Bookmarking on Delicious was not difficult. I'm sure I haven't even scratched the surface of the possible uses for Delicious, but what I have seen is very useful and easy. One thing I used the Delicious bookmarks for was to look up what others have bookmarked for the region we plan to visit on vacation this summer. It turned up some attractions I wouldn't have otherwise heard of.
I used Delicious to look up info for a poetry unit. I searched for an author I liked and found several good sites. I clicked on the box for the # of people who have also bookmarked that site and looked at other educational sites they had bookmarked. It felt a little weird - like I was peeking into their private collection. It was quite helpful, though, because I found several other cool websites.
I made one mistake on the assignment this week. I accidentally clicked to import my bookmarks from Firefox to my Delicious account. This turned out OK because when you import they are private (marked with a lock symbol) until you click share. So no harm was done! I will tag and share these as time allows.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Thing 7a
I would like to share a few interesting items I found on my Google Reader. The first is Minute Monologues. These are one minute readings or recitations designed to make students focus on tone, expression, and body language. I think it would work well with my resource classes to improve fluency. The name of the book is Magnificent Monologues for Kids (Sandcastle Publishing, 1999)
Another great idea which I plan to use is the Step Book for parts of speech. Some of you may call this a flip book. The students write one part of speech on each "step". Inside they can put examples they find in their reading, science, social studies, etc. It's designed to be an ongoing activity. I think it would be quite helpful for my students, and much more fun than a bunch of grammar worksheets.
One item of interest is a TED talk "Dan Ariely: Why we think it's OK to cheat and steal" You may want to check this one out if you have a problem with cheating in your classroom or if you are concerned about our lack of morals in society.
Another great idea which I plan to use is the Step Book for parts of speech. Some of you may call this a flip book. The students write one part of speech on each "step". Inside they can put examples they find in their reading, science, social studies, etc. It's designed to be an ongoing activity. I think it would be quite helpful for my students, and much more fun than a bunch of grammar worksheets.
One item of interest is a TED talk "Dan Ariely: Why we think it's OK to cheat and steal" You may want to check this one out if you have a problem with cheating in your classroom or if you are concerned about our lack of morals in society.
Thing 14
I used Wordle and 30boxes. I did not care for the 30boxes. To me it was more trouble than it was worth. I can hand write on my calendar much quicker than entering all that data on the web. I can see how it might be useful for super-social people to stay connected, though.
I did enjoy Wordle. My son, 8th grade at Kimbrough, used Wordle for an assignment in Science. He had to input important words about the Periodic Table. He enjoyed that assignment Other uses might include listing character traits about a main character, physical properties of an element, or descriptions of countries or landforms.
You can see my Learning 2.0 Wordle on my wiki.
I did enjoy Wordle. My son, 8th grade at Kimbrough, used Wordle for an assignment in Science. He had to input important words about the Periodic Table. He enjoyed that assignment Other uses might include listing character traits about a main character, physical properties of an element, or descriptions of countries or landforms.
You can see my Learning 2.0 Wordle on my wiki.
Thing 13
As you can see at the side of my blog, I used the happy face generator and mosaic maker. Happy face generator was so easy! I'm thinking I could use it in my classroom to post student expectations, homework assignments, upcoming events, etc. Also it would be a fun addition to a classroom newsletter.
The mosaic maker was a little trickier, but not too bad. I used family photos to make a mosaic. I had to upload my photos to the mosaic maker. One thing I was disappointed with is that some of my photos wouldn't work because they were sideways. I suppose I needed to edit/rotate them on my computer's photo software and then upload. I was just hoping the mosaic maker had that editing ability, but it didn't. Anyway, I ended up changing out a few of the photos to get all of them facing the right direction. A couple of classroom uses for mosaic maker that I thought of were: at the beginning of the year the students could use it to tell about themselves using their own or flickr photos, or students could make a mosaic to go with a biography.
I also went to the spell with flickr sight and made one but could not get it to upload to my blog. I did get it to upload to my wiki so you can see it there.
The mosaic maker was a little trickier, but not too bad. I used family photos to make a mosaic. I had to upload my photos to the mosaic maker. One thing I was disappointed with is that some of my photos wouldn't work because they were sideways. I suppose I needed to edit/rotate them on my computer's photo software and then upload. I was just hoping the mosaic maker had that editing ability, but it didn't. Anyway, I ended up changing out a few of the photos to get all of them facing the right direction. A couple of classroom uses for mosaic maker that I thought of were: at the beginning of the year the students could use it to tell about themselves using their own or flickr photos, or students could make a mosaic to go with a biography.
I also went to the spell with flickr sight and made one but could not get it to upload to my blog. I did get it to upload to my wiki so you can see it there.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Thing 12
Well, creating the slideshow wasn't too bad. Embedding was the hard part for me! I finally got my slideshow onto my wiki, but I still can't get it into my blog. I googled "How to embed video into a wiki" and found a nice tutorial that helped. Did I miss the part about videos also being called widgets?
My slideshow is a vocabulary lesson for flying - hovering, fluttering, soaring, gliding. This took me a very long time and I am rather frustrated with myself. I'm hoping the next thing will be a bit less time consuming and frustrating for me.
My slideshow is a vocabulary lesson for flying - hovering, fluttering, soaring, gliding. This took me a very long time and I am rather frustrated with myself. I'm hoping the next thing will be a bit less time consuming and frustrating for me.
Thing 11
Thing 11 was confusing to me. Too much information and choices! I couldn't figure out how to download pictures to a file, so I finally just copied the links into my wiki. Also, at first I selected photos on Flickr that were C and not cc, so I had to go back and reselect. Ugh! Looking at all the beautiful photos was inspiring, though.
My planned project is to teach vocabulary with pictures - flying, soaring, gliding, hovering, floating. Flickr is an excellent tool with lots of possibilities. I liked the idea of using the photos to help tell a story.
My planned project is to teach vocabulary with pictures - flying, soaring, gliding, hovering, floating. Flickr is an excellent tool with lots of possibilities. I liked the idea of using the photos to help tell a story.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Thing 10
I hadn't noticed the cc before, but I will now. This opens a floodgate of new possibilities for students' projects. We've moved way past clip art! Beautiful photos, music clips and videos are out there for free.
I haven't been using much of the internet for my classes - my room isn't really set up for that. But now with all the resources that are available on the web, I think I could work it out. My students would relate well to video clips from the internet. It would grab their attention much better than I could.
A potential negative of using Creative Commons is making sure to follow the restrictions on the cc materials.
I don't currently share content on the web - I haven't known how to create the material or how to share it until now. This can be a great outlet for my creativity. Thanks Learning 2.0!
I haven't been using much of the internet for my classes - my room isn't really set up for that. But now with all the resources that are available on the web, I think I could work it out. My students would relate well to video clips from the internet. It would grab their attention much better than I could.
A potential negative of using Creative Commons is making sure to follow the restrictions on the cc materials.
I don't currently share content on the web - I haven't known how to create the material or how to share it until now. This can be a great outlet for my creativity. Thanks Learning 2.0!
Thing 9
I had fun in the sandbox! It wasn't as complicated as I thought it might be. I always feel so proud when I've learned one more new "thing"! I've enjoyed looking at my classmates wikis, too. When I first heard about Thing 9 and the sandbox, I immediately thought of my kids when they were little - they are 13 and 11 now - playing in their sandbox. One day they decided to get out the water hose to make mud pies. What a mess, but oh the fun they had!!! I knew I needed a certain picture for my wiki, so I went through the old photo albums and found the one, scanned it, and uploaded it into my wiki page: Playing in the Mud. Take a look at my cuties!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Thing 8
Three of the wikis that I explored were the Holocaust Wiki Project, Room 15 Wiki, and Discovery Utopias.
In the Holocaust Wiki there were student projects that each told the history of a family from a European country and then gave options for what the family would do during a Nazi invasion. The reader clicks on an option and is taken to another page where the family dies or faces another set of choices. It was addictive! There was obviously a lot of research and technical work on the part of the students to make this happen. I thought it was very effective and a good way to make the Holocaust more real to the students. The only thing I would change is the appearance of the wiki - it was very plain. The use of different fonts, backgrounds, graphics, etc. would have made it more pleasing to the eyes.
In Discovery Utopias, the students each created their own ideal society. They had to explain the culture, economics, natural resources, etc. There were resources for the students on the wiki for the project requirements and books about other "utopias". I thought this was an outstanding project for teaching social studies, literature, and writing.
Mr. Lindsay (formerly Room 15 Wiki) was one of my favorite discoveries. Mr. Lindsay, a 6th grade teacher, has created an outstanding wiki for his class! It has links for homework, student blogs, news, brainteasers, curriculum, etc. There are also educational videos on the wiki. There is so much information for the students and parents about the material that is being learned in his class. Plus it is all very organized, visually appealing, and easy to navigate. It is obvious that he loves his job and the new technology he is using!
I would love to have a classroom wiki like Room 15 where I could give info to students and parents and have it remain as a resource for review. I would also like to have my students blog about what they have learned, or use a new writing skill on our classroom blog.
This was a fun "thing"!
In the Holocaust Wiki there were student projects that each told the history of a family from a European country and then gave options for what the family would do during a Nazi invasion. The reader clicks on an option and is taken to another page where the family dies or faces another set of choices. It was addictive! There was obviously a lot of research and technical work on the part of the students to make this happen. I thought it was very effective and a good way to make the Holocaust more real to the students. The only thing I would change is the appearance of the wiki - it was very plain. The use of different fonts, backgrounds, graphics, etc. would have made it more pleasing to the eyes.
In Discovery Utopias, the students each created their own ideal society. They had to explain the culture, economics, natural resources, etc. There were resources for the students on the wiki for the project requirements and books about other "utopias". I thought this was an outstanding project for teaching social studies, literature, and writing.
Mr. Lindsay (formerly Room 15 Wiki) was one of my favorite discoveries. Mr. Lindsay, a 6th grade teacher, has created an outstanding wiki for his class! It has links for homework, student blogs, news, brainteasers, curriculum, etc. There are also educational videos on the wiki. There is so much information for the students and parents about the material that is being learned in his class. Plus it is all very organized, visually appealing, and easy to navigate. It is obvious that he loves his job and the new technology he is using!
I would love to have a classroom wiki like Room 15 where I could give info to students and parents and have it remain as a resource for review. I would also like to have my students blog about what they have learned, or use a new writing skill on our classroom blog.
This was a fun "thing"!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Thing 7
Commenting has been a challenge for me. I often second guess myself and bog down with editing content and mechanics. It's scary to have my thoughts out there for anyone to read. I do, however, realize the importance of commenting now. It helps to validate the author's views and encourages him or her to keep on blogging. Also, the comments from other readers add value to the original blog. Two heads are better than one, so to speak. Blogging is definitely much more personal and interactive than just reading an article. You can be connected even if you are thousands of miles away from each other.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Thing #6
This assignment was fairly time consuming. There is so much out there on the web that it takes awhile to sift through it. I did find some pretty cool feeds. One of these is Suite 101: Primary School Articles. It has lots of lesson plan ideas, such as St. Patrick's Day math and using Irish Folk Tales to teach a variety of reading skills. I know I will be checking in regularly to spice up my lessons.
Another one is The Leaky Cauldron blog, "Reading, Writing, and Chocolate". Being a huge Harry Potter fan, this one is really fun. It connects current issues in education to characters and lessons learned in the Harry Potter series. I especially liked Doris' blog to then President-Elect Obama on education reform, and the blog Why Fred and George Struggled at Hogwarts, which references the book Boys Adrift by Dr. L. Saks. This looks like an extremely beneficial book, and I plan to pick up a copy.
Another one is The Leaky Cauldron blog, "Reading, Writing, and Chocolate". Being a huge Harry Potter fan, this one is really fun. It connects current issues in education to characters and lessons learned in the Harry Potter series. I especially liked Doris' blog to then President-Elect Obama on education reform, and the blog Why Fred and George Struggled at Hogwarts, which references the book Boys Adrift by Dr. L. Saks. This looks like an extremely beneficial book, and I plan to pick up a copy.
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