On Screen Recordings...

I talked about my idea a little in the class discussion. It would be nice to have access to screen recordings, possibly in the school computer lab so that the students could take advantage of it a little more freely. I want to try to use screen recordings as an option for book reports for my students. I am requiring my students to complete a book report every few weeks. These book reports will have certain things that must be included but can be presented any way the student chooses. They can do anything really that they can think of- something that involves food, shadow boxes, posters, they can be as creative as they want. By using the screen recordings, the students could really open up their options. They could do a PPT with voice and it would be easy to open it up and share it with the classe. It could then be posted on the class wiki or blog and all the parents would be able to access it to see what kinds of things the students are reading.

Using Flickr in my Class

I really like the idea of using Flickr to share the pictures I already take of the students when they are working, on field trips, at assemblies, etc. Thinking about actually using Flickr for a project or a unit in my classroom is a little harder. I do have one unit that I taught with seventh graders in pre-Algebra on measurement and scale. The assignment after the unit, in place of a test, was to measure their bedroom and the items in it (they were cautioned to do this when they had just cleaned their room, otherwise there might be too many things in the way!). After measuring the room and the items they recorded this information and then at school created a replica of their room and it had to be to scale. Their replica could be in 2D or 3D, but the measurements and the scale had to be correct. Many of the students used posterboard and "drew" their replica. It was a nice project and I was able to gauge if they understood scale, but I could never be certain that their measurements were exact (which wasn't overly important) and I also could not be certain that they actually included everything in their rooms-bed, desk, chair, alarm clock, jewelry box, trophies, etc. By incorporating Flickr in the assignment, I could require the students to photograph their room from different angles and load them to Flickr. Since it is a big project, I would not be opposed to helping them do that part in class. This would help me to know that they were truthful in what they actually measured and then the students could also help each other be sure that they included everything. At the end of the assignments, when the students present their projects, they can also show their pictures without worrying about bringing in actual photographs. This is one way I will be using Flickr in my teaching this coming year.

On YouTube...

I found several YouTube videos that I think will help me in the classroom. Some of the videos are lessons and many are created by a group that also may have a website that you can refer to; some of the videos are others teachers posting a video of what they have tried and how it has worked.

Math videos that I found helpful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itIJ7oQtHUA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVduX7HwoM0
These types of YouTube videos would be helpful as another way to teach students the concepts in math. Some time just another way of phrasing what you are trying to teach will reach students and this is a great way to help the struggling learner.

Videos on literature circles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2CnA0uIqMs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HawgqvAJMsY
These types of YouTube videos would be useful for me as the teacher in trying to implement and find out more about a style of teaching.

More on Podcasting

Some great podcasts and examples:

these are for math:
http://learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Science/Mathematics

http://podseek.net/directory/learning_instruction/math.html

these are just general help and ideas for using podcasts:
http://fcit.usf.edu/podcasts

http://thewritingsite.org/resources/technology/podcast.asp

these are helpful if you are unsure of yourself in podcasting(as I am):
http://podcasting.about.com

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/podcasting.htm

Links for my Classroom

I've copied a couple of links from Lindsey's post, I checked them out and they are pretty good. Also, there are some links that I have found. I'm planning on adding more as I find them because I think they will be beneficial to me and my class this year.

For my 6th grade math, 7th grade pre-Algebra and 8th grade Algebra:

http://www.math.com/students/homework.html#algebra

http://popmatics.wordpress.com/

http://www.algebrahelp.com

http://www.mathisfun.com

http://www.coolmath.com

http://www.learnoutloud.com/Podcast-Directory/Science/Mathematics

For Literature:

http://bestfunfact.com/literature.html

On Podcasting...

Since one of the subjects I will be teaching is Literature at the middle school level, I can think of a lot of uses involving podcasts in my classroom. I like using the wiki and I think that I can incorporate podcasts on my wiki to give students instructions for assignments. Also, I like the idea of having students use podcasts with a wiki or without a wiki to practice reading out loud with feeling and working on their expression. Middle school students are very often worried to read something out loud or in front of the class. The podcasts give them the opportunity to read out loud and work on expression and feeling, but they are still able to record over it so they can present their best possible reading.

Also, I will be teaching vocabulary, so podcasting would be beneficial to post something for the students that contains me reading the vocabulary words and their definitions so the students know the correct pronunciation. Sometimes the words are so new to the students they have no idea how to pronounce them.

More on Questions 1 and 2

I checked my Blackboard email and saw the link to the other article about cyber-bullying and I just wanted to add a couple of thoughts that relate to both of the questions. I have not seen it personally, but it is in the news (usually on Good Morning America). I can see how cyber-bullying can be such a problem an why schools would block social networking sites, such as Facebook. It is such a gray area: was this said on the site during school hours? Do Mom and Dad know? Do they care? Will the parents tell the school to back off? There are so many issues to consider. I think that blogging, since it can be monitored a little easier by the teacher (if they are the one who set up the blog), is a better alternative to using internet communication. I beleive with the right "rules" and "guidelines" established it can be safe and useful in a classroom setting.