One Last Thing

I learned so much is this class-even more than I expected to. I've become a lot more comfortable in using tech tools to save time and be more efficient in my work. Some of my favorite tools include the RSS feeder, Google Docs, and social bookmarking. The biggest surprises that I know I will find useful are Ning and LibraryThing. I plan to continue to check back with all of the networking sites, as well as using Google Docs to help streamline my attendance and data tracking. I really appreciated this self-guided format, as I could allocate my time as I needed to throughout the course depending on other committments. I have enjoyed all of my online classes this semester. I'm very thankful I had the opportunity to participate in this course.

Thing #23

Visit Classroom 2.0
I am really excited about Ning. It is just the kind of site I have been looking for to get fresh ideas for educating the students of tomorrow. I found multiple groups to join, including rhe recommended Teachers 2.0, and Classroom 2.0. I also found an interesting group called Connected Therapy, which includes professionals from speech pathology, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. I'm definitely going to be sharing the information about the Ning network with my speech colleagues. In addition, I found a great website with Teacher ratings and recommendations for their favorite materials to use in teaching various topics. Before I knew it, I was getting drawn in to the forums, reading all the comments related to inclusion and technology trainings for teachers. It was just a lot of fun to connect with so many like-minded people, regardless of geographical region, cultural differences, etc. Everyone on those sites is focused on improving education for our youth.

Thing 22

I revisited my Facebook page, because I did set up an account about six months ago. I feel much more comfortable with Facebook, than MySpace. It's just personal bias, I guess, but it seems like MySpace has younger users. I also like that Facebook has controls that limit who can see your information and interact with you. What I love about Facebook is that I have reconnected with friends that I haven't seen in over 20 years. I have some dear friends that I hope to reconnect with more in depth over the summer. What I don't like about Facebook are all of the silly requests-from Happy Hour to kidnap to pillow fights. It takes a long time, even just to click ignore. Most of my friends have stopped trying to write on my wall even, because I haven't been visiting Facebook regularly, and haven't been writing much.

I had a lot of fun looking at my site tonight, and was thinking about how fun it will be to join some of the more interesting groups, like Circle of Moms, and taking interviews to discover how my friends have changed over the years. I really do like Facebook overall, especially because of the special people from my past that I now have the opportunity to get to know again. Just a sample of the people I have found on Facebook-a friend from my freshman year in high school; my old college roommate, my two best friends from high school; and several good friends from college. I love how geography doesn't matter as much, as we can use technological tools to bring us all together again!

Thing 7C

I revisited David Warlick's blog and read one of his posts about educational games for children related to the environment. It made me think about how recycling has really come into its own in my lifetime, and just how important it is to save the Earth's resources. This theme is carried over on many child friendly networks like Noggin and the Disney Channel. I think it's an extremely important lesson, which needs even more attention than it gets. As I was surfing his site, so to speak, I found additional articles of interest, including the current explosion of kid oriented virtual worlds. It made me think of my son, who is not even in elementary school yet, and how much he enjoys the computer. He already knows more about a computer than I knew as a teenager. That's why all of these technology trainings are so important. It is our responsibility as educators to prepare our children to be competitive in this global economy, where technology is the link. Teachers have to be proficient in all of these areas, if we are to effectively educate our students.

Thing #21

I am a big fan of Google tools. I took a class in Web based collaboration tools last fall, and learned about Google Calendar, Google Sites, and Slideshows. I am looking forward to using Google Sites to create a website for sharing information with parents about current themes in speech therapy, as well as home program support information for parents. I already use Google calendar frequently to manage finances/bill due dates, family events, and track my husband's commitments as well. I added a public menu calendar that should not contain any sensitive information. I also experimented with Picasa, and uploaded a few photos of the newest family addition to the site. Once you click the link, you'll see pictures of our Heinz-57 (the vet won't even venture a guess as to breed) dog, Sparky. He was a stray wandering the street when he chose our family as the one he wanted, and quickly won our hearts last summer.

Other possible uses I can think of 'off the top of my head,' so to speak, include using Google notebook for research and collaborative projects, using Google alerts for updates related to a particular topic you're teaching in the classroom, and Google Earth for geography. I have been so impressed with all of the tools Google is offering to make technology accessible to all.

Thing #20

I think I have found my solution to my document management difficulty with Google Docs. I'm going to use it to organize my data collection/tracking, and my students' attendance and incentives earned. That way, I won't have to wonder whether I've saved the work on my home computer, or my work computer. It will also save me the trouble of emailing from work to home email addresses to be able to access the files from different locations. I may even try posting my schedule and lesson plan documents in Google Docs, for the same reason. I love that I will be able to use technology to simplify my life. My students can use it to compose stories together, edit each others' work, or collaborate in other creative group projects.

Thing #19

I really like the idea of using Voicethread in many ways to support instruction, as well as collaboration. I first learned of Voicethread's existence just yesterday, when I was searching for SLP-related information on YouTube and TeacherTube. I found an example where a student used voicethread to comment about his experiences. So one application for me would be to use Voicethread with my nonverbal students, using augmentative communication devices. Another application for me would be to use it to teach sequencing, like the example with measuring volume for irregular objects. I like the potential for collaboration on projects/work while it is progress. Voicethread can also be used to supplement lecture, differentiating instruction to incorporate all learning styles in a multisensory way. It also seems to be very accessible and flexible with regard to methods of commenting, which is also very inclusive for students with learning differences and disorders.

Thing #18

I finally visited You Tube for the first time today. I've always avoided it because you always hear about all of the negative things that are posted there. When I embarked upon my mission of finding four useful or personally meaningful segments, I thought it would be a challenge. I was amazed at how quickly I located the nostalgic/fun video-the YouTube Orchestra. The universal cultural appeal of music, and it's ability to bring people of all backgrounds/cultures/life circumstances together, is personified in this orchestra. It reminded me about how music has always been a personal mode of expression for me, and a source of friendship and comraderie, as well as accomplishment. I have drifted away from it since becoming a parent-I probably haven't played an instrument since my second child was born almost four years ago. That video inspired me to pick up my flute again. Second, since my husband and I will be repainting our home this summer, I thought I should learn how to repair drywall holes. I found an excellent example for repairing larger holes in drywall.

I had to try TeacherTube for more useful material related to my field, speech pathology. I found a word document posted to TeacherTube, giving ideas for using a simple communication device with students. I also found a video on TeacherTube that demonstrates using a communication device with VoiceThread, so I'm very interested in learning more about VoiceThread and how I might use that with my students.

Thing 17

Podcasts are really amazing. It is a great way to supplement instruction and keep students' interest. The multisensory and differentiated learning components are built into the Podcast. I explored a few related to reading and language. I subscribed to one for grammar rules, as I felt that it would supplement my grammar lessons in a more interesting way. I also liked the Word of the Day podcast. I thought it would be easy to incorporate into my lessons to increase vocabulary incrementally. I fell in love with the Just another Book! podcast, because the participants' love of children's literature really resonated with me. I know I will use some of their reviews to help me plan language literature units for my students. I am looking forward to summer, when I can research other relevant podcasts in more depth!

#16

LibraryThing is so cool! I love all the groups of people on the website that have gravitated to certain genres of writing. It really does make so much sense, and it's very easy to use. I'm looking forward to using it at a personal level to get additional book suggestions to read for pleasure. I hope to discover some new authors, as well. From a classroom perspective, it seems like it could be used to find additional books about a particular topic, for example with a class project assignment. I really love the social aspect of bringing people with similar reading interests together. I also am impressed with the local activity and event feature of the site. This site is a book-lover's dream come true!

Thing #15

I love the Delicious website! I am very excited to use the websites I bookmarked to vary my lesson plans and get fresh ideas for helping my students in therapy sessions. The field of speech pathology has changed so much since I start 10 years ago! It's nice that so many resources are available on the web, for free. I have also enjoyed all of the free and inexpensive continuing education opportunities available in the DFW area, and in MISD. I found some wonderful indexes of SLP websites that I plan to review over the summer, as I think about my caseload, plan therapy approaches, and select new additions to my therapy library. This is my favorite tool that we have discussed from the course so far. To see the sites I have bookmarked in Delicious, go to http://www.delicious.com/rkubala.

Thing 7a

It was a joy to revisit my google reader and find so many interesting articles with useful information. I want to briefly reference two interesting posts in my RSS aggregator: one about chore charts which helped me rethink my incentive plan/schedule, and a wonderful blog from David Warlick reflecting on possible solutions for the high school drop out problem. For some reason this year, I have been struggling with managing my incentive system. I didn't want to betray student confidentiality with a sticker chart, but now I think I will use student initials, store the chart in a cabinet, award stickers on the chart (with dates recorded somehow) and I will then have an incentive tracker as well as my attendance, all on one chart. I also like the applications for family use, with chores management, while adding an incentive. I loved the information about preventing dropouts. It is definitely a multifaceted problem that requires us to work together with a variety of solutions. It takes a village (of people and ideas)!

Thing #14

I really had a lot of fun with this activity. I am a list-maker, so I tried my hand with TaDa lists and 30 boxes. It's important that they have the social sharing feature, to help families keep in touch and coordinate activities and schedules. I already use Google calendar, and didn't see the advantage of 30 boxes over Google. I have used Writeboard earlier in the course, I think, and found it useful. I loved the possibilities of Mix Book for customizing grade appropriate texts for some of my self-contained students. I also think Polldaddy looks like a great tool with lots of possibilities for data collection and interactive assignments. Wordle looks like an interesting, engaging way to introduce new vocabulary, information, and ideas. The possibilities are endless!

Thing #13

This was such an interesting activity! I had so much fun looking at the Flickr Color Pickr, Comic Strip Generator, and the Custom Sign Generator. The image to the right is from the Comic Strip Generator, which I found easiest to use. I simply searched for a familiar, old favorite cartoon character, then selected my favorite frame from the samples listed, scrolled down and changed settings to customize the strip. It was a very straight forward experience. I really enjoyed looking at the Flickr Color Pickr, and spent some time wondering how the creator of the site managed to organize that task as computer code.

There are multiple educational implications for the sites I looked at. Certainly it helps a student be much more organized and creative in their classwork. Students can use these tools in their school projects, for everything from creating an fictional advertizing brochure, to adding interesting images to presentations. All of the activities I tried today were motivating, engaging, and fun, which also aids in the learning process.