No sooner did I add tag clouds to my own sidebar (yup, that’s a tag cloud in my right sidebar…obviously I wrote a lot about VoiceThread) that someone comes up with an even fancier version. Thanks to Cogdog (a.k.a. Alan Levine), I found this great site, Wordle.
By cutting and pasting text into the text box you can create a fanciful tag cloud. You also have the ability to change fonts, layout, and color. The tag cloud here comes from my delicious account which Wordle can do automatically. You can see that a number of things in my delicious account relate to web2.0, a HUGE area of interest for me.
It’s definitely a nice variance on your typical tag cloud. Don’t know how else I would use it, other than to show you…hmmm…may have to use it in a lesson to, say, third graders. They would think it cool and fun. And I suppose there is some artsy value in it all. And they would look great on my bulletin board. Hope they can write a long enough piece to make it actually seem useful! Or maybe I’ll have 5th graders cut and paste their email so they can see what their most frequently used words are.
A few months ago I was asked by Alan Tamayose to present at the Kamehameha School Ed Tech Conference, focusing on Wikispaces and VoiceThread. I was a little apprehensive since I had never presented at a tech conference and I didn’t have that much experience on wikispaces but I was able to convince a good friend of mine, Cathy Ikeda, an 8th grade language arts teacher and tech enthusiast, to co-present with me. I introduced her to both wikispaces and voicethreads a few months ago and I knew she had tried both in her work.
We thought the best way to present would be to showcase our work and share our experiences via VoiceThread AND Wikispaces. Click here to access our wikispace on Wikispaces and VoiceThreads.
We both think the presentation went well. After all, a couple of attendees came up afterwards to ask more questions and several commented during the course of the conference. And no one walked out. At least I don’t think anyone did. I was a bit too nervous to notice!
It came, it went, and all I’m left with are fond memories. The Kamehameha Schools Ed Tech Conference, entitled Kukulu Kaiaulu, was a huge success, with the best keynote speakers ever: Will Richardson, David Warlick, and Mark Standley. Also presenting was Howard Levin.
Here are MY highlights, not necessarily in any order of importance:
I’ve just completed my first year teaching technology after 20 years in language and literacy. I have lots to learn and this conference definitely inspired me to keep moving ahead. I already set up accounts on Jott, and Evernote. I added new widgets to this blog, I’ve made my best friends PROMISE to set up their own blogs, and hopefully I inspired a few teachers to try out wikispaces and VoiceThreads during my presentation. I also had a chance to watch 27 Dresses online, thanks to WillRich and surfthechannel.com.
Congratulations to the highly acclaimed staff of ETS and their fearless leader, Dean Tomita and HIS fearless leader, Sylvia Hussey. Job well done. Ho’omaika’i!
I love movies as much as the next guy, but a post today by Gary Stager reminded me of several issues:
1. It is illegal to show a commercial film to a public audience w/o permission from the publisher (even in schools).
2. The never-ending “not enough time” issue surely means that we have no time for popping in the newest DVD available on the market.
3. Instead of taking two hours to show a movie to highlight the moral, spend time brainstorming with colleagues and plan out a lesson that would be more succinct and powerful.
4. The majority of movies we show in classrooms have already been seen numerous times by students.
Kevin Jarrett posted this great pbs site on his blog this morning. It’s designed to educate children, ages 6-9 about taking care of our environment. I think it’s worthwhile to bookmark in any elementary classroom! Eeko stands for “Environmental Education for Kids Online” and I think it’s a worthy title!
We all need to do our part to be eco-friendly and as teachers we should offer up as many learning opportunities as possible to our students. I think EekoWorld is one way to help kids understand the importance of taking an active role in being good stewards of our earth. There’s a teacher’s guide, lesson plans as well a family guide. Once again, PBS has done its research and created a worthwhile site for kids, teachers, and families.
And I haven’t been the same since. I actually had a hard time watching the entire video (ADD or something…) so I found a SCRIPT of it. I am sure I have just touched the surface. So much more to learn. I am headed to Borders right after I shutdown this computer to pick up his book.
Life as I know it has changed for me. And this phrase sticks in my mind: “We’re looking for the mouse.”
This morning Twitter took me to Ustream with Will Rich co-hosting presentations by Ed.D students, which took me to chatzy.com (since the chatroom is Ustream was being blocked) which let me be privy to a conversation by other educators. This particular YouTube video was shared by @Classroomqueen.
Why do our classrooms look like the same classrooms from 1960s? Why do we expect students to learn the same way we learned (or even our parents/grandparents) when we are in rapidly changing times? And then we complain about how bad things are going, how the kids aren’t the same, how they aren’t learning, how they are not supported at home. Are we supporting them in school like they need to be supported? And by supported I don’t mean nagged, scolded, kept in for recess, expected to copy things off of the board, forced to retell stories, be uncreative, banned from the ONE computer in the class, sit on the floor for extended periods, not allowed to touch, converse, collaborate with classmates.
We complain when students “can’t” or won’t learn new things and then we refuse to learn new things: email, blogging, chatting, skyping, wikispaces, googledocs. Or worse yet, we say we don’t have time. Who has the time? We are all given the same 24 hours in a day. Do your students have time? Does the teacher in the next classroom who IS blogging, putting things on the web, attending PD opportunities have more time than you?
What are your priorities?
As Regie Routman says “We need to work smarter, not harder”. Are you working smarter or are you doing the same thing you’ve been doing and finding that it’s not working? Or that it it less and less effective?
It’s time to change. Enter the 21st century. We’re already 8 years into it and counting. You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem. Be an example to your students.
Months ago I was introduced to VoiceThread from my network of friends on Twitter. It seemed that tech teachers around the globe were all “atwitter” about it. Links were flying through cyberspace with all the VoiceThreads they were doing with their students. I just had to be a part of it, I mean after all, if it’s working for them and the kids are learning with joy, creating knowledge and putting it out there for the masses, then I am all about that! The clincher was when I listened to a podcast featuring the founders/creators of VoiceThread. They were so educator/classroom focused and wanting to help teachers and students and they were offering free educator accounts! I signed up right away, enlisted the 2nd grade teachers at my school and we now have almost 40 2nd graders book reviews up for the world to see!
Our school has a fabulous art teacher: Mrs. Tana Rosehill. She does wonderful things with the students. In fact all the art pieces my daughter did in her class I had framed professionally and they all hang in my classroom.
She brought her 3rd graders into my lab to show them a fabulous webpage called The Art Zone. On Collage Machine and Collage Machine II the kids ended up making wonderful collages that will go with their homeless project display. When I clicked on Collage Machine a popup said I had to install new components for shockwave but I just clicked cancel and it still worked.
Once the collage was complete students took a screen shot of their collages (command shift 4) and it saved as a png on their desktops. Then they could print their favorite collage!
These samples are quickies done by me and Mrs. Rosehill. They are not nearly as creative as what the kids ended up producing. It’s amazing what they can do when left to their own devices. NO FEAR!
My Wikispaces project was a success (see previous post). But success can be measured in degrees. To the trained eye, it may seem as if it was a mishmash of ideas. For me it was a superb learning experience for me and my students. It was my first attempt, it served its purpose (collaboration between two separate classes), and I am ready and willing to try another wikispace project as soon as the need arises.
Remember being in your beginning teacher training class? You get all these lectures and reading materials on things like classroom management and scope and sequence, standards, integration, etc., but until you have been in the classroom for some time you can’t really grasp the implications, realize the applicability, understand the philosophy behind it all.
That’s how I feel about Wikispaces. I heard about them before my attempt. I went to visit a few. But until I actually tried it out, I didn’t fully understand the capabilities AND possibilities. Now I get it. Or I should say I get some of it. After one attempt I certainly can’t profess to get it all. But I’m thankful that I took the risk, right along with my students. And I’m grateful that some of them were able to teach me new things that they discovered right alongside me (or in the comfort of their own homes). Shouldn’t that be part of the beauty of teaching/learning?
During my morning ride to work, I listened to a podcast on edtechtalk.com. They mentioned a wikispace site (http://jerusalem.wikispaces.com). I went to visit it as soon as I got to work. It won awards and I can see why. When I look at this wikispace I see possibilities that I could never have seen prior to my own attempt at wikispaces.
And so the beat goes on. Wikispaces this week. VoiceThread next week. Isn’t life and teaching wonderful when the passion flames keep burning?
No sooner did I add tag clouds to my own sidebar (yup, that’s a tag cloud in my right sidebar…obviously I wrote a lot about VoiceThread) that someone comes up with an even fancier version. Thanks to Cogdog (a.k.a. Alan Levine), I found this great site, Wordle.
By cutting and pasting text into the text [...]
A few months ago I was asked by Alan Tamayose to present at the Kamehameha School Ed Tech Conference, focusing on Wikispaces and VoiceThread. I was a little apprehensive since I had never presented at a tech conference and I didn’t have that much experience on wikispaces but I was able to convince a good [...]
It came, it went, and all I’m left with are fond memories. The Kamehameha Schools Ed Tech Conference, entitled Kukulu Kaiaulu, was a huge success, with the best keynote speakers ever: Will Richardson, David Warlick, and Mark Standley. Also presenting was Howard Levin.
Here are MY highlights, not necessarily in any order of importance:
Will Richardson
Talking with [...]
I love movies as much as the next guy, but a post today by Gary Stager reminded me of several issues:
1. It is illegal to show a commercial film to a public audience w/o permission from the publisher (even in schools).
2. The never-ending “not enough time” issue surely means that we have no time for [...]
