I probably would never have taken the time to try all the activities that were included in the class.  Yes, I spent a lot of time researching but I learned so much from taking this course.  I learned how to blog, wikis, slideshows and social networking.   It was fun networking with teachers at my school and discussing what activity you were on and how you could use these activities with your students. Our teachers would get together and discuss the different activities and help one another learn about the activities.  I tried some activities with my students and I would like to use a blog with my students.  It takes time to learn all these new technology items but I think it was worth it.  I liked the weeks that we could use as a catch up because some weeks can be very hectic at school.

While visiting the social networks I tried to learn about them but felt it took a lot of time and I do not think I would use these in my classroom or for my own personal interest.  If I am looking for classroom ideas, I usually go to my favorite sites and find great ideas for my class.   I guess I am not that social and do not spend all my time on the computer.  Maybe some people enjoy networking more and spending time on the computer but I do notl

I enjoyed using Pageflakes,it was like designing another web page.  I used my page as my classroom page with a calendar of events and games for the students to click on.  We have to have webpage at school with homework for the week, events, websites for students to practice math on and this was pretty easy to use. I did have problems tryng to put a Teacher Tube on my Flakes page and I do not know why but I will try again.

I used the Google Docs to make a spreadsheet for my classes to keep tract of the poems that my students have completed in our poetry unit.  I teach creative writing to two classes and this would help me tract who has finished each poem.  I started a Power Point and it was easy to do and I would use spreadsheet for my class schedule and multiplication tables. My students fill in multiplication tables from 0-12.  The students enjoyed adding color to their numbers.  Third grade studies states and capitals and we collaborated with our technology teacher to make spreadsheets for our classes.  One sheet the state names  were scrambled and the other was a spreadsheet to match the state to the capital and to the postal abbreviation.

I was shocked by what I saw at You Tube and found some funny videos but I do not think I would use them in school.   I get cute You Tube videos from my niece to see her baby’s first step or first birthday and I have really enjoyed watching these videos.  On Teacher Tube it was hard finding a suitable video for elementary grades and it takes awhile to find what you are looking for and watch each one.  The time involved is lengthy and I do not know how valuable it would be in a classroom setting. I chose a cute cartoon video to teach states and capitals.

 http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=4dc94d5749d44d4c6c73

Podcast

I listened to Education Podcast Network and Learn Out Loud.  I really enjoyed the podcast from third grade where the students  reviewed books, question of the day for the students to answer, students informing parents about what important events happened at school for the week and students learning how to blog. I found a cite for free audio stories for kids that I thought would be a good resource.  I would like to take the time to have a class blog and encourage students to use it and let the students make podcast for the blog.  This sounds like a good summer project to get it up and running for the students to begin in the fall. To teach students how to use the blog the first week back to school.

I did not like this site, I thought it was just a way for people to put their thoughts down and other people to cheer them on.  I would not use this  for my goal setting , I would not take the time to list on the web and have people write me back.  We list goals at the beginning of the year and update them as the year progresses.  I think it would be a good idea for students to list goals at the beginning of the year but I would not use this in my class with my students and can not see any benefit from it.  It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

Library Service is a good free service and I am not surprised someone  organized it and put on the internet. The amount of information on the web is amazing.  I found books for my students and also there were books  recommended  that had similar themes for the students. From a teacher’s point of view I was disappointed that reading levels were found on some of the books but not others. I looked up books for myself and found interesting summaries of books.  I will probably use this free service again for myself  and students.

I thought delicious would be good to have all my favorites under one site so I can use various computers in my classroom, my laptop and at

http://del.icio.us/Jean4  

 I have lost my favorite list on one computer and this would be a great way to keep my favorites on internet. I added intereactive sites so my students can easily find the sites that I put in delicious.