High Techpectations

Midwest Tech Forum 2009 Handout

Check out the handout for my portion of the Web 2.0 panel at Tech Forum Midwest tomorrow! This is intended to be a short overview of Web 2.0 and its implications for education. I've also included some web sites and readings for further exploration. Lucy Gray • Tech Forum - Midwest 2009

Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-to-Guides & Manu web2.0 tech

2009 Inauguration Resources Handout

I've now taken my Friday 5 list and formatted it in Pages and uploaded it to Scribd, so it makes a suitable handout. Feel free to use this in any way, and thank you to my GCT and Twitter colleagues who have so generously shared resources. 2009 Inaugural Teaching Resources

Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-To Guides & DIY

Education Week: Districts Weigh Benefits and Drawbacks of Setting Up Student E-Mail Accounts

Link: Education Week: Districts Weigh Benefits and Drawbacks of Setting Up Student E-Mail Accounts.

Ironically enough in the same week, I subscribed to Edweek, my sister-in-law was interviewed by them on P16 stuff, and then I myself was interviewed for an article on email in schools. I had a lot more to say (isn't that a surprise if you know me) about this topic, but I think Katie did a nice job with an overview of some of the issues and uses. My bottom line is that either we teach kids to use these tools in an appropriate context or we will have to prepare for a slew of other problems resulting from miseducation (or noneducation) about technology. I'm increasingly concerned about school districts who lock down tools and resources in the name of protecting students; they should be looking at how to manage tools and resources effectively in my opinion.

Anyway, my sister-in-law's piece should be published in August or Septmember, I think, and I'll post the link here when it's available.

Friday 5: 100th Day of School

We're celebrating the 100th day of school at my new school next Monday. I put together a list of resources for our staff and I thought I'd share them here as well.

Work life has been unexpectedly busy and I hope to get around to publishing the Friday 5 more frequently!

Lucy Gray
subscribe to the Friday 5 at: http://groups.google.com/group/friday5/

Education World: Celebrate the 100th Day in 100 Ways
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson149.shtml

One Hundredth Day of School Activities, Crafts and Printouts from Enchanted Learning
Enchanted Learning has been one of my favorite early childhood sites for many years. They also have some great world languages resources.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/hundred.shtml

ReadWriteThink: February 15, 2008: Celebrate the 100th Day of School!
ReadWriteThink has a calendar linked to various lessons and web-based activities for kids.
http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=631

Celebrate the 100th Day of School! See What Life Was Like 100 Years Ago! PowerPoint SlideshowThis slideshow includes pictures of commonly known people and objects contrasted between 1908 and 2008 which might foster a great conversation about how things have changed in the course of a century.
http://murdock10.typepad.com/greenwald/2008/01/celebrate-the-1.html

100th Day of School Homepage
One stop shopping for all things related to this unofficial school holiday!
http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/proj/100th/

Starfall's 100th Day of School
Starfall is a classic site for many interactive reading activities for young children.
http://www.starfall.com/n/holiday/hundredthday/play.htm?f

Countersquare
This is an interesting  web-based tool that could be used for 100 day activities.
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/countersquare.html

Counting on and back in ones and tens
Another tool to demonstrate counting which could be especially useful for lessons involving interactive white boards or projectors.
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary/teachingresources/mathematics/nns_itps/count_on_and_back/num_itp_counting_on_back_1_1.swf

SMART - 100 Square - for use with SMARTboards
http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Lesson+activities/Notebook+activities/Browse+Notebook/United+States/Elementary/K-3/Math/100+Square.htm

CanTeach: Songs & Poems - 100th Day of School
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems80.html

100th Day of School Printables from ABC Teach
http://www.abcteach.com/directory/basics/math/100th_day_of_school/

Robomance: An iStopmotion Production

Fellow ADE Dan Schmit and I attended a stop motion workshop at Macworld sponsored by Boinx software, the creators of iStopMotion. The workshop was held at the Zeum, a very cool digital technology space for kids. For pictures of how the Zeum sets up its space for visiting school groups to do stop motion animation, check out my Flickr photos.

Here's our first attempt at this type of animation. We used previously created figures from the Zeum.

Friday 5: Pageflakes

I've been wrestling with a quick and easy way to direct students to relevant web sites. Our new web site management system is great, but a little clunky for quickly adding links. We have a wiki that will serve as a repository for curricular resources, but again, it takes time to add links to this. I also have envisioned one page of links for kids to reference, so that little ones in particular do not have to do a lot of web browser navigating.

So, the other day after speaking with technoguru principal, Tim Lauer, about how he keeps web sites up to date on his school's machines, I decided to try Pageflakes (http://www.pageflakes.com/).

Here is a tutorial wiki on Pageflakes that explains everything you
need to know:

Techwithme: PageFlakes for Education
http://techwithme.pbwiki.com/PageFlakes+For+Education

And, here are the ones I created for teachers at NKO focused on
currently taught math topics:

NKO Pageflakes Home
http://www.pageflakes.com/NKO/19739953

PreK-1 Cluster
http://www.pageflakes.com/NKO/19741294

2-3 Cluster
http://www.pageflakes.com/NKO/19739840

4-5 Cluster
http://www.pageflakes.com/NKO/19739844

Research and Resources
http://www.pageflakes.com/NKO/19739845

Fun For Kids
http://www.pageflakes.com/NKO/19739851

Teacher Sites
http://www.pageflakes.com/NKO/19739930

These pages are works in progress, so stay tuned!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year,

Lucy Gray

P.S. - Remember you can subscribe to the Friday 5 via email at http://groups.google.com/group/friday5!

Fast Company Blog Post on Education & Technology

Education: Technology -- Academic Godsend or Demon?  Annotated

 

"At age 55, Professor Nazemi stands on the far shore of a new sort of generational divide between teacher and student. This one separates those who want to use technology to grow smarter from those who want to use it to get dumber."

   
• I follow Fast Company's Twitter feed, and tonight I followed a link to a blog post entitled Education: Technology -- Academic Godsend or Demon which gives a good, brief description of the dilemma faced by most ed tech professionals: What makes the use of technology compelling? Why engage in something that can be done just as well in a low tech way? I think I'll refer to this post in my preso next weekend in Palm Springs. I particularly like this quote, "At age 55, Professor Nazemi stands on the far shore of a new sort of
      generational divide between teacher and student. This one separates
      those who want to use technology to grow smarter from those who want to
      use it to get dumber."
     
      Incidentally, I highlighted this quote and wrote annotations to myself using Diigo. I am now posting these annotations directly to my blog! I think I am going to like this tool.
      - post by elemenous

Friday 5: Special Mystery Guest: ELL

Hi All -

Larry Ferlazzo has put together tremendous resources for teachers and students. He teaches Social Studies and English to English Language Learners and native-English speakers at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, CA.  He was named the Grand Prize Winner of the 2007 International Reading Association Presidential Award For Reading and Technology.  He has a website with over 7,000 categorized links accessible to English Language Learners and younger native English speakers at http://www.bayworld.net/ferlazzo/english.html and a blog (http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/) where he daily shares new content added to the website. A few months ago, I shared his student examples page (http://www.bayworld.net/ferlazzo/Student%20Work.htm l) with Friday 5 readers; it's helpful because I'm always seeking concrete examples of student technology use. Thanks, Larry, for sharing your expertise with us!

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com
-----

   

1) Oxford University Press -- Student   Sites

http://www.oup.com/elt/students/?cc=global

 

Hundreds, and probably thousands, of online   English language development activities for all levels.

 

 

2) Peace Corps English Teaching Manuals

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=library.language

 

I think the teaching manuals the Peace Corps   has developed for teaching English as a second language are extraordinarily   helpful to teachers.

 

 

3) Starfall

http://www.starfall.com/

 

The best online site to teach reading to   beginning English Language Learners or young native speakers to read..

 

 

4) Dvolver Moviemaker

http://www.dfilm.com/live/moviemaker.html

 

A great site for students to develop their   writing skills in a fun and creative way by creating simple movies.

 

 

5) Hello World English

http://www.hello-world.com/English/EN_English.php

 

A site for beginning English Language Learners   to learn basic "survival" English.

 

 

6) English 180

http://www.english180.com/lessons.do

 

A very good site for both Beginning and   Intermediate English Language Learners with graduated lessons.

 

 

7) English Interactive

http://acacia.cnice.mecd.es/~agip0002/auro/inicio.html

 

Another excellent site for both Beginning and   Intermediate English Language Learners with exercises at various levels.
 
  -----
 
  You can subscribe to the Friday 5 at   http://groups.google.com/group/friday5 or read it in my blog:   http://elemenous.typepad.com.
 
 

Friday 5: Ning

Hey Everyone -

A year or two ago, during the early stages of my foray into Web 2.0 applications,  I was introduced to a web site that I really didn't quite get called Ning. My vague recollection of the original Ning was that one could create various items to share with others such as a list of books. I recall exploring it a bit, not finding it particularly user friendly or compelling, and setting it aside for other Web 2.0 tools.

Fellow ITM blogger Steve Hargadon revived my interest in Ning last spring. Using Ning, he created two online communities that I joined, and I found that this social networking tool had completely changed since my initial exploration. In a nutshell, anyone can create a customized space online, make it public or private, and invite others to participate via threaded discussions, the sharing of multimedia, and posting of blog entries. Ning communities can be further embellished with all sorts of web widgets that are available from third party developers as well.

I am fascinated by how quickly Steve's Classroom 2.0 Ning caught on. Since March 2007, nearly 3000 educators have joined this group which focuses on using Web 2.0 tools (Flickr, del.icio.us, Google Docs & Spreadsheets are examples of this). For some reason the format put forth by Ning seems conducive to participation by others. Several worthwhile communities have since developed and I thought I'd share them with you this week.

I think Ning is a powerful tool because it makes it easy for educators to take charge of their professional development by interacting virtually with other like-minded souls. For instance, I've had answers to questions within hours, been directed to great edtech resources, philosophized with online colleagues about the state of education, and even met many of my fellow "friends" on Ning in person at conferences. My personal network has grown substantially because of this.

Keep your eye on Ning as it is still being developed and additional features are frequently announced. Recently, Steve started another group that focuses just on the uses of Ning within education. Ning wasn't necessarily developed as an education tool, but it seems teachers have found their Ning experiences worthwhile and are eager to try it out in their classrooms. Something has to be done about advertising within Ning sites before I will try it out with younger students, but in the meantime, it's a great tool for working with adults or maybe even high schoolers.

I hope you'll check out the following Ning groups and consider joining one or two! Let me know if you know of any other good Nings!

Thanks,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

------

1) School 2.0
http://school20.ning.com/

This is one of Steve Hargadon's original Ning sites and it focuses on rethinking schools under 21st century terms.

2) Classroom 2.0
http://classroom20.ning.com/

Here's a very active group in which people explore the use of emerging technologies in education.

3) Ning in Education
http://education.ning.com/

4) Global Education Collaborative
http://globaleducation.ning.com

Yes, this is a shameless plug for a Ning that I started and have been nurturing. If you're interested in global education related topics, this is the Ning for you. Many educators from around the world have joined this adventure and are in need of global collaborative partners. If you are looking for resources, projects, and ideas, this is the place for you! We will be holding our first online meeting this Sunday evening CST. Email me if you're interested in participating.

5) Literacy Coaches
http://literacycoaches.ning.com/

Matthew Needleman's new literacy site is designed to support coaches in his district using the Open Court reading series, but it is open to everyone and growing! Literacy coaching is a fairly new concept to me and I'm interested in it as its practiced in my new set of schools.

6) Open Education
http://openlearn.ning.com/

Learn more about Open University's open source courses and materials here.

7) Library 2.0
http://library20.ning.com/

A plethora of librarians have gathered here to share ideas and resources.

8) Learning 2.0 Conference
http://learning2cn.ning.com/

This event is taking place right now in Shanghai. Isn't is amazing how we can now follow along and learn virtually? This is the Ning that interests me the most right now!

Global Education Collaborative Meeting #1

I'm playing around with this very cool video conferencing tool called FlashMeeting. It's sponsored by Open University, I think, which hosts all sorts of open source content and courses. FlashMeeting is used for research purposes, so you to submit an application to be able to book through them, and meetings are recorded. Anyway, I'm hosting my first FlashMeeting this Sunday evening (September 16th 8PM CST)to discuss global education efforts; please consider joining and sharing any ideas that you may have. The meeting will be available for viewing when we're finished, too.

If you need more info, please contact me or check out the Global Education Collaborative ning.

Friday 5: Math Mania

Hi All -

Just a quick list of some recent math related finds.

Have a great weekend,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

-----

1. Rainforest Maths
http://www.rainforestmaths.com/

I thought this site was better than typical drill types; nice sets of visuals accompany math problems organized by grade level. The same web author publishes a math dictionary and a writing help site. You can find these links at the bottom of the Rainforest Maths home page.

2. Intermath
http://intermath.coe.uga.edu/

This is a project from the state of Georgia that seeks to improve the content knowledge of middle school math teachers. I was struck by the links within lessons to "constructionaries", small web demonstrations of various mathematical principles. The lessons seem to refer in general to many interactive sites including Interactivate, a site dedicated to math and science interactive tools. This page, in particular, has some great tools.

3. That Quiz
http://www.thatquiz.com/

Create customized online math quizzes for students and track their progress at this web site.

4. Countdown
http://countdown.luc.edu/NCTM_cat/NumberOperation/WholeNumbers/index.html

This is a video library of math TV shows produced at Loyola University in Chicago. I used to watch this show with my students two schools ago, and I think it's great that the materials are now archived online.

5. Math.com's Homework Help Everyday Math
http://www.math.com/homeworkhelp/EverydayMath.html

Everyday Math is a popular math program currently used in my previous and current schools.

6. Everyday Math Resources - Center School District
http://www1.center.k12.mo.us/edtech/everydaymath.htm

Find more resources here for using the Everyday Math series.

Don't forget that you can subscribe to the Friday 5 at:    http://groups.google.com/group/friday5

Friday 5: Back to School 2007

Hi All -

Here are a few sites to jump start your school year.

Enjoy,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

--------
A few reminders about the Friday 5 list:

A) I try to publish a thematic list of useful web sites each week. Sometimes I annotate entries, but this depends on how busy I am. To subscribe to the list, visit http://groups.google.com/group/friday5. Archives are browsable, too.

B) You can also read the Friday 5 in my blog: http://lucygray.org.

C) If you have an idea for a theme, email your suggestions to me.

D) If you'd like to be a special mystery guest and submit a list for the group's perusal, also email me and we'll discuss a potential topic and date. Last year, we enjoyed lists on everything from Google Sketchup and Architecture (Fred Bartels) to digital scrapbooking (Rae Niles and Marianne Handler). Thanks to everyone who joined in!

On to this week's list.....

1) Beloit College's Annual Mindset List
http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/2011.php

When I was a student at Beloit, this annual tradition was nonexistent. The list is now 10 years old, and is designed to give faculty of a cultural sense of the incoming freshman class. You can look at del.icio.us's history of who has bookmarked this site, and the user notes crack me up. Nearly all the comments are on how this list makes people feel old. Do you remember when car windows used to roll down?  ( ADEs who were on the global awareness trip last summer should note #1 on the list!)

2) Chalkboard Message Generator
http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/chalkboard-message-generator.html

This is an entry from the Generator blog, which lists a gazillion types of fun generators. Here, you can put a custom message on a chalkboard graphic to use in a blog, web site, or presentation.

3) Classroom Organization and Set Up - Tips for Classroom Organization
http://k6educators.about.com/od/classroomorganization/Classroom_Organization_and_SetUp_Tips_for_Classroom_Organization.htm

4) Librarians' Picks: Back to School
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pfs/publib/school.html

Here's a good bibliography of school related titles from the Ann Arbor public library.

5) Free Stuff for Teachers
http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/freestuff.htm

This site is a little heavy on worksheets for my taste, but there's a ton of practical stuff to be found here.

6) Proteachers Ideas Back to School Ideas
http://www.proteacher.com/030005.shtml

Field Trips 2.0 Project

I am part of a group of teachers working on a project that we plan on submitting to the Apple Learning Interchange. Specifically, this project focuses on the idea of reinventing field trips as we traditionally know them. We'd like to show teachers how to plan effectively for mobile learning experiences, what great excursions look like, and help them kick field trips up a notch by taking advantage of collaborative opportunities, digital tools, and web-based resources.

Interested educators are welcome to join our project. There are a couple of ways you and/or your colleagues can help:

1) Add bookmarks to our resource collection in del.icio.us by tagging any great links with the tag: Fieldtrips2.0.

2) Let us link to your educational blogs, blog posts, and Google Earth files that deal with your own field trip experiences. We also would love links to geocaching projects. We will post your name and school along with any links you send.

3) Participate in a group audio and/or video. We want to record a conversation, preferably using iChat AV, between multiple educators on how to make a field trip work, particularly when using Apple stuff and other digital equipment.

Send any of us an email indicating strands of interest if you'd like to participate. Additional details will then follow.

Thanks in advance,

Lucy Gray - University of Chicago Charter School
Judy Beaver - Punahou School
Andrew Gardner - The School at Columbia
Julene Reed - St. George's Independent Schools
Mike Searson - Kean University

Websites for Image - Google Docs & Spreadsheets

Link: Websites for Image - Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

I'm developing a list of essential sites for teachers and students that will used with browsers on computer images at my new school. Take a look at this list, which is a little rough, and make suggestions in the comments of this blog. Or, email me, and I'll add you as a collaborator! Thanks to ADE Leslie S. who's already added sites!

Friday 5: Getting Ready for NECC 2007

Hi All -

Sorry for the dearth of activity on this listserv, but it's been a busy few weeks. I'm heading across the Midway Plaisance to a new job at the University of Chicago Center for Urban School Improvement, and it's been a stressful time making the decision to leave my current school. I'll be the Lead Technology Coach for the Center, working two days a week at one of four charter schools which are operated under the umbrella of the University. The rest of my time will be devoted to designing and implementing a technology professional development plan for all four charters run by USI. I am going to miss Lab very much, but I'll stay connected as my children will still attend school there. I am really grateful for the opportunity to have taught at Lab. My students and colleagues have been amazing, and I am appreciative of all that I have learned.

Anyway, I'm in the midst of preparing for the National Educational Computing Conference, which starts a week from tomorrow in Atlanta, Georgia. I'll be running a workshop for Apple with Julene Reed of St. George's Schools in Memphis, Tennessee, as well as participating in two panel presentations. I should also be floating around the Apple booth at various times, so stop by and say hello if you are attending the conference.

If you are not able to attend NECC, check out the following resources for following the conference virtually. I'll be publishing the Friday 5 on a more regular basis once life slows down a bit!

Take care,

Lucy Gray

1) NECC 2007 Flickr Group

Check out this link in the next week or so to see images taken by conference attendees. Flickr groups also allow for discussions, so you might catch some comments as well.

2) HitchHikr: NECC 2007

David Warlick has set up a service for aggregating conference information. Visit this page, and you'll see everything related to NECC that's been tagged with the keywords necc, neccprep, and necc2007.

3) NECC Podcasts and Web Casts
http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2007/program/podcasting.php
http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2007/program/video_on_demand.php

Several sessions have been selected to be podcasted or webcasted. I'm not sure how quickly these files will be published, though. I'm guessing Apple will also publish podcasts in the Conference Connections section of the Apple Learning Interchange, too.

4) NECC Bloggers

Many people have signed up to have links to their blogs posted on the NECC web site. These people, myself included, will be posting thoughts and reactions to the conference.

5) Lucy's Global Stuff
I'll be conducting a workshop on collaborative tools used to foster global awareness. I've created several resources that we will demonstrate. Feel free to jump in and add content, or just follow our progress as we add information.

The Global Education Collaborative Ning Group

The Global Education Collaborative Discussion Group | Google Groups

Flickr: The Global Education Collaborative

The Global Education Collaborative Wiki

Friday 5: TeacherTube

Friday 5 : TeacherTube

Hi All-

TeacherTube  is a new service for educators to upload and view educational content. Here are several videos worth watching!

Have a great weekend,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

-----

1) Did You Know
http://tinyurl.com/3dqmdl

2) Pay Attention
http://tinyurl.com/3y38xj

3) Why Let Our Students Blog?
http://tinyurl.com/ynlvt3

4) Riddle iMovie Step 1
http://tinyurl.com/326nkc

5) Homage to Magritte
http://tinyurl.com/374unv

6) Inspiration Software with Math Instruction
http://tinyurl.com/32oyaq

7) Constitution Day 2006
http://tinyurl.com/2rwo49

8) Poetry and Multimedia
http://tinyurl.com/32vbyz

9) Dinoland
http://tinyurl.com/33cug2

10) Digital Students @ Analog Schools
http://tinyurl.com/32rmmm

11) When I Become A Teacher - This is my all-time favorite. I couldn't find it on TeacherTube, but here it is on YouTube.
http://tinyurl.com/3dtdmz

Google Scavenger Hunt for Middle Schoolers

I'm so excited about a spur of the moment project I started today in my sixth grade computer science class. We just finished group reports in our millennial/computer terms wiki, and our next topic to cover is graphing. For the past two quarters, I've done a rather dry assignment involving temperatures of cities around the world in Google Docs and Spreadsheets. I decided I wanted to explore an Ogle Earth blog posting forwarded by Chris Walsh to the GCT community, and I began by trying out the Google LookUp formula within Google Spreadsheets. Essentially, you enter certain search terms into this formula, data is found by Google, and entered into the specified cell. See this blog posting in the official Google blog for more information and check out the hunt itself. I need to add more complete directions and polish it a bit, but I may post about this over at the Infinite Thinking Machine when the project is finished. So far, my students' reactions have been really positive... they had no idea about the calculator features in Google Search and many said that this alone would help them with their homework. Another thing to note is a suggestion from my colleague, Marty. She thought it would be great to use autofill with this Lookup formula, to say, find statistics for a set of pro baseball players. Unfortunately, autofill doesn't seem to be a feature with Google Spreadsheets yet!

Pictogame

Here something fun from Pictogame:

Put this game on your blog   Create your own   More games

The picture I took with my built-in iSight camera.

Friday 5: More Cool Tools

Friday 5: More Cool Tools

Hi Everyone -

In February, I had the opportunity to help with the second Google Teacher's Academy in New York. Along with two other GTA leaders, I participated in a "Cool Tools Duel" in which we presented a couple of our favorite edtech resources. Everyone present then voted via applause for the overall favorite. This activity inspired a long list of other cool tools within the Google Certified Teachers community, and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites this week. The third Google Teachers Academy just wrapped this week in Southern California, so welcome to any new Google Certified Teachers who may have joined the Friday 5!

Enjoy and think summer,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

1) VoiceThread
http://voicethread.com/

This site was recommended recently by my ADE friend, Valerie Becker, and I'm looking forward to exploring it further. At VoiceThread, you upload photos (or directly import them from your Flickr account) and a slide show is created. You then can add audio and text narration, and have others comment on the photos in a similar manner. Check out this document for information on how you can set up VoiceThread to for classroom use.

2) Gliffy
http://gliffy.com/

Here's an online alternative for concept mapping. There are some nice Web 2.0-like features in Gliffy, such as the ability to blog about a drawing as well as to add collaborators to a file. Via Chris Walsh.

3) OurStory.com
http://www.ourstory.com/

Create multimedia, interactive time lines for free at this web site. This is a nice resource for personal use because several sets of guiding questions regarding various life scenarios are presented. For instance, there is a set of travel questions that will lead you to reflect and document on a trip. Via Kevin Jarrett.

4) Math Thinking Blocks
http://www.thinkingblocks.com/

This is an online visualization tool for helping students with math. In the module I sampled, I was given a story problem in which I had to figure out the total cost of two items. I was guided through three steps to solve this problem which included visual guides and feedback. I found this to be a really unusual as well as useful tool for helping students with math. You really need to try this one out!  Via Kevin Jarrett.

5) The Generator Blog
http://generatorblog.blogspot.com/

This was suggested in the GCT community by Alix Pleshette. This blog contains a growing list of web sites in which you can generate general silliness. For instance, you can add your own picture to an image of a cereal box, make a banner for a web page, or create your own customized Hollywood sign. You might want to screen any of the sites listed here first before using with students, though. Some of them do not look appropriate for kids.

To subscribe to the Friday 5 Google Group, visit this page.

NECC 2007 Workshop Resources

Excuse multiple crossposts -

Julene Reed and I are teaching a workshop at NECC on global collaboration, and I've set up a series of resources to demonstrate during this class. I hope that these resources will live on as people become interested in sharing resources used to teach global awareness concepts. Please consider jumping in and joining any of these groups. Some of them are already seeded with material, but others are just getting started. Feel free to pass this info on to anyone you know that also might be interested.

If you are presenting on a simliar topic at NECC, please think about "crosspollinating" material in these spaces as well.

1) Global Education Ning group
http://globaleducation.ning.com/

2) Global Education Flickr group
http://flickr.com/groups/globaleducation/

3) Global Ed Google Group
http://groups.google.com/group/globaleducation

4) Global Education Collaborative Wikispace
http://globaleducationcollaborative.wikispaces.com/

5) I'm tagging any resources I bookmark with the tag globalawareness in Furl and in del.icio.us.

6) Google Calendar for Global Education - enter your NECC global awareness events here, for instance.

If you think of other similar resources we should include, please send me suggestions.  Thanks!!!

Friday 5: Will Richardson Workshop

Friday 5: Best of Will Richardson

Hi All -

On Friday and Saturday, teachers and administrators from several area independent schools gathered at the Francis Parker School here in Chicago to learn from classroom blogging guru, Will Richardson. Will is a former high school teacher and early adopter of Web 2.0 technologies, now consulting in school districts across the country. His blog, Weblogg-ed, is widely read by many educators. All in all, it was a productive and enlightening workshop; this week's list represents a handful of sites that were discussed.

Take care,

Lucy Gray

_______

1) Gcast

Gcast is a podcast hosting service. Users can make recordings via phone amongst many other features.

2) Wikinomics

This is the accompanying web site to a popular book written by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams. Will recommended this business book as its message apparently has potential implications for education. Interestingly, the web site includes a blog and a wiki where community members are authoring additional chapters of the book.

3) Remote Access blog by Clarence Fisher

Will referenced Clarence's work several times during the workshop. There's an interesting graphic on emerging technologies and services included in Clarence's May 5 post.

4) 21Classes

Will consulted on this student-friendly blogging service.

5) A Web of Connections: Why the Read/Write Web Changes Everything

Will relies on wikis for presentations nowadays, not slideware.

While browsing sites during the workshop, I found two others worth sharing that were not directly a part of the workshop:

6) Using Google Earth for Earth Science and Remote Sensing

7) Celebration of Teaching and Learning: Multimedia Resources from Thirteen/WNET and WLIW

This conference had a great line-up of speakers. For those of us unable to attend in person, videos of several presentations are online for viewing.

The Global Education Collaborative

Link: The Global Education Collaborative.

Excuse the multiple cross-postings on various listservs etc....

Please consider joining a Ning community on global education: http://globaleducation.ning.com/

At the National Educational Computing Conference to be held in Atlanta, Georgia this June, fellow Apple Distinguished Educator Julene Reed and I will be hosting a workshop on global collaboration. I plan on utilizing a variety of tools and resources throughout this hands-on class, including Ning, a service that allows one to establish a custom social networking site. I am hoping to seed this site with people and content in preparation for this workshop, and I would like to invite anyone to jump in and participate.

I've made a few prior attempts at creating an online meeting space for those interested in global collaboration which included the establishment of a .Mac group and a blog. While I still plan on posting to these resources, I think this environment might be more inviting because it allows for the posting of photos, videos, and RSS feeds. Users can make their own custom personal pages, contribute to discussion forums, network with other like-minded individuals, and comment on these features. I've been inspired by the success of Steve Hargadon's Classroom 2.0 and School 2.0 Ning communities, particularly by the forum conversations in the Classroom 2.0 one.

I also hope that this will also serve as a hub for anyone who will be presenting at conferences on various global education topics. Please consider uploading any relevant files including presentation slides. You can upload slides to sites such as SlideShare and Scribd, which I think, will give you the html code to embed videos in a Ning community. If you need help with any of this, just let me know.. it's pretty easy. Of course, you can probably also save slideshows as Quicktime files and upload them directly, too.

Please let me know if you have any questions...

Friday 5: Using Chat and Instant Messaging in the Classroom

My students have found me online. I haven't decided if this is a good thing, or not, quite yet, but it definitely has me to thinking about using chat and instant messaging to communicate with students.

In my sixth grade computer science class, our discussion about instant messaging started when a student asked me about my user name for a class wiki project. I explained that I use the same user name (elemenous) for all my accounts, including the AOL Instant Messaging service (AIM), and my students perked up immediately. They were surprised that a teacher, of all people, actually used AIM, and I bet one class that many more teachers use an instant messaging service than they realized. I also explained that I use chat regularly to communicate with other teachers around the world, and that it's been wonderful tool for exchanging files and learning from other educators.

So, since this discussion, the number of kids instant messaging me after school has jumped from 1 kid last week to about 8 kids last night. I think I had 4 different chat windows open on my computer, and it was difficult for me to multitask. I noticed that the conversations are markedly different than the ones I have with adults. When I chat with an adult, I usually am pinging them for a specific reason such as tech help or to share a resource. With kids, however, it seems as if they are sort aimlessly IMing each other and me. This is a social tool for them, and they must be chatting with lots of other people because often our conversations go dead as if they were busy elsewhere. Sixth graders, IMHO, have not learned the fine art of  carrying on an online conversation. Interestingly enough, though, one of my students told me that most of the grade-level "drama" happens within instant messaging conversations after school. One kid said he's learned to hit certain keys to quit IMing quickly when his mother approaches as he's not supposed to be online during homework time. Another kid said his mother took away his keyboard because she thought his computer habits were too distracting for him. (I'm making a mental note of this tactic for when my children hit middle school.) It's fascinating to see how important this tool has become to kids; I feel like I've been let into the club a bit as they have been reaching out to me via IMing.

Generally, I think using instant messaging and chat rooms in the context of learning is not something most teachers want to incorporate into their curricula; it's a matter of digital natives versus digital immigrants. We immigrants have been slow to realize that this tool is wildly popular amongst adolescents, and that if we frame its use properly, chatting via instant messaging or inchat rooms might actually empower learning. So this week, I've compiled a slew of related articles that might help you understand this phenomenon.

Take care and have a great weekend,

Lucy Gray

1)   Strategies For Using Chat
Academic Distance Learning Center, Webster University, Saint Louis, Missouri

2)    Let's Chat: Chat Rooms in Elementary School

3)   Educause | Resources | Resource Center Abstract

4)   PC World - Internet Tips: A Grown-Up's Guide to Instant Messaging

5)   Moving at the Speed of Creativity>Blog Archive> The Case for Instant Messaging in the Classroom

6)   Experimental College at Tufts | Instant Messaging: R U Online! RU? | By Robert Farmer

7)     Spiral Notebook > IM in the Mood for Chat

8)     Apple - Education - iChat AV and iSight in the Classroom: Lesson Plans

9)     iChatCollaboration.pdf from Goochland County Public Schools

Friday 5: Green Friday

Everywhere you turn, green is in the limelight. Thomas Friedman, of the New York Times and A World is Flat fame, has authored a new green article for the NYT Sunday Magazine, Vanity Fair has devoted its entire April issue to environmental topics, and my local papers, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, both have turned out several articles that have caught my attention. Is this a fad or are people really getting serious about our environment? Only time will tell, but I am certainly more interested in learning about what I can personally do to make this world a better place. This week's list consists of sites that I've found in my online explorations... a little late for Earth Day, but I suppose every day is Earth Day now.

Take care,

Lucy Gray

------

1. The Power of Green | Thomas L. Friedman | New York Times
(may have to register to read this article)

2. Living the Dream | Chicago Sun-Times
The Sun-Times is running a series on the green movement; check out this article and others to discover a variety of resources.

3. Making It a Green Sweep This Spring | Chicago Tribune

4. The Green Guide

5. Monterey Bay Aquarium: Seafood Watch Program - A Consumer's Guide to Sustainable Seafood.

6. Treehugger

7. North American Association for Environmental Education: Student Programs
    and Choice Picks for Teachers

8. EEK! Environmental Education for Kids

9. National Environmental Education Week

10. The EnviroLink Network

11. Sustainlane

12. Grist: Environmental News and Humor

Friday 5: Creating Comics

Hi All -

I've been working with a science class this week in which kids are creating newspapers on genetically modified foods. Some kids are drawing political cartoons and I showed them how to scan their work, import these files into Comic Life and add fun touches including captions, speech bubbles, and various graphical enhancements. This project got me thinking about other useful tools for creating comics and thus, this week's theme was born!

Have fun exploring these tools!

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

1) Comic Life

This is one of my favorite pieces of software, and I believe it comes installed on new Macs. iPhoto is integrated into Comic Life, and you can publish directly to a .Mac account as well.

2) ReadWriteThink: Student Materials: Comic Creator

This web site generally has great tools and lessons for students and teachers.

3) Make Beliefs Comix

This site seems kid friendly!

4) Comeeko

This site lets you create comics with photos. It is a social web site, too, meaning that you can rate and comment on users' comics if you choose. I would recommend using this site for teachers to possibly create materials, but NOT for student projects, as the content does not seem to be screened for the k-12 arena.

5) ToonDoo - The Cartoon Strip Creator

Again, this is a social site and you may want to take a look around this site before using it with students.

6) The Comic Book Project at Teachers College, Columbia University

I found this link while looking for comic resources, and it looks like an interesting project for hand-drawn comics. Take a look at the online gallery of student work.

Friday 5: More Web 2.0 Sites

If you've followed the Friday 5 for awhile, you probably already know that I am a fan of an internet phenomenon known as Web 2.0. According to Wikipedia, Web 2.0 is, "a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004, [that] refers to a perceived second generation of Web-based services—such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies—that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users." The second coming of the Internet includes web sites that you might have heard of, such as Flickr, Blogger, del.icio.us, You Tube, and MySpace. Each of these sites serves a different purpose; what they have in common is that they depend on user generated content. This content is easily shared with others using something called RSS feeds, and interaction with others is encouraged via comments, tags, ratings and linking to other sites. Web sites that fit this Web 2.0 genre bring people to together, allow others to collaborate, and help distribute content that can be used in new and different ways. I encourage you to try out one of these services to discover the power of Web 2.0. Flickr, a photo sharing site, is a great place to start.

This week's Friday 5 contains a few sites that are new to me. If you are really into these kind of web applications, make sure you check out this comprehensive list of other Web 2.0 sites.

Take care,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

-----

1.    Swivel
http://www.swivel.com/

Swivel allows users to upload data, make charts and graphs, and share it with other in multiple ways. I first read about Swivel in Wired magazine, and it appears like it's not quite perfect and still in beta testing. Because it is so new, there's not a ton of data to look at, but I imagine this will change over time. Here's some data on Chicago Public Schools that can be viewed in different charts and graphs, for instance. It will be interesting to see how educators adapt Swivel for classroom use.

3.    Quimble
http://quimble.com/poll

Quimble lets you develop online polls that can be made public or private. I heard about this service recently on the EDTECH listserv.

4.     Scribd
http://www.scribd.com/

Kathy Shrock recently blogged about Scribd, which lets you upload PowerPoint presentations and other files. I like the nifty feature that reads this material to the viewer. Other similar sites worth checking out are SlideShare and ThinkFree.

5. ToonDoo
http://toondoo.com/Home.do

This site was mentioned on Steve Hargadon's new Classroom 2.0 Ning site, where educators are discussing how to incorporate Web 2.0 technologies into classrooms. ToonDo allows users to create and share cartoons using a bank of clip art. It's definitely nifty, but I'd hold off referring kids to this site as I ran into a cartoon that was not particularly kid friendly that was featured in the archive section of this site. As with any site where material is shared, it's wise to take a look around before deciding whether something is appropriate for kids. ToonDoo, however, is very handy for teachers looking to create a graphic for a newsletter, web site, presentation, etc.

Friday 5: Summer Professional Development

Hi All -

This info is crossposted at the Infinite Thinking Machine blog. Thanks to Laurie Bartels who gave me a good portion of the technology and brain based learning links. If you'd like to contribute to this list, email me and I'll add you as a contributor to the Google Doc version of this list. You'll be able to find any additions if you bookmark this link.
Thanks,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

-----

Summer Professional Development Opportunities

THE BRAIN AND LEARNING

Learning and the Brain (takes place every November and April)
http://www.edupr.com/
April 28-30, Cambridge, MA

CAST conference - Universal Design for Learning (applicable to both
technology and the brain)
http://www.cast.org/pd/institute/index.html
July 23-26, near Boston, MA

The Brain, Learning & Applications Summer Institute (same as below)
http://www.carrawaycenter.com/brainlearninginstitute/
August 2-3, Nashville, TN

The Brain, Learning & Applications Summer Institute
http://www.nysais.org/page.cfm?p=4&verbose=228&month=3&start=01/01/07
August 21-22, Avon, CT

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
http://www.drawright.com/
multiple dates and types of drawing, painting and sketching sessions so
check the site

Schools Attuned - http://www.allkindsofminds.org
See this press release: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jan00/minds012000.htm

CURRICULUM

Authentic Education Summer Institutes
http://www.authenticeducation.org/si2007/

ASCD Summer Conference on Differentiated Instruction
http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.094e328178c0162abfb3ffdb62108a0c/
June 30 - July 2  Salt Lake City, Utah

HUMANITIES/SOCIAL STUDIES

The Library of Congress | The Learning Page | Self-Serve Workshops
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/educators/workshop/ssindex.html

Professional Development Listings at the National Council for the Social Studies web site
http://www.ncss.org/profdev/

National Gallery of Art - Teacher Institute 2007
http://www.nga.gov/education/teacinst.shtm

National Geographic School Publishing and Literacy Achievement Research Center's Literacy Institute
http://www.literacyinstitute.org/

MATH

Texas Instruments Professional Development
http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/sectionHome/pd.html

Key Curriculum Press Workshops
http://www.keypress.com/x2142.xml

Math Forum - Math Education Conferences
http://mathforum.org/mathed/mathed.confs.html

MISC.

Stanford Summer Programs for Teachers
http://oso.stanford.edu/spt/index.html
For Bay Area teachers only

International Studies Summer Institute 2007
http://www.indiana.edu/~global/teacherprogram.php

NCTE - Literacies for All Summer Institute
http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/wlu
July 12 - 15 Louisville, KY

Responsive Classroom Institutes
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/prodevelop/weeklonginst.html

Summer Institute for the Gifted
http://www.giftedstudy.com/

Phillips Exeter Academy Summer Programs
http://www.exeter.edu/summer_programs/88.aspx

Chicago Foundation for Education's Fund for Teachers Grant
http://www.chicagofoundationforeducation.org/pages/fund_for_teachers/99.php

The application deadline for this has passed, and it's only for Chicago Public School teachers. Keep it in mind for next year!

SCIENCE

Pasco Professional Development
http://www.pasco.com/training/home.html

Teachers as Investigators
http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/scied/LSTPD/programs/PPPL_TAI.html

The Keystone Center's Bringing Environmental Issues to the Classroom Program
http://www.keystone.org/pel/key_issues.html

Teton Science Schools - Teacher Learning Center Programs
http://www.tetonscience.org/tlc_programs.shtml#outreach

Exploratorium: Teacher Institute
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ti/classic.html

Earthwatch Institute
http://www.earthwatch.org/site/pp.asp?c=dsJSK6PFJnH&b=393763

TECHNOLOGY

Summercore - "A Unique Five Day Marathon in Hardware, Software and
Humanware"
http://www.teachingcompany.com/
dates and locations vary so check the site

CAIS 11th Annual Summer Technology Conference
http://www.caisct.org/cais/Quickforms/viewform.aspx?PostingID=82
June 18-22, Farmington, CT

Lausanne Collegiate School Laptop Institute
http://www.laptopinstitute.com/
July 15-17, Memphis, TN

Building Learning Communities
http://www.novemberlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=29
pre-conf: July 16-17;  main conf: July 16-17, Boston (Newton, actually), MA

CAST conference - Universal Design for Learning (applicable to both
technology and the brain)
http://www.cast.org/pd/institute/index.html
July 23-26, just north of Boston, MA

Teach the Teachers Collaborative
http://www.teachtheteachers.org/home.html

National Educational Computing Conference
http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2007/
June 24-27 Atlanta, Georgia

Logo Summer Institute
http://el.media.mit.edu/Logo-foundation/workshops/summer.html
July 30 - August 3 New York, New York

The Stonington Retreat
http://www.visioneducation.com/stonington.html
July 31 - August 3 New York, New York

Photography Workshops and Digital Lab Workshops in Santa Fe, New Mexico
http://www.santafeworkshops.com/

Join the Classroom 2.0 Wiki

Link: classroom2dot0 - home . Steve Hargadon, a fellow Infinite Thinking Machine blogger, has started a collaborative document known as a wiki that focuses on using new technologies in the classroom. These web sites and applications are known collectively as Web 2.0 technologies, meaning that they represent the second coming of the Internet. This wave focuses on user generated, collaborative content.  Check out this wiki and think about how you can incorporate things like Google Docs and Spreadsheets, social bookmarking services, and video conferencing into your curricula. This site is definitely worth exploring. Steve has also started a social networking site for Classroom 2.0 stuff at Ning and the link is here. His goal seems to be to bring practical ideas for implementing these interactive and powerful technologies into classrooms, so please consider exploring,and possibly contributing to, his forums for making this happen!

Friday 5: Special Mystery Guest: Astronomy

Greetings -

This week's list comes to us from the one and only Karen Thompson of Springfield, Illinois, another Apple Distinguished Educator. She is a stellar person, no pun intended!

Next week's list will feature summer professional development opportunities... send along any suggestions that you think should be included!

Thanks,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com
-----

The spring equinox is March 21, 2007. I started this list of websites with Stellarium. It offers so many delightful explorations for students!

1)  Stellarium

A free open source planetarium for your computer.

2)   Springfield Public Schools - Stellarium Projects

I’ve listed some of the lessons we’re using with our 6th graders.

3)  Open Astronomy Curriculum

Stellarium is great, and this will get you started in some meaningful explorations.

4)     Bad Astronomy

I know it’s going to come up, so as long as we’re talking about the equinox, let’s not forget about standing eggs on their ends. Don’t miss the Bad Astronomy website and the discussion on the eggs and the equinox.

5)  The Ceres Project

Did you see the recent lunar eclipse? Stellarium makes it very easy to preview these events. If you’re looking at the moon, let’s explore the Birthday Moons!

6) Time Exhibits

And if you’re looking for more information on the change to daylight savings time, check out this site.

-----
Karen Thompson started her teaching career as a middle school science teacher with a slide rule in hand. Currently she is an instructional technology facilitator in Springfield, Illinois and serves as a school board member in the consolidated school district of Tri-City in Buffalo, Illinois. Karen is currently using her vision of educational technology to help guide her district’s 1 to 1 laptop program for 800 6th graders.

Mapping Literary Journeys: Google Lit Trips

There's a new post up at the Infinite Thinking Machine that focuses on the new project of my fellow Apple Distinguished Educator and Google Certified Teacher, Jerome Burg. Jerome has instituted a project called Google Lit Trips, which are essentially guided tours of resources related to books within Google Earth. Check it out and consider making a lit trip of your own to submit to this site!

I have an idea for a collaborative Google Lit Trip that I'll post here later!

Letterpop

Link: Letterpop. This site was mentioned in my favorite, one-stop-everything listserv, EDTECH, yesterday. It looks like a really easy and FREE way to do a newsletter with templates that remind me of the ones used in Apple's Pages software. Thought I'd pass it on!

Friday 5: Special Mystery Guest: The Great Potato Famine

Hi All -

I sent this list in the midst of editing, so I apologize for duplicate entries this week! Please welcome my friend and neighbor, Joan Kane, as our special mystery guest this week. Another SMG will follow next week with sites on the spring equinox.

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

------

As St. Patrick's Day approaches and all things seem to turn green, it is important to remember the reason why the Irish seem to be everywhere. Many of these Irish are descendants of the four million victims of the Great Famine that left Ireland between 1845 and 1851.

The links below highlight some of the resources available if you would like to explore some of the social, political, historic, governmental, and cultural issues associated with the Great Famine.

Beannachtái Lá Fhéile Pádraig (pronounced: ban-ach-tee la fay-le Paw-drig) or Happy St. Patrick's Day!

-Joan

1) An Gorta Mor

This site, developed by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut and County Kerry Library offers original source documents from the time of the Great Famine, digitized resources, Irish history e-texts, a collection of over 400 pictures of Ireland, and more.

2) Following the Great Famine

This website focuses on the impact of that Great Famine on Canada. It tracks the experiences of the Great Famine victims in Canada through stories that mirror the Irish experience in many countries. The site provides curricula on the elementary and high school levels.

3) BBC History of the Irish Famine

Information on the Great Famine from a British viewpoint. This site provides a different viewpoint
that can be used as a basis for discussion of famine and reactions to famine across the globe.

4) Curriculum on Great famine from the New Jersey and New York
Departments of Education
http://www.nde.state.ne.us/ss/irish/irish_pf.html
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/nysssa/gif/curriculum.html

Both sites offer complete version of curricula for grammar school and high school students with many resources listed.

5) The International Famine Centre at University College Cork, Ireland

The International Famine Centre commemorates the more than one million people who died and nearly four million who were exiled during Ireland's Great Famine by working to prevent the present-day recurrence of famine elsewhere in the world. This site provides information on current famine conditions across the globe.

------
Joan Kane has over twenty years experience in the software industry. She has worked in training, marketing, and management roles for leading software companies, such as Adobe, Ashton-Tate, Asymetrix, and Borland Software, but she has always considered herself to be a teacher first. She recently returned to teaching as a business/technology teacher for the Chicago Public Schools and is completing her doctorate in instructional technology. Joan has presented at the Illinois Technology Conference for Educators, the ToolBook Developers conference, and the American Society for Training & Development Conference.

Official Google Blog: Coffee Talk in the Teachers' Lounge

Link: Official Google Blog: Coffee Talk in the Teachers' Lounge.

There's been a major "site refresh" at the Google for Educators pages. The latest posts from the Infinite Thinking Machine are visible here, and there's now a Google Group community for all teachers. I especially like the downloadable posters, and am planning on doing a bulletin board using these resources. I also noticed something cool today, and I'm not sure if this is new or what, but any picture I've used in my Blogger blogs appear in Picasa.

Friday 5: Best of IL-TCE

Friday 5: Best of IL-TCE

Hi Everyone –

Last week’s list is compiled from various presentations that I attended at the Illinois Technology Conference for Educators.

Stay tuned for this Friday’s list which should feature another special mystery guest…

Take care,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

1)    OhmyNews International

This citizen journalism site was highlighted in ADE Tim Wilson’s Web 2.0 presentation.

2)    My Friend Flickr

ADE Charlene Chausis presented on all the things one can do with the photo sharing site known as Flickr.

3)    Photofiddle

Cited by NYT columnist David Pogue during his digital photography workshop, Photofiddle lets you create interesting items from your own photos.

4)    Breaking the Myth of Megapixels – New York Times

According to Pogue, four or five megapixel cameras are sufficient for most users.

5)    The River City Project

My ADE friend, Steve Wagenseller, instant messaged me during my workshop with David Pogue and during our virtual conversation, he mentioned this site. It’s an online simulation described as “a multi-user virtual environment for learning scientific inquiry and 21st Century Skills”.

Friday 5: Online Teacher Networks

Friday 5: Online Teacher Networks

Dear Readers –

Last week, I spent a glorious day at Google’s New York office assisting with their new education initiative, the Google Teacher Academy. Participants in this day-long professional development event are now part of the Google Certified Teacher learning community, along with teachers from the first GTA held in Mountain View, California, late last year.

Google Certified Teachers are actively sharing ideas in a Google Group created just for them, and this has reminded me of the potential power of online communities. Virtual places can serve as support for teachers at any level, and it’s a huge convenience to participate in a professional development activity at anytime from any internet-connected computer. Judging from the enthusiasm of these Google Certified Teachers, educators are truly yearning for opportunities to connect and collaborate.

While the Google Certified Teacher program is open only to those who’ve participated in academies, there are many other places where teachers can find similar opportunities. For instance, my professional life has indelibly improved by my participation in the Apple Distinguished Educator program, which is currently taking applications for a new class of ADEs. The deadline is February 28, so consider applying as soon as possible! Please note that some of the communities cited in this week list do not require application for membership, however. There is something for everyone out there!

I suspect that Second Life probably also has some learning communities for teachers, too, but I have yet to dive into this virtual world. Maybe this summer I will take the plunge!

Have a great weekend,

Lucy Gray

1.    Tapped In
Create a virtual office in Tapped In and participate in various activities in this space.

2.    National Geographic Education Network

3.    EdWeek
EdWeek has several community tools within its extensive web site. Check out:

• Teachers with Cameras
• Ask the Mentor
• Teacher Blogs
• Teacher TalkBack

4.    Discovery Educator Network

5.    Golden Apple Foundation’s Teaching Excellence Network

Web Site Has Moved

Link: Web Site Has Moved.

I just want to say that I am SO disappointed that the Michigan Teacher Network site has merged with another MI resource called Michigan Educators' Resources. I really liked easy to browse format of the MTN, and its commenting and rating feature. I'm going to have to explore the new site more, but on a superficial level, I am not impressed.

Friday 5: Video Games in Education

Hi All –

 

Today’s list is inspired by an event that took place last night sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation . The foundation recently announced a fifty million dollar initiative to investigate digital media and learning, and this panel discussion is the first of several regional events planned.  The following links are related to the panelists and the ensuing conversations that took place after their initial comments.

While many may be dismissive of the value of video games in education, I would recommend that educators keep an open mind to the possibilities. Engaging simulations, not the drill and kill types of games,  can potential immerse children in new experiences and problem solving situations. In his remarks to the assembled group, Jonathan Fanton, President of the MacArthur Foundation, cited statistics from the Pew Internet and American Life Project  that indicate that our kids already deeply engaged in digital media and communication. It is clear, to me at least, that education must roll with and adapt to these changes.

I found last night’s discussions to be inspiring, yet I still have a few questions.  For instance, David Williamson Shaffer of the University of Wisconsin-Madison noted that computers are very important because they have caused the transformation of information. I agree, but I wonder how many other educators would share this view. I think many people believe that face-to-face interactions with their students cannot be replaced with technology, and others simply have not stumbled upon the potential power of computers in a personally meaningful way.

Secondly, it was clear to me that the panel participants are forward thinking people who are not challenged by change. I wonder how they expect schools to adapt to new models of learning when traditionally, most schools change very slowly. Does technology change too rapidly for schools to keep up? And if so, why is innovation not embraced more in schools? And, how does school change affect students? Those are just a few of the questions that come to my mind.

Anyway, I hope you are as interested in this topic as I am, and that you’ll take some time to explore the following links. Hopefully, I will blog more about my thoughts on this topic...

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

David Williamson Shaffer, The University of Wisconsin-Madison
Epistemic Games

Sasha Barab, Indiana University
Quest Atlantis

Games mentioned by Sasha:

• Animal Crossing 
• Trauma Center
• Bully
• World of Warcraft

Nichole Pinkard, Center for Urban School Improvement, University of Chicago
iRemix

 Spotlight Blog on Digital Media and Learning | Ecology-of-Games

Games for Change

The Video Game Revolution: “Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked” by Henry Jenkins | PBS

This specific site wasn’t mentioned by the panel, but the author of this piece, Henry Jenkins,  and his work at MIT with media literacy was cited. He also has a blog: http://www.henryjenkins.org/.

Second Life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life

Friday 5: Writing

Friday 5: Writing

Hi All –

Writing has been on my mind this week, and so I spent time digging around for fun, interactive web sites geared towards elementary kids. My favorite find was the Student Materials Index at the always fabulous ReadWriteThink site. There’s something for everyone in this short list, and if you can think of any must visit additions, feel free to email me and I’ll publish your suggestions next week!

Thanks,

Lucy Gray
University of Chicago Lab Schools
elemenous@gmail.com

1)    ReadWriteThink: Student Materials Index

2)    WritingFix: Word and Writing Games for Young Writers

-contains several interactive writing prompts

3)    Teacher Tap: Magnet Poetry, Stores, & Mad Libs: Writing Fun on the Web

-check out various forms of Mad Libs online

4)    Young Writers Workshop

- lots of writing prompts for dictation use can be found here

5)    42 Explore: Writing Pathfinder

- a long list of resources for students of all ages

6)    National Writing Project Interactive

- a free online community

Lucy's NICE Mini-Conference Resources

NICE Homepage

PDFs of My Two Presos:

Apple Global Awareness:

Download global_awareness.pdf

Google:

Download google.pdf

Essential Links:

Google For Educators
Rethink.Global Awareness

Document containing most links mentioned in both presentations: 

Download NICElinks.doc

Please email me if you have any questions!

Friday 5: Special Mystery Guest: Google SketchUp & Architecture

Hi All -

I am pleased to present our first Friday 5 Special Mystery Guest, Fred
Bartels, Director of Information Technology at Rye Country Day School
in Rye, New York. Fred is an innovator and is constantly exploring new
ideas involving the uses of technology. For more information about him, please visit this link. He has also been instrumental in the development of the
School Computing Wiki.

Various friends and acquaintances will be making similar special
appearances on the Friday 5 during 2007.  If you are interested in
contributing a list of sites devoted to your interests or areas of
expertise, drop me an email and I'll send you additional details.

Enjoy,
Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

Fred's Friday 5:

Google SketchUp is a wonderfully accessible 3-D design program that is available for both Macs and Windows. Even better, there is a free version. With SketchUp, students can easily and quickly develop all kinds of designs. My particular interest is architecture and what follows are 5 of the best websites to support using SketchUp to learn about and create architecture.

1. Google SketchUp's home page and Google SketchUp Pro's home page. On the second URL, under the Education tab, you can find many examples of student work.

http://sketchup.google.com/
http://www.sketchup.com

2. The Google SketchUp Warehouse. A huge and rapidly growing collection of free-to-use SketchUp models submitted by SketchUp users from around the world.

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse

3. The Designing with SketchUp Infowiki. A wiki resource for teachers and students interested in SketchUp and architecture.

http://dws.editme.com/

4. An excellent video podcast with clear explanations on how to design with SketchUp.

http://go-2-school.com/podcasts

5. Architecture Week, a great online "magazine" about architecture. They have very good pricing for educators.

http://www.architectureweek.com/

Choose Your Own Adventure on iPod - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Link: Choose Your Own Adventure on iPod - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).

From the Unofficial Apple Weblog, here's a nifty way to look at books and I'm citing it here, so that I make sure I check it out more fully!

On a side note, I just added this to my Furl account, and there have been design changes to their pulldown menu in their bookmarklet. Not sure if I am liking this ... you have to click on a category or make a new category, which seems to take a lot longer than just using the old category pull down list.

Friday 5: Online Collaboration

This week’s list was inspired by a workshop led by GlobalSchoolNet founders at NECC last summer. While I’ve been aware of this web site for some time, I previously hadn’t taken the time to explore its great resources. I am just now starting to, and in the wake of my recent  Google Earth extravaganzas, students in my afterschool program and I have come up with a project to share. Please feel free to join in any time between now and June.

Clearly, one of the benefits of today’s technologies is the ability to connect and learn from others around the world. Hopefully, you’ll find one project or idea from the following list that will inspire you to reach out!

Stayed tuned in the coming weeks as we will have some special mystery guest authors of the Friday 5... I've invited some friends and acquaintances to share a bit of their interests and expertise with us. If you'd like to participate, shoot me an email!

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

1)    Education World’s Internet Archives – Site Reviews – Collaborative Projects

2)    ED Teacher’s Guide to International Collaboration on the Internet

This list contains many links to established and well regarded programs that promote online educational collaboration.

3)    A Sampler of International Web Projects from Edutopia

4)    Technospud Projects

Check out the calendar page for upcoming projects that seems pretty manageable.

5)    The International Telementor Program

This sounds like a great way to connect students with a virtual mentor. There is a cost involved of $200 per student.

6)    The GLOBE Program

This looks like an amazing science program, and it appears that there needs to be some commitment on the part of participating schools to regarding training.

Viewings

Link: Viewings.

Nice list of educational videos on Edutopia's site in the new section called Viewings. I wouldn't call the Infinite Thinking Machine "vast", but hey, we're moving in that direction!

SchoolTools III - FURL and Other Social Bookmarking Tools

Link: Untitled Document.

Guess I don't need to create a tutorial for Furl... it's been done. (Hey, wouldn't it be cool if Atomic Learning had tutorials for Web 2.0 apps?) Again, the two advantages to Furl are being able to archive web pages and to create bibliography citations.

Room 132 » Room 132: Archived

Link: Room 132 » Room 132: Archived.

I wondered this fall why there was no activity coming from this vlog's feed. I don't know how I missed this as the announcement was posted October 26, 2006, but my favorite educational vlogger is no longer a regular classroom teacher. I first discovered Bre Pettis when researching video blogging for a Friday 5 edition last year.... I believe I found his stuff via a Yahoo group on vlogging. Anyway, I completely cracked up at his videos depicting events in his classroom; he clearly made learning fun for his students. He did a huge service for parents who deserve a glimpse into the learning lives of their children and for teachers looking for new ideas. Fortunately, the best of Bre has been archived here ( I like Too Much Sugar and In the Future) and he now works for Make magazine. Check out his video podcast on bridge building! If you haven't checked out Make before, you must... the print version and the web site are very interesting!

Friday 5: Images and Video

Hi All –

Here’s a quick Friday 5 list of sources for video and images. Teachers and students are always in need  of  digital material for projects but, before you publish anything using materials from others, check out this chart from Hall Davidson.  Also, don’t forget about Creative Commons Search for resources that may have less restrictive copyright protection.

Have a great weekend,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

1)    KidsClick!: Image Search Tools
http://www.kidsclick.org/psearch.html

2)    The NYPL Picture Collection Online
http://digital.nypl.org/mmpco/

3)    UNESCO’s Photobank
http://photobank.unesco.org/exec/index.htm

4) The Gateway to Astronaut Photography
http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/clickmap/

4)    Digital Collections and Programs: Library Functions (Library of Congress)
http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-digital.html

5) TASI:: Techinical Advisory Service for Images
http://www.tasi.ac.uk/index.html

This section on finding and using digital images (http://www.tasi.ac.uk/advice/using/finding.html) looks particularly comprehensive and helpful.

5)    YouTube -  K12 Education
http://www.youtube.com/group/K12

6)    HubbleSOURCE: MPEG Video Clips
http://hubblesource.stsci.edu/sources/video/clips/

7)    The Open Video Project
http://www.open-video.org/

8)    Video Classroom
http://videoclassroom.org/

9)    American Field Guide
http://www.pbs.org/americanfieldguide/index.html#

10)     NARA on Google Video
http://video.google.com/nara.html

Subscribe to the Friday 5 at: http://groups.google.com/group/friday5/

Friday 5: Flickr Groups

Happy Friday!

I’ve been stewing all week, trying to decide on a theme for this week’s edition. While browsing the Edublogs Awards blog, I discovered a great entry in the Best Audio and/or Visual Blog category called Classroom Displays. The author, Linda Hartley, also runs an accompanying wiki  and Flickr group . 

This Flickr group inspired me to search for other education related ones, and these groups make up this week’s Friday 5. While I have used Flickr for a year or two to manage photos, I haven't explored it as much as I probably should. It dawned on me while viewing Linda’s group that this is a superb way for people, and teachers in particular, to share their experiences and ideas visually. Take a look and I think you will agree. I would have appreciated seeing examples of other teachers' work when I was new to the profession!

If you are unclear on the Flickr concept, check out these links for a little background info. Also, keep in mind that Flickr membership is free, although I recommend the Pro memberships for added benefits which is a reasonble $25 per year.

Flickr – Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr

MediaMazine: Flickr Tutorial Series http://www.indezine.com/mediamazine/2006/05/flickr-tutorials-series.html

5 Steps to Getting that Flickr Group off the Ground – PaulStamatiou.com
http://paulstamatiou.com/2006/02/24/5-steps-to-getting-that-flickr-group-off-the-ground/

Also, browse the aforementioned Edublogs Award site and you will notice that the Infinite Thinking Machine is nominated for the best group blog category. Consider voting for the ITM as it’s a new project with which I am involved!

Take care,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com

1)    Montessori Education Flickr Group
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr

This group is not particularly active nor large in terms of membership, but there are a fair amount of pictures to view.

2)    e-Artcasting Flickr Group
http://www.flickr.com/groups/e-artcasting

This project is not directly related to education, but the idea here is document museum visitor’s experiences. I think I am going to add some of my Louvre pictures from last summer to this collection.

3)    Educational Bloggers Flickr Group
http://www.flickr.com/groups/35034348234@N01/

This group is larger in size with about 160 members, and there seems to be a fair amount of discussion on the group Flickr site.

4)    Flickr For Education Group
http://www.flickr.com/groups/33384223@N00/

5)    Elementary Art Flickr Group
http://www.flickr.com/groups/78198665@N00/

6)    NECC 2006
http://www.flickr.com/groups/necc2006/

7)    Illinois Technology Conference for Educators Flickr Group
http://www.flickr.com/groups/il-tce/

I’m on the organizing committee for this conference, so please excuse another shameless plug. There should be many more photos in this pool in March!

Friday 5: Widgets in Education

Widgets are mini-applications that can be employed to make your working life more efficient. The Mac operating system, known as OS X, includes Dashboard, a piece of software that runs and manages widgets. Yahoo also has a widget engine which runs on PC and Mac desktops. This week’s list is primarily focuses on Dashboard widgets for OS X. I've also included a screenshot of my Dashboard.

The impetus behind this week’s list is that I decided that a list of educationally usefully widgets would be helpful to educators, particularly those who are implementing 1 to 1 laptop programs. There are also sorts of widgets out there that can potentially enhance learning including ones containing dictionaries, words and facts of the day, calendars, converters, translators, and photos. Also, students absolutely are intrigued by widgets and you should be aware of these doodads from a classroom/laptop management point of view. Best of all, many widgets are free, although I’ve noticed a few shareware and commercially sold ones out there.

For more background information, I suggest you check out  a couple of Wikipedia articles on Yahoo’s Widget Engine (formally known as Konfabulator) and on Apple’s Dashboard software which also uses widgets. And, for a more in-depth history of Konfabulator widgets and Apple widgets, read this blog post from Daring Fireball.

Have fun exploring,

Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail

Basics

1)    Yahoo! Widgets
http://widgets.yahoo.com/

Get the Yahoo engine widget here. You need this before running any Yahoo widget. There is a version for both PC and Mac users.

2)    Apple’s Dashboard Widgets
http://www.apple.com/macosx/theater/dashboard.html
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/

If you have a Mac running OS 10.4 (Tiger), you have Dashboard on your computer. View a demo of Dashboard and find widgets that run on Dashboard using the above links.

There are differences between Yahoo! Widgets and Dashboard widgets. They are created using different technologies and Yahoo’s widgets run on your desktop while Apple’s run in Dashboard.  Read the aforementioned Wikipedia article on widgets for more info.

Next Steps

3)    Listing of Education Widgets
http://widged.com/widgets/

Here’s a comprehensive list of widgets that could be used in school settings.

4)    Dashboard Widgets from ZDNet
http://tinyurl.com/ybgpbo

Google Macintosh Dashboard Widgets
http://www.google.com/macwidgets/index.html

5)    Voicenotes Dashboard Widget
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/business/voicenotes.html

This one is a demo and it costs $5.95. Check out the company web site for additional widgets: .

6)    Graphing Widgets for Dashboard
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/business/graphingwidgets.html

7)    Notepad Widget for Dashboard
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/business/notepadwidget.html

8)    Stop-It! Widget for Dashboard
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/business/stopit.html

This widget is a count down timer.

9)    This Day in History Widget for Dashboard
http://www.5star-shareware.com/Mac/Dashboard/this_day_in_history.html

10)    The Periodic Table Widget for Dashboard
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/reference/theperiodictable.html

For Fun

11)     Pirate Translator for Dashboard
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/calculate_convert/piratetranslator.html

12)     Christmas Lights for Dashboard
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/games/christmaslights.html

13)     Basketball for Dashboard
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/games/basketball.html

Deep Dive

Apparently, it’s fairly easy to create your own widgets. Here are some sources for getting started.

14)     Developing Dashboard Widgets
http://developer.apple.com/macosx/dashboard.html

15)     Yahoo! Widgets – Workshop
http://widgets.yahoo.com/workshop/

Subscribe to the Friday 5 Google Group here.

School Computing Home Page - School Computing - A Wikia wiki

Link: School Computing Home Page - School Computing - A Wikia wiki.

Wow, has this wiki grown! Started last year by Fred Bartels of Rye Country Day School, this is a veritable one stop shopping mall for everything related to educational technology. There's an independent school bent to this living document, but certainly public school teachers can benefit as well from this collective effort. I've contributed to it minimally, but will try to add what I can in the near future.

technorati tags : k12 wiki

EDUCAUSE | ELI | 7 Things You Should Know About...

Link: EDUCAUSE | ELI | 7 Things You Should Know About....

As you might have noticed, I've actually had time to go through my RSS feeds and catch up on things that I find intriguing. This resource came to my attention in Stephen Downes conglomeration of notable web sites,  I think, as he mentioned another blog called The Kept Up Academic Librarian which in turn mentions the 7 Things You Should Know series. This Educause set of PDFs, while developed for higher education professionals, is helpful to anyone who needs a consise explanation of emerging technology terms. Google jockeying, for instance, caught my attention as I had never heard that particular term until I attended an Apple briefing a few weeks ago. According to this site, "A Google jockey is a participant in a presentation or class who surfs the Internet for terms, ideas, Web sites, or resources mentioned by the presenter or related to the topic. The jockey's searches are displayed simultaneously with the presentation, helping to clarify the main topic and extend learning opportunities." Next time I teach a workshop for NLU, I'll have to try this. I usually am the "Google jockey" for my own classes, so I'll have to spread the labor around.

technorati tags : Google Jockeying