Google Reader and my experience

Google reader was a new experience for me, and I learned alot about how to use Google Reader and how to find more resources about specific issues.  It was very interesting to see the blogs and the content they contained.  Also, it was interesting to see all the information and resources that people include in their blogs.  I guess the most interesting blog post I read was about the Dewey Decimal System used in libraries.  Now, there is a question if libraries should get rid of it or keep it. Some people believe that the libraries should be organized by categories like retail book sellers.  Also, the blog has links to more articles about the Dewey Decimal System and the controversary about changing our libraries so they will be more user friendly.  

My favorite blog is the Cook Cat Teacher blog.  There are teacher and technology resources here, and also the blog includes articles and posts from other blogs referencing educational issues, problems, and conflicts we have today in our educational system. 

These are the subscriptions I followed on Google Reader:
http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/
http://www.edweek.org/ew/index.html
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/
http://willrichardson.com/
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/

I plan to continue to follow these blogs to keep update on resources and issues in the educational world.

Websites- Social bookmarks

Here is a social bookmark of some of my favorite websites.  This websites are great for references or tools for the classroom. 

http://www.delicious.com/redsadler/

Good Digital Citizenship

It is very important to be a good digital citizen. Good digital citizens respect others and their privacy. They will not trade insults or spread rumors about someone else. Also, a good digital citizen is very aware of what he or she is writing or posting on the internet. They are aware this information might not only hurt them, but also someone else. They are also aware to separate personal and professional information on the internet. They are aware they may behave or say certain things to their friends that they would not necessarily say to a co-worker. The reputation of a good digitial citizen is a good one. The person is always aware and information that may be slanderous and harmful to their reputation. Also a person with a good digital reputation is very aware of emails, information, and websites that might be harmful to his or other people's reputation.

Copy of Digital Citizenship Project on Prezi

Website bookmarks and Wordle pic

Here is a pic of a wordle from my website social bookmarks.

P. 201 #1 blog post- multimedia simulations

I found two multimedia simulations that I thought would be very benefical for use in the classroom. I would implement the use the National Library Virtual Manipulatives in my classroom for visual representations for base ten blocks. I teach 3rd grade, and this would be very powerful for visual representations and manipulations on the smartboard.
I would also use the Venn Diagram on ReadWriteThink website. I would really love to mplement this in the classroom or the computer lab to have students to use when comparing and constrasting either stories or characters. I also believe the students would love to use the program. I believe I am going to implement this during a center time for students to use at the end of the week for a center. They can compare either the story elements or the characters in similar stories.

Software Reviews

The site that I thought evaluated the largest number of titles was the Education World website. It also had links to other sights that reveiewed software. I could not get any reviews on teh SREB Evalutech website. The sites that seemed to most updated were the Superkids website and Education World website. Education World seemed to have more reviews submitted by site visitors. There are few websites that would I would use to evaulate software, and they would be Education World and Superkids websites. I will be using these more often to get the latest software available to assist with classroom instruction and presentations.

Video on a Classroom Flip

Here is video from Teacher Tube about flipping a classroom.

The teacher is able to video the lesson and let the students watch it and learn from it as homework, but then when the students are in the classroom on the next day, the students are able to apply what they learned the night before.




This is very interesting and different for students. The teacher is not lecturing all day, but he is acting as the facilitor of learning. I believe this is great idea. My question is "What happens to the students who do have the technology or resources available at home to watch the videos the night before?" "When do they get to watch the videos?"

What a great idea!!