Tool #5: Producing with Web 2.0 Tools

1. I used the Wordle tool last year as a way of letting the students know who I am and as a way for them to show me who they are. Each student made their own Wordle showcasing things that they want me to know about them...we then printed them and displayed in the classroom. The sample one below can be found at http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/5557944/attleson. I also created an Animoto video about myself to show my students at the beginning of the year. I can see me having the students use Animoto to show what they know or have learned about different science or math topics throughout the year...the free videos are only about 35 seconds long, so it would be easy to show everyone's in class. 
Try our video maker at Animoto.

2. (see embedded tools above)
3. I explained above how I would use these two tools in my classroom. I plan on trying out some of the storybook tools when I have a little more time because I feel that the students could use those to create non-fiction books about their science topics, or fiction stories using certain math concepts.

Tool #4: Moving Up to the Clouds

1. Google Docs is amazing to work with...I love how everything is saved automatically once you make a change to the document. I created a problem solving math homework worksheet in Google Docs and shared it with a colleague.
2. I created a Google Docs form (an equivalent fraction short quiz) and sent it to two other people.
3. I like how the students would be able to view the same assignment, quiz, etc. without me sending it out to each student. I can see me listing directions on my blog for them to go to Google Docs in order to complete a homework assignment.

Tool #3: Finding Online Video and Image Resources

1.  Before visiting some of the sites mentioned in 11 Tools, I had always used Discovery Education and Nasa.gov for showing videos because they both did a great job with showcasing the science aspect of what I was teaching. The NASA site was excellent for showing the shuttle liftoffs and re-entries live for the students. I visited SchoolTube.com for the first time today and found a lot of great videos and ideas for helping with my math instruction.
       

2. The two videos above were selected from TeacherTube and YouTube...one is a math lesson covering converting fractions to decimals and decimals to fractions, while the other is a brief explanation on how caves form. 

 3. The copyright and fair use videos were excellent. I was not aware of most of what the laws were in this area, especially the different types of copyright labels. This gives me some topics to talk about with my students regarding how to use different pictures and/or videos in their reports

4. I created a Dropbox account and added a few files to it so that I can see how it worked...I was able to access those documents from my ipad after I added those files on my laptop. I can see how this will be useful when the district servers are down and I need those files.

Tool #2: Building Community in the Online Environment

1. Along with the other teacher's blogs from Spring Branch, I also visited quite a number of blogs from around the country. I commented on a blog from an online educator (www.ideasandthoughts.org) regarding a post he made called "You can't be a lurker in my class", which was about how he is trying to get students to document, share, and showcase their learning, instead of just doing the assignments and being done with them.
2. I love the idea of having this blog set up for the teachers to collaborate with each other, especially when I am looking for an idea for a lesson and can either quickly check out another educator's blog or find inspiration from one of their links. Since I already have a blog set up for my classroom that my students use and communicate with me on, I feel that this blog will be limited to my professional and collaborative use. While I enjoy reading comments on my blog that may help me justify what I am writing and displaying, I especially like to use the comment section of others in order to ask questions and to clarify what they are blogging about.
3. I plan on visiting www.infinitethinking.org periodically throughout the school year. This website, which began as a blog, shows Internet TV shows twice a month that are directly targeted at K-12 educators, parents, and students. Their goal is to inspire creativity and innovation in education. Their shows are extremely interesting and provide a wealth of useful links and ideas.