Thing # 12

Google Is No Longer Just A Search Engine

     Google is no longer just a search engine. You can just do about anything with google. There is google scholar, drive, calendar, google plus, and so much more. With the advancement of google, you can do just about anything with it. I honestly think that there is no other search engines that compares with Google. 

      One of the products that I played around with was google translate. Google translate is pretty awesome. It will convert any language you want into any other language. I chose to translate a quote from english to Italian. Why? Because I can and I thought it was cool. You can also get it to read aloud the sentence so you can learn pronunciation. This is a good tool that could be used in the classroom in foreign language classes or for personal use!

     Another great tool that I explored was Google Calendar! This is a online planner that can be accessed from anywhere at anytime. You can also sync calendar events from your phone to google calendar and it will send you a email or a reminder whenever you want to. So it is like your very own personal assistant. This will be good for anyone (including teachers) to make sure you know when things are due and when you are suppose to be somewhere at whatever time. You can also share this will co-workers or parents if you wanted to get them involved more with students and the classroom! I really liked this feature and plan on using it more!

This gives you a little idea of what it looks like.

Syncing Calendar with iPhone

     Hope you enjoyed this and that you will also go and explore everything that Google has to offer! Bye!!!!

                        Always,

                            M.S.P. <3 

Thing # 11

Picking Up Good Feeds

     Using Google Blog Search was the easiest search tool for me. Just because google is familiar to me, so I knew how to work with it. I think that Topix was the most confusing search out of all them for me to use. I did not like to format that was used, but overall the search websites that I used were all good in finding information that I needed. 

      One way I found to locate news feeds to follow was when I registered for my account one helpful thing that I found was that it suggested a lot of categories for me to follow. So I got to look through categories of things that I like and looked at specific things in that topic. 

    The easiest way I find to look for feeds is too use google blogs search. This gives a large variety of what I want. Some useful feeds I found were edublogs.org, socialmediaexplorer.com, and mrssmoke.onsugar.com. All of these websites have very beneficial information and advice for my future job as a teacher. A unusual website I came across were homeschoolshare.com. The part it took me too was talking about how to clean a hippopotamus. I found this quite amusing and also very random. Hope you enjoyed this post!! Keep reading them! :)

                        Always,

                             M.S.P. <3

Thing # 10

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Reader

    So I learned a new trick!!! I really like this! This saves me so much time when I go and check all my websites. I also never knew what that button was used for, guess you learn something new everyday! This is such a valuable tool! It is also so simple, and it surprises me that I never knew what or how to do this. The thing that I love the most is that this brings the information straight to me, rather then me going to each website to check if there has been anything new put up. Everything is at your reader home!

     This benefits educators and anyone else who gets information for other websites because it saves time! For teachers, this time you save could be used to grade, make lesson plans, or just to spend on yourself. The fact... RSS makes getting information that you need more convent. This also allows you to subscribe to other pages to get information. So this opens up your  All you need is a reader account and you are good to go! Hope you enjoyed this! Look into it, it is such a great tool!



                        Always,

                             M.S.P. <3

Thing # 9

     I found this image generator to be quite fun! I went to hetemeel.com. They had a lot of pictures to chose from but I chose this one. I thought it would be really funny.The picture was set, and I got to add my own text. I find it funny because it looks like Einstein doesn't know what he is doing. Which he is a smarty pants, so he should! 

     For the title I went to textspace.net. They had many different styles from glittery, flashy, animal prints, and so much more. I just picked the metallic because I did not think that cheetah print would go well with Einstein. 

     Online Image Generators are a creative way to add detail to lesson and power points. They are a great decorative tool to add! Other then the decoration factor, image generators could be good for helping students memorize things such as math problems, or foreign languages. I'm sure someone really crafty could think of better things to use them for, but that is all I got.

    

                     Always,

                            M.S.P. <3

Thing # 8

Maghan's Mashups

      

 

      For this assignment we got to have a little more fun with Flickr! Playing around with Flickr mashups and 3rd party tools was pretty fun. You can create some many different things with other people's photos and even your own! I created my title with other people's pictures on Flickr. That was such a easy thing to do. I just went to  metaatem.net/words/ and just typed what I wanted it to say and it chose the pictures for me! Such a easy process.

       If you do not want to use other people's photos for your 3rd party tools then you can use your own! For example... I create this "jigsaw puzzle" with one of my pictures with me and perfect, little Emily. This was such a easy and simple process. All I had to do was upload my picture bighugelabs.com. Then WALL-AAAAHH! I had a puzzle!

     I think these tools can be used in classrooms for fun activities or decoration for lesson plans/power points. These tools are such good things to have knowledge on! Just in case you do need something like this for your lesson plans. For personal use.... Well if I get really bored, I definitely know I have something to do! :) 

                          Always,

                             M.S.P. <3

Thing # 7

Flickr

    This post is all dedicated to exploring Flickr. It took quite a bit but I finally found this gorgeous photograph. I absolutely love this picture. My experience with this website and finding pictures was pretty lengthy. It was not hard, but there were just a lot of photos that I could chose from and none caught my eye. (no pun intended) I just love the detail and contrast of the photo. Out of all of the photos I found on flickr this was my favorite one. I went and looked throughout CubaGallery's photo gallery and all his pictures look just a great as this one! He has a lot of scenery and close up pictures in his gallery.

     Overall my experience with Flickr has been pretty good. I did not like the way and time it took to search for pictures only because a lot of the pictures that did pop up when I searched were not very relevant to the search keywords. Other then that, my experience with Flickr was really good. I do not think I will use it a lot in my classroom, but who knows!


                     Always,

                         M.S.P. <3

The photo was taken by: ►CubaGallery's

From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubagallery/8351018629/

Thing # 6

Web 2.0 Tools

Lightt

     Part of our assignment for this was to explore the website www.go2web20.net. This website is full of tools available for everyone to use, and the best part is that a lot of them are free. Go2web20.net allows you to search for websites that interest you but are also rated very high. There are so many different tags you can look for or you could also just look around to see what you can find. Just a fair warning though... Prepare to spend hours looking on this website, because you find so many good things on here!

      The second part of the assignment is to find a website and explore it! I might just become addicted to the website I found. I have a slight obsession with photography, and this website is amazing! The best thing about it is that it is also a application that I can put on my phone. If you are familiar with Instagram then you can definitely find your way around this application. the website and application is called Lightt. It can be found at lightt.com. The application allows you to take stream less pictures and share what you see in your everyday life with anyone you want. You log in and you can see what other people put on there as well. I highly suggest looking into this website if you love taking and sharing pictures!

     I think this tool could be used in a classroom, but for rare occasions. Not as much for learning purposes, but for sharing purposes. You could create a website for the parents and share what their child has done, or share projects that they are creating, just anything really. Or especially in a art or photography class this would be a awesome application! The only thing I dislike about this is that you have to have a iPhone to download the application to take pictures. You can still browse through the website without having a iPhone.

                        Always,

                                

                             M.S.P. <3

Thing # 5

 Education 2.0

    According to Steve Hargadon, technology is the future of education. I believe this statement is completely true! In his blog, stevehargadon.com, talks about all the effects and benefits of technology. He calls it "A Explosion Of Innovation". Technology is changing the way teachers teach and students learn. The resources available to teachers and students have opened up so many doors for education. Everything is available to anyone at anytime of the day, it is a platform  for unparalleled creativity. Not only is it easier to access lesson plans and activities but it cost little to nothing. I completely agree with Steve! This means new things for schools in the future! Schools will not bet the same.

     School 2.0 means using web tools and other resources to benefit education. With all the new innovations that are happening today is making the possibilities endless for teachers! With all the information available to them they can make their lessons fun and more interactive overall encouraging students to get into the material.


                           Always,

                               M.S.P. <3

Thing # 4

Commenting & Me!

     For this assignment we are looking into commenting on blog post! 

     

      Blogging is important in the blogging community! It creates a connection between other bloggers and people! I mean really, who isn't happy when they see they got a good comment on one of their post! The interaction with bloggers also helps keep blogs up.

     In one of the post I have found, 10 Techniques to Get More Comments On Your Blog, it tells that some ways to get more comments is to be open ended, ask questions, and invite comments. I know these points sound like common sense, but they are good points to follow! Also in, Cool Cat Teacher Blog, there was a post called How to comment like a king (or queen!) It gives great advice on how to comment! They also give good tips on how to get your own blog out there. Like, if you have written about the same topic as the one you are commenting on, leave your hyperlink in your comment! Both blogs have many great ideas and post on how to give and receive blogging post!

What Blogs Did I Post On?

      One blog that I posted on Ms. Cassidy's Classroom Blog. She put up activities that the whole classroom did. One in specific that I posted on was a activity that they did with Skype. She had her students sit down in front of the computer and read to a university student. I thought that was such an awesome idea! That's a great way to get the community involved and give future teachers experience! The second blog I posted on was 5th Grade Rocks, 5TH Grade Rules! There was a cute post she made about a video by Kid President. It's called pep-talk! If y'all have not watched it, you should! There are a lot of other cute things she shared with fellow teachers, but the video was my favorite one!

Whose pages did I post on?

• Emily Sehi's blog, 23 Things!
• Thing #2

• I picked her post because she had wrote about her experience with blogs! She had created a blog for her art class before and she posted a photograph with her face morphed with a tiger! It was pretty great!

•  Jared Morris's blog, Jared Morris 23 Things 
• Thing #2

• I commented on Jared's post because we have the same experience with blogging... Which is not much not. Then he had a very good description about why his avatar looks like it does.

• Chassity Halpin's blog, Chassity Halpin's 23 Things 

• Thing #7
• I commented on her post because she has the same feelings about Flickr as I do and she probably will not use it in her classroom. Which is also the same way I feel. 

• Rachel Burkhart's blog, Rachel's 23 Things

• Thing # 7
• I commented on Rachel's because I saw a beautiful picture posted that she found on Flickr! I loved it as well! So her post definitely caught my eye!

• Ashton Blakeley's blog, Ashton Blakeley, 
• Thing #5!

• I commented on Ashton's because she had very good points on how technology is making the possibilities for education endless! She had written many good points in her blog!

     Sorry this post is lengthy! But I hope you enjoyed reading it!


                             Always,

                                   M.S.P. <3

Thing # 3

Teachers & Blogging...

  Teachers now-a-days have so many advantages with the technology. We now have the whole world in your pockets... literally. Blogging is a great way for teachers to share ideas with each others. They can post personal advice, ideas, questions, or materials. The possibilities are endless with technology.

       I was looking at the website edudemic.com. They had a list of 50 must-see teacher blogs that had been voted on by fellow teachers/peers. The blogs were absolutely amazing. On one blog, for the love of learning, I found a awesome video on anti-bullying. It was lengthy but the content was well worth the time spent watching it. This is not the only website with useful information on them. Many other teachers have blogs just like this one There is no telling how much information is placed out there on blogging websites!

How (P)interesting....

      Another blogging website that is beneficial to teachers with a lack of the crafty gene is Pinterest! They have a many different categories for everything, weddings, food, and EDUCATION! (The very best one!) This is a huge blogging website full of crafts and anything else you can think of! This is the picture book of all blogging websites! If you are wanting a crafty, fun lesson or a fun craft to go along with your lesson, this is the place for you! I plan on using pinterest a lot when I become a teacher!

                       Always,

                            

                               M.S.P. <3

Thing # 2

Blogging Like a Professional!

     The picture above describes my experience with the blog so far! SUCCESS! I feel really good about my blog so far, even though I know I just started using it. Making my blog and avatar has been a piece of cake so far. The hardest part was trying to pick what would look best on my avatar, because there were so many choices!

My Experience With Blogs??

     I have very little experience with blogs. My freshman year in high school is the only time I have ever really worked with blogs. My teacher required us to read his blogs and write papers them throughout the year. It was interesting, but never wrote my own blogs. So this is becoming quite the experience. 

     So how did I come up with my blogging name and title of my blog? Good question! Deciding on my blogging name was pretty easy, because I just decided to use my own name. Simple, easy, and fits me to the M! As for my title, I felt that it was appropriate to name the blog 23 Things because that is the name of the assignment I am doing.

Now... My avatar! To give you a little run down, I created it to look like me! Yay! I figured it would be better then creating a avatar that looked like a random person because that just is not fun. Now there is a  little thing that isn't realistic about my avatar. I don't have long hair, but all the other hairstyles made my avatar look like a boy, so I went with the cute one! And that's all!

So hope everyone is enjoying reading my blogs! 

   

                     Always,

                          

                         M.S.P. <3

Thing # 1

7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners!

Hey everyone! So this is my first time blogging, so you all might have to bare with me on this! This is not my first time dealing and playing with Web 2.0 tools, but I'm also not a expert. So far my experience with it has been pretty good! (Hopefully it stays that way, because I am not the best with being tech savvy.)

Here I go...
     So, the assignment was to watch a presentation called "7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners". As I was watching I kept in mind which of the habits were the easiest and also which one is the hardest for me. I believe the easiest habit for me is "Play" and the hardest would be "Begin with the end in mind."

The Easiest!!!

"Play!"

PLAY & HAVE FUN!!! When you are doing anything you have to make it fun, especially learning! (Well for me at least!) I know sometimes as adults we forget to take the time to play. There are times to be serious, but there are also times to play. I think a lot of adults forget this. If you keep things so serious all the time where is the fun in that?! You wont have much love for what you are doing, and you will just wear yourself out. There are many benefits to playing and having fun. I think this is a key to lifelong learning experiences. I have memories of learning how to cook with my grandmother when I was a little girl. I still remember those memories and the things I cooked! BECAUSE IT WAS FUN! Things that are fun are more memorable, because you are not being forced to do it. This is key in "lifelong learning". Not to mention that it is my favorite one!!! :)

The Hardest...

"Begin With The End In Mind."

      Not that making goals is hard, the point of sticking with them tends to be my downfall. I know that I should have the "keep the end in mind" attitude with these goals, but sometimes things just do not work out. I find this to be a big challenge for me a lot. I do make quite a few goals, and stick with them for a good while. But in the end I can rarely reach the end. Short term goals are not as big of a problem as long term goals are, but this problem can be fixed! :) With a little more patience and self control this problem along with any other problem can be conquered!  So this I will definitely be working on becoming better in making this into a good habit rather then a bad one! 

             Always,

             M.S.P. <3