Tool 5 - Animoto

Tool choice 1 - Animoto

The learner will: create a free verse or rhyming pattern poem and present it by using animoto to illustrate it. The pictures can be taken from them or downloaded from the computer. They can be people, places, or things as long as they move/illustrate the poem.

The one I created could be used to prompt a rhyming or free verse poem on sisters

My Animoto Video

Tool 4

1/2. I have in the past and currently this summer sent and received Google docs. Thus far I have in the past coordinated with 4 other family members on an itinerary for our family summer vacation. We created a Google doc, share it, and then add or delete activities per day of the vacation. This also works for our expense report of the trip so everyone can see where the money if coming from and if everyone has contributed a shared amount.
In work, I have received our campus calendar and have in the past shared lesson plans/activities that have been edited depending on the items needing to be added or deleted from the lesson.
3. In the classroom, Google docs can be used from the classroom to the home. I am excited to try paper writing by starting a paper in class and then sharing the document with the students to complete at home on various nights. having the students assigned on different nights will allow more editing and hopefully ideas to develop.

Tool 3

I am going to embed one personal and one professional video:
1.

This was made with my two daughters (9 and 7) and the cousins (11 and 9). It just shows you how much the younger generations know about technology!

2. I picked this video because I like the way that the things I watched in the past are still used and loved today. That even though we have cartoon network, nick., and many other children shows Cookie Monster is still recognizable and loved by all. (who doesn't like cookies?)


3. Copyright and Fair Use: I found this video/concept very interesting and wide ranging. I thought this because one of the main points of Fair Use is to ask yourself if I added value. That seems very subjected to public/personal opinion. As in the first video I posted from my kids and nieces, they used a country song and to them added value and purpose but to others even the artist may not agree. Thoughts?

4. Dropbox:
This seems very much like Google docs. I can download documents and share them with anyone I choose.
This could be very helpful in papers that my students write, I can drop their papers in and then grade them on any device that is convenient to me. I could even have a folder per topic in my classroom and add folders/pictures/examples/Activ activity so during the lesson I can just open the folder in order to have all materials right there.

Tool 2

1. Diigo:
This site is great! I really like that you can not only access info found on the laptop but also portable devices (iPhone, iPad). I can really see literature circles taking off and even moving to longer discussions that can be done outside of class by having students and teachers highlight, discuss specific portions, and even tag articles that justify certain views during discussions. This is one that I really would like to try not only in the classroom but also at home in order to keep all project ideas, hobby info, and interest reads together.
2. Google Reader:
At first this site is not as user friendly I think as other Google sites. Once I started searching my own topics however, it is turning out to be more interesting. My favorite one, (I even subscribed) was when I entered middle school language arts and got The Reading Zone. This one not only catalogs a teachers way of explaining certain books but also has feeds and reviews of other popular titles. Very helpful in swimming through all the new young adult books out there to find a review that can be helpful in the school setting in not only pairing a book with a child but also background info of the authors to tell kids.
I have also joined Book-A-Day Almanac that not only gives a summary of the book but also sample pages of books for middle school students.
3. The blogs I visited were: The Nerdy Book Club : nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/, drferreri.blogspot.com/, and www.fromthemixedupfiles.com/

All the blogs were very useful in giving opinions about books as well as insight on how or when to read certain books discussed. 

4. I am not worried or scared about sharing information on the sites that I found since all them are reviews/insights into books that are read by middle school students. I did not share any thoughts at this time since I had not read the books that the bloggers were actively discussing.  I do not or will not feel comfortable on sites that describe the teacher's day teaching and their comments on their students whether it is positive of negative.(as seen/reported on news)

Tool 1

I did not find creating a blog to be difficult. Google/Blogger has made it very user friendly and it helps that it walks you through all parts of creating a blog and personalizing it. I have used a blog in the past with my 4th grade students and can not wait to dive right in to another blog with 7th graders! I am hoping my students this year will be more actively engaged in the blog and be able to navigate/post easily on to the blog since they are older.