Taking the Time to Reflect

I have really lost the momentum of documenting my journey. I'll try to do better this week.

First of all, I'd like to post this video (technical difficulties, so please just go to the webpage until I figure it out.) from the Edutopia website:

http://www.edutopia.org/begin-end

The video is an excellent example of project-based learning.

My Head is in the Clouds - Computing in the world of Web 2.0

I am reading and learning more each day about new and exciting ways to use technology in the classroom. I am also reading and learning about what makes for a good blog and am thinking that I need to rethink this one. I have also come to the realization that I may need more than one blog as they will serve different purposes - one for training, one for dissemination of information, and one (it may stay right here) for my reflections and places for me to document my learning. All this from someone who didn't really see the purpose of having even one about a year ago! I thought, "Why would anywone want to see what I know or think?" However, I have learned so much form others, that I want to keep it going - pay it forward!

I attended TCEA for two days this past week. I am SO thankful I started on my journey (again) prior to attending. I was more open minded and had a better grasp of web 2.0 tools in the classroom than many. I walked away yesterday full of ideas and a strong belief that we can make things happen on our campus.

Here is the site I have created for my notes:
http://sites.google.com/site/tcea09/

Also, I have already forgotten some of the ideas I had before I went. So, I want to document this one before I forget it. Could you use Wordle to demonstrate understanding of a topic, discussion or chapter? Such as:

Worth a shot! and, more on setting up a Web 2.0 classroom!

I was hoping I could embed this YouTube video of Alan November talking about learning so I could show it here at school, but alas, no go. I encourage you to revisit my blog and watch from home. As always, he makes some really good points.

As our kids go online, the ability to sift through information is key. My gosh, I am feeling that way JUST about the multitude of information I am finding out about Web 2.0 - a topic I am keenly interested in pursuing. How must a student feel when he is sent to the web to find out information on a topic in social studies or science? What "filtering" skills have we taught? How can we help students manage the information?



Looking at moving students into a Web 2.0 classroom, we are faced with a number of tools. We have to determine which is the right tool for us. I working on a site that discuses the different uses of blogs, wikis, and social networks. I question why we would ever set up individual blogging accounts for students. Why wouldn't we just use the blogs that are part of a social network. Don't we want to try and keep the tools manageable and in one place? I would love to be a part of a conversation about this - be it online or face-to-face.

More Web 2.0 Tools

I have found the Online Conference that Beth, a fellow teacher, shared with me a while back and have been finding out about more tools!

http://k12onlineconference.com

There I listened to this session which led me to some new nings:

Leading the Change
There’s Something Going on Here You Need to Know About…

I also watched Carl Anderson's slideshow in which he has a fabulous video with some real thoughtful comments by Alan November and others - worth watching!

Digital Backpack - Killer Online Apps

Here is his Digital Backpack


And, here are some other things I learned about today:

I just created this slideshow in BubbleShare. I thought it would have text underneath it to tell a little story or something but I couldn't get the comment button to work - kept getting an error message! At first I thought I could even record over it, but that doesn't appear to be true. Anyway, you can add some entertaining clip art to the pictures easily.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing


I also set up my laptop so I can participate in live conferences like the one that is happening Saturday AM (however, I don't think I can attend because I have to work).

Social Networking

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Social Networking

View more presentations or upload your own. (tags: education social_networking)

More Stuff for Us!

Can I stop learning? This is SO much out there for us and our students! Here are some of the ones that I have found and are working with right now!

http://www.slideshare.net
The last one is slideshare.com. I found this slideshow that I plan to share with our staff next week. And, is it easy to share with you also! See the previous post! I found this slideshow, joined slideshare.com, (refound the slideshow), clicked on the blogger button, clicked again to allow it on my blogger site and voila! There it was!

http://www.diigo.com
Once you add the "Diigolet" to your links toolbar, yo uare set to go! Open a webpage, click your Diigolet" link. The Diigo toolbar opens across the top of your webpage. Bookmark the site, add tags, highlight text and write sticky notes! Then, group the bookmarks from your Diigo bookmark page. Really powerful for helping students navigate through sites!

http://voicethread.com/#home
Although this stie costs money, it is such a powerful tool! The possibilities in classrooms K-12 and across content areas are endless!

Better go for now!

Networking and New Tools

I think you can now say I am knee to waist deep in social networking. I am now a member of EduBloggerWorld and Classroom 2.0! I have developed my iGoolge page in hopes of using that as my personal learning space - at least my main one (?)(keeping my fingers crossed) and even added RSS to my two social networks!

I have also created a pidcast using GCast. However, the directions for uploading it to Blogger are incorrect. So, I am going to paste it here

Subscribe Free
Add to my Page

and see what happens! If it works, I think this would be a great tool for teachers - and it is free!

Anxious to see what happens, so I'll close for today.