Thing #11

I liked registered with a few different feeds, I used bloglines because for some reason it just appealed to me all the way around. I did NOT like syndic8 because it's still loading even after I have been browsing around on other feeds for the past 20 minutes...I guess I should close that tab. Did anyone else have that problem with syndic8? Every other one worked quickly! :( Anyhow, I registered for a few blogs, one about cooking (big surprise), E!news, Edublogs, Chicago Tribune (my hometown), NewsWeek, and Coolest Cat. I plan on registering for more now that I know what RSS is, HOW GREAT!!! I use my Yahoo account as a reader, the icon has been on almost every one I've registered with. I guess the most frustrating part about this is that there is SO much information available that I feel overwhelmed. I think I have the right idea though. I found myself registering for almost everything I came across...I shouldn't be so hasty!

Thing #10

It's funny what I overlook everyday and realize later that I needed to know about it or want to know about it, but haven't gotten around to it yet. RSS is exactly that, I have seen those little orange icons everywhere and wondered what is that? Well thank goodness I know now! Geez, it's such a hassle to go to the site itself to check for new stuff. This is awesome for teachers, instead of getting newsletters through email, global issues that the class may be studying, comments on various teacher blogs, etc. can be seen updated constantly!

On this blog, I can see that I have comments, but not which ones are new. With RSS, I now can save time and always informed about what I'm interested in. I created my reader through Yahoo because I already have an account. I'm so excited that I now know what RSS is and what a time saving, invaluable tool!

Thing #9

Here' another sign that I thought was funny because I have been sitting in front of my laptop and I have been telling everyone to leave me alone and when they ask why, I tell them about Web 2.0, they haven't had the pleasure of being introduced to it yet.  I made this at www. signgenerator.org

Sign generators can be a fun and easy activity to incorporate into a reading unit to convey a message, or on Valentine's Day to make valentines for classmates, there are so many different sign templates that you could find one for almost everything and every occasion...I'm sure you guys saw some of the sign templates, I was a little surprised.  One thing I would worry about is that my students could potentially see some of these templates as inappropriate and many are.

It was so easy to make them, pretty much all you have to do is come up with a catchy line, that was the hardest part for me.  I couldn't get the HTML code for both of the ones I posted, but no biggy, just saved them to the desktop and viola! 

Thing #9

I used http://dummies.book.cover.txt2pic.com/to make this Web 2.0 Tools guide for Newbies, notice how I decided not to say for dummies, because we're not, we're learning!  I thought of using this book cover because I have the Photoshop for dummies and it's really helpful, but I'd have to say the online tutorials have been a lifesaver.  It's totally different when you actually see someone doing it,rather than reading about it without any hands - on experience.

Thing #8

I don't mind sharing my pictures online, it has given me a place to put all photos without having to worry about all my pics getting lost if my computer crashes.  Also, of I'm uncomfortable sharing some of pictures, I can always make them private.  Flickr could be used to create all sorts of projects like class collages, photostreams of our class field trips, a mashup of my student's progress...but considering that I am fairly new to Flickr, I haven't had enough time to take advantage of all Flickr has to offer.  I am totally addicted, it's so fun and I've learned how to give another photographer credit when or if I use their pictures.  I've always wanted a Warhol version of myself, I think it comes from watching the movie Beaches, where Better Midler has some of herself.  This picture is me when I found out some bad news, I was pretty stressed.

Thing # 4

I'd say that I'm certainly not an introvert, and somehow blogging makes me feel like I'm becoming one. I suppose it's the lack of human presence, essence, their facial expressions...a human, a person! Yet, on the other hand, I think blogging can be used in a productive manner depending on the topic matter and a way to read/hear an array of people's thoughts. I have only actually commented on a few teacher's blogs, asking them for advice, but never really a regular blogger. There's billions, one of the blogs we read in class said that there were over 50,000 blogs made every second, or was it hour? Regardless, blogging is HUGE and I need to get in the habit of joining this online community because it is a type of interaction...one that I'm not completely familiar or comfortable with yet, but I think this class alone is helping my get pushed out of my non-blogging nest.

Obviously it's important to have manners, regardless if you're on the net or not. The two most important points were basically the same "be polite". It's just common sense, like one of the blogs said, you wouldn't just go into a stranger's house and act like an idiot, you'd probably (and hopefully) have the common courtesy to act civil. It is the same with blogging, don't go trampling all over some one's blog without reading and understanding their point of view and be polite, even if you may disagree.

So far, I have visited Michael Stein's blog and he seems really interested in incorporating blogs and technology overall into his teaching and learning. His blogs are easy to read and I found myself shaking my head 'yes' while I was reading, I'll edit this post as I read more blogs.

I've now blogged to Danielle for her chocolate toilet bowl! I could have looked at flickr all day, there are so many photos! I enjoyed it though! I don't know if Stacy intentionally mashed her and husband together, to me it was like "we're married, all mashed up", am I totally off? Regardless, I thought that it was a clever idea, seeing as how I used only myself in my mash up and didn't include my spouse. How selfish! :) And Elizabeth's beaded picture made me reminiscent of my needle thingy that I had a long time age, I used to put my face in it and thought it looked so cool. I enjoyed looking at everyone's mashups, Dr. Wall was right, it's very addicting!

I just found this blog at http://whatscookingblog.com/2007/11/25/college-boundand-hungry/
and it caught my eye because I have so many friends who are in college, not necessarily living in dorms, but almost everyone I know rarely cooks. I think it's a bit strange. Is it because they're too lazy? Probably. Is it because they don't know how to? Maybe. Well, this woman volunteered to teach a cooking class to prospective college students who might need a little know how when they go off to college. All the recipes, I've tried, but haven't made...I think I'll do that :)

I thought since I've been all about cooking I'd find something else to blog about http://fashionista.com/2008/09/trendspotting_bra_tops.php
O.K., it's about what's hot and what's not. Who the heck decided this? Don't know runway fashion has always seemed too left field for me, especially for everyday wear and especially what's shown on this blog. Interesting site though, I 've been watching Project Runway, so I thought of fashion. It's so weird because you think no one else has the same interests as you, but whoa millions of people do!

Thing #7

Flickr was super easy to use, and I think I'm ready to finally get rid of some of those pictures I've taken off of my camera, I never thought I'd be able to take over 1000 pics! I've never used any other photo hosting services, but like I said, I think I'm ready to start using Flickr and I have seen a bunch on web 2.0 that I want to try out. I don't mind sharing photos, especially if they're for school. I took pictures around the Claxton building, which I'm sure many of you are familiar with!

Thing #6

I used the short list of winners because the nominee list was a little scary and with so much to explore I'm starting with one. I really love to eat, cook, watch people cook and I enjoy when someone else likes what I made. So I went to http://www.imcooked.com/and there's tons of categorized videos that you can watch, (I'm getting kind of sick of watching the same chefs on FoodNetwork everyday), you can upload your own cooking demo. It's great being in someone else's kitchen and see the little techniques they use in their everyday cooking or that has been passed down through generations. I sat and watched Mama Rosa, she has a few videos and I think it's her son or grandson filming, she's an older, Italian lady that makes authentic food, her way, without any editing or the "magic of television", she's so grumpy, that it's cute!

The site offers quick ways to upload and download videos, everything has its own category, even one for kids, you can create groups to connect with other people that are interested in the same types of foods you are! It's like YouTube, but all about food...FoodTube.

I registered and verified my email and was able to access all imcooked had to offer. I think maybe one day I will be on there showing how to make something. We'll see! :) But I also think this would be a cool way to show different types of food from all ethnicities (I hear that a lot of schools aren't allowing students to bring in food anymore) or maybe show a video to show a step - by - step process, or even record students making their own recipes for measurements, procedures, or informational videos.

Thing #5

All these I read Web 2.0 A Guide for Teachers, Professional Development and Web 2.0, and and Web 2.0 the future of education. All three blogs encourage us, especially us, to really get into Web 2.0, it may seem overwhelming, but we need to be aware of all that is going on around us. We are no longer just passive on lookers of the web, we are and can create, contribute, and collaborate with other teachers, our students, virtually everyone and anyone who is interested in what we have to say. We can find other blogs that contain information that we may have eventually found on our own, but if someone has already found it and used it, why not take their advice?

School 2.0 is quickly evolving into something really big! As educators we need to be prepared and willing to integrate Web 2.0 into our classrooms. I discovered a web 2.0 tool that I posted on the discussion board, WizIQ, it's a virtual classroom that your students can participate for free, with teachers from all over the world (who might be more informed and someone you can learn from). It's going to be new aged, I mean come on, we are basically doing it right now with the 23 Things, right? We are learning from one another, putting our opinions on the web for anyone to read, comment, and/or learn from! In one of the blogs the author talks about how we need to teach our students what information is valuable...be able to distinguish between good and bad and how to use this information to their advantage. We also need to teach our students how to create appropriate content for the web, when just a few years ago we were trying to protect them from inappropriate materials. "Web 2.0 Is the Future of Education", I totally agree!

Thing #3

I have learned so many ways that I could use blogging as a tool just from this class alone! I remember in my undergrad studies, I had to write a reflection about lessons I taught in my LiveText portfolio and it was great, but I didn't really receive any feedback, I hear that newer students are actually blogging their reflections with their classmates. How fun, instead of writing (venting) to yourself, you get to share with everyone and maybe get some other solutions or suggestions to improve upon what you taught. When I have my own classroom, I could have students do a weekly discussion board about what they have learned throughout the week, hopefully leading to peer collaboration about things they may not have understood or providing an alternative explanation to something that I couldn't offer. We could have a class calendar with upcoming events, share our class photos (like Dr. Wall did), homework help. Parents could also use our class' blog site to contact me and/or see what their child is up to. The possibilities are endless!

Thing #2

I just used the screen name I always use, but usually skim or skimmy is already taken, so I added some of my favorite numbers at the end to personalize my name. I really enjoyed creating a blog, this my third one and I think this one will be the most useful and enjoyable because I think we will all have our own little community between classmates. Creating a blog has defiantly gotten easier after a few times because I was unsure what to do the first few times, but the directions on here made it super easy! As far as my avatar, I could have sat forever, did everyone see how many backgrounds, clothes, accessories, etc. there were? Over a 100 pages at least for each category! Of course creating my avatar was fun, but I created what myself as what I'd like to look like, not really what I look like.

Thing #1

I thought it was really cool that the 7th & 1/2 habit was to remember to play! Of course this habit would be the easiest and fun, if we could actually find the time to actually let it all loose, but even when i go on vacation, my mind still can't let go of reality. Anyhow, the easiest habit for me is #6: using technology to my advantage. I truly don't know what I'd do without my computer, for one I wouldn't be creating this blog or taking any online courses and for another I would be bored. I am learning SO much about integrating technology, the infinite amount of tools, resources, people, upgrades, programs, goodnesss! There's so much I don't even know about to know that I don't even know that I want to know about them. Yes, read the prior sentence again :) Does that make sense to anyone else?

The hardest habit is #4; having confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner. I'm not saying I'm a dummy, but I always doubt myself and have often felt embarrassed to ask questions or because I didn't know something in class. I guess it's the confidence part I have the most trouble with, but I'm working on it, but it's hard when you're always unsure.