Thing #11

I found it easier to use the Google blogs to search for specific blogs than anything else that was provided for us. I could simply type in the topic that I wanted and shuffle through the necessary links to find one that I found useful. Google blogs was the simplest search too that I used.  Topix US News was the most difficult search tool to navigate. There was no indication that a blog was available on the site. There was, however, a search bar for the site. I found an amazing website called TeachThought that I found interesting. It has useful information about the trends in technology for the classroom, iPad apps to use, educational games, and much more! I also found a tool to locate blogs called Blog catalog at http://www.blogcatalog.com/. It is a great site with many cool blogs to check out. 

Thing #10

This is my first experience with a newsreader. I have found it very useful! One thing I like about newsreaders is that you can subscribe to many things that interest you and it is all available in one place. You don't have to keep up with all of the RSS sites that you want to be informed about. I like that the RSS updates automatically on the newsreader. The Google Reader was very simple to use. All I had to do to subscribe to an RSS was to plug in the URL in the subscribe box and click "add" beside it. I believe the newsreader technology would be very useful for me in my personal and professional life. I could keep up with RSS sites that could give me advice about things that I use in my daily life. I believe that teachers could use this new technology to keep up with RSS sites that could help them in their classroom. For example, the Free Technology for Teachers website is an RSS site that could provide advice to teachers on which technology would be useful to use in the classroom. Teachers may be able to create an RSS site for their students to use to keep up with assignments or upcoming events.

Thing #12

I played with the Google translator at http://translate.google.com/ for a while and decided that I like it very much! You do not have to have an account to use the Google translator. You also do not have to create separate works to use it. Simply type what you would like to translate into the box on the left and it will be translated into your chosen language in the box on the right side. I attempted to translate several phrases that I know in Spanish and French. The site worked very well to do a thorough translation. The translator utilized suggested spellings and a button to speak the phrase to the user. It translated single words and whole phrases on the site. I will definitely use the site again. I think it would be very useful for educators who may have a foreign student in their class that knows or speaks little to no English.

I also used Picasa Web Albums at http://picasaweb.google.com/home and found it far more to my liking than Flikr. Picasa was so simple to use. Everything was clearly displayed and easy to find. The website was unbelievably efficient. The uploading process for the pictures was quick and without difficulty. I just clicked on the "upload" button, clicked on the blue "upload from computer" button, and chose the photo that I wanted to upload. Once it was finished loading, it was in my album. I loved this website with all its simplicity and would highly recommend it for others to use. If you would like to view my work, https://picasaweb.google.com/110536670178019578184 is a link to my photo albums that I have created on Picasa. The Picasa website would be great to get photos from to include in lessons and PowerPoints. With the permission of the parents, one could even put class pictures of the students and classroom activities on the site.

Thing #9

I created this image on ImageChef at http://www.imagechef.com/. It was very simple to do. I went to the website, clicked on create, chose photo frames, clicked on my desired frame, and uploaded my picture using the "upload new photo" button.  It took me all of a minute to complete the whole process. I liked this photo frame because it was sweet and innocent looking. This photo is of my cousin, and it was perfect for this frame.




This is the second image that I created using Happy Face Generator at http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/. It too was an easy website to navigate and a simple process to create my image. I went to the website, clicked on the "here" button that indicated where I could go to create a smiley face with a sign, chose the face that I wanted my smiley to portray, and followed the proper steps to create the remainder of my image. I chose this image to portray my feelings about the upcoming midterms. I thought it was a perfect picture!

I would like to use these sites to create images for my classroom and for my own personal use. I could use the smiley face site to create inspirational signs that I could put up around my classroom. I could use the smiley face holding a sign to remind my students of any upcoming events. The picture frame website could be used to make frames for my own personal photographs or for the photos of my students that I will post throughout the year. Both websites have various uses that I would enjoy employing.

Thing #8

I used the puzzle mashup to create this photo. This is a picture of my adorable second cousin named Donovan. The puzzle mashup is a super easy tool to use! I think it could be useful for me to create fun puzzle activities for my students in my classroom, or I could use the mashup to be creative with my own personal photographs. I don't mind sharing photos online because I love to take them and show them to others. The internet only provides me with a larger audience to share my beloved hobby with.

Thing #6

http://www.heapnote.com/ is the place to go if you want to access the HeapNote website. It is an amazing site that allows you to create your own notes and tasks and bookmarks, create tables, and share your notebook with friends. All of your documents have the ability to be organized on the website. It is useful in the school setting because the tutorial said that it is a great website for teachers to store their lesson plans on. It would even be useful for teachers to share documents with one another or reminders of upcoming school events. I would love to use this outside of a school setting to keep all of my tasks to do organized in one place. I seem to have picked up my dad's bad habit of leaving yellow sticky notes all over the house that contain my things to do. I like the fact that the site seems very easy to use and is useful for educators as well as other occupations and individuals. Teachers can create classes of students and keep up with all of their grades and assignments. I have not found anything that I do not like about the site yet. Even the price of the upgrade is very reasonable at $1.99/month.

Thing #7

Mornin, Buttercup...good to see you., a photo by mkgphotoatgmail on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtgardner/421301873/

This is a photo of a buttercup that I found on the Flickr website. I thought this photo would be appropriate for this blog post because buttercups are in season at the moment. I have big patches of them blossoming around my house. They are such pretty flowers! They do not have a strong perfume like some flowers. Their scent is pleasant and warm like the sun. When I was little, I did not understand why they were called buttercups; if one looks closely at the flower, though, one can see that the middle part of the flower that contains the pollen resembles a cup and the color of the flower is yellow like melted butter. My grandmother had buttercups growing in her yard when I was a little girl, so I always associate buttercups with my grandmother. Buttercups are special flowers to me now because of that reminder of my grandmother.