Thing #12

While exploring the google tools, I found some of them useful. The igoogle page is good for organizing you interests and the calendar is great for organizing. I also was able to create an alert to goings on in my hometown. Honestly, I think these tools would be good for the teacher more so than the students. Alerts are great ways to keep up with new information regarding subject matter, and the calendar for keeping track of what's going on day to day.

my i google page
http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en&gl=us

Thing #11

I found Technorati to be the easiest blog searching tool, especially for finding RSS feeds.I found Syndic8 to be the most difficult to navigate. Everything was jumbled together and searching didn't make it any easier. Ifound many interesting teacher blogs by just searching google for teacher blogs.

Thing #10

I like how convenient RSS feeds are. The fact that when I open up my internet explorer I am able to click on a button and immediately go to the webpage I'm looking for, without having to type in a web address. I think RSS feeds will be integral to education, especially as we integrate more technology into the classroom; if only to conserve time. RSS feeds will also be very helpful for teachers, while they are looking for resources.

Thing #9

http://icanhascheezburger.com/
This image generator is one of my favorites. I really enjoy funny animal pictures, and this one reminded me of the lyrics to Counting Crows "Hanging Around".I was able to change the font, size and color, as well as type in the text I wanted to match the picture I chose.

http://www.jjchandler.com/tombstone/
This image generator only allows you to type in the text, other than that, this site was kind of plain.

http://www.warningsigngenerator.com/
This site allows you to choose the sign, the image, and your text, but you can't change much about it.
Many of these image creators only required you to pick out the background, font colors and text. These image generator are a great way to decorate your classroom, or as a personal toy, but I don't believe they have an educational implication.

Thing #8

Hawaiian Beach Mosaic, a photo by bcardwell311 on Flickr.

I used the mosaic maker by Big Huge Labs. I would find this useful in a classroom setting, especially if used to explore comparisons between things. By creating a picture of many different varieties, you can explore the differences between each individual picture in the mosaic. I'm not comfortable having my personal photos all over the internet. Whenever I post a picture online, I tend to set the viewing setting to private.

Thing#7

I posted my photo from Flickr under the title Baby Shower Cake. It's apicture of my good friend's baby shower cake. It's the prettiest cake I've ever seen! Using flickr seems easier than I thought it would be.

Baby Shower Cake

Baby Shower Cake, a photo by bcardwell311 on Flickr.

Flickr is an excellent resources for sharing images with other people whether that's inside a classroom or for personal uses. I enjoyed using flickr it's very easy to share your photo with others. I have not ever used a photo sharing service, besides social networking sites like myspace or facebook. I'm a little concerned with having my photos viewable by the public,. so I marked mine viewable by friends and family only.

Thing#6

I looked at aviary.com as a web 2.0 tool. Aviary is a free photo editing program. It's very easy to use and has fun stickers, text, and drawing applications.I didn't like  how limited the options for doing creative things to the picture are. The site allowed to automatically link to a social networking site, but doesn't display the picture along with the link. As for using this site in a school setting, it would be useful for drawing or creating images in relation to assignments.
http://www.aviary.com/

Thing #5

I think Web 2.0 is going to revolutionize education. Many students that have issues with school are just immensly bored with sitting in a classroom and doing pen and paper work for eight hours a day. The more technology we can use in class, the more students we can connect with. Paper and pencil are an important part of education, but imagine how much more interactive our classrooms can be if we integrate new technology. I think school 2.0 is a much needed step into the future that education has been reluctant to take. There are many things to be concerned about when it come to using the internet and technology in the classroom. The first is, of course, the cost of obtaining and maintaining the equipment, but in the end the cost is worth it. If we are able to inspire three extra children, that would normally be lost in the school system, per classroom, we could possibly get better funding from the state and federal goverment.

Thing #4

Commenting allows the author to feel heard and understood. When you comment on what he or she has to say you open up a new vein, in which the conversation can flow, so commenting helps to fully develop a subject. I think that we get very used to commenting in a negative way, so when I read the post about critical commenting I wondered just how many people actually pay attention to tactfulness when writing a comment. It reminded me of the importance of being kind, it's too easy to look for the negative. Finding the positive values in someone's writing is much more difficult, because it's harder to see from another person's perspective. Also, making it easier t comment on your blog is great advice. We have become pretty lazy when it comes to commenting, preferring the quick and easy message rather than a detailed explanation of our thoughts.

Katie Solar Thing#3- I chose Katie's blog because she wrote about the usefulness of blogs in the classroom environment and as a way to get parents involved as well. I thought it was an excellent idea, not just from standpoint of a teacher, but as a parent as well.

Jessica Patterson Thing#2- Jessica has a fantastic upbeat attitude that is pretty transparent in her writing. Her enthusiasm for trying something new was catching!

Jamie Galloway Thing#6- I admire that Jamie expresses her opinion and backed it up with information, instead of just throwing it out there. She listed some very important points about the consequences of technology and using it in schools.

Bretlea Appleton Thing#1-It's always interesting to hear someone express that they have similar issues and how they deal with the concept, especially as it relates to a habit that you have trouble breaking.

Alex Duchscher Thing#2- I liked that Alex used his avatar to describe himself, not just a physical description, but a personality one as well.

http://elementaryteacherblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/if-i-were-president.html

This is a blog posting by Elementary Teacher Blog. I really enjoy reading about  how teachers and children interact and the funnier the story the better. This one is a fantastic post about what one student wrote when asked to write a paragraph about what they would do if they were president.

http://learnmegood2.blogspot.com/2011/08/identity-crisis.html

This blog posting is by Mr.Teacher, from his Learn Me Good blog. Unlike the Elementary Teacher Blog, this one is written by a teacher who works with older kids. This post is very clever and funny. The author writes about his interactions with students and his interesting take on education policy. Fantastic read!

I chose to comment on what I took from every blog. Everyone had a different way of writing and a different outlook on what they were writing about. My comments usually were about the things I found in the blog that caught my attention.

Thing #3

Blogs would be an excellent tool for communication between teachers and parents. many parents have busy lives, work long hours, and don't have a lot of time for scheduled conferences. I believe using as blog to update parents about what their children are learning would be excellent. It would also help parents get involved in what their kids are learning, and facilitate a good parent network. I also would love to implement an accountability element into the blog. We can post the homework assignments on our blog. This allows the parents to know what their child is supposed to be doing at home, and eliminates the " I did it already" and the "I don't have any" excuses that many children use to avoid doing homework.

Thing #2

I guess it was the easy way out, but I chose to use my name and Thing #2, because they are by far and large the most recognizable way to find what you are looking for. I've spent a lot of time online, and working with technology, so creating my blog wasn't too difficult. I had a harder time trying to decide how I wanted it to look. I couldn't get the dopple me avatar to work, so I went to a sit that made a cartoon of myself.  My avatar looks like me... I am a fairly easy going and simple person on the outside, but on the inside I'm pretty complex, at least I'd like to think so! :)

Thing #1

The 7 1/2 Habits of Effective Teachers slideshow was very informative. It is interesting to find that some of the things we find enjoyable in our everyday lives are, in fact, effective lifelong learning tools. Obviously things such as play, social networking, technology, and games are all things we indulge in on a daily basis. We often don't associate these things with learning, at least at the most effective level.
The habit I find the easiest to comply with is to play. From childhood to adulthood, we are involved in levels of play that inspire us and we find joy in relaxing and unwinding in play. The hardest habit I would have is choosing to see problems as challenges versus seeing them as crises. Normally I am a very calm person, but when i have a problem...it's a problem. While I can understand the lesson behind the issue, I still see it as an issue, not something to challenge my intellect. it will be interesting to physically make myself change that viewpoint.
Lifelong learning  is a constant reshaping of a mindset. You have to be willing to change a set opinion of yourself and pursue new things that you may not feel like you really can change.