Thing #6: Mash-ups and 3rd Party Sites

I really enjoyed playing with mash-ups and other 3rd party sites. My son even played Tagman with me while I was researching the different options. Big Huge Labs has a wonderful program called the Palette Generator where you can select a picture and it will create a selection of color samples that could be used for any type of design. I than played with the different styles of mosaic's that you can create and how it will search Flicker for photo's using tags. Great way to create a quick intro for a lesson. Here is the trading card that I designed to show my design students as an example for a new research project on "Famous Designers". Special note: enter your text first and then upload your picture and your layout will be as selected. I tried selecting the photo first and then entering my text and the layout was not as desired. Always Preview or Edit your post.

Thing #5: Flicker

Flicker...
Tags, Groups, Libraries...
Endless Opportunities.
I never really thought about the copyright issue's with using images from Google until I read about the Creative Common Rules. My original visit to Flicker was browsing general files with pictures of Exotic Cats. There was a great picture of a white tiger underwater - very fierce looking. However I was not able to copy and share this with the group because it was copyright protected. I then typed in creative common rules and found a group that had over 23,000 pictures available. Continuing into this site I found a layout of a New York Loft which I can share with my students giving them a better example of a rendered floor plan.

Great resource to be-aware of for creating lessons for our students and for our students to create projects for their classes. I will not only share this with my students but will show my own family this valuable resource for projects that they are working on.

Thing #4: Registering your Blog

Registering my blog proved to be the most difficult item due to an error on my part. After I wrote about THING #2, I tried to adjust the time which was set on Pacific Time. In changing the time it delayed the blog from posting. I had to log in and tell it to post. Live and Learn from the experience, it proves what I tell my kids and students - I'm not perfect, I make mistakes too. Have a great day!

Thing #2: Pointers from Lifelong Learners

The 7 & 1/2 Habits of a lifelong learner includes "creating your own learning toolbox" - Habit 5. My past industry experience's have been creating toolboxes for different learning experiences from specifications of a product to an architect, designer or a client; to teaching sales associates & trainers 20/20 (CAD for cabinetry). This is the easiest habit for me when I plan a new lesson related to Family Consumer Sciences (FCS). I start with the end goal and then build the toolbox needed to reach the goal (TEKS).

The hardest habit for me is Habit 7-1/2 which is play. I am a workaholic! My days include working at school and at home. However last summer all of my hard work paid off at the end of my first year of teaching. I planned a 2-1/2 week vacation for my family which started in London, then on to Paris, next was Frankfurt and last was a week touring Southern Ireland. My family and I truly enjoyed our vacation and the learning experience that we had in traveling through parts of Europe.

Thing #3: Setting up your own Blog & Avater

• Setting up your own Blog was easy on Blogger. The tutorials in the Library2Play were extremely helpful. The most difficult task that I had was deciding what to call my blog and how to sign each entry. I wanted something that would encourage a new way of thinking towards technology and it's applications. I also wanted to keep my personal name more anonymous, so I researched ancient languages from my heritage that would still honor the name I was given by my parents.

• Yahoo Avators was super simple to create and export. The hardest part was I keep getting pop-up advertisements on the site and had to continuously go back to Avator Home. When it ask you to save, say yes and you can get back to it quickly if this happens to you.

• My avator reflects my industry background in Construction with a casual feeling for the outdoors, however somewhat stylish, with a love of pets, and the music to enjoy life.

Discovery of Unlimited-ism

Unlimited-ism,
...... New element of Life came from the realization that we live in a world that is extremely diverse and ever changing. The world of technology gives us the opportunity to explore and discover new ways to give our students lessons that will empower them to learn without limits or restrictions creating a new system of belief that they can be successful.