I would like to use the Pageflakes to keep track of all my subscriptions to different web 2.0 tools and also to make it available to my kids for project planning.  I can see where putting everything they need to use in the way of web2.0 tools in one place is liking making a page on delicious to store links to useful resources for the kids for projects.  Of course putting it in Pageflakes would be more eye appealing to the kids and therefore more motivating to use.  I could see where using this tool would also of course be a very good place for them to put their research links, videos, multimedia, etc. to make easy access when working on a project.  It could almost be used as an online bibliography of sources, etc.  I could also see a student uploading their own video or project to be shared in their oral presentations.  Cool ideas keep popping into my head on how to use this with kids.  I understand the probalem with the ads, but as long as they are not inapproriate for teens then my kids age 11-14 should be okay to use Pageflakes or a similar program.

Is Memorizing Important?

Today I read a blog about the question of memorizing and its relevancy for today’s students.  I agree with most of what the blogger said in that if the fact memorizing is going to be something useful and help you learn or perform your work faster and more efficiently then it is worth memorizing the fact.  His example was the necessity of memorizing math facts.  I taotally agree and feel that spelling most common words used in writing would be another that he did not mention.  He felt that dates in history were important because he liked to visit historical places on vacation and this information that he had to memorize in school became valuable.  I think the point to be argued would be dependent on what you loved and had a passion for as well as usefulness in every day life.

See the blog at the link below.

http://successfulteaching.blogspot.com/2010/07/is-memorization-important.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SuccessfulTeaching+%28Successful+Teaching%29

My initial thought about podcasting in education was that this was something too hard and time consuming for me to learn about even though I have had the desire.    I previewed and subscribed to “Grammar Girls” and “Naked Scientists”. I really liked “Grammar Girls” because I teach language arts and that site will come in handy to answer some of the tricky grammar questions that come up personally sometimes for me as well as for my students.

On “Naked Scientists”  I learned about the latest new theory about the life span of stars which used to be that they expanded to be no more than 8 times as large as the mass of our sun, but now with the new Hershel telescope scientists can see further into space and have concluded that a star can expand to 120 times the size of our sun.

I do plan to use podcasting in my classroom and in my lessons to make for a more interesting venue. I want to  allow students to explore different types of educational podcasts that they can subscribe besides just music on iTunes.  This lesson has renewed and expanded my thinking about podcasts, and now I feel less intimidated by this form of media.

ACS Channel

I enjoyed making the sandbox wiki page and really learned some good techniques for adding media and links to the wikispaces page.  Posting some comments on the burning questions for two classmates in this course was quite interesting and both questions fit together in different ways.  The first disussion question ( “Is Google Making Us Stoopid?”) I joined was from Ms. Daly at http://k12l20sandbox2.wikispaces.com/dalytimes.

Ms. Nancy Smith’s question was, ” Will I ever run out of questions?”  on http://k12l20sandbox2.wikispaces.com/Shifting+Sands

Both discussions related to the brain, and it was facinating thinking about these two questions and how they fit together expanding my thinking on these two topics.  I want to come back to these discussions and see what other people have to say as well on these thoughts.

If you have not joined in a discussion to fulfil our two post requirements or just want to explore another burning question please go to my wiki page and join my dicussion question based on a video I have added to the wiki page at http://k12l20sandbox2.wikispaces.com/Summer+Technology+Fun+2010

I really did enjoy learning how to tag and have now understood how I could better use tagging in my classroom with students.  Like all teachers  I have some avid readers, and they would really enjoy keeping a log in Library Thing of all the books they have read. If they permit me to see their list I would be able to see how many they have read in a year or during the summer.  I could also start using it to catalog our school books in our small library at our private school.  Since our library is not online, this would be a good way to catalog the books so students would know what books we have in our school.  Hopefully we will be able to get a barcode scanner to keep an online list in the near future.

http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=479

“Options for Building a Website and Why You Should”   by Cyndi Danner-Kuhn

This 20 minute video presentation is great and does the following:

1.  Tells why teachers should have a classroom website.

2.  Gives six free website makers that a teacher can use to create their own websites for their classrooms.

3.  For each of the free online website creators there are teacher examples which really helps to see an actual site to get ideas.

4.  Explains items and pages that might be included and explains the pros and cons of each website creator.

I really enjoyed seeing all the available website creators.  I do have my own classroom website, but I am always looking for good ways to encourage the teachers at our school to make and maintain classroom websites.  Cyndi does that for me and suggests ways to make it easy and less time consuming.  I will definitely be going to use this video to suggest that our teachers get more involved in creating their websites as a tool of communication and even as an online portfolio for their own resources and files.  I love the online professional learning option because I can sit in the comfort of my home in my pjs and learn something new that will help me be a better educator.  Even if you have your own classroom website, I would encourage everyone to take a look at the other choices of web creators out there and some can be used free with kids, too.

Today I found a very interesting teacher resource on Instructify.com on my Google reader.  Teacher’s Domain allows free access to public television documentaries and other programs which can be used by simply registering as an educator on the site. It is  a great source of videos and media to add to a class wiki about a topic and then conduct an  online discussion about the video.  One of the videos I watched was about a famous black chemist, Percy Julian, who lived under the Jim Crow laws of segregation and  through hard work and perseverance achieved renown status in his field of chemistry.  However, he fought many racial battles along the way.  This would be a great way to start a discussion about segregation.  Another great website found on Instructify was about “How to Make  a Book Review” for kids.  See the video by clicking here.

I have used www.slide.com, www.animoto.com, and one of my favorites is www.smilebox.com.  I have a PC and I have also learned how to use the moviemaker that is installed on my computer.  In December, I purchased a Flipcamera which is an excellent choice for catching videos in class and has a 2 hour battery life.  I can then place them into many of the slideshow programs such as Smilebox to add video along with photos to make a stunning presentation.  Here is the short flash slideshow made about how how students and teachers sought God in May for the new school building and it is now being readied for the beginning of school. Praise the Lord.

Customize your own free slideshow

• Have you noticed the CC logo on any websites you visit? No, I have not really noticed the CC logo, but that is  because I was not aware of its existence or uses by educators. Did you wonder what it meant? I have not given it any thought up until now.

• Do you think CC will impact the way students learn and create projects? How? Yes, CC will impact the way students learn and create projects because it will make all of us less nervous and provide a safer place for us to get material to use in school projects.

• Do you use digital images, audio or video clips from the web in your teaching (or professional practice)? Yes, my students do create online digital technology projects , slideshows, reports and powerpoints.

• Do you ever share content on the web? We usually post the project in an email to send to the principal and to the parents as a way of sharing their digital work.

• Who owns your teaching materials? I am not sure.

• What are some potential negatives for using CC?  I am not sure at this time.  I think it would be beneficial.