Thing #19

       I am currently a member of Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Path, Instagram, Snapchat, Foursquare, Foodspotting, and YouTube. However, I am always interested in other social media sites and being involved with them, so this "Thing" was really interesting for me. I especially was interested in the food social networks like Open Source Food or Tasty Kitchen
       I am not currently a member of any of the social networking sites that were mentioned in the post above but I'm sure as my career progresses I will join many of the teaching and education social networks to learn from my fellow educators and to bounce idea's off each other.

Thing #18

       As a member of both Facebook and Twitter for many many years, this "Thing" was a breeze. Facebook and Twitter are very important for educators to use. By adding your co-workers and fellow educators on both Facebook and Twitter we can bounce ideas off each other, learn tips, post videos, and post links to certain helpful sites to aid our fellow teachers. Twitter also is becoming a source of instant news. When events like the Colorado theater shooting, Sandy Hook shooting, and the hurricane in New York, I was able to follow along with facts and happenings in almost real time. So instead of waiting for the evening news at 10 after things have been watered down and edited, I am getting the news from eye witnesses and first-hand accounts of what they are seeing, hearing, and feeling as fast as they can tweet. It is such a useful tool and allows the user to connect with people instantly all over the world. Both of these sites are very easy to used and navigate. So much so, that both of my parents are on these sites and use them on a daily basis. So with all that being said, here's a link to my Facebook profile and to my Twitter profile. Feel free to check em out and follow me on Twitter and add me on Facebook!

Thing #11

       So since I didn't create a Google Reader account because the service is being retired by Google, this assignment is a little tough to do. Instead of subscribing to blogs I'll just talk about which blog search engine I liked the most and which was easiest to use. My favorite blog finder was Technorati it was easy to use because it was broken down into categories of interest and also had a search bar in case you couldn't find what you were looking for in the multiple tabs they had to look through. I personally liked thumbing through the technology tab. I'm always interested in new and useful technology and am trying to find creative ways to apply it to education.

Thing #4

       Commenting is important to the blogosphere because it creates a sense of community and interaction between posters and readers. Commenting helps people bounce ideas off one another and gives feedback to the writer. This helps the writer adapt and to better write for his intended target audiences. People like getting feedback on their work. How would you feel if a teacher handed you a paper you wrote back to you with nothing written on it but a letter grade? Wouldn't you want to know why you received the grade you did, or things that need improvement, or things you did well? The same goes for bloggers and their readers. WE WANT FEEDBACK! It helps us improve as bloggers and will make us feel like people are actually interested in what we might have to say. With that being said, I'm a firm believer in practicing what you preach, so in order to lead by example, here's a list of seven blogs that I personally visited and commented on. Feel free to follow the links and read what they wrote and what I had to say on their blogs. And feel free to comment on this post or any other one of my posts!

1) Michelle Terry
2) Meghan Wagley
3) Alexandera Tolbert
4) Pam Hankins
5) Jennifer Watt
6) Mr. B
7) http://www.techsavvyed.net/

Thing #10

       So this "Thing" wanted me to make an account with Google Reader and subscribe to 5 different feeds. However, when I went to create my Google Reader account, it notified me that the site was being retired on July 1st of this year. So since that is only half a month away, I decided to not register with Google Reader. Instead I did a little research as to why Google was discontinuing this service that seems to be very popular and used by many. Here's what I found: Google Reader Shutdown
       This article explains that Google has decided to retire the service because we as consumers have changed the way we read and recieve our news. Instead of sitting down at our computers everyday to read our subscriptions, we reliy more on Twitter and other smartphone apps to get bits and pieces of our news. With this in mind, the author of this article believes that, Google might be changing the way their Reader works and might make it smartphone friendly or more accessable for their users. I hope this is the case because I'm very interested in using this service and subscribing to articles and using this service to my advantage as a teacher.
       I could use this service as an educator to stay up-to-date on new technologies available for teachers with pages like Free Tech 4 Teachers and can also subscribe to pages that are relevant to subject material and even current news and issues that I could discuss with my classes. I know that I didn't complete the assignment as designed, but I hope this eefort is enough to get credit for this part of the assignment!

Thing #12

       So this "Thing" was designed to help you explore Google and learn all the possibilities available with it. Luckily for me, I was already familiar with these tools and tricks and use them frequently. I have the Google Translate app on my phone and have used it numerous times. It is very helpful and handy for everyday situations. I also use Picasa Web Albums already, also for my phone. Pictures that I took with my older phones were automatically saved to those albums and are automatically uploaded onto my newest phone for me to have access to whenever needed so that I don't lose any old memories. Here's a link to Google Translate and here's a link to Picasa Web Album
       I could use these tools for many things in the classroom. I could use Google Translate to translate documents that I find online that may not be in English or to translate homework and assignments for my ESL students. I can use Picasa Web Albums to save pictures I find or take of historic sites or locations and events to help them visualize subject material.

Thing #9

       Here's a couple images I made for this assignment. I used imagechef to make them. It was so easy and really fun. This will definitely come in handy as a teacher to spice up PowerPoints and to help my pay more attention in class. This is creative and unique and will help me keep my students' attention.