Thing #12 Google is not just for searching

The google translator is a great tool for the classroom. With so many immigrant parents there needs to be a way to communicate. As a teacher I can use the translator to send letters home to parents. It is important to be able to communicate effectively with all parents. Also the google calendar is a great way to keep track of everything. Because I know right now I have a hard time keeping track of all the things that I need to do. The google calendar will simply email you and remind you of upcoming events.

https://www.google.com/calendar/render?gsessionid=OK

Thing #11

The easiest method for me was simply clicking on add subscription. I tried to go to individual sites and was very very confused. I didn't know what exactly to click on. So I went back to my RSS reader and clicked on add subscription a search bar popped up and I typed in the website I wanted and I was able to add a subscription that way. I find one that was interesting yet unusual. I believe it was called dinosaur comics but it was a comic strip with a big green dinosaur going through real life. Which was awkward.

Thing #10 RSS taking the hassle out of the news

RSS makes getting your information simple. The way I'm interpreting it is you can log on onto you RSS account and instead of having to search through the Internet and look for your favorite blog RSS already has the new post right there waiting. Its sorta like how you would log onto the Internet and your home page is like aol or msn it maybe has like a web page with the daily new scrolling along. Well the RSS is the same way. Which that is awesome. This is ideal for a classroom environment. If you have your children using the computers they can simply log onto RSS and and go to the specific site that you have them subscribed too. That will cut down on them viewing anything inappropriate or being off task!

Thing #8 Its Mashup time!

So I created a mashup on http://bighugelabs.com/mosaic.php . It was pretty neat. It was a Mosaic and I linked it to my facebook account. This would be great for the classroom. I could use the Mosaic creator and take pictures of events that my students and I participated in and decorate the room or even send it home with parents at the end the year. This will give them  the opportunity to see what we did in class. I can find an pictures of living organisms and make a bingo card game. The ideas are endless with the mosaic maker. For the mosiac I chose to do one of my prom pictures because I didnt have really any other pictures. The website do give you the opprotunity to link the mosaic up with your flickr account but I really havent got my flickr all the way up and running yet. Im all up for sharing pictures online that are appropriate. But I would like to be cautious because you dont want to get in a situation where you used someone's picture online and they didnt want you to and you got in trouble for it or something.

Thing #9

I had fun playing with the generators. The generators were fun and easy to use. I saw one of license plates that would be perfect for making name plates for the students desks. The one of the mosaics would be perfect for hanging up artwork and grades. It also would be great for the students to use the generators to create artwork for projects etc.

Thing #7 Say Click Take a pic!!!!

Flickr is in my opinion a cool site. Its so easy to find the pictures you need. I chose sunsets because I feel like with my busy life I never have the time to stop and view the sunset.   I found a picture of a sunset that was simply breath taking. Its was a picture of the sky that was cloudy but the clouds parted in one area and the sun was shinning down. It seemed as if God was smiling down on a particular area of that city. After exploring this site I want to save my money and buy a good camera and start taking photos.

Here is the picture! Its called God Talk with Angels by Lucas Janin
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucas3d/3061561445

Thing #6 AND THE WINNER IS!!!!

The site I chose was Pandora. First let me say PANDORA IS AWESOME!!!!! Pandora is a music radio where you would set up an account and type in an artist or genre of music and the music player will create you a radio station where you can listen to similar songs, songs by that artist, and songs in that genre. You can find any kind of song. I found a radio with songs that help you sleep. This would be ideal for a classroom setting. You can play soft instrumentals to wind you children down. One thing I like to do for my classes at the summer camp was I would play music softly and that was the children's gage on how loud they were allowed to talk because they could not get louder than the music.


How many of you guys use pandora? What is your favorite station and why?
My favorite station is Beyonce' and because she is my all time favorite artist...

Thing # 5 School 2.0 virtual school

School 2.0 means to me having classes being more digital.  I could see schools turning into becoming more virtual. Maybe one day what we know as getting up in the morning and going to school/ work would be different. Instead of use leaving our homes we would get dressed to go to the computer and attend a class were you see a teacher. And since web 2.0 could potentially connect people the teacher could be in China, and the classmates would be from France, Scotland or Egypt. That would be a neat way for students to have an across the border education. I would like my students to have maybe virtual interactions with other students but not so much of where everything is on the computer. The children wouldnt be able to build social skills.

I know this is off the subject but this post reminds me of the cconductor by the name of Eric Whitacre. Whitacre formed a virtual choir where singers came from all across the world and sound on their webcams. It was AMAZING!!! I do urge you guys to youtube it. I really feel like that is a good example of web 2.0.