This teacher is contributing and participating in projects and his enthusiasm is spilling over into class discussions (imagine that) -- Steve has helped us proofread our horizon templates and create a page for internet safety for the students that they will be adding to.
It is this type of professional educator that makes projects like Horizon so worthwhile and meaningful -- we have a lot of virtual volunteers out there!
This is a video talking about what the future will be like. This is a good video for ideas about how to construct the video as well as the trends that are shaping our world today. It is important for the students of horizon to view and understand although many of us who've been watching this type of video for a while may think the technique is "old hat" it still has a powerful message.
This is the "site community" for my blog -- I'm learning a lot about what people have marked and the annotations feature is really cool. If you blog or have a website, you should look at the automatically created site community -- also check it out for those sites you really enjoy reading -- you may turn up some of their great old posts that you've not read!
This is an interesting article that presents some interesting commentary on students today. It is very brief but makes some excellent points.
Quotes from the Article:
Larry Rosen, professor of psychology at California State University-Dominguez Hills, has long studied "the Net generation," the first to have grown up with the Internet, not to mention cellphones. In Me, MySpace and I: Parenting the Net Generation (Palgrave Macmillan), he helps parents understand social networks. His advice: Talk to your kids, learn the technology and don't panic. USA TODAY's Janet Kornblum spoke with the author.
They're very self-motivated.
This world encourages us to multitask. I think it encourages kids to be much less patient. More terse.
This generation spends time at home — connected. Kids have to be social. It's all part of the preteen and teen years and young adult years
Because they have a combination of people they know face-to-face in the real world and people they don't, (those of the Net generation) get a lot of chances to bounce ideas and to test out things on a social network that they probably wouldn't do face-to-face.
This is the "site community" for my blog -- I'm learning a lot about what people have marked and the annotations feature is really cool. If you blog or have a website, you should look at the automatically created site community -- also check it out for those sites you really enjoy reading -- you may turn up some of their great old posts that you've not read!
This is a very honest, open discussion between educators about why diigo or delicious -- I think the fact we can have this conversation within diigo at all says a lot for the usefulness of the tool. Diigo is an emerging tool for social bookmarking and collective intelligence. These are extracted comments and my thoughts on what was said from the annotation feature in Diigo.
Following are some "high points" from a variety of educators.
Lisa Parisi
This morning I came here before I went to twitter. This seems to be the place to be right now. Still not sure of all the groupings, taggings, etc. Reading what everyone writes and hoping to get it soon
Will play on Sunday with Karen McMillan and Alice Barr. Anyone else want to join? Anyone want to teach?
Ryan Bretag
I'll join in the fun if you'll have me. Let me know time when you know.
I was going to present 20 minutes on Del.icio.us, but I may show Diigo instead - or both - or 20 minutes is not enough....
This new version "appears" to have fixed that issue, plus I've been impressed with the new features.
Caroline Obannon
I'm second guessing teaching only del.icio.us myself, too.
Liz Davis
I'm wondering if Diigo is too much for the newbie. Delicious is so simple and obviously useful. I'm afraid Diigo would scare some people away. I'm still inclined to start with delicious and save Diigo for my more advanced users (of which I have very few).
"Maybe overwhelming would describe my feelings.
However, I can defely think of quite a few people who would balk at it, too and favor the simplicity of Del.icio.us.
but most likely wouldn't participate in the social/sharing aspects they offer.
The nice thing about the Diigo toolbar is that you can select which buttons to see, so for those who might find the extra choices of tools overwhelming, it can at least be customized.
I'm feeling a Diigo obsession building. As soon as Explorer comes up I check to see if there are any messages in Diigo. How nice of them to put that number right on my toolbar!
I created my very first List last night,
Kristin Hokanson
Liz I think it may be too much ially for the newbie and I will continue to send to delicious.
There is one feature that I REALLY like and that is that you can EMAIL something you are tagging so for folks who LIKE to get those sites emailed, you can still meet their needs without an extra step yourself
I second that. I like Diigo, but del.icio.us simplicity is so inviting.
The value of Diigo is that it brings a number of tools together allowing for multiple entry points. The old training model is show them a tool from start to finish that goes over every single detail. With Diigo, why show everything to those new to all this? It is rather easy to click into your bookmarks. From there, teachers have a space they can grow. It also provides a wonderful opportunity to differentiate with your teachers -- the whole multiple points of entry.
still I will have fun, exploring it and making effective use of it.
it is the ease of integration with blogging and twitter -- I annotated a page yesterday and pulled it directly into my blog. I can twitter bookmark that is important quickly -- AND I can use the tagging standards for the horizon project without having to remember the darn tags -- tag dictionaries are the most useful things to have been invented in a LONG time -- we need to set them up within one of our educational groups!
I don' t think I would not teach delicious. But perhaps starting with delicious and saving Diigo for later is a good idea.
I do find this site to be much more powerful and useful than delicious. I never really used delicious to its full potential. The fact that I am here just chatting with folks makes me want to stay and contribute to the collective knowledge.
We are conversing about the usefulness of diigo and I thought you might like to be included.
Maggie Tsai has invited Wade Ren to this conversation
Are you guys planning a Sunday get-together? If so, please advise the time - I'd love to join you and help answering any question.
Howdy! Wow, what can I say? Diigo is a lot more than delicious. If CoolCat Vicki hadn't written about Diigo again, I probably would have stuck with Delicious...and,if I hadn't been using Twitter, blogs, played around with Facebook, the social networking side of Diigo would have been just so much MORE to learn.
my concern would be to NOT limit learners in workshop sessions to the path I followed in learning these tools. Simply, folks, here is a tool that will grow as you grow and learn more about living and contributing in an interconnected world. The ability to have conversations like this, to annotate web pages, to share relevant quotes and tweet as needed...makes me wonder at the need for blogs at all.
A few folks are considering exploring Diigo on Sunday morning and having a conversation about it now...join in and learn with us!"
Chris Pirillo talks about Drupal: How did he do this?
Saturday, March 29, 2008
I am very impressed with how Chris Pirillo does this video. (I love the video and the chat at the bottom.)
I know of several people who really like the Drupal and find it interesting. Of course, for me, for now, Ning is perfect and I don't have to do the upgrades behind the scenes, but I can see a great case for Drupal where you have embedded tech support.
I guess the tough thing is that we all want the newest features. And I want to remind schools that connecting within your school is vital (See my Five Phases of Flattening Your Classroom) BUT you MUST also connect online with other classrooms.
I also like the term he said, "I don't want a social network but a socially relevant network..."
I'm testing the feature that lets me post annotations and links from diigo to here. I know that many of you are getting sick of hearing of this little tool and if you're a beginner, perhaps you should wait, however, for me, I'm finding it useful.
Forgive me as I learn to work through the kinks here. It may be bumpy at first, but this gives me a more robust way to share links -- many of you have e-mailed me that you like my link goodness best! This way it can become part of my blog... I'm still not sure I want it here, and yet there are STILL people who go to the site directly and don't understand RSS.
These are the cool feedflares that you can add in addition to those already used in Feedflare -- for bloggers using Feedburner to RSS things. There is a new one called twit this.
Ryan Bretag says, "Okay, here it is. I’m dumping Zotero, Delicious, and Google Notebook for Diigo. Blasphemy to some, I know, but I can basically get all I need in one: "
This chart by Ryan Bretag summarizes what the sites can do. He left off a few but this is great.
A great list that I came across from the educators group on Diigo-- this is a collection of internet safety information -- great resources. This is an excellent tool.
An analysis of existing research supports a notion that already has begun to transform instruction in schools from coast to coast: that multimodal learning--using many modes and strategies that cater to individual learners' needs and capacities--is more effective than traditional, unimodal learning, which uses a single mode or strategy.
This is the current tag dictionary -- we really only get 17 that show up and I had to truncate the names -- but if you join the group and send pages to the group when you bookmark these tags will come up.
This will be my first "official" bookmark to the educators group on diigo. I'm sending it to the group to make use of the standard tagging dictionary I've set up to use with this group -- this will help us share at a further level.
Some good best practices from a teacher on keeping students cybersafe. I like this practical list and think it should be shared. It is important that we teach students about how to be safe online and good digital citizens.
This is a very honest, open discussion between educators about why diigo or delicious -- I think the fact we can have this conversation within diigo at all says a lot for the usefulness of the tool. Diigo is an emerging tool for social bookmarking and collective intelligence.
I wrote this post to outline the progression I take my classes through to get them to the state where they may collaborate directly with students in another country. I put a lot of time and thought into the progression of collaborative skills.
This incredible chart says it all about the importance of wiki collaboration. This should also be a message to bloated bureaucracies looking to squeeze that last bit of efficiency out of already overworked staff. This is an important chart for horizon project students to include, I believe.
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued its Non-Final Action on the re-examination of the Blackboard Patent. We are studying the document, found here, but in short, the PTO has rejected all 44 of Blackboard's claims.
Content Filtration: A little dirt for your health?
This was literally my first post on Tech Learning back in November of 2006 and I forgot to cross post it over here. I find myself referring back to it a lot as content filtration policies come under review and I wanted to share it here. I believe it is still relevant today.
Content Filtration: A little dirt for your health?
Modern science has invented numerous methods of removing allergens from our lives. We have air purifiers, hand sanitizers, and anti-dust mite methodologies. What should have happened is a decrease in allergies, but what has happened is a dramatic increase .
I am a believer in having some sort of filtration in place, particularly to prevent the inevitable teen curiosity about sex from finding inappropriate websites. I mean, what prepubescent boy can resist typing "Sex" into Google?
In the above analogy, notice that allergists say "play in dirt" but do not say "play in sewage." Playing in sewage would kill children. Likewise, I consider pornography, hate speech, weapon construction, profanity, and the "dark" areas of the Internet to truly be the sewage of the Internet. This type of thing should definitely be filtered and we should protect our children from it.
The Dark Side of the White List
However, I believe that the practice of "white listing" (only allowing websites to come into your school which you specifically permit) is going to create more problems in the long run than it will help. Just as the body needs exposure to dirt to create immunity, students need exposure to the real world to create discernment.
I believe that students will suffer from their own ignorance as they emerge into the world uncognizant of the "virtual tattoo" they are creating in their on line spaces and naively trusting every site they view. Ignorant students post inappropriate pictures and subject matter, and just do not understand how to thrive in our socially connected world. (Just take a look at the Gossip website that takes the Myspace pages of public officials' children or the son who is taking teenage rebellion to new heights as he throws a wrench in the AT&T / BellSouth merger.)
What do teachers say about filtration?
I was stirred by Bud Hunt's keynote for his strand in the K12 online conference two weeks a go. He was talking about a captivating discussion that he and his students were having about the problem of school violence. As they typed in "school violence" it triggered the filter.
Bud says,
"It is frustrating to teach information management when you can't find answers. Driving into a filter is like driving into a brick wall, it stifles interest in continuing the journey."
I teach using the Socratic method (by asking questions) and Google is a key part of this method. I am fortunate because I do control the filter at the school and am able to unblock things if it is necessary to class instruction. When students emerge from my class, they must be self teachers. They must be able to use RSS to aggregate information and discern both sides of the issue and objectively discuss issues.
If you are in charge of filtration, listen up!
Solutions can emerge on this issue, but professionalism and trust must be present if improvement is to occur. To me, this discussion boils down to several things:
If you want students to treat teachers with respect, treat teachers with respect.
If you want students to treat teachers as the authority, give them some authority.
If you want teachers to act professional, treat them like professionals.
If you want to hold others accountable, accept accountability for your part of the equation.
If you want your teachers to be innovators, allow them to be connected to hotbeds of innovation. (Excited teachers are better teachers than bored ones.)
The morale of your classrooms is related directly to the morale of your teachers. (This issue is a morale killer!)
Good learning is fun and exciting! It is OK to laugh and learn!
Sometimes it is more important to do the right thing than to be right.
Spend your time removing roadblocks, not being one.
I am fortunate because I have absolutely incredible administrators. Not everyone is so lucky.
What Schools with Overly Strict policies Might have Missed This Week
For those who believe in strict filtration, let me tell you about how you might be missing out:
Google Earth - They have added featured places this week. You can literally fly from your home to the great wall of China. You can go in the crater at Mt. St. Helens. You can fly through cities and look at the deserts of the world. Social studies, history, current events, and social awareness teachers have so many exciting resources here.
Newsmap - The incredible visual display of current news based on Google news aggregation (it has different country and world views) - This is incredible for cultural literacy and should be used in all social studies classes. I use it to create my questions of the week on classblogmeister.
Skype - This is fun to use software that turns your computer into a telephone/chat machine and has been a great addition to my classroom. My students can chat me questions (even if I'm out at a conference), I can hand out files to the class, and they can collaborate on team projects across the room. It makes for a quiet but exciting classroom. The business world is integrating chat into every workstation so that employees can work better together. Students need to know how to use it effectively as well. We don't use it all the time but every day in my Computer Fundamentals Class.
Netvibes - I use this incredible RSS aggregator with my students. They can sign in and have it read my blog, their classblogmeister assignments, changes to their wiki projects, and keep up the latest technology. They will not always have me to help them "keep up" with innovation. They have to become aggregators and assimilators themselves! (This is part of my strategy to teach them to be lifelong learners.)
Gliffy - My students used this amazing online tool to complete a Spanish project. In this project, they were to design their dream home and label it with the correct spanish words.
My students use and love tools such as Airset to manage and share their calendars (including homework and test calendars). It sends them text messages on their cell phones to remind them of upcoming tests and projects and their calendar. It will also synchronize with PDA's if they have one. (I use it and it synchs with outlook and my PDA!)
My students have begun using MyNoteIT to create and share their class notes.
My students useLibrivox to download public domain works (like William Shakespeare) onto their iPods. (This is an essential skill for auditory learners!)
As part of information literacy we often use Wikipedia and contrast it to other sources of information to determine fact and error.
My blog -- Teachers e-mail me from around the US that they have to go home to read my blog. They have to print it and take it back to work to follow the tips, ideas, and instructions. Somehow, "blogs are evil" and are blocked carte blanche from their system.
In Conclusion
When I blogged about this topic , I got many responses. I'd like to share a few with you (added emphasis mine):
"This is hot hot hot issue at our school. Emails have flown back and forth for the last two weeks between frustrated teachers and administrators about too much blockage! I lost half of my class time the other day because my students were blocked from my moodle and personallearningspace blog - which I had asked to be unblocked (and permission was given) last week. I had to give up on my plans to communicate with some students in Israel and move to plan B."
"My son is in debate and has repeatedly had problems accessing sites at school that contained evidence needed for a debate case. When the teacher has requested that particular sites be unblocked she has met with a brick wall...if a student is trying to access a site that is educationally sound and the only answer we have when it is blocked is "sorry but it is blocked by the software" then I think we are telling our students that we are not capable of making judgment decisions ourselves. I think that filtering is great for protecting our students but it needs to have a human factor.
"Many of us are out there working within the system, one in which technicians determine access for the students. When requests for more access are met with LESS access, you learn to keep your mouth shut. It is about power, and teachers have none in this one."
Being effective educators requires facing tough issues
This is my first post on TechLearning, and I know this is a controversial issue. I understand that there are bandwidth issues as well as control issues here at stake as well as some real (or imagined) sue-happy parents who would love to have "little Johnny" come home complaining. However, we have lessons to teach, high stakes testing, and we must be relevant to the children we are teaching.
The easy answer is to block everything; good education is never easy.
In my opinion, in schools where people care, filtration must begin having a human component. The easy thing to do is to just turn it all off.
In businesses that overconcerned about cutting costs, the saying is -- "OK, cut it all off -- close down and that will cut costs." I think that is what some educators have done; they have cut it all off: and cut their classrooms off from meaningful, relevant education.
So what should we do?
Returning to the adage about allergies, filter out the sewage with software. But allow teachers the authority to have some sites unblocked and hold them accountable for the appropriate use and the results of that use. If you trust them with the kids, you should trust them with the Internet.
Let the teachers teach students how to discern accurate, appropriate sources of information and do not over sanitize the Internet. Its not possible and its not healthy. We are an information society. That is what we are producing. The best filter ever invented is the human brain. The best supervision is the teacher, not a piece of software. If teachers aren't responsible, they shouldn't be teaching.
How will history label our generation of educators?
Robert F. Kennedy said:
"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
How will this generation of educators be labeled? What do you think about this issue? Does your school have a solution that works for you?
The Five Phases of Flattening a Classroom Right now, Julie and I are both doing several things to help duplicate ourselves and help others understand what it takes to conduct a Flat Classroom project or Horizon Project.
I've outlined what I believe are the five phases I take my classes through to prepare them for independent, self-directed levels of collaboration. I suspect these ruminations will evolve.
Phase One: The INTRA-connected Classroom First, one must have a classroom that is connected electronically to itself.
Intra-class Instant messaging and Skyping I teach this using a backchannelin some of our class discussions. By observing a live backchannel chat, I teach appropriate behavior and what it means to be a professional student. I also have them video and audio skype each other.
Intra-class collaboration using a public wiki
First, someone they sit next to.
Next, someone who sits on the other side of the room. (I have to cut off the verbal tether to transition students to online interaction!)
I wouldn't DREAM of connecting my class to another until I teach appropriate electronic behavior. There is a BIG difference between understanding how to USE electronic media and understanding appropriate BEHAVIOR. The using is easy, the behavior takes time and vigilance.
PHASE 2: The INTERConnected Classroom I connect ALL of my classes to one another on the Ning. Students must learn the dynamics of interacting with people of other ages and in other classes. This is a wholly different dynamic than intra-classroom because students are interacting with students they may not see on a daily basis.
This includes:
A walled blog (I again use my social network, Ning that is private.)
Inter-Class projects and collaboration on the wiki (i.e. Your 2nd period class is doing a project with your 4th period class)
Asychronous communications -- sharing videos, photos, blogging, and more where students must respond and communicate on a topic. (You have to cut off the tether of both time and space and teach students to collaborate with those who will work at a different time and in a different space than they are occupying at the moment.)
This further helps students understand that they are working with REAL people with an online presence and takes them in a gradual transition to a fully online project. It also helps you pick up on potentially troublesome habits of students while ALL students are still under your direction and policies.
Phase 2A - IntraDistrict or IntraAssociation students For those in a district or association -- I would add another possible step in here of connecting by grade level and subject. Honestly, I can see no excuse for not connecting all fifth graders in a district or all World History Students.
DON'T STOP! I don't think that one can get enough diversity within a private school or public school association or within one district to truly accomplish what needs to be done in terms of cultural understanding with today's teens. Move on to the next phase.
Phase 3: Flat Classroom - Many to One Connections AND one to Many connections with Teacher Direction
In this phase, students as a class are connected to one person or group of people typically via Skype. This is essential because they can see me model appropriate behavior and techniques.
This includes:
Presenting to another location as a class via Skype.
Interaction with an expert (such as our keynote speakers for our projects) via wiki or videosharing.
Connecting to others through my quoting their work (with permission) and sharing with others. (a sense of global audience and they are more likely to read and see me model appropriate behavior.)
Public (anonymous) blogs of my students who have permission from parents. (others blog on a large blog with 1,000 other students at Youth Voices.)
This gives them awareness of a global audience and transitions them to full blown connections as individuals. They learn accountability and I am able to isolate their individual practice and habits to help them.
Phase 4: Flat Classroom: Many to Many with Teacher management This is Flat Classroom with many students collaborating with one another directly to create wikis and digital artifacts (they outsource part of their video to one another.) On this project, the teachers are still very involved in group dynamics and media issues with the teams.
This includes:
Collaborative Writing and Editing between students
Involvement of experts and other educators to provide a rich, diverse global audience and feedback.
RSS readers and customized learning spaces (for self-directed learning)
Instructions delivered via wiki to all students (they use their RSS reader to get their assignments.)
Interaction with a keynote or thought leader to inspire them and help them understand global audience from the beginning.
Digital Storytelling with outsourcing of part of their video to a partner in another location (This requires an EXTREME amount of communication between the partners and is quite challenging.)
This is a HUGE step between Phase 3 and 4 and the first time I did it as a teacher it was a bit overwhelming. I liken it to going down a really long water slide for the first time... knowing it is supposed to be fun but also knowing that once I start, I'm not stopping until the end comes!
Phase 5: Flat Classroom: Many to Many Connections with STUDENT Management
This is the Horizon Project. This is everything that we do in Flat Classroom with an added component: student self-management and organization.
Students manage the teams. We have project managers, assistant managers, editors elected for each wiki AND subgroups have the option of organizing themselves as well.
Increasing use of social networks and IM's of the students to connect.
It HELPS if students have done flat classroom first, however, usually, that is not the case.
However, I would say it is essential for teachers to move through this process by phase. I don't think that we could have had project managers on our first Flat Classroom for the simple reason that Julie and I were still learning what we were doing.
Now, the other Horizon teachers can handle student organization because they trust Julie and I to facilitate it and help it work.
This is my favorite project because the student management piece is truly monumental and so EXCITING!
Sometimes I wish that Horizon was not in the shadow of its father, the Flat Classroom project because in a lot of ways Horizon is a younger, stronger, improved version of Flat Classroom. However, both projects are very important and exciting!
What is your phase? I'd be interested to hear from you, the reader, to see what phase you are at in your classroom.
Just as a baby doesn't jump out from its mother's womb to compete in a 100 yard dash, likewise, it takes time to progress to flat classroom.
"The model is courtesy of Chris Rasmussen at US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. I presented this slide during a talk I gave at Nokia today and someone pointed out that the happy faces on the left probably ought to be frowning — he had a good point."
This incredible chart says it all about the importance of wiki collaboration. This should also be a message to bloated bureaucracies looking to squeeze that last bit of efficiency out of already overworked staff.
However, learning to wiki isn't just about vocational "goodness," but rather about an essential skill moving forward. Just as we teach word processing, wikis and blogs have to be standard inclusion.
I'd just hate to see wikis and blogs be taught as poorly as some teachers teach word processing. Maybe someone will let me write the book!? (In my spare time!)
One of my extremely excited and talented assistant project managers for Horizon Project has set up an appointment to instant message the project manager in Doha, Qatar today. They had an appointment for 8 am and 12:30 noon! (Uhm -- we got out at noon for spring break!).
As they made their intros and said hello, first she exclaimed to the class:
"Hey, guys -- they go to school on Sunday through Thursday."
Another one of my students didn't "get" what she was saying and said, "Let them just TRY to make ME go to school on Sunday."
"No, you don't understand, she said, their weekend is Friday and Saturday."
Now this is interesting because I had told my students this... in fact, I have told them multiple times, however, it was this exchange that got their attention. It was this exchange that TAUGHT them!
Then, as I peeked over her shoulder (as I always do when my students are instant messaging), I saw this conversation. (I got permission to take a shot of the screen over her shoulder.)
...and on they went about misconceptions about the culture of South Georgia and the Middle East. It was a conversation that impressed me with its depth, breadth, and humor.
It was an honest, real exchange between two students who were very professional but very authentic at the same time.
We've only entered the "handshake" phase of this project and yet the conversations move me almost to tears when I see the almost visible shifting of my student's world views.
I'm experimenting with posting directly from diigo -- I've annotated and highlighted from the original post from my friend Shmuly Tennenhaus.
My friend Smuly is a youtube expert -- he's been on many nightly news programs and in newspapers (see the New York Times article on him.) I'm still turning over the thoughts from his blog post that he shared.. he has made a few good points that I had to go back to teacherTube to see.
We have to use teachertube on horizon because it is the only video sharing service that is unblocked in all of our schools. We are cross posting to youtube for those schools that allow youtube access.
He has been cited multiple times for his videos and has been on more news tv shows than i can count. He does know video! - post by coolcatteacher
Many schools do block it for bandwidth reasons. - post by coolcatteacher
Some highlights from the article:
"Video-sharing can be very useful in the classroom. And many schools do block access to sites like YouTube...
This is more than just semantics. If the name of the site makes ME cringe, how will it ever appeal to a teenager who shops at Abercrombie and has Timbaland streaming from her iPod?...
For example, maybe YouTube can make an education domain that does not have access to the rest of the site. Google would like to be a player in the education space. As would Yahoo. And Microsoft....
3) TeacherTube is ad-supported. (Yup; I am not sponsoring the site!) The ads unfortunately are anti-education!
a) University of Phoenix Online is all over the place. Yes; they are into education etc. Here are the FACTS: UOP overall graduation rate is 16%. The national average is 55%. And University of Phoenix Online? Their graduation rate is 4%! Ouch.
b) Check out the screen shot of TeacherTube. That’s an ad for a get rich scheme site. Check them out. The landing page has a guy without his shirt on. The guy does have nice pecs. Still, I doubt schools would be excited with the association."
This leaves me wondering, we've got to give some method of making money to these businesses. If educators aren't paying for a service then the business either has to: 1) sell it to us or 2) sell it to advertisers, or option 3) Sell upgraded services to educators.
There are costs involved.
The rule about free stuff: there is no such thing as free stuff!
I'm thankful for companies such as wikispaces who give us great service for free. I also like that schools can purchase upgraded services from them.
I think that companies that serve educators need to take a long hard look at what they do. My honest opinion: Google Adsense and education just don't mix. Period.
Contextual advertising will often give innappropriate options for students to BUY term papers, or "date sexy women in Qatar" (the ad that almost killed flat classroom when at the time Ning was google adsense loaded.)
We just need to think about it educators. It is free but is it the right thing?
We should consider what we're doing. I don't have answers and I'm not saying run away from TeacherTube which I've supported from the beginning. I am saying that I think it is time to evolve and think about some of this.
YOU SPEAK: Looking for Current Research on Interactive, Study Focused, Customized Learning Methods of Teaching -- Please Share!
I received this e-mail today. I've edited out who it is from and the author's name who is requesting it for privacy reasons...
I have several research topics that I've uncovered for this request but NEED to know what you have. (Don't have time to post the links.) Please share your insights, projects, and RESEARCH! Thanks!
" Vicki - Do you have evaluation studies showing the impact of Flat Classroom project or Horizon on academic achievement (or other social benefits - like higher school attendance, fewer behavior problems, etc.)??? ***AUTHOR**** is looking for evidence [if] the new model of pedagogy (interactive, student-focused, uses inquiry methods, customized for individual learners) like your programs use are “working.” In addition to evidence from your programs, if you could direct us to any other evidence from programs similar to yours that you know of – that would be great. We’re working against tight book deadlines now (yay, the end is near), so any info you could get us soon would be much appreciated!"
We are in the process of doing studies on these projects but do not have any full scale information to be released. What we've found from a very small sample is that we've seen an increased willingness on the part of the students to work with and befriend people from other parts of the world (particularly those who they consider are very unlike themselves) as a result of the project. We're testing this with our horizon project now.
We are looking for researchers for Flat Classroom in October - December NOW who would be a third party to be involved in this research. We're offering.
Going from "It" to "Out": Dealing with network withdrawal
Monday, March 24, 2008
Sunday after going to church and eating lunch with my family, I got to relax by the pond, watch the millows meander and the dragonflies hum as I fished for catfish. I enjoyed being "out" of it.
We went home and watched the The Pride of the Yankees, about baseball great Lou Gehrig(which is worth seeing just to see the Real Babe Ruth play himself) and had a very interesting discussion about how quickly a person arises into "fame" and then can be snuffed out due to health reasons or retirement.
It was a fascinating discussion with the kids and my husband about going from being "It" to being "Out."(Gehrig died in his thirties from the disease named after him.)
My children observed that that seems to be the problem with Britney Spears here in the states. They think that she will, "Do whatever it takes to stay on the front page... not able to deal with the fact that she's no longer 'it.'"
I also see this in the blogosphere and twittersphere It is a dangerous path to trod to be dependent upon the feedback of others for one's self esteem.
For a while, when I first emerged into the blogosphere, and then had to go away from it for a while, I was plagued with guilty feelings. What would I miss? Who would I not respond to? What would happen without me? Would I be left "out?"
Then, it slowly dawned on me that the twittersphere and blogosphere and all such things will rock on just nicely without me and that is OK.
In today's world of hurry and scurry, we have still got to be able to disconnect and slow down!
A life to live! I also think that most of us feel "out" at least some time or other. For example, I didn't have time to do color Wars 2008 (the world's most massive game of rock, paper, scissors using Flickr) this weekend -- I had things to do with my family... and that was OK!
And I missed out on the Christmas "elf" santa thing a lot of twitters did over Christmas. I haven't been able to do any memes and am quite behind on my RSS reader.
Does this mean that I am insufficient? Does this mean that I'm doing something "wrong?" Should I feel "guilty?"
Realization that we ARE "it" And almost by divine providence, I opened up my "Real Simple" magazine and saw this poem from Maya Angelou:
"When we come to it/ We must confess that we are the possible/ We are the miraculous, the true wonders of this world/ That is when, and only when/ We come to it."
In this world of immersive, submersive social networking -- we can easily lose ourselves. I find that it is easy to get lost in a sea of friends and left wondering where and who I am.
We have got to teach students and ourselves how to navigate these waters and continue to have a strong, grounded, purpose and life. How to be "called" when everyone is call-ing.
I find that I HAVE to make the time to spend alone in prayer and reading my Bible. I also have to find time alone to read and just think and ponder.
I even have to find time to fish.
Let's go fly a kite I saw something terribly disturbing last Friday. We were out flying kites with the kindergarten class and my six year old son who is a student in the class. Many parents came out to enjoy this.
As my husband and I struggled to help our son get his kite up -- we'd get it up and it would fall. It would go up, he'd run a while or run into another kid and then it would get tangled and fall. WE laughed and had a blast.
But there was a little boy in the corner. His kite wouldn't fly.
You see. His Mom was on her cell phone.
The little sad boy with his lip quivering was trying to get the kite in the air while the Mom was giving her half attention as she exclaimed why she didn't like flying kites any more.
Her body was there. She wasn't.
Parents need to wake up I'm tired of hearing parents complain about kids and cell phones when parents are horrible offenders too!
I see so many people so busy being somewhere else.
We're trying to be "it" and don't want to be left "out" so we forget "it." We forget the meaning in life, I think.
There is great beauty in watching a movie with one's family. Or reading a book with your child. Or flying a kite. Or pretending to catch a fish while the minnows meander and dragonflies hum.
There is also great beauty in being able to be instantly available to my family. There was also great comfort in the direct message twitters of my extended network of friends when my grandmother passed away this past summer. There is great laughter in the prods and pokes of my friends throughout my networks.
I do not reject the new novelties we have found.
I only state the obvious.
Beware the things you try to master lest you become the servant and it becomes the master!
Technorati authorities change like the wind as does readership, blog stats, friends, links, twitters and blog comments. And staying grounded in who one is has never been more important.
My advice on finding "it" Remember to intentionally use your time to do the things that will make your life better.
Clutter in your house, your life, your computer, and your habits will take away from your life, not add to it. Consolidate what works and throw away what doesn't.
God is everywhere... you're not. It is not possible for humans to be everywhere and be all things to all people and the pressure to be "it" whether real or imagined is a WASTE of time.
Be who you are and respect others who aren't you. My Dad always says that "even a fool is right some of the time" -- listen to all sides and make up your mind for yourself.
Just don't let technology take over your life... it should add to it. Recent additions to my life like TimeBridge and Diigo are time savers and I plan to keep using them. Other sites I've tried recently don't work and will go the way of the dodo.
All this to say... Learn, use, and tinker with technology... don't take it all so seriously.
Sometimes I literally walk away from this blog because I simply am not going to live the rest of my life worrying about my technorati ranking. I'm here to blog for the long haul about what I'm doing.
I'm here because it means something to me to be able to share and encourage others even though I'm so far from perfect.
I'm here because I have a calling not only to teach and parent and learn but a calling to blog and share with the most amazing profession of incredible people in the world... the educators.
Remember your noble calling, teachers.
And remember, you've got enough people in the world making you feel guilty about this and that without adding any more fuel to the fire. Your best is good enough... read your RSS when you can.. twitter when you can... blog when you can. And walk away from it sometimes so you can stay sane.
This Week at Westwood: Horizon Evolves, Digiteen Begins
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Sometimes I just like to share the things that are happening in my classroom. They may seem old hat to me (and my students) but understanding HOW these things work is tough for some people just learning what is happening.
1) Computer Science (10th) This is the class that is participating in the Horizon Project. We're continuing the four week "handshake" period before the start of the project on April 15th.
Why a handshake? We've found that the most difficult part of the project is helping the students meet or "handshake." This is also difficult because we have to help all of the teachers get up to speed AND there are a lot of holidays that happen around this time -- which vary all over the world.
" So to a certain extent, all of us on the Horizon Project 2008 are looking to change the world, even if just a bit. So I guess this blog is to acknowledge the problems of the world and things you would like to change about your surroundings/community or things that need to be changed in the world...."
She goes on to talk about what she wants to change. Other exciting posts to me are:
Jehan in New York has been appointed Assistant Project manager for a team and is "taking the bull by the horns." He says:
" As much fun as just socializing and talking about music is. I have some work related news....According to the wiki. I am assistant project manager for the social operating systems group...Here's the link to the wiki team page in case you do not know what you are doing. Link
I'm gonna make the group for social operating systems. So SOS people should join."
We don't "officially' kick off until April, but we're finding that the students are organizing themselves if we just give them a little time. There is a lot of angst with everyone wanting to know who is on their team, and we've unveiled the teams today... perhaps a few will change but they are pretty set.
I am also impressed that the students have started self-organizing and creating groups and am very interested to see what is beginning to take shape in the group forums (I really like the group pictures!)
Meanwhile, we didn't get to "handshake" as much as I would like this week.. I had to finish up a module on computer hardware. When they had 10 minutes after their test Friday, my students were more excited about the fact that you can add photos in Ning comments and change the look of a Ning page with some pretty cool new templates. You can see this on my profile page.
I've also had my students learning about the new features of Profiles in wikispaces. You can customize your page. Star pages that you're working on and use tags as well. Look at my wikispaces profile page (just click your wikispaces name to see yours) to see how I'm using it to manage my wiki work.
2) Computer Fundamentals (9th) We're continuing the "handshake" period for the low-key DigiTeen project between Julie's class in Qatar, Barbara's in Austria, and mine at Westwood. We didn't publicize this just because we wanted to keep it small and manageable since we also have HORIZON!
We completed watching the PBS series "Growing Up Online" which is definitely for high school students. All of the students in digiteen are watching this and it makes for VERY interesting conversations.
My students have been finishing up their work in Excel, which has also included some work in Google Spreadsheets and will take them into ZohoSpreadsheets next week.
They continue to maintain their personal, public blogs and blog every chance they get... even when it is not an assignment. These blogs have become an extension of who they are.
3) Keyboarding (8th) We've FINISHED UP THE KEYBOARDING! Last week our class average broke 60 words a minute and the students have done very well. They've already been taken into the private class Ning, where all of my classes communicate.
Embedding Files and Blogging I've taught them how to embed files (which just got easier with a recent improvement to Ning) and they have been blogging as I teach them about Voice. (I have them embed videos from youtube and blog in first person as one of the people in the video.)
Introducing Video Making I've taught them basic video capture with their logitech quickcams and how to upload video to the Ning. On Friday, we had a "Fun Friday" and I taught them how to use Animoto and embed it on their private Ning.
Licensing We talked briefly about licensing and needless to say, my students always HATE it when they learn that they cannot use the music on their ipod to make their movies. It makes them ANGRY! (But everyone else does it on youtube, is always their response. "But you're not everybody," is mine. "We do things the right way here and I hold you to a higher standard."
It is tough, but you cannot teach movie making without broaching this painful subject with kids.
What's next? We'll begin work on efolios AND I have to delve into MLA papers and formats.
4) Senior Movie Making We are working on Graduation and the Senior Slide Show. I have shared folders et up on the server for these students and now, they are just dragging the photographs that they bring in into our folders.
We have a definite system for working on these. (I have a "used" folder to which they drag folders after they've put a copy on their local hard drive to use to make the PhotoStory.)
I also have a student who is drawing some artwork for me to photograph for graduation. I'm excited about it because he is really good at it and it is his hidden talent! So, this class is editing movies like crazy. Creating special mixes of music in Audacity for the slide show, scanning, and filming.
It is a lot of fun to do the slideshow but it is VERY VERY hard work. I have an external hard drive of my own and secretly make backups of the photographs pretty often just in case something ever happened.
5) National Honor Society While this isn't a class, I'm had a breakthrough there. Ihave a pretty big database that I'm about to abandon that tracks the student time. I'm about to go to a self entry system using Google Spreadsheets and a form and have them turn in the documentation. I'll just check it off instead of having to enter it. I'm not going to take hours to enter their time any more... they can do it!
6) 5th Keyboarding I'm FINALLY done with this class -- whew! It is very difficult to teach 6 classes and have one planning period. I'm just getting caught up on Everything tech support now and am still very behind! I left the students with the knowledge of how to play typershark -- a cool game from www.popcap.com that is wonderful (after you know the keys.)
My Week This has been a very busy, crazy, and tough week. I won an award Friday but cannot tell you about it until next week.
I'll just say that I literally cried in front of the whole middle and high school I was in such shock. And for my students who know me... they know that I don't EVER do that.
Finally, after two years of this stuff.. the local paper HAS to include what my students and I are doing. And that in itself was enough to make me cry...
We are increasingly linked together by electronics in ways we can only just barely begin to comprehend. And as I jumped into twitter for a moment this morning... I saw this tweet from @xoost -- and followed it to Mashable, which said:
And if it is not, I can guarantee this... it will be!
And remember, although we use electronics to communicate, there is still a need for face to face interaction... don't think we'll be making babies via twitter any time soon!
Now this is a fascinating idea! I cannot pass along EVERYTHING I get, however, this is a really great one that I've got to share.
There will be a 24-hour multilingual conference about using Second Life to Teach. It will be held entirely within Edunation at Second life -- the times are:
Starts: 10am PST (18.00 GMT) 23 May 2008 Ends: 10am PST (18.00 GMT) 24 May 2008
This is what I like about this.
What is the best way to teach language? Immersion.
But not every child can afford a trip to Spain or Italy or China or wherever. With 3D immersive experiences, I believe (researchers please listen) that we could see richer, more meaningful ways to increase language learning.
I believe that languages represent an INCREDIBLE opportunity for 3D immersive worlds. So, pioneering language teachers, get a friend to take you into Second Life (DO NOT GO IN ALONE!) and learn how to navigate. And sign up and head on over to this conference.
Virtual Conference Explores New Frontiers in Language Learning
Barcelona, Spain, 20 March 2008 - - SLanguages 2008 is a 24-hour multilingual conference to celebrate and investigate the use of 3D virtual worlds for language education. The event will be held in Second Life on 23-24 May 2008...
SLanguages 2008 is a 24 hour multilingual conference to celebrate and investigate the use of 3D virtual worlds for language education. The conference will be held within Second Life allowing the participants to exchange ideas and share experiences simultaneously around the world. The online conference is free to attend and includes talks, workshops, discussions and posters on language education using virtual worlds such as Second Life. The events will cover methodologies, teaching tools and experiences.
Second Life is a 3D virtual world that has attracted over 12 million residents worldwide and has become a mainstream phenomenon for education, business and entertainment. Throughout 2007 Second Life has become an important tool for language learning with many universities using the 3D world for language tuition, including Michigan State University and the University of Southampton. “Interest in using Second Life for education has increased exponentially over the last year” says Second Life educational consultant Gavin Dudeney, author of The Internet and the Language Classroom, Longman 2007.
The event is an opportunity for those new to virtual language teaching to learn about the opportunities virtual worlds offer. The conference also allows experienced language educators to share experiences and ideas. "3D virtual worlds such as Second Life offer a unique form of immersive learning not found elsewhere. The SLanguages 2008 conference is the perfect opportunity to see the recent developments in this area and to meet those involved in truly innovative educational projects" says Graham Stanley, who has established the British Council's 'Learn English Second Life for Teens'.
SLanguages 2008 will be hosted within Second Life on the tropical “EduNation” islands owned by The Consultants-E. The conference starts 10am (PST) Friday 23 May and ends 10am (PST) Saturday 24 May. The seminars will continue to also reach a much wider audience through archives of the event on the www.slanguages.net website.
To register for the conference or for further information, please contact Gavin Dudeney of The Consultants-E or visit the website www.slanguages.net.
The Consultants-E is an educational consultancy company specialising in online education, offering tailored consultancy in technology for education. Their consultants assist companies and educational institutions to integrate innovative technologies into their teaching practices. The company also offers courses in e-learning tools such as Second Life, wikis, podcasts and Moodle. The Consultants-E own and run three private islands in Second Life that foster education and training.
Eliminating Loser Loops: Free yourself and your school for success!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Basking in the springtime air, I strolled into the teachers lounge this morning and stumbled into the the stifling torrent of a network nightmare! The network was DOWN... kind of... but not really.
Limited connectivity errors... a bad hard drive on the server...the wireless nodes blinking like crazy... something was definitely WRONG. It took three hours and step by step I isolated what worked and didn't.
Finally, I determined it was what ever was plugged into jack D1 and D2. Armed with this knowledge, I hurriedly huffed towards my unknowing victim ready to vociferously ventilate my voracious venom over this meaningless waste of my morning.
And explode I did! On an empty room. In this empty room, I found two innocent little network jacks with a nice little 12 inch cable plugged into them... thus "bridging the gap." This made a topology loop guaranteed to crash just about any network. The network was plugged into itself!
So, my router... designed to "look" for new devices, sent out a signal to port D1 and that signal came back to the router through D2 -- faster and faster... into D2 and out D1 the router literally choked itself in its own quest for self analysis! It killed itself and the network.
Needless to say that some student somewhere is very lucky that I don't know their name... after I found this it has provoked some distinct consideration in my own mind of how often we choke our schools in useless loops such as this. I believe that finding and eliminating these loops will help us succeed and free up our time for meaningful activities.
Looking for "loops"
Administrative Loops Look at your school and ask yourself -- "What are we producing for a limited internal audience that adds no value to our core mission?"
The core mission of a SCHOOL may vary, but I believe it centers around educating STUDENTS and helping them find their purpose!
In the successful businesses where I've worked, we were often asked to assign a percentage to the amount of time we focused on the CORE issues of the business versus that for "internal" customers. (Creating a report for accounting, answering a question for the VP, etc.)
So, how much time are you creating paper to feed to an administrator's insatiably hungry wastebasket? How much time are you creating electronic documents that will not be read NOR opened?
Teachers don't have enough TIME. We have to look for TIME in the places that will not harm our mission.
If we take a look at Steven Covey's "Four Quadrants of Living." Everything in our lives can be categorized into urgent or not urgent and IMportant or Not Important.
Here is the kicker... administrators have the ability to take something that is NOT IMPORTANT and make it IMPORTANT as a result of their authority and power. So, it is vital that they look at what they are asking their employees to do and truly ask how important it is.
Additionally... BUREAUCRATS have the ability to take something that is NOT IMPORTANT and make it IMPORTANT as a result of their authority and power. If state school boards and federal school boards want to improve schools and increase headcount without spending a dime... they will eliminate needless paperwork or cut down on it.
We need visionary leaders who will tell bureaucrats -- "cut back on every form we have by 50%." Keep the meaning... cut out on the wasted, redundant information. Figure out ways to code things so we don't have to repeat things.
Teacher time should be treated as a scarce, finite resource. They should not be considered at the bottom of the "food chain" but top- front line producers and the people who should be helped.
And the focus should be on the student!
Paperwork Paralysis I had an administrator that used to make me turn in every lesson plan for every class every week at the end of the prior week. He did not read them. They were for his file.
And IF I changed the lesson plan, I had to update it. I plan my lessons anyway... however, all of this paperwork really took the focus off of my STUDENT and made the PRINCIPAL my customer. The focus WAS on him NOT students. I often spent so much time making the lesson plans PRETTY that I wasn't really ready to TEACH when it came time to implement the plan. That is ridiculous.
I honestly don't know if I could have been able to do Flat Classroom or Horizon in such a scenario.
Now, I'm not advocating that we don't plan our lessons. WE MUST PLAN AHEAD for our lessons. I plan out the year, the six weeks, the week, the day. However, often, these plans are a bit messy and working. I do them in pencil for the week and they end up with erasures and sometimes post it notes on them. They are working documents and they look like it! A BEAUTIFUL lesson plan is a report, not a lesson plan.
Are we producing lesson plans or lessons? We have to ask ourselves... what is the product a teacher is producing? Are teachers producing neat tidy, well kept lesson plans or are they producing a LESSON that is planned to TEACH and flexible enough to be adapted as necessary?
Is the "customer" of the lesson the principal (or the principal's file?) or the students who learn within it?
I have friends who state that they spend 6-8 hours a WEEK on PAPERWORK. They say that real planning is an afterthought because the customer is all of the administrators and directors who are inspecting the paper.
This is a backwards scenario.
Seeing reality depends upon what you look at? If administrators and directors want to see if good lessons are being taught, they should observe the lessons.
This is like saying that I'm going to observe your family by sitting outside and looking at the outside of your house. I'm going to learn something about your family from the outside, but I'm going to judge a lot by how pretty the house looks and external factors. I honestly DON'T KNOW what is happening in that house by looking at the outside.
The proverbial "fly on the wall" knows more about the house than I do. (OH, and if You KNOW I'm coming to visit, you WILL act differently.)
I want to be trusted but I also like the assurance that comes from the fact that my principal and curriculum director pop in pretty often. They don't have to.. I don't feel watched... I just feel like they care what happens in there!
Classroom Loops But teachers, don't point your finger at administrators, because you have four pointing right back at you! Teachers are some of the worst at creating meaningless loops!
Why do we have the fill out worksheets? What if knowledge could be better imparted by experience?
Teachers often opt for the worksheet because it can be seen, touched, and "measured." Experience cannot be filed in a box and handed to parents. Audio files and video are not as "tangible" as a piece of paper! We cannot touch a wiki or a blog!
We have to ask ourselves... what is the PURPOSE of what my students are creating? Can I expand the audience to be more than just the teacher? (IS it appropriate to expand the audience?) Can I better assess in another way?
Purpose Students want PURPOSE. Teachers want PURPOSE
Useless loops KILL PURPOSE and suck the very hopes, dreams, and motivations from a school faster than a greased pig through the hands of a four year old.
Looking for the Loser Loops So, my three hours of finding this useless loop will not go to waste. I will look for the other useless loops in my life and work to eradicate them from my life so that I can free up my time, energy, and resources for the things full of meaning.
Oh, and I just read that we only wear 20% of our clothes and use 20% of what we have in our houses-- so maybe part of my problem is unused stuff... wasted space will be my next target I think.
Have a Laugh from the Little Rascals - "Bored of Education"
Lest you think kids getting bored in school is a new thing -- this great Episode of the Little Rascals entitled "Bored of Education" (sorry it is not embeddable) will give you a laugh and help you remember that certain issues in school (absences, "homework-itis", "schoolitis" and boredom) have always been there.
Sometimes I think educators get tired of dealing with the typical problems that have always been there and try to make it seem totally like a new thing. But I see some things that happened in my classroom today in this little rascals clip!
Rebellion, boredom, change, improvement... these are always the struggles of good schools.
And when things change in society A LOT as they have in the last 10 year years.. it takes a while for schools to play catch up.
I just love seeing the Little Rascals-- it gave me a little perspective today.
I've got a lot more to tell you soon -- gotta run to tennis and church!
Thanks to my friend in Australia, Graham Wegner, for pointing out the student comments on Al Upton's blog post. (See my earlier post about Black Monday.) I literally almost cried as I read these comments from the fifth graders.
"hi Al I was almost in tears when i heard my blog was shut-down.i was so sad and dissenpointed. i realy enjoyed bloging. i absoulutly loved my cluster-map. i somtimes might say all that work for nothing. The vokis are cool. i start thinking that we wouldent be able to talk to our mentors. it uset to be fun cheers mini17"
".Hi al iwas abit sad when I heard that the blogs were closed. Blogs are good becase you can couminicate with people in the world."
"I would be safe if mr apton is in charg.
It is fun to have a blog."
"When I first herd my blog was shut down I felt sad,upset and woryed about my blog and what would happen to my blog.How I cant look at my comment’s and how I cant look at ather people’s blog’s.And how I cant see my cluster map.The best is the comunicating with people I dont know.I get freind’s. You can put on pictuer’s and poster’s. I learn faster on the computer’s and blog’s.Our new form is called Article 13. I love bloging."
"When I found out that our blogs were closing down, I felt confused, sad and angry. I felt really sad because I felt that all Al had taught us had gone to waste. We had a vote on a name for our new forum. The new name for our forum is Article 13. It means Rights for the Child.I felt better with my blog in many ways. >Writing and reciving comments. >Cammunicating with other people. and lots of other reasons. By mini22"
"
When i found out my blog was shutdown.
I loved my blog. I was disopointed because i put so mutch work into it. I realy like having a clustermap. I like comiticating with people i do no and people i dont no. I like my fake on my blog. I realy wont my blog back. It is fun to go on my blog. I like it when i get red dots on my clustermap. My blog was cool because i could comiticate with people."
I believe that in the near future we will hear more about this. And remember that this can happen to any of us and all of us. Parents who sign permission forms could change their minds. They could say they didn't understand what you were going to do. They could decide they don't like you. They could just not like the grade you gave their child.
Now all of this is conjecture and I DO NOT know the circumstances of Al's situation... I'm just saying things that we as teachers know. As airtight as we make it, when you're blazing the trail, issues like this arise. Many people will have Al to thank as he sets a precedent for how to handle this situation.
As teacher's, we've seen it all. From what I've seen, Al is going about handling this the right way.
As my Mom always says "Keep your chins up!"
And I say, "We're watching. Let us know how you work it out and teach us."
The Women of Web 2.0 show (which includes women and men) on Tuesday nights is one of my favorite times of the week, partially because of our amazing guests and conversation but even more importantly because of the LIVE CHAT conversations that happen.
I think I feel a greater connection with the people who come in and chat each week than just about any other group in the blogosphere just because they are like a personal sounding board/ inspiration machine to me!
It is very exciting also because we have some amazing guests planned:
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - Kern Kelly and Alice Barr from Maine AND their students as they discuss the 1:1 laptop program in Maine and the future as they see it.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008 - Karl M. Kapp, Ed.D., CFPIM, CIRM / Assistant Director, Institute for Interactive Technologies / Professor of Instructional Technology / Bloomsburg University - He wrote a great book on using video games to teach subtitle "The tools to get knowledge from Boomers to Gamers." Here is a link to the book's web site. Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 - Lucy Gray, amazing educator, Ninger, and overall technology integration expert!
We have several ways you can subscribe to these shows if you cannot make it from 9 - 10 pm EDT. They are always a lot of fun and I learn a lot! Join us!
Atomic Learning is giving a free tutorial on Google Docs. I LOVE Google Docs but also have a growing affinity for Zoho Writer. For collaborating real time, however, Google Docs is still the best (I've tested it extensively with my students.)
I cannot have a funday Monday today because my heart is heavy.
Al Upton's project with 8 and 9 year olds has been ordered to close by the Department of Education and Children Services in Southern Australia.
Intrepid Teacher, Jabiz Raisdana has resigned because of parental complaints about some copies of Flickr artwork that was created by him.
While these are two totally different issues, my heart is still heavy. I would like to address my thoughts on both of them.
A) Al Upton Al has distinguished himself as a safe, effective teacher who models best practices with 8 and 9 year olds.
I can see parent concerns as well with this age and it is a balance. As Al says, parental concerns and SAFETY must be handled first!!! We cannot ever put children at risk and sometimes to parents PERCEIVED risk is far greater than the actual risk.
We have to always err on the side of caution as Al did with taking the site down.
WE also have to remember that parents have a general distrust of the Internet. Most of them just do.
What I do: This is what I do with my publicly blogging 9th graders (15 year olds):
I sent home a permission form for EXPLICIT permission to blog publicly. Those students whose parents wouldn't consent to a public blog were given a semi private alternative on youthvoices.net.
The students who blog publicly use pseudonyms.
This is what I do with the horizon and flat classroom projects (16 year olds):
Students can only use first name and last initial.
The spaces we use ARE public.
For my 8th grader and younger we use private spaces on either Ning or classblogmeister. That is the age my school has set and 10th grade is when we allow the projects to go completely public. The wiki is public for 9th and 10th graders.
What we should do: We should clearly state to parents our policies on public and private spaces and inform them about those spaces by age. They also need to understand that if it is private... that means the teacher and students ONLY (and administrator should they choose to be a part.)
We should monitor public spaces closely via RSS.
My hope for Al: My hope for Al is that they will allow him to have a private space for his 8 and 9 year olds (at a minimum) -- if he is able to restore the mentors project, then we could do background checks or something...
OPEN EDUCATOR ID PROGRAM I believe that we're going to need some sort of "open ID" or "universal check" for educators. This would allow us to facilitate educators who can move around to various projects who meet a certain standard level or background check.
How could we do this? What can we do?
I don't know... but it sounds like a great thing for ISTE or another organization to establish... a criteria for approving an educator and their practices and they understand and have completed a level of training for interacting on global projects.
This would ensure safety and ubiquity, but also that we can collaborate and work together at all grade levels. This is something we need to discuss and do.
Let's talk about an Open Educator ID system. It just makes sense.
Intrepid Teacher's issue This one is a bit more troubling. I'll let Jabiz speak for himself:
Let me clarify that Intrepid Teacher is Jabiz' personal blog. These were links from the personal blog NOT from the classroom blog:
"A member of the parent community at my school followed the link I had supplied here at Intrepid Teacher and found some material on my blog that they considered objectionable and took the issue to the school board. I was immediately asked to resign. The administration felt that I had given students direct access to material, which they felt was inappropriate. This material was a series of works of art I had done as part of an independent online art group last year. In order to avoid further trouble, I have since removed the prints in question.
The dilemma my director faced was not whether the material was inappropriate, but the fact that I had consciously made a link, which in their eyes encouraged students to view the prints. I have to reiterate that I never made a direct link from my student site or invited or encouraged them to view my personal or professional sites at any time. I think this fact warrants repeating, because this perceived link was the main issue for which I was asked to resign. As a matter of fact the image itself was not even on my personal blog, but on a Flickr page."
The bottom line is that unfortunately Jabiz does not have freedom of speech and we are seeing this in many places... not just the Middle East.
We and our students must understand that we cannot post ANYTHING unless we are content that ANYONE can view it.
However, I will say that it bothers me to think of a parent ferreting something out on his personal blog and calling him into question. The truth be known that every single one of us writing could have something found about us that someone doesn't like and we could be called into question for. What I do: My blog is rated "G." G for the comments, G for the content. My opinions are that of my own, however, I NEVER blog about individuals here at the school and remain a professional about it.
I'm careful about my flickr photos -- but really I just have them for the school only.
I will not add my students to my facebook page... I connect with other educators there.
I won't add my own children to my facebook page... it could lead people to them... I have a private account with another e-mail address for linking with family (particularly my own children.)
I understand that if someone really doesn't like me that they will find something here that they don't like. They will. I don't know what Intrepid Teacher could have done to change things. I really don't. What we should do: Make sure that we are careful about telling students about our online "identities" and personal blogging spaces UNLESS we are completely OK with them viewing everything we write to or link to on that page.
My hope for Jabiz A school who will understand his talent and desire to be more and will respect freedom of speech.
Separate Accounts / Separate Identities I think that this is leading to totally separate accounts for school work and private social-time work. We're going to have to have "split personalities," I'm afraid and have two identities... one for all school accounts and one for all personal accounts.
So, I'm going to need two blogger accounts (what a mess that would be), I guess. And Ning ID's for school and personal.
A blur And yet, the lines blur. I'm a part of Classroom 2.0 and apply that in my classroom, however, I participate there in my personal time. I twitter on my own time and yet pull things from there into my classroom.
I truly feel that the lines between school and work are blurring incredibly and the idea of a "split" personality is one that I cannot really comprehend.
However, if You are a teacher and you want to have anything "PG" rated on any of your "personal" work... you should definitely get another ID for those activities and consider using a pseudonym. Transparency or keeping your job? I know we all like transparency, however, the truth is that freedom of speech seems to becoming more of an illusion... especially for teachers.
And with our kids documenting everything they are doing... here in the US ... we're going to have a hard time finding anyone who could run for president in 30 years... with all of the "dirt" on youtube.
We have a lot of issues to think through and discuss.
They are up front and open and willing to allow themselves to be scrutinized, knowing that many will throw stones and many will offer support.
What we need here is to learn from their openness so that their pain and heartache is not wasted.
We need to determine:
What are the practices we need to put into place to facilitate the movement of teachers as mentors and advisors on global projects at all grade levels? What organizations can help us? (That is what we have them for, after all!)
What practices can we put in place to have personal lives and be able to "live" on the Internet as human beings while again knowing that as teachers, our students look up to us and our parents often look at us with a harsh eye?
So, I hope we will discuss and add our thoughts to this. We must get past the fact that we like them and would trust them with our own children to see the issues at hand!
And remember this... it is not about "blogging." The safety of our children COMES FIRST! Doing the right thing by them COMES FIRST! We as teachers have administrators to report to and we must be under their authority (or we are fired or quit and find a place where we fit better and that happens too!)
However... we must understand that we MUST create safe, effective spaces to effectively EDUCATE our students for their FUTURE and for their CURRENT SAFETY.
It is not an option to just cordon ourselves off from one another and pretend that we are not interconnected. For, many of these students by age 10-12 are online together in a melting pot of cultures and societies with no guidance at all in a place called myspace and to leave schools out of the picture in the educational process is IRRESPONSIBLE.
Read Julie Lindsay's 2020 vision for global collaboration
Saturday, March 15, 2008
My friend Julie has written a must read post, 2020 Vision for Global Collaboration. As many of you may know, she and I have become quite amazed at the results we're seeing in our classrooms with Flat Classroom and Horizon Project being the mainstay in our advanced level classrooms.
I love how she opens:
I'm going to take some time to look at her thoughts and reflect, but I have been reflecting on global collaboration and what it means for teachers, students and the wider community. I have also been reflecting on sustainability of online spaces and how much of what we are 'producing' in terms of creative output has not been preserved over the past 15 years. Let me be more specific.
We've talked about "legacy" projects quite a bit. Those that add meaning and serve as an archive and repository of information about that topic. This is why I like public spaces for the older students.. it gives them meaning and legacy in a positive way!
Let me outline her points that I agree with 100%. (Is that any surprise, however, we've touched on these and discussed it but not prior to her blog post!) Read her post for the entire description! "
Global collaborative projects need to be embedded into the curriculum...
We need to continue (or start) to foster technology integration as part of what we do in schools. Gone are the days where students come to the computer lab. to do IT.... Facilitators must have a no-class load within a school and could be IT and/or library/media specialist or strong curriculum specialists comfortable with online tools and Web 2.0
We need to be unblocking viable connectivity tools so that digital access and participation is available for all classrooms around the world...
We need to be developing digital citizenship skills and courses within schools, starting once again at the Primary/Elementary school level...
We need to be investigating sustainability of online spaces and archiving successfully projects and collaborations. Currently we use wikispaces and ning (amongst others of course)....will these still be around in 5 years time? If not, what happens to the amazing content and productivity from classrooms all around the world? Will it be lost for ever?"
Julie has put this together perfectly!
In my wish of wishes... could there be a way for those of us DOING this to get our heads together and share some sort of vision/ document as it relates to global collaboration? One we can share with schools and others? Is that possible?
How can we push past the innovators and help ALL schools and ALL students benefit?
Transformation is almost a benign word when talking about what happens when students go through these projects. World view change... self esteem... self confidence... ability to tackle large projects... I could go on.
We have over 250 students in this year's Horizon project and that seems like a lot.
However, it seems like a tiny drop in a bucket of education too focused on the test too see past the paper in front of their noses and realize that the ability to collaborate effectively with the world is going to be one of the largest, truest tests of these students lives.
And to leave students totally uneducated for this real life "test" is akin to educational malpractice in my opinion!
Don't get rid of what we're doing correctly... but remember that there is a difference between URGENT and IMPORTANT and somehow we're looking at a short term view and missing the big picture here.
Please read Julie's post... it is truly brilliant from an award winner who knows what she's doing!
This day whilst the songbird doth sing dreams twhirl amidst the smothering of incessant feeding which twould make the glutton pale the socialite face his ale and the nymphomanical digg for protection.
Oh, the little peeps twitter sliding their share of patience with the clatter. Sweet delicious sleep, shall I find thee in this fog? Hit my nob log! Make me eschew iki traps that take my time!
For to control the harssing barrage of mud and not let it drown me in the flood To extract meaning in the mire is truly my sole desire.
I will find the answers with my friends like a refreshing wind helping stem the tide that would inundate and make sense of what would frustrate.
To take the torrent alone would make fools of us all.
I wrote this silly poem today while thinking about how unmanageable all of the torrential RSS streams are and how much I depend upon my friends to teach me, help me focus, and determine what is important.
I also thought it would be fun to see how many of my very favorite tools I could integrate without using a new web 2 word -- I did fudge a bit on blog and wiki because I couldn't leave out those dear friends of mine in this poem!
Enjoy and have a little fun this weekend. No one says you have to read EVERY twitter, EVERY blog post, EVERYTHING in your RSS reader... it is not realistic! Let your friends be your filter!
Direct from the Wizard of Wikis himself, Adam Frey... like Dorothy walking out of her black and white wiki into a new wiki wonderland.... color has come to wikispaces!
You can now change the color of both your font and the background of the font. Please don't use this as an excuse to be tacky. Do use it as an excuse to color code and make things easier to use!
Name: Kevin Hodgson, 6th grade teacher, Southampton, Massachusetts & Technology Liaison Western Massachusetts Writing Project has a great video his students sing backup to his song, "Waiting for the world to get it right!"
I think that any time a teacher is working towards change, there is that head in the hands moment when one closes their eyes and weighs the struggle versus the opportunity to decide if it is worth it to get back up and continue the fight for change.
How will you get up again? Like a boxer who is fighting and beaten up and at the bell falls into their corner onto a chair to be doctored up and fight again.
And as I contemplate this metaphor, I think that whether one continues to go on depends a lot on who they go to between rounds.
Do you have a mentor? Do you have someone to encourage you and help you see perspective? Do you have someone to encourage you and counterbalance the licks that you're taking as you work towards change?
Also, you have to ask yourself... are you training well in your off time? Are you equipped?
These are things I ask myself often when I'm bone tired (as I am today.) Is it worth it?
No! When the answer becomes "no" for too long a period of time it is time to retire, get a new profession or swap schools.
We are inundated with teachers sitting complacently at their desks awaiting retirement while the students run slipshod all over the classroom. In fact, some super activist groups are now looking to pay "bad" teachers to retire. (An effort, which I believe, won't help a thing and is demeaning to teachers!)
When it is not worth the fight to get papers graded on time or hold down your classroom or spend extra time with a student is struggling... when it is not worth the time to learn all of their names and know something personal about them. When it is not worth the fight to care and sometimes fight a student's own desire to remain uneducated... it is time to stop!
Yes! But there are a lot of us who pick up our banner and fight this fight every day! We have decided it is worth it. I believe heartily that the answer for me is "Yes!"
This is why I believe that teaching is the most noble calling on earth! We work hard and fight to do what is right when we know that no one will notice. We love our students knowing that sometimes it means we write out a discipline form and sometimes it means we tear it up.
We work hard and do extra things to inspire our students. We work to become excited about our subject, sucking down caffeine when we know that we are going to have to talk a bit in class and need to be extra exciting!
We fight for the right thing... for the underdog...to promote a desire for excellence.
This is the teacher I celebrate and applaud and despite what people think... it is more teachers that most people realize.
Honestly, parents would never be happy until every child in the world is at the 100th percentile and top of their class. And if you understand percentiles and class rank, you'll know that that is a mathematical impossibility.
So, we are faced with an impossibility of EVER pleasing most people and so most of us (of the faith) work for an audience of ONE.
Understand the nobility of educating The time has changed here in Georgia USA and I'm down right crabby. I'm fussy and it is the end of the grading period.
So, I'm writing this to myself as much as to you to tell you that TEACHING IS THE GREATEST PROFESSION ON THE PLANET. (As long as you're called to teach and if not, then it is HELL!)
Few things can truly be "yours" but your classroom is one of them. What happens there or doesn't happen there is entirely up to you.
You can make it a safe place where you do the right thing (even when unpopular) and leave a mark for years to come.
I'm here to inspire. I'm here to do more. I'm here to be more. I'm here because I love it. I'm here because I want to be.
I love this kindergarten video as students envision if they were president
Monday, March 10, 2008
This is your inspiration for today! Whether you are from the US or not, this video does two powerful things: 1) It helps the kids envision themselves as making a difference and 2) it puts things in perspective for us.
I have a renewed sense of what is important. What do you think?
What if your middle schooler had to verbally retell history to you?
Sunday, March 09, 2008
As we struggle to teach the students facts and knowledge about history... ask yourself if that student who can pass a test, answer multiple choice questions, and match vocabulary, could do better than this San Francisco state University student at retelling the parts of history that they have learned about. (hat tip to Technology in the Middle)
It leaves me thinking again about the validity of using oral testing. I've become more fond of allowing oral responses and testing and use it most heavily during Flat Classroom and Horizon Projects -- I wonder if that is why the students remember so much of what they have learned in addition to the other aspects of the project that make it so engaging.
I have one thing to ask...
if they can't tell you the story... did they understand it at all?
I dedicate this post to my co-workers and friends at Westwood Schools. Although lately I've been snagging lunch in my room a lot due to a heavy workload, I admire them. I respect them. I believe they are the greatest group of teachers in the world at the greatest school in the world! I am honored to be among them.
This is a post about where to get started with all of this overwhelming Web 2.0 "stuff" and is designed to be a "menu." Select the things that interest you and leave the things that don't. And remember, you cannot possibly take it all in.
1) Peruse best practices in your subject area. I've been going through my del.icio.us links and working to categorize it by teacher or profession. I will be cataloging and going through them more in the future, but take a look at the websites that you can use or what other teachers are doing. Keep a notebook handy to jot down your ideas:
Then, go to my bookmarks and add me to your network -- you can now share bookmarks with me and follow mine by going to delicious and clicking on "your network." This will show you all of the bookmarks of those you've added to your network.
Add to your network some other great places with great links - the Wow2 show (where I webcast) and the edtechtalk channel are two of my favorite places for links.
3. Listen to an audio show or two while you're grading papers.
Just click on these links and click the play button. These will help you see what other educators are doing. Here are some specific shows that I have favorited, pick one that interests you:
Blogging and understanding the emerging network of educators -- This show from EdTechBrainstorm literally had educators from multiple continents, a preservice group of teachers from Western Australia, a group of presenters in Thailand and some of the best blogging educators in the world like Cathy Evanoff, Cheryl Oakes, and Jo McLeay talking about blogging. If you want to get excited and SEE why you need to get connected, this is it!
It is important to hear voices because you will see that there are people out there like you who are scared but are jumping in and getting started too!
4) Take time to write down 3 goals of things you want to learn more about in the next 7 days! I call this my "big three" and I always take away a "big three" from all presentations or events that I attend. Here are some suggestions.
We unblocked facebook and myspace today and students joined the facebook group and myspace group (sorry I don't have that link) that they felt best represents the action that needs to be taken. They are asking all of their friends to join in as well.
Several students created videos that they sent to major news outlets like CNN and Fox News to create awareness for this project and ask that the news stations consider updating the public about what is happening.
The students are blogging, creating videos, networking with facebook and myspace, calling the White House, and even plan to start a petition to send to our representatives. You can download the petition here.
Whether or not we can change things, we can speak out. Youth voices do count and it is time to speak out for the injustices. We cannot be everywhere but we can speak out somewhere and our students feel that their place is the Internet.
A note on the WHY! It is about the starfish. This video puts it beautifully:
But some of you don't have the video availability so here is the story of the starfish originally written by Loren Eisley (this is an adaptation):
I awoke early, as I often did, just before sunrise to walk by the ocean's edge and greet the new day. As I moved through the misty dawn, I focused on a faint, far away motion. I saw a youth, bending and reaching and flailing arms, dancing on the beach, no doubt in celebration of the perfect day soon to begin.
As I approached, I sadly realized that the youth was not dancing to the bay, but rather bending to sift through the debris left by the night's tide, stopping now and then to pick up a starfish and then standing, to heave it back into the sea. I asked the youth the purpose of the effort. "The tide has washed the starfish onto the beach and they cannot return to the sea by themselves," the youth replied. "When the sun rises, they will die, unless I throw them back to the sea."
As the youth explained, I surveyed the vast expanse of beach, strectching in both directions beyond my sight. Starfish littered the shore in numbers beyond calculation. The hopelessness of the youth's plan became clear to me and I countered, "But there are more starfish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a difference."
The youth paused briefly to consider my words, bent to pick up a starfish and threw it as far as possible. Turning to me he simply said, "I made a difference to that one."
I left the boy and went home, deep in thought of what the boy had said. I returned to the beach and spent the rest of the day helping the boy throw starfish in to the sea."
We can't do everything. We're not omnipotent. We're not everywhere. But you know what?
I don't teach these kids about technology just to let it be something they'll use one day, they should use it to make the world better NOW! Speak out NOW! Do something NOW!
It is not just about technology for me... it is so much more. It is a mindset that a person in small town Camilla or small town anywhere doesn't have to have a small mind.
And that a big mind in a small town can change the world through a broadband internet connection.
I push them to be big minded... understanding that when a starfish comes our way as this two day chance to speak out has... it is our turn to pick it up and do our part. We cannot do much.. but we can add our voices.
Please share this project -- I would like to see the participating teachers page grow (just ask to join the space) -- even if you can't get it in until next week -- speak out, leave your comments on their blog, make a video, and add your voice and even more importantly, the voices of your students. They will remember this one day when another starfish comes their way!
Add your student voices today to the: Many Voices for Darfur
My friend Paul Allison posted this to the edtechtalk.com channel and I'm asking every teacher that is able to make time for this important project to do so! Here is his request:
For 48 hours, starting at midnight Eastern standard time on March 6, 2008, many student voices will be collected in the name of those suffering in Darfur. Be sure that your voice is among them. Men, women, and children in the Darfur region of Sudan are dying. The Sudan militia and Janjaweed are responsible for as many as 500,000 deaths and 2,500,000 displaced refugees. You can learn more about the genocide taking place in Darfur by visiting the Many Voices for Darfur Wiki. Once you have had a chance to learn more about Darfur, please post your comment to one or more of the following prompts below:
If you could visit the camps in Chad and sit down one-on-one with a refugee who is your age, how would you explain what you or others are doing in your country to spread awareness and make a difference?
Write an open letter to Omar al-Bashir pleading your case for the Darfur region of Sudan.
Write an open letter to leaders in your country to make a case for government support of international efforts in Darfur.
Last night on Wow2 was a high energy, amazing discussion about the future of libraries. I found myself longing for Joyce Valenza or Doug Johnson to be someone that my students could learn from.
Listen to the show to be inspired and learn a whole lot.
My takeaways from this are:
Meet the Libratory Joyce used the term "libratory" and Doug reinforced it with talking about the library as a "production studio" resource for his students. A place where they can create, learn, explore, and do things. What an amazing thought!
Space Transformation Both of them talked about transforming the space. Joyce said something like, "the library should be a place where students can snuggle up with a laptop, have an argument, work on a film, record a podcast..." Likewise, Doug talked about centralizing things and the importance of looking at having the tools available for students to be able to do all types of digital production. A digital production center.
The Invisible Collection When talking about ebooks, Doug pointed out the model of united streaming (which I ADORE by the way -- I think every library should budget for united streaming!) as a way for ebooks to work in libraries.
The idea is that our students are going to have devices like ipods, ebook readers, laptops, etc. and we will want them to be able to "check out" books from our collection. I've been wondering how would that work? Piecemeal rates for checkouts? How do you "get them back?"
But this point of subscription libraries is a great one... your library subscribes to collections of audio books, ebooks, etc. and you are able to download those onto student devices.
Doug and Joyce both talked about the potential that ebooks have for a "differentiated" book. Imagine a history class where the book adjusts to the reading level or ability of the student... same class, same content, but different reading level.
And what about integrated flash cards, reviews, videos, audio files and more in a compact, portable device. This really would take differentiation to a different level.
I know that laptop people will say "we already have that in a laptop." And yes, perhaps you do. But portability, NO boot time, ruggedness and a smaller footprint could make the ebook idea even more attractive to schools.
And it comes back to a 10th grader who told me that, "I think schools are very hypocritical. They teach us about global warming and yet, they print textbooks that they replace every year or two!" I think he makes a good point... and what if that textbook could be updated throughout the year with new information or corrections?
The Library as a Hub
Thinking of the library as a hub or destination point and the librarian as an involved "teacher" teaching kids how to have a start up page... as Joyce does with Netvibes (I do too) or advising one on one or in small grups on production as Doug's school does.
Somehow this is quite foreign from things I've seen and the possibility excites me! I think I even heard Doug mentioning having coffee in the library. The whole lounge, comfortable idea, learning environment, conversation environment is quite exciting and I think would make a school more attractive to prospective students. Meanwhile, I think this strikes fear in the hearts of many schools who don't have control of their students now and would see this as the end of any semblance of order.
What if Lincoln Used Powerpoint My friend over at Rippling Pond captured this comment by Joyce very well. We talked about making a slideshare group to have our students challenge themselves to EFFECTIVELY demonstrate the best use of powerpoint to accompany such speeches as the Gettysburg Address or "I have a dream." What would happen? Could we do it?
It is a challenge I'm going to look into further when my classes get to PowerPoint.
I think good libraries will evolve as will good librarians. Libraries are to be USED and not sanitized places of perfection. Learning is messy as Brian Crosby says and although we want the library to have order, when it is being USED it will have a possible look of disarray.
Every wow2 show is really great, but tonight is going to just be another over the top session with Joyce Valenza and Doug Johnson. I guess sometimes I just get the Newbie "giggles" because they are some of my early on encouragers and bloggers who I admired (and still do.)
Free webinar from ISTE -- thought some of you would be interested.
Join us for a Free Webinar on March 7
Reliable information on emerging technologies is as vital as it is difficult to come by. To meet this need, ISTE organized the Emerging Technologies (ET) Task Force, which is co-chaired by Ferdi Serim and Kathy Schrock.
ThisFREEwebinar shares strategies and findings to date and charts a future path where we "share our brains" to determine:
Which investments are worth the time, money, and effort required in the quest to improve student learning and achievement? How to determine the best fit for any particular ET and your district's readiness level? How to leverage the widely distributed knowledge among technology coordinators with first hand experiences with a particular ET.
Two things to share for Funday Monday -- First is from Mike Dionne called the "Five Minute University." It is so funny!
Whimsical Metaphorical Humor Being from the South, I LOVE hilarious metaphors! So, for today's Funday Monday post, I'm also sharing funny metaphors from high school papers -- these are found throughout the Internet and I've not been able to find their original source.
These are also a great tool for the Literature teachers out there. Please share your favorites as well (I bolded my favorites):
Analogies and metaphors found in high school essays:
His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
He spoke with wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
She grew on him like E. coli and he was room temperature Canadian beef.
She had a deep throaty genuine laugh like that sound a dog makes just before he throws up.
Her vocabulary was as bad, as, like, whatever.
He was a tall as a six foot three inch tree.
The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge free ATM.
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7 PM instead of 7:30.
Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.
The hailstones leaped up off the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
Long separated by cruel fate, the star crossed lovers raced across a grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 P.M.traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 P.M. at a speed of 35 mph.
They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resemble Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the east river.
Even in his last years, grand pappy had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
Young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
The Ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids with power tools.
He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
She was as easy as the TV guide crossword.
Her eyes were like limpid pools, only they had forgotten to put in any pH cleanser.
She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
Her voice had that tense grating quality, like a generation thermal paper fax machine that needed a band tightening.
It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.
Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two other sides gently compressed by a thigh master.
These are hilarious and some of them elicit such clear pictures it is stunning! I use the particularly gross ones as jokes for my middle schoolers -- who just love them. (It also cements the meaning of metaphor.)
Have a happy funday Monday. (Oh, and if you do Funday Monday, copy this tag (funday monday)and paste it in so we may follow the tag on technorati and see everyone's humor.)
Now that Julie and I are back from conferences, we are furiously working on the Horizon Project 2008 -- setting the framework, etc.
We've set up a form for those interested in this project using Google Forms (it automatically enters it in a spreadsheet.) We are particularly keen on finding additional classrooms in the far east, south America, and Africa -- so if you have friends there, please pass it along. (http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pqJ4dDANW0OwSWZq3GAMCPg)
What will we be studying?
Also, expect to see a major flavor of Wikinomics throughout the project!
What are the timelines?
Please share on your blogs and bookmarks -- we would appreciate it. We will also need sounding boards/ peer review classrooms, expert advisors, and judges. More on that later.
I had a great time in Illinois (check out the archives on my wiki), but perhaps my favorite presentation was the new one I created for this conference about Technology Driven Differentiated Instruction.
Here is the presentation: I ustreamed it and the audio and video is not so great, however, you could take a look at the slides and listen to the preso.
Sometimes when we have to think through these things it helps us set in concrete our own beliefs. I've always hated the convoluted charts that didn't make much sense to me and this helped me clarify and better understand it myself. I'm glad they let me do this presentation and I really want to do this one again!
ITunesPodcast
Digg/coolcatteacher
Flickr/coolcatteacher
Facebook/Cool Cat Teacher
Friendster/Cool Cat Teacher
Linkedin/coolcatteacher
Twitter/coolcatteacher
YouTube/coolcatteacher
Del.icio.us/brightideasguru
Wikipedia/brightideasguru
coComment/coolcatteacher
Upcoming/Cool Cat Teacher
Technorati/brightideasguru
Blog/Cool Cat Teacher
Blippr/coolcatteacher
Sunday after going to church and eating lunch with my family, I got to relax by the pond, watch the millows meander and the dragonflies hum as I fished for catfish. I enjoyed being "out" of it.
, about baseball great 
(c) 1995, Random House
Basking in the springtime air, I strolled into the teachers lounge this morning and stumbled into the the stifling torrent of a network nightmare! 
to learn more. (This was one way I got started.)
is too expensive but Doug raved about the 
, a device that we are planning to test here a as a potential rolling "lab" for elementary classes who just need, type, click, and surf abilities.
When i found out my blog was shutdown.
I loved my blog.
I was disopointed because i put so mutch work into it.
I realy like having a clustermap.
I like comiticating with people i do no and people i dont no.
I like my fake on my blog.
I realy wont my blog back.
It is fun to go on my blog.
I like it when i get red dots on my clustermap.
My blog was cool because i could comiticate with people."