Thing 16

  I choose the iGoogle start page because it helps me keep up with my  weather, email, important information and I use the calender to tell me what I have to get done everyday.  It appealed to me because it has all the information I need to start my day because I like to keep up with the music world, so I have music news on my page.  It appeals to me because of how they organize the page of information.  I will not make it my pernant home page because I do not own the computer that has internet at home.  Online calenders and to do lists are helpful because they can remind you of what you need to get done that day in a organized and timely fashion.  Plus, they both are on the computer, so you cannot lose them or accidently throw them away.  I would recommend chalksite to people because this site can be useful in the classroom because teachers can set up their own workspace, take attendance, post assignments and connect with the parents online.  This is a useful website.

Thing 15

      Using a wiki is not that hard.  A wiki can be beneficial in so many different ways in the classroom and in your personal life.  The experience of posting on a wiki was new to me because I never have done it before. I was amazed how fast and easy it was because I do not use the computer that much except for school and once and a while to play a game.  All I had to do was click on the edit button and enter the information I wanted to add.  We all could use a wiki in the classroom to show our students that people have different ideas and concepts about different topics or subjects in life.  We could also use wikis to get our students to collaborate with one another over the internet to help them study, post questions, and plan trips.  What I found interesting about the wiki concept is that someone can go into that page and change the information on the page with just clicking the edit button.

Thing 14

    I chose to sign up and discover bubbl.us because it is a mind map.  I chose it because it is easy to use and helps organize information that you already know into a ewasy to read map to use to study.  I am using it as a guide to help build the powerpoint for the class.  This tool is helping me organize what factors are found in a biome and how I can break the information up. I also signed up for Gliffy because it is a flowchart I like this better because you can use different shapes to show different subtopics off of the main topic.  It makes  organizing the information even more easier thatn bubbl.us by providing different shapes to use for each subtopic and easier for the people reading it to follow.

Thing 13

         Zoho writer has great features once you learn how to use them.  You can insert pictures, charts, graphs,links, table of contents and equations.  Zoho writer even lets you share your documents with other people online.  You can review your document to make sure there is no spelling errors by using spell check, or find and replace.  Under review there is a word count, thesaurus and the history of the documents that you have created.  You can change the view to the document and the choices you have are: normal view, print preview, page view, html view, and if you do not like the ruler you can hide the ruler.  You can change the format of the document to the way you wish it look and setup the page how you would like it.  there is even a mailing option which gives you three options and the options are:  selected data source, insert merge fields, and finish and merge.  You can also save, print, export and import documents.
            Students can work collaboratively using google docs through the share feature.  They can share notes, information and research.  Students can challenge each other through this feature by helping one another on homework or ideas for their class projects.  Google docs and Zoho writer have the same features, but they are organized in different tool bars.  Google docs formatting is located directly above the document or in the formatting button and Zoho writer's formatting feature just has an button you can click on.  In google docs you can insert page breaks and in Zoho writer you do not have that feature.  Also, in google docs you can insert comments throughout a document and in Zoho writer you cannot.  Google docs has features that Zoho writer does not contain, but both are great and easy to work with and can be useful and helpful to use.I prefer google docs because it is easier for me to navigate and has more tools.  Here is the document I created in google docs:

Beyond and Beneath

Look beyond and beneath the water,

dig deep inside, and see who you really are?

You are on a journey through diverse seas,

Where you overcome the seas distant flurries,

That there is individualistics that unbar.

So that the seas flurries don’t gloom,

The surface that proclaims your light,

Than and only than might,

The sunset over the sea loom.

but there is the oceans within the light,

For your individualistics will transpire,

In the calming, soothing waves.

For there the oceans all mighty might,

Will have the desire,

To have your individualistics to be engraves.

Thing 12

         The first google tool I decided to discover further was the google translator because I usually need one around to help translate text from various languages.  I used a piece of poetry I wrote myself to translate into several different languages.  I discovered there is a turn on instant translation option I clicked on to turn it off and then back on.  I can use it in my searches, emails, videos, phone, chat and business.  Teachers can use this tool to communicate with parents that speak a different language, to translate a document into a different language and to search for material in a students language they can understand. 
      The second goolge tool I decided to discover further was the google alert because I rarely check the news because of how busy I am.  I typed in  a search term and the type of search term.  Next, I chose how often to they email me and I picked once a day.  Finally, I chose the volume which means which type of results and wher they deliever it.  I also, added and deleted one search term by checking a box to the left of search terms.  I added the search term before deleting it by clicking the add search terms button.  I can also cancel, save the search terms, or export the search terms. Teachers can use this to set up their schedule in the classroom throughout the day to help them with time management, to schedule meetings, have a list of when class presentations or projects are due.  Also, to remeind them when to send out newsletters, progress reports, or other important documents to the parents.

Thing 11

        The method of finding feeds that was easiest for me was to find a good search tool and in the search area type in the subject area I would like to search. Technorati was the easiest search tool for me to use because all I had to do was to click on blogs beside the search tool bar and type in what type of blog I would like to keep up with.  Topix was the search tool that was the most confusing search tool because I had to put in the area I am in and then type the subject, just by doing that I had no clue why they needed my location.  I found a news feed that would keep me up to date on plant and animal news, and a feed that would keep me up to date on different scientific discoveries.  I found a feed that is pure biology art that would help explain processes because it had pictures of each step of the process, but it was weird because usually everything is labeled and nothing was labeled.

Thing 10

         I like the fact that I do not have to go to each website and look for updates.  The updates just come to me everyday because it is less time consuming and easier to manage keeping up with different blogs and information that will be useful to me.  I can use this technology in my personal life to keep up with my family members blogs and friends blogs.  I can use the google reader to help me find ideas of information or powerpoints to use in the classroom with one of the blogs I used.  I can also use google reader to save videos or to show in the classroom that would help the students understand that biology subject material. Teachers can take advantage of this new technology by subscribing to blogs of other teachers and other resources that can help them find material to teach the class.  Teachers can use it as a way to take notes on a subject you are preparing to teach in class that you found interesting information online for.

Thing 9

http://www.imagechef.com/ic/final_widget.jsp

      There are many ways anyone can use a image mosaic.   In a classroom a teacher can use the image mosaic to put up a picture of vocabulary words in the classroom for students to look at for each chapter you cover.  The teacher can put the words in the form of the main subject or the theme for that chapter.  This would draw the students attention to the list of vocabulary everyday and some of them might even learn the list. In the library you can use a image mosiac to display rules or display events by typing them out. I choose to show some of my personality by using it for personal use.  Anyone can use the image generator for personal use to express how they feel, or to just show apart of their own personality. 

Thing 4

    Commenting helps reate a sense of community because you are collaborating in a positive way and sharing useful information and ideas.  It creates a sense of community through forming friendships, asking for help and ideas when you need them.  It helps everyone get to know one another and form partnerships where we can exchange information that we learn in class or through experience teaching in the classroom.  One point that I found important while reading about commenting is if you disagree to bring up the positive point that you agree with and compliment and then explain why you disagree with them.  I thought this was important because no one likes someone that is a overly critic about what they post.  Plus, the positive comments help show that you pay attention to the good along with the bad.  The second point that I though was important is that you invite comments.  If you invite comments, you will most likely get more comments and feel as though you are apart of the blogging community.  I think it is important because in order to have a successful blog you have to be able to communicate effectively with other people and learn and share information. 
       I choose to read and comment on John McFarland's Thing 6 blog because the name caught my eye and I am trying to learn about more of the tools that are available online.  I chose to make a positive comment because I agreed with his blog about how Photobucket used and organizing the pictures in the correct way can help students study or understand the topics in class.  I also made a point that you would have to organize the pictures in the correct way in order for the pictures to help the students understand the lesson and its content.  I made this point because if you make a powerpoint with pictures to help the student understand meiosis and its not in the correct chronilogical order they will become confused and the powerpoint will not be useful.  
       The second blog I decided to read and comment on was Paige Walker's 7 1/2 habits because the third habit use to be a challenge for me as well.  I told her to try and look at the obstacles as biology problems since we are both biology problems and that is what helped me.  I also, told her that I wanted a new start and in order to start with any new slate when you start a new school year you have to view obstacles as challenges and maximize the learning experience. 
      The third blog I decided to read and comment on was Anne Stritzel because the name caught my eye.  her thing number seven was interesting.  I told her that I could relate to losing a pet and apologized for her loss.I also  told her that I had the same problem, so I signed up for an account and I could use the pictures, but it depended on which picture you wanted to use.  Her blog was very informative and you could see that she is a caring person through her story.
      The fourth blog I decided to read and comment on was Tiffany Fruth's because I am interested in what other people think about flickrs mashups and how they could be used in the classroom and our own personal lives.  I agreed with her that we have to worry about crimson and inapropriate pictures being posted online because some children find them. I also told her that the flickr tools could be very useful in the classroom depending on how you use them in the classroom.
    The fifith blog I decided to read and comment on was Tammy Waters on the sixth thing.  She did a wonderful summary about the tool she chose to write about.  I read and commented on this blog because I thought it would be useful to learn about different tools that can help us out in our classrooms.  I told her I agreed that it would be beneficial in the classroom because no matter what subject you are there is vocabulary that your students need to learn.  Plus, it will help with lesson plans and those are very important.   
       For one of the two blogs I had to comment and read on that is not from the education was Genome Biology because they put out interesting articles and they reached their two year anniversary.  I congratulated them and told them to keep up the good work.  They are interesting because the articles are in the biiology field which I find fascinating. Plus, other people that communicate on their page keep up with the news on whats going on in biology.  The second blog I decided to comment and read on was Leslie Samuel because he is a high school biology teacher that keeps his own website up to date.  He puts videos, games, powerpoints, worsheets and quizzes he uses online to share and give other teacher ideas.  He also, puts it online to help his students understand the material and engage them in the material.  I asked him how he keeps his students interested because by high school most students lose interest in their science classes.

Thing 8

             Flickr mashup could be used in the classroom to group photos that could help students information is in the same chapter.  An example is  you could put the biome in the middle and put the animals, plants, where it is in the world and show an example of the weather of the biome around that biome. It could help draw their attention to remember the steps in an important process or a sequence of events in a war if they can associate it with a picture.  It could be used in my personal life to create collages of family pictures.  this could be a very useful tool.   

         I feel as that you should make sure the picture is appropriate before you post it online because once it is online everyone sees it.  You should not post something indescent of someone else or post their picture online without their permission.  I used these pictures from my digital camera.  They come from a large collection of animal pictures that I have taken over the years at different zoos and aquariums. 

Thing Seven

     I found the image Mount Baker Reflection by using flickr.  My experience with flickr is that I explored the different tags, and groups.  I learned that you can explore different images by the date or galleries. Flickr contains a list of the popular tags that are used when posting images.  I went under photos and browsed around hitting the next arrow at the bottom until I found this image. The image caught my eye because of the different shades of blues and how the reflection in the water is painted.  The reflection in the water has the exact same shape as the mountain and trees, but the color is darker.  Plus, the mountains have always been an interesting place for me because I love nature and find it interesting.  Its a place a usually go to retreat from everything when I need a break and decide to take a vacation.

  

Mount Baker Reflection         

 By Garry Oakes Members             

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58335538@N03/5404971015/in/photostream/