here we go

Wow – the journey has been overwhelming and exciting at the same time.  I know that if you don’t use it you will lose it, so I hope that I will continue to visit this site and employ the techniques I’ve been exposed to in the classroom.  I am glad I finally know what the RSS reader icon means and am familiar with many tools.  I think my favorite are Flickr (because I think it’s more valuable and entertaining than Powerpoint), podcasting (we all love to create on the web), and Google reader.  I know as I become more comfortable with my subject I will use these tools.  It’s going to be a great journey!

I joined the  Classroom 2.0 site and saw immediate possibilities for use in a professional way.  It is very similar to proteacher.net which I am also a member of .  The difference between the two is that the Classroom 2.0 site is much larger and international.  I think it would be a great tool and social networking place to learn more from other teachers and educators.

I am hesitant to join Twitter.  I have a teenage daughter who is on and I feel as though she would think I was “creeping” if I joined.  I may consider it at another time.

I will freely admit that I haven’t checked my Google reader until now when required   However, when I do check it, I am amazed at the plethora of information and ideas that are available.  For instance, there was an article under Instructify that was titled Science IS for Girls! Women’s Adventures in Science.  One of my pet peeves is that science is stereotyped for boys and men and so this is a cool website to dispel that myth.  I hope to insert Google reader into my day again

Well, I think I did this right:-)  Anyway, teachers could use this with lesson plans, sharing them with other teachers and making changes within the document and within grade levels.  Also, students could write a paper in groups and then share them with others and make changes while the teacher views it.  I also have a friend who used this to set up what people could bring to parties or other extracurricular activities.  Everyone can view and share and make changes so that all are able to view it together instead of separate emails.

I love using short, concise videos in class, mainly because this generation seems to be video-driven.  In science, I can see how it would be helpful to show a YouTube video on frog dissection, for example.  I found the video on volcano formations below.  Overall, this is a contemporary teaching tool that would be fun and interesting for students.

A co-teacher of mine (after taking this course) used podcasts last year as short radio shows about explorers.  The students used Macbooks and Garage Band and had fun adding music to their radio shows.  I think that you could do that with any subject and have sound effects, vocabulary quizzes, and scenarios detailing any topic.  The students had a great time!

As before, it always seems to take me longer to work my way through any of these “things”.  Shelley has done a great job stepping us through each piece, but I still feel as though I’m straggling along.  However, it turned out well and besides the fact that I had to listen to my voice, it worked!

I am familiar with IPods and podcasts a little, but was opened to a whole ‘nother world today.  I subscribed to Scientific America’s 60-second science and found neat one-minute snippets about different subjects.  I also subscribed to Northpoint Community Church’s podcasts for my personal review.  I can see that this could really benefit the audio learner.  I also found a link to a video podcast from a science class that showed the scientific method in action.  The two podcasts I subscribed to told me that they would notify me when there was something to listen to – I think that’s pretty neat.  So, thus far, podcasts have been mostly painless

This was another overwhelming website.  Not only do I see this as handy for personal reading, but it would be a great resource for the classroom.  You could start a reading list and see who read the most.  It has reviews for books and suggested lists for children’s literature.  I don’t think I would have time to join a group, but it would be interesting to check back on a regular basis to be able to keep up with current books.  I signed up – we’ll see what happens!

I think the delicious website is great and social bookmarking is great, but I am frustrated that it seems to take me forever to figure things out and implement them.  I’ve been on this for 2 hours and had trouble with the shared tags, etc.  I agree that once set up, it is a much better tool than bookmarking.  I think I’ve got too much going on right now and it’s difficult to feel comfortable with this new stuff.  Anyway, thanks for letting me vent and here is a link to my delicious account.

Since I am only teaching science this year, I am trying to immerse myself in as much science as my feeble brain can handle.  An article I read on Instructify helped me to see that I can retain the url space.com and have my world opened to a plethora of information on space.  This site has images, stargazing tips and even the correct pronunciation of the word Uranus   And it’s all at the tip of my brain – just add dot-com!