Saturday, August 2, 2008

Thing #19 Reliable List

What an interesting list of honorees! I had fun with this thing. My kids go on the computer all the time to download songs and search for different things. It baffles me that they know where to go. This list is great because now I finally have an idea where to go. I like having reputable sites to check out because I feel overwhelmed when I want to search for something and don't know where to start or which sites to trust.
I went to last.fm and registered and have started a library of favorite artists and songs I like to hear. As I explored the other sites, I was able to listen to music I chose instead of enduring music chosen by teenagers or radio DJ's.
I looked at the organizational tools Backpack and Wufoo, and I am considering introducing my son to these sites before school starts. Since he is so technology-literate, I believe he may actually use some of the organizational tools on these sites. I may recommend these organizational sites to students as well.
For interest, I clicked on MothersClick to see what type of material was covered here. Most of the entries were posted by mothers with babies or young children--been there, done that, not doing it again. I did a search for Mothers of Multiples groups since I was involved in a local group when my twins were babies. I was surprised to find that no group was listed for Houston. Either the groups disbanded or they are just not listed.
Another site I visited that was just plain entertaining was Yahoo Answers. I cannot believe some of the questions asked here. Most were silly, some were outrageous, and others were disturbing. My kids and I read aloud some of the funniest questions and had a good laugh.
So much for the personal enjoyment. I can see applications for school use as well, especially with the music site. There have been many times I have wanted to play a song for my classes that connects to a theme we are exploring or exhibits a characteristic of lyrical poetry we are analyzing. I did not know where to begin my search. Now, I know that I can use that site to search for titles of songs I want to connect to my units.
When I have more time, I plan to go back to the Awards List and visit more of the sites thinking about school applications. But right now, I cannot stop laughing about some of those Yahoo questions.
"Do you think if the Trix bunny asked the kids nicely for Trix, they would give him some?"
Of course not silly blogger, Trix are for kids!

I did not make that up--that was an actual question. If you need a good laugh, go read some of the posted questions--you will be laughing all day. Have fun!

1 comment:

bookeatersclub said...

Glad to see that you are back on your journey of 23 "Things" - you are so close to the finish...

You have gained some valuable resources for yourself personally and many, many classroom applications.

I will read through the last few blog post that you made since you were last on and will be looking forward to 20-23...