RockStar

Sharing is easy when it comes to Google Documents! As long as you have a Google account, you can share documents with anyone-- if you don't have a Google account, they are free to sign up for at Google's website. I partnered with a classmate and we did a scavenger hunt on Pyrite- aka Fool's Gold. Given specific websites, we found basic information about pyrite and a few things that surprised us! It's a great way to send students on an independent information hunt.

The websites I used were a little out of date. Of course, I was able to work around that, but students in my classroom could begin to panic if something went wrong-- or they could do the opposite and just research it on different websites and end up playing on the internet for an hour instead of completing their scavenger hunt. Basically, I learned to plan ahead and check the sites provided on a regular basis, even if I only check them the day before I hand out the assignment. This way, potential disasters are avoided! In my English class, I could use this type of project on authors or genres or literary periods; all of these are useful in fully understanding a text. I would probably go a step further as well, maybe having my students present this information to the class and creating some sort of visual aid as well. As a teacher, I should just do as much as possible to keep my students on target in the classroom and in life.

Image: Jasper Johns' "Target, 1974"

.PngPong!

I found a super cool way to take a picture of something on the internet-- it's called a .png (ping) file. In creating a .png file, what I am basically doing is taking a picture of my computer screen. On an Apple computer, what you do is hit shift+apple+4. This should make a cursor/crosshare that you use to crop the image you want 'photographed.' The image then automatically saves to your desktop. Piece of cake!
As an example, I pinged a picture of my amazing organizational skills! Here it is:

The twelve main folders are the chapters of my textbook. I even found a way to color code them (it really helps me out so much). I can even go into the files, like I did with the portfolio file, and color code everything within the portfolio folder green as well. Green sub-files go in the green folder, and so on. Another piece of cake!

WebQuests

WebQuests are great projects for students! I especially like the ones that involve much teamwork; students teaching other students is a great way to master information. A lot of the projects are like extensions of my students' learning; an extra piece to the puzzle. As a teacher, I should always be looking for creative ways to involve my students with the learning process. The internet is so attractive to students of this generation; aligning the learning process with a student's familiarity and comfort of a computer, along with group work and not so common projects, can serve to motivate the student to a level previously unbeknownst. I will try anytihng it takes to motivate my students, and I think learning through WebQuests is a great starting point!

Make a Word Cloud!

While looking for an image to use on the wiki's main page, I came across this awesome website/tool called Wordle. It is basically like a word cluster that all correspond to a common theme. I think it could be a great way to decorate a classroom as a great way to have students be creative. You can enter as many words that you want and choose the font, alignment, and colors. It's fun!

Wiki Quickie

Wiki wiki means 'quick' in Hawaiian. I use Wikipedia like crazy, and quick is definitely what it is-- information and a list of sources at my fingertips. I believe that finding information on a topic or looking for further assistance on an assignment should be quick for students. No one should have to search across thirty different websites for help with plot elements or poetry terms. This is why I think creating an English wiki as a student resource is a brilliant idea!

Yesterday I began creating a wiki with fellow English majors. At this point, however, it is a bit overwhelming. I have not actually met with the other English majors in my technology class yet to create any coherence in format or style of our postings yet, so I am hesitant about exactly what to do initially. I created my first annotation for the website listing; I did readwritethink.org-- the amazing website I reviewed below. I just really cannot wait to see how this will look a couple weeks from now! It will be great! It looks like it will be a great way to get students and parents alike to access information that will supplement the learning process! One major aspect of the wiki is privacy. From a teacher's position, I am able to set up a wiki for my classroom and protect it from the rest of the world. My students and ONLY my students will be able to view and add to the information. So basically, what I need to do now is just dive in! One, two, three.....!

Evaluating Readwritethink.org

Readwritethink.org is an amazing new website I found that is sure to help ANY teacher! It is sponsored by the National Council for Teachers of English and the International Reading Association, so materials submitted are evaluated by members of these professional groups. This means they're all approved and great!! I especially enjoyed the poetry tools because they aid students in creating poetry and also in learning poetry terms. They are mostly student interactive, so this site is a wonderful resource for students, teachers, and parents alike!
Evaluating this website taught me a lot. I learned to look for site credentials first before accepting the given materials as proper and accurate. Also, it is important to look for a site with working, active links. If the site is amazing but a lot of the links that could be useful are broken, it automatically becomes ineffective and disappointing.