Out of all the "start" pages, I really enjoyed Symbaloo. It was easy to use, and I like that all I had to do was find the button, or square, with the tool that I needed and then I simply click on it. I have always wondered if something like this existed out there... If I ever do make Symbaloo my permanent homepage, it'll probably be far into the future when I've become more comfortable with such things. I understand it's supposed to make your life easier; however, these blog assignments are overwhelming me. I feel like I'm on overload at the moment. Once things calm down, then maybe I'll decide whether or not it is the right thing for me.
As for the online calender, I already have one with Google. I'm happy with it and I don't plan to change. I tried to explore 30 Boxes and Upto but they required that I create an account; quite frankly, I'm tired of doing that when I know I will never use it ever again...because I'm content with Google. I like it too, because if I ever need to share events that are coming up with my students' parents or with fellow teachers, I can.
Oh my, I love the PDF converter! And the most amazing thing about it - it's free! I never knew this existed, and I could have saved myself so much headache these past few years if I had known it was out there. It's nifty because I only have Pages on my Apple computer, so when people send me Word documents, sometimes it de-formats things or I can't see them at all. With the PDF converter, I don't have to worry about that problem any more. I would definitely recommend this to anyone with the same problem.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Thing #15 - Wiki
This was not my favorite thing to do. I added a shot of my Flickr thing that I did a while back onto the APSU 23 Things Sandbox only because I was so proud of myself that day for figuring out how to do it on my own. However, I think changing the work of someone else is silly and annoying. I understand that it can be used for creative purposes, especially in a classroom. For example, I really enjoyed looking at the book lovers wiki, but I don't think I'll ever use it. It's too overwhelming, and there is too much going on. I find it very frustrating and I'd just rather not even bother with it. I'm a grump when it comes to wikis.
Thing #14 - Flowcharts vs. Mind Maps
Today I discovered a very useful tool: gliffy! It was an example of a flowchart, and I love it! I wish I had known this existed - I could have used it a million times. I can see how this would be helpful in the classroom as a teacher. I could totally make charts for the students to give them a visual of facts that they are learning.
After playing around with a flowchart (gliffy) and a mind map (bubbl.us), I have discovered that I do not like bubbl.us and I do not plan on using it in the future, even though I've already created an account. It was difficult to use and very frustrating, and it did not explain how to do anything properly (and if it did, I didn't get it - I like directions to be big and bold and useful, especially when it comes to technology). However, I am very happy to have discovered gliffy.
After playing around with a flowchart (gliffy) and a mind map (bubbl.us), I have discovered that I do not like bubbl.us and I do not plan on using it in the future, even though I've already created an account. It was difficult to use and very frustrating, and it did not explain how to do anything properly (and if it did, I didn't get it - I like directions to be big and bold and useful, especially when it comes to technology). However, I am very happy to have discovered gliffy.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Thing #12 - Google
The first tool I used on Google was Google Calender, which was very simple to set up. I only listed the things that I'm sure will occur for the month of March, but later I plan on adding different things as I go. This would be a great way to stay organized while I'm in school and working full-time. I can plan out assignments and get them completed in a reasonable amount of time. I can see how this would be helpful in the classroom; by creating a classroom calender and sharing it with students and parents, I can keep everyone informed as to what is going to happen each day, week, and/or month.
Next, I tried out Google Alerts. This tool is so neat, and I wish I had known it existed a long time ago. I'm interested in keeping posted on new information regarding CCSS, so that is on my list at the moment. This is a great tool for teachers to use in the classroom for different research topics that can be used in the classroom. For example, if I was interested in incorporating more things to help my students learn about autism, I could keep a link for inclusion on my alert list to keep me posted on this topic.
Next, I tried out Google Alerts. This tool is so neat, and I wish I had known it existed a long time ago. I'm interested in keeping posted on new information regarding CCSS, so that is on my list at the moment. This is a great tool for teachers to use in the classroom for different research topics that can be used in the classroom. For example, if I was interested in incorporating more things to help my students learn about autism, I could keep a link for inclusion on my alert list to keep me posted on this topic.
Thing #11 - Finding Good Feeds
I found that using the Google Blog Search was the easiest for me. I think I liked it best because it was the same as the Google search engine, which I'm very familiar with. Technorati was a little confusing, but I got the hang of it after playing around for a little bit.
I only added maybe one or two more feeds than I already had on my Feedly account because I had a hard time accessing the "subscription" icon. I'd click it to add the feed I was interested in, but I couldn't find Feedly to put it on that particular RSS. When I added it to Google, it only bookmarked it on my blog. I'm sure it is supposed to be relatively simple; but instead, I just searched for each feed I was interested in directly from my Feedly account, and subscribed to it from there. It was the same concept, but I just went about it differently.
I only added maybe one or two more feeds than I already had on my Feedly account because I had a hard time accessing the "subscription" icon. I'd click it to add the feed I was interested in, but I couldn't find Feedly to put it on that particular RSS. When I added it to Google, it only bookmarked it on my blog. I'm sure it is supposed to be relatively simple; but instead, I just searched for each feed I was interested in directly from my Feedly account, and subscribed to it from there. It was the same concept, but I just went about it differently.
Thing #10 - RSS Reader and Feeds
This was a very interesting experience! I had no idea that RSS existed, and I will definitely be using it in the future. I think that one of the reasons I used to find the internet so intimidating before is that it can be very overwhelming with the amount of information at your fingertips. I didn't know where to start, and I wanted to do a million things at once. RSS gives me the opportunity to view all of my favorite things in one place. To start, I picked four education sites to follow, as well as one do-it-yourself site about recycling that I found very interesting.
In my future classroom, I feel that this will be an easy way to keep track of blogs if I ever have my students use this form of writing for an exercise. I would be able to check all of them from one place. Also, with RSS, teachers can have access to so many different things, whether it is for their own professional development, or if they need some inspiration for a specific lesson plan.
In my future classroom, I feel that this will be an easy way to keep track of blogs if I ever have my students use this form of writing for an exercise. I would be able to check all of them from one place. Also, with RSS, teachers can have access to so many different things, whether it is for their own professional development, or if they need some inspiration for a specific lesson plan.
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