I did it!!

Well, I survived the 20 things and it was a challenge. I did enjoy learning about the different tools and topics. I think that if it went at a little slower pace that I would have used the things I learned more in the classroom as I went along. As it is I will have to go back and relearn to move forward. There are several things I have or would like to use in the classroom.

1. PBworks Wiki - simple quick and powerful
2. Wordle - fun activity to use with the kids for vocabulary activities.
3. Voice Thread - I need to use it and practice more, but I think it could be powerful.
4. Flip Cameras - I have a love hate relationship with them. I love them when the software works, but do not like the one I got through this program because I can't use it!! I have used the cameras we have at my school and have had some students do projects and it is fun to watch the kids evolve from quiet, not interested into our next news reporter or film editor.
5. Glogster - now this one I love, but have not used to the full potential yet. I have a lot of ideas for this one, just not the time to get it going yet.

The main thing that I struggle with is all of the passwords, getting the programs available and working at my school, setting up accounts for all my students. All of this is time consuming and cannot always be done on my schedule. Nothing stinks more than creating a cool lesson only to have the students get on the camera and then the program doesn't work for students.

Thing #20

I went exploring and found Bubbl.us it is a fun way to create mind maps (I used it to create concept maps). It is easy, fast and creative so I think that the kids would have fun with it. By the way the travel IQ was a lot of fun. I really don't know my way around the world as well as I thought I did!

Thing #19

You have to love Google Earth. I enjoy site seeing and virtual travel with this program. What is really fun is to have your students find specific places and it helps them to better understand locations, how to get there and distances. You can have them plan their dream vacations, find historic sites, and visit places where discoveries happened. This program really gets the students engaged in an activity.

Thing #18

Slideshare provides a huge selection of different presentations you can use in the classroom or have your students watch independently. Some really neat stuff out there. Nanotechnology is one of my favorite science topics. This slideshare presentation has real nice pictures and explanations of nanotechnology.

Nano-Science

View more presentations from Walkiria Eyre.

Thing #17

Podcasts, I have been downloading podcasts to my Ipod for awhile now. I really like being able to find topics that I enjoy to listen to. It is not always easy to find things that I think my students would be interested in, but there are some out there. What I really like is that when you add them to you wiki or blog the students can listen to them as many times as they would like. I often will put a worksheet out there for them to complete while listening to the podcast.

Here is one I really like:

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/naked_scientists_podcast.xml

I was unsuccessful at RSS previously so I may need to review and come back to this later to properly put the feed into my blog.

Thing #16

Youtube is one of those sites I think that everyone has been to at least once. You can find some really neat videos on Youtube, but you also need to be very careful. Not all videos or video titles are rated "G" or "PG". I would be concerned about content for younger students (and even some older students).

I did find a video that is really a good example of the neat things you can do with science. I like to use it to get kids excited about science.

Thing #15

Flip cameras and videos. This is a lot of fun and would be super engaging for students. Because of the boundaries you can set around producing a video it is a great way to have kids think about what message they want to convey, how to determine what is important to include and pre-plan the project using story boards. So many high quality skills can be taught and used when using this technology.

Challenges I had were determining how to deliver a message in a set amount of time without including too much or too little. Check out the Elephant Tooth Paste video.