Thing #13

I really enjoyed learning about Del.icio.us I have spent the time over the last few days adding more of my web pages to my account. I can't wait to use this more!! I usually have so many great resources on my home computer that I can't always access from school or some place else since they are bookmarked on only my home computer. This site helps solve that problem. I also love the sharing aspect of it. Only problem I'm going to have is I might find myself glued to the computer checking out newly found websites from friends.

Thing #12

I have enjoyed reading other people's blogs. I found that some people had some of the same opinions as myself as well as discovered new ideas about the discovery activities and how to use them.
I sometimes find it hard to make a "contribution to the conversation" instead of an encouraging "way to go" type comment. Although I enjoy getting the "way to go" comments. I like the encouragement at times.
It is very important though to read before you write and then also reread what you have written before posting. Since you can not tell the inflection from your voice when you type something out it is important to be sure what you type is polite and won't be taken the wrong way.

Thing #11 LibraryThing

I love LibraryThing....I've had an account since last year. Unfortunately I haven't finished logging my books into my account. It has helped me keep track of the books that I have and since it accessible online I can check it anywhere. Very helpful between home and work. It is also not very expensive to have a lifetime membership and log as many books as you want. Which has been wonderful since I have shelves and shelves of books. It has helped me during lesson planning to quickly see if I alread own a book that I need or if I need to check it out from the library. One of my goals this summer was to finish logging my books...so far I've done well--hopefully I will be finished before school starts!

Thing #10 Online Image Generators

These have been fun to play around with. Out of the links listed I liked Image chef http://www.imagechef.com/ and Big Huge Labs http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/ the best. They were the easiest to use with the most choices from the one link. I can't wait to use the trading cards with my kids--great way to help the kids get to know their new classmates and teacher.

Also fun to make things for your personal use and scrapbooking.

Thing #9

Now that I know what to look for (the little icon) it is easy to find out if a site has a feed or not. I did like using Topix...it gave me news stories--even news in Katy. What I did find difficult was sorting through the massive amounts of information. It was overwhelming at times. Also because of the large quantity it makes it harder to sort out and find reputable sites. I found that it was easier to go through sites I had already booked marked and check the icon in my tool bar...if there was a feed then I could click the button to add.

Thing #8 RSS and News Readers

I really like the RSS & News Readers. It helped simplify all of the websites I check reguarly for news and info. I like that I can now log in and read the Chronicle, check my favorite cooking website for new recipes, check on my sports teams, and see what is new on one of my magazines all at the same time. I wish I knew about this before! Now I will save more time!
The best thing is that I can check everything at once...personal links like cooking, homesites, and dog sites as well as professional sites that I use for teaching and news. The downside is that it seems addicting! I keep looking for new things to add! :)