Thing #12

I chose to explore the Calendar and Picasa. I actually never noticed Google's calendar feature so image my surprise when I open it up and it ends up being exactly what I need. It is just like a planner except I do not have to carry around a solid copy and I can access it anywhere I have internet! (Which is easy since I have a smartphone) You can set up events by the hour and it has holidays already listed inside. You can change the color of any event to make it stick out more or less. You can even create multiple calendars! Like a work calendar, school calendar, and maybe even a free-time or workout calendar. Any of your contacts birthdays will be automatically added onto the calendar making it difficult to forget people's birthdays. You can change the view from a monthly, 4 days, weekly, daily, or even agenda style. I think this is a great resource for everyone's life and best off it is free!

Picasa seems like a nice way to share and edit photographs. I did not want to download the software but what I read from the information page interested me. I especially liked the side by side comparison that you get whilst editing images so you can easily tell if you like it better the way it was or the way it is! There are a large amount of filters and settings you can run images through in order to tailor them to your liking. There is even a sync to web option where as soon as you edit a picture to your liking it is automatically uploaded to your web album. Currently I do not have much of a need for a photo editor but maybe in the future I will come back and give it a shot.

Thing #11

I found the Google Blog Search to be the most visually appealing to me. It was the only one I could stand looking at for a long period of time. The other options were a bit too cluttered for my liking. However, I did see and interesting topic on Topix it was "Pay-to-Spray Firefighters Watch as Home Burns". I find all of the comments interesting yet annoying. If I had to choose between Topix and Technorati I would choose Technorati. I think that it is slightly more appealing than Topix and just by being more appealing it is automatically easier to use. I just use Google in general to find interesting things. Many websites these days have an RSS feed button somewhere. So by just traveling through sites I can come across tons of information I may or may not wish to follow.

Thing #10

I do not really enjoy the RSS feeds. I don't really have much time to keep up with random new and information. I can see its merits and uses but I do not feel like I personally will use this much. I know that teachers will be able to use this technology to better understand their subject matter, students, lessons, and more. It is an easy way to keep up with news and information from educational groups and a great way to keep up with the latest research in child development. 
I signed up for
Dangerously Irrelevant
Explosm.net 
GameSpot's News, Screenshots, Movies, Reviews, Previews, Downloads, and Features
Top Stories from Health.com
Confessions of a Pioneer Woman | Ree Drummond - Full RSS Feed 

Thing #9

For this image I just typed in Thing Nine and the generator did all the rest! I think all of the options are super funky and fun! 

This one is really cool! I typed in the words that I wanted to use and then I was able to change a bunch of different things. I liked the heart shape so I stuck with it but I could have chose a star, cat, or even a peace sign! Then I chose colors that I liked the look of together. After I finished there were very easy instructions for attaching this image to things.


PS: Click the images to get to the generator websites.

Personally, these generators are great personality statements! You can use them to embellish your personal blog, post them to your facebook, or just print them and hang them up. In the classroom it would be more fun than something very useful. So it might be something nice to allow the students to do for extra credit or extra points. They can use them to add extra flair to their assignments. 

Thing #8

http://bighugelabs.com/jigsaw.php


http://bighugelabs.com/fx.php

Student will have a blast using these tools in the classroom and at home! I know that I could spend hours playing with photo filters and effects. I personally do not mind sharing photos online. I only share the ones I feel like sharing. What I do not like is when other people share photos of you that are unflattering! hahaha! I chose the puzzle image editor cause it seemed like a good idea. Then I took a photo of a print me and my partner did and it looks great as a puzzle. The second is an image of my and my sister all dottified~ I think this is more useful in a home setting than in a classroom setting. However, some may find a use for it.

Thing #7

  
By: Gordon2208

     Flicker is very easy to navigate. All you have to do is type in one word and you have thousands of results (in some cases) and by typing in more specific words you can narrow down your search. I simply typed in unicorn and came up with both of these lovely photographs. I had found other images but some were protected so I went with ones that I could display without getting into trouble. With all the images flickr has it may be a nice resource in the art classroom. Children can use photos as a reference for things that they do not know the appearance of. So children that may have never seen a dolphin but would like to draw one can still draw one!






By: Le Petit Cirque

Thing #6

     There are actually a few resources on that list that I personally love. I will start with Google Chrome. This is a web browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer, but I feel as if its features surpass those of other browsers. The ability to have everything at your fingertips is amazing. All I have to do is log into the Google Chrome browser from any computer and it will pull up all of my favorites and settings. The browser offers easy access to everything you need, and I feel as if the browser works faster than others but that may just be my imagination. There are tons of ad-ons 'apps' that you can ad to your browser to increase it's usability. There are adblockers, different browser skins, and even games. The only thing I dislike is not specifically about the browser but rather the lack of this browser on many computers.
   Another resource I love is Grooveshark. I feel like using music as background noise in a classroom can cause students to be less talkative among themselves. Many children listen to music or watch TV while working on homework so they are used to it. I personally like to listen to music while I am drawing and when I am cleaning. Since I will be teaching an art classroom I'd hope for a similar effect. With Grooveshark you can select the exact songs you would like to play and even listen to them in advance. It will be easy to determine which songs are appropriate or not for students. There is a huge library to choose form so there should be no problem finding a song you would like to hear.

Thing #5

What does School 2.0 mean to me?
In my personal life Web 2.0 has a huge influence.  There are so many resources available to connect to others and collaborate. This is not different for the school system. There are more and more people looking for effective ways to use the internet in their classrooms. People are listening! There are plenty of resources made for teachers to collaborate with other teachers and students can collaborate with other students and their teachers. For me, I personally haven't gotten too involved in the community yet. I know that I will be eventually using the resources once I am out in the field.

What is it going to do to the future of education?
This is going to greatly advance the opportunities to learn for both students and teacher. Everyone learns in different ways and using these tools can help cater to those different learning styles. Students can find other students that have the same problems and learn how they cope with them. Many students become fluent in usage of technology at a young age. Many are more technologically adept then the teachers themselves so using technology will to learn may interest them way more then looking into books. I think that eventually everything will be technologically based and very few things will rely on written books.

Thing #4

Through commenting both the blogger and the commenter benefit through meaningful conversation. That is if the commenting is done properly. Each person is able to think more deeply about a topic and share their views amongst each other. It may also help boost someone's confidence in the knowledge they think they have on a topic. I believe that Darren Rowse has a point in thinking setting boundaries is an important thing. Without boundaries your blog may turn into a breeding ground for mean comments. It only takes one mean comment to possible spur hundreds in response. There should always be rules of common courtesy and rules against spamming. Another point that I like that was made by the same blog was to encourage and appreciate commentors. If you want people to continue coming back to your blog time and time again you must make them feel appreciated. Having a blog is almost like customer service if you want to have many followers. Make the readers happy and they will tell their friends and family to check out your blog too!


Blog's I have commented on
1 http://nolszewski5.blogspot.com/2012/10/thing-8.html
2 http://tech23things.blogspot.com/2012/09/thing-12-google.html
3 http://erittenberry.blogspot.com/2012/09/httpwww.html
4 http://aj3040.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-last-thing-24-we-keep-moving.html
5 http://kellishoemake3040.blogspot.com/2012/09/thing-twelve.html#comment-form
1 I made a comment here but it is awaiting approval
2 http://www.eduwonk.com/2012/12/common-core-a-farewell-to-a-farewell-to-arms-probably-not.html

Discussion of comments made..
1. Here I learned an importance that I didn't think of when I did a similar post on my blog!
2. I agreed upon how awesome using Google translate is and the ways it can be used in real life situations.
3. I enjoyed the idea of rewarding students for various things with an image featuring them and I also thought the smiley face generator was a good way to show off encouraging messages.
4. I agreed about how I didn't like signing up for too many sites but also agreed on the challenges and surprise at how easy making a blog was.
5. I agreed that google has oddly enough become a verb and that the alerts system is fantastic.
1. I commented on the merits of actually naming things properly and keeping up with it as well as the good ideas of keeping links more organized.
2. I commented on this blog agreeing that reading across the curriculum is a good thing and that more subjects can adopt it.