Cool Cat Teacher Blog is at coolcatteacher.com

I received this via e-mail today and thought that some of you might actually be reading about a turning point opportunity in your life: As part of its $50 million initiative on Digital Media and Learning initiative launched last year ( www.digitallearning.macfound .org ), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has just announced support for a $2 million open Digital Media and Learning Competition, with entries due on October 15, 2007. All details about the competition and application requirements can be found at www.dmlcompetition.net . Awards will be made in two categories, Innovation Awards and Knowledge-Networking Awards. Innovation Awards ($100,000 and $250,000) will support learning pioneers, entrepreneurs, and builders of new digital learning environments for formal and informal learning. Knowledge-Networking Awards ($30,000-75,000) will support communicators in connecting, mobilizing, circulating or translating new ideas around digital media and learning. The c...

simulpost with TechLearning Have enjoyed reading a blog of a newcomer, Gran , who is taking a class with a trainer named, Geoff. Gran says: Until today I’ve had a disdainful attitude abt blogs, bloggers, thought, “HOW narcissistic!” Hah! Our lives ARE narcissistic. Who’s running around inside our brains all the time, anyway? Only ONE person, and that wud be moi. Humans are wired for narcissism. Nobody else runs our show, the movie of our lives, unless we give our power away. When the focus is sharing and connecting, narcissism is a nonissue. I’m excited about what we’re doing, and I say thank you, Geoff! It is important to take a look at what people coming on board with technology say. I think this whole discussion is less about blogging or twittering or whatever-ing but rather about electronic publication. We are trading in pen and paper for electronic modes of publication, whatever they are called. It just so happens that the medium for many forms of easy electronic publication i...

I'm heading out for last minute R&R before school starts, but I have been reviewing my notes to myself last year about how to start the school year off right. I thought you might want to read them too (especially if you're a newcomer to this blog.) Starting the School Year off Right: Part 1 -- Set the Pace Starting the School Year off Right: Part 2 -- Establish the Flow Starting the School Year off Right: Part 3 -- Create the Plan One of the main reasons that I blog is that I am continually writing lists and giving myself notes. This year when I wanted to find my checklist for starting school, I just searched my own blog. It is not about being center stage, it is about being practical, publishing electronically so we can find things. That is really why I started, making notes to myself as I started creating a wiki page. You only have one chance to have a good first day of school, make it count and start well!

"Let those who are in favor with their stars Of public honor and proud titles boast, Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars, Unlooked for joy in that I honor most. Great princes' favorites their fair leaves spread But as the marigold at the sun's eye; And in themselves their pride lies buried, For at a frown they in their glory die. The painful warrior famoused for fight, After a thousand victories once foiled, Is from the book of honor raised quite, And all the rest forgot for which he toiled. Then happy I, that love and am beloved Where I may not remove nor be removed." A sonnet, William Shakespeare Today my husband and I celebrate fourteen years together and I am so very grateful for his unconditional love and support in a world full of conditions. It is amazing how one that I did not know for 23 years could now be more family to me than family. A great man of faith, when we lost everything we saved in our first five years of marriage and a pecan grov...

This is a great post about 30+ tagging tools from Mashable.com to help you make meaning out of tags. I put it through delicious but wanted to make sure everyone sees it. We'll definitely be using it in current events this year and as we research trends in IT in our classroom! Wow! Let me know if you've used any of them, most of them are new to me. tag: tagging , trends , tools , web2

Logging on to my computer, I use twitterfox that has all of the twitters I missed pop up like little incoming e-mail boxes in my bottom right corner -- saw this from John Pederson : ccLearn is being launched as a part of the Creative Commons efforts. Here is what they say about it: ccLearn is a division of Creative Commons which is dedicated to realizing the full potential of the Internet to support open learning and open educational resources ( OER ). Our mission is to minimize barriers to sharing and reuse of educational materials — legal barriers, technical barriers, and social barriers. With legal barriers , we advocate for licensing of educational materials under interoperable terms, such as those provided by Creative Commons licenses, that allow unhampered modification, remixing, and redistribution. We also educate teachers, learners, and policy makers about copyright and fair-use issues pertaining to education. With technical barriers , we promote interoperability standard...

Show tonight! I'm excited about the WOW2 show tonight! It will be on at 9 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time (that is Atlanta, GA time for those who want to convert it) at edtechtalk.com . How to Listen! To listen, go over there and click listen. You may click on chat to enter the chat room. Now, let me tell you why I'm excited. (See their great new help for newbies .) Virtual Learning doesn't have to mean Second Life Although many are excited about Second Life , as I saw with my students last spring, it is not ready for students (unless you have the funding to buy a private island and the hardware), but there are many colleges that have some incredible learning environments that ARE safe for students and provide meaningful, genuine learning experiences, tonight we will feature several such programs as we talk with Jeff Stanzler: UM School of Education faculty and Director, Interactive Communications & Simulations. I've asked for permission to copy some informat...