Thing #17-Podcasts

The first thing I thought when I listened to the Jamestown Elementary Podcast Project is how we should be doing this at my school!  It would be an incredible thing for different grade levels, teachers, and students to contribute to a podcast to post on our school website!  Parents and other members of our community would be able to listen and know what is going on at Thompson Elementary.  This, of course, would initially take a lot of work and effort, but once teachers were trained on how to do it, it would be pretty easy.  In fact, I’ll bet some of my fifth graders would be capable of helping younger kids record podcasts each week.

Next, I began listening to podcasts that I can use in the classroom.  I soon realized that I will probably be unable to allow kids to just “jump right in” and explore themselves.  But, I could direct them to specific sites and specific podcasts that relate to our learning.  I found Why? The Science Show for Kids Podcast to be a wonderful resource.  I immediately subscribed to it and I plan on using with my students.  I can also use 60 Second Science podcasts for my own research and information, and then share relevant podcasts with them on occasion.  I now definitely feel more comfortable using podcasts for instruction and hopefully, with a little help from my more experienced peers, I can begin guiding students into recording podcasts and sharing them with the public.

Thing #16-LibraryThing

I had never heard of LibraryThing before now, and at first I wasn’t too interested.  Let me be clear…I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to read!  I’m using the word LOVE here, people.  I thought this site was just for people that read smart, thought-provoking fiction books.  And I have a toddler running around.  My days consist of reading Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and the entire selection of Karen Katz books over and over and over and over again.  So…I changed my search and added these to my library.    I also added my huge stack of non-fiction parenting books.  Because this is real life, y’all!  My night stand used to have a great chick-lit book on it, like anything by Jennifer Weiner.  Now those books sit dusty on the bookshelf in the office and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth gets used several times a week.  Usually after my little boy refuses to go to sleep and my husband asks, “What does the book say?”

But, this Thing has helped me remember how much I LOVE to read.  Just for me.  It’s a truly selfish act, reading for pure pleasure.  Not because your baby won’t take a nap or you’re about to start potty training.  Just because you can.  Just because you love the actual act of reading.  I used to consume books in just a few days.  Books by Anita Shreve and Nora Robertson.  But, right now, I am totally in love with being a mommy to this precious boy.  I love reading his favorite childrens books a hundred times a day.  There are few things better than when he runs up to me excitedly saying, “Read, Mommy, read!” I think that my love of books has somewhat rubbed off on him, that he has inherited my passion for the written word.

I know that one day I’ll have time to read for myself again.  LibraryThing will be waiting for me with my favorite authors all lined up patiently.  I will dust off one of my old faves and get lost in it.  Until then, I am in LOVE with reading One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss. 

Thing #15-Delicious

I now have a Delicious account started and I can already see the ways I can use this in my classroom.  First of all, I found MANY different sites that my students can use in the computer lab or on the computers in our classroom.  I tend to get bored with the same lessons week after week during our computer lab time.  Now, I feel I can point them to my Delicious account and have them choose from the sites I’ve listed!  What an amazing resource for my students and their parents.  Not to mention, my colleagues.  Simply sending out an email to my fellow fifth grade teachers at my school will give them the opportunity to check out the super cool stuff I’ve found out there on the internet!  Making things public has always scared me a bit, but 23 Things is helping me to understand that sharing the wonderful things I find is an amazing and useful tool for others.  This is a time-saving, collaborative task that can benefit so many!

I was also excited to find some new, fresh ideas for use in my classroom.  I even found a few printable (and FREE) resources for the first few days of school.  I have a feeling my classroom is going to look VERY different this year after taking 23 Things. 

Thing #7b-There is Nothing to Undo

I recently read this on John Mayer’s blog and it really spoke to me.

Q: Do you have any regrets?
– asked by anishak

A: Sure I do, but if I were to give back the regretful experience, I’d also have to give back the lesson I learned from it, in which case I’d be primed to make the same mistake over again once I erased it.

The best advice comes from my iPhone when I accidentally shake it: “there is nothing to undo.”

Everyone has made mistakes. Everyone.  But some of us learn from them and others don’t.  I like John Mayer for a lot of reasons.  First, I think he is a truly talented musician.  I have been to two of his concerts and his guitar solos will give you chills…truly.  Just to be in the room with someone that talented is an honor, in my opinion.  But I also like him because he is a real guy.  He makes mistakes like everyone else, but his are in the public eye.  The blog post above is yet another reminder of how truly REAL he is.  And some of his mistakes have been doozies….but, he is a different person after the dust settles.  A better person.  All of us should be so flawed.

Thing #7a-Google Reader Revisited

I read an interesting article on my reader about how New Yorkers are drinking their tap water instead of bottled water…and LOVING it!  My first reaction was that I am so super spoiled by our filter on our fridge, that I don’t even cook with our tap water-much less actually DRINK it!  Yikes!  Then, upon further reading, it turns out the water that serves more than nine million people tastes so fantastic and is so clean that it doesn’t even need to be filtered.  Wow!  This push to drink the tap water comes from the Bloomberg administration who hope to discourage people from using bottled water because the bottles take up a lot of space in landfills and it takes electricity to produce them.  Let me say that I think this is a wonderful idea and that my family is already taking measures to not use bottled water (we refill decanters and washable bottles instead).  But, I’m not sure we are ready to use the water out of the tap.  Here in the Dallas area, the water has a distinct and frankly not-so-great taste.  But, we must all do our part to leave a smaller carbon footprint and it is our responsibility to teach our children to do the same.

Thing #14-Tools

I made the word cloud above on Wordle.  I really enjoyed making it and experimenting with the colors and fonts.  I also made one using words that describe my son.  I think it’s interesting that I couldn’t post my Wordle to my blog until I saved it to the gallery.  This made me a little nervous, but in the end I decided that maybe others would enjoy seeing my creation.  I then looked through the gallery and was able to see other people’s work.  I saw some very interesting and inspirational clouds.  Unfortunately, I also saw some inappropriate content that would not be okay for students to see.  So, if I was to use this tool in my classroom, I may have to just create it for them and then give them instructions on how to utilize it.  For example, I think it may be a good idea to create a Wordle that contains vocabulary words from a particular science unit, or character traits from a book we are reading.  The Wordle can be a starting point for the students to elaborate on.  They can define the words in the Wordle, or possibly match the character traits to a particular character.  My fifth graders will most-likely LOVE this!

I also experimented with Ta-da List.  I am definitely a list maker.  I make lists on scraps of paper, on my phone, etc.  I am always wishing I could share these with my husband or friends when the list involves their input or collaboration.  I cannot wait to use it and have already made a list for things to do before school starts!  I’m sure my hubby will greatly appreciate being able to get a copy of a “honey-do” list via email, where he can check things off, add, and delete as necessary. 

Lastly, I played around with PollDaddy as well.  I know that this is something I can use in my classroom as I implement my blog this year.  One of my goals for myself is to keep up with my blog posts and have the students occasionally comment or post things as homework.  I can definitely see myself developing a poll for them to answer that covers classroom material or discussions.  I have always wanted to learn how to use polls in my class and now I know where to begin. 

Thing #13-Online Image Generators

I’m pretty sure the above cartoon speaks for itself!  It’s also pretty evident that this is a fantastic and FUN tool for students to use in the classroom!!!!  I can see myself using this generator during reading instruction while teaching character development.  My friend and colleague, Buffie, teaches social studies and I can imagine her using this after a unit is completed.  And let’s not forget that some things can just be FUN…with no educational tie-in.  I think, as teachers, we often forget that having fun is a vital part of a child’s education.  These lessons are helping me remember that it’s not all about the test, the TEKS, or grades on a report card.  Sometimes kids just need to be kids!