Thing 5

Mashup

Mosaickr

 I checked out Mosaickr. This was a really cool site. I would use this for personal use. It is really neat to see how well it comes together. It is just visually intriguing.

This is a picture of all my hiking trips with my favorite mountain picture as the focus. This one didn't work out well. So I made one of my girlfriend's (and my) cats.

This could be a good classroom activity to really learn some new vocabulary by taking an in depth look and try to make the connections between the little pictures and the big over all picture. It could be an interesting presentation tool as well. Mosaickr could be used to facilitate discussion. Students could use it as a tool to help explain an idea or talk about themselves.

Fail

I thought that the Mappr was application was really cool. I have too many pictures to upload though. It took two days to figure out Flickr. I ran out of steam. But I also thought the idea of having pictures and a map was really neat. It could be a great way to get to know my class by having them all contribute pictures and introduce themselves or see if they have been to the same places.

Thing 4

Flickr!

Waterton

My vacation time was spent in Canada with my family this summer. While I was there, my sister and I went to Waterton National Park. It is becoming one of my favorite mountain hiking treks.  Since my parents live in Lethbridge, Alberta, it is a nice little day trip.

Cross the Stream

It was a rainy year (in fact, my sister said it was the nicest day of the year) and the streams were flooded. We took off our shoes and forded the cold mountain water.

Summer 2012 124, a photo by drnagy86 on Flickr.

Summer 2012 125, a photo by drnagy86 on Flickr.

Up the Mountain

Summer 2012 123, a photo by drnagy86 on Flickr.

It was a big time sway-back trail all the way up. Back and forth, back and forth.

Summer 2012 118, a photo by drnagy86 on Flickr.

There was a nice view though of course.

Summer 2012 113, a photo by drnagy86 on Flickr.

Almost died.

To Goat Lake

Summer 2012 110, a photo by drnagy86 on Flickr.

Touched snow in July!

Summer 2012 112, a photo by drnagy86 on Flickr.

Goat Lake

Summer 2012 105, a photo by drnagy86 on Flickr.

Top of the mountain.

Final hiking trip map.

Thing 3

Picture Time!

Angkor Wat

I took this picture during February, 2010 in Ankgor Wat in Cambodia. It was a crazy trip. I did Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam in about two weeks. For me, Cambodia was the highlight. I flew into Bangkok from Seoul, South Korea (which was were I was teaching at the time). I took a rickety old bus to the border town. You have to walk across and you are immediately being sold everything and anything. Since this was my second trip to SE Asia, I was pretty used to the scams so I was able to keep my head down. I got with two other people and rented a taxi to Siam Reap. Spent the night in the nicest $10 hotel in existence.

Woke up the next morning and did Angkor Wat in a day. I filled a 2 GB memory card. I am by no means a photographer, but at that time I sure felt like one.

The next day I was off to Phnom Phen in the worst bus, on the worst road, sharing the back row with a car sick family throwing up in plastic bags and tossing them out the window, all the while with some three year old sitting on my lap and poking hung-over me when I fell asleep.

The next day was the killing fields, which was one of the most humbling experiences in my life. It was a perspective that you can only have when actually immersed in the environment.

I use my digital camera a lot. When I am in the classroom, I always model what I expect out of my students. If they are doing any sort of project, I try to encourage them to share what they know and talk about things they are interested in. As an ESL teacher, pictures can lead into discussions, create interest in a topic, allow a student to describe something interesting and important to them, whatever!