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.