SpicyNodes: RESPECT

SpicyNodes: RESPECT

How2Web2 - Final

My involvement with this online course has lead to great things.  Not only did Ann and I present at our Staff IT Conference at the start of term, but I have been chosen to trial the use of iPads in a class of Year 7 students next term, and I am being sent to a Conference in Hobart in July to learn even more about IT in the classroom.  The online course opened up so  many doors to so many different things!!! I now need time to digest it all and try to revisit some of the ones I wanted to spend more time on.  In the classroom I have had students make Motivational Posters on the MyBigHugeLab site (part of Flickr), 3 of my classes are signed up to Glogster, I have a group of extension students using Google Earth, Google Maps, GPS and much more as they design a program for next year's Year 7 classes on the school's history. My focus now is on iPads in the classroom, so if anyone out there knows some good websites and/or Apps for these, I would love to hear from you.

How2Web2 Over and Out!!!

Ann and I have finally finished our online PD in Web2.  We were given enough confidence to present a session on Web2 Tools to our staff at an IT conference at the beginning of term.  It was great having Ann to work with - don't know if I would have had the impetus to keep on going without having a fixed date every Thursday afternoon.  We are now going to have to find something else to do on a Thursday afternoon!!! Thank you and now signing off...

eBooks, etc etc

World eBook Fair ... needed to pay to sign up ... not!!! LibriVox ... needed to update our Windows Media player on the school network for this to work - can see a huge potential here, just need to talk to our IT guys about it. WorldCat ... loved the Cite/Export - Bibliography function, which enabled you to get a Harvard type citation for your bibliography.  Am definitely going to pass this on to our S&E teachers. World Public Library ... were able to open and download books in PDF format.  These could then be projected for use in the classroom. Baen ... Science Fiction books ... were able to download these in RTF format.  Best Places to Get Free Books ...  got us into the Friedbeet website.  Good potential for futher exploration here.  Cliff's Notes ... a great resource for Literature teachers.  And then I discovered myebook.  I have already planned a series of lessons using this website.  It is just what I need to encourage some reluctant Year 7 creative writers. Ya ... and thank you for the lead.

Podcasts

A couple of years ago, I had a class make their own Podcasts for their class members.  Everyone podcasts now days!!! Triple J radio have podcasts of all their shows, Hamish and Andy make sure you don't miss a show, my daughter's Uni lectures all go out on podcast.  I have just started looking into the use of podcasts in the classroom - linked to a Wiki and those students who are absent have access to the classroom from wherever their computer is. Our school has Mimios, which have the ability to do audio podcasts of the lesson from the board - haven't tried this yet as I don't have a Mimio yet!!! Podcasts are a part of the everyday now, and I need to get on board.

YouTube and TeacherTube

I use a YouTube clip at least once a day in my classes - even if it is just the "Song of the Day" clip in Year 12 RE. I have found some really useful educational clips on both YouTube and TeacherTube and highly recommend them to any educator.  Every topic I have searched for I have found. My lessons would not be as interesting without them - and even my "Just Because" clips for my Home Room class entertain us and keep us smiling.

Rollyo

I am currently starting some research on the use of ipads in the classroom and can see a use for this.
I have already put a couple of websites into a Rollyo, and have found it a really easy way of finding information within a website.
I hope to have more time to spend on this application soon.
The idea of setting up a Rollyo for my students is also quite appealing - hopefully I will get to this soon.

Delicious

I have set up some favourites in the Delicious website, but at the moment, I don't see me using this very much. I have my favourites on my Favourites Bar and this is what I use the most.  Maybe if I was researching - which I will be later in the year - then this would become something that I would use more often.

Wiki

Addictive!!!
I spent a lot of time last week playing with Wikispaces and making a Wiki for a group of extension students at school.  Hopefully we will start using it next term and they will start helping me in my learning of this tool.  I am quite excited about the potential of the Wiki in this class and hope to extend it to my other classes, especially my Year 12s.  The address for my Wiki is: https://naglestellar.wikispaces.com/ .

RSS

Spent some time with Ann Boyle working on what RSS was last week. To my way of thinking, it is a way of keeping up to date with any changes to any websites/blogs that I am interested in.  I have tried to make a RSS link from my Wiki page to  my gmail homepage - don't know how successful it is yet, as it is holiday time and none of the students who will be using the Wiki know anything about it yet.  I also had an RSS-type link from some websites (e.g. Glogster to my Facebook page) - except they were driving me nuts so I deactivated them.  I found that I really didn't want all those updates on what is essentially my family and friends page. I am still thinking about these and hopefully will use them more in the future.

Facebook & MySpace

I was a user of MySpace before Facebook came along.  I can't remember my login now - so there is a long forgotten unused MySpace page floating around in cyber space belonging to me. I went back to visit and can see why this would be a favourite of younger people - links to bands, musicians, movies, stars, celebrities, fashion as well as friends.  I have had a Facebook page for a few years now and use it to keep in contact with family and friends in other cities, states and countries - I love viewing their photos and keeping up to date with their lives. I find this a really important part of my social world now.  I check my page daily - now have the link on my gmail homepage, which makes it easier. I also use it to talk directly to my daughter in Perth (at night when she is studying and I am doing school work) just quick little messages to keep in contact. I won't be going back to MySpace - Facebook is more than enough for my needs.  I watched 'The Social Network' on the weekend - so even have a bit of background knowledge as well!!

Online Image Generator

Made a magazine cover using the flickr page at http://www.bighugelabs.com/
I could see a huge use for this as a secondary English teacher. I also played around with the Popart poster.
My good friend Ann told me how to get rid of the excess photos that I uploaded from Flickr, so now there is only one photo of our side-ways trees.  I enjoyed playing with these and can't wait until the holidays (end of the week!!!) so that I can play around with all of this a little more.

LibraryThing

Ann and I worked on this on Thursday afternoon and we have set up our own Bookclub - with the huge membership of 2 - Ann and I.  We are going to let other friends know about it, so who knows - it could be the start of something big!

Interesting!!!

Hmmm
How did I manage to put one photo onto my Blog 3 times!!!
Oh well - it definitely proves that I have done my Flickr homework for the week.

Geraldton Western Australia

Geraldton Western Australia, a photo by tim phillips photos on Flickr.

We are famous for our 'sideways trees'

Virtual Worlds

I have read about these, and definitely heard a lot about them from my secondary students - mainly the boys. World of Warcraft takes up a lot of homework time!!!
I can see how these could have an application in the classroom.  The Second Life website was interesting, I spent a quick 10 minutes reading through the blurb for it and then another minute signing up and getting my own avatar - I look hot!!!
The idea of being somewhere virtually and developing environments etc virtually has me thinking...
I was planning a SOSE lesson for my Year 10s as I was learning about it.  Whether or not it is appropriate I'm not sure - I need more time exploring the possibilities.  I need more time to get to the things I need more time to do - one day.
Shelley

igoogle

OK
I now have igoogle as my homepage on my computer. It has Facebook, Google Docs, the weather, the news and a gang of wandering penguins on it.
Don't know if Google would be my ideal workplace - all looks a bit too intense (and young!!) for me and besides I am really happy working with my kids at Nagle CC!

Google Books

Wow - a Literature teacher's dream site.
I have already told my Office Buddy about the study guides that she has access to here!!!
Definitely can see a big use for this in my job as an English teacher.
I was also able to hunt down a book I have been trying to buy for a while - thank you Google Books!

Google Docs & Google Maps

Know a bit about Google Maps - but didn't know I was able to edit it and add to it.  Don't know if I ever will...
Google Docs is very exciting. Tried to get my Year 12 class to help with the editing of a document that we are currently working on yesterday BUT our network blocks them out of gmail. I have asked our IT guys if there is a reason why, hopefully it will be lifted soon.

Web2

And I thought that Google was just a place to use for searching the web, and for finding images!!! So much more to it!
I have had a go at using some of the Web2 tools - use Prezi extensively, have 2 classes using Glogster and have made use of Wordle quite a few times - but there is so much more to explore and use!

First Time Blog

This is my first session for How 2 of Web 2 and I am sitting in the school library with my good friend Ann who is also learning about all this with me.  We figured that 2 heads would be better than one!!!
We now have a blog - mine has some very random fish on it, don't know how long they will last!!