Thing 4 Content Area Tools

The second thing I would like to use, would be the crossword puzzle. The link is http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/games-tools/crossword-puzzles-a-30183.html This is something that young children would find fun and entertaining while increasing their vocabulary and problem solving skills. If they worked in groups of 2-3 they would also be building there team working skills as well as social skills.

Thing 4 Content Area Tools (Thinkfinity)

Well, since I am not a teacher, this one is going to a little difficult for me.
The first place I would like to go to is the Today in History. I like know where we came from, I think it should help guide us in getting to where we are now headed. Follow this link http://thinkfinity.org/today-in-history/2010-11  to find out what happened during the month of November and to find ideas for lessons.
There is a It Began With the Mayflower section with lesson plan ideas http://thinkfinity.org/began-with-mayflower I like the lesson on scarcity. This is a concept that could be introduced to students at a young age and while it is normally introduced as a lesson in supply and demand I feel younger students could understand this concept better put in terms they would understand. No more room at this table, no more room available on the rug, these are things students in 2-3 grades grasp quicker.
I'm not saying they can't understand supply and demand, they just get the concept of out of room quicker.

A step back

I just want to make mention something about Jing. I am making a movie for our GATORS ( Getting Ahead Athrough Outstanding Reading Strategies) Parent Night. I asked my administrator if she wanted slides with words or just pics of our students. I am making the movie in Windows movie maker on windows 7.
The answer was yes if we had words in other movies. We did.
Problem was, I did not have an option to just insert a blank slide in windows 7 movie maker as I did in the XP version.
My solution was... take a picture of the slide using Jing and then inserting it into the movie as a picture.
As a result I am able to produce a quality slide without much difficulty. Proving we can improve our productivity with technology.

Thing 3 Prezi

I actually have an account with Prezi and created a presentatio using it. With the type of presentations I make for our students, I need something that could handle more than 25 seconds of video. I have to insert lots of video into my PPTs.
I am always looking for a way to spice up the presentations since PPT is very limited. Last time I was at Prezi,I noticed that it had some presentations that seemed to hold longer videos. I need to investigate further.

Thing 3 Skype

Okay, this one I have used before although not much. I set up a Skype account and used it to talk with my daughter after she moved to Arkansas to work for AmeriCorps.

It is a good idea but right now I am having trouble getting in sync with other users to make it very practical for me. I really wanted to join the class Skype call, but was unable to make it from work ontime. Perhaps if we had one for later in the evening it would have worked for me.

I see where this could be used in the class when you arrange to have an expert talk with your class using Skype. It would be better if the teacher had an ELMO, and or smartboard so the entire class could participate.

I am not ready to make a call on backchat as yet. Although it may have been something we could have used at our live class for 21 Things.

Thing 2 Adobe Buzzword

Adobe Buzzword and Goolge Docs are really very much the same. I found that Adobe is not as harsh on the eyes as Google document, but I think Google is more user friendly. I am going to have to actually do a presentation in both to get the feel of them.I Tried to take a pic of my document on Adobe Buzzword but Jing crashed on my computer and I think I will have to do a restart to get it back up and running,
 Using either program will take the need to remote into my school's server to access programs I am creating.
I am actually looking forward to starting something on one of these programs and sharing.
This allows for creativity anywhere you may be. My daughter often asks me to contribute ideas on documents she has created, This will make it much easier.

Thing 2 Google.Docs

I went to google docs and to my great surprise, I had 5 documents that I had opened in google documents on my laptop before I got Microsoft office installed. I had the documents emailed to me and when I opened them, they automatically opened in Google.docs If I had know about all the available options I would have been ABLE to use it for so many things so much sooner.

Oh Well! NO use crying over spilled milk. I can use it now :)

Thing 1 Delicious.com

I created a delicious page, http://www.delicious.com/radmd85 ( I used a shortcut :).
I chose to import my browser from my laptop to start with. I was soooo surprised to see that I actually had so many favorites. Some, of course, were automatically installed my Microsoft. This is going to be a very useful site. I will save my favorites from work, then I will be able to access from home my work favorites.
I sometimes have to help a teacher get a sub and the website is on my toolbar at work. Remembering the website can sometimes be tricky. Now, I don't have to remember. I will just go to delicious. This will be very handy.
I like this site much more than I thought I would. It is like DropBox for favorites.

Thing 0 reflections on blogs

What makes a good blog?
To me a good blog is one that has the information it's readers want to read. You can have all the bells and whistles, but without solid content it is nothing but rambling.
Blogs can enhance a school's presence by being more accessible to parents, and students. By allowing parents to go online and read what is important to them they feel more connected. Parents can check events so they don't miss anything important. Students can stay in touch with assignments they may have missed due to an absence.
By allowing comments, parents feel they can communicate as with the class/teacher and not just be a visitor.
Blogs do make it easier for people to publish their thoughts on a subject. It allows teachers to publish ideas in a way that could never have been done even 25 years ago.
Look at our class, 21 Things, we are able to publish our assignements, our reflections on what we have learned online without ever having to have someone else to edit. We can view our classmates' blogs and comment on their reflections without ever having to actually see them face to face.
That, is the only downside I find. This makes the need for actual personal contact absolete. That is something we need to be wary of and I say this as a person who loves technology and all the possibilities.

Thing 1 Use of shortcuts

Okay I am showing the control A option since that is one that I do like and can see myself using. IT is much faster! I also like using the ctrl Z AND CTRL Y. They use fewer steps thus allowing for faster editing and increasing productivity.
However many items can be accessed by using the right click option. Copy, paste, and insert hyperlink are much faster to me by right clicking. I already have my hand on the mouse so it actually saves time.

Ctrl Z and Y are faster than going through all the steps involved. My only fear is that I will fall into old habits and not remember to use them. I need to keep a reminder posted until I can make it as much of a habit as I do the rgt. click.
Inserting the lines is a major time saver and formating enhancer. These are the shortcuts I find most helpful.

21 Things: Getting Started

Okay, we are off and running. Things I hope to learn.....
I hope to learn how to communicate online more effectively. I would like to be able to use applications and resources online and know where to find them.  I also hope to be able to offer support to the teachers in my building helping them communicate with their students and parents.
The possibilities are endless.