Thing #11

           
 Picture by By Cynthia Ahrens

I am not a fan of flickr. I had the hardest time finding pictures! Maybe I wasn't searching the way I was suppose to but this is a learning process. I played around with it for a good 30 minutes and I still didn't get too far. I will continue to search for images and see If it can win me over :) 
I downloaded this picture because I am looking for ways in which I can create an inviting reading area in my classroom. I really like how simple and cute this reading area is. I love that there is not only a place where students can read, but also a teacher chair for read-alouds. 

Thing #10

Have you noticed the CC logo on any websites you visit? Did you wonder what it meant? Honestly, I have never noticed the CC logo on any of the websites I've visited. Then again, I usually just get on the internet to get the information I need and that's all. I never really explore websites the way I should. 

Do you think CC will impact the way students learn and create projects? How? I think this will definitely impact students learning and their creation of projects. I remember being in high school and hearing "be careful with copyrights" "You can get in lots of trouble if you don't know about copyrights" But I don't remember any of my teachers ever taking the time to explain the details. I am glad that now students will be able to know what they can use take from websites. 

Do you use digital images, audio or video clips from the web in your teaching (or professional practice)? I am a big user of video clips, but I only use the ones provided by MISD. I do, however, use different images I randomly find in the internet. I am glad that I now know what CC means, and I will be looking for it when I visit different websites. 

Do you ever share content on the web? I don't ever share anything, but I would love to be able to share with other kindergarten teachers ideas and worksheets I come up with.

Thing #8

The three wikis I investigated were: Go West, Kindergaten Counting Book and Schools in the Past. I really wanted to explore wikis created by lower grades and these were the three I found. I really liked Go West because I could picture a third grade class I taught during my student teaching doing this. I really liked the organization and visuals. As I explored the wiki, I was asking myself, "was this really made by a third grade class?" All the information was organized beginning with introduction, information on the oregon trail and fun facts. As I clicked on clothing, food and recipes, I was impressed by the information added and the pictures. Overall, I think this wiki was amazingly organized and put together. 

The second one was Kindergarten Counting Book. I was a bit confused by this wiki. I scrolled down and found pictures added by students (all the way to 100) At first, I wasn't sure about what I was looking for, but then I realized that the goal was for each student to add a different picture to represent a different number. I was trying to picture if I could do this with my kindergarten class, and I think it's definitely possible. Maybe I could do some type of addition wiki with them and add pictures of different manipulatives we used to add. Also, I would love to create a wiki on reading concepts, such as characters, main idea, visualizing etc. 

The last wiki I explored was Schools in the Past. I enjoyed this wiki because it was information on interviews made by first graders. I love to see writing on topics that are meaningful to students, and I think this was definitely meaningful to them. I think this wiki was a less organized than the others, but I enjoyed reading its content. 

I am for sure going to try creating a wiki with my students. My plan is to get together with the other kindergarten teacher and come up with ways in which we can engage our students with technology, and I think this will be a great way. 

Thing #7

I think it is very important to comment to other blogs. Can you imagine keeping up with a blog that nobody is interested in? I think comments keep blogs interesting. Of course, I noticed some comments that were not very nice nor relevant. I do think commenting is important because author's want to know the opinion of others. If I want to comment, it will be to give my opinion or to ask questions about the topic. Also, to let the author know that his/her ideas are amazing, which I think is a way to encourage them to keep blogging. 
I commented on western's sky blog to let her know that I would be reading the book she recommended, because her recommendations are awesome! I am sure she will be happy to know I appreciate the time she takes to rate and recommend books she is reading. 

Thing #6

At first, I was having a hard time getting the hang of this, but after a while, I found myself researching more and more blogs to add to my feeder. It's truly amazing how many blogs are out there that give ideas and valuable information about teaching, cooking etc. The one blog I knew I had to add was Amianne's blog, http://mywesternsky.blogspot.com/ 

Amianne is a librarian for MISD who also teaches the New Jersey course I took this summer. She is passionate about books and makes the most wonderful suggestions. During the New Jersey writing course she introduced me to amazing books I could read to my kindergarten class this coming year. I wanted to add her because I want to be aware of any new book recommendations she makes. Another blog I added was  http://80breakfasts.blogspot.com/ This is a blog on different kinds of breakfast I can  cook. I knew I had to add this because of my 2 year old who is a picky eater! 

Anywho, I think this is going to take a good part of my day from now on, pretty addicting!

Thing #5

WOW! Google reader is really cool. I won't lie, it was a little difficult for me to figure out how to read through all the information and articles, but I was able to overall find some interesting information. After learning about this, I began searching teacher blogs.
I found a blog Mrs. Cassidy’s Classroom Blog or http://staff.prairiesouth.ca/sites/kcassidy/   that was rated Best for hands on blog by scholastic. What I really enjoyed about her blog were all the videos on fluency, good use for IPADS and working together. She also has many websites that she recommends for teachers. Mrs. Cassidy is a first grade teacher, but I sure will accommodate some of her ideas for my kindergarten class. 

Thing #4

Ok so blogging is new to mew. I have heard time after time "check out my blog" and had not idea what they were talking about. After reading the sample blogs and now writing blogs myself, I really like it. I was reading "Why I Don't Assign Homework" and I had things I agreed with and things I did not. I like how the author is free to express his opinion on homework and still is giving purpose to his writing. His words are clear and easy to read, it makes great sense overall. This is what I have noticed about blogs- they are very easy to read. For this reason, it grabs the audiences attention. Also, how many times have you wanted to respond to the book or article you are reading? I have! maybe to say, "I think you are completely right" or simply, " I don't agree." In blogging, this is possible! and it opens a door of meaningful debating and conversation. Commenting to blogs also makes the reading more interesting because it allows for the audience to see what other people have to say on the subject.