Reflection

1. I really liked, and had never used, Diigo. I will probably use that with my students when they are researching or when I'd like to share something with them. Maybe it would be interesting to have them share things (with annotations) with me and the other students. I also plan to use Google Docs for the writing process.

2. This was really a review for me. I did the 23 Things a couple years ago. I think the main transformation is that I will actually have to technology to have my students do these things. That is really exciting to me.

3. Not really. Like I said, this was more of a refresher course than anything else. I like it because this this the kind of thing I like to do with my students. And I really like when I'm introduced to a few new things.

Tool #11: Digital Citizenship

I am a huge proponent of teaching Digital Citizenship to our students. I'm not sure that you can really separate out the parts that you are going to teach and say "I'm not going to teach anything else" because so much of digital citizenship goes together. I suppose I generally focus on Digital Access, Digital Communication, Digital Security and Safety, and Digital Rights and Responsibilities.

When I used blogs in Creative Writing last year, our librarian and I developed a lesson on this. Here is a link to the blog post. Even though my students understood, they forgot, and I sometimes felt like I was the Internet police. "Please remove that picture of yourself from our blog." "Please change your name in your blog." Etc. But by the end of the year, they seemed to get it.

Tool #10: iPod Touch

I have never really found a use for the iPod Touch in my classroom that I thought would justify the cost. I do however think that there are some great apps for other subject areas. Don't get me wrong. I love love love my iPod Touch. I use it as internet mostly, and I have found some great personal uses for it--knitting tracker and row counter I love you so.

Here are a couple apps I have of have seen used that I thought had an interesting educational use:

1. Louvre: It's free. You can view thousands of pieces of art without getting lost and looking desperately for an exit. In addition to the art, it also has pictures of the building and the architecture. Would I rather go to the Louvre (even though it means getting lost)? YES! But I can't go right now and neither can most of my students. This is as good as it's going to get for now.

2. I had a student who turned in his papers using Dropbox last year. He didn't have his computer with him? No problem. He was able to access it and send it to me using Dropbox--and the paper was sent to my email. No panicking. No late grades. No problem. It's a free app, and the registration is free.

3. iBook, obviously. My students can download Pride and Prejudice for free. I'm happy. They aren't happy exactly, but they can read on their iPod, so they don't hate me at this particular moment.

I know that there are other useful apps for English classes, and I can't wait until someone tells me about them.

Tool #9: Jing and Skype

1. I could see using Jing for giving instructions on how to do something on the computer. Also, I think it would be interesting to see how it could be used for documenting the writing process--also maybe for peer revision?

2. My dad wants us to all start using Skype so we can talk to each other for free. I think the real reason is that he wants to play with a new toy.

I'm not sure how I would use Skype. I have a friend who teaches English in Iowa and a friend who teaches IB English in Florida. It would be interesting to see how we could get our students to interact. Oh! Or we could try peer revision with our students. Or literary discussion--we have our students reading many of the same works.

Have any of you used either of these tools with your students?

Tool #8: Video Resources

I really like using videos in my classroom because it's a great way for my students to experience something in a way that is more like first-hand than reading about it or hearing about it from me.

This video would be great to use before reading Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata. The book's main setting is the Japanese Tea Ceremony, and this video gives a good idea of what a tea ceremony should be like (instead of how the characters us it in the novel).

Also, as much as I would like Margaret Atwood to visit my classroom and talk to my students about The Handmaid's Tale, we all know that isn't going to happen (an English teacher can dream, can't she?).

Here is a clip of Margaret Atwood talking about the universal myth:

Not quite as good as actually talking to her, I know. But it's as close as my class is going to get right now.

Tool #7: Digital Storytelling

I take a lot of pictures. Often, I take so many pictures, it's like watching a movie while scrolling through my pictures. When I figured that out, I started making movies on iMovie. I made a movie of a wedding I did the photography for, and I made a movie of the cliff divers in Mazatlan.

This is a never before seen, Kelly Arbuckle original.

I took the photos on a lake in Maine last summer. I forgot that I had started the video, but when I opened iMovie, I felt compelled to finish it.

I think this would be a really neat way for students to share their writing or show their interpretation of a piece of literature. I've used this type of thing for presentations as well.

Tool #6: wikis

I have used wikis with my students and loved it. They were required to post resources about their book club books and to have discussions with other students in the comments section, as well as respond to discussion questions and ask their own discussion questions. I had students in my class who thought everything else we did was "stupid," but they loved working in the wiki.

World of E 146

Is it perfect? No, of course not. But they were participating.