Thing #11

This was one of the more complex activities to do. There are so many things that I enjoy looking at online, but many of them did not have RSS feeds. This made it a little more difficult to do. The eaiest way to find feeds that I liked was to put keywords in the "discover and search for feeds" box and this made it easier to access different sites. One that I did was for bettycrocker.com and I knew there was a feed attached to this one. I did it, because I enjoy cooking and I am always looking for new recipes to try! I also did a feed on our local newspaper, The Leaf Chronicle. This way I can keep up with local news in my community. The other way I found feeds were by just exploring some of my favorite sites and some of them had feeds and some didn't.

Thing #6

Thing #6 was to choose from one of the following web 2.0 award nominees. There were several in the top 100 that I knew, but I decided to use one that I had not heard of before. The one I chose was yelp.com, the link  is http://www.yelp.com/nashville I was fascinated by this site, because I travel to Nashville, TN often. However, this site lists all the states and their major cities with attractions that visitors may want to explore. It is nice to see what attractions there are in this city. This site can be browsed by specific categories like restaurants, education, shopping, hotels, and etc. There are also reviews listed for the different places. This allows me to see previous visitors ratings on how they enjoyed or disliked the attractions of their choice. I could see myself using this site's applications in school to plan a field trip for my students like to the zoo or museum.

Thing #10

This was not my first time using RSS. It is a great tool to use to keep updated information on things that interest you. It allows users to get the updates instead of trying to go out online and look for things. RSS can help me when I become an educator to keep up with the new news in the world about education. I could utilize RSS in school to compare different types of things from how I am doing things in my class and how others are doing things across the world. There are also many videos and pictures that may interest you in your personal life using RSS. Teachers can take advantage of RSS by getting the latest news on changes in education and making sure their facts are accurate before presenting them to their students or co-workers.

Thing #9

http://www.imagechef.com/ic/word_mosaic/

http://www.txt2pic.com/comic-strip/smile.htm These online image generators are cool! I used the smiley face generator to make a little comic about teenagers and their texting. I also went to imagechef.com and used the word mosaic, because it allows me to use phrases and comments in a neat, creative way. I could use both of these online image generators in the classroom or for personal use. In the classroom, I could use these to make decorations in my class. I can also use it for personal uses like on my facebook page for humor or to personalize my page.

Thing #8

I had fun doing this, because I could play with it and try different things. I really liked the spell flickr looking at all the creative ways to spell out words. I decided to use Educ 3040 for my spell flickr since, this class uses so many creative tools to make learning fun! I also, enjoyed the puzzles. I did a picture of two yorkies, because those are my favorite pets, they are so cute! I could use any of these tools in my classroom to make learning for my students fun and creative. This could allow them to play with things on the internet to make pictures personalized. I think the idea about photo sharing is awesome! It may help others that are not sure what they are looking for to get ideas. It's also interesting to find photos that other people take that have the same interests/hobbies as yourself.

Thing #7

I had never used flickr before. It was an interesting discovery, I enjoyed using the "explore" search engine to find that perfect picture for me. Under the explore tab, I chose the popular tags. When you go to this, it brings up tons of topics that may interest viewers. The topic I chose to look under was "flowers." I chose this, because I love beautiful flowers and they make wonderful photos. I like how when you are searching for something on flickr you can use keywords to found specific things you want. After it took me to pages full of flowers, I was able to be more specific and ask to see only the flowers that were purple in color. The flower photo that caught my eye was called "purple iris" and it was taken by tanakawho. I was not to sure how to upload the photo of this flower so, here is the link if you want to take a look http://www.flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/5847750105/ This photo captures this beautiful purple iris with rain on it and that is something else I enjoy so, this picture was a perfect fit for me!

Thing #5

I read the article entitled Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators. This article was informative letting me know exactly what was meant by "web 2.0" and it also mentions that the most participants on this are kids/teenagers. They use the web for everything from school-related work to their personal lives. This site also encourages educators to be more active with it, because it is becoming a trend in our century. Eventually, I believe it will take over the classroom. There is nothing that cannot be find on the web and this technology is so convienient to everyone that it is important to teachers or future teachers to understand web 2.0. This is actually a great way to encourage students to learn by putting it with something they already love which is technology. So, educators and schools in the future need to be aware of the world of web 2.0, because it will definitely become more used in the classroom to enhance students development and learning abilities. The other article that I enjoyed was Teachers 2.0. This article was loaded with helpful blogs and resources that could be useful to me when I become a teacher. When I hear the term "school 2.0," I think about the next generation of learners and how future educators like myself will use this tool to enhance our teaching skills and encourage our students to interact with their education on the web.

Thing #12

It is unbelievable that I use google every day and I never noticed these incredible tools that were available to me. The two that I found most useful was the calendar and the translator. I did not have a link to my google translator, but I felt it would be a wonderful tool to use in the classroom. I could use this to help with any students that may speak another language other than English. I could put English words into the translator and have it converted into the desired language. Also, if the student ask me something in another language, I can choose that language and have it translated into English. The other important tool that was helpful for me was the google calendar. This is an online agenda and it could help it class by keeping up with different assignments and due dates for my students. I could also use it for special events or faculty meetings. This is the link for the google calendar I set up for next week, https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=sjohnson16%40my.apsu.edu&ctz=America/Chicago

Thing #4

It is important to comment on people's blogs or responding to a comment left on your own posting. This is a major part of blogging. Without commenting, blogs are unsuccessful in interacting with other people. It would be boring if a blogger never received feedback from viewers, there would be no point of blogging. One important factor that I read about was saying "thank you"when someone comments on your blog. I like what it said about if a person take the time out to read your blog then, you should take the time out to thank them. Another important fact that I learned about commenting was that 1 out of every 100 readers comments on a blog. This information was shocking to me, because it seems that it would be more than 1 out of 100. These are the bloggers I will be following in the next couple of weeks:
1. Meghan Bussabarger
2. Kristin Edwards
3. Matthew Hasse
4. Richard Wheeler
5. Patrick Carneal

Thing #3

One of the most easiest task after setting up my blog was registering it. It was important that I did this to receive credit in my Education 3040 class. I think this going to be a neat, creative way for teachers and future teachers to communicate all over the world through technology. This blogging is all new to me, but so far I am enjoying it. I am curious to see how many people view and/or comment on my blogs.

Thing #2

It was a very interesting, but challenging process in setting up my blog. I had heard of blogs before, but never took the time to start my own. I guess if this was not a requirement for this course, I still would not have had one. First, I started by creating an account. Then, I had fun creating an avatar. This personalized my page by creating the best cartoon version of myself. When setting up my blog, I was very cautious about putting up too much of my personal business on there, because I am not sure about what type of people will be viewing my blogs. However, I think it will be nice to see how many people in the world share common interests and ideas with me.

Thing #1

This blog is about the 7 1/2 habits to become a successful lifelong learner. These are the 7 1/2 habits:
1. Begin with the end in mind (setting goals)
2. Accept responsibility for your own learning (no one knows you better than yourself)
3. View problems as challenges (obstacles that must be tackled)
4. Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner (believe in yourself to do anything!)
5. Create your own learning toolbox (things that may help you learn)
6. Use technology to your advantage (technology is used a lot these days)
7. Teach/mentor others (teaching others help you learn more!)
7 1/2. PLAY (enjoying things helps to learn and develop)

As I followed this tutorial, it made me open my eyes on the type of learner that I am. If I had to choose the hardest habit that I need improvement in, it would be #7 1/2. I say this, because sometimes when I am learning I am concentrating so much on the work that I forget how to enjoy myself doing it. This habit is important to practice so, the learning experience does not get boring. The habit that is easiest for me is #5, because I keep a toolbox of everything a learn for a purpose. These are things I can refer back to if needed to confirm information or teach others. It is important to exhibit each of these habits to become a lifelong learner, because there is no age to learn meaning that it is never too early or too late to learn new things.