Tool #5

I love love love this site :)!! I spent time playing the interactive reading games and I have to admit that Wellington is one cool turtle. I could see the kids getting really engaged and it's a great way to practice the key concepts that are getting taught in the guided reading groups. This website even has guided reading stories that the kids can read that are based on Roy's adventures. The best part is that unlike Star Fall the kids have to read the text but it still offers animation on each page. It's a great tool for First Graders to use and interact with.
Roy the Zebra

The second site that I found is a great literacy resource for teachers. It provides links to First Grade vocabulary and even has assessments for both fluency and comprehension. I also found that it has a list of leveled readers that you can send home with parents. That way the parents can easily tell if their child is reading a book on their correct level. I think it is a very helpful site.
Hello Literacy

The tags I created were "first grade", "literacy", "writer's workshop", and "math". I think this is an easy way to find exactly what I'm looking for and fast.

Social bookmarking would be a great tool to use in the classroom. It would help the students find websites when we are doing our research on insects. It would also be a great tool during workstations and would allow the students to quickly find the website that they need to access. It also helps me, as a teacher, know that my students are visiting appropriate websites during the times I am teaching in small groups.

Tool #4

Google Docs - I have used a similar program called Basecamp through the Alumni Association that I am a part of. However, google docs gives access to more people and I love how you can set up who can view your documents. It is very helpful because you do not have to sort through emails, it's all right there.

Google Reader - I set this up with no complications and found it very easy to use. I love how it shows the websites/blogs that have been updated without having to visit each one.

As far as uses in the classroom, I think I would use Google Docs more with my colleagues rather then the kids. I loved the you tube video that discussed how it worked with high school level kids but at the First Grade level I think it is much more appropriate for the kids to complete the writing process with feedback from the teacher in person. I love using conferencing during writing and I think young kids benefit more from that personal contact.

I would use Google Reader with the kids though. We can subscribe to our favorite websites and blogs and then read them all in one area. I think it is a great tool to use and it saves time.

Tool #3

This first wordle is just for fun.


The second wordle is what I would incorporate in my classroom. My idea is to have this as a workstation where the kids create wordle(s) for the different word families. I know the kids will enjoy seeing who can create the most words in each family. I think I would great a word document for each kid where they could save their wordle(s). That way they can save multiple and print out when they have a group of them completed. I just view this as being an engaging tool for the kiddos.


The second image generator that I picked was Bookr. I have to admit that it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be but now that I understand how to use it I feel comfortable teaching it to the kids. At first, I uploaded my pictures to Flickr and then I tagged them so I would be able to use them on Bookr. After many tries, I could not use my pictures to create a book using Bookr. It kept saying no pictures found. I gave up and used the images from the public gallery. I ended up creating a book about insects, which is a unit of study in First Grade. It was a lot of fun once I got the hang of it.

I would love love to use this in my classroom. I am always struggling with get the kids to want to write and I think this would help motivate them. I think it's also a great tool to encourage kids to write a beginning, middle, and end to their stories. They could share their books they created on the activ board and the others could give their feedback. All in all I think it's a great tool that I would definitely use.

My only drawback is I would love to figure out how to use my own photos in Bookr. I would love to have a gallery of pictures the kids could pick from to create their books. That way at first they have a limited number of pictures to chose from and that they also learn what are appropriate pictures to use for their books. Also it would help me teach the kids how to write an engaging story that others will want to read. Hopefully someone else has had success with this.

Tool #2

I am actually excited about setting up a personal learning network. I strongly believe that as a teacher, I'm always learning from not only my students but fellow teachers as well. I have to admit I love to share the strategies that I have incorporated to help meet the needs of the different learners in my classroom. I would find it super engaging to read about what other teachers are trying in the classroom and ways they have adapted things to fit their classroom needs. Plus it's always nice to get feedback on something you have tried but have not quiet figured out how to make it work for yourself.

As far as commenting, I have to admit that I am a "lurker" who reads but does not ofter contribute. I found it interesting because in previous blogs I have commented on, it is often when the blogger has asked for advice or if the situation is similar to one that I have encountered. I plan to use this with my students to get them actively engaged in commenting. I also really like the idea of responding to the comments, which I have noticed the benefits of this in my classroom. When you respond to the child's writing by saying things like, "I love how you talked about ...." and also asking them questions. Their faces really light up when they notice that you responded to their writing.

Blogs I have commented on ....
1) Savcic's Savants
2) The Tech-Teacher Experiment
3) Number Antics
4) Miss Williams First Grade
5) Johnson's Journey

Tool #1 - Welcome

Ok getting started is the hardest part, so I am proud of myself for starting this 11 tools journey.

To be honest blogging is not new to me. It is something that I enjoy and something that helps link you to others. In this case it links me to other teachers and their ideas on how to make integrating technology easier.

I would love to continue this classroom blog and possibly have it as a new window to keep parents updated on the happenings of our classroom. I know the kids would like posting their writing and other classroom projects.

So ..... WELCOME ..... hopefully this will be something that I will enjoy and that I will continue to