Thing 6

Now I am really looking forward to getting an itouch for my classroom. I know where my money will go this year! There were so many apps I liked , it is difficult to know where to begin. Games- they had lots of free games that I could see using with the kids. Word games, similar to boggle, were a plenty. Toobz was another game that you had to fit the tubes together to make a maze. Good thinking skills would work on this game. I went into the education section and was overwhelmed, sight word flashcards, reading and number games a plenty. I can see a few of my students glued to the itouch and doing a "READING" activity. Cool. There was also one that you punch in the restaurant, pull up the menu, choose an item and it brings up the calories and nutritional value. I think it is very important for our kids to be aware of what they are eating. Good nutrition is a big factor in good education, there's my soapbox for the day! I also liked the free app for time around the world, it would tell you what time it was anywhere in the world, how fun to think about when you are studying different parts of the globe. On that note google earth was an app that was fun to see. If I'm studying the Boston Tea Party, I could punch in the place and get an arial view of where it really happened. Let's just make learning a little more personal, a little more real. I could get into that! Look out itouch, a few more weeks to go and you are MINE!!

Thing 5

Facebook. I signed up for that in late spring because a co-workers daughter was ill and this was the main way of recieving information about her. I did not do much with it until I saw it on the list here. I began to play more with it while I was out of town and visiting family. I looked up a lomg lost wonderful college roommate and found her. We met for coffee while I was in Ohio. I am also keeping up with family and co workers. I have to now say, I am hooked. I keep thinking of people to look up. We are all talking my dad ( he's 87) into getting a facebook as well.
Twitter. I signed up and have enjoyed looking around. I am not proficient yet but slowly working up to it. I think these two are things you need to work on a regular basis to get the feel for them and learn the uses. I am getting there. I think it would be a great way to keep posted on your students. Developing a personal relationship with students and understanding them is to learn how to reach, teach them. I look forward to plenty of time on facebook. More to come!

Thing 4

I really like this one,,,well,,,I like them all. I have a flip video camera and I made a short movie of the Alamo last week when I was there. I loaded it on Utube and it was so easy. I know the kids could make a video and share without any trouble. They could do a video project and post it. The rest of the class could then watch and post a comment. The teacher could then easily watch and view comments of the other students and even grade. There could be so many things to do video projects with. Current events, history events, book reports, live math problems and solutions, social circumstances, and on and on..I think it would be fun to see a group of class videos. They could even do plays of certain historical events, then the kids could watch them all and use it as a live study guide..Ready...Set.....Action!!

thing 3

Oh Skype!! I love it. My father who is 87 is my tech hero! He is on the computer and always interested in technology. I sent him an itunes gift card for his 87th birthday! He sent me a webcam for Christmas. My parents are in Ohio so we "skype" every Sunday and I get to "see" them and what they are doing. My only request from them is to make the conference calls for video. The family can all get on and talk but we can't see each other. You just gotta love it!

Thing 2 Again

Oh, I just couldn't resist. I think I see Amelia Earhart on the Voki screen! What fun we could have making our famous person and making them speak. I think the kids would know their famous person after designing them and giving them speech! I love it! I see some famous people coming my way!!

Thing 2

OK, I am really hooked. Wordle...I am a special ed teacher so I am always looking for different ways to present things. One way I could use it.. Have the student type in some sight words they are struggling with. It displays the words in all directions which separated them in different ways, it also makes the words different colors. It would be a great way for the student to play and manipulate the words, become familiar with them, and see them repeatedly in different positions. Loved it. Wordsift...Again, thinking of the special needs of my students, I pasted in some info on a bird (we have a bird unit) I think this format will give greater understanding and create more interaction for the student and the information. Sometimes the information itself becomes overwhelming for the student. Pesented in small bits in wordsift might keep them engaged for longer periods of time and learning more about their topic. Finally, Bookr...Great way to present information. I'm thinking about a "What I did this summer" book with some summer pictures of places, people and things, maybe even a graduation book for the recent graduate. So many uses...so little time. I didn't even choose these first two. I just looked at them to see what they were and immediatly got hooked and saw how I could use them. I'll have to get back to the others.

Thing 1 next series 11.5 things

This movie was quite interesting. First of all, the format of showing the pictures and telling a story over them would be a great use for project presentation using the Flip cameras. This would be something great for my special needs students. So, on to the actual content of the video. First of all, I love the idea of the teacher being the facilitator for student led research. It really puts a total new role and picture of the teacher. It changes the face of the teacher, which will be an interesting transition. The teacher will go from the lecture, educator to guiding the self propelled student. It is going to be fun to see the change, I just hope it is quickly embraced. I know at my school our librarian is a great technology resource so it would be appropriate for her to lead the charge in this student led technology research. I am sure the students will eagerly follow! I know I would!