Thing #22

I have been a member of myspace and facebook. As an educator I think having a social site might be good in the upper grades to help see where a student might be coming from possibly. I see a lot of danger in that some educators might try to be their friends like we did at our school. Not a good idea. Myspace to me is for the younger bunch of kids and I hate the profanity that goes along with it. I do think it is a good way to commnicate and a great way for parents to see what is going on. If they don't monitor their myspace they should.
Facebook is my preference. It has an older crowd and not as much vulgaity goes on in the circle of people I am friends with. It also has fun flairs and such and doesn't take so much time to decorate.
I am not sure this could be used in an educational setting without some way to monitor what was being said between students.

Thing #7c

I am always drawn in my Google reader to what others are doing in the classroom. Right now I am focused in my classroom on reading strategies. Mrs. Thorpe has a great blog about helping your child be a sharp reader. I am going to pass this on in my weekly newsletter to parents and give them the information.

Thing #21

I really had fun playing with the Google tools. Above I made a slide show with Picasa. This was easier to me that Flickr. The pictures uploaded alot quicker and you just push a button and they are in a slide show. I wanted to make a collage but I kept cutting peoples heads off. I believe this could be used in the classroom by uploading pictures from different animal habitats and making a slide show.
The other tool I used was the calendar. I made a tutoring calendar that I can email to my principal instead of the paper work. We will see how she likes it.

Thing #20

I am very interested in Google Docs. I am covered up with paper work and documentation. What a way to simplify my life by putting all of these things online. My first thought as I explored the Google Docs was of coarse with all of the data and documentation I have with TAKS. Right now we are in the crunch of getting our students plugged into acceleration groups and making sure each group is just right. AAAAhhh! I have already lost my documentation from our first grade level meeting where we placed each student where we thought they needed to be. So I made a new list and now I put it on google.docs in a spreadsheet so that I can share it with my colleagues and principal. Then after the next benchmark we will revise the list depending on how the students perform.
I played with google.maps and typed in Northpark Mall, thinking I might venture out this afternoon. How cool, you can see the traffic and I think I will stay home.:)
I think I will use the Google Maps in the classroom when we read Flat Stanley and send him on different adventures. We can then look up where Flat Stanley visits. Yea for MISD unblocking Google!

Thing #19

This has got to be my favorite on this journey so far. I got the idea from the bellwork thread. I thought I would down load a picture and comment it so the students could use it as a prompt during writing time. This was awesome!

Thing #18

I found two really good videos on Youtube to use for parents who want to help their children with reading comprehension at home. They are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZobdcwO_c8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZobdcwO_c8.

The how-to video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhGX0-1TeVc. This is about importing a video to a powerpoint. I am still working on it!

Finally, here is my favorite video from Teachertube. We used this in staff development for a little back to school humor. I hope you enjoy it.

Thing #17

I look at the Jamestown Elementary School Podcasts. I have made podcasts in my classroom before. What I did like about the podcast was the students went to Kidpix and made pictures to go along with their podcast and mad them into a slideshow. That is one thing I would like to incorporate into my classroom. Another thing I would like to use podcasting for is to measure fluency. I think this would be a great way for students to hear themselves and how they change throughout the year.
I have subscribed to a podcast through my church and listen to the sermon if I miss it or if I just want to hear it again. Tim Rysinski also has a podcast on building fluency. It is a great way to learn new as an adult and students who need a different way to learn can also listen to a book a teacher read on a podcast. If you had the time to record lessons for those who were absent would be great also.