social studies blog, podcast, and wiki

The reason I chose http://civilwarsallie.wikispaces.com/ is because it’s user friendly and educational. This website allows social studies teachers to integrate technology into their classroom while at the same time engaging their students in interesting lesson plans. CivilwarSallie.com is a website about a teddy bear name Sallie Ann who was made in Gettysburg, PA. Sallie travels across the United States in search of museums or schools that are learning about the Civil War. Sallie does not only teach students about the Civil War but she also teaches them how to use technology. Sallie gets invited to several schools around the U.S. where she stays for as long as a week. The purpose of Sallie visiting different classrooms across the U.S. is to gain more knowledge about the Civil War and share it with other students.
Once Sallie arrives to your classroom students are responsible for twittering her arrival and departure. In addition, the classroom must post a blog of what they learned in class and what they taught Sallie, as well as post pictures of Sallie. This website is very engaging for students to use because they can post videos or pictures of what they learn in class, in terms of the civil war, and share it with classrooms all across the global. Moreover, students use technology by creating a twitter account, blog about what they learned in class, and post pictures of Sallie online.


I thought this website was amazing because it belongs to a 5th grade classroom in Medford, Oregon. The first web link is the class’s welcoming page which takes you to the class’s blog, wiki, and podcast. This website is a primary example how teachers can integrate technology into their classrooms, no matter what grade level they teach. If these 5th graders are learning how to use technology then what’s stopping middle and high school teachers from doing the same? Ms. Cosand is the 5th grade teacher who created this website for his class and has posted his students’ work online for others to view. The second website takes you to the class’s podcast episodes where you can hear the students talk about their classroom assignments and research. These are all interesting ideas that teachers can use in their classroom in order to engage and teach their students about technology and social studies.
http://www.dreamextreme.us/Welcome.html
http://www.dreamextreme.us/podcast/

This website illustrates meaningful ways of how teachers can integrate technology into their social studies classroom. For example, Mr. Young is a social studies teacher who uses blogging to communicate with his students. He posts all his classes’ agendas and assignments on his blog page so this students can learn how to navigator the internet and communicate on-line. Through blogging, Mr. Young’s students are becoming aware of their importance of using technology in their classrooms and homes.
Before teachers start to integrate technology into their classrooms or make a class blog they should take the time to teach their students about the pros and cons of blogging or using the internet, in general. Teachers should stress the importance to their students of not providing personal information on any websites for safety reasons. Teachers should also mention to their students the importance of using technology for educational purposes.
http://youngatvanier.blogspot.com/