Reflection 3

Assignment #12

Lori thank you for an awesome course. I totally loved it and am looking forward to implementing some of the things I've learned . I'd like to start a "Book Review Blog" and set up a wiki for keeping track of work in my area, as well as (possibly ~ dependant on supervisor approval) coordination for the spring author visit. I'm looking forward to experimenting with the new technology I've learned and passing it on.

School 2.0 Model

Assignment #11

School 2.0 was very interesting to learn about and very exciting. The potential of technology learning seems unlimited and toss in a great teacher/mentor and you have a win - win situation.
What struck me most about this vision of tomorrow's school is the flexibility and convenience of web based/internet learning/sharing.

Thoughts on Dr. Zhao's Podcasts

Assignment #10

Wow ~ Zhao covered a lot of stuff. I really liked his ideas on international learning. In order to keep up in today's environment we need to expose our kids to more and different things (culture, language, learning and thinking strategies). I think Gloria summed it up rather nicely about the technology and funding (facing many school districts, not just ours).

In his closing statement Zhoa said that some states now require some type of Internet learning in order to graduate. (Lori, do you see this happening in New York State anytime time soon?)

Collaborative Project

Assignment #9

I loved listening to Kevin's podcast (though he talks REALLY fast). He made me laugh so many times, and think jeez he's got a point. Since I'm not a classroom teacher or even assigned to a class this assignment is a little difficult for me. It might,however, be fun to try and write a short story using ideas from the kids Village, Merton and the High School. The kids could bounce ideas/illustrations around together. Come up with a topic to write about and fill in the blanks. When kids are involved, there's always a lot of possibilities.

Reflection 2

Assignment #8

I'm excited about using the Wiki and Delicious. I'm thinking the Wiki would be great for logging/tracking ongoing work in my area and using it for Meetings were there are several people from different buildings are involved. Delicious would be great to bookmark sites for teachers/students doing special units, such as the Erie Canal, Indians, arctic animals etc. I even think we could use a Wiki for the same purpose. These tools are great for sharing accross the board. Thanks for opening my eyes as to what's out there! The possibilities are endless.

Wikis

Assignment #6

I really like the potential of the Wiki, both in the class room and in other areas of education.
Being able to load and access sooooooo much information for students, parents and other teacher is a great thing. I liked the idea of using it for meetings (scheduling and such) for teachers in other building that need to collaborate on common goals. I need to touch base with my supervising teacher and see if I can set something up for Story Fest! I'd also like to try and set one up for us to log and track ongoing jobs and projects in my area (going "green", and not loosing slips of paper!) Very excited to try this out :)

Video Resources

Assignment #5

I liked TeacherTube for it's ease of use and look forward to watching it expand. I also liked the fact that everything is student-friendly. I also liked Next Vista for ease of use, but you do have to preview the video clips. YouTube had a huge data base (i was looking up sewing and book reviews), however, not all clips are appropriate for students. I'm sure that if I could figure out how to use/navigate these sites the kids will too :)

I did not have much luck with Clip Blast.
Since I'm not in a classroom, I'm not quite sure how I'd used it at this point. I imagine that it would be a great resource for classroom teachers though.