Suzanne+Kurth

=Web 2.0 Connections=

**1. Animoto media type="custom" key="6403909"**
http://animoto.com/play/1dQteEki1GxNCoQ7cxFU0w

Animoto allows you to put picture and/or video into a 30 second clip. More time if paying for a subscription. You can also add Text to your short movie. I like to look at Animoto as a quick way to share information about a certain topic. Sort of like a commercial.

I think its uses are many. I chose to create a short movie about Wetland Conservation. Fourth grade students in Fairfield this year participated in a Wetlands project in conjunction with Jefferson County Park and Ducks Unlimited. I think students could create a short commercial about wetlands conservation after they have visited and learned about wetlands. Students could use pictures from their own field trips to showcase what they have learned about wetlands and how we can help conserve them. I watched a few examples of some student made animoto videos and saw where students actually created their picture slides in Powerpoint and then uploaded them to Animoto. They finished everything in Powerpoint and then saved each slide seperately and then uploaded them to Animoto where their movie was created. This is what I chose to do for my example video above.

2. Voicethread
media type="custom" key="6403779" http://voicethread.com/share/1217338/

Voicethread gives students and teachers the ability to put a photograph(s) and create discussion about a certain topic in any content area. For our ICC connection, we will use Voicethread for collaboration among students reading the same type of non-fiction materials. They will listen and respond to other students information on a given topic. Students will then view their comments and reflect upon the project they created and what they learned from the comments on their own Voicethread. The example I shared today above was very simple. I merely put the cover of a book I read to my class this year and then proceeded to record myself telling the name of the book and my favorite character and why. I then asked students in the same recording to tell me their favorite character and why. I think the discussion could go even further and students could share how their favorite character developed over the story. That would definitely bring in some higher order thinking skills.

3. Wallwisher
media type="custom" key="6403797" http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/4Kurth

Wallwisher is a tool that allows people to post sticky notes on a single page about any topic in any content area. Many can access it at once making it a great tool in the classroom. My example shows a social studies lesson on What is a region? This is a very important question in fourth grade since our fourth grade year spends so much time learning about the different regions of the United States. This could be done as a very beginning activity of what students think a region is. It could be saved and then at the end of beginning unit, this question could be posed again and students could see the difference in their answers. They could see how their definition changed as they aquired more information about the given topic. It seems to me to be a great brainstorming tool for whole class discussion as well as small group without the stigma attached to going up to the front of the classroom.

4. Glogster
media type="custom" key="6403837" http://kurthsu.glogster.com/Book Review/

Glogster is a web 2.0 resource that teachers and students can utilize to teach something to the class. It has graphics already included in the program for students to use as well as animation and text. The possibilities seem big, however, I am still learning it and will be looking for more resources to help me.

In the example above, I have chosen to do Glogster as a book review. Students could comment on one anothers glog book report and start having those meaningful discussions about literature that are so important. I still want more time with this web 2.0 tool.

5. Zooburst
media type="custom" key="6403621" align="left"

Zooburst is an application that allows you to create a 3D Pop-up book detailing any activity you would like to present about to your audience. You do have to apply to have a login, but I got a reply the same day. I also read on the website that they will soon have a class management option so that students can all create these. However, right now I think it could be a station in my classroom where students create a book to teach something to the other students in the classroom, such as a book talk or guiding questions about a certain story we are reading together. It could also be about a state we are learning about.

The example I chose to share was a pop-up book about my class' trip to Jefferson County Park and what we did on this field trip. It would be a great way to summarize their field trip and what they learned.

Other Web 2.0 Resources I am excited to try would be ToonDoo, Sploder, Sweetsearch, Mixbook, and of course any other great tools I find through my PLNs.

=**Personal Learning Networks (PLN)**=

Explanation of how these tools will help me as a learner:
As I walked into our Web 2.0 class, I was familiar with Twitter, Skype, and Blogs. However, I hadn't done very much with any of them besides putting my classroom links on a blog and having students journal and answer questions with each other on our private blog. I maybe Tweeted about 10 times and I used Skype with family members. As I walked out of today at the end of our three days, I have a whole new understanding of what a PLN is and how it will be useful to me in my classroom and professionally.

As I write this reflection, I am now on iGoogle which is a direct link to my Google Reader account, Twitter Account, Facebook, and I am sure I will be able to add my classroom blog which I will create this summer in our new Google tools. I have been super excited working in Google Reader and finding so much information, but being able to star things that catch my eye and knowing I can go back to those items later to learn more. I love that Google Reader will bring the websites to me and update me of new information. That's pretty great and a time saver.

I see the importance of Twitter, but still need to use it more to see its true value. I think I need to organize my Tweetdeck so it works for me professionally.

Diigo was new to me but how great to have a place where you can make your own bookmarks, share bookmarks of other people with the same interests, and gain useful ideas for the classroom all in one place that will go with me wherever I go.

**Explanation of how these tools will help support classroom content:**
As teachers, we are constantly looking for new resources that will help engage our students with the content they are learning. Having a PLN is an excellent way for teachers like myself to stay updated with what is happening now, not a resource someone posted 10 years ago that is still on their webpage. It's a chance for me to come into contact with different types of people who may have a direct link to the content I am teaching and allow me to bring their expertise or them into my classroom either through their work or maybe a Skype session where students ask questions. It makes our big world come right into our small classrooms and takes our students on academic journeys they would never have within the confines of only a textbook. The information I can find and the tools students can utilize through my PLN will be invaluable to fostering their creativity and their urge for learning more about the content we are teaching and then applying those same skills when learning about something that interests them personally.

Examples of PLNs I have created this week:
The following is the blog I created for my class but I was not very faithful to writing on it. I used it mainly as a place for students to acces my links for the classroom. I am going to create a new blog in blogger which will be through our google docs.

http://kurth4.blogspot.com/



I have created snapshots of all the PLNs I have worked on this week. Tweetdeck Google Reader Diigo Skype iGoogle

=Iowa Core Curriculum Integrated Lesson Plan=

Our group completed a lesson plan on using non-fiction materials across grade levels and content and then to do a voicethread on their topic. Students would then post their voicethread and part of the assignment will be to comment on other students' voicethreads. After viewing the comments on their thread, they would go back and record a reflection of the project and comments given on their own voicethread.

Our group posted our reflection to the Iowa Core Wiki. I also commented on 4 or 5 other groups that posted their reflections on the wiki.

=Reflections=

The following are the posts I replied to in the wiki and elsewhere:

I replied to two posts on the online community • **iPod Touches in the Classroom •21st Century Skills Wiki •Web 2.0 Resources •PLN •TPACK • I have Tweeted several times over the last few days and have replied to others' tweets as well as sending direct messages and receiving replies. I have tried to share neat things I have learned with others and learned how to add hash tags which allow my tweets to be seen by more people.**