Thing 8: Word of the Day

     After doing this activity, I'm sure everyone can agree that it was an entirely easy assignment. Unless, of course, you're me.

     I spent almost an hour deciding what I wanted to write and which letters I liked best, but then it came time to input the HTML code. Wow. Before now, I never realized the little tab labeled "Edit HTML" above the text box whenever you create a New Post. So the point that I'm getting at is that... well, I kept trying to copy and paste the code into the Compose text box. Clearly, that wasn't working. So after using [what I thought was] all of my options, I waited until I got to class to ask Kayla. Once I learned that I was in the wrong format, it was easy to fix everything. Hence, the beautiful word you see above.

     Speaking of words, the word I chose to display is lycka. The origin of the word is Swedish and it means bliss, luck, success, and/or happiness. I know you're thinking "what the heck?", but since I'm less than 1% Swedish, I thought I'd use it to my advantage. (Ha!) And what better word than happiness? What I've done here is show you a small example of how Flickr mashups can be used in the classroom. Since I will be teaching Language Arts/Literature for 7-12 grades, this is perfect for me. I can use the word mashups to creatively illustrate words of the day. The same can be done for elementary school spelling tests. Some students remember things better by actively matching colors with letters or designs with words. This could definitely help visual learners.

     So the question remains, do I intend on using Flickr mashups for my classroom? Definitely! It's a creative tool that is appealing to the eyes and can be used to help students. As for my personal life, I'll probably use it for social networking sites (unfortunately, however, websites that allow you to personalize your "space" are out of style... cough myspace cough). I do plan on using it though, both personally and professionally. And as for the neat little word of the day - hope you  loved it!

Yours,
TPlummer