Ch. 3, 5 & 7 Response

Chapter 3
If we expect our students to be able to do something, then I think we should at least have an idea of what we are expecting them to do. So, needless to say, I agree with the author when he says that if we want our students to be blogging then we need to have that experience, too. I think that goes with many other aspects of the classroom, as well. For example, the third grade classroom that I was student teaching in, had a couple of different literature circles during our literacy block. Each day, the group would read a chapter and then respond in their notebooks. I did not read the chapter in advance, or after the group was finished, I read the chapter WITH the students. If I was expecting the students to read the chapter then I felt that I needed to be reading it, too. The students would discuss the chapter, if they had time, but a great way to ensure that they discuss it and incorporate technology into the literature circles would be for each student to write their response to the chapter in a blog. This way the other students could comment and share their ideas.

Chapter 5
I had never heard of RSS until I was in this class but it sounds like it is a great tool to have as a teacher. I tried to set up an RSS feed reader but the author was right, it was a bit overwhelming. I've always felt that I know a decent amount about technology but after trying to do this, I was somewhat confused. However, if I can figure out how to set it up, the author makes many good points as to why it would be a good thing to use in the classroom. I think that blogs are a great tool for students to use and the RSS feed seems necessary if you are going to use blogs in your class. The idea of going through each blog individually seems very tedious and the RSS feed would be a great way to make that process go a lot smoother.

Chapter 7
I absoulely love the idea of using Flickr in the classroom, and I will use it when I have my own class. I think it is a great teaching tool for many reasons. I like the idea of using it to, what the author said as, "dissecting" the picture. Being able to use the notes to put more information on the picture is a great thing to have when you are learning about, almost anything! I also really like the idea of being able to search for pictures that may already be on Flickr and then being able to comment on those, in hopes to contact someone across the state, country or even the world. That would not only be exciting as a teacher but as a student, as well! It seems as though the ideas for using Flickr are endless!