Thing #12

I found several of the points made in the blog posts about commenting interesting. I also thought it interesting how many of the suggestions on commenting seem to echo each other in the different articles. In Cool Cat's Blog I see how important it is to make your comments meaningful. In ProBlogger's 10 Techniques to get more comments on your blog I like the suggestions to Ask questions, interact with comments left, be humble and be gracious. These qualities are important for any form of communication and would make sense that they apply to blog comments as well. I also found the suggestion to "Contribute - As much as possible, try leaving a comment athat adds value to the discussion." very important. In the first few comments I left on fellow SBISD bloggers sites I would comment on their submissions but don't feel that I really added to the discussion. I really appreciated all the comments I received that would both comment on my post but then expand upon my post by contributing a new idea or application for classroom use, etc. I've valued all those comments as I've been able to learn from my fellow bloggers.

Thing #11

I created a LibraryThing account and added 9 books: 1 book that I have just finished reading, 1 book that I am currently reading, and 7 books that are sitting on my bedside table waiting to be read. I enjoyed reading the other members' comments about the books that I have not yet read. I also joined the "Children's Fiction" group and added the Library Thing blog to my Google Reader.

Thing #10

Playing around with images was lots of fun. I am going to commit to using the trading card generator at least once this year as a reflection piece after the students master a new concept.

Thing #9

Ok, I added several sites to my Google Reader by pasting the blog's URLs (I also set my iGoogle page as my home page so I could access ALL these new features easier). I also added an SBISD board member's blog to get district updates, a school collegue's blog and 2 of my school librarian's blogs. The most recent entry for all of those blogs immediately appeared in my Google Reader so I think (hope) I did that correctly.

Thing #8

I'm not sure that I'm going to be a big RSSer. I subscribed to one bundle and several blogs on early literacy and early math education. After reading some other 23things players' comments I think I'm going to go back and explore a bit more.