Last Official Post!

I have written a lot about different online resources and tools this semester, but I know I've barely scratched the surface. I have recently learned about two more online tools, Common Curriculum (for online planning) and Easel.ly (an infographic creator, great for visual learners like me!). I wanted to mention those briefly, but I also want to go ahead and address another thought I've been having about education and technology...

As I mentioned, all of my posts this semester have been about online tools, which means that none of them have really been about online content. As we have delved deeper into lesson planning this semester in General Methods, I have grown more worried about content. I know it will be addressed in my Reading in the Content Area class next semester, but that doesn't stop me from wondering about it now.

Considering the amount of information and content on the Internet, asking "Where do I start?" is a huge question with many possible answers. But fortunately, one of my classmates mentioned a great website with credible information that, while not subject-specific, has real world relevance: NBC Learn.

One of the great things about being a future English teacher is that I know I will plan time for discussion. One of the not-so-great things is that I don't know if discussion will go well, or if it will go at all. Having something like NBC Learn, a site with school-appropriate, relevant videos and information, in my back pocket will be hugely beneficial. I'm grateful to my classmate for mentioning it, and I'm grateful that I have this blog to remind me of it.

Writing this blog has been a fun experience, and I will probably continue to add to it as I discover more tools and resources that I can utilize in my teaching career. Maybe I'll make a symbaloo with links to all the sites I've written about here. If I do, I'll be sure to come back and share it on this blog!

Thanks for reading :)

Smore: The Flyer Site

I'm sure that I've mentioned this before, but I am a highly visual learner. I love seeing things graphically represented and I honestly believe that different colors and shapes can help make information interesting and memorable. And one tool that can help organize information this way is Smore.

Smore is a site that allows you to make visually appealing and informative flyers. I can definitely see myself using Smore to introduce a unit. I could both project it on the board and hand out the flyers to all the students (although with some of the backgrounds and color schemes, a black and white printed version might not be very readable). I also really like Smore as a tool through which students can demonstrate their learning. I think it is both easy to use and complex enough that it will definitely be an engaging tool for high school students.

Here's a quick sample Smore I made below!

Storify

One of the bloggers that I'm following created a Storify, and now I'm very interested in this tool. Storify allows the user to clip content from all over the web and publish it in a "story" format with your own words explaining what is happening. If that wasn't very clear, check out this Storify about Facebook's manipulative attempt to influence users' emotions.

I think Storify will be an excellent resource in the English classroom (and especially in a journalism classroom!). It's an easy way to showcase research and present information without ads, which is something I love and will be very, very happy to have in a classroom setting.

Other users of Storify include the BBC, Al Jazeera, Yahoo, Dell and HBO.

I've always loved stories and I am a highly visual person. I can definitely see myself using Storify both as part of my direct instruction and as an assignment for my students!