Thing 14

Go With the Flow

 

Flow Charts and mind maps are useful tools in education.  They help teachers in planning for lessons and teaching concepts during lessons, but are also helpful for students in understanding ideas and putting concepts together.  I used the site Gliffy to create flowcharts online.  This site also makes it very easy to share the things you create with a "Blog & Share this Diagram" button at the top right.  This would be incredibly helpful if a teacher used a class blog as a place for supplemental instruction and to support the lessons discussed in class.  It was very easy to use and makes clear, understandable diagrams.

 

I also tried out Bubble.us to learn a little about mind-maping.  I had never used any mind mapping program before, but realized once I began playing around with it that it is exactly the same brainstorming/organizing process I use when I write a research paper.  I literally did this same thing on paper when writing my research paper for EDUC 5000 to organize a coherant paper.  This was a great find for me, as it is so much easier and neater to have a program making all of the bubbles and connections and all you have to do is type.  I will definitely be using this site to organize my thoughts for the research paper I will be writing this semester as well!  Knowing this, I think this is a great way for students to use this site and learn to be better writers, which is an important part of every discipline. 

Thing 13

Zoho Writer and Google Docs

 

 

Zoho Writer.  This was an interesting site, but I found it to be not as user friendly as I would have liked when creating my documents.  It is great for making simple documents and I especially loved the ease of editing and review with the "Review" button at the top.  This would be a great tool for students to proof read each other's writings and it would be easy for them to access this both at home and in school without the necessity of a jump drive.  When typing up a mock document I had issues with the cursor that were frustrating and would prevent me from using this application if this happens every time.  So, all in all, Zoho seems a great tool for simple writing that is "mobile" from computer to computer.

 

 

Google Docs.  I have had a Google Docs account for some time now, using it in the same way I use my Dropbox account - for storage space and the ability to open documents on various computers.  I think this is a great tool and have really enjoyed the ease this online app has allowed for me concerning presentations in various classes and printing documents in various places.  I had never used the Draw function before, so I thought I would give that a try as a part of this "Thing."  I imported a picture from my Google Picasa Album and added some silliness to it.  This is a picture of my brother, Adam, and I going on a Segway tour in Savannah, GA.  I was the only one who had been on a segway before, so the tour guide asked if I would be the "safety person" at the end of our tour group.  I got to wear a special vest and all!  It was a fun time. Here is the link to the picture I created in Google Docs, but I also added a screen shot of it below.

 

 

Students and Google Docs. Google Docs will be great for students to use because of its collaborative abilities.  It was very easy to share my picture, as Google already provides the link needed for sharing any document created.  This can make it very easy for students to share work in group projects or, again, edit one another's work.  I think this would be especially helpful for students needing to work together outside of the classroom but who cannot meet up outside of school.  Since Google Docs provides the basic Office programs with a Word Document creator as well as spreadsheets and presentation creators, this will be an ideal online workspace for students.

 

Google Docs vs Zoho Writer.  Hands down, I prefer Google Docs.  Zoho writer wasn't as easy to navigate and its document creator was not as user friendly as Google Docs.  Since I already have a gmail account as my primary email and use Picasa and Google Reader, it is much easier for me to use Google Docs than Zoho reader, because it is interwoven with many other online tools that I already use.



Thing #12

The Power of Google

Things #1-11 have opened my eyes to so much technology in the Web 2.0 sphere that I have been amazed at how much is available on the internet for free.  I once thought I was up on all of this "technology stuff" but that was clearly far from the truth.  However, getting into Thing #12 I found something that I was familiar with!  I have used Picasa for pictures in the past and have used it to share albums with friends.  Google Calendar and alerts has been sync'd with my computer's calendar (iCal) for a while, and that helps my husband and I keep up with what events are going on in our lives.  This has been especially important since he has been deployed in keeping up with various plans when we can't always talk about it with each other.  Alerts are great and keep my life on task.  I use this with my phone so that I don't miss appointments and the like.  However, I think I need to start doing this with my schoolwork assignments as well.  Might keep me from forgetting when something is due!

For this particular Thing, I created a Picasa album to share photos from.  This is an album from when I visited my brother in Savannah in 2010.  My younger brother, Colin, is an amazing artist attending the Savannah College of Art and Design.  In the Fall of 2010 my family traveled, from all of the different cities we live in, to see him for a long weekend.  I got to Savannah first and explored some of the beautiful architecture with Colin and we all went on a segway tour of the city.  So nerdy, but a blast!  I highly recommend them!!

Leopold's Ice Cream 

Segways!

Thing #11

Finding Good Feeds

With this activity I learned about how to find RSS feeds for blogs that I am interested in.  Since the concept of RSS feeds is still relatively new, this was a useful tool for me to continue exploring the concept of using RSS feeds and blogs.  I began using the provided link to Technorati to search out some blogs.  What I liked most about using this site to search for blogs is that it is topical, and I can look up general topics to then peruse until I find a blog I like.  This was particularly fun when I looked through the DIY link found under "Lifestyle" in the tool bar, since I love getting into a house project and renovation.  It's neat to see others' tips and tricks.  I did find this site somewhat difficult when it came to searching out specific topics, so for that I went to a Google Blogs Search.

Google blogs was SUPER easy, as one might expect Google to be.  Since I was trying to discover how this whole thing worked, I chose to search for blogs about gluten-free cooking.  I recently discovered I have a gluten issue, so revamping how I cook has been a necessity that I need some pointers on.  Blogs are great for this, so this was the perfect avenue to find a blog to help me out!  The first link that popped up was awesome (Jules Speaks Gluten Free Blog) and I have already subscribed to it on my Google Reader account.

I found most all of the provided blog search engines pretty easy to navigate.  For me, it's a matter of finding one that really captures my attention.  If I'm not interested by the first few words, I'll just move on to the next, until something catches my eye.

Thing #10

RSS Feeds

RSS feeds are simply brilliant in that you can stay up-to-date on information that you care about and have all of that information come to YOU rather than searching it out on the web.  With my Google WebReader I subscribed to Science Daily (a site dedicated to sharing the latest in science research in every field) and the National Center of Science Education.  These were important RSS feeds that I wanted to sign up for because, as a science teacher, I think it is especially important to have up-to-date information.  Science is an ever-changing subject, so it is important to know what knowledge is being gained that might be changing what we know about a certain topic.  The science education RSS is also important because I want to stay updated on what is being stressed in science education and how things will be changing as states move to the Common Core Standards.  It may be helpful to see what other science teachers are doing.  I also subscribed to Free Technology for Teachers and Cool Cat Teacher as a way to stay up on what tools are available to me as a teacher and insight from someone more experienced in this field.  These are great tools for professional development without going to a mandatory faculty meeting.  A lot more fun too!  Lastly, I subscribed to the Pioneer Woman RSS feed.  I love to cook and enjoy finding new recipes to test out at home.  These feeds are great ways to aid in particular hobbies at home and to challenge the mind.  I love to learn and this is a great tool to have pertinant information come to me, rather than me trying to figure out how to find it on the internet!

Thing #9

Online Image Generators

Online image generators allow you to create a custom looking image without all the hassel of creating it from screatch.  I always wondered how people made these!  I see memes all over facebook and pintrest and never could figure out how people made them.  Now, I know!  I used the Dummies Book Cover Maker to make this image.  I thought it might be silly enough to elicit a laugh out of my students without them rolling their eyes at my attempt at science teacher humor.  It was very easy to use, every section of text had a separate editing box and once I was finished, I just saved it to my computer to use wherever I might want.

The next picture I made was from Famous People Message Generators.  I went through their library and couldn't find a "famous" person base picture that I liked, so I chose this comic picture out of their library.  This image was also a cinch to make and again, editing boxes for each block of text were readily available.  Once I had the wording I liked, I just clicked "update image" and then saved it to my computer.  Super easy!  I thought little comic pictures like this might be a fun way to post classroom rules or exam tips, like I have here.  I think using these image generators creates a fun environment for students to walk into.  It makes the classroom feel more creative and hopefully gets them excited to learn.

Thing #8

Flickr Mashups



1. HIER S R E PR CARD GASTALDVS, 2. At the end is always light, 3. Vatican, 4. Basilica di San Pietro, 5. Berthillon Glacier, 6. Louvre, 7. Nap near the Louvre, 8. Chic boulangerie, 9. Moulin Rouge, 10. Small part of the gardens of Versailles, 11. A window and a piece of art inside Musei Vaticani, 12. Fontana di Trevi, 13. Vatican, 14. Beggar, 15. Old Roma, 16. Piazza di Spagna, 17. Obelisco del Pantheon, 18. New art in Rome, 19. Roman Forum, 20. Goodbye, Michael Jackson..., 21. Coffering on the ceiling of the Pantheon, 22. Inside the Pantheon, 23. Pantheon, 24. Gondola traffic, 25. Staircase of the Vatican Museum, 26. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 27. Disneyland Paris, 28. Teatro La Fenice, 29. Venice, 30. An amphicar in Venice, 31. Parc Güell, 32. Font Màgica, 33. Barcelona sky, 34. Barcelona, 35. Port of Barcelona
 

For my Flickr Mashup, I used Mosaic Maker to make a compilation of pictures of Europe that I found on Flickr.  It was so simple to use, all I had to do was find a picture set from a photographer and use the html link provided by Flickr for the photo set in Mosaic Maker.  I chose pictures from Europe because my husband and I will be traveling there this summer and they get me excited about the kinds of things we will see while we are over there.

Using Flickr Mashups could be incredibly useful in the classroom.  One idea that came to mind was to use Mosaic Maker to create a compilation of student work at the end of the year.  By taking pictures of projects or students working (although the details of this might have to be fine tuned) a teacher could create a compilation of students' work in the classroom over the course of the year for students to look at.  It would be a great testament to how much they accomplished over a year and can help them realize just how much they actually learned!  I would also love to use these Mashups personally.  I enjoy online photosharing, within moderation of course, and would love to use these tools to create unique photos and works of art for my own home.  Such an easy and simple way to make something so neat and complex!