Thing # 21

Google is so much more broad than I ever imagined! I had fun exploring/discovering during this exercise. In fact, I spend too much time on google book search because on that site, I could actually read the text of books that I've wondered about or wanted to read. I think it's great to be able to check it out before buying. I also looked at google alerts but didn't think of anything to follow or be alerted to at this time. I would use it for sure if there's something of particular interest I want to follow. Google earth is cool..... kind of scary to know anyone can check out any place at any time. I found my house! Even my blog is generated through google.... amazing, the possibilities seem endless :-)

Thing # 20

I have explored google docs before but not really used it until today. It was easy to use and very user friendly. I developed a "working" parent letter to send home after I've completed a student's evaluation. This letter explains, specifically, the student's results and invites the parent to phone me in the event they have any questions. I can see myself sharing this type of document professionally with my colleagues to gain insight as to what correspondence they use with parents and in developing a better letter. I think the spreadsheet would be good to help me keep my testing data organized (who, when, etc.) and I may use the presentation option when developing a staff development piece. This would also be a good one to share with colleagues and we could develop it all together.

Thing # 7b

I'm jumping ahead a little bit but I don't have time to complete #20 & #21 right now. I've been reading my google reader and recently added southern living to my list. It's one of my favorite magazines and I rarely find enough time in my day to read it at home. Seems I'm always doing something...cooking, washing, cleaning, you know the drill of a working mom! Anyway, today I read several fun articles but I had no idea there were southern living blogs!!! Written by folks who write the magazine articles! Everything from food to gardening (and all points in between). What a delight!

Thing # 19

Voicethread was neat. I really liked the idea of sharing photographs with my family and friends and having the capability of hearing their comments, sentiments, etc. I could see myself using Voicethread in that way. I can also see how very cool it would be to use in a classroom where the students can make comments collectively, make predictions about pictures, compare and contrast, or even use to generate written works. I've noticed, throughout Learning 2.0, that some of our teaching videos have been created with voicethread (or something like it) and I feel so smart now that I know where to go to create works of my own!

Thing # 18 edit

I forgot to report on my "how to" videos..... I was having trouble embedding my video clip so I went to You Tube and searched "how to embed a video into a blog!" I also checked out "how to replace a ballast" because mine is out in my pantry and seems I can't get my husband to get it changed!!!

Thing # 18

During my scavenger hunt, I found two interesting videos relating to special education. One was on inclusion and the other was about a career in special education working with severely challenged kids. They were both very informative. The inclusion video was especially helpful because our campus is moving toward inclusion next school year. I've added my favorite You Tube video for fun: Bon Qui Qui at King Burger. Watch below and enjoy. I found Teacher Tube to be a great source to be used in the classroom. Kids seem to pay so much more attention to video/computer and several of the videos I explored like Animals in the Rainforest, Ocean Currents, and From an F to an A (kid production) were very interesting and captivating. I'm sure kids would really enjoy viewing videos or short clips as an alternative to the old textbook! And...it's a great idea for those kids whose reading skills are lacking or maybe learn better with visuals :-)

Thing # 17

Podcasts.... I've used i-tunes forever and never knew podcasts were there! This class is the best and I'm learning so much. I looked at several podcasts, some easier to navigate than others, but ended up subscribing to Dragonfly TV in my google reader. I also liked The Tech Teachers because it has so much information on all kinds of technology use. If you haven't tried I-Tunes, download it now and check out all the available stuff! I'm planning on spending more time there exploring what all I've missed the past few years.