Thing 8

Here is a project I made during Thing 8. I decided to make one of my downloaded Flickr images into a postage stamp. LOVED all of the toys and spent much time exploring them. It's amazing how many free ways there are to personalize your photos in creative ways! The possibilities are endless. Of course I didn't try everything, but all the more reason to come back again in the future. I really appreciate being made aware of these tools!

I know my students would have a blast trying these out.

Thing 7

I really wasn't too surprised at the ease of setting up the Flickr account and uploading photos. I like the fact that photos can be public, limited public or private. It makes sense to store photos online - I know from first-hand experience. I have had a computer crash and lost photos.:-( For me as a genealogist, this could be a disaster because many of my photos are scans or photos of originals not in my possession! I need to move all of my family history pics online for sure! I also need to move some of the others - my mom's 80th birthday party, my mother-in-law's 90th birthday party, etc.

I have concerns about the types of photos my students might be exposed to. Even though many of them have likely checked out what's on Flickr, I still can't allow possible access to inappropriate photos. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the net-nanny has blocked Flickr images in the past, so I will have to see if it blocks everything from that site, or just certain search criteria.

Thing 6

I knew about Flickr because our net-nanny at CMA will not let students view this website. I can totally understand that thinking because people could post photos that others might find offensive - who could decide what is appropriate or not?

That being said, it was interesting to explore the site. First I looked at the shots uploaded from around the world on a particlar day. I also tried searching for photos of Japan, the next country my 7th graders will study, which was much more challenging. Some tags, like Japan, have thousands of photos, many of which I don't necessarily think are appropriate for that tag. For example, my search for Japan yielded a photo of a gal covering enough of a sign to make it appear that it said "Japan", but this "Japan" was a town in the United States! Then I played around with the map of Japan and locating shots from a particular area.

I decided to upload a photo from the Commons area that shows a castle in Scotland, because I have a trip planned to Scotland this summer.

Thing 5

Thing 5 turned out to be more challenging than I believed it would be. I had a lot of trouble with adding the bookmarklet!! Although I use Internet Explorer, there was no "Links" folder to select in "My Favorites" and I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out what I was doing wrong before I gave up and decided to ask Kaly. She was able to tell me how to handle it, and mentioned that she had written about that same problem in her blog. Had I taken a few minutes to look at her blog, I could have answered the question and moved on instead of getting frustrated! Lesson learned!

A question came up when I was adding a blog by copying and pasting. When I pasted the URL and selected "subscribe", a list of choices came up. These all appeared to be the same website, but with slightly different URL's. Some selections had different dates, both current and from past years. How do you know which one to select? I chose the first one and hope that will work out.

I can see where blogs can be a big help professionally because they can keep you on top of the latest on just about any subject you can think of. I can keep current on things at any and every level I choose: a certain subject, the Montessori world, the latest at CMA, at Choice Schools, at Wayne RESA, the State of Michigan, the United States and the World! I can also use blogging to communicate with parents and students. Although I do wonder how effective a parent blog will be, as I typically have several families who rarely check their email, or have no email address because they don't own or have access to a computer. In additin, like e-mailing, it involves parents taking the time to look at the item. An e-mail is more "in your face", and I wonder how many would choose to check or subscribe to my blog. If they don't choose to go there, it doesn't have the desired outcome.

On a personal level, I like the idea of using genealogy blogs to hobnob with my fellow family researchers. My hope is to look for blogs that include particular geographical areas I am researching or an ethnic group in my lineage. After belonging to a Genealogical Society for the past 20 years, I've learned how much help we family historians can be to one another. I can only imagine the ideas, guidance and assistance I might get from a blog of this type! My experience personally gives me every reason to believe this can also happen on a professional level.

That leaves only one problem...how am I going to incorporate reading all of these blogs into my already busy schedule?! :)

Thing 4

RSS is a great way of coordinating things! Bringing the desired information to you instead of wasting time logging in over and over to a website or blog to find there's nothing new is such a waste of time. This just makes so much sense! So far, it has been very easy to set up. However, maintaining it might be another thing altogether.

I think that reading all of the "feeds" could become time consuming if you follow a large number of them. I will need to shop around and choose sites/blogs to add that will provide the best sources of information for my particular needs. Since my needs are ever changing, I'm bound to have an evolving list of "feeds".

Thing 3

I found myself spending much more time than I thought I would exploring each of the blogs. Some I actually got "lost" in. Lots of great reading, interesting information and good food for thought.

I am astounded at the vast number and variety of blogs. I can see where this is a great way for large or small groups of people to share ideas and information. But it only works if people involved are willing to invest time reading and learning.

This is also the issue for students: How do I get them to "buy in" to using a blog the way it was intended. I am wondering how to word a blog assignment for my students since I know that many 7/8 graders will do the minimum requirement, whatever it may be, and not get all of the intended benefits from reading the blog.

Thing 2

I was really surprised how easy it was to create a blog! My initial thought about blogging is that I wonder how candid I will be willing to be, knowing my thoughts are out for all to see. I will keep this in mind as I continue to blog.

I can see where a class blog could help my communication with parents. I have all of their available email addresses programmed as a group and send message of general interest that way, answering individual questions as they come in. Sometimes the same question gets asked, and then I send out a notice to all. A blog would allow everyone to see all of the questions and answers, taking care of answering repeat questions before they even become questions! :-).

This would put responsibility on the parent to take time to look at the blog, which I think is fair, but not a sure thing. I also still meet parents every year that have no computer at home and no access at work. These are usually the folks I most need to talk to, and they also continue to be the most difficult to contact.

Thing 1

I can see that web 2.0 tools can be of great use for educators, not only in the classroom, but also on a larger scale, like connecting an entire district.

If we can bring these technologies into the classroom setting, perhaps we can begin to bridge the gap that prompts the student question, "How will learning this help me in the future?". These evolving technologies ARE already a part of their lives and their futures - we can't ignore that. Education needs to acknowledge and include this part of their world.