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I've always loved to learn new vocabulary, but really, didn't have the dictionary handy or texting Google was just a pain. One of the coolest features of my Amazon kindle (see Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6 ) is that if I see a word I don't know, I can move the cursor to just beside the word and it gives me a definition. I've gotten to where I press the enter key and go to the full definition, then copy that definition to my clippings (using the bar to highlight and save the note) - then when I'm done, I can see the words I've learned. I'm about 1/3 of the way through a reallly killer Clive Cussler book and have already learned 5 new words - just think of the rich learning. The more I use this Kindle, the more I think that ebooks really have tons of potential for learning - just being able to learn vocabulary in context is huge.  But you can also install custom dictionaries (like the Eastman Bible Dictionary) and then turn that dictionary on when I...

Christmas break is one of the few times (besides July) that I and some others of my friends TOTALLY disconnect. Just wanted to check in though and let you know what I'm really enjoying out of my Christmas Gadgets. Fitness Gadgets I had a great run today with my Nike +ipod sensor (around $20) in my shoelace adapter (around $10) so I don't have to use the Nike+ipod shoes by Nike. (Love my Saucony 's anyway.)  It was wonderful because I could leave the track and run around the baseball field and all kinds of places - I had a very good time, which I think is largely because I could focus on the joy of running instead of counting my laps. (my short term memory issue has me counting on my fingers - I know those who watch me run must think I have some sort of hand deformity!)  The cold-weather UnderArmor shirt and gloves kept me oh so warm in the frigid 49 degree weather in Camilla Today. Loving My Kindle Oh, and this Amazon kindle has hardly left my hand since yesterday!...

Find more videos like this on Flat Classroom Project When you only give a piece of your mind to something that is important... I mean very important... it is just like giving none of yourself to it. In fact, only piece of your mind can be very dangerous to everyone when you're doing some things. Take this past Saturday... a rainy day.  I'm on my way to take my son to a ballgame at the school, just five minutes from my house.  I'm stopped at the red light and getting ready to cross US 19 at probably the busiest intersection in Camilla. My light turns green and (thank goodness) I just happen to slowly begin my way across the intersection.  Fortunately for my son and I, when I reached the middle of the road (across the first three lanes of northbound traffic) I happened to see out of the corner of my eye, a woman and her fluffy white poodle in a van barreling southbound through the red light.  I was incredulous but slammed on breaks and yelled for my son to bra...

We are so excited about this Thursday and the Finals of the Eracism Project!  Our presentation for k12 online will also be going online this week as well, so you can "look under the hood," so to speak!  The 2009 global debate project for middle schoolers, the Eracism Project (a Flat Classroom TM Project www.eracismproject.org ) will hold the finals of Eracism on the private Eracism grid on ReactionGrid on Thursday, December 17 at 9:15 am EST – 10:15 EST .  Although the students and judges for this project will be in-world, the presentation will be streamed live with a backchannel as part of the K12 Online Conference 2009 to CCiTV Live – http://ccitv.cciu.org/ and ReactionGrid  http://livestream.com/snowcrash . Student finalists will be debating “Differences Make us Stronger” in the impromptu style debate moderated by Bernajean Porter ( http://www.digitales.us ) with the final vote on the winner taken from the judges and student participants in the project wh...

 Julie has a presentation coming next week for K12 online about the Flat Classroom Student Summits and what we've seen, but this is your chance to participate live with this year's student summits and talk to the kids about what they are learning.  This is such a powerful experience for us as teachers and those who follow Julie or me on Twitter - we always tweet out invitations, but these are official and scheduled for you! We hope you'll join our students to hear how they have learned about the technological trends that are shaping our world and the powerful multimedia that they have constructed to tell their stories as well as experiences creating wikis with one another in authentic research!  From the K12 online Blog : As part of the Flat Classroom™ Project 2009-3 we are holding online Student Summits in our Elluminate virtual classroom and invite participants in the K12 Online Conference to join us. These sessions will be 45-60 minutes long and participants will h...

Want to issue a special invitation for this event.  It is so exciting that K12 online encouraged live, simultaneous events along with the presentations that were submitted.  The presentation (a compilation of various thoughts on Digital Citizenship from the Digiteens) went live yesterday.  You can view the full presentation on the k12 online blog and the video presentation is posted below. Here is the invitation to see these amazing students present, also cross posted over at the K12 online conference: As part of the k12 online conference 2009 and as a conclusion to the Digiteen Project #3 of 2009, students from Westwood Schools will be presenting their top socially connected sites for kids aged 8-12 (and some that they DO NOT recommend.)  As part of Digiteen 2009 , these students felt that many sites that are marketed to kids aged 8-12 are not appropriate nor safe and set out to review and test the best.  They have been blogging and have a twitter acc...

As I work, I'm reviewing some of the Flat Classroom 2009 videos and as usual am awestruck at the creativity of these students (and how hard they have to work to get these done.)  Feel free to join our Ning if you're an educator and leave comments!  The judging is happening now and the winners will be announced at our awards show on Friday at 8:30 am EST -- we will share the link on our flat classroom twitter account and through our various networks.  This video has captivated me, particularly the dinner table scene with the whole family! Find more videos like this on Flat Classroom Project Remember, these students are collaborating globally to create meaningful multimedia on authentic research topics -- can your ninth and tenth graders do this?

Just sent this message to the Edurunners , which gives you a glimpse of how Daily Mile works and how we are connecting and using this to motivate ourselves towards fitness. Hi everyone! We have 35 members of edurunners! That is so cool.  Here are some suggestions to get the most from the group: 1) Connect - See this as a way to find other educators or retired educators who work out, go through the membership list and add some as friends and then set your mind to encouraging them. 2) Care After you've friended, encourage people in the group (and beyond) - it makes me feel good to get motivations and reminders when I'm not working out like I should and to see that all of us (event 12 mile Franklin D - the leaderboard leader of our group this week) might not feel so good. 3) Converse Questions are being asked on our discussion board - PLEASE answer and help (like one this week about treadmills) - if you know a lot - share -- if you don't know a lot -ask and encour...

Connecting globally can give you some disconnection too! Now that my students are so connected globally - literally EVERY class has them collaborating with other kids on a daily basis -- I spend so much time being the architect for their connections that my connections have somewhat frayed at the edges! Is this how it will look in the future? The teacher is busy building the framework for things and has to struggle to stay connected themselves? It isn't about a huge stack of papers any more but a chock full RSS reader with student assignments and a full email of items to do. Timebridge reminders and Google calendars , wikis to update, and websites to create. Between this and my new passion for making this body last a while longer (I LOVE RUNNING - anyone on Twitter has heard by now, probably) and handling my three children's schedules it is quite hard to spend time here talking to you.  I wish, by goodness, that I had time to do a weekly podcast or something to connec...

I would like to share an article that two of my amazing pioneering students and I wrote about our experiences on Reaction Grid and in virtual worlds.  I promoted these two students to estate managers of Digiteen Island and the F.L.A.T.S. and they have done amazing work with it.  This was printed in the Fall Issue of the SIG Innovative Learning and Technology newsletter which I've embedded at the bottom of this post. If you're not on this Special Interest Group for ISTE and you love technology - you're missing out!  You can see Trent and Tyler interviewed on Leon Cych's blog Post about the Open Source Virtual World Pioneers . Virtually Open Source by Vicki Davis, Teacher Trent H  and Tyler R, Students and Co-Estate Managers Digiteen Island and the F.L.A.T.S. (Flat Learning Area for Teaching and Sharing) From Vicki Davis, Teacher - Moving My Class Into a Virtual World: Driven By Students to Innovate When my 2008 Freshman class was brainstorming their ideas ...