Week 8, Thing 19

I love Google Earth... and who would have thought that I already knew how to use it before this class?
I have not, however, used it in my classroom before and currently we are learning about our communities geography. What better than Google Earth to explore the terrain virtually?

Week 8, Thing 18

I really liked Slide Share, and had never heard of it before. I have found that short videos and Power Points really grab my students attention and so I use them frequently in my instruction. An upcoming assignment in class is creating our own PowerPoint about a biome. I found some great slide shows, that were both informative, and great models for the students to follow. Here is one on the Tundra:

Tundra biome

View more presentations from tiagocardoso.

Week 7, Thing 17

Before this excercise, I thought that Podcasts were only for i-PODS. To bring your listening centers into the 21st Century, you could forfeit the 20 year old cassette tape, and instead have students listen to a Podcast instead. You could also have students record a Podcast, perhaps as a way to present learning, especially for those kids who hate writing. As I get more familiar with the other technologies I am learning about, perhaps I will begin trying to incorporate Podcasts into my classroom.

Week 7, Thing 16

You Tube is about the only thing I was already familiar with before I began this class. I use You Tube in class frequently. When I teach Colorado Springs History, they have some great vintage promotional videos that show how the Springs looked in the early 50's, 60's and 70's. It is a neat "then and now" comparison for the kids. You Tube also has my favotite math videos "Math Mansion" which completely engage the students, are entertaining,and teach needed math skills.
The clip I chose to embed was just a cute little clip that a parent sent to me. Hope you enjoy.

Week 6, Thing 15

I absolutely love my new FLIP camera. I had several ideas about what to make for my video, and decided to do a video recording of my grandfather. My grandfather's grandmother lived with him until her dead when he was 11 years. The remarkable thing about her was that she was a slave, and she remembered when Abraham Lincoln freed abolished slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation. For Black History month, I have had my grandfather come in to my class and recount her stories, but I thought it would be even better to record them, so that they can be told even after he is gone.

Week 6, Thing 14

VoiceThread was really neat, and I look forward to using it in my classroom. Earlier in class I had come across a blog of a teacher who uses it to encourage writing. I think it would be an incentive for students to illustrate and then narrate a written piece of work. In third grade we also introduce and practice summarization of text all year long. I teach it summaries with a chant I created and graphics to help them remember all the needed elements. I'm thinking of putting in the graphics, and then having the students record what the graphic represents. Then, I can also have them record a summary of a selection with VoiceThread. I just think adding the technology and the opportunity for them to speak into a microphone and hear themselves would be a huge motivation.
I, however, was not a fan of hearing myself after I recorded, nor would I use this for personal use.
Want to hear my salient thoughts? click here.

Week 5, Thing 13

I really liked the Google Documents for those Word docs, or Power Points that we are working on as a grade level. It gets so complicated emailing these docs, back and forth. This will allow us to have as Brittney says "a living, breathing document."
This is something that I will not use in the classroom with kids, but I will use this professionally.
I think it would also be great for our IB planner documents so they could be accessed at home and worked on on weekends and in the summer. After all, isn't it every one's dream to have work available to them anytime?

Week 5, Thing 12

Wiki's... So I actually think I have an idea of how this could be used in a practical way to make my life easier, and kill a few less trees in the process. I I am going to use my wiki for keeping track of the IB planner meetings we do at school. Instead of keeping a binder full of a hundred papers I have to riffle through, I can keep my grade level organized.
I also got a few ideas from other teacher sites on how to use a wiki in the classroom for literature circles.

Week 4, Thing 11

I really liked Wordle. I could not figure out how to use the Library Things tags in Wordle, but I thought it would be neat to do that at the beginning and end of a class read aloud. Students could predict what they thought the text would be about and at the end of the book you could discuss if they agreed with the key words, or see if they could think of some that were not listed.
I also thought it would be neat for students who always use the same words over and over to put it in a Wordle and then "show" them.
I thought Wordle was much easier to use than Tag Crowd, and I liked how easy it was to change the formatting and colors. I word clouded my blog and thankfully class and students were bigger than overwhelm!
City of Ember Wordle

Week 4, Thing 10

I loved the bookmarking! I thought that this was a really practical, useful, time saving application. I loved it for the suggestions of websites (reminded me of I-tunes) and the organization piece. I liked that I can bookmark from any computer using my account. Bye-bye to that days of a gum wrapper that I wrote down a great site url on.
I can see using this in the classroom when you are doing a class inquiry to bookmark sites you found informative and student friendly.

Week 3, Thing 9

I don't know how a person is to do their assigned job with all of the blogging, RSSing and twittering that are intended theoretically to make life "more simple."
I was again OVERWHELMED by the millions (literally) of people who are this site talking about nothing, including the teachers.
I found more people in search of answers, than people supplying answers. I did however, love the graphics on Twitter!

Week 3, Thing 8

I decided to post to Mrs.L because Laura and I talk frequently about what we are doing in this class. I also really liked how she took a new tool like Glogster and used it to create a great website page for parents that is both informative and creative.

Week 3, Thing 7

Okay so this posting is long overdue... ya missing a week in a class where I can't keep my head above water was a genius idea!!!
On the positive side, the video did explain to me what a P.L.N. is, and an RSS, which was awesome that I finally understood something in this class the first time I heard it. Yeah!
I can imagine that there are some good resources out there, and like that I can see what is new and what I haven't read.
Now for the negative, I can't keep up with the offline P.L.N.'s I have in my own building, so where I'm going to find time to keep up with a new network of hundreds? Well ...that's where the overwhelm comes in again. :-)
I am glad though that now when I hear P.L.N., and RSS, I can knowingly nod my head rather than looking like a "Little House on the Prairie" throwback.
And maybe, one day soon, this will all click and I will become a Twittering, RSS junkie.

Glogster

Week 2, Thing 5

I was really overwhelmed reading all the information on Wikipedia and had no clue what they were talking about. Then I decided to just play around and see if I could figure it out using my tried and true system of trail and error.
I loved all of the neat things I was able to create, including Warhol like images and trading cards for my students.
I will definitely keep using these sites both personally and in my classroom!

Week 2, Thing 4

I have never before this class been on Flickr. Wow! A person could spend hours looking at all of the amazing pictures it contains.

I selected this photo because fall is my favorite season, and there is no place I would rather be in the fall than New England. As a child, my family went every fall.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/slack12/280965067/sizes/m/

Credit: slack 12 http://www.flickr.com/photos/slack12/

As for Flickr, I found it easier to search in the search box than using the Tags and Groups, but that's probably because that is what I am most used to.

Okay... so here is my big confusion: When I selected this photo, the Creative Commons on it said that I must attribute the photo to the creator, it must be used only for non-commercial use and may not be transformed or altered. Based on last week with Fair Use, I figured I was falling in line, wouldn't be looking at prison time, and was all good. Then, I looked at slack 12's profile and it said that images should not be used without permission. So is this a violation?

I am completely confused and more and more sure that it was a mistake for me have been chosen for this class, since obviously a person should have come in with some prior knowledge of the subject.

Week 1, Thing 3

I always prided myself on being a law-abiding citizen. After watching the video on Fair Use, I found out that just because you can right click and save, does not mean that you should.
I said earlier that I'm all about the practical, and jail isn't practical for me at this juncture, so I was glad to learn all the different ways to make sure I am legally using materials.
It was a lot of information to go through, and I won't remember every scenario, but I got the basics down.
I did the Google Image search and my search results went from 5,470,000 to 334. Huge jump once I said I wanted images I had permission to use. I honestly never knew that there was an Advanced Image Search. I really liked how you could click on More Info. and find out the right parameters for your particular search so you were not in violation of copyright laws.
How can I use this?
When I was in school the big deal was plagiarism and citing what books you used. Now that students are creating music, videos, games, wikis, PowerPoint's and so on there is so much more to worry about. So I thought I could teach my third grade students about downloading only pictures they have usage rights to when we do our class PowerPoint's on plants. If they get in that habit now, they will be better able to understand as they do other projects that all resources they find online are not simply "up for grabs."

Week 1, Thing 2

Week 1, Thing 2
I had a great time creating my Avatar. It was like playing virtual paper dolls!
I got to thinking it would be really fun for students to create an Avatar of their own and then use it as a character in a piece of their writing. Another thing I thought would be neat is if they created Avatars to represent their groups/teams. Then I remembered that I had to set up a Yahoo account to make mine, so it probably isn't a feasible idea... at least at this point.

Week 1, Thing 1

Week 1, Thing 1-
What do I want to get out of this class?
Hum... well first I would like to be able to understand half of the lingo that was being used. I knew I was in trouble when I had no idea what a wiki was, and yet everyone else in the room was nodding their head like "Oh ya, a wiki. I've been creating those for years."
I am all about the practical. So what I really want from this class is to learn Web 2.0 skills that I can apply in my everyday life and in my classroom that are practical and meaningful.
That is what I hope I get out of this course.

First Post

After some random clicking, fifty questions, and a quick prayer... I now have my blogger page!
What was Mike thinking having me sign up for this class?
Laura and I barely know how to access our emails, let alone set up a "wiki."
Um... excuse me is a "wiki" something you buy in Hawaii as a souvenir for your friends?
Now I have my very own blog... perhaps I will become like the countless blogging friends I have who ramble on about nothing, day in and day out.