week 9, thing #23, TA-DAH

ESC Learning 2.0: 23 Things, this learning journey filled my technological vas with favorites, with tools that can be incorporated in lessons and at home. One activity led to Pageflakes which I hope to set up with many widgets that will benefit my students, including a Wiki for writing assignments/class projects. I was really taken away by the countless tools and hope to continue to add to my toolbelt. Yet, word needs to get out that the cyber world is not only for searching but for creating. This may lead to rethinking about information, learning, and education. One thing I definitely want my students to do with what they find on the Web, that knowledge/information, is to go further: critique and create something new about it. It will be FANTABULOUS! Yes, FANTABULOUS sums up what I did 23 times. 23 Things!

week 9, thing #22, ebooks and audio ebooks

This has saved many of my students from feeling overwhelmed. With class sets, there is no room for allowing a student to leave with a book. A class set is just that, classroom use only. With ebooks, there is a plan B. Students can catch up on any missed chapters, and there are those, yes about a few, who like to get ahead and do so.

week 9, thing #21, podcasts

This is even better. I like the idea of subscribing to get updated podcasts. I was interested in YouTube piano lessons. Yet, I might be better off with adding the RSS feed for updates for the podcast lessons. I also stumbled upon Grammar Grater and have added to blog list. Grammar Grater is a weekly podcast about English words, grammar and usage for the information age. How appropriate is that on my blog?

week 9, thing #20, discover YouTube and a few sites

If in need of a video that won't take up too much of a class period, I turn to YouTube. It can be used as the focus of a lesson, reinforce what has been covered or as enrichment. It can even be a class project. I find students very willing and creative.
I was curious to see if there were any videos for a book that was covered in class this summer. Sure enough there were about a half dozen or more. Here is the clip for Farhenheit 451:
YouTube - Fahrenheit 451
On a personal note, I may very well look into taking up piano. There are oodles of lessons on YouTube. I wonder what more I can learn from the Tube.

week 8, thing #19, Library Thing

This is a virtual library. I'll keep it in mind. I've posted on my blog's sidebar an author cloud. I hope to add more or perhaps add the widget to my classroom page, Pageflake.

week 8, thing #18, online applications & tools

This is so much what I was looking into, a virtual desktop. I can see my students working on their writing assignments using Zoho Writer. I was wishing for something like this earlier in the summer when students were not able to save their documents. All I had was one USB floating around. What a time saver! Offline, too! All good!

week 7, thing #17, the sandbox

Region One Sandbox -- go ahead and play! The magic password is "library." So, I did. It was easy enough. If I did it, my kiddos can do it. I was even taken by surprise when I received an email telling of an update/edit. Neato mesquito! This is a great tool for English. I can keep tabs on who is contributing.