Thing 12!

I LOVE GOOGLE!!! I am very familiar with Google Calendar and Google Translate. I've been using Google calendar for about a year now. I have it synced with my phone, so I have all my tests, assignments, and important dates all logged and with different colors for work, school, and other. Google already puts national holidays. To the right, this is my calendar! When you create an event you can put the location, the duration, time, and you can choose what category it goes in and the color. This is such a useful tool for a busy student. Then when I become a teacher I can use it for organizing classes, assignments, and projects. 

 The second Google tool I use quite frequently is Google Translate! I am in Spanish class, and if I get really stumped on a word or phrase I can use Google Translate. This will be really helpful in the classroom, especially if get an ESL student or a student that does not speak English at all. Google Translate is not perfect, no online translation is. It gives you the basic meaning and sometimes it will mess up the verbs. I love how you can choose from all the different languages. This is great tool!

Thing 11!

Finding RSS Feeds!!

I think the easiest method was using the Google Blog search. I am using Google Reader, so I just searched within Google. I really like how Google has everything linked and everything organized and put together. I tried every tool, and I did not find any really confusing. All the websites were easy to navigate through and figure out. On Topix, I found local news feeds which is awesome because the Clarksville newspaper website, you now have to pay for it. I do not find this unusual but I noticed Topix has a lot of information about gay marriage and politics. I do not care much for those topics, so I did not use Topix that much. 

Thing 10!

RSS!

              I really like RSS and newsreaders. RSS is a fabulous way to get the specific knowledge you want from the internet without have to go to every website and checking it out. Newsreaders are fabulous for keeping your subscriptions organized and clean. I have already subscribed to two art projects for kids blogs and websites! That is going to be perfect for me to make my lesson plans from and to use in my classroom. Teachers can use this technology to find projects, read news about whats going on in specific subjects, and keep up to date on everything. For a future art teacher this is really exciting because all I have to do is get on google reader and click on my art projects page and I can see and read all the new posts and get ideas for my lesson plans!

These are the blogs and websites I subscribed too!

Thing 9

GENERATORS 

The first generator I used was IMAGE CHIEF! They have tons to choose from. The first one i chose was the word mosaic. I picked the words Alpha Delta Pi, because that is my sorority and it is close to my heart and it is a major part of my life. Our symbol is the diamond and our colors are blue and white. You can pick the shape you want the mosaic to be in and any words. Then you pick the background color and one color for the text. I could use this for the classroom, by putting art vocabulary words each week. I could print it off on a sheet of paper and hang it on a bulletin board. It is a creative way to tie all the words together. 

The second generator I chose was the custom signs generator. They options with pictures, text, and webcam pictures! I picked one with text and it was the bar code generator. I picked this one cause it was different and cute. All I had to do was enter the text I wanted, choose the color and background; then I picked the type of barcode I wanted and the size of the text and clicked generate!

I selected this text, because I could blow this up onto a poster board and post in my classroom for a creative entrance into the art room!

THING 8!

I LOVED THIS MASH UP! I love taking found objects and using them to create art. This would be a great lesson to show students how to see everyday objects in a different and engaging way. Also I could use this project for the students to create their name. All these mash ups are great for art projects, like this one and the mosaic and puzzle ones. 

Thing 7!!!

I have used Flickr for awhile now. I used it when I photographed my sister's engagement photos. I uploaded them to so my sister could see them. This is the photo I uploaded for this blog because it had been awhile since I had used Flickr. PICTURE I could not get the .jpg URL, I clicked on share and grab link and this is the link Flickr provided. I would use flickr.com for more of a personal use so it could be a backup for all my photos, because I recently just lost all my pictures because my computer crashed. I have used another photo website called photobucket. I used it more than flickr. You can browse graphics and other pictures and save them to your album. I have been using photobucket since I was in 6th grade. Flickr and photobucket are relatively the same because you can create albums, share photos, and edit photos. I just prefer photobucket because I am more comfortable with it. I usually keep most of my photos private. I upload them for a backup and the world does not need to see. 

Thing 6!

WhizKidGames!

              I explored the website Whiz Kid Games. This website is for children around 5 years old and in kindergarden or 1st grade. When you first get on the website it has a short animation, which is perfect to get the kids excited about using the computer and playing the games. Then you have 9 games to choose from. 

Every game has a video that explains the game and then when playing the game it talks to you. It takes you step by step through each game and gives pictures explaining. You can put the game into full screen mode so the children can not try to click on anything else. This website has great games and great setup for young children. One of the games teaches the player how to dress appropriately for the weather and then another game teaches the player to clean your room! These games teach great habits for young kids to get the hang of now instead of trying to teach them when they're older. 

Thing 5!

SCHOOL 2.0

 School 2.0 means to me, incorporating web 2.0 tools into educating students. Teachers using these tools and teaching these tools, to students makes school 2.0. School 2.0 is a perfect example of how our society is so advanced in technology. Teachers can teach with iPads and iClickers. That technology was not around until a couple of years ago.  Teachers can teach these tool to future teachers to help educate students. 

In the future, schools are going to be so advanced. Textbooks will be obsolete and all on iPads, kindles, or some other type of tablet. The newer generation of teachers will incorporate more technology in their lesson plans because they will have grown up with it all around them.