Thing #8 etc

I found screencastle easy to use but difficult to download to this blog; there are not a lot of instructions to be found. I think this can be very useful for me as a teacher for doing things such as the works cited page generator that I just made (but not edited). Instead of going through this for each class, I can just show them the video. Of course, I can do the same thing basically with my active board.

Thing #8 Screencastle

thing # 7 hulu etc.

I like using many of the different video sites to supplement our literature selections; just about every story in our book can be found somewhere; also, there is great background information available also. One site that I use is biography.com. The site will not let me embed it in this blog but the link is as follows:
http://www.biography.com/video.do?name=edgarallanpoe&bcpid=19658108001&bclid=1859715279&bctid=1862051847

thing # 7 hulu etc.

Hulu; Many of the Alfred Hitchcock shows are made from the short stories in our literature book. Love showing these to the students.

Thing #6 I phone

I have used I phones previously; my daughter has one and many of my co-workers do also. I find many of the apps to be very useful. My family just went on a trip and the GPS app and the weather app came in very handy; the weather app helped us avoid a major storm. I am just not sure though, about using phones in a high school classroom. I think this is a topic that someday will have to be decided on a district level. We tell the students to put them away, that they cannot be visible and then we tell them to take them out and use them. I do not see the district buying classroom sets for use in the schools so I beleive that this is something that is better left up to the colleges.

Thing #5 facebook

I have been on facebook for about a year now and enjoy using it; just recently I re-connected with some old high school friends and set up an impromptu mini reunion. I only have close friends and family members on my facebook. I do not want students or ex-students on my facebook. I have read the horror stories of teachers losing jobs because of things posted on facebook and feel that it is just not worth the risk to involve students or ex-students. If I ever was going to do this, I would set up a separate account just for that purpose. I really do not see a use for this in my classroom. I cannot see a practical use for back-channeling or twitter in a high school classroom. I can see the benefits in a college lecture class or at a symposium, but not for class use.

Thing #4 youtube

I have used youtube previously and found many helpful video clips that I have used in the classroom and for coaching as well. Many coaches do not realize that there are tons of instructional videos available for just about any sport. It is not difficult to upload videos to the sight and I find it to be very user friendly.
Some advantages of having teaching/learning videos available are that students could view videotaped lessons at home if they were absent or as a re-teaching tool. They could view a difficult lesson or a review session at their leisure.
Because of the legal issues, I am not quite sure about up-loading student work. I think that would have to be something that they would have to do on their own. I would not be comfortable from a legal standpoint of doing this, even with a signed form. I think, though, that if a student is proud of an assignment that they have completed for class and want to share it, it would be great. They would have to understand though, that sometimes comments from casual observers can be rough and to take some with "a grain of salt".

Thing 3 skype

I am very familar with Skype; my family has used it for a few years. Our neighbor moved to India for a while and we talked on Skype and video chatted about once a month. I can see uses for this in the library and classroom. It would be nice to be able to set up a conference with an expert in a field: an author or playwrite or college professor and be able to have the students interact with them. I have also used this with coaching: talking with college coaches about athletes and football strategy.

Thing 2 commentary

I found wordle to be very useful; I can see myself making things to use with my active board. I can see the students using it for a variety of things; especially literature. It would be great to use for novels, short stories and the like and even vocabulary study. I found the site to be very easy to use and user friendly.
I also liked gloster very much; again, I see myself using for many introductory units with my activeboard. I think the students would like using this more than making a traditional poster. It is faster, easier and much more convenient. I think the thinking process is a bit different also because it forces them to use technology instead of scissors and glue.
I made a video on animoto but can not figure out how to post it to the blog. I saved it and can e-mail it and post it on facebook. I found this to be very time consuming coming up with pictures and things. I think it could be used in my English class for a major assignment over a novel or play or such. Finally, the Bookr I found very difficult to use. I thought the website was not very user friendly and lacked instruction. Also, the photos that were available were not very useful or plentiful. I really don't think this is something that I would use.

thing 2 wordle

Thing 2 glogster 2

I fixed it; yeah!

Glogster

thing 2 glogster

I made a glogster but only half of it showed it up; i guess that is because i did it as a side bar.

Thing 1 Summer 2010

After watching the video on connectivism, I came away with a few contrasting thoughts. I like the idea of being able to access any textbook, classroom, course etc. However, I am not quite sure about how the student is to go about finding these things. I see this as the role of the teacher: to direct the student to the correct sources. I think the teacher and or libraian's role in this connectivism is a bit more complicated than what the video shows. I see the role almost like a traffic cop; telling individuals which way to go.