Web 2.0

What:

We were suppose to learn about kidsperation this week but our teacher was down with strep. There's a lot of that going around right now. So instead, Doc Waters, gave us the assignment of researching web 2.0. There is so much information about this that I finally narrowed my search to web 2.0 for teachers.

So What?:

There was a really fun application called Storyjumper. Storyjumper helps one wright their own children's book. It does cost many to actually make the hard copy of the book but I think its free to just do one on line. The web 2.0 has a ton of ways to network with people that have the same interests as you. I could find someone in another part of the country or world that is also studying to become a teacher and we could share our schooling experiences and how things are done in our different areas and also bounce ideas off of each other. A great way to do this would be by using google buz. Google buz is similar to Facebook but it isn't as popular yet. From what I can tell though, Google buz is easier to use especially when it comes to sharing photos. Also it is connected to Picasa and many other sites.

I liked what I saw for Fotobabble. I can take a picture of my kids then have them each add a vocal tag for grandma. What a great way to share photos of events in your life with family that couldn't be there. I hate scrap booking but I think I might like it doing it electronically.

Now What?:

It will take some time playing around with all the different things that web 2.0 has to offer but it will be worth it. It will make collaboration with other teachers all over the globe more easy and fun. We can share lesson plans that we can then tweak to our own state curriculum and classroom needs, we can share ideas and experiences of things that worked and things that didn't and get more ideas. It will be fun to see were the future of technology takes us.

Video:

The Connected Classroom was awsome and scary. What really hit me was China and India have more honor students than we have students. I do feel that our children are being left behind. With all the budget cuts how can we get the technology into the classrooms. At my sons high school at the beginning of the year we had to pay a book fee. It was around $100, but there aren't enough books for each of the students. My son never has home work because of the book shortage so everything has to be done at school. The teachers don't even photo copy pages for them to do because of the cost of paper and ink. How are these high school students going to be prepared for college and the amount of homework that goes along with it if they've never had to do it before? They will have no idea how to budget their time. But with technology what it is today you would think the teachers could still assign homework. They could have them do some research on a particular web site, they could scan a worksheet onto their web page for the student to do on line then submit it the same way. When I was introduced to UEN I was surprised to see how many of my children's teachers were not on there. It's disheartening. We can not let our children be left behind the rest of the world.

The one thing I really want to learn how to do is learn how to write a grant proposal for things I might need in my classroom. I've been shadowing a teacher this week at Riverview Elementary. She has six computers in her classroom. The fifth grade teacher down the hall also has several computers in her room. I just assumed that this was a school in a neighborhood that has more money than the school my kids go to but it turns out they don't. The teachers have written grant proposals or got the computers donated. Also many of the teachers have used their own personal money to buy a Document camera so they don't have to make over heads and try to schedule the over head projector for their class time. The document camera is awesome. It is one of the first things I will buy for my classroom. I can't wait to introduce my students to the wonderful world before them.