Three and a half Thoughts

Two weeks into the new semester is all it takes to get right back in the thick of things. When trying to think of one topic to blog about I just couldn't. ICT covers so many new and interesting topics making it hard for me to focus in one  so I decided to steal a page out of my favorite bloggers book, Elliotte Friedman (CBC Sports), and borrow his idea of a thirty thoughts blog (only shortened). So here we go!

1. Symbaloo - although I have only scratched the surface of this webpage I have already fell in love, if not for the social sharing, at least for the organizational aspects. Right now I am only using the webpage as a homescreen for my personal computer but can the advantages for the classroom are immense, a great form of digital curation. As compared to competing websites Diigo and Delicious I prefer Symbaloo solely based on the attractive layout and ease of use, but to each their own.

2. Dropbox/Google Drive - Yes, yes I know I am probably the last person on earth to create an account for these sites but I am so excited about the benefits of the cloud I just have to share. While working on group projects in university my classmates and I are taking advantage of the capabilities, not having to fire emails back and fourth is great. More importantly for my forgetful mind is not having to face the dreaded day I forget to bring my flash drive to class while teaching. As of right now I have utilized both sites and am leaning towards Google Drive as my preference, but that is with very limited experience.

3. E-Portfolio's - I was rather hesitant at the idea of going through all the trouble of a portfolio in the beginning (thanks Tom Skinner!), but now as the idea of E-Portfolio's is surfacing I have slowly began to shift toward the other side. I believe that E-Portfolio's outwieght their hard copy counterparts for a few reasons.
1. I like the idea of keeping the any good copy certifications in my hand. Photocopying doesn't look near as neat as a scanned copy.
2. E-Portfolios can't go lost on the way, or on their way back. If I sent out a hard copy portfolio containing valuable items and hard work that was misplaced by a Principal I wouldn't be very happy. (Probably not likely to happen but Principals are busy people)
3. E-Portfolios can easily be sent in advance, a huge advantage when applying for jobs outside of Brandon and the portfolio doesn't need to be dropped off before or left behind after an interview.
4. E-Portfolios give the ability to show off technological ability, always a plus when applying for a teaching job.
5. No paper. I don't consider myself an environmental activist but whenever I don't have to print something out, I don't.

3.5 Classroom Websites - Not something that I am really thinking about doing while student teaching but I can't wait to start playing around with these when I get a job. It makes the teacher, student, and parents lives easier when they are done and maintained properly. What's not to love?