Thing 22

Just completed some exploration in Classroom 2.0 and Ning. While nosing around Classroom 2.0 I happened into a forum on Wikis and using Voicethreads in the classroom. One second grade class had used a voicethread with pictures from a history related fieldtrip to describe the things they had seen and learned. I know that our second graders on main campus have done something similar to this with a unit of study on Native Americans. We are headed to the Atlanta History Center soon. I would like to attempt something like this with my kids but being at the end of the school year and given that I would be using a new tool, I’m not sure that I have the courage to try. I’m still thinking about it. Maybe I should join Classroom 2.0 and ask for advice! I also found other voicethread projects with kids doing book talks and one where the students had written their own book, scanned it in and presented it with a voicethread. I know this blog is supposed to be about social networking in a more holistic way but I was fascinated with the work with voicethreads. 

I think it is important to feel supported in your endeavors with your students. Classroom 2.0 is a good source to use to look for resources, input from others, and just help or affirmation in general.

I had with fun with NING but doubt that I will be using it with my work in the classroom. I did a search for Auburn University and had fun looking at pages that are out there. I can see that this might be great for use with older students. There were connection to pages similar to Facebook or My Space.  As educators we need to be very aware of the positive and negative aspects of social networking. It is here to stay and we need to teach young people to use it wisely and safely.

Thing 21

I just spent too much time, way too much time on my Pageflake. I made the first one just for the experience but then I started thinking about the ways I might use this in my teaching. Decided to make a Pagecast for my students to use this summer. It was fun and I got way too involved finding bookmarks for them. Yikes! Please check it out! Using Pageflakes might be a great way to organize activities   for students during a unit of study. Since you can allow others to edit or add to the page, collaborating would be easy as well. I had fun with this and look forward to using it in the future. Continue reading »

Thing 20

Explored google docs today. Wrote a simple word document and shared it with my colleagues in second grade. We are working on a farm unit and are planning a research project for the farm teams to work on cooperatively. I’ve never used google docs with my two co-teachers but it will be interesting to see if they like planning the project using this web tool. I also explored making a presentation using google docs. It worked very much like power point.  I even tried importing pictures that I had downloaded from Flickr which was very easy to do. You do need to plan ahead and have you picture file ready for easy browsing for needed images. I think this tool is handy for planning a project for our three second grade classes to use.  I’m not sure I would try this with second graders, but teams of students could use this tool to make a group presentation instead of using power point. The advantage is that all team members could work on the project together at the same time.  Another way to use this would be when planning presentations to be presented to an entire  school. Here I am thinking of Open House, Parent Night, etc. Using google docs would make such a collaborative effort mucn easier.  Today Shelley and I discussed using google docs to plan ways to introduce our PK-2nd grade teachers to the uses for Edline.  Planning using google docs seems much quicker and more efficient than plain email with attachments.  Personally I might use google docs when planning a party or other event with friends. How much easier to share information, assignment, duties with this tool.

Thing 19

Explored YouTube and TeacherTube. On YouTube I found a couple of videos that I might be able to use when my class studies early Americans and another one that might be useful with a study of penguins. I also found a video about making an origami boat.  I am not sure that I would use YouTube as a regular  tool for research for things for my class. Even with the filter I found that I had to be very careful while searching for appropriate material. However the video I found on funny cats was hilarious but definitely not appropriate for my kids! For fun i also found a video on gymnastics which was a sport I was involved in because of my youngest daughter.  When I visited TeacherTube I decided to research place value a s I am working on that topic with my students at present. I dound an interesting and useful video that someone is producing as part of a series. I never considered doing such a project before. After viewing this little video I can see how it would be a fun challenge for a teacher and her class to take on.  There are many topics that we study during the course of the school year. It would not be hard to select one to produce as a video. Students would be teaching others what they have learned. What a wonderful way to learn!
Download Video: Posted by robertsharp at TeacherTube.com.

Thing 18

Okay, this was easier than I thought! Everything that I read told me what I found to be true that writng what I was going to say took way longer than the recording. Well that would have been true if I hadn’t kept recording over and over again. It’s funny how hard it is to read into a recording. It’s still no where near perfect but here it is any way. 

Thing 17

I am excited about podcasting and the limitless possibilities for use with my second graders. My first experience was earlier this fall when my students made a podcast to go along with a google earth project.  This project was done in the lab with one of our tech support faculty.  Recently I actually made  a podcast with my students in connection with our study of Helen Keller and a visit byFiona Page to our school.  I was pleased to discover that I could manage this all by myself!!!

In connection with this assignment I previewed Education Podcast Network and located Radio WillowWeb which features a variety of podcast by elementary age students from 1st grade up. Listening to some of these gave me ideas for use with my own students. We are beginning a farm unit and I would like my students to produce a podcast to accompany research on farm animals. I also subscribed to a fellow teacher’s podcasts.She uses these podcasts in a variety of ways.  Her ideas provide a spring board for me as they are practical and  doable with younger students. I also looked at Podcast Alley and found one podcast on using podcasts in connection with field trips  . I had planned on doing this with an upcoming fieldtrip to the Tully Smith House so this information was valuable to me. 

I think podcasting is a wonderful tool to use with students. I look forward to finding new ways to use podcasting to make learning in my classroom more fun, interactive, and valuable.

Thing 16

I just finished visiting 43 Things. I set three goals and discovered that many people share some common goals with me.  It was fun to explore some common and some uncommon goals. I particularly liked one  goal in which the writer wanted to sit on a beautiful beach and enjoy a cool drink! I completely agree. I  liked that you could check out goals similar to your and cheer people on. This tool might be useful for professionals working together, such as our group, to set goals, track progress, and cheer each other on. It is reassuring to see that many other people share similar goals as you. I did not like the advertisements that popped up along the side.  That is pet peeve of mine.  As this is not a completely safe site for students I can’t see a use for it with my class, but as a social, communication tool among adults it seems fine. The main use I could see for me would be professional goal setting with other teachers either just at Woodward or in the wider community of educators.

Thing 15

Visited and explored Library Thing.  I ‘m not sure that I would use this tool to catalog my entire classroom library. That would be quite a task as I have lots of books. I might consider using this tool as a way to research books that might be used with a particular unit of study. I explored using Zeitgeist and chose to follow the book The Kite Runner which is one of my personal favorites. I liked the suggestions that Library thing provided for futher reading.  I can also see that this would be a good tool for use with either a personal or professional book club.  I thought it was funny to think that you might find a soulmate from making connections with other readers using Library thing!!  I don’t thnik I will join Library Thing due to the fee and I’m not sure I would use it enough to justify the expense but I can see the usefullness for those who do. 

Thing 14

I gotin of carried away and added quite a few site to my delicious account. I looked at one of Shelley’s tags and found a site written by a second grade teacher in the form of blogs about her class. I also added many of my own favorite sites that I already use. I have these in my favorites file on my desktop but it is nice to have them available when I am at home or other places. This seemed easy to do and I think I will chose this rather than using the old way of saving to a favorites file.

Thing 13

I explored a few cool tools. I looked at Mixbook and thought it might be a great tool for a class scrapbook that could be an on going project during the entire year. However, I had trouble figuring out exactly how to use the site. The site had many blogs on ways to use this web tool. Perhaps I need to take more time to read and figure it out, but I am feeling pressed for time right now.  I also took a look at another tool calledWriteboard. This site makes it possible for several collaborators to work on a project together. Seems like it might be something like GoogleDocs.  Either of these tools would be great for collaboration between teachers on units of study. Letterpop would be useful for classroom newsletters. I currently use my homework page for this but perhaps a monthly newsletter would be a consideration for next year.  I also thought this could be used for project information for the students. Ther seem to be so many tools to use. Ideas come easy. I think finding the time to use them will be the challenge.