Thing # 16

Staying organized whether at work, school, or home can be a challenge for some individuals and come easier for others like myself. If there is one thing I strive to accomplish is an organized schedule and living area. So I was excited to explore thing 16 which is getting organized with web 2.0.

The customized start page I chose was iGoogle because I am most familiar with the google applications. I had lots of fun decorating and personalizing my start page. There were a ton of options to chose from, but I chose a rainbow theme to have several fun colors all on one page. I added a weather, calendar, and clock gadget so I could stay informed and organized every time I saw this page. I don't know if this will stay my start page for long because it takes some getting used to but I will see how the next days go.

I explored CollegeRuled to set up my online calendar. CollegeRuled is a site that is only accessible for students who have a college email address. It can create detailed class schedules and calendars geared specifically towards accommodating college students' needs. I created a detailed class schedule of this semester and it was really simple, fast, and fun to make. Calendars and schedules are very useful to me in my everyday life. I don't even leave my house with out my Austin Peay student calendar! Staying organized and writing things down is the only way to remember every detail and event that happens everyday. Using a calendar is just a simple way to stay on task and not forget to go to an important event or date. In the future, I will use CollegeRuled to make a calendar or even a quick schedule of all my classes. I would recommend CollegeRuled to any college student who needed a little help staying organized!

Another site that I explored was Zamzar which allows anyone to convert files. This service is also free, so I know that I will definitely be able to utilize this site in the future. Zamzar even allows users to manage files, convert big files, and get up to 100 GB of online storage. I know that my computer gets packed with lots of useless storage, so Zamzar would a great way to store files while still keeping them in one convenient place.

I absolutely love to-do lists!! I make a new to-do list every week so I can see what needs to get done and cross out what I have completed. These lists make me feel more accomplished. I believe that everyone should have some kind of to-do list whether it be on your phone, computer, binder or even on a sticky note! To-do lists keep people organized and as a future teacher I will have to obtain great organization habits to keep control of my classroom.

Thing # 15

I have heard and seen wikipedia a number of times when exploring the internet or even in my classes. Wiki is usually always the first site that comes up when you are using any major search engine to find a particular topic. It is very useful for quick information, but many of my professors in colllege and high school would strongly discourage students from using wiki in any of their papers or for sources. Now that I have explored wiki a little bit more I have discovered there are many others options to it besides just obtaining information.

I really enjoyed the youtube video on explaining wikis it explained a lot that I have not known before. I also had no idea that "wiki" was a Hawaiian word for quick. As I continued to explore, I really liked wiki's concept to let people be able to edit, write, and send what they have wrote. This is definitely a faster way to connect with several people at one time. On wiki you can get connected with friends, decorate your wiki page, link pages easily, upload documents, you can edit or create anywhere in the world, and it's free! I found all this information on the article "Ten reasons why your next pathfinder should be a wiki" by Joyce Valenza. In the APSU 23 things sandbox I thought it was so neat that you can add whatever you want with just a click of a button. All you have to do is sign up for an account and the website can be made into your own. I really enjoyed searching through the many options wiki has to offer. In my future classroom I may use wiki to post a class discussion on a topic or even a class project. I think wiki is a wonderful way to stay connected with others while having fun and learning.

Thing #14

Above I created a mind map on Bubbl.us that shows my family tree. I thought this application was very simple to set up and use. I never knew that there were ways to create mind maps and flow charts online. I explored the link Bubbl.us(mind map) and Gliffy (flow chart) for this project. Mind maps can be used for more linear things like time, while flow charts can be more complex with choices and outcomes. I personally enjoyed using Bubbl.us because it was fun to create a family tree and see how all my relatives connected to the top. I could use this in my future class when I teach about family trees and heredity. Students could make their own family trees using Bubbl.us. The next link I explored was Gliffy I had a great time designing a floorplan of my dorm room. Gliffy had tons of options to explore such as floorplans, flowcharts, and shapes. I know that I could use this site in my future classroom to teach geometry or even have students build a floorplan of their home. Students could also use the flow chart to collect their thoughts for a paper or an English project. I thought Gliffy was a little difficult to figure out at first, but with a little practice anyone could become a pro!

Thing #13

I had never heard of the Zoho Writer before this class. I never knew there was a way to create documents, tables, and spreadsheets through an application on the internet! If I had know this I probably wouldn't have wasted all that money on the software to install Microsoft Word 2008, when I could have made the exact same documents and more on the Zoho Writer. It was super easy to sign up and I had no problem finding the applications. All the gadgets were set-up almost exactly like Microsoft's software.

For my first experiment using Zoho Writer, I wrote a short essay and I discovered that I could change the font, size and even position. Zoho Writer had all the same functions and gadgets that Microsoft offers. I could send the document straight to my email or even print it out directly from the internet. I didn't find many differences between Zoho Writer and Microsoft Word. Next, I explored more options at the top of Zoho Writer called "switch to" that included applications like Zoho notebooks, Zoho chat, Zoho docs, Zoho mail, Zoho sheet and much more. I tried making a sheet through Zoho that was very similar if not exactly the same to the Excel program on Microsoft. I used the Zoho sheet to create a list of all the activities I had to do for the next month. It was very fast and efficent to use! The only negative I found was that Zoho Writer doesn't save my document automatically like Microsoft does. It was very frustrating getting pop-ups to save while writing a document. All in all, I found that Zoho Writer was a very useful tool that I could see my self utilizing in the future.

Thing #12

The two Google tools I chose to explore more were the iGoogle and the calendar. First, I chose iGoogle because the you can be connected to tons of links and information in one click of a button. Setting up iGoogle was fast and simple even for me. I really like it because you can check the weather everyday which is great to find out what I need to wear for the day or even if the weather will be nice for outdoor activities. It also includes a clock and calendar all on the same page as the weather. I can watch the lastest videos for the day or even catch the lastest news feeds. All this information can be found all on iGoogle with just one click of a button, so no more looking up ten sites just to be kept up-to-date everyday. The second tool I found useful was the calendar on Google. I'm a very organized and structured person so I like to write down all my activities and know what is due when. I have a daily planner that I use to write down my whole life and it stays with me wherever I go. With the Google calendar I can use the same idea as my paper calendar except I can access this calendar through my phone or any computer. This is a wonderful and more advanced way to stay organized and it is even eco-friendly! I started my own calendar, but it will take some time getting used to switching from planner to computer is hard to adjust to at first.

Both the iGoogle and the calendar will be great tools in my future classroom. Teaching and planning takes enough of a teacher's time, but with these tools I can make use of every minute if my time. Now I won't have to waste hours searching and trying to find crucial information. I will have everything organized and together in one place. I can't wait to start using these important Google tools everyday!

Thing #11

I thought technorati was the easiest searching tool that had the best information. I liked how this site was organized and everything was easy to find. At the top of the home page, technorati had several categories to narrow your searchs including technology, business, entertainment, lifestyle, sports, politics, videos, and blogging. It even included the lastest news and had a list of the most popular blogs of the day. I found tons of awesome sites and blogs that caught my interest. The hardest site for me to navigate was the syndic8.com. I was totally lost and confused when I tried searching on this site. The home page was formated weird, and I thought it was cluttered and unorganized. When I typed in a topic to search this particular search engine was very slow and I got frustrated trying to find a blog that appealed to me. The only element I liked about syndic8.com was the fact that it showed the date the blog was created when I searched. The blog that I found most useful was called Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog. Mrs. Cassidy had wonderful ideas and videos for activities that she had performed in her own classroom. I thought this site would definitely help me out when I need a good idea or even in my first few years of teaching I can observe her videos and collect great information! Another great navigator and searching tool would have to be Google. I thought information was easy to find and related to what I was looking for. Throughtout the rest of my college years and into my career I could definitely find myself utilizing my new RRS skills.

Thing #10

Before today, I had never heard of RSS or "Really Simple Syndication". RSS is a very interesting tool that I would have never known existed if not for this Web 2.0 project "23 Things". RSS is a service that provides a way to follow all over your favorite newsfeeds and blogs all in one place. It has truely changed the way information is shared through the internet. This service makes following your favorite bloggers fast and efficient! You can create an account for RSS in two feed readers Google Reader and Bloglines. I chose to set up an account in Google Reader, because I am more familar with Google. It was super easy to create an account for my own RSS. It was literally less than one minute and I was an official RSS user!! I know that I could definitely use this service to keep up with the lastest information and not spend the time it may take searching and scrolling through every website. As a teacher, I could subscribe to my favorite sites and learn the most up-to-date learning techniques. Teachers have enough to worry about without adding all the time and hastle it takes to search for sites and actually find new resourceful information that could be useful in the classroom. RSS is a great advance in technology that hopefully will by utilized into many teacher's daily habits and routines.

Thing #9

The image generator I choose to explore was the custom sign generator. This site had tons of fun ways to paste your personal photos into a fake magazine cover or even make a personal ad of your own! The first picture is of my boyfriend and me on the side of a building. I used the fun templates link to create this image under fake ads. Now isn't that a Kodak moment?

Next, I chose to make a magazine cover of myself (because who wouldn't want to see their face across the front cover of a top selling magazine?). The magazine cover templates ranged from sports, home and garden, beauty, fashion, and even business covers! I could only find a picture of myself from a dance, so I just made myself into America's next top model!

This activity would be great for teachers to make their lessons fun and entertaining. There are tons of opportunities to learn from these sites! Many children are visual learners so using these sites could be great opportunities for children to practice taking photos and creating templates. These sites could even be incorporated into a instructional PowerPoint to make learning more personal and creative! Personally, I would use this site to make homemade cards for friends or even to make someone smile!

Created on: http://www.sillyscenes.com/

http://www.fakemagazinecover.com/

Thing #8

As I explored the different mash ups, I thought this customized jigsaw puzzle activity on Flickr was awesome! I chose a picture of George Washington to represent an important historical leader. In upper grades, I could incorporate this site in an activity to help students have a visual of what people in history might have looked like or even use this site in a geography lesson. In lower elementary grades, I could even introduce the 50 states by making a puzzle of the United States and have the students match the pieces together. On this site you can even make and buy your own personal 252 piece jigsaw puzzle! This site is a great resource for teachers to make tons of education puzzles.

I think Flickr mash ups are very useful and interesting tools that could be both educational and fun. I spent almost an hour just exploring all the options that Flickr has to offer. My students are visual learners and Flickr would be a wonderful tool to make learning fun and hands on. Now that I know the different options I will definitely be using these mash ups in the near future!