Saturday, June 13, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thing 5
Wow--I looked ahead and cannot wait to get into the apps--I have an iPhone--
I do want to say about microblogging that I definitely am seeing its benefits--I had gotten an identity on Facebook a couple of years ago as the Breast Cancer Awareness group which I sponsor at Memorial found this was the best way to communicate with each other during the summer. It was news to me that Facebook had replaced emailing--but now I get it!
My daughter in law puts pictures of my darling granddaughters on Facebook--a former student who now teaches English in China posts on his Facebook account. Through him I found a group of my sophomores from 1968 who are planning a 40th reunion in 2010--so I posted a note asking if anyone remembers me. Those students are now in their 50's--I was 23, and they were 15 when I taught them. Who knew then that I might find some of them again on something called a "computer"!
I do want to say about microblogging that I definitely am seeing its benefits--I had gotten an identity on Facebook a couple of years ago as the Breast Cancer Awareness group which I sponsor at Memorial found this was the best way to communicate with each other during the summer. It was news to me that Facebook had replaced emailing--but now I get it!
My daughter in law puts pictures of my darling granddaughters on Facebook--a former student who now teaches English in China posts on his Facebook account. Through him I found a group of my sophomores from 1968 who are planning a 40th reunion in 2010--so I posted a note asking if anyone remembers me. Those students are now in their 50's--I was 23, and they were 15 when I taught them. Who knew then that I might find some of them again on something called a "computer"!
Thing 3
Okay--I am going to have to move on from Thing 2 for the present--I tried everything--created a voki, created a word cloud--but cannot get either of these two elements to post on my blog--will try to get this done when I get back on July 26th and after--so I looked at Skype this morning--we do have Skype on our iMac--so have been able to video chat with one set of granddaughters--lots of fun--I am trying to get my son to get it in France, so I can see and speak to those granddaughters and they can see and speak to me! Another set of granddaughters in Denver have Skype as well--but as their parents lead very busy lives, it is hard to find a time when all of us can be on the computer to chat.
I am not sure I would use this in my class to teach AP English--but I do have a friend who teaches English in China--he might want to turn on Skype so classes in the US could talk to his classes about a work of literature--that could be cool--he teaches 10th graders--so I may try to find a teacher at Memorial who would like to have her class engage in a discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird for example--I will need to find someone who teaches what I teach in another country or state. In fact, I just met a woman who teaches English in Sarejevo--it would be great to have a chat about Jane Austen with those students! So even as I write, I am beginning to get some ideas about how Skype might work in school!
In the meantime I am downloading Skype to my iPhone!
Later I did get the Voki to post--so that is on my blog now.
I am not sure I would use this in my class to teach AP English--but I do have a friend who teaches English in China--he might want to turn on Skype so classes in the US could talk to his classes about a work of literature--that could be cool--he teaches 10th graders--so I may try to find a teacher at Memorial who would like to have her class engage in a discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird for example--I will need to find someone who teaches what I teach in another country or state. In fact, I just met a woman who teaches English in Sarejevo--it would be great to have a chat about Jane Austen with those students! So even as I write, I am beginning to get some ideas about how Skype might work in school!
In the meantime I am downloading Skype to my iPhone!
Later I did get the Voki to post--so that is on my blog now.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
help!
I am having trouble! I made a wordle and took a snapshot--but when I try to put it in a post, all that comes up is some code--same thing with my voki, which I just created! what am I doing wrong? or is the code supposed to be cut and pasted so a reader can go to it as a link?
Friday, June 5, 2009
Thing 2
I really like Wordle and Word Sift. I had played with Wordle at the beginning of the school year, but never figured out how to use it for learning, but now I know what to do. As an AP English teacher, I think the most important thing I can do is to inspire in my students a love of words and language. I have them write and embellish a favorite word to hang from the ceiling when we study poetry. Now I think I will ask them to play with Wordle at the beginning of the year to see what words emerge from a text they paste in and to use it as an invention strategy for writing about a piece of text.
Also I was enchanted by Word Sift. I especially loved the imagery in the links I got for dream and for other words from the poem, Rose of the World, which I had wordled before--but couldn't figure out how to save on my blog. I think my imaginative students would love this tool.
More to come.....
Thing 1 (continued)
I looked at the movie again just to get more information about all the sources. Also now I am not sure if you want us to have our students do research or make a film. Mine make wonderful films for various creative choices, so I think they need more work on the research part. I do think my role is to be the guide and advisor in their research choices, and our librarian at Memorial is great at helping the students as well.
Thing Number 1 (11.5 Things)
I love the idea of connectivity! I love the idea that students can reach out to various resources and get in touch with people who have knowledge about a field they want to know more about. I am a bit concerned about the students jumping in to find the first website they can--and not looking further to judge its worth. However this is an issue to be addressed in class. The students can write on my blog about how they judge the validity of a source as they reach further out into webspace; they already know how to judge simple Google search results.
I want to practice this myself this summer, so I can show my students how to come up with some good sources, which I can demonstrate on the projector with my computer. The librarian can also give a talk about how to find and judge sources as we go to the library to research.
I want to practice this myself this summer, so I can show my students how to come up with some good sources, which I can demonstrate on the projector with my computer. The librarian can also give a talk about how to find and judge sources as we go to the library to research.
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