THING NO.4 Thoughts on Commenting

Commenting is important to build conversation. A conversationalist is an asset to a discussion and when it comes to blogging the life of the blog depends on it. Within our class we are able to get to know each other a little better. Find out how our way of thinking compares to our colleagues as a tool to gage our weak and strong points in our program. I find my weak area these days being time to devote to things I really do enjoy like blogging and facebook. I try to stay active in the lives of the people I know and care about. It is really hard balancing this class within that. Back on subject, I have noticed that I need to invite conversation. Come across in facebook statuses or blog post as a real person and not a text book or emotionless being. Discussing things that everyone can relate to and focusing on the readers possible reactions to my post are in the forefront of my mind when blogging. I do not want to sound like a text book. I want to sound like a person who you could enjoy conversation at lunch with...no one wants to have lunch with their professor that is way to intimidating ;)

I chose to follow blogs of peers I have seen in class or who had a catchy title. That insinuated creativity to me and I love creative minds and learning from their way of thinking.

http://according-to-mo.blogspot.com
http://misskeems23.blogspot.com/
http://nedsedweb.blogspot.com/
http://mistys23things.blogspot.com/
http://swatson23things.blogspot.com/

THING NO.12 -Thoughts on Google Verbage & Uses

I think I am part of the population that forgets that Google is not a verb...yet I guess we have all made it one and it works for us. If I do not know an answer to a question my mind automatically thinks I need to "google" the answer regardless of the search engine I am using. I guess such a Pioneer in its category deserves some perks. We all know and love google as a very capable and reliable asset to our lives that we have simply made a part of our daily lives. In turn, It seems Google is providing everything we ask for and more. I went to iGoogle and created my own custom homepage. I have done this before with my Yahoo and MSN accounts but I do not remember having all the different elements to add to my page. It was years ago when I set the other pages up. Today, you can really organize business, personal, and school life within one page to make the most of your time during the day.

I think the biggest problem I have come across is where some of the apps and blogs will offer a way to directly post your images or findings straight to your personal blog while some of them do not directly link up the two. So, in this case I added feeds to my RSS yet struggled with trying to include my work in my post. I am embedding them so that I at least have my work visible. Furthermore, playing around with the gadgets and adding them to my iGoogle page was fun. Some are better than others. I would try to check the ratings before adding one to my page. Yet, I still came across issues with some and it may be from my end of just not using the gadget properly or setting it up properly. Also, I set up a calendar but I use my iPhone for so much of that sort of thing that I probably will not refer to it very much. Overall, I love having a one stop shop for my day with iGoogle and Google Reader for my news feeds...priceless!

THING NO. 11- Thoughts on Finding Good Feeds

Google is always a comfortable search method and in this instance I found the same confirmation. I placed the given search and it brought up feeds in a way that I could distinguish an idea about my personal interest to make an election. Yet, I really enjoyed using Technorati to search for blogs. For this assignment, I searched for blogs about songwriters. It quickly brought up many articles that again I could gain information from the search page to decide of I found any value in the site before clicking on it. When I explored with the Topix.net I did not find it as user friendly. Furthermore, In the classroom anything quick and efficient is a plus and I think both Google Blog Search and Technorati fall into that category, making them valid sources to rely on.

American Gold Star Music writer Kenneth Duncan at The Listening Room 2.19.12

THING NO. 10- Thoughts on RSS Reader and Feeds

The video was the best way to grasp the idea of RSS. "Really Simple Syndication" files my favorite blogs or other regularly updated material in to one location. I wish I had known about this a long time ago. I am the worst to have 6 pages open...going back and forth reading and working when I now can have one site to catch up on my latest interest.

I realized that with my google account my reader was already in place...I just needed to utilize the asset. The blogs I follow were listed there. Then, I went and subscribed to several outside blogs that I found interesting. It was a very simply process to click on their RSS icon or Subscribe icon, then be taken to a screen where I would click add to google and it was instantly added to my file.

In my personal life using RSS would simplify all the artist I try to keep up with. I am calling this my personal life because it is outside of my path to become a Special Education Teacher...long story on how I have such diverse career paths going but, that is for another day and time. Just know that I love offering the world a lot more than I care to take from it...I am a giver...teaching keeps me grounded, level headed, and aware of what the world needs from me. Anyway, back to RSS. Personally, filing my music sites that I constantly having to keep up with and artist and band page blogs is now something I can complete in less time that before. Organizing music business, education, and personal to 3 different RSS feeds would be Awesome. I need to take time to sit down and do that very soon. What a great time management skill. I listed the blogs I subscribed to at the bottom. They are all blogs for teachers, about teachers, and by teachers...something like that ;)

http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337

http://cecilialcoelho.wordpress.com/

 http://needleworkspictures.com/

http://www.kulowiectech.blogspot.com

http://stumpteacher.blogspot.com

THING NO.9- Thoughts on Online Image Generators

Image Generators are fun to use but not as easy to post to my blog. It seems that the sites are not as user friendly. I simply found it easier to download the images to my computer (like our directions said to do) instead of posting directly from the site to my blog. Either way there are some very cool applications that give character and substance to images. From the Image Chef Site, I created a Word Mosaic. A very simple process of providing text, choosing colors and image shape were the only steps it took to create the image above. I started out by trying to use a line from a song I co-wrote called "Dance Through the Rain". It did not turn out like I was thinking. So, I went back and took out all words except for key words. I was able to generate the wording until I got an image I was happy with concerning where colors and words were placed within the image. The best part about image generators is the creative ways we are able to display our personalities and interest in productive, eye-catching, and simplified ways.
http://www.imagechef.com/ic/myitem.jsp?myremix=21569737

Image Generators can be used for creativity in the classroom. Students can use it for the same exact reason I did. I took my own work and created a symbolic image to what it means. Literature and language arts teachers could allow their students to take their poems or anything of that nature and create a Word Mosaic to demonstrate something further...and enjoyable...something they can look at that portrays their writing in an artistic way. Other generators can be used to create logos, cosmic strips, custom signs and many other projects. I see some of these being great tools for exploration in the field of business. Also, something tells me a cool activity could come from the custom licence plates application concerning social studies and geography. A teacher with a creative mind could take these generators and use them in many valuable ways based on the lesson plan...and her/his students would love it...Just as we all have!

THING NO. 8 -Thoughts on Flickr Mashups

Flickr Mashups are addictive. I could sit and play with the fun hybrid web applications all day and night and not get anything else done. The entire basis of how Flickr has encouraged individuals to create their own applications blows my mind...I guess that is an entire different class on its on to know how to do something of that scale...yet, what simplicity it is for us. I played around with several of applications. I used spell with flickr to create a word art for the phrase "Music City". I embedded that image at the bottom of my blog. I found that I would over work trying to get the right colors and same type of tiles to complete my image...made me think of all the different places I could take photos of "things" that looked like letters to create my own word art.

Big Huge Labs offers options to help get started on making a choice of what fits the intention of a project. I was using images of places I had traveled so I looked for applications that created something to enhance those type of photos. I played with an app that added borders to make photos look like stamps. The, I used the app that takes images and makes them look like puzzles. I was very happy with how this turned out. The puzzle piece break down did not take away from my image like I thought it would. It turned out being my favorite. Also, I used the app that placed an image on a billboard which sounded like a good idea since I have the music business...Made me feel special and so accomplished :^).

I see this being a very useful tool in my personal life as well as in the classroom. Furthermore, I think I will spend the rest of my time in school gathering letter image photos to place a unique alphabet in my classroom. At a high school and middle school level I see these tools being a driving force for students to enjoy technology and grasp how much is out their to enhance their lives. For the younger students, I could create all types of cool stuff for my students and for my classroom. If anything these apps are assets to making me look like a more professional, technology advanced educator...and that makes me SMILE :D

AGSMP

My creation, a photo by americangoldstarmusic on Flickr.

My publishing company's logo on a sidewalk billboard....very cool...I can retire now, right?!

St. Mark's Square, Venice

My creation, a photo by americangoldstarmusic on Flickr.

I used the puzzle application on Big Huge Lab's website. I thought it would not be as cool as it seemed, but wow it is actually pretty neat. It did not distort the beauty of this photo at all.

THING NO. 7- Thoughts on exploring Flickr

Speaking of tags! Flickr's tutorial guides us to understand how tags are important to allow others to easily find our work. In this case we are discovering one of the best ways to share, edit, interact and take your photos wherever you go. Flickr makes all of these processes possible and simplified. I enjoy taking photos and sharing them with others. Having a storage place for all of my photos is an awesome incentive to establish an account with flickr. The simplicity and ways you are able to tell stories, date, and keep a running journal of your life through photos is priceless. I can not wait to get started really using this site. I have never taken advantage of its resources until now. I am so excited to learn of a best practice when it comes to organizing all of my photos. It encourages me to do more with them and appreciate the memories I am able to embrace rather than just have saved on my computer.

I have never used a photo hosting service before. I use facebook and one aspect of the social media is sharing photos and I have been content with that...until now...I mean, Who wants to see boring snapshots when it is so easy to upload them to flicker and do so much more with them?!

Flickr is an asset in many ways including for the classroom. As a teacher, I could create a group for my students and I to share pictures as we discuss different topics. Flickr would enable me to keep a journal of photos of my students year after year. Since Flickr is accessible online I would be able to upload pictures and not have the stress of making sure I had them available through particular means. Until now I have had to save everything on a flash drive or email photos to different media in different locations. Flickr simplifies photo sharing and interacting.

Venice, Italy

Venice, Sicily,McGwire_Oct-Nov 2011 338, a photo by americangoldstarmusic on Flickr.

Getting lost in Venice is one of the top 10 things to do while you are visiting there...and this shot is from the day I spent lost trying to capture the beauty of how much character this city under water has...the tones of color seem to be intentional...the walkway is placed in front of the perfect backdrop...OCT 2011

Burano, Italy

Venice, Sicily,McGwire_Oct-Nov 2011 095, a photo by americangoldstarmusic on Flickr.

I took this picture as we first arrived to Burano by boat. It is a beautiful island off of Venice. Homes of Fishermen painted by their wives in vivid colors to help identify their home for their husbands late night returns is captured perfectly. OCT 2011

THING NO. 6 Thoughts on Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

Exploring 2.0 tools among the best resources out there became time consuming for me because, I saw useful and familiar sites that I need and can not live without on a daily basis. Establishing a music publishing company is where my mind is these days, therefore I am going to select YouTube...wait or Pandora...ugh...Have you guys visited Etsy? Oh my goodness, I plan events on the side as well and that site has created opportunity for people who have amazing talents to share those talents with all of us as retailers. So many impressive ideas and Etsy has opened my eyes to how small of a world we are when it comes to loving creativity. I have a bracelet I bought from a vendor on the site that is made of broaches from the 1920's, pinwheels made out of vintage music sheets, and many of my friends have created their personal stores on Etsy. What a great thing Etsy has accomplished for many people who may or may not be able to afford to establish a small business...yet, they are successful because of a 2.0 tool.

As I was saying originally, YouTube a video-sharing website, created by 3 Pay pal employees has allowed many to share and express themselves in so many ways. YouTube from the music aspect has allowed artist to display their work for others to see and hear. YouTube promotes the work of artists by allowing individuals to upload videos, rather professional or homemade. I want to add that tags are useful to understand when it comes to anything you are promoting on the web and the more the more likely your video can be seen from a search engine. ( I am learning all of this more than I am displaying experience when it comes to this :). American Gold Star Musis Publishing is the name of my new company and we recently established a YouTube channel that people can subscribe to. There they can see and know when we have added new videos of our writers and their music. Since establishing this company, I have realised how much advertising and promoting can be done these days through very inexpensive outlets such as YouTube and facebook.

YouTube concerning education is limitless. First, anything and so many things are educational that expose individuals to life outside of their norm, what they know or beyond their means. Youtube has made it possible for teachers to place instructional videos on a site for students to learn as if they were sitting in the classroom. Student's can watch tutorials that help them with their homework, prepare them for standardized testing, and really endless resources when it comes to self guidance. Students need their own login information so sites that children should not be viewing are inaccessible. As much good and creativity is located on youtube, there is a lot of unacceptable material. Furthermore, the world wide web makes youtube a global avenue of wealth that extends into homes and the classroom to further enhance our lives.

THING NO.5- Thoughts on 2.0 and its Future in Schools

Understanding Web 2.0 as employing opportunity for any given idea or concept through technological means is my understanding of 2.0's relevance. Taking new or old age tasks and making them readily available, assessable, or constructable is what I am visualizing as an important fact to keep in mind. Rather than taking 2.0 on as "technology derived," I see it as "technology driven" outlook to identify where we currently stand as a population concerning elements of our daily lives. Such and how we go about completing said task today compared to the past and how technology has expanded means to be able to do so in more vast, expansive, and simplified ways. Richard MacManus discusses in his article, "Web 2.0 is not about versions or Betas" the best answer for this conception. He reiterates Ian Davis' words that "Web 2.0 is an attitude and not a technology." Thus, we are able to understand that Web 2.0 is about everyday people with little and even no structured learning of technology and their acknowledged ability to use a web base to prosper in countless areas of life.

Web 2.0 for me is a breath of fresh air when I consider the technology based tools that allow my life to be simplified in a very demanding society. I have many responsibilities and at the same time need outlets of communication to be driven in so many directions at once while remaining balanced. Facebook is an outlet for me to restore myself within what seems real to me and seems meaningful because I communicate with people I know and love. I am able to continue relationships that would have been lost along the way if it were not for social media. Shopping from the comfort of my home and not having to limit myself to local markets is so important for me. I travel often and sometimes when I arrive at my desination I do not feel like it is NOT the first time I have been there in some ways. The internet has allowed me to reach places and their resources before arriving. Also, I recently established a music publishing company. When it comes to music publishing their are many pros but just as many cons that Web 2.0 delievers in this aspect of my career. Illegal downloads and itunes and how music is purchased as an individual song in comparison to the days of CD sales incooperating all writers and songs are challenges. Yet, today independant labels such as mine are being more and more successful. I do not believe that would be possible without Web 2.0.

Web 2.0's place in the future of classrooms depends on how lawmakers respond to change. Realisitcally, we have the resources to reinvent schools and education in ways that allow students to have an exchanged virtual education between teachers and students. Funding placed in the hands of parents to access more feasible entities of how their children recieve an education can be a lot to think about. I favor change and some schools I have seen in the state of Florida have already went to virtual elementary schools and high schools. I consider the ways of our nation compared to the French. We live to work and they on the other hand work to live. Meaning, most have family dinner time and take several weeks off of work to spend with their family in order to enjoy life and what it has to offer.While we work and work and then spend more money trying to keep up with the Jones' that inevitably we work to keep paying off...we work nights, weekends, and somehow earn a week off for vacation within a years time. So, what if Web 2.0 gave life a new meaning for people to integrate education into a natural living environment that meant children could be active in school while being across the country for a family vacation. It seems that careers and education could use the web as a base to live more freely in life without structured walls and limitations. We know it is possible...look how many adults now have the ability to get their colllege degree that would not be able to without Web 2.0. And how many of those have very little experience with technology yet are very successful in the virtual classroom? Many!