I sent a request to my administrators today to allow each student to have a gaggle email account. I hope this will open up lots of opportunities for us in the Web 2.0 world!
My g/t language arts teacher also sent in a request for her g/t students to have a twitter account and follow her. She wants to do SAT vocabulary this way as well as class discussions. Since college students are participating in online discussions, we would like to start preparing our kids, especially our g/t and ap kids for this type of educational activity.
Has anyone used twitter or something similar in the classroom? How did it go?
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Thing 23 The End!
This has been the most beneficial training I've ever had. After 16 years of teaching, you can imagine all the useless workshops I've sat through. Unfortunately, it has been even worse since I moved to the library. I'm thrilled that I got to spend this summer learning something I can actually use with my kids!
1. The things I am most excited about taking back to school with me are Library Thing, Photostory and Rollyo. I'm doing Battle of the Books at both of my campuses this year. I plan to set up a book club on Library Thing, so we can discuss the books even when we can't find time to meet. My students started using photostory this past year, but I never took the time to mess with it much. It is surprisingly easy! I think the kids and teachers are going to be thrilled with my booktalk. I also think I will use Rollyo to help design search engines to keep my 7th graders somewhat controlled when they are doing their initial research.
I really enjoyed playing with the image generators and mashups. I think my students will be equally excited about playing with these apps.
The RSS Feed is something that I now use daily. I love having my blogs all come to one place, so I can read them at my convenience. Honestly, I find myself using my cell phone to read while waiting on my children. What a good use for that time! My favorite blog discovery is A Chat with Mary.
2. As a librarian, I know how important it is to keep up with my students. This was a great opportunity to get a jump-start on technology that they will love to use. The RSS Feed will help me stay on top of things both professionally and personally.
3. I was surpised at all that google really offers. In the past, I've been more of a "yahoo-girl." Now that I am aware of all that google has, I see myself using it more.
4. I don't know of anything that I would change. I loved that I could work through the activities when and where I wanted. I feel like I waste a lot of time in workshops where our skill levels aren't even remotely comparable. With this program, I zipped through the things I already knew about (delicious) and spent more time on the things I needed to learn (photostory).
5. I would definitely participate in another discovery program, since this is one of the most professionally beneficial things I've done in a long time!
6. The 23 Things Program helps turn librarians into true media specialists!
1. The things I am most excited about taking back to school with me are Library Thing, Photostory and Rollyo. I'm doing Battle of the Books at both of my campuses this year. I plan to set up a book club on Library Thing, so we can discuss the books even when we can't find time to meet. My students started using photostory this past year, but I never took the time to mess with it much. It is surprisingly easy! I think the kids and teachers are going to be thrilled with my booktalk. I also think I will use Rollyo to help design search engines to keep my 7th graders somewhat controlled when they are doing their initial research.
I really enjoyed playing with the image generators and mashups. I think my students will be equally excited about playing with these apps.
The RSS Feed is something that I now use daily. I love having my blogs all come to one place, so I can read them at my convenience. Honestly, I find myself using my cell phone to read while waiting on my children. What a good use for that time! My favorite blog discovery is A Chat with Mary.
2. As a librarian, I know how important it is to keep up with my students. This was a great opportunity to get a jump-start on technology that they will love to use. The RSS Feed will help me stay on top of things both professionally and personally.
3. I was surpised at all that google really offers. In the past, I've been more of a "yahoo-girl." Now that I am aware of all that google has, I see myself using it more.
4. I don't know of anything that I would change. I loved that I could work through the activities when and where I wanted. I feel like I waste a lot of time in workshops where our skill levels aren't even remotely comparable. With this program, I zipped through the things I already knew about (delicious) and spent more time on the things I needed to learn (photostory).
5. I would definitely participate in another discovery program, since this is one of the most professionally beneficial things I've done in a long time!
6. The 23 Things Program helps turn librarians into true media specialists!
Thing 22 Nings
I am only vaguely familiar with nings. I enjoyed the article with the seven things one must know about nings. It seems like this might be an option for a class project.
I will probably join the Teacher Librarian Ning and the Texas School Librarian Ning. On the TSL ning, I noticed there is a group for middle school librarian, but it doesn't seem to be too active. However, it is another nice resource to have.
I will probably join the Teacher Librarian Ning and the Texas School Librarian Ning. On the TSL ning, I noticed there is a group for middle school librarian, but it doesn't seem to be too active. However, it is another nice resource to have.
Thing 21 Podcasts and Videocasts
This was the most fun thing so far. Building videocasts has been on my to do list for a while. It is really much easier than I expected it to be. At one of my campuses, we have 6 huge flat screen tv's throughout the building. I would really like to have some videocasts of booktalks looping once in a while. In my library, I have the capability of playing them constantly on my big screen.
The one I did for this activity is very simple and includes the titles of the Battle of the Books. We are going to do our first ever Battle of the Books at our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade campuses. I will probably go back and add some text before using this with me kids, but it might be okay as a quick intro to the program.
The one I did for this activity is very simple and includes the titles of the Battle of the Books. We are going to do our first ever Battle of the Books at our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade campuses. I will probably go back and add some text before using this with me kids, but it might be okay as a quick intro to the program.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Thing #20 YouTube and TeacherTube
Our district allowed teacher only access to youtube a few years ago. I know I have used several videos in the library, and the teachers have used even more in the classroom.
With middle school kids, I like the "safety" of teachertube. They love using videos in their presentations. I think I have finally figured out how to help them embedd their videos.
Here is a video presentation of the Lone Star books that I plan to use the first few weeks of school.
With middle school kids, I like the "safety" of teachertube. They love using videos in their presentations. I think I have finally figured out how to help them embedd their videos.
Here is a video presentation of the Lone Star books that I plan to use the first few weeks of school.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Thing #19 Web 2.0 Awards
There is certainly a lot of stuff on this page. I've added it to my delicious account so I can go back to it as needed.
I enjoyed some of the more fun sites. I couldn't get the Comiqs site to open, but I really want to see if it something I could use. I also think the one sentence site might be a fun thing to use with my students once in a while. I hope our FCCLA teacher will like some of the cooking videos.
For educational purposes, the one that I see myself using most often is docstoc. I love some of the webs and maps for literature. I also found some study guides and power points that my teachers could definitely use.
I enjoyed some of the more fun sites. I couldn't get the Comiqs site to open, but I really want to see if it something I could use. I also think the one sentence site might be a fun thing to use with my students once in a while. I hope our FCCLA teacher will like some of the cooking videos.
For educational purposes, the one that I see myself using most often is docstoc. I love some of the webs and maps for literature. I also found some study guides and power points that my teachers could definitely use.
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