Flat World After All!

Flat World or It's a Small World are two concepts that I experienced today. With my brother having cancer, going to different doctors, having tests run, having surgery on lymph nodes, and then, coming home from the hospital, I was able to reach my very large family and many friends quickly by using Facebook, twitter, a cell phone, and email. I have made many contacts with Family and Friends through  Facebook. By updating my status, I keep the whole family updated on what's going on. I use Twitter to feed information into Facebook.
Since Facebook is blocked at school where I work, I use my phone to send messages to Twitter which in turn directs the status updates to Facebook. This has been very useful to me because there are times when I need to pass information on and no computers are available. For example, when I hear news through my cell phone while driving or I am at the hospital and want to update people, I can simple text twitter and everyone is updated. Using Twitter and the cell phone, worked marvelously.
The cell phone has been wonderful for keeping in contact through texting. I have a large number of minutes that I pay for each month, but it is worth it because I can text when unable to actually take the time to call. Email is still "in" with me. I have several nieces and nephews that I email and enjoy talking. Some of my brothers still do not have email, texting, or computers so the nieces and nephews will call them and keep them informed. It doesn't really matter how I get the messages through as long as my eight brothers and extended families get the messages.





Flat World, Facebook, Twitter, Cell phones, texting





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Picasa!

 


As I was looking at my pictures, I ran across this picture of a cactus and decided I wanted to put it on my blog. Since I have Picasa, it was very easy to use the "blog this" feature. Picasa allowed me to send this picture to my blog opening up an new post and now I am typing a short message to my students on how easy this was accomplished.

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Elmo Presentations!

Today we were able to use Elmo in the classroom. The students presented their book reports and used Elmo to show their posters. They really enjoyed reading their information while I took pictures of them talking.

http://tinyurl.com/dxlnn8 Visit this website and learn more about Elmo. It is a great tool. I can easily switch back and forth from computer to Elmo as I present information to my class. The students love the visuals.

Updating Blog!

Wow, I have made a lot of improvements to my blog...I even like the results. I decided to use a different template that I could change as I go through the year. I am far from an expert on writing html code, but this has been fun. I have more flexibility with the side panels and I like the "post section" because it larger.


The goal of this blog is to write about technology in everyday life and in education. So, I will be updating the links to the blogs, wikis, and websites that I read and make them available, especially, when I find interesting "stuff" I want to remember or that I want my students to read.



I found this template at http://freetemplates.blogspot.com

Picasa Plus Blogger!

Picasa 3 is free from Google! FREE! FREE! FREE!




This software is excellent for sharing photos and learning some beginning photo editing. I find the software very easy to use and I use the upload feature to upload my photos to Picasa Web Albums for sharing with family and friends. I also us the "blog this" feature which allows me to upload pictures directly to this blog site or any other blog site I have made with Blogger.

Google for educators

As educators, this is a must read for getting ideas on how to involve students in creating slide shows as well as photo editing. Google for Educators explains it all.

Picasa organizes all photos found on your computer to one place where photo editing is made very easy. For example, I was taking "red eye" out of several pictures through Picasa then I went back to the files on my computer to see the changes because I did not trust Picasa......and all pictures were changed. Wow, that was easy. I did not have to go through my C-drive to find all pictures I needed to change. I used Picasa that brings all my pictures to me. I am a faithful user of Picasa. If your district will allow Picasa to be used, it would be an excellent resource for teachers and students. Read about it at Google for Educators!




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Blackboards and Laptops!

I think you can see the improvements that are being made in schools. We have gone from blackboards to Elmos and laptops. More improvements are needed but this is an excellent start.

Whittier School has laptops.
What a wonderful surprise! Mr. Talluto worked hard to get this technology for the school. Thank you, Mr. Talluto.

Blackboards are still used by many teachers! They do serve a purpose and if they are the only thing available...why not use them? Many small handheld chalkboards are used in the classrooms as well.


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Elmo: 21st Century Technology

The 20th century overhead is the black machine on the left. Runs well with its plastic overhead transparencies or vis-a-vis pens plus paper towels and water. It has served its purpose and continues to be helpful to teachers.

On the right is "Elmo" one of our newest 21st century technology for Whittier School. We can now place anything on the Elmo and it will be projected onto the screen with the help of the LCD projector.

What is needed now is an Elmo and LCD project for every classroom across America or maybe, just our district. This valuable tool can save on paper. Saving money is a high priority right now......

On an educational note: Visuals are so important and Elmo makes it possible to turn any item you want into a visual. It is fun and exciting to watch students presenting their reports using Elmo. Their work can be laid on Elmo and projected for all to read while they explain the projects or present information.



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Paul's Retirement Day!

 


January 2, 2009 Retirement Day for Paul. Now what will he be doing! Happy Retirement Hubby!

Beth and Murray at Their Birthday Celebration

 

Out to eat with Family on Thursday January 1, 2009! This was a lot of fun and laughs.
Murray is from Georgia spending time in Chicago for Christmas.
Beth doesn't have a clue (SURPRISE) that we will be celebrating her 50th birthday with family and friends.

Beth's 50th Birthday Party 2009

http://picasaweb.google.com/PaulPam2/BethS50thBirthdayParty2009#


The above link has pictures from Beth's 50th Birthday party!

Photo a Day!

Taking pictures everyday sounds like fun and something I want to do for the new year. It will be challenging but rewarding. Read Dean Shareski's blog to learn more about that the challenge.
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=41893028815&h=gzpKs&u=c6_tS