Tool #4: Moving Up to the Clouds

We frequently use Google Docs on our campus to brainstorm ideas.We use it between teachers when discussing projects, we use it for our ICU list and as coaches we also use it to brainstorm about events and work duties. I plan on using it in the classroom to let my students brainstorm and work on projects whenever they have acess to a computer way from school.

Tool #3: Finding Online Video and Image Resources

The 2 main video hosting sites that enjoy in my classroom are YouTube and DropBox. I love YouTube because I can get current event clips to show to students during a certain topic we are discussing in class. I feel this gives them a real life example to connect to. I also love DropBox for projects using the computer. This way they can submit their projects to me and it’s another place to save it for them.

After learning more about copyright use I now understand what public domain is and that copyrights used to only last for 14 years. That was very new to me.

When it comes to dropbox I use it during projects where the students use computers to complete their work. It really helps when a student has a large file with pictures and videos.

Tool #2: Building Community in the Online Environment

I chose to go the Diigo Route. The 2 that I enjoyed following the most were: 1.

Teachers Guide on The Use of Graphic Organizers in The Classroom - mainly talked about the major benefits of using and integrating graphic organizers in your classroom. 2.

The Ultimate Guide to The Use of Blogs in Teaching - this was a very detailed, beginners guide to creating and using blogs for classroom instruction. I definitely recommend.

I think interacting in online communities and PLN's are very beneficial. You can receive different view points from commentors and use variations that work for you. I have used them several tumes for household situations. During those blogs I agreed with some and didn't agree with others but I was willing to test all suggestions. I mostly took ideas from different people and blended them in to 1 product. I love sharing publicly and I like to hear of others success and failures because it helps me in decifiring through test trials.

One that I plan on visiting in the future is: 10 Useful iPad Resources for Educators – SimpleK12 - since we have received these i-pads I want to be knowlegable in their use so I can offer my students ways to enhance their learning objectives.

Tool #1: Getting Started - Creating your blog!

Tool #1: Getting Started - Creating your blog!

I already had an account on Blogger so getting started was pretty easy. I had fun creating and playing around with my avatar. The only challenge I can say I faced was getting to the right page to paste the avatar embed code. All in all this was fairly easy.