BP12_2009123_Tool#4(classtools.net)

Classtools.net is a great site for teachers. There are several useful templates on there teachers can use with their class. Templates like the Venn Diagram. I created one for my wood and paper writing activity next week. The site is awesome for bloggers because you can embed whatever you have created directly to your blog as I have done for this blog. I embedded the Venn Diagram I created for my Wood and Paper science activity on my blog. This web 2.0 site is a winner. every teacher should definitely check it out. There is something on there for everyone.

BP11_2009122_OneMinuteMessage1

Web 2.0 Tools

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Flickr, the easy, fun, must use web 2.0 Tool

**Please note the video podcast is approximately 1 minutes long, not the 2+ minutes that's shown. Thanks for watching and for your comments.

BP7_2009122_Tool#2(Flickr)

Technology in education is an exciting thing and I get so excited whenever I come across a new technology to use with my young students. So it should come as no surprise to anyone reading this blog as to why I’m so excited about Flickr and using in it the classroom. I mean teaching, while challenging, is only as fun as the teacher makes it. One way I plan to use Flickr to make my class fun is by taking adorable pictures of my students in various settings and posting these pictures with parental consent of course and then using the pictures to create stories, which we will read together as a class. In this way, the students will be the stars or subjects of the stories. This is just one idea of the many things you can do with Flickr in the classroom. While on the hunt for more ideas of how to incorporate Flickr into my lesson plans, I came across this lesson idea post on Flickr is a great web 2.0 tool for teachers. I can use it for with many content areas. I can use in math to show pictures of real life representation of numbers, fractions, time and so on. I will get my students started on flickr by helping them create their own flickr accounts and getting setup with the getting stated process. Once they have set up their accounts and uploaded their pictures, you can show them how to add comments and do various things with their Flickr site. The idea is to give the students clear and concise guidelines that will connect the use of Flickr to the content area you are teaching.

BP7_2009122_Tool#2(Kindersite)

I like the site http://www.kindersite.org/Directory/DirectoryFrame.htm and it is a site I will visit frequently for resources to use in my class. This web 2.0 site is full of resources for kindergarten teachers. The resources are endless, from storybooks to lullabies to music and songs to games. I can basically create a lot of my lessons just by visiting this site. I also noticed that a lot of the activities on this site are differentiated by learning style and preference. The site is inline with my teaching style and my students will benefit from all of the wonderful resources on the site. I also loved the colorful graphics used on the site. The storybooks look inviting and make for a good way to motivate the students read. This is a site I can use also as part of my resources for my AR project since my research is on reading in kindergarten. I can get so many ideas from the activities on this site; ideas that help can me build resources I can use to introduce students to technology using the appropriate content area for my young learners. The resources on this site will offer me measureable technology based tools to teach and assess my students. I am so excited! This site is indeed a great and very useful website for kindergarten students and teachers. Another thing I liked about the site is that it gives the age group for the storybooks so you can select the age appropriate books for your classroom reading. This is a good resource for read aloud and independent reading. There are also puppets to use with the books. This is a something I found that students enjoy. They love puppet shows and the resources on this site makes it easy to combine the storybooks with puppets.

BP6_2009121_AntiTeaching

For the past few months, I have been exposed to many interesting and fascinating technology designed to help me teach my students according to the 21^st Century standard. Based on what I know from reading books and watching videos related to technology in education, I cannot understand why any educator would want to teach any other way. I definitely believe the old way of teaching, paper and pencil, is rapidly dying down, as more and more digital natives demand technology-based method of learning. This brings me to CMS. Although information technology has been a part of education for decades, it is only in the recent years that CMS has become a very popular form of teaching and decimating information from teacher to student. Just a few years ago, you had few options of getting a higher education, you either had to go to a conventional classroom or watch video tapes or take home text books and exams. The phenomenon caused by CMS and the likes have made it much more possible for many to attain higher education. For example, this technology have allowed a mother of two, a teacher, and businesswoman living in Texas to attend a great film and technology school in Florida without leaving her home or loved ones. I love the technology and completely support the idea of working smarter and not harder. Why would I want to pack up and move to another state, leave my home, pay out state tuition and attend classes everyday when I can earn the same degree from the comfort of my bedroom.

Although we are moving in the right direction towards technology in education, I feel that we as a country are not moving fast enough in this direction when compared to other industrialized nations such as China. As the video below shows, we need to teach our children, the future of tomorrow and of this country, the skills through the method---technology that will make them marketable and allow them to compete in the marketplace of the future. In consideration of the consequences we could face if we continue to teach from our comfort zone or because we are afraid of change of change, I consider myself an advocate of anti-teaching.

BP2_2009121_RSSFeeds

I added the videos related to Video: RSS in Plain English because the updates will keep me aware of simple ways to learn new technology related skills.

I added this feed ClickZ News feed because it’s a feed on web 2.0 tools for teachers.

I signed up for the Delicious/edtechlive/mp3 feed because I get updates from this site of social networking teachers using web 2.0 tools in their classroom.

I added the PBS Teachers Resources for the Classroom feed to this site to my Google reader because I will get research updates on motivating students to read and write. This is my topic area for my AR project.

I added the Flocabulary feed to my Google reader because I’m a huge fan of Flocabulary and using music and hip hop in education. I love it and my kids love it. The feed will me updated on new Flocabulary resources.

BP9_2009122_FlickrLesson

I get so excited whenever I come across a new technology to use with my young students. So it should come as no surprise to anyone reading this blog as to why I’m so excited about Flickr and using in it the classroom. I mean teaching, while challenging, is only as fun as the teacher makes it. One way I plan to use Flickr to make my class fun is by taking adorable pictures of my students in various settings and posting these pictures with parental consent of course and then using the pictures to create stories, which we will read together as a class. In this way, the students will be the stars or subjects of the stories. This is just one idea of the many things you can do with Flickr in the classroom. While on the hunt for more ideas of how to incorporate Flickr into my lesson plans, I came across this lesson idea post on http://www.teachersnetwork.org/NTNY/nychelp/technology/flickr.htm by Pamela Aucoin, a World History Teacher in New York City. Aucoin recommends having your students get their own Flickr and email accounts and then going through the easy setup process. Once they have set up their accounts and uploaded their pictures, you can show them how to add comments and do various things with their Flickr site. The idea is to give the students clear and concise guidelines that will connect the use of Flickr to the content area you are teaching.