PLN- WK 5

During this MET Class we were to use different social media sites to create a PLN.  Some of the sites I have used before, but never used them for professional reasons just for pure fun. Pinterest is a site in which I have been using for a long time for personal and professional use.  I have started following a lot of differnt blogs from this site.  Blogger is another tool I like using and having as a PLN.  Google apps has some of the best interactive PLN tools. I love using Twitter now to grow my professional networks.  I have learned so many new things about different educational topics from other teachers on Twitter and also from Education Magazines. I have been using Diigo since I was introduced to it in my first MET class.  It houses all of the different educational articles and pictures I find while searching the internet. Feedly was a new tool I was exposed to in this class and I enjoy using it. It has so many different articles and blogs I follow which I am able to send directly to my Twitter account.  The thing I like most about the three tools I just mentioned is you are able to have the apps right on your phone.  The appearance is a little different, but the app works just as good as the computer version.  I am thankful for being given all these resources in this class and my other classes to use from here on out.  I have so many more Twitter followers who are educators then I ever thought I would have.  I am also following so many educators who have supplied me with a lot of knowledge these past few weeks.  It is so nice to have been informed about Twitter and Twitter Chats this class.  Due to these tools my PLN will only grow stronger and keep growing day by day.

Below you will find my Prezi I created on PLN's.

PLN PREZI

Twitter Chats!

Apparently I didn't save my Post correctly from the Blogger application on my

Phone.  I find a lot of times technology doesn't want to agree with my

When I'm out of town so here it goes again!

These past two weeks we have had to interact in a Twitter Chat session! I enjoyed my time in the few different Twitter Chats I joined.   I really wanted to try out the #catholicedchat but every time it said it was supposed to meet it didn't.  Being a Catholic Educator I was very mad the chat group never met!  

The next chat I participated in was the #mosnowchat and #moedchat.   These two chats were very interesting and I learned a lot from my fellow Missouri Educators while in both of these chats!  I still subscribe to the Twotter feed and make sure to reTweet posts which are valuable to other educators.  I liked how the chat was set up with five questions and time was given to answer the questions.  I learned about a few other resources from this chat session but since it was my first one I did kind of not chat a whole lot at the beginning but towards the end I enjoyed tweeting with my peers.  

I also tweeted in the #n2tc which was once again a total fail because no one was tweeting it in!  At first I thought I was joining in at the wrong time, but no one was apparently interested in this Twitter Chat for that morning.  I did try the chat again Saturday morning and once again no one so I didn't even bother writing it down.   

The next one was #Web20tools this chat only had about 4 people in it!  I feel like I gained a lot of resources, but nothing really helpful when there is only 4 people! I know not everyone tweets in the chat sessions but I also feel like people just rather tweet what they want and hashtag things instead of actually partaking in the chat sessions.   

The next Twitter chat I tired since I didn't feel the other really kinda qualified was the METC14 hash tagging!  I found so many really awesome resources, other people to follow and also I was retweeted a few different times!  It was an excellent experience. Which I enjoyed learning a lot from.

The next Twitter session was on #edcampstl!  This was a free technology workshop ans interactive chat!  This was the liveliest chat session I was in!  So many different resources were shared and the ideas were flying around for the whole hour plus I was in there.  I also got retweet in this chat too!

I will continue to use Twitter chats and follow the chats I belong too!  This was an excellent teacher resource and I enjoyed every minute of it!!

METC 14

I feel so thankful to have been given the opportunity to attend the Midwest Educational Conference.  I loved networking with the different educators who were thereu.  Enjoyed all the Twitter opportunities, when the network was working, that I had during the keynote speaker.  The rest of the day it was extremely difficult to Tweet.  

Flipping the Classroom with Lodge McCannon was such an excellent way to start the mornig.  It made waking up early even more rewarding. He shared so many excellent ideas for a flipped classroom and one day I would love to have my classroom work in that manner. He spoke about how he films his 45 minutes of speaking and turns it into a 5-8 minute video for the students to watch.  Then this leaves more time about 30 plus minutes to have collaborative discussion going on in the classroom.  There are less intruptions going on in the classroom while the students are basically learning on their own while the teacher is guiding and modeling in the classroom.  By playing the videos studnents are able to watch, stop, ans process the information given. Another thing Lodge introduced to the educators were his 3 minute videos he is making on YouTube.  They are on the 50 states and have dances to go with them. You can look for his hashtags at #50statesalbum and find him on Twitter by searching @pocketlodge!  He said he has completed 13 states and Missouri is one of them... Go check it out, I promise you won't be disappointed. It was nice cause he's alresdy retweeted some things I posted from the METC14. I enjoyed listening to how passionate he is about the flipped classroom and how he has made others passionate too!  Him and his 6 yr old niece collaborate on different songs she creates and it was awesome to see how inspired she looked in the video he showed.  

The next speaker I went to see was It's not about the apps; connect, create and collaborate!  I enjoyed listening to Christine Ruder from Rolla School District  speak about how she incorporates the iPads and the many different apps into her daily lessons.  She did stress over and over before the iPads are used in her classroom the students must draft on paper first what they are going to use the iPads for and also have a basic outline to use to guild their assignments, so they aren't just looking at the iPad.  The other things I learned from her session was how to use multiple applications to create   a finished product.  I learned about many different apps that are free to download to the iPad, the file will be attached to the bottom, and make these awesome assignments with my class.  I learned about a new application called Puppet Show where you can take photos of the kids and place them into a puppet show the students can also add their voices to create their movie. I also liked that a majority of the applications she used were free!  Which makes it easier to justify when having to ask if you can buy something for the classroom.  

The second session I attended was Teacher and Studnets Finally Seeing Eye to Eye on Technology.  This was the session I facilitated in and actually learned a lot about StudyBlue! What was extremely nice about this session as being able to get a free account code at the end of the session and a free T-Shirt. The lady who gave the session on StudyBlue was fantastic and really stands  besides the product she spoke about.  The site to me seems easy to navigate and add a classroom to.   You can track the Studnets study progress and see who need more remediation on the different topics being learned.  4.5 million people from elementary to high school.  Then what struck me to be very interesting was the over 200 million study topics that are on the site.  You are able to make lessons plans and many other things using the Pro version which is 4$ a month.  The lady teaching the session said she used the free version for 7 years and it is just as good as the Pro site.  You can follow them at @studyblueedu on Twitter to hear the latest news about the site. You can check class averages and make sure the Studnets hold themselves accountable for studying and make sure they are studying and keeping up.  You can create study aides to help your students and upload videos too!  The program is so cool to use.   There is a web version and also an iPad app version. 

The session after that was on Interactive SMART foldables!  I love foldables and using them with my younger studnets.  The ladies teaching the session teach at a Monissori School in Chesterfield. They seemed to use foldables in their upper elementary classrooms!  One of the ladies is a Science teacher and the other is a History teacher. I loved being given a template to be able to not have to reinvent the wheel!  What I liked even more about this session was how you can use the SmartBoard to introduce the different aspects of the foldable.  I haven't used foldables for study aides but these two ladies say they make their Studnets create studio materials this way.   I made a foldable with my class the other day for living ans non living things and they loved it!  I made sure to get the SmartBoard up and running and go step by step with how's along with living and non living.  It was an interesting session but one I might not have went to if I wasn't facilitating!  I did like that we were able to make a foldable to show the importance of making foldables, but not quite sure about the whole session.

The last session I attended for the day was on The IPad not just being an iPad!  It was presented by two teachers who teach in Quincy at a Private school where a majority of their day is done by digital interactions.   The students have to access the lessons before they come to class and if they need help they use a program call educreations which is an interactive iPad application. The Studnets in their school pretty much when they are sick are able to access everything online and not miss school. This also I feel is easier on teachers so they don't have to keep their lessons or worksheet for the Studnets to review.   One of the ladies does a lesson preview on YouTube for the Studnets to look at before the lesson is even introduced in the class.  Before each class the Studnets are expected to print lecture notes too!  This is an excellent way to prepare the Studnets for college!   I enjoyed learning about Kahoot which is an online survey/ assessment tool used at their school!  I loved playing and interacting with the game!

Overall I was extremely excited to be given the opportunity to go to the Midwest Educational Conference!  I have alresdy went back to school and shared all the excellent things I learned that day!

Some pictures from the day are added below!

Chart from Flipping the Classroom by Lodge McCannon!  Sorry it's kinda blurry! 

Resources from SmartBoard Foldables!

Once again not quite clear hahA!

WK 5 Social Networking

This week we were to read the chapter and discuss the PLN's we chose to belong to!  Since Facebook was the first ever social networking site I've belonged to, I would like to share some thoughts on how much it has changed into an excellent and yet overly abused PLN.  When I signed up for Facebook in 2005 it was strictly to keep in contact with college friends. At the time this was the main reason for FB and it couldn't even keep up with adding colleges!  I know mine was one of the last ones added and even then was difficult to create an account.   Now anyone with an email can be on Facebook and I feel it has lost it's PLN and Social Networking aspects. I now just keep Facebook to stay in contact with long distance relatives and some friends.  As an adult and educator FB no longer appeals to my needs.

Another PLN I love using is Pinterest! I've been a member for not too long and found out about Pinterest from my cousin who is a college professor.  He told me not only could I plan my life out haha but also connect with other teachers thorough their blogs, pins, and crafting ideas.  I find Pinterest to not just be a crafting and dream world site but an actual asset to educators.   I follow Teachers Notebook and they share so many resources to use in the classroom for all ages.  I follow other teacher friends who are always posting things for their classrooms which can sometimes help me in my classroom.  I follow We Are Teachers for when I need those inspirational quotes! Those are just a few. It is so easy to search and locate other teachers who are doing the same things you are.  I had a professor in my Undergrad always tell the class do not reinvent the wheel!  I had no idea what he was really saying until I started teaching and tired my first year to do it all myself and not get a lot of ideas or pro tables from the internet... Needles to say I never slept and that next year used Pinterest, TeachersPayTeachers and started to follow a ton of blogs to get more ideas. 

I signed up for edweb.  After taking the survey that ask you take after signing you up, it was fairly easy to navigate around the site.  I'm still leaning my way around and how to properly use it.  I will post back later when I can really review the site better!   Well I'm back and Edweb is excellent!  I love how there are articles, workshops being posted and well other educators on there who share in the same things I do!  It's an excellent tool right up there with Edmodo which I equally like due to some of the things edweb offers! There is a Mobil app for the site too, but you need to really use the full site inorder to see the full benefits of the site!

Week 4

This weeks blog post asked to discuss networked classrooms. I found this statement from the book PLN by Richardson and Mancabelli to be very powerful. " Learning is only as powerful as the network it occurs in." This statement still has be thinking that maybe this is the reason why the MOBAP MET program is the right fit for me and all of those years of classroom education is kinda meaning less to some extent.  I was not able to make those "network" connects as they are referred to.  Thanks to this online class and others in the program I feel I have made excellent networks to work within.

The one question to answer is advantages and disadvantages of a networked classroom.  Well there are some many advantages and disadvantages to everything.  Who is really to say an advantage to one persons is not a disadvantage to another. According to PLN the benefits of a networked classroom are; transparent, collaborative, learning centered, accessible, communication based, supportive of problem or inquiry-based learning and driven by authentic assessment.  Those excellent strategies for networked classroom working really well also lead us to some challenges as well.  PLN states safety and ethical use is number one.  Then goes on to list transparency, assessment, ownership/rights and parents as the other challenges or disadvantages of a networked classroom.   While reading about each individual advantage and disadvantage I could really see how some could fall on both sides like transparency.  I see this daily not even at my own school but I hear from other teacher friends just how afraid teachers are to open their students up to the internet and kinda not play an active role in their learning environment.  Some schools are not very open to the idea of Social Media and ban it from school, so therefore you as a teacher who see the advantages of it, are not able to use these methods in your classroom.  

The video below shares some ideas on networked classrooms and diversity.

How to slowly change your classroom into a networked classroom.  I really think no matter what you have to have a faculty and principal who will support these methods, otherwise you can talk till your blue in the face nothing is going to change.  You as the educator need to personally know the ins and outs of all the programs you want to introduce to your students otherwise it will be a learning experience for the both and not really take of as a network in the classroom, but rather a dud.  Start small and make little connections inside the school between the students and the different classrooms. When starting small you allow to have failures but also you allow for the students to model what you are doing and learn from the good and the bad.  You do not just want to let the students have free range of some of the programs, you need to set boundaries. 

The YouTube video was created ACEdotedu and posted to the page on Feb.19 2010

Twitter Wk 3 blog

Twitter and my thoughts about using Twitter.  I have been using Twitter long before Twitter and Tweeting was cool. I will say I'm not into hashtags, but once in a while they are necessary.  I do not have a whole lot of time to Tweet like I do over the summer, but mostly I have an account to see what other teachers and celebrities are posting.  I rather keep what I'm doing private unless it's something to really share via a Tweet.  

There are tons of cool things Twitter can be used for besides sharing personal Tweets you can Tweet about movies or shows your watching, take pictures and hashtag them to locate other photos or similar posts.  The possibilities are endless on what Twitter can be used for.

I found on fluency21.com a submission on 60 ways to use Twitter in the classroom.  This post was submitted by Ian Jukes via TeachThought.  I liked how there was categories to show how Twitter can be used in the different areas of the classroom.  You can use it to send class announcements out to inform stud ets of what they need to bring to class.  It can also be used as a summary tool to recap what was taught in class. Playing word games with others sending out clues about what the word could be.  This next one I found to be funny but so true because we all have at least one the the classroom a blurter... This person can now Tweet the answer in and stop blurting out the answers... Now the others have time to answer. 

One I didn't think of but thanks to this post you can use Twitter in conjunction with social studies class.  A lot of public government officials have Twitter accounts and students can get real life updates about what is happening.  It helps stay connected with different parts of the world.  

Overall I have not had a bad experience with Twitter and would like to use it in a classroom in the future just not with a classroom as young as mine, until I can figure out a way to do so. 

Week 2blog Post

First blog post for my education class again!  This week we needed to review the first two chapters in Personal Learning Networks, by Mancabelli and Richardson.  These chapters focus on the ever changing world of technology and how to change with it.  Right away in the start of the first chapter they speak about the shifts that are driving the technology changes.  They just don't blame the WWW for all the dominate changes, but people and places moving from analog to digital.  I know I love to read a real hard cover book... NOT, but going to a digital book is cheaper and well saves space and trees.  It's easier to save work and everything is organized in one place.

The reading brought up another good point about how learning is still learning.  Mancabelli and Richardson make some good factual points.  Speaking from personal experience I went to College and sat in the classroom and graduated.  Decided to go back to get my Masters and I'm now enrolled in an online program and LOVE it.  I fell more social on here and interactive then I ever did in a regular classroom setting.  When asked by people how I like online classes I simply say, I wouldn't change it at all.  I do sometimes fell like I lag in areas but it just makes me work harder.  Motivated to graduate and teach my students more ways to interact with technology. 

 On page 27 of the text it spoke about seven survival skills in which Tony Wagner wrote about. These things are teaching the students how to adapt and move head in society. Building the networks allow the students to work together who might not have ever worked together in the first place.  It allows for  more success but it takes a lot of time by other individuals to ensure the transitions run smoothly and after the transition is made it stays that way.

There are many ways you can build this network in school with the students.  Most of the. Things we are learning in the MET program is exactly what we should be incorporating into our lessons for the students to gain advantages in their learning. The programs mentioned in chapter two, I'm addicted to using.  Twitter, Diigo, Blogger and  Facebook are good social networking sites to keep up with pretty much everything that is going on in the world.  The sites are all free and easy to interact on.  You can tweet from anywhere.  Blog from vacation and Facebook while waiting for class to start.  Social media is taking over and is the way of the future.  I don't see any of these sites closing, but maturing with the way technology does.  Like our students and teachers need to mature with the advances of technology.

The video below taken from YouTube has pros of using social media sites in school.  This video is from 2009, but speaks about Blogger and Myspace the original Facebook.  It does talk about how some sites can be a distraction, but gives mostly pros and then speaks about Digital Citizenship, which is extremely important to teach any child before going on the web. The lady who is speaking in the video is a part of the University of Minnesota.

This next video takes about apps inside Facebook to help with learning.  Check it out the Channel 9 News speaks about 20 helpful applications to help you learn while using Facebook.  There are some excellent suggestions.  This video was back in 2009 as well, but Amy James has come up with some interesting places for students.

Getting to blog again!

I'm getting to blog again for my EDET543 class!  I am excited to once again maintain a blog!!

Semester is almost over!

Two more weeks and I'm done with my first five grad classes!   It's shocking and well also very exciting.  Being difficult at times and also so fulfilling at others. I haven't been keeping up with this blog since my last class, but some times you just need to share!

Infographic Reflection

During my EdEt class I've been able to use many different application tools I've never used before or even knew about due to teaching younger kids.  I was impressed with Gliffy when I used it to make my DS originizer and even more impressed after creating my infographic.  This process was much more exciting since this was my second time using Gliffy I already knew where to locate what I needed, which made creating this infographic much easier.  The most difficult part though was finding an interesting topic.  I chose to inform other about television through the years!  It was interesting to me since we no longer have black and whites and now are dealing with 3d televisions, which were so never probably even thought about back in the 20's when scientists were creating television.  I personally love how technology has changed and well any change is good change when it becomes more efficient.   Just like computers to help aide in making writing papers easier, keeping in touch with family out of town, shopping and pretty much everything.  well back to this project like I said before it has been an excellent learning experience to use all the new tools given in the this class and prior classes!  Now if technology were only able to work flawless all the time and not require wireless internet or charging life would be so much easier! 

Till next time!

Here is my infographic on televisions.  I enjoyed learning about all the different types of televisions and could not believe how expensive they are. I liked using Gliffy to create my assignment and I know in the future I will use this tool more with my class and for other Grad assignments.

PreDraft

Melissa Schneider

Best Day of My Life

This will not be included into my digital story but I wanted to inform everyone why I chose this topic.  My husband means the world to me and this will be the easiest assignment because I will have a lot to write about due to the passion and love I have for our relationship and marriage.  He truly is my best friend.

My husband I met at a college party now almost 9 years ago.  He knew right when he saw me walk in I was going to be his wife someday.  Me on the other hand had no idea what was going on and still to this day cannot even remember our first words together.  After that night he began to text me, call and even email me constantly until the time came for me to start school at Lindenwood.   When I came down to move into school he was there to help and that pretty much marked the day of our first date.  I wouldn’t have called it a date but my husband tells the story it was a date to him.  We went to dinner, he paid, and then later on that night I was able to meet his friends.  I am not sure like I said before if it was a date or not, but to my hubby, he calls it a date all the time when he tells the story.  Plus he adds in different events that never took place too.  During the first few months of us dating we went through a lot of ups and downs, which made us stronger as a couple. He was always there for me like I was always there for him.

The proposal was fantastic.  My husband was in a contest for Saint Louis’ own KSDK Biggest Loser Competition.  He shed over 200 pounds and became the male winner on the show.  He was an inspiration to a lot of people and even to myself.  He won almost all of the challenges and when it came down the final weight in on Saint Louis’ KSDK he WON!  It was the happiest time for him and I.  He worked so hard at losing all the weight all I could think of was all the hard work he put into this and he was going to be rewarded with a trip to Cancun, Mexico.  Needless to say that wasn’t his only agenda after winning the contest.  He had a bigger plan all along and it was to propose to me.  I had no idea it was coming and then he dropped down to one knee and as stupid as it sounds I still had no idea it was going to happen.  After he asked me and the microphone was jammed in my face I was finally able to say YES!  It was the most fantastic moment of my life and we will never forget it.  Plus it was recorded for us, so we really won’t forget.

 Now that I had the bling on my finger it was time to tell everyone.  This is the honestly exciting for me to tell everyone I was engaged to the man I will spend the rest of my life with.  The first stop was getting to surprise my parents in Chicago with the news.  I was nervous the whole 45 minute fight about telling them, needless to say my husband already told them, because he was old fashion as asked my dad for permission.  How cute! I know.  My mom and dad had a cake made for us and wedding magazines waiting when got to the house and most of my family was there to celebrate.  It was an awesome moment and words still cannot describe in words the feeling of happiness, joy, being over whelmed and other things going on in my head all at once.  Still to this day when I talk about it I start to cry.  After dinner we were finally able to cut into my favorite bakery’s cake.  As we were cutting the cake the only two things going through my mind were planning a wedding and what kind of dress what I was going to get!

Now to move closer to the day of the wedding, March 20, 2011 will be a day we never forget.  The morning I woke up on Sunday I knew it was my wedding day and my friends and I couldn’t have been more excited.  We all woke up supper early and gossiped about everything that morning no matter what it was or who it was about we just giggled.  When we arrived at the venue to get our hair and makeup done and to finally put my wedding dress on for the day, we all still had the giggles.  I think maybe out of nervousness, not sure, but we all had so much fun.  It was odd knowing that in 5 hours I was going for Miss to Mrs.   and I would be gaining a way longer last name and moving down to the end of the alphabet.  After the hair was done and I was more than excited about it, and the make up was done, which was fantastic, she made me look like a model; it was time to put that dress on.  This was one of the most tearful moments and not even by me, but by everyone else in the room, even the photographer had some tears.  I didn’t cry once until it was time to leave the room, and get the show on the road, as my dad said. 

As I was walking out of the room I took that first look at my father and him at me… and I knew this was show time.  I knew I would always be his little girl, just married now.  Things were changing; I was no longer going to be able to run to my parents, or my dad, when something was wrong… that person would now be my husband.  It was just an eye opening moment.  Those next few minutes before it was our turn to walk down the isle felt like it was hours.  I was becoming really nervous and all my dad could do was try and talk to me to make me not cry, which made him cry, which in turn made me laugh and cry all at the same time.  Finally it was our turn to walk down the 30 steps to the main floor where I would finally get to marry my best friend.  I will ever forget but as I was walking down the stairs with my bouquet, which was so heavy, I almost feel and my dad had to catch us.  It was something that lighted the mood and made me laugh and it made for a good photo too.  The last few steps were everyone looking at us taking photos then it was now time for my dad to pass me off to my future husband.  He kissed and hugged me; my future hubby and then my hubby grabbed my hand we were off.  It was time to get married and start the ceremony.

Finally, I see my future husband while we are standing there listening to the Priest and the Rabbi.  His eyes were red and at that moment I knew I had to be the one not to cry.  Which, well I was that person.  He made sure to watch me walk down the stairs all the way down the isle and even looked at me walking up the stairs to where we would be married.  Those moments when he was looking at me and I was looking at him, I felt like we were the only two people in the room.  It was an awesome moment between us.    Our wedding ceremony was fantastic and having a Priest and a Rabbi officiating our ceremony made our wedding unique and very diverse.  Now the moment when we said the I Do’s, this was an interesting moment with my future hubby is in tears, and needing Kleenex non-stop.  Just made me not cry and laugh a few times thinking of this big 6’5 giant crying in front of over 75 people. When it was time to place the rings on I was nervous and dropped his and well he put mine on wrong.  We are for sure, a match made in heaven, with us both not knowing what we were doing.  Should have paid attention better when we were practicing.  Well after that it was time or a kiss and it would be our first kiss as husband and wife.  It felt different giving this same person I’ve been with for 7 years a kiss… odd I know but we are finally husband and wife and starting our life together. 

I am happy to say we have been together three years in March and are going strong.  We have a beautiful house and little dog that is like our child.  We are supportive of each other and make sure to bounce each other back to reality, every now and then.

This is the story of my best day.

Digital Story

Above you will find my Digital Story.  I loved being able to display The Best Day of My Life as of yet and be able to share this video with all of you.  The process was nothing like I thought it would be and well considering it took me almost 10 times to try and upload the video I might never use iMovie again.  But oh well, I enjoyed every minute of making this movie and I hope you all enjoy watching it.  With this being my first iMovie ever I do not think it turned out that bad.

Storyboard

My StoryBoard is created and I'm excited to be starting my iMovie this week! Attached you will find my StoryBoard!

Best Day Ever!

Well all for my grad class we were to write about a special day to use or like pick from fifty other topics which were equally rewarding!  I chose like I said above the Best Day Ever, which had to be my wedding day and events leading up to the wedding day.  I chose this topic because evidently it would be easy to write about, but in the end I had tears as I was writing this draft and then all I could think about was wow my husband and I will be married three years in March and we have known each other for almost 9 years!!! Some married people done even stay together that long let alone marry someone after 6 years being together!  We. Needless to say I'm very excited to be able to make a storyboard out of the best day and I look forward to posting it! 

Check back soon!

Graphic Organizer!

Above is the start, my graphic organizer, to start my storytelling project for my class.  I liked using Gliffy to make my organizer and I am excited to use this program for more organizers in the future.

Wiki Wiki

The two wikis I found were created for elementary school.  Wiki one was designed for a fourth grade class and wiki two was created for a Kindergarten classroom. 

Wiki 1
 The first wiki I evaluated was created by  Mrs. Eve Trandem for her fourth grade classroom.   After clicking on the link to the site and it opened you have a very clear and labeled format to look at.  Since I am a visual person it was very appealing to the eye.  It promoted the school colors and had a picture of the teacher, school address, and other contact information needed to stay connected to her classroom and school.  There are many different options for the students and parents to click on.  The teacher even has a blog she uses with the students and there is a link to the blog on the wiki homepage. There is a spot labeled student links where there are over 20 different links for the students to use.  Another section in the wiki was Treasures Reading.  This is their whole reading program online each book they read in class they click on the book title link and then are taken to a new link with all their assignments relating to spelling, vocabulary, word study, writing, comprehension, story related and technology literacy.  Each category has a few things that go along with it for the students to complete before moving on to a different story. There are other things which were excellently done on this wiki which I have not seen in some.  She posted the spelling list directly to the wiki, curriculum and common core standards are present for all to see and even posted a tool box for parents and students. The pure purpose of any wiki would be to inform students and parents on collaboration in the classroom with the students being able to participate from anywhere.  

Below is the link to Mrs. Eve's Wiki. 
Mrs. Eves Wiki Page

Wiki 2
This wiki was crated with the younger kiddos in mind.  Mrs. Margo created her wiki with her kindergarten class in mind.  Her wiki is highly effective and supports literacy at all levels in her classroom.  I like when you are taken to her page she greets you with a Voki to introduce what .  I absolutely like how her page is very colorful to the eye and her menu items are located on the right hand side of the wiki.  Her site incorporates literacy for the younger learner multiple areas by clicking on the early literacy tabs in her wiki tab.  Then once you click you are taken to a new page to show what the kids can do and have done with their class assignments involving literacy.  She promotes her students work on the wiki site and also uses Kidblog.com with her class.  I did not even know a blog existed for younger kids to use in their classrooms.  She posted different Math and Reading websites for her students and parents to use at home and in the classroom.  It looks like a lot of self directed activities go on inside her classroom.  In order to be an active member in this wiki you need to be requested or ask permission.  I think this is an excellent idea and safe for the kids using the wiki in the classroom and at home.  This wiki was also created with the purpose of literacy in the classroom and teaching the students learning to read and write can be fun and done through the Internet. 

Below is a link to Mrs. Margo's Wiki.
Mrs. Margos Wiki Page


 Each of the wiki's  above display different aspects of incorporating literacy with technology at their prospective grade levels.  There are other areas of each classes wiki that touch on literacy, in other areas of school curriculum.  Based off our Week 2 lecture and notes from Vicki Davis I began to evaluate the Wiki sites and not to mention I added her to follow her blog.  She has a lot of excellent ideas she shares on a daily basis. As I was looking around the Internet I located a teacher wiki which indicates all the different k3classroomtech has all the wiki sites for younger kids in one page.

Resources:

Sanger, Margo.  (2008).  Sanger Class Wiki.  Retrieved August 28, 2013, 

from http://margsang.pbworks.com           - Cited in text: Mrs. Margo's Wiki

Trandem, Eve.  (2013, January 13).  Mrstrandem.  Retrieved August 28, 2013, 

from http://mrstrandem.wikispaces.com      - Cited in text: Mrs. Eve's Wiki

Web2.0 in the Classroom

Wordle

  This first Wiki I would like to share with you all is call Wordle.  I absolutely love this Wiki and would like to Wordle everything and anything.  In my multiage classroom I can use Wordle for pretty much anything literacy related.  You can have the kids' type in their spelling words and create a Wordle that way.  This program is extremely easy to use with students of all ages.  The tab bar at the top is easy to read and just by clicking on the create tab allows you to begin creating your Wordle.   There is a gallery to also look at other Wordle's that were created by other people using the application.  The effectiveness of this application will allow the students to incorporate crating into their learning.  You can create a whole essay and Wordle it, change the font and colors.  Anything you can imagine creating with this tool you can, and I am sure you will love using this with your students as much as I do.  I even used it for open house and put all the students' names and my name and the grade level on it.  It really does make for a creative way of incorporating literacy into the classroom without the students realizing they are learning.  The purpose of using this application tool is to encourage the students and maybe other teachers to not just use pen and paper to write spelling words, or essay papers and weekly sentences.  This tool can be used to merely anything.  Learning is endless crate a Wordle.  Plus no one Wordle will ever look alike.  

Here is a video I found on how to crate a Wordle from YouTube.

Resources for Wordle

Kicode2, April 5, 2009. Wordle tutorial. Retrieved on August 29, 2013 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhL5D9nz5aI

Johnathan Feinberg 2013, Wordle. Retrieved August 29, 2013 

^^ Picture taken from Wordle page

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Little Bird Tales

   

The next Wiki Tool I found was Little Bird Tales.  This is an incredible application to use with all ages. This tool can be used in the classroom to involve the students in the reading and writing process.  They are the creators and they are the editors.  You can have the kids work in large groups or as an individual assignment.  The students are able to record their own voice to retell their stories they create. This tool is very easy for younger students to use and is age appropriate and does not have adds to where the kids can click on to be taken to another web page.  LBT helps reinforce reading and writing skills and in the younger students it helps improve or even begin to help in the process of developing their skills.  With this all being said I truly believe LBT is one of the best kid and teacher approved site I have come across for little kids to use and be able to use alone with minimal help from a teacher.  For younger students it is difficult to find a program where they are able to go freely and work, and with LBT they can. This application can be used in all areas of school, the students can create any kind of book they want. Other classmates are able to go in and help edit, add more information to the story and the best of all the teacher is able to upload to the assignment to the sites for the kids to check what needs to be done.  The site is for ages three to fourteen, which covers a plethora of grade levels. 

Please take the time to review Little Bird Tales to see if this application would be something you can use in your classroom.  Remember the teacher account allows you to do more creating then the free account.  

Below you will find a short YouTube video on how it all works.  

Resources for LBT

2mccombs, February 15, 2012. Little Bird Tales Tutorial Video. Retrieved on August 29, 2013 from www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEnhabCzrvo.

Don't Blink Designes 2013, Little Bird Tales. Retrieved August 29, 2013

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Compare and Contrast...

The tools i discussed above are very different because they are supposed to be used in different ways.  Wordle is to create funky words and works of art by typing in your text to the word box and then it crates a colleague of words with the words you chose.  This can be done as a whole class with each student typing in their own section.  Little Bird Takes is a tool where you can come up with your own stories as a class or individually.  Overall it is difficult to compare the two and contrast them because they are so very different and used for different learning strategies. 

Week 2

After reading the wrong book... and finally reading the correct chapter 2, in the correct Pearsons book... I can finally post about the right topics.  There are a lot of technology tools which help support literacy in technological classroom.  According to the readings you can locate and crate all different types of interactive literacy ideas to use in the classroom with students of all ages.  I personally found that the more interactive programs are created for the High School level classrooms, and the younger classrooms programs are not as interactive on a student lead assignment basis.  In the reading the it spoke about using digital cameras and video in the classroom to have your students express their work in a different form, and this allows the kids to be creative when they take their photos.  I love incorporating other areas of school, like art, into students classroom projects.  It always gives a personal touch.  Being in a classroom with children with disabilities I love using books on take or electronic books.  The kids like it too because they do not have to hold a book in their had while listening to a story its all in once place on the screen.  

This form of technology in the classroom aggravates me.  No educator should every be instant messaging a student.  I do not mind students messaging other students, but do not involve the teacher.  I like the idea of blogging now.  I honestly do not think I will stop blogging after this class is done it has been so much fun.  It also allows the students to get creative with what they put in their blog and how they create it.  I am so addicted to Blogger that I had to download the app for my Phone and Ipad.  It is easy to use and I feel it is safe for students to use as well.  

There are so many forms of technology and programs which can be used in the classroom to enhance the students literacy.  The chapter did an excellent job of explaining the different methods to use with students of all ages.  I also liked how at the end of the chapter they gave you lesson plans to look at.   I guess like anything you need to know your students and also the programs that you are going to use with them in the classroom to ensure you are fully incorporating literacy in your classroom and not just trying to.

Expectations

My expectations in this class are set very high!  I always set high expectations for myself and really want to learn all there is to learn about technology being incorporated in the classroom.   I enjoy learning from others and can't wait to begin starting the projects to learn more about different web apps out there available for educators to use with their students to create a co-learning environment!