535 Week 3- Podcasting and Google Sites

I posted on the message board yesterday that podcasting is something I'd love to include in my classroom, but there are some hurdles in the way. I've often been frustrated with colleagues' hesitancy to include technology in the classroom, and their way to invent reasons it wouldn't work. I guess you just have to pull up your britches and get it done. Now that I've thought about it for an extra day, I think I'm going to offer it as a choice activity for a book group project later in the year. I think it's a great way to reinforce learning, encourage discussion, and would really appeal to some of my students.

Google Sites is something I also hope to start using with my students. We're currently wrapping up a research unit where the finished product is an advertisement and a business letter. In the future, I may put less emphasis on the letter, though I would still like them to be familiar with the form, and focus on making a website for their imaginary country. Once they get the hang of it, it would be a great option for all their other projects.

What I like the most about learning all of these tools is the wide variety of project options I can offer to my students. They've reacted very positively to all the tools I've added as a result of this Masters program, and I'll be taking my first crack at wikis next week. Hopefully all of these tools will be standard options for my students in the not-too-distant future.