Thing #12

The two tools that I chose were to set an alert and also to make a picasa album. Both of these were EASY to do. I am most excited about the photo album because I love to have ways to share pictures of my boys with friends and family. It also offers a way to order prints right from the same site. Students could use picasa to make their own photo memory books. The alerts are nice for keeping up to date on news stories that interest you. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I follow this person, but it is Kate Gosselin (from Jon and Kate plus 8). The show started coming on right around the time my twins were born so I was amazed at how this mom could care for so many babies...while I was struggling with just 2! Now I will receive automatic updates about her crazy life without the hassle of hunting.

Picasa Album

Thing #11

I tried a couple of the methods for finding feeds that I am interested in. It all seemed a little overwhelming...there is just so much out there! It will take me a while to figure out what all I would like to have on my feed. I will be paying closer attention to some of my regular websites to see if they have the RSS feed logos. I will definitely add those. I found the google search tool to be the easiest one to use. It took me right to what I was looking for. The bloglines search seem to bring up a lot of stuff that I was not looking for. I found a couple of feeds that caught my eye, one of which was a "clean" joke blog. Everyone can use a good laugh to get them through the day!

Thing #10

RSS news readers are a wonderful tool. They allow you to get all the information that you want in one location. I will be using this technology in my personal life by subscribing to news and cooking feeds that I am interested in. I can also use it when I am in a classroom by subscribing to feeds that help keep teachers informed about new techniques or items that can be beneficial to them.
Teachers can also use RSS feeds to handle a classroom of bloggers. They can see all the updates without having to go to each individual blogspot.

Thing #9

This was very easy. I just chose the background color, size and glitter color that I wanted to use. Then just typed the words I wanted and pressed enter. This will com in handy to decorate with when doing handouts, newsletters or classroom decor.

http://www.glitterizer.com/



This was also a simple process. Upload a photo (can be connected to facebook) and choose a magazine cover. Easy and fun. What kid wouldn't love to see their face on a magazine cover? Maybe they could write the article to go along with the pic. It would also be handy in my personal life to use as gag gifts.

http://graphics.imagetemplate.net/magazines/

Thing #8

I used Spell with Flickr to create my name. It was extremely easy. All you have to do is go to the site and type in what you would like to spell from Flickr pictures. I think kids would all love to use this site to individualize their name tags (placed on elementary desks or cubbies). There are several of the mashups that look like they could be useful in the classroom. An example would be the one that you can make puzzles out of your photos. Kids could work a puzzle during their free time that ties in to the lesson you are teaching that day. Personally, I do not mind having my photos online. People can keep in touch with you through your pictures. It is a little scary to think that someone may use them to gain personal information. We just have to be careful and not put up pictures that we do not want shared.

Thing #7

Uploaded on October 18, 2006
by Marxchivist
Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tom1231/273579455/

Since I have twins, I thought it would be interesting to look for pictures of twins. I found lots of cute pictures but most of them were copyrighted and would not allow me to post them here. I decided to do a search for pictures of twins listed under the creative commons attribute license so that I would be able to share what I found. There were lots to choose from but I think this picture is interesting because of its age.