Vod Casts and Pod Casts

I liked looking at the pod casts. I think they are neat for adults but I think that children need to have something to look at. I preferred the vod cast. Vod casts provide visuals and I think visuals make comprehension easier, especially for children. The vod casts I viewed I enjoyed and I could see showing them to my class. I may show them a few this week.

http://voicethread.com/#q+3rd+grade+.b284357.i1494066

How Big is a Foot?

I watched the vod cast called Titanic Retelling. My class studied the Titanic. We read many books, did book talks, and did fact sheets. This vod cast shows beautiful pictures from the Titanic and the students in the vod cast read retelling cards. They students on the vod cast are giving more facts about the Titanic. I think my students would like to see this kind of work. It would be neat to be able to record them reading their own work. This was a creative way to display class research. The Titanic is such an interesting topic and the children are engaged in learning about it so making a pod or vod cast would be exciting for them.

http://voicethread.com/#q+titani.b128425.i669262

Here is a Titanic Pod Cast that is a retelling done by young students.

Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking? I guess I see how you could use it in everyday life but I am not sure about my classroom. I think if I visited sites each day this would be helpful but at this point in my teaching I do not check sites each day. If I need a new idea or want to read about others lessons plans I would use websites. Then social bookmarking would be helpful. I have so many sources now that I am not use to going to the internet for information. This is the first year I have internet in my classroom that and I need to get use to using it more.

This is my delicious link-

Google Docs- Document Sharing

I think using google docs is a neat idea. I do like that we can share ideas with others. I think my students would like adding on to a story. I have done that kind of assignment with a small group on paper and it has been fun. Another idea would be to add onto a sentence. My third grade students choose to write short sentences, for example, The car sped. They could then add adjectives and adverbs. This way I could see if they know what an adverb and adjective is when they add to simple sentences.
I'd like to hear other ideas as to how to use this feature.

Digital Storytelling

After learning about digital storytelling I found it interesting. However, I do not feel that I would use it in my classroom on a regular basis. I do like the idea of putting field trip pictures on it. The class would enjoy seeing it but then that is all there is to it. Usually with field trip pictures I print them and the children have to write in a bubble to explain what is happening. I feel that is more interactive. Yes, the students would enjoy seeing the video.
Also, at the end of the school year it may be neat to make some videos and share with parents. This may be something that parents may enjoy at portfolio sharing. Again, this is just more work for the teacher. I feel that if I am going to do more work I would like the children to be involved and they would not have much involvement in the video. By that, I mean they do not experience any educational benefits from me making a digital story.

Animoto Trial