Thing 22 - ("zweeanzwanzeg" - LUXEMBOURGISH)

I will...

1) Keep Google Reader as my home page. This will have me continue using this page as my main source of gaining information from around the Web. I will keep this updated by adding new, relevant to me RSS feeds. I will also delete RSS feeds that are not so interesting anymore.

2) Use more productivity tools supplied by the Web for school work and personal work. Ta-da List and Backpack are two that come to mind that I can start using this summer or in the fall.

3) Photoshare more often on Flickr using more pictures that I take. I did not realize how easy it was. I took some sweet photo of The House on the Rocks this summer that would be cool to add.

4) Enhance my communication skills in the classroom to the parents by placing some of my slideshows on my teacher website this fall using Zoho Show and Slideshare. I will have better access using the school's PC compared to my Apple at home. I look forward to sharing what the students are learning in the classroom with the technology provided by our district and Web 2.0.

5) Continue using Facebook to stay personally connected with friends. I recently just chatted with a college friend through Facebook's chat feature. I have not seen him in over two years. This really gives me an opportunity to stay in touch with people I have not been doing that with. I also have been connected with old high school friends. Reading what is up with them has been quite entertaining.

6) Look at online games to better educate myself, but I will NOT play these games regularly. I am proud to announce it has been a week since I played Puzzle Pirates. I will continue seeing the positives gaming has to offer, but I will also continue to challenge students and parents to better develop self-control when it comes to gaming. It is not the absence of, but balanced infusion in one's life where I see value.

Thing 8 ("ewalu" - HAWAIIAN)

Thing 8 for 23 Things from Jon

From: JonZetah, 3 minutes ago

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Wow, Thing 8 had a lot of things to look at! Almost too much to absorb it all. I will comment on each thing I looked at, and I will point out the things I created on this blog.

Create and Share Slideshows - Thumbstacks and ZoHo Show did not work very well with my Apple computer. The websites' applications seemed compatible with PC formatted browsers or maybe something more was needed on my computer. I tried, but to no prevail could not get the websites working. I did read the what the sites had and they did seem pretty comparable to the ones I could use. Slide was okay. Nothing special, in my opinion. I spent most of my time with Slideshow because it had the most flexibility with what the final product would look like. The other sites had features and effects, but not comparable to what Microsoft PowerPoint has. My finished product is with this post. I noticed that most of these sites allow you to immediately post it on another site with the given permissions. That is slick. So, what I could take from this part was that you could share a slideshow in a simple view format instead of sharing the entire file. You do lose the animations with slideshow, but it gives you a close enough product. Would I use this? Maybe. If I wanted to use a slideshow, I would like the slideshow to be impressive and an enhancement to my presentation. No, just a little video on a website. Although, if I wanted a slideshow on my website, these are quite useful.

Share Your Photos - Picture Trail was sweet. It is a great way to share your photos. I added the product I created at the bottom of my blog using the images I used for this blog. I could see me using this in my professional life (teacher webpage) and in my personal life (personal blog or website). This was a highlight of Thing 8.

Databases - I could not get this one going on Lazybase. I thought it would generate a database based on the information I entered. I tried about 10 times and only got a blank database where I could located items one at a time and enter them into my new database. That would be a pain! I will try again. If you have any suggestions for me, please post a comment. I could be doing it wrong.

It's All About eFolio Minnesota - I read through this, but I did not take the time to complete a eFolio (already spent over 3 hours just on Thing 8). I do not think I would use this. I could see how this is a resourceful tool to offer to people. eFolios also seem like the next step away from the PowerPoint electronic portfolios that started a few years back. Possibly, when I have more time, I will come back to this part of Thing 8.