Zotero

So, we recently learned about a bookmarking tool called Zotero. This would be a great tool to document various tools to use throughout the school year.

prezi

I created a jing to show my little presentation on Delicious by using Jing

twitter

I have used twitter for a while, but recently got a new account. It is not my favorite thing but it's a good connection with others. I use to tool called "twirl" that allows me to log into several social networking sites at once but keep it organzied.
It can be downloaded at twhirl.org. Twittering can be useful in the classroom in a lot of different ways. It could be an interesting way to have a classroom continue a conversation about a subject, or discuss for groups. Twhirl would be an interesting tool for students to use various tools and maintaing their seperate identities.

There are tons of tools out there that could be used with twitter, but one must really consider the credability of those sites and the people using them. That is my biggest worry for it.

sketch up

and there we go.

twitter? What? google, where?!

So far we have learned twitter and google sketch pad. I have used twitter for several months and it was interesting to watch others get so confused in the beginning...because I think everyone hits that point. Twitter can be so addictive, so it will be interesting to see which one of my peers gets sucked in by twins, tweets and becoming twitterific!
Google sketchpad is very Sims meets Cad developing. It is not difficult to use, but it is not the best tool to use. It would depend on how much time you have to create something and how detailed you want to be. Looking through the image archives to see what others have already created and available to download is interesting because there are the most intricate items..and there are some really crappy ones. This is also a tool that depending on your creativity level will show what you are capable of or what you want to spend your time on.

I can see myself using twitter in my classroom, but maybe not google sketchpad. I could possible use the sketchpad to have students create various scenes..but I think that could be a really long process and depending on their knowledge of the tool and the time available..would this be a real project I would want to start in the classroom.

I learn better...from him

We are beginning our teaching projects. After looking at the projects, Nicole and I teamed up to teach De.li.cious...oh boy. This is a really useful tool that anyone could use. Its a social bookmarking tool that can go anywhere with you. I have an account where I have been bookmarking all of the usability websites and articles that I am using for my media project for my professional portfolio. I am pretty excited to learn about these tools from my peers.
I truly think that co-teaching, or peer-teaching is very important. Students tend to learn better from their peers for various reasons. Students might be too scared to ask the teacher a question infront of all their peers, but asking questions to their peers allows for a better understanding of which ever topic. I think peers understand better teaching tactics then teachers do sometimes...if that makes sense? So, I am pretty pumped to listen to what my peers have to tell me about their projects.

My ideal classroom

The closer I come to graduation, the more I think of my ideal classroom. I have searched the web for various items I would like to have in my own classroom and then something hit me....what if I don't get a classroom?! I was recently at a local high school, and the teacher I was observing informed me this was the first year she had a classroom....for the last five years she traveled with a cart to an open classroom to conduct her classroom. I do not want that. That would be so stressful, but it makes me appreciate anything I get a lot more!
My ideal classroom would have books, books, and oh yeah...BOOKS. I want my students to really enjoy reading and writing. So, my classroom should be conducive to this. Allowing many genres of literature to grace the presence of my students could be conducive. Computers and technology..everywhere. Maybe I should get my Dad to donate one of the 50 computers he has, we could do a computer drive. Oh boy. I'm getting so excited.