Fellow Bloggers

http://rayaintheclasroom.blogspot.com/

http://apple2cm.blogspot.com/

http://garrisv20.blogspot.com/

Above are links to fellow educators' blogs that I found inspiring.

Wordle

Wordle is a great resource for pointing out key ideas. For instance in the one I created, which you can view here, I used Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and in it many adjectives are highlighted as being repeated, this would be excellent in advocating to students the importance of the elements of storytelling, emphasizing detail (mainly sensory details) and not plot. That it is tone/mood that evoke a story's ability to stay in your head. Wordle is so simple to use as well, in no time at all you've got a great catch piece that's readily available for discussion and input, plus you don't have to create an account to utilize the service which is awesome! Who wants to remember yet another username/password?

Digital Storytelling

Toondoo is a really simple and fun tool to put quick cartoons together. I'm not really creative in coming up with these kinds of things but this made it easy to do by taking the pressure off of artistic capability. I can definitely see using this resource as a means of quickly going over classroom procedures, rules, and policies in an entertaining and accessible way.

Wiki

I really do NOT like wikispaces. It was NOT user-friendly and the functionality of it, I really don't like. My district asks us to use Edmodo which offers a "Facebook-esque" quality that all of my students are use to and makes it supremely easy to communicate with my students about upcoming projects and past assignments/notes with a feature to send notifications by a secure third party in either an email or text message. As for the collaboration feature which wikispaces laud, you can gain the same functionality through Google Drive (which offers the ability to collaborate on Google's PowerPoint presentations, Word Documents, Spreadsheets, etc.).

Pinterest (Alt. Assignment)

My district loves using the latest trends in technology so I had to have a Pinterest account in order to participate in a technology training. I can definitely see the appeal of Pinterest. It's a great medium to share ideas and as they say, "not have to reinvent the wheel" and it allows you to get the perspective of teachers from across the nation and otherwise. However, like I'm sure others who are not creatively apt can attest, it can be extremely overwhelming. Some of the ideas are amazing and I tip my hat off but at the same time I lament, "Can't I just find something simple that gets the job done?" Which is the biggest problem I have with Pinterest...it seems to be filled with only the over the top and takes forever to find something I feel confident tackling myself.

Google Presentation

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Google Drive! I had my own personal account already but using it again just goes to show me why I love it so much. The accessibility and ease of use is enough to make anyone swoon. I love that Google Drive provides applications for virtually every internet capable device you have. It is ridiculously easy to sync all over your documents into one safe place and access them wherever you may wind up. And boy, do I know what it's like when you have that one brilliant idea and then you frantically search for paper and pen - with Google Drive there's no need. Just whip out any internet capable device, log on, and you're set. What more could you ask for?

Glogster

This was my first time ever being exposed to/using Glogster. As you can see (under the Web 2.0 Applications tab) I tried to create a general inform poster about the danger of banning books as a means of censorship. I can definitely see how this is a fun and interactive way to work with information. What's really great is it can hold all the information a PowerPoint presentation can but in a quick one-stop shop accessibility that I love. I will definitely be utilizing this new resource at the start of the next school year.

Delicious - Social Bookmarking

This was my first time using this website, the interface does not really seem user-friendly and can be quite confusing. The search/discover feature on the website is confusing to use as it resembles that of making a general Google search with keywords, it brings up virtually everything. Seems a bit dangerous to me. I doubt I'll make much use of this resource.

Write with Your Audience in Mind

Writing is not a "one size fits all" formula and it certainly is not formulaic (that's why there are so many genres that cross each other), so one of the biggest failings I can see with my high school students is that audience is not stressed enough when students begin to write. By the time they make it to high school the only piece of advice they have been given is not to use slang in academic writing (which they still do).

We as educators (English teachers in particular) struggle with getting them to put down words on a paper that we often forgo the niceties to get them there. Here is a quick and fantastic video about how to work audience into your writing and how it changes depending on the piece of writing you are working on. 

This is a great way to work in audience in writing with little effort and more importantly saving on time. Purdue Online Writing Lab is easily one of the resources I keep readily available because the way they explain the minute details in writing is so accessible.