Whitney Hammond's Blog for LBS 850

This week was a lot of fun because I got to explore some new apps and programs that I have never heard of or tried before! I'm adding all of these sites to my bookmarks as we speak! For this post I think I'll go through each of the tools that I had to explore this week and share my thoughts about them. I have used Flickr before when I was in high school. I think I used it mostly in my art classes, specifically in Photo I. My teacher meant wanted us to practice critiquing photos and thinking about the choices the photographer made. I do like this site because there are so many photos to look through and it could be used well in certain classes. After I looked around this site I opened up BigHugeLabs and Glogster , which I also enjoyed. I really liked BigHugeLabs because it's free and it provides some great templates .I didn't like Glogster as much because of how difficult it was to use it without being a paying customer. I love the  idea of it and the templates they h...

Another week in the books! I've enjoyed exploring new apps and tools this week. I especially liked working with Padlet because I had tried using it in the past and my first attempt didn't go so well. However, this week I realized that this site is fairly easy to use and I really like the layout of it. The only downside of it is that you can only create three Padlets before you have to start paying for a membership, which is $8.25 a month. It's a new way to create a blog and I love it! I just wish it was free because I would definitely use it more! Some of the tools that I looked at were familiar to me, such as Tumblr . I blogged on Tumblr throughout my high school years, but I used it mostly to connect with other people that liked the same bands and music I did or the same books. I loved Tumblr but then with all good websites the ads invaded. I was seeing more ads then posts! I know it's hard for tools and apps to make money if they are free but the ads just always r...

Well it has been quite a week for me! In August I applied for a library assistant position at Saint John's Prep in Danvers, MA. This past Friday I had my second interview for the job and I got it! In the interview the principals wanted to learn more about what I could bring to the library and how I could incorporate what I am learning in my own classes into it. I talked a lot about the new educational technology that I have been learning about in this class and in past classes. The principals found this important because at this school they constantly looking for new ways to teach their students and to incorporate more technology into the library. Last year, their library had a total makeover with the addition of an iMac computer lab. The school is definitely moving towards using more technology and I can't wait to start this new journey at the Prep. It felt like Flipgrid was not my friend this week. I probably made about thirty different videos until I finally made one I was...

Here are my Top Ten Technology Tips for Teachers! Enjoy! 1) Get involved in social media. By now the majority of the world has some sort of social media whether it is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Administrators and parents like to see what is going on in the classroom and having a page on at least one of these social media sites will allow them to have glimpse into your day with your students. 2) Learn about the technology you have access to within your school. Visit the librarian and the technology specialists to get an understanding of what you can use with your students in the classroom. 3) Keep up with new technology trends. I recently found this web resource  that lists new web tools and programs that could be helpful for educators. Unfortunately, this site will no longer be updated but there are so many web tools here that are described and discussed. I'm sure there are other sites out there that will continue to review new programs as well. 4) Try to underst...