Thing #15

This is the THING I've been waiting for!  I heard about it after my school's librarian finished this course several years ago and I thought it sounded so wonderful!  At first when I read the assignment I was overwhelmed and it took me a couple of days to be courageous and focus on the instructions.  Of course I did the "Stretchier Task" first, maybe that was why I found it so difficult.  Please feel free to peruse my Delicious bookmarks.  I think I made my imported MISD bookmarks private so please let me know if you're able to see more than the seven Teacher Resource sites I added later.

I wish I had had Delicious set up on my computer this last school year.  I ended up having two different student teachers and was expected to be out of my classroom some of the time.  I had so much trouble finding a "home."   The online service our district uses for Special Education records is difficult to find if you don't have the URL memorized, and I didn't.  Delicious would have saved me so much frustration!

I'm looking forward to continued exploration of this tool.  It has the potential to be a great resource and a real time-saver by allowing me to connect with other teachers with my same interests.

Thing #7a

One of the blogs that I follow in my Google Reader is Free Resources for Education.  Although I don't know about the safety (to my computer) of going to the links provided from this blog, there are lots of resources and some of them are quite useful.  The one I chose to write about today is Clay Yourself Avatar. Yes, I did indulge in playing with an avatar creation and it was fun to make. 
I think students would get a kick out of adding this type of avatar to their blogs. Used in conjunction with Blabberize they could tell a story or give a report.

Thing #14

After looking at each of the tools from the list, I chose to work with MixBook.  The students in my classroom are delayed in their ability to write words, sentences, and even letters.  To encourage them to read or write we sometimes make books about them.  Usually this is done by gluing pictures of the student onto construction paper and letting them copy words.  I see MixBook as a technological tool that would peak their interest even further. This program encourages collaboration.  We could start a book at school and then "invite" the student's parents to include their own photos and work with their child from home.  I always ask for pictures of their families and summer activities at the beginning of the year and often times never receive them.  This would be a "safe" way for the parents to share their photos without being afraid they might get lost or ruined.

I'm embedding a book that I made about my grandson. This is a quick example and I look forward to spending more time on it (because I'm pretty sure I'm already addicted).  
The complete book doesn't show here, but you get the idea.

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Thing #13

Spell with flickr is a fun and creative way to send a message.  Once you get to the site you simply type in a word and click the "spell" button.  Your word instantly turns into letters made from pictures.  If you don't like the picture for a certain letter it's simple to click on it until a picture that you DO like appears.  However, I had difficulty with the spacing when I typed in more than one word.  I'll have to work on that.



Mosaic Maker will definitely be a site that I work with in the future.  I recently scanned all of parents' family pictures and want to make a collage for them.  The instructions are straightforward and simple.  If you can add attachments to your e-mails you can make a mosaic!




MagMyPic is another fun site that allows you to turn any photo into a magazine cover.  I actually learned about this site in the "Picture Perfect" pay for knowledge class that I took several weeks ago.  (Be careful though, if you go to the "Most Viewed" tab be prepared to see some pretty inappropriate pictures.  You don't want your kids playing around with this site when you're not with them!)  All you do is pick the cover template that you like and attach a picture, just like an e-mail attachment.  It's easy!

Thing #12

This slideshow is something that I could use in my classroom to discuss the 4th of July patriotic holiday. I might start out asking the students to name things they do with their families. The discussion could lead into the meaning of the colors of the flag, what fireworks represent, and had I used animoto I could have included patriotic music in the background.

PHOTO CREDITS:

IMG_4894 by Kurt Wagner

IMG_4985 by Kurt Wagner

IMG_4988 by Kurt Wagner

4th of July Parade Dundalk, MD - 033 by xmrocks'

Picnic by Sandra Regina

Cayucos July 4th, 2010 Parade by kevincole

Thing #11

Happy 4th of July!  I chose this patriotic holiday as my topic for Thing #11. This picture was simply labeled IMG_4985 and was taken by Kurt Wagner.  I've used Flickr ever since my school's librarian shared it with us at a Staff Development session a couple of years ago.  I've taken pictures and added them to PowerPoint presentations to help my students with comprehension.  This Thing, however, made me realize that (biting my lip) I may have accidentally taken photos without permission.  I'm so glad to have the  Flickr Advanced Search so I can stay within the limits of the Creative Commons when searching.  I really liked Teacher Dude's idea of using Flickr to teach vocabulary.  What a great idea!

Thing #10

My school's librarian shared the Flickr-Creative Commons site with us a couple of years ago after she took this course.  Other than that, I have never noticed the CC symbol on anything.  I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for that nugget of information.  However, I used the CC Content Directories in the Stretch task to find ookaboo: free pictures of everything on earth, and the Free Music Archive. I am always looking for images and music to use with my moderate to severely disabled students to help them understand the world around them. I have not really shared my creations with others, but having these sites available will help me to be more creative and have the ability to share with anyone who is interested.