Melanie's Web 2.0 Course

I excited to say I was already familiar with Ning sites.  I’m currently a member of the Second Grade Teacher’s Club and a SMARTboard group on Ning.  Call me a nerd, but Second Grade Teacher’s Club is one of my favorite sites.    I frequently visit it and proteacher.net for ideas.  I’ve gotten tons of neat ideas and actual lesson from the sites.  They make my professional life much easier. The other teachers on these sites are so willing to share – it’s amazing!

There have been some huge concerns in SGTC about the new pricing guidelines (not sure if you will be able to see the discussion – I think you have to be a member to view the site) that will be announced on May 4.  I believe it has been free for educators until now.  I hope this site can stay around.

I like the was SGTC is organized by subject area.  I didn’t like that there was no division of topics in the Web 2.0 site.

Personally, I keep up with my favorite band on Ning as well.

Even before I got my SMARTboard, I knew I wanted  a set of the student response clickers.  I might have found a solution to that.  I’ll have to check it out.

In Free Technology for Teachers I learned about I learned about Microsoft Mouse Mischief.  It’s an add on for PowerPoint.  It allows teachers to put multiple choice questions into a presentation.  Students can answer the question using a mouse that is connected to the computer.

As I was researching a little more to be able to complete this post, I was disappointed.    This add on is only for PowerPoint 2007 and 2010.  I wonder when those new laptops will be coming??????

I wanted to find a blog that focused on arts to help me with arts integration. I found one called The Teaching Palette – Perfecting the Art of Education.

I really liked some of the suggestions made in a post called Create Your Own Detail Detective.  The gist of it is to have students look at artwork and look for specific details in the work.  You would do this by enlarging specific portions of the art work.  She gave directions for how to create your own lesson and linked to several websites where the activities have already been created for you.

I’ve not been good about checking the Google Reader.  I was so focused on getting caught up with all of the other tasks I let this one slide.  I think I ws overwhelmed even before I began.  Tonight I read through the Cool Cat Teacher Blog and saw couple of interesting things.

In the post Meet Your First Task Before You Meet Your Email, the author had just finished reading Upgrade Your Life:  The Lifehacker’s Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better.  I’m pretty organized but REALLY struggle with time management.  She posted about one tip she really liked that I think I will try.   She had learned that the most productive do not start their day reading their email.  I do check my email first thing and leave it open all day…

The suggestion was when you leave school for the day to leave a folder in the middle of your desk.  In that folder, you should put the most important thing you have to do in the morning.  Further, it suggested setting specific times to check email. The author checks her email 3 times a day.

She also referenced a video to help organize email by having 3 folders – to do, for reference, and waiting on information from others.  Everything else should be deleted.  I don’t know that I could follow this exact system, but it’s something to think about.

In Class Chats: Connecting Elementary Kids in Powerful Ways (Spread the word!), she discussed a new project that is taking the place of a traditional postcard exchange.  Rather than exchanging postcards with students in other state, 3rd graders are going to be video conferencing with other 3rd graders in all 50 states.

Write a blog post reflecting on your Pageflakes experience. Include any ideas you have for using such a tool to support classroom learning or professional practice. What are some topics or themes you might explore in a Pageflakes environment? Please include “Thing 21″ in your post title.

I think this could be fun to do personally.  There were lots of things I would be interested to add.  I don’t think it is something that would work for us in Marietta City because there is so much focus on the fusion webpages.

I love the to do list.  When you check a task as done, it crosses of the task.  Students and parents could benefit from information provided on the stick note or the calendar.  Blogs can be added.

I felt comfortable using Google Docs.  Since the features are very much like Word and Excel, I think people will  not have the learning curve of using new software.

I did have one issue.  There was no save button.  My document appeared to save itself.  I shared it with Vilma.  She was able to update it.  The changes saved, but still there is no save button.

This is definitely more convenient than having to take a laptop or flash drive home or having to email a document to yourself so that you can work on it at home

Uses:

1.  Grade Level Inventory – when grade levels have to compile one inventory for textbooks and materials

2.  Group Presentations

3.  Event Planning – field trips, special events at school, parties

I’ve heard of podcasting.  I’ve seen the tab on my Zune software, but never used it.  I struggled getting started with this medium.  There were issues with my Zune software so I downloaded iTunes.  I struggled because I could see titles of the podcasts, but didn’t see descriptions.  However, I did find the descriptions during my second visit.  I did like that iTunes gave the length of the podcast.  I switched over to Learn Out Loud.  I like that that site gave descriptions of what I would hear.  I wish they had put the length of the audio.

I listened to Tech Chick Tips.  The “chicks” talked about websites that promote 21st century learning.  Stories for Children lets children listen to stories that focis on a reading comprehension skill and then asks questions about the story. Aesop’s Fables Online gives shortened versions of Aseop’s Fables.

I could see using podcasts as part of our arts integration movement here at Hickory Hills.  I see students performing reader’s theater, singing student created songs, or sharing information they have learned about a topic.  With video capabilities, I envision my students performing dances they have learned or created.

I will need to take some more time to explore podcasts more in the future.

I’ll be honest.  I’m not a big user of YouTube and TeacherTube.  One reason is that I get so distracted on the internert.  When I’ve used YouTube that is especially true.  I can go on to look at one thing and end up spending an hour.

For teaching purposes I’ve never been too interested in looking for videos because it’s blocked at school.  I had forgotten about using zamzar to reconfigure the files so I could show the videos at school.

When looking through the site for educational purposes, I chose to watch videos about using the SMARTboard.  I already knew the majority of the information presented in the videos I watched.  I did see one new trick for animating objects that I’ll use when creating my next lesson.  I could see that this would be a good tool for someone training themselves on the use of the SMARTboard.

In TeacherTube, I watched some professional videos and some featuring students made in the classroom.  The professional ones had catchy tunes I could hear kids humming already.  One of the ones made in a classroom was difficult to understand.

For fun purposes, I actually found a video that I’m in.    It was taken at a concert that I went to a few years ago.  I was front and almost center.  You can see a quick flash of me at 1:33 and 1:41.

I completed the Regular Stretch.  I thought about adding all of my favorites to delicious, but realized I need to clean them up before I add them all.   When I looked at some of my favorites, I had no idea what some of them were without clicking on them…  I opened an account on ikeepbookmarks.com several years ago, but didn’t really do much with it.  I see the need for having one central location for all of my bookmarks.  I hope to continue to use my account at http://delicious.com/melanie.wilson72.

This was my first experience with tagging so I didn’t stray too far from the suggested tags.  It will take some getting used to.  I liked my folders so I did create a couple of bundles.  I also made sure to add information in the notes field.  I think this will help me use it more.  I added a subscription for the tag artsintegration since that is our focus at HH.