Wednesday, August 25, 2010

New Idea

Here is the new widget I found to manage Twitter hashtags for Music Ed...... How much more powerful is this going to be?


Created by Guide to Online Schools

Thursday, August 5, 2010

What will you change?

Today's reflection is about what I might do different this year in my classroom because of what I have experienced in my LTMS 600 WEb 2.0 tools class this summer. Well........I am feeling right now that I do not know. But I am going to make sure whatever I chose, that it will be focused on the students' learning, not just another new technological gimmick. I have really found it interesting that what the general education community seems to perceive as Web 2 experiences are really Web 1 learning options.

Having an Instrumental Music Classroom, my direct instruction is still face to face. But, I am very interested in making the Web 2 components that I do implement in my class into something, that will further the learning and encourage my kids to go "deeper" in their own practice. Big task - looking forward to it!!!!

Thanks for listening...

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Day #4

What are some tools that you saw that would fit well with your instructional goals? Do you have any unanswered questions regarding the use of those tools? If you are pretty comfortable with one of the tools that you saw today, consider letting us know that in your blog post, so that others might contact you with their "how-to" questions.

I am still deciding what would fit best with my educational goals. I would love for my students: to improve their personal performance, to increase their productivity while practicing at home, and ultimately to be able to perform selected works in a large group. I am leaning toward a tool like google docs to tie together a lot of class information, including surveys and game results from the other LTMS I am taking this summer. But I am not 100% set on that tool. I still need to make sure that something like Edmodo does not fit the bill better.

I do feel like I am trying to digest too much information at once, and just need to stop and breathe for a minute or two...

Looking forward to tomorrow's discussion..

Goodnight!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

  • What are your thoughts about private vs public blogs?
I believe that both blogs are important to the global world. I think that the private are a better solution for classroom discussions and work, but they leave little opportunity for "global input". I am not sure how to strike a good balance between the two opposite needs. I am open to ideas and suggestions about this balancing act.
  • What about student blogs?
Student blogs are an excellent place for students to express personal views and opinions, and to solicit outside input into their class projects. Sometimes they do forget to control their opinion vs. fact
  • What ideas do you have about blogs for students?
I would like to use them for practice logs between myself and my students, though as an elementary teacher I am not sure how successful that will be.
  • What concerns do you have about blogging with students?
The usual: privacy, balance of teacher student contact, parental concerns, etc........

If you have any insights or reactions please share your thoughts and ideas as to how you deal with any of the above scenarios.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

First Post

I plan to use this site to complete my homework assignments for my LTMS 600.01 course at Harrisburg University. So please feel free to follow along as I work through this class until October 23.......

So join the ride - Allen