Thing #9 Related Blogs and news

Google Blog search was user friendly. Topix.net was the easiest search tool while Syndic8.com was too confusing. It had too much information on the site and looked too busy...tmi... Technorati is cool b/c it contains a wealth of information, but isn't overwhelming when looking at the site.

Thing #8 Google Reader

I signed up w/ Google Reader and added national news, local news, and sports. This is really neat b/c you don't have to search for topics...it comes to you. I can use this in my classroom and personal life by staying on top of current affairs. Students love current affairs and it is a great way to have an awesome dialogue w/ students. Libraries can allow students to login into their student account and add Google Reader to their page...However, there needs to be some type of filter b/c we all know our students can tend to stay abreast on issues not appropriate for school.

Thing #7 Cool Google Tools

Most of these tools I am already familiar with. I have not previously used the Google Advanced Search for teaching. After finding this cool tool, this is an easy way to introduce topics to my students when I want to use a powerpoint presentation. This will save me a lot of time. The only thing I have to do is search for a topic...how easy is that????
The other tool that I can benefit from is the Google Scholar. This is an excellent and time saving tool. Again, this will make my job easy in search for scholarly literature. This will make teaching fun...

Thing # 6

This it pretty cool. My kids will love it. I love the Mosaic Maker...

Thing #5 Flickr

I've never used flickr's website before, but have had numerous friends even students use it. I can't wait to get familiar with it...it seems pretty user friendly. Once I get the hang of it I can definitely use it in my lessons. I think learning about the "groups" was neat.

As far as the pics go...I chose dogs because they are great stress relievers...

Thing #4

Not sure if I did everything right, but got a conformation email stating I was a player...however, I'm not showing as a player...what to do????

Making an Avatar

Wasn't too hard. The process was easy and fun...too bad I wasn't on vacation!!!

7 1/2 Habits...

These 7 1/2 habits are very true. The easiest habit for me is to accept responsibility for my own learning. The way I look at this is as society changes so does education. If we want to be on top of the game, then we as teachers need to benefit ourselves by being active participators and learning new and innovative ways of teaching and learning. The hardest habit for me is using technology to my advantage. I'm not technology savvy, but am in the process of learning how to incorporate new ways of using technology in the classroom aside from the basic powerpoint, microsoft office tools, etc.