Google Reader Assignment

Throughout my time in ED 505, I have dedicated time weekly to sit down and read the blogs listed below with Google Reader:

Cool Cat Teacher Blog:http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/

Will Richardson: http://willrichardson.com/

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/

Free Technology for Teachers: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/

A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet: http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/

Look at My Happy Rainbow: http://lookatmyhappyrainbow.com/

What the Teacher Wants!: http://whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com/

These blogs have provided me with so much more information and resources to use in my classroom. The blog, Free Technology for Teachers, has opened my eyes to many creative and technology savvy things that my second grade class can participate in during regular lessons. These activities will not only make learning fun, but my students will learn about technology while covering the content areas. I have to say that the blog, What the Teacher Wants, is my favorite blog. I have been following this blog for over a year now and have found such great resources to use in my own classroom. The teacher that writes the blog even gives away free resources! My favorite blog post is Guided Reading Galore (http://whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com/2012/01/guided-reading-galore.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WhatTheTeacherWants+%28What+The+Teacher+Wants%21%29&utm_content=Google+Reader) This post discusses guided reading in a first grade classroom and provides teachers with several different resources to use during their own guided reading experiences. I look forward to reading all of these blogs in the future to make my classroom a better place!

Social Bookmarks

I really enjoyed working on my social bookmarks assignment. I used this time to locate resources that I can use in my 2nd grade classroom. I have already started using many of the links in my room, and plan on using many more of the links I found in the near future. I also found the Delicious site useful in storing previous sites that I have visited in the past where I would not forget about them when I start with a new class. The tabs help me to organize my resources and to better locate them in a minimal amount of time. The link to my Delicious account is below:

http://delicious.com/stephcrossley

Digital Citizenship

Being a good digital citizen is an important concept that all teachers need to understand. It is very important for teachers to understand digital citizenship, since technology in the classroom is growing daily. I feel like technology is changing by the hour. Teachers need to understand how to properly behave on the Internet and convey this information along to their students. As a classroom teacher, I need to understand how the internet works and understand the dangers/risks associated with the use of the internet. This knowledge and understanding will better help me to teach my students proper use of technology. I also try to teach my students how and what to look for and how to stay out of danger when using their computers and internet. Students should always be reminded to use this knowledge to keep safe from dangers and predators on the internet. I also remind children to alert an adult if they feel harassed or receive suspicious information.

Having a good digital reputation means keeping your image and reputation on the internet free from bad behavior or bad image. Posting bad language, talking about others publicly, and questionable pictures on the internet may cast a bad light on your reputation. This type of behavior might prevent someone from getting a job or get someone in legal trouble. One must understand that anything that goes on the internet can be tracked in some way or form. This is a very important concept for teachers and students to understand.

Thinkport

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/shape-poems-30044.html

I found the link above through the thinkport.org technology site. This is a simulation that teaches children K-5 how to write a shape poem. I tried out the nature shape poem with the star. The website first teaches the student what a shape poem is and then leads them through the steps to create their own poem. At the end of the lesson, the student has written their own poem and then can print the poem. I would use this tool during a language arts poetry lesson.

http://www.historywired.si.edu/

History Wired is a website that features many of the artifacts and materials housed in the Smithsonian Institution's Natural Museum of American History. Students could use this website while researching various historical figures and events. Students could also explore this website during a free time computer experience. I found this to be a very interesting site!

Software Reviews

http://www.sreb.org/page/1379/98t08_Evalutech.html

Evalutech is a resources where professionals evaluate education software and resources. This program is searchable collection of reviews. The reviews cover instructional materials, to include computer software, CDRoms, videos, and books. The link to the actual site was down, so I could not search the titles and reviews.

http://clrn.org/home/

The California Learning Resources Network seems quiet limited. I looked around the site and did not find that many software reviews. I feel that this website would probably be more beneficial to an educator in California or another state in that region. The site seems easy to navigate, but the reviews are limited and have not been updated lately.

http://superkids.com/

Superkids seems to evaluate most titles. The website also seems to be updated regularly. This site also allows for visitors to review the titles as well. I like sites that allow visitors to review the product or software. This gives me a real world evaluation of the product. This site seems to be user friendly, but I still think I prefer education world because of all of the additional resources.

http://www.educationworld.com/

I have used educationworld.com in the past. I would use this website for my classroom and to look up reviews for software. Most titles have been reviewed by this website and the website seems to be updated regularly. The reviewers are all professionals, but the website does not allow for other users to comment on the software.

Teacher Tipster (Magic Trash)

I found the Teacher Tipster randomly searching blogs last summer. I found this video to be quite interesting and decided to try the tip in the classroom shortly after the school year started. The kids (3rd graders) loved it and the classroom was trash free in no time. After watching this video, would you use this in your classroom? How would you modify this tip to fit your classroom? Also, what type of "reward/incentive" would you use? I would love to hear your suggestions!

Web 2.0 Resources

I am really impressed with all of the great technology tools that were used for the Web 2.0 resource project. The first part of the project I tackled was the bubbl.us web for my Earth's Ecosystems unit (3rd grade science unit). I would use this unit to span several subject areas, while thoroughly covering many 3rd science objectives as well. I am really getting the hang of the bubbl.us program, though I do not like the way the program reacts to my mouse on my laptop. The program tries to enlarge and shrink, but all I am trying to do is move from one bubble to the next, but this small problem will not deter me from using this tool. I think this program would be a great tool for students in any grade level. I believe this tool could span the subject areas and be used in may different way. Here is what my map looks like:

I then moved on to use the Glogster website and created an interactive poster for my unit. I thought this program was a little difficult when I first started working with it, but quickly caught on after playing with the features. I plan on using this tool many more times in my classroom. I had fun using it and I am sure my students would enjoy using the program as well. I also think this poster would serve as a great introduction to a unit displayed on an interactive board. Here is the link to my Glogster poster:

http://www.glogster.com/stephcrossley/earth-s-ecosystems/g-6lpg05gtdt0ija5ts1oe2a0

I then created a video on animals and their ecosystems using the Animoto software. I think that since I was using a basic subscription, that it limited my creativity and the video seemed too short. Although I feel that the video was too short, I still could use this type of video to introduce a topic and to get students excited about the start of a new unit. I plan on using this resource again. I just need to figure out if I want to upgrade or not. Here is the link to my Animoto video:

http://animoto.com/play/IZOBMKIK0CrhFzpMRVPyiw

The last resource I used for this project was a really unique website called bighugelabs.com. This website features tons of creative activities that students would enjoy using during a unit as a center or as a part of a project. I also thought that I could use this website to create posters and decorations for my classroom or for display prior to the start of a unit. There are endless possibilities with this site. Below are the examples that I created to go with my ecosystems unit.