Widget: Thing12

Scrabble Game: This is from Google Gadgets


NPR: This is from Widgetbox

I think I'll be using this a lot. This is fun!!

Thing 11: Comments on Blog!

I like receiving comments as they give me a chance to look at things in a different perspective. Comments are very good way of communication if efforts are taken to leave meaningful comments. I like looking for others blog and leaving comments and share certain related experiences.

The Last Lecture Video: Thing 10

Kalyani's Blog: I love the great inspirational video called the Last Lecture by Dr. Randy Pausch. This video is from Oprah Winfrey's show where the professor was interviewed.



I think embedding is good as long as youare sure of the youtube availability. I personally prefer to download the video and I have been using Zamzar for all my conversions. It is easy to use.

Thing 9

Kalyani's Blog
I think YouTube can be a very effective teaching resource if used appropriately. We can find videos on just about anything. Watching online videos uses a lot of bandwidth and therefore it might take a long time to load. There are lot of inappropriate links on the side... Teachers need to take time to see the video and download it before using it in the class. It can be downloaded and converted to a different format to burn on DVD (I use Zamzar for that) Can be done quiet easily but we have to be careful with the copyright issues.

More Fun with Thing 8!

Kalyani's Blog:
Thing 8 was a lot of fun. I thought Spell with Flickr and Big Huge Labs were fun and I can see Yearbook staff, Newsletter Group and students using it. Very easy and fast. Personally and professionally I see myself using it.

Thing 8

Flickr: Thing 6 & 7

I searched for Porbandar and I was amazed to see all these pictures. Porbandar is a small town in the Gujarat state of India. It is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhiji and my husband!! I grew up here. The picture just brought so many memories of my childhood.
I know I will be on this "Flickr" a lot. I set up my account and uploaded pictures for my family to share. It is easy and very fast.

Thing 5

Kalyani's Blog

Well this was challenging; for some reason my Easy subscription step was the hardest..I couldn't find the link button and therefore it added to the Favorites folder. I found the manual method easy to use and I thought it will give me a better control of adding to right folder. I think clearing & updating the folder might be a challenge, before you know your blogline is full of clutter!

RSS Feed: Thing 4

Kalyani's Blog

Information overload is a common problem with the sheer volume of information on the web; RSS feeds is a great way to get information at one place. Presently, I have bookmarked so many sites and then when you use a different computer you have problems!
I was reading other "thingers" comments and one of them was:"Consider how a newsletter sent weekly or monthly is not posted on a blog, and the information is automatically dropped into a person's Bloglines or Google Reader account. Announcements, assignments, district related news, and other forms of information can be sent out." WOW! WOWIE!!
It was so easy to set the bloglines. I have used google reader which is equally user friendly. This is so exciting....having a news stand at home or where ever you go.

Reflection on Thing 3

Kalyani's Blog:

I feel blogs can be used very effectively at Creative Montessori Academy. The fact that it is a small school gives us an advantage to develop a learning community that is easy to keep up. We can have student-learning community shared and controlled by teachers. Teacher-learning community shared and controlled by teachers and administration.
· There are so many ways that blogs can be used in a classroom. Have students blog about a current issue, about a specific piece of writing, or some question that comes up in the course. Students can share opinions with each other and support each other with commentary and answers to questions. Students can have a very wide audience or can have each other as their potential audience. It helps them to see each other’s work, which in turn might help their own learning. This way integration of all subject areas is easy to implement.
· Times when students are absent, they forget to check what was done in class the next day. With a blog that contains the information for each class, students can see what was accomplished the day they were gone and complete the work before they even return the next day. The challenge here is for the teacher to post updated information.
· For administrators it can be a very useful tool. School forms and common documents can be posted. All communication can be posted in the blog. Teachers can share teaching ideas and lesson plans. Principal can post meeting schedules and agendas. The professional learning community can use this to interact with each other.
· At CMA we use Montessori methodology/ philosophy to teach the traditional GLCE. New parents always have so many questions in this direction. We can create a blog that allows teachers, principals and parents to communicate with each other. …… the possibilities are endless!