Voicethread!

It was really easy! I can see why people like it. You log on and in this case follow the template Marcia set up. And then just speak into the microphone. Marcia talked about ways you could post an image and ask the children to comment on it during the day. If you wish it can then be posted on a blog.

The Final Post

I created instructions for how to do a power point, when I decided to experiment with the presentation for the kindergarten parents in March. I will send them to Marcia soon. This was easier than I thought and also had tricky parts I was not expecting. The photos had to be exported and re-sized to fit, but with Marcia's help it worked.

I enjoyed making a pop-up book during the Spring Curriculum day using ZooBurst. We also created a digital quiz on different body parts that day. I have subscribed to Richard Byrne's blog and am intrigued with some of the ideas I'm finding in there. I have to figure out how to manage it. TMI!

Blogging on Blogs

I visited Marcia's blog when she left a link to it on my toolbar last week. I was intrigued with her reflection on a recent workshop she had been to and wondered if what she was talking about connected to a link Polly W. had sent me on Ted Talks. There is an idea that the content we often deliver to the entire class might better be put up in an electronic format for children to listen to on the web. This would free teachers up to do "homework" during class time when they could spend more time with individual children, monitoring their understanding of the material presented electronically. I tried to put a link up to Ted Talks, but lost this blog in the process. Luckily it turned up in my old blogs. I'm going to publish before anything else goes wrong.

Voki

I created a Voki this week for an early morning reminder to the kids on putting their stuff away when they arrive at school. I will try to play it on the computer when they arrive next week. I used a dog for the character, as they are currently quite taken with a puppet of a puppy that they named Cocoa. I had tried recording my voice in the Voki, but the result was very choppy, so I used the text to speech feature. I don't like the voice, so next time I add a message, I will try a different voice or record my message again. If the children are interested in this I forsee some real possibilities in recording reminders for routines, creating pre-teaching for some children or reminding some children of the instructions to lessons, such as the math activity.

Last Minute Posting

It must be because it's Friday night. I can't get into the iTunes store. I did set up an account with Pandora and create a playlist (one, I don't think the second playlist took). I'll try again later in the weekend. I am curious about podcasts. I can't imagine using one in kindergarten at this point.

Google Docs

I started my own Google doc tonight regarding the meeting that was held on Friday. So far I have only sent it to Renee and Jake, but if all goes well it should go out to the staff on Tuesday. I'll talk with a few people at school on Monday and decide if this is the type of document you would put up on Google docs or not.

Along those lines I question if writings about special education kids would be secure enough on Google docs?