Thing 23-final blog post

The course would not be over for me if I did not write a final blog post. I can’t believe that I survived the Web 2.0 course. In the beginning I was totally frustrated by everything that I tried to do. I was spending hour upon hour at the computer and getting nowhere fast! But I as I continued to play with all of the tools, I felt myself getting better and better. I was no longer afraid to push buttons. I found ways to maneuver around sites to find the information I was seeking. I can’t believe that I am writing this, (There were times during the course that I wanted to unplug my computer and give it away!) but I plan to use part of my Christmas break time to explore again all of the wonderful tools that I learned about during the course. I even like checking my Google reader for new and interesting blog posts! I am now using my ipod to download podcasts, especially my favorite NPR stories. I never would have even thought of that before. This has definitely been the most difficult PLU course I have ever taken, but I have learned more than I ever thought possible about teaching with technology. I know that if I don’t jump right in and start using these tools, that I will lose my confidence in being able to use them. I hope the water is warm!

Thing 22

I spent a couple of hours exploring the Classroom 2.0 website. Although I did not join-I am overwhelmed with all the professional and personal things that i must accomplish in the next few weeks-I plan to do more exploring over the Christmas break. This website has so many resources, I could get caught up for days just playing around! I did find a great resource for anyone in elementary Ed who teaches math using Everyday Math. Even if you don’t use Everyday math, you could still find something to supplement your curriculum.

Thing 21

At first I was overwhelmed with everything about Pageflakes. As I kept maneuvering myself around the site I realized that it would be a great way to have all of my interests kept together in one place. I used Shelley’s template to create my pageflakes page. I kept some of Shelley’s and added a few of my own. It was not that hard to do. There are tons of flakes that you can add. I think that I will create one for my sister who loves to play computer games. I found at least twenty games out there. Of course, with so many games all in one place my sister may not ever get off the computer. I am not sure how I would use it in my classroom. All teachers at my school have a website where we post test dates and important information for parents and students. I might use it to organize web sites devoted to particular curricular areas.  During the Christmas holidays I will have some time to figure out the best way to use this tool to my advantage.

Thing 7c

I subscribe to Reading Rockets. In this post, Joanne Meier shares preschool children’s thoughts on How to Cook a Turkey. I love the way young children think, and the things they say always put a smile on my face. I would have loved to have compared their ideas with those of my second graders to see the difference a few years of experience would make in their ideas about how to cook a turkey. In fact, I’m still working on refining the experience of turkey cooking!

Thing 20

Working in Google Docs was much easier than I thought it would be. I uploaded one week’s lesson plans into Google Docs from my computer. Making revisions to the lesson plans was so easy. I used to keep my lesson plans on my computer at home, my computer at school, and on a flash drive.  Now I can keep them all in one place and work on them from any computer, anywhere, any time. How cool is that! I created a spreadsheet that I am going to use with my parapro and a parent to make notes/observations about a particular student who is having self-control issues. My parapro and I are making notes about classroom, playground, lunchroom behavior, and the parent is making notes about behavior at home. The parent is also keeping track of the food the child is eating.  We have been emailing each other with information, which is not only time consuming, but also is leaving a large paper trail. By collaborating on a spreadsheet, we can each add our information to the chart, and everyone can see the information all in one place at any time. I am so excited about this because I think we are going to see some patterns to this student’s unusual behavior. I am hopeful that the information that we collect will help us decide on an appropriate course of action.

Thing 19

I loved this video on TeacherTube which shows students explaining the concept of producers and consumers in the food chain. The children showed their understanding of the subject matter while having fun at the same time. I am taking a class in formative assessment and, to my amazement, I also found videos on this subject. There were videos explaining the value of formative assessment as well as a teacher’s video of a formative assessments he did with his students when he realized that they had not understood a concept that he had taught. I actually had never even heard of TeacherTube until now. I will definitely use it whenever I need a short video to help support concepts I am teaching my students.

Thing 17

As an avid walker, my ipod is a great friend when walking alone. I love to listen to the NPR podcasts that I don’t get to hear on my drives to and from work. However, I never thought about using my ipod for professional learning. Until now I didn’t even know that such things existed! Now I will begin downloading educational podcasts, as well. In my 45 minutes walk time, I can give myself time to listen and reflect on a variety of educational topics while getting exercise too!

Thing 16-Library Things

With as much time as I have spent on my computer in the last few weeks, I began wondering if any one had time to read books anymore. While exploring LibraryThing, it became evident to me that people do still hold books in their hands and read. My friends make fun of me because I clutter my house with the daily newspaper instead of reading it online.  They tell me I’m wasting trees(I recycle all of my newspaper!) and money. There is something about coming in direct contact with the printed word that is comforting to me. I still keep a pair of scissors handy so I can cut out an article or comic and put it on my refrigerator for others to see. I think that cataloguing all of my children’s literature is a wonderful idea. I have amassed so many books in my classroom library that sometimes I’m not sure of everything that I have. This way I could easily check my “Library” to know what I have. I am not so interested in finding other people who read the same things that I do. Most of the Zeitgeist places I visited listed the same titles over again. I did not join LibraryThing because I have no time to even think about cataloguing any of my books right now, but maybe this summer, just maybe I’ll consider it!

Thing 13

I attended the Kicking It Up a Notch session called “Monsters Bloom in our Wiki” because the title intrigued me. It just sounded like something my second graders would like, and I was not disappointed. In this session two teachers from different states, New Jersey and Florida, showed how they set up a wiki so that their two classes of students could interact with each other. Many years ago a teaching partner and I would have our classes draw and describe gingerbread men as a lesson in using descriptive adjectives and writing clear instructions. Classes would switch writing and draw each others gingerbread men based on the written descriptions. These two ladies really kicked the idea up a notch by having students in other states switch descriptions of monsters based on a book they each had read to their respective classes. The children read the descriptions and drew their pictures online using a program called KidPix. The presenting teachers were detailed in the steps involved in introducing adjectives, giving names of books that could be used to show how adjectives make nouns come alive. The presentation also showed how all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy were reached during the lesson, and the teachers gave lesson plan ideas that other teachers could adapt to their classes. I will definitely use this idea again in my classroom.

Thing 7b

One of my favorite podcasts to listen to is Grammar GraterMPR_91717442.mp3 This particular podcast is about irregular plural nouns. The concept information is always presented in a humorous, but informative way. If you get confused by making plurals from such compound words as sister-in-law (sisters-in-law) or attorney general (attorneys general), then you will enjoy listening to this one. It even made my husband laugh, and he hates grammar!!!