Right now, I’m just trying to figure out whether or not the voice thread worked.  I guess I’ll find out.

I have enjoyed this class and I know that I’ll continue to explore the sites presented.  I am really glad for the technical expertise that allowed me to continue when all hope seemed to be gone.  (Sometimes, it is the simplest answer is the right answer.)

I know for many years to come that I’ll remember the simple, but powerful, lesson:  help is available if I swallow my pride and ask.  I have spent night and day reading, blogging, and reading some more in order to finish the assigned tasks.  I am glad to be finished and glad that I’ll be able to continue learning on my own.  This process will continue.  I’ll just get more sleep than I’ve been getting between my blogs.

I don’t know when to stop talking. . . thanks for listening.

After exploring the Classroom 2.0 and Ning sites, I can see some great potential for moving beyond Facebook to make networking more meaningful.  I found several groups on the Classroom site that I would like to join.  There are groups for Georgia teachers and gifted networks.  I think the place to start would be the Beginner Group.  There seemed to be a lot of meaningful exchanges of ideas between people who teach in the same area and would know what would work.

I really think I could use Ning to make our own network for parents and students to supplement our current website.  It would be easier for many of our applications.  There are many announcements that need to all students and their parents.  It is a tedious, time-consuming process to add those to every day’s newsletter.  One addition to the network would do the job.  You could also connect with other teachers or classrooms to share information.  One comment area was calling for participants in an essay contest.  This would be a great way to connect.

Again, for my classroom use, there will have to be some changes in the way that access is limited within many schools.  Until then, students who have internet access at  home will be making connections and moving beyond their peers.  Teachers must provide experiences with the available sites that keep those students from falling behind.  All students must be prepared for this digital world and teachers can’t lag behind.

Yes, it is 4:47AM and I can’t sleep.  It must be the first day of school or something!

I’ve checked my reader.  Yesterday, there were only a few items added in the morning; I thought Monday would be a slow day.  I was wrong.

The TechLearning feed had The Three Little Pigments.  (Titles are everything…)  I found a great short lesson and demo idea for teaching about the primary light colors vs. pigment colors and how our eyes see the infinite variety of all the other colors when a little black is thrown into the mix.

Four colors of ink equals infinity.

This lesson is from a site that features “snacks” or short samples of what is displayed at Exploratorium in California.  I’m adding this to Delicious and I’ll try to get a nap in before the alarm rings.  : )

After much searching, I finally added the format for the K12 Learning 2.0 (fall 09 version) as the template.  I added education news, a notepad, weather for Greenville (HOT), and few other things.  It is very similar to my iGoogle page.  The benefit here is that it can be shared.

I’ve got another to-do list, which could serve as yet another reminder on just how far behind I am.  When the stress gets to be too much, I’ll flip through my photo box that is set to take me across Georgia.

I do love the quote of the day–Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

You can see anything and learn almost everything on YouTube.  I hate to admit that I like the silly animal videos.  Cat Playing Piano is a favorite.

The others that I saved to Delicious were on the subject of teaching science.  One in particular is a model for how I may be teaching in the future–if our resource center is closed.  I would hate to show demonstrations instead of letting the kids have their own experiences, but this would be better than reading about it.

From TeacherTube, I’ll always recommend the video Did You Know? as it is the perfect example of just how fast our world is changing.  The original is called Shift Happens.  There are newer versions being created all the time.  There are really great demonstrations and songs about EVERYTHING on TeacherTube.  I will get an account and log in so I can skip the ads.  (I got tired of hearing about the AHA moment…but she did lose over 200 pounds…maybe the universe is trying to tell me something…but that’s another blog…)

First thought, this is overwhelming!  There’s SOOOO much from which to chose.

As I’m typing I’m listening to the soothing voice of Mike Rowe, my favorite dirty man.  He has a podcast available on iTunes called Mike Rowe works.  He’s telling me about the disconnect between our food and the farmer.  Our food chain is in trouble–I’m listening!

I also found a podcast of some of the biographies from the Georgia Stories series.  I loved using those when I taught Georgia History and am glad that I can access some of them.

I’ve subscribed to Cover to Cover, a show that I like from National Public Radio produced here.  Now I don’t have to listen to all that classical music to get the update on Georgia authors, books, and stories.

I’ve never participated in a podcast, so this will be new for me.  I know that my students would rather hear an expert than to hear me tell what an expert once said.

Oh…I forgot the ones that I “hid” on my sticky note application.  The Brevard County School District put their Goldilocks on Trial drama on a podcast and teachers are putting their instructional slides up so students can review.  Meanwhile, the Georgia Aquarium and Jean Cousteau are in my iTunes.

I’ve set up a Delicious account.  I’ve also found that the site, which could be very helpful for sharing with colleagues, is blocked in our school system.  So, the first thing I have to say about this and so many technologies is that “safety” will prevent many of us from taking advantage of the sites.  OK…that’s off my chest; I’ll step off the soapbox.

While exploring this for the last few days, I finally realized that many sites include Delicious (and 400 other places) already listed when you click share. I also finally realized that I could simply click suggested tags.  I was just so busy adding some of my favorites and it was so easy to get started that I may have skimmed the directions.

I definitely see collaborating with other gifted educators by sharing the sites we find helpful.  It would also be of use to point parents and teachers to those sites which elaborate on the social and emotional needs of our students.

I’ve skipped to number twenty because I could work on it from school.  I was on a roll…

I do see a benefit to using the site for documents that are to be used or created by a team of people.  I also liked the history feature and believe that could be helpful while assessing a team’s work.  I would also use it to have my department double check my work before hitting SEND to a group of parents.

For my students, this would have been great during our anatomy study.  Each student was creating a tour of one part or function of a body system.  Students who were stronger in grammar could have assisted the students who knew the content but had difficulty expressing the concept.

I tried uploading an old PowerPoint.  I wasn’t able to do that–yet.  I’ll try that so that those can be shared with our schools and I can skip the faculty meetings.  Teachers could view various presentations on their own time.

I like the Library Thing.  It reminds me of another site that I use called Shelfari.  I can see the students using it to form their own groups.  These would serve the purpose of the literary circles that many language arts classes use.  It would provide reviews from others and a forum for their own opinions.  I also looked into my favorite genre–crime, thriller, and mystery.  I would like to know if there are others who can read blood and gore, but refuse to watch any gory movie.  I followed the author Rick Bragg, who is from my hometown.  I love seeing the comments from people who love his work as much as I do.   I found the Common Knowledge section interesting.  Students might also like seeing who, where, and which events are mentioned in works the most.  I’ll visit this “library” again.