ePals in the Classroom

I think the features that are the most helpful in ePals is the field trip series which allows students to visually go where they may not be able to otherwise. Also, the projects that are ongoing that allow teachers and students from all across the world to communicate about a single topic is awesome because if they're studying something like weather patterns that is different all across the world at a given time, they can share their experiences and learn from each other. I also like the classroom match so that teachers can figure out which classroom corresponds most closely with what they're doing to work together more efficiently.

I think I could use this in my teaching by connecting to another classroom about the subject of measurement. Most other countries use the metric system which is common in chemistry. We could collaborate and learn from another country on how to accurately use the metric system.

Videos in the Classroom

I could use the Crushing Can Demonstration in my classroom to show them the relationship between temperature and pressure. I would probably also let them do this in class themselves but this way they could see what would happen and how the experiment works. This would be true for other demonstrations found online, especially ones that I can't do in the classroom because it's too dangerous.

Using Flickr in my Classroom

I could use Flickr in my classroom during projects such as the one I do about elements. The students could download pictures of their element, the person who found it or worked with it, and uses for their element onto Flickr. Then they could use those pictures to make a slideshow, trading cards, comic strip, etc on Big Huge Labs to present to the class. I could also use it to create trading cards which would work as review cards as I discussed in my last post.

Flickr Applications to my Classroom

I used the Big Huge Labs site to make a trading card that would be part of a set of cards to review material about the Periodic Table. This particular card would have the student look at a non-labeled picture of the Periodic Table and have them think about the names of the groups that are shown. I would use this in my classroom for review of this and other units during the year. The trading card sets for each unit could also be used for review at the end of the year for the Regents exam.