New Beginnings

I shared some of my learning experiences on ClassroomLearning 2.0 with some of my classes today. After explaining about the LibraryThing website, I told them my goal of getting all of our classroom library catalogued on that site at the end of the year, and that they were going to be the ones to do it. Disbelief that they were going to be allowed to do something like this was their first reaction, then delight and pride. It showed me that I definitely need to incorporate more technology into lessons, giving the students authentic activities that will help them succeed out in the "real world".

Week 9 Thing 23 Summary

Wow! How in the world to summarize the amazing amount of knowledge this course has provided?

Some of my favorite things were: learning to blog, flickr, RSS feeds, Del.icio.us, wikis, online productivity, LibraryThing, video and downloadable audio.

I definitely plan to use many of the above in my classroom, but need the time during the summer to investigate more, become more certain of my ability, and plan sufficiently.

If another discovery learning program such as this was offered, I would enthusiastically participate.

Week 9 Thing 22 eBooks and Audiobooks

I do love to read and call me old-fashioned, but nothing will ever take the place of the feel of a physical book in my hand. I do love audiobooks for the sheer convenience of being able to listen to one on the long drive to and from school. When I was an assistant scout master, my guys also enjoyed audiobooks on long scout trips. And I can see that one day, there is a possibility that I will invest in a device such as Kindle.
A site that my ELL students love is story line online . Here they have access to children's books being read aloud.

http://storylineonline.net/

Week 9 Thing 21 Podcasts

I confess! I am very partial to certain "reality" TV shows such as Project Runway, Top Model, American Idol, etc. So when I found a podcast site titled "Grits to Glitz", I had to tune in and listen to a session concerning which station Project Runway was going to end up on. Unfortunately, there was entirely too much giggling going on to suit me. Then I tried to access one about hypoallerginic cats, but it was taking forever to download, so I gave up. I know podcasts are popular at the college level, but right now it's not that interesting to me, not like LibraryThing. Maybe once I have time to explore more this summer.

Week 9 Thing 20 YouTube

It's just a coincidence that yesterday my husband wanted help finding the complete lyrics to an old Civil War song title "The Bonnie Blue Flag". My husband is a Civil War/History buff, but even more tecnologically inept than I am (was?). Anyway, one of the items that came up in our search was a YouTube clip of someone actually singing the song. Turns out the clip is from a movie, "Gods and Generals", that my husband rewatches from time to time. I'm including it in my Thing because it is a very rousing, energetic song; a part of our history; and it allows me to show I can embed a video that is worth sharing.

Week 8 Thing 19 - LIbraryThing

Love it! So much fun to see what others think about what you have also read, or are reading. Personal goal - to upgrade my account and catalog every single book I currently own (though I've read and given away many, many more).

At school, I would very much like to have my students catalog all of our books and divide them by AR books or not.

Week+8+Thing+18

Week 8 Thing 18 Zoho Writer / Google Docs

It is very nice not to have to worry about different software versions or file types. This Zoho Writer has serious potential once I become more accustomed to it. One potential use is to have students create their rough drafts using Zoho, and then I could post comments to them for revision. Have to work on that for next year and see if I can get it accomplished. Might need some techno help though. I'm still inexperienced technology wise.

First paragraph written with Zoho. However, this tech challenged baby couldn't get this exported to my blog, so I had to download it as a Windows document and then was able to upload it to Google Docs. So at least I was able to see how Zoho can be used to save and access documents through other sites. I'm going to try to get this to my blog through google docs. If you see this as is, it worked.

Sort of worked. I had to save it in google doc as a word document, then I was able to e-mail it to my blog by creating an e-mail address at blogger.com. I am sure there is a much better way to do this, but I was getting frustrated and just used what I could figure out on my own.