Thing #21

My Animoto Video

Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.

THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! I am so going to be having my students use this. To go through and produce my own slide show was so easy. Sign up, add images, and then pick a song. Animoto produces all by itself and if you don't like the layout it will remix it for you. How easy is that? I will so be doing that again. Plus my students could do this themselves for any sort of projects. LOVE IT and FREE, awesome!!!!!!!

Thing #20

Mr Lee, All I Do Is Learn,

This has to be my most favorite blog post yet. I was looking for songs to use for my PowerPoint project covering the rock cycle and I had came across Mr. Lee--Rock Cycle. After listening to that song I had to check out all of Mr. Lee rap mixes and this is my new favorite song. My kids and their teachers have adopted this as their new theme songs for LIFE!!! Enjoy
Yes there are many great things about these sites, I love how if you have a problem just go to YouTube.com and you will generally find some sort of video that will walk you step by step on ways to fix it. I have used it myself on many task around the house as well as for homework help. There are some problems, mostly inappropriate material for children. Like with most things on the web, if you take your time and look at all the material you will find videos and sites that are kid friendly and would be great to you within a classroom.

Thing #18

 I have found that when it comes to these blog activities I always try to figure out how I could use this new technology in my classroom, or with my students. Well I am not sure I really like either one of these sites for classroom use, but at the same time I understand that many young people are actively on these sites and it would probably be the easiest way to keep in touch with them. 

Right now for my "class" I am teaching 3rd. I don't know to many 3rd graders that are on facebook or twitter, but their parents are. If I was require to use these two sites I would probably set up class accounts, "MrsT'speeps" this is a link to my facebook account http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo . I would keep updated activities and information about what we are covering in each subject. It would also allow the students to log-on and check their daily folders to make sure they are working on the right material. If a student is out it will help the parents see what was missed and they would be able to contact other students if they are not understanding the material that was missed/reviewed. 

One thing I really disliked is all the drama that goes along with social networking. If you accept a friend and they end up bring negative energy to a page then you are left with that all over your wall, plus you never know what kids may say.The biggest problem is how easy it is to put FALSE information or FAKE PROFILE information out there.  They haven't learned that when something is put onto the internet then it is up there forever, even after you remove it from your page it can still be out there. 

Another negative feedback with twitter is, you are only allowed 140 characters, not much can be said in such a small number. It does allow you to hyperlink to other pages but I would really like to know more about the topic before being moved to another page, but I guess it is enough to try and find keywords. 

Overall I guess both of these sites can be used in a classroom environment but personally I don't really want such young studnets (some without proper supervision) out on the social networking sites. TO MUCH CAN HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thing #17

 I have never used the Delicious bookmarking before but I have to say I really enjoyed it. I like that it is like a social-share site for people. This will really come in handy when I start teaching. There has been many times while working on my projects, papers, and blogs I have referred back to Diigo.com to use some of the shared/tagged sites for ideas, information and interactive sites. This would be really helpful site to give the parents of students as well. If the child was struggling with a concept you could refer the parents there and tag certain sites for added review. I think I may end up recommending this site to my own childrens teachers.

 

Thing #16

Discovery Exercise:

1. Look at the intro pages for each of the customized start page tools and choose one to create your own customized start page. Add, delete, and re-arrange the features and widgets on your new homepage.
I used Google to customize my start page. It was a lot easier than what I thought it would be, just a few simple questions, picking a background theme, and then interest and widgets, that was it. As simple as making a casserole. I think it is kinda neat that I will have access to my start page on any computer since it is actually on my Google account rather than my personal desktop. Plus being able to constantly update it I am able to change it to fit my new needs and delete things when I no longer have use for them. 

2. Create an online calendar or to do list using one of the tools above.

My online calendar is made from Hotmail Calendar. After remembering my username for my email I was able to add all sorts of new activities to my calendar. Birthdays, doctor appointments, and test are now uploaded and I will get updates when a new event is approaching. 

Since I was also able to work on a TO-DO-LIST in Hotmail also, I went ahead and worked on that too. Simple is the only word I can think of. Click on TO-DO-LIST, then ADD, and type in whatever you have going on. I did my APA SPED Paper and when it is due, then I decide to input it as High Priority. This is really nice since most of us all have our emails setup to send notifications to our phones, I am constantly aware of upcoming activities and important events that as to be accomplished. 

• Did you find a tool that has some uses for you at the school or at home? Which tool(s) would you recommend to others?

Yes I think all of these tools will have uses for me at home and school. As a teacher you have to stay very organize and have all of your deadlines set. By using the online calendars I would be in constant contact with it anytime I would have to check to see when something is due or when an upcoming test is approaching. Also the TO-DO-LIST is nice to have that way I know when I have an extra little something that needs to be worked in before a certain date. Plus if I were to do one class calendar then I could print off additional copies, one for each student.Then there is one less reason for the students to use for why their research paper isn't done. Or why they didn't study properly for a test. By having all the test dates and paper dates on a calendar parents are also able to see what will be covered in case that student is out sick. Between wiki pages, blogs, calendars, and online TO-DO-LIST there are to many products available to teachers, parents, and students not to be able to communicate properly. 

Thing #15

I really enjoyed this activity. I liked being able to go on and add information to the wiki page and also to know that I could use it in the classroom to see how much the children are learning throughout the year. At the beginning of the year have the students write all the information they know about a topic without looking it up. Then throughout the year have the students update and edit any new information the learn about that topic. Then at the end of the year have them to go back and reread all the changes they have made and see all the information that they have learned. Or see all the misinformed information they had about that topic. It would also be good for a class research project. Have each student research a certain information for a project and then upload the information onto the wiki page and see what each other came up with. Then they could each load parts of the project and work to finish it as a group.

Thing #14

I found these to be very similar to the spiderwebs we did as kids for papers. Where you place your main idea in the center and then branch your different paragraph topics out to the side of the main idea. These are very helpful when you are trying to find ways of working your paper/project into a whole. I personally still find myself using these from time to time when it comes  time to come up with ideas for papers. I will do some basic research to see if I can come up with enough information on a topic to decide if that topic is worth writing about. There is nothing worse then to but in 5 hours of research and then discovering that there just isn't enough out there to write that 10 page paper you need. The new flowcharts and mind maps would be very useful in the classroom since so much is done on the computers now. A child is more likely to be willing to spend the time working on making a mind map to map out their research.