Tool 6

After visiting a few wikis online, I was pleasantly surprised.  I wasn't sure how wikis would apply to me, or how they would be a better choice than a blog or google docs.  I quickly learned that wikis would be the best choice for LA when the kids are hoping to collaborate instantly.  They could work together on vocabulary, spelling or even book reviews!  Book clubs could create discussions, add to it, change it and see it instantly!  What a great new tool that I can't wait to use.  If you've implemented wikis in your classroom, I'd love to see them.  Please send me a link!

Tool 5

Social bookmarking is something I had no experience with prior to learning about it through Tool 5.  At first I was thinking, how will this be better than regular bookmarking?  I quickly learned that it is such a help to be able to get to my usual bookmarks from any computer.  Better yet, I can share new education sites from the various tags easily with others.  This will be super helpful within LA because my teammate and I can quickly share the bookmark for a new site.

After joining Delicious, I decided to search through popular bookmarks with the tag "education" to see what came up.  Instantly I was drawn to Live Mocha, when I read the description for free online language learning.  I always wanted to try Rosetta Stone, but I didn't want to part with the money.  Live Mocha is very similar in style.  Plus, I could have my ESL students use their google accounts to gain access to use friendly English lessons.  I could even use it as a language arts workstation for other students who are just interested in learning more about a particular language.

My second choice was Snappy Words.  This visual dictionary is so fun to use and could be implemented in multiple ways.  It gives kids the ability to learn the definition of a word, synonyms, antonyms and parts of speech in a fun new way!

Tool 4

This tool showed up at the perfect time because it allowed me to work on my user knowledge of google apps.  Recently, our school took part in a training on google apps in preparation for the new computers our campus will receive.  Now that every student will have their own google account, it has become increasingly important for us to be extremely knowledgable about the ins and outs of the applications.

After reading about Google Docs I decided to make my first document useful to my Language Arts curriculum.  We've recently been studying the three types of connections in our LA classroom so I typed up a fill in the blank excercise to encourage my students to go deeper with their individual connections.
Three Types of Connections

I loved how easy it was to share my document with my LA teammate, Kendall.  She was able to look at it quickly and make any changes she thought we needed and I could see it immediately.  In addition this handout would be perfect to share with kids on their individual Google Accounts.  This way they could access it easily anytime they needed to refer to it.  I can't wait to try it in the classroom!

Going right along with Google Docs is Google Reader.  It's so cool that all five of my followed blogs are right up on one page!  I can easily see updated posts from each one without having to toggle between several different screens.  In the classroom, I've planned to introduce blogging as a forum for book club discussions.  This will make it extremely easy for me to monitor each each blog from one screen.  What a timesaver!

Tool 3

I was recently exposed to the wide world of image generators and mashups.  Who knew?  It blows my mind that people are able to create these amazing generators that can entertain for hours!  My first attempt was with the Wordle.  I decided to pay tribute to Twilight.  Yes...I must admit I am a "Twihard."  I've read every book and seen every movie to date.  It is nothing but fun to sit back and read good book from the saga.  It is my escape from reality. 

For educational purposes I love the idea of using a Wordle as a book review format.  Kids could have a really out of the box experience as they worked to describe their novel with choice descriptive words, events and character names.  Love it!

My second image generator came from Spell with Flicker.  I loved that I could use it to create a photo mashup of my blog identity.  Super cute and cool!  In the classroom, kids could use this as a creative way to dress up their own projects or even spelling and vocabulary words.

Check out my "Ode to Twilight" below and my Spell with Flicker creation at the bottom of the blog.  Let me know what you think!

Tool 2

I think building a PLN is just another avenue for collaboration with colleagues.  I've gotten some of my best ideas for the classroom through discussions with other teachers.  Belonging to a PLN will make it that much easier to stay in contact with other educators in the language arts field.

My favorite hint for commenting on a blog was about inviting comments.  I never really thought about the need to make your blog post sound "inviting" to others.  However, after reading about it I realized that in all my online communications I tend to react best to those that seem friendly and willing to share.  Others, who appear to be reporting the facts end up leaving little room for others to feel brave enough to jump in.  I'm hoping I can learn to be a friendly blogger like the blogs I enjoy the most.

In an effort to practice my commenting abilities, I've commented on Dorothy Bean, Math Rules at BHE, Blogging and BHE, The Book Nook, and Science Rocks.  I've mostly commented on their blog layout and vokis because they are what little skills I have any knowledge about.  I'm still not brave enough to venture out and comment in any type of deep thinking way...maybe one day...

Tool 1

I have learned so much about blogger.  I can't wait to use it in the classroom.  I've planned to use blogging for book study.  The kids can go on and blog about their book club books.  What a great way to encourage my students to actively participate in an online community!