Thing #12

The two items I thought were important were (1) to make sure you understand the post before responding to it and (2) to be polite when responding. Often times, people comment on posts incorrectly after misreading what was originally written. This not only confuses the issues, but wastes the time of the readers. It is also very important that when responding to posts that it is done so in a polite way. If you want your opinions to be read you should approach it in a professional manner. Blogs are areas where people can trade information....no one wants to "talk" to someone who is disrespectful and rude.
I added two blogs to my Google Reader. They were the NASCAR blog and Along Came An Angel. I chose them for obviously two different reasons. I picked the NASCAR one, because for a large portion of the season the races are only televised on cable. We do not have cable television and therefore, I miss a lot of the action that occurs throughout the season. (Which drives--no pun intended-- me INSANE by the way!!!) By following a blog, I can get updates of what occurs during the races that week, information on the racers, and other important information. I picked the Along Came An Angel blog because it gives stories of what people believe to be life altering encounters with angels. In days filled with craziness, depressing stories on the news, and negativity among people, it's nice to read a story that you know is going to have a positive, happy ending no matter what the forces at play were or what your beliefs are. In the end you know there is a family that has their loved one with them and the negativity of the day evaporates the more you surround yourself with the positive (people, thoughts, and/or ideas).
(If you did not see the special last night "The Last Lecture" I recommend you try to see if anyone has it....talk about a positive person!)

Thing #11

I enjoyed LibraryThing. I think it would be useful in getting ideas from other people on books I am thinking about ordering for the library. I could also use it to build a list of books I would like to order in the future based off of needs assessments and student/teacher recommendations. I like that the pictures of the books are available to see as well. Another item I really liked about the site was that you could look the author up and it provided the list of books by that author, complete with the titles and pictures. This helps when ordering a book out of magazines to know that you are getting the right edition or book. The group section was also neat, however, I did not find it personally as useful as the rest of the site. Below are a couple of the books that I put on LibraryThing. If you have not read a Scaredy Squirrel book by Melanie Watt, go pick one up....they are so funny and the kids love them!!

Thing #10

As you can see, I am on Thing #10.........

Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com
And this one is so fun AND easy! My one eyed monster was quickly made filling in a template and then copying and pasting the code on the "Edit Html" part of the "Create A Blog" section. Then I resized it as I wanted. I love creating fun things like this, so this has been my favorite activity so far.


Made with free image tools @ TXT2PIC.com

Teachers could use these in class to encourage writing in their classroom, to create story prompts, create signs, have students use them to add character/humor to projects. They could be used in a variety of ways; with a creative mind, the possibilities are endless.

Thing #9

When chosing a blog finding tool, I found Technorati http://www.technorati.com/ one of the easiest for me to use. I liked that this site had a directory that I could use to narrow my search with. The site also offers the option of a regular search if the user is unable to select a category to narrow down their searches.
I did not like Syndic8 as much because I did not like skimming over the links that were in foreign languages and the various feeder tags that sent you to PayPal to pay for the ability to view the materials.

Thing #8

I chose to join Google Reader. The blogs I added were LibrarianPhilosopher, A Library by Any Other Name, Books and Bytes: Inspiring Elementary School Blogs, EdTech Talk, and Rummel Creek Musings. As my news site, I added Channel 2 News. When looking through the various blogs, I found a really neat link on A Library by Any Other Name; it was http://digiteen.wikispaces.com/. If you click on the link on 2A, the second video is a YouTube video on MySpace safety that I think would be good for any student who is using MySpace or surfing the web.
I liked that I could keep information that interested me all in one area and not have to continuously look up the same sites to see if there was new information posted. With so much to do at work and home, I think it will be a terrific time-saving tool.

Thing #7

The two items I looked into further were Google Docs and Google Notebook. I really liked Google Docs since I often have letters that need to be sent home translated. Occasionally a teacher will ask you to double check an accent, sentence, etc. with another bilingual teacher before sending the letter home. I think it is great that by using Google Docs, I could send the document to a couple of the teachers and they could collaborate in the translation.
The other one I looked at was Google Notebook. I know I will be able to put it to good use when doing research. I like that you can add notes after you copy and paste pictures, text, etc. into the notebook. This feature allows you to stay organized as you work.

Thing #6

Wow! Not only did I not know what mashups were, but I definitely did not know you could do so many neat things using them. I loved the name tags. When creating a book club, name tags could easily (and cheaply) be made for the students. These name tags could be made to look more professional, thus making the students feel more special. They would also be great to use for afterschool and/or before school passes. I also liked the mosaics you could create using a variety of photos. I was very surprised with the variety of items you could create using mashups. It seemed like the choices were endless!

Thing #5

I enjoyed exploring Flickr. One of the aspects I think I like the most is that you can choose whether you want a small, medium, or large picture inserted into your document. I hate sizing, resizing, and resizing again pictures. This seems a lot quicker and easier to do. I also liked that paired with Creative Commons a user was more aware of copyright and what you could and could not do with the images.

Thing #4

Due to registering my blog on a different computer, I believe there were some technical (ok, operator) difficulties. I am resending my information today to that Thing #4 can be successfully be completed.

Thing #3-Blogs and Avatars

Since I have had another experience creating a blog in a previous class, this step was not difficult. However, the links provided a nice refresher. The creation of avatars was new and very interesting! I did not know there were so many different variations! You could play for hours looking at all of the different combinations that could be created. The avatar was extremely easy to create and to add to the blog. I think it allows the author of the site a chance to express themselves in a way you might not see through their text.

Thing #2- 7 1/2 habits

The easiest habit for me was beginning with the end in mind (#1). I like to be able to formulate a plan so that I can systematically cross the steps off (either in my mind or that I've written down) as I complete them. As the steps are crossed off, I feel less stress as I feel that I am approaching the "finish line".
The hardest was 7 1/2-- playing. I always feel guilty just taking time out for me. I play with my family, although I still feel guilty at times even for doing that because I know I have a paper due, a project to do, or something at work to finish. (So even that is not as often as I'd like.) But even harder is just me time....reading a book (non-class related), watching t.v., etc. I feel like I am shirking responsibility. Therefore, this was definitely the hardest one for me.