Tool #6

I like all of these tools. I started with word wall. This has multiple applications in a Latin classroom. It could be used as a way to discuss culture, especially with images from the internet.



I can also use it to discuss grammar points in a particular story, such as the one below where students learn the imperfect and perfect tenses of verbs.



It requires every student to participate and a good way to evaluate what each student is thinking about. It also allows students to share at their own pace. Some will wait to see what others post and get ideas from it, while others will be ready to share immediately. It does make me think about how I could incorporate many of these ideas (from all the tools) into a grading rubric.

TodaysMeet can perform a very similar function, without the additional graphics link. It can be a fast tool for discussion and opinion. It is very easy to set up, and given a computer lab (or our new computers used as classroom stations), it can be a good review (or preview)

http://todaysmeet.com/SevenWonders

Ok- I just went to test these, and I really don't see the purpose of the imbed code for the wallwisher. It doesn't seem to do anything but add a picture to this blog. I was really hoping that students could click on it to respond. Guess I'll have to use the link. Oh, well...

Tool #5

After spending a good hour or so in mixbook, I became extremely frustrated. It does seem quite useful, and people I know use it, but I ran into several difficulties. It is extremely difficult to find pictures in the public domain to use. The easiest way to do this would be to use personal photos, which I do not have. Therefore, it was not the best option for me at this time. Soooo, I have been working in Animoto, which is very user friendly, has some pictures already available, and I have found some useful pictures online.

This animoto shows things of importance in Italy.

I spent a while with both wordsift.com and abcya.com. I instantly saw all kinds of uses for them both. I think I prefer wordsift because it has more features, but I like abcya because you can save the document and reuse it. Neither one provides imbed codes. Uses. I can see where I could type in the text of a story we are reading in Latin, finding the most common words, and discussing those as a prereading activity both to clarify vocab but also as a prediction tool. The wordsift site would be most useful with English text, such as a myth or cultural reading, as students could use the definitions web, the images, and the use in the story context to help them through difficult vocabulary. I am looking forward to using these frequently in my classes.

Tool #4

I love Google Docs. I don't remember who introduced me to it, but it has so many uses. It has a lot of overlap with a text document/presentation being dropped into my folder, BUT students can work on the same project simultaneously, which has good points and bad points.

In my department, there could be usage when compiling data such as enrollment, awards, and all kinds of things that need everyone's input in a single document. In the classroom it has all kinds of uses. I have used it to create presentations where each student was responsible for a certain part. With documents, I have had students prepare translations, with moderate success, as most need practice with proofreading skills. I am looking forward to using this more in my classroom!

Tool #3

I have been using Discovery Education videos for many years, and I have found them extremely useful. I like to use them in a computer lab setting where students can view, pause, and answer questions at their own pace.

  A good video on a Roman ballista


A nice PPT video on Roman government

These both came from TeacherTube, and it was easy to use, but the embed code was not present in every video I watched.

Copyright laws are so important, especially now with the proliferation of the internet. I think teaching attribution is very important, because now that you can copy and paste just about anything, the idea of intellectual property seems to slip people's mind. The website http://librarycopyright.net/resources/exceptions/?startOver=true used on the instructions no longer works.

I was very interested in the way to save videos from YouTube- I had not heard that before. I also would like to know where the SBISD Media Server is.

I liked the Dropbox and it seems quite easy to use. I need to play around with it a little more to figure out how students would use it, as it concerns me that it seems like anyone with access can delete any file. I seem to be able to already utilize all of these functions with the current server usage. Perhaps with the new technology coming our way we will have some that cannot access the servers, but would be able to access the internet. In those cases, this definitely could be useful storage.

Tool #2

I found Google Reader to be a very useful tool for following blogs. I had no idea that something like this existed! The only thing that confused me a little was that the further you scroll down in a blog, the more it downloads from the blog site! I guess it will just be something to get used to.

I have always been interested in sharing information about teaching, as there just aren't many Latin teachers. I am not a texter, nor do I have a facebook account, as I don't see much use from it. However, there are lots of Latin teaching sites I can follow with useful information. http://blogs.transparent.com/latin/ is just one example of a good one to read. As time goes by, I will be able to see which ones are truly useful for teaching.