Thing #11

I have to say that I really like Flickr. I have used other sites like photobucket a d rock you to do things with photos, but I really like searching through and looking at other peoples photos. For fun I searched the zoo pictures and the wedding photos. Then  I started to think about what I would use photos for in my classroom. Last year I used google images to  show my students visual examples for our Earth science vocabulary. It was so difficult for them to visualize some of the words so I put them all in a power point and showed them on the Promethean board. I sometimes would not find what I really wanted and did not know of another place to look. So tonight I decided to search for landform photos to see if I found any we could share in class. Here are some examples of some AWESOME photos that I cannot wait to share. 



from Echo_29



from geographyalltheway_phot os



from a.vieth

Thing # 10

Copyright laws have always been confusing to me. I have seen the CC logo before but never knew what it meant. I use google images often in my classroom and in my newsletters. I thing using Creative Commons would be very useful in my classroom and sharing creativity is very exciting. I think that there will always be people in the world who will use others' work as their own and unfortunately it is not something we can change easily. My hope is that if I teach my students about copyrighting and the importance of making sure they are responsible for their own work then that is a start. I have a class blog that I post my newsletters and other information and work to often so this is definitely something I want to look farther in to.

Thing # 9

I have a confession to make! When I first read the instructions for setting up the wiki I was completely overwhelmed. So much so that I put it off for over a week. Then tonight I actually sat down and did it and found out that is was so SIMPLE! The steps were easy to follow and I could not believe my procrastination. I had a little time to look at a few of the wikis and enjoyed answering some burning questions. I can't wait to see the responses to mine.

Kristy's Wiki

Thing #8

Okay I will admit I had no idea what wiki meant! Ha! I am currently working on the Intel Essentials class and we post to a wiki and now it makes so much sense. WOW! This has been a tough year- I promise I am usually a lot more with it than this! I really enjoyed visiting the different wikis and brainstorming ideas of how I can use this in my classroom. I currently have a class website, but a wiki seems way cooler! I like how the Primary Math wiki has a list of topics to the side. I could post many of the topics we are learning about in class so that my students have a way to study and review at home. On Mr. Lindsay's wiki I liked how he had the images and titles of different pages all right there for a student or parent to choose from. Many of my students and their parents are new to the internet and may lack the experience to search for things. This would make it so much easier. While reading Mr. Monson's 5th Grade class wiki I thought about how excited the kids must be to try and get 1000 responses to each topic. They must spend some time brainstorming some really good topics that would elicit such response! 

Thing # 7

Communication is so important today and it is very easy to drop a comment. Why then do many people avoid it? On my personal blog I often feel that nobody is reading, but when I see or talk to family and friends they often reference my blog. I always suggest to them to comment so I know they are reading! I have learned a great deal by reading the comments of the blogs I am following and often that is the only discussion time I get in a day. I myself will admit that I need to improve on being a better blogger by commenting as well.

Thing #6

Wow! What a lot of information. I have to admit I am a bit overwhelmed, but I am slowly learning to skim through and read those feeds that I choose and let the rest go. I really enjoy reading blogs of my classmates. I have personally been blogging and following friends' blogs for over a year so I am excited to follow new ones! I am currently following Cyndi Johnson's Momma Bear blog and Rebecca Hogg's ForeverLearner blog. I also enjoy the educational blogs I am following, especially Free Technolgy for Teachers. I love the ideas and the freebies I can get here. On a FUN note, I check my horoscope daily so why not add it to my feed? I have to say with all of this information in one place, I am saving time by not spending so much time "browsing." What an awesome idea.

Thing #5

Wow! What an abundance of news! One of my favorites is North Texas News and Commentary Podcast. One of the podcasts I found interesting was about

 swine flu deaths in Dallas and Tarrant counties. Since I recently tested positive for type A flu I was 

interested in what this podcast had to say. Here are some of the things I found interesting:

-Richardson ISD student that passed away had serious underlying medical conditions.

-6-8% increase in absentee rate at schools

- Fort Worth ISD student was not prescribed Tamiflu because she did not meet the criteria

-99% will not need Tamiflu- wont make any difference whatsoever. Up to doctors to decide who is high risk.

http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/77/510088/113328266/KERA_113328266.mp3?_kip_ipx=1760900420-1254705627