Google it Thing 12

I was able to set up a Google Calender. You can do many different things with it. You can color code your events, invite others to them, have notifications sent to your phone, and so much more. I was able to make it public to where others could see it. I did not include everything on it, just part of my busy life. I can definitely use this in my everyday life, but also within my classroom. Parents can have notifications sent to them, and can see what is going on. In each day, I can post different standards we are covering, when are tests are etc.. Here is my personal calendar.

I also think Google Translate is a neat feature. If you have parents of students who don't have very good English skills then Google Translate can be a good place to start when trying to communicate more effectively. It has over 60 languages. Another neat idea for the classroom is doing something like Christmas around the world, and use Google Translate to find different words the students can teach each other.

Both are tools are ones I will find myself using.

Thing #11

There are many three search tools available. These include Technorati, Topix.net, and Google Blog Search. I found that the Google Blog Search worked best for me. Google's search was more direct then the other two search engines. One I found was the Teacher Idea Factory. This week is Fire Safety week and it gave some neat ideas. Working in childcare, I am able to use some of these in the classroom. I will definitely incorporate this into my classroom.

THING 10 RRS

The cool thing about a RSS reader is that it sends the new news to you, and you do not have to search through the old or have it keep popping up. I might be able to use my blog to where when I write a new one parents can see it instantly. I can use it in my personal life by having it send a daily scripture to my reader. Teachers can use RSS in their classroom to communicate with the parents. I can not say that I will use this tool, but it is definitely a neat idea. 

Thing 9: Image Chef

Playing with the image chef was fairly easy.  I made a heart, and I put a word in there that meant a lot to me. All I had to do was enter the text that I wanted, pick a shape, the font and text color, the background color, and hit the preview button. From here all you needed to do was click export and you can share it. Here is the link to my heart and here is also a screen shot of it. I think the Image Chef has potential, but I would not have students use it in my classroom. I would use it personally to create unique designs for posters though. Chef Image can be found at http://www.imagechef.com/ic/word_mosaic/#

My Map on Flickr

Mappr is a really neat feature. I always thought it would be cool to have a picture of everywhere I have been, and this mash up does it. I really liked that all I had to do was find the location and then add the picture from the too bar to it.I attached a screen shot below to show 5 pictures I have taken and where they were. Here is also the link to my map
http://www.flickr.com/photos/88291813@N02/map?&fLat=24.1868&fLon=-92.1972&zl=5&order_by=recent.   Considering I want to travel the world, and partake on many mission trips this is a great way for my family and close friends to keep track of where I have been. I can definitely use this as a personal use and as a classroom use. In a history class students can link photos or famous monuments all around the world. This is one feature they may become a hobby :)