Thing #23

I think that 23 things was a experience. I thought honestly it was a bit much with the livetext and all. But overall you learned a lot of new things that you did not know. I would try to input this with the livetext project so that it is a fun way to relate it to the lesson plans and compare it to being a teacher as a whole. Overall, it was pretty neat.

Thing #20

I chose the Temptations singing " My Girl" because my boyfriend sings it all the time!

Thing #19

I think that teacherpop was a really cool site for teachers. It gives you a chance to talk to many other people within the teacher world. I noticed it also has information on Livetext and lesson planning which teachers can never get enough of that.

Thing # 18

I used to have a facebook and I discontinued the account. I did this because I never used it. When I first got into college, I used College club. It was a cool way to meet new people. After I had some wierdos, I said I would never do it again and I won't. The internet is a very dangerous and crazy place and I try to be very cautious and careful so I don't use these type of sites. But before this all happened, it was a pretty cool and new way to meet people on campus.

Thing #17

I explored this site and still and most likely always will prefer Google Bookmarks over all other. I love Google and I used to love Yahoo. I have bookmarked plenty of things such as articles for school, important sites that I may use everyday. I think that bookmarking is a good tool for students and teachers that are very busy. It is like a crumb trail where if you get lost you can find your way back. 

Thing #16

I chose Stickit. Even though I really do not use an organizer, if I did I would chose this. Many people have developed online electronic organizers that aide them through everyday things. I don't use one so I really do not have a need or use for it. I think that is I was a women on the run and I needed an organizer where if I had access to a computer at all times, I would especially with a PDA phone and with all the new technology in cell phones alone coming out, keeping the internet on you at all times is so easy now. I think that this would be a great tool for a teacher. Not a student unless you are in college but teachers yes.

Thing #15

I think that wiki is a great tool for students on a higher level. I think that is can be a negative and positive thing though. You can go and correct information online as a public posts, but what if the information is wrong? In college I have learned that professors never want you to use wikipedia because of this fact. Information is basically just thrown into the system and who knows what it right and wrong information. Just like with any other technology and sites with information, we nee to be careful and teach ethics when it comes to our students and using information systems that are open. I think it is great for scholars and professors in that particular field but can have a down side as well.

Thing #14

For mind mapping, I chose mindmeister.com. I think this is a great tool to use for language art classrooms and any class but especially this one. I was taught to use mind mapping to set up and organize ideas for writing papers and projects. It lets you put on paper everything you want to talk about then o back and discuss it. It might look like a mess at first, but then  it start to make sense. For the flow chart, I chose Flowchart.com. I think this is great for businesses and presentations within a corporate setting. Many presentations include power points that include flowcharts to show numbers and statistics. This would be great for an Economic classroom. These sites can also be transferred into a college setting just as well as a primary school setting. I think we tend to look at these sites as only being for college settings but these are wonderful ways to prep high school students for college with many of these programs. 

Thing #13

This is a great tool for anyone, especially college students about to graduate and need to find a job! It has resume templates and builders and cover letter templates. It even has templates for teachers. Progress reports, letters home... it is a teacher's dream. It even has a speech template for students and lecturers. I think this is one of the best sites in 23 things. I have even used it to help me with typing up a cover letter for myself. It is a great tool for any college course and with High school, you can use it as a college prep course aide for students about to go to college. It has over 50 templates within the site. You can even make a student ID. I think that if the school systems put this within their budget, a lot of money can be saved as a whole. I think that using this in a high school class would also prepare students going to college better. When I was in high school, there were really no good college prep courses. I learned as I went through college. Trail and Error.

Thing #12

I actually use Google everyday. I use this search engine for everyday things. I think that Google is a great source of information and easy to use. I used to use Yahoo, but then I switched to Google. Using Google is a great resource for school. I use it to find articles, research and valid research. Since there is a tremendous amount of research and Google gives you so much, being able to narrow it down to what you want is difficult. You can type in one word and it gives you over 1 million hits. I have learned using Google to steer clear of Wikipedia especially when doing research in college. I learned this the hard way but thank God for very generous Professors who showed my the right way. Just like with any other search engine, you need to be aware of what to use and what not to use. But Google is the most helpful search engine I have found and it keeps growing.

Thing #11

The thing I found easiest was the well known sites and blogs like Google and Yahoo. These are sites that I know I use everyday. I use these tools in all my school assignments and research. Google is always easiest for me. It is not complicated or complex and it gives you tons of information for one subject. I like to have options and Google does that. What was confusing was trying to find it all and go through the list.It was more time consuming and annoying. I think that if you have time and patient to go through all the information, it is useful especially for upper levels of students such as high school. You would really need to search to find things on an Elementary students level though. 

Thing #10

I chose the five following blogs that I would check on a daily bases;

1. CNN

2. You Tube

3. Google Search engine

4. AOL 

5. USA Today

I like this because it gives you a world of information. Computers are an amazing thing and just to be able to go to a click of a button and you have millions of information at your finger tips. This technology can be used in everyday life including school. There are hundreds of search engines for students of all ages and levels. Teachers can use this to show students different types of resources, media, technology and ways to learn in different ways.

Thing #9

The online image generator would be a great tool if you where in a business or owned a business. You can make so many different signs and can generate so many different ideas. For a classroom, this would be a great tool to let students be more creative and let their imagination go. For Elementary school, this would be a great tool to start off the day and get them excited about work. For Middle school this would be a good starting point for them starting to find what they can do. By the time they get to high school, they could generate their own ideas and use this in some many different ways.