Tool #10

http://www.apple.com/webapps/entertainment/dskidspaint.html

http://www.apple.com/webapps/utilities/myfirstappkidsstudycards.html

http://www.apple.com/webapps/productivity/snootzforbetterbehavedkidz.html

I found an assortment of iTouch apps that could be appropriate for preschool children, including a painting app, an app that teaches basic concepts like shapes, colors, etc. and a third app to motivate children to better behavior.

Since we will be receiving iTouches for classroom use this school year, I will be interested to see which apps can be used effectively by my students.

Tool #9

Children could use screencasts on Jing to watch recorded lessons they might benefit from seeing multiple times, listen to favorite books read aloud, or to experience places they are not able to visit in person, for example.

Skype could be a useful tool to connect children to people of different cultures or who speak different languages or to see and hear a famous person they find interesting.

Tool #8

I chose two You Tube videos about monarch butterflies, one showing the caterpillar making its chrysalis and the other showing the emerging butterfly. Video resources could be used for helping a variety of science or social studies concepts come to life for children in the classroom.

Tool #7

I am excited to think about using the video storytelling tool with the children's stories we dictate and dramatize in the classroom. They would love to see themselves acting out stories and including their words or background music. We could also do video storytelling of special classroom events or field investigations.

Tool #6

While I can't immediately think of any ways four-year olds might use wikis in the classroom, I do see them as a valuable tool for collaboration among teachers. I like the idea of being able to share, edit, and save information wtihout the need for multiple emails.
In visiting some of the suggested wikis I found one that reviewed children's books for different age levels that I really liked.

Tool #5

Here are a few of the sites I came across after joining Delicious and using tags such as "early literacy", "art", "children's authors", and "children's books"

http://www.kinderart.com/
http://www.janbrett.com/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html
http://www.readinga-z.com/index.php
http://www.rif.org/

I think social bookmarking will be useful in providing quick and easy access to sites I find interesting. I also anticipate using it for specific areas of study in the content areas.

Tool #4

I enjoyed learning about using Google tools as easier ways to both share documents and read website and blog postings that interest me. It makes sense to not create multiple copies of the same document as teachers share things like lesson plans, roadmaps, and new ideas. I like the fact that everyone involved gets to have a voice in editing documents and that changes can be seen automatically by everyone. Google Reader also seems like a real time-saver.