Thing #21: Cool Tools GOOGLE Has to Offer

I was amazed at all the different ways Google is used such as: IGoogle, Google Calendar, Google Book Search, Google Alerts, Google Sites, etc. It was so Awesome checking these all out. I could spend many hours on all these Googles. I am a little familiar with Google alerts because I get alerts about ARD's that are scheduled at my school with different students. I also have set up an iGoogle, but I am not finished with it. Setting up a Countdown was neat to see and I am still trying to learn everything else that can be added to it. The Google Books was also fun to look at because again I was just amazed at all the books I could search for and so much information to offer.
I also believe the Google Calendar could benefit at school because students, teachers and family members could look at a monthly calendar and know what is scheduled each week whether it be for testing, games, fund-raising, field trips, etc. This would be very helpful especially because kids do not seem to take important notes home to parents.

Thing #20: Google Docs

I have heard of Gooogle Docs, but have never used it. I have used Google Apps though. I went to Google Docs and played around to get familiar with it and I was needing to purchase equipment for my Physical Education classes and put my order in Microsoft word and shared it with our school secretary and the sales representative for the company Gopher. I am hoping they don't wonder what in the world is being sent. I thought this would be a good way to communicate about the order and so on. I also believe I could make a spreadsheet for my volleyball or basketball team and keep up with statistics about each game. This could be shared among players and coaches. I believe with a little more experience and practice with Google Docs it will be of great benefit to me.

Thing #18 You Too Can You Tube

It is so hard to believe how many videos that are on You Tube.  I found some to be educational, but many that are garbage and shouldn't be on there.
I worked at the World Sport Stacking Association Tournament recently and it had 700 participants from 16 different countries. Mesquite and Garland ISD were the organizers and it was amazing.  I have chosen to embed a video from the WSSA.

I also found another you tube video that I thought was beneficial because I am always looking for fun activities for my students. So here is a game called Mission Impossible on YOu Tube.



Now it is time to find a "How to" video. I have always loved eating vegetables and fruits and my Dad always had a garden when I was a child.


Now for my last video I am going to look for a Texas Rangers video on You Tube. WIN or Lose I am always a Rangers fan.

For some reason I lost 2 videos and had to edit and upload videos a couple of times. I don't know what happened, but hopefully it is corrected now.

Thing #19: Voicethread

Well, to be honest I had never ever heard of Voicethread. I learn something new everyday. Voicethread is a digital storytelling type of technology and it can also get comment on by voice with microphone, voice with telephone, text and several other ways. I liked how you could see or hear everyones comments about the different voicethreads. I tried going to a few of the voicethread sites, but it kept coming up the same and I didn't understand.
Eventually, I kept trying and a few sites opened up for me. I believe this could be beneficial in the classroom to the students that do better learning from listening. This could be used like a audio power point to some degree.
I enjoyed learning about the different voicethread sites and these I liked the most.
The What is Function? site This explained some Precalculus and showed examples. I am not a math teacher, but this would benefit students in that subject area. I also liked the Library A to Z because it showed some work by the smaller students and one could hear the students on each page. They were the narrators and it was so cute, but I am partial to the little ones.

Thing # 17: Podcasts

I have heard of podcast, but never knew much about it.  A podcast is a video broadcast that is heard over the internet through an RSS.  I believe I would enjoy podcasting because I am always on the go and it would probably be easier to listen to while on the go.  I am always listening to the Texas Rangers or Sport station while in my car to and from somewhere and it seems to be similar.
I went to the Grammar girl podcasts and thought this would be a good podcast site for English/Reading teachers. It had many different topics that could help with Grammar such as: commas, prepositions, verbs, punctuating questions,etc.
I also searched for sports through the Grammar Girl site and thought this was very interesting to me. It was titled, "How to teach your Kids to be Good Sports."  This talks about children being so competitive in everything they do such as:  drinking milk the fastest, tying shoes, playing a game, etc.  I believe this can be important because so many do not want to lose at anything and everything should not seem so competitive.
Just about anything can be found through podcasts.

Thing #16:LibraryThing

I really enjoyed the Library Thing site. It was very easy to catalog books of interest.  I kept looking for books and couldn't stop. This was really a fun site. I started looking at children's books that were my favorites and many others.  I also cataloged books that interest me for coaching and Physical Education.
I also didn't remember some titles to books and authors that I knew very well years ago. The more I focused on books for a little bit, it started coming back to me.
I really enjoyed reading about some of the book reviews for new books that will come out for sale in a month or so.
Classroom teachers could use this site to make a list of books they would like for their students to read and choose from.  Students could also learn about the site to make their own list.
WELL, I need to get off of this Library Thing site because I need to go to bed, but I am going to continue my list later.  Love this one...The world of technology just keeps growing in this class.

Thing #15: Social Bookmarking and Tagging w/ DELICIOUS!

First of all, I had never heard of this Delicious website and found it could take up many hours to find out everything about the site.  I really got confused on what I was looking for. I had a lot of trouble tagging different sites, but kept playing around with it and it became a little easier. 
A teacher could benefit from this site by  looking up information pertaining to their subject. One could find many different ideas and narrow down what could be useful.
Also, when I set up my account it kept going to yahoo and it would not set up for me for some reason. I could not figure out why. 
I believe with time, I will love this Deliecious website. One reason would be because I will not have to use so many bookmarks.  I will come back to this and spend more time in Delicious.
One question I may have though, "Is Why Is It Called Delicious?"