computerteacher

I absolutely loved this course.  I have learned so much and the bad thing about it is that I thought I had abundant knowledge of technology.  My next steps include getting some of the people at my school to take this class.

Also just maybe introducing my staff to some of the web2.0 tools that can be used.  That may be as simple as saying –how about setting up an account with box.net for your grade level?  Then you can all use the files and no one has to wait or e-mail them, etc.

Also talking to the leaders of my school about incorporating what we can a little bit at a time.

What I found interesting in my Google reader was this :

http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2009/08/mr-bariexcas-honors-british-literature.html

It talks about a honors British literature class writing wikis and combining them with using the Google Calendar.  I will encourage my school to use the Google calendar and wikis.

I like the coolcat teacher blog.  It always has something interesting to share.

I really am glad that I was able to see Classroom2.0.  It is a very good site.  I was able to learn a lot just by reading some of the posts.

I was attending a meeting today at a place where I am an adjunct technology instructor and I found out that they have a ning network and I have already joined it.  I was also able to find elementary computer teachers networks that I will be spending a lot of time reading and adding posts.

I really like discovering new places to find information.  It is so helpful to  be able to respond to someone who actually does the same job I do.  Thanks for opening my eyes to what’s out there.

I LOVE pageflakes!  I set mine up where everything I want is on one page.  I showed it to our media specialist and she loved it and we are talking about how we can use it for our school as a staff page and helping teachers set up their own class pages.

I do wish that we could use this as our webpages for our classes.  I think it would be helpful.

Did You Know by Karl Fisch

I watched several videos on TeacherTube.  I like Karl Fisch and the videos he does–Did you know? and Shift Happens.  He’s my favorite from all the videos that I have watched over the past few months.  I can see this being used for staff development for our staff.  Right now, I can’t see our district allowing us to use this in our classrooms.  However, I know technology is changing and we’ll hopefully have this available in the future.

I listened to several podcasts by The Tech Teachers.  They were good, but I still find myself wanting to look at something while I’m listening to the podcasts.  I also checked out the SmartBoard Lesson Plans podcast.  It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.  I expected actual lesson plans on using the SmartBoard in your classrooms.

I haven’t ever used podcasts in my room or otherwise.  This was my introduction to them.  I am beginning to see ways to use them.  I will continue searching and learning more about them.  Then I will need to decide what would be an appropriate way to use it with the different ages of students that I see.

Thanks for introducing me to podcasts.

I love librarything.com!!!  It is a great tool.  I like being able to read reviews about books before I read them.  I can see uses for personal and professional.  I have already e-mailed my librarian the link to this site.  I can see having a book club with the teachers at school so we can discuss and read books but by the website, not in person.  It’s great!  I have added 13 books (very quickly I might add) and loved how easy it was.  It’s great!!   Thanks for this site.  It will make a big difference in my life.

I explored several of the tools listed for Thing 14.  My favorite is Wordle (ahttp://www.wordle.net/) but unfortunately I can’t use it in the classroom due to the postings of wordless made by people that are seen on the website and contain inappropriate content to use in the classroom.  I love using it myself and I have made birthday presents and Christmas presents for family members using Wordle.  If you haven’t tried it, give it a try.  It’s very easy to use, but just not appropriate for classroom use with students.

I do like blabberize (http://blabberize.com/).  It is great to be able to make a picture talk.

Voki (http://www.voki.com/) is also a neat tool to use if you haven’t tried it.

http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=276

Traveling Through the Dark by Steven Kimmi

He talks about how he began with educational technology.  He started with podcasting using his cell phone and is currently learning how to blog.  I think he should explore wikis also.  The online delivery option is interesting.  I like being able to access it at anytime.  I would like to start using more Web 2.0 tools with my teachers.  Since I teach all the students, I will need the assistance of the teachers in order to fully benefit from the tools in the classroom.  I would like to learn more about the One-to-One Laptop program that he talks about.

I haven’t ever noticed the CC logo on anything.  I do feel it will impact the way students learn because there is more information and material out there that they will be able to use than before we had the web.  I do use some images in my teaching.  I haven’t share content on the web before.  I also know that when someone puts something out on the web they have created that information for the way they are using it.  If I do use teaching materials off of the web, I will check them out thoroughly before I use them to make sure they meet my objectives.