Thing 9

Investigating and locating the various blogs and feeds was interesting. I really liked Technorati! The headlines were concise and good. The layout of the site was colorful and easy to navigate and inticed me to explore . . . I found everything from stocks to Iphone to photography, plus much more. I like the "What's Percolating in Blogs" and "Today in Photos". Blog Finder is great. I added some blogs I found and these sites to my Google Reader. I also liked the Cool Cat Teacher Blog; it is a good resource to have. Technorati is definitely my pick though.

What I did not like . . . Syndic8 seemed useless to me. . . kind of a listing of feeds. I also will probably not use the School Library Blogs either. Atomic Learning was fine - it is a good "how to" site. I notice in math is uses some of the tools we already have and use like the old Geometry Sketchpad. Topicx.net was good for local news, but, again, I have other sites that I prefer there.

I will definitley use the Glog Finder as well as Google Blog Search - found lots of interesting blogs there. The vastness of information available to us through all of this never ceases to amaze me! Narrowing all of it down and choosing what is best is the daunting task.

Thing 8

RSS Feeds . . . sounded complicated . . . had read other sb blogs where people said they had some difficulty here. Surprisingly, once I read what the acronym represented, it made sense. I like being able to have my favorite news sites, items of interest and blogs organized and handy in one readily accessible place. I have also, once again, discovered some new sites that I really like: The Big Picture, The Kitchn, La Tartine Gourmande, and the list goes on.

RSS feeds is a quick, organized way to be able to view headlines and read the ones you want or are interested in. I can see real uses for this in the classroom by finding feeds on a topic that applies and having students keep up with it. It's also a wonderful way to get students talking and sharing meaningful information that they obtain about a specified topic.

Thing 7

Google has so much more than I imagined. I am already very familiar with Google and use it all the time, but I had no idea of its extensive capabilities. Google Earth is amazing and addictive. I viewed a Google Earth Hubble telescope presentation last semester and was in awe. I am so glad to learn how to use what it offers. I investigated Google Earth and somehow focused in on our area of Texas, clicked on 3-D buildings and traffic and found everything from Arby's locations to Reliant Stadium to I-10. Oh for the time to sit and play with all of this! I also created 2 different alerts on Google Alerts: one for Houston weather and another for my beloved Univ. of Texas Longhorn football. Google Calendar is another part of Google that I want to investigate further and begin to use.

Thing 6

I enjoyed exploring this "thing", although it took me a while to get through all of it. There were so many different toys, etc to explore. I thought Mapper was interesting and nice to know about. One of my favorite parts was the Flickr Color Pickr - loved the opening color wheel. It reminded me of some of the shows about color on HGTV like Color Splash and others. I liked the Room Color Scheme and Paint Color Wheel. Flickr Toys had lots of great tools, some of which I boookmarked like Mosaics and Customized Jigsaw Puzzles. I even created a trading card of our Yorkie, Louie. I finally figured out how to post this image on my blog. Another accomplishment for me! Here he is! I am working with Mosaics and hope to post one of those on my blog also. Had no idea I could ever do all of this!

Thing 5

I really enjoyed exploring Flickr! Wow, what an interesting,fun site - loved all of the photos of all types. I could have spent way too much time here exploring, but will come back from time to time and do so. I will really use Flickr. Matter of fact, I created an account with Flickr, uploaded some of my pictures, tagged them, and linked to Qoop. Exciting! Until I began 23 Things, sadly, I had never even used "My Pictures" on the computer.

So, I have made much progress over this past week. Truly, I am proud and excited to have these new tools at my disposal. I am an amateur photographer, take tons of pictures, and am eager to do much more with this site. I can see potential uses for this in the classroom.

Thing 4

Well, I am officially registered for the 23 Things to get PDLC credit. I have 3 official posts prior to this one and can now officially "play" and begin my journey through emerging technology. I am ready to go and on my way!

Thing 3

Amazing . . . I actually created my blog. The steps on Blogger are clear and easy to follow. Actually, I am quite proud of what I did - I even added a few pictures from Italy to make my blog more attractive. As a Math teacher, I chose a name that connected with what I do. So far, so good.

Thing 2

I already consider myself a lifelong learner! I love to read, take and share photos, cook and create. I use technology on a regular basis . . . although I am reticent to leave my comfort zone until pushed to do so. I always incorporte what I have learned on the web into my teaching and lifestyle. These 23 things and blogging are just what I need to to this summer. I look forward to this new journey of discovery!

Thing 1

After reading the blog about the 23 Things, I am certain that I made the correct decision to participate. I look forward to exploring emerging technologies and being an active participant in the process, which requires accountablity on my part. It promises to be a fun experience which will definitley take me out of my comfort zone.