Reflection

I have enjoyed this course and content. Some tools were reminders for me (Cindy had showed them to me before but I had forgot about them). Some tools were new to me or I was able to see them being used in a different way. This course helped me think about these tools in my current position as literacy coach. I especially liked the social bookmarking site information, I had been using delicious and like the features of diigo much better. I think the course format worked well, the flexibility was very appreciated. This course was an excellent and way to become exposed to some new web tools and think about how to implement them in your classroom setting.

Web 2.0 Tool Review

I explored the following three sites; Vidipedia, HiTask, and wisemapping. I decided to spend a lot of time with TubeChop. I am constantly wanting to use a clip from youtube and try to download it using a convertor of some sort. All you have to do is watch the video and write down the start and stop time you want. Go to TubeChop and paste the link to your youtube video. Then enter the times and it creates a shorter version of the clip. It provides you with a link to your shortened version of the video to use in an email, or presentation. It also provides an embed code into blogs, etc. The other part I like is it has a link back to the original video so if you want to see what the entire video was you can. I could use this tool to save me time when I use video clips in presentations and professional development. Usually I get to the video and it has to buffer then I have to drag to the part I want to show. This would save me time and allow me to focus on other parts of my professional development.

Skype in the Classroom

One way to use skype in my profession is connecting with other literacy coaches. I have a few different literacy coaches in the area on my skype. When I am home working on something (or at school) and I need to bounce ideas off of one of them I can just chat with them through skype and talk it over. Another way I discovered this past week is during a conference. I took several teachers to a workshop and I really wanted to be able to chat with them about what the speaker was saying and how it applied to us. I knew sometimes the speaker gave more elementary (K-3) examples and I wanted to be able to talk about how that could look for our building. I checked to see if they all had skype on their iPad so we could have a group chat during the workshop but they didn't. We ended up using imessage which worked fine but skype would have been just as good.

Play Week Reflection

I have used GoodReads for book reviews and to see what other people like based on common books. I have found it very helpful. I agree that it shouldn't be used in elementary classrooms. I could see using it with my own child (monitored) but not a classroom. After exploring Big Hue Labs I thought of a few different things teachers could do with it in the classroom. Teachers could create a trading card of the characters in the books, explaining different things about them on the card. Teachers could use the mosaic maker to make their class picture. Each child is in a square. I have seen some teachers use something similar and have students write a word on a card depicting a trait they want to be better at during the quarter. Teachers could even have students write on a card what they want to be when they grow up and take each child's picture. Jing is by far the tool that I am the most excited about of these three. I am envisioning using this for handouts for teachers as well as online tutorials much like what you used for this class. We have talked about doing an online informational video for parents on the report card and I think Jing could be the tool we use to create the video. I have Jing and Big Hue on my list of things to go back and create something with later and am excited to see the endless possibilities.

Photo and Video Site Reflection

I have used Animoto before and heard of Picasa but never used it. Photo Peach was completely new to me. I definitely see the perks of using these in my personal life. A place that I can upload pictures that isn't taking up room on my computer is a definite bonus. It also allows me to share them with others. Victor and I are constantly texting or emailing pictures of Emma and family to each other. This would allow us both to have access to the same pictures. As an educator I know Victor had middle school students create video clips using pictures about books they had read. With photo peach they could add questions about the book where others who had read the book could go in and take the quiz. Teachers could also create a class account with picasa and allow parents access to the photos.

Photo Peach Quiz

I had not heard about this site before...it is super cute.  I could see some different uses for this with my teachers.

Here is a video of my daughter!


My sweet red-head! on PhotoPeach

Animoto Video

I have used animoto before and loved it.  However, it has been a long time since I used animoto and when I logged in I found videos I had made when Emma was little.  Warmed my heart to watch those videos.  I decided instead of making a one just for the class, I would use one I had made when she was little.  
This was when Emma got a swimming pool for her 1st birthday!



Emma's First Swimming Pool

Picasaweb Video

A few pictures of my favorite people!

RSS and Feedly Reflection

There are many benefits to using an aggregator like Feedly and RSS feeds.  Many teachers are in love with pinterest and I see the benefits of pinterest but I think Feedly can go beyond pinterest.  For example as an educator if I find an anchor chart or lesson idea that I want to remember for later pinterest allows me to book mark that specific idea.  However, if I find multiple ideas from one teacher blog Feedly would be more effective because it would allow me to get updates about when that teacher adds new content to her blog.  Feedly and RSS feeds save teachers time by allowing them to go to one location to see what is new on their favorite sites.