Tool #5 Tagging & Social Bookmarking

I signed up with Diigo and joined two educational groups: Web 2.0 Tools for Educators and Cool Tools for Educators. I found alot interesting information as I browsed which include really cute fonts and stock photos, both which can be used for labeling in our classroom at any time during the year. These will be very useful websites I will be able to use, particularly for those students who need visuals for reinforcement. I also joined another interior design group that is of personal interest to me.

Social bookmarking will make our searches a lot less time consuming and much more convenient!

http://www.veezzle.com/
http://simplythebest.net/fonts/fancy_fonts.html

Tool #4 Cool Google Tools

I loved the Google tools even though I did get kind of stuck for a minute! I created a form which I sent to a friend. The convenience is amazing and the tools are very useful for quick referencing. I also subscribed to the five blogs I'm following and another four that will help me with lesson planning.

Tool #3 Image Generators & Mashups

That was fun! I used Glogster to compile personal pictures that were meaningful to me. This can also be done to engage parents on the blog by allowing them the opportunity to share pictures of their children or pictures they may authorize to be used of students engaged in the classroom activities throughout the year.

I used WordItOut to list words related to a topic, in this case, PreK. I can basically do the same using lists for books or themes so that parents can have a list of words to study with their child at home. Students can practice syllable activities, writing, and other language activities on their own time.

These are just a couple of examples...the possibilities are endless!

Tool #2 Building Community & Comments

This is definitely a new age of technology and not taking advantage of the abundance of resources is almost a sin! As educators, we have an obligation to each student that walks into our class to impact their minds with meaningful information and tools that can one day make them better prepared in this ever-changing world of technology. In order to do this, we ourselves should certainly be prepared and PLNs will be a very useful tool to help us achieve this. I think a PLN is a phenomenal idea for the classroom and our educational community, and I am very excited to see how each component will come together!

I love the way each one of us can respectfully voice our opinions and thoughts. It's important to give others the opportunity to share their views; it's how we grow!

http://techproject21.blogspot.com/
http://srasimon.blogspot.com/
http://tigercathe.blogspot.com/
http://tigertrailcenturylearning.blogspot.com/
http://laclasedemsamaro.blogspot.com/

Tool #1 Blog Set-up & Registration

Wow!...That took forever! Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty computer savvy, but can't ever make up my mind on colors, fonts,...basically I was stuck on the 'Design' tab for HOURS, and I'll probably change it again (my curse). It looks like it could be fun and pretty interesting down the line but today...I am exhausted! I recorded a message for my avatar but couldn't ever get it to work. I guess I'll try later. Anyways, this most certainly will serve as a fine tool for networking with staff, parents and students. It's pretty neat to see everyone's different style and set-up...Nice job everybody!!