I had the opportunity to run my first New Teacher Orientation sessions this week for teachers across our four campuses. We had two days of training available to about 50 new teachers; the first day was spent on mandatory applications and the second focused more on tech integration. I decided to query my Twitter network this morning to see if they had any good advice for teachers new to a pretty technology-rich environment and here's the list of tweets I compiled. I'm not listing names associated with the tweets to protect the innocent (just kidding) and because I think it's interesting to look at the response with the bias of knowing who suggested these ideas. Let me know if you have any other suggestions and I'll be happy to add them to this list!
NOTE: Responses below had to be kept to 140 characters in Twitter. Hence, the brevity and abbreviations.
What's a simple way to start infusing your curriculum with technology? What's a good starting point? Do you have a fav collab project?
Courtesy of my Twitter Network:
I'm in Nashville through Saturday at iSummit, a conference for private and charter school educators at schools with 1 to 1 laptop deployments. I'm really excited to be here as it's my first time visiting Tennessee!
Below are my presos which I've posted in Slideshare. Please feel free to contribute to my Google Maps/Earth teacher meme project and to join our group in Diigo where I will be bookmarking relevant links. Also, consider joining the Google in Education group as well.
Link: Charter School Connections | Google Groups.
I could have started another ning... but I thought I'd start with a good old-fashioned listserv!
I'm starting an unofficial and informal listserv for people interestedin or working in charter schools across the country. The inspiration for this is the wonderful ISED listserv (http://www.milton.edu/ISED-L/),
which has provided a great deal of guidance and support to me while working in independent schools. However, I am now working in the charter school world! I still refer to
ISED-L, but I personally am looking to connect with others who are working specifically in charter schools.
The purpose of this list is to facilitate conversation and the sharing of resources. While my area of specialization is educational technology, this list is not limited to just tech talk. Teachers and administrators can post questions, job opportunities, grant writing tips, project collaboration opportunities etc. Let's share how we are all re-inventing the education wheel, so to speak!
Please pass this along to any you know who might be interested. I would
really appreciate your help in growing this online community!
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!
Steve Dembo, of Discovery Education, started a fun project with his Twitter network this holiday season. Using Elfster, ed tech people across the country signed up to be Secret Santas or Elves for each other. Via this web site, you could communicate anonymously with participants, leaving clues or getting ideas for gifts. Elfster also did the logistics of assigning elves to recipients; it's a very handy service and seemed to facilitate this gift exchange. I decided to kick things up a notch and communicated with my draw using another ID via Twitter (Ewan Macintosh thought I as a spammer). I also made a map in Google Maps with clues and she had to post her guesses to the map. I even made a visit to an EdTechTalk chat! It was lots of fun and gave me ideas for improving this next year. It was also a good way to learn something about other ed tech people that I haven't had a lot of contact with previously.
Here's the VoiceThread I created for group participants to leave messages for their draws or Secret Elves! I hope more people will join in.... email me if you'd like to receive a VoiceThread invitation.
Many thanks for the cute necklace and iTunes gift from Mrs. Jan Abernethy in PA! Cheryl, you should be receiving something you requested from some peace company (wow, those things are popular... they were hard to find) and also something that's representative of my hometown. I'm looking forward to following both of you more closely now in the ed tech world!
Link: University of Chicago Charter Schools - SchoolRecruiter.
We're hiring! Check out the latest job offerings at the set of charter schools for which I work.
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
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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!
Hi All -
Just a quick list of some recent math related finds.
Have a great weekend,
Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com
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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
Hi All -
Here are a few sites to jump start your school year.
Enjoy,
Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com
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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
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
We are all over! I'm looking forward to meeting new ADEs at next week's Apple camp.
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.
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
2) Global Education Flickr group
http://flickr.com/groups
3) Global Ed Google Group
http://groups.google.com/group
4) Global Education Collaborative Wikispace
http://globaleducationcollabora
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!!!
I've made a customized Google search engine using sites I commonly use when compiling Friday 5 lists. It's now listed on the left-hand side of my blog along with a box that allows people to subscribe to the Friday 5 in Google Groups. If you ask to contribute to this search engine, you can add relevant sites. It is also possible to add the search engine to your blog, homepage, or Google start page.
I can see teachers using Google Co-Op to make customized engines for various units of study. I think it's a pretty handy way to direct students research instead of just letting them loose on the Internet.Link: Let’s make it a Good Friday for the blogging world : Thoughts From A Technospud.
In response to a recent cyberbullying incident that's garnered a huge amount of attention, Jennifer Wagner of the Thoughts from a Technospud blog has made a request of the those who blog. She is encouraging fellow bloggers to take a moment today to recognize other bloggers who have been supportive in the blogosphere. I'm not sure if I am supposed to comment in the blogs of these people, or comment in a post on my own blog, so I am going with the latter option and tagging it "cybercompliment". Here are the people I'd like to thank:
1) A marketing person for this landscaping company. I can't remember the marketing person's name, but she wrote me after reading a post I had written about Margate Park. Here is the link I actually referenced in this post that's now in a password protected blog. Anyway, this was the first time I realized that people really do indeed read and respond to blogs. Blogs as a way to connect with others was completely foreign to me.
2) Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen fame. He noticed a post I had written about a student presenting at the Apple Store and he incorporated the story into his own post. I had read Garr's stuff previously, so when I received an email from him regarding Sam, I was blown away. What was this business professor with a popular blog in Japan doing contacting me?!?!?!? Again, the reach of the blogosphere was evident and it made me ponder how the Internet has forever changed our ability to connect, network, and derive meaning from others around the world.
3) Tim Lauer and others who held a blogging workshop at NECC 2004 in New Orleans. This was really the first time I explored the concept of blogs. Here's a post from Anne Davis's blog about that event.
Thanks again, everyone!
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
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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/
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!
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!
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!
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.
I've been audio and video chatting a great deal with fellow ADES recently, and I thought I'd pass on a couple of resources I've learned of via these conversations. First, check out Rae Niles' web site, and particularly this page. She's created simple video tutorials for basic thinks like CD burning. And, Judy Beaver recommmended a blog maintained by a colleage at the Punahou School as well as a book by Dr. Sally Shaywitz. Judy heard Dr. Shaywitz speak at this Learning and Brain conference. And, Judy and Kris Hill both discussed a reading intervention product called Fast ForWord that might be of interested to blog readers.
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:
Our second Friday 5 Special Mystery Guest is the incomparable Dr. Rae Niles, Director of Curriculum and Technology in the Sedgwick, Kansas and fellow Apple Distinguished Educator. Her list on online photo resources refers to many sites of which I was previously unaware, and I am grateful for that she has chosen to share her wealth of knowledge with Friday 5 readers!
Sorry for the delay with this week's list; I was off in NY last week at the second Google Teacher Academy, and I'll have more to share about this event in a future Friday 5.
Take care,
Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com
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Online Photo and Digital Scrapbooking Resources
1. For creating my own books using my own photos, I am the first to admit that I love iPhoto. However; as of late, I am sold on using Photoworks or producing high quality hard cover bound books! Many times, coupons can be found for free shipping or a 5-15% off an order. Normally, I search Deal Mac for links to Photoworks coupons. Photoworks not only lets you upload your photos for printing, but also allows for the creation of some really cool present ideas for those "hard to buy for" relatives!
2. Digital Freebies offers a very colorful website chockful of digital scrapbooking resources. In particular, I like the "Friday Freebie" and the online weekly newsletter. Not only does this site offer great ideas and examples of cool layouts for photos, it also has a forum for folks with questions about digital scrapbooking.
3. Linda Sattgast not only offers a great website for those interested in digital scrapbooking, but also a great weekly ezine that includes a link to a "how-to" video on using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. I am not a digital scrapbooker, but I LOVE the weekly tutorials. To receive the tutorials, you need to sign up for the ezine.
4. Snapfish is another site similar to Photoworks that offers users an opportunity to upload photos and create items using the photos. One of our teachers at school has a latte mug/cup she made with photos of her children on it. It looks nice every morning on her desk with coffee in it.
5. Winkflash is similar to Photoworks and Snapfish, too. I like some of the items available through the site that can be created from your own photos.
ABOUT RAE
Dr. Rae Niles is currently the Director of Curriculum and Technology for Sedgwick Public Schools in Sedgwick, Kansas. Students at Sedgwick High School are in the fifth year of a one-to-one laptop computer initiative where every 10th, 11th, and 12th grade student has their own wireless Apple iBook. She is an Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) and serves on the national ADE advisory board. Rae was recognized as a published author on the Apple Learning Interchange in 2003 and named one of six National Technology Leaders in 2005 by the Technology and Learning Magazine.
Rae has worked with the Kansas State Department of Education on a five-year leadership project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help private, public, and parochial principals and superintendents across the state begin the educational change process in an effort to move Kansas education into the Digital Age. Most recently Rae has worked with McNeil Lehrer Productions in Washington, D.C. to help create digital content for students and also with Follett Education in Chicago. She has also been invited as a panelist for the Learning First Alliance Summit this spring in Washington, DC this spring. Rae has been a keynote speaker and presenter for several state, national, and international conferences, including the CUE strand of MacWorld 2006.
Link: Google For Educators.
I'm sleepless in the city that never sleeps as I'm visiting New York to help with the second Google Teachers Academy. I'm holed up in my cozy little hotel room at the Pod Hotel, which reminds me very much of the hotel in which I stayed in Berlin last summer. I suppose I am just too wound up after a stressful day of travel which included losing my luggage.
Pictures to come....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
- 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
PDFs of My Two Presos:
Apple Global Awareness:
Google:
Essential Links:
Google For Educators
Rethink.Global Awareness
Document containing most links mentioned in both presentations:
We've had two new additions to our Google Earth file. Check it out here in the Google Earth community. If you'd like to join in on this project, please read the directions at this aforementioned site. I've tweaked the instructions a bit! This is an ongoing project, so it's never too late to participate.
Thanks to everyone who has made a contribution so far!
My dad is a retired high school music teacher, spending the majority of his career at my alma mater, Lake Forest High School. He just forwarded an interesting email to me indicating that a former student has endowed a chair within this project in my dad's name. Glenn Nielsen wrote:
I am writing to let you know that I endowed a chair in your name in the Wisconsin Middle Level State Honors Band. I help start the Middle Level State Honors program a number of years ago and it has become an opportunity of a lifetime for talented middle school students in Wisconsin. Each endowed chair provides an annual full-tuition grant to a student selected for participation in the State Honors Music Project. This endowment will ,of course, be for a clarinet chair. You can read more about this at the following; www.wsmamusic.com/foundation/endowment/ donors.html.You are the reason that I went into music education and your example has
always been one that I have tried to emulate. This endowment is a lasting
way for me to say thank you for all that you have done for me and countless
music students.
I am so pleased for my dad and impressed that this man had the inclination to do this. When's the last time YOU thanked a teacher and acknowledged their efforts? It's not too late to join the Google Earth teacher meme project and jot down a few thoughts about a special teacher or learning experience.
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!
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/
Link: passionatelycurious.org.
Check out my colleague Lisa Harrison's blog! Lisa teaches second grade at Lab, and she's put together a lovely resource that benefits other teachers as well as the families in her class.
Primary teachers might want to check out Lisa's posts on her whooping crane project. Lisa and her assistant teacher even dressed like cranes for Halloween!
Lisa also has some suggestions to add to my previous post. She recommends Make A Flake and , Mr. Picassohead.
I look forward to following the exploits of Lisa and her students via this blog!
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!
Link: Teaching Excellence Network.
Here is a nifty find...a new online community developed by Chicago's Golden Apple Foundation. The foundation traditionally bestows its prestigious Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching each year in addition to running several other programs. We're very lucky at Lab to have about four previous winners among our faculty.
First of all, I love the structure of this site. There are three sections: communities, resources, and voices of teachers. The Communities section is divided into various headings: In the Classroom, In the School, In the News, In the Heart, For the New Teacher, For the Future Teacher. Resources include member recommended links, books, news articles, and professional development event announcements. And, the Voices of Teachers section includes a weekly poll, teaching tips, and a repository for longer narratives related to the teaching profession. The process for joining itself requires teachers to demonstrate a committment to always strive for excellence. How refreshing!
It is nice to see that the Golden Apple is broadening its reach by sharing the collective expertise of the educators who've participated in this award program and inviting other educators to join in conversations about education. I look forward to seeing how this new initiative develops. The only thing I would add to this site are some RSS feeds!
Link: Answers.com - Teachers.
I received the Answers.com teacher newsletter today, and their site has some nifty resources including free posters for your classroom. I submitted my blog to their blog listings which might be worth checking out as well. Answers.com also has a download called 1 Click Answers for both OS X and Windows in which you can use certain keys to get a pop-up AnswerTip on any word on your screen. Cool!
Friday 5: Calendars
Hi All –
Practical sites seem to be very helpful to Friday 5 readers, so I am continuing with that theme. This week, learn all about online calendars as a way to organize your life and communicate with parents and students. Along with my flashcards and notetaking lists, your students can get organized digitally!
Take care,
Lucy Gray
elemenous@gmail.com
To subscribe to this list, visit http://groups.google.com/group/friday5 or send me an email.
1) Airset
http://www.airset.com/AirSet.jsp#app.Home
Apparently, Airset’s calendars can by synced with Outlook.
2) Google Calendar
http://www.google.com/intl/en/googlecalendar/new.html
Check out the many features of Google Calendar which is shareable and customizable.
3) Yahoo! Calendar
http://calendar.yahoo.com/
Not to be outdone, Yahoo also provides free online calendars.
4) Listible’s 33 Resources on Best Online Calendars
http://www.listible.com/list/best-online-calendars
5) Apple – Mac OS X – iCal – Library
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/ical/library/
I am a big fan of Apple’s iCal application and here are dozens of calendars that you can import into iCal on your computer. See the links below for additional ways you can iCal.
6) How to Subscribe to a Google Calendar using iCal
http://www.tuaw.com/2006/04/13/howto-subscribe-to-a-google-calendar-using-ical/
7) iCal World
http://www.icalworld.com/edu.html
8) iCalShare
http://www.icalshare.com/
9) Online Advent Calendar
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/calendar/
I added this site just for fun. I tried to peek at the first day of this calendar, but I couldn’t!
It's been a few months since I've posted a referral list to posts that have caught my eye, so here are some headlines I've recently flagged in my newsreader.
1) My curiosity is piqued about how Web 2.0 technologies can be leveraged for students as many tools require registrants to be of a certain age. Two sites have appeared on the blogosphere horizon that might be worth checking out. One is Imbee, which I read about it this press release. The second is Studicious which I read about here. Via Net-Gold Yahoo! Group, there's something for librarians on the Web 2.0 front, too... an online course called Five Weeks to a Social Library.
2) Edtech guru Kathy Schrock gave a very nice closing session keynote at NECC this year, and I particularly liked the PSA projects that she highlighted. I plan on showing these videos to student in the next month or so when we start working on various iMovie projects.
3) I'm glad George Bush has gotten the hang of THE Google. Check out this from Think Progress via Techmeme. The leader of the free world can't even remember the name of something extraordinary like Google Earth. Any middle schooler can tell you all about Google Earth! I must go look at Bush's ranch on Google Earth now and see if all the brush is cleared.
4) And finally from a blog called Photojojo, there is a reference to Zingfu, a site that offers silly templates for your digital pictures. It's not a completely kid friendly site in my book, though, but maybe I'm just getting old. It's defintely fun for grownups not adept at Photoshop.
Link: Michael Thompson Ph.D. Professional Website.
Dr. Thompson spent the day at my school today, meeting with kids, parents, and teachers. I wish I had been taking notes on my computer while he spoke of his interactions with our students, but unfortunately, I did not. One comment did stand out to me... he said that middle school kids don't have many things in their lives that they can actually control. Parents often choose their clothes, activities, and schools for their kids, and but kids feel that their only arena of control is over their social lives. I thought this was a really good point, and later on, a friend and I speculated that if we give our kids some choices in life matters, maybe it would lessen the angst of adolescence. Anyway, Dr. Thompson was a pretty witty and interesting guy, but I am not sure I gleaned enough strategies for working with middle school kids. I guess I'll have to check out his books!
Link: Google For Educators.
Google recently just launched a page for teachers which was developed after Google solicited advice from teachers, including several from Lab last spring. I just noticed that Google is sponsoring their first collaborative project for students using one of their products, Google Spreadsheets and Docs, formerly known as Writely. Google Spreadsheets and Docs, as the name implies, are online wordprocessing documents and spreadsheets which can be have multiple contributors and can be shared with others in a number of ways.
In this global warming project, participants are asked to brainstorm ideas for fighting global warming in a spreadsheet, and the top 50 ideas will be published in an full page ad in the Washington Post later this year. For more details, visit http://www.google.com/educators/globalwarming.html .
I'm interested in continuing the conversation about global awareness, and I've taken the liberty of starting a .Mac group on this topic. I've never really taken advantage of .Mac groups before, so this provides an opportunity to explore this tool as well.
My goal is to provide an inclusive forum for ADEs, informal external partners, and other interested educators to discuss and share anything related to global education. Many ADEs who attended this year's institute consulted outside resources in preparation for the trip; this forum may be a way to include these groups. I see this .Mac group as a vehicle for sharing resources, collaborating on projects, and for possibly garnering feedback on our various curriculum projects. I am sure there are other ideas that we can come up with regarding how to best utilize this resource.
If you'd like to join this group, please send me an email at elemenous@mac.com or lgray@ucls.uchicago.edu, and I'll send you an invitation with instructions on how to join. Feel free to pass this on to other people that may be interested as well. Participants do not need an active .Mac account to join, only a .Mac ID.
I need some help thinking outside of the box. I'm investigating best practices in professional development related to educational technology for a couple of projects. One such project involves a school that has a 1 to 1 laptop program.
If you were able to implement your ideal technology professional development program, regardless of cost and other limitations, what would your program look like? Think innovation!
Some things to consider:
-What resources and equipment would you need?
-What sort of schedule/time frame would you follow?
-What would be your staffing needs in order to support such a program?
-What's the best way to reach and motivate as many faculty members as possible? Do you even try to reach everyone or do you just hope to reach the mavericks who will take new ideas and run with them?
-What model would you follow, if any? Just in time help? Peer mentoring? Workshops? Study groups? What really works for teachers in your opinion?
-Do teachers need incentives to develop professionally and if so, what incentives have worked for you?
-How would you assess the progress of teachers in terms of technology usage and integration?
-Would you prefer having your own teachers conduct training sessions or are outside speakers more helpful?
-What the most difficult thing about planning for professional development?
-What personally has been the most rewarding professional development experience of your career?
-Who would be on your dream team if you could invite any ed tech speaker to visit your school?
-What topics do you think teachers are most interested in learning about?
I'll post my own thoughts on all of this in the weeks to come...
School's out and I am ready for some adventure! I am pinching myself because the summer of a lifetime awaits me. In two weeks, my family and I will be traveling to San Diego so that I can attend NECC 2006 and so that we all can do the Southern California tourist thing... Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Disneyland etc.
And, I had this all planned before I knew about the Apple Distinguished Educator Institute for this summer which promises to be another amazing experience. We're traveling to Europe July 21 -31 to collaborate on a digital global awareness curriculum in conjunction with EF Tours. We will be addressing an essential question via four themes, and this curriculum will hopefully be published on Apple's web site in the fall.
At any rate, I plan to be blogging on a more regular basis now that I have some time. As instructed by David Warlick in a recent post regarding tags for NECC, I'm adding mine here:
Here's to a fabulous summer ! Yay!
I will be presenting a remix of my Wisconsin Ed Leadership preso to teachers and administrators in the Kettle Moraine School District on June 13th.
Here are some related resources:
Workshop handout: Download Handout Here
My Blog: http://lucygray.org
My Web Site: http://homepage.mac.com/lucygray1/
Workshop Blog: http://tales-from-wales.blogspot.com/
To join this blog, workshop participants should send me an email at lgray@ucls.uchicago.edu.
Bloglines: http://www.bloglines.com/
It is recommended that participants create a Bloglines account if they do not have one yet.
Here's the main preso: Download kmsd.pdf
And finally, here is the RSS preso:
Link: LinkedIn: Home.
I learned about LinkedIn in this very witty and engaging presentation. LinkedIn was referenced in the aforementioned talk, and I hadn't heard of it before. So I signed for an account, took a peek around the site which promotes networking, and promptly forgot about it until one of my educational technology cohorts added me to his list of "connections". While I am not sure what I have to gain by participating in this social networking site for adults, it is sort of cool in a six degrees of separation way. Since I've have had a few spare moments, I've gone through my address book and sent invites to be connected to all sorts of friends, colleagues and acquaintances. It's not spam, just me sending out info on something that might be potentially cool. So see you in LinkedIn hopefully!
Oh, and a colleague often makes comments about my networking... and while I think he's being complimentary, I don't really particularly relish the idea of accruing a long list of contacts. I simply enjoy collaborating and talking with others in my field so that I can learn from other's wisdom! The internet certainly has made this easier.
