Thing #10-Creative Commons

Every year the librarians have us sign a page about copyright infringement. We get told do not, do not, do not.... copy copyrighted material. I was very interested to learn about the creative commons site. I have noticed the cc on material before, but I really didn't know what it meant. The concept of copyright from the minute a work is produced is interesting.

I can see that the ability for educators and students to use portions of or all of some materials will open a world of creative license which hasn't existed before. Materials can be used to instruct students in areas that might not previously have been available in a form that could be viewed or used as a reference. Student projects are bound to be improved with the use of visual and auditory features. I do worry about the impact of the use of the internet for research when students do not give adequate representation to the creator of the work. However, being an elementary teacher, I really don't think that this will be a problem in the area in which I work.

I, personally, have no experience with using the computer for anything other than email and to search for sites of interest. I tend to acquire the extra things I use in my classroom from non-computer sites. I have downloaded things from a few sites, but nothing really major.

Thing #9 --The Wiki, part 2

Today I played with my wiki again. I still don't see it up on the list on the MISD sandbox page. I think it's lost in my computer somewhere. I also looked at a couple of other wiki's on the MISD page. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that everyone elses title is in their TOC box! Leave it to me to discover something after the fact! Anyway, if my wiki, which is made doesn't show up soon....
I really don't know what I did wrong. Any advice out there?

Thing #9-- The Wiki

To begin with, let me say that I want to call my Wiki experience "The Wicked Wiki". I began with a great amount of enthusiasm for this project. I set up my wiki space and was off. Then I began to run into trouble. I can say that I looked at every technical source I could find that was suggested, but I still had trouble. In my Table of Contents box, I managed to get my title. I also mangaged to erase or loose my wiki information many times (Yes, I was saving it. ) Alas, it came back. However, the title is still in the TOC box.

I also learned that I need to work on uploading images. This is just not something that I had ever done. I usually left that to my children. Over all, I look forward to working with my Wiki space again. I will continue to slay all my technical dragons! Shawn'space is now a working wiki or a work in progress.

Thing #8 --Wikis!

Wiki's are a whole new way to use technology to inspire students. I looked at every wiki site in the list provided. Since I teach elementary age students, I was especially interested in the wiki's for this age group. To say the least, I was impressed.

As I read through the wiki sites, I noticed the varied ways that they had been set up. Some were simple and others were much more complex. Kindergarten Counting Book was really special. I was amazed that children this young could establish and manage a wiki. The students should be so proud of their work for the content that was contained in the space and the learning it exhibited.

Next, I navigated through the Oregon trail in Go West with 3rd graders. I saw students use examples of webs, writing, and pictures to express their learning. We are using Thinking Maps this year on my campus for the first time. What a powerful application for these to be included in a student wiki.

Another aspect of the wiki that I found interesting is that student expectations were clearly laid out. As a mother and a teacher, I would love for my son to be able to access a site where the informaton for projects etc. was accessible to him both at home and school. Discovery Utopias really laid out the expectations.

For me to run a successful wiki in my classroom, I need greater access to computers. Maybe I'll get brave and take the laptops to my room. This would be a pretty scary experience since
I am in a portable and the carts won't exactly go up my ramp! Another option might be a day or two in the lab if it is not being used by the regular classroom teachers.

I would want to organize my classes wiki's so that even my most limited speaker of English would find the experience a successful learning tool. I would start very simple with webs, maps, vocabulary, and basic writing activities and build upon this as my students became more comfortable. I also must continue to learn more computer skills so that I will be able to help them post videos, pictures, etc.

Thing # 7

I am a direct, face to face, commentor. At first, I found that posting comments in writing was a little daunting. After I completed my first post, I felt a little more empowered. I enjoyed reading the blogs that I found interesting and those of people participating in this course. The things that I have read are insightful and have left me with room for thought. Since technology is here to stay, I feel that I will continue to read and expand my knowledge through the thoughts of others. I may not always comment, but I will continue to feed my reader and feed my brain.

Thing #6

I think that I may be finally be getting the hang of all my new "tech" skills. I have been feeding my reader and found many interesting blogs.


Teaching students a various language levels always brings about new and different challenges. I spent several evenings looking for blogs specifically related to ESL. I expected to find a plethora of information, but to my surprise, I found many blogs that covered the various aspects of teaching grammar to these students. While that isn't exactly what I was looking for, these blogs did contain some new ideas that I can apply to the classroom.

Another blog that I enjoyed was within the Blue Skunk blog site. In this post, teachers are reminded of what it is like to be a first year teacher.l This blog is in response to Joe (http://www.soyouwanttoteach.com/10-things-i-wish-i-knew-as-a-first-year-teacher//). As you read the post, memories of they didn't teach you in college return and you can recall the learn by trial and error method that we all experienced the first year we were in the classroom.

Thing #5- Reader

Ok, let me start by saying that I am feeling much more technically challenged than I probably should at this stage of the game. I am fairly sure that I now can tell the difference between a blog and a website. I have had several difficulties with "things" on my computer. I did manage to find a blog site that I not only like butI think I can use! The site I am refering to, http://greatsentences.blogspot.com/, is a collection of sentences that educators can use in teaching various aspects of grammar to their students. Educators are able to add theor own notable sentences to the list as well as pick an choose others for use in instruction. Because I work with second language learners, I will be able to use this site for quality examples to aid in student instruction in my classroom.