Technology Lingo

The first day of class we were asked to list every word we could think of associated with technology. I don't remember how much time we had, but this is all I could come up with! Hopefully I will have an abundance of new words to add to the list at the end of the semester. My knowledge of technology and all it entails continues to grow and grow!

Computer
Internet
Webpage
Software
Word
Excel
Usb
Drive
Disk
Cd
Blog
Email
Myspace
Yahoo
hotmail
Facebook
Technology
Keyboard
Mouse
Mouse pad
Dell
Mac
Microsoft
Bookmarks
Server
Photobucket
Control panel
Format
Adobe
Photoshop
Flash drive

Threaded Discussions

My colleagues and I have created a threaded discussion, an electronic discussion in which the software visually groups the messages so that is easy for the user to access topics. We decided this would be a great way to communicate our struggles and successes. We are all READ 180 teachers that work all over Guilford County. Some schools have only one read 180 teacher and they feel "alone". We post our ideas, what's working, what's not and any questions we may have of eachother. It puts many of us at ease when we feel like we are the only ones experiencing such frustrations.

For example, I was struggling with "selling" the program and "showing" the students that they were successful. One of the teachers discussed a way that she posted her students successes that they achieved on the computer program. I created the success board today and my students really bought into it! Instant gratification!

The threaded discussions allow us to quickly post our thoughts and questions and in return get a quick response! We have quite a few discussion forums going on such as grading, motivation and classroom management.

Social Bookmarks - A real Time Saver!

I created my social bookmarks through FURL. I now have an icon on my computer called the "furl it" button. I can easily save a site I am viewing and am able to access it through any computer anywhere by pulling up my FURL site! Just recently I was at school and remembered researching a topic at home. I found a great website that had lessons and printables. I bookmarked it at home, but what good did that do me now at school? Now that I have FURL, I can bookmark any site and access it through the Furl website. I sound like a commercial, I know! But I can also share my sites and explore other teacher's favorites! I am pretty good at searching the web, but now I have easy access to a wealth of useful websites from friends, colleagues and other teachers around the world!

Try it! http://www.furl.net/

Here's my link: http://www.furl.net/member/tlr2611

SKYPE-N-IT!

So after playing around with Skype and Vyew I must say I became addicted. My best friend goes to school about an hour and a half away and I talked her into getting a mic and a webcam so that we could try it out. We doodled and chatted for a while and I must say it's a lot more fun than instant messenger. Using it in the classroom would be a lot more useful and resourceful, but I really am limited to what I do in the classroom being that I cannot go outside the READ 180 lesson plans and 90 minute model. Any suggestions?

For now I am having a great time learning the new software and using it with my friends and family all over the world. My mother is a small business owner and she does a lot of her business online and has customers and partners all over the country. I told her about Skype and Vyew and she has since tried it our for herself! I was also watching Oprah the other day and even SHE uses Skype on her show to get her viewers at home more involved. She has them react and respond live from home!