JLRowe

Yeah! I did it! Fortunately I have a Mac and was able to easily convert my recorded poem from Audacity to an MP3 file in my iTunes. The only thing holding me back was the user name and password! It was actually easy and a lot of fun. At first, I couldn’t think of anything to say or produce and then, I figured a poem would be “just right.” I truly hope you enjoy “You Think English is Easy?”

This is another wonderful way for my students to produce a media product and for me to explore the possibilities of podcasting. I can use it for a vocabulary preview and review, test prep, review of a concept, study tips, etc. The list goes on and on! Try it yourself, you’ll like it!♥

This has been an arduous process, but I feel energized! I have learned and experienced so much. Not just for my benefit, but for my students, and my colleagues. I am excited about the possibilities and want to share, instruct, and collaborate.

I’m not going to stop here. I know I’m going to continue this process. My students are going to be able to expand and extend their knowledge, perform and produce, and craft and construct with others. I am hoping the “fire within” will continue to burn and my students and their families will join in this incredible ride.

This course has inspired me to create and go beyond, think “outside the box”, and challenge myself and others.

Thank you for this wonderful learning (and fun!) opportunity!♥

Classroom 2.0 was incredible! It was like visiting a See’s Candies for a chocoholic! I couldn’t resist, I joined Classroom 2.0. My favorite area was the Groups; wherein I joined: Teachers in GoogleWave, Classroom 2.0 Beginner Group, Digital Storytelling, VoiceThread Resource Page and Tutorials, and Google Apps for Education. The video area was a mini-Blockbluster. I was especially intrigued by the videos, For the Love of Liberty (FLOL) which had a wonderful selection of videos covering: The Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, and the Vietnam War documenting contributions of black soldiers in the war effort. These videos are narrated by some of the black Hollywood elite and lend an important message to American blacks and their enduring strive “For the Love of Liberty.”

I then went on to Ning in Education and have applied for membership, pending approval. I discovered more interesting blogs. I also visited the Ning Networks related to education and signed up via my DCSS Wiki.

I can totally see the use of social networking within education, especially the use of Google Apps for Education amongst and within schools. Information can be shared and built upon, documents edited, and a network of resources and ideas created. I can also see how this can provide resources for professional and personal learning. Definitely powerful!♥

I have become more adept at skimming and scrutinizing the information in my Reader. Also, I try to devote only so much time, daily or every-other-day, to checking it so not be completely overwhelmed.

Last night I was showing a colleague some of my starred items and the subscriptions I in which I subscribe. He was amazed at the information and ideas that are out there, the free applications, etc. It gave him some exciting ideas to try out with his students this week. One of my subscriptions is to Free Technology for Teachers. This post I found is a review of the most popular posts of July. It has a plethora of other posts with great resources: Month in Review – July’s Most Popular Posts. One of the “popular posts” was Seven Videos All Educators Should Watch. While watching them I discovered this one for fun: (this link is to the post on Free Technology for Teacher’s)  Bloom’s Taxonomy According to Pirates of the Caribbean. This link is directly to the video on YouTube: Bloom’s Taxonomy According to Pirates of the Caribbean, as I am unable to embed videos until I go Pro! Enjoy and have a good laugh!♥

Pageflakes is anything but flakey. It was easy to maneuver around, edit, revise, play, search, etc. I did copy the DCSS Web 2.0 Template and put it into my account. I decided I wanted something more colorful so I changed the background, moved things around, deleted, added, etc.  I prefer having weather, local news, etc. posted for my personal page.

I do like the set-up/template on Pageflakes Teacher Edition. It had features/little ” flakes” that I can use more for classroom use. I’d still like to personalize it so I’m going to back and play with both pages or just develop my own from scratch. Rather than a Wiki Sandbox, if I just wanted to provide on-going information, include a Message Board, etc., this is ideal. The easy, comfortable conversation atmosphere is readily present and less intimidating than editing an entire Wiki.

I started checking a few sample education-themed pagecasts and was somewhat disappointed. Few were updated (since 2006) or appeared extremely boring. The one I found fun, interesting, had eye-appeal, etc., was the Tarrytown Curriculum Start Pages. I would find this to be more valuable, interactive, and applicable to just each individual school than our current website system. It’s a good example for others to see as an excellent way of disseminating information and providing communication between a school and students and their families or just as a source of reference and instruction for individual classrooms and/or subjects.

I thought that a blog could be the answer to everything; however, perhaps this has more possibilities. It appears to have more publishing/sharing capabilities than a blog (unless you go Pro) as far as embedding videos, podcasts, etc. Also, the additional tools that are available seem to exceed those offered by a blog (at least as far as a student would need). I like the idea of having a message board (similar to Facebook) where students can interact and collaborate, or just vent!

I’m going to continue to mull over the concept of Blog vs. Pagecast and weigh their options. Meanwhile, I could pour myself a bowl of Frosted Flakes with Tony the Tiger or a bowl of torn paper flakes with Tony the Teacher!♥

I like the capabilities that Google Docs offers, yet I still like to work with Word (obviously because I am more familiar with it). I do like the fact, though, that it is a “living document,” it can be shared and changes made (without making numerous copies/editions).  This is a smart time-saver!

I started creating a document in Google Docs but was disappointed when I wanted to view the “page layout,” so I switched to Word. After recreating the document in Word, I uploaded it into Google Docs. I then decided to create a form for my colleagues at school to fill out which corresponded with my Google Doc. Figured I could integrate the two documents and get some valuable feedback!

Ideas for use of Google Docs:

• Translate documents
• Add pages and allow navigation
• Adding themes to forms
• Add drawings and diagrams (multidisciplinary)
• Summary pages
• Book Reports – collaborative
• Literature Groups
• Writing Workshop – peer editing, etc.
• Study Groups
• Book Study (for educators, etc.)
• Graphic Organizers/Thinking Maps
• Student Learning Maps
• Curriculum Maps
• Long Term Planning

All of the above are just the “tip of the iceberg” and can be expanded even further. The value for students and teachers is phenomenal. Students can peer-edit papers which will make a powerful impact during the revision process of writing.

The list of possibilities goes on and on!♥

Check these out:

BioMitosis Song

Mitosis Song and Brilliant Video

Split Yourelf – Nerd Rap

I found these fun, educational videos on YouTube. I wanted something “catchy” for my students to understand the concept of “Mitosis.” I certainly can’t sing (zero talent) and I figured these are another way to introduce my students about the possibility of them actually producing a video about a subject or concept.

On TeacherTube I switched to a math concept for  ”how to” videos. In order to embed them, I had to actually copy the video URL versus the Embeddable Player and its code, unlike what I was able to do with YouTube!
Multiplying and Dividing Decimals

Dividing Decimals

Dividing a Decimal by a Decimal

For my “fun” videos, I went back to YouTube.

Cute Animals – “Why Can’t We Be Friends”

Noah\’s Ark in Locust Grove, Georgia(my sister in San Diego, CA turned me on to this one)!

This was a fun experience and offers many, many possibilities for learning in the classroom and encouraging my students (and myself) to imagine, discover, and produce a video of their own.♥

Totally cool topic! Just like PD360, this is the way to learn, share, collaborate, etc. I previewed many, many, podcasts via the iTunes Store. Fortunately, I already have a Mac – and I’ll never go back! Actually, that’s all I’ve ever owned and will ever own. Anyway, it was so easy to subscribe to the podcasts I chose. I selected Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips, Heinemann Podcasts, Just Vocabulary (for my students and myself), Learn Spanish: Notes in Spanish, Learn Thai, Mental Math Secrets (for my students and myself), and The Public Speaker’s Quick and Dirty Tips. Obviously, I’m going to be busy! The Thai course is because my sister-in-law is Thai and my brother, her, and my new niece just moved to Bangkok for 2+ years. Thought I should try to learn Thai in case I need to speak with one of her family members!

Now, so I don’t get too attached to my MacBook Pro, I’m finally getting a new iMac! Plus, educators can get a new iPod Touch along with it, for free! Guess what I’ll be listening to on my iPod Touch? Yes! Besides, I can (hopefully) bring it to the classroom for my students. In an age when students get the majority of their information via TV, DVDs, the web, etc., having them learn via a podcast is perfect. Also, if a student needs to review it for a certain subject then it can be replayed. Pretty cool!

The best information I found was Creative Uses for iPod touch in Education. When I have more time I’m going to go through the “exhibit” and continue to explore.♥

Where was this wonderful, marvelous site when I needed it 15 years ago? WOW! I remember, sitting in a chair in my classroom in Long Beach, CA, staring at my classroom library (just the picture books on the shelves) and wondering how to catalog all of my books. I was having enough difficulty remembering which books I owned, which books I loaned out and to whom, how many copies of some titles I had, etc. I started having one of my student teachers start writing them down with the title and author. Then, all that information was typed and transferred. Problem, I kept buying more books and couldn’t fit them on the shelves. I also wanted to catalog the books that I had cassettes/CDs for listening centers. This was another nightmare.

Yes, I gave up!

Then, when I moved to another school, I tried to put them in boxes, according to authors, while packing up. This didn’t work, either, as many of the books were of various sizes and either wouldn’t fit or I ran out of that-sized box, or something! Yikes!

Now, since I have moved (again) to GA and switched grade levels I have a new collection of young adult books. Well, now I can start cataloging both collections. It may take me a l-o-n-g time, but at least I’ll have a record!

Of course I joined Library Thing! I entered 20+ books, including the one I am currently reading. I also signed up to preview/review new books. I hope I get a couple!

This is going to be wonderful for my personal, professional, and classroom libraries. Yeah!!!♥

Yes! It is de-li-cious! I have my own menu bar!! This will be a lot easier to manage!♥

I’m going to have to go back, clean “sites” up, etc., but this definitely is better than adding sites to my toolbar every time I find something incredible! My toolbar and bookmark menu was getting way too overcrowded!♥