Thing #12

The first thing I explored within google was google maps. This is an awesome resource that I actually use quite often. After looking at Topos of my house and a few other places I decided to look for my duck blind. Google earth is pretty amazing! I could see this being a very valuable educational resource for any teacher that want to give their students a bird's eye view of something.

Google Translate

The second tool from Google I chose was the translator. Any school teacher could benefit from this tool. With the growing diversity in our school and the number of ELL students this could be a valuable resource to keep in mind.

Thing #4

Commenting is very important. I feel anyone can really benefit from feedback, not only students. As long as commenting is done in a constructive manner I believe it can provide important feedback on a subject. I am not saying that the commenter has to always agree with what the blogger is saying, but they should comment in a constructive respectful manner. By doing this the blogger and commenter can have a civil conservation and maybe reach a middle ground where they can see each other side of an argument.

Rachel Hannabass-  I commented on Rachel's blog because we are in the same class and I enjoyed some of the things she created with her image generators.

Sunny Peterson- I commented on Sunny's blog because we have had a bunch of classes together and we seem to like a lot of the same things. I personally really enjoyed the image generator assignment and I though Sunny did a great job with hers.

Tonya Van Winkle I commented on Thing#7 on Tonya's blog. She had many interesting things to say about flickr and I thought she posted a great picture of her family.

Nicole Petrik I commented on Thing #9 on Nicole's blog because she chose to use the fake magazine cover app. I thought this was a very cool app and I used it as well.

Casey Martin I chose to comment on Casey's blog because  for Thing #7 he posted a cool picture of a spider. It just caught my eye so I chose to comment.

Field & Stream I found a cool blog from a couple of writers for Field $ Stream magazine. They call themselves the gun nuts, and they post reviews on new products and hunting gear. I chose to comment on their review of the new Rio Ammunition non-toxic bismuth ammo.

Realtree This blog I commented on was discussing the advantage of surface drive mud motors. Mud motors are a valuable tool to any duck hunter, and owning one myself I was interested in reading what they had to say in the blog.

Thing #10/ Thing #11

I think RSS can be a valuable tool for anyone that is looking to customize how they view the internet. By narrowing down what you want to view and receiving information on when it has been updated seem like it could be very convenient. When I was deciding what websites to include in my RSS I used a mixture of professional and personal ones. The professional websites I chose were all related to education, and my professional growth. The personal websites I chose were sports, movies and news websites that I like to keep up with in my personal life. Here is a link to RSS website called Feedly that I used.

Thing #9

Image Chef

I used this image generator to create a holiday themed picture. I think students would really enjoy this activity and it would be really great around any holiday. We could print off their creations and they could take them home to hang on their parents refrigerator to display.

 fototrix

This was also a pretty cool image generator. It has a ton of magazine templates to choose from and you can uplad any image of you and it automatically places you in the magazine. I had a ton a fun playing with this one, and I am sure my students would enjoy it also!

Thing #8

I used the Mosaic Maker App, and I found it was very simple. All I had to do was follow a few instructions that lead me through different template options and there it was my own mosaic of my pictures. I actually used the upload through Facebook option and mosaic maker actually used one of existing albums to create the mosaic. I'm sure this app had its place in the classroom. It could be used for projects or the teacher could use it to create a visual aid. In P.E. I could use it to teach the different moves related to a sport or activity. By placing the main activity or focus in the middle and surrounding it with pictures of the moves that are involved in the activity it will give the students a good visual aid to help them understand the activity.

Thing #7

This was my first experience using Flickr, and I could see it being a very useful tool. As I was looking through the website I noticed a plethora of different pictures. They all ranged from historical photographs to wildlife to pretty much anything you would want. As I was looking through some of my search results I realized what a great teaching tool this could be. A teacher could use the pictures in a presentation or they could create a lesson where students found pictures that pertained to their classroom studies.

The image I chose to blog about was a picture of Bear Bryant when he was the coach for the University of Alabama. I am a huge Alabama fan and a firm believer in the style of coaching and mentoring that coach Bryant gave to his team. I feel that when I am a coach and P.E. teacher that I will be able to lean on some of the same principles and beliefs to better my students and my athletes. 

Bear Bryant Photo

Thing #6

I found a Web 2.0 website called daily burn. Daily burn is a website that provides a social element to exercise, but focuses on finding its users a workout program. It also tracks exercise progress, and helps users work towards set goals. Daily burn is also available on a mobile device and can actually track its users progress while they are at the gym. I really liked this app because i felt i could design a classroom activity around it. The website is very self explanatory and user friendly. It begins by asking your gender, age, and weight, then it asks your desired weight. After you have filled in the first part the site runs through a series of questions ranging from your level of previous workout experience to how much time a day you have to actually do the workout. Another great thing about this web 2.0 resource is that most of the workouts require little or no equipment to do. This tool would see the most use in a health or P.E. setting. The teacher could design a lesson plan around Daily burn and this website could help explain the importance of daily fitness.

Thing #5

School 2.0 to me is a term used to describe how schools are becoming more and more technologically advanced. Even in the past 10 years schools have made a huge jump in the use of technology in the classroom. When I was in school, although not long ago, we didn't have smartboards or cloud storage, and really cell phones weren't even that popular. Now instead of written notes home teachers can send reminders through text or email. My point being that we have come this far in 10 years therefore we as teachers better be ready to use technology in our classrooms. I am a firm believer in using technology, but I believe it should be used correctly. There are so many Web 2.0 resources out there that is can be overwhelming, but I think if a teacher can use these sources correctly they will be able to greatly increase learning and ease of learning in their classrooms.

Thing #3

I think a blog could be very valuable in the Physical Education or Health setting. The best use for a blog that comes to my mind is a student blog where students record accomplishments in P.E or Health class. These accomplishments could be big or small. I think the students could also use their blogs to further their learning. They could express concerns or questions about eating correctly or receiving the proper amount of exercise. On the other hand I as a teacher could use a blog to post helpful tips to help keep my students active. Kids are so technological now that a blog could be a "fun" way of relaying a message about how to eat healthy or exercise properly. I could also include links in my blog to useful websites that a student could use to understand the importance of healthy living.