Thing 18

Okay...this is the first thing that I have been really in the dark about. I have heard people talking about using ipods in education, but wasn't sure what they were using them for and how they were using them. Now I know... I spent more time exploring this topic than any other. I am very intrigued at how MANY educators are using podcasts in education. I found myself watching many podcast tutors and teachers teaching lessons on math and technology. I even found one person who did a podcast for everyday of the week. The EPN network has lessons on anything that you can imagine. They also had a radio station that some children created in Nebraska. They called it radio for kids by kids. It was cute to listen to them. I also found countless uses for the itunes downloads as well. Okay..enough blogging- got to go explore some more. :)

Thing 17

As teachers we MUST continue to grow and to learn. I think that one of the best ways to do that is to learn from other teachers. So using a social network to do this would be great. I found a gifted education site that has parent and teacher information. I have bookmarked it and added it to my RSS feeds. I hope to be able to keep up with what is going on outside of my district with gifted education. I do not teach the older grades, but think that I will try to create a Ning for my 5th graders next year. They have used the discussion board on my wiki a lot this year. I have tossed around the idea of blogging with them as well. I have seen a drastic incline in motivation using the wiki this year and hope to be able to incorporate more next year. The only problem that I am having is that some of students do not have computers at home and I only have one in my classroom. I have used the computer lab during the open slot almost everyday this year and I am going to try to work my schedule so that I can use it again next year. :) There is so much out there to learn from.....we just need the computers to get us there!

Thing 16

Before I began this course I was very limited in using any social networking resources. When I needed help, I simply asked a friend. However....the more I am involved in out of county networking the more I realize there is so much more out there than what I can learn from just people in my school!!!! I recently signed up for a twitter and plurk account. I read the posts daily on my plurk account and sometimes, probably not as much as I should, make comments. I can definitely see that being involved in a PLN could be beneficial for educators. You can ask questions, see what others are doing and help other educators. I wish that we could access plurk at school. Everything I do has to be done at home- between children and husband and dinner and church and house and everything else in between there is not enough time!!! If I could use it during my planning period I would really like it better. :)

Thing 5c

As usual, my favorite google reader site was from Free Tech for teachers. If you have not added this site to your reader you really should! :) It is great!
I was really interested in the post titled Top Ten Online Games for Children The games are all interactive and fun! I am planning on adding this list to my wiki page for my students to access at home.

Thing 14

I use EduBlogs A LOT! There is so much out there and a good bit of it we cannot access at school. Edublogs comes is very handy when needing to show a video that is on YouTube. It is converted quickly and is accessible almost immediately. I think that the more we can bring the outside in to students the more relevant it becomes to them. I use YouTube videos a lot to show how people use specific math skills in the real world- to prove to them that it is something that they can and will use forever.

Thing 13

As with any new tech possibility I was excited. I also wondered how much time it would take me to figure all the gadgets out. I was thrilled when I saw that it was VERY EASY! I am really impressed with the options that Voicethread allows for teachers. As soon as I saw some of the examples, I immediately knew that I wanted to use it with my fifth grade group. As all of you know by now, we are finishing up our unit on climate change. I have them collaboratively working on publishing a book for our library now and thought it would be a great idea to have them use Flickr pictures to tell tell their story. Each group can choose their pictures and then use Voicethread to tell the story. I will post the finished product in the next week or so.