The two Google tools I chose to explore were translate and IGoogle. In google translate I translated something that I might say at the beginning of class, "Hello class. Today we will be reading a story about a little girl and her dog. Please pay attention because we will be choosing characters to react the story tomorrow." I translated it into Swedish, " Hej klass. Idag kommer vi att läsa en berättelse om en liten flicka och hennes hund. Vänligen uppmärksamma att vi kommer att välja tecken för att reagera på historien i morgon." I could see myself using this if I ever have a child in my class whose primary language isn't English. If they have a word that they do not know in English I would be able to type in the word in their language and translate it into English for them.
The other tool I used, IGoogle, is really neat because the user can customize their page to their liking. I added a few fun gadgets such as a comic strip with two of my favorite comics and an optical illusion slide show. Even though these two things wouldn't necessarily be used for my teaching career, they would serve a little stress reliever if I had a hard day. One thing I really like is the to-do list. I make paper to-do lists all the time, and half the time I end up loosing them before I finish completing everything on them. With this to-day list I don't have to worry about loosing it, therefor I will be able to complete everything on my list. I also like how I can keep up with the weather. This would be a help with anything from picking out my outfit for the day to knowing whether or not my class would be able to do certain outdoor activities.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Thing #11
The easiest method I found to find blogs was Google Blog Search. Since most people are used to using Google to answer nearly every problem they have, I think that it would be the easiest blog finder for nearly anyone. One blog I found that I thought would be important while I was using the Google Blog Search was Special Education Law Blog. I think having this site will help me to stay up to date on the laws I will have to deal with when I am a Special Education Teacher.
I also kind of like Technorati. Although it wasn't as simple as Google, I really like how the user could choose between searching for actually blogs or blog posts. By using this I found a pretty interesting cite about special education called Teaching All Students.There were also several other blogs that I could have subscribed to that I found through this finder, including Riley's Smile. An interesting blog that I found that nearly made me laugh out loud when I read the title was Life, Ninja Killer Cat and Everything Else. This blog has some pretty funny stuff to keep the reader laughing, however it also has a lot of serious information about Autism.
The site that I found most confusing, or more so annoying, was Topix. When I went to the cite it took me a little bit to find where I could search and when I clicked on it a spam survey popped up. I am afraid to use this site too much just in case if it gives my computer a virus. I didn't bother trying to look too much farther to find a blog that I liked using it. I also felt the same about Syndic8.
I also found a program that you could look up blogs but it seemed pretty complected even though it says it's supposed to be easy. One list I found seemed to have a lot of promis for a special education teacher, 50 Best Blogs for Special Education Teachers. Overall I thought this was a pretty useful assignment in order to help me find blogs that will help me in my career.
I also kind of like Technorati. Although it wasn't as simple as Google, I really like how the user could choose between searching for actually blogs or blog posts. By using this I found a pretty interesting cite about special education called Teaching All Students.There were also several other blogs that I could have subscribed to that I found through this finder, including Riley's Smile. An interesting blog that I found that nearly made me laugh out loud when I read the title was Life, Ninja Killer Cat and Everything Else. This blog has some pretty funny stuff to keep the reader laughing, however it also has a lot of serious information about Autism.
The site that I found most confusing, or more so annoying, was Topix. When I went to the cite it took me a little bit to find where I could search and when I clicked on it a spam survey popped up. I am afraid to use this site too much just in case if it gives my computer a virus. I didn't bother trying to look too much farther to find a blog that I liked using it. I also felt the same about Syndic8.
I also found a program that you could look up blogs but it seemed pretty complected even though it says it's supposed to be easy. One list I found seemed to have a lot of promis for a special education teacher, 50 Best Blogs for Special Education Teachers. Overall I thought this was a pretty useful assignment in order to help me find blogs that will help me in my career.
Thing #10
Well I realized something pretty cool today when I went to sign up for a Google Reader, I somehow already have an account and it has been keeping up with the blogs I have been subscribing to on my Blogger. Needless to say I can't really blog about how the application process was "so easy" or anything because for me it was so easy I didn't even have to sign up!
I love following blogs, although the only blogs I had been following before this class had to do with photography. Now I have a list of blogs I follow (other than in people in our class) including A Year of Reading, Digital Anthology, Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog, Cool Cat Teacher, Ryan Towe Photography, and The Pioneer Woman. I think I will be able to use this feature to easily follow all my blogs at once instead of going to each one individually and, knowing me, forgetting about certain ones. I'm really excited about this new discovery that I didn't know I had because I always have a hard time keeping up with the various things that I follow, now they will be conveniently located all together.
I really think this would be a great thing for teachers to take advantage of because it's quick and easy to set up (so quick and easy that I didn't even have to actually sign up!). A teacher can follow other teachers with similar issues or who are teaching the same subject and see all of their ideas together in one place. This would allow the teacher to easily compare the different information and decide on what they want to apply to their classroom.
I plan to use this in my classroom so I can stay up to date on new information and techniques in my career as a teacher. I can also use it in my side job as a photographer to stay up to date on the latest photo trends and software. Nobody likes it when someone who is in charge is stuck in the "olden" days! Staying up to date is very important if someone wants to succeed, and I want to have a very successful career. I know keeping up with my newly found Google Reader will help me achieve this goal.
I love following blogs, although the only blogs I had been following before this class had to do with photography. Now I have a list of blogs I follow (other than in people in our class) including A Year of Reading, Digital Anthology, Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog, Cool Cat Teacher, Ryan Towe Photography, and The Pioneer Woman. I think I will be able to use this feature to easily follow all my blogs at once instead of going to each one individually and, knowing me, forgetting about certain ones. I'm really excited about this new discovery that I didn't know I had because I always have a hard time keeping up with the various things that I follow, now they will be conveniently located all together.
I really think this would be a great thing for teachers to take advantage of because it's quick and easy to set up (so quick and easy that I didn't even have to actually sign up!). A teacher can follow other teachers with similar issues or who are teaching the same subject and see all of their ideas together in one place. This would allow the teacher to easily compare the different information and decide on what they want to apply to their classroom.
I plan to use this in my classroom so I can stay up to date on new information and techniques in my career as a teacher. I can also use it in my side job as a photographer to stay up to date on the latest photo trends and software. Nobody likes it when someone who is in charge is stuck in the "olden" days! Staying up to date is very important if someone wants to succeed, and I want to have a very successful career. I know keeping up with my newly found Google Reader will help me achieve this goal.
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