20 Web 2.0 Tools class

This class was amazing in many ways.  I am a self-professed computer-illiterate, but this class really blew me out of the water in terms of making me feel like an idiot.  I was so overwhelmed!  It tested my stamina and mental stability, and at times, I was sure there was no way I was going to "get it."  However, I made it (thanks to my family and friends) and I think I even learned a few things along the way!  Let's just say, I can no longer profess complete ignorance.
This class made me aware of many cool devices available in the techological world that I didn't know existed.  I can now use facebook to communicate and share memories, pictures, and videos with my family and friends.  I can use my blog to communicate with my students about summer reading assignments and as a means to discuss literature throughout the course.  I loved creating an animoto book trailer and a glogster poster and I'm sure my students will, too.  I have great ideas on how I can use those tools with my literature and creative writing classes.  I know my assignments can be much more creative using many of the free technology tools that are available online.  This is only the beginning for me.  This class was definitely a challenge for me, but I can honestly say, it was fun and I am glad I took it. 

Free Technology for Teachers

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/ This is a great blog which has technology tools that teachers can use in their classrooms for free.  I see several tools available on the site that I could use in my classroom.  I could use the Video Creation Resources and Pixton in my creative writing class when students are producing their health campaigns.  Students love making movies and the Pixton tool helps students create their own comic strips.  Google Search Tip Posters looks like a great tool for making posters for projects or word walls.  However, I think the most helpful tool for me as an English teacher is the Google Docs.  This would be a perfect way for my students, their peers and me to collaborate and communicate with each other about their writing in a paperless world.

Using Mash-ups

I experimented with several mash-ups on Bighugelabs.com. These mash-ups were fun and easy to create. I made a trading card of my sister and me, a motivator poster of my son enjoying life, and a mosaic collage of my family and friends. I see that I could use these mash-up generators in a language arts classroom. My AP English students could use the motivator to create clever puns over their readings. All of my students could use the slide show, mosaic maker, trading card, and motivator to create novel reports or character analyses. These mash-up generators could be used with Animoto and Glogster as students create fantastic presentations over their novels. Many of these tools would be great fun for my students in my creative writing class.

Friends and Family

Enjoy Life

Sister

Using Animoto

I learned how to use Animoto this weekend. I really had fun creating a book trailer for The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was fun looking for pictures and planning the story. I was very pleased with the finished product and I can see how I could use this in my classroom. This would be a great project for a book trailers or any kind of novel analysis project. My students would enjoy using this program to complete book reports instead of the old way of writing a paper book report. I can see how I might collaborate with a social studies teacher on a joint project where the students do some research and then put the information into an Animoto presentation. I know the students will enjoy creating their own videos with Animoto because the finished product looks very professional.