Thing 8

I think delicious will be a great asset. I find websites put them in my favorites and then forget about them later. It is difficult to keep up with all the new websites and things from worksheets to make them useful later. It seems that once school starts and everything becomes more hectic it is hard to remember everything. I think this will be a great tool and quick search for me to keep ideas organized.

http://delicious.com/mkcraig269

Thing 7

I got a little frustrated with google docs because I could not find the spell check and when I tried to click on certain menus it just kept opening a new page.

Can you use Microsoft office and just upload your documents? Also, how can you incorporate this with the blog. I would like for my Pre-Cal students next year to keep up a blog to discuss what they are learning in the lessons in class. They need to have access to google docs to create discussions on topics. It would be nice if they could access the document from their blog page because it has a built in equation editor. Microsoft office 7 or 10 has a much better equation editor but I know some students do not have those applications on their computer.

Also, is there a way for them to have a message sent to me each time they work on their blog? I would like some kind of notification so that I know when to check them. I think I am going to begin to use this for their six weeks exam grade on the grading periods that we have semester exams and extra points on the other six week periods.

I like the idea of uploading my school related documents so that I have access to them anywhere I am. I always seem to be emailing documents to myself and having several copies between home and school.

I think this is a great editing tool for students to collaborate and edit each others work. I am concerned about students deleting papers just to be hateful. That does not happen often but can be a problem. Is there a way to keep a file of the last person logged in to deter this kind of behavior. I am excited about the use of these tools. I am still not sure how they are using them in the math classroom as much as History, Science and English. I think our district needs to find a way to provide more access to technology for our students and for full classrooms. I think more of us would incorporate technology if it didn't take so much planning and effort just to get into a lab or to get our one cart into the room with working computers. I know I would use Geometer's Skectpad more often if I did not have to spend so much time making sure that the program had not been deleted and that there were enough working computers so that the lesson does not become a flop.

Thing 6

I listen to Joyce Meyers video podcast and several of the educational podcasts. I enjoy the video podcasts more than the audio podcasts. I like the fact that I can download them and listen on my time schedule rather than theirs.

I think it would be a great way for students to complete projects rather than just power points. It makes their presentations more versatile.

I have used videos on YouTube several times in my classroom. It livens up a lesson. I try to throw one in every now an then to gain the students interest. The only problem I have with it is that there is a lot of garbage on YouTube that teaches things you do not want your children to learn. Sometimes it is very time consuming trying to filter through the garbage to find things that are useful for the classroom.

The advantage to embedding the video is that it plays within the same window rather than having to jump back and forth and opening many windows at once.

Our students are bombarded with technology and it is difficult to keep them engaged without trying to use some of these items in our classrooms. It gives us a way to help all learners connect to the content. I enjoy using videos and the students appreciate the change.

Thing 6 video

Thing 5

I am excited about the idea of Wikis for student collaboration and discussion. I think it would give reluctant learners an opportunity to discuss ideas and give input when they do not feel comfortable speaking out in class. How can you tell on the wiki who has participated and who hasn't?

I think it would be great for students to discuss what they have learned, plan projects and answer questions about the content they are learning.

I would love to incorporate this into my classroom next year and learn along with the students. My concern as it has been all along is having the technology available for all students to participate. Our school is so limited on access to technology for all classes.

I am having difficulty understanding the differences in Wikis and Blogs and which one would be best to begin with.

Thing 4

I didn't realize that there was a place to search pictures. This site would make it easier for my students to do some of there projects in Geometry. It gives me another great idea to have the students create layouts of different types of transformations that they can find on flickr.

I also used the first image to create a puzzle. I think it would be great for the students to create an advertisement or a slide show as well using images. This would be a great learning tool for the students to find images that relate to their Geometric vocabulary.

Thing 3

I have been using Facebook for awhile to keep in touch with relatives and old high school friends. It is a quick and easy way to keep up with our busy lives.

I also signed up for a Twitter account. Struggling with that still. I can seem to create posts but am having difficulty figuring out how to follow others.

I like the quick and easy way we can catch up with each others lives and share photos. I am concerned about the content that sometimes seems to appear from others. I feel it could easily be abused.

Our students have been trained and expect instant gratification and results. Social media contributes to that. The computer gives our students instant information. That can be great when you want them to complete projects in such a short amount of time. It can also be a problem due to the fact that they have access to information that may or may not be correct. Students have to be careful what they perceive as true when dealing with social media and the world wide web.

I can see myself using a blog to get the students to share insight in what they have learned for the day and answering higher level questions about the objectives. One of the blogs had students in teams and each was reponible for posting to the blog on certain days. They gave a short version of the lesson learned with examples and the daily assignment. I think this would be a great tool for teachers to use to communicate with asbent students as well as parents. I hope that our district comes up with a plan to make technology available for this use.

Thing 2

It was amazing to see what technology can do for education. The idea of students working on the same project simultaneously and making comments without emailing a copy amazes me. I am concerned about having the technology available for all students to participate. I want to learn more about the collaboration tools available.

As shown on the website you shared with me it is a great way for students to discuss and share what they have learned in class. It would also be a great way for students to tutor each other online.

The Discovery Resources will give your students the opportunity to answer the age old questions about where are we ever going to use this.

21st Century Learners are going to need to know how to use all the resources available to be competitive in today's work force.

I also think it would be great to learn how to streamline new information from relevant sites to keep me as a teacher updated on new information pertaining to my subject and how to best meet the needs of my students.

Thing 1

I am participating in 8 Things so that I can get better at integrating technology into my classroom. It is interesting that you can allow students to interact with comments and participate in class so easily. I think it would enable relunctant learners an avenue of participating that is not so confrontational.

I am concerned about having technology available to use these ideas successfully in the classroom.

I believe that you will have to be careful about what you publish and make sure your students understand the ramifications of what they put on the internet.

I think it would be a great way for students to participate in discussions of issues and books. I think they would be more likely to participate and give their true insights into the matter.

I have not thought of a way to use this with math but am interested in reading others ideas.