Summer Web 2.0

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink has been referenced in several Web 2.0 blogs. In reviewing the feeds in my Google Reader, this book was referenced by Vicki Davis, who has also been cited in this course. In the Infinite Thinking Machine feed, “Inspiration and Innovation at Googleplex” posted by Lucie deLaBruere, Vicki Davis and others shared innovative ideas for using Google tools in the classroom. The world of technology is continuously changing and as educators we need to keep abreast of the most current tools to help students communicate and collaborate with others throughout the world. On many occasions, students are utilizing the most current tools at home. In part one of her Google Teaching Academy, Vicki Davis quotes Wayne Clough “Don’t send me engineers who can be duplicated by a machine, I’m sending that to India. Give me engineers who are adaptable and can THINK across disciplines.”

FlipPals was an interesting idea found on the RSS feed of the ActivEducator Blog. Students created flipcharts and the teachers connected learners by exchanging the flipcharts with another classroom. I would love to see the student created flipcharts. I especially enjoyed the idea of the Traveling Promethean Man, similar to the traveling teddy bear or Flat Stanley. The following title was recommended “The Amazing Adventures of Flippy the Flipchart.”

My exploration of the Web 2.0 tools included 30 Boxes, Ta-Da List, and Weebly. 30 Boxes has already sent me a reminder about my grade level meeting on Monday. However, our school email system has this capability. 30 Boxes also was not as clear cut as I needed it to be. An option for reminders about birthdays was provided. But, all of the dates (in various months) that were placed on the calendar were reflected on the calendar on the same day. So further instructions were needed in developing the calendar.

Ta-Da List was beneficial to me. Ta-Da allows you to create a list of things that you need to do, and then send it to your email. The list was sent immediately (ta da) to my email after saving. Since I have a grade level meeting on July 14, I decided to create a to do list related to the meeting.

A recent request from a colleague in another state prompted me to explore Weebly. Weebly is a site in which you can develop your own website. Rather than send my colleague links of various resources via email, I decided to develop a website that she can access without having to search through emails to find something that is needed. I will continue to update the website with additional resources. This may also serve as my “technology toolbox”, which was mentioned in Thing #1.

What an innovative means to attend a professional conference! Technology is truly advancing in a way that the needs of learners are met. The online conference provided an opportunity for my visual and auditory needs to be met. Silvia Tolisano of Jacksonville, Florida, USA facilitated a session entitled Week in the Classroom: “iPods- iSpeak- iSing- iListen- iLearn” that was of interest to me. The presentation was an online “auditory cast” that shared information about iPods (Mp3 players). This presentation was helpful to me because like Silvia Tolisano, I am a “newby” to iPods. She quoted a statement from Vicki Davis that I will commit to memory “There is power in being a newby.” She shared the potential and possibilities that the impact of iPods/Mp3 players can have on student learning. Some of the ideas were students using iPods to record current events, word of the week, digital audio cookbook, projects involving music which assists students in remembering concepts, i.e., mnemonics to remember the spelling of months of the year in Spanish. This year one of my second grade students and her mother compiled a recipe book of her classmates’ favorite foods. The digital audio cookbook would have been an innovative way to publish the cookbook.

Another session of interest was Week in the Classroom: “Listening to the voices: student empowerment
through collaborative learning projects beyond the school walls” by Sharon Peters of Montreal, QC, Canada. In one portion of her presentation, the audio interview was conducted with one of her 16-year-old students who shared his view of how the internet connects you to the real world and how learning certain subjects will apply to your future. Another part of her presentation provided students an opportunity to share their experience in using various technology tools through “interview videocasting”. This type of “interview videocasting” would serve as an opportunity for second graders (who enjoy talking) to share their ideas about a particular topic or story. Also, the questioning through videocasting could serve as tool for teachers to determine a student’s understanding of a particular concept.

In reviewing Sharon Peters’ Wikipage, the Technospuds Project peaked my curiosity. The site has creative projects for Pre-K-6 Elementary Classrooms. The activities are truly creative. The students learned about measurement through an egg roll project. There was also an egg roll fashion show, which was captured using a bubbleshare slideshow. There are other creative learning ideas on the Jenuine Techno site.

Creating a slideshow was fun! Having the capability to upload pictures from your own picture file to a video is “cool” as my students say. I used Animoto to create a video of pictures taken on my field trip to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. Click here to view the video of God’s Amazing Animal Creations. It took a while to upload my personal photos. However, in reading information on the website, it was noted that it took longer to download because the picture sizes were too large. Recommendations were made for changing the size of the pictures before downloading.

In Thing #11, using Flicker, I went on a virtual vacation in Hawaii. Slide was used to make a slideshow of the pictures from that virtual vacation. The slideshow is entitled Linda\’s Hawaiian Virtual Vacation

Photo Credits:

Photo 1: Hawaii Mountain Temple-http://flickr.com/photos/divemasterking2000/493535386/
Photo 2: Hawaii Surf’s Up-http://flickr.com/photos/taiger808/380294355/
Photo 3: Hawaii (Kauai) Napoli Coast II-http://flickr.com/photos/jeepeenyc/1297480879/
Photo 4: Hawaii Art by Music Uncle-http://flickr.com/photos/rjmalfalfa/1350167540/
Photo 5: Akaka Falls, Big Island-http://flickr.com/photos/virgomerry/523848528/
Photo 6: Palm Jungle

Photo 7: Rabbit Island

Photo 8:Hawaiian Sunset

Also, it would be interesting to have the students develop a slideshow that retells a story in their own words, similar to the slideshow created by Ms. Paul about The Very Hungry Caterpillar. They could take pictures of school activities to include in the slideshow. The slideshow could be posted on the our class website or class Wiki for the parents to hear about a school day in the words of the students. In addition to the slideshow options provided, Photostory would be an option to use in which students’ voices would be recorded to retell a story.

What an enormous array of pictures! Exploring Flicker was fascinating. You could spend a large amount of time just exploring. I enjoyed being able to take a virtual vacation using Flicker. It has always been my desire to vacation in Hawaii. Well, today I had that opportunity vacation in Hawaii through pictures.

Palm Jungle in Hawaii, Photographed by Brewbrooks

Flicker would be a great source of pictures for second geography lessons, especially when we cover landforms. However, my teaching assistant and I would have to download the pictures. There were several pictures that were inappropriate for elementary students. In reviewing the uses of Flicker in the classroom by David Jakes, it was noted that he used pictures from Flicker to illustrate words in his favorite poem. This is an interesting way to bring the poem to life through pictures. Since poetry is the second grade’s unit for backward design, this is another idea I will consider as we begin writing poems. The pictures from Flicker could also be downloaded and used as a story or poem starter.

CC has taken on many meanings throughout the years.   In researching cc, there were many acronyms associated with CC.   However, I was not aware that CC represented Creative Commons.  It is good to know that Creative Commons exists.  There are often times I wish to use images from the internet in materials that I create.  However, I am often reminded of the copyright laws.   Therefore, I am very careful about using pictures or materials from the internet.  On one occasion, I contacted a company to obtain approval to use an image for a VBS flyer and was informed that the company had hired someone to create the pictures for them on the website.   Since it was on their website, approval was granted.   Now I wonder if it should have been used without CC approval from the image originator.

Based on the information gained from reading about Creative Commons, the copyright laws are refined through Creative Commons.   This provides more opportunities for the use of materials that have the CC license.  In the future as I search for materials/images to use, I will be make sure I look for the creative commons (CC) license.  As a songwriter, creative commons will be helpful to me as well.  I still feel I need more clarification before I actually use CC.

In reviewing the OER Commons site, the Lego Robots video was of interest.   Our elementary school counselor serves as coach for our elementary robotics team.  This would be an interesting site to share with the team.

It was a little challenging to set up the Google Reader.  However, with persistance and assistance from my coach, I was able to complete the assignment.  This is a very interesting way to receive current information about particular topics that interest you.  My concern is having the time to review the feeds that will be sent to the reader.   Hopefully, I can manage the items so that I am able to review the ones of interest. 

In reviewing several feeds, there was one that was of great interest to me.  Young American Indians Find Their Voice in Poetry was a wonderful article about young people capturing their culture through poetry.   What a wonderful means to  share your culture with others!  Listening to the young poets was mesmerizing.  Their group poem about “Writing”  shared their explanation of what writing is.   As part of a poetry collaborative effort with one of my fourth grade colleagues, these poems will be shared with our students as an example of how poetry can be published for others to hear.   

Initially, I thought that I would limit what I shared in a blog.  However, after reading the blogs of other professionals and students, I realized that written communication is my most effective means of sharing my thoughts and ideas with others.   As indicated in an earlier post, I enjoy searching for resources that I can use with my students.  Exploring the suggested blogs provided me with several ideas that I can share with my second grade colleagues.   You may also explore these blogs using the links provided for each blog.

In viewing the blog of a second grade classroom that wrote about a duck who had made its home on their playground, I also found a creative way of blogging. The first grade students used KidPix to illustrate their pictures and type “I wonder” statements about the duck.   As part of our Making Meaning curriculum, the students are often requested to share “I wonder” statements.  This would be a format that can be used for students to share their statements.

Web 2.0 appears to provide an interesting source of information.  My mind is filling up with ideas on how the information may be used in Room 108.  The world of technology is constantly changing.  This requires that we remain current on the resources that are available to engage our “digital learners”.  Many of our learners are already using the latest technology and often can teach others.   As the teacher, it is important for me to utilize the changes that are appropriate for my second grade students. 

As I reflect upon the information that has been shared, there are several opportunities that excite me as I begin planning for the 2008-2009 school year.  The Writeboard would be a tool that can be used between two students in different classrooms as they collaborate on a project.  The possibility of podcasting certain classroom activities is exciting.  For example, this would be an option to use when a student is absent and needs to know the Bible memory verse song for the week.   The class could podcast the Bible lesson and the song for the week.  This would also assist parents as they work with the students on an assignment during the week.   Our second grade classroom blog has been mainly used to communicate among students in the classroom.   However, after this course, I look forward to opportunities for my second graders to use our classroom blog to communicate with students and  teachers in other places.   These are just a few opportunities that I am excited about using with my students.  

This course will provide an opportunity for me to collaborate with other teachers as we strive to use age-appropriate technology tools to enhance our learning/teaching and engage our “digital learners”.  I look forward to the explorations that will be taken throughout this course.