BP#11_2009103_Media_Asset

Kerpoof (2008). Retrieved October 18,2009 from www.kerpoof.com

BP#10_2009103_Response

Jill wrote the blog below. I too am a kindergarten teacher I love the idea of blogging about student work for all to see. My only concern for my school is that many do not have computer access but blogging would still be beneficial for teachers in my school and district. Jill I know we have talked about doing an activity between our classrooms and maybe this would be a way to connect the students together.

Blog, blog, blog…

My next web 2.0 tool of choice is the blog. Blogs can be different things to different people. But for my kindergarten class, and me I found a terrific blog site: 2,4,6,8, Meet me at the Garden Gate… (http://2468meetmeatthegardengate.blogspot.com/). The kindergarten teacher at this site uses her blog posts to show her students, parents and other teachers the wonderful things that are happening in Mrs. McMahon’s classroom. The educational benefits of sharing on line is win-win-win.

Students can feel a sense of pride in their work. They can use language skills to retell their family stories about their day. They can show their family who their friends are and describe special projects.

Parents can have a frame of reference to see what is happening in the classroom, learn about upcoming events, and practice skills their child needs extra help with. One of the biggest frustrations parents have is not feeling connected to their child’s educational experience. If a parent asks their kindergartener, “What did you do today at school?” more times than not, the answer is “nothing!” If a learner has a concrete picture to spark their memory, that child will be able to tell lots of stories about their day.

A big complaint from educators is a feeling of isolation in their school. Although there are many adults in a school, the time a teacher actually interacts with these adults can be very sparse. Between planning, teaching, meetings, and grading work, time to share ideas is hard to find. Due to funding cuts, teachers at my school do not even receive a duty-free lunch. By posting classroom content to a blog and reflecting on special events, teachers can connect to an online community. Due to blog comments, teachers can connect and share. By signing up to receive other educators’ blog posts, teachers can learn new ideas to use in their classroom.

I have signed up to receive Mrs. McMahon’s blog posts and look forward to joining the 21^st century sharing via the web.

References

Mcmahon, J. (2009, September 26). Our Friends Across the Country. Message posted to 2,4,6,8, Meet me at the Garden Gate…:http://2468meetmeatthegardengate.blogspot.com/

BP#9_2009103_Web 2.0 3of3

This picture was taken from Kidthing (www.kidthing.com). Here students are able to play without being connected to the web. Kidthing is a digital media player delivering fun and engaging learning content to students. Looks like they are targeting a range from 3-11 years old. There is no beginning set-up fee for the few free items. The rest of the content starts at 99 cents. There catchy theme is play it, pick it import it. After browsing their store where you purchase you content I was hooked. You can search by games, books, etc and by age. If you search by type of content you will find a picture, the age group that it is intended for, the cost and an abstract. Love this! Great for increasing literacy!! Looks like a great tool but might be something used for one on one instruction since this is not an option for a whole class. This would however be a great question for them because I am just thinking about purchasing things for each student would be costly. More research about this issue but would love to use it with my children.

Kidthing. (2009) Retrieved October 17, 2009 from http://www.kidthing.com/#/take_the_tour/

BP#8_2009103_Web 2.0_2of3

This picture is taken from Kerpoof (www.kerpoof.com). This site is all about having fun, discovering new things and being creative. Here students are able to create artwork, animated movies, print a card, T-shirt, mug, tell a story and a make a drawing. This program is free for all schools and educational institutions but there are a few options that are available for a monthly charge. The shot above is showing the create a drawing page. Very kid friendly and easy to use. I like the bright colors. Kerpoof runs in your web browser. To get started and create a teacher account. Students are then able to login in under your account. Your whole classroom can be on at the same time. Teachers will find lesson plans and classroom ideas. Students will be able to save, edit, share and email their work. Another great tool in your teacher account at Kerpoof is that you the teacher are able to control what students can do here. I personal love this option. I could see locking some of the features so I am able to introduce students to it and/or show them how I would like it to be used. The more I am writing about this the more excited I am and hoping that my school would be able to use it. We do have a drawing program called Pixie. It is nice but we have had some issues with it. I love the options that you have in Kerpoof and would like my class to explore and try it out and see if it works. If anyone out there has used this I would love to hear what you think of it.

Kerpoof. (2008). Retrieved October 17, 2009 from http://www.kerpoof.com/#/activity/doodle

BP#7_2009103_Web 2.0_1of3

The above picture is from ZoeyBot (www.zoeybot.com). ZoeyBot is a FREE loadable virtual desktop that runs inside of your web browser. It is geared for students ages 7-13. When students enter zoeyBot they can't get to outside links. This is a great safety feature so you the teacher are able to let students run with ideas when reseraching. This is not a gaming site but the games, videos and music all have educational value. They have used content from Wikipedia and modified it by their Children's Foundation fro schools. They have also add their own content. They say in their information that this would be ideal for teachers and I agree. The screen shot above was taken from ZoeyBot editor. Here students can type about the information as they find it. It reminds me a lot of a word document. ZoeyBot has a built-in search engine to use or an animated desktop to chat with Zoey a computer robot who will help you find topics you are looking for. I think this is a great resource for teachers. One thing that I am still thinking about is the use of Wikipedia. I like that the content is modified but I know from experiences in this program I would not use Wikipedia as a reliable source. I guess I would take into account the age of students and the idea that they are just beginning their journey in creating projects based on their own research. I have not had the chance to use Wikipedia in my classroom so I guess I am looking to see what everyone says about it? Overall it looks great and is easy for students to use.

ZoeyBot. (2007). Retrieved October 17, 2009 from http://www.zoeybot.com/ZBEdit.aspx

BP#6_2009102_Flickr

I searched for lesson plans about incorporating Flickr into the elementary classroom. I came across a great idea that I would use in my classroom. I would love to use this tool to share with fellow teachers projects that my students made. I am thinking about could Kindergartners learn how to upload, etc. I think so, am I ready for that is the better question. It is crazy to think about that but yes they could do it. I guess I would first like to use it myself and try sharing with other teachers in my district. If that goes well then I think I will introduce it to students because I could see them uploading pictures of a project that they created and then tagging and/or writing descriptions about that picture for a writing component. I am liking the way this is sounding even more when thinking about it. So many new and good ideas I feel overwhelmed with wanting to try and use them all. I would like to try this out because students would be excited. If they do have Internet access at home they could show off their work. How neat is that. I, as the teacher, like that they are creating something, using technology and writing skills all in one easy assignment. Ready to give this a try!

BP#5_2009102_Reflective_Media_Asset

BP4- Socail Bookmarking

I must confess that I am new to social bookmarking and wasn't sure what to think about it. Let me tell you it was great! For this weeks assignments bookmarking definitely came in handy. I knew where my information was and I go go back very easily and reread later. A good definition states "social bookmarking lets you maintain a personal collection of links online, similar to the bookmarks or favorites in your browser, but they are also accessible to others on your own personal archive page"(Hedreen, 2005). This definition was helpful to me because I knew little about the topic. I went out and researched and found this tool to be very useful in education. Picture teachers tagging their favorite lesson plans and for all teachers in your district to be able to access it right away. I see myself using it with students. If they have a project that they are working on I could have tagged several sites for them to start looking at also they could then search some more and tag them. I am able to see the sites they have chosen and might want to include with my group. Social bookmarking is a great way to stay organized when you are surfing the web. With so many sites and articles out there you want to be selective. By tagging the sites you are able to view any site within a certain topic. This is a great help when you are sharing with others. Bookmarking stops the follow of people losing sites or articles because you can bookmark and then tag under all the topics it covers. Over all I am loving social bookmarking and can't wait to share with others the information I have found and look forward to seeing and using information they have found.

References

eSchool Media Inc. (2009). Social Bookmarking makes its mark in education. Retrieved from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=42069&CFID=22596895&CFTOKEN=43334171

Hedreen, Rebecca. (2005). Frequently Answered Questions: Social Bookmarking in Education. Distance Education Librarian at Buley Library. Retrieved from http://frequanq.blogspot.com/2005/02/social-bookmarking-in-education.html

Jackson, Lorrie. (1996-2009). Sites to See: Social Bookmarking. Retrieved from Education World, Inc. Web site http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/sites/sites080.shtml

Response to blog

This post is from Kim Davis: My comments are below. I totally understand what Kim is saying. I thought I knew how to use the web and technology and clearly I only knew the basics for daily functioning. I am also enjoying learning all these new tools, while it may be tough but I am looking forward to practicing and then incorporating them into the classroom. I am just seeing what I have been missing out on.

Though it is slightly embarrassing to admit, I am entirely new to the world of creating and following blogs. The first set of assignments for the FSO ETC course on creating and setting up the iGoogle site as well as the Blogger and Google Reader has caused a huge learning curve on my part. Still, the process of searching and adding RSS feeds to the Google Reader has brought interesting insight to the use of these feeds.

Before knowing about RSS feeds and how they worked, I couldn't picture how they would be useful to me. In just a fews additions to my subscription list, I have already discovered how incredibly useful these blogs will be to my work at FSO and the improving my teaching methods in general.

I chose the initial 11 feeds that I have added to my Reader for the purpose gaining information that I will hopefully use in the classroom. For example, several of the feeds that I discovered came for the website for the French newspaper LeFigaro. These blogs involve a variety of subjects in French including news and perspectives on French culture, cinema, foreign relations, fashion, and more. All of these will help to inform my teaching on current events and information about the French speaking world and hopefully cause students to become more excited about the real life application of the French language as I share this information with them.

Also, these blog posts and links will help me, most simply, to continue to keep up with my French speaking skills. One of the challenges of teaching a foreign language when it is your second language it finding the ability to use and practice your own communication skills. Especially with French in the US, it is difficult to find many people with whom you can communicate in French or places in which you are immersed in the French language. The feeds that I have chosen for my reader, in ways, replicate the immersion experience through offering several opportunities to see French, read French, and if desired, respond to posts using French.

Some of the blogs also include tips geared toward helping teachers such as French for Fun and The Drama Teacher which offer perspectives for teachers of those subjects on how to improve the time with students in the classroom. I would hope that being able to access this information in a more timely and manageable fashion through Google Reader will render obsolete the issue of searching for information each time I create a new lesson plan.

The next weeks will hopefully bring more insight into the effectiveness of the easy accessible information that the Google Readers will provide and its impact on my work at FSO and my teaching in general.

Web 2.0 Tool:3 of 3

Tikatok was the last 2.0 tool that I researched. I really love the idea behind this. At tikatok you are able to create classroom books and have them printed. They have individual program but the classroom program seems to be a great fit for teachers. There is no cost to run the program so basically students create a story, type in the words and then upload their pictures onto each page. Then you the teacher have to choice of how you want to print the work. The bulk rate for printed hardcover books starts at $7.00 and goes up. They do have a PDF option for $2.99. So there is a costed with this. They did have a link about grants but I did not check that out yet but that would be a great option if funds are not available. What a great way to get students excited about literacy. I think this would be a great educational tool. Each student would be able to create their own page and then learn about the editing, publishing and printing of a book. I am going to talk with my K team and see if we can make this happen. If a grant is available what a neat thing to do to surprise families for Christmas or the end of the year.

Web 2.0 Tool:2 of 3

I checked out the program Kido'z. This is a program that can be downloaded onto your computer. The program lets parents/teachers add content and manage student accounts. The idea is that the program creates a list of websites that is suitable for your child's/students age. Students do not need to be able to read or write the computer does that for them. Some of the sites include National Geographic, Discovery Kids and Fun Brain. I like the teacher features that let you add or block certain sites. It is safe because student's can't go anywhere else. I tried this out for my son and it was very neat. I had to type in his name and age. Then a list was created of all websites. I am going to look into this for my Kindergarten class because it can be difficult for them to access websites and then stay in a certain area. I like that all the sites are right there for them and are easy to access. They do have a mix of educational and fun sites but like I said you would have to ability to add or delete certain sites. The above picture show the layout of some of the sites.

Web 2.0 Tool:1 of 3

I researched the tool Raylit. I first wanted to look into this because I am a Kindergarten teacher and it is geared toward students 3-7 years old. It is a site so there is no downloading the program onto your computer. They suggest that students do one session (which is one hour) per day. They have some free sessions so you are able to check them out. The cost for each session after the trials are 50cents. The opening is an animal stating a general fact and then the "fun stuff" are games that incorporate matching, rhymes, letters/sounds, etc. The talking is a little computerized but not too bad. I would be excited to use this site but would have to look into the funding for each child and I would have to use the computer lab so maybe I could get there twice a week instead of everyday which they are suggesting. This would be a great tool for all students but especially those who may be struggling. They did state on their site that this is supplemental to school. I would use this as a parent resource for all my students. I think I might type something up and hand out the information at conference time. The enclosed picture above shows the first page children will see when they enter the site. It lists there activities for the day.

Pictures of iGoogle

Here is a picture of my AR/CBL page.
Here is a picture of my ETC page.
Here is a snap shot of my WGO page.

Anti-Teaching Blog

First, I loved this article. It talks about everything we have been addressing at Full Sail. I feel that schools today need a great balance of teaching from the teacher and the students working independently. Through the use of keynotes, podcasts and imovies teachers could present material to students and then have them work on a project to show there understanding. This way the teacher still has that teaching aspect but the learning as more control and responsibility. I see that we are moving towards this but with hesitation. I believe mostly do to testing. The public and administrators want to see numbers and how many students were able to complete this task, etc. This can be done with making school more learner focused but it will take time and understand once this is in place we can move forward. The classes I have taken thus far have shown me how easy it is to incorporate technology into the classroom. I an excited about my action research project where I will actually get to test out my idea and see how it affects student learning.

Google Reader Site

I have found five sites that I feel will up me as an educator along with others that I find throughout this course.
Educational Definitions- I thought it would be a great idea for me to revamp my vocabulary. This site gives a word of the day with the definition. I think since teachers talk about increasing student vocabulary I to should increase mine.
Educational Technology- A site where they talk about the new technology and how it can be used in the classroom. Since in this program I thought it would be another tool for great resources.
Elementary Ed. Lesson Plans and teacing..- I this a site that has a variety of lesson plans and god strategies for teachers. This is a site that I will probably pick and choose the really neat things from and then share and incorporate in my classroom.
Free Technology for Teachers- A tool I hope to use much throughout my teaching. With my school on a budget crunch what a neat way to get and use new technology without paying the big bucks. I look forward to seeing all this site has to offer.
U.S. Department of Education- A site that I thought would keep me up to date about what was happening in education globally. We a brother in-law in politics it will be nice to fully understand the issues and discuss them with him.
I am looking forward to utilizing these sites and learning and sharing them

Blogs and Education

In researching how blogs shape learning, I was happy and excited to read all the possibilities. I guess I am new to using this much much technology in my teaching. I am embracing it and loving it. I found ideas like having teachers share blogs. This would be a great idea for my district since we have at least 15 kindergarten teachers. It is a fast way to keep up on things. I also like the idea of using a blog as a classroom website. I never thought of this before and think this would be neat. The teacher could post assignments and students could blog back with any questions, etc. This would especially be great over the weekends. The last idea that I found was using blogging as a journal. This would be a new avenue to teaching writing. I am not sure how kindergarteners would use this but I will keep thinking. Overall, in my research about blogging I was happily surprised at the many different ways to incorporate this tool into the classroom.

Test

Just wanted to test this gadget out!

Testing

This is just to test out my blogger and see if it works!