Tool #9

When I began working on Tool #9, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Jing and Skype were already downloaded onto my computer. Woo hoo! All I had to do was create an account and I was off and running.

Jing....what a cool program! It is very intuitive and simple to navigate. I played around with Jing using Google Earth. So, my creative juices are flowing...a cool project idea came to mind while I was doing experimenting with Jing. 2nd grade students learn about habitats during the 3rd nine week period. During that time, they choose a habitat, research it, and present it to the class as part of a research project. Jing would be a wonderful tool to use for this. The students could create a blog about the habitat, post daily as they learn more information, collaborate together and keep track of their research using Google docs, and use Jing to share visuals from the web directly on their blog. They can capture a picture of the habitat they are studying on Google Earth and post it to their blog. Wow!

See...here is MY habitat.






I've heard a lot about Skype and know several people who use it regularly. My aunt talks to my cousins (who live throughout the US) using Skype. My friend talks to her fiance (who is stationed in Iraq) using Skype. Another friend uses Skype for conference calls at work. So, Skype is all around me. Yet, somehow I have never had the chance to use it.

Several ideas come to mind for using Skype in the classroom.

• If you have a student who is injured/sick and can't return to school for some time, use Skype so he can join the classroom from home.


• My class had pen-pals in Kansas last year. It would have been great to talk to them using Skype in addition to writing letters.


• Can't afford a field trip? Use Skype to bring the field trip into the classroom.


• Use Skype to collaborate with other teachers in your district or around the world.


• Going to be away from your class for a while because of maternity leave, honeymoon, illness or travel? Stay connected with your substitute and students using Skype.


• Have guest lecturers, busy parents, or authors present to your class using Skype.

Personally, I would use Skype at home to talk to my many relatives who live throughout the US...from Hawaii to Michigan, from California to North Carolina, and some in between. That's it!!! I'm getting a webcam!!!