"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

...it is true...in Serbian, there is a saying "Zajedno smo jaci" with a similar meaning. In that video, Gary Flake showed what exactly does it mean...with indexing and listing of concepts and ideas...there are no limits to learning about new things. Just by encouraging students to explore and make connections, we can get results. Different results.

Online organization

Kalvin and Hobbes on my iGoogle page will make me visit this page every day! I love how easy it is to customize and personalize this page. Reminds me of My yahoo page... As for students, i believe its appealing to have various content on one place...so if they need to start a project it wouldn't hurt to have something interesting and fun and not connected to the material they are working on there too.
Now, Mindomo....with me being "old skool" (since coming from serbian school system) this is WOW....making mind maps, blueprints, organizers this way is really amazing... seeing all of that in making happening in front of your eyes..cool. (will use it as soon as i get rid of pencil and paper manner)

Google Earth, Google Maps..

Yet again i cannot write a blog i should because i'm not teaching BUT i can write about how i use google maps and google earth in everyday life.
So....its all about traveling if you ask me : ) Google maps helped me choose the rout to drive to holland, google earth helped me show my b-f where we will stay there,the exact house, surroundings etc.
Really...google earth and google maps are definitely part of my life and i believe that i could find a proper use for those programs in my classroom too..in geography or history lesson...or ...something completely different.

Prezi, Glogster etc.

I'm still on the powerpoint...and figuring out all the things there BUT... That glogster page you posted (from an English teacher) inspired me! I mean it looked like a detective story that a student can participate in. So interactive and intriguing. I'm not teaching at the moment, so i cannot have a lot of teaching related ideas, but i believe that when I start I will have more ideas how tu use all these great technologies on the internet. It will make children more interested in learning (i believe) and include them more in the process of learning, not just as receivers but as contributors.

Creativity Platforms

SUMO PAINT OMG
photoshop is TOO serious for me, but Sumo Painting...just my cup of tea! I spent so much time exploring it ..and it just gets better and better...
Google Sketchup is something i had opportunity to use last year in Mr. Paul's classroom with my second graders...we made eco-house using solar pannels and discovering green energy resources.
Its a pretty little program and is accessible and usable for all. (here left: my tattoo sketch...without those four cute green stars)

delicious

now i have an account there too : )
keeping all bookmarks in one place is a great help when working on various computers.
also, my teaching so far is mainly tutoring, an when it comes to finding resources online, i was simply google-ing...and then going through various web sites looking for the one that would be good for whatever i needed at that point....
with delicious i feel i'll be able to find more "checked" resources and also, some other interesting bookmarks other people made...because if its bookmarked once...it ought to be bookmarked several other times....eh?! : )

I love firefox.
I already had skype, personas and babbelfish applications...
Cooliris iz AMAZING : )
so now i have that one too...
I just started exploring firefox add ons....

it will take me a while : )
Think back a few years to how you used to use your computer...
I got my first computer when i was 10....that would be in 1990.... it was vga 286 : )
it had several games and dos system...i cill remember i had a piece of paper next to my keybord with step by step instructions how to get to a certain location on the drive etc.
now i use...for example....cooliris...

the difference is HUGE but the computers are smaller ; )

calendar

i still use my "on the wall" calendar... i see it in front of me all the time and google one is just not as accessible.
BUT when i get my own lap top for both home and work, i believe it will be different.
i still am someone who is a bit old fashioned...

reminders are good though (if and when you are in front of the computer).

Google Docs

Ok, so I've been really busy and couldn't keep away from planning my April break....BUT... Here's what happened: for the first time (outside work) i used Google Docs. And it worked! (I know this is not school related, but...)
First, I've shared a file (list of music i need to have downloaded for our road trip) with my boyfriend, then he sent it back, marking ones he already had, and things that are in progress...
then i found a great compilation of music called 101 Best Driving Songs, so i sent him jpg. of the back of the disc, with all songs, so he knows what we have....and...
That's how i used Google Docs this week....as you can see, I'm really deep into planing my trip so it was inevitable to think/write/breathe about it.

: )

"first week" of Gmailing

i've started using Gmail in may 2008, and since then it is my main email address (took over from my yahoo mail account).
before i started using it, i was very happy to see that my name is available to be my new email address...as my old yahoo wasn't really easy to remember (greenorge@yahoo.com)...and from that moment my email was my name.my last name@Gmail.com.
as i started using Gmail, first thing that was different was the way of storing emails, and whole filing system...so organized and so different. conversations instead of emails, labeling...sooo handy!
second, more than enough storage space, and a lot more.
then...Gmail chat...later gtalk.... opportunities for so much.
now...i'm on gmail all the time...even as i'm writing this, i'm arranging a night out with friends..on gmail chat.

all this i've just mentioned are great features of gmail that can easily have positive impact on student and teacher performances and communication and so many more. we just need to explore all the possibilities...and use them!

enough for the first time...i guess...

fist post

: )