I liked Librarything.com a lot because I can connect with people who have read the same books I have and get their take on them. It is also helpful because there are so many books out their on my field of study, and I don't want to read the ones other teachers found lacking.
Del.icio.us is another great site. I went to the tag history and came up with a huge list, ofcourse, but the first two sites I went to were amazing. One, hyperhistory.com, has maps, timelines. bios, and primary sources for ancient history. It would be a helpful site to send students to who are writinf reports. The other, behindthename.com, gives historical background for people's first names! I've done this with my students to research last names in the past, but this looks like a great lesson in the making!
I've been on a real roll today with these "Things"!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Week 5, Thing 12
I've added Rollyo to my blog. What a great way to set up search engines for current events or for projects. So often the students don't understand which sites to use, which sites are better than others for certain topics. This application will certainly help the 7th graders out a lot!
Week 5, Thing 11
I've been exploring NING and have added a classroom 2.0 badge to my blog! I really like the social network on NING and how diverse it is. I can join discussions on teaching history, teaching English, teaching in general, and my other passion: running!
The award winning sites are amazing! I spent quite a bit of time at wetpaint looking at the doggy halloween dress-up-- maybe I'll post Tonka in his panda mask later. More importantly, The eductor sites for group project management, posting hw, peer review, and FAQ's for my class could really come in handy. I think I'll be spending a lot of time over the coming days/weeks/months checking these sites out.
The award winning sites are amazing! I spent quite a bit of time at wetpaint looking at the doggy halloween dress-up-- maybe I'll post Tonka in his panda mask later. More importantly, The eductor sites for group project management, posting hw, peer review, and FAQ's for my class could really come in handy. I think I'll be spending a lot of time over the coming days/weeks/months checking these sites out.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Week 5, Thing 10
Look what I learned to do at imagechef.com!! I also really like the captioner and billboard at bighugelabs.com! These sites are totally user-friendly and fun. I think that they have lots of potential as applications for the classroom. I also like the trading cards at bighugelabs.com-- I'm planning on making them for flashcards to help the girls study for their final.
Look what I learned to do at imagechef.com!! I also really like the captioner and billboard at bighugelabs.com! These sites are totally user-friendly and fun. I think that they have lots of potential as applications for the classroom. I also like the trading cards at bighugelabs.com-- I'm planning on making them for flashcards to help the girls study for their final.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Week 4, Thing 9
I can see myself using the conversation tracker to see what other teachers are doing in their history classes. I also like it because I can contact other runners and discuss the merits of particular races before I decide to run them.
Feedster is really easy to use, and syndic8 may be useful. I do like syndic8's cool charts and pie graphs. Topix looked intimidating; the icons of who was discussing what threw me. For some reason, my reaction was "uh-oh, this isn't for a beginner." Technorati looked a little too pop culture oriented for me, but maybe when I have more time I'll give it a second look.
It's cool to use blog spot on google and see who is into what topics. I have to tell my husband about this so that he can see what other contractors are up to. This toll makes it so easy to share info and learn from others.
Feedster is really easy to use, and syndic8 may be useful. I do like syndic8's cool charts and pie graphs. Topix looked intimidating; the icons of who was discussing what threw me. For some reason, my reaction was "uh-oh, this isn't for a beginner." Technorati looked a little too pop culture oriented for me, but maybe when I have more time I'll give it a second look.
It's cool to use blog spot on google and see who is into what topics. I have to tell my husband about this so that he can see what other contractors are up to. This toll makes it so easy to share info and learn from others.
Week 4, Thing 8
I love the RSS aggregator function at Google Reader. I was able to subscribe to several newsfeeds and to several history sites like the History Channel and Discovery. This "thing" is great because I will save soooo much time having the aggregator find info for me! And, this tool is so simple to use. I love it! It was pretty easy adding it to my blog, too!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Week 3, Thing 7
I'm glad to blog about technology for this thing because I have the perfect story. This weekend my musband and I went to Long Beach for my marathon, and neither of us remembered a digital camera. We ended up spending $13- for a cruddy little 27 exposure throw away at a quickie mart near our hotel.
When Chris went to take photos of me later, he forgot to hold the camera up to his face to see through the viewer-- he seemed very confused at first! Then, as he took photos, he kept muttering about all the throw away lacked: a view of the scene before one snaps, zoom, liht settings, and so on.
After a $10- processing fee, I got the photos back. Most were lousy. Too dark, too far away, off center, blurry.
This experience made me realize how dependent I am upon my digital for quality photos. I was hesitant about switching from my 35mm to the digital two years ago, but now I am hooked on the new technology and hardly ever pull out the old camera.
I guess that's it in a nutshell for me and tech: hesitant to try new things, then so glad when I finally do.
When Chris went to take photos of me later, he forgot to hold the camera up to his face to see through the viewer-- he seemed very confused at first! Then, as he took photos, he kept muttering about all the throw away lacked: a view of the scene before one snaps, zoom, liht settings, and so on.
After a $10- processing fee, I got the photos back. Most were lousy. Too dark, too far away, off center, blurry.
This experience made me realize how dependent I am upon my digital for quality photos. I was hesitant about switching from my 35mm to the digital two years ago, but now I am hooked on the new technology and hardly ever pull out the old camera.
I guess that's it in a nutshell for me and tech: hesitant to try new things, then so glad when I finally do.
Week 3, thing 6
I made this inspirational poster for my class! Isn't it cute? The dog is Tonka, my berlab. I think mashups are cool and can't wait to try more, especially the trading cards. I bet they could be used for flashcards, even.
These posters would also work really well in a non-inspirational way, maybe to help the students learn different difficult vocab words or concepts for a lesson.
Once the technology is mastered, the possibilities are endless!
These posters would also work really well in a non-inspirational way, maybe to help the students learn different difficult vocab words or concepts for a lesson.
Once the technology is mastered, the possibilities are endless!
Week 3, Thing 5
I explored Flickr and know what tags and groups are. I set up an account and added two photos two it from the 2006 Italy trip. I was going to put in shots of the library, but all of the ones I have on file include minors (as do most of my photos since I take them for the school's yearbook). But, the Italy photos are nice; I really like the pinecone one.
Navigating around on Flickr is pretty easy; the site is user-friendly. I was able to master it fairly quickly. It would be great if, after next year's spring trip, we all placed out photos on such a site to view.
Navigating around on Flickr is pretty easy; the site is user-friendly. I was able to master it fairly quickly. It would be great if, after next year's spring trip, we all placed out photos on such a site to view.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Week 2, Thing 4, Registering Blog
That "Thing" was the easiest yet. I'm excited about the blog and already thinking of creating one for my class.
Week 2, Thing 3, Creating a Blog
This was easier than I thought it would be! I still have to create an avatar, but I think I understand what I'm doing here. On to the avatar....
Creating the avatar was fun. I didn't know whether to choose a teacher or a runner, but since I've called the "Runner's Blog" I chose the runner. It was a little hectic getting the avatar to the blog, but I did it after one false start. I forgot what my user name was, so I had trouble getting back into the blog at first. There are only so many options, though, so I got it on the second try!
So, my blog is set up, kind of. I'll work more on it later in the week, or week three!
Creating the avatar was fun. I didn't know whether to choose a teacher or a runner, but since I've called the "Runner's Blog" I chose the runner. It was a little hectic getting the avatar to the blog, but I did it after one false start. I forgot what my user name was, so I had trouble getting back into the blog at first. There are only so many options, though, so I got it on the second try!
So, my blog is set up, kind of. I'll work more on it later in the week, or week three!
Week 1, Thing 2, 7 1/2 Lifelong Learning Habits
Most of the 7 1/2 Lifelong Learning Habits seem pretty easy to me. The easiest of all is beginning with an end in mind. I am very goal -oriented, so I understand setting goals and visualizing their completion.
The hardest of them is viewing problems as challenges. I tend to look at problems as personal affronts sometimes. I forget that I can grow by mastering my difficulties, not just successes.
The hardest of them is viewing problems as challenges. I tend to look at problems as personal affronts sometimes. I forget that I can grow by mastering my difficulties, not just successes.
Week 1, Thing 1, Intro
Reading the info for classroom learning 2.0 made me pretty excited. I had turned in to the principal my goals for the year, which included learning more about blogs, wikis, etc. This program looks like it's going to be perfect!
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