Tool #11

I am very excited to be talking with my students about Digital Citizenship. For me, the best way to teach it, is to model it. I think some of the websites and links listed under tool #11 would be beneficial to read to my students. I think we as a class should be discussing formal reference sites versus blogs or someone's personal website. I would first model it, but using student comments to guide the lesson. Asking students,"where should I start?", "how do you know that information is true?", "how can I verify what I read?", "where did the information come from?" and so forth. We, as a class, should discuss comments written on the web...is the comment kind, opinionated, bullying, rude...is that okay?? Children need to understand they that they should feel safe on the web, and if not, they should be telling a parent or adult. Students should understand the importance of not using other's words without formal citing. They should be taught how to cite and when to cite. All of this will come with time, repetitive practice, discussion, and modeling. I've also been thinking about having students create a power point or iMovie about safely navigating the web, finding reliable sources of info, and being a great digital citizen. I also found a website early that had a pledge/contract for students to sign about promises made for being a good "digital citizen", however, I didn't bookmark it at the time and can't seem to find it. I liked the wording that was used, and I thought it was very kid friendly. For me, teaching Digital Citizenship will be an everyday thing. Just like it was stated in many of the blogs, it's something we should be teaching continuously because the advances in technology will only continue as time goes on.

Tool #10

Sooo many wonderful apps! There are quite a few that I'm addicted, too! Of the free apps listed the ones that grabbed my attention immediately and that I played around with were Math Drills Lite, Advanced Vocab Genius, Glow Coloring, and Read Me Stories. Each has there advantages...most are extremely interactive, full of color, and keep you engaged. However, I didn't think some of them weren't as challenging as they could be. Some of my personal favorite apps are Google Earth, Wikipanion, Word of the Day, Fact of the Day, Paper Toss, Art Lite, Sudoku, and so on. I could go on forever... Apps are great tools for enhancing everyday learning. There very versatile, easy to find and use, and can help students further there knowledge. I think having an array of apps within my classroom for students to use, will not only peek their interest in a topic or subject, but push them to learn more. Art Lite is great for students who want to learn about different types of art, lots of facts, pictures, and explanations. Word of the Day and Fact of the Day is a great way to advance one's vocabulary and one's understanding of the things around them. It's everyday knowledge that just sticks with you, especially when it comes to you through an app. Math drills...you can't go wrong there. I like doing it just to challenge myself. :-)

Tool #9

Executing Jing may take some more practice for me... There are quite a few features to learn more about. I did like that I could add in captions or arrows to point to something particular or important on the screen. I practiced by google mapping directions to my new apartment for a friend who is coming to visit. For the most part, I found it pretty easy to navigate. This tool would be very handy for teaching students how to create a Photostory, finding a particular place on a map, discussing reliable resources found on the net, or when chatting with friends or colleagues. Being able to post a link to them immediately or explain something with visuals, without actually being there...is pretty awesome!!

Skype is another great tool for communication. I personally do not have it downloaded, but my old roommate uses it to talk with a friend of her's who is currently in the military. She's also got quite a few of her family members who live out of state hooked on it. I definitely think this is something worth trying. I jotted down some of the websites listed for educators who want to communicate with other educators. I think it would be so awesome to view another teacher's class from around the world. It would be a great experience for us all.

Tool #8

I love watching videos on youtube! Always entertaining! I think teachertube and schooltube are great resources to find school appropriate material. I also found them helpful when trying to come up with new ideas/activities to use in the classroom. The two videos I chose to place on my blog represent me. I chose one Charlie Brown video and a video of my nephew doing a card trick. I plan to use the Charlie Brown video for a writing activity. Since he does not speak, his feelings and thoughts must be interpreted by those watching. I want my students to watch the video and then write about his actions, or emotions, or maybe writing captions to go along with the video. I would also like to see how the students view Charlie Brown and what he represent...

The video of my nephew gives student a chance to look into my life. I'm very proud of my nephew...he's a cool kid. I think sharing photos and/or videos of family with my students is extremely important. I can also give them a little insight as to how Cam learned to do this trick. It took time, patience, and lots and lots of practice. He never gave up!

Tool #7

I have created several iMovies over the past couple years. I always seem to have to reteach myself the steps for adding in texts, or music, or getting it to upload to the internet, etc. This time it was a little bit easier...however, I did get quite frustrated when applying titles to particular clips. I still couldn't get it to post one on the last clip of my iMovie. The iMovie process itself takes some time, but I always enjoy the outcome. In college, we had to use this feature to video ourselves teaching. I also used this feature toward the end of my student teaching to create an iMovie for the students. They loved seeing themselves on the big screen...its truly a great motivational tool. I will definitely be using this feature in the classroom this year. I've got several ideas brewing at the moment. When we study ecosystems and habitats, I'd like to group the kiddos into partners/groups, and have them come up with a way to teach the class about the ecosystem or habitat their group was assigned. From this, I can make one iMovie that the whole class can enjoy.

Tool #6

I looked through PBWorks, Wikispaces, and Google Sites, and decided Wikispaces was for me. I liked how easy it was to navigate, post, and edit the profile. After reading some sample wikis, I saw how useful wikis can be. Whether its a discussion board, daily schedule list, podcast, or an ongoing collaborative story, communication is happening through the wikis. I definitely think wikis will be useful for posting comments on specific topics or books being read. I think it is a great tool for getting a group of students to work together on creating a story or research paper, or maybe even writing a poem. I think it will be quite useful during science experiments. Students can record observations, make predictions, add hyperlinks, and yet, at the same time view other students observations and predictions. In this way, students will be able to guide their own learning, and continually form new ideas.

Tool #5

I chose Diigo as my social networking site. It was very easy to navigate, and I found two great websites within 10 minutes. The tags I chose to use were chapter books and math games. One website was http://www.abcya.com/third_grade_computers.htm and the other was http://www.greatschools.org. ABCya.com has really awesome educational games...totally school appropriate. These games are also an educational iPhone app. Greatschools.org has a running blog at the bottom of each page. Lots of parent comments...and over 14,000 Facebook members.

Tool #4

Wow! I feel like I've been living in a cave. I did not know about Google docs or Google reader. I am very excited about Google docs. I think it will be a great tool for organizing data, preparing for large events, aiding students in the writing process, sharing of ideas/knowledge, collaborating with colleagues on formal documents, and so forth. I really like the idea of students being able to help each other throughout the writing process, along with my team, guiding me through my own. Introducing Google reader within the classroom, and having students use it on a regular basis, is definitely one of my goals. Just using it today, I was amazed how quickly I was notified of changes or updates to a topic I'm interested in. It was much easier to plug in my favorite news stations, and then go to google reader to check updates instead of visiting each stations website. It's a one stop shop for all the updates I needed!

Tool #3

So, I just added a Wordle and a pic to my blog. It took me quite a while to decide on both, and I know they will change in the near future. The picture represents past and future education, along with a love for the University of Texas. It definitely represents a very important part of my life. I also got to read some of the blogs on Flickr, which were quite interesting. I also really enjoyed viewing other's word clouds, so using Wordle was my next sample choice. I think word clouds help students express their emotions and views, and it is an awesome tool for continued vocabulary building and concept mapping.

Tool #1

Hey guys! I just created my first blog. It was quite fun creating the layout of the blog, choosing the colors, and creating a Voki character to represent myself. I was very surprised as to how easy it was to set everything up. I think this will be an awesome tool to use in and out of the classroom as an efficient means of sharing thoughts and opinions on everyday topics. The students will definitely enjoy creating a character to represent themselves, and being able to read posts from friends, teachers, parents, etc. I plan to post different topics two to three times a week, and keep a running blog between all. It will be great!