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2008-2009 Archive

2007-2008 Archive

THURSDAY, MAY 22 A new page has been created for new staff. It is a summary of the many things that a new staff member has to figure out. Hopefully it will be helpful to everyone. Please feel free to go to the page and add your thoughts or change anything to make it better. To change a page click on the button that says "edit page" and a menu bar will appear and you will be able to type and make changes. If you click Save the changes will be made on the page. You can go back and change anything, so don't worry about making a mistake.

What do you think of this one? media type="youtube" key="tahTKdEUAPk&color1=11645361&color2=13619151&hl=en&fs=1" height="344" width="425" Listening to Podcasts is a great way to do easy professional development on your own time. Did you know that there are a bunch of podcasts out there by teachers with tons of ideas? Today I listened to one called Kidcast which gives an idea for podcasting in the classroom each time. It is not too long (15 minutes) and full of practical ideas like these: 1. Podcasting descriptions of photos: Give each student a photo to analyze. It should be a photograph or art piece with a lot going on. Have them come up with 20 questions about the picture. Now have them answer those questions and determine which of their answers is fact and which are opinion. Now they work together all of their answers into an essay which they can podcast. Using Garage Band (or even PowerPoint) they can record themselves talking about the picture while the person listening can actually look at the picture. This gives the students practice at analyzing and synthesizing and also with knowing the difference between opinion and fact.
 * THURSDAY, MAY 15**
 * WEDNESDAY, May 14**

2. Speed Podcasting: This is a little confusing. I had to listen twice, which is a benefit of podcasts; if you get distracted or don't understand you can go back and listen to a part or whole again. Students sit at a table facing one another. Let's say 5 on each side. The pairs are numbered 1-5. Each pair has a question. They begin by asking each other that question and recording the answer. After 8 minutes (or whatever works best) one side of the table rotates and the other stays and so they each ask the same question to a different person. This is great for interview skills like questioning and listening.

Maybe during the summer while you are gardening or painting you can also be listening!


 * MONDAY, May 12**


 * **=Wiki Winner of the Week= **

**This should actually be for last week. Brooke Alkire is the winner for the** [|**Cinco de Mayo Wiki!**] She wins a deck of Illusions and visual oddities playing cards. Below see** || **Winner of the Wiki Award** || ||
 * Have you checked it out? It is a great way to use a Wiki with students.
 * **Brookes hard working math class.** ||  ||
 * [[image:Alkire_002.jpg width="332" height="257" align="center" caption="hard working class"]] || [[image:Alkire_003.jpg width="316" height="238" align="center" caption="hard working class"]] ||

♦ May 18: We remember our troops on Armed Forces Day. Find out how America's [|Armed Forces] work. ♦ May 21: On the anniversary of [|Amelia Earhart's] solo flight across the Atlantic, learn about this pioneering pilot. ♦ May 25: The Phoenix spacecraft is set to land on [|Mars] today. Take this opportunity to find out about the Red Planet. ♦ May 27: It's International Jazz Day! Discover the roots of this music form in our movie about [|Jazz.] ♦ May 31: Discover the dangers of [|Smoking] on World No Tobacco Day.
 * Brain Pop News

WEDNESDAY, April 23**


 * = =

Wiki Winner of the Week
=




 * Brooke Dryer won the Wiki Prize of the Week. Her students are doing a project which has them learning some important Internet Literacy. They are doing research on the Internet to find facts about an animal. They are learning to make judgements about search results, finding out about the strengths and weaknesses of different search engines, skimming for facts online, and rewording what they find into their own words.

p.s. The prize she one is a small hand held telescope (like a binocular, but with only one eye). ** ||  ||  ||
 * **Mrs. Dryer** ||  ||

media type="youtube" key="LP3s_KmHx6M&color1=11645361&color2=13619151&hl=en&fs=1" height="344" width="425"
 * Did you know that there are lots of really interesting videos done by KIDS on YouTube? Here is one where your kids can learn how to do animation with Paint (free on your computer) and Movie Maker (free on your computer).

media type="youtube" key="bvB8Wv8zzUI&color1=11645361&color2=13619151&hl=en&fs=1" height="344" width="425"

TUESDAY, April 15 There are all kinds of educational games. There are the games which are sometimes called "drill and kill" which can help kids learn facts. There are also games that help them think and learn new things. Here are some resources for some great educational games.** [|**Nobel Prize Games**]

[|**Academic Skill Builders**]

[|**Classroom Game Templates and More**]

[|**Timez Attack**] **There is a free version of this highly recommended game that you can download to try from the site. If you think it is helpful you could recommend that parents purchase it for their kids.

MONDAY, April 6 Time is flying by! Here is a blog that was recommended by IRA. Your kids might enjoy reading and listening to interpretations of the Lorax story from kids in Room 9 in New Zealand (ages 5-7)** [|**http://room9nelsoncentral.blogspot.com/**]

Next week we will be learning about Google Earth. Here is a video about a Lit Trip using Google Earth. **
 * Tech Monday

media type="custom" key="1542553"

Wiki Prize of the Week

 * You are all so amazing that I had to do two prizes this week!**

Ask her what she thought about the YouTube video. She received a mouse!** || ||
 * **Liz Smith was the first one to edit this wiki.
 * [[image:weeklytech_002.jpg width="173" height="130" align="center" caption="weeklytech_002.jpg" link="http://bce.eanes.k12.tx.us/broberso/Default.htm"]] || **Becky Roberson also received a mouse for the creative use of her web site. Check it out!** ||

This You Tube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8 really made an impression on me... What do you think? Feel free to write here what you think about it.
 * TUESDAY, MARCH 25**

That was really powerful...it put a spotlight on how they learn, and it's not always how we teach. Thanks..Liz

media type="youtube" key="_A-ZVCjfWf8&hl=en" height="355" width="425"


 * THURSDAY March 20**
 * **Award of the week-This week our winner was Emily Hanley. Here she is shown working with her students in the computer lab. Anyone who spends her time in the computer lab observing what her students are doing and assisting them rather than using the time in Skyward deserves a prize! Next week it may be you! She won a selection of pens and a mouse!** || [[image:Hanley_002.jpg width="242" height="214" caption="Working with Students"]] ||


 * THURSDAY March 6th**
 * [[image:amandawinner.jpg width="192" height="225" caption="First to Check the Wiki"]] || **Amanda was the Wiki winner this week. Here is a picture of her receiving her prize. It is a gorgeous TCEA bag (it converts to a backpack and has lots of pockets!).** ||

The CTCs are working on planning how the district will implement Teacher Technology Competencies. There is a wide range of technology use in the district. There are some teachers who avoid it like the plague (not at this school :-) and some who do terrific things that enhance their teaching and student learning. In between are the rest of us who have strengths and weaknesses. Time is such a difficult issue. How do you find time to learn and to use the technology? What do you think about this? What would help you to want to implement more 21st century skills in your classroom? What support do you need? Some schools provide incentives. What incentive makes sense to you? Do you think there needs to be a requirement from "above" about meeting some technology goals by a certain time?
 * WEDNESDAY March 5th

Write your thoughts here so that I can take them back on my Friday meetings.

I have a prize (again) for the first person to put their name here: Amanda

Janice

WEDNESDAY February 20**
 * [[image:renee.JPG caption="First to Check the Wiki"]] ||  || **Renee was the Wiki Winner of the Week! Here she is with her prize. It is a book bag.** ||

Wednesday night in North America there will be a lunar eclipse. Here is a link to [|The NASA Eclipse Home Page]. I’m hoping to get my 5th graders to observe and blog about it. Keep it safe … it will be after dark so talk to students about not going out without supervision (depending on circumstances of course). Should be a good “messy” learning experience.
 * TUESDAY February 19

media type="custom" key="449829" Time for the weekly prize for the first person that types their name on this page! Renee Berry ( Ha! Jon I finally beat you this week! ) Renee is first, but there is still a second prize!

MONDAY February 12 media type="custom" key="449829" There is a prize for the first person that types their name on this page today! HERE__JON SAMUELSON WAS HERE!!! //Jon won a flashlight and some other small cool things!//

So was Deanna Bogan : //Deanna won a Green T-Shirt!//

Oh so close, I guess I'm third- Renee Berry

Several of us had a great time at the Technology Conference in downtown Austin last week. We have lots of cool stuff to share, so I have created a link on the left side that says TCEA. People might be putting some of the stuff on this front page, but it will be eventually moved to the TCEA page. I am also creating a new page called PASSWORDS. Since this wiki is password protected and I am only going to put the really commonly used ones in there I hope it is a secure way to keep those passwords somewhere that you can find them.

SATURDAY February 10 Here is a link to a site with great info. about the presidential race: http://my-ecoach.com/project.php?id=12136

Ok, so this is Jon Samuelson. I will post some of my cool sites I found on my the wiki too. It will take me a second, but I will pick out my top 5 since there were about 75 that I got at TCEA. I will come back and post them this weekend. media type="youtube" key="QjA5faZF1A8&rel=1" height="355" width="425"

Now, this is a cool video that our keynote speaker talked about. It is a boy who self taught himself the guitar, and then kids from all over the world joined in and posted responses to teach themselves the guitar. There are almost 40 million views of this video on YouTube. The speaker was very powerful. I will see if I can find video of him talking, because it would be much better than me just telling you about it. But watch a couple minutes of this video. It makes me want to take up the guitar.

WEDNESDAY 2/6/08 Live from TCEA. We will be trying to capture all that we have learned on a new page called TCEA which you can see linked from the bottom of the side bar. Today I learned about a great resource [|http://teachersdomain.org] for science. Take a look. There are tons of free resources!

THURSDAY 1/31/08**

Bytesize Science

 * Here is a link to a very short, fun podcast which is new every Monday with a science theme. How about having a science minute each day where the class listens to this podcast? The program’s archive includes items on environmental threats to killer whales, a scientific explanation for why some people love chocolate, and some unlikely new uses for compact discs. http://feeds.feedburner.com/bytesizescience

WEDNESDAY 1/30/08 Look below to see the winners of the fabulous prizes!

TUESDAY 1/29/08 No one has claimed the prize yet. See Monday! Here is the link about teaching kids manners http://www.sandbox-learning.com/FileLib/Teaching_Children_Manners.pdf

MONDAY 1/28/07 Digital Storytelling-One session that I thought was really great at the conference was by a teacher who uses Digital Storytelling with her class. Here is an outline of how her class is able to complete on Digital Storytelling project in one week (5 - 40 minute class times)**
 * 1) **Draft Writing - This does not require any computers. They write their story (ex. about me).**
 * 2) **Collecting Artifacts (pictures, music etc...) can be homework**
 * 3) **Storyboarding**
 * 4) **dlkj**
 * 5) **One 40 minute session in Lab. Must have their story in storyboard form andn their artifacts as tickets to work in the lab. They spend their time putting their movie together (using iMovie, MovieMaker, or some other free online tool) and if they are done the last 5-10 minutes they can put in special effects and transitions.**
 * She suggested this as an activity to get to know the kids at the beginning of the year or it can be a project about something that they really care about. When I find my notes I will correct the #4 above that I cannot find and put in a few links that should be helpful.

media type="custom" key="449829" I have brought back some fun things with me from California and I want to give them out as prizes to anyone who uses the Wiki. If you read this message put your name here: Tammy Campbell :) Brooke Alkire

and I will come and bring you a prize!

TUESDAY 1/22/08 I am testing this from California to see how reversion works. It is pretty easy and amazing! I am not sure how to put in a comment about the change I am making....

TUESDAY 1/15/08 News from Brain Pop January/February Movies New Movies and Timely Curricular Tie-Ins BrainPOP ♦ January 15: Celebrate the birth of [|Martin Luther King Jr.] with our movie on this influential man! ♦ January 19: On International Sing-Out Day, learn about the art of singing with our [|Vocals]movie! ♦ January 20: [|Penguins]are people, too! Okay, not really, but they're pretty cool animals. Learn all about them on National Penguin Awareness Day! ♦ January 29: Two very prominent women share this birthday, so take a moment to learn about them: [|Cleopatra]and [|Oprah Winfrey]! ♦ January 31: Honor baseball's great by learning about [|Jackie Robinson] on his birthday! ♦ February 3: While you root for your favorite team in the Super Bowl, learn the history and basics of American [|Football]! ♦ February 7: It was the best of times for the Dickens family when their famous son was born. On his birthday, don't miss our movie about [|Charles Dickens]! ♦ February 14: This Valentine's Day, learn about the science of the [|Heart]!

MONDAY 1/7/08 I have added a new page to the Inservices Page listing good WebQuests. If you want to use a WebQuest and do not have time to search for one I would be glad to do a search and to send you some suggestions.

WEDNESDAY 1/2/08 Great example of a school wiki: Cedar Creek http://cedarcreek.pbwiki.com/

THURSDAY 1/31/08**

Bytesize Science
Here is a link to a very short, fun podcast which is new every Monday with a science theme. How about having a science minute each day where the class listens to this podcast? The program’s archive includes items on environmental threats to killer whales, a scientific explanation for why some people love chocolate, and some unlikely new uses for compact discs. http://feeds.feedburner.com/bytesizescience

Look below to see the winners of the fabulous prizes!
 * WEDNESDAY 1/30/08**

No one has claimed the prize yet. See Monday! Here is the link about teaching kids manners http://www.sandbox-learning.com/FileLib/Teaching_Children_Manners.pdf
 * TUESDAY 1/29/08**

Digital Storytelling-One session that I thought was really great at the conference was by a teacher who uses Digital Storytelling with her class. Here is an outline of how her class is able to complete on Digital Storytelling project in one week (5 - 40 minute class times) She suggested this as an activity to get to know the kids at the beginning of the year or it can be a project about something that they really care about. When I find my notes I will correct the #4 above that I cannot find and put in a few links that should be helpful.
 * MONDAY 1/28/07**
 * 1) Draft Writing - This does not require any computers. They write their story (ex. about me).
 * 2) Collecting Artifacts (pictures, music etc...) can be homework
 * 3) Storyboarding
 * 4) dlkj
 * 5) One 40 minute session in Lab. Must have their story in storyboard form andn their artifacts as tickets to work in the lab. They spend their time putting their movie together (using iMovie, MovieMaker, or some other free online tool) and if they are done the last 5-10 minutes they can put in special effects and transitions.

I have brought back some fun things with me from California and I want to give them out as prizes to anyone who uses the Wiki. If you read this message put your name here: Tammy Campbell :) Brooke Alkire
 * PRIZES!!!**

and I will come and bring you a prize!

I am testing this from California to see how reversion works. It is pretty easy and amazing! I am not sure how to put in a comment about the change I am making....
 * TUESDAY 1/22/08**

News from Brain Pop ♦ January 15: Celebrate the birth of [|Martin Luther King Jr.] with our movie on this influential man! ♦ January 19: On International Sing-Out Day, learn about the art of singing with our [|Vocals]movie! ♦ January 20: [|Penguins]are people, too! Okay, not really, but they're pretty cool animals. Learn all about them on National Penguin Awareness Day! ♦ January 29: Two very prominent women share this birthday, so take a moment to learn about them: [|Cleopatra]and [|Oprah Winfrey]! ♦ January 31: Honor baseball's great by learning about [|Jackie Robinson] on his birthday! ♦ February 3: While you root for your favorite team in the Super Bowl, learn the history and basics of American [|Football]! ♦ February 7: It was the best of times for the Dickens family when their famous son was born. On his birthday, don't miss our movie about [|Charles Dickens]! ♦ February 14: This Valentine's Day, learn about the science of the [|Heart]!
 * TUESDAY 1/15/08**
 * January/February Movies**
 * New Movies and Timely Curricular Tie-Ins**
 * BrainPOP**

I have added a new page to the Inservices Page listing good WebQuests. If you want to use a WebQuest and do not have time to search for one I would be glad to do a search and to send you some suggestions.
 * MONDAY 1/7/08**

Great example of a school wiki: Cedar Creek http://cedarcreek.pbwiki.com/
 * WEDNESDAY 1/2/08**

News from Reading A-Z Reading A–Z adds new books and materials every month in response to what you say you need. You told us humor engages children. So, this month we've added a [|set of humor books] sure to keep kids warmed up to reading over the holidays. The new books—for example, [|If Animals Could Talk]—are loaded with jokes, riddles, cartoons, and magic. Other [|new materials] include a Dr. Lollipop comic, comprehension quizzes for the Hopper serial stories, and books on shapes, snowballs, and winter fun.
 * FRIDAY 12/21/07**

I have skipped teacher meetings today because of the coming holidays. I know that things are crazy for you. Look for prizes for those who check into the wiki starting in January. For your entertainment and inspiration-a video on the Dating Game:
 * THURSDAY 12/20/07**

=BrainPOP IDEAS!=
 * MONDAY 12/17/07**

♦ December 18: On International Migrants Day, watch our** [|**Immigration**]**movie!
 * ♦ December 17:** [|**Ludwig van Beethoven**] **was one of the greatest composers of all time. On his birthday, don't miss our movie about him!

Featured Educator //Joseph Magie (7th-Grade Science Teacher, Mesa, AZ)// Students are finally coming to class on time! Joseph began using BrainPOP as a warm-up activity at the start of each class, and quickly realized students didn't want to miss out on their daily dose of Tim and Moby. Throughout the lessons that follow the BrainPOP warm-ups, Joseph references the movie he showed earlier. Joseph's 7th graders are also jumpstarting class //for// him! One student plays the movie, and when it's over, he or she reads the pop quiz questions while classmates record their answers. Responses are then collected at the end of the week for daily work points. We love Joseph's idea and encourage you to revisit the featured movie throughout your week!

Quick Tip of the Month //Keep a Movie List// Fran Sylvester, a 5th-grade teacher from Putnam City Overholser Elementary, suggests copying a list of all of BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. movies and keeping it in your plan book! It's a great way to quickly and easily plan out what movies you want to incorporate into the units you teach. She also uses the movies to introduce and review concepts for state-mandated testing in the Spring.**

[|**BrainPOP Movie List**] **&** [|**BrainPOP Jr. Movie List**]

This looks like a great place for your kids to see other kids writing and to post their work!** [|**http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/create/index.cfm**]
 * FRIDAY 12/14/07

[|**http://my-ecoach.com/online/webresourcelist.php?rlid=12145**]
 * Here is a list of links that you might want to use before Christmas**

Another new site-This time it is a podcast to listen to from other kids. It is also a project that you could do called Our City. Check it out!** [|**http://www.learninginhand.com/OurCity/index.html**]
 * MONDAY 12/10/07

A new site has been added to the New Links page.** [|**http://letterpop.com/**]
 * WEDNESDAY 12/5/07

I have added the handout about ePals to the Inservices page.
 * TUESDAY 12/4/07

TUESDAY 11/27/07 Study Island has a new feature. It can now be used with eInstruction or Classroom Performance System. A teacher could set up the CPS system and have students interact with the Study Island site using the hand held clickers. We have one set of these available in the lab for check out.

We have good news! Study Island has released a new feature for schools using CPS with eInstuction (**[|**eInstruction**]**). This feature will allow teachers to hold a CPS session directly in Study Island. To begin working, school admins and teachers can choose "CPS Session" from the dropdown box by Session Type after clicking Start Studying. By default we have enabled this feature for all schools.

This feature may be disabled by going to your admin page and unchecking the box by "Allow integration with eInstruction Classroom Performance System (Beta)."

MONDAY 11/26/07 Welcome back from Thanksgiving Break. Do you know what RSS is or how it can help you? Here is a link you may want to check out:

Integrate Technology into Your Classroom Atomic Learning recently released a new workshop on Web 2.0. The workshop includes video tutorials on a variety of online resources and is available free of charge until November 30, 2007. The Web 2.0 Workshop covers such topics as viewing and commenting in blogposts, downloading podcasts, participating in social networks, setting up an RSS Reader and sharing bookmarks and links.**

[|**http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/web20**]

There is new content on the Handy Tips page!
 * THURSDAY 11/15/07

TUESDAY 11/13/07 Today is the day for the video conference with Chris VanAhlsberg. I hope that Mrs. Alkire or Mr. Samuelson will let us know how it went. I think that Mr. Samuelson is out sick, so it may not have happened.

Emily Thomas and Pam Stryker both were very patient with technical glitches recently. Pam was here with her class and the assessment that I thought I had set up correctly was not quite right. She helped by being calm and telling the kids that things happen this way sometimes. It got straightened out and we were able to complete the assessment. This morning Emily was in the lab with her class when the assignment she had planned to do disappeared (most likely dragged to another folder by accident). This did not phase her at all. She had a plan B in mind and was calm as can be while we looked for a while and then switched activities. I am learning that this calm is a 21st century skill. What do you do when there are computer glitches?

WEDNESDAY 11/7/07 Thanks for your patience yesterday when the network went down. Second grade was especially heroic with all of the network problems we were having with their laptops and then the whole district going down on top of it. It was a good reminder of the need to ALWAYS have a plan B ready (at least in your mind if not in your lesson plans) for what to do if the technology doesn't work when you want to use it. It SHOULD always work, but unfortunately it can be frustrating and doesn't work when you most need it to sometimes.

MONDAY 10/29/07

Good Morning! (if you read this will you write good morning back?)

THURSDAY AND FRIDAY 10/25-26/07** Just like most of you this has been a busier time for me and I have not gotten to listen to anything for the last few days. I am going to try to listen to one of Wednesday's sessions while getting some other work done. Here are the sessions for Thursday and Friday:

THURSDAY [|“Changing a System: Network Centric Learning Communities”]** ||= [|**k12online07pn07**] || [|“Expanding Horizons - Engaging the Adult Members of your Community (Teachers, Administrators, and Parents) through the Use of Personal/Professional Learning Networks”]** ||= [|**k12online07pn08**] || [|“Web 2.0 Share the Adventure”]** ||= [|**k12online07oo07**] || [|“Acceptable Use and the Web 2.0”]** ||= [|**k12online07oo08**] ||
 * **Professional Learning Networks** || **James Folkestad
 * **Professional Learning Networks** || **Vinnie Vrotny
 * **Obstacles to Opportunities** || **Sylvia Martinez
 * **Obstacles to Opportunities** || **Joseph Bires

[|“Online Professional Development”]** ||= [|**k12online07pn09**] || [|“EdTechTalk: A Network of Homegrown Webcasters”]** ||= [|**k12online07pn10**] || [|“Starting From Scratch: Framing Change for All Stakeholders”]** ||= [|**k12online07oo09**] || [|“Creating a Paradigm Shift in Technology”]** ||= [|**k12online07oo10**] || http://k12online07.wikispaces.com/WHEN+NIGHT+FALLS
 * FRIDAY**
 * **Professional Learning Networks** || **Jeff Utecht
 * **Professional Learning Networks** || **Alex Ragone and Arvind Grover
 * **Obstacles to Opportunities** || **Ben Wilkoff
 * **Obstacles to Opportunities** || **Shawn Nutting
 * Starting tonight at Midnight is "Where the Night Falls" which is a live 24 hour web cast where people from all over the world gather at whatever time is convenient for them to discuss the Conference. Last year Carolyn Foote (the librarian at the HS) was one of the moderators of the event. Here is a link to more information about it:

WEDNESDAY 10/24/07 It occurred to me this morning that one amazing thing about this conference is that you can attend ALL of the concurrent sessions if you want to! Today I think I am going to try "Me blog, No Way!!!". I have a blog ([|http://malahinitx.blogspot.com)], but I am curious what this guy has to say. Jen Wagner who has a session today runs the Technospud Projects ([|http://technospud.com).] She runs many creative online projects at the elementary level.** [|“Webcasting for Educators: Expanding the Conversation”]** ||= [|**k12online07pn05**] || [|“Building a Yardstick for PD Success: Establishing Key Performance Indicators for Web 2.0 Personal Optimized Learning Environments”]** ||= [|**k12online07pn06**] || [|“Pushing the Envelope or How to Integrate Web 2.0 Tools on a Shoestring”]** ||= [|**k12online07oo05**] || [|”Me blog? No Way!!!”]** ||= [|**k12online07oo06**] ||
 * **Professional Learning Networks** || **Jen Wagner, Cheryl Oakes, Vicki Davis, Sharon Peters
 * **Professional Learning Networks** || **Sharon Peters, Vincent Jansen
 * **Obstacles to Opportunities** || **Lisa Durff
 * **Obstacles to Opportunities** || **John Pearce
 * media type="custom" key="242515"

TUESDAY 10/23/07 Schedule Today: Tonight there is a live fireside chat. It is at 6 pm our time. I cannot attend, but it might be fun to try out. The link is below.** [|“Creating PLE's with TLC”]** ||= [|**k12online07pn03**] || [|“Building Online Communities for Youth”]** ||= [|**k12online07pn04**] || [|“Crossing the Copyright Boundary in the Digital Age”]** ||= [|**k12online07oo03**] || [|“The Technology Specialist as Teacher Leader: Strategies to Ensure Successful Technology Integration and Student Learning in Schools”]** ||= [|**k12online07oo04**] || Fireside Chat** || **With Week Two Keynotes and Presenters ([|Use the Elluminate link on the blog post to join])** || Today I listened to and watched the best presentation yet (for me). It was the last one with the long title by Patrick Ledesma. MONDAY 10/22/07 Rather than allowing this page to get longer and longer I am going to create a HOME Archive page that will hold copies of what was on this page in the past. Don't worry, you can still find those things that you were hoping to get back to sometime or the Wiki video that you remember and want to show someone.
 * **Professional Learning Networks** || **Brandi Caldwell
 * **Professional Learning Networks** || **Lee Baber, Paul Allison, Susan Ettenheim and Chris Sloan
 * **Obstacles to Opportunities** || **Karen Richardson
 * **Obstacles to Opportunities** || **Patrick Ledesma
 * [|**11:00 PM Tuesday, October 23 GMT**] || **Live Event
 * media type="custom" key="242515"

The K12 Online Conference continues this week. I will put up the schedule, but I wanted also to let you know that there is graduate and continuing education credit available for attending sessions. Here is a link to more information.**

[|"Holding a Mirror to our Professional Practice"]** ||= [|**k12online07pn01**] || [|“The Collaborative ABC Project: Using Technology To Tell Stories”]** ||= [|**k12online07pn02**] || [|"Obstacles To Opportunities - The Why's And The Wherefores"]** ||= [|**k12online07oo01**] || [|“Challenging Assumptions About Technology Professional Development”]** ||= [|**k12online07oo02**] || If you are interested in using video you may want to look at The Collaborative ABC Project. It is an interesting way for people from many places to create one video with a collection of their stories. I have been listening to other presentations on my iPod while driving. It is not the best way to follow what they are talking about. I am going to start making a list of free tools available with Web 2.0.
 * **Professional Learning Networks Keynote** || **Derek Wenmoth
 * **Professional Learning Networks** || **Kevin Hodgson and Bonnie Kaplan
 * **Obstacles to Opportunities Keynote** || **Brian Crosby
 * **Obstacles to Opportunities** || **Sylvia Martinez
 * media type="custom" key="242515"

FRIDAY 10/19/07 Today's Schedule Several of the sessions today sound really interesting. The name Dean Shareski is familiar. He has spent 20 years in the field of education mostly teaching and now a Digital Learning Consultant for Prairie South School Division in Saskatchewan, Canada. The title Learn to Blog, Blog to Learn really catches my attention because of the HUGE amount I have learned by reading blogs and blogging myself. I highly recommend it.** [|**“Design Matters”**]** ||= [|****k12online07cl09****] || [|**“If All My Classes Did This”**]** ||= [|****k12online07cl10****] || [|**“Learn to Blog : Blog to Learn”**]** ||= [|****k12online07nt09****] || [|**“Collaborative Concept Mapping - Breaking the Bounds of Location and Time... for $0.00 per Seat”**]** ||= [|****k12online07nt10****] || Design Matters is the one I listened to today. Two things stick out to me. 1. Students learn more visually today than any time in the past and 2. Students need to be able to communicate visually as well as read visually. It is an important literacy. I also listened to Wendy Wolfe (while doing the dishes this weekend). She said that she had students who were close to not graduating from HS who said that "If all my classes did this I wouldn't be having any problem." There was a new level of engagement and learning going on in her class when she tried some use of technology.
 * **Classroom 2.0** || **Dean Shareski
 * **Classroom 2.0** || **Wendy Wolfe
 * **New Tools** || **Anne Davis
 * **New Tools** || **Frank Pirrone
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THURSDAY 10/18/07** Here is the schedule for today. I recommend listening to Jeff Utecht who has lots of experience blogging in the classroom. He is an American teaching in Shanghai, China and has a very interesting blog at http://www.thethinkingstick.com/ and http://www.utechtips.com/.

[|“Step by Step- Building a Web2.0 Classroom”] ||= [|k12online07cl07] || [|“Sustained Blogging in the Classroom”] ||= [|k12online07cl08] || [|“The Electric Slide! Twenty-First Century Style”] ||= [|k12online07nt07] || [|“LMS 2.0 - Engaging Learners Using More Advanced Techniques and the Odd Mash-up inside Moodle”] ||= [|k12online07nt08] || Jeff Utecht's presentation was a video that showed many screenshots of his Wiki and had him talking in a small window in the bottom right corner. I learned several things from his session. He shared a really interesting rubric for grading blog participation. He shared how several other teachers had used blogs. One of them was a third grade teacher who decided to try it for Silent Reading. During silent reading some of the kids used the computers in the classroom to read blogs (of other students) while the rest read books. He let them choose what they were most interested in reading. You can check out how he talks about it at Mark Ahlness' blog: [|Mark Ahlness Professional Blog] [|Mark Ahlness Student Blogs] Here is the link to the Wiki for the presentation: http://thinkingstick.wikispaces.com/Sustained+Blogging
 * Classroom 2.0 || Drew Murphy
 * Classroom 2.0 || Jeff Utecht
 * New Tools || Kurt Paccio and James Gates
 * New Tools || Jason Hando
 * Put any comments Here:**

K12 Online Schedule today:** Today the name I recognize is Konrad Glogowski. He is a doing his doctorate on building online communities in Canada. He is going to talk about the challenges of assessment in this new environment. Also, I notice that there are two experienced people talking about Second Life. If you are at all interested in Second Life you should definitely go to this one. These are educators who can guide you. I recently went to a presentation on it at UT and it doesn't seem ready for the elementary school yet, but virtual worlds are important to know about (and for some people-enjoy!).
 * WEDNESDAY 10/17/07

[|“Initiating and Sustaining Conversations: Assessment and Evaluation in the Age of Networked Learning”] ||= [|k12online07cl05] || [|“Release the Hounds”] ||= [|k12online07cl06] || [|“Second Life: K-20 Educators Exploring Virtual Worlds - Panel”] ||= [|k12online07nt05] || [|“Trailfire”] ||= [|k12online07nt06] || Konrad Glogowski's presentation was a PowerPoint, but it was saved in many different ways so that it could be accessed as a movie, audio or just the PowerPoint. His main point was that we need to start assessing work differently because students think that they can stop learning or thinking when they hand something in and have a final grade. He talks about learning as an ongoing conversation and shows various ways that he does assessment that reflect that.
 * Classroom 2.0 || Konrad Glogowski
 * Classroom 2.0 || Chris Harbeck
 * New Tools || Kevin Jarrett and Sylvia Martinez
 * New Tools || April Chamberlain
 * Put any comments Here:**

K12 Online Schedule today: There are lots of interesting things to check out today. I recommend New Tools by Cheryl Oaks, Bob Sprankle and Alice Barr. They are all teachers from Maine (I think) and have been participating in a statewide laptop project that has made big changes in the way school is done there and the way teachers think. [|“Putting the Pedagogy into the tools”] ||= [|k12online07cl03] || [|“Motivating student writers by fostering collaboration through tagging and aggregating”] ||= [|k12online07cl04] || [|“Oodles of Googles”] ||= [|k12online07nt03] || [|“Flat Agents of Change”] ||= [|k12online07nt04] ||
 * TUESDAY 10/16/07**
 * Classroom 2.0 || Anne Davis
 * Classroom 2.0 || Vance Stevens, Nelba Quintana, Doris Molero, Saša Sirk, and Rita Zeinstejer
 * New Tools || Sharon Betts
 * New Tools || Cheryl Oakes, Bob Sprankle, Alice Barr
 * Put any comments Here:**

Wow! Yesterday was cool. I chose to spend my lunch time listening to Cheryl Oaks, Bob Sprankle and Alice Barr. They did a great job of creating an engaging session where you had to participate. I tried Voice Thread, recorded and set up a podcast, and joined a social network. If any of that sounds interesting it is still there for you to look at and listen to. The quote for today is, "Teachers ARE Flat Stanley" (Do you know what that means? A second grade teacher could tell you!)

Today the K12 Online Conference starts. I will be putting the daily schedule here as well as sending it out to the Teacher List. Please put your comments about it here if you have thoughts!! Clarence Fisher is a fantastic Elementary School teacher (in Canada I think) who did a podcast with his kids called Radio Willow Web. You can still listen to it online. http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio/
 * MONDAY 10/15/07**

If you participated in any of it what did you think (you can write here!)?
I watched Clarence Fisher's presentation on "Classroom 2.0 or You Live Where". It was a video, but it is also available in audio if you want to put it into your iPod and just listen. I was able to listen/watch it while I was doing other things. It was fun to see where he lived and his walk to school. He talked about the first days of school and what he does and how location does not matter any more. In his rural location he can connect with people in Australia, Singpore, etc... easily. It is so important and powerful for his kids do do that. One quote, "Teaching today is a collective effort, not an individual accomplishment"

Anyone else?

===**WEDNESDAY 10/10/07** Jon Samuelson and Brooke Alkire are doing something really interesting. They are planning to participate in a live Web Conference with Chris VanAllsberg on November 13th. They are also entering a writing contest! Here is a linnk about it: http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/===

MONDAY 10/8/2007
The TCEA conference is coming up in February and the Technology Applications Teacher Network is looking for people to share some of the great ideas you have for integrating technology and meeting the TEKS. There will be a stipend paid to each presenter. The application form is attached but it is also located at http://homepage.mac.com/bmairs/form.html
 * TCEA**

IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT SERVER WORK
The district is migrating to a bigger server which will be of great help to the district. They are planning to do all of the work on weekends. Mark this date on your calendar:

Friday November 2nd 6pm to Monday November 5th 6am
10/4/07 First of all.... You are awesome! It was fun yesterday and especially fun for me to look at the wiki and see how many of you have already signed up and tried it!

Link for today http://willrichardson.wikispaces.com- I was listening to a Podcast of Will speaking at a conference about Why the Read/Write Web changes everything. This wiki has his talk with lots of interesting links. One thing he talked about was how a friend of his was using Flicr (a photo-sharing site) and blogs to follow what is happening in Burma. He also talked about the coming election and how the candidates are using it. Very interesting.

Thanks for your patience while I was preparing. I hope to get around today to some of the requests that you made in the last few days (and to team meetings).

10/3/07 A wiki is a collaborative web site. Watch this video to learn more:

media type="youtube" key="-dnL00TdmLY" width="425" height="350"

4 minutes

Let's work on this space together! It is easy to do. You just click on the //**Edit this Page**// button on the top right side and an editor opens up where you can type. Don't worry about making mistakes. I will monitor this space. There is a history tab at the top and I can always revert the page to a past version if a mistake is made. You can click on the //**Notify Me**// tab at the top of the page and ask to be notified any time the page is changed. That way if someone adds something you might be interested in you will be notified. There is also a //**discussion**// tab at the top of the page. If there is something that you want to discuss about the page you can create a discussion about it there.