Podcasts in the classroom!

Podcasts can be vital sources of information and entertainment in the classroom. Podcasts are versatile and can be fit into any curriculum. The Education Podcast Network or EPN is a great source for many informational podcasts. The site is very organized with different podcast topics listed on the left. There is also a section titled "Student & Class Podcasts" which is broken down into elementary, middle, and secondary school. One of these podcasts that I found particularly interesting was under Subject Specific Podcasts; English Language Arts. The podcast was entitled "Poem of the Week; Encountering the world through poetry". I listened to the poem titled "Maggie, How I Miss You". The poem was mixed with music and read in a powerful way. I thought that this would be a great way to publish student work during a poetry unit. Mixed with music and read with emotion, students can see how powerful poetry can be, as well as hear how their classmates interpret poetry as well.

ePaLs in the classroom!

When you first log onto the ePaLs site, there is so much to read and look at. It can be a bit overwhelming, however if you take the time to read each section you discover how wonderful this site is! One of the first things that caught my eye was the section which stated: "Choose a project. Find a Classroom. Collaborate! You can choose one of the many topics which offers student objectives, essential questions, activities, project elements, standards and other helpful information. To the right of that is a section where you can type in a topic, country, and age range to be provided with classrooms that fit your criteria. For example I searched Australia, the topic was writing, and the age was 13-14 years old. I quickly found a link to a teacher's English class that is seeking a class to share the experience of writing short stories with international feel. It gave me the schools location which was Queensland, Australia, the number of students (21-25) the language (English), and the age range (14-15). I couldn't believe how easy it was to find a classroom that suited my needs. From there you can go on and contact the teacher and begin collaborating! I think that this would be excellent to use in my classroom, especially with writing. Students need to share their work and they need to have an audience. It not only makes the unit more authentic, it gives what they are doing a purpose. Someone is relying on their work which motivates them to do their best. I personally never had the experience to communicate with students from other countries while I was a student, which makes me want to use this in my classroom all the more. I don't want my students to miss out on an opportunity to connect with the world outside the school walls. I know that students would think it was great and they would see it as a valuable learning experience. This is also a great way for students to learn and understand different cultures. This site makes it so easy for students to connect with students in different countries. It would be a shame not to fully take advantage of this ability in the classroom. There is also a space for teachers to collaborate with other teachers and learn new tips and ideas. ePaLs offers a great learning experience for not only the students, but the teacher as well!

Flickr Common Licensing

Flickr is a great tool because it not only allows you to upload your photos on the web for safe keeping and sharing, but it also allows you to access and utilize other user's photos as well. There are however, a few rules when it comes to what people will allow you to do with their photos. There are four main categories when it comes to privacy regulations on Flickr. They are: Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivative Works, and Share Alike. Below are the types of restrictions and what they entail:

Attribution: This means that you let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work- and any derivative works based upon it. However, they must give you credit.

Noncommercial: This is the same as attribution however it can only be used for noncommercial purposes.

No Derivative Works: The same as attribution, however only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.

Share Alike: You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.
-You can find examples and these explanations at Flickr/Creative Commons

He Waits-By It's Greg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsgreg/90724994/


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The possibilities are endless when it comes to what you can do with the pictures you share on Flickr. I explored a site called BigHugeLabs and found a ton of activities and ideas that are all based on using photos on Flickr. One of the activities that caught my eye was the movie poster. I immediately thought about how much students would enjoy this and being able to create something that looks so professional. I thought that this would be a great activity for students to engage in while doing independent reading. Students could make movie posters like the ones they see in the movie theatres, by using their own photos. For my example, I created a movie poster based on Robert Frost's popular poem The Road Not Taken. I found this program/activity very easy to use, and I was able to upload one of my personal photos from my computer. When the poster is finished, you can save it to the downloads folder of your computer. The end product is very professional looking and in the classroom I would print these and hang them around the room. The site offers many different ideas that are equally as good.
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