Thing 9

I love to use YouTube in my classroom because I can almost always find something that relates to what I'm teaching.  If I need a hook or need to provide background knowledge on a topic I'll always go to YouTube first.  My students always appreciate a video once in a while to correspond with what we're learning.  It's so easy to find things too.  I have learned that it is important to watch the whole video carefully.  Sometimes videos aren't complete and they aren't always what you think they are! 
Luckily my school has not blocked YouTube and I hope they never choose to block this site.

Thing 8

http://bighugelabs.com/

As you can see, I've created a personalized magazine cover using a picture of myself that I uploaded through the image generator associated with Flickr.  Cheesy indeed!  It was a little time consuming to explore the different image generators and possibilities I could create.  If you've uploaded photos before then it's not too difficult.  I think my students could really have fun with their images too.  I would maybe have them create something as part of their next learning project. 

Thing 7

I think I could definitely use Flickr in the classroom.  It is always nice to have a good visual when you are introducing a new concept or if you want to provide some prior knowledge/experience for your students.  I often find myself doing searches for the same topics each year when I teach them.  My Favorites site on my laptop is just loaded with so many random things and isn't at all organized.  It would be nice to have a place for photographs and to be able to easily organize and access them when needed. 

I don't know what issues I might face, except that it would be necessary to make sure the photos are available to the public.  I wouldn't want to break any copyright laws.  I would have to make sure I carefully screen anything that I might show my students.  I would not make them public or share them unless I felt sure they were appropriate.

Thing 6

I chose this photo which is a scene from the great depression time period.  It shows children in a food line.  I chose this photo because I am currently reading the novel, Bud, Not Buddy with my students.  This story takes place during the great depression era and I found myself looking for pictures from this time period before I started the novel with my students.

 I found this photo interesting because I feel it would be amazing for my students to see what children from this time period had to go through to get a basic meal.

I just learned from a computer geek that if I had enlarged this photo and saved it when it was bigger, it wouldn't be so blurry.  Sorry about my picture quality here!

Thing 5

I don't currently have any questions about RSS feeds.  This is a new concept for me and I do enjoy being able to have one place to access information.  There is definitely a lot of information out there and I probably won't subscribe to just everything because I might not have time to read it.  It is nice to be able to search for blogs that are perfect for us.

I did find a Fountas and Pinnell blog that I subscribed to that focuses on guided reading and the teaching of reading.  It should be very useful to me and anyone who teaches guided reading.

Thing 4

I will use an RSS account both personally and professionally in my life.  As we have learned, RSS brings the information to us in a quick and concise way.  It's very easy to use and helps people access information quickly without having to do the leg work.

It's hard to keep up with everything that is new to education.  By simply subscribing to some educational blogs, we have the information at our fingertips.  I love the fact that you can simply hit a subscribe button in order to have access to most blogs so it's easy to use.  I didn't have any trouble with the other methods of subscribing either.

My cousin, Todd just moved to Germany.  He has a blog about his day to day experiences there and I hate to miss anything.  Now his experiences just get fed to me with every entry he makes.  Very cool! 

Thing 3

I already use a blog to support student learning.  I talked about it in my previous entry, but didn't know I would be referring to it in this topic as well! 

I use my current blog to support the novel that my students are reading in class.  I post questions about the novel that encourage my students to really reflect using higher level thinking skills.  The questions that I post also require students to go back into text and collect evidence to support their answer.  My 7th & 8th graders have trouble citing from text and creating a thoughtful, informative writing response.  I felt that through the use of a blog, they could first prepare their response on paper, but when they post their response they are able to view examples of other student work.  Not only are they privy to other students' thought processes, but they are able to look at how students are citing their work.  They can learn through others!

I have found that my students seem enthusiastic about blogging because it is very similar to Facebook.  One thing I have learned when giving a blogging assignment is to provide time for them to create a draft on paper before signing on to the blog.  They must prepare their response on their own first because I have found that they look at other responses and often their work may not reflect their own thinking.  They are used to posting on Facebook and are not accustomed to thinking before posting!  I have had to find ways to ensure that students are taking the assignment seriously and actually learning, which was initially a concern for me.

I have also created a really good blogging rubric if anyone is interested!  This also helps lets students know exactly what is expected from their responses and helps them to realize the importance of the blog assignment!