Thing #20

Youtube is wonderful.  It is the best entertainment to past time.  You can search anything.  I use it a lot to find tutorials on random things I need for classes.

Thing #18

I have had a Facebook account since high school and a Twitter for a couple of months.  Facebook has become an entertainment site.  It could be use for networking.  I think that my students would be too young for a Facebook or Twitter.  Twitter could be more useful.  You can follow people that would help with professional development.   

Thing #17

Social book marking sights are an interesting concept.  I think that it would be more useful for teachers than the students.  Teachers could use this to share websites that might be useful with the lessons that they are teaching.

Thing #16

I chose to customize iGoogle.  My friend has this as her homepage and the top of it was purple and pretty.  I chose to do one but I probably would not make it a permanent homepage.  I check OneStop by habit every time I get on the computer.  I don't really like the online calendars personally.  but as a professional it has great uses.  If I was in an office stuck to a computer an online calendar with reminders would be great.  I like the to-do lists.  I mean I cannot count the times that I have left the house and forgot my purpose.  Even worse I would get home and realize I forgot to run an errand.  The calendar would probably be most useful in the classroom.

Thing #15

Before reading this, the only wiki I knew about was Wikipedia.  The first time I used Wikipedia I thought it was God's gift to students.  Wikipedia knows EVERYTHING!  Until my teachers told me that it was an unreliable source.  I never understood why until my friend edited something on Chris Brown's Wikipedia page.  Anyone can add, delete, or change something on a wiki.  Because of this, the information is not always accurate.  The perfect example is from after last year's Grammys.  When Justin Beiber did not win the Grammy for best new artists, his fans edited Esperanza Spalding's Wikipedia page.  Most of what they were saying was completely inaccurate and highly inappropriate.  Therefore, Wikipedia is a blessing and a curse for me.

The best way I could see this working in a classroom is as a book summary type of thing.  Students would post summaries of the books they read.  I think its neat because they will be writing it.  I'd rather read a book that my peer described than a book than my teacher described.  Even though both descriptions would be accurate, my peer's would probably be more interesting.

Thing #14

Flow charts make like easier! They remind me of PowerPoint presentations.  Using these helps your audience follow you as you present data.  It's easier to show a class a flowchart of the order of operations than it is to say step 1, step 2,.....
I never even heard of a mind map.  I found it very difficult to understand how to create the mind map (maybe it was just the site I was using.)  Gliffy was very easy to navigate through.  It had different templates to use like flowcharts, venn diagrams, and even floor plans.  I will probably use an organization chart to make a simply family tree.  That should be fun.   

Thing #13

I enjoyed playing around on Zoho and Google Docs. Both of the sites were amazing.  I wish I had this in high school when I had to do group projects.  Once you email documents to another party you leave whether or not they will be able to view it up to chance.  Well I have a PC what if they have a Mac, or they use something other than Microsoft Office, or they have a older version." I thought the solution was .pdf but turns out that there could be some mishaps there also.

Zoho and Google Docs allows you to create and share documents without the worry of whether or not the other parties will be able to read it.  I found both to be useful but I like Zoho better.  Honestly I only like it better because of the name.

Thing #12

I had a blast playing with the with the Google Translator.  I went and grab any and every thing that had another language on it to see what it translate into.  It was so fun to see how things translate into English.  Most of the time the translation formed the most awkward sentences.  

After reading someone else's blog I decided to do a Google Alert on my name to see what comes up.  Nothing out of the ordinary popped up.  It would be great because employers do searches on potential employees.  Having an alert on my name allows me to see what they see.

As a teacher, I could do Google Alerts on different concepts on my curriculum area.  This would be useful  to see how other teachers approach the subject matter.

Thing #11

I tried a few methods but neither of them helped me find anything interesting.  I just did a general Google search and found some sights that would be useful for me now.  I just look for the icon on the page.  It was usually at the very top or the very bottom.

Topix.net would be the most useful in my career.  I can search topics instead of blogs.  This is extremely useful.  I may follow a math blog but I only want to read about algebra concepts that would be useful to my students.

I am currently following The Leaf Chronicle which I love.  Clarksville, as far as I know, does not have its own news station.  Following this feed  keeps me up to date on Clarksville news.

Post #10

The best thing about the RSS and newsreaders is that you have all of the blogs and sites that you've subscribed to in one place.  You don't have to go from site to site to catch up on your reading.  As a student I too busy to watch the news or anything for that matter.  Using the newsreader feed I can catch up on news and entertainment in the little time that I do have.  Teachers can use this in order to keep up with the new teaching trends.

  

Thing #9

 

I wanted to use the smiley face generator but it would not load (even though I tried three different web browsers).   Making this banner was just as fun.  I used to see these banners on MySpace decades ago.  I chose this phrase because it was on a desk in the movie Bad Teacher.  It was so corny and cute.

Banners and sign generators would be useful to have friendly reminders on those shared school computers.  A smiley face holding a sign reading "Remember to log off" would be more than helpful in the APSU library.  I always forget to log off.

Thing #8

This activity was quite frustrating for me.  Every mashup site that I tried to do required a membership.  I don't like to have a lot of memberships for sites I will never use again.  Nevertheless, I think these activities will be useful in a classroom.  Students could use these tools to add creativity to their projects.

Thing #7

I chose to browse the Flickr site for "math" images.  So I told myself, if I don't find a interesting picture within the first three pages I would upload my own. Lo and behold I came across this neat picture that gave me a good giggle.

The characters in the picture dance moves' resemble those graphs of which they correspond.  I love this picture.  I believe students would love this picture and find it as interesting as I did.    


Photo Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dylanng/6267107228/
Belongs to: Dylan Ng
                         user name- Dylan231
Pic's Bday: October 21, 2011

Thing #6

The first logo I saw after I clicked on the link was Pandora, www.pandora.com.  I absolutely LOVE Pandora.  I'm listening to it now.  It is a site the allows you to customize your own radio stations.  You just enter the name of a song or artist and Pandora will play that artist/song and songs similar to it.  You can also choose from a list of genres provided by the site.  For example, I have an Xscape (R&B girl group) station.  This station plays music R&B music, mostly from the '90s.  I have the option to like or dislike songs that are played.  If I dislike a song it will not play that song on my station again.


Unfortunately, I cannot see any uses for Pandora in the school setting.  Well, I guess you could play Pandora at a school dance and save money on a DJ.  Although some students find music calming while working, others find it highly distracting.  It would be a debate about what type of music to listen to between the students.  It's best if Pandora was not a luxury in the classroom.

Thing #5

Before reading these articles I could see how classrooms are advancing.  My younger siblings' teachers, kindergarten and second grades, communicate with my parents via email.  My mom can check the school's website to see their homework assignments and upcoming events.  She can even pay for their lunch online!  When I was in elementary, the means of communication was either through letters or a phone call.  I wrote down my homework assignments because printing was too expensive and kept them in a folder.  I was given money to pay for my lunch (or my mom packed me one). 


After reading these articles I can see how the classrooms will continue to advance.  I think School 2.0, like Web 2.0, creates a more interactive environment.  This idea of a technologically advanced classroom opens up so many doors for learning.  It creates a place where parents can be more involved in their child's education.  Pencils and paper will be a thing of the past.  NO MORE DEAD TREES! Students will take notes and do work on electronic tablets instead ( iPads).  I know I would be excited if I had this cool thing to play with and while I'm learning.  It beats listening to long drawn out lectures any day!

Thing #4 (to be continued)

I tend to talk to myself quite often and yes I do answer myself!  I don’t see anything wrong with it but most of America does.  Suddenly you’re some kind of psycho if you hold a conversation with yourself.  So, in order for a blogger not to be seen as some sort of crazy person, comments from their audience are necessary.  When someone comments on your blog they are giving you feedback.  It makes the whole blogging experience worthwhile to know that someone besides the author is reading it.

Britneydanae

Your Guide to being in Ashley’s mind

Teacher in Training 

Caitlin’s Fake blog

Gadfly

I chose these five simply because of the name of their blogs.  Most people used their first and last name.  These people actually created a unique name.

I ♥ Memphis http://ilovememphisblog.com/

I chose this because I’m from Memphis.  It gives a positive view of Memphis which is mostly seen as violent and ghetto. The author is a young Memphian who wants everyone to love Memphis as she does. 

Sweet Treats Baking Blog http://sweettreatsbakingblog.blogspot.com/

I chose this one because I love sweets and baking.  I don’t do it as often as I’d like because I’m not creative.  I like to take recipes and try them out.  That’s right, I’m a recipe thief.   

This blog will be continually updated....

Thing #3

At Austin Peay our interactive learning site is Desire to Learn (D2L).  On this site, if the teacher allows, students are able to discuss questions and concerns that they may have about the class with their peers and the instructor.  It's like a virtual student cafe.  I love it.  If I'm doing my homework and I didn't quite understand something, I can just post on the discussion board.  I think I would use the blog in this way with my classes.  Since I will be teaching high school the students would be old enough to understand how to use this.  It could also be a way of communicating with parents.  Maybe a weekly blog of what the students will learn or upcoming events at the school.  I could think of more ways to use it other content areas besides Mathematics.  This may be more useful for English and History teachers.

Thing #2

When I started making this blog in class it was somewhat frustrating.  How do I do this or that?  How do I attach this or change that?  Once I got home and had time to really tinker with it, it was fun and surprisingly easy.  Since I was frustrated and didn't really feel like thinking, I just kept my name simple.  I chose my nickname and last name.  Yes I know, boring!  I tried to create an avatar that resembles me: bright skinned, light brown eyes and hair.  I ended up choosing a facial expression with a smile.  I don't smile a lot.  I laugh a lot but not smile.  I should have made an avatar that was wild and crazy looking but I chose not to do so.  This is for class.

Thing #1

The short list of things to do to enhance your experience as a lifelong learner was quite insightful.  My favorite tip was to believe that it's never too late (or too soon) to learn something.   The easiest habit for me would be to accept responsibility for my own learning.  I don't want anything to be left up to chance when it comes to my learning experiences.  I'd rather take control myself.  The hardest habit would be to have confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner.  I have no doubt that I am an intelligent young lady but I allow some concepts to defeat me unfortunately.  It's something I'm trying to get over.