Tool #5 Tagging/Social Bookmarking

This was also a neat tool. Social bookmarking sites are great time saving tools that make it much more convenient to get to sites quickly!! In the classroom setting with 20 4 year olds, time is of the essence. The two sites we used were easy to navigate and understand. They were very user friendly! The key word searches also seemed endless. I was able to use the tags "prek" or "prekindergarten", "computer activities" "learning games" "alphabet activities" and it came up with awesome sites that I bookmarked. Two that were new to me and really great were iknowthat.com and GameGoo. I will be able to use these in the classroom easily and the kids will love them. Others that I have used before so I bookmarked were PBSkids and Starfall. As I stated earlier, bookmarking will make life much easier in a busy PreK class!

Tool #4 Google Tools

I really enjoyed this tool!! It is the first one I was not frustrated with!! I liked Google Docs, the ease of using it, and its purpose which is to "stop" the multiple copies of attachments we send out everyday! There is one copy of the document that you invite people to "write" on which also cuts down on your work of trying to compile information from a group of people. It is also much safer than to have multiple copies of documents flying all over the place! Smart!!!!
Google Reader is very cool!!!! It is a way to have all your sites that you follow come to you!!! What a neat way to maximize your time while keeping up with your important/interesting/educational blogs and your interests! I love it!!
As a team leader, the Google Docs can help me organize everything from "house keeping items" to team projects and beyond. I am really looking forward to using this next school year. The Google Reader will help me keep up with blogs that will help me grow as a teacher. Maybe towards the spring semester, I might be able to "follow" kids in my class with lots of teacher support.
On to Tool #5!

Tool #3 Image Generators

I completed my 3rd tool today. This was a challenging one for me! I experimented with the different sites that let you generate images but had trouble saving them to my blog. I found that Image Chef and Worditout were the two I could manipulate the best. I chose these two and generated images as gadgets on my sidebar on my blog. The theme I chose for both was reading/literacy which is very important to me because that is my main focus in Prek. I could see using these with my class as we learn new vocabulary through our themes, making word clouds to develop our oral language. I think the children would also enjoy seeing the different designs that are formed by the words.
On to Tool 4!

Tool #2 Building Community

I am excited about being part of Spring Branch's and the world's online education community! I think personal learning networks are the wave of the future, and we need to jump in ASAP! This is going to open up immeasurable opportunities for teachers and students alike.
In the commenting/blogging advise, one sentence that stuck with me was "comments turn statements into conversations". This is so true. The list of 10 things to consider when writing on your blog (or commenting) were very helpful, also. Putting questions in your title, inviting comments, and being humble and gracious seem like good techniques to follow to make your blog successful. I am busy taking notes as I learn so I can revisit these strategies to help me commit them to memory.
I enjoyed reading the blogs that were provided for us and making my comments. Hopefully I will get some responses! I chose Teachpaperless, English with Rosa Classroom Blog, Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog, American Presidents Blog, and The Cool Cat Teacher Blog.
Now let's see what Tool #3 holds.

Getting Started With Tool #1

Wow my eyes have been opened!! I have officially arrived into the "world of blogs"!! This has been a learning experience with easy to follow instructions AND it was fun! Well the Voki was fun to do!!! I am looking forward to seeing how many different ways we will be able to use blogs in a prek setting!! Let's see what Tool #2 holds for us!!