DIIGO tools...hmm.....

While playing in my Diigo-by playing I mean adding some articles, webpages, annotations, I wanted to see what else Diigo offered so I checked out the "tool" link.  I'm interested in Tagxedo and its uses so when I saw this on my Diigo (which reminded me of Tagxedo), I had to try it out!  Here it is:

My Diigo Tags

3-D printers?!

After listening to Will Richardson speak on Tuesday night, I began to think about some of the points he brought up. Such as; teaching children globally, using the over 2 billion "teachers" out in the world.  He mentioned how children are learning differently and we as parents and educators need to "learn, unlearn, and re-learn" in today's world if we want to keep up with our children and the larger techno- literate communities.  He also talked about a 3-D printer. A what?  I seem to have enough of a struggle to get the school printer to perform the way I want it to perform!  Now a 3-D printer!  What is that all about?  How will schools use it in the classroom?
Off to the internet I go for some insight and clarification! Right to an article by the NY Times.

Bingo! I think I've got it now!

My first Storybird was created with trial and error and came out ok.  The problem I was experiencing was embedding it into my blog.  But I think I have figured it out!

I had to return to the piece and edit it!  I needed to mark it "For School." This allowed me to get the embedded code!
Eureka!
I hope you like my Storybird about CAT cat.  I was thinking about word families and high frequency words when I wrote it-the pictures are funny too!

Oh PBS, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

I have a confession-I am a PBS junkie! I love all things PBS.  My love started just about the time Sesame Street first aired on PBS.  Yes, I am that old! I still can sing many of the songs I learned from Big Bird, Oscar, and (my favorite) Snuffleuffagus. I can count like The Count (ah,ah,ah).  I knew Cookie Monster when he ate too many cookies! I cried when Mr. Hopper died. Enough reminiscing!

The best of both worlds!!






The point is I still enjoy finding and watching different shows on PBS. This past weekend I watched the Teacher Channel via PBS. Granted it was early in the morning and not really the time I want to think about lesson planning but the lesson being shown (high school math) was highlighting common core standards.  I appreciated was the enthusiasm of the teacher and that of her students. She made it look fun and so easy to teach. That is what I love about watching a good teacher-they make it look effortless! Here is the link-lots of great things to see! Tell me what you think... check out their blog!

Come one, come all!

Happy Sunday All!  While reading the Sunday paper, I came across an article I thought was important to the class I am currently taking.
Will Richardson, author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, will be at Renbrook School, West Hartford, Tuesday, February 19.
Maybe I'll see you there!

Very cool! No refrigerator needed.

Looking through my Diigo to add information to our class wiki I came across PicLits. It was fun to play on...reminded me of the magnetic words sets that were sold as a theme pack (i.e. travel, family, just for fun) minus the refrigerator.


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

Fun to do! Older kids might like it.  Something quick and gives good word choice!  What do you think?  Have any ideas how you might use this in your classroom?

Tweet, tweet, no not twitter...Storybird!

I've been thinking about creating a story using Storybird.  I've been enchanted by the artwork on the website.  So today I decided to create one.  Not my best writing but trying to get a feel for how I might use this with my kinders.  Starting to think that this might be best for the student who doesn't like to illustrate or for the student with the big imagination.  Not sure if 5 year olds will understand how to manipulate it. With that said, I think older students will enjoy it. What do you think?

Emerging from my snow coma......

Yes, I think it is time to put down the mixing bowls and baking dishes and get back to the real important things...technology in the classroom, of course! My cohort has been busy loading great websites, YouTube videos, creating digital stories, finding great apps, tagging wonderful teacher blogs, and sharing it all!Wow!Thank you to my wonderful partners in education!

Kindergarten response to Animoto!

In a word-anticlimactic!  The students were excited to see their hands and the digi blocks on the screen.  I think I need to add large numerals to it(insert them before or after each slide).  Also, it I could slow it down or put it in a loop for reinforcement.
Our math teacher enjoyed it!  She hadn't seen animoto so this was a new tech tool for her.

PBL, makes sense to me!

Project-based learning or PBL was first introduced to me by my director last spring. She asked each of us to do some research on the subject and that she would like each class to work on a project during the following school year.  She supplied each teacher with some articles to read over the summer.  I liked what I was learning about PBL.  Students become more invested in their learning when they are interested in the subject- this, as teachers, we know to be true.
While looking for articles to place in my Diigo library, I came across edutopia which had many articles about PBL.

Flickr vs Instagram?

Wondered which one was better in the prior post-found this to help with the answer!

Awake at 4:30 am...what to do?

Well, first things first...let the dogs out then make a hot cup of tea.  The house was quiet so I thought this would be a good time to do some research.  On went the computer!
After reading Richardson's chapter about flickr, I decided I needed to learn more about it. Is it similar to instagram (which I  have on my phone)?  Does it work the same way? Load a picture from my phone, share with my followers and wait for some comments?  Well, it is and it isn't.
Flickr is awesome! I immediately became lost.  I went to the explore tab.  I found a map with pictures from around the world, blogs with groups of photographers with similar interests, challenges, galleries, and a page with information about the most widely used cameras.
I have taken pictures since grade school.  I like to think I have gotten better over the years but...well, amateur is a good description!  I found through surfing flickr that I am not the only person who takes pictures of food for fun! Case in point...

So I might be the latest to join flickr!

Voicethread...revisited.

So I used voicethread a few years back in my classroom and wondered if I could access it.  I returned to the site and was pleasantly surprised to find my account still there.  Where would it have gone?  The more amazing thing was I had remembered my login and password!  Here is one of the thread that I created with my students.  This was an Empowering Writers lesson.  The children created the giants then wrote about it.  I used a microphone to record each child reading their piece of work.




It was very easy to use. The children and their parents loved seeing and hearing their voices.
I think the best component to voicethread is the ability for others to leave comments for the students and their teacher.