Thing 7B

My Google reader find of the week was my horoscope.

Take care of any errands early in the day to give yourself more time for getting cozy with your loved one. Free yourself of all distractions so you can give yourselves fully to each other.

Therefore I am finishing this course before I go home today so I can focus on my family!! !

Thing #21

Google tools RULE! In the chaos that is my desk right now are my Fall conference request forms. I have been trying to find the time to sit down and put them on the calendar. So what a relief when I was forced to play with google tools and decided to try out Google calendar. I entered all of my conferences and a cool little email pops up to remind me what is on my schedule!

I also chose to set up Google alerts. My friend told me about this awhile back and I was excited to set up alerts of my own. I set up an alert for Kate Gosselin (because I love drama?!?), Mesquite (which I later removed because I realized I needed to be more specific), and New Moon (because I am a Twilight fan and am counting down the days until it comes out).

Thing # 20

How many times a day do I send a document or spreadsheet to my team members to review and edit. How much easier will my life be now that I can use Google docs! Here are some ideas on how I plan to use Google docs in the future.

• Class spreadsheet with vital information (including contact info)
• Parent packet for review and editing(with whole team)
• Milestone/Benchmark scores to update throughout the year
• Notes regarding students for all four  5th grade teachers to add to
• Parent conference summaries
• TAKS data
• Accommodations for students

Thing # 19

I have never seen or heard of Voice Thread before. How neat! I really got a kick out of the family photo and the comments the family members all made. The mom really cracks me up. I really enjoyed looking at the Library A-Z voice thread. I could use this in my classroom for a variety of reasons. We could create an A-Z about 5th grade to share on Meet the Teacher night, we could use it to review science concepts, or we could use it to just have fun! I would also like to do a similar family photo voice thread and pass it around to family members to get everyones thoughts or memories. 

Thing #18

I laugh at my sister because she can literally sit on youtube for hours browsing videos. Now I know how she does it. I have seen videos from YouTube before, but I have never gotten online and searched for videos. The video above was pretty cool. This teacher has her students go over science safety rules. I always look for fun videos to share ideas with students and I think they would really enjoy this one. I always teach safety the first week of school but I am going to show this one to review the rules very soon. 

Just the other day my students and I were discussing dry ice. I came across this cool video and can't wait to share it with them. Maybe I can even buy the supplies and do one of these experiments in front of them. 

Okay now this next video is pretty funny. My students this year are obsessed with Michael Jackson. They LOVE to moon walk on the tennis court. They are always asking me to do it with them but I have tried and just cannot seem to get it down. So as I was browsing the "how to" videos I found this how to moon walk like Michael Jackson video.

And now for some fun! This baby getting down to Beyonce! 

Thing #17

Since I teach science I previewed the DragonflyTV Podcast: PBS Kids Go!   I listened to several different podcasts. I definitely will begin to use these in my classroom. I like these podcasts because they include video and come from actual questions that kids have written in. In one particular episode they even discussed different science experiments they could design regarding the topic they wrote in about I searched the science directory and this was by far my favorite. It was super easy to access. I clicked the button that said "Add to itunes" and transferred them all for me. Then I could browse through and listen to the ones that I was interested in.  I have taken a podcasting class before and I have made podcasts with my student using Garage Band, but I have never subscribed and shared podcasts with my students. 

Thing #16

I have always been an avid reader. My sibling make fun of me to this day because my nose was always in a book growing up. To this day I read for enjoyment and look forward to the end of a long day when I can cuddle on the couch with a book. Over the summer I got my mom to finally read the Twilight saga. I forced her to take it on a trip and then she came back addicted to books like me. She reads more than I do now which is a strange concept to me. My Dad is a little annoyed because he now has two bookworms to deal with in life. I love technology and organization, but I am having a hard time getting interested in using Library Thing. Maybe it is because I would rather actually be reading a book. I do see how it would be helpful in searching for reading that you would enjoy, but at the moment my bookshelves are overflowing with books I need to read. I think if I keep trying it maybe I will grow to like it more. I am willing to give it a try.