Last, but not least, THING 13

What were your favorite discoveries or tools during this Web 2.0 journey? A few of my favorites are wikis, blogging, learning all that Google has to offer (wow!), and educational web tools 2.0
How has this program assisted or affected your life-long learning goals? I have always loved technology, and this program afforded me the opportunity to somewhat keep up - I used to feel I was right there with new things, but in the last few years, technology has grown at lightening speed and I wasn't keeping up, in fact, I was getting left behind.
Were there any outcomes of the experience that surprised you? I was and still am suprised at how many things (for lack of a better word) are out there to help, teach, show, inspire, etc. Todays students have no idea what it was like not too many years ago when even just owning a computer was a big deal.
What could be done differently to improve upon this program's format or concept? More time to work together, perhaps in the lab, sharing and working through some of these steps, would have a bonus. We had mentioned that early on, but finding time is difficult.
If another Web 2.0 program was offered in the future, would you encourage your colleagues to participate? What would you tell them? Absolutely! It is a great way to "try" some new things and chances are a few will "fit" and enhance your teaching or life!
If you were asked to describe this experience in one sentence, what would you say? It was a fun and great way to check out some of what is out there!! And most of all, how lucky are we to have such a great librarian in Rachel to set this up and facilitate it?? Thanks so much!!

Number 12

So I found PicLits.com - a site where you can choose a picture, then add words, your own or from a list provided. Since I teach language and spelling, this would be a good way to review and/or practice adjectives, adverbs, etc. It makes you stop and think about what you see and what to say about it.
http://www.piclits.com/viewpoem.aspx?PoemId=47681

I really liked this Thing! Lots of fun,interesting and useful sites out there that I would never find on my own. I love the one Sue found - I played with that one, too.

Number 11

This was certainly a fun one! I have used Wordle lots - I made a wordle for my daughter using adjectives about her, places she's traveled, fun words that brought back memories of her growing up; then changed the colors to match her room and had it blown up to poster size at Kinko's. I framed it and gave it to her the day she moved into her new apt. - she loved it!!

At school, I had the students choose adjectives (from lists I provided) to describe their classmates. Then I gave each student their list, which they entered into wordle and made themselves one. They loved it - and couldn't wait to take them home to show their parents.

I am also familiar with Animoto - I used it a year or two back with one class. I am glad to have it brought to mind again!

I haven't had success with getting on Comigs . . . and the Flash Card site is super. Sue has shared several ideas for that one!

And Thing 10

Ok, this one is something I doubt I will use, although I did sign up for Curriki through it. I do understand what Creative Commons does - I think that it is a great concept in today's world. I do think students need to learn about copyright laws, perhaps starting at the intermediate grade levels, but I see this more for older students at this point.

Thing 9

I love these sites! I seem to like Shelfari and Library Thing equally - not fond of GoodReads for some reason. This is a great way to remember what I've read! I read a book and often forget it - then can't think of the name, etc. My name on Shelfari is Nancy N - haven't entered too many books yet as I have forgotten many of the names . . . .

Numero ocho thingy

I have been intrigued by podcasts for a while now. I was glad to explore some of the sites posted. I found 2 dealing with language since that is my special area in
5th grade. The first one gives an idiom a day with the explanation of where it came from and what it means. This last week into this week we are studying idioms, so how perfect is that?

An idiom a day
http://epnweb.org/index.php?request_id=3445&openpod=4#anchor4

This second one has lots of information on correct grammar. It could be a help to ANYBODY who is unsure of something grammatical

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
good for grammar rules

In reference to VoiceThread - a very interesting program. I'd like to see what other 4-6 grade teachers do with it to get my creative juices flowing.

I had heard of audacity before andthat is something I will explore more.

the seventh thing

I think I like Wiki better than Diigo from what I've explored/seen/tried to do. This seems more useful to me - I like the idea that came up at lunch about posting things needed, like for Jump Rope for Heart. The parents can then actually sign up for what they want to send without everyone signing up for the same thing. This can be done for items you need in the classroom - kind of like a wish list. We teachers can use this when signing up for a potluck lunch perhaps . . . I think we should give that a try sometime :)

Thing 6

Ok, so now I am a bit overwhelmed. I watched the video and played with it a bit, but I would really do better with someone sitting with me at a computer and showing me Diigo's features. It sounds like something I would use - the highlighting and snapshots. I guess I need to play with it more. I think it would be more fun to get several of us who want to learn more about this and go to the computer lab and explore together. Anyone interested???

Thing 5

I had learned about custom searches before, but forgot about it - I'm glad to come across it again because I can really see using this. If I create a link to a custom search I develop for my students, they can get information for projects or research a topic that we have been discussing without the chance of finding some inappropriate items on the web.

Thing 4

Wow - I really like this googledocs. I can see a variety of uses - students who can't always get together to work on a project, can do it via googledocs. The student can write their report/essay and the teacher can review it through this method. I also can see grade level teachers using this to come up with ideas, assignments, etc. that they might use - say in reading.

Thing 3

Scholastic has a teacher board that I have checked out a few times, but my favorite is ProTeacher. I also saw an idea-sharing board on Promethean Planet that had lots of helps with using the promethean board.
http://teachershare.scholastic.com/

A First

The 13 Things the Pretzel Way is great - gets me trying things I haven't done before - like this blog. I'm curious what else we will be trying.
I'm working on this while watching the Olympics - did you know that 90% of all Canadians live within 100 miles of the United States border?