Thing 12

I cannot believe how much Google has evolved! It's gone from just a search engine, to having many tools, to actually becoming a verb! I have to say, I say it a lot! I am constantly telling people to "google it." It makes me think of the one line in Confessions of a Shopaholic; her boss asks her if she googled the answer and she says, "Yes... I googled."
The two tools I used were the translator and the alert. As a military spouse, I have a high possibility of living overseas and, if that happens, Google's translator might become my new best friend (ha ha). Also as a teacher, I could use the translator if I have students that speak different languages, or if I am trying to speak with their parents who don't speak English.
I also picked the alert because I am usually no where near a computer, but I am always on my phone. I get my Gmail to my phone, so all of my alerts would be sent there. It's a good way for me to stay up to date with things I'm interested in, without having to log on to a computer.

Thing 11

Of the four listed, I used the Google Blog Search and the Technorati links. I found the Technorati to be a much easier site to use and navigate, although the Google search was quite simple too. I liked that using these search engines narrows down topics and blogs to exactly what you are looking for. When I typed in 'Kindergarten' I found sooo many blogs that I probably would have never found otherwise. I also had to type in 'Sharks" to feed my addiction (no pun intended!) :) & I found quite a few of blogs about saving the sharks, which I am very interested in as well.

Thing 10

RSS feeds are those little orange buttons I see on almost everything but never knew what they were! Now I know, and I am so glad I do. :) RSS feeds allow you to subscribe to whatever you find important, and have all of the new posts on one conveniently found page. Instead of searching through all of your favorite blogs and websites trying to see if something was updated, you can go to your home page of Google Reader and have all of the updates right there, in one spot. This is definitely great for teachers because really, how much extra time do you have to go searching through posts? You don't! You can instead spend five seconds and go to one page and see everything you were looking for. So, if you subscribe to eight hundred different teaching blogs that have ideas on what to teach and how to teach, you can now find them all in one place! This is also a good tool to use to stay up to date on current events. I know I do not always find time to be able to watch the news, so be able to subscribe to a news website and get the news on my own time is very helpful. RSS feeds help me keep up to date with the things I find interesting, without have to search for them.

Thing 9

Star made using http://www.imagechef.com/, Smiley sign made using http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/, and the key sign was made using http://www.signgenerator.org/
Okay, so I probably had way too much doing these! (Believe me, I did SO many more than these three, ha ha) They were so easy to make and just so much fun! These can definitely be used in a classroom setting. The star could be used for students who are doing exceptional. Maybe every student who makes an A on a spelling test gets a walk of fame star. (Maybe displayed on a wall somewhere.) The other two could be signs posted around the classroom for rules, or just words of wisdom that you want your students to have.  These are just great ideas to use. You could use some of them on worksheets, and have student fill in the bubbles with whatever they want the person to say, which could be a way of telling their own stories. There are just so many options with these!

Thing 8

  

I used the Spell with Flickr, because it was one of the few that would actually work on my computer (ha ha)
I think this could be used with Kindergartners because they are learning to spell and what letters look like, so they could use this to recognize letters. It's great because it allows them to see different variations of the letter (i.e., I never put the tittle on my I when writing it, but some people do)
The clock mashup seemed like a good thing to use for the children when learning time, but I couldn't get it to pull up on my computer. :(

Thing 7

 

((NOTE: Every time I tried to share my photo, it wouldn't work with links or anything, so I used the HTML code instead.))
Anyway, I loved making a Flickr account. A lot of my friends already have one so I've heard about it for a long time, but never got around to making my own account. I picked this photo for my blog because I have a serious obsession with sharks, & this picture captures that well, I think. I've used Photobucket way back when & the two are pretty different. I found Flickr to be a little hard to understand and use, but I think I got the hang of it. Public pictures, like everything good, should be used in moderation. You should always make sure to have the permission of the people in the photos before uploading, especially minors.
You could use Flickr in the classroom if you want your children to tell a story, but using pictures. They could search through accounts and photos and find some that relate to the story they are trying to tell. You could make them do this story without any words, hoping that the pictures they have chosen display what they are trying to portray.

Thing 6

Looking at the list of the Web 2.0 Awards nominees, I realize I spend way too much time online because I am an active member of at least one site from each of the topics listed...  :) So I picked a site that I have not used.
I picked Remember The Milk, mainly because the cute little cow displayed caught my attention. (Rememberthemilk.com)  (http://www.cnet.com/html/ww/100/2009/winners.html) is the site I used to find this website.

Remember the Milk is a free website (unless you want to go pro, and then it is no longer free) that is a portable goal setter. You can create lists, such as to-do lists and study lists and access them from pretty much anywhere, without having to return to the website. Since I am one of the most unorganized, forgetful people in the world, I thought that this website would be a huge help. Being able to access the list from anywhere is helpful so even if I am at Walmart, I can remember why I am there. :)
You could use this in the classroom by having the students set goals, whether they are short term or long term. They can be study goals, homework goals, whatever the students want. Being able to access this from anywhere will help them in remembering and accomplishing their goals so they will have no excuse when they come into the class the next day. :)

Thing 5

Whether we like it or not, web 2.0 tools are all around us, from MySpace, to Facebook, to Twitter. According to Web 2.0: A Guide for Educators, a 2007 survey revealed that 55% of American young people use social networking sites. Well, that was three years ago. I can only imagine that the number is closer to 100 percent now. Our world and the way we distribute information is rapidly changing and the education system needs to stay caught up or risk losing the attention of the children. "For education not to step up and maximize these resources for teaching, learning and driving innovation is to risk becoming marginalized as a viable influence in helping shape the 21st century." This is such a powerful and true statement. If our children are not using these resources in class, it will only hinder their education.
To me, school 2.0 is using all of the web 2.0 tools in the classroom. It's allowing children to see the educational benefits of these tools and why they are important, as well as seeing the negatives of some of them as well. It's using these tools, such as blogs or Facebook groups in the classroom setting. I believe when used correctly, these can be very powerful and effective tools for a learning environment. Allowing children to see how these tools can benefit their educational experience will make them more apt to put in the work necessary. These web 2.0 tools can make for a very interactive classroom that might not have been without them.

Thing 4

Commenting is definitely an essential for blogging. One of the whole points of a blog is for people to read it. If you didn't want someone to read it, you wouldn't post it, right? Commenting gives the blogger the peace of mind that someone feels the same way as them, and cared enough about what they were saying to actually respond.
The blogs of my classmates that I commented on were Jawaun Rogers's, Robert Gallowitz's, Wendy Wagenmaker's, Milly Maxwell's and Tabitha Beard's. I chose them for different reasons; I know them outside of the classroom or because their blog definitely attracted me to it. My comments were varied. Some I stated that I love the way their blog looks. Others were because I felt the same way as them and felt I could relate. And I also commented on one because I felt I had some good insight that they might benefit from.
Two blogs outside of the classroom's that I commented on were literacyandlaughter.blogspot.com and fromkindergartenwithlove.blogspot.com. Both of these blogs are written by Kindergarten teachers and they have very great ideas for things to do with children when teaching.