iGoogle & Wordle

I think iGoogle is an excellent tool for teachers to use to encourage creativity in their students.  Each student can have their own unique home page by adding whatever features they want, while at the same time allowing them to become more familiar with computers and with the iGoogle program.  I added the New York Times and Facebook gadgets to my homepage because I am regularly checking those websites. In addition, I added an inspirational quotes and pictures gadget so I can get inspired every time I log in. This program also proves useful to keep track of assignment due dates and class schedules, which could prove useful to students of all ages.  I think a drawback of this program is the limited amount of options presented.  There doesn't seem to be an abundance of choices for various gadgets, colors, fonts, etc., which could inhibit students' creativity potential.

Wordle is such a fun tool! I like how it brings my words and aspects about me to life.  This would be useful in a classroom in many ways.  I think this could help students get to know one another at the start of a new class.  If each student created one and shared it with the class, it would give everyone an opportunity to get to know who they are and what they are interested in, including the teacher.  I think Wordle could also help when doing book reviews. The students could write the title of the book, or the name of a character, then all of the adjectives and nouns they can think of that correspond to it.  This is another great activity for students to create something that is unique to them, by changing fonts, word directions, and colors.