Time Flies

It has been a long while since my last Blog. Life gets in the way of all good intentions.

Portable Educational Game System

I'm going to do a little more research on educational game systems to determine the system best suitable for the classroom and financially reasonable. After reading an article, entitled Game On! , about the benefits to "Digital Game-Based Learning" I began thinking of incorporating one into my classroom. The article lays out the many benefits to gaming in the classroom. A major importance is that the students know what they are learning while they are playing. I see use in center time and at other assigned times during the day. There are a few students in class that could really benefit by attaching use to work completed in class. Unfortunately, the price of many systems the students use at home are too high. There is also the problem with appropriate games. It seems to be coming down to Leapster. If anyone has any experiences let me know. Otherwise, I'll let you know how it goes.

Pay Attention

Technology is at the door, let it in!

iTunes

I have started to create a catalog of professional development podcasts through iTunes store. It's free and after a quick download I was ready to enter the world of podcasts. A few of the podcasts I have started listening to include the following: SMARTBoard Lessons, Tech Chicks, and Grammar Girl. Most people go for the music option at the iTunes store, but the podcast section has a wealth of topics and interests. Just click on the tab for Podcasts on the left side and just below that is a section called categories. One of the categories is education and after clicking on education there are four more subscategories that appear including educational technology and K-12 podcasts. If you are looking for something different pick another category that interests you and a screen appears with many different titles to podcasts. The top 25 podcasts appear on the right side of the screen for the category picked and a tab labeled See All allows you to do just that. Once you have selected a podcast that looks good, which is funny since you listen to them, click on it and the screen will split between an overview of the podcast creator selected at the top and a table of all the podcasts created by that person on the bottom. There is a choice to subscribe to the podcasts or if you want to test out an episode, just click on the Get Episode button in the table. The podcast will download and all that is left is for you to click on the Podcast tab on the left side of the screen. Next to the Podcast Tab is the number of podcasts you have downloaded. A new screen appears when you've clicked that shows the podcasts you have downloaded. Double click on the podcast you want to hear and it will start playing for you. Now there shouldn't be anything stopping you from downloading some podcasts to help in your teaching or learn a new language. Most are free, but some podcasts require a payment.

Flickr Celebration

Here's an example of what I did at my Flickr site. You're more than welcome to write about the prompt I've included.




There are celebrations for many reasons. This cake with lit candles all over it is how many people celebrate their birthday in the United States. Think of your favorite celebration and write about it. What makes that celebration your favorite? Be specific. Why did you pick this celebration out of all the possibilities? Remember to write in complete sentences - capitalization, punctuation, who or what and action. Include interesting, colorful words and descriptive words to make the writing come to life. Vary your sentences to make sure I'm not saying aye, aye, aye or wi, wi, wi all the home when I read your published piece. Think of the possible audience of thousands (okay, I'd be happy with a dozen) that may read your online authoring. Add those details, exmaples, thoughts, and feelings to make your writing one that people want to read again and again.

Flickr

I created a Flickr account a while back and uploaded my first photos to the site a couple weeks back. It's free and easy if you have a Yahoo account, and even if you don't you just need to take a little more time to set up the Yahoo account and Flickr can be yours too. Let me tell you a little more about Flickr before I move onto the first way I will use Flickr with my class. I was very interested in learning about the photo sharing website that is free or for a price with added perks. A quick sign-up and millions of photos can be searched. If you find one you want to use, just Flickrmail the photographer to find out about using it. The site does not disappoint with easy ways to upload your digital pictures and share them. Especially helpful ideas from a podcast by Alan Levine that was under Help at the bottom of the screen, click on the Tools tab to download the Flickr Uploadr. This makes it even easier to upload photos to Flickr. Pictures you upload can have notes added to photos, so students could make captions, add insight into the photo taken, or even write poetry about the picture. Another use would be much better pictures for clip art or assessments. You can also comment on and have other people comment on your photos if you choose to have them public instead of private. A final exciting function in Flickr is the Map tab. Photos can be placed on the map and added to a growing number of other photos all over the world. This would be a way to set up a tour of a community thousands of miles away.
Now onto my use for Flickr. With each of the photos I uploaded I wrote story starters and guides to help my students or anyone else who would like to write about the pictures I posted. My idea is to have students access the site at home, with the help of their parents, to have time for extra practice with the writing process and typing. I'll be interested to see if my students take to it. I have included a link to the site under my links tab.

Podcasting

I'm about to embark on my podcasting experience all by my lonesome. My CED 534 group created a podcast, Podcast 534 and now I have a Gcast account to have a place to put them. So look forward to hearing my songs about Root Words, months of the year, and the Water Cycle.