recipes of each student. To practice math skills, ask students to multiply each recipe so that it would feed the entire class! Post resulting recipes in blog.

Create a blog that displays information and characteristics of various art movements. Post famous art pictures and have students comment on the prominent characteristics of each. Let students find and post examples of various movements and techniques in art they find.

Create a blog where students respond to particular relevant political cartoons. Ask students to evaluate the real meaning behind the cartoon and correlate its importance to current events.

Create a blog which simulates a presidential blog and positions of this candidate on various issues. Encourage students to leave comments and questions on the candidate's policies or ideas.

Create a blog where each student conducts text or multimedia interviews to gain insight to family history and traditions.

Create a blog that showcases student poetry, short stories, etc.

Create a blog which links to real and bogus websites. Students can comment on noted biases and link to online sources to prove/disprove validity/reliability of site.

Create a blog where students find and report on acts of "good" in their community to counter the bombardment of negativity of daily media (thanks, Allison!).

Create a blog where students post about math concepts learned throughout the year. Blog can provide examples and solutions of math problems and concepts being studied.

Create a blog where students digitally record steps to solving various math problems (can use digital camcorder, record from digital whiteboard applications or use screencasts programs to capture procedures/steps).

Create a blog where students examine everyday items and how geometry or mathematical concepts are used in their design.

Create a blog where students must choose a social topic to educate others about. Students use a variety of multimedia to educate and persuade others to take action or become a part of the solution to the problem.

Create a blog where students pick a musical instrument they are considering playing in band. Students research the history of the instrument, link to sound files of the instrument, as well as use pictures and link to videos of how to play the instrument. Purchasing price, as well as other pros and cons can be explored. As a librarian or library aide, use a blog to disseminate new procedures, events or happenings to staff or other district colleagues.

As a librarian, get a book club started with a blog. Any interested student can join in.

Helping with the local PTA? Why not start a blog that records minutes and upcoming events. Send the link of the blog to all parents with email addresses to get them involved and interested.

Thing 2 - How, What, and Why's

This assigment in class is my first time having anything to do with blogs or blogging. Aside from reading an online blog on Facebook or another web source I have very little knowledge of them. Being someone who is not very comfortable with putting thoughts and emotions into type, my blog may be a bit stale and uninteresting to most honestly. Without the step by step how to set up this blog by our instructor I do not feel that I would have even looked into many blogs let alone create one myself. I do seem to enjoy this though as it goes back to Thing 1 and the concept of lifelong learning. This is yet one more new thing that I am learning in life and can see ways that I will be able to utilize this not only in future classroom settings but in my everyday life. The creation of the blog and using a Mac at school has been a challenge but I cannot say that it has been as difficult as it has been rewarding. I am not only learning a new skill but also how to use another operating system if I ever have to use the Mac system on a daily basis. Typing, to me, is much easier than putting pen to paper and I can see myself one day keeping a daily journal of events so as to be able to look back later in life and remember what I was involved in. In creating the name of the blog and the posting names I did my best to keep it simple and to the point. Like I said earlier, this being my first blogging experience I am doing my best to just make sure that I am performing all of my tasks correctly for now. As I gain better knowledge and experience I will come back and possibly jazz things up for you the reader. As for my avatar, I felt that the options to degign something similar to myself were very limited. To be more expressive through the site I used to create "me", you are required to pay real money and I just can't do that for this project. I choose orange and blue color tones to represent that I am a huge Auburn Tigers fan and the beard is pretty obvious.

Thing 1 - 7 1/2 Habits

Life long learning to me is knowing that everyday you have the ability to learn something new and how it can be used. You never can learn to much of one thing or everything of anything. After viewing the 7 1/2 online tutorial I found it very insightful. The easiest habit and the hardest for me were easily spotted without much thought during the viewing. The Easiest habit for me was to "Begin with the End in Mind" as setting small goals to reach tour ultimate goal was instilled in me at an early age. You have to see your end target but sometime I found myself stressing to obtain this until I learned the trick of small goal setting and then it seemed less over whelming. This does take practice and you must allow yourself time to master this or you will still find yourself rushing at the end of your task. It also is a great confidence builder as the target becomes closer as I chip away at the smaller "pieces" as before it felt like I was attempting to move the entire boulder at times. The Hardest habit that I can admit is still the one of "Problems verses Challenges" and the abilty to know the difference between them. I have had deal with anxiety and stress that I cannot pinpoint where it comes from since my eary twenties. Problems that could have been made into challenges would always seem to get to me and weight me down. it might be a task at work that was new to me or trying to figure out how to fix a problem around my house. I still today have to battle myself and make myself understand that some problems in life can be taken on as challenges. These problems can then become something that, when completed, are seen as rewarding and not as "finially I'm done with that and can relax". Turning negatives into positives can be tough and i work with this each day in my current job as a local government employee. There always will exist problems no matter if you are in the classroom or in another job, the ultimate task is making these into challenges that you learn from and not lose sleep over.