Edmodo

    I am excited to use Edmodo, even though I have not figured out exactly how I am going to use it. I know I will utilize elements for class discussions, and I am fairly certain that I also will use it to lighten my load with student notebooks for their daily work--I am really sick of dragging home shopping bags full of notebooks every weekend. As of now, I am leaning toward having students post one or two of their notebook responses each week in a discussion forum; they will be expected to post and respond to other posts. This will leave them a bit more freedom on what responses they have graded, and they will be able to see--and comment on--responses from some students who do not often share in class. Hopefully, this will bring those shy students more into the community of the class.
    I know there will be other applications as I become more familiar with the site, but my initial goal is to alleviate that load of notebooks. (I will still have students respond in notebooks; I just don't want to drag them home and grade everything they have written anymore. It is often enjoyable, but it is extremely time-consuming.) If anyone else has suggestions along these lines, please feel free to throw them my way. And Sam, I know you have some ideas; I would love to talk about them sometime in the near future.