Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Thing 23

Finally here at Thing 23 and looking back realizing that I have learned so much in a very short period of time. Using Things on Web 2.0 has taught me so many new and creative things that I never thought I would be able to understand. Being a casual computer user--meaning--I use to get email, FB, Google stuff etc and of course, work, I am more comfortable looking at the possibilities that are really endless. I am actually very motivated to begin using some of the ideas that I have learned from this class. Using wikis, podcasts, and even google docs will make a difference in how business is currently done in my building. Since we are looking at becoming a STEM school, this is a timely class to have had and I would very much like to work on the technology piece. However, I still have a very long way to go. I feel that this is just step 1 in the process, but one that I'm very happy to have taken on this year!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Thing 22

Well, I have a wiki and here is the link:


http://www.wikispaces.com/user/my/ebratly

It wasn't difficult at all. Now I can see how having this will be helpful when we are doing staff presentations like this past years' data presentation. It would have been a great tool to use with those of us who were not only doing the work, but the others who had fresh eyes to give their feedback and make changes they thought were important or things we had left out.

I can't see how a blog would have been good for this type of work so the wiki makes more sense to me.

Thing 21

Wikis...like them. I saw one that was very interesting that was being changed from the school website to a school wiki. It has just about everything anyone would ever want to know about the school. I like this idea, however, I cannot imagine how this could be updated by staff members on a consistent basis. I would love to know how and who is managing this endeavor. Maybe I can join their wiki and ask more questions about this.

Thing 19

I really liked Mr. Coley podcasts. It is something that I could use in my classroom and will try it out over the summer to see what I can come up with. I'd also like to see how I can use all the things I'm learning with our newscast at our school. Kids love it and we need to get it going on a more serious level. I'm thinking they can run it on their own with some help from me.

Thing 20

itunes is stuck and I can't seem to pull up any podcasts right now. Not looking good for me....try later.

Thing..embedding

Embedding the videos and the polls caught my interest too. I used and embedded Grammar Girl and love the quiz you can take. Once this class is done I need to go back and reorganize my blog so that it is kid friendly too.

Thing 15

Delicious! Loved it and found it pretty user friendly. Once I had figured out the way to actually get the toolbar things situated, I was on my way. Tried out the Flashcarddb and know for certain that it will be a very useful tool for my classroom in time to come.

My high schooler also thought it was really great too!

Things...crazy Things..Things 12-20

Ok...so I have been posting my heart out on the wrong blog. Now I'm feeling frustrated and ready to throw in the towel. Well, maybe not yet. I'm gonna give it the college try and see what I can accomplish in a few short hours before the clock runs out!

For some weird reason, it seems like Thing 12 gave me a whole lot of trouble. Once I signed up for the Internet Explorer, though, it all fell into place. DUH! I spent an entire day (thank goodness it's summer vacation) catching up and boy-o-boy is it a lot to take in. Fun though! I'm actually feeling like I know a little something about this Web Thing now and it makes me very pleased. Now I want to go back and tweak it more so that I can share it next fall and see how it works for the elementary classroom I teach in!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Reading Workshop slideshow



This slideshow will give viewers an overview of reading workshop and how it is used in my classroom. This is not me, but it reveals the components of how reading is taught in a workshop setting.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/INFO/70912001

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/INFO/70912001