Incorporating Technology Into the Classroom

I am thrilled to know that I have a fellow cheerleader on my campus. Her name is Kelly and she is the technology specialist and a "graduate" of ETEC 524. When I found out she had taken this class in the spring, I quizzed her about how I would fit in amongst techno-savvy folks. She assured me I would be fine because everyone doesn't know something! Well, it turns out that the most fun I've had so far is reading my classmates' blogs. This class does know a lot and I love how everyone is interacting with one another and asking questions. I would love to replicate this in my classroom and I'm glad that Kelly has been through this same experience and can help me when it comes to filters within our school district.
Blogs: Don, I too was laughing when I read Schika's blog titled "Web 2. what?" She stated that she is regarded as the technology guru on campus but was "totally uninformed" about Web 2.0 technology http://schikasblog.blogspot.com/. As I was researching material for my timeline, I stumbled upon this tidbit of information; The first weblog (blog) was posted on the Internet in 1998. 1998? I've been an adult during the years in between, so where have I been? The first time I heard of blogs was on MySpace less than two years ago! Schika, I sympathize with you and realize that continuing professional development is vital in order to stay current with so many new tools. I would like to create a classroom blog and begin with adding music to the page. That is the tie that binds! I use http://www.playlist.com/ to create my personal playlists. *It is easy to use but be sure you listen to the whole song before posting it - it may have been cut short or you may hear a band member's voice talking at the end.* Even though students may not like my taste in music, creating a classroom playlist and posting it on the blog is a fun way to connect students and get them talking (singing!)
Avatar: Okay Linda, do not feel like the Lone Ranger on this one. I also had a blast creating my Avatar and adding graphics to it. When I say blast, I mean I was playing on the Meez site, www.meez.com, for two hours! Selena made the comment in class last Monday that she views Avatars as the new generation of paper dolls. I didn't know what she meant since I had never created one, but she was absolutely right. After my experience, I started to think about how I could apply Avatar technology in the classroom. (And Linda, I promise I'm not stealing your ideas...I had the same exact thoughts as you!) I felt this would be a great "Getting to Know You" activity for the first week of school. By fifth grade, students have heard the same old questions for initial team building activities - What is your favorite food? What is your favorite book? If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? - but building an Avatar by adding clothing styles (all of our campuses have standardized dress so this will be especially fun), backgrounds, gadgets, animation, etc. is so interactive and will really demonstrate the individuality of the students. I would also like to utilize Avatars while reading novels in order to create character profiles. Character webs and critiques get a little mundane but with Avatar, you could achieve the same purpose using a different medium. What I'm worried about is 1)being able to access Avatar sites (again, I'm so glad I have Kelly) and 2)I've noticed that Meez has a pregnant physique as a body style and a few questionable T-shirts, so I was wondering Linda, if you found any others that were more child-friendly.