Thing 5 Social Networking

I joined Maculspace and Art Education Online. Brousing through the "popular networks" I also joined Art Masters and researched some Masterworks. Iviewed some disussion forums and interacted with the Masterworks Fine Art regarding the artist "Miro".
I can see where social networking would save a lot of time finding resources. Entering an artist name and having their art work pop up could save a lot of time. There are many opportunities for networking for the classroom teacher and student.

Thing 4 Google Reader

I like how the news and information that you've selected will come to you. It saves a lot of time searching for the subscriptions. The articles are at your fingertips in a matter of seconds. I have selected a couple other newspapers that my husband prefers.

Thing 9 Spreadsheets

I could find a way to create spreadsheets that would serve a purpose in my classroom. These seem like a perfect way to organize student information I may need at a glance. I think it could be beneficial to parents and myself. Sharing information of upcoming projects and have parents see lists of items I may need collected or donated could be helpful. Using spreadsheets to gather information with fast access would be quite beneficial. What an easy way to organize and collect data. I like being organized so I think spreadsheets would be more beneficial to me than the parents or students.

Thing 12 Google Start Page

I really liked designing my start page. I could spend hours searching through the gadgets.To be able to personalize my start page based on the things I am interested in makes it a valuable learning experience. How very awesome! I know students would have a lot of fun creating their own start pages. These gadgets are very cool but possibly too easy to select things not appropriate so this would have to be monitored. I'm going to want to change my page around frequently since there are so many gadgets to explore. This could be a shared project put together by family members for quick access to eveyone's individual interests. I know I am going to love it!

Thing 21 Moodle

I was surprised to learn there is more to "Moodle" than an alternative email program. A teacher who is really organized and well prepared would benefit from designing their lessons into Moodle. It's a great communication source for parents and students of the teacher's expectations for class assignments and tests. The amount of time saved from grading tests would make this program worth all the time and effort that went into putting the teachers assignments in Moodle! I would think this would be a great program for older students but I could see where I could incorporate some of my curriculum into Moodle for my students.

Thing 20 Podcasting

Another challenge for me. There seems to be so much to learn from this one "Thing". There are several opportunities to use this for parents, students and teachers. I can see how I would be able to use it for personal use so I can be comfortable publishing information for my parents and students. Music, Video's and Podcasting...Oh my! So much to learn! Great opportunities for
parents and students.



phttp://www.sturgisps.org/14562051715249407/podcasts/browse.asp?A=399&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=58348

Thing 19 Digital Storytelling

I absolutley loved this project. How fun! I need to play around with it to learn all the things it can do but I can see the students having a great time making stories. They could create a story narrating their art work, they could use it to create reports, etc. This program could be used by individual students or created in groups. There are many ways this program could be used in the classroom by me and my students. Kids are going to love it! I plan to incorporate it into my classroom. How very cool!

Thing 18 Dicovery Education

I have a wealth of information at my fingertips that will be a huge help to me in the classroom. This is a valuable resource for teachers to share with their students. It's fantastic! I just need to learn how to copy these clips to our " j " drive. Actully I would prefer to download them to my "h" drive and label my folders for easier access.
I have copied some fall project ideas (subjects and mediums) and a few artists short video's explaining their art styles; Picasso, Renoir, Van Gogh, and Monet. I need to take the time to research some of the thousands of clips for my upcoming lessons. These resources are ideal as they are short and informative. Perfect for any lesson. I can't wait to use these videos with my lessons.

Thing 17 Online Photo Sharing

I think this is a great way to preserve your photos. I have always been concerned that they could be lost or destroyed. I will have to start preserving our photos. I like how they can be easily tagged. I am not sure about sharing them with the public.
I like being organized and tagging each photo with a few "logical" headings would make finding the picture you're looking for much easier than sorting through many pictures and photo albums. Especially by more than one person in the family trying to find a certain picture.

As an art teacher I need to do more with photography of my student's art work so it can be available to their families and friends. My students would love to be a part of this opportunity to share their talents with others.

Thing 14 Google Notebook

I really liked Google Notebook. I could see how it would be a great resource of websites. I could organize my notebooks by themes and have information and links at my fingertips. This seemed like one of the easiest methods of saving information. I might actually remember how to use this system.

I am not sure if the students would use it as often but I could see how it could be helpful when researching information for reports and needing to find special or intersting websites.

Thing 11 Google Sites

Using google sites to create websites will be great in the classroom. Students can learn about art and artists through a wide array of resources. I need to work on getting computers for my students in the art room. I am sure students would need monitored when sifting through the sites. I enjoyed learning how to make the website but it was a challange to collect all the information and I seem to have messed up my computer several times trying to retrieve items, etc. It's been interesting!

Thing 10 Google Presentations

I need to learn more about the process so I can utilize these fun things in my classroom. I know the students would love to see their art work displayed over the computer. The process is a bit complicated but with lots of practice it might become easier to manage. There are many opportunities for presentations in the classroom by students and for students.

Thing 8 Google Docs

I can see where shared documents can be useful with staff. Developing forms and sharing information for newsletters, etc. It seems to be a quick way to gather information from others. I could gather the information needed on or for students but I don't think they would be part of the "creating"process at their level but I could gather information from them and enter it into the document.

Thing 13 Instant Messaging

I have had lots of fun with "instant messaging" and I really like the "shared" calendar. I use calendars all the time and I would use it for work and with my family and friends.

Thing 16 Geocaching

Geocaching is probably something I wouldn't enjoy doing. There seems to be quite a cost factor involved (wouldn't a compus work?) and I am not the "outdoorsy type". I am sure the kids would like it but seriously I get lost finding my car in the parking lot. Left and right I understand but actual directions of north and south throw me off. I would have everyone "lost".

Thing 5 Social Bookmarking

Social Networking could be useful in the classroom as a means to keep students connected with one another.

Thing5 Delicious

I think this is an awesome way to bookmark items and information. Important information can be available at a glance. I like how the "popular" sites are easy to find and "tagging" these sites by "words" that have meaning to me will hopefully make them easier to find.

A disadvantage would be to have "too many" search words or if selected words don't relate to the topic. I marked several areas pertaining to Art Education.

Thing 15 Google Earth

I selected four locations from Google Earth for my Art Program: Sturges Young Auditorium, Carnegie Center, Open Door Gallery and the Louve Museum. These locations are great resources for my art students.

Thing 7 Skype

I had used Skype in the past but I wasn't the person that set it up nor did I understand what I was doing. It was available to me as a way to communicate to my family while I was out of the country. I wish I had known more about Skype while it was available to me; I would have used it more often.
I can see the many benefits of having Skype for personal and educational purposes. Students could connect with pen pals and have classroom to classroom conversations all around the world.
Skype to Skype is free and the minimal monthly fee for Skype to anyone is quite affordable.

Thing 6 Wikis

This would be a great way to work with students and allow them to share their ideas with each other in a "controlled" setting for "appropriate" communication with one another.

Thing 9 Form

Thing 3 About Me

This information can be used for parents and teachers to view things we are learning in the art class. I could post assignments and semester goals for the students.

Thing 3 About Me

I teach art education for third, fourth and fifth grade students. We concentrate on methods, art history and having lots of fun with hands on projects.