Prezi
What is prezi?  It is an alternative to powerpoint.  Powerpoints can take away the main emotion.  Prezi can draw the audience's attention.
Prezi is non-linear.  It is basically a big canvas that you can move from one thing to another.
It is also online.  You don't have to worry about presenting from one specific computer.
Prezi allows you to zoom in to see details or zoom out to get the big picture.
It is quick and effective.
Prezi allows you to add video and audio very quickly.
I like how students can add and change  their presentation easily.  It is easy to add youtube videos, and really easy to add images. 

Dropbox-
Advantages

• Paperless classroom
• No "lost" assignments
• No heavy stacks to take home and grade
• No "I left my assignment at home"
• Return papers electronically
• Your comments are typed and readable

Drop box handouts into the class dropbox rather than using resources and hand-out time
No more "can I get another?"
No more, "I left my ____ at home/school
Easily edit and update handouts and worksheets
Long-term storage of documents for students to review later

Students can easily share work with each other in small groups (Collaboration)
Students can edit and comment on each other's work
Students can share ideas, suggestions, or topic choices
Build and share common resources such as notes, readings, photos, maps, etc
Asynchronous peer  response

GoogleDocs is great for collaborative projects. I really enjoyed doing the webquest, and I could see my students enjoying it as well. I could see using it where students are given a certain budget and they have to create a vacation staying within the budget.  This would follow the core for geography, math, writing, and technology.  They students are able to collaborate on the project.

Google+ This is a social networking tool.  You can put people into different "circles."  This makes it so not everyone can see the same things.  
Google Hangouts makes it easy to conference. You can conference with up to 10 people at the same time.  Hangouts can be recorded.  Google hangouts has graphic effects.

I love the idea of having some virtual field trips with my students this upcoming year.  Moving to 6th grade is going to be a complete change for me.  I know absolutely nothing about heat, light, sound, astronomy, or micro-organisms. Therefore, having a virtual field trip to a science lab or speaking to experts about these matters using Skype, facetime, etc. could be a very valuable resource for me.  Since, I will be teaching all of the technology for the grade next year, I can see how this can be a very beneficial tool to help the students learn.

Although I was not in class to learn about the history simulation, I thought it was really an amazing simulation.  I have already talked to other teachers in my school about this simulation.  I have told the new 5th grade team that this simulation would be a lot of fun and very beneficial for the students.  As, I was explaining the simulation, the teachers were jealous that they didn’t get to participate in it as well.  I could see unmotivated students becoming engaged in the process. 

I liked people came in to the process at different times in order to go along with the simulation.  It was really fun watching and following everyone’s feeds.  From an outsider, it was interesting to see the process grow because I didn’t know who was who.  There were so many people commenting about their thoughts and ideas, and it really built the emotions of the activity. 

I would love to try something like this in my own classroom.  Maybe I can figure out a way to adapt it to 6th grade.

Twitter:
Reflection: I missed this class, but I have been looking at  all of the information provided on the class agenda.
Twitter can be used in the classroom in many different ways.  The idea of only having to use 140 characters really cuts what the students can write. It makes them focus on what is most important.

• I really like the idea of posting due dates, activities, and class achievements for the students and parents to stay informed. 
• I also think the idea of having the students post a daily review for parents would be fun.  It is a great way to keep parents up to date from the students point of view.
• The idea of having students decipher a daily problem, anagram, or math puzzle would be a different way to get students to do their homework.
• I could also have my students use twitter as a daily math reflection where they have to summarize what they learned and how it applies to them. They could use their tweets to study for a test.  It will help them remember what is important. 
• I think it would be a great idea for younger grades to track temperature and post it on twitter every hour or so, then they can graph/chart it.
• It would be fun to have students pass the story along adding to it with only 140 characters at a time.
• I wish I would have seen the twittersnap idea before I did my science review testing.  I think the students would have really enjoyed tweeting in their answers to the magnetism and electricity Jeopardy game!  I think I will try it next year for sure!

Facebook:
I really liked the idea of having one class page and allowing the students to insert updates periodically.  I think that this would be a really fun way to keep parents involved.  It would also be a great way to engage students in writing.  I liked how they mentioned it is a great way to show student work or allow parents to see video of field trips they have taken. 
I love the idea of being able to invite parents through event invitations.

Wikipedia:
Like I have stated before, I think that Wikipedia can be an excellent source for students to use as research, but it is NOT the only source they should be using.  When I have my students do research, I make them use at least 4-5 sources.  It is important for students to know how to research because in today's schools rote memorization is not common.  Therefore, since information and facts are not engraved in their brain, students need to know how to find it efficiently using credible sites and sources.


Finally, here is a poem I created about Twitter:
#Twitter
By: Chandra Martz
How many characters is one-hundred forty characters? It so must be shorter than a paragraph. Does it allow people to create a full response?

Copyrightkids.com- Great way to see if stuff is copyright or not.
Creative Commons License- is great because it allows you to decide how people can use stuff that you have created. You can be as loose with the rules or as strict with the rules of your license as you want.  

What is CC?
It is  an infrastructure provided consists  of a set of copyright licenses and tools that create a balance inside the traditional "all rights reserved" setting that copyright law creates. (it creates conditions)

Copyright has been around for a long time. Way before the internet.  Creative commons allows you to create the conditions for the copyright which is great for the internet.  

Before licensing

• Make sure your work is copyrightable
• Make sure you have the rights
• Make sure you understand how Creative Commons licenses operate
• How does a creative commons license operate?
• Do the ported licenses contain special terms depending on which one you choose?
• Be specific about what you are licensing.

CC licenses-Attribution CC BY
This license lets others distribute, remix,, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially.

CC Licenses-Attribution-NoDerivs CC BY-ND
This license allows for redistruibution commercially, but credit must be given and it cannot be changed

CC BY NC SA
License lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non commercially as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.

CC BY SA- lets others remix tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.  

CC BY NC- (non commercial)
Lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non commercially and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non commercial they don't have to license their derivative words on the same terms.

CC BY NC ND
this license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can't change them in any way or use them commercially.  


Creativecommons.org

Flubaroo-Allows you to grade a quiz. 

Fair Use
What is Fair Use?
In its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and "transformative" purpose, such as a comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work.  Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner.  

Transformative  There are no hard and fast rules.  Open to interpretation

Guidelines
The term "public domain" refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws.  The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist.  Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it.

You are free to copy and use individual images
copyright has expired
the copy right owner failed to follow rules
deliberately placed in public domain


Copyright fair use
Parody
Criticize
New reporting

Nature of the work
Amount you borrow

music-30 seconds or 10% which ever is less
video-10% or 3 minutes- which ever is less

Fair Use is really hard to define.  It is difficult to figure out whether or not the materials are protected by fair use.  

Reflection: This class made me wonder if I am following copyright and fair use in my own class.  Do I obey fair use in my own classroom?  

Kidblog.org- a blog for students using a teacher login.  There is no student email necessary.  This could be a great way to get students writing.