Thing 10

On my google reader page, I subscribed to Pioneer Woman, Cool Cat Teacher, Squidoo: Funny blog, For the Love of Cooking, and Cooking with Amy. I thought this was a really neat feature. I subscribed to several cooking blogs because I was browsing and saw so many awesome recipes that I would love to try. Instead of having to go to all of those different blog sites to check for new things, they come to you! It's so convenient.
Using this technology after I become a teacher will be helpful. I will probably start subscribing to more blogs written by teachers. This will be helpful when I have questions about issues in the classroom or with certain students.
I chose not to make a public page because I don't think my blog is interesting enough for people to follow!


 

Thing 7

Phineas, a photo by sfelts4 on Flickr.

Flickr is a very simple site to use to upload photos. It's cool because you can share it with anyone, no matter what computer you are on. Using this in a classroom could be useful. I could upload pictures for a lesson or decorations for my classroom and look them up from any computer I am on. I have used Photobucket as another photo hosting service. It is very similar to Flickr, except is is a little slower and you can't share pictures with anyone who doesn't already have your password. I feel that having my pictures online is not a big deal, so long as I don't upload anything too personal or of people that do not want their pictures online.  If there was a concern with my pictures being public, I could always make them private to where only I can see them. 

Thing 9

http://www.imagechef.com/ic/final_widget.jsp
http://www.glitterizer.com/

The first image is from the first link. It is a website where you plug your picture in a background image that you can choose. I chose the stadium one, but there were many others to choose from. The second is a header that I put my name into. I got it from the second link.
I could use this header image website in my future classroom to make my newsletters have some color and flair. There were so many cool links to choose from that would be beneficial in the classroom.  Using these with my students could be a cool addition to powerpoint slides and a funny relief.

Thing 8

http://splashr.com/show/party/67926275@N08/25/" onclick="window.open(this.href, 'splashr', 'width=1000,height=700,scrollbars,resizable'); return false;">My Presentation

The above is a link to a slideshow I made of some of the images I uploaded to Flickr. It was really simple to use and very convenient. Flickr mashups could be used in my classrooms by taking pictures of all of my students and making cool collages with their pictures for my classroom. I feel that sharing pictures online is fine, as long as you are safe while doing it. If I ever uploaded pictures of my future students, I would make sure to have parent permission and to make my Flickr account private.

Thing 6

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/homepage
The website I picked to explore was Skype. This is a free site where you can sign up on your computer to video chat friends and family. Disclaimer: you do need to have a web cam for this! I loved this site. I signed up and tested it with some friends who already had a skype. I could chat face to face with them in real time. It was such a unique way to communicate instead of the overused texting and phone calls. You can also instant message while you are skyping your friends. If you can't talk for some reason, like you are in the library, you can just type what you want to say, and it will instantly send it to them. The only thing I disliked about this site was sometimes it would freeze up. It didn't happen often, but I guess you have to have a very strong internet connection.
Skype could be used in school and library setting by an online teacher with his or her students. Having a conversation with someone face to face is easier then emails back and forth. It is also more personal and makes the student feel better about what they are learning.

Thing 5

Web 2.0 comes from the internet becoming easier to use and more accessible. According to one of the Web 2.0 articles, Web 2.0  can include social networking site, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, web applications, mashups and more. People are using the internet more often now than ever. Another article said Web 2.0 has replaced several things including the yellow book, the mail system, and many others. It's crazy to think that so many important things can be replaced with the Internet!
Social networking is a crazy popular Web 2.0 trend. Almost everyone I know has a facebook and many have a twitter. Social networking is a way to stay in touch with friends and family that you don't see everyday. It has been a huge contribution to Web 2.0 and will continue to grow.
School 2.0, to me, means that the school system has more technology advances then ever. Technology is a way of life in the classrooms. More and more teachers are using smart boards and computer games as part of their everyday learning activities. Students love these advances and it helps them with computer skills they will need for life.
Schools in the future will do nothing but benefit from the advances in technology in "School 2.0". I hope that technology keeps on advancing and becomes Web 3.0, 4.o, etc. I would love to teach in an advanced classroom. Having technology makes it easier on the teacher and more fun for the students.

Thing 4

Commenting is important in blogging. It creates a sense of community and interaction by receiving feedback for your ideas and thoughts. Commenting in blogs is very similar to holding a conversation in person. You wouldn't want to be the only person talking, so why should you be the only person blogging on a certain topic. Blogging helps put your personal thoughts and opinions out in the world wide web so interaction is key. By doing this, you are exposing a part of yourself. Many people need reassurance that what they are saying is right or okay. Any kind of commenting is good, whether a reassuring review, or a disappointed viewer. Just having the feedback is welcome.
A point from the article "Cool Cat Teacher Blog" that I agree with was having something meaningful to say when you comment. I completely agree with that. The worst kind of commenting is when people just agree with everything you say in one of two words. When you write something, or have a conversation for that matter, you want more to go on then just a few words of agreement. By asking questions and telling opinions, the blog becomes more interesting for everyone.
Another point from the articles that I agreed with was from "Your comments?". I agree that writers like to be reassured that they are being read. Also, making your comment heartfelt is important. He states that if you receive a comment on your blog, you should thank each person.
The five blogs I chose from our group were:

Kelsey Gardner
  I commented on Kelsey's blog because I loved the picture she put in her Thing 7 blog. I clicked on the link and read the caption underneath the picture and found it really interesting.
Evelyn Estes
 I commented on Evelyn's post on Thing 8. She uploaded a flickr mashup that was her name. I told her that she missed out the V in her name, but it was okay because we still get how cool it would be. I told her that these awesome flickr techniques would be really useful in future power point slides for lesson plans.
Christy Colby
I commented on Christy's blog about cyber bullying. I know how bad of a problem this can be especially since the internet is such a big part of our everyday lives.
Tammy Seeber
I commented on Tammy's Thing 3 blog post. I just expressed my opinion about blogs and their function in society today.
Kelsie Penick
I commented on Kelsie's Thing 9 blog post. She had a lot of interesting pictures, so it caught my attention. I let her know that her post gave me some ideas for the future.
Rebecca Riels
I commented on Rebecca's Thing 7 from 3040-34. I really liked her Flickr picture she chose and I wanted to tell her so. I also agree with her post that she could spend forever on Flickr and not get tired of it. It is just such a cool website!
Er'nyce Smith
I commented on Er'nyce's Thing 6 post from 3040-34. I just told her how much I enjoy Pandora! I answered some of the questions she had listed in her blog as well.

I commented on Pioneer Woman's blog about how to make banana foster. I was just complimenting her on all the stunning pictures and easy to follow directions.
Pioneer Woman

I also commented on another cooking site, "For the Love of Cooking" about a particular dish I would like to try to cook.
For the Love of Cooking

Thing 3

There are many things you can do as an educator with a blog including things for your future classroom. I got several ideas from the links on the 23 things websites. You can share websites with students on things you are learning in the classroom that week. It could be learning games or information that goes along with the material along with class calenders and agendas. You could also discuss teacher-training experiences and what worked and what didn't. You can give other teachers some teaching tips or cool ideas for their classrooms. Also talking about learning issues and some solutions to these problems. This is a good one to do when other, more experienced teachers are reading your blog and can give you some feedback on their knowledge from personal experience.
There is so much you can do with a blog as a teacher, the possibilities are endless. A blog can be a very useful technology tool in the classroom that many people would not think about.

Thing 2

I decided to have my blogger posting name the same as my real name. I didn't want to use an alias in this because it is an assignment and I didn't want there to be any confusion. The name of my blog is just my full name. This really has no meaning, I just wanted something easy to remember.
I had a pretty good experience with creating my blog. I have never done anything like this before. But by following the directions on the 23 Things website, it was really easy to do.
My avatar does reflect my personality because I made her look like me. She has my hair and eye color and is wearing my favorite color. I decided to make my avatar look like me since I am using my real name and my blog is named after me. If I had used an alias name I would have made an alias avatar.

Thing 1

I believe the old saying,you learn something new everyday. Lifelong learning is pretty simple in concept. It's saying that you never need to give up on doing something new or something out of your comfort zone. I completely agree with that. The habit I think would be the easiest for me to relate to would be to make a goal. I make goals for myself all the time, such as making good grades, losing weight, and saving money. Another easy habit would be that attitude is everything. I definitely agree that having a good attitude about a bad situation makes it so much easier to deal with. It takes so much more energy to be mad/sad then it does to be happy! 

A habit that I would find the hardest would be to have confidence in myself. I know that having confidence is a very important aspect in success and to be a great teacher I need to have better confidence. It is something I can do (maybe with a goal!) but I think it will take harder work than the rest of the habits.

Lifelong learning is something we all should aspire to have. You never want life to be dull and learning new things will keep it exciting!