RSS in one sentence: Anything you wanted to know about anything you are interested in is available at anytime, anywhere! I am using my Google Reader account to manage my RSS feeds...and can't keep up with all the reading! It is like a depository for magazine articles without all the advertisements and subscription post-cards stuffed inside...
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I have fallen in love with CoolCat's blog. This blog is HUGE...and extremely well-organized and informative. I could spend literally days sifting through and bookmarking all of the information in this thing! There are so many tools available on this blog, it is almost overwhelming. What a cache of information...all in one place...wow...
It may seem as though I have been "procrastinating" putting my 23 things together, but I have to say, I have been working on it all along. I have a compulsion with orderliness...so there has been an incredible inner pull to post them all in order :) I must say that my Google is full and overflowing with blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts, Tech tools, teacher websites, digital imaging ideas, rubrics and assessment ideas, webquests, and on and on and on....now just to put them all on HERE!!!!! Luckily I think I have done a pretty darn good job at keeping interesting sites and tools organized as I've gone along...which has made using the tools that much easier! I agree with Bo's post about the importance, through all of this, of finding tools that are actually MEANINGFUL and usefule. I think it is imperative that teachers realize how easy it really is to incorporate technology into daily instruction...which is why
I have not done much searching on GoToWeb 2.0 but found it to be quite a large "central location" for tons of web resources! One could spend literally days searching this site. I chose to explore a collaborative site calledWizIQ which looks very promising. I don't really usually do much exploring of sites that require a fee, but this one actually looks like it might be worthwhile. It is 9.95/month, however, but you can create quizzes and tests, collaborate with other teachers/students...it is like a virtual classroom. I am going to try out the free trial to see if it would actually be worth paying the fee for the basic version...
I always like doing project based units, but there even a number of ways to make the ones I have more 21st Century. One of my favorite units when I was teaching at the elementary level was to have students to do a project on the distance of the average sneeze. Students would research about germs, sneezes, etc. We would study mean, median, mode, range, and measurement. I had the students actually "sneeze" onto a long roll of paper (outdoors, of course) and measure the distance. They then found the average, and graphed the results. To make this more 21st Century, I would have them use Excel to save their chart data, and create the graphs there, too. We could also do a survey of some kind on Google forms regarding peoples' personal opinions on sneeze distance. Students could record their experiment and post it online (teachertube, etc). Those are just a couple of ways this unit could have been enhanced!
This is a really neat podcast I used way back when we were doing our unit on the Solar System. It is from pbs...and is a podcast of different scientists making a pitch for each of their favorite planets (and they even throw in some other minor bodies). I had the students to research their own "favorite" and compose either a Photostory or PowerPoint presentation "commercial." I have the link to the podcast posted below:
"What's Your Favorite Planet?" I like the comments Roger makes regarding the abundance of technology tools that are available...it is just a matter of finding them all! The more I dig, the more I find...and the more I find, the more I dig! It is a vicious cycle that can end up consuming hours and hours of my day...organizing everything can be a challenge, but I've had a lot of luck with Google Bookmarks...which is great because I can see things from any computer. Here is Roger's blog: http://hippocket52.blogspot.com/
I went to photofunia.com to edit a picture of my kids. There are a lot of templates on this site, and it was really very easy to use. All I had to do to change it was choose the background and then upload the photo...  Ok, I know I shouldn't comment on my own post...but MY KIDS ARE ADORABLE!!!! |
23 THINGS Amanda
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