Thing # 11

Library Thing is a great tool for me! This is exactly the kind of site I was looking for in thing 9. I think I will really benefit from this site, because I can look at the ratings that are given to books before I decide which books are worth purchasing. I can also use this site to discuss books and potentially the uses for certain books in the classroom. I have seen benefits in each task I have done, but this is the first thing that I have been truly excited about learning since making my avatar.

Thing # 10

I found Image Chef the most fun image generator to work with. I really had fun creating a book template dedicated to my class pet with that site! This is a great way to introduce things in a fun way! I will probably really use this image that I created today when I discuss our class pet with my new class next year.

Thing # 9

I found the google blog search the easiest way to search for posts. It was the easiest site to navigate for me. The hardest site to navigate was the edublog's award winners. I never found a search button, so that would make it extremely difficult to find the exact topics you are looking for. I searched for a variety of topics, but one unusual thing that I noticed was that when I searched for good children's books, I did not get any posts, I was navigated to amazon.com, and other book selling sites. I was hoping to get ideas of some new books to purchase, but that did not happen. I really like using the search key to look for specific information because I am not very good with technology, and I like everthing to be easy when I try to find things.

Thing # 8

I liked the idea of the RSS. If I were a person who spent lots of time on specific sites, it would be really beneficial to have those sites brought to me. I am really not much of an internet reader, I would rather read novels or children's books, and I subsribe to a newspaper for news. One thing that I did like about the RSS and that I think will benefit me, is that some of the blog sites that I subscribed to talked a lot about education and new books and teaching strategies. I may actually start looking at those while I am planning lessons, or before I go shopping to enhance my classroom library. Same as me, I think that Libraries can use these blog sites to see which new books are good for their libraries. Librarians and teachers can also use the RSS feeder to stay current on the trends in education.

Thing # 7

I focused on the igoogle homepage and the google calendar. I was able to plug in all the work meetings, and staff development days that I need to do or attend for school for the next month. It is great to be able to come up with a schedule that I can stick to. This will benefit me in my personal life as well as in the classroom with organization. The igoogle homepage was also extremely fun and beneficial. Igoogle gives the average google page a prettier view, and allows you to add fun gadgets that can help you stay focused on what you are doing. I also really liked the google notebook, and I am sure that when I am researching topics for units this school year I will use this tool.

Thing # 6

It was really fun looking through all these different mashups. I experimented with all the ones that were listed, and I can think of great uses for all these sites. The one that I had the most fun working with was the mosaic maker site. I can see myself using this in the classroom, both to show students pictures, and also to let them find and create mosaics of their own. This mosaic is a mosaic of different scenery you can find in Australia. I thought that making a mosaic would be extremely difficult, but it was in fact incredibly easy! I also liked the color finder. Giving the class an assignment where they have to choose their favorite color and do something with it would be a great getting to know you exercise at the beginning of the year!

Thing # 5

I thought that Flickr was a very interesting picture site. It was sort of like a social website to talk about pictures in the Creative Commons section. I noticed that the comments on the pictures were very friendly and positive. I examined Flickr by typing in keywords from all the units that first grade covers, and I found pictures that will enhance every unit that I teach.

The picture I chose to save is a picture of Putty Beach in Australia. This picture, and others similar to it, can be used to compare and contrast Australia to America physically. I am very excited to have learned how to use this site!