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!

Thing (yippee) 23

Woo Hoo !! This was a great program.
1. some of my favorites! Fuzzmail, it's just fun! I also enjoyed youtube and teachertube. I'll be back to those to spend a little more time! I also liked the library thing. I just finished another book and added it to my list. I'll be anxious to show the summer book group that one.
2. Lifelong learning goals. definately in high gear for this program. I feel like I can somewhat communicate with my kids now. I may not be proficient, but I can have a good conversation. I think I am ready to do some exploring on my own.
3. Surprises? Many! I thought I would have a really hard time writing in a blog, But I really had some fun. I found some neat special education vidoes and ideas that I was totally not expecting.
4.How to improve? 23 things might be a little too many. For a first time tech explorer it was a little daunting. I think it might have been easier to do a few short groups. Maybe 6-10 things. Then It would be easy to move to the next group. But, this is the special ed teacher in me that breaks a task into smaller , more manageable chunks to help the learner feel like they have accomplished something and they don't become overwhelmed or frustrated.
5. I would very happily participate in another adventure like this one.
6.FUN!

Thanks for doing this. It was a great experience. I will be continuing to use the library2play webpage as a guide to continue surfing some of the cool spots I have discovered. It was a lot of work but well done!

Thing 22

In surfing around the websites I found a pretty cool song "The Librarian" It really is great. My resource room is right in the library at our school. I am there in a cormer room and we see all the library happenings and this song was pretty fun. I was very impressed by the postings and the "ning" sites. I saw VWB listed as well as Barry Bishop! There is a lot of informatin on those web sites. Coming from a beginner in the technology world and a special ed person, I have a lot to learn and those web sites would be great for ME to learn. I know we are supposed to be focused on our students but I feel like I need to learn a lot more before i get the students involved. Becoming more aware of what is happening comes first. I was very impressed with all three recommended sites. Things are beginning to settle a little for me and i'm thinking of some applications for the special needs students.
1. book reports on video
2. projects on a podcast instead of written
3. Post a comment on a blog about a specific subject
For students not able to do classwork and testing or evaluation in a conventional way, I am beginning to see some new ways to show that learning is happening. The wheels are beginning to spin and these 3 web sites will be future reference for me! Thanks

Thing 21

This thing was a little bit over my head. I didn't have the right equipment for a podcast, so my sweet 16 year old helped me make a video with her camera. I can see how this would be very useful for many ways in the classroom. Our second grade students have made podcasts with book reviews. This was a difficult thing that I could not have done without help from an experienced computer person. Although I could not do a podcast, I was very happy to tell you about the book Twilight. Check out that great website, and enjoy my book review video!