The Education Podcast Network

I was excited to discover the podcasts at this network. I first listened to "The First Ammendment Minute." It is great. The podcasts are truly one minute long and both interesting and succinct. I listened to 2 one-minute podcasts about freedom of speech in television. I listened to one about divorce and religious freedom, another about billboards and censorship, and lastly about church buildings. I have a short attention span, so this network is perfect for me.

I searched on and found "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow." Here I found Jim Crow stories, shared by people that lived in the south during this tumultuous period. I listened to Wilhemina Baldwin talk about not being able to drive her Cadillac, so instead had to buy a Chevy. Blacks had curfews then, and in theatres, they had to sit upstairs. I also listened to George Kenneth Butterfield, Jr. as he spoke about when his uncle died because the white doctor did not arrive until more than eight hours after the accident. It is amazing to be able to hear these first-hand accounts.

Enhancing Museum Content

I recently took my fourth graders to Ellis Island. I was thrilled to go, as I had not been there before. Once there, we had a fabulous tour guide that made the trip worthwhile. Some of the other teachers went on a different day and had a different guide. I bring this up because one never knows how good a tour may be. At Ellis Island, there was computer technology being used. You could order your relative's name to be put on "The Wall." You could also look up your ancestors on a data base. My students also had the opportunity to play a Jeopardy game that was on a SMARTBoard or other projection-type device.

In order for the experience to be the best, research should be done ahead of time. People can go on www.ellisisland.org and search the passenger manifests. The students that had the opportunity to look up an ancestor, were much more invested in this trip. Scholastic has a great website on immigration at http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/index.htm. The activities and photos can be used as a pre-trip activity and a post-trip activity. I wouldn't want to take away any of the excitement and sense of wonder by sharing too much of Ellis Island with them ahead of time. On the other hand, if they go there with no background information, it is just a big building next to the Statue of Liberty.

Some of the technology from the Sony Wonder Technology Lab could be integrated into the Ellis Island experience. There could be a virtual experience/simulation in which you could choose an immigrant that you would like to "be" and follow them throughout the program as they go through all steps of the actual immigration process. They could have choices about their belongings, money, occupation, health etc. Another idea would be also simulation-based. You could "be" one of the inspectors at Ellis Island. You would then be presented with a virtual immigrant. You must decide which tests to perform. Another type of technology could be a video-timeline of the immigration era.

Google Earth

I have explored Google Earth in the past, as my own children have shared tours and explorations with me. For this assignment, I decided to look at my hometown and various other towns that I have lived in. I also searched out famous places like Stone Henge and the Eiffel Tower. Once this assignment was given to us, I searched where I was born, Johnson City, New York, and then searched Pleasantville, New York, which is where I live now AND is one of my favorite places. I found out that these two places are 182 miles apart, and would take roughly 3 hours and 12 minutes to drive. While exploring, I also found the Route 66 Tour and followed along the trail for a bit.

When trying to use the Google Touring, I got very frustrated. I spent some real time in Alaska two years ago, and I decided to Google Tour the area. I began to put placemarks on the certain sites that I had been to, and I got confused. It seemed that my placemrks had moved. I got quite frustrated and vowed to try again.

Google Maps

I was not familiar with Google Maps. It was fun to explore, measure, and view maps on Google Maps. I can see many classroom connections, as the students learn to read maps and learn about directionality. Google is a wonderful tool.

TappedIn

I joined TappedIn and was immediately given a welcome and guidance at the reception desk. I creted an office and checked the calendar. Since there weren't any Social Studies Forums any Time soon, I explored a few other places.

Last night, I joined the Social Studies Forum. It was nice to "see" that Mike, Ciro, and Maggie were there also. Things started out slowly as introductions were made. There was a great deal of lighthearted banter. I quickly frustrated due to the fact that I was behind on my assignments, and I really needed to get some work done. We received some invaluable website information but it took one hour for me to get a listing of 4 websites. A list would have taken 20 seconds.

I am not that quickly deterred, so I won't give up. I certainly will give TappedIn another try.

The websites shared:

http://www.ourmedia.org
http://www.educationalsimulations.com/
...the first is an audio/video storage sharing site... the second is a software where students may live a life from birth to death in any country.

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/teachers/lesson3.html

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/teachers/lesson8.html

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/