Thing 7 Stretch

I picked a random topic to view at Wikipedia. For some reason I looked up Mother's Finest. I used to be a big fan back in the 70s, so I thought it would interest me. The information seemed well organized, complete, well written, and valid. There was some heated discussion about the rock group having both black and white members. Some of the people felt as if you could accurately state that Mother's finest was the first integrated rock band. That was more fun to read than the article. There were plenty of revisions, one as recent as July 25th of this year. I had no idea that Wikipedia was such a living thing.

Thing 7 Wiki Wiki

Wiki Wiki- Hawaiian for quick quick is being used as a learning tool in real classrooms. In my discovery process, I saw many different ways in which educators have used the wiki.
In code blue The site was set up with a plethora of links that students could use as a resource for basic anatomy, and physiology. It was kind of blank on the opening page with just a large list of links. I would have liked to see something jump out at me before I clicked on a link.
In Civil war Sallie There is a project you can request to be involved in. The originator has a Teddy bear that will be sent to you to take pictures of at historical civil war sites. Information for Sallie is entered in the form of blog posts, twitter updates and flickr pictures. I think it would be great to get a class involved in this project. I loved the way the site looked, and the audio really caught my attention. I liked the instructional links in the sidebar.
In Thousands project A 5th grade teacher has set up a site with some simple questions that he would like answers to. He hopes to get at least 1000 responses for every question. The home page lacked pop, and the ability to grab my attention. The links did not have a lot of pop until you got to the blog which was very visually stimulating.

I think that if I am going to use a Wiki, it will have to have some eye catching quality right of the bat. I have some very low learners in my class this year, and I am having trouble thinking of good ways to use these great tools with my class. I will have to get it as close as possible to a video game to keep their interest.

Thing 6 Diigo

My diigo account I know that i will enjoy using diigo. The dificulty with getting work done at home without all of my school bookmarks has always been a hassle. I have struggled with this problem several times. It will be nice to access all of my bookmarks from anywhere. Diigo was very easy to use. I realy liked being able to highlight some text, and it show up in the description. I am looking forward to playing with it more at home.
Professionally I believe Diigo will help me work away from the office, as well as share information with people within the field of education.

Thing 5 stretch

Michael Vick is back in good standings with Nike. I set up my custom news feed for a glorious sports page. I am getting way to much information, and am really just skimming articles until one catches my interest. It is the same way I used to read the newspapers sports section, except I don't have to throw away a bunch of political posturing to get to my beloved sports. I honestly think that Vick has been punished enough for the crimes that he commited, but am surprised that Nike still wants him as a front man.

Thing 5-A

Trying something different This article is related to coaching inexperienced Soccer players, and encouraging them to try new skills. It reminded me of what I am doing currently in my Web 2.0 class. As we venture into uncharted territories of our own experience, we will often have hiccups, or straight up failures. We have to be our own motivators and or coaches and keeping pushing for the glorious goal at the end.

Thing 3

In Back to School blues. here It is entertaining to here of this teachers plans on feeling relieved of his teaching duties.
Chart Go Gave me a new tool for creating charts and graphs. I find the use of graphic organizers really helps my lower level learners.
Infinite thinking machines had a lot to offer. I really liked this article on using search engines.
instructify gave some great resources including this pandemic game.

Langwitches has great resources available at the click of a mouse. I liked the use of Google maps in this atypical newspaper lesson.

Thing-2

In why I don't assign homework
The style of the blog is very specific to people in the field of education. Information is quick without extraneous details.

In is this SSR 2.0
The author describes the use of blogs as reading material. the students seem to have more interest in reading blogs than traditional chapter books.

In spies like us.
The author does a visually outstanding job to drive her point home. It made it very difficult to look away from. Multiple links and bold text intermixed with what appeared to be text messages made the article visually stimulating.

In Teaching Brevity.
A student blogs on using less more appropriate words to get your point across. I found it a little wordy.

In Patrick's update 5th grade.
A 5th grader makes a post about passing 5th grade to prove to his brother that he is smart. The post is much less impressive than the encouraging comments.

Thing 1-B

• Consider the ways in which Web 2.0 tools might change (or have already changed) your professional practice. I use very few text books in my classroom. We use content we have found on the web. I spend less times on dictionary usage, and more time on google searches. My class often dictates the direction of lessons based on information they have gathered from the Internet.
  
• How might you be able to use these new tools to to engage today's "digital learners?" If you are not a classroom teacher, how might you be able to use these tools to engage your stakeholders? Through the use of interesting links, and clear cut assignments on a web page, I believe it would be easier to engage my students.
  
• Why would you want to? To get more accomplished during our limited time.
  

Thing 1-A

• Where you teach I am a teacher at Apalachee High School
  
• What you teach - I am a self contained EBD specialist. I teach Study Skills, Social Skills, and careers.
  
• How long you've been in education- I started teaching in 1987, but left the field for many years. I have returned over the last 6 years.
  
• Why you chose to take this course - My friend Dennis Horne asked me to.
  
• What you hope to gain from this course - more confidence in using Internet tools.
  

Coaching High School

I am not much for being pictured with my teams unless someone insists. This was one of those instances when a parent insisted, and this picture actually was used by the local paper.
This is a High School JV Soccer team that managed to win a tournament without a great deal of talent. They won two games in one day, and were quit satisfied with themselves. I was pretty happy myself.
Coaching girls is a difficult task. You have to find a way to push them just as hard as boys, while at the same time dealing with an enriched layer of drama. You have to make practice fun, while at the same time getting the most out of the limited time you have. As with all high school sports you also have to work with a wide variety of skill levels, and fitness levels. I am still trying to figure it out.