Reflection 2: It's all about...del.icio.us!!

I am all about staying organized! Del.icio.us is the tool for me! I feel in my personal life and at school the tool I would be most likely to use is del.icio.us. I have already started organizing my site so they are easy to access. I have tags for this coursework, for work and my personal favorite puzzles. It is so easy to use. I love it!

I can't forget to mention, I feel strongly that the video sites such as Teachertube.com can be a useful tool in the Resource room. Our role is to reinforce and reteach material to students. I used a video on "Cramers Rule" with a students who was having a difficult time. The student loved it and I found it to be a huge success. I am sure I will find this to be a useful tool in the future.

Wikis in the Classroom

I was surprised how easy it was to create my own wiki (knightsnotes). I see this as a tool that would attract students and provide a forum for collaborative learning. It is so easy to use and edit that it could easily be used with younger students. I think I will go back at sometime in the future to explore more about wikis.

Online Video Resources /Review and Comments

I spent a great deal of time searching the four sites and the one that I favored was TeacherTube. I felt that this site provided a large amount of material and was easy to use. I especially like the use of tabs for popular videos, new videos, highly discussed and more. Keep it safe at the top is a self policing tool and provides easy access to report inappropriate material. If you have any doubts about the value of blogging there was one video, "Why Let our Students Blog"by Rachelboyd, that I felt did an excellent job of summarizing the benefits of blogging.
Blog to learn!

I felt Next Vista for Learning had potential but it seemed limited in content. I liked the clean uncluttered homepage and the ease of use. It was a bonus because there was no advertising and a non profit site.

YouTube offers the acceptablity that students would be attracted to. However I felt the it could be a dangerous place to send students. There are other sites that I would feel more comfortable using as a learning tool.

Clipblast again is an unfiltered site and may lead the students to inappropriate material. This site offers an internet search for videos from any website. You would never know what the student would get for material when searching. I would be overwelmed by the amount of websites that you would have to search.

I feel Online Video Resources would be a great tool for working with students in a Resource Room. For example in our Algebra II class we just learned about using "Cramers Rule". If I had a student in resource who was still confused about the steps I could send him to the video "Cramers Rule" by rebeeann, from Teachertube.
He would then have the oportunity to relearn the topic and replay it as often as needed. I could see this as a great reteaching tool. The other way I would use the video would be for the student that missed the day we did the lesson on "Cramers Rule". Often with their busy schedules it can be a couple of days until they can meet with the teacher. They could use the video to catch up on the lesson they missed in class. The more I learn about blogging and the more research I do I see all the benefits of blogging and the use of video sites as a learning tool. As the video I mention previosly says," Blogging extends the wall of the classroom," and video sites are a perfect example of this.

A Time for Reflection 1/ /Classroom Blogs

I believe classroom blogs can provide an excellent tool for communicating with students. I especially see blogging as a motivational tool for those students that otherwise might not be engaged in learning. I imagine students excited about reading other student blogs and writing their own. If students are excited about reading and writing they are excited about learning. I can also see classroom blogs as a communication tool where teachers and students can work together. They provide an audience for students so they can take pride in their work and are able to share their thoughts and opinions.
I think classroom blogs could be used in the classroom to help students develop more confidence in their writing skills.

Girls For A Change

While doing research on the many blogs out there I came across this site http://www.hercity.org/. This is a national organization that provides girls with professional role models, leadership training and problem solving capacity. They provide tools, resources and support for middle and high school girls of all backgrounds. Interesting...check it out! I am learning so much.

Looking for citizen bloggers

I read an article today in the Democrat and Chronicle about searching for local citizen bloggers in the Rochester area.

Welcome to my blog.

Hi! I created this blog as part of my new resolution to improve my technology skills. I also hope that this new knowledge will somehow help me relate to my children, grandchildren and students.