Thing #8

I love using the Mosaic Maker to take my pictures and blend them together to create different layouts. In the classroom you could use this to let the kids learn more about each other while playing with photos. If you made up a list of favorite things or things about yourself and then have kids look for images to their answers and then present their mosaic and tell what each picture means.

Thing #7

I never used Flickr before, my senior class used photobucket to share all of our senior trip photos, and I use Facebook now. On Facebook I used Flickr once to create a group of images of favorite things. I loved looking through all the different images on Flickr. I think it is a great site for people who love to take and share pictures.
I chose this picture of Gulf Shores, Alabama
because that is where my family always goes for vacation and I love the beach.
I liked using Flickr to find images because there are so many options to chose from that you can use by searching the Creative Commons.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mojodenbowsphotostudio/451374042/

Thing #6

I personally love to write and I love to read so I found a site called Lulu. http://www.lulu.com/index.php This website allows people to publish their own books, calenders, photo books, etc. Anything you can think of that is your own to publish, Lulu can help you do it. I think this would be great for classrooms! Elementary teachers can take student's stories and create a book for them each to have using the site, they can also help students make calenders or recipe books for parents as Christmas gifts. The website is very easy to follow when it comes to publishing a book, it shows you the options (with pictures) and guides you through the process, the only problem I found with the website is the extremely large collection of books that may not be suitable for younger children. Which as a future teacher, is a major downfall to me, but overall I enjoyed the website.

Thing #5

Wow, um... to much new stuff for me to keep up with, that's for sure. I think it is all great and wonderful that students today and in the future will have a better opportunity to learn and discover more things. I'm actually jealous that I didn't get to use some of these things when I was in elementary school. To me School 2.0 is almost just like Web 2.0, it is not only new and emerging technology but it is creating a network where everyone all over the world can communicate with each other, share ideas, and learn new things. As technology changes, gets better, and grows I think School 2.0 will grow and change with it, giving students an ever better chance to learn all they can.

.... I love it!

Thing #4

I think commenting a a great concept to help people with common interests interact with each other. I know when I post things on my Facebook, I love to hear what my friends and family have to say, plus it is a great way to communicate with my family across the country. I did like the point of not being rude when commenting on people's blogs. I love writing and often post my stories on a website, and the positive comments and feedback encourage me to write more and often times try make it better, but the negative comments are often hurtful and make me want to stop posting.
I posted a comment on soloround.blogspot.com because this 16 year old girl is sailing around the world, by herself, and I think that is absolutely amazing. It was something she had always wanted to do, and she made her dream come true. I wanted to wish her good luck and congratulate her for her achievement. I also commented on Serendipitous's blog because to me it was so neat. She took pictures around her house, and then wrote about why she posted them, they ranged from something silly, like rotten apples, to her granddaughter learning to use the potty. I commented on Alexa Tyler's blog because she had a great idea to put classroom rules up using the sign generators. I commented on Tracie Cannon's blog because I liked that she said we should motivate our students, which is true. Kids need motivation to achieve their goals. I commented on Darlena Gary's blog because I agree that Google is a easy site to use and navigate through. I commented on Cassidy Fisher's blog because I loved hr idea about students bringing in a fun fact of the day. I also commented on Rachelle Smith's blog because we both chose the same site, LuLu, and I think her idea to have students make stories and create books using the site is a great idea.

Thing #3

I think using a blog as a teacher would be a great online tool. I think it could help parents get to know the teacher more before the school year starts and I think it would be a great way to communicate on important topics like field trip ideas and fundraisers. I also think it would help students find a new and creative way to express themselves and learn to use the web. With a blog a teacher could also post questions or ideas and have students respond to the blog post.

Thing #2

I have never created a blog or an avatar before, and I have to say it was a LOT harder than I expected it to be! I decided to use just my first initial and then my full last name, to make my blog name some what private, but at the same time, it still identifies me. My avatar is very similar to me, I love the color pink, so I chose a pink shirt, and I usually wear jeans and tennis shoes. My hair is brown and my eyes and blue, like my avatar. The only difference in me and my avatar is I can never get my hair to look like that.