Thing #10: RSS Feeds

Alright, as I have established, was not a huge fan of blogs, but that's changing. So i'll yet again be a little skeptical about using RSS Feeds. I don't know how much information will be too much information per hour but I'll see. Setting up the RSS feeds were simple enough to do so if you do like to keep involved with one it's not hard to do. There is some weeding out that has to be done, especially if you are trying to find something factual instead of opinion based. All in all it could be useful but I probably won't rank it in my top ten to use in the classroom unless I find something pretty cool using it.

Thing #9: Image Generators

Many of these are great tools that can help with creativity in classroom signage and PowerPoint. This also helps personalize images for your class specifically and not the generic things that students have always seen in every classroom before them. I created a for dummies book cover because I think it's amazing how that company took off and now there's probably a for dummies book on buying the dummy book. The tools are easy to use and pretty fun to create random things with. Below is the link to the website I used.

http://www.images-graphics-pics.com/signs/books/dummies/cover.asp?pic=&title=Easy+Application&text=American+Imperialism&text3=Your+one+stop+guide+to+expanding+your+empire!&text2=I+did+it+and+know+own+several+islands!&book=Dummies&tag=&time=0029

Thing #8 Flickr Spelling Bee

So for my Flickr mashup I decided to play with Spell with Flickr because I've always liked that concept of spelling words with everyday things, honestly just been too lazy to get out and take the photos myself. But there are classroom uses for these apps maybe not so much for history with spelling one but there is the app that puts pictures in the map (mapper) that could be useful. Overall they are very user friendly, which I like.

Thing #7: The Flickr Experience

I have heard of Flickr, but have never used it, mainly because if I wanted to share photos I have just put them on Facebook. However, the use of Flickr would be better suited for a classroom experience in my opinion, mainly because it will separate personal and professional life. Flickr was easy to use and set up as it linked to my Yahoo! account so the sign up process was fast. I would definitely use Flickr to show photos of important times in history for my classroom.

Thing #6: Classroom Skype the World

Skype could potentially be one of the most useful tools in a modern classroom, School 2.0.  Skype would allow a class here in Clarksville, TN to communicate with a class say in New York, Washington, even England.  The point is that Skype could and should be utilized as a modern day instant pin pal project.  The basic necessities are a webcam, computer, and internet; and Skype of course.  Just imagine when studying WWII if you could Skype a class in Germany. With modern day technology in smartphones, if a German class took a field trip to a concentration camp a class in america could take it as well. With a little coordination and some luck, the possibilities are endless. Below is the link to the features page of Skype, pretty much anything you can do with skype is outlined here:

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/features/

Thing #5: Putting the 2.0 in Future Education

As stated in most of the resources, School 2.0 isn't a completely new school just one that is modified. No longer will we as teachers and students be forced into the same routine of textbook, worksheets, and lectures. Interaction between students and teachers is further encouraged with the use of Web 2.0, smartboards, and iclickers. As long as the funds are there and communities are willing, School 2.0 has the potential to bring America back to the forefront of education. The mindset that education is more than memory recall but actually criticially thinking through different processes that apply to life and the future lives of our students.

Thing #4: Comments are Welcome

Without comments coming into your blog the blogger will feel like he/she is typing into thin air (more so than usual, where does all this information go anyways? Greatest unsolved mystery: the INTERNET lol). Moving on. Comments also help shed light on different perspectives that the author may have not thought about so therefore leads to changes in peoples lives, real changes through introspective means. The Cool Cat Teacher Blog was pretty informative about how to write your blog to increase comment activity. Never thought that trying to write in an open ended style would be so important. Also, the ProBlogger forum was quite straightforward, ask for comments. So I will, everyone, feel free to comment on anything on my blog. From the fish tank to the sheep party with my avatar lol.

I have decided to follow Pertl's Progress, School Blogs, Dillon's Blog, Barton's Way to Success, and Educational Technologies blogs; for no particular reason but I am sure that by the end of this semester there will have been plenty of reasons, but as of now I had to pick five and the most logical way at this point was random. I will also try to find two other non-class blogs to follow. I haven't commented on blogs quite yet but I'm getting there so I will update this post once that has happened.

Stay Classy Clarksville

Thing #3: EduBlogging

To be honest I never thought that I would ever consider blogging for class involvement or management. However, the use of a blog is endless in an educational setting. Anywhere from setting a calender, posting due dates and homework, all could aide in the communication with parents and students to help keep 20-30 students and their parents informed and up to date. Also with a blog I could post powerpoints, class notes, helpful readings and potentially incorporate homework assignments into the blog.