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.