Week 5 ... I think....

      RSS feeds are pretty keen.  As long as you can sort through the feeds and find quality stuff.  Having information delivered to your doorstep is a real boon.  I think it would also be a great source of information for students, as long as they can find appropriate sources. Which worries me a bit.  I've been slowly getting my students on google and once one of them found out that through customization they can add Yo Mama jokes as one of the customization bits in igoogle.  That wouldn't be an issue, except once we have 1-1 technology, will students be on task or looking at things not-so important.  
     However,  suppose learning how to manage your time on the internet is an important skill students will need to learn.

     As for the photo sharing, that was kinda fun.  I got to finally go play more with Flickr.  I've had an account since '06 and really haven't done much with it.  Granted, it's my personal one and I will probably need to make another one for school.  I'm a firm believer of keeping my school and personal information separate.
     As for how I would use it, I can see using it to have students create stories from pictures, take virtual trips or share stories about life in America.  I've been inspired to contact some of my friends overseas to see if they wouldn't be interested in doing a classroom connection.  I think it would be awesome to try and get my students in touch with other students around the world. Especially being ELL, it may inspire them to try harder if they have an actual audience.  I know I would strive to make fewer mistakes.

Web 2.0 Tools

Well... this class is giving me a renewed interest in trying this with my students.  Because I teach ELL, I have smaller numbers.... so it may make it easier to get into the computer lab, or let my students use my computer on a rotating basis to do things online.  The problem comes if I want to get them all on at the same time to do something.  I introduced them to TweenTribune.com at the beginning of the year with hopes of doing   more with it... but unfortunately, it's so difficult to get computer time.  

The articles I've been reading for class gave me a few ideas on how to make it work as well.  I have a few students who really don't care how poor their writing is... but if I can get the principal or the vice-principal on a class blog site or forum, I think that would help.   Even if they don't really ever look at it, just knowing that they're members might encourage them to write.
I also found another site recently called pixton.com which is for making online comic strips and is all drag and drop.

Which reminds me, I keep meaning to make a google doc with my non-school account for all of the links that we all use. I think it would be great to get all of my classmates to post the links that they've actually used for something so with some comments instead of finding what we thing is a great site, bookmarking it and then forgetting it.  Plus,when this class is over, I (and anyone else) who used a different account to link to it will be able to access it.

My mind is on the holiday... so that may explain why I'm all over in this post.

Session 6 - Digital Therapy

Wow.... class went by quick. Being busy at school and home sure makes your head spin.  I look forward to having a little more time over winter break to play with some of the sites we used in class, as well as another site I found during class.  I was looking for a fun way to get kids to write.  Prezi is defiantly high up on the list in my eyes, but I also found Pixton.com, which is a really, really cool drag and drop comic strip website.  Best part is individual accounts are free, although you can sign up as a teacher and get a class in for about $50 if my memory is correct.

It is also interesting to listen to the reviews of all of the keen gadgets out there.  The one that I really thought was super cool was actually when Louie pulled up that printer that would scan an insane about of paper into PDF files in a short time.  I see this as being the future.  The only problem is, all of the digital book readers can't change the font size on PDFs like they can with digital books. You can zoom in, but then you have to scroll left to right in addition to up and down to read it. I want a hand held device that will allow me to zoom in and adjust the number of pages, just like a digital book does.  Then, I would be the first in line to buy one.  I've got a TON of PDFs.     Does anyone out there use a Kindle, Nook or other device that can comment on how PDFs look on them?

Class #5

I've been soo busy this week I forgot to blog.  So I apologize to those who were looking for a place to comment.

I really enjoyed seeing all of the differen Prezis.  I really like them and want to figure out a way to use them in class.   The only problem is that we don't have enough computers in our school to actually get it easily or frequently enough for a project like that.  I am also one of the few teachers w/out a Smart Board in my school.  Ironic since I'm such a nerd.

I have really enjoyed this class and there is a lot I will be taking away with me. Some will end up in the classroom and other stuff will just be for me.

Class #4

Whew.... that was a lot of info.  I am looking forward to the week off to do a little work.  I like all of the sites we've been learning about and can think of many different ways of using several of them in class.  

I think making a Pecha Kucha will be challenging, yet fun.  I also am looking forward to the Prezi one where I get to "brag" about how cool my photos are.

All that being said... I still wish I had a little more time to play around with all of the websites we've been going to.  

Session Three

Well... I'm liking the class.  We've got a lot of fun, creative people and there is a lot of information and ideas being shared.  The websites we've been sent to for class have been really good for the most part.  It's great seeing various examples of what we're learning about.
That being said, I am beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed.  There are so many websites to visit and write about that I feel like I don't have the time to appropriately check out each site. I don't want to have to skip some of them or not spend enough time on them because I've got other things going on at work or at home.   I'm sure we all have the same problems... and I don't want to make excuses, but I think you understand my position.

I am getting a little excited to make my own digital story.  Looking at the suggestions in the digital story telling book, they say no more than 500 words.  Wow.... 500 words... that's it.  That's not a lot of words.   Plus I'm trying to think of what kind of story to do.  Should I do one I can show my students (and then have them make their own), should I do one for family or one for my zombie march site to help promote it.  It's really hard to say.  Even after I decide what... I'm not sure what really to talk about that has a surprise or twist to it or emotion.  There is definitely a lot to think about.   I'll be doing a lot this weekend on that, along with lesson planning, delivering Cub Scout popcorn, etc.

Why can't we have 4 day work weeks w/ 1 day to catch up!?!?!

Digital Stories & My Class

I am trying to get my students to write more and not think of writing as a chore.  I think the ability to use technology as a vehicle to help the reach the goal of writing.  Right now I am thinking that posterous.com would be a really great way to get kids to keep a visual journal with a few sentences or paragraph explanation. Or using some other site that would also be equally stimulating to get them to write.  A great site for online news stories that appeal to younger kids is TweenTribune.com.  Not only can kids read the stories, they can post their thoughts and respond to other comments.  All these tools have awesome potential...but the only wall I hit is the lack of available technology for my students.

I also like the ideas in the PresentationZen book.  I think all of the ideas make sense.  However, putting them into practice is a whole other thing.  There definitely is the temptation to sit down and do everything on the computer from the get go.   However, a lot is lost, too.   When you type, you can go back and delete whole sections that may have included a really good idea kernal that will never see fruition because it was deleted, never to be revisited.  I myself have beeing trying to do journaling everyday after my classes about how class went and what I can do to make it go better.  Sitting down and writing about the day, away from a screen is defiantly theraputic.  Especially when you're trying something new or teaching something new for the first time. It's that reflection time that is missing when I type that is the difference I think. I definitely think a little more before handwriting something then when I type something.  


Needless to say.... I'm excited to see where all of these new ideas and resources take me, and eventually my students and how they learn.