Reflection #7: Yeti, GIMP, email, sleeping time

       Tony Vincent (Tony Vincent.info) produced a short podcast about four different items that all are pretty random but interesting enough to try out and explore. He first talked about the Yeti, a tall and sturdy microphone that has different modes. For instance, Tony used the Yeti that he was using for his podcast in the "one direction", which just picks up his voice. The next item he talked about was GIMP. I would definitely check out this website and download it to your computer. With the pictures you take, GIMP allows you to modify the picture to look more professional. With emailing, Tony discussed how checking your e-mail is always a hassle but has tips that will make your time with email a less stressful process. The fourth item Tony talked about was the website, sleepingtime.org. When going to this website, you sign in with your twitter name and it will predict how many hours of sleep you get. Pretty crazy but it may be fun to find out!

Reflection #6: Your name? Yeah, it's not in this podcast. So listen.

       Helen and Anna are two Tech Chicks who are energetic and eager to share websites that will enrich your teacher tool kit, help students learn, and much more. In this particular podcast, the Tech Chicks offer a variety of websites that increase learning and are really neat. For instance, being interested in English, I found oneword.com to be my favorite resource that they shared. Helen and Anna explain how this is a site where it gives you a word and you have 60 seconds to write about that word. Another cool tool that the Tech Chicks shared were Firefox Add-ons. One in particular that I really liked learning about, was the dictionary tool kit. Students can be reading a passage and come across a word that they do not know the meaning of or the pronunciation for, so they double click or right click the word and a definition and the pronunciation of the word will appear. Another cool site they shared, dealt with a place where teachers, students, or whomever can vote on certain things such as t-shirts for an organization (dotvoting.org). If you want to participate in educational chats or seminars at all hours about using cell phones in the classroom for instance, they provided a site that will lead you to chats and seminars.

       There are much more sites offered from this podcast that I would encourage anyone to check out. I certainly packed away resources for me and I encourage you to do the same!

Podcast Reflection #5: Driving 2011 Questions in Education: Facebook Talk

http://kevinhoneycutt.org/
        In one of Kevin Honeycutt's podcasts, in his Driving Questions archive, he and some of his colleges talk about the issues that come across on Facebook. Writing mean things about people after getting into an argument/fight with a friend at school, causes issues and effects both parties. The kid that wrote the mean things may regret it the next day and the attacked kid will be humiliated by everyone that reads the comment. The basic question that came out of this discussion, is how to train young kids to be mature enough to use social networks and what do parents do when their child gets bullied on Facebook? One option they hit hard on, was building an advocacy page (support group) that would be available for people who get bullied on Facebook. An interesting point, however, that was pointed out, was the issue of ignorance among parents who do not know what goes on with their child's Facebook page or do not know how to bandage up the issues that happen on Facebook, because they did not grow up with it. All in all, most kids from about 13 and up are using Facebook to vent about problems that are happening at school and to get revenge on their classmates. Adults need to find ways to prevent this type of bullying and to help the attacked students cope.

       One last thing to mention is how Facebook can come back to haunt people years later when wanting to get a professional job. Teachers, doctors, and all other people in professional careers or looking for a job, need to be careful with what they post as pictures and comments on their page. Anything that is inappropriate to the employer on Facebook, can deny anyone their job.

This podcast proved to me that Facebook is not always fun but harmful and should be taken seriously.

Animoto in my Classroom

http://animoto.com/play/OP9gWyrG1w9BS1tmodM1LQ#

       Animoto is a great tool to use in the classroom. It is fun and easy! In using Animoto in the classroom, I can create a slide show about me (like I did) to show to my students on the first day of school. By taking pictures of my students throughout the year, I could make a slide show to show on the last day of class when thinking back on the school year. Teaching lessons or introducing a lesson using Animoto can also be done by using the text option when creating the video. Animoto could also be used to help the students transition to the next subject. When going from English to math, I could post pictures that have numbers, equations, etc. to let students know that it is time for math! To engage students in a fun activity/lesson, I could create a story, using images and words, with Animoto. Using only images, students could view the images on Animoto and conduct a creative writing assignment by making up what they think the images are trying to convey.

Podcast Reflection #4: Reading & iPod touch workshop, camp, & bookmarks

       This podcast featured Tony Vincent who discussed about a workshop that he did with teachers. Several teachers received grants that focused on reading for K-12 grade students. One interesting thing that Tony talked about was the iflipper. This gadget allows teachers to make quizzes and flashcards about books that are read in class. Tony also shared about how students can use the sketchy app to create scenes and go to Google map to find similar settings that are in the book. In addition to talking about the iflipper, Tony also talked about an over night Tech camp for 125 teachers. At the camp, teachers learn about screen casting, smart boards, filming, and much more. This podcast really opened my world and made me realize that there is still so much more out there in the "tech world" that all teachers should get their hands on! The activities that Tony talked about, seem to be the perfect way to grab student's attention and make them want to learn and read!

Podcast Reflection #3: 21st Century Learning #143: Brad Ovenell-Carter, Head of Think Global School

 This is a podcast, from EdTechTalk, that truly tells of a fascinating learning process. Students are literally traveling around the world to countries such as China and Sweden, to explore, take on other perspectives, judge, and learn ordinary subjects, such as chemistry, the language arts, etc. Brad Ovenell-Carter, explains how this is a "paperless school" and how he wants his students to use iPads, iPhones, and MBP, to gain access to information on paintings looked at in art museums and to do assignments and projects on them. I feel that all listeners should take in what this Global school provides and utilize it with your future students.

Stephanie's DED 318 Website

https://sites.google.com/site/stephaniesded318website/

Fun with Text!

This image comes from Tagxedo where you can create word images such as the one I posted here! Tagxedo and Wordle are both sites that allows a person to create a word cloud such as this one here. The process is simple and would be an excellent tool to introduce to your students! For elementary students, kids can use these sites to express themselves and be creative with changing the font and layout of their words. This word cloud is all about education. With your students, you can have them create a word cloud that expresses themselves (have them think of ten words that relate to them)!  Students not only are able to express themselves but will help them with their spelling, typing skills, and learn new words!