Around the world with 80 schools!

I enjoyed visiting the site Around the World with 80 Schools Project because it had lots of information on how to integrate technology in the classroom.  I could use this site to teach my students how to set up a blog, use digital storytelling, and work on podcasts.  One class in Florida decided that they are going to try to connect with 80 schools around the world using Skype to call them.  After they connect with the school, they will keep track of it using  Google Maps.  My students are fascinated with these Internet tools.  I like the idea that this class had and I think I can use something similar in my classroom too!

My Bookr book!

Fun with Poetry

I found a site with lots of Printable Poetry for kids.  The site has poems that are written about almost every holiday!  Poetry is an important writing genre that many teachers don't use enough.  Poems can additionally be used as an extension to a science or social studies lesson.  Some of the words in the website's poems may be a bit challenging for English language learners.  Teachers should really help the students break down the poems down into lines or stanzas.

eToolBox is about as cool as Sima...

I really enjoyed reading Wissahickon School District's eToolBox that I found on the website full of edublog awards.  The site is full of resources for integrating technology in the classroom.  One particular link lists the Top 10 Web 2.0 Tools for Young Learners and it discusses blogs and wikis.  I think both of these are wonderful tools for elementary classrooms.  They can be useful for all subject areas and language learners.

Beautiful...

Thumbnail Trophy Hunters
Originally uploaded by jasontheaker

I love the beach!

Virtual Evolution

When reading Elissa Hoffman's AP Biology class blog Endless Forms Most Beautiful, I found a cool post!  There is a video on YouTube titled Tree of Life that gives the viewer a virtual trip through 3.9 billion years of evolution.  I watched the short video and thought it was informative.  This would be a video good for older learners.

Peachey Ideas

I found several interesting posts on Nik Peachey's Learning Blog.  He writes about lots of diverse topics.

Community:

I was interested in creating an online classroom and I visited the post.  Peachey discusses the Nicenet Classroom Assistant which lets teachers create virtual learning environments.  They were cool to read about because I did not know much about them before.  The site seems safe and reliable.

Music:

In a post about music, Peachey writes about RedKaraoke which has its own social network.  Singers can upload videos of themselves singing.  Lyrics are included to help sing the words.  Musical learners will love this site and I think it could be great to help English language learners learn the language with music.

Writing:

There's a website with a collection of images that you can customize and add writing to.  Students can create talking animals!  Some examples for uses with ELLs include:  expressing opinions, writing short stories, and creating advertisements.

Tuscany

Dentists Aren't So Scary After All

Visit the Dentist with Marty is a useful website for teaching students how to care for their teeth.  It includes an animated story with text support and colorful pictures for beginning readers.  There is also a section on healthy foods for your teeth.  This would be a great website to use to support health lessons in the classroom!

Students as Authors

The website bookr is a website that allows anyone to create and share photobooks.  Students can search for images on Flickr, add text, and then publish their books!  This would be great for English language learners.  They could practice using their new vocabulary words as well as their computer skills.

Destination...Modern Art

The website MOMA's Destination Modern Art allowed me to learn new facts about modern art which I found to be very interesting.  The website allows students to take an animated tour of New York City's Museum of Modern Art.  Students click on pieces of art and choose activities to complete including:  designing their own similar artwork, answering comparison questions, and learning facts about the artists.  There is a good deal of art history involved in this website.  I am always searching for fun ways to incorporate art in the classroom and I think this will be a useful tool.

Meaning of Web 2.0

The difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 is that 1.0 is read-only and 2.0 involves reading and the ability to interact.  The article I read titled, Basics for Beginners:  What is Web 2.0?, I was reminded of the new vocabulary to learn.  Some of this vocabulary includes:  blogs, wikis, podcasts, vodcasts, mashups, and API's.  While I am still learning this vocabulary, I have learned some of the words in my graduate class.  The article overall was somewhat informative.  I will continue to use the technology coordinator at my school for additional help.

Phases of Blogging

I read the blog Thinking about teaching blogs to your students? posted by J. Black.  My reaction to the blog post is that I am relieved to see that starting a classroom blog is a lengthy process.  I am now in phase 1 because I have begun to look at other educators' blogs.  The next part of my process is to start posting on teachers' blogs.  I have not begun to think about how I can convince my principal that blogging would be a good addition to the curriculum.  I liked reading the list posted on the blog.  When I am finally ready to move on to later phases of the blogging process, I will have to use plenty of online videos and demos for my 2nd graders.

Student Blogging

I enjoyed reading 20 reasons why students should blog and I agree with the statement that, "blogging is such a powerful learning material and students should blog."  Some of my favorite reasons for student blogging are that blogging allows students to write for an authentic audience, gives them a motivation for reading, and fosters student-led professional development.  I like the idea of letting students choose the topics for their posts.  Does anyone have any additional justifications for using blogs in the classroom?  Has anyone used a blog for a digital portfolio?

Shift Happens

My reaction to the video Did You Know? is that I am not surprised to see how much time students today are spending using technology.  I am a teacher and an advocate for technology in the classroom.  We need to prepare our students for the 21st century.

I absolutely love Mrs. Huff's Classroom Wiki!  She has included a lot of classroom content for her students.  She even included a classroom blog and student blog attachment.  The student blog includes  samples of student work.  I think the wiki may be more effective if additional students contributed to the discussions.  A classroom wiki is something I am interested in doing with my class.  Does anyone have any good ideas for content to include?  I work with 2nd graders.

Blogging: Girls vs. Boys

I recently read the article, "Report:  Girls Blog, boys post video."  I was not surprised to see that 35% of teenage girls blog while only 20% of boys do it.  The article compared blogging to writing in diaries (something that girls may tend more to do).  Blogging can be a wonderful form of communication for students in the classroom.  If teachers can find ways to incorporate it into instruction, both boys and girls are given more opportunities to blog.  Maybe this would change the statistics on personal blogging.  Does anyone have any effective ways to use blogging in the classroom?

Computer access

My students and I have relatively easy access to computers in our school.  We have five computers in our classroom (three are brand new!).  I also have my laptop which I transport from home to school.  We have a computer lab in the school where students are given 30 minutes of weekly instruction.  In addition, teachers are free to sign up for available time slots in the computer lab whenever they wish.