My journey into a Flowchart Nightmare (aka Thing 14)

Okay, this was a horrible experience.  So many buttons, colors, boxes and THEN after I create this poor excuse for a Design Chart, I'm told I joined a collaboration!  Seriously?  So at this point I'm laughing, but I will grudgingly admit, this is a pretty cool program once I settled down and started exploring I could absolutely see the benefits this would have in a classroom environment.  I tried to copy and paste my chart, but alas to no avail, but this link should take you there should you want to see my Flowbee.

http://flowchart.com/editor/#e655656e21a9e451:101889

The Wacky World of Wikis (aka Thing 15)

Well, first off, what the heck?  This was not a thrill a minute, BUT I can see how it's very cool and would make an awesome class project.  I did not accept that challenge at this time, only because this class and math, I am on a slight overload of information.  I will though, create one at a later time when this part of my academic adventure is complete.

The sandbox activity was interesting, but I had trouble navigating, hence the post of absolutely nothing, but then I was able to get a picture up there.  Here's to hopin' it's correct!

Lucky 13

                                   
This is my attempt at google docs drawing.  It was not wonderfully user friendly and navigating it was not my favorite thing to do.  I was going for the punch effect in the old Adam West/Burt Ward Batman episodes.  The choices of fonts is not that great, so I think it's missing the true BAM impact.

My zoho experience...

 

Okay, so with both programs I can see the benefits, especially if students do not have computer access at home, but they use a library computer or a friend's in order to access these programs and do their work.  That's a very cool feature of both.  To me Zoho offers a little more in terms of creativity and it is more user friendly.  I would probably push for my students to use Zoho before google docs.  However, having only poked around these programs for a short time, in all fairness I would have to take more time to really get to know them.

Annnnnnnnd onto number 12!

I found google alerts to be very cool, and I even set one up just to test it out and right after I set it up I did get an alert, so obviously it works.  I just want to be very choosy about what alerts I do set up so my phone isn't blowing up. Then I did get in to google calendar and that also was easy to use and inputting dates and events was a breeze which was great.  I have used Picasa web albums in a previous class and loved it.  It seems like google apps are for the most part user friendly and make you want to keep using them or at least find out more about them.

As far as education, I can see how alerts would be fun because a class could keep up with current events in real time, and also a teacher could appear to be a genius by knowing the latest about whatever her classroom by receiving updates on subject which interest his or her students.

http://www.google.com/alerts/manage

I set up on alert for the St. Louis Rams because my husband loves the Rams, and I like to know what he's talking about when he updates me on what they're doing and who they're drafting and so on.  I like them too, and am trying to up my knowledge of them and football in general.  After 20 years of marriage, I figured it's about time.

https://www.google.com/calendar/render?pli=1

I set up a calendar and put a couple things on it in March just to get my feet wet in it.  It's pretty cool, but there are so many way to keep track of my schedule that I just don't know if I want to deal with another one.  This was pretty cool though, and I could see how having everything concentrated onto one calendar would be pretty nice especially when it seems like there is always something happening.

Thing No. 11

*Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use?

For where I am at right now in my technology journey, I liked google the best because I could just type in a word or phrase and it searched for me. 

*Which Search tool was the easiest for you?

Google blog search because it was a very simple search page.  I didn't like the busyness of the topix and technorati pages.

*Which was more confusing?

Okay, I think I answered this in the previous question, but here we go again, topix and technorati were the most confusing.

*What kind of useful feeds did you find in your travels?

I found sever on emerging writers and great ones on Special Education law and literacy.  I'm looking forwarding to receiving updates from these feeds because information to those subjects is always changing.

*Or what kind of unusual ones did you find?

I really didn't poke around enough to notice anything unusual.  I will need to take more time and really look, because I have no doubt the way the world is today there are those out there posting and blogging about things that would probably leave me wondering, "What the heck is going on in this world?"

*What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?

Most websites that provide information give searchers the opportunity to subscribe to what they have to say.  So I have seen newsfeeds on various websites.

I've hit the double digits! Thing 10!

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

Okay, so here's my take on this RSS and newsreaders stuff.  I cannot believe in the world of higher technological powers, RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication".  That blew my mind.  I was expecting some long drawn out title.  As I started to dig deeper into this whole RSS thing, I realized you almost have to be subscribed to something to keep up with all that is out there.  Information is updated constantly, and in order to stay in the loop of whatever your world is centered around, subscribing to one feed or 20 can make a world of difference.
  

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?

Okay I admit, it is pretty dang cool, and I could see how it can keep a person informed about not only world events, but the arts, science, and any other subject a person is interested in.  I think this would be awesome to use in a classroom because as a class it would be possible to keep up with different causes and subjects.  As far as my personal life, I can see how I could keep up with special education topics and different organizations where I can get information on challenges I may be having or the latest strategies in teaching exceptional kids.

How can teachers use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

Teachers can use RSS technology to keep informed of all things related to the discipline of education and their particular subject area.  I think it would be important to subscribe to a few RSS feeds in order to keep up with changes in education at the national, state and local level, but I can see how subscribing to too many would seem overwhelming.

As far as creating a public page.  I am interested in doing this, but I need a little more time to figure out what kind of blog I want to do and whom my audience will be.

Tech Potion No. 9

http://www.txt2pic.com/signs/


http://www.imagechef.com/


http://www.imagechef.com/

Okay, this one was a pain at first and then almost reached fun.  Image Chef was the easiest to navigate and the most user friendly.  I can see how creating custom signs would be a great tool for the classroom, and the students could be more apt to follow classroom rules if they were presented in signs that looked familar but were tailored to their class.

The license plate represents my home state, and a phrase that I hear often when people find out I am from New Jersey.  The buttom I created was kind of a personal stance because I hear my name literally over 100 times per day, and sometimes I wish I could wear a button for about ten minutes per day, although it is a personal wish and not one I would ever put in to effect in class.  My sign is how I am feeling at this moment in time, and thankfully, I know it will pass.  I had no idea there was so much out there to utilize as far as creativity for the classroom.  After I come off my tech overload, I know I will enjoy digging deeper into these different flickr associated websites and learning all I can offer my students.