SLOTHS! haha

too cute...

St. Patrick's Day rules!

Yay, St. Patrick's Day!

Tech Task #7 - podcasts

Today we learned about podcasts. I listened to a podcast by some children in East Vincent, Pennsylvania. These kids were doing a newscast about their home town. They gave me information about their location, climate, and many other things. I think this would be a great project to do for social studies in grade 2 (communities). I think this would give students an opportunity to feel like they're doing something important - especially if it will be shared on the internet for the whole world. They could have their parents, grandparents and family listen at home. I just think it would give them a sense of importance. I think it's fantastic! Click here to listen to the students from East Vincent, Pennsylvania.

Tech Task #6

Today I learned all about Hot Potatoes... it was actually really neat. You have the option of
making crossword puzzles, matching games... etc etc. I believe the hardware is free, and it's a great tool for teachers to make online activities for students to use. Click here to view my Hot Potatoes site all about cells. I would use this in a grade 5 classroom as a review or activity.

Crazy stuffed animals causing children to online gamble?

I was reading the paper on Saturday morning, and I came across an article called "Cute, stuffed animals draw young children onto the Web." This automatically drew my attention, and I was surprised to find out that there is a new toy on the market. This toy is called a WebKinz, and what they are are stuffed animals that come with a secret code that you register on the WebKinz site. From there, you receive $2000 in KinzCash to spend on your pet's room. They can also spend this money on food, etc. Kids are told to go on the site every day to keep their pet happy.

To be honest, I think it's kind of ridiculous, but I can see how kids would be drawn to it. It's the same idea as a Tamagotchi, which I had when I was a kid, only on a larger scale. WebKinz can interact with each other. Take a look and tell me what you think. I have the link for the LeaderPost article and the WebKinz website. If you click on "Take A Tour," it gives you a virtual tour of this new phenomenon.

LeaderPost Article
WebKinz Website

How I feel about technology sometimes...

telecollaborative projects

This telecollaborative project is all about math from grades k-12. The intent of the project was to provide motivation for students to use computer technology while increasing problem-solving strategies and communications skills.

The project has links to MS word documents for different grades and age groups (k-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12).

I think that the project would be fantastic for kids to use in the classroom in regards to problem solving. You could give the students the link and specific problems to work on in partners, or on their own.

http://mathforum.org/mathmagic/

Bonjour!

First of all, let me just say it's disgusting outside... I'm not overly impressed with the weather - but I guess it can only get better!

Secondly, I've been thinking about technology and how I use it in my everyday life without even really thinking about it. My digital clock blares the radio at me every morning, I turn on my iRythm and I hop in the shower. Technology consumes me. I can't say that I could live without it at this point, because I know I probably couldn't. What would I do? I know I've probably posed this issue before but the more I think about it, the more it amazes me.