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.

Using Microblogs in the Classroom

After reading Karine Joly's article "Should You Twitter", I realized I could use Twitter to commuicate with other chemistry teachers on the site. I could ask them questions about how they explain a difficult concept, get new ideas for games, activities or demos or or just communicate about any random aspect of our jobs. She also gives the example of being able to follow the basic gist of a conference she missed because so many people were Twittering about it. Also, like Tomaz Lasic talks about in "Twitter Handbook for Teachers", you can discuss educational theories, education issues such as discipline and the most breaking technology for the classroom. In short, it's a way to learn more about your profession from multiple sources and outlooks.

Weblogg-ed Response

I was reading the most recent post at Weblogg-ed today entitled "Wanted: School Chief Learning Officer" . The topic of the blog was a conversation about how many teachers did a good job of getting the material across versus teaching them how to learn. This man's particular response was that only 10% really taught their students how to learn and became lifelong learners. I thought this blog was interesting because unless you consider the Director of Curriculum, there is no one in charge of making sure the students are really learning in a solid way. The administrators are there to keep the building running, conduct discipline, etc. Teachers are solely responsible for making sure their students have really learned the material but that goes beyond just getting ready for the test. I know that I get caught up in just getting through the material with a minimum of interruptions that I don't always focus on whether the kids are really grasping the material in a deep way or not.

Social Networking

One of the social networking sites I visited was School 2.0 found at http://school20.ning.com/. This group could be useful to me as a teacher because sometimes it is hard to think up ways to incorporate a large amount of technology in a classroom. A discussion could be started about this topic for a specific subject such as chemistry. Also, it is a way to keep current on issues and questions from teachers that involve technology in education. It's also a way to make new connections with other teachers from other parts of the country or world that may have more experience in certain technological areas as relates to education.