Response to Wikis and Inspiration

Smilebox, voicethread, google forms, and animoto. Quite a list but these are the wikis I have not posted about yet. First, let me say that all could be used in my classroom, but google forms is hands-down the winner as far as practicality. Google forms allows anyone with a google account to make forms and these forms can come in all shapes and styles. Surveys, online quizzes, making exams. It can do it all! Animoto was also an interesting tool for use in classrooms because it allows almost anyone to form 30-sec videos from images, clips, and music. There are many limitations but a short activity would suffice using this web 2.0 tool. Voicethread is the tool I remember least about but it seems to be a complex blog post with drawings and voice recordings so I will have to pass. Smilebox gives users the ability to create designs for certificates, photos, invites, etc. I think this tool would be extremely useful for elementary or middle school teachers but my class could also use some smilebox functions for projects and to build a sense of community. Also, Inspiration is a neat way to design one of my favorite organizational tools- the concept map! However, I would like to know if an online or free option is available. If there is anything I have learned in this class then I am sure it exists. 

Science Scavenger Hunt

Here is my digital science scavenger hunt.






This project was not as easy as anticipated but wonderful Mr. Beard helped me figure out where my last album went wrong (to my surprise). I was easily able to embed my Picasa slideshow as well as a neat glogster post. See above!

Spring Break

For this spring break I worked and played at Disneyworld instead of sitting at home watching TV and hanging out with old friends. It was an interesting experience because I worked selling cheerleading merchandise to 6-18 year-old girls and their crazy mamas. I made enough money to go on summer vacation and the whole trip was paid for so definitely worth it in economic terms. I mean, I rode Space Mountain for free, can't beat that! Anyways can't wait to hear about voicethread and get outside for this digital scavenger hunt. Exam on Thursday! Guess I should check the syllabus more often...

Picasa and Fungi Slideshow!

Picasa is pretty neat! I will probably use this web 2.0 tool most often in my classroom besides Prezi of course. I did have trouble posting this embeded slideshow due to improper settings. Picasa and Picnik are both amazing tools for photo sharing and editing. I love pictures so it was not a difficult sell but I was not aware of all the possibilities available on the web. It makes me want to go buy a digital camera and snap a gillion photos!

Wow!

This word best describes my reaction to the awful thing I did on Tuesday. After Cassandra and I presented on Prezi I decided to change my account to student status. I thought it would be harmless but I was wrong. I logged into my account and discovered I could not upgrade unless I deleted my old account because I had to use my utk email address. Thinking I knew everything about Prezi I proceeded because Prezi is an online tool that store all the information online, right? Wrong! Prezi accounts hold your Prezis and once an account is gone the prezis are too! Well, all that to say, I will be more careful with web 2.0 tools, especially when I have valuable, grade-changing information stored on these websites.
In other news...I need to put my links on our new biology pbworks page and study for SpEd 402 exam. What a week!