That’s what blogs are.  People who have an opinion and want to shout it out for the world to hear.  Now, I’m sure I’m missing the whole point.  You’re probably thinking to yourself, “that’s the point knucklehead, we have something to say and people will be enlightened or interested or at the very least amused at what we are writing about”.  Alright, I’ll concede to that.  Some of the blogs I’ve read are slightly amusing or mildly interesting.   If anything, blogs are better off used between friends or as an educational activity to motivate students to write.  But, what do I know?  It’s just my opinion.  Right?

Since Pinnacle is viewed from the Internet, as soon as you put in the grades anyone who has access can view the information instantaneously.  Which means this is a great tool for parents to keep on top of their children.  As a parent myself, whose child is currently on this grading system, I check on her grades daily to see her progress.  My daughter hates that!  As a parent though, it is very helpful. 

Keeping up with grading has come a long way since I started teaching just 9 years ago.  I remember when I used to do all my calculation by hand and kept track in a grade book.  I can’t believe some teachers are still doing it that way.    

The possibilities of infusing technology with epals is endless.    Imagine having your class learn how to create and manage blogs written to students across the world.  Technology aside, they will be practicing writing, editing and learning about different cultures all at the same time.   Instead of reading about these cultures in a text book, they can be asking those students from different countries what it is actually like. 

I have tried out the site and created an account.  You go through this lengthy process where you need to fill out a questionnaire based on your reasons for using the site.  Then you wait…and wait…and wait for another teacher around the world to contact you.  I have to admit that I was not very diligent with checking back to see if anyone was interested in communicating with my class.  Nevertheless, the site is a wonderful tool for stretching the creativity for current events and leaning about different cultures.

The school I moved to is an inner-city school with a more diverse enrollment of students.  According to “No Child Left Behind”, our school is failing.  Therefore, our school does not get the same type of funding as a “passing” school.  Yeah, that makes sense!  Give the money and funding to the schools who are already succeeding while the failing schools get no additional support.  Now I’m not saying we should get more funding than the passing schools.  It should be an equal distribution of the money.  Our school could use more technology in order to motivate, engage and prepare students for the future.  As long as money and funding is not equally distributed to all schools (not based on social-economic areas) those inner-city schools will continue to suffer. 

When you open your web-site (Pageflakes is one of many aggregators) you have all of your favorite sites right there at your disposal.  You can see the different headlines or breaking news before deciding to go to the site.  Everything is updated as the news breaks.  The site is extremely easy to set up and control.  Whatever you can think of, you can add it on your page.  E-mail, blogs, photo’s, music, whatever! 

There’s one hitch.  The sites you put onto your aggregator must have an RSS feed.  Yeah, I didn’t know what that was either, but I’m sure you’ve seen them everywhere without even knowing it.

During a technology course I am taking, my professor introduced us to a website that allows you to store, find and share websites in the same manner as described above.  The difference is you can view sites tagged by other people.  It’s called “Social Bookmarking”.  What happens is you copy the URL address to your page, title it and give a brief description of the site for easy reference.  You can also “tag” a site.  This allows you to categorize your sites by its content.  The other great thing about these sites (del.icio.us and ma.gnolia) is that you can look through the other tagged items and find  new websites without even surfing the net.  It also shows the viewer how many people have tagged a particular site.  This is a great feature because it lets you see if the site is any good.  It’s like your own personal website of categorized links. 

            Here’s the catch.  The students are not taking tests the traditional way with pencil and paper.  Oh no, no, they are taking it with remote controls.  Ahh, now you see the ingeniousness of it all.  It’s called E-Instruction or CPS.  It is a computerized form of test taking.  One of my students calls it “the video game” test. 

            Here’s how it works.  Each student is given a remote control.  The test is viewed  from a data projector hooked up from your computer.  The tests are created either from a Power Point presentation or from any computerized test generator like “Exam View”.  Once your test is linked to the CPS program, the students are able to view each question from the data projector and answer the questions using their personal remote.  The information is stored in the program and can be viewed at a later time or shown to the students then and there for review. 

            You can see how motivating and exciting this can be for students.  Now, I don’t have the time to get into all the things you can do with this program (partially because I don’t know half the things you can do) but I can give you the basics.  My absolute favorite feature is that the program grades the tests for you.  Once the test is complete, it’s graded.  There is also a feature that allows you to play a jeopardy-like game for reviewing concepts.  Oh yeah, you don’t have to use it for just test taking.  It can be a good tool for reviewing information.  Another great aspect of the program is the teacher can see instantaneously which students placed their answers, did not or is pressing a buttons not corresponding to one of the answers.

            I know it sounds like it is a system catering to the digital needs of students today.  The fact is though, students are motivated, engaged and excited to take tests and review material.  

I can think of one Web-Quest in particular that had the students look at primary and secondary sources about the Boston Massacre.  The focus question was. “Who Was To Blame For The Death’s At The Boston Massacre?”  The students had to read the different sources in order to come up with their own conclusion of what happened that day.  I know many Web-Quests have students research and present material on various subjects, but this one was more of a discovery or inquiry.  It also was a great way to introduce or practice reading primary sources.

There are other Web-Quests out there that are worthwhile.  On the flip-side, there are some that are a waste of time.  But you’re the teacher!  Pick a motivating, well written Web-Quest that challenges the students to learn something new.  And if there are none, create one your self.

            Photo Story is a Microsoft Windows program that allows you to create video stories.  Along with the video aspect of the program, you can add or import music, as well as, your voice.  Basically you import pictures into the program and set it up like a continuously running Power Point.  You set the amount of time each picture stays on the screen before the next one transitions in.  Another feature allows you to customize the motion of the picture.  You can customize the motion of each picture by specifying your start and ending point.  When you’re finished you have a professional looking digital story. 

Google Earth is a great way to get students to visualize what you are learning about.  Not only that, but it also allows you to show students exactly where the places are in relation to each other that you are learning about.  Another great way to use Google Earth is when showing students what a region is.  That is a very tough concept for some students.  When I showed my students Desert areas in Africa or tundra regions in Antarctica, the rainforest in Brazil or the mountains of the Himalayas, they got it. 

The possibilities are endless.  When reviewing for geographical landforms, I panned in and out of the various capes, bays, peninsulas, isthmuses and straights, all the while asking the students to identify the landforms.  It was a very productive and eye opening lesson for the students.  There were a lot of “oohs” and “aahhs” as the students made connections to what we have been learning in class. 

Now, whenever I start teaching a new geographical area, I usually open up with Google Earth to give the students visuals and background information before we get started.