Skype

So, I just created a Skype account. The class demo was very interesting, and I was definitely interested in trying it out myself. I can definitely see use for this in my middle school social studies class.

I could Skype an expert on a particular social studies topic and have them do a little broadcast question/answer session with the class relating to what we're learning. This would be particularly amazing, because it would be live, the presenter could do it from home if they felt like it, and the students could ask questions in real time. It would also add a little variety to the classroom...they wouldn't just be learning from boring old Mrs. Patterson that day -- and they would get a chance to hear from an expert without having to bring in a "guest speaker".

It just blows me away that this is free and has video, when people in my office are still paying good money to conference call. What's with that?

My blog in wordle form

Web 2.0 Tools...

So. Web 2.0. I had absolutely no idea what that even meant before today's class. But now I understand that they are tools that are web-based instead of PC based so you can access these things from any computer with the internet. That's totally useful for sharing, as well as having backup in case a site goes down, for example.



So I was surfing around in the web 2.0 tools that are listed on the class site, and registered for dabbleboard. This is so cool!! Meg, Cirbi and I all sat here and scribbled on this document LIVE in about 5 minutes! I am blown away!

I can totally see how you could use this up in front of the class -- drawing arrows pointing to specific parts of a picture for example. Each kid could have rights to the document and can scribble their own thoughts on it. We could create a collaborative picture. Very neat. But for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get the entire pic up on there. I tried changing the size but it didn't seem to matter. ?

Record your screencast online

Woah, this is just way cool. This class has just provided me with so much information that I am totally using in my everyday life already!! Here is my first Screentoaster video. I'm not sure yet if it has audio or not...the original video is a Youtube video (that does have sound) of my son that I had embedded into my personal family blog. So I did the screenshot from there, and since I am not familiar with the keyboard shortcuts, I go back and forth to the Screentoaster site (which I obviously would try to avoid when doing a clean copy of something...I actually think it's kind of neat to see the back and forth like this.) Waaaaay cool!!

Reflections from OTEN

Blogs in the classroom...

I actually got some interesting ideas for this post at the OTEN Conference yesterday. I attended a workshop by a MAT graduate who had created her own social networking site for her 4th-6th grade blended classroom. I really liked the idea of each student having their own space (profile) to decorate and make their own.

I think it would be very beneficial to use blogging in the classroom, and I especially think middle school is a perfect place to use this tool. I would probably use a combination of posting personal "how's it going" questions that they then have to reflect on, and asking them to blog on a topic that relates to a topic we learned about that week. I remember "journaling" when I was in middle school, but I think blogging is a bit more interesting because the students can read each other's ideas and thoughts.

Who I am.

Hello. I am Meri.

I grew up in St. Louis, MO and I moved to Salem when I was 18 to attend Willamette undergrad. I majored in history and held a variety of jobs while in school including working as a barista and as an assistant in the library. Right now I am working at the Oregon School Boards Association in the Policy and Board Development Department. I really like working there, and maybe I'm a little weird, but I really enjoy learning about school policy.

Here is a picture of me from the OSBA website where I have giant pregnant head and kind of a weird comb-over hairdo.


Back about 9 years ago, I worked with inner city kids at a summer camp in St. Louis. I also facilitated teen groups and STARS classes with AmeriCorps, and led after school girls groups for at-risk middle school girls. My goal is to get certified to teach middle school social studies. I would also like to get an endorsement in ESOL. I took two years of Russian in college, and I am working on refreshing my grasp on the language. I got married in 2005 to a musician-electrician dude, and we live in NE Salem with our 15 month old son, Thaddeus and our cat, Assassin.