Tool #6--Wikis

I enjoyed looking at the Wiki sites to see how they can be used to communicate with teachers and students. For the students, they encourage student-centered learning, teacher-student communication, classroom interaction, and world-wide communications. Students can build web pages, embed images & video, and post documents, and even upload their homework before the dog eats it. Teachers can create class notes, scheduling, agendas, and/or interpersonal collaboration. I looked at some of the classroom samples in Wikispaces and was very impressed by the amount of information and activities that can be found on one classroom site. Google Sites! is another great way to communicate with students and teachers alike. It seems fairly easy to add attachments, information, and edit a document. It is a useful tool planning a large activity or project with several people or groups. Students can build and maintain their own websites and integrate all subjects. Wiki sites definitely make information more readily available and efficient for our professional use, as well as our personal use.

Tool #5--Delicious & Diigo

These directions were a little confusing because I didn't find the silent videos helpful. After several replays though, I was able to log in to each of the websites. I think this might be pretty user-friendly with a little more practice on my part. I like the idea of tagging the websites so that you can go from a broad range down to a narrow one. This would be useful to anyone doing research or just looking for a topic or concept. My two websites I bookmarked and tagged were http://funbrain.com and http://www.readinga-z.com. I like the efficiency of the research process.

Tool #4

I used Google Docs and it allowed me to create a calendar and share it with my teammates and others that could use it. The people I sent it to can use it for their own use and add to the calendar and share it with others. I could see where our school could use this calendar and it would eliminate the need for the weekly emails to Christina for the Tiger Tracker.

This is a very useful tool and could be used to create our TAKS Testing Chart so that it allows Special Ed teachers to view the accomodations for TAKS testing.

I used Google reader and really liked how I could get all the information I wanted in one place. The fact that I don't have to search for updates on posts will help simplify things. I have all their blogs in one page and I can keep up with them.

Tool #3--Trip Of A Lifetime

Trip Of A Lifetime

I enjoyed making this animoto video. It was very easy to use. There are many opportunites to use this program in the classroom, such as concepts (weather, biomes, seasons, geometry, etc), sharing about vacations, family, or celebrations. I think students will enjoy this because they can customize the background, music, and import pictures of their choosing.

Tool #3--Character Education Wordle

I used Wordle to create this. This could used as a tribes lesson for character development on a daily, weekly, or as needed basis. The whole concept of Wordle makes a neat layout for presenting concepts and/or reviewing lessons.

Tool #2--The PLN!

1. What are your thoughts about building an online education community and participating in a PLN? I think this will be very useful in many aspects. Teachers are always looking for new ways to teach, deliver, or present a lesson and this will allow teachers a new tool to communicate with fellow educators in the district or other districts. It will allow students to comment on lessons so that teachers can evaluate just what the students got out of the lesson, and possibly their imput/suggestions about the lesson.
2. What point stood out to you from the commenting advice? Comments need to have substance. If you comment you need to explain why it is that you liked it or dislike it....think of level 2 or level 3 of the questioning and Bloom's Taxonomy.
3. What five blogs did you select for your comments? (you may need to come back and add this information later by editing this post.)
Jill--Aggie Mom--WHOOP!
Poffenberger--awesome team mate!
Mario--SuperThorn3--very techy and helpful!
Millie--Super librarian!
Dancing Girl's thoughts--liked her title

tool #1

I think this will be a very useful site to communicate with fellow teachers and students in an interesting way. This will help students to express their views and creativity, and at the same time, teachers can see how well the students are growing academically and technologically.