Thing #13

It was very easy to sigh up for and use Zoho Writer. I used the site to create a handout I needed for a presentation in another class. It was very nice to be able to store my document here instead of on a flash drive. This will be a useful site for students in the classroom. A student could store documents here and allow classmates to view and even make changes on it if group work was being done. It is good for storing work and eliminates the need for storage on a flash drive.

Thing # 4

The experience of blogging is completely new for me. I have never blogged or kept up with a blog before now. I learned a lot through the readings for this assignment. Commenting is essential for communication between people in the world of blogging. People can interact with each other and exchange ideas on topics of mutual interest or concerns. Through comments received and sent conversations between bloggers can build on-line friendships and even help worthy causes in the community. I think the Ten Commandments of Blog Commenting by Baron Brown was very good advice for all bloggers to follow. I agree with Brown that when blogging meaninful comments should be made. Comments should be polite. There is no excuse for rudeness. There should be no name calling, insults or sarcastic comments in a blog. If you don't understand a comment it is best to ask for further explanation.

The names of the seven blogs I decided to follow are: Shannon Britt, Jonathan Scott, Brianna House, Abbey Durbin and Paulete Mcmahan.

My internet blogs to follow are about gardening. One site is Marie's Gardening Blog at http://gardening.about.com/TheButterflyEffect The other blog is about solving problems in the garden using natural subtances.
Weird and wonderful ways to naturally control garden snails and slugs
http://puadigarden.blogspot.com/2009/03/weird-and-wonderful-ways-to-naturally.html

Thing # 12

The Google tools were very user friendly. I chose to use Google Alert to keep track of my son's favorite football team the Miami Dolphins. He follows them very closely and gets as much information about them as possible. I'll be able to share the information I receive from my Google Alert with him. I think it will be a good source of information. I also enjoyed using Google Image Search. I viewed sites I will be visiting in an upcoming trip. There was a very good variety of pictures on every topic I searched. Google Image Search is a great educational tool for the classroom. It would be good for finding pictures for reports and projects. It could also be used to show students sites which are relevant to subjects they are studying.

Thing #11

I spent a lot of time exploring sites with several blog search tools. I found sites with useful information. My favorite search tool was Topix.net. It was the easiest one to use. I liked the fact that it gave me instant local news from the Clarksville area. So much of the local news stations center in on Nashville news but this site was divided into areas of specific interest from Clarksville.The search tool which did not work for me was Feedster. It continued to give me a blank page over and over again and never worked for me.Another good search tool was Google Blog Search. It worked well and provided interesting information.

Thing #10

I had never heard of RSS and newsreaders until now. I really like the idea of getting the latest news automatically posted to my personal account. This service sends only the latest breaking news which you are interested in from preapproved sites. I really like Google Reader. One of the sites which I subscribed to is The Leaf Chronicle. Since I do not have a subscription to this newspaper it will really keep me informed on the local news in Clarksville. This service would be useful to teachers by helping them keep up to date on the latest events which pertain to education. There may be useful information about resources or upcoming educational opportunities in the local community which would make good field trips for their students.

http://www.google.com/reader/shared/15860578239033984394

Thing # 9

http://www.happyfacegenerator.com/
This was a fun task which was easy to create. Most signs are fairly boring and can be easily overlooked by students. These images could be used in the library or classroom to get the student's attention in a fun and colorful way.

Thing # 8

I chose to use the
Flicker mashup Mosaic Maker to make a collection of pictures of popular tourist sites in Egypt. This could be used in the classroom to show students pictures of places they are studying in geography or history classes. It would make these places easier to learn about. In science class you could show students pictures of volcanoes or under water ocean scenes which would really help them in these classroom studies. I believe this would be a very useful tool.

Thing #7

The process to view pictures and post them on my blog was fairly easy. I enjoyed viewing the pictures on the site. In fact there were so many pictures that were avaliable with my tag that it was hard to decide which one to post. I chose to post the picture of the pyramids in Egypt because my mother is in Egypt on a tour. To view more of All-Gizah pictures go to http://liberato.org/2006/11/11/all-gizah-pyramids.

Thing #6

I chose Craig's List as my Web 2.0 site. I really like the way I could select my city to see what is available in my area. It was very easy to use and totally free. It is useful in finding items of interest to purchase. Some postings included pictures which really would help you know if the item is what you are looking for. There were a large variety of categories of interest listed including weight loss partners, social networking , community events , the list was very large. It could be used to find used text books which are needed for up coming classes or to find tutoring for a class. Safety tips were included in ways to remain safe when meeting people for the first time through the site. I know people who have gotten great bargins through this site but this was the first time I have investigated it for myself.


http://clarksville.craigslist.org/lss/