Podcasting in the Classroom

After learning about Podcasts and doing some research, I have found that implementing Podcasts into the curriculum can be a very motivating and exciting way to introduce new material. What I like about Podcasts is that they are being made everyday, giving very current news and opinions. As a teacher, I believe that keeping students updated with current happenings in the world is an aspect of our job that we have to take seriously. The one thing that comes to my mind is the tornado's that swept across Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and parts of the Carolina's in the past couple of weeks. I found a Podcast titled, Tornadoes which was made by college students aiming towards third grade students. This Podcast talks explicitly about tornadoes, giving general information like where they primarily occur, how they form, and how deadly they really are. I would reflect on the event to my students, and then have them listen to this Podcast to learn more information about tornadoes. Teachers have to be flexible, and if something is happening on earth, it often gives time for a teachable moment, such as introducing tornadoes to children who may not know much about them. Furthermore, if I wanted to teach students how to use a podcast of their own, they could do something simple in response to the information learned such as actions they should take in case a tornado struck their area, etc.

ePaLs in the Classroom

If you are a teacher who enjoys advice from other experienced teachers on curriculum, fun activities, and successful lesson plans, then the ePaLs website is for you. ePaLs is a great tool to use when looking for a book to read in class, interactive lesson plans, engaging activities, the list goes on and on. Personally, although I try and make all of my lessons creative and engaging, I do not have that internal creativity that just comes to me. I look through all sorts of websites, collecting a lot of fun and educational activities that I find online. Although I like this website to help aide as a lesson plan builder, there are interactive activities for students to use as well. A great tool I found on this website is called in2books, which gives a student a pen pal to interact with on books they are currently reading in the classroom. The pen pals write back and forth, asking questions and giving opinions about every aspect of the book. ePaLs also posts questions for children to answer and post online, giving them accreditation for their thought out answers. This encourages and motivates children to take pride in their work and answers, especially because their writing will be up for others to view. Furthermore, one of the most influential aspects of this website is that teachers and students from all around the world are members of ePaLs. Sometimes children need the perspective of an outsider to help piece the puzzle together. This type of website allows both students and teacher to think outside of the box by the thoughts, comments, and perspectives of children who are the same age and grade, yet in different parts of the world. Whether you need help with creativity, curriculum, interactive activities, or motivation in the classroom, this website will be beneficial to you!

Study Abroad Italy Via Flickr and Pimpampum

Trevi Fountain - Rome, Italy by DiGitALGoLD">
Trevi Fountain - Rome, Italy, a photo by DiGitALGoLD on Flickr.

I absolutely loved playing around with Flickr photos to upload onto Pimpampum. Pimpampum is an online site where users can use their own photos or photos they find on Flickr which can be used commercially to create comic strips, slideshows, and photo books that can be published for the Internet to view your work. This website is easy and quick to use, it allows you to insert text for blurbs above photos, and can be used in multiple ways. Although I did not use my own photos, I made a strip which documents some of the aspects of by experience studying abroad in Rome, Italy. Thinking from the perspective of a child, it was so much more fun and engaging using this site to write text and display pictures compared to the traditional book report or essay. Teachers can incorporate Pimpampum into the curriculum very easily, such as having students use this sight to create and publish a story with pictures, reflect on their favorite family vacations, book reports, a class photo album from memorable activities, etc. The possibilities are endless especially because it is such a great motivator for students. It is very difficult to get children to want to write whether it is reflectively, creatively, or academically. This site makes children so engaged that it does not seem like work, it really is pure pleasure and children will take great pride and ownership in it knowing that it is published for the world to see! Heck, I even had a ball going down memory lane putting together a strip about my European adventures. Here is my Pimpampum strip titled Study Abroad Italy which gives one example of all the fun that can take place inside of the classroom.

Creative Commons Licensing for Flickr

www.Army.mil, a photo by The U.S. Army on Flickr.

Do you enjoy taking photos? Have you taken photos that are noteworthy of sharing with others? Want to share your talent of photography and current interests with the world? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then becoming an active Flickr user is the smart way to go for you. In signing up with Flickr, users are able to post a plethora of pictures onto an online account where others can view, comment, and use for their own use. Now I know what many of you may be thinking, what about copy right laws? How can I protect my own work, yet share it with the public? Well Creative Commons Licensing for Flickr has attacked these issues to protect individual rights on photographs with various agreements that will meet all users needs. Are you a person who wants to share your photos with others, but want that photo to remain as is and your name to always be on it? Then this agreement is right for you. Users can see and print your photo, but it must remain in tact without revision and may not be used commercially.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike- If you want others to not only see your photo, but to revise it and tweak it noncommercially, then this agreement is right for you. Users may revise your photo; however, your name will be copyrighted not only on the original version, but the revised version as well under the exact same terms.

Attribution-NonCommerical- In this license agreement, users can revise and tweak your photo noncommercially. Although your name will be copyrighted on the original, the new user must mention you in their new work but they do not have to license their new work under the same terms.

Attribution-NoDerivs- With this licensing agreement, your photo can be redistributed commercially or noncommercially as long as the photo remains in its original state and credit is given to the creator.

Attribution-ShareAlike- In this license agreement, users can tweak and revise your photo for commercial and noncommercial purposes as long as they give credit to the original publisher on all derivatives and follow the exact same terms as the original.

Attribution- This agreement is noted for the most accommodating of all licenses. In this agreement, users can redistribute, revise or tweak the original work commercially or noncommercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.

As you can see, there are a variety of license agreements that Flickr users can choose from to meet the needs of all users. Creative Commons Licensing ensures that your photos are viewed, yet protected to the users protection of choice.