Recent Changes

Skyping, while I can see the application, will probably be for personal use right now. I found out that I have other friends with Skype addresses. I am trying to convince family member to do the same but they are not too comfortable with technology.
I think that Google Docs is going to be the most useful for my team. My LA teacher is already getting familiar with its uses. This will be a huge paper and time saver. It will also allow students to work at home and not lose their work or leave it at home. I like that they are all formatted like the usual Word docs we are used to.
and see.

Overall this was a great class and I can't wait to try what I've learned and see how much of my team I can get to do the same.

Personal Growth
While I had heard of most of these tools I really didn’t have much experience with them. Some of them were very easy to work with but others took a lot more work. Wikis and Blogs will probably be used on a regular basis to getting information to parents and students. When I first read the description for blogs and wikis, I was worried about who had access, who could edit, and what types of comments/posts could be left. I like that we can control all of these things and has made me very comfortable is using them.
Google Earth/Sky was great to learn and I can see some application for it. When it comes to science I think this would be more helpful in an Earth Science class (I teach Physical Science). However, it is a fun application and I would like to practice with it in my spare time. I think it is a useful tool to know but putting in the markers and having them show up on the tour was a little difficult to figure out.
I think that Google Docs is going to be the most useful for my team. My LA teacher is already getting familiar with its uses. This will be a huge paper and time saver. It will also allow students to work at home and not lose their work or leave it at home. I like that they are all formatted like the usual Word docs we are used to.
With all of these tools, I would like to take time to become more familiar with their features. And with some of them I would need to keep working with them so I don’t forget how to do things. While I have talked with my team about most of the tools, not all of them are on board. Most of them think the tools are helpful, they are not too interested in doing the work. Unfortunately, since some don’t use different computer applications, they don’t really see how they will save you time and make things easier. I am hoping that when they see the rest of us using the applications they will want in. We’ll have to wait and see.

Personal Growth
While I had heard of most of these tools I really didn’t have much experience with them. Some of them were very easy to work with but others took a lot more work. Wikis and Blogs will probably be used on a regular basis to getting information to parents and students. When I first read the description for blogs and wikis, I was worried about who had access, who could edit, and what types of comments/posts could be left. I like that we can control all of these things and has made me very comfortable is using them.
Google Earth/Sky was great to learn and I can see some application for it. When it comes to science I think this would be more helpful in an Earth Science class (I teach Physical Science). However, it is a fun application and I would like to practice with it in my spare time. I think it is a useful tool to know but putting in the markers and having them show up on the tour was a little difficult to figure out.
Photo albums and voicethreads are two things I’m very excited about teaching to the kids. They both seemed pretty straight forward to put together. This will be a great way to combine both art and science. I would like to learn more features and experiment with different types of online photo albums. This way I can troubleshoot any problems that students may run across.
The bookmarking sites will probably be more as an as needed basis. I will continue to update my pages and if anyone needs to see it I will share it with them. I will also be bringing up the sites in my curriculum meeting to see if there is any interest.
I will be frequenting Teacher Tube on a more regular basis. I didn’t realize how much was on there. I also thought it was fun to make and upload a video. I know there are several videos with students in them but I don’t know how comfortable I am posting a students video even with a waiver at the middle school level. This is something I need to discuss with my team.
Skyping, while I can see the application, will probably be for personal use right now. I found out that I have other friends with Skype addresses. I am trying to convince family member to do the same but they are not too comfortable with technology.
I think that Google Docs is going to be the most useful for my team. My LA teacher is already getting familiar with its uses. This will be a huge paper and time saver. It will also allow students to work at home and not lose their work or leave it at home. I like that they are all formatted like the usual Word docs we are used to.
With all of these tools, I would like to take time to become more familiar with their features. And with some of them I would need to keep working with them so I don’t forget how to do things. While I have talked with my team about most of the tools, not all of them are on board. Most of them think the tools are helpful, they are not too interested in doing the work. Unfortunately, since some don’t use different computer applications, they don’t really see how they will save you time and make things easier. I am hoping that when they see the rest of us using the applications they will want in. We’ll have to wait and see.

Teacher Tube would be great for not only finding lessons but (if we had the time) we could post important demos/classes for students to watch if they were absent or even something the sub can show (provided everything is working). I like the fact that they are pre-screened. You may want to keep in mind that when you upload a video, when they say a few minutes it usually takes a few hours.
Skyping is great. This would be a great way to contact other teachers, scientists, and other professionals for live interviews. Right now I will probably just use it for personal calls.
of laptops.
When it comes to getting to the next step, as long as we can contact people with experience to help when we get stuck would be the biggest help. Not all people are familiar with computers so getting help from those that are will be needed.

Application of the Tools
With Blogs and Wikis I will most likely use this for general communication with parents and students. Right now they are set up with explanations of what we study, an integrated unit, explanation of one of our LISA classes, and extra credit. My team and I have discussed creating a wikipage with a page for each core class and another page for general team information. The general information page would have information pertaining to our team and not general school information. Things like field trips, team activities, Pride Tribe, etc… With the blog, I am most likely going to share this with my LA teacher since we work together on a lot of the extra credit assignments. Parents will be able to post questions (us answers). We will need to make a schedule on who checks the blog when and whether or not to post certain comments made (never can tell).
With the Delicious and Diigo, these would be great not only for keeping track of my own sites but for new teachers or general content areas and for students to look for information on an assignment. With sites like Delicious and Diigo, I don’t have to worry if the site I was using was bookmarked on my computer or the one at school. Wow, what a concept! With new teachers, it’s easy to say you’re going to email them that website but these would make it easy for them to look at the sites you use on their own. When it comes to general content areas, each content area can add their own favorite sites and save time when it comes to looking for information.
Voicethreads, Google Earth and the online photo albums would be great for both staff and students. Teachers can spice up their lectures and notes. Students will love creating and presenting reports. These seem to be fairly user friendly and you will have less chance of students being disruptive during presentations. The Google Earth will most likely be the star with its 3-D views.
Teacher Tube would be great for not only finding lessons but (if we had the time) we could post important demos/classes for students to watch if they were absent or even something the sub can show (provided everything is working). I like the fact that they are pre-screened. You may want to keep in mind that when you upload a video, when they say a few minutes it usually takes a few hours.
Skyping is great. This would be a great way to contact other teachers, scientists, and other professionals for live interviews. Right now I will probably just use it for personal calls.
The Google Docs is something that I think we will get the most use out of. When I called my LA teacher he was very excited to try it out. Right now he has students email papers to him to save on paper. Now, he doesn’t have to face 120 emails in his inbox. I am looking forward to having my students put their lab write-ups online to save on paper and I can check them at home without having to worry about losing any papers. Google Docs has all the formats that students are familiar with so teaching them to use it would be a breeze. Now all we need is a class set of laptops.

Teacher Tube
Voice Thread
Simple Machine Presentation (google docs)