In regards to Barbs "Thinking"

Barb,  My sister just recently joined Facebook.   She sent me an invitation, emailed me, and called me because she wants me to join.  She has friended all of my kids and sends them pictures (of when they were little - they were so cute!).  I would love to have a Facebook - it seems like fun, but I am afraid to for the reasons you mention.  Our school system is very strict.  I will respond to my student's emails to me, but I have never initiated contact this way.  I always go through the parents.  It is a bit ridiculous in some sense, but as you say, we have to be really careful.  I am not going to get a Facebook, it's just too risky.  Plus, my kids would definitely think I was a creeper.  They think it's weird that I IM.  Now that I think about it, everything I do is weird - can't win.  :)

Thinking

As I am sitting here reading the blog and the blogs of the other classmates one thing came to mind. Security. Lori commented on one of my entries that the students thought a teacher was a"creeper" because he/she used im and facebook with the students. I would think this would be of great concern to teachers to ensure their professional livelihood. What may be well intentioned to help a student may be misinterpreted.
We as educators must always be cognisant of security aspects, whether it is a wiki, a discussion thread, a blog, instant messaging, etc.

Well I had to see if I could add a picture too. This is my great-nephew who we were waiting to be born last summer. He is the light of my life and brings such joy. Now that I see how to add its pretty cool!!

Showing comments

Well, I couldn't figure out how to show comments, but I did edit the way the side bar looks.  Just press the day and each post added that day will show, then look under the post to see if there are any comments.  It seems easier for me this way, but I will change it back if you all want.

Lori - Yes I can see the pictures. I've had a similar visitor in my backyard a couple of times.

Response to a comment.

Lori - I'm a so-so typist. I do tend to look at my hands when I type, but I can type without doing that. I just think that when they are more than 2 of us and messages are flying sometimes we do need to clarify. I think it is also a matter of getting used to it.

Has anyone decided if they like the comments or not? Can we show them in the post section?

Response to Mary and Cindy regarding differences in ICT's

I posted a note prior to reading Cindy's response to Mary that I pretty much mirrored regarding the major differences I saw with using HuskyCT discussion threads and Blogger.  When I read that I also noticed that Cindy added a picture to her post, which intrigued me, being the photo enthusiast that I am!  I started to play around a bit and livened up the blog with a couple of photos and am wondering... can you guys see the photos I added, or are they just visible on my page?  I am going to try to do what Cindy did and ad another here... a visitor we had in our back yard last spring.  I was doing the dishes and out of the corner of my eye thought this was my black labrador retriever until I turned to get the dish towel and trip on her laying by my feet (of course).  I quickly looked back up into the yard - this time much more carefully!  I was able to get close enough to get this shot until my dogs barking encouraged our visitor to retreat back into the woods.  It was pretty exciting, though.  Usually they come by at night to enjoy the trash in peace!!