Mistake!

I have been posting to a different blog address! Kmhemmeswk2.blogspot.com

Week 13: Free Online Apps Reviews

I looked into ThinkFree on the web. It is a free online application where you can create, store, edit, organize, and share MS-compatible documents. It offers 1 GB of Internet Storage Space.  There is an online editor. You can view and edit documents without having the expensive hardware on your computer or smartphone!

This application is most suitable for working on the go. You can collaborate, edit, and create documents without having to depend on your home or office computer's hardware. For a teacher, I could see this being a valuable tool for storing and sharing files with colleagues and students. Also, it's a great application for students to use who don't have the hardware on their computers. Along that same line, it's extrememly useful to students who don't have the internet at home and can go to the library and find what they need in one place online. For what I would use this application for as an educator, I didn't see any real drawbacks.

I also looked into a free online application that is an image editor, Picnik. Picnik is an online photo editor. It allows you to upload photos and edit and enhance them with a variety of tools. You can add stickers, frames, other effects, as well as touch-up your photos. It claims to be the easiest online editing tool for photos. Picnik also offers an upgrade for a price.

I found this application extremely fun and easy to use. I can see this as being a great personal online tool. I especially appreciate it since I used to have Adobe Photoshop on my computer. With this FREE tool, I can do just as much if not more even faster and anywhere there is internet! In the classroom, I can see it being fun for students to edit photos and then create stories based on the photos.

My Classroom Website!

I made a classroom website. I put upcoming announcements, homework information, contact information, and resource information on it. I chose to add a calendar, clock, weather gadget, and text gadgets to make it more visually pleasing and informative for the parents and students who access it! Check it out:

https://sites.google.com/site/mshemmes

Week 10: Bubble Map

I would use bubbl.us to model a thinking map to plan for narrowing a "Watermelon Topic" down to a "Seed Story." I would start my center bubble with the watermelon topic, then show how I can zoom into that topic by identifying times that I have gone to the beach with different people. From there I can show how to zoom in more to identify specific activities or events within each group of people. Finally I would zoom in one last time to pick a seed and elaborate with details to plan my story. I think that using this tool would greatly enhance the understanding of zooming in from a "Watermelon Topic" to a "Seed Story."

Jing Video

I just created a JING video showing how to use Microsoft Word to create a graph! Check it out!

Using Google Maps to teach construction of maps

In second grade, the Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations state that the students will be able to

Construct maps of the local community that contain symbols, labels, and legends denoting

human and natural characteristics of place... and Use maps to describe the spatial organization of the local community by applying concepts including relative location and using distance, direction, and scale.

In order to teach these concepts, the use of Google Maps is excellent! Modeling to the students how to find a certain location using the online maps is a great way to start. The teacher can model how to attach symbols and labels to a map (preferrably of the community or neighborhood of the location of the school). After the neighborhood has been labelled, the teacher can either have students create their own map of the area or ask spatial organization questions. For example: How far is the Bagel Beanery to El Sol Elementary? If I was walking along Walnut St. headed towards S. Westnedge Ave., what way would I turn to go to Chenery Auditorium?

What a great tool to teach these GLCE's! Check out my map below...

View Vine Neighborhood in a larger map

Podcast!

I subscribed to two different podcasts. One is PodcasterNews.com: Get the latest news and information on Education with multiple content producers creating short five minute recaps of events and happening in the world today. The other is "Festival Guide: Learn to Speak Spanish:" Learn the appropriate conversation topics for different situations like eating out, introducing yourself, at the beach, etc. To check out some of these podcasts, visit my podcast site at http://my.podcast.com/hemmeskm/.