Got to have it!

Thing #9

I think using bundles to help narrow down searching for RSS feeds was helpful. None of the search tools seemed particularly difficult or too confusing. I just find much of this time consuming and I get easily side-tracked by reading and reading. I found some very interesting teacher blogs out there that I did add, but I know that I will definitely have to limit my "circle of wise". I would like to be able to blog with my students and parents, but I think I first have to determine what would be interesting and informative enough that they would make comments.

I really like Atomic Learning for short informative tutorials.

Thing #8

I found this discovery activity interesting and time consuming. I like the idea of having information come to me without me having to constantly search for information. I can understand the usefulness for my personal information and the ease with which to share blogs and news with others of like mind.

I can even see where this could be used for the classroom activities to help students be involved about topics that perhaps they are too nervous to discuss in class or face to face with the teacher. I can see where it would eliminate some fear of public speaking. However, I also think this is very time consuming and if you are inviting students to join in, you must be willing to check in frequently to respond and update your blog. I am not sure that I am willing to make that committment at this time.

Thing #7

I had no idea how many different tools that Google had to offer. Time certainly flew by while I was checking them out. I have begun a web page using igoogle, but I still have a lot to learn about how I want it to look and I am still a little confused as to how other people would access it. I already have a webpage linked to the classroom portal page at school. I guess I can just add another link to the portal. It really is easy to set up, but will take more time to actually customize it with the info I want others to see.

Why didn't I know about Google Scholar & Notebook when I was taking graduate classes and doing all that research!!

I have already begun working on a document for our grade-level policies and I will invite my new team-mates to review and make changes. This is a great way to share documents and have everyone see changes as they occur.

I would like to use the calendar this fall with my students and their parents. It is easier to work with than the calendar feature we have associated with our Classroom Portal Page. Since we can share it with others, the other teachers on my grade level could also make entries on it with my permission.

Alaska-Dream Retirement

Alaska-Dream Retirement
Originally uploaded by kathleengrant417

This is the trading card I created.

Thing #6

I think mashups are pretty cool. I always wondered how sites like mapquest worked. When I have more time, I also want to create a Mosaic of vacation pictures. I did create a trading card using a photo I shot in Alaska. It is so beautiful, but I don't think I could handle the winters.

Thing #5

It has been a while since I did anything for 23 Things, so I spent some time today reviewing previous work.
I have received various pictures from friends who have used FLikr before, but I have never used it before today.
I am not sure if I would use it much for my classroom, but I can see that it would be useful to share photos with family & friends. I did find a photo that would be useful to use possibly in my Science class. However, I thought it was supposed to also download the "attribution" information.