Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Thing #16



I chose to play with the Pageflakes start page. It had some useful sections already like weather, facebook and some youtube videos. It was super easy to take off the things I didn't want there. However, I really don't see myself using something like this. I usually don't get on Facebook much, but when I do, I want to look at the whole thing, not just a snip-it. Same goes for the weather. I'd rather go to a real weather site. I don't feel inconvenienced at all by having to type a few words and press enter a few times to go where I want to. I can wait the extra 10 seconds and not have clutter on my start page.

I made a to-do-list at Ta da list. I really don't think it's that useful because I have to be online to do it. If I think of something quick, I put it in my phone. Otherwise, I write actual notes to myself.

An online calendar would be just as useless to me for the same reasons. I have a school email account that updates my school calendar with pertinent information. I use my phone calendar for other things. Kiko no longer exists, Backpack you have to pay to use. I looked around the Yahoo Calendar site, but like I said, I have no use for it.

Sorry to be so negative, these tools just aren't for me. I suppose if someone liked putting their reminders online instead of having them at their desk whenever they need them, I would tell them about these sites. But I have no use for them.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Thing #15

I went into the sandbox wiki and commented on how I like to use Google documents. The two things seem to have some similarities. I like being able to work with others online on the same project. I think it's interesting that wiki's can be public and anyone can contribute. I'm not sure I would trust everyone, and i would probably constantly monitor wikis that I was a part of to ensure that everything was appropriate.

It would be possible to use this in a class setting, where students can submit information on an assignment. However, I think Google docs can accomplish the same things.

Thing #14




The two places I went to were Bubbl.us and Gliffy.

The first picture is of the Bubbl site. I enjoyed the ease of creating new bubbles to type in on the site. You press enter, it gives you a new subcategory. It seemed very straightforward and worked the way I thought it should.

The Gliffy site let you hand pick different shapes, which I suppose could be a plus to some people. However, this slowed the process down some. The symbols on both sites seemed to make sense with what they went to and I was able to navigate through making my diagrams pretty easily.

They really seemed like they could do the same things, so I don't understand calling one a flowchart and one a mind map.

This could be used in discussing relationships of different instruments. Categorizing different pieces of music, or even the life of a composer.

(10 points if you know what a didgeridoo is)

Thing #13


A close friend of mine and I do a lot of shows together. When we practice we write some things down and forget other things... A little while back we started using Google documents to create set lists, and keep track of different songs that each other would suggest. It was also great to write in chord progressions of songs that we may do differently than other people. I would use Zoho in the same way. This is a tentative set list for a show in Atlanta in a couple of weeks with my wife's cousin.

Zoho's features are very similar and have a lot of capabilities of a regular word document. I could see someone writing papers in it. However, I use a laptop and connect to multiple printers. And most importantly, this is my last semester, and I don't ever plan on writing another paper in my life... :)

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Thing #12

I decided to look around Google Calendar. I mostly use my Blackjack phone to keep up with everything in my personal schedule...

However, I do see applications of this in other areas. My wife's family is very big. They have reunions and gatherings and spend a good deal of time together. I think this would work very well for them to have a place were people can post birthday's and the party's that go with them, trips, graduations, and other special announcements.

As an educator, I would chose to use this as a means to keep parents informed of concert dates and things of that nature. It would be an excellent place to post information about after school rehearsals for the musical or play that we were doing.

I like the communal properties of this tool, and how it can be accessed from any online computer.

Thing #11

I like Google Blog Search the best. I'm used to their format and feel comfortable navigating through their pages. Everything was categorized and I was able to find blogs that dealt with entertainment or politics as my own preferences led me to do.

I didn't enjoy the Topix page as much. It seemed very cluttered and I couldn't see my way through it very easily. There were all sorts of key words, but I couldn't find how they went together and what category they would belong in.

I think there's some good information out there on technology. I'm very interested in what's going to happen with the iphone and AT&T. However, that's usually a topic for one blog entry, not an entire site.

I found some linkings for RSS feeds on msn.com that I linked myself to. That's usually the site I go to see what's happening in the world. I like how it has a few article topics posted under varying subjects that I can see and click on easily.

For me, I don't think RSS is very useful. I don't make time to sit and read articles all the time, even if they are topics I'm interested in. I gain a lot of my real world knowledge from listening to NPR whenever I'm in the car. If I had time to sit on the computer and read all day, I would use it to do something else.

Just bein honest here...

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Thing #10

I'm using Google Reader as my RSS. I kind of set it up already without even knowing I had. I like the ease of use. I'm a google fan. I've used them as my email and search engine of choice for a while now. I understand how to word things to make google find what I want it to.

I think it's a great idea to have the news come to you. I like to read the money articles on msn.com, however, they re-post articles sometimes and I don't like having to sift thru them. On the flip side, I like going out on the internet to find new things. I think this tool kind of makes you go the other way and stay in your little hole and wait for stuff to come to you. Some of my favorite articles are ones that I didn't plan on reading, but they caught my eye. Articles that I never would have seen because I didn't know to look for them.

I do see benifits for teachers like the senario mentioned of students updating and the instructor wanting to be notified of when they have, instead of having to search them all. A teacher could also create a class reader and subscribe them to readings that the teacher requires for them. In a way, their assignments would come to them.

Overall, I think this tool has specific pros and cons.

Thing #9



This phrase is really the theme of my entire music class. I have a banner in the room with this written on it. My principal told me I needed to pretty up my room and had a friend of hers create some artwork for me. I put it with a smiley face because I am generally a pretty smiley kinda person and I feel like this represents me well. :)

I'm not sure that it needs restating at this point, but just in case, the visual arts are not my forte. I'm not sure how I would incorporate these tools. Printing these off to post in my room would probably be too small. However, I could use some stuff like this to spice up a power point.

Thing #8

letter TIMG_5695letter SCletter H

I really don't see many uses for this in my music classroom.

I could see using this for scrapbooking, if I did that...

My brother-in-law put together a slide show for his parents 50th wedding anniversary. And I think I remember seeing some visually creative things like this in it.

This just really isn't me. I don't pick out paint colors, or furniture designs, and I have virtually no fashion sense when it comes to clothes. I understand chord progressions and harmonization and how to make that sound good to others. I'm not saying I have no visual opinion. Only that I don't know that my views transfer seamlessly to what others would like.

I love being able to see other peoples pictures on Facebook, and giving them the option to peek into my life. However, that's only because I know them. I'm not scared of someone putting my head on another body... I just really don't know what interest someone who doesn't know me would have in my personal photos.

Thing #7

Flickr

So I clicked on the "beach" tag and saw a picture that looked like a tether ball. I know, I know, it's a lamp. The picture was smaller before I clicked on it. Don't judge me... Anyway, that made me want to find a picture of a tether ball (cause it's fun) so I typed that in. No tether balls to be found, something caught my eye.



Girl in a bubble by mitchgroff.


This picture stood out as a little different. I couldn't quite tell at first what was so unique about what I was seeing, and then it hit me. The awning ends straight out over the water, and yet, there is a gutter along the edge to make it funnel down first.

Somebody named Mitch happened to catch this rare construction fopaux.

Thing #6

MOG
The Complete Music Solution

Those are their words, not mine, but they are actually very fitting. (hence my use of them) I chose a site from the list that dealt with music because that's what the voices in my head instructed me to do. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I am a music teacher...

I looked at a few different sites that made music available to people and decided on this one because it has the best features. There are plenty of forums that give you the ability to purchase music and give reviews on it, but this one has gone a step further.

The site actually lets you set up a blog to give your opinions (and comment on others opinions) about what is heard. There are articles that deal with the music industry, recommendations by the editor, and there's even presorted playlists that other users have created.

It's free to join, of course, you do have to pay if you want to download a song. However, this is standard, and I hardly see supporting an artist you like as a downside.

This site would work well for a music appreciation class. Students could log on, share their thoughts, and get feedback as well. Communication seemed to be MOG's focus and that's why I liked it the best.

(I also discovered I like hyperlinking things as well)

Monday, March 1, 2010

Thing #5

School 2.0 means to me that a lot of schools out there are gonna need funding to be able to keep up. I find it extremely ironic that much of society downplays the importance of the people that have the most influence on it, their teachers.

I also think that communication with others is a huge part of education. It's my biggest argument against homeschooling. Social interaction is one of the most important aspects of public school and one of the most unmentioned. I think it's great that there are so many more ways for students to get involved with each other, especially in different countries and cultures. I hope the future is filled with more diverse assignments that focus on the importance of being a person who learns and is able to contribute to society. It's especially important to steer clear of doing something just because someone, somewhere, decided it would be tested on. The future should provide motivation to educate oneself in useful endeavors.

Thing #4

Blogs allow people to publicly display their thoughts. It's a forum that lets you interact with an unlimited number of opinions. You have the opportunity to communicate with people that could be half way around the world, and yet have views that are the same as yours. It gives us a chance to see how small the world is at times.

I thought it was interesting that is was recommended to not try to comment on everything note that is left on your blog. I would feel somewhat obligated, yet it was suggested that it's not necessary. I also thought it was interesting that it was proposed that you should purposefully leave your blogs open ended and not cover every topic so that there is room for others to comment.

Sam's Blog
I chose to comment on Sam's blog because I related to something he said. He plays video games (as do I) and he preferred making a mii more than the avatar's for the blog. I agreed.

Debbie's Blog

I commented on Debbie's blog because I liked the way she tried to relate her avatar to herself. I enjoyed that she put a tux on her female avatar. :)

Carita's Blog
I commented on Carita's blog because I liked the look of her avatar. She chose to put it in a wedding dress based on her recent experience, and i like that she shared that with all of us.

Amanda's Blog

I commented on Amanda's blog because I enjoyed reading about how she likes to smile. I think her attitude will definitely rub off on her students and help create a great atmosphere for her to teach in.

Chad's Blog

I commented on Chad's blog because I could relate to his tendency to begin with the end in mind. I think that this is usually the best course of action.

Thayne and Erika's Blog
These are extremely close friends of mine that are currently living in Japan. I commented because I was curious what they did when faced with less than desirable foreign food.

Some Guy
I posted anonymously on this guy's blog because I have no desire to start up a random relationship with someone I don't know just because this course requires it. I congratulated Canada for their win in hockey because I really got into these Olympics and thought it was very fitting for Canada to win, despite preferring the gold to have come home to the U.S.