Thing #7b -- Back in the reader again

I know that I've skipped two things, but it's too late to start something complicated and time-consuming, so here I am. I'll go back to 19 and 20 when my mind is fresh and rested.

For some reason, I always seem to be drawn to the Free Technology for Teachers blog when I stop in at my reader. I don't know why I continue to torture myself. I already have enough to do with the technology available through this course, so why do I want more? Why? Why? It's the nerdy, love-to-learn optimist who believes that she can do anything, and so she keeps going back.

So, my first tip from FTFT (free tech for teachers) was a slide show that offered 21 ways to use comics in the classroom. It does have some creative suggestions: comics for research, story telling (a reflective piece, creative piece, retelling literature piece), interview between characters, interpreting poetry, and many, many more.

This slide show led me to another comic link, a classic comic book site that creates graphic novels--yes, just like the ones in our libraries. What's really cool about this place is that they have 4 levels/versions of the novels, much like Holt's 3 levels/versions of the interactive readers. One version is the original text, the second is written in modern language, the third model has reduced text for a quicker read (and for those struggling with language), and the forth is text free--just empty bubbles in which the students or teacher can add the dialogue. The downside is that only some classics are free to educators. The free works could easily be used as a resource/example for students who wish to create their own graphic novel as an interpretation of the literature they are studying in class, especially works with lots of dialogue.

Finally, I found another slide show of suggestions titled "Zero Interesting Ways to Use Audio in the Classroom?" Wow... Tom Barrett has recommended 17 ways to use Voicethread in the classroom, and his ideas seem very doable and rather exciting.

The only problem...I need mucho dinero to fund a class set of computers. I'll even take those little purse-size computers...not picky at all. Any offers?

Thing #19 Voice your opinion

This thingy has me thinkin'. Just at a glance, it appears that Voicethread is a convenient, efficient, productive way for a class to communicate about a given topic. What I like about it most is that kids can discuss in numerous ways and that the topic of their conversations can be over something visual. In fact, the kids can discuss numerous slides which will prevent them from getting bogged down and superficial about one or two images or topics.

I've stuck with my Harlem Renaissance unit and found this virtually perfect slide show.



I'm kind of excited about this. I'll be really excited when it comes to fruition. I could spend the rest of my life creating interactive activities to use in a classroom. Maybe by the time I'm ready for retirement, I'll have completed some of the ideas that I have rolling around in my head.

#18 Watch this!

Youtube rocks!!! I've always loved it. I have learned how to string a guitar, adjust a satellite dish, and tie a tie. For the visual learner, this is the place to go.

I'm going to be honest with all of my devoted readers and admit that this video is something that I've used in the classroom. It contains cool clips of various Westerns. I just love the soundtrack that plays along with it. I use this with my English III class as we discuss Western archetypes.

The Western




After cheating a little and using an old clip, I decided to do some actual discovery. So I searched for a video that I could use when we examine the Harlem Renaissance -- another one of my favorites. I wanted a montage, so to speak, of music, art, and literature as that is how we approach the unit. I found something pretty close to what I'd make on my own if I had the time.

The Harlem Renaissance



Finally, teachertube didn't offer as many, useful videos for Harlem, but I did find a concept map that connects literature to the time period. From the blurry images, it looks as if the individual creating this map uses the Imagination program; however, because of the poor quality of the video, it's hard to decipher the information and organization of the graphic. I could use something like this, but I'd rather have a document than a video or at least be able to read the document.

#17 Hear me, hear me...

For some reason, I keep putting this assignment off -- partly because I'm just tired -- partly because every time I tried to look, or rather listen to, a podcast, I lost interest within a few minutes. Unfortunately, I'm a visual kind of gal. And I like for things to be efficient. Every podcast I visited didn't really get into the heart of the lesson for several seconds. I know several seconds doesn't sound like much, but I just didn't appreciate the start-up music, the lead-in introductions, and the other little things that occur before the actual information. I like brevity... please, just get to the point. I know this is hard to believe when you read some of my previous blogs. But it's true.

I visited the Skip the Tuition podcast, only to leave when the audio was scratchy and sounded as if the microphone was at the back of a large auditorium and the speaker was at the front. I did like Just Vocabulary and The Grammar Girl. The vocabulary podcast has SAT words with both visual and audio and their definitions, synonyms, antonyms, and sentence examples. The Grammar gal has quick tips for confusing grammar. I'm not sure what to do with these except perhaps add them as links on my future elearn. Perhaps, the students will have to somehow demonstrate their mastery of the vocabulary words and grammar tips of the week -- maybe in a blog or wiki.

I guess that's it for now.

Thing #16 Book Nerd Heaven

I've been holding on to a gift card for Barnes and Noble that a lovely friend gave me for my birthday this summer. Hanging on to it because I usually need a couple of hours to spare when I walk into a Barnes and Noble, and I just haven't had the time. For the true book nerd, bookstores and libraries are mini-vacations and are places in which we love to get lost.

Because of the LibraryThing my search for the next best read only took a few minutes. I used both Zeitgeist and the suggester to make a list of possible reads. Zeitgeist has categorized books according to numerous things -- most reviewed, top books, top authors, and star rating. The suggester suggests books based on titles that I love. We can read the reviews of other book nerds -- people who appreciate the finer elements of reading and writing. I used to do this through Amazon, but unlike Amazon, LibraryThing seems more authentic because no one is trying to sale me something.

So with pen and paper at my side, I searched through LibraryThings and jotted down several titles uncovered in my explorations. Watch out B&N, here I come, and I'm not staying all day. Well, maybe not.

Thing #15 Overall delicious...but a little too spicy

While searching through Delicious, I learned several things. One...we have to be careful when we examine what others have bookmarked. For example, I searched "American Literature" and found Librivox, which is a place that has free audio books. This was kind of cool, so I decided to see what else this member (who shall remain anonymous) had listed for her tags. When I followed the link to member, I found that she had some adult sites under her tags. As an adult myself, I have enough sense to figure out, based on the titles of her tags, that I don't want to go to her special places. I, also, learned that the Delicious members have a variety of tastes and hobbies, and because of this, it's not always safe to search through their listings.

The best part of Delicious is that I can save my favorite bookmarked/saved search results into a place that I can access from anywhere. Too often, I've found a cool site at home and then been at school and unable to locate it. Delicious will definitely save some time.

I've saved my Delicious account under my alter-id Soccermom24. I successfully added a study guide to the sandbox delicious tab, but when I tried to add two others, I had no luck. I triple-checked my tags and the spellings to make sure that I did them correctly, but still, only my first "shared" "misd23things" appeared in the sandbox. Who knows?

# 7a Back to the Reader

I've visited my Google reader a few times over the last few weeks, but I haven't really stayed long. Finally, I told the procrastinator in me to hush, and I stopped in at my reader.

First I read through the "Free Technology for Teachers" blogs. Here, one of the blogs "Copyright-Friendly and Copyleft Images..." offered another extensive list of copyright-free images, sounds, and movies that the public can use. At first I was excited, but once I explored the actual sites, I discovered that many were connected to Flickr. After spending a previous weekend in Flickrland, I didn't want to go back. I did manage to find Behold (another place for cc images). Just for kicks, I searched for "scream" (just as I had done in Flickr) hoping to find some new images to replace some of the other photos in my mystery slide show, and I have to admit that the images that popped up were nice (high resolution and relevant). The page of photos was free of advertisements and other distractions -- just beautiful, artsy pictures. When I tried to find the photographers so that I could give credit, many of the pictures lead me back to Flickr, their original home. However, overall the search in Behold was more productive and economical as far as my time was concerned.

Another interesting tool I found, which I had actually come across on an earlier visit, was a class discussion guideline by Angela Cunningham. It has useful tips and instructions on how to conduct a productive discussion.




Scrolling and skimming through the many missed blogs, I came across a place called Shmoop, which provides study guides for history, government, literature, and a few other subjects. It even has literature guides in Spanish. This has some potential; I just need to explore it more closely.

Finally, when I ended up at Life Magazine's 30 Dumb Inventions, I realized that stupid people have been around for decades; it's not a recent phenomenon. For example, Ron Hubbard had created a Hubbard Electrometer which he used to detect whether or not tomatoes felt pain. I hate to tell you all, that according to his device, they actually "scream when sliced." There's plenty more stupid inventions at this site, so if you need some entertainment check it out.

Thing #14 Time for a bigger toolbox

When I initially saw all of the links to the many tools, I shut down my computer and went to the mall. Town East isn't really a reprieve from being locked in my house and glued to the computer screen, but last night as my family and I watched Rush Hour 3 on cable, my six-year-old saw Jackie Chan in a nice, fluffy, white bathrobe and decided that he, too, wanted a bathrobe. Since he has gone a record 8 school days without a mark (yeah!!! it's a miracle), I caved and went in search of the fluffy gift. Before we left, I did explore the ToonDoo creator, so while my youngest and I searched through a couple of department stores, I was thinking about what to toon.

After standing in line for over 3o minutes at Sears because the only cashier on the entire floor had no clue how to take a check from a customer or how to ring a sale with someone's temporary credit card pass, I really wanted to make fun of the guy by creating a cartoon in his honor. But ToonDoo doesn't have a relevant image -- although there are plenty goofy-looking people, there are no store backgrounds. There is a way to create our own drawings, much like paint. But I didn't really have the energy to try this out, and as I said in a previous post, my creative juice is on "E."

I gave up on the mall episode, and I, still, couldn't think of anything educational to do with a cartoon...nada. I started thinking about some of the works we cover throughout the year, and I returned to Romeo and Juliet, my ole fallback. Usually, we discuss Shakespeare's use of language, especially his puns and double-talk. I decided that I'd try to create some toons using puns. Of course, the cartoons I created have absolutely nothing to do with Shakespeare, but at least, I can introduce the idea of wordplay.

When working in ToonDoo, we can save the cartoons in a private place or a public place. If it's in the public place, people can comment on and edit the toon (I'm not sure if their edits change our toon, or if they just use our toon as a foundation and create a new toon). At this site, there are all kinds of fun activities -- sharing, competitions, forums, blogs, etc. We can even upload our own photos and play around with them.

I tried to copy my other cartoon here to share with my kind readers, but it is 8.4 MB, and we are limited to 8. I just thought I'd share that fact with you, another lesson learned.

Thing #13 - Sign this!

Finally, something relatively easy. I must admit that I'm impressed with all of the free technology out there. These little touches can make our wikis, blogs, and slide shows so much more interesting and eye-catching.

At the Happy Face Generator, I depicted a portion of the opening scene from Romeo and Juliet (when Tybalt tries to start trouble with Benvolio). This only took a few minutes. The most time-consuming part was just deciding on what to have the smileys say. Plus, I had to limit the text so that it would fit. Now, what will I do with this? I guess I can use as a graphic on the assignment to add a little something. Too bad it's not animated. For some reason, I imagine a scene with swords clanking, people screaming, and blood gushing. After all, what's the point of a sword fight without a little blood?

I made a pit stop at Custom Sign Generator, and once again, felt a little overwhelmed (oh no, not another Flickr weekend). I decided I'd try the first option under the "Make Graphics With Your Text" header. This sent me to Sign Generator Fun, with over 500 sign possibilities. Because I wanted to enjoy a few hours of my weekend, in the fresh air, and away from this computer screen, I just created one sign. Again, I'm thinking to myself, "What can I do with this that has educational value?" And, "If it takes me forever to create something, how long will it take the kids?"

Finally, I explored several of the cites listed on the Things homepage, played around in a few more, and eventually, settled in at ImageChef.

This site actually had something I was looking for when trying to create my Burning Question for my sandbox wiki (Thing 9). When I read the burning question requirement, the first thing that popped into my mind was Jack Handey's Deep Thoughts from Saturday Night Live. I wanted my question to slowly ascend over some picturesque backdrop, like a forest or a sunset sky. At the time and with the limited resources available to us for Thing 9, I couldn't find a way to do this. But now, thanks to ImageChef, I've found something close. I'm sure with a little effort, I can get exactly what I'm looking for. Because of my new-found image creator, I've edited my burning question, removing the talking cats and adding the image from Poetry Blender (one of the options in ImageChef). It's still not exactly what I want, but it's close enough for now. I'm beginning to realize that this is a never-ending process. My sandbox wiki will grow and change until I just can't take it any more.


ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

Even though adding these creative, active images to our wikis, blogs, and slide shows does add that extra little touch, I'm not sure what else I'd do with them at this point. I know there's something out there; I'm just brain dead. My creative juices are on "E."

Perhaps, the students can create some kind of vocabulary wiki and use the image generators as a way to define words, both literally and figuratively through the images they select. Maybe this is something we can do as a department on a department wiki. I just don't know.

One last thing...I just hope that once I'm done trying to warp through all of this technology, I'll be able to find the cites again, especially once I've had time to digest it all.

Thing #12 - Let the slides begin

I'm going to be really lazy. Let me explain. When I created my page in the sandbox, I, also, created a slide show using RockYou. I thought it was part of the assignment. Maybe, it was just a stretch activity. I'm being so lazy at this point that I'm not even going to go back and read what it was. It doesn't matter because what's done is done. That's what happens when we skim sometimes. The good news is that I've already created my slide show. Yeah!!!! The not-so-positive news is that the slide show creation required several hours of eyesight-declining, gray-hair turning, children-neglecting, coffee-drinking work.

In reality, the generic concept of using images from Flickr to create a slide show is really fairly simple. But my personal project was not quite so generic or simple. I wanted to create a product that I could use for a mystery unit. When we read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, I have the students write their own mini-mysteries using photographs. I'm sure I've mentioned this somewhere, but I can't remember where (perhaps in my Flickr thing or perhaps in my dreams). So, if I'm being repetitive, I apologize.

Because of my ultimate goal (students writing mini-mysteries), I felt obligated to find a variety of pictures that would appeal to the variety of students so that they could create unique stories. Thus, my images were really not linked by theme. This was the hard part. I needed pictures of people and landscapes. I needed scary homes, sad faces, dark alleys, small gatherings, nightlife, dimly lit woods, and the list goes on and on.

Once I found my photos, I explored the many options for slide shows and decided to use RockYou. I liked the numerous transitions that were available for the slides, and I liked that I could easily add music. I would like to slow down the transition speed a bit, but I'm not sure if this is possible. So the slide show part of the assignment was really very simple and didn't require that much time or effort. It was the foundation for the slide show that was a pain.

I know my mystery slide show needs work. Perhaps, I'll take out some pictures or change some picture. I've since realized that I need to number the photographs or label them somehow so that the students can refer to the picture they are using. I've, also, considered that I could use the slide show in a blog or a wiki and the students' actual mystery stories can be directly posted on the site for all to see. They can even embed the images into their posts. Or if they wanted, they could provide their own images as the inspiration for their stories. Wow...I'm just beginning to think about the possibilities -- one of the advantages to blogging.

I'm sure I can think of other lessons in which I can use slide shows. For one, I can envision pikistrips as a way for students to create novel reviews. They can create 8-slide comic strip summaries of the key events in a short story, novel, or play. Perhaps, they can create a comic strip summaries of a character's traits. I'm brainstorming at this point, but I see all kinds of possibilities with this technology.

So back to my laziness. I'm embedding the slide show that I've already embedded in my sandbox page. If you've been there, then this is nothing new. If you haven't, then here is my new creation.

Enjoy.

Thing #9 - I can't get this sand off of me

Okay, here goes... I know I'm out of order, but I had to wait to get the approval to play in the sandbox. So while I waited, I completed Thing 10 and 11 (I think). Now, I'm back to 9.

This sandbox thingy required quite a bit of time, and I still haven't figured out how to create a table of contents. In order to get through this thingy, I printed up a copy of the instructions and the steps. That seemed to help some. Creating a credits list for my photos in the slide show required some time and effort, partly because I chose 19 photos, and partly because the original list that I created in Word was not in the same order as the pictures I picked for the slide show.

Most of the time constraints occur for me because I'm somewhat of a perfectionist. I just like for things to look right, sound right, feel right. I had to re-do my deep thoughts question a couple of times because I didn't like how it looked. I still think the talking cats talk too fast and would like to slow them down a bit. Then, when it came to adding music to my slide show, I added music, then I changed the song, then I went back to my original choice, then I thought, "Well, maybe I don't need music." Oh well... I'm tired, and it's time to move on.

Finally, adding a link to my sandbox in the master sandbox was easy, but I still don't see a current list of the "Sites We Liked." I'll keep checking, and when it appears for our group, I'll update.

The one thing that concerns me (I really hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining) is that someone else can change my sandbox. After all the time I spent in there, I'd hate for some bully to come along with a bulldozer and doze my somewhat beautiful creation.

As far as the benefits to this and how to incorporate it into a classroom, I see some possibilities. I'm still ruminating over them though.

Thing #11 - Flickr

It is so crazy how something that sounds relatively easy can take forever. I'm sure I spent hours going through the millions of images on Flickr. It is very much how the English nerd feels at Barnes and Noble -- so much to choose from -- where do I start? This thingy is similar to the Google reader activity in that I'm overwhelmed with all of the "stuff" for lack of a better word.

I've used images in the past as prompts for creative writing assignments. It has always been one of my most successful activities. Students tend to write better when they have a jumping off spot. In addition, when we study Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, I create a slide show of mysterious-type images so that the kids can create their own mystery stories based a photo. Most likely, this is what I'll do again, and I will use the images that I found on Flickr. One of the reasons that it took me so long to put some pictures together is that I had to be very specific with my searches. I had to think of different tags to get different settings and types of people for my mystery slides. Then, I had to copy the link, the title, and the photographer's name onto a word document. I feel as if I've sifted through thousands of pictures to get a few.

I've chosen the above image for my blog so that I'd have a happy place to go to, a beach at sunset. Thank you Neil Spicy for the moment of tranquility.

Thing #10 - Creative Commons

I feel a little relieved that there are some resources for us to use without having to worry about the big C. I hate to admit this publicly, but I rarely use the traditional (and expensive) textbooks. So much of what I use to reach my students is stuff that I find, modify, reuse, and create. Because of this, I live in fear that the C police will barge into my classroom and take me away to C jail. I do not live riskily, however, because I follow policies and copyright regulations. I just worry that I miss something somehow somewhere.

I've never even heard of or noticed CC on any websites that I've visited, but I'm not one for the little details and fine print (hence my fear for the C police). I tried to play around in the CC world to look for some material, but I wasn't really successful in finding anything. I haven't given up though; I'll keep at it.

Because we do live in a visual world, I use visual images all of the time in my lessons. I have students create stories based on pictures. I use images and commercial clips when we discuss rhetorical techniques and advertising. I show "clips" of movies to increase understanding of novels. I use songs and music when we study poetry and the Harlem Renaissance. If CC provides us with C-free material, then it liberates educators and other creative people.

It did occur to me that because of the big C, my creations (my lessons) are copyrighted. I feel a little powerful :) It's mine, all mine!!!! Haahaahaahaa!!!!

Seriously though, I really don't see it as "Mine, all mine!!!" I've stood on the shoulders of my peers, other artists, musicians, many creative groups to create my lessons. It is hard to believe that there is anything completely original and unique out there anymore.

Because of our sue happy society, we just have to be careful and fair. I do feel badly for the artists/musicians who have lost income because of places like limewire. Here's where technology has its disadvantages because we can find material so easily and so often without giving credit where credit is due; however, the WWW provides many artists/musicians/authors with opportunities that would not have otherwise existed for them.

The copyright world is changing. It's nice to have options as an educator who must use every little bit of help to get to such a variety of learners.

Thing #8 - What's up Wiki

When reading the discovery exercise descriptions for this thingy, I thought that the wikis sounded truly interesting and intriguing. However, when I got to my first wiki, I was a little disappointed. For example, the Wolves Den sounded really cool, but as soon as I arrived, I wanted to leave. There was just too much stuff on the first page. I guess that's a good sign because it implies that many people have contributed to the wiki, and it is a growing beast. I just like things simple. I forced myself to go back and to check it out, and when I got over the urge to high-tail it out of there again, I stopped and looked around. I found a couple of pretty cool things, like the NPR's 100 best fictional characters since 1900 list with a link to the audio discussion, a nice bit of trivia for the English nerd. Then, there is a place for people (I'm guessing from the school district or campus) to recommend their favorite books. Then, it has some examples of projects that the students have done. So, after I took the time to sift through the massive links, I found some interesting things. I've made a mental note, to keep my wiki simple, so I won't frighten away potential participants.

The Discover Utopias made me think of some things that I could do when we read Fahrenheit 451. This wiki has students commenting on various novels that attempt to create utopias. The students share information about the novels. After reading some of the comments, I realized that they were a little superficial and more like criticisms than analysis. I think I'd have the kids create their own utopias and share their ideas with their peers. Their peers could offer suggestions for the perfect world.

Finally, I visited 1001 flatworld tales. I liked the concept of a frame story which allowed students to contribute their own stories. The anonymity would give those shy students the courage to write and share their ides. This is something I may consider trying in the future.

Overall, I've discovered that simplicity is the best way to go and using wikis as a tool to allow students the opportunity to be creative and to share is a pretty good idea. I don't know how I feel about using wikis as a reference tool.