Thing # 17 Podcasts

One of the podcasts that I previewed first was Grammar Girls Quick and Dirty Tips. While I was on the Quick & Dirty Tips page I also previewed Green Girls Quick and Dirty Tips, since I'm a huge tree hugger. I tried to take a look/listen to the Dragon Page with Class, but it was just way too busy for me. I would suggest they tone it down a notch or two.

I searched the Learn Out Loud directory of podcasts and found Just Vocabulary, which features 2 words each day, gives a pronunciation of them and uses them in contextual sentences several ways. Also on Learn Out Loud, I found the Naked Scientist Radio Show and Podcast. I could definitely use these in my classroom. Just vocabulary uses many of the SAT words that our district sends out for classroom use each week. This would be another to incorporate these words and podcasting into the classroom.

Currently in Social Studies class, my students are creating a podcast.

Thing #16 Library Thing

Library Thing was pretty cool. I read a lot of Science Fiction and Fantasy, but my friends do not. Library Thing would be a great way to find new authors that I would enjoy. It would be a fantastic way to network and get suggestions from readers who enjoy the same type of books that I do. i liked the idea of the 50 Books Challenge. This would be the perfect way for my students to get a visual picture of what they have read and accomplished during the school year. I am just amazed at the number of free resources that are out there just waiting for people to discover.

Thing #12 but it's on Thing #14? Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

I think ToonDoo is absolutely COOL!!! I can see this as being a useful tool for all grade levels. Early elementary students could write and illustrate stories. Upper grades could use it for that purpose plus story retellings, recreating historical events, depicting cycles in science and more. There are forums on the site that allow you to share and discuss your toons and ideas. I'm sooooo glad I found this site!

Thing #13

I made the above post-it to brag about my daughter. It was announced today that she made the SEC all freshman team. The only other team member on the University of Arkansas that received SEC honors was a senior. I am very proud of how well she has played. She was the leading scorer for the Razorbacks and 5th in the SEC for shots taken.

When I was composing this post, Blogger was not behaving very well. I had saved my images to the desktop and I had to try to upload the images several times. Internet Explorer crashed during this process so it may have been my computer. Anyways I saved them to my desktop and uploaded them.

Wanna make you own post-it note? Click here!
Wanna make your own Dummies book cover? Click here!

Thing 12 Slideshow

I chose pictures of the island of Curacao because it is the initial setting of the novel The Cay. The Cay is the novel that I am presently reading with my class. I used 5 photos build my story.

Willemstad Waterfront On Curacao Jessica Bee
Beach at Curacaocmgramse
Another Willemstad Waterfront ray.gauss
Queen Emma Bridge Close-up jules1651
Queen Emma Bridge gailf548

Thing #11 Stretch

Here's my stretch activity! I did a magazine cover featuring my darling daughter Alexandria Chandler! Mash-ups could be used in the classroom to add photo stories, wikis, or other student created work. I think sharing photos on-line is a great way to allow easy access for your friends and family. Although I don't neccesarily think you should put every pic up for public display, I think it's a wonderful idea to post pics for everyone to access. There are some extremely talented amateur photographers out there who have something to share.

Thing #11 Flickr

So many of the pictures on Flickr are just gorgeous! I searched Curacao, Willemstad, and Queen Emma Bridge in order to come up with photos I could use in the classroom. My classes are reading the novel The Cay, and I wanted them to be able to see some of the landmarks that are mentioned in the book. This a picture of the Queen Emma Bridge. It's a floating pontoon bridge that swings open to allow boats in and out of the harbor in Willemstad. This photo was taken by gailf548 and you can see more of gailf548's photos by clicking here.

I plan on using the pictures I downloaded as a focus activity before reading from the novel. As I explored some of the educational ideas for Flickr, I really liked the idea of teaching vocabulary with pics from the site.