(If) It's Really Simple, (Why Do I Feel So) Stupid! (?!)

Okay, my brain officially h.u.r.t.s.

I have almost no clue what I just did (although I am thrilled that it appears to be done!) But it's going to be a few weeks before my poor inductive brain back tracks and "gets" the steps along the way!

I'll explain my links real quickly (from the bottom of the list up):

Blog: Yudu is a program that can be used to create digital magazines that look almost like the real thing! I'm hoping to explore this method of "publication" with my students during 4th quarter.

Flickr: Shameless bragging -- this is our daughter's work. She's a Fine Art/Art Therapy Major at PUC and having a wonderful time!

Delicious: I'm going to have to spend 20 minutes a day during Spring Break until I finally "figure out" Delicious. I've downloaded it but don't use it. Here, I've subscribed to Jim Burke's bookmarks -- he's one of THE big names in English teaching. (His seminars and books are fantastic, and he speaks from present experience -- 30 years and counting in the classroom!)

Podcasts: Neither of these are going to end up being very useful, I'm afraid. The one from iTunes leads to some FABULOUS student work. And the Diction lecture is from an AP teacher. But I don't think either of these are "real" podcasts in the sense that they have regular "episodes" that I can look forward to.


The experience of doing this was more frustrating than anything thus far, simply because I didn't "get" what the outcome would look like. I didn't realize that all my shared items would show up together in one code -- I thought I'd be producing four different sets of code. (Don't ask me why -- that was just my expectation!) Google Reder was very intuitive -- it was nice to be able to see what the code would actually produce on my blog.

The value I see in using any or all of this with my classes is mainly for me, at this point. Once I really figure out how to locate good podcasts -- or more likely, good podcasters! -- I am the type who will download them to my iPod and listen. (I'm a highly auditory learner!) I also think that learning to "follow" key words and topics in Delicious will be a valuable way of tracking down pre-screened (and, thus, good) resources, VERY quickly.