Thing #16

Like Tink, I had already set up iGoogle as my productivity tool. I do like the fact that I now have a bar that has news, sports, weather updates, etc. which can be accessed directly from my desktop. I had already chosen Google calendar for a previous exercise. Therefore, I selected Sticky Notes. I find myself sometimes forgetting something of importance, that may get left off the calendar. With Sticky Notes, if I should think of something that needs to be addressed, I can make myself a note and then put it on my computer. Hey I can even send my wife a note to remind her that she needs to leave work and come home (she sometimes gets a bit wrapped up in her work at AAFES). I can see both of these tools being useful in the classroom, especially when something of importance needs to be addressed, or when an event occurs that may be of interest to the class.

Thing #15

If nothing else, I now know what wiki means. Since we are speaking Hawaiian, how many of you know that aloha means spirit from within? Enough of the linguistics lesson. I use wikipedia extensively for historical images and photographs. These sites have already been granted free use of the images on their sites since they have become part of the public domain and free of copyright issues. As mentioned in a previous post, the video game Call of Duty: The World at War uses fictional names set against the backdrop of World War II. While the storming of the Reichstag by the Russian army is the last level of this game, the last scene actuallly occurred. The photograph below provides the evidence and was obtained from wikipedia. I don't know if
these two are Sgt. Zarkov and Pvt. Petrenko, but this actuallly occurred.

Thing #14

The two tools that I selected were Gliffy and Flowchart.com. They seemed to be more easily manipulated when moving and setting up a chart. While I don't have a project upcoming that would require a flow chart or concept map, I can think of several uses for it. One would be for a lesson on world religions. Using various shapes, students can develop a concept map that identifies the major world religions and add more shapes to identify the central figures in each religion as well as their beliefs. Another would be to create a concept map to identify the causes of American imperialism at the end of the 19th Century. Flowchart.com has more basic layouts that even include floor plans for a house. While there may not be a great need in a History class for house plans, it could provide students with an opportunity to use a CAD to produce a simple diagram related to a historic event (allow them to use their imagination: not a bad idea sometimes).

Thing #13

Lucky number 13. This is another cool tool to use. I have already discovered a great use for it. I can now create a document with my Zoho account and save it there. Then, when I need to print it, I can access the document online and print it without having to add it to a thumb drive on the lap top and then plug in the thumb drive to another computer to in order to print it. This can make working on student communications and records much easier. I created a document from the introduction to my WebQuest to insert here. I hope this works!

http://writer.zoho.com/public/grf624/A-Prelude-to-War

This is simply amazing! I have been published on the web.

Thing #4 Redux

I got that title from The X-Files (the Redux part that is). I have decided to follow the following (that's almost redundant) blogs and the reason:

1. Blaize Miranda: he has a good eye for technology in the classroom as evidenced in his blog;

2. Candace Rogers: a science teacher's perspective;

3. Susan Runyon-Davis: a math teacher's perspective, as well as being in EDUC5500 with her;

4. Stefi Outlaw: another social studies teacher's perspective;

5. Amelia Crotzer: she likes to travel as I do, although NYC is not my cup of tea.

I have been exposed to more ways to communicate in the past two months than I thought was possible, including ways to make it more eye-catching was well. As I mentioned in a previous post, I do join in conversations on blogs on the Commercial Appeal and sometimes ESPN regarding UofM basketball and football. So far this has been fun! I am honored that Blaize enjoys my dry sense of humor.

Thing #12

This has been another adventure in technology and Google! I chose to set up a calendar and an iGoogle web page. I used the Prism from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon for my iGoogle theme (they did not have any UofM artwork or logos). I have set up my calendar for the next three months. Of course, my dance card is not completely full yet, but I am sure that it will change. This reminds me of the scheduler that came on our first computer that we had over 10 years ago. It had a similar calendar function. This can come in handy since this does something that did not: it sends you an email reminder of your function. While it may not work for students, it definitely is an excellent tool for planning weekly and semester activities for the classroom. The iGoogle homepage is a good source of daily news items. I also included entertainment, sports and weather. One never knows what may come up in a classroom discussion. This page can at least provide some assistance. The links to my calendar and iGoogle page are listed below:

http://www.google.com/ig

http://www.google.com/calendar/render.

Thing #11

I chose to use Google Blog Search and Technorati for this exercise. The great thing about Google Blog Search is that it is relatively simple to use. There were no password requirements or user names. I simply typed in US History teacher blogs and was immediately sent to a menu of various sites. I found one that I feel could be very beneficial in teaching US History. The web site is http://ushistoryeducatorblog.blogspot.com/ . I found a really interesting blog that discussed "The Wizard of Oz" as a political allegory of the Progressive Movement in the 1890s. I had never heard this before. How many high school students that have seen the movie ever related it to an historical setting? I did join Technorati. In scrolling through its various blogs, I discsovered several blogs for teachers that provide insight on new developments within the teaching profession. I am finding more and more that the use of blogs can be of great assistance in both my personal and professional life.