So I guess I better briefly explain. My team & I needed a place to park different things that we use to demonstrate ideas when presenting 2.0 tools. And the participants in our classes and presentations often are so generous to share their creations so we can share their thoughts and ideas. A major theme of the 2.0 world…sharing!

Hence…this blog becomes the place to park these creations. And the first batch are from Animoto…those wonderful 30 second “music videos”…collections of images + music that are stirred just enough by the program! So look up towards the banner and click on the Animoto page.

Not sure right now what else might show up so keep watching! 

If you would like to see what is on my mind, please go to A Library By Any Other Name or Lily Pad Playground ( a 23 Things actvitiy blog)

The nature of my work makes using another service the most logical for me at this moment.

I will return here “some day“…there are some things from this blog service that I like very much…the ability to add Pages is a very strong and important one and another is  the support that you can get behind the scenes…someone actually answers my questions promptly..and quite often it is James himself!

So if you choose this as your place to blog…I hope you have as wonderful an experience as I did.

We took content samples from our subscription databases including Facts on File, Teaching Books, Tumblebooks, Discovery Education videostreaming and worked in PowerPoint. Not that we produced slideshows, but we looked at how users can use visuals…be they clipart, photos, maps, etc. and manipulate them for use in PPTs and other things. The participants also found out how easy it is to download and use pieces of videostreaming.

One of the things I also emphasize in this type of staff development is to look “outside the box”… think about how a historical photo can be used to teach word meanings or use a science video to explain a particular idiom. And my favorite part…using picture books to introduce a concept or ideas for end products the students can create themselves!

Another idea that came out was that by including lots of visuals and silly bits of video, a teacher will have captured the attention his or her students so that even MORE learning can take place. Our kids are visual learners these days and it is a shame not use as much “stuff” as possible.

And yes, we had an oops moment..something to always expect when working with technology. You gotta learn to roll with the punches. What was our oops?…the screen shot I made would NOT paste to the PPT so we could manipulate it. That was a first for me! But that’s ok..we still practiced with the crop tool and the grouping technique and turned our “pretend” screen shots into the weirdest new bird—a wingless chicken with a Sphinx head! Names anyone?

One other thing I did…I challenged the group to “play” 15 minutes a day…mess around in an online resource, play with PPT tools, READ blogs (yep—showed them the blogroll!), but do SOMETHING with technology or explore an online resource EVERY day. Sounds simple enough, but I know..even 15 minutes will be hard to squeeze out of the days of most of these people…their plates are very full…but it WILL be worth it…they will benefit…and more importantly, so will their students!

How did we end this action-packed day? Animoto of course!
Sample: http://animoto.com/play/a6df2b2069bf9260b24c6c822387db3a
(I can’t get it to embed!!)

I hope some of the participants will share their classroom ideas here in the comments…

The participants were excited about blogging. Great questions about the format of a blog and how to find them. Their comments included:
“We are being brought into the 21st century.”
“It is an exciting way for knowledge to be disseminated.”
“Can’t wait to design our own blogs!”

We also talked about Google Reader as a way to monitor blogs and other web pages without having to check each site individually…or to use to introduce one’s self to new ideas easily…by monitoring someone else’s Google Reader.

Unfortunately, they did experience some of the downside of Web 2.0 technology…a few sites were blocked and TeacherTube videos were buffering…both effects of things going on inside our district. But these little bumps did not seem to dampen their overall enthusiasm for the activity.

FYI: Other blogging class posts 1 2 3

P.S. Can someone please explain to me why all of my photos that I post appear so dark on district computers, but just fine at home or other out-the-district locations?

[this post was originally created 10-25-07 but technical difficulties prevented it from being posted until now]

The book is a fantasy of the adventures of an Oklahoma kid named Leven and a neglected girl known as Winter Frore as they travel to the magical land of Foo.

Part of the author’s message included what he called secrets… Have Courage – Think Big – Be Great.

He talked a lot about the writing process and especially the concept of brainstorming that one librarian reported was so important to the teachers present…they had been working on that very thing in class and how great to have it emphasized by the popular author. He also talked to the students about writing a draft and then improving on it.

Not even surprise visitors (plastic cockroaches!) could take the students attention away!
There was plenty of other fun, too…Skye held a game show and the students enthusiastically answered all of the questions correctly…they new the details of the story!…and won coveted T-shirts, etc. He signed books…personal copies and library copies, too. Some students enjoyed themselves so much, they wre making plans to visit the bookstore where he was appearing Friday night!

[I give up..I can NOT get that picture to behave!]

This is just too much fun…and your creations can be saved, printed, emailed…
I sure hope it opens in the district!

And if you want to try your hand at the online version of the traditional Etch-A-Sketch, draw away! (arrow keys make the difference)

If you want even more environmental resources blogs, check out this list of about 13,000 results of a blog search of “Blog Action Day!” And some people question the power of the blogging world…

I currently do not have wiki examples, but will!

I welcome any additions that show the kinds of things students are doing out there. I know there so many more great examples that are behind the walls we collectively find necessary to use in order to get the privilege of having students participate…some day, those efforts will be available freely. I have faith!

A Vision of Students Today has been making the rounds of some of the blogs I follow…a series of statements from a college class put together to give you a picture of the “average” college student. The statement that jumped out at me…”I will read 8 books this year” followed by “I will read 2300 web pages” and “128 Facebook profiles.” Some commentors at the site find the statistics depressing (or worse, stupid)…I find them intriguing and perfect evidence in understanding why the way we teach,and present info to assist students in learning MUST change!
Yes, I know the video is unavailable at school, but do yourself a favor and check it out away from school or let me give you the downloaded file! Read about the statistic details and background.

Another Michael Wesch video that I came across while looking at the one above is Information Revolution…another presentation on how information storage and retrieval has changed. Makes the “cataloger” side of my brain a tad nervous in some respects, because I don’t totally agree with the theme that information no longer needs to “organized”! I simply think the organization format has changed!
Anyway, it is worth a look if you are still struggling with understanding the Web 2.0 changes or are having trouble convincing others of the value of the changes.
[Personal note: I loved the cataloged card marked up with black marker! Brought back wonderful memories! --ha, bet I have hooked a couple of you into looking for this little detail.]

In doing my blog reading this week, one of best statements I have come across since I started this adventure was featured by David Warlick at 2¢ Worth...he got it from one of the participants at the K-12 Online Conference.

The 4 Cs are Community, Content, Clarity, and Consistency…Armano has expanded a previous post about these tenets.

After reviewing the points, I realized they would work for any type of communication…good things to think about, but especially about making blogging efforts succesful.