Thing # 11

   The RSS is a great tool to organize your favorite sites. Now I have to decide what is worthy of becoming one of my favorite sites.  The Cool Cat offered great ideas on how to choose what blogs to follow.  Personally, I try to find blogs that offer inspirational or informational ideas dealing with education.  I look for people who share teaching tools and classroom stories.  My goal is to surround myself with a community of people who can help me become a better teacher.  

    While searching for blogs to include in my RSS, I used keyword like education, teacher, elementary, and technology.  I used the same words on several different search engines. My least favorite and productive was Google search. My favorite search tool to use was Technorati. This site was easy for me to navigate and understand.  I could search for all types of blogs and posts.  Technorati would give you a list of sites with previews of each.  It would also show the ranking, recent post, and user reviews of them.   I found a teach blog full of resources and website offering fun craft activities by searching Technorati.

Thing # 10

The RSS ( “Really Simple Syndication”) really simplifies how you stay in touch with your favorite sites.  New information is sent to you and you can read them at your convenience.  The RSS allows you to subscribe to the things that are relevant to your needs.  You no longer get lost in useless information that waste your time!  I also like the friendly usability of Google reader. Google reader is easy to set up and navigate. Once you have selected the sites you would like to subscribe to you have the ability to sort, rename, unsubscribe or even find other sites like the ones you have subscribe to. RSS is a useful tool to stay in touch with my favorite sites and allows me to quickly find the information I am needing.  I find this useful as a student and future teacher.

Thing # 9

COMIC STRIP  (The smiling monkey)
IMAGE CHEF  ( Learning Ahead arrow)

I am sharing with you some fun images I made with the use of online generators.  It was a very easy process. Each generator offered a variety of templates to play with.  You can customize them to fit your style or needs.  As a future teacher and current mom I am excited about the discovery of online generators. I can use them as inspirational and instructional tools for the class.  A funny picture including a nice message would be a great opener for the day.  A teacher could also use it to list the days up coming events.  Personally, I would like to take the images I have created and make T-shirts or other items for gifts.  The online generators offer great tools to be creative in the classroom and home.

Thing # 8

         Children learn in different ways.  The Flicker mashup tools offer a variety of options to enhance visual learning.  It also provides tons of fun.  I could see using Mappr to learn about different states in a classroom.  A teacher can personalize the lesson by placing pictures of the class on the map. This is just one of the tools teachers could use to encourage learning with a visual tool.  Teachers could also use these tools to create gifts from the children to their parents.
        Personally, I found the variety of tools exciting. I am love taking pictures and enhancing them.  Flicker mashups allows you to make unusual and fun changes.  I chose a picture of my niece and made a puzzle out of it. It expresses her fun personality.  The puzzle will also provide opportunity of cognitive growth for her.  This is just the beginning for me.  I plan on using these tools personally and professionally.

Thing # 7

        Flicker is another example of an online community.  This is a place to share photos with a group of friends or with the public.  It offers convenient tools to search the website by the use of tags.  Different organizations and individuals have used this site to place identifications on unknown images.  Even though I did enjoy looking at the pictures posted, I am not sure if this will be a resource I would use in the classroom.  The only positive benefit of use would be for the parents who are overseas serving our country.  It could allow them to feel connected to their child's everyday life.  If I chose to use Flicker, it would be on a private basis for parents only. 
      I have a Face book page and do post pictures of my family on it occasionally.  I share these with my close friends and family.  I am selective on who I  am "friends" with on any social media.  I am a private person and share with only the people important to me. 
      Flicker would be a great avenue for someone who is not afraid to share with the world.  It could also be useful for someone starting a photography business.  The exposure would be great advertisement. Flicker is already used by libraries.  It allows the public to help identify the subjects  and locations in pictures.
     I chose a picture of my son to share on Flicker and this blog.  This picture captured a moment when he was in deep thought.  He was unaware I was taking this photo.  I often wonder what was going through his mind.
  

Thing #6

I began Thing #6 searching  Go2Web2.0 tools.  I found this a very easy site to explore through the use of the tags listed on the right.  I searched the tags that interested me the most, for example design, photo, and then teacher.  I found them all interesting and believe they could be useful on a personal and professional level.  Game Classroom was an educational tool that I was excited to find .  This website offered lesson plans, games, worksheets and videos for grades K-6.  This free technology would be a great resourcs to use in the classroom or at home.  In the future I would use this website as a center in the classroom or as a tool for fun learning during a tutoring session. I plan on incorporating this tool in my current tutoring group.  I can foresee the excitement my students will have exploring and learning from the Game Classroom website.

Thing # 5

              We are living in a world of constant change.  From birth our children grow and develop before our eyes.  Today's family dynamics would be unrecognizable to our great grandparents.  Our economy,  production of foods and good, and technology evolves with every breath we take.  Web 2.0 has transformed the way we use technology. Its influence has reached far beyond our work environment and home.  Technology has infiltrated our schools.  As parents we can go online and view our child's progress on a daily bases. Contact with our teachers are just a click away.  According to Discovery Web 2.0, technology has never been more easier or accessible to teachers and students. Unlimited tools are out there to change the way we teach and learn.  One website available to research those tools is 50 Web 2.0 Tools.  This is a good resource for educators to research ideas to improve their classroom.  Another interesting outlook on web 2.0 tools was written by Steve Hargadon. His site,  Web 2.0 Is the Future of Education list trends in technology in education.
               I believe that Web 2.0 has led to the creation of School 2.0.  This is the transformation of our current way of thinking and learning.  We will move away from reading and memorizing material form paper books.  Schools will use technology to connect the students to real life and the skills at hand. Students will gain a true understanding of the material.  I believe in the future students will be able to use school provided technology to learn at a pace that will better benefit there educational process.  A School 2.0 will be in constant change and will be required to adapt to the diverse world surrounding it.

Thing # 4

             Thing #4 asked me to blog about how commenting on blogs would create a sense of community.  Well, to be completely sure I was on the right track I looked up the word COMMUNITY in Webster's dictionary.  One of the definitions was very clear to me: c : an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location. That's it!  A blog is the common location, and the comments are the interacting population.  A blog allows us to unite and discuss a certain topic.  We are free to agree or disagree.  The comment area allows us to share our beliefs and to become a part of a very large community. 
              Many bloggers have already posted about the community of blogging.  They also have left insightful information on how to leave a great comment.  Cool Cat Teacher blog says that to create a sense of community you should contribute to discussion.  Add some depth to your thought and post and leave a meaningful comment.  She also says that if you post you allow the blogger to feel they are heard.  PROBLOGGER leaves us with the message of interacting with comments left on our blog.  The author states that if have activity it leaves you with "blogger value."  The end goal is to up the activity by your replies and then back off and allow the activity to continue to grow. 
             I have read many blogs since day one of class.  After some time I have decided to follow those that surprised me and inspired me.  I enjoy the challenge of becoming a better person and feel these bloggers listed below will do just that!  
1. Desira Sheppards- She was the first to point out how a blog would help me as a growing professional.
2. Lowen Education- Her positive attitude attracted me to read and post!
3. Amber Law- This girl is inspirational and convincing! 
4.Chassity Halpin- She is insightful and a advocate of reading!
5.Holly Hudson- She makes points on creating a connection with everyday life to learning!
All of these ladies made great point and caught my attention.  I am not going to say that I will agree on everything they post throughout the semester, but I am looking forward to becoming part of their community. I hope to see growth from all of us as bloggers!
            The "professional" or "seasoned" bloggers I chose to follow was because they offered tools I thought I could use in the classroom.  The first was about free technology. Richard Byrne post about cool tech that would be useful for teachers and students.  My second choice was about how to think outside the box as teachers.  The innovative educator broadened my ideals on teaching in the classroom.
             This process has created a new community for me to thrive in.  I will be able to see so many point of views on various subjects.  I believe that this community will prepare me to be the best educator possible.  It will also give me a go to place when I am stuck!