Wednesday, March 30, 2011
*Wordle*
This is whats called a "Wordle"... it's a free tool online that allows you to make sort of "word clouds". There are many ways in which you could use this in your classroom... such as introducing a new topic/person, as a biography, highlighting topics of a book, and the list goes on! I really like this tool, and used it to simply put together a "ME" wordle. My wordle includes words/things that i'm involved in! I might have to do another one filled with words more about :WHO I AM", instead of "WHAT I RUN MYSELF RAGGED DOING IN MY LIFE"! HA!
*it's a tad blurry, but when i saved it to my computer it was just the thumbnail size. :S
You can find this tool at www.wordle.net It's a fun little thing!
You can find this tool at www.wordle.net It's a fun little thing!
this is also a code supplied on the website... not sure if it'll give you an image, or just a link to the website... either way, ENJOY!
title="Wordle: ANNA's BLOG">
alt="Wordle: ANNA's BLOG"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
change of pace...
well, my poor little blog has suffered for quite awhile due to my overwhelming school/work/LIFE schedule... but for the next 7 weeks or so, it'll have more posts, though some might not be too interested. lol As part of a Instructional Technology class i'm in, we are to blog about our thoughts concerning things we're learning and different tools we're becoming familiar with. Thus, my posts will be all about things i can use in my future classroom! Which to ME is exciting, but to many of my readers... (ok. all 17 of you)... might not be near as riveting. But bare with me... i'll try to include a little about my personal life.
My first assignment was to read an article about the "Top 10 Web Tools for Teachers" and blog about my thoughts, specifically about tools mentioned in the article that i will want to use someday!
the first tool that caught my eye was Edmodo (www.edmodo.com)... a free (weeee!!!!!) online classroom management tool. Many colleges use sites a lot like this (for example- blackboard or web advisor), but from looking at Edmodo, it seems that this site is much more student-friendly, as it has a facebook feel. As a secondary teacher, this would be especially helpful, as many of my student will be more technologically savvy and some may miss class fairly often during certain parts of the year (like wrestling or football season). Personally, i can see this also helping ME keep things organized and available to my students. It'll also make it so none of my students will have the flimsy excuse of "I didn't know that was assigned on thursday!"... they'll have every assignment, link, and video viewed in class available to them 24/7! I LIKE IT! :)
Other tools mentioned were Chatzy (chatzy.com) and TodaysMeet (todaysmeet.com), which are free private chat rooms that can be monitored by a teacher. The example given for the use of these websites was that students would be able to chat instantly during class while they watch videos, or presentations in order to get clarification or discuss the topic. I am not as excited about this tool, as i worry about the amount of attention that will be taken away from what is ACTUALLY being presented to the students, and the amount of class interaction, which i believe to be important. Instead, i would think it better to ask my students to take notes during the presentations or videos, and require each student have at least one question to ask/discuss afterward. I might experiment with these tools, but it would for sure be a trial-basis thing.
PollEverywhere.com is another tool showcased, and this grabs my attention a bit more. I like the idea of being able to get the opinions of my students in an anonymous way. We've used this sort of thing in some of my Education classes at Central College in the form of "clickers" which are linked to the teacher's slideshow. I like this because it gives the students both a sense of privacy, while still being able to share, AND see that they are not the only ones feeling a certain way, the only ones at a certain point of understanding, or the only one to have experienced something.
Learning about these new tools makes me very excited to be able to get into a classroom! :) only 2 more years! :)
Thanks for reading! if it weren't so late, i'd update you all... but, it's about 50min. past my bedtime!
My first assignment was to read an article about the "Top 10 Web Tools for Teachers" and blog about my thoughts, specifically about tools mentioned in the article that i will want to use someday!
the first tool that caught my eye was Edmodo (www.edmodo.com)... a free (weeee!!!!!) online classroom management tool. Many colleges use sites a lot like this (for example- blackboard or web advisor), but from looking at Edmodo, it seems that this site is much more student-friendly, as it has a facebook feel. As a secondary teacher, this would be especially helpful, as many of my student will be more technologically savvy and some may miss class fairly often during certain parts of the year (like wrestling or football season). Personally, i can see this also helping ME keep things organized and available to my students. It'll also make it so none of my students will have the flimsy excuse of "I didn't know that was assigned on thursday!"... they'll have every assignment, link, and video viewed in class available to them 24/7! I LIKE IT! :)
Other tools mentioned were Chatzy (chatzy.com) and TodaysMeet (todaysmeet.com), which are free private chat rooms that can be monitored by a teacher. The example given for the use of these websites was that students would be able to chat instantly during class while they watch videos, or presentations in order to get clarification or discuss the topic. I am not as excited about this tool, as i worry about the amount of attention that will be taken away from what is ACTUALLY being presented to the students, and the amount of class interaction, which i believe to be important. Instead, i would think it better to ask my students to take notes during the presentations or videos, and require each student have at least one question to ask/discuss afterward. I might experiment with these tools, but it would for sure be a trial-basis thing.
PollEverywhere.com is another tool showcased, and this grabs my attention a bit more. I like the idea of being able to get the opinions of my students in an anonymous way. We've used this sort of thing in some of my Education classes at Central College in the form of "clickers" which are linked to the teacher's slideshow. I like this because it gives the students both a sense of privacy, while still being able to share, AND see that they are not the only ones feeling a certain way, the only ones at a certain point of understanding, or the only one to have experienced something.
Learning about these new tools makes me very excited to be able to get into a classroom! :) only 2 more years! :)
Thanks for reading! if it weren't so late, i'd update you all... but, it's about 50min. past my bedtime!
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