Thing #12 Google, more than just a search engine!

I use Google Calendar all the time, and it is a life saver! Every doctor's appointment, speech therapy appointment, and audiologist appointment our daughter has goes right into my Google Calendar. I can then e-mail or add my husband to the event if I know he needs to be aware. If your spouse/significant other, parent, friend, or anyone else has a Google Calendar account, you can add their calendar to yours so both schedules can be seen. This would also work great for those that you may work with.
https://www.google.com/calendar/render?tab=yc&pli=1

I did not know that Google Translate even existed! How awesome! If, or should I say when, I have a child in my class that has non-english speaking parents, this will be an awesome tool to use in translating communication notes.
http://translate.google.com/#auto/en/Estoy%20cansado

Thing #11 Finding a Circle of Wise

I love the idea of having a circle of wise to draw from and that you can become like those that you surround yourself with. I went to the sites listed to help us find other blogs. It seemed like there were links to so many other places on the blogs (or I think they were the actual blog). It would be a very long process to read through them to choose which blogger(s) I am interested in. In the past I have used my Pinterest account to find blogs I am interested in. Friends and people I know and are connected to have found or have been pointed towards blogs for craft, classroom, cooking, etc...ideas. I have similar interest with many people on my Pinterest page which makes it so easy to find blogs to add to my circle of wise.

Thing #10 RSS

We were asked to create an account with Google Reader for RSS (Really Simple Syndication). At first I didn't want to do this because I had already added the blogs I wanted to follow on my Blogger account. I logged into Google Reader and because both sites use my google account, the blogs I  added or subscribed to on my Blogger account was already set up in Google Reader. How cool is that? I have already been using the RSS in Blogger and didn't even know what it was called. I have used this over the past few weeks to see what some of my favorite bloggers have posted. A few of them post awesome things that I could do with my daughter and the neighbors children. I will be using a blog and a RSS to keep up with fellow teachers and others that have wonderful ideas  to help with my classroom when I become a teacher.

Thing #9 Fun Generators

http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/

http://cmtk3.webring.org/l/rd?ring=signgeneratorima;id=2;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecomicstripgenerator%2Ecom%2F

This activity is pretty fun! I can put anything I want to say in a comic, sign, picture, etc... At some of the schools here in Montgomery County there are poster makers. How awesome would it be to create a poster using one of these generators for the classroom!! I could also use generators like these in church activities or with the Non-Traditional Student Society that I am a part of.

Thing #8 extras with Flicker

 

Well before I did this Spell with Flicker image, I thought I had been slightly up to date...that would be a negative! I about had a melt down trying to get the image to show up. On the instructions it said there were fairly easy directions to upload the code to our blog. I was thoroughly confused! Thanks to my wonderful husband, I figured out that I had to click on the HTML button where we create our post. Now I could do this again without any problems! :) Spell with Flicker could be used in the classroom as fun ways to label areas or with decorating bulletin boards. Some of the others like Mappr would be fun to use when exploring different cultures in class. I am fine with sharing photos online. Sharing photos online is the easiest way to share pictures of our daughter with family that we only get to see a few times a year.

Thing #7 - Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/88337405@N07/8071233042/lightbox/

This is a picture of our daughter, Doriann. She had been trying to take a picture of herself with my phone and someone else did it for her while we were waiting for our team to be called at the APSU Mud Bowl 2012. This may not be the right URL for this picture. I couldn't quite figure it out. I have tried a few photo share sites. I'm not really fond of them. However, I do like to use PhotoShop Express on the iPad and iPhone. Flickr seemed complicated to me. It took a long time for me to figure out how to add my photo to the apsu23things group. I would rather upload a photo from my phone, e-mail, or hard drive. Maybe after spending more time and practice with Flickr  I could be a fan. Have any of you found that after using a photo share site, for some time, that you became a fan?

Thing #6 Music to the ears -Pandora

Pandora was started in the year 2000. The company was not launched on the web until 2005 and now it's everywhere. I was a junior in high school in 2000 and I loved music, but did not hear of Pandora until just a couple of years ago. Although I have Pandora on my phone and laptop, I have never really researched the site to see what all Pandora offers. In the past I have found a black gospel channel to listen too and used the nature and toddler channels for my daughter. There are options to create your own radio station by choosing your favorite artist or genre of music. Once the station is created, the user has the option to like or dislike a song that comes on. If a song is disliked, it is then taken off the station. However, if a song is liked Pandora will find other artist and music that is much like the song that was liked. Users are exposed to a more broad array of music and artist. A function that I will be searching for on my phone is repeat. The CNet site said this option is available. Sometimes I am in a moment with a song that comes on and I would rather listen to it again, but I didn't know it was possible. Check out Pandora.com if you haven't used them before. I promise, if you love music, you will be satisfied!

Pandora was listed as the Webware 100 winner on: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13546_109-10236913-29.html?tag=mncol

Thing #5 - Web 2.0

Web/school/teacher 2.0 is exactly where education needs to be. I am a non-traditional student,but I feel like I am pretty up to date on technology and the need for it. I see my 3 year old using the iPad and iPhone like there is nothing to it. Using social networking is the norm for the majority of people. I have two grandparents that are on Facebook and use it often. We have almost anything a computer has on our phones. My husband and I were youth pastors for several years and we learned quickly that social media is a must for the younger generations. Education has to be updated. Our students are very visual! They almost expect a show with a power point. Why can't education become entertainment?

The problem with school 2.0 is that all schools do not have the technology we are taught with in college. My mother is a school teacher and was all excited when she received a grant she worked for to get a smart board, one of the very few in the county. In the future, schools need the technological equipment for all students to have access. We do have to remember that in this internet based world we live in, there are still some students that will not have access to it outside of school. Older teachers and those that may not be as "up to date" need to exert themselves and become 2.0 teachers. Do you agree?

Thing #4 - Commenting Is Essential

In the past, I have looked and even used information I have found on several blogs, but I have never commented. It never seemed that important until I watch the movie Julie and Julia and began my own blog. In the movie it is stated several times that there may not be anyone reading her blog or that people don't even know she exist. As it's been brought to my attention, commenting on the blogs of people that you follow is one of the most important things you can do. If your favorite blogger decided to stop blogging because they thought no one was reading their blog, you would miss them. It's important for there to be a connection with the people reading your blog. Look at it like they are friends you have never met, after all they do help you with ideas and activities for your profession or hobby.

Being new at this idea of blogging, I never thought it to be a technique to get more comments. If a blogger is really serious about his/her ideas and information being put out for anyone to see, they need to leave some questions for people to respond to and stay humble. Even if you never meet the person that is blogging, their personality comes out in their writing. More than likely I wouldn't comment on someone's blog or even read it much, for that matter, if they sound better than anyone else or feels there is no other way but theirs.

I guess because I'm the type person that likes attention, but not to draw attention, I have a problem thinking about drawing attention to my own blog. Now the more I get into blogging and feel that my ideas or thoughts could help someone else, I might advertise my blog on other's in comments.

I chose two blogs from which I already had some of their ideas on my Pinterest page, but I have never left comments:  http://crayonsandlessonplans.blogspot.com/ and http://www.playcreateexplore.com/.

For classmates, I have chosen two that I enjoy listening to in class and three others that seemed interesting on their blog.
    http://23things23.blogspot.com/
    http://makingadifference29.blogspot.com/
    http://cruzer5.blogspot.com/
    http://teachingisnot4sissies.blogspot.com/
    http://justteach123.blogspot.com/