social bookmarking with delicious

I found the visual effects helpful as I'm one to feel overwhelmed with too much information being presented on my screen at one time.  Here's the link to my delicious bookmarks: 
http://www.delicious.com/tina_wehner

I could use a social bookmarking site in my classroom quite often.  Many of my lessons include having the students go to a specific site and "find" information on a topic, ie, 3rd graders finding information about the state of Massachusetts.  As an extended activity, I could have them find a few other sites on the web that contained some other interesting information about Mass, for example, chief industries.  This would meet the NETS-S standard 4. Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making.

RSS

Ok, this was a bit of a challenge. I used google.com reader as my aggregator.  I found this took a bit of time to set up but it's a pretty cool tool.  I had to search for how to set up an RSS feed on my blog but eventually got it going.  It looks pretty good.  I could use this in my classroom when I'm doing a unit on the Iditarod.  We have many lessons including math(mean,median,mode), ELA (poetry), etc. I think it'd be fun to track information on the Iditarod over the 10-15 days that this event occurs.  the students would love it.  It fits NET-S 4-Critical thinking, problem solving standard.

Wiki

I was kind of sold on blogs until I began reading about wikis.  Blogs seem easier to implement, but we'll see.  I can also see how each has it's own strength.  Blogs allows for chronological journaling and commenting on posts.  While wikis seem truly collaborative.  Users being allowed to edit entries really puts a whole different spin on the teaching process.  I expect students will feel so much more empowered when actually changing (or negotiating with others to change) existing work.  I'll have to play around more with pbwiki as I tried twice to create an account.  I waited for the email confirmation that never came so just proceeded as if I did, and got in ok.    I'm thinking of creating a Grade 4 wiki called "China Unit Study Guide".  I might break it into 3 or 4 pages? and let each class control 1 page.  I really like that you're forcing us to reference the NETS-S.  I now have it posted beside my monitor and it's really training me to refer to it as I teach my 'regular' classes.  The standard my idea references is digital citizenship as the lesson will support collaboration, learning and productivity.

First Entry

I have previously created a blog with my students - my blog, their communal entries.  So far, at the end of each class, I choose one or two students to write in the class blog.  the entire class joins in as we chronicle the lesson of the day and what they got out of it.  That alone is a good exercise in recapping the lesson.  Putting  it in writing by them is additional good practice.  Lastly, I put it on my web page for all to see and comment on.  (not many comments so far).  The greatest challenge to teachers is getting them to sit in a room after school for an hour or so and showing them how to do it.  I want to do another blog, this time with my Great Books group of 4th graders and pose an interpretive question on our reading and have them all comment on the post.  This lesson will meet the NETS-S standard #1 creativity and innovation because students will apply existing knowledge of the book to generate new ideas.