Thing #24!!!!

So I loved doing this! I loved to learn the newest technology and that I could use this in my class. I am so thankful for this opportunity! I can't pick a favorite activity because I loved doing most of it! I hope that everyone enjoys reading my posts and I will continue to blog!

Thing #21

Hawaii Vacation This video is about my vacation my Senior year in high school with my mom. I had a blast making this video and I will more than likeyl use this for a personal reason, but could be incorporated into the classroom for an emotional appeal. I love this website!

Thing #13

I did not like Zoho or Google Docs. I used them, but they seemed to be a lot of work and I could have completed it in word at a much faster and easier pace. I will use Word in the classroom and will not use either of these.

Thing #14

I used Flowchart.com and I loved it! I know that I will use flowcharts and graphs in my classroom. It shows a train of thought and how things are related. Children who are younger will need visuals to understand concepts. I will use this in my classroom for sure.

Thing #15

So I was very confused about the Sandbox wiki. I figured out the ones that the schools use, but the 23Things wiki was confusing to me. I did not like this exercise and would probably not use this unless it was mandantory.

Thing #16

I used Remember the Milk website. I love to have a to do list, and that is how I stay organized. I noticed that they also offer an Application for the IPhone, which I will more than likely download. It was easy to use and I love how it was set up. I will more than likely use it in the classroom as well so that I can stay on track with what to do.

Thing #17

This seemed very confusing to me when I went to explore the website. I do not plan to use it in my classroom since I will be teaching younger children, but I may change my mind. The concept was good, but I am not sure of how it would fit into my schedule as a teacher, unless I am teaching older children. If that happens, then I will look more into this website again.

Thing #18

I have both accounts, but I mostly use Facebook. I have not figured out how to use Twitter. It seems really easy, but looks confusing. As a teacher, it is important to know how these work for protection reasons and personal reasons. Anyone can look at your information and so it is important to not post things that are inappropriate. Also, it can be used to keep your students and parents in contact of what's going on throughout the day. It is all in what you make of it.

Thing #19

I am a member of TeacherPop and I think that it is a really cool idea. It is a way to keep teachers informed and feel like they are up-to-date with technology. I also love IMBD and Tasty Kitchen. I love to look up information about movies and to see other actors and actresses and what all they have starred in. Tasty Kitchen will let me see new recipies, which will be great now that summer is coming and I can make time to cook! I loved this exercise!

Thing #20

I love YouTube! I use it daily and just about for anything and everything! I love to discover funny videos that are captured on video and to watch music videos. I also love it because being in Chi Omega, I can watch what is going on in other chapters. This video is of the 2009 Homecoming Step Show and it's all my lovely Chi Omega sisters!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKKTYeP0_wE

Thing #22

I did not like the LiveBinders. I was really confused on how to use it. It was not very user friendly and I more than likely will not use it in my classroom. If I have more time to sit down and learn how to use it, then maybe I will change my mind and later on use it for my classroom since I like the concept, but I am just not sure how to utilize it to its full potential.

Thing #23

The 23 Things were based off of Stephen Abram's 43 Things. I would use Creative Commons in my classroom to make sure that my ideas were not stolen and reproduced, and to make sure I repay the courtesy of that to many other people's work as well. CC made it easy to find things that were copyrighted. I will use this tool in my classroom.

Thing #12

So I love these features! I can have anything in the world delievered to my email and translate anything in the world. This is so much fun! I made alerts for some of my favorite TV series and people. Then I used Google Translate to translate English to French. In high school, I took French and I loved it. So now I can get back in the hang of things for my trip to Paris one day.

In school, teachers can use this to keep track of recent news that goes along with their lesson plans or unit plans. They could also use the calendar to help keep track of things to do in the class. They could use the translator to help students learn different languages. There are many different uses.

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

Translate: http://translate.google.com/#en|fr|I%20would%20love%20to%20go%20to%20France%20one%20day.

Thing #11

So....I guess this answered my confusion on Thing #10! I have found some really cool RSS feeds! My main interest was The Biggest Loser. I know that sounds really weird, but I have my reasons. One of my friends is participating in the show with her sister. If you watch the show then you could probably guess I'm talking about Hannah and Olivia. Well I know Hannah, and I am trying to subscribe to feeds where I can keep up with her success. I have meetings on Tuesday nights so I am unable to watch the show. I love Hulu.com and now with the help of these feeds I can continue keeping track!

Anyways, I really liked Technorati.com the best. It was the easiest to use and had many different topics. Trying to use Google Reader was the most difficult, but now I don't have to! I found so many feeds and I would have to take a day just to sit down and add them all and browse through everything. So you should try this if you are new!

Thing #10

So I just finished researching RSS feeds. I thought it would be easy at first, but I found it to be a little difficult. It wasn't adding RSS feeds that was difficult, it was browsing for them. I like the idea of everthing being in one location instead of making bookmarks to different websites or blogs, but once again looking for the different things you are interested in is hard.

In my personal life, I would probably use this so that I could "bookmark" everything that I found interesting so that I could refer to these websites for help on certain topics. This could help me with a more healthy diet, learning home improvement tips, and so much more. In the classroom, I could use it to stay updated with the lastest education news.

Teachers could use this to help them keep all their important information that they would want to use in the classroom in one location. It would be handy for that. It could also be used as a daily "bell ringer" for students. The teacher could subscribe to an RSS feed that would help the children develop their own thoughts or writing prompts.

Thing # 9

I really love the image chef. It combines your text with life-like pictures. I went to http://www.imagechef.com/ and browsed all the different images they have. I then clicked on an image and typed in whatever text I pleased. I chose to write "I Love You Vincent!" I could use this in a PowerPoint or just to get students attention on certain subjects. I could also use it to tell my students "Happy Birthday!" I love this site!

Thing #8

I love the idea of sharing photos online. Flickr.com can be used in the classroom in order to create some decorative pictures. It can be used so that children can express their personalities. I also came across some maps where you can upload photos of cities and place them on a map. This could be a great visual geography lesson. The ideas are endless! I don't really have much to say about this, but I love it!

Thing #7

Well I was excited to search and play around on Flickr.com, but to be honest, it wasn't what I thought it would be. They have pictures of everything don't get me wrong, but I was expecting it to be all pictures of random shots that people captured that were unbelievable. They did have those pictures too, but mostly it was pictures that people had taken with their own cameras. I searched Chi Omega pictures because I am a member of Chi Omega. I found a picture of our Symphony that is absolutely beautiful. I could not upload the photo because it was copyrighted, but I will attach the link so you can look at it. All in all, I enjoyed this site because I love photography.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25197733@N00/343424228/

Thing #6

Wow where do I begin? Ok, so being in a relationship it is a give and take matter on everything. When it comes to watching T.V., I never get the chance because my boyfriend has to watch sports or his favorite T.V. shows. Well now that I have recently discovered Hulu.com, I am obsessed. I can watch The Biggest Loser, which my friend Hannah Curlee from the Purple Team is on the show now, as well as watch old T.V. shows that I loved.It also has movies that you can watch! What can be better than this? Best part, is that it is FREE! It is very simple to use, but the only thing I hate is that they have commercials in between segments. The only reason to use it in a classroom or school setting would be to show an important show that portrays a message on what the class is learning, or if a show has an excerpt from a literary source.

http://www.hulu.com/

Thing #5

Web 2.0 is the idea that children are using more technology than books or other resources to learn. Children are more comfortable with computers these days than they are a book. Teachers are always having to keep up with the latest trends, and this is one that can be controversial. When I was in school, I knew what a computer was and my family had one, but only my parents could use it. Nowadays, children have their own computers and laptops. As a teacher, I feel like incorporating web based activities or learning objectives in the classroom is important. It holds the children's attention.

I know that some classrooms now have Smart Boards and that is only the beginning of a new classroom look. The future classrooms will be full of technology resources, but as long as the children are learning in a way that fits them best and they understand the information they need to succeed, why not use technology?

Thing #4

Comments are like compliments. Someone took the time out of their day to comment, or compliment, you on something that you wrote. I know you may say that not all comments are nice, but if you look at it like someone did not have to comment on your post, it is a compliment. CoolCat Teacher has some very good tips when it comes to commenting. She says "Don't be afraid to comment and also write a meaninful comment." This is very true. Another good tip from Problogger is "ask questions." This gives people the opportunity to express their opinion or thoughts on a subject you are writing about.

I have chosen to follow:

Taylor Plummer- Taylor and I have a personal relationship. We are not going into the same area of teaching, but I am excited to see what she is doing and see if I can borrow some ideas that will work in K-6.

Kayla Bearden- Kayla and I also have a personal realtionship and we are in the same area of teaching. We both love reading so I am looking forward to see what things she posts about.

Michelle Baumgardner- Michelle and I have recently become close friends. We both have the love for 2nd grade, and so we can share ideas through our blogs.

Kristin Barrett- Kristin and I have a personal relationship and I am excited to see what she posts. I am always looking for new ideas to take to the classroom.

Amber Kerns- Amber and I have been friends since we began college. We have taken this journey together and I am just curious about her posts. I know that she will post some things that will come handy one day.

I am not so sure about the other two yet, so I am still searching. I will let you know when I come across some bloggers I want to follow.

Thing #3

So as a teacher, I will use a blog to inform other educators on things that have worked really well for my classroom. As educators, we all want many ideas that we can implement in our classrooms. It can also be used to inform the parents of important things that are coming up in the classroom. It would almost be like an email. The students could also blog about their day, of course this depends on what grade you are teaching. I must admit, the more I blog the more I love to blog.

Thing #2

Well to be honest, I am not sure about blogging. I've only seen people who publish their feelings or daily lives on a blog, but to be fair, I see this on T.V. and we all know that T.V. isn't always reality. Setting up my blog was easy for the most part, but it took me awhile to decided on my template. I am still trying to figure things out, so my layout will probably change throughout the semester. As far as picking my Blog name, I chose The Whimsical Walker because whimsical means spontaneous or playful and Walker is my last name. If you know me personally, I am very spontaneous and random, so I feel as if it fit me perfectly!

My avatar is Sleeping Beauty. I have a random dream of being a Disney Princess one day and I love to sleep lol so I feel as if it fits me perfectly. She is a sleeping beautiful  Disney Princess. Yes I know, I'm weird but that's me and I wouldn't change it for anything!

Thing #1

So after watching the 7 1/2 Habits video, I have decided that the easiest habit for me is to use technology to my advantage. I love surfing the web for information that I need or want to know. Although some websites are not very trustworthy, I do my research to make sure that what I am reading is the truth in many different sources.

My habit that is the hardest for me is viewing problems as challenges. I think that some problems can be an opportunity for me to learn, but for the most part I see them as obstacles. I guess that comes down to me needing to have a positive attitude. From now on I am going to try to see problems as challenges and not obstacles that can seem impossible.