How many Web 2.0 tools can you use in a 1st grade classroom? Listen to Kathy Cassidy’s presentation “Using Web 2.0 Tools in a Grade One Classroom” from the K12 Online Conference 2008 for a great start.
Kathy shared how she has used blogs, Flickr, podcasts, Bubbleshare, wikis and other tools in her 1st grade classroom. Blogging buddies from other countries and cooperative stories on wikis that include parent writing especially caught my ear.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Two Writing Teachers
My PLN has grown to include the Two Writing Teachers blog. A 4th grade teacher and a writing coach focus on teaching kids to write with their motto Write-It’s Good for You. And they practice what they preach. These 2 prolific writers blogged 22 times in the last week alone.
While many of their postings are beyond second grade, they still inspire me and stretch my thinking. They also remind me of the importance of being a writer myself. Besides, they gave “A Chat with Mary” by our very own Mary Frazier an I Heart Your Blog award so how could I not think they’re wonderful.
While many of their postings are beyond second grade, they still inspire me and stretch my thinking. They also remind me of the importance of being a writer myself. Besides, they gave “A Chat with Mary” by our very own Mary Frazier an I Heart Your Blog award so how could I not think they’re wonderful.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Just One More Book
My newest favorite podcast subscription is to Just One More Book. The podcasts are 2 people talking in their favorite coffee shop about the children’s books they love and why they love them. Also included are interviews with authors, illustrators and other book people. The corresponding web site has a searchable archive of podcasts by categories, authors, illustrators, books and interviews.
While there are many places to find reviews of children’s books, I like the casualness of Just One More Book plus the wide variety and the interviews. With most of the podcasts being less than 10 minutes, they’re just right for sharing with your class.
While there are many places to find reviews of children’s books, I like the casualness of Just One More Book plus the wide variety and the interviews. With most of the podcasts being less than 10 minutes, they’re just right for sharing with your class.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Golly Gosh
I just watched the K12 Online Conference 2008 Preconference Keynote “It Simply Isn’t the 20th Century Any More Is It?: So Why Would We Teach as Though It Was?” by Professor Stephen Heppell of England.
For me, the keynote was full of sound bites:
Golly Gosh-an addition for my class’s Wonderful Words collection
Usness-past the I and we and on to us
Content is not king.
Sense of audience-what the kids need for their work
Fellowship matters as much as leadership.
Rediscovering extended family-maybe not a sound bite, but ahhh
Death of education and dawn of learning-that says it all.
For me, the keynote was full of sound bites:
Golly Gosh-an addition for my class’s Wonderful Words collection
Usness-past the I and we and on to us
Content is not king.
Sense of audience-what the kids need for their work
Fellowship matters as much as leadership.
Rediscovering extended family-maybe not a sound bite, but ahhh
Death of education and dawn of learning-that says it all.
Friday, October 10, 2008
New Job Chart
Forget line leader, door holder and housekeeper. Alan November has new classroom jobs such as researcher, tutorial designer and official scribe in mind for students as described in his webcast presentation Designing Rigorous and Globally Connected Assignments from NECC 2008.
The main reasons for these new jobs would be student ownership of their own learning and an opportunity to make a valuable contribution. While the job titles might be a little weighty, the jobs themselves could be done by students of all ages. If the job assignments rotated, kids would have a wealth of opportunities and teachers wouldn’t be subjected to listening to 25 how-to demonstrations in a single day.
Beyond classroom jobs, Alan November feels students need to be taught the grammar and syntax of Internet searching. Alan is concerned that students use the Internet thinking they know how it works when in reality they don’t which he feels is worse than if they know they don’t know. How many adults does this also describe?
Alan presented other worthwhile research and ideas in his session, but the research that stuck with me was that when one listens to an audio version of a book, the speaker’s voice will give you a different interpretation than if you read it yourself. Is this why a third of my class won’t finish their math page without me reading the directions to them? Maybe direction announcer could be a job too.
November, Alan. “Designing Rigorous and Globally Connected Assignments.” 01 July 2008. Webcast. University of Oregon. KZO Webcasting. Accessed on 06 October 2008.
The main reasons for these new jobs would be student ownership of their own learning and an opportunity to make a valuable contribution. While the job titles might be a little weighty, the jobs themselves could be done by students of all ages. If the job assignments rotated, kids would have a wealth of opportunities and teachers wouldn’t be subjected to listening to 25 how-to demonstrations in a single day.
Beyond classroom jobs, Alan November feels students need to be taught the grammar and syntax of Internet searching. Alan is concerned that students use the Internet thinking they know how it works when in reality they don’t which he feels is worse than if they know they don’t know. How many adults does this also describe?
Alan presented other worthwhile research and ideas in his session, but the research that stuck with me was that when one listens to an audio version of a book, the speaker’s voice will give you a different interpretation than if you read it yourself. Is this why a third of my class won’t finish their math page without me reading the directions to them? Maybe direction announcer could be a job too.
November, Alan. “Designing Rigorous and Globally Connected Assignments.” 01 July 2008. Webcast. University of Oregon. KZO Webcasting. Accessed on 06 October 2008.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Are you FIT?
Are you Fired-up through Information and Technology? I just watched Annette Lamb’s NECC 2008 session Get FIT: Fired-up through Information and Technology which relates getting physically fit to instilling technology in education.
The video session reviews general classroom uses of technology since the 1980’s and how we can revamp some of the ideas for today’s use. Annette continues by challenging teachers to use technology for practice when appropriate, to foster information fluency, for authentic activities and as part of our teaching lifestyle.
I appreciated Ms. Lamb’s approach of not throwing out everything we’ve done with technology and starting over but improving our practices. Remember Oregon Trail? It wasn’t all bad. Drill and practice? Some kids need the focus on a specific learning need. Then we need to move on to authentic activities that foster information literacy.
The video session is a kickstart for your mind. Then visit the website that was developed for the presentation: http://eduscapes.com/sessions/fit/index.htm. It wasn’t until I started poking around this extensive site filled with examples that I realized the presenter and her husband Larry Johnson are the creators of the website eduScapes that I’ve explored before.
Ponder the ideas presented, explore uses in the classroom and you too may be FIT!
Lamb, Annette. “Get FIT: Fired-up through Information and Technology.” 01 July 2008. Webcast. University of Oregon. KZO Webcasting. Accessed on 06 October 2008.
The video session reviews general classroom uses of technology since the 1980’s and how we can revamp some of the ideas for today’s use. Annette continues by challenging teachers to use technology for practice when appropriate, to foster information fluency, for authentic activities and as part of our teaching lifestyle.
I appreciated Ms. Lamb’s approach of not throwing out everything we’ve done with technology and starting over but improving our practices. Remember Oregon Trail? It wasn’t all bad. Drill and practice? Some kids need the focus on a specific learning need. Then we need to move on to authentic activities that foster information literacy.
The video session is a kickstart for your mind. Then visit the website that was developed for the presentation: http://eduscapes.com/sessions/fit/index.htm. It wasn’t until I started poking around this extensive site filled with examples that I realized the presenter and her husband Larry Johnson are the creators of the website eduScapes that I’ve explored before.
Ponder the ideas presented, explore uses in the classroom and you too may be FIT!
Lamb, Annette. “Get FIT: Fired-up through Information and Technology.” 01 July 2008. Webcast. University of Oregon. KZO Webcasting. Accessed on 06 October 2008.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
More Uses for Printing in Color
In listening to the October 2007 "Audio Journal" interview of Ian Jukes, one statement especially intrigued me-digital natives are attracted by red, neon green and burnt orange text while they ignore black. With struggling readers, I’ve used different colors of overlays on pages of text but have never changed the color of the text itself. Now I’m going to experiment!
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