I already had a home page at Windows Live, just didn't know it was a "home page"--just thought it was some sort of default opening page. My husband fixed it so that I could follow the weather in 6 cities--where my kids live, etc. I should have left well enough alone! When I tried to create a page with Netvibes (to impress my husband with my new "tech" knowledge,) the problems began. After I (think) saved a page with Netvibes, I was never able to go back to change anything. I could never find the "Add Stuff," couldn't access any drop down menus for wallpaper, themes, etc.--only for column layout. Finally, I went to iGoogle and started over. Now I know it is me because the Google page got created (somewhat,) but doesn't seem to work right either, and I can't seem to change stuff. If I knew how to just delete both of these home pages, I would start over--or better still, just keep my old default page!
What I did add to iGoogle: weather (I could do all 6 cities, but couldn't get them to show all at once like on my Windows Live page;) several news sources; calculator; calendar; time; Art of the Day; Dilbert comic; facebook (although it never seemed to load;) twitter; classic solitaire game; Smithsonian National Gallery of Art; Orbitz travel; Expedia travel--and maybe some other widgets that I can't remember. I think it was just too much "stuff," because after clicking to add all these widgets, I had a hard time finding them, and the page just seemed to keep loading forever. Plus, now everytime I try to go to just plain ole Google to do a search or find an image, this home page comes up and takes forever to load... I am going to consider Thing 4 done so that my head doesn't explode, but I would love it if someone could tell me how to undo all the mess I have made on these 2 pages!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Thoughts on Thing 3
This "thing" was quite alot to digest! It brought home the reality of just how many blogs are "out there!" (The video in Thing 1 said "millions!") I guess one would really have to zero in on specific topics to follow. Time to read/follow all these blogs is something to consider. The blog about "Teaching Learners with Special Needs" made this "time" factor come to mind when the gal(teacher) writing the blog had a list of about 100 "blogs that I read!" Whoa!
The many different examples (suggested list) of how blogs could be used was amazing. I copied many of the ideas and pasted them into a word document to save for use later. Several suggestions were ideas that I had already thought about, and I came up with many other ideas: 1) using my blog to post examples of student artwork; 2) using the blog to serve as a way for parents and other staff to see what students are doing in the artroom; 3) posts serving as an education/learning tool for parents and other staff to expose them to art curriculum, standards, concepts, media, etc.; 4) students could comment on what they liked/disliked about a particular project, and also restate the learning from the lesson; 5) I could provide links to activities that the students could do at home--such as virtual museum visits and art games; 6) I could post an "artist of the month" (such as Pablo Picasso,) with in-depth biographical and art info, and provide links for students to see examples of the artist's work--and then space for them to write an opinion of the artist/works; 7) I could post optional "quizzes" after units are completed on the blog and let students post their "answers."
Another idea that I had was to have an exchange with other art classes--in Newington, in Connecticut, in other parts of the country, and even other parts of the world--where we could share student art work and special projects. I have contacts with art teachers in all parts of the U. S. and also in Japan and Thailand. Now I just need to find the time to get started!
Speaking of the "time" thing, one of the comments that I left as part of completing Thing 3, was a comment/question for the special education teacher: Just how does she prioritize and organize her time to keep up her own blog (which was very impressive,) and all the other blogs that she follows? I left a second comment on "Corneau's Place."
Lastly, I looked at all the "settings" for my blog. One of the things I changed was the "time zone." I noticed that Maureen's comment to me was posted at 5:00 am! I thought, wow, she is up and at it early! Then I noticed that the blog was on Pacific time. Changing it to Eastern time automatically updated the correct time. I also added theemail address "newington23" to my blog, so that all my posts will automatically be sent to you. The video clip was very helpful, but I still did not understand all the options or what they were about.
On to Thing 4!
The many different examples (suggested list) of how blogs could be used was amazing. I copied many of the ideas and pasted them into a word document to save for use later. Several suggestions were ideas that I had already thought about, and I came up with many other ideas: 1) using my blog to post examples of student artwork; 2) using the blog to serve as a way for parents and other staff to see what students are doing in the artroom; 3) posts serving as an education/learning tool for parents and other staff to expose them to art curriculum, standards, concepts, media, etc.; 4) students could comment on what they liked/disliked about a particular project, and also restate the learning from the lesson; 5) I could provide links to activities that the students could do at home--such as virtual museum visits and art games; 6) I could post an "artist of the month" (such as Pablo Picasso,) with in-depth biographical and art info, and provide links for students to see examples of the artist's work--and then space for them to write an opinion of the artist/works; 7) I could post optional "quizzes" after units are completed on the blog and let students post their "answers."
Another idea that I had was to have an exchange with other art classes--in Newington, in Connecticut, in other parts of the country, and even other parts of the world--where we could share student art work and special projects. I have contacts with art teachers in all parts of the U. S. and also in Japan and Thailand. Now I just need to find the time to get started!
Speaking of the "time" thing, one of the comments that I left as part of completing Thing 3, was a comment/question for the special education teacher: Just how does she prioritize and organize her time to keep up her own blog (which was very impressive,) and all the other blogs that she follows? I left a second comment on "Corneau's Place."
Lastly, I looked at all the "settings" for my blog. One of the things I changed was the "time zone." I noticed that Maureen's comment to me was posted at 5:00 am! I thought, wow, she is up and at it early! Then I noticed that the blog was on Pacific time. Changing it to Eastern time automatically updated the correct time. I also added the
On to Thing 4!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thing 1 and Thing 2
I have always had an interest in computers and technology, although I am not a "natural" or a "fast learner" with this medium. I make up for an intuitive aptitude by taking as many tech workshops as I can (repeating many of the same workshops,) and practicing with the technology available to me.
Thing 1 was interesting--in so far as seeing what the possibilities are with all these new tools, but was a bit overwhelming at the same time. The article by David Warlick seemed somewhat unrealistic, given the technology currently available to me, but it contained alot to think about.
Because I have just recently learned a little bit about Discovery Education's United Streaming, this is one Internet tool that I will try in my classroom soon. I do not have a SmartBoard, but I have a TV monitor connected to my computer that students can view from our "listening carpet."
Having a blog for elementary level children might be a challenge, but I might try it with our fourth graders. If given access to my new "23 Things" blog (which will showcase some of their own artwork,) they could provide feedback on what they liked/disliked about the project, and restate learning from the lesson.
Thing 1 was interesting--in so far as seeing what the possibilities are with all these new tools, but was a bit overwhelming at the same time. The article by David Warlick seemed somewhat unrealistic, given the technology currently available to me, but it contained alot to think about.
Because I have just recently learned a little bit about Discovery Education's United Streaming, this is one Internet tool that I will try in my classroom soon. I do not have a SmartBoard, but I have a TV monitor connected to my computer that students can view from our "listening carpet."
Having a blog for elementary level children might be a challenge, but I might try it with our fourth graders. If given access to my new "23 Things" blog (which will showcase some of their own artwork,) they could provide feedback on what they liked/disliked about the project, and restate learning from the lesson.
ReynoldsArtSpot
This bulletin board displays fantasy animal mobiles that first graders created during a visit to the Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum in Hartford.ReynoldsArtSpot is a site to check in on what the students at Anna Reynolds Elementary School in Newington, Connecticut, are doing in art. The art teacher is Mrs. Kathleen Martin, who has been teaching art in Newington for 15 years. Reynolds School has approximately 450 students in grades pre-K through grade 4. Students in grades kindergarten through grade 4 visit the art room for one, 45-minute session every week. Check in to ReynoldsArtSpot often to see what each grade is doing!
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