This is who I am
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Blog Post: Thing 8 – Free Technology Resources
Write about the five tools or website you found that will be useful in your teaching.
1. Common Craft is a great tool that breaks confusing information down into an easy to understand tutorial that is geared to making life easier for someone who wants to advance in their technology knowledge. In the blog on July 28, 2010, Byrne posted three Common Craft videos that clearly explained to to use Blogs, Wikis, and RSS. I especially liked how they explained Wikis. It makes setting up meetings or sharing lesson plans across a network of teachers. As a special education teacher, I am constantly trying to improve my teaching ideas and methods and I feel that Common Craft is a site that makes knowing how to use this useful information a very easy.
2. http://www.childtopia.com/index.php?newlang=eng - being a special education teacher, I am always looking for new things to present to my students and in this economy, free is even better. After exploring this website, I was amazed at how easy it was to set up educational activities for my students and give each of my students access to computers and technologies. It is essential that I do not neglect my students because of their disabilities. By giving them fun games to play, gives them a sense of freedom and accomplishment.
3. Free Sound Effects Library- This is a neat site that is filled with a vast amount of sound FX that I can use while doing a lesson. Say I were doing a lesson on African animals and the students wanted to know what a lion sounded like. I can link to this website and show my class what a real African Lion sounded like. This is pretty cool. The possibilities are endless.
4. School Clip Art- As a teacher who is constantly trying to create my own curriculum, I can use School Clip Art to add a little extra to my worksheets. Or if I am sending home a newsletter to my parents, I can add a picture of our school mascot.
5. Google for Teachers II- Free 33 Page Guide- This guide is a great tool to have as I want to expand my Google arsenal as I become a better teacher through the use of Google and all that it has to offer. Before this course, I only used Google for Search, Email, and Calendar. Now I am so much more equip to start this next school year stronger then ever.
1. Common Craft is a great tool that breaks confusing information down into an easy to understand tutorial that is geared to making life easier for someone who wants to advance in their technology knowledge. In the blog on July 28, 2010, Byrne posted three Common Craft videos that clearly explained to to use Blogs, Wikis, and RSS. I especially liked how they explained Wikis. It makes setting up meetings or sharing lesson plans across a network of teachers. As a special education teacher, I am constantly trying to improve my teaching ideas and methods and I feel that Common Craft is a site that makes knowing how to use this useful information a very easy.
2. http://www.childtopia.com/index.php?newlang=eng - being a special education teacher, I am always looking for new things to present to my students and in this economy, free is even better. After exploring this website, I was amazed at how easy it was to set up educational activities for my students and give each of my students access to computers and technologies. It is essential that I do not neglect my students because of their disabilities. By giving them fun games to play, gives them a sense of freedom and accomplishment.
3. Free Sound Effects Library- This is a neat site that is filled with a vast amount of sound FX that I can use while doing a lesson. Say I were doing a lesson on African animals and the students wanted to know what a lion sounded like. I can link to this website and show my class what a real African Lion sounded like. This is pretty cool. The possibilities are endless.
4. School Clip Art- As a teacher who is constantly trying to create my own curriculum, I can use School Clip Art to add a little extra to my worksheets. Or if I am sending home a newsletter to my parents, I can add a picture of our school mascot.
5. Google for Teachers II- Free 33 Page Guide- This guide is a great tool to have as I want to expand my Google arsenal as I become a better teacher through the use of Google and all that it has to offer. Before this course, I only used Google for Search, Email, and Calendar. Now I am so much more equip to start this next school year stronger then ever.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thing 07 - RSS Feeds and Blog Readers
I have always seen that little RSS icon on web pages that I frequently go to but never knew what that icon was. After creating my Google Reader page back in Thing3, I still did not know how to use the page to its full advantage. It is great to have a page like this to be able to stay connected to what I want to be connected to and nothing else. I have not been a big blog reader in the past, but now that I am becoming more attuned to how they can improve my life or keep me entertained, I will start exploring what is going on in the ciber world through blogs. When I find one that I enjoy reading, then I will connect it to my Google Reader page. This "Thing" has opened my eyes to another amazing thing that the internet has to offer.
In my classroom, I can subscribe to pages or blogs that relate to different teaching topics such as different curriculum, fun activities to do with special needs students, field trip ideas, etc. It would be nice to have Google reader on hand every time I log into my google account to get the latest blogs. Each student can have their own google reader account and I will manage what they subscribe to. They can be connected to the latest news from their favorite websites that are kid friendly. The possibilities are endless using this recently discovered RSS Feeds online.
In my classroom, I can subscribe to pages or blogs that relate to different teaching topics such as different curriculum, fun activities to do with special needs students, field trip ideas, etc. It would be nice to have Google reader on hand every time I log into my google account to get the latest blogs. Each student can have their own google reader account and I will manage what they subscribe to. They can be connected to the latest news from their favorite websites that are kid friendly. The possibilities are endless using this recently discovered RSS Feeds online.
Thing 6 - Image Generators
Image Generators was so much fun to play around with. It would be fun to make posters of my class for my own keeping as classroom decor to remember my classes from year to year. There are so many ways to create fun and very unique Images to share with friends and family. I had a great time with this. This is my wife's family during our Cruse to Catalina Island a couple years ago. I am sitting in the back!
Thing 5 - Flickr and Photo Sharing
I have been using Picasa for a while now because I have a Gmail account and it is connected through Google and not yahoo. I did my Thing5 using Picasa instead of Flickr. It was fun exploring the different things that can be done using a photo sharing sight such as Picasa. I have not done this yet, but I think that this next school year I will try to take a lot of pictures of my students doing whatever they do best and allow my parents the opportunity to view our classroom in a private session that only those privileged will be able to have access. This is a great way to share with parents and other school staff all of the fun things we do as a class. I know that in special education, parents want the best for their children and want their children to feel that they are loved and respected. By allowing parents the ability to actually see the love will allow for a close relationship between school and home. I am really excited to implement this in my classroom. By having Instructional Assistants in my class, I can delegate one to be my photographer and Picasa updater after each adventure I take my students on. Should be fun!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thing 4 - Searching the Web
As I was searching through the different search engines I began to realize that although I love using Google for my primary searching tool, I am now attuned to using a vast variety of search tools to allow me to successfully surf the web finding everything that I need, without any problems. I also liked how you can do an advanced search, allowing the user to add very precise information into the search engine to locate all of the useful web-pages and not any of the "junk". In terms to my own personal/professional web browsing, I am not looking for things that are super advanced that Google cannot find for me. I think, in regards to picking a search engine, I will stick with Google, its easy and from my experience, has been highly successful in allowing me to find what I need in a timely manner. But what was new to me or what has reminded me is Google Advanced Search. I have only been using regular Google.com for my search engine but after taking a look at and using Google Advanced Search, I was able to plug in exactly what I was looking for using exact words or phrases and taking out unnecessary words that might hinder the search. The results were astonishing. I was able to narrow down my search criteria and find what I was looking for, fast. Every time I do a Google search, I am amazed at how big the world wide web is. It is unbelievable at the amount of information that is out there in the click of a button.
Using search engines in my classroom, I teach special education students, so their web surfing is highly limited. I can set up all of my student computers by having the home page being www.kidsclick.org or kids.yahoo.com allowing my students a safe and meaningful web experience where I am assured that everything that they are looking at online is designed to be kid friendly. I can show my students the basics of searching, but they will have no need to use the more advanced searches, especially if they are using kidsclick.org or kids.yahoo.com.
Using search engines in my classroom, I teach special education students, so their web surfing is highly limited. I can set up all of my student computers by having the home page being www.kidsclick.org or kids.yahoo.com allowing my students a safe and meaningful web experience where I am assured that everything that they are looking at online is designed to be kid friendly. I can show my students the basics of searching, but they will have no need to use the more advanced searches, especially if they are using kidsclick.org or kids.yahoo.com.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thing 3, iGoogle Suite
How can the Google suite of tools help you to organize information and how can the Google suite of tools be used for education? What is the “paradigm flip” that the article suggests should occur in classrooms and school libraries?
I have been using gmail for about 6 years now and have not really taken advantage of all that it is worth. Exploring the Google suite of tools have opened up my eyes to all that I can do as a teacher in the classroom. I know Google is on the forefront of innovation online but going through iGoogle has enlightened me completely. I am ready to take my teaching methods to the next level. Reading through the article titled "Flip This Library" http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6610496.html has totally made me want to take my school to the next level of education. As I have stated in my earlier blog, I will be new to the campus but I feel that learning all of this new information about how Google can reinvent the way schools can function, I can bring a new light to the staff and students in the entire school. I pray that I have the boldness to take on this incredible task of changing the way students can learn in this technological world.
Within my classroom I can use iGoogle to organize everything that I use. Instead of having a desk calendar, I use Google Calendar which I can link to other peoples calendars. The whole campus can be linked to the same calendar online using Google Calendar. I think that would be awesome and would save a ton of paper. I think that using iGoogle to connect a campus staff, students, and parents can save a tremendous amount of paper. Also using Google Docs will give me the ability to create different kinds of curriculum geared towards special education students that I can share with others throughout the campus and district. The possibilities are endless in iGoogle and I am very excited to explore and set up my Google home page that works for me. I am in the process of creating a web-page for my classroom using sites.google.com that I will give access to parents and students to see what is going on in my classroom. It will be private, creating safety for my students and give the parents a peace of mind knowing that only the people that I give access to this site are the only ones who can see the content.
Back to the article stated above, the paradigm flip that should occur within our schools is that all of the school's staff should work together to create a unified network of individuals working together for the success of ALL students. It gives the students freedom to control their own electronic environment but at the same time, it is censored controlled allowing the students to be able to roam the internet using clean web-pages. Student book clubs can be created using blogs to discuss books. Books can be downloaded to personal reading devices instead of being checked out in the library allowing multiple students to read the same book simultaneously. Students cam be broken into teams to work on the same project using a blog to discuss their progress when they are not together and a staff team (teachers, librarians, etc.) can coach the teams throughout the project. There is so many options using this learning model, the possibilities are endless and I am excited to see if it catches fire on my campus this coming fall.
I have been using gmail for about 6 years now and have not really taken advantage of all that it is worth. Exploring the Google suite of tools have opened up my eyes to all that I can do as a teacher in the classroom. I know Google is on the forefront of innovation online but going through iGoogle has enlightened me completely. I am ready to take my teaching methods to the next level. Reading through the article titled "Flip This Library" http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6610496.html has totally made me want to take my school to the next level of education. As I have stated in my earlier blog, I will be new to the campus but I feel that learning all of this new information about how Google can reinvent the way schools can function, I can bring a new light to the staff and students in the entire school. I pray that I have the boldness to take on this incredible task of changing the way students can learn in this technological world.
Within my classroom I can use iGoogle to organize everything that I use. Instead of having a desk calendar, I use Google Calendar which I can link to other peoples calendars. The whole campus can be linked to the same calendar online using Google Calendar. I think that would be awesome and would save a ton of paper. I think that using iGoogle to connect a campus staff, students, and parents can save a tremendous amount of paper. Also using Google Docs will give me the ability to create different kinds of curriculum geared towards special education students that I can share with others throughout the campus and district. The possibilities are endless in iGoogle and I am very excited to explore and set up my Google home page that works for me. I am in the process of creating a web-page for my classroom using sites.google.com that I will give access to parents and students to see what is going on in my classroom. It will be private, creating safety for my students and give the parents a peace of mind knowing that only the people that I give access to this site are the only ones who can see the content.
Back to the article stated above, the paradigm flip that should occur within our schools is that all of the school's staff should work together to create a unified network of individuals working together for the success of ALL students. It gives the students freedom to control their own electronic environment but at the same time, it is censored controlled allowing the students to be able to roam the internet using clean web-pages. Student book clubs can be created using blogs to discuss books. Books can be downloaded to personal reading devices instead of being checked out in the library allowing multiple students to read the same book simultaneously. Students cam be broken into teams to work on the same project using a blog to discuss their progress when they are not together and a staff team (teachers, librarians, etc.) can coach the teams throughout the project. There is so many options using this learning model, the possibilities are endless and I am excited to see if it catches fire on my campus this coming fall.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Thing #1, subject
Here is my first official post. Checking in...
http://clovis23things.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/register/
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http://clovis23things.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/register/
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Thing#2 My First Blog Post
Here I go. This is my first blogging experience and I am pretty excited about it. I am not one to share my thoughts and ideas over the world wide web but I might as well jump on board to where the internet world is going. Blogging can be used in various ways but this blog is created to take me through my online classes especially Clovis23Things.
A little about myself. I am 27 years old and I have a beautiful wife of 3 years now. We currently live in Morro Bay but will be moving back to the valley in the next month or so because of my job situation. My wife and I love the outdoors and strive to make it out there when the weather is good. But here in Morro Bay this summer, it has been very gloomy with the high of 60 degrees in the middle of July. We enjoy swinging the tennis rackets around, riding our bikes on the beach, climbing mountains in the area, going on hikes along the beach cliffs, flying our trick kites on the beach on breezy days, surfing the cold waves, reading books on the beach while the dolphins surf the waves and even working our garden. We also love our Lord Jesus Christ. We attend Shoreline Calvary Chapel here in Morro Bay. We will be sad to leave this area but we have a lot of things to look forward to on our visits back to the central coast.
I fell victim to job cuts in my last job working for San Luis Obispo County Office of Education. I had the seniority card played on me and I lost my position working at Nipomo High School. It was a bummer but on to a new chapter in my life. I have a job opportunity opening up in Clovis Unified working at Clovis Elementary as their Moderate/Severe Special Ed teacher. I am really excited for this opportunity. I just have to pass my last couple of interviews with HR and the superintendents. I am very hopeful for getting this position.
So back to the question at hand, "What have you learned so far about blogging and how can it be applied in the education field?" I have learned quite a bit about blogging but I am still very new at it. I know that blogging gives a person a voice over the internet and a space for someone to share their thoughts and ideas to others who would be interested in them. As a teacher, my blog will open up my classroom to others to see what is going on in my classroom as well as the exciting experiences I am bringing my students into. With the ability to post pictures and descriptions about my classroom, people will be able to interact with my students in a fun and interactive way. Parents of students will have a glance into what their students are learning and will give them a chance to fully embrace my teaching style in a new and technological way. It will give me a chance to easily post what is happening inside the walls of my classroom as well as upcoming events regarding my classroom and campus. I am pumped at the possibility to share the experience from my classroom to those interested. Here we go and wish me luck.
A little about myself. I am 27 years old and I have a beautiful wife of 3 years now. We currently live in Morro Bay but will be moving back to the valley in the next month or so because of my job situation. My wife and I love the outdoors and strive to make it out there when the weather is good. But here in Morro Bay this summer, it has been very gloomy with the high of 60 degrees in the middle of July. We enjoy swinging the tennis rackets around, riding our bikes on the beach, climbing mountains in the area, going on hikes along the beach cliffs, flying our trick kites on the beach on breezy days, surfing the cold waves, reading books on the beach while the dolphins surf the waves and even working our garden. We also love our Lord Jesus Christ. We attend Shoreline Calvary Chapel here in Morro Bay. We will be sad to leave this area but we have a lot of things to look forward to on our visits back to the central coast.
I fell victim to job cuts in my last job working for San Luis Obispo County Office of Education. I had the seniority card played on me and I lost my position working at Nipomo High School. It was a bummer but on to a new chapter in my life. I have a job opportunity opening up in Clovis Unified working at Clovis Elementary as their Moderate/Severe Special Ed teacher. I am really excited for this opportunity. I just have to pass my last couple of interviews with HR and the superintendents. I am very hopeful for getting this position.
So back to the question at hand, "What have you learned so far about blogging and how can it be applied in the education field?" I have learned quite a bit about blogging but I am still very new at it. I know that blogging gives a person a voice over the internet and a space for someone to share their thoughts and ideas to others who would be interested in them. As a teacher, my blog will open up my classroom to others to see what is going on in my classroom as well as the exciting experiences I am bringing my students into. With the ability to post pictures and descriptions about my classroom, people will be able to interact with my students in a fun and interactive way. Parents of students will have a glance into what their students are learning and will give them a chance to fully embrace my teaching style in a new and technological way. It will give me a chance to easily post what is happening inside the walls of my classroom as well as upcoming events regarding my classroom and campus. I am pumped at the possibility to share the experience from my classroom to those interested. Here we go and wish me luck.
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