Podcast creation

I created my first podcast. It is a short 3 minute chat of my reaction to reading Brian Benzinger's article Back To School with the Class of Web 2.0: Part 3. I can't believe how well I understood the jargon after completing this class. I can truly say that I have built a strong foundation for using these technologies with my students. This is my last official post. I hope I feel confident to return and continue blogging about other things in my life and educational pursuits. Now on to trying to find a teaching position.

The Environment Report: Study: Ethanol Sucking Up Water

The Environment Report: Study: Ethanol Sucking Up Water

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I like the idea of discussing this in my class. It talks about the idea of "trading off" is it better to ween ourselves off foreign oil or is the use of water too great in local ethanol production. I would play this for my kids and ask them to decide on the spot which they thought was the better choice. I would then divide the class according to their answers. The students would work together to research information on their choice, prepare a statement of facts and present their findings to the other group. This could be something that the class could do as a way to present topics to each other as well as create informative poster boards or presentations that could be displayed to the rest of the school as well.

ePaLs

This site is a great idea. I cannot believe it is already as old as it is! The number of languages you can interact with make this site an invaluable tool for foreign language classes. The on site translator allows students to communicate with one another on a more comfortable level with the language barrier taken away. I also like that you can either specifically design a project with students in another school/country OR join in on already designed projects. This website is truly designed for the classroom user. The added benefits to working with students from another continent, culture, etc create an even deeper value than just simply working with students in your own classroom.
Being a Living Environment certified teacher, I would want to concentrate on the science aspect of what this site has to offer. Students could work cooperatively with students in another country to complete a lab exercise. Students might also work together to present a project on a topic the two created to both classes via web cam. This site would really allow for some great cross over teaching between my science class and a history or foreign language class.