Recap of Today's Staff Development Using Xtranormal Technology

Prezi

Prezi is a webiste that offers free access to students / educators.  It is a very cool way to create slideshows and in the world of Web 2.0 - it is considered to be "Powerpoint on Steroids."
After having a conversation with the "powers at be at my school (Boss, etc..) I was persistent in finding more about what she was referring too.
I thought, at first, that I had done one - but now I am certain that I had not.  So, here is what I created.  I'm sure you could use it just like anything else - but I had a hard time with the "whitespace" that was associated with the program.  Maybe I'm just too ADD / ADHD...
Neat program for being free, none-the-less!

National Geographic Known Universe S03E06 Print Tools

This I found to be on the cutting edge!  It is a copy machine that actually takes an image of an object and duplicates it!  Wondering how it works, check out the video that was posted:

www.Acapela.tv

Tool # 11 Self Assessing and Reflecting

1.  What are your favorite tools you now have in your personal technology toolbox? Briefly describe a I particular activity that you will plan for your students using at least one of these new tools.

I have so many different tools that it is hard to say which ones are my favorites!  I pick and pull all the time based on what the kids are into.  This next year, I'm planning to use more with "menus" so that the kids can have more in the decision process on their assessments!

2. How have you transformed your thinking about the learning that will take place in your classroom? How has your vision for your classroom changed? Are you going to need to make any changes to your classroom to accommodate the 21st Century learner?

No - not really!  I was pretty much doing everything before.  I will start to use more of the interactive websites that help track the student's progress to help differentiate for them.

3. Were there any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
 Backstory About Myself:
First of all, I'd like to state that I am proud to have only scored a 750 on my SAT's.  During my Junior year in high school, a counselor sat down with me and suggested that I should NEVER attend college because I didn't have what it took to graduate.  So, for 1 year after graduation, I kept a stack of letters from Universities - having never opened one of them because of the fear of being stupid!  During which time, I went ahead and took classes at HCC.  Then, one day, I came across that dreaded stack of letters as I was cleaning out my closet.  I opened them and didn't understand the "verbiage" that they were using... except for one.  Southwest Texas State University announced that I had been accepted into their school.  I remember running into the kitchen to tell my parents that "I was GOING to college"!  They stood there just looking at me like a "deer in the headlights" - just shocked!  August of that next year, I packed up my car and headed to San Marcos!   I finished my undergraduate degree at the University of Houston.  I came back home because I was homesick and my mother had caught me calling my dad everyday on a 800 line he had subscribed too.  Needless to say, I graduated from the University of Houston, Cum Laude and was on the dean's list for 9 semesters (including summer sessions) straight.  That was done while substituting during the day and waiting tables at night!  Who again said I wouldn't succeed?  Oh yea, a counselor from high school!  
After beginning my career, I decided that it might be time to go back to school and see what else I could do in life.  I enrolled in a Master's OnLine through Houston Baptist University.  The only way I got into the program, was through a "trial" study".  The study was based on achievement tests with regards to academic performance.  With that being said, I took the "Graduate Admission Test" and was accepted no matter what the score was.  For me, that was my "Win! Win!" moment.  I wasn't scared of failing something to keep me from trying!  I graduated 2 years later with only having 1 B(psychology) and 1 C(statics class) - all the rest were A's.  I am now proud to say that I have 250 accumulated (Undergrad & Grad) hours!  Had I listened to my High School Counselor, I never would have even tried - which was almost the case!  
I guess what I am trying to say, is, that Test don't show what a person is capable of or what he / she has learned!  I HATE them and try my hardest to keep that in mind when I am assessing the knowledge of my class.  I understand that they can guide instruction, but practical conversations and experience with someone can do the same!  
I took the 21st Century test and scored 85%.  I guess what surprises me is that I should have scored a 100% based on the information learned from Library to Play 23 Things, Library to Play 11.5 Things, and lastly, 11 Tools!  Really people?  If we are using a "portfolio" to keep a log of what we are learning, do we really need to spend an hour assessing?  What is the relevance?  What does this tell us?  It just all goes down to:  it's a quick check to see if we understand and let's just see if people can dissect those confusing questions and words that people use!  

Tool #10 - Underneath it All - Digital Citizenship

1. Discuss at least three things you would want to make sure your students understand about being good digital citizens. 

• Treat people the way you would like to be treated!
• Know that they leave a "footprint" where-ever they go on the internet / with email!  It will live FOREVER!
• Don't be scared to ask before clicking!
• Give credit where credit is due!  Don't steal anyone's ideas / projects!

2. Share at least one of the resources mentioned above or on the Ed Tech website that you plan to use instructionally.

Brain Pop - this is such a great resource to seamlessly integrate technology into the classroom!  The kids love it and it also offers things for those who need things to be a little more difficult.  It holds accountability because the kids can take a quiz using their activates - which then can be used a grade in the grade book!  

3. Explain briefly how you would "teach" the idea of digital citizenship to your students.

I wanted to first say, that I am very impressed in the way that my school teaches and facilitates the use of the Internet throughout the school / classroom. Secondly, I want to also state that "locking down" the Internet, is not always the best way to teach ethics, reliability, and the "etiquette code" to the world wide web.

Fortunately, because my librarian does such a phenomenal job in guiding students with reliability, I feel certain that most of the "recommended" sites that we use are accurate. If in doubt, I ask! That is what I encourage my kids do too. If you guide them as they are learning, and give them pointers to teach to that moment, then the process of validity becomes seamless in their search for knowledge. Keeping that in mind, I always tell my kids as they begin to do a google search, if you happen to come across an inappropriate site, close it immediately and do not make a big deal out of it.
One issue that I think needs to be visited more, is that of a cyber-bully. When Gmail became open for social networking (Google Buzz), we had some issues where students were bullying others - and, unlike Facebook, conversations were open for all to see... And, the user cannot have "selected friends" like that on Facebook. Although this specific issue was conducted off of school premises, it was a springboard for future expectations in acceptable use policies and as a means of communication that we were going to have zero tolerance for bullying! Again, our librarian conducted some trainings with the 3rd, 4th & 5th graders and revisited our community agreements.
 Fortunately, I teach 2nd grade and have been doing so long enough to know if the sites we are using, (with many of million of thanks to our librarian and the library resources page) are appropirate for 7 and 8 year olds!

4. Explain briefly how you plan to share the idea of digital citizenship with your parents. 

I usually share this information during open house.  I also spend a lot of time with my classroom about it at the beginning of school!  Here is what it somewhat looks like:

Each year, I discuss how it is a privilege to be able to have access to so much technology.  Then, using a pair share process, we discuss what it means to have privileges.  We list privileges that they may have at home.  Then, using a T-Chart, we talk about ways we lose those privileges & the consequences that follow.  After that, we discuss what happens when you abuse the privilege.  This is the key to setting the stage of what MY expectations of my students are.

I also explain to them that everything is tracked to their name and that people constantly are watching where they go, what they are looking at, etc...  If they happen to open something up that is not appropriate, then they should close out quickly - making sure they do not bring any attention to what was on the screen (that means no giggling or telling a friend about it too).

Next, I place the fear of God (not really but I try) in them and state that if they misuse any of the devices, they will not be able to use them for the remainder of the year.  Instead, they will go back to the way in which I grew up learning (books) and complete research that way.  So, if they decide to do something inappropriate, they will use board games and cards instead of fun and cool apps!  That seemed to do the job last year!

This past year, I had one person who placed inappropriate comments on a site.  I had her speak to our librarian about it and had a parent - teacher conference with her parents.  She did lose the privilege to work in the library and with peers.  She had to sit right next to me at all times where I could visibly see what she was doing.  This was not something she liked at all!

Tool #8: Taking a Look at the Tools

… Learning about the classroom devices

1.  After watching the videos/tutorials, list two to three things you learned about the device(s) that will be in your classroom this fall.

First of all, I'd like to say that I'm a little, more like a whole lot, upset that PK - 2 have been predetermined to receive more iTouches instead of an iPad.  I have an ECH background and just because their hands are a lot smaller than that of a 3rd - 5th grader, does NOT mean that they can use the devices any better.  In fact, it is most likely, just the opposite.  Now, my other gripe is that those teachers who are ready to "move past" the iTouch should maybe be allowed to select an iPad on an interview / application process.  I personally feel that I could take learning to a whole different level (having the GT kids in my class) with the use of an iPad vs. an iTouch.  Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted to have these extra things in my class - I'm just really miffed that we can't even have at least one!
So, with that off my chest, I can now complete this tool!

iTouches:  Well, we have been using them now as a listening station during our Daily 5 stations so having more will just help out!  We won't have to use the "rockstar" as much.
I've also used them for mini workstations that are aligned with the curriculum.  I have even discovered how to download Animoto's and that can be used to fill in the gaps on learning, or to remember what was learned.

Dell 2120: There are a lot of capabilities with this.  The downfall is - we will not have access to Microsoft Office.  So that means, the kids are not going to be able to take a "Screenshot" and go into Powerpoint, Paste the Image, Crop & Save it as a .jpeg.  That was very beneficial for many different things.  Another downfall, we are entering the world of Google Docs.  So much of what teachers have already created has been using Word.  Now, we will need to start converting things over.  Maybe this is a way to "free up" our SAN server - who knows.


Pros: 

• Can connect to the projector
• Vents can stay cool
• 3 USB Connector
• Microphone / Speaker Connector
• Network Connector
• SD Camera Connector (I like this the best!)
• Web Cam
• Full Functioning Keyboard
• Trackpad (a.k.a. Mouse)
• Power Button
• Indicator Lights (Number Lock, CAPS Lock, Display Mode)
• WIFI Built In
• Small enough for kids to work at their desk!
• Product Key & Service Tag are located in the SAME spot!

2.  How do you plan to manage the device(s) in your classroom? Do you have ideas/suggestions that others may find useful?

I have an iPhone and an iTouch so I am not worried about managing this myself at all!  I've been using both of them in my classroom for this past year.  If you do let a child use your personal device, I would suggest that you turn on the "Airplane" mode so that they are not able to read or send texts, go on Facebook, or receive personal Emails.

Tool # 7 Reaching Outside your Classroom: Online Digital Projects

1.  After visiting the resources above, design a collaborative project with another classroom.

This past April, Sally Craddock and myself got together and had our students share out what they learned about their bird research.  Before we started, however, we decided to group the kids into categories such as Raptors, Songbirds, Waterbirds, etc…  If we had kids with the same bird, then we had them speak to each other using SKYPE.  Using an iMac made this very easy!
Click here to see some of our SKYPE Lesson

2.  Post the following about the project:

Content objective:
To orally collaborate and assess what the children had learned about a specific bird.

When you plan to implement:
In the classroom using an iMac computer that had a built in camera and microphone device.  

What tool(s) you plan to use:

• iMac
• SKYPE
• The students could bring their research, use a photograph, and their 3-D bird that they constructed out of model magic.

A brief description of the project (plan - two or three sentences)


Sally Craddock and myself had many discussions over email.  We started to pair up the kids who had researched the same birds.  Then, we set up a time and began our journey!  The kids were pumped and eager to participate.  I even met with my guided reading groups during this time.  It went very smooth!

Group 1:  Bald Eagle
Group 2:  Golden Eagle
Group 3:  Red Tailed Hawk
Group 4:  Snowy Owl, Great Horned Owl, Falcon & Cassowary
Group 5:  Pacific Loon, Seagull, Flamingo, & Pelican
Group 6:  Penguin, Puffin, & Kiwis
Group 7:  Swallow, Atwater's Prairie Chicken, Rock Dove, & American Goldfinch
Group 8:  Pine Grosbeak, Blue Jay, Mockingbird & Cardinal


So, during each 5 -7 minute session, kids would briefly share 3 interesting facts, some distinct physical characteristics, diet, family life, & habitat. 

If you need to find another classroom - We can begin networking with other classrooms right here!
I would absolutely LOVE to find more people willing to share their kids with mine.  It was so cool!  I'm ready to "Bring it On!"

Tool #9: Incorporating Classroom-Based Devices as Tools for Learning

11.  Why do you think it is important to tie the technology to the objective?

How could you NOT tie technology to the curriculum or objective?  Seriously?  I can almost use Big Huge Labs in some form or fashion and tie it to the objective as a product.  I can also have kids use Animoto or Zooburst, GoogleDocs, iMovie, Post to a Wiki / Blog as well.  The sky is the limit and with kids who are WAY more advanced than I am, they usually surprise me in what they know!  I just try to stay ahead of them and teach them new avenues of production so that they stay interested!  Ultimately, we as educators need to provide kids for the world in which they will become!   If we give them more opportunities for consumption, critiquing and producing, then we are "farming" them for the 21st Century!

2.  Why should we hold students accountable for the stations/centers?

If you do not have any type of accountability, then the students do not take things seriously.  In other words, it is more like free time / play time and usually not a productive use of time.  For instance, when using Tumblebooks, I have an expectation that the students will participate in creating a reading response that focuses on either a summary, BME, or other things like Character Analysis, etc.  It is ok, I have learned, that kids can "take a break" and play from time to time.  That is important and I usually work that into to a goal completion - a motivator to stay focused and on-task.

3.  Visit 2 of the applicable links to interactive websites for your content/grade level. Which sites did you like. How could you use them as stations? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?

I think I could use just about everything I see.  I have kids that are on many different levels such as 4th - 5th grade reading / math.  So using these cites gives me an additional way to differentiate for them.  I also have students who are obsessed with Social Studies or who would do anything to learn more about Science.  It could be used as a reward or for additional practice!

I've tried Study Ladder.  Or at least I set it up for some pretend students.  It offers a personal username / password for each student or you can use an "open access" account.  I think that 2nd graders might just have a hard time remembering one more username / password.  

If anyone wants to play around on it without signing in (there is a lot of red tape with confirming access, emails, etc...) here are the 3 students that are in my "class":

Username:  jhn1435  Password:  school

Username:  sal913    Password:  horse

Username:  ted148    Password:  leg

So here is the deal...  It seems like the "second grade" level that I chose was very basic.  At least for mathematics.  So, maybe the "third grade" would be more appropriate for my class.  It is a cute website and kids earn points that they get to use in a rewards room.  I can see this benefiting those who either need extra practice, or who need more of a challenge.  This site allows you to differentiate much like Odyssey does.  I think this might be a keeper for me!  As far as accountability, it shows what each student does and has mastered.  This could easily be a homework activity!

I like Thinkfinity!  I'm going to have some of my students from last year check it out!  In fact, I'm going to send them an email about some of these cites NOW!

Another website I like to use, that wasn't part of the choices is Spelling City.  Here, I can upload my weekly word study units (I usually have 4 different groups based on the Words Their Way Inventory) and kids can practice their words using interactive games at home or in our "working with words" station during our morning Daily 5.  The drawback with this is that you cannot track kids individually.  If they use it for a homework assignment, then they have to print their work as proof.  

4.  List two to three apps you found for the iPod Touch/iPad that you can use in your classroom. What do you see that station looking like? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?

I have downloaded some neat apps to my personal iTouch. I am unable to do it for the ones that I have in my classroom - our librarian usually does that for us. Some of the ones that I personally have are more for younger children. 

Hangman (Helps not only develop strategy skills, but also spelling and word patterns.) 

Houston Zoo (Helps navigate when you are at the zoo, but also gives animal specifications. It also helps with the Map skills and reading a map with cardinal directions.) 

Funny Flash (This one is neat because it morphs animals and then spells them out verbally and in print.) 

Distant Suns (This app is very cool - you can use it to help identify the constellations.) 

Math Drill (Addition & Subtraction - primary grades.) 

Learn Chess (I haven't really figured this out but I want to learn.) 

Poker Delux (Fun!)

Louvre (I had some of my GT students look at the art. Then, we also discussed the artist.) 

NASA (I had some of my GT students look for intersting facts / details.) 

SAT Words 5000 (I was in hopes my teenager would use this but I don't think she has even looked at it. Never the less, my GT students can learn new words.) 

Science (This has a list of all the elements off the periodic table. I think it is cool to sometimes talk about them with my small research groups.) 

Sight Words (My daughter enjoys reading and being quizzed on these.) 

Tic Tac Toe (Just for fun! My kids especially LOVE playing this.) 

The Weather Channel (Keep current with weather conditions anywhere. Goes well with our Air & Weather Unit.) 

Words w/ Friends (More for me - I love playing my friends in a game of scrabble.) 

UNO (Fun! Fun! Fun! Love playing UNO!)

Create a list of ways to use the iTouch in the Library by multiple students (that is different than an iTouch being assigned to students).
 With the rockstar, sharing the iTouch is SO easy! I personally downloaded audiobooks and the kids listened to them. Also, the kids participate in a play and to have them be able to listen to the music, is wonderful. Especially since I do not have to hear it being played.
We have also used the iTouches in the library to research birds, & habitats. They are a hot commodity that usually is never idle!

5.  What about other ways to use the iPod Touch/iPad? Share another way you can see your students using the device as a station.

I use them:

• As a reward;
• Practice certain skills;
• Listen to books I have downloaded on my personal devices;
• Listen to music that they must learn for our productions;
• View Animoto's 
• Look up things on the internet;
• View iMovies

I will continue to use, adding:

• Face to Face
• Skype

Tool # 6: Using Web Tools to Promote Discussion in and out of the Classroom

1.  Choose at least two of the tools from the above list. Create an account for each (if required) .

Twitter: TheresaTrevino

Facebook:  Theresa Schwab Trevino

Skype:  Theresa Schwab Trevino
Today's Meet:  None Needed
Google Docs


2.  Use each of the tools you choose to create a sample of how you would use it in your classroom.

Here is what I did this last year:

Skype a Geologist

Vidyo Conference with Arizona State University

Skype with Frostwood Elementary
Google Docs:

Share your thoughts on how you see the tools being integrated into your classroom. How do you see them encouraging participation?

My class LOVED using Skype!  They enjoyed speaking with people who where the experts!  They also enjoyed speaking with kids from another school.  As far as the participation goes - they were 98% engaged.  


Google Docs:  My kids loved this one as well.  However, I learned a few lessons the HARD way!  First, I learned that the kids have access to the things that I share at home.  This may not be a big deal for Secondary kids, but in the Primary sector, all things must be completed at school to assure that the kids did the work without any help!  


Todays Meet was wonderful!  It was a great way to back channel conversations.  We used it to ask questions to Arizona State University.

Tool # 5: Producing with Web 2.0 Tools

1. Use at least two of the tools above to create products. Think about your content. Create a “set” for one of your lessons! Or, consider providing the site as a choice for your students to create products. Make a model for a student created product.


2 Then, embed both products in your blog or link to the products from your blog. 

Hedgie's World! on Storybird

3. Describe for your readers how you think each tool can be incorporated into your classroom - how you could see the tool being used by you instructionally and your students to demonstrate their understanding of a concept or topic in your classroom.

Animoto: We use this website all the time! We use it to:

• Create short video clips of field trips, 
• Show what is going on in the classroom 
• To create special things for parents.  

This past year, my class made digital Christmas / Hanukkah cards and embedded a short video clip wishing them a Happy Holiday! Another year, we made an Animoto for our state projects. I would say, that this is one of the most universal sites to use that can be integrated with just about anything.


Storybird: This is a very cool website! I have had fun experimenting with it. I can only imagine how my student's could use this to create stories and collaborate with children on other campuses or around the world!

Big Huge Labs: This is another one of my favorites! I love this website because it is easy to use and can be integrated into anything. In the past, I've had my kids:

• Create Bird Facts
• Create a Timeline of Themselves
• Book Summary

Tool # 4 Moving Up To The Clouds

1.  Create at least one document in Google Docs and share it with a few others on your campus or within your department.  It could be a team member, a department colleague, or another teacher with whom you plan a collaboration.  Ask that person to comment or chat a real-time edit the document with you.

Create one form in Google Docs and send it via email to at least two other people and ask them to respond.

Briefly discuss how you can use the tools in Google Apps with your team or department.  How can you incorporate Google Apps as a tool in your classroom?  Which tools are you excited about using with students?

Well, this past year, I created a Google Docs to share with my class.  It was an American Hero Test.  I thought why not try something new and go "paperless".  The cool part of this was that it was quick and easy.  I didn't have to wait for the copier to be "free" or to have paper to run it.  The downfall was that it never dawned on me that my kids would access this at home and complete it there.  Once they discovered email, my world changed!  So, I became more aware of when I would share docs with them… sometimes waiting until 10 minutes before lab time or stations.  

Another document I shared was the criteria of our bird report.  This worked well but again, I had to make sure that the kids were only working on this at school.  So, I fibbed and told them that it date & time stamped the document and I'd know that if they did it at home, the grade wouldn't count!  They would have to redo it at school either before or after school.  That seemed to help!  I truly wish I could have better control of this.

Lastly, I used it as a way to motivate kids to try new technology at home.  I had the pleasure to sit in on a conference with Heidi Hayes Jacobs and learned about a very cool website called www.Zooburst.Com

So, I explained to my students that if they wanted some extra credit (for tickets not points), they could play around on this website and shared directions with them over Google Docs.  This helped me share access information - a subscription that I paid for so that my kids could create some super cool non-fiction pop up books with sound.  This, by the way, was a HIT!

Tool #3 Finding Online Video and Image Resources

1.  Visit several of the video hosting / streaming sites mentioned above.  Share with your readers which sites you found most useful for your content and why.

• Discovery Education:  This is a fantastic website / subscription that my district provides us access with.  It is generally safe because you can limit your searches to grade level appropriateness, content, subject matter, etc.  They also have short clips that are great for "openers" or the "hooks" that can get  a child turned on to content.  Although I have not placed any of these movies onto an iPod, I'm really going to learn how to do this next step as it would take kids to a higher level - reaching some of those learners who are visual and auditory!  What an excellent way to review for things too..
• SchoolTube is awesome too!  I have learned that this site is a safer place to upload videos that I want my class to look at - at another time / place.  I used to upload to YouTube, but then when they began to "run" advertisements, the content that was "instantly selected" by YouTube, wasn't always what I wanted my kids to view.  
• TeacherTube has some neat things / lessons on it for teachers.  I haven't used it but for my own knowledge.  However, I did find a recording of the popular mathematics book:  Greedy Triangle by Marlyn Burns, that I was able to share with the my class.
• iMovies have some neat ways to share content that is being taught.  For instance, if I were to teach lessons on the 7 Heroes that we cover in second grade, I may create an Animoto of the character traits, with pictures of the heroes.  Then, I'd download the movie as a .MP4 and upload it to my iTunes account.  Once I've done that, I can load it onto my iPod / iPhone and have kids (ESL in particular) go back and view the short clips n a learning station.  
• www.qwiki.com also has some very COOL ways to show a "snapshot" of what one might be teaching / learning.  I did this while we were learning about Rocks.  

2.  Using any of the video resources mentioned above, find and select two videos that may be useful resources in your classroom.  Embed them in your blog.  If they do not have embed capabilities, hot link them to your blog.

Here are a few links that show where I have linked content to my classroom blog:
Qwiki:  What is a Geode?
Local TV Station:  Amelia Earhart
Teacher Tube:  The Greedy Triangle
School Tube:  A New Type of Bird Call

3.  Articulate what you learned about copyright and fair use.  What was new to you?

Copyright and fair use is very important!  We need to make sure students, and teachers alike, give credit where credit is due!

• Music:  In most cases, a teacher can grab 20 seconds of music to use for education.  This was how I was able to place some neat music to a Mother's Day project….  In other words, I took the first 20 seconds of "Firefly" and kept repeating it.  It actually worked out well and I modeled the importance of keeping within the fair and acceptable use. There are some royalty free music - that offer a little selection.
• Digital Citizenship is also very important to teach!  Cyberbullies are a huge concern for me!  It is probably because I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve and can't stand to feel left out of things!
• Photographs:  Flickr offers some photos that can be used - although it takes some "looking around" to find them.  In most cases, the ones that were "free" carried the .gif extension and created more problems when movie generators specifically call for .jpg.  Sometimes, if finding the photos become challenging,  it is best to let the child take pictures and use those.  I knew a grade level that did that with 3Dimensional Shapes & angles that they found around the school.  That activity made for an even more meaningful learning experience!

4.  Login to your Picasa Web Album through Google Apps.  Search for a few pictures.  Use the remix filter.  How could you use this in your classroom?


Well, when thinking of a "remix" I have to go back to the days of Record Players and how we used to have songs that were played on the radio and then those that had been remixed for clubs and dancing...  So, I have to say that I was much of a ding-bat here because I couldn't figure out what it meant to remix right off the bat.  It seems to me, that if you type in a search like "butterfly", you can narrow the search to be more specific such as:
Any Type (faces, no faces)
All Aspect Ratios (landscape, portrait, panorama)
All Sizes (small, medium, large, extra large)
Any Camera (camera models, all licenses, creative commons, commercial use)
Remix Allowed
Order by Relevance (order by date)
So, if I was looking for pictures of butterflies, and needed only those that are:

• Landscape
• Medium
• Photos Only
• Taken With Any Camera
• Commercial Use
• Ordered By Relevance

This is what I'd get:

I think that this might be easier to use than FLICKR.  I like it in the fact that you can search for images that are allowed for Commercial Use.  Commercial Use means (at least to me) that you can in fact use it without getting into trouble.  However, I could be wrong...  
When I clicked on a specific butterfly, I looked on the right hand side of the sidebar and clicked on a tab called Photo Reuse, I clicked on the link that says:  Some Rights Reserved.  


There it explained that I could reuse this photo and edit it (remix it) to fit my needs.  That is pretty cool!  Really, this website might just become me next best friend to use with Big Huge Labs.

Tool # 2 Building Community in the Online Environment

1. Visit at least 5 blogs of fellow educators and comment to one of their posts.

http://iwonderbyluna.blogspot.com/2011/06/tool-2.html

http://alwayskeepingon.blogspot.com/2011/06/tool-1.html

http://keenlykleb.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-different-world.html

http://timmreckskclass.blogspot.com/  (Under the Humpty Dumpty Section)

http://brashers1stgrade.blogspot.com/2011/06/tool-3.html


2. After completing the above, share your thoughts about building and participating in an online community and participating in a PLN. What points stood out to you from the commenting advice?

Were you able to apply any of the advice in your comments?

How did you feel about sharing your thoughts publicly?

Sharing my thoughts has never been an issue. In fact, it is a strength of mine that sometimes gets me into trouble. Going public with my opinions felt odd at first. I was concerned about what others would say and scared that my ideas would not be good enough for the "whole world". I also worry about criticism as ideas are shared. I guess that is part of my personality too.

Was it different than when your'e sharing successes / challenges with your teammate?
I'm definitely more comfortable with the teammates (and those I have known for a while) because we have established "norms" and know each other on a personal level.

I can thank Facebook for helping me get over this anxiety… Now, I really concentrate on my "filters" and think to myself how others might perceive what I have posted. Another helpful tool is to create "folders" as to who can see the posts. It is realitvely easy to set that up and create safer environments!

3. Share the url or name of a website or social network that you plan to visit in the future. What does that site have to offer?
I and now branching my social life on Twitter. I have an account but that was only because I was curious about the the "tweets" with Arizona State University. They were supposed to "tweet" an Animoto movie that I had created that was part of a "Thank You" for their efforts in Vidyo Conferencing.

Tool # 1 Getting Started!

So what exactly is a blog? A blog is a webpage that is set up in a series of posts which are like entries in a journal. Blogs are a part of the online social networking world, and in the case of blogs used in schools, a part of the larger online educational networking world.

Voki
Voki is a website that generates personalized avatars. The main difference between this and the one that I have used with yahoo is there is less of a choice in creating a more personalized graphic. If my students were going to create one for a character analysis, I would imagine that Voki would fit perfectly with this task because it is easy to select the basic things to create a character!


I did find some things challenging. I was "hung - up" on specifics like hair color and skin color. As soon as I got past the "not being perfect" stage, I was good to go!

Heidi Hayes Jacobs

Notes w/ Webinar

http://www.curriculum21.com/home

What makes a great podcast or a blog?
CCP your podcast.
They are genuine.
Have a rubric.

What makes a quality use of that app?

www.podbean.com
Podcast hosting and social networking.

www.yola.com
Makes a free website.

www.typewithme.com
(Imagery) If we were looking at how we could set up the "tools" to a meeting, this would work the best.

www.todaysmeet.com

Phil Vinegratta (WIKIs)

WEB 2.0 Writers Workshop
Writing: http://web20writingworkshop.yolasite.com/

ZooBurst
Picnic
Lets make them confortable with our kids and then post our clearing house as a resouce bin. If she gets the faculty to work through this... get them to dive into one thing at a time and get some depth rather than quickly put something together.

www.wikispaces.com

Heidi Hayes Jacobs: Curriculum 21

EPals

A friend shared this website with me tonight at basketball practice. EPals help you contact people who have agreed to help teachers out using the internet. It contains SAFE contacts too!
This is phenomenal... it is going to change the world of teaching - opening new doors and online field trips! I'm going to give it a try!