Building a toolbox

Pic originally uploaded with CC licence to Flickr by Austin ampersand zak.


I asked my Personal Learning Network on Twitter to suggest to me the 'indispensible IT tool' that they are using in school. In a 15 minute period I had 29 suggestions from 20 different people - and THAT ladies and gentlemen, shows the potential of Twitter to be much more than a microblogging facility for the vainglorious.

Anyway, here's the list (attributions at the bottom) and I'll flesh this post out as the weekend develops (as this will be used as a resource at the conference I am attending).

Celtx

Embedit.in

Pixton

Irfanview

iDesktop.tv

Toodledo

CPS Student response systems

Photostory

Odiogo

Xtranormal

Spotify

Fraps

Goanimate

Prezi

Rockyou

Cueprompter

Fuzzmail

Thrillerwhiz

Random Activity Generator

Nintex Podcast Server

Drop.io

Twitter

Google Reader

delicious

Plurk

Stumbleupon

Wikis

Glogster

Typepad

Slideshare

I am truly indebted to the following Twitterers who helped me compile this list:

@lynnehorn @mariefrance @mikeherrity @iusher @dughall @porchester @gr8ict @andywallis @noeljenkins @twowhizzy @skinnyboyevans @markw29 @loisath @jrichardson @rcurrin @adamsutcliffe @dannynic @stevebob @carolrainbow

A Guid Ne'er to ane an' a'

Original image 'Writing Resolutions' originally uploaded to Flickr by Tojosan.

This is the start of my new regime to write blog posts on a far more regular basis. Part of my motivation to do so is the encouragement I have received from others on microblogging site Twitter -its always motivational to see other people doing something that you want to do in the same way.

And therein lies my first tale of serendipity for the New Year - perhaps one that augurs well for 2009. I was looking for a photo to illustrate this post, and searched 'creative commons' photos on Flickr, and the picture above was the first one I saw - but I simply could not believe my eyes when I saw that the person who had uploaded the picture was Tojosan, the same Tojosan that I follow on Twitter! What are the 0dds of that I wonder, that of the 44,000 Creative Commons photos tagged 'resolution' in Flickr, the one I picked should be one uploaded by someone I know, someone that I didn't even know had a Flickr account?

Anyway I digress, the purpose of this post is to outline my plethora of resolutions that I REALLY want to achieve this year. There are many, but I am determined to succeed this year if I can.

My New Years Resolutions for 2009

1. To stick to my resolutions
2. To follow a much more rigid and rigorous lifestyle, I've been too lackadaisical for too long
3. To apprecaite the lyrics of Bob Dylan more by listening to different Bob Dylan song every day
4. To walk to school each day
5. To use no carrier bags in shops & leave all coathangers and other reusable packaging items at shops
6. To read a book, watch a film, and listen to a new CD each week
7. To do a random act of kindness at least once a week
8. To teach my own children something new each day
9. To improve the quality of my photography
10. To comment on each Blog post I read
11. To create a podcast of 'Wee Free Men' by Terry Pratchett
12. To speak to my own children each day (whether or not they are staying with me)
13. To meet all of the school-based targets I have set myself (see a future Blog Post)
14. To make a machinima with my son
15. To take better care of my psoriasis
16. To go to bed with an empty email inbox as first pledged by Bill Thompson
17. To respond immediately to emails
18. To visit a town I've never been to each month
19. To establish MirandaMod as a leading model of unconferencing
20. To curb what bad language I use
21. To have a far more positive attitude no matter how I feel about something
22. To ensure my THREE major goals relating to Moodle are met this year (see future blog posts)
23. To pay all my bills and handle all important paperwork immediately
24. To pass my Grade Two singing exam
25. and... To sing 'Hallelujah' to the whole school
26. To phone my parents twice a week
27. To be less wasteful of food in the home
28. To allow no one to upset me or to belittle my achievements
29. To DO rather than just SAY I will DO.
30. To start what I fi........nish ;-)

Phew... that's a long list but one I want to meet and I will be disappointed in myself if I don't. Let's see how I get on.

Todays Dylan song is 'Song to Woody'. This was one of the first songs Bob Dylan ever wrote and whilst being a sort of prayer to Woody Guthrie, it includes words that could be so apt for the way the world is at the moment: "...I wrote you a song, 'Bout a funny ol' world that's a-comin' along. Seems sick an' it's hungry, it's tired an' it's torn, It looks like it's a-dyin' an' it's hardly been born".

How could a man as young as Dylan was at that time, write lyrics of such timeless poignancy? It's a lesson to us all!