Googleleando!!! Thing #12

I loved Google Translate. It is just a wonderful tool to have. What I actually did with this tool is add it to my blog so anyone can translate the blog into their native tongue. In Spanish at least, I felt it was pretty accurate. It messes up in some words, but for the most  part it gets the job done. I would definitely recommend it to any of those in a Spanish class to double-check your work, not to cheat. In school it could be used to send a letter home to a parent who might not speak English or just so that there are no misunderstandings it would be an ideal tool to have. Also if a student does not speak English very well, it would be a good idea to have them play around with Google Translate, it could help them learn English faster.

I also used the Calendar tool. I think it is a great tool as well. You can organize yourself a lot better by having one and creating events on it. The calendar will send you reminders to your phone or email and you can customize when it sends you does reminders depending when the event takes place. So you could have test dates on there or parent teacher conference dates and ti would remind you ahead of time to be prepared. You could have students make one for themselves and help them be a little more organized . I think I will definitely use these helpful tools from google. That is all for this post, I will leave the links of my blog sou you can check out the google translate on it and a link to the Calendar.

https://www.google.com/calendar/render?pli=1

http://historychiva.blogspot.com/

Thing 11 More RSS!

I found that using the Google Blog Search was the easiest one to use. I just typed in a keyword on the search engine and it gave me a list of blogs related to that keyword. It is a wonderful tool, because it gace me some really cool blogs that I definetely want to follow. After reading the Cool Cat post about how to find blogs it just made sence. Why follow blogs that are of no interest to us or may not help us at all. Life is definitely too short to follow those posts. It is better to star out following the blogs of people who inspire you. I did not think the different blog feed serch methods were hard to use, but Google Blog Search was the mos effective. The other one I typed in something and it would not give me any helpful results, or maybe I was not using it correctly. I will stick with Google Blog Search, becuse it was the best option, I found some really cool blogs that have to do with history and educational technology, so I can keep updated on technology in the classroom and get ideas to use some of that technology in the classroom if possible. I did not find any unusual blogs all the blogs that came up were really good and useful ones. I will definitely be sure to keep up with them. That is all for this post, feel free to comment.

THing #10 RSS and Newsreaders

I really enjoyed using RSS. I looked around and found lots of useful sites. I subscribed to Teachers: Pictures, Videos, Breaking News, PBS: Teachers, Cool Cat Teacher, and many more.Just having all the news feed from all the different sites in one place is amazing. You do not have to look in google or any other sear engine, because it is already there. I love the convenience of it. Not only can the articles be shared with the class, but as a teacher, I think all of these different blogs and sites are a great way to borrow ideas to help out in the classroom. There are always new tools coming out everyday and to have something that tell you when they come out is great, because you use those tools in the classroom. I think that those tools like the RSS feeds just make life easier. I can definitely say that I will continue to use this tool in the future. It just has many benefits. That is all for this post, please feel free to leave your comments in the comments section.

Thing #9 Having Fun with Generators

http://www.txt2pic.com/USA/license-plate/tn_tennessee.htm

Using these things in the classroom can be a lot of fun. You can definitely get away from routine with something like this to do a creative activity. I used Image chef to and I chose this website where it scrambles all the word you type in into an image, I think you can use that in a history when class talking about a famous person, or have the kids make one as a project. However, I could not save the image into my computer, so I could not upload it. I am sure there is a way, but just could not figure it out. Those things a lot of fun and can get addicting.

The second generator I used was the custom sign generator and that was a lot of fun as well. I cannot think of a way to incorporate something like this into the classroom though. Maybe the students could use something like this to create a sign and put it into a PowerPoint along with the rest of their assignment. I think this type custom sign generator would be more useful in elementary education, having the kids learn new vocabulary with something like this can be fun. I have to admit I really enjoyed this activity, it is my favorite so far. That is all for this post, please feel free to leave your comments down in the comments section.

http://www.dangersigngenerator.com/

Thing #8 More Flickr

 

I do not really like Flickr or picture myself ever using it. It is not that there is anything wrong with it, it is just that I really do not have much interest for it. I would be a cool tool to use in a history class. They could use one of the applications to put pictures together from flickr that have to do with a specific period of time being taught. Even in a geography class they could use an application such as Mappr to help them get associates with a region that is being studied. May be if time allows I will allow my students to do some activity like that, and see how well it works. I must admit though, that playing with those applications was quite fun. I used the Mappr application and I enjoyed messing with, however, it can get a little addicting and time consuming to use those applications, BE WARNED! Mosaic Maker was also fun, but my favorite was Spell with Flickr. I can definitely see how Spell with Flickr could be an awesome and fun project in elementary education. Kids will be fascinated by it. So, that is all for this blog, feel free to leave your comments down in the comment section.

 

Thing #7 Flickr

http://flic.kr/p/akah8z By: agenciainqro.com Agencia Queretana de Noticias

Beautiful, beautiful Huimilpan, it sure brings back a lot of memories. Himilpan is a town in Queretaro, Mexico, The picture that I chose is from the town;s church, and the reason I chose it is because I have a lot of good memories of the church. It has a breathtaking garden in front of it and from there I would always just stare at the church. Anyway back to Flickr. I think it is a good way to share images, how ever I don't like the All Rights Reserved option it has, because I couldn't actually show the picture here on my blog. I understand why it has that option, but I do not like it. I think the website is pretty straight forward, there is really nothing to it when it comes to being difficult to use. The website has a search engine in which you can look up any image using the key words for them. I loved the picture, like i said it brings lots of good memories. i cannot wait to go back this Christmas, I'll be sure to post images for all of you all to see. Feel free to leave your thoughts, and comments in the comments section.