Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

Link to Dean's Viddler Video Dean Shareski 's keynote captivated my two classes. Many of them commented on the wiki , and Dean did a great service to all of us by sharing how he did the Flat Classroom keynote ( and blogging it .) This is great, because he has modeled and shown them the power of asking and collaboration and connection! Dean, you are great!! If you're using video at all, this is a must see. I don't have any money in my budget, but somehow I'm going to figure out how to get Adobe Premier elements or Pinnacle Studio (I have 10 but would have to buy an upgrade) and a green screen. I want to do this! And he even showed how they can green screen and put both of them on the same screen. Now wouldn't that be cool. Thanks, Dean! You inspire in so many ways. I wish I wish I wish I could do green screen. How? tag: teaching , education , digital storytelling , green screen , learning , tools , video , Pinnacle Studio , Adobe Premier , sof...

No time to blog the content, but thanks Ken Kern for recording this in Maine. Slides and presentation resources are on my wiki . tag: flatclassroom , education , teaching , ACTEM , teacher , the world is flat , presentation , innovation , classroom Ken Kern

I think one of my favorite Wow2 shows is the one with David Jakes and Ewan McIntosh. It was so lively and so very real. We talked about change and how to impact education and much more. http://www.edtechtalk.com/audio/download/2394/Wow2.02-45-2007-10-10.mp3 tag: David Jakes , Ewan McIntosh , education , teaching , reform , innovation

Sometimes people come through for you in such an incredible, amazing way, you just want to cry! Dean Shareski's Flat Classroom Keynote Rocks! Dean Shareski has just "delivered" our keynote address for the Flat Classroom project . For those of you who are following the project, you know that we've remixed the project working to get students to incorporate the six senses of the conceptual age as outlined in Dan Pink's Book, A Whole New Mind . (Julie and I lovingly call this project "A Whole New Flat Classroom project" for truly it is a mashup of A whole New Mind and Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat with a whole lot of Wikinomics thrown in there. ) How do we engage the right brain? How do we get students to design, to innovate, to create when they are so used to mind numbing worksheets and regurgitation of facts on tests? It is very hard. At first it is like pushing a big bus up hill. Afraid at any moment, the bus is going to roll back on yo...

A simulpost with TechLearning All the technology in the world and the excellent teaching in the world doesn't matter a "hill of beans" if kids aren't watched properly on the playground. How can we tell students to have excellence in the classroom when the PE coach sits idly by as the children rough-house and the bullies roam free? We often take the teachers who cannot control their classrooms and move them out of the classroom. Where do many of them go? Onto the playground, the last place they should be. Attentive, diligent, loving adults must vigilantly watch children. Every room must be a safe zone. Children must feel safe. They need to trust that teachers are watching keenly enough so that the initial perpetrator is caught... because more often than not, when the kid who is being picked on retaliates, they are the ones who are victimized all over again. Meet Me, the Underdog I write this because I am an underdog. I was picked on horribly in middle school. ...

I spent a little time with Dr. Pfister's Principles of Curriculum Improvement course at Illinois State University. Here is the ustream -- if you forward the first one to minute 5 and then it gets started. Oh, and I can't believe it -- I'm actually putting myself up without my makeup. Oh well. There are some important thoughts I have on curriculum, how to influence teachers to use technology, and how I WISH things would change. Their questions really got me going!!!! Oh, and the volume is a bit loud so you'll want to turn it down. And the stream dropped and this is the end of the show. Here I talk about bureaucracy, some thoughts on failing schools... just opinions. I really got a bit hyper. tag: teaching , curriculum , education , innovation reform , change

Knowing how to use Google maps can save your life. This article about how a Google map is being used to t rack the fires in San Diego and the fact that life radio streaming coverage is being used shows me just how far things have come. These things aren't just gadgets, they are life saving. They are important. They are part of being able to function in the world. To be literate. To survive. The digital divide grows larger as we increasingly depend on these mashups of our lives, tragedies, loves, and losses. This is part of being human. Are we helping students survive in an online world? I had a former student come back last weekend and tell me she missed my lab most. Her new school has a great computer lab but the teacher won't let them on the Internet b/c she is afraid they'll get a virus. Instead, what are they getting? They are getting "bubble boy" syndrome. Raise a kid in a bubble and he has no immunity, no resistance, no ability to live in the real w...

One of my favorite new books is Wikinomics by Don Tapscott. It is an incredible book that is "right on the money" as we say here in the south. Mass Collaboration has changed everything... it has transformed my classroom and made such projects as Flat Classroom and Horizon Project s possible. There is a great opportunity out there for you courtesy of Taking IT Global: "Don Tapscott, the author of the best-selling book Wikinomics, is inviting TakingITGlobal members to share their views on a range of issues as part of research for his upcoming new book! Over the next few weeks, your students are invited to express their thoughts and experiences related to learning and education on a Featured Discussion Forum, and may even get a chance to be quoted in the book itself! Students can join the conversation directly here: http://en.discuss.takingitgloba l.org/6909 " Taking IT global is an incredible organization and I highly recommend it. Join in and give students a voic...

Recently I received an e-mail from someone working to justify efolios for preservice teachers at a college. Here was an excerpt of the letter: "Thank you for writing me back...I did write an introduction to the manual which lists the student benefits of creating an online portfolio. My professor has been trying to convince all instructors of ... [removed to protect privacy] how they can also benefit by having their students create online portfolios. I would like to list in my introduction, instructor benefits as well because I am sure that there will be some who see my manual. Hopefully the manual will help my professor in that area as well. What are the benefits to you, as a teacher, in having your students build online portfolios. I'm sure it saves your desk from being piled sky high with completed assignments, but what other benefits are there? I have attached the introduction to my manual for you to read if you get a chance. Maybe it will give you an idea as to wh...

Just when I needed more motivation on Monday, comes through this e-mail about a friend of mine Scott Rigsby . He graduated the year ahead of me and had a terrible accident that almost ruined his life. He's the first double amputtee to complete an iron man. Here's the story from the AJC. IRONMAN TRIATHLON Double amputee struggles, succeeds Atlanta's Rigsby pays price for making history By STEVE HUMMER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 10/22/07 The Atlanta Ironman kept to his wheelchair this past week. The ends of his amputated legs were blistered, swollen and raw, and showing signs of infection. His muscles felt like they had been doing laps through a pasta maker. The gifts of completing one of the globe's notorious endurance races just kept giving. A week ago, on the big island of Hawaii, Scott Rigsby, 39, became the first below-the-knee double amputee to complete an Ironman triathlon. That meant swimming 2.4 miles without legs, then biking 112 miles and ...

This is one of my favorite scenes in a movie. It is worth watching on a Monday. " Sam: It's like in the great stories Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end it's only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines it'll shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something even if you were too small to understand why. But I think Mr. Frodo, I do understand, I know now folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something. Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam? Sam: That there's some good in the world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for." So friends. Let me ask you t...

OK, guys, I'm going through all of the old e-mails and although I'm a little late on this one, The Economist is debating education. You can still join in. Please do! The following is from Jeff Koo from the Economist. Received via E-mail on October 1st "I saw your blog, Cool Cat Teacher Blog, and am delighted to invite you and your readers to be part of an extraordinary first for Economist.com . The Economist Debate Series officially kicks off October 15 th at http://economist.com/debates and voting is underway now to determine the topics that will be debated. We’d love to have you participate in the debate and link to the lively conversation. The Economist Debate Series is an ongoing community forum where propositions about topical issues will be rigorously debated in the Oxford style by compelling Speakers. The first topic being debated is Education and The Economist is inviting you and your readers to take part by voting on propositions, sharing views and opin...

We have an open call for sounding board participants for Flat Classroom . (This is modeled after the amazingly successful peer review aspect of the Horizon Project. ) This is an excellent way to expose your student to global collaboration using 1-2 class days. There will be more on this later! Just reply here, direct twitter me privately or e-mail me at coolcatteacher at gmail dot com. We're also assembling professionals who wish to be judges . This will take about 1 hour between November 19th and November 28th. We're getting very close to some excellent best practices and hope that our proposal for NECC will be accepted to present them. tag: flatclassroomproject , peer review , teaching , education , peer review , learning

As a favor to my super cool Cable in the Classroom editor-friend, Ellen Ullman, I'm posting the following question. Comment and you may be contacted about including what your school is doing in the Cable in the Classroom magazine. (Be sure not to comment anonymously or if you do, e-mail me at coolcatteacher at gmail dot com with your contact information.) I think it is great that magazines are including thoughts from the blogosphere. Digital media can help teachers use the arts to enhance many areas of the curriculum. How have you incorporated arts and media into your class projects?

This isn't a tool per se, and yet it is. Listening on the plane last week coming back from Maine, I heard a simply transformative podcast . Merlin Man of 43 folders sharing with Google his Inbox Zero Strategy. Video: Audio: http://www.43folders.com/2007/08/03/inbox-zero-audio This strategy of handling my e-mail has not only made my days more peaceful it has TRANSFORMED ME!!! Basic principles that stuck with me: 1) Finite Time and Attention Time and attention are finite and precious. If one looked at my e-mail and my online activities, how would they map to what is important to me? You have a finite box of time and attention and every time you put a piece of trash box in your bigger box, that means there is something really cool that cannot be put in. Don't be stupid and don't put it in in the first place. What I did: I use gmail, so I created a folder 2Read. Using the filter assistant, I went through all of my e-mails and filtered everything that is just "news...

I have been recently reminded that I need to remember to tell people HOW to do things and point out some really cool tools out there. So, I'm beginning a series called Cool Tools. Show Yourself Widget Cool Tool #1 is a must use tool for bloggers, the Show Yourself Widget takes all of the places you share and puts it in a neat, tidy widget that you can embed on your blog. Wes Fryer emailed me the other day and said he saw it on my blog and thanks, it was cool. And it hit me.... I just didn't even think to share it... over 1400 of you never see my blog and read over RSS. Here is (sort of) how mine looks, go to my blog and look on the left for the compressed, neat and tidy version.) Vicki Davis Digg /coolcatteacher Flickr /coolcatteacher Linkedin /coolcatteacher Twitter /coolcatteacher YouTube /coolcatteacher Del.icio.us /brightideasguru Wikipedia /brightideasguru Upcoming /Vicki Davis Technorati /brightideasguru Ustream /coolcatteacher Blog /coolcatteache...

Vinnie Vrotny has just let me know about this. If you're interested sign up at http://whennightfalls07.wikispaces.com/Moderator+Sign-Up . They especially need European, Asian, and South American moderators. (I wonder if there are some being held in languages other than english.) Here are the details from Vinnie: "At this point in time, there are 8 time slots for the When Night Falls event which are unmoderated. I am not asking you to volunteer. Instead, what I am hoping that you would consider is helping us spread the word via your learning networks to help spread the word and to inquire of others that you know to see if they would be willing to help us fill in the empty time slots. From the current sign-up, it would be helpful to have more Asian, European, and South American teachers and learners to be able to have a diverse, global collection moderators...For those interested, we have set up two training sessions, one Saturday, October 20 at 14:00 GMT (10:00 am EDT) and S...

OK, guys -- if you've ever wanted to give feedback or listen to Linden Lab's take on Education and Second Life -- tonight over at Discovery Educators is your chance. Read more about this session and enroll. Space is limited to first come first serve so sign up!! And remember, if you can go and don't -- don't complain when Linden does things you don't like! tag: linden labs , second life , education , teaching , discovery educators , discovery channel , discovery , web3d , innovation

Hey, I wish I could go to this -- please spread the word: Thursday, October 25th, 2007 2:00 p.m. Join us at the Georgia Public Broadcasting 260 14th Street, NW Atlanta, Georgia 30318 We hope you will join us to learn and exchange ideas with our panel about the issues facing families when it comes to online safety and security. Our panelists come from public and private organizations in Georgia that are committed to keeping children safe online. Host: Sonny Perdue Governor State of Georgia Free and open to the public To RSVP for this event, visit www.pcsi-ga.info We have GOT to have some bloggers there. Who is going? Please let me know! I wish they accepted youtube questions!! tag: Sonny Perdue , Georgia , Internet Safety , safety , public hearing , pbs

Whatever your beliefs, you should see this video. It is a message to all of you leaders out there who are reading this blog. At the end the coach says: "You are the most influential player on this team, if you walk around defeated, so will they." Don't give up. Don't quit. It may seem insurmountable but you must continue to press forward to innovate and improve things. I needed this video today! tag: inspiration , encouragement , teaching , education

Wow2 anniversary show tonight with David Warlick -- starts in 4 minutes. tag: Wow2 , David Warlick , education , teaching

When I needed a dream computer lab -- I asked and you planned it. So, now I'm looking to propose a dream laptop lab. The only problem is, the budget is very limited. Is it possible to have an effective, working laptop lab with 20-25 computers -- a projector and printer for less than $30,000 -- or less than $20,000? What do you think? I hope that my friend Steve Hargadon (who has linux working nicely on his laptops) and other open source experts will help give insight to an easy to use laptop lab arrangement that also doesn't break the bank. So, as I did last time, I've opened up the Westwood Tech Plan wiki to your editing. Ask to join, let me know who you are and edit away! As always, you can comment here and as always the answers will be shared. tag: open source , laptop , equipment , hardware , computer , innovation , education , pricing

Sometimes things take us in a direction we cannot predict. When Elizabeth Helfant 's Flat Classroom Project kids asked if they could share Xbox Live ID's with the other members of flat classroom it left us with our mouths agape. And then.... why not? If they can play with strangers, why not with "virtual classmates" and aren't these the kind of connections -- social one's that make things stronger? I'm still a little bit agast... or should I say Flat. tag: flatclassroomproject , flatclassroom , flatclassroomproject2007 , teaching , education , xboxlive , connections , Elizabeth Helefant

The ustream/ backchannel work in the sessions last week far exceeded my expectations (see Diane Hammond 's kind post.) I used a ustream for audio (and a little vid if they wanted to see me) -- and a Google presentation. (See my wiki for more info.) Before the session started, I went live with the ustream, greeted the guests, and then began! What's in a name? So, here is the question -- what should we call the person (or people) assigned to monitor the backchannel. Several of you have commented that you just hate the term "backchannel bouncer" -- I hate the term " Google jockey " as noted in the Wikipedia article about the backchannel. It needs to convey a person who is helpful but also is responsible for overseeing the environment in the backchannel as well as "bouncing back" what is happening in there to the speaker. In fact, in the blogging session, Cheryl Oakes AND Michael Richards played this role. I want to appoint this person in my c...

I am having students from this year edit the work of last year's students. This is a great exercise. I really like the avoiding viruses page -- while not perfect, it is a good overview, particularly the slide share at the top of the page. And I love the effective online privacy wiki as well. Back to grading! The point is that sometimes students should not only create from scratch, but should edit something previous students have done -- asking themselves what should be improved. Sometimes asking oneself what is missing is exactly the type of deep learning experience needed. I'm finding I have to work with students on editing. We have a lot of improvement to do. tag: wiki , teaching , safety , privacy , computer , technology

I'm testing the blog. tag: blogging , ACTEM , maine , conference , education , beatree

Simulpost with TechLearning The Maine technology conference has been delightful thus far -- I will have so much to blog when I get back. The people here are great! So let me tell you what I've planned for today, and how you can join in. No Google Jockeys And this morning, podcasting phenom Bob Sprankle coined a new term. I backchanneled during my wiki presentation (which was useful for a thousand reasons.) Last night, I looked at " backchannel " on wikipedia and learned that the term for someone watching the backchannel and reporting back to the speaker was at one time called a "Google Jockey." Meet the Backchannel Bouncer Well, I don't know about you, but I don't like that term for the classroom. So we thought and thought. Bob came up with the term Backchannel Bouncer. I don't know if it will stick, there may be a better term. I do think this one has the potential to fit, and I'll tell you why. The Bouncer -- is in the backchannel and pe...

Some accuse me of "hype" over ustream and operator11. Dan Meyer says: Okay, just so I'm clear, this is the next educational paradigm? Really? ¶ Rhetorical question: Wld yo— —u re—ad b—log writ — te —— en liike thi—s? ¶ Ustream offers a choppy, low-res medium, one in which I'll doubtlessly dabble soon, but one which pushes unedited, free-associative thought onto the careless vodcaster. I'm seeing streamcasts circling for thirteen minutes the same point one could make in a coupla body paragraphs. ¶ At least it's new, though. New's important. Here was my response, over there: The thing is — we don’t know if it will work in the classroom until we’ve tried it out and thoroughly tested it. Unlike predecessors of these technologies these are social technologies and we need to TRY THEM OUT. I will not make a lesson plan with a technology until I #1 know it is safe and #2 know it works at least somewhat stably. That is malpractice. So, it may seem like a ...

OK, guys, if your'e around today at 2:30, feel free to drop by the ustream channel or visit the Google presentation for my wiki workshop up here in Maine. I'm planning to stream if bandwidth allows most of the workshop. So, just go to http://k12wiki.wikispaces.com to pick up the "TV Channel" and the Google presentation. If you want to play, this may not be the time for you -- I plan to ustream again tonight and that will be a good time. If you want to participate in learning (and yes, if you go ahead and join the wiki before class starts, I'll even let you do some editing and teamwork with the folks in the class -- in fact, I'd love that.) Let's try this out. Of course, my focus is on the folks in the room and if anything happens that takes away from that the stream comes down (although we'll keep using google presentations. Come on over and Wiki with Vicki! (The class is from 2:30 - 5 pm EST you're welcome just to drop in!) tag: education , ...

Watch Will's video from last night that everyone is talking about: Here is the blog post that tells how you can make the most of your ustream tv channel. tag: ustream , video , streaming

Tonight I broadcast on my live TV channel (did I just say TV channel -- what?) from my hotel room in Maine and talked about Wikinomics and my initial thoughts for education. It was a little choppy on the hotel wifi, but the best show was on Kristin's channel -- is the one you MUST WATCH! The best TV show tonight As we hopped from teacher channel to tv channel -- the best show one happened when Kristin Hokanson and I interviewed Arthus , on Kristin's channel. Arthus is a 14 year old who has been freelancing since he was 12 over on kristin's channel -- she figured out how to stream with skype on ustream -- it was really great. It is an important must listen! I think this one is the best one to listen to-- I was amazed at Arthus!! This is our new student. Kristin really knows a lot about ustream . tag: Arthus , Kristin Hokanson , ustream , streaming , education , teaching , learning