Thing 8: Mashups

I have always loved those pictures you see of letters in found objects that spell "Dream" or "Believe" or can spell someone's name but I had no idea I could make my own using spell with Flickr. It is very fun to play with and has some really cool possibilities in the Spanish classroom by making weekly vocabulary words not seem so mundane and it takes almost no time to type in the word and copy the link to where ever you would like it to go. I think this is my favorite "Thing" yet.

Thing 7: Flickr

I am very familiar with Flickr but I have only used it with personally. I am so excited to get to use Flickr in the classroom. I instantly thought of using Flickr when I teach my family unit. I Can't wait to get started and try it out!

Thing 6

I think for me the most beneficial part of ning.com is the ability to collaborate with other elementary Spanish teachers. I don't know any elementary Spanish teachers personally so ning makes other members of my profession accessible to me! How awesome is that!

Chapter 3 Activities

Today, I learned that our role as teacher is changing from lecturer to learning facilitator. It is more important that the students learn for themselves than to simply listen to what their brilliant teachers have to say. By doing the activity I realized that even after reading every word of the chapter and reflecting on it myself I learned so much more by collaborating with my colleagues and getting their thoughts and opinions.

A Whole New Mind: Chapter 3

While I was reading this chapter, one part in particular stood out to me. The last section of the chapter entitled "Money and Meaning" talks about how Americans have been in search of money and are beginning to realize that money isn't bringing them the happiness they crave. Pink says that we've been so busy building careers and raising families that we have neglected the meaning of life.

When I read this, the first thing that popped into my head was the trailer for a movie set to come out in August, Eat, Pray, Love, a true story about a woman who tries to find herself. I searched a little more about the movie and found the following at IMDb

"Liz Gilbert (Roberts) had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having- a husband, a house, a successful career- yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life..."

I thought this further enforced what Pink is saying, that for an increasing number of Americans "meaning is the new money."

Posting Comments

So, here's the good and the bad about posting comments on blogs:

The good: It was a great feeling getting a comment on my blog. Knowing that other people are reading my thoughts that I sent out into cyberspace is a great feeling.

The bad: The stress I experienced trying to write something insightful on a person's blog is ridiculous! The fear that I would not properly punctuate a sentence or say something that is boring or not at all thought provoking has been striking fear in me since I opened my Facebook account 5 years ago.

This is definitely something I need to overcome if I am ever going to become a successful blogger.

Widgets

Today we were asked to add widgets to our blog. I have read blogs before that had so many bells and whistles that you couldn't read the content for all of the mess. I decided to only add the widgets that were necessary for my blog. I didn't have any trouble adding the widgets I wanted to add, it seemed really easy. The widgets are really cool and you should definitely check them out with all of the spare time we all have!