Podcast Reflection #6: Your name? Yeah, it's not in this podcast. So listen.

This podcast talked about a lot of available resources for teachers on the internet.  The first resource was an Education Jargon Generator.  It is available at http://www.sciencegeek.net/lingo.html  This site is great for first year teachers.  It can really help teachers out.  I probably will use this resource myself. 

I also really liked the site http://oneword.com It lets you type in a word and helps you write all about it.  The woman on the podcast typed in duck and it generated a lot of examples of what ducks do and are like.  I think this would be great in the classroom.  When students have to research items they could use this site to get ideas for their project.  This podcast was great because it listed a lot of sites that would be great for all classrooms.  They gave examples of how to get to the resources and how to use them. 

Podcast Reflection #5: K12online-Sharing: The Moral Imperative

K12online 2010 available at http://live.classroom20.com/ talked at sharing.  Every teacher wants to share their resources with other teachers.  Technology has enabled teachers to share with everyone.  Booksmarks and blogging are great ways to share resources.  Before sharing was only for the students, now teachers are able to share in a new, easy way.  I cannot image not having the internet in my classroom.  Growing up in the era that I have has given me so many opportunities that were not available to past teachers.  I listened to some educators will their testimonies of using the internet to share their resources.  I think it is great that one teacher posted a blog and that so many people around the world subscribed.  They all were interested in what he was doing in his classroom and wanted to use those resources to improve their own classrooms.  This is what I hope can happen to my own blog.  I want other teachers to not only look at what I am doing in my own classroom, but also give me ideas and comment on what they like and even the things that they did not like.  This would be a great way to see what is working in classrooms and what I might not want to use in my own classroom. 

Podcast Reflection #4: iPads with Peter Smith

ipads with Peter Smith  was about ipads in the classroom.  They talked about a school where all the students have ipads and email accounts.  The kids are learning about new technology and new responsibility.  They have the students email their homework to their teachers.  I think this is awesome.  I would love for all of my students to have ipads.  It is like their own little computers that they can take home or store in their desks.  Technology can be so helpful in the classroom.  There are so many ways you can utilize ipads in the classroom.  They can be used for many different reasons and in all classroom subjects.  I wish schools were given more money to help improve their classrooms like this. 

Podcast Reflection #3: Facebook Talk

Bullying on Facebook had a lot of great points.  The main idea of the podcast was to discuss bullying on facebook.  They talked about how it can just “blast negativity” and start fights in schools.  They used the analogy that a mean post on a facebook wall is like that school note that would get passed around class.  The main difference is that the note could get thrown away, but that wall post is now visible for the world to see.  I never really thought about it like this. 

They also talked about making fake profiles to embarrass people.  How can we get these profiles taken down?  How long is it going to take?  These are a few of the questions we have to find the answers to.  Facebook has a long process of reporting the profiles and giving evidence as to why it is fake.  Then you just have to wait until they do something about it.  They compared this is craiglist, where if something is reported they take it down immediately and then investigate it.  This made me think of the question, how can we improve these sites against spam and imposters? 

Technology is here to stay so we need to find the best ways to improve it.  Change is here and we need to ask ourselves how can we manage change. 

Reflection #2: CDK's Education Technology Place

The site http://www.cyndidannerkuhn.info/CDK/Home.html has a lot of great links.  I like that most of the websites we need to use are all linked to this page.  It is very helpful.  I also liked the list of blogs that our teacher actually uses.  If she finds them useful then I'm sure they are.  The article about making english the first of many languages was surprising.  I think it's crazy that Americans are least likely to be bilingual in the world. 

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart." - Nelson Mandela. 

I had to post this quote.  I thought it made the information memorable.  It is so true.  I also liked all the videos.  I can not say it enough, this information is SO USEFUL.  You can just spend so much time clicking links and going and going.  Not only is it useful, it is abundant! Great site, great resources.

Reflection #1: Technology Bits, Bytes, and Nibbles.

After looking through the site http://www.technologybitsbytesnibbles.info/ I found some very useful information.  I loved all the tips and hints.  They all were very helpful.  I really enjoyed the blog carnival for ESL.  My concentration is ESL so the link the was great.  I found A LOT of resources that I could actually use.  I was surprised to find the link for all the lessons.  I mean this is stuff I could actually use in my future classroom.  Just this resource alone could really impact my teaching.  There is a link Teaching Vocabulary http://evasimkesyan.edublogs.org/2011/01/03/teaching-vocabulary-links-books-ideas/ VERY HELPFUL.  That site takes you to a page that many more links are availiable.  It is great because it breaks it down into smaller, more detailed information.  I was surprised to find so much information.  I also liked the blog over Brain Fitness.  The games and puzzles sound awesome and THEY TRAIN YOUR BRAIN. How cool is that?  This is definately a great site that can be utilized in the classroom.  All in all the information on the website is great and useful.  It was fun exploring the different links and finding what I could use!