Ldonnel2's Blog

ldonnel2 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:54:56 +0000

Video Project Link

Making a Case for Tech Access

ldonnel2 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:52:23 +0000

Dear Cobb Administrators,

I am hoping to gain access to Flickr.com in my classroom for education purposes. I understand you are weary of allowing students access to social media sites because there is a lack of monitoring and control. However, I can guarantee you that I will be creating a private group for my classroom to alleviate this problem. In my classroom’s private group I will be able to monitor what they post and ensure that the public does not have access to their work. I can also preview my student’s projects before they are posted onto the site. I hope you will allow admission for my students because this website houses many innovative study resources. When a picture is uploading people can comment on the image and get peer input. This I think will allow students to have great class discussions. Annotations are another great way to embed information into the images. I want to assure you that my students will be on their best behavior and uphold the schools name when working on these in class assignments. I believe the more freedom my students are giving the better they succeed. I hope you will reconsider access to Flickr.com for my student’s sake. These assignments will help prepare then before heading off the college which is our ultimate goal.

Thank You for Consideration,

Lisa Donnellan

12th grade English Studies

Chapter 5 RSS & Chapter 7 Flickr

ldonnel2 — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:40:17 +0000

RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. RSS is a great tool for anyone who regularly checks multiple web pages. Instead on going to all of the different sites RSS brings all the information to you instead. All of this is done by an “aggregator” or feed collector. What I find to be really cool about “aggregators” is that they check all your choosen links every hour. That’s insane! Another great feature is that there are no ad’s or spam like email accounts can gather. A great advantage of using Google Reader for your RSS is that you can access your information from any computer. Folders within your account can help you keep all your links organized. Tags as can serve this function too. There are many great features and uses for RSS accounts. I really like how you can monitor classroom weblogs and narrow searches down by using the “advanced search” page. Also, teachers can use RSSmix.com to help manage student’s weblogs and other accounts.

I want to end chapter 5 with this quote that I think really sums up teacher’s role with RSS feeds:

An aggregator is like a personal information filter. Without it the Web is a big scary place. Having a well-stocked, well-fed aggregator is like having a personal guide. As a teacher, I consider one of my main jobs to be serving as a personal guide, helping kids to fill their aggregators with content that is relevant and useful for them. They also need to learn most importantly to separate signal from noise.

Starting off I was a bit weary of Flickr. I did not feel comfortable publicly posting pictures that were intended for school use, what I thought was even worse was displaying students work in a public fashion. Now after reading I see that there are features that can be selected during the uploading process that can limit who is capable of seeing certain things. Making groups or having work be private has eliminated those fears of mine. Another great advance of flickr over other sites is that Flickr for the most part is free. This could be a great classroom tool to promote journal entries or short stories. I really liked the idea of having “random writes” where students type in a random word and write on the first picture that pops up. Also, the annotation feature seems like it would be really handy in classroom. I can see that feature being helpful for students studying maps or other detailed photos.

voice thread

ldonnel2 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:07:33 +0000

voice thread on toddler beauty pageants

Web 2.0

ldonnel2 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:33:03 +0000

These three sites are very different from how I would initially image educational sites to be. I mean that in a good way. These sites are both useful for teachers and students and they also have a fun interactive vibe to them. I can see all of these sites used in my classroom. They all related towards creative writing or interactive postings. I can image myself using Scratch as a way to promote reflection and critical thinking from my students. I think Voki is a fun site that will make students feel more at ease doing school related assignments. It does not feel so educational but still serves a practical purpose.

PicLits

Voki

Scratch

voice thread

ldonnel2 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:15:52 +0000

here is my voice thread.

Tim Tyson Post

ldonnel2 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:46:19 +0000

Tim Tyson is a great teacher/principal and rolemodel. He always pushes his students to expand their knowledge and helps them thrive on their passions. His students are what every teacher dreams of, student who WANT to learn. Many teachers fear that they will get a classroom of unmangemable kids, but Tyson shows that kids actually want to learn. His teaching methods can be useful to all teachers wishing to engaged their students more. The question left by Tyson, “What do you have to say that is so important that everyone on earth needs to see it?” is a great way to have students think and reflect. This is also a great way to have studnets open up in class.

Link

ch 8 post

ldonnel2 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:57:50 +0000

podcasting, video and screencasting live streaming

In this chapter I was able to discover the reason for the sudden boom in online streaming. I never before thought of why technology has taken over the internet but after learning about the increase in broadband and memory for computers it all makes sense.

I never knew what podcasting was. I have always seen the button on my iTunes but never knew what it did so I have left it alone. Now I understand that it’s an amateur radio station. After this section I think I will check out the podcasts on the iTunes and add some to my library. Podcast seem so easy to create. I’m not at the level with my comfort to start creating a Podcast but I think it’s cool how simple they can be created. Podcasts in school is such a genius idea. I think students would be really into the technological side of creating a radio show and researching topics would help expand their creativity.

Apple seems to be always ahead of the curve and I am so interested in IPods new site that includes lesson plans and tips on using IPods in the classroom.

YouTube is pretty much taking over the world, at least that is what it seems like at times. I use YouTube all the time when doing class projects or need an interesting source. It breaks up the boring text sources and gives people something interesting to watch and learn about. Yes, not all videos on YouTube are appropriate and I understand why many schools have blocked the site. TeacherTube sounds to prefect to be true. I know this is an alternative that will be fabulous for classrooms. Teachers creating videos for students or students creating videos for students is a huge step up in the classroom. The ideas are endless with this type of technology.

Screencasting sounds great. I think this is the new PowerPoint for classrooms. Before students created PowerPoint’s and presented in front of the class. Now students care great screencast and upload then to a class blog or webpage and have their peers view their work from home.

With WebTV and other resources, it seems like coming into class will be a think of the past. Teachers can now teach their students from home and students don’t need to get out of bed to come to school. Everything is leading towards online teaching support, and online assignments. I know this is still a long way to go before we reach this at home learning experience, but I believe it will happen sooner than we think.

Ch 6

ldonnel2 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:03:00 +0000

When reading about the twitter section of this chapter I was very skeptical of the idea. I have never had a twitter account and I really do not understand their mass appeal. However, I do think that youthtwitter is a perfect blend of fun and function. This seems like a useful tool to use in an education setting.

Social booking is something that is a must for all teachers. I never had a social bookmarking account like del.icio.us until class the other week. Now I can’t imagine how I survived. I used to bookmark all my links under the firefox bookmark tool and I would only be able to use them when at my computer. Del.icio.us is so much better at organizing my bookmarks and I can access them without having to me at my computer. Which ironically is what I am having to do now since my computer is having some issues.

I plan on bookmarking all my future students’ project, my links I want to use in class, and just about everything I can think of. The tag feature makes finding bookmarks so easy. It’s remarkable how I have survived this long without del.icio.us. A Diigo account sounds like another useful tool that teachers should use. I love how you can find so many different resources on the web to help manage classrooms.

Since I plan on being an English teacher I love the concept of having an online discussion on literature. I really think Shelfari.com and/or LibaryThing.com will be a great advantage to my classrooms. I have already have added these links to my del.icio.us account.

Useful Resources for classrooms

ldonnel2 — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:30:50 +0000

I like the quote on globster.com by Plato, “Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” This quote really exemplifies what the sites researched strive for.

An interesting quality that I found useful on globster is that you can teach by using globs. This is a create way to expand the horizon of a classroom. Also, Musuem Box seems like a great tool for students to use when working on projects. I wish I had something like this in highschool. Time Rime is a great site for students to make timelines. Also, students can compare their’s to other peers. It’s a great site for educational purposes. I love the potential that technology has given teachers in classrooms. The sky is the limit with classroom activities when using sites such a Wordle.