An About-Face on Facebook?

I just read this article by Greg R. Notess, and I am also undecided about whether or not Facebook has done an about-face and is worthy of more educational or professional uses. As far as education is concerned, it would be intriguing to create groups for a class or use Facebook to search for people with similar interests or people who are associated with something about which you want to learn more. I feel like Facebook pages are more professional and organized than MySpace pages, and they are fairly easy to learn. But I also feel that it would be hard to get parents and administrators on board for using Facebook in the classroom. It is also hard to trust everyone on Facebook to be genuine and on it for the right reasons. However, I also think that because Facebook has been opened up to everyone now, it has the potential for everyone to think a little smarter about what they share and don't on their own pages. If I was in high school and had my parents as friends, I would make sure there would be nothing to get me in trouble on my page! As an adult, I have colleagues as friends on Facebook, and I make sure that everything on my page represents me well because of that.

Turning Blogs into Newsletters

This post on Free Technology for Teachers is definitely something I'm interested in learning for my classroom! It is about fivefilters.org, which is a service to turn a classroom blog into newsletters! I typically send a newsletter home each week with students, as well as post it on my website. It would save me so much time to just be able to turn the blog into a newsletter! I also would like to cut down on how much paper I use in class, so instead of sending home paper ones with each student, I would simply send them home with students whose homes do not have internet so they can keep up to date without having to follow the blog.

Smarty Games and Others

On Free Technology For Teachers there was another post that included comments about a website for kids called Smarty Games, as well as some other sites that are good for kids. I am intrigued by Smarty Games because it is for kids at various elementary levels and includes games in both math and reading, as well as stories to read.

Smart Bean - Resources for Parents

I was reading a blog on Free Technology for Teachers and I just read about this website called Smart Bean - Resources for Parents that is an online magazine for parents that focuses on using online resources for learning, as well as just basic parenting ideas. I am always looking for good references for parents to put on my website, so I will definitely include this one!

Another K Activity Site

This post from the same blog that I just mentioned also has a great website for Kindergartners. There are a variety of activities that practice a wide spectrum of skills for students. They are also very colorful and appealing to kids!

http://www.classroom20.com/xn/detail/649749:Comment:339313

K Activity Sites

A blog called Technology in Kindergarten--Classroom 2.0 has shown me some interesting things, and I found that this post has some great websites that kindergarten students can use themselves. I'm always looking for new websites that are kid-friendly, so I will definitely look into these!

http://www.classroom20.com/xn/detail/649749:Comment:336248

Blogging Mistakes

I found this blog helpful on Edublogger. It gives the top 5 mistakes new bloggers make and how to fix those mistakes! I'm starring it so I can reference it often because I know I'll be making them. :o)

http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/2009/06/27/here%e2%80%99s-my-top-five-mistakes-made-by-new-bloggers-%e2%80%94-what-are-yours/