Day 2...blabberize and poll everywhere

Today we learned about two more technology resources in class: blabberize and poll everywhere. Blabberize is a resource that allows people to take a picture, create a removable/mobile mouth and then narrate the picture. While it struck me as more of a novelty at first, I am now starting to see its potential for the classroom--especially a reading/L.A. or history classroom. I just spent the past half hour or so scootin' around blabberize.com and was pleasantly surprised by how many student projects were on the site. Being a reading teacher next year, I think blabberizing different literary characters or public figures would be a great way to engage students in the reading materials, as well as a new and unique option for book report type projects. I am still not sure about poll everywhere. It seems like a neat way to assess informally on student engagement or understanding, but I am still undecided on how I feel about the use of cell phones. Granted, it would engage students, but working with middle schoolers I know all to well that sometimes the tempation of using phones inappropriately can be too much for them. We'll see, more than anything it is nice to be learning about all these resources to incorporate into my "teaching toolbox."