Rio Tech Blog

Today we spent a fair amount of time learning and getting blown away by some of the different things that are on the web for teachers to use. What I found is that there is a lot of cool things that can be useful for classroom use and there are many things that could be real time vacuums. Most of what is showcased in these sessions is material that has already been done and it is simply repackaged. I find myself thinking that there must be another step or level that will make some of these applications become more valid and simple (to use) for less technical teachers to embrace.

I will list a few of the things here that I found to be worth unwrapping!  Allow yourself to sift through these and see if there is anything that you find useful. If you do find something that you think is really great, let me know by posting a comment. I can even highlight some of your favorites in staff meetings and workshops here at Rio.  Here ya go:

http://www.bighugelabs.com/flickr/ is a place to make posters or cards for printing. Ie.. movie posters, and badges. Check out this site and start playing with some of the ideas and concepts here and you will start to think of all kinds of ideas for your students. Have some of your favorite “in class pictures and student shots” ready for use before you start.

http://www.zoo-m.com/flickr-storm/ is a starting point for finding pictures of any kind to start using Flickrtoys. Add these pictures to your tray…take it back to your table and get crazy! Searching Google images should be this fun!

http://ziggyu.pbwiki.com/Chocolate%20Tech%20Affair gives many ideas for using different sources of Web 2.0 technology. This Blog site was put together by our presenter and you can tell she has a love for her dog and chocolate! Grab your favorite chocolate and sit down for awhile, this is really fun stuff!

http://animoto.com/ uploads pictures and music for you to share as hip videos made just for you. Great for introducing a unit or a concept. This is way cool and easy to use. Let me know if you’d like to see a demo! I’ll show you anyway…click here!  http://animoto.com/play/75e2b4e60d18a22787b77b4d492760a6

http://voicethread.com/ allows you to make a podcast quickly. Could make these and apply them to the tech Blog or even your class website to share with parents.

http://www.teachertube.com/ uses videos that teachers can use for educational use. There are some amazing clips here that are just waiting for you to show to your students. Next time you are planning that lesson…think teachertube!

ehttp://www.ed1stop.com/render.userLayoutRootNode.uP can be used to access your portal through the district and use applications that include the Nettreker and Discovery Streaming and even Pokemon League(see me on how to get the password for this).

Second Life http://secondlife.com/can be used to a get into a virtual world. Test drive this and introduce 3D worlds to students and see where their interests take them.

http://stinkbot.com/Tubesock/index.html is a cool resource if you are looking at YouTube videos and want to downoad them to your computer for future use. It is $15 for the complete version. Try it out and let me know what you think!

http://del.icio.us/ used to create and store your favorite bookmarks that are accessible from anywhere. You will need to set up and account for this before using it. Go for it! How many times have you heard yourself say, “Oh, I wish I could remember that website…I have it bookmarked on my computer at home!”

There is much more, but for now I think you have enough to work and play with. Please leave a comment.

Doug
6th Grade Teacher &
Rio del Mar Tech Liaiason

Welcome to our Rio News Blog. This site will show some of the technology things that are going on around the campus . If you have any ideas or anything that you feel may be helpful to our students technology learning experience, you can email me at Douglas_kyle@pvusd.net. Another option is for you to post a comment right here for all of us to read and consider. I appreciate your time and contributions.

This year(2006-2007) we have made some great strides in technology:

• Accelerated Reading (a web based reading program) was launched and is being used by many teachers on the site. Please ask your child’s teacher how this works and if you can get a report of your child’s books read.
• A Library Media Center that houses six iMac computers. This has become a favorite spot for students to find a quiet place to finish working on research or to take some pictures with PhotoBooth.
• Our library has been updating books to show AR (Accelerated Reading) grade levels and points.
• Our second grade class held two digital bake sales that netted over a thousand dollars. We filmed and put to DVD, two school plays and sold them to eager parents.

2007-2008 School Year

A brand new year at Rio brings new opportunities to learn and use technology as a tool to grow.

I (Douglas Kyle) am taking on another year of being the Tech Liaison for the Rio Del Mar.  We are looking at some changes and updates that are continually making our school a leader in technology use and integration.

One change that is coming is our district SASI program is going to be replaced by eSchoolsPlus which will allow teachers to log in to their computer in the morning, take roll and lunch count without using paper or needing students to pick up roll sheets and the lunch count.  The secretary staff and administrators are going to be trained on how to use this program.