The eJulez Perspective

Hoot Hoot, Tweet Tweet!

2011-03-15T13:00:00.000-04:00

I recently went through a revamp of how I live my online life from email to twitter. This post will be dedicated to my switch from TweetDeck to Hootsuite.

Upon announcing to Twitter that I was trying a new nest with Hootsuite, I got the question of why? Honestly, I don't have any reason why I am tired of Tweetdeck. It's a great platform. It does seem to have a ridiculous amount of updates though. If I had to give one reason why I wanted something new, it would be that I just wanted something new. I get tired of looking at the same thing on my screen every day and for whatever reason, I was done with Tweetdeck. I also heard of a lot of friends moving over to Hootsuite and I was curious.

Hootsuite is entirely web-based so there isn't a client like Tweetdeck. At first I wasn't so sure about this because I get annoyed by having an endless amount of tabs open in my browser (Google Chrome). I got over that pretty quick though (it brought on some changes in other areas that I mentioned above which may appear in a blog post later).

Overall, the positives of Hootsuite are:

I like the show conversation button in each tweet that breaks down the conversation of @replies over a course of time right in the window of the stream.
I also like that there is an upgrade for google analytics to monitor my stats for an additional 5.99 per month. Personally, I don't use this feature as I don't much care at this point what my stats are and I can use twittercounter if I really need to know, but it is a cool feature to have in my opinion.
I like the sound it makes when a new tweet comes in. I got a little sick of the sound of Tweetdeck (as did everyone around me).
It seems like things are better organized. When you click on a person's name it opens a window on top of your feed rather than in a new column like Tweetdeck does. I prefer that because I can still see what is going on. Profile glances also seem more detailed. It just seems easier to find things compared to Tweetdeck.
Updates are done without downloads and reinstalls. THANK YOU!!
It's very easy to add additional accounts like Facebook, etc.
Managing twitter lists seems way easier to me. Faster to add/delete tweeps as needed.
You can download a browser extension which helps you easily post weblinks to Twitter.
When you're inactive for an hour, a cute little sleeping owl comes up and asks if you want to wake up. (yeah...corny, but I like corny stuff)

The negatives, in my opinion are:

The tab keeps flashing that I have new tweets which is growing annoying. There may be an option to fix it but I haven't found that yet.
The preferences are lacking. I think they could offer more options for customization.
The biggest downfall is that I can't hit enter after typing a tweet, I have to click on the submit button. That's highly annoying but I'm trying to deal with it.
You can't multiple @reply...meaning I can't click on a bunch of people in my @column to reply to them at one time. I either have to do them individually or type each name in. Very annoying.

I would recommend you to take a peek and decide for yourself. For me, those multiple @ replies and submit button are two things that might get too annoying but I like the ease of use of everything else so much, I just might stick with it for a while. Hopefully Hootsuite is paying attention and will do an upgrade to accomodate my needs.

Exploration in Design

2011-03-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

I have an opportunity to get back into something I've always enjoyed: Design. Since I was first introduced to a computer, I've played around with making flyers, invitations, etc but lately haven't had an opportunity to play around with design as much as I'd like. I feel like I'm starting over so I wanted to go out and see what kinds of software are available for doing some of these projects. A quick post to twitter yielded three tools: InDesign, Pages and Scribus.

InDesign by Adobe was the first program I tried because I knew I wanted something good and this was highly recommended by my twitter pals. In my case, money wasn't too big of a deal, especially when I can get an educator discount on this one for 198.95 over at Academic Superstore (you have to prove you're an educator/student). My first noticeable issue with this one is the install. It took me about an hour to complete the download/install of the 30 day trial. The program is definitely intensive, probably more than I need for what I'm doing but it does allow you to do a lot with design. I stared blankly for a while at the interface, figuring out quickly that I had no idea what some of the buttons did nor did I know what some of the words on the buttons meant.

This is definitely software for someone that knows a little more about design than I do. Overall, I can see it's a great tool, but I think it may be more of one than little ol' me needs. I felt like completing a simple task such as coloring in a circle took more knowledge than I wanted to put into it. In the end I decided I'm still a teacher, not a professional designer and this is probably not the tool I need yet.
Check out this screenshot to see the available options and layout.

Pages is a no-brainer to at least try if you work with a Mac. I hadn't used it in a while so diving back into it was a fairly new process for me. I noticed the price of 19.99 for this program in the Apple App Store so the price is great. On first glance, this program like all apple products, is easy on the eyes. The look and feel draws you in and makes it easy to use. In the end, however, I had some issues with shapes. Unless I'm missing something, it just dumps the shape in the center of the page. It took me a while to figure this out and after working with it for some time, it got to be kind of annoying. That being said, however, if you're not getting deep into designing your own stuff, the templates are fantastic and easy to add your own information. For what I want to do right now, I want something a little more intense so pages will probably not be my pick.

Scribus was recommended to me as a free, open source software and silly me, thinking it would not be that great, put it off to look at last. I was pleasantly surprised by download/install time and ease of use once I got in the program. There were a few things I couldn't figure out on first glance, but for the most part, this program will do about everything you need it to do and it's pretty easy to use. Most options are in a right click menu and properties show in a separate popup window. Take a look at the basic layout of scribus noting the properties popup on the left:

When it was all said and done, the program I least expected to like might just be the program I use: Scribus. The only thing I don't like about it is the ease of use/integration of media that all apple products have, but the photos I'll be adding arent' necessarily ones that I would want/need in my iPhoto library so I think it will be ok. I really like the properties box in Scribus and I think the overall layout of the program works the best with the way I think and work.

Thanks Gerlos for sharing your photo!

Coffee with a Nerd

2011-02-17T09:24:00.000-05:00

Today was my first "Coffee with a Nerd" experience with my teachers. The experience lasts 10 minutes and involves showing a quick tidbit of information that will help teachers complete a simple task on their computers. The idea came from a noticeable lack of basic computer knowledge amongst my staff. They were able to complete most tasks but they weren't doing them very efficiently or they felt that completing the tasks was more of a pain than they really needed to be. I also know that, in an elementary school, time is always an issue and most teachers don't want to sit through an hour of basic training. They typically want one or two things to take back and practice, otherwise they feel overwhelmed.

Our first session was on bookmarking. I chose this because many teachers were having trouble remembering the address to the computer lab calendar or to the school website. One teacher even told me that she googles the school website every morning to find it. After I sent the email about the first session, I received several replies from teachers saying they were excited so I knew I'd have at least a few stop by this morning. Everyone showed up right on time at 7:50 with coffee cups in hand. They enjoyed their brew while I quickly showed them how to create a bookmark, how to organize the bookmarks and how to delete them.

Overall, I think it was a success! By the time I finished, there were about ten people in the lab and even a couple of students stopped at the door and listened. I had several of the teachers let me know they really enjoyed it and one even asked if I was going to do it every week. My plan was to do it once a month to start, just to see how things went but I might shake it up and do it every Thursday. I'm even considering some kind of nerdy coffee cup prize to give out to those who participate. We'll see how crafty I get.

One other good thing that came from it is that there were more questions asked like:

1. How do I right click on a mac?
2. How do I set a homepage in my browser?
3. What are tabs and why would I use them?

Sounds like sessions for the next 3 weeks to me!

What's the QRuestion?

2011-02-11T10:19:00.000-05:00

I've been hearing about QR code for some time now and it hasn't really stuck in my brain as something great for education. I was looking at it as "fluff" and not necessary. I suppose it still is "fluff" but I got a hard lesson in why it's cool over the weekend.

It all started last weekend when I saw a QR code on a refrigerator price tag at Best Buy. I was with my newest daughter, a 7 year old that soaks up every bit of knowledge put in front of her. I showed it to her, quickly downloaded the QR code to my phone and took a picture. "WOW!" was the reaction I got from her as all the information about that refrigerator showed up on my phone. This was my first time doing this as well, so I was kinda like WOW myself and I thought "what a great shopping tool!"

The next day, she asked me where else she could find QR code and if I could put that reader on her iPod. I explained that if she looks around stores, she'll see more of them and I thought to myself I'd have to look a little more closely so we could read codes when I saw her again. This morning, upon finding a code on a blog, I remembered it was easy to create my own, so I looked up what she is learning in school this week and made a few text based questions using http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Here is one: a math problem for counting money.

If you don't have access to a QR reader at the moment, It says:

You found the secret Money code!
While Olivia was cleaning, she found 1 quarter under the chair. Then, she found 1 dime and 2 nickels in the couch cushions. Finally, she found 1 dollar while folding Rusty's clothes! How much money did she find?

My plan is to place several of these around the house for her to find. I will be making codes for all of the subjects she's learning right now in school.

Of course, my mind is running wild and now I want iPods pretty bad at my school so I can do some of these activities with the children here.

As a note, I downloaded the Welt Kompakt QR code reader on my iPhone and found that it wasn't so great at picking up the codes. I then found the QR code reader for iPhone by TapMedia and have had better success with it.

Hey Mom! I got a badge in Math today!!

2011-02-03T18:46:00.000-05:00

I recently returned from a trip to the wonderful city of Philadelphia for a fantastic little conference called Educon. While I was there, I attended a session on standards based grading. While in the session, I didn't feel as if I was getting much from it (I actually left early to go to a different session), but the value in it came a day later when checking into foursquare at a Philly restaurant. I thought to myself, "this is what grading should be like" and with a quick tweet I discovered that many others agreed. I promised a blog with my thoughts and here it is.

What I'm thinking is that students could "check in" to standards. The teacher, of course, would set up the standards and what tasks he/she wanted the students to complete in order to receive the "badge" for that standard. Quite possibly for each standard check-in, the student could write a reflection on what they learned about that standard and/or upload attachments to receive the badge. The teacher could then go in and check what the student has submitted, comment on their information and award them the badge. Students would continue work until all badges were achieved.

What I like about this is that students in this method could potentially learn at their own pace. They could pick which standards they wanted to achieve, make a timeline for achieving it and learn at their own discretion in the way they learn best. You could have lots of badges for standards and maybe additional ones to include other subjects, such as an art badge for that student who used their art skills to finish a project, etc.

There are, obviously a lot of different ways to look at this. I'd like to hear from you. I'm considering implementing this into my grading system for my educational technology college course next semester. I'll take your ideas, practice them and report back. Maybe I'll even make an app for that!

Thanks in advance for your input!

Success in 40 Hours?

2010-11-10T19:45:00.000-05:00

I recently found this post relating to the time that it takes to be a successful person. Although the article is positive overall, my first reaction was that a person not sleeping for 48 hours to be successful is absolutely ridiculous. Although I still think it is ridiculous, I do understand that being successful in whatever you do does take a little time.

After reading, I thought about the successful people I knew and the time they put into their careers; some putting more time in than others with varying degrees of notable success. Then, I thought of myself and the success I have had over the past few years. I have to admit that the time I have put into getting there has been above and beyond what I now believe one person should put into anything. I look back to weeks where I put in 80 hours of work and yes, lost a lot of sleep. This caused me to wonder, does time equal success in all situations? I don't think so but it does pose the very important next question:

What is success?

Is success getting the job done? Is it creating goals and working to achieve them? Is success failing? Is it making someone else happy? Is it juggling lots of roles/duties? How do you measure success? I think everyone has their own definition and as long as you know what your definition is, then you know what you have to work toward. My definition of success today, although different than my definition in the past, is as simple as this:

Setting and Achieving Whole Life Goals

My definition has always been "setting and achieving goals" but recently I've added the "whole life" to it and believe it is a huge component. What do I mean by "whole life"? All I mean by this is that there is a balance. I don't measure success only by what I do in the workplace. Success, to me is also how well I balance work with the rest of my life. I have made a conscious decision that work will not be my life, however, it can and will be a part of my life that I enjoy. All that being said, if I enjoy work, do I think about it past clock out time? Of course I do. I enjoy my career and I think about it a lot when I'm off the clock. That extra time does add to my success, however I have made every effort to make it not so in-my-face during evenings and weekends (no work email /chat on my phone, etc.).

So, I guess to sum this up, success does take time but I don't think it has to take our lives. I think it is wonderful to dedicate additional time to your career, especially if you're lucky enough to love what you do. You don't, however, need to dedicate every minute of your day and you surely don't need to not sleep for 48 hours to get it (at least not in my career choice, and I'm assuming the same of my readers). Manage your success-oriented time wisely and remember life is multi-faceted. If you're dedicating all of your time to one thing, you're missing out on a whole lot more.

Learning Progression in IWB Classroom

2010-10-08T11:28:00.003-04:00

I have been preparing for a SMART Board training in my school as many of the teachers here are brand new SMART users. One of the comments I keep hearing is "I know I can't use it as a glorified overhead". My first reaction is to say, "well, yes you can and I expect it in the beginning". I don't know how anyone will feel successful with the boards if they don't start from the basics. In thinking about all of this, I decided that part of my training probably needs to be an explanation of how their learning will progress while using the boards as a teaching tool. After a lot of thinking, drawing, writing and designing, I came up with this chart. (Special thanks to @tgwnn, @mtrump, @alabamasue and @edtechsteve for their input during the design phase). Take a look, use it how you see fit and recommend any additions/changes.

Movin' and Shakin' with the Kiddos

2010-10-06T18:46:00.001-04:00

Wow! I went to a blog today, saw The eJulez Perspective with a "last post: July" beside it! Sorry folks, but I've been busy with life. I'm back though, with lots to share.

I started a new job at the elementary level. After being in the high school for 3 years I was a bit hesitant to return to the elementary life, but it has been a fun change in many ways. Watching this Mr. Winkle video shared on twitter today (I believe first by @SimpleCEO) got me to thinking about some of the things I have been seeing in the school where I now work. First of all, very few classrooms here are in neat straight rows but one of the biggest things I notice here is that there is movement. Kids don't have to sit very long. They will focus on a lesson for 30-40 minutes then they move on to something else, usually involving getting up and moving. I also have seen that the teacher will move the kids around the room. I'll go into a classroom in the morning and the kids will be in their desks, when I visit in the afternoon, they are gathered in a corner of the room for a story.

I've often wondered how and when we make the shift from having a lot of movement in the elementary classroom to making kids sit for an hour and a half straight in high school. I know that there are teachers out there who don't do this, but I have witnessed that a majority do. Now don't get me wrong, getting 30 high school students to stand up and move is about as simple as herding cats, but I've watched several teachers do it effectively after some short training with the students.

One teacher I used to work with at the high school level implemented centers into her classroom. The kids would shuffle from time to time in the classroom to various sections and work on different activities related to the same concept. She was sure to make those centers fit with different learning styles as well. After talking with her about it, she told me it did take a few times for the kids to adjust to this new way of learning (well, way of learning they hadn't seen in a while anyway) but once they practiced a few times, it was successful. I would say you would probably get this same response from any elementary teacher showing students centers for the first time. Anything new will involve a bit of training.

So we know it can be done and we know that it is probably better for kids and when we really think about it we think it might be better for us as teachers too. So, why don't we do it? I thought about this a bit and put myself back into the shoes of a teacher in the classroom everyday. I think the #1 reason is because it is hard, especially at first. Not only are you planning a lesson for the day but you might be planning 5 to incorporate movement around the room and preparing materials for all of them as well. It will also probably involve a teaching style that may be significantly different than what you are used to which adds a bit of fear. Will it flop? Will the kids get too loud? Will the administrator observing me think my classroom is out of control?

As with anything, change is hard. I get that. I try to encourage my teachers to try at least one new thing each year and then take something you've already done and "fluff it up". If you tried a little movement in your classroom for one unit or one lesson each year or each semester, you would have a few to work with after a year or two. What we have to remember about change is that yes it's hard but it doesn't have to rule our life. A sprinkle of change here and there adds up in the end.

Thanks to clearlyambiguous for the flickr photo

Young Educators Rock Denver

2010-07-01T22:22:00.004-04:00

Probably the number one question I was asked during ISTE 2010 was how do we get more young educators involved in the ISTE organization. As I look through flickr photos, blogs and tweets again tonight I see a lot of strong activity in the young educator network and truly feel that the group of young educators rocking the ISTE scene this year will bring added members in full force in 2011!

Just found this blog by Crystal Grandison on some of the best tweets of ISTE 2010. If you scroll through that list, a ton of them are from the young educator community! So, not only does ISTE have a good following of those of us under the age of 35, but we are involved and not to mention quite intelligent! Amongst the young educator network we have award winning bloggers, conference/camp coordinators, internationally recognized emerging leaders and top-notch innovative educators. I'm watching my twitter stream as I write this post and most of the comments still continuing from ISTE10 are from those under the age of 35. We are excited about what ISTE has to offer and will continue to spread the word!

This group of young educators on the scene right now includes some of the best people I've ever met and they continue to amaze me every single day. I do think, however, that we are reached in a different way. Our home base is twitter, no doubt about it. We are making very strong connections online to the point that we are the best of friends by the time the ISTE conference rolls around each year. Those connections quickly become one of the reasons we want to attend the conference. This fact is evident in how much time we spend with each other when we get there including during sessions, meals, late night events and even trips and tours taken together during the conference.

All this being said, I was a bit surprised at how few people attended the bowling event for the Young Educators network this year. After I thought about it, though, I realized it is because we are staying quite busy. I peeked into a few schedules and, much like mine, they had several events planned and most all of them overlapped. We're out there, we're just moving so much that sometimes you don't see us! I'll also add to that and say that lots of those that didn't make it bowling that night ended up at the lanes on another night because word spread quickly how much fun it was!

So, the answer to the question of how do we get more young educators involved? I say keep it up kiddos! Bring your friends and keep making those connections! I think those of us in the under 35 category truly understand that a large part of attending the conference is about meeting new people and building the community. Give it time, this is NOT a quiet group for sure and I expect big things over the next year!

Here are a few people to follow in the young educator community if you want to get more involved:

Mary Beth Hertz
Steven Anderson
Nick Provenzano
Mike Trump
Tim Gwynn
Adam Bellow
Lisa Sjogren
Beth Still
Jason Schrage
Amanda Dykes
Steve Johnson
Chris Craft
Kyle Pace

Yeah, I know I forgot some people. I got most of these from my twitter stream as I was typing this blog. Go ahead! Share your recommendations in a comment! I'd also love to hear from you if you have ideas on keeping the Young Educator's Network fresh and exciting! Thanks in advance!!

You Make it Real For Me

2010-06-30T16:48:00.000-04:00

Sitting in the Denver airport reflecting on the past week and catching up on all the tweets and blogs I've not had a chance to read. James Morrison's "You Make It Real For Me" came on the iPod. I thought about all of the connections I made this week at the ISTE 2010 conference and how important each of them are to me. It really does make it real to talk to fantastic leaders in your field and share new ideas, thoughts and opinions.
I hope everyone had an awesome time and I can't wait to see you all again next year!

My crazy last few hours...

2010-06-29T16:07:00.001-04:00

Although I haven't attended an official ISTE session yet, I'm still learning a lot and very very tired! Monday was an action packed day of interviews, photoshoots and meetings. I have never done a video interview before so it was a bit of a learning experience for me and I had to get over some nervousness in the first one I did. Pretty fun though once I got through one! This morning was more or less all about the award so I didn't get to do much other than chat with people along the way.

I was able to go to lunch with a great group of kids from Alabama. They're doing a poster session and are truly awesome! I was able to talk to Julie Ramsay, their teacher about the plans she put in place to get the kids to ISTE. She not only got them here but has taught them some great lessons along the way including amounts to tip, how to pack, how to speak properly to adults, etc. If you are considering taking kids on any kind of field trip, specifically to ISTE, you should talk to Julie!

On Monday afternoon I did a volunteer session in the Virtual Environments playground. I got to hold the title of Grand Poobah which meant I got to wear a cool hat and answer everyone's questions for two hours. It was quite fun. If you haven't visited the VE playground yet, try to stop in. It's in Lobby B by the bus shuttles. There are sessions running in the playground all day long that showcase what people are doing in various virtual environments. The Birds of a Feather Session yesterday was also fun and a great opportunity to meet with others that share a common interest in virtual worlds.

Monday night was a lot of fun with a kickoff at Lucky Strike for the Young Educator's Social. This was a great opportunity to meet other young educators across the globe, share ideas, eat some awesome food and have a lot of fun! I had a great time meeting everyone there, then headed over to a Gaggle Event. Our district is purchasing Gaggle for use in our schools this year so all of those that came to Denver from my district were there. We had a great time. Be sure to check out some of the events held by vendors/sponsors. They're usually a lot of fun and a great way to meet new people. I actually got lucky enough to meet a few other people from my home state!

Today is Tuesday and I am very tired! This week is really catching up to me so if you see me sleeping in a corner somewhere, nudge me! I met with the Awards and Recognitions committee this morning which is a new obligation of mine this year. I am learning that there is a lot more that goes into the planning of the ISTE conference than I ever imagined. These people really work hard all year long to make the conference a success, so when you see those staff members, board members, SIG members, etc., give them a pat on the back.

I am now off to prepare for the presentation I'm doing today with Gerald Aungst. He runs the allaboutexplorers.com website and the presentation, a model lesson, is on information literacy. I'm glad to be helping Gerald with this one and it should be a lot of fun!

ISTE 2010: The first two days

2010-06-28T02:10:00.002-04:00

My feet are up, a little sore, I have the air conditioner cranked high and a bottle of water next to me as I sit down and finally get a chance to reflect on the past two days. Going to try to give you the quick run down of some of the things I've picked up during my first two days in Denver. Hang on tight kiddos.....

Lesson #1: Drink plenty of water in Denver and carry chapstick with you at all times. This is important for dehydration as well as medical relief for those of us that have damaged our lips and tongues on cold popsicles. :)

Lesson #2: I figured this out quick last year, but just confirmed it this time around, Edubloggercon is an awesome event to attend on Saturday. A few things I learned and/or tidbits that stuck in my head:

Branding Session led by Lisa Greathouse:

Blogs are like mini businesses, they help us get jobs, encourage others to get involved and help people find their own space (comment by Scott McLeod)
It is important to consider online personal versus online professional but it is ok to pepper some personal in the professional to create a true view of yourself to others (just don't get carried away)
Benefits of branding: Meeting people that have the same interests, a great way to share information, another networking option. Downside: Time-You get out of it what you put into it. (comments by David Ligon)
What are your goals in taking your ideas online? Consider these goals when you start. They may change over time, but take the time to reevaluate often.
When setting up your brand, you can use namechk.com to see if your name is available.

Online Learning Session by Daniel Rezac

There is no longer a specific place where you learn online. We are able to pick and choose from many resources and find those that are best for the learner. (comment by David Jakes)
Be platform indepedent; don't develop your lessons to fit your classroom management system, be flexible because tools are always changing. The system "does not need to confine what you do" (comments by Bethany Smith)
Creating the learning community is invaluable. Giving a space to your learners where they can communicate is a great way to foster learning at all times. A great way to network as well as a way for students to share their work.
Although there are many great tools out there, we still need to keep in mind that there are state and federal laws that may interfere with using some tools. Be aware of those laws and work within them to protect you and the students.

My favorite links from the smackdown

Networking/web3.0 by Angela Meiers and Jeff Utecht

I had to step out midway thorugh this one but there were two things that stuck in the first few minutes:

You don't have to know everything as the teacher, but be aware of the options and be willing to let the students teach you! I tell my teachers this all the time and they are always pleasantly surprised when they try it and it WORKS!
Jeff is using Facebook with students. they create groups to share information about the class. Two students per class are selected as admins on the group and they post out the main information for the class. This has been very successful and now the kids are begging for this in all the classes at his school! Awesome!

Lesson #3: Networking Rocks!

I had a seat in a place with an outlet, said "Hi, I'm Julie" and met a wonderful woman, Nancy Gilloon in the Virtual Environments Playground this morning. We discussed my upcoming move into the elementary level and she gave me a few tips on things she's doing in her school:

Kindergarteners use the home row keys as their password for logins. We discussed how some districts make kindergarteners use the regular logins like every other student does while others have very simplistic logins. I love how Nancy is doing this because it teaches them a very important skill in keyboarding at the same time.
She uses resources on computer lab behaviors at learning.com to prepare her students for working in the computer labs.
She also recommends a peek at Wells Fargo Stage Coach Island (a virtual world). This company just happens to also have a booth here at ISTE 2010 (Booth #2445)
Instead of using pictures of students, Nancy takes her kids to buildyourwildself.com to create avatars! Very cute site!

Be sure to stop by the playgrounds (any of them)! It's a great opportunity to meet and talk to people. Pull up a chair and just say hi! You never know what you might learn. All of the playgrounds have large markers indicating their location. They also have different themes, but the idea is the same. Start a conversation and learn something new! They're a great place to explore and make new friends.
Tweetups, meetups, parties and vendor events rock! Be sure to make some time in your schedule for these. Great opportunity to meet new people, have some great conversations and usually share some laughs! If you need some suggestions of where to go, just ask! Usually everyone is willing to bring a few people along with them to meals/events. I'm always dragging someone new to the things I attend. It's all part of the fun!

Collaboration with Online Tools

2010-06-19T14:28:00.000-04:00

Collaboration is a key word in the 21st Century Skills framework and serves as a skill that is necessary in the classroom, the workforce and life in general. There are many tools available to help students, employees and families work together on projects or assignments. You are not limited to the tools outlined below, but they are ones I have used extensively and would recommend anyone to take a look.

Google Documents
The sharing feature in Google documents makes it a fantastic tool for all walks of life. Not only is it great for a family to collaborate on a budget, but it is also wonderful for a student to collaborate with a partner on a presentation. I have worked to plan baby showers, technology conferences, presentations and more using Google Documents. It's a great way to stay organized and share your thoughts easily with others.

Shared Drawing Tools
There are multiple tools for shared drawing available right now. I prefer Flockdraw, webspiration or Google Draw (in Documents). These tools are great for collaborative bubble maps or vision sharing. Not only can you give a rough drawing of something in your mind, but the person you are working with can manipulate it with their own ideas in real time.

Video/Voice/Text Chat
We've been using chat programs for years but with an increase in distance collaboration, these methods have become an important piece to the puzzle. I'd rank them from worst to best as text, voice then video. I've used all three methods while working on various projects. I know many don't like to do video chats for whatever reason but the simple fact that you can see the non verbal communication of your work partner(s) is worth it. Many times meaning gets lost in voice and text chat. Video conferencing takes a lot of the guesswork out of it. My preferred chatting method is Google with Skype coming in 2nd.

Bringing Art to Life!

2010-05-21T08:42:00.003-04:00

This year our school was lucky enough to get a 3D printer. I've never seen a 3D printer before so I wanted to share with you as much as I could! I've been waiting to see a neat project to come out of it and today was the day! It's graduation project time so we're seeing a lot of neat projects around the school, but this one happened to be pointed out to me today. Our career development coordinator, with wide eyes grabbed me in the hall this morning and said "you have to see this!" (I love when this happens!) Anyway, he showed me this:

Ok, so, ummmm what is it? :) Turns out it is an engine block that a student drew in Inventor and then printed on the 3D printer. Here are a few more pictures to help you see exactly what it looked like:

I was pretty impressed by this. It seems very detailed to me and I know it must have taken the student some time to get everything set up right. The mini engine block is similar to very hard plastic.

Next, he showed me the original (because I don't really have any idea what a real engine block looks like). Here are the photos of the original:

Wow! It's pretty exact! And now it was time to go to the printer. Here's what it looks like:

Note the regular printers to the left so you can get a feel for how large the 3d printer is. We peeked inside the window on the left of the printer and saw this:

This is a second piece to this project that has been printed and is now waiting for final cleanup. Notice that it looks like a big pile of dust. This is the material (some sort of secret resin) that is used to make these pieces. This printer builds them from the ground up so depending on how tall the piece is, print time will be longer. When they're finished printing, they're covered in this material. The next step is to take them to the right side of the printer and blow all of the material off to clean it up. That process is shown here:

There is a hose with a very small end that blows air out onto the piece. The item has to be held very carefully as the pieces are not set yet.

Once the dust is all blown off, its time to clean up! All of the resin is sucked back into the resin holder and reused! The teacher told me that up to 80% of the resin is reused--how efficient!

Now we have a very fragile piece and it is time to cure it. This involves using a super glue type of substance that creates a chemical reaction and sets the resin and makes it hard. As the student was handling the piece in the liquid, he said it was really hot and it was even steaming.

What a fantastic opportunity! Drafting classes across the district can print to this printer and while i was in the classroom, I saw a few other student graduation projects that were being printed. I think this is such a great way to display the works that students have created in a way that is more meaningful to that student as well as students or teachers (like me) that really don't understand the programs they're using in that class. It was a lot of fun watching the process and learning a little more about this type of technology.

Tech Summit Amazes Teachers and Students

2010-05-13T07:45:00.000-04:00

Over the last two days, I held a tech summit at my school which I felt was one of the best things I've ever had the opportunity to do. It took about a month of planning and was what I liked to call a technology art gallery. We had displays of student work out for students and teachers to view.

I've had the idea in my mind to do something like this for a couple of years now but just haven't had the opportunity to pull it off. This year I mentioned it to a student and when I saw that bit of excitement in his face, it was all I needed to get to work. He helped come up with the name and get other students excited about submitting works to be on display. I planned the dates, got teachers to submit works that their students had done and named the featured teachers for the summit.

We had originally intended to have lots of outside speakers come in to talk about careers in technology. It was hard to get people willing to come in for even a short amount of time, but we did have John Lemmon from John Lemmon Films join us which was a huge hit. He stayed almost all day on the first day and geared his talks to the class that was listening at the time. For the marketing class for example, he showed animated commercials he had made for Dairy Queen and Bojangles then with each class, 15 minutes was dedicated to the students actually using the two READYAnimators on display. This was probably the best thing that happened through the duration of the summit. The students were so excited to use this equipment and the teachers were amazed and excited about how quickly the students picked it up and started creating projects. We've had a READYAnimator for a year now and I've personally had a hard time getting teachers to want to use it. I think we'll see an increase in its use after this.

In total, we had 30 or more works submitted from movies to print based materials and we had 20-30 classes come through the media center to view the works. The students with works on display were so excited to share what they had and the teachers were amazed to see the projects students had created in other classes. My favorite moment of the day was when one student who sings in his own band came in and while talking to me noticed that someone was listening to his song. He looked at me with wide eyes and said "People are listening to my song????" I was so happy to tell him that not only were they listening to it but they loved it and it was actually stuck in my head for two days because I heard it so many times. It was great to see how excited he was about it.

In addition to the works being displayed in the media center, I also asked all of the teachers to put an "orange nerd" on their doors with a techie recommendation. I printed a picture of a nerd on orange paper (orange is our main school color) and left a big blank for them to write in something they use in technology so students and teachers could see what they recommend. So, we had orange nerds on all the classroom doors and lots of recommendations for teachers to try.

The other thing I did for the teachers during the summit was to recognize all of those that had worked a lot with technology and might have a lot to share. We picked 11 teachers to showcase, interviewed them, took their pictures and put their information on the website. All 11 teachers were also asked to submit at least one work. My intent in all of this was not only to let other teachers know who the technology leaders in the school are, but also to let the others see the projects that these leaders are doing. I find that some of the best teachers in the school don't ever get a chance to share what they do that makes them great. This was an opportunity for them to do that.

At the end of day one, I had tired legs and another full day ahead of me but I had such an amazing feeling my heart. I told several people that it was the best day of my career as a technology facilitator and I stand by that. The excitement about technology in the students and the teachers was astounding and it made me feel like we really are doing something good for these kids. I know there is a lot of debate about how much technology should be integrated and if it really helps student learning. If I could have bottled up the energy in that library and shared it with any doubters, there would be no question what we need to do.

ISTE 2010 Event: Edubloggercon!

2010-04-29T12:40:00.000-04:00

I attended this event last year and was one of the best things I could have done. The entire "unconference" is planned by its participants so you can't go wrong signing up for this one! My favorite part last year was the smackdown which allowed lots of people a few minutes to quickly run through new and exciting findings in educational technology including sharing iphone apps, websites, etc. This is a great one to do if you will be there on June 26th!
The main edubloggercon site: http://www.edubloggercon.com/
The classroom 2.0 ning where you can mark your attendance: http://www.classroom20.com/events/edubloggercon-2010-the-social

ISTE 2010: Volunteer!

2010-04-27T07:23:00.000-04:00

I took the opportunity to volunteer at NECC last year and I am already planning to volunteer at ISTE 2010 this year. Not only do you get a totally awesome t-shirt (free stuff is always cool) but you get an opportunity to help out a great organization and make a few friends along the way. They have lots of opportunities for volunteers including things like putting papers out on chairs or being a "ask me" person that answers questions and helps conference attendees find the right direction to walk!
I'd highly recommend getting involved. It is a great opportunity to help an awesome organization. Sign up on the ISTE 2010 Conference website.

Engage21 Conference

2010-04-26T08:23:00.002-04:00

For the past 2 years my school district has been hosting a technology conference for teachers. We offer it totally free to any teacher in our school district that is interested in attending and we offer sessions on all sorts of topics. As we are fortunate to have technology facilitators in every school, we have a lot of people willing and able to present but we also highly encourage teachers and outside presenters to come to speak.

Last year we had over 300 in attendance and I'm thrilled to say that after sending out a save the date invitation last week, we have almost 300 already saying they want to attend this year. I don't blame them for signing up because not only is the conference free, but we also give away great prizes from dinners to digital cameras and even Smart Boards! On top of all of that, we feed everyone snacks throughout the day. How do we pay for all of this you might be asking? We don't spend a dime. All prizes, snacks, etc are donated from local businesses. It takes us several months of hard work to pull it off but it is an amazing success!

Serving on the planning committee, I've been asked to find outside presenters. Last year we had presenters from local counties come in and we even did a virtual presentation using second life for a presenter that could not be here in person. If you are interested in presenting at the newly named Engage21 conference, please visit our website and fill out the call for presenters form.

Engage21 Website: www.engage21con.com

Engage21 Logo by Tim Gwynn (@tgwynn)

ISTE 2010 Event: Leadership Bootcamp

2010-04-24T23:38:00.001-04:00

Join leaders from all over the world in an ISTE sponsored Leadership Bootcamp. With a list of well-known fantastic presenters, this 2-day session should be a treat. The cost for this is 155.00 and it takes place on Friday, 6/25/2010, 5:00pm–7:00pm and Saturday, 6/26/2010, 8:00am–5:00pm. Find more information on the ISTE conference website.
There are four areas of specific focus for this bootcamp:

CREATING AND MAXIMIZING LEARNING NETWORKS
COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION TOOLS
COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION PRACTICES
BUILDING POLICY TO SUPPORT VISION

ISTE 2010 Event: ABC's of Advocacy

2010-04-23T06:57:00.000-04:00

Arm yourself with tools to affect change in educational technology for your school district or state. At 45.00, this ISTE sponsored event is sure to be great for the change agents out there. View more information and sign up for this event at the conference website.

Warm Fuzzies

2010-04-22T22:34:00.000-04:00

I have seen such an amazing group of people band together to provide support to me and EDTECH Retreat over the course of the last few months. My plan was to write a note to each individual person but the list has outgrown how fast my fingers can type. So, I wanted to take this time to publicly send thanks to everyone. We have had donations in the form of time, lindens or items from multiple people in the EDTECH Retreat Community and these kind gestures have definitely not gone unnoticed. I feel very lucky to be part of such a great community of people that I know both virtually and in real life. I am thrilled to be able to call many of you true friends and appreciate everything you have done for me and the community.
EDTECH Retreat is currently undergoing some major changes in ownership and goals. Over the course of the reconstruction process I invite all of you to add your input, share your ideas and let me or any of the hosts know what you need to make your experience at the retreat a positive one.
Once again, thank you for your support, thank you for the time you spend on our island and thank you in advance for the continued smiles you bring to the rest of the community.

Image Thank You:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ittybittiesforyou/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

ISTE 2010 Event: The 4th Annual Constructivist Celebration at ISTE

2010-04-21T13:39:00.001-04:00

I like to keep track of all the extra events going on at ISTE 2010 so I thought I'd take the opportunity to start sharing all of those events here on my blog. Just a quick glance at what has come across my desk today:

At only 60.00 with great food and collaborative discussion about leading software in education, this event is described as a day at the spa for your mind: http://constructivistconsortium.org/cc2010/index.html

Positive Use of Technology and the Postponement of the Graduation Project

2010-04-21T11:28:00.001-04:00

The news came out in the paper today that our district will be postponing the graduation project due to budgetary constraints. This news made me step back and take a look at all of the positive things that have come from the graduation project through the Second Life Eco Tower on EDTECH Retreat Island. As a mentor on this project, I have seen a student not only work to complete the necessary components of the graduation project but also extend his learning above and beyond the requirements. This project was not just about hydroponics and greenhouse construction but also about networking, problem solving, researching, hypothesizing and increasing social skills. Through the virtual world of Second Life and the use of Twitter, we were able to find content specialists in just about every area we had a question. This is where the positive impact comes in with technology. Before we were so connected, it would have taken much more time and energy to solve many of the problems we encountered on this project, but because the world was at our fingertips, we were able to find answers very quickly.

The student working on this project has had a great opportunity placed before him and has embraced every part of it to make his project a huge success, even being featured in the Second Life Showcase, several blogs and in an article on 3-D learning slated to come out in the Raleigh Post and the Charlotte Observer this month. What Brendon has done with this project is a true representation of the great impact of project based learning and how technology can play a huge role in its success.

I feel very sad to see the graduation project in our county being put aside, although I do understand the budget constraints. I wish from the few years we have had the graduation project, though, that teachers will understand the effects of project based learning and the impact of this on student knowledge. There is nothing better than the look on a students face as they walk out of that presentation room at the end of their project and are so excited about how well it went. These kids are learning something here and we can't stop that just because of money. I hope we continue to implement some of these basic ideas in all subject area classrooms.

Image thank you:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcolwell/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Are You An Out of the Box Leader?

2010-04-01T13:56:00.000-04:00

I've recently been reading the book Leadership and Self Deception..Getting Out of the Box by the Arbinger Institute. The main premise of this book is that maybe, just maybe, all of the problems you see in the people around you really have nothing to do with the people around you but rather your perception of them. So, on many accounts, your high levels of stress for a person that doesn't seem to work well with you may really be problems with you not working well with them.

Some books have a large impact on me and I have to say this was one of them. It caused me to look at a few situations in my life and realize that it was really me causing the issue, not someone or something else. It is really quite interesting to turn things around and see how your vision changes.

I'd highly recommend this book to anyone in a leadership position. It's a fantastic way of learning how to work with people. I also see it as a great motivator for those times in your life when, as a leader, you feel like you're hitting up against wall after wall. A different view might just help you crash through those and get the job done.

Are You A Virtual Pioneer?

2010-03-22T08:56:00.000-04:00

I have had such an amazing experience with one Second Life group in particular that I wanted to take a few moments to share with you this amazing opportunity available to everyone. The group Virtual Pioneers, ran by Spiff Whitfield (Andy Wheelock in RL) is a group dedicated to teaching Social Studies in the virtual world. With around 300 members, this group is active and always doing something fun and educational.

When I first joined the Virtual Pioneers, I wasn't sure if it was for me because I'm not a Social Studies teacher. I found out quickly that is not needed and the members there won't make you feel out of place if you're not. Past events include a tour of Italy complete with authentic Italian recipes shared at each stop, a visit to the Virtual Holocaust Museum and a talk about a member's visit to China including lots of pictures and explanations about the culture there.

The Virtual Pioneers group has recently expanded and moved to a new location. You can find the meeting spot here. Be sure to check out the calendar of upcoming events. The group meets every other Sunday at 8pm with some tours starting earlier. The next event is coming up on March 28th and includes a tour of 1920 Berlin. This tour starts at 1pm Second Life time (which runs on pst).

You can't go wrong with this one! Join Julie Sugarplum this Sunday for the tour and see why this is a great group.

Go Ahead....LEARN!

2010-03-19T12:09:00.000-04:00

I believe I owe it to myself to continue learning and to continue to build myself as a professional. I get asked quite often how and why I do what I do to achieve that goal. The "how" I understand, but why do so many people ask me "why" I do it? To me, it is a no-brainer to take some time out of your day to learn something new, attend an online workshop, flex your brains with a colleague or research a topic of interest to you. But, for the good of the blog post, I'll share a few reasons why.

If I'm not learning, how can I expect the teachers I train every day to want to continue to learn? Modeling a desired behavior is one of the best ways to achieve results
Building a learning network allows me to have a multitude of information right at my finger tips! Nothing better than having a great group of multi-talented friends around to help you when you have a question.
Having a good, intellectual conversation with a person that challenges your thoughts and shares with you new ideas is a great way to rethink/shape your opinion on educational topics, not to mention an awesome way to get your brain moving for the day.

I do understand the main reason many do not take time out of the day to do some of these things is a matter of time. And yes, I know time is precious and there are many things in the world that might take preference over building your own network or your brain. It is a personal task that only you know how to handle. I will assure you, however, that if you set it up right, learning something new every day can take as little as 30 seconds. So...how do I do it?

Over the course of the past two years I have taken a huge dive into building my personal learning network and figuring out the best way to do it for me. Fact is, many of you reading this might look at what I do and not be interested in my methods at all. That is totally fine because a personal learning network is just that...personal. We all do things a little different, you have to find the best way for you.

I have three main resources I use every day and at any given time two of them are open on my computer. For me, I needed simplicity. I could have many more than that, but 3 just happens to be the limit for my brain. My top three are google, twitter and second life.

Twitter

I use the tweetdeck client so it can run constantly on my desktop.
I have found that following about 200 people is my limit, much more and I'm on information overload.
I stopped feeling like I have to read every single tweet. If I step away from my desk, I just pick up where I left off. And, honestly, if it was really good information, it will be retweeted a few times anyway.
I create groups for conferences and events and have a group for colleagues in my school district, otherwise it's just an open stream of information
I like twitter because it's there when I need it and is a quick dose of something new when i'm ready.

Google

For learning and collaborating, I like google for it's chat feature, sharable documents and email
I keep the chat open all day and talk with colleagues at the click of a button if I have questions about specific topics
I use google documents for collaborative projects. Really any time I work on a project with someone, I put it in a doc for planning purposes. It's a great way to keep a record of conversations with that person and a good way to work on something when I have time as opposed to scheduling a meeting with that person.

Second Life

I use second life, a lot of times, as an extension of twitter. I'll share tweets with people and then we'll meet later that day in Second Life to discuss the topic more thoroughly.
I network in a semi-face-to-face environment in Second Life to really get to know people. It's odd at first to talk to an avatar, but after a while, that goes away and you realize you're really connecting with the person behind the pixels. I've made some lasting friendships through Second Life that mostly started with a conversation about education. The real life value in there is too high to not at least take a peek.
Because I run an island in second life, I check in every single day. As a rule, most workshops and events happen around 9pm est and last about an hour so that's the time I start with and work from there.
I currently sign up my district to allow for teachers to receive licensure credit for some of the relevent talks/workshops going on in world. This allows Second Life to become a strong professional development platform for teachers.

As stated before, some of these may work for you, others may not. The main point is, however, that you should find something. The return on investment of using these resources properly is positive. So, go take a look and figure out what works best for you!

Are Stereotypes Ruining Our Kids?

2010-02-15T10:01:00.000-05:00

In my career as an educator I have seen stereotypes negatively impact a child on more than one occasion. I can't begin to explain how angry it makes me to see a student fail because of the stereotype a teacher or even administrator has placed on them.

I will start this blog by explaining my own experience with stereotyping. When I started school, I was the free-lunch child in the back of the room with the messy hair that never said a word. I didn't know at the time that teachers labeled me as a student that would not succeed but as I look back, I realize how the ideas of those teachers impacted me. Due to my shyness (and maybe a little to do with that messy hair) in one grade I was labeled as deaf and in other I was put in remedial classes. Even though things got progressively better for me by high school, I never really shook that image. I blended into the wall and rarely did many teachers speak to me.

Fast forward to my first years as a teacher. As a family and consumer sciences (Home Ec) teacher, I tended to get some of the kids that many teachers for whatever reason, didn't want. I learned that very fast when a teacher looked at my roster and rolled her eyes time and time again. As her eyes were about to fall out of her head I remembered something I was told in college. DON'T COMPARE ROSTERS! I figured out in that very moment why that was important. There was one kid in particular that everyone reacted the same to when seeing his name on my roll. Oh, that kid is a mess! Be prepared, Julie, he'll give you grief. Well, I took what they said and turned it around. When the kid walked in my class I spotted him immediately. Sporting a skull shirt, all black, long hair and slouching over. I said to him, "Hi there! You look like a smart guy! Welcome to my class!" I don't know if it started with that introduction or not, but that kid was one of the best students I ever had. I still keep in contact with him to this day and I saw him flourish in my classroom going from the kid at the back to the kid that stood tall and stayed after to work on projects or help with lab cleanup. I refused to treat him in the manner that other teachers had. He was used to being watched over every second, used to teachers commenting on anything he did wrong and just constantly being in a negative atmosphere. I felt so sorry for this kid because once I got to know him, even though he was failing a lot of courses, he was one of the most intelligent people I have ever met.

This story has happened so many times to me in my career on various levels with different outcomes, most all positive. Recently, I had a similar situation, so I have been thinking lately what is the common denominator? I think I have it. Most all of these kids were smart and had a drive to flex those smarts in the classroom. They all had behavior problems in the classroom. Most all of them it seemed from years of being told "get in your seat", "sit up straight", "do what I tell you", "go to detention". I could see it in their face the first time I told them to have a seat or get out their pencil. They'd immediately get defiant over these small requests that most students are used to hearing on a daily basis.

I learned that handing them a project and letting them be creative helped. For one, he liked to rap his notes. Another liked to do kitchen prep work for labs, etc. I really truly believe these kids are the perfect 21st century learners and they're being stunted by 19th century teaching practices. It has nothing to do with their behavior, nothing to do with their appearance, it has to do with how they learn. And, like me nowadays, they struggle learning in a chair. This whole problem is one of the reasons I have not admitted into a doctoral program yet. I truly believe I would feel like one of these students. I can no longer learn sitting in a chair listening to someone lecture. It's just not going to work for me. Tell me what to learn and I'll go learn it and report back.

So, why is it so hard to let kids do this? Especially those kids that seem to need it. Why do we push their hands down when they have questions? Why do we want them to be quiet when they're sharing their own stories about the topic at hand? I see kids like this flourish more and more as teaching practices are changing. I hear teachers say things like, "wow, that kid that normally gives me problems was really good during that project". My hope is that teachers will begin to realize this and give these students the same opportunities to succeed as others in the class.

Implementing 21st Century Skills

2009-12-14T09:16:00.001-05:00

Recently, while perusing Scott Meech's blog, I found a post about Lesson Planning for 21st Century Skills where SMeech (as he's commonly known) highly recommended the International School Bangkok 21st Century Literacy wiki. The diagram on this site is a fantastic view of 21st century learning. I was instantly impressed with the simple layout and the vocabulary used to emphasize the topic.

Looking at the three main bubbles in this diagram, (Effective Learners, Effective Collaborators and Effective Communicators and Creators) makes me realize we have a ways to go. Currently I notice a lot of nudging in all of these areas with little movement in most cases. I know it is tough to shift towards this goal, but working together we can do it and lucky for us, working together is one of the main goals here!

In North Carolina, we are slowly implementing the 21st Century Skills Framework. This is a process that started this year in my district and from the moment I saw it I was excited. Personally, though, I see that it is not being implemented correctly. I'm seeing the old fashioned "Powerpoint and Lecture" being used to teach these new skills to teachers. Why aren't we using the framework to teach the framework? No one likes to listen to a talking head-even if they have pretty powerpoint slides behind them.

Lets use Wave, Nings, Wikis, Google Groups, Blogs, Twitter etc to teach the collaborative skills from a first hand perspective. I think this is the only way that this new look on learning will be successful. I was thrilled to see administrators in my district incorporating a LOT of technology into their presentations and also quite excited to see they were sharing things that were right on track. The presentations they created were, in my opinion, very good. I just think it should have involved more "practice what you preach" methods.

In my perfect world, I'd have started with intense training on PLC's using one or two online tools for network building. Get the small groups on board, let them find their roles in the whole picture. Once the small groups are formed and they're comfortable, create a whole school social network where the PLC's can share what they're discussing in their groups. The creation and use of this should be monitored, encouraged, highlighted and celebrated. Once this is done, you will have a good strong base from which to work. Your staff will understand why social networking is good, they'll understand that sharing is beneficial to everyone and everybody will have a feeling that they are contributing to the success of the school. After the staff gets a grasp on why and how to use collaborative tools, they'll sell it themselves to the kids because they'll feel comfortable teaching it.

One of the issues with this whole plan is that it doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen in a one hour staff meeting, it doesn't even happen in a 1 hour hands on workshop. This is something that takes months to foster, nurture and grow. It took me 3 or 4 months just to get twitter to click in my brain and I'm a tech geek! The average teacher might need a full year for this to really take a strong effect. The good thing is that most generally, there is at least one person in every department that will take the lead and push the others to jump on board. If you have that, the process can and most likely will, happen in the course of a semester. To perfect it, though, might take a little longer.

All this being said, it takes support, encouragement and participation from all levels-- from administration to support staff. Each and every person needs to participate in some way. Even with social networking we have leaders and followers which is absolutely fantastic. Each person just needs to find out where they fit in that picture and run with it.

Would love to hear more about how you're implementing 21st Century skills in your school/district/state.

The Emerald Viewer for Second Life

2009-12-09T20:07:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I switched to the Emerald viewer for Second Life. Since the switch many of you have asked for reasons why I continue to use it. Figured it was about time to put it on paper, so to speak. A few things I like about Emerald:

The Worn Tab
There is a handy little tab in your inventory for what you're wearing. This saves you from having to type worn into your regular inventory to find out what you're wearing. I LOVE this feature, although I can see where it might not be used by those that don't care to change their pixel clothes every day.

Built in Radar
No attachments needed here. Emerald has it's own radar button. Just click on it and it will list all of the avatars in the area and even give you a few options. For example, if you double click on an avatar, it will zoom your camera to them. I use this a lot for checking on new avatars while on docent duty-especially if there are a lot of avatars in the vicinity and they're all wearing those dreaded pink polka dots!

Tracking Avatars
The other nice thing in the radar button is an option to track an avatar. I love using this while shopping (as well as the zoom to option above). If my girlfriend is a few rows over, I have no trouble finding her. It puts an arrow on her so I can follow it until I find her location. I also use this during docent duty for those times when someone says "I'm here" but I dont' see them anywhere.

Fancy Green Beams
One of the first ways people notice you're using Emerald is when they notice the green beams when you click on objects. I personally like them, but others think they're annoying. I really started liking them when I discovered you can change the beam to different colors or even designs. Once I had smiley face beams when i clicked on things. Just one more option for customization and fun!

Show Look At
There is a feature in Emerald that lets you see who is looking at you or where people are looking. There could be many uses for such a thing, but one great use I've discovered is when working with new avatars. I find myself saying all the time "see this, click on it". Well, now I can tell if they're really looking at the right thing. It gives cross hairs with the avatar name on them. I can also see this being great for a class. If you have one person whose cross hair never moves (especially if you're showing slides, etc.) chances are they're off doing something else!

Teleport History
In the Emerald menu, you'll find an option for teleport history. This tracks everywhere you've been during this session. I use this quite often while shopping. I forget where I've been half the time or will forget to make a landmark, so this is a good way of finding those places again.

Easy TP
I LOVE the teleport button in the IM window. Now, instead of opening a profile to teleport a friend, you just click the teleport button in the IM window. One can also be found on the friends list page.

One of the only problems I have with Emerald is a lot of craziness that I don't understand with encrypted chatting. I have experienced problems with not receiving IM's, my IM's not being sent and IM"s that do get sent being all jumbled so no one can read them (which is the intent, but something is obviously not right). I, however, find the other benefits outweigh the issues with IM, so I just inform my friends that if I don't answer them, there is probably an issue and not to take it personally. I do know a few avatars, however, that stopped using Emerald just because of the chat feature. I also know a few avatars that have problems with Second Life crashing a log when using Emerald. I think it probably has a lot to do with your machine.

1:1 A Wise Choice?

2009-12-06T14:48:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot of talk everywhere lately about the 1:1 laptop program. Yesterday I discovered that my state actually has a 1:1 plan in place which surprised me. I was not aware that there was a plan to go this route statewide. This made me want to take a closer look and I found that there are several counties in NC that have either funded the program themselves or received direct help from funding through the state to pilot the program. The counties implementing this program into their school seem to be benefiting from it, stating more student engagement and stronger evidence of curriculum integration.

Wanting to know more, I found a study conducted at the Denver School of Science and Technology that provided some interesting data. Positively, they found that students agreed having laptops helped them to work together on projects, while teachers found that the laptops gave them more time for individualized instruction. On the flip side, teachers commented that they had to reprimand students at least once per class period for being off task on the laptops (which, in my opinion is not too bad).

All this in mind, there is one huge factor in initiating a 1:1 program that needs to be mentioned which, in my opinion could make or break your data.....quality professional development. I'm very well aware that there are schools out there with teachers that are not trained well enough to know how to implement a 1:1 program in their classroom. I'm also aware that there are schools all over that have not figured in an ongoing, quality PD program for the teachers. In our state, we have a fantastic thing going for us, the PLC model. Training can come from a specialized consultant and then filter out through the schools with individualized attention through the Professional Learning Communities in place. Regardless of how it is done, this is not something that can be overlooked and in the best case scenario, it needs to extend to every person involved from teachers to students to administration to parents.

I have taught in classes where every student has had a computer and see a definite benefit to the students and the teacher using this method. I truly believe that, if implemented effectively, the 1:1 implementation can be successful and worthwhile. I encourage you to share what your school is doing. Please let me know by leaving a comment.

Play Based Learning

2009-12-03T08:43:00.000-05:00

Last night I had the opportunity to sit on a panel presentation hosted by Zotarah Shepherd in Second Life. (Visit Zotarah's Island!) The talk was on play based learning and other panelists included Haley Swansong, Maggie Marat Knowclue Kidd and Norma Underwood. The idea for this session came from Zotarah's masters class "The Role of Play in Development and Learning" at Sonoma State University. Her plan is to share the talk with her class.

The session started with a brief description of what Zotarah is doing to learn more about play in education, then each panelist had an opportunity to speak about how they are using play in their schools. We heard from Knowclue who is teaching her kids machinima and allowing them to create videos in virtual worlds. She showed us this really great project that a student made on her own time. I think this shows how students will really embrace an activity and take it to the next level, especially when they're having fun. Play creates a new view on learning that encourages students to continue with it long after the school bell rings.

Norma then took the stage and talked about her use of virtual worlds with students in her school where many of them live in poverty. She said that using virtual worlds with her kids allowed them to explore things they may not normally get to see in their real lives. She also mentioned they had a lot of fun with the clothing and found it interesting that the male students liked to wear tuxedos while the girls wore mostly jeans. This was an opposite reaction than what Haley shared next where the girls liked to wear ball gowns and the boys didn't care so much about their attire.

Haley gave some examples of how she is using Reaction Grid. Her students are working in there building a colonial town. I've recently had the opportunity to visit Haley's island and see her students in action. It is really neat to see them all working and feeling great about their creations. They do a lot of work which is centered around fun and play and they are all quiet excited about what they are doing.

A quick discussion of World of Warcraft was led by Maggie. She began by explaining how it is a great tool for play and problem solving. Players have tasks to complete and must solve problems and work together along the way to achieve their goals. She also commented that working together in a group is a great skill learned in this game.

Everyone who talked about using virtual worlds with kids had positive experiences. Each of them used the space a little different, but overall, it is a great form of play for learning. Students entering the virtual space enjoy trying new things and expanding their creativity.

I decided to branch out from the virtual world discussion and talk a little about geocaching which can be a fun way to get some energy and movement into the classroom. All too often we forget how long we ask kids to sit. Sometimes they just need movement to get their brains working again. I shared examples of how geocaching can be used for teaching math (solving problems to find caches), horticulture (using gps to locate plants and soil samples in the outdoors) and literature (finding caches depicting characters from Romeo and Juliet).

I continued my discussion by sharing how play is a part of learning in the iLab we recently opened in my school. With my teachers, I emphasize the fact that the process of learning how to use the macs, the iLife suite, the ipods, etc involves play. I tell the them to let their students "play" for a few minutes the first time or two they come into the lab. This has proven to be an effective way for both the students and teachers to learn and teach each other.

This was a great discussion and had a good audience. I encourage everyone to consider how play based learning can be used in your classroom and to remember that we are never too old to play. Although we typically think of kids playing to learn, it is a well known fact that adults learn this way as well and it is evident in the excitement I see every time I do a workshop on Second Life. The adults in the room turn into kids for a few minutes as they play with the new tool.

Finally, Norma recommended all teachers take an improv class which can help you learn to add that extra element of fun to your lessons. She said from her experience it helps to remind us that we can continue to have fun......even as adults.

Prove it BEFORE it's Approved!

2009-11-12T09:23:00.000-05:00

I attended the ISTE Eduverse talk last night titled "All Technology Uses are NOT Created Equal: Accelerating High-Yielding Practices" with Bernajean Porter. The information presented is near and dear to my heart and was shared in such a great way that I am excited to share it with everyone around me. One of the things that Bernajean mentioned during her interview was that when teachers are being trained, they need to learn the new technology, then figure out how to apply it to the curriculum, and finally implement it in the classroom. Bernajean emphasized that trainers should ask teachers to do all of this before awarding any continuing education credits (or whatever they may be called in your area).

I thought about this for a long time. This very topic has been in my head for a while now but hadn't really heard anyone else talk about it, specifically in a public forum. I totally agree with her thinking in that it would promote true technology integration on behalf of the teachers. I also believe that it would improve me as an instructor because I would have to force myself to see more things going on in the classroom. This would be a huge time committment for me to not only work one-on-one with many teachers but to also review and approve the works they create in order to receive credit. The benefits, however, that come from this type of training/assessment are too good to pass up.

Another thought I had was that the credit they receive could be much higher. For example, now I give 1 hour credit for each of my sessions. I'd be willing to award double or triple credit depending on the topic because of the work, brain power and creativity going into the workshop on behalf of the teacher. On the other hand...I can see a possible attendance decrease due to the difficulty level for many teachers. Or would I? Quite possibly, after a few workshops like this, teachers might see an improvement in the quality of the workshops and be more likely to attend.

I will be sharing the information from this talk with my principal and district technology leaders over the next few days. I will also be asking permission to try this method with a few of my workshops this year. I think testing it with a few perfectly selected workshops would be a good way to implement this program.
Please take a look at the eduverse video and share it with those around you. There is a lot of other good content in the program besides this topic that I feel everyone could benefit from in their schools.

Unexpected Blessings of the Second Life

2009-10-18T15:04:00.000-04:00

Upon entering Second Life, I had plans to only use it for attending workshops. I hadn't even considered the virtual world could have other things to offer, so I spent the first few months learning everything I could about education and how it is being done in Second Life. After those few months, however, I noticed something changing. I noticed that I was gaining more confidence in myself by volunteering, networking and attending the workshops on ISTE Island.

What? A virtual world helping me be a better person? How could this be? I began asking myself what else I could learn from this space.

I started talking to a lot of people, specifically veteran users, about this thought. I realized quickly that many people that have been in SL for a long time are hesitant to share their stories with just anyone, especially those fairly new to SL. Why? Well, through my own experiences, I have learned that if you talk about this too much, it raises eyebrows a bit (which, quite frankly is why I have written this blog post 3 times and trashed it before posting). Once I found a few friends that were willing to talk, I realized that I was not alone in this. Many of the avatars I spoke to had a great story about using Second Life to better themselves.

How does this happen? I have found for myself and for many others that in Second Life or any other virtual world for that matter, everyone has an opportunity to shine and it's easy to find lots of different people with the same interests as you. On those same lines, everyone is willing to listen to your strengths and help you find a way to use them. Virtual worlds are fantastic places to find a mentor. Yes, we do this in real life, but not quite at the level I see in Second Life.

If you talk to Mo Hax for any length of time, you may hear him refer to "The Disney Effect". These words couldn't explain my feelings about Second Life any better. When in the virtual world, it is very similar to being at Disney World. Most everyone welcomes everyone else with open arms. People will strike up a conversation much quicker than in the real world and the quality of helpfulness comes out in everyone. I've never met more people willing to help me learn a new skill than in Second Life. ISTE Island alone is full of docents and other avatars willing to help newbies and veterans alike on just about any topic.

Through the course of conversing, finding your way to contribute to the world and making connections with others, many find their "place". We find a connection to a group of people that have similar ideas and goals as we do which helps us to grow our knowledge in that area, in turn building our confidence.

I don't think anyone goes into a virtual world thinking it can change their life, but I can assure you it has mine. Not only do I value the friendships I have made, but the opportunities as well. Think of anything that interest you. There is SOMEONE in Second Life with that same interest and talking with them will allow you to learn more about that topic and quite possibly create a lasting friendship with a person that shares your interest.

For me, I have met my business partner, a truly wonderful educational mentor and even a few fantastic people that I now call close friends in the real world . I've met some of the most amazing educators in the world through Second Life and then had the opportunity to meet them in person at NECC 09. I've run 5Ks, had lunch and even gone dancing with Second Life friends. One of the coolest things is that I've had job offers and have helped people find jobs through Second Life. The networking alone is something no one should want to pass up and in my opinion is a more effective method of networking than the real world (inexpensive, less time consuming and you can do it in your jammies and fuzzy slippers).

The opportunities in Second Life are limitless if you are willing to open your heart and your mind to the possibilities that wait for you. Yes, it is a bit of a different way of getting the job done, but if done right, you will find that it is an effective way of accomplishing the task.

Work:Play:Work

2009-10-07T20:45:00.000-04:00

Over the course of the last couple of days, I have had a few different conversations about how computers are used to help us in our daily lives. The first conversation started with a workshop I was doing on PLN's where we were talking about twitter and all the great things social networking has to offer. During that workshop, I had a veteran teacher say that she has a hard time seeing computers as something fun. She went on to say that when she was learning about computers, they were introduced to her as a way to do work. Because of that idea, she has never been able to grasp how they can be fun or used for enjoyment.

This idea of computers being only for work was interesting to me and made me think a bit. This was actually true for me as well. I remember one of the first things I did on a computer was type a paper and I also remember seeing images of men and women in professional clothes typing away on them. The teacher's comment also made me think about the images that often come up in clipart when you search for the word computer. Although they are changing a bit lately, there are lots of pictures that show professional people working at a computer. All that being said, it's no surprise that many adults have an image of a computer being made only for work.

Yesterday, as my students were presenting projects they made for a unit on MS Powerpoint, one of them did a presentation that focused on how play can foster learning and she made a comment about how students can be working, but because they're doing it in a fun way, they don't even notice. This brought me back to the first comment and made me think a bit more.
We started out using computers as a way to do work. Then, we found out they can be pretty cool to play with too. Now, we are looking at mixing the two. Why can't work be fun? Why can't we use a game to accomplish a task? All of this made me understand why some teachers struggle with me saying things like "let them play a bit to figure it out" and "use the technology to teach the lesson, not as an extra piece".

Then, naturally, my mind moved over to Second Life. Wow! What a prime example of this! So many look at Second Life as a game. When I tell people I use it every day, they look at me like I'm a weirdo. Yes, there is a lot of play in SL (my favorite part is the dress up) but, most nights you'll find me working. Whether I'm networking, attending workshops or hosting meetings, I use the virtual world for work.

Today, about lunch time, I got an email from that first teacher that was struggling with computers being fun. It read like this:

"My 1st period students loved the iLab. Nearly 1/2 had never been in the lab before. Just wanted you to know that we worked AND (drum roll please) we had FUN!!! "

I was so tickled to hear her response and actually got the opportunity to see her introduce to the iLab to a group of students later in the day. The excitement and enthusiasm in her voice rang throughout the room. I could tell that she had thought about her comment as much as I had.

I encourage everyone to consider this idea. I'm sure many of you reading right now have had an experience working with someone that you have trouble connecting with in the use of technology. You might just be working with a teacher such as mine. It is of no fault to them, they just need to be retrained and to find something that helps them realize that learning and using computers can be fun. Be their guiding light and help them find the excitement that we all see!

Symphony of the Mind

2009-10-03T15:07:00.000-04:00

I'm reading Daniel Pink's book A Whole New Mind right now in conjunction with some leadership materials here and there. While reading the chapter on symphony, a quote caught my eye:

"all aspects of well-being, including physical, environmental, mental, emotional, spiritual and social health.....contribute to the healing of ourselves and our planet"

Within the same page of that quote, I found this one:

"The ability to perceive one's own life in a way that encompasses the full spectrum of human possibility is essential to the search for meaning"

Upon Mo Hax telling me I "had to read this book" I never thought it would have the impact it has had in relation to leadership and self-fulfillment. While reading the chapter on symphony, I struggled to understand it and connect it to myself until I related these two quotes to each other. What is being said here directly relates to the characteristics of a good leader as described in the book "Building the Bridge As You Walk On It" by Robert Quinn.

This struggle with providing symphony in my life and figuring out how to make it work has been a huge part of me moving forward. Someone just this week asked me, "how do you do all that you're doing?" This question immediately reminded me of these quotes and the last chapter I read in the Building the Bridge book. The simple answer to this is that I have to. To fulfill all of my dreams and be happy within, I have to create symphony in all areas of my life. That includes the work, the play, the running, the family time, the learning....all of it.

I tweeted a quote this week that has been bouncing around in my mind after reading the chapter on symphony. That quote came from my principal, Lynn Rhymer, a few months ago when I was telling her that I didn't have time to exercise. She said to me, "If you really want to do something, you'll find the time". That comment has branded itself on my brain never to be forgotten and always brought up when most needed. Truth is, no matter how busy you are, you can't let the other parts of your life go. Each area is as important as the other and they all need to be nurtured to create your own beautiful symphony.

A Close Look at 3 Twitter Clients: Nambu, Twhirl and Tweetdeck

2009-09-25T19:50:00.000-04:00

As I have become more involved with twitter, I have discovered a need to explore more tools for managing my tweets. I used twitter for months using the web based version, but it got really annoying having to go to the website and refresh all the time as I started following more and more people. That prompted me to explore tweetdeck and twhirl. At that time, I probably was following more people than were following me. I just needed something that allowed me to see quick updates of changes to my twitter feed. I chose twhirl for it's simplicity and small window. At the time, Tweetdeck was way to advanced for my needs.

Now, the opposite is true, I have more followers than I have people I follow. This is true because I can only handle so much data coming across my screen in one day, so I don't feel it is beneficial to follow every person that follows me. Due to this change and an increase in @ replies and direct messages, I felt a need to re-evaluate my choice of a tweet client. @tgwynn kept mentioning Nambu and I notice that everyone is still talking about tweetdeck so I figured I would compare those two with Twhirl. My findings:

Nambu:

Boring color scheme

the window is more rectangular and takes up more room on my desktop than I would have liked.

Everything was very easy to see (home, mentions, direct messages)

Buttons are all rollovers with no text-took a minute to figure out how to do a reply, etc.

Easy download, just dropped into the dock.

I liked how the dock icon gives a number so you know how many tweets you have.

I accidentally deleted all my tweets (Really they were just hidden-show all hidden gets them back but I freaked out for a minute)

Can't seem to delete a tweet

Double click to to reply

Puts a little icon in the upper right near your clock for easy access.

Made for Mac and has an iPhone app

Twhirl

Nice simple layout with one skinny window that doesn't take up a lot of space on your desktop

Nice color scheme that is customizable

Found out quickly how to do a tweet, reply and direct message

Easy to set up accounts

Buttons that allow you to see all of your direct messages and @ replies

Requires Adobe Air

For Mac or PC

Tweetdeck

I was hesitant to try tweetdeck as I felt a little overwhelmed by it the first time. This time it was much easier.

Starts out with 3 panes and a large window that takes up most of the desktop (not my preference) but there is a button that allows you to quickly decrease the size to one pane or expand to all panes.

The panes are customizable for what you need. You start out with one pane of friends tweets, an @ reply pane and a direct message pane. You can add panes for facebook status, profile information and more.

Colors are customizable

Easy to find the tweet bar for status updates and @ replies.

Has an iPhone App

For Mac or PC

All 3 applications have the following features

URL shorteners (which are great for quickly making url's a smaller size to fit in the 140 character limit)

Ability to add multiple twitter accounts

Notification sounds and popups for new tweets

Link with some kind of photo/video sharing service to add photos and videos to your tweets

There is one thing missing on all 3 of these and that is a place to make notes about each user. This is something that I have found very useful in Second Life and would love the opportunity to use this type of notetaking for all of my social networking tools.

So, what did I pick? I went with Tweetdeck. I was most impressed by the ease of use in seeing everything I need in one window but also being able to shrink it down to fit on my screen. I still will most likely not suggest tweetdeck to new twitter users (would probably still go with Twhirl) but for those with several followers or followees, Tweetdeck provides an easy way to manage all of the updates.

The Life of Julie Sugarplum

2009-09-08T15:33:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I did an update on the happenings of Julie Sugarplum, my Second Life Avatar. Lately, she has been working with a lot of people new to Second Life to help guide them through the learning process (how to walk, talk and dress). Seems this is a peak time for new recruits as there are many just starting college courses that are either totally or partially held in Second Life. It's fun to see full classes wander through ISTE island looking for help.
I've been picking up more docent shifts to allow more time for helping these new folks and to catch up with friends I haven't talked to in a while. In addition to the docenting, I've also scheduled a time (with Mo Hax) every Sunday evening around 6pm sl time to be in world to help anyone that wants to give second life a try or just to meet up with friends for some good old fashioned fun! Feel free to join us--we meet at ISTE HQ then typically head out to explore other islands, based on the interest/content areas of the people that join us.
Virtual Pioneers, one of my favorite groups, has had some great meetings lately. Recently, Xavier Razorfen and Austen Rae shared photos and stories from their recent trip (in real life) to China. This talk was one of the best I've attended in a while. Not only did they have fantastic pictures and stories to share about the people, the culture, etc., but they also had items to give away, quizzes and a decorated venue to make you feel like you were right there with them. That is the great thing about Second Life, you can really go all out making a presentation spectacular and it's great when people take the time to do it. If you are interested in learning more about Virtual Pioneers, visit the Virtual Pioneers Ning.
NC SL Educators recently held another meeting where we talked with Virtual Pioneers founder, Spiff Whitfield and also visited VSTE Island with Mandie Mimulus, Alfredo Bedrosian and Thunder Insippo. The theme of this meeting was to learn more about groups in Second Life that are available to teachers. It was a great success and we received a lot of great comments about the opportunities available with these groups. Our little groups of NC educators is growing and due to that, I recently asked Trig Inkpen to be a group officer. He will be helping to coordinate upcoming meetings, share information with the group, etc.
There are a few new things Julie Sugarplum is exploring that I hope to share with you soon. Fun thing about Second Life is that there is always something new to learn. I hope you'll join me in world soon! Would be glad to help you get started!

Innovational Leadership

2009-08-18T22:12:00.000-04:00

I've had a strong focus on leadership in my personal and professional growth plan lately. This all started with discovering a book in my garage from one of my husband's classes (Building the Bridge as You Walk On It by Robert E. Quinn). Since this discovery, I've poured myself into learning all I can about leadership and how it is playing a role in how I move forward in my life and my career. I've since moved to another book, Creating Magic, 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies From a Life at Disney by Lee Cockerell and to all the online content I can handle on the subject.

I've found that there is one resounding comment from every source and that is the fact that leaders are not born, they are made. You CAN learn to be a great leader, but you WILL have to work at it. Being a great leader does not happen overnight and it also requires lots of continuous reflection.

As part of that continuous reflection, I enjoy finding online articles in my twitter feed about leadership. I recently discovered one titled 10 Tips for the Innovation Leader by Paul Sloan. I love to find short tip guides that narrow down content into a fast read, but overall, the 10 tips given in this article are fantastic. I think anyone in a leadership position should take the time to read over them and spend some time in reflection about each.

The first two tips are "Have a Vision for Change" and "Fight the Fear of Change". I believe that these play a large role in the success of a leader. There is one statement in the article that I feel needs repeated : "Great leaders spend time illustrating the vision, the goals and the challenges". The overall feel for the path that a group ultimately takes needs some thought and planning put into it. The leader of the group is responsible for sharing that overall vision and embracing the fact that moving toward that vision can be difficult and scary, but necessary. I've found in much of the stuff that I've read that many leaders don't become great leaders because of their fear to push through when change is needed. They may see that the change is needed, but fear of the risk of change stops them in their tracks. I believe, for me, that this also plays into tip #5 in Sloan's article, "Break the Rules".

In reflection of my own leadership, I discovered that I had a fear of breaking the rules, which I am still working on, but have made progress. Just because a rule is in place does not mean the rule is necessary and to be quite honest, in the field of technology I have found that many rules are just plain out-of-date. Sometimes it takes an innovative leader to notice that the rules aren't right and question why they are in place. This has been a hard lesson for me, but I understand the importance of it more every day.

So how am I fighting the fear? In the book I was reading by Robert Quinn, he said to accept the fear that you have and then take the initiative to fight it. Honestly, once I realized that I had the fear and then determined where that fear started deep within (lack of confidence), I made the commitment to myself to work on it. If you have an internal goal to change, most of the time your own desire to achieve will kick in and help you through.

I encourage everyone to take a peek at this article or either of the books I have mentioned. Working on your leadership skills is a great way to improve your life, both personally and professionally and you'll learn a little about yourself along the way!

Mutual Mentors and Parking Lot Confessions

2009-08-17T08:18:00.000-04:00

Cabarrus County Schools in NC recently wrapped up the technology camp we hold in the summers for teachers. It's a two day event and this year we had 450 registered attendees. (Follow camp tweets at #ccstech) The camp is not only a great professional opportunity for teachers, but also for the technology facilitators in our county that are responsible for most of the presentations throughout the two days. We work very hard in the several weeks prior to the camp to prepare presentation for the attendees and over the course of two days, some of us present as many as 9 times. It is safe to say that we are exhausted by the time it's over, but there are a few things that happen along the way that make the camp a fantastic opportunity for us as well.

During the setup process, the technology facilitators had a great chance to reconnect. We all had the summer off and hadn't seen each other in a while, so stuffing 400 bags with goodies or plugging in 40 smartboards is a great way to catch up! We had the most fun talking about everything from our summer vacations to how we'll do trainings with our staffs this year. While sitting at our opening meeting, I glanced around at some of the great people we have in our group and I realized that we are all each others' mentors. As I moved from person to person, I saw experts in Multiple Intelligences, Google apps, wikis, twitter, 21st century learning, SMART Boards, Internet Safety and more. We all bring something to the table and we all have an opportunity to learn from each other. I can't emphasize how much I believe in the importance of fostering the group relationship so we can all benefit from being mutual mentors.

Later that day, I met up with Tim Gwynn, Denise Yates and Steve Johnson in the parking lot. It had to be 95 degrees out there on the black pavement, but we were so into our conversation, the heat didn't seem to matter so much. We talked about how we need to work together and share what we're doing on a regular basis. That conversation carried over to the next day over dinner. There, I spent time with Ann Gregson, Tim Gwynn and Mo Hax where we talked about all facets of education and how technology plays a role in student learning. Over eastern style BBQ, we discussed how PLN's play a role in education and the importance of technology facilitators assisting teachers and administrators in building their networks. All of this discussion centered around a table of people building their own network over BBQ. All of us had met, a few of us even worked together, but for the most part, this was a time to get to know each other and learn how each of us fit into our own PLNs.

On the final day of the camp we had yet one more parking lot conversation. A few of us gathered again and reflected on what we had learned from the two days. We emphasized the idea discussed on that first day about sharing our knowledge. We had all seen or heard what each technology facilitator had to bring to the camp presentations and now we all wanted to see those presentations ourselves. Those of us in that parking lot group agreed that we would at least start the movement in our county to share more as a team by doing camp presentations again for all technology facilitators and working together to create some presentations. We even discussed sharing presentations with other schools. So, for example, I might go to one school to present on Second Life where someone else might come to my school to present on podcasting. This not only allows the teachers to see a new face, but allows the technology facilitator to learn something new as well!

Mutual mentorships provide an opportunity for growth. The importance of seeking out and fostering those mentorships is an important step in building a personal learning network. Who is your mutual mentor? Think about your goals as we begin the new school year. How will you foster your mutual mentorship and use it as a resource to achieve those goals?

iLab Gets Visitors!

2009-08-01T14:25:00.000-04:00

Due to some waxing issues and not being able to get into the other labs at my school, I was able to hold the first workshop in the iLab on Thursday! Luckily, Mo Hax stopped by the day before and offered to help set up all of the computers or I'm not sure what I would have done. There were still boxes all around and the place was a mess, but we made it work! The workshop I held was on GMail and Google Groups which was a continuation of one I did with Denise Yates (on Tuesday) on Google Docs.

It was fun to see the reactions of the teachers as they walked in and saw the new set up. My favorite comment was, "the kids are going to love this!" I heard that comment more throughout the morning as they were introduced to a few programs. I always love the opportunity to show someone Photo Booth, so when asked how to put a picture into google profile, I seized the opportunity. If you've used Photo Booth before, you know the reaction they had. Pure fun for the next 10 minutes! Lots of laughter and excitement.

We also got the opportunity to use the chat feature, which is something I've not had the opportunity to do yet with teachers. Thanks to Chad Lehman, we were able to do a video chat which couldn't have worked out better if I had planned it. He was sitting outside under a tree at the zoo. That got a chuckle from my crowd, but then he went on to explain he was there presenting for a conference where they were demonstrating how to integrate technology into lessons with animals. And the crowd went silent....with wide eyes! They got it! A video chat brought Chad from Milwaukee to us and we learned something from him. I could see the wheels spinning in a few teachers brains. Can't wait to see what they come up with for their classes this year.

We had fantastic conversations after the workshop about how the world is changing with new technology tools and I was so excited to hear the positive comments. During this time with small budgets and high stress, I was a little nervous about the reaction of teachers to a new lab of this caliber being installed at the school. After this workshop, I am excited for everyone to see it, but really can't wait for that first lesson with the students. This year is going to be fun!

Leaders with iPods!

2009-07-30T14:21:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to present at the leadership camp for administrators in our county this week. All school and district level administrators were asked to come to the week-long camp to learn about leadership, procedures and, of course, technology! I was asked to present 3 sessions on iPods and Podcasting. I took enough iPods for everyone and also borrowed a Macbook cart so we could use GarageBand for podcasts.

As the participants entered the room, it was fun to see their reactions to ipods and laptops on each desk. "Ooh, this one looks like it will be fun" and "Oh, I'm glad I signed up for this one" were common remarks that I heard in each session. All that before they even knew what we were going to do!

The first part of the session was dedicated to ipods. We talked about apps, cost, student involvement, etc. and I allowed lots of time for them to "play". I stopped at one point in the first session to see everyone totally involved in the apps they were studying and I asked them to take a look around and see how engaged people in this room were (funny, no one did because they were too busy with their apps). I explained that this engagement was also evident with the students and part of the reason I believe this is true is because they are working at their own pace with their own personal tool. It was fun to see their reaction to what, for many of them, was something brand new.

After the iPods, we went to the Macbooks and opened GarageBand. I had showed them a few podcasts and explained what a podcast was, but now they were going to create their own. Of course I got a few looks like I was insane to ask them to make a podcast with only 15 minutes left in the session. We kept it very simple. We recorded their voices from a script with fill in the blanks, then we added music in the form of the podcast jingles included with GarageBand. I was going to have them add pictures, but in the end opted to just talk about the fact that you could. Only one person in all three sessions had ever made a podcast, so I really didnt' want to overwhelm anyone.

Interesting, but not surprised by it, many of them wanted to buy a mac after they left! I think a few of them would have stayed and played with GarageBand all day! I was also very impressed that I didn't hear any comment all day that they just couldn't do technology (a response I am learning to get used to). I had a wide range of age and skill levels and impressively, they were all interested in what I had to share with them. It was a really fun day and I was glad I had the opportunity to be involved with such a great group.

iLab Gets Furniture!

2009-07-23T14:19:00.000-04:00

I have been working for almost a year now on this new lab at my school and today it all started to come together. SMART Board installers and table installers are here today. I am so excited to see it finally start to look like a computer lab!

I scheduled my first training in the lab for August 3rd (mostly because I knew I'd be pushing to get it all done and wanted to have a date so people would get in here and do it-before normal beginning of year stuff starts-yeah, a little sneaky). Now everyone is rushing around to do final touches. Left to do: finishing plates for the networking cables, ceiling outlets for projectors, paint, connect the new networking to the new server and of course set up all of the equipment.

Still deciding on a paint color, although, I think the my principal wants it to be white. Next week will be interesting, but I can't wait to get it all done.

Five Essentials of Technology Facilitators

2009-07-19T16:01:00.000-04:00

I encourage anyone that is, or works with, a technology facilitator to take a look at the Tech & Learning article, "The Five Essentials of Technology Facilitators: Successful On-Site Help for Technology Integration". It was written by Cheryl Whitfield back in 2005, so it is a little older, but I like the view of the position that it gives the reader.

According to the article, there are five things anyone hired for a technology facilitator position should possess. Those are:

1. Experience in teaching. Our state actually requires 3 years of experience and I truly believe in this. As a technology facilitator, I have to be aware of the constraints of the classroom and understand how things are run from a teacher's and a student's perspective before I can effectively integrate technology into the school.

2. Enthusiastic Technophile. I love her choice of words here and can't say enough about how you need to be excited about technology AND be willing to explore and find new tools in the field. One of the saddest things I see in my position are technology facilitators that refuse to change. Working in technology, you have to accept that your job will always be changing and you need to be the driving force of that change by exploring all the options available.

3. Effective Trainer. I hear teachers say all the time that they just don't understand the way some "technology people" talk. As a TF, you need to be able to talk on a non-techie level and mentor teachers in the way they are familiar. I'm also learning now that it is important every once in a while to re-evaluate your presentation skills. Some times we get into our own little groove of doing things and forget what the real goal is. Take some time to read a book on presentation or take some tips from an excellent presenter to make sure you're still on the right track.

4. Eager Mentor. I see the non-eager mentor quite often in my line of work (and have honestly been guilty of it myself at times). This part, in my opinion, is one of the most important. People need to feel comfortable coming to you and know that you're going to do what you can to help them. Being approachable in this position is so important because not only will it help the teachers in your school, but it will also help them to trust you when you are selling them those new tools we talked about in #2 above!

5. Excellent Administrator. To be quite honest, when taking this position the first time, I had no idea how close this job is to being an administrative position. Now that I've been in it for a while, it becomes even more so as I work closer with the administrative team. I'm not totally sure this article explains the administrative duties quite like I had expected, so I will add a few things here myself. I believe the TF needs to be a leader, and not just any leader, but a good one who is not scared to look a tough situation in the face and push through. A TF also needs great communication skills and be willing to put those to work to sell new ideas to students, teachers, administrators and sometimes even district leaders or school board members. And the last thing I'd like to add is flexibility. One of the things I love most about my job is that when I walk through the front door in the morning, I have no idea what the day will bring. One minute I could be helping a student log into a computer and the next figuring out how I'm going to spend a thousand dollars by the end of the day. There are a wide range of tasks given to the technology facilitator and we need to be able to accept those and easily move from one to another depending on importance.

The position of the technology facilitator is always changing. I feel it is important, however, to keep these 5 fundamental parts in our minds and make sure we are keeping in tune with the overall idea of what we should be doing on a daily basis.

Second Life, OpenSim, What do you want to be?

2009-07-18T22:28:00.000-04:00

Worked with Mo Hax on this video in preparation for some upcoming workshops we're doing on Second Life. Our plan is to use this as an intro to our presentation to give them just a little view of Second Life before we get into the details of how it is used and what it can do for teachers and students.

Our first presentation is a full day where we'll take the learners through detailed information of how to sign up for and use Second Life. Then we'll take it down to a smaller scale of two hours for my county's technology camp and give them a quick "how and why" followed by a short session on creating an avatar.

Really excited to be working with him on this project as he gives a whole different perspective to the presentation and how Second Life can be used in education. We hope to share more materials from the presentation later, but for now, sit back and enjoy the video.

Changes for mrslachance

2009-07-18T22:20:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking for some time now that I want to remove my last name from my username. As I'm getting more followers on twitter and here on my blog, I figured I had better do it now or accept it forever. So, yesterday I made the switch. My new username is ejulez.
I'm very excited about the change and look forward to being able to use it in some projects I am working on currently. For a few more months, you will still be able to access my blog through mrslachance.com, but you can also get here by typing my new url: www.ejulez.com.
You can also find me @ejulez on twitter and at ejulez@gmail.com.

Tables are in!!

2009-07-06T10:18:00.000-04:00

The tables for the new lab arrived last week and today I went in to place them so the electrical poles could be installed. Got a few of the first pictures as well, so wanted to share those with everyone.
Wasn't able to coordinate table installers and electrical folks, so we had to lay the table tops on the floor so the poles could be placed in the correct spot. We found that the tables were a little larger than we expected so the layout of the room had to change a little (they're 8ftx6ft). Our tables were ordered from Custom Educational Furniture and I worked with Cindy Lubin there. I found them while wandering the vendor floor at the NCTIES conference and Cindy has been fantastic at answering all of my questions and working with me on a fairly specific delivery date.
As soon as the poles are in place and the tables are installed, I'll begin setting up the computers. My first workshop in that room is scheduled for 2 weeks from now, so I'm really hoping all goes as planned.

NECC in Review

2009-07-01T17:30:00.000-04:00

Had the wonderful opportunity to attend the National Educators Computing Conference this week. My original plan was to blog every day, but I tell you, it was busy. I barely had time to tweet! So, my plan is to sum it all up in one post without making it too long and boring!

Keep in mind, this post will not all be about learning. I like to talk about a little of everything including the restaurants, so enjoy! Hopefully it will give you some thoughts for the trip to Colorado!

Packing

Before I even started packing, I attended a session with NECC Pros at DEN SL and ISTE SL. Both of those sessions gave me great packing tips (wear comfy shoes, pack a power strip, bring an umbrella, etc). I took most of those tips and used little of them in the end. Probably the biggest thing I needed was a super charge for my blackberry. I had to charge that thing constantly! The internet service at the convention center left much to be desired, so after day one, I quit carrying my laptop. I also went out an bought a backpack as I tend to have back issues when carrying around a bag all day. Turned out that a backpack does the same, so in the end, I used a small tote bag and just carried less. This is really just personal preference, but wanted to share my experience. You don't really have to carry all of that stuff around! It was hard for me to let go at first, but in the end, it was a good idea.

Day One: Edubloggercon (Saturday)

I arrived super early on day one-my flight landed on time at 7am, hopped a cab to the hotel, dropped off my bags and immediately headed to the convention center. I wasn't sure what to expect with edubloggercon. Yes, I had heard a lot about it and had looked at the webpage, but still didn't totally understand what it would involve. The first part of the morning was dedicated to connecting with friends. I spent some time chatting with a few that I hadn't seen in a while and some that I had never met face to face. It was nice to allow this time as I knew so many that I wanted to meet. After that came my favorite part of the entire conference: the smackdown. This involved several edubloggercon attendees from all walks of life walking up to the stage and sharing something they knew was worth sharing. It started out that htey had 3 minutes each and as time passed, it went down to 30 seconds (because there were so many volunteers). This was perfect for me-quick looks at neat websites, gadgets, etc. I do something similar tot his with my technology minute at school so it was exciting to see it on a little different level.

After the smackdown, we did breakout sessions on various topics, I went to one on ipods and one on google apps. A large group of us went to lunch together at RFD and shared more ideas, then there was also an after party to connect even more with the people you had met throughout the day. This was a very well planned event and my favorite of the entire 5 days.

Day 2: A little Down Time (Sunday)

This day didn't have a lot going on-especially in the morning, so it was a great opportunity to do some sight seeing. Headed over to the mall with a friend, enjoyed a wonderful day seeing the attractions and then headed back so we could attend the Second Life Meet and Greet. This was so much fun as it was the first time meeting many of the people I talk to on a regular basis in second life. After the meet and greet, we all headed up to the keynote. I only made it through the opening stuff (preview of the new electric company and the conference opening) before my phone started to die. I had great conversations going on through IM on that phone so I opted to go back and charge it so I would have it for the rest of the evening. Turned out to be a good plan, but I know I missed a great keynote speaker.

We had dinner at a lovely irish pub with fantastic food. We started with 2 people and ended up with 5 so it was fantastic conversation and an asbolutely wonderful time. Great end to the day and one of my favorite (if not my favorite) places to eat during the trip.

Day 3: The beginning (Monday)

Yes, it was day three and only the beginning! I was already tired! I got up and headed to the conference center for the first day of sessions.

I attended a session on building leadership which happened to be given by a person whose hotel room I tried to break into (accidentally) the day before! I already had it on my list to attend, but after having met her, I decided that I definitely needed to go! She shared many great ideas about leadership and focused on it being a way of life, not a position that you hold. I liked this and since I was reading the book Building the Bridge As You Walk On It, I found that many of the things she said were related to my current thoughts. I'm hoping she'll post her presentation soon as it had many great quotes and tips for building leadership.

We had tapas for lunch at La Tasca (the first time for everyone in our group). What a fantastic way to share a lunch with friends! Highly recommend the experience to anyone dining in a group. We had the most fun trying new foods and sharing stories.

After lunch, we all headed over to the poster session area to support our friend, Andy, in his presentation on Virtual Pioneers. We are all members of the organization and Andy is a great friend of ours so seeing the excitement for the program and watching his presentation was awesome. Virtual Pioneers is an organization within Second Life for expanding professional development opportunities for social studies teachers. More information about it can be found at the links above.

My next stop was the Birds of a Feather session on ipods. This was my first BOF session and wasn't sure what to expect. We divided into interest groups in the beginning and discussed ideas for using ipods in the classroom, writing grants for funding, etc. Then, some of the people running the session shared their use of ipods, ways to enhance their use in the classroom, etc. Scott Meech shared a great resource he is workign on called IEAR. I encourage you to check this site out if you are interested in using ipods/iphones at all. I enjoyed this session even though I was so tired I could hardly pay attention. I ended up heading back to the hotel for a quick nap as I knew the night was full of more activities.

This evening was full of parties!! We first started at the volunteer's reception which was held at the convention center. The music was absolutely fantastic and my friend Massimo won a year of webinars! Had a lot of fun talking with people there, but then we were quickly off to the tweetup. This one was in a true bar. By the time we got there, the free tab was already gone, so we stayed for one drink, some mingling and then headed to a late dinner. By this time we were all starving so we ate at an italian restaurant across the street. Again, just have to say how cool it is to spend time with friends that I've known so well in Second Life, but have never met. This night was just so much fun!

Day 4: Slowing down (Tuesday)

You can tell everyone is slowing down just a bit today. Everyone is mentally and physically tired. I actually slept way too late this day and got a late start. I was volunteering at the second life playground so I headed straight there. Had so much fun helping a couple of the new folks. It's fun helping someone get started in SL, but helping them in RL do the same thing is really cool!

After volunteering I headed up to Leslie Fishers presentation on ipods and iphones. I've seen this presentation before (with a few differences) but I knew I had to see it again because my thoughts had changed and some things had also changed in the ipod world since I attended the last one. She does a fantastic job at sharing new and exciting apps available. You can find her presentation on her webpage. I encourage everyone to check it out as she shares many apps that are fantastic.

For lunch we headed to China town and had dim sum. I was a bit skeptical about this, but it turned out to be wonderful. It's similar to tapas, but with chinese food. We ordered lots of different things and tried them all. Lots of fun and a few new friends came along for this one so it was great getting to know them as well.

Spent a little time at the Second Life playground which has served as a bit of a home base for me on this trip. I checked in there a few times a day and usually started there in the morning. Several of us then headed to Peggy Sheehy's presentation on Ramapo Islands which was absolutely fantastic. Peggy is a gem to the second life educational community and I feel so honored to know and work with her. The work she has done with her district is phenomenal and if you ever have a chance to hear her speak in RL or in SL, you should jump at the opportunity. Read more about her projects on her blog.

We headed to Legal Seafood for dinner tonight, knowing it was our last dinner with our usual group. We lived it up and had a ton of fun again. I had to leave pretty quickly for an event by the new CRSTE group, so we headed out, said our goodbye's and I headed to the museum of history for a party. CRSTE, I learned, was just started the week of NECC and includes several states around NC as a way to build friendships with surrounding states and share information with each other. This organization stands for much of what I believe in as an ed-tech person. As soon as I heard the background of why they got started, I was totally sold. Got a chance to meet some of the organizers of the community and can't wait to work more closely with them in the future.

Day 5: The last day

Even though it was the last day, and I was a little sad to leave, I was ready to go home too. Tired of walking, tired of carrying a bag and my brain was fried!
Got up and headed straight to the Second Life Playground. Spent most of the day here actually and some time away saying goodbye to a few friends. I didn't attend any sessions this day except for those that went on in the SL playground. This was my time to wind down and enjoy the last few hours.

At the SL playground I got the opportunity to hear Claudia Linden talk about grants for SL. I thought it was interesting that no one in the room or in the sl auditorium had written a grant with success yet. No one was turned down either, so that gives hope. Three of us, however, had written some and were awaiting a response. I have one in through ING right now and hoping for a response soon.

I'm pretty positive I've forgotten something important (and may add it later), but overall, the networking and friendships were the theme of the conference. Absolutely enjoyed every single minute of the trip and can't wait to go back next year. Have a few things going on behind the scenes right now (more on that later) that I think will make next year's conference even more exciting with new opportunities and adventures.

See you at ISTE 2010!

NC SL Educators - First Meeting

2009-06-22T20:57:00.000-04:00

With the help of Newton Apogee in Second Life, I started a North Carolina Second Life Educators group. We had our first meeting tonight and I believe it was a great success.
We had 7 people attend and the purpose of the meeting was to come up with some sort of plan for the direction of the group. The 7 in attendance included corporate as well as educational influence and ranged from technology facilitators to technology directors across the state of NC. We all introduced ourselves, made a plan for the next meeting and decided on a common meeting time. Our first official event will take place July 20th and will be a sharing session from those that attend NECC.
Also part of the planning process, I created a second life group called NC SL Educators, updated the Ning (http://ncsleducators.ning.com/) I had already created for the NCTIES conference a few months ago and created a twitter account for the group (ncsleducators).
Overall, I'm pretty excited about it. I think it will be a great opportunity for those educators in NC that have explored Second Life and want to know more. This is an option for them to learn from those names they are familiar with from conferences, etc. We have a great group helping to get it started and I truly feel it will be a success!

Get on Board the Technology Train-A look at Summer Camp

2009-06-03T09:25:00.000-04:00

I've been going on and on about my county's summer technology camp for a few months now and many have asked me to share what we do to plan and prepare for such a large event. I will tell you it is a culmination of the efforts of many folks, namely all of the awesome technology facilitators we have in our district. Luckily, we are in a county that has at least one technology facilitator in every school, so we have several fantastic educators to help with the construction of the camp.

This all started last year as a way to promote technology in our district. We hold the camp at our newest high school which is equipped with mounted SMART Boards in every classroom and awesome facilities all around. It is a two day event held in the beginning of August to give teachers a fresh outlook on the new school year. The camp is totally free for our teachers and we even give away fantastic prizes such as digital cameras, SMART Boards, tshirts, gift certificates, etc.

Last year was our learning year. We knew we had a goal in mind to do it with as little cost as possible and hopefully free. We managed to pull that off with generous donations from several businesses in our area.

In the beginning, we broke up into groups, each technology facilitator volunteering for at least one. Those groups include:
Music and Welcome
Program Guide/Schedule/Wiki
Registration
Marketing and Advertising
Food
Prize Seeking
Tech Support
Setup/Cleanup
Outside Instructors (finding some)
Evaluation
Once groups are constructed, we meet on several occasions to pull everything together and we meet once a month as a large group to share what our smaller committees have accomplished. This has worked very well and is definitely one of the reasons we have had such great success.

All technology facilitators are expected to present and this year we have added a group of outside presenters as well. Last year we did not invite many outside presenters because we just weren't sure how well it would work. This year everyone is excited to see what new thoughts and ideas are shared with presenters joining us from all over the state of North Carolina.

We ask teachers to register (using a form on our school website). This gives us an idea of how many presenters we need to secure for the camp which is important because you don't want to have way too many or not enough. Last year we found which sessions were most popular and have adjusted accordingly to provide either larger rooms or multiple opportunities to attend those sessions.

The camp is totally free to the teachers in our district, so many come and stay for the entire two days. They receive Continuing Education Units for the days and we monitor this by giving them a card at registration. In each session they attend, the presenter stamps their card and at the end of the day, the cards are turned in to the camp staff. Over the course of the following few weeks, all of the attendance is entered into our credit system and teachers receive their CEU's. Also on the card is an evaluation, so not only do we get information on sessions they attended, but they are asked to evaluate the camp as a whole to give us ideas for the next year. This has been a great success and has helped us in planning this time around.

Take a look at our camp wiki from last year so you can see the basic structure and see all of the sessions we were able to offer. We are offering many of the same and also many different sessions this year and have made one change to the structure (only one keynote this year). I will share this year's camp wiki once it is available. It is still in a rough draft form.

Our theme this year is "Get on Board the Technology Train". For promotional purposes, we have a video, fliers and of course the wiki. These items are shared with teachers over the course of about 2-3 months in preparation for the camp and we ask everyone to have registered by the end of June so we can make final preparations in July for the camp in August. Everyone is excited about what this year's camp will bring as it was such a huge success last year. We had about 600 teachers sign up for the camp last year and hope to have as many or more this time.

WolframAlpha Works For Schools!

2009-05-29T07:44:00.000-04:00

I've been exploring a new search engine called WolframAlpha the last couple of days. It is a fantastic resource for many disciplines and I can find great educational use in this tool.
As a former foods and nutrition teacher, I was quite excited to see the data that was found when I typed in the word "Apple" and got a nutrition facts label and several other charts displaying nutrients provided in 1 apple. I considered the projects I would do with students using labels they would have to bring in (and of course forget). This tool would be such a fantastic way to do those projects without having to spend extra time on finding labels.
The next search I did (a little more fun) was my birthday. I typed in the date and found that I am 10,888 days old! It also told me that no notable events happened on that day (except for of course the obvious) and informed me that the sun came up at 6:37.
As you may be able to tell, this search engine is focused more on data, charts, graphs, etc. It will compare stocks, perform calculations and give you statistics about dates, towns and even people. I encourage you to check this one out if you haven't already but keep in mind as you're looking that this engine is specific in its information. You're not going to be able to type in everything and get a list of results.

You're Too Old to Hear My Phone!

2009-05-19T17:23:00.000-04:00

At first, I thought my technology manager was telling a joke when he told me about teens using high frequency ring tones on their cell phones, but turns out they're very popular. Students are using them, of course, to alert them when a text comes in during class. Seems that teens can hear sounds at higher decibels than we "old" people can.
Honestly, I was a bit skeptical until he showed me this website from Free Mosquito Ringtones. Go ahead, test it yourself. I recommend you get someone younger than you to sit with you just to prove it. If you want to know how each sound corresponds to age, see this page.
Yes, this is just another method to get around the rules of the school that govern the use of cell phones in class. I say it's still pretty cool though and I read that a student came up with the idea-way to use your noggin' kid-pretty cool stuff!

iExcited!

2009-05-15T19:20:00.000-04:00

Have been working on the iPod cart most of of the week so I wanted to send out an update on a few things I've learned along the way.

I met with my technology manager earlier this week so we could figure out how to get everything set up correctly. Being the first in our county to have an ipod cart, I think we were both excited about playing with something new! We had talked with Val Brown, the technology specialist at Culbreth Middle School in Chapel Hill NC and received a few pointers. We knew from talking with her that we needed to get an email address for the cart, a paypal account and an itunes account. We're keeping the account information secure between a few individuals at our school so anyone that wants to buy an app will have to get it approved first through one of us-probably me. We had a cash back card from the NEC Star Student program that we're using to provide money for buying apps. It worked out really well because Apple doesn't have anything set up for purchasing power with schools. We don't have any way of doing a purchase order through itunes or setting up a paypal account through the school, so for us we felt this was the best way to handle buying the apps.

With all of the accounts set up, we were ready to start registering the ipods. We knew we would have to do it one at a time and we held our breath as we did #6 because we both felt like we had heard you could only have 5 ipods per computer. We learned that is just not true! The ipod cart comes with two drawers that hold 20 ipods per drawer. Each drawer has its own cable to sync the units, so 20 ipods can be synched at one time (once you go through the initial setup process). It is so important to have your accounts set up before you get started because the itunes account is what is needed to register your ipod.

After we set up 6, he left me to do the rest, but I couldn't help but to go download a bunch of apps! I went and found a ton of freebie educational apps and put them on the computer. It was really neat to plug them all in (and hear the sound of them linking) and watch them sync. In the end, that wasn't the best idea. I learned the hard way that once you have all those apps on there, the set up process takes a little longer. Once you register the ipods, you have to wait for all of the apps to load. In retrospect I realize that I could have turned off automatic synching, but it really wasn't that big of a deal as one ipod can by performing the sync while you're registering others.

I got through about 20 of them and my principal came knocking at my door. She was all excited because there was a class of students that was available to test the ipods and she wanted to see what they thought. I gave her a few and sent her on her way and then thought, wait a minute-why does she get to have all the fun? So, I went to the class to see what was going on. When I got there, the kids had already gotten together and were using the apps that I had just installed. By the end of the period, they had made a list of all of the apps and shared their opinions of each. They found the formulas app with all types of math formulas to be pretty fantastic while the iBrush app, used to teach you how to brush your teeth, was not so great! (That one was more for me to try-it is neat...once).

Now, we're looking for an engraver. I made the mistake of forgetting to get them engraved when we purchased. We want the school name to be on there somewhere in case one gets lots or stolen. Once we get the engraving done, we'll be ready to send them out for more testing!

Google Sites gets Thumbs up!

2009-05-08T14:11:00.000-04:00

I have had the opportunity to work as a mentor to a graduation project student this semester. It has been a very rewarding experience. His topic relates to social networking and he is the only student in our county creating an online portfolio. He volunteered to try it after finding out that I would be his mentor. A few of us tech nerds in the county have been wanting to get the graduation project to go digital and we're hoping this example might help move the process along.
Upon first meeting with him, we talked about options for creating the portfolio online which included many free and paid sites. I told him to try out a few that looked of interest to him and let me know which he thought was best for his needs. In the end, he picked Google Sites. I was of course pleased because I love Google and Sites is an area I've not really explored too much.

I sat down with him for our last meeting of the year yesterday and we talked about the Pros and Cons of using Google Sites as a tool for the graduation project.

Pros:
1. He was amazed at how easy it was to get started and work on the pages. He really felt like it would take very little computer knowledge (by teachers or students) to create a Google Site
2. The colors and customization are great and very easy to change even after you've created the site.
3. There are spots on each page (if you want them there) to add comments, so if he had wanted to share his site with others (peer editing, etc.) they could have posted their comments right on the page.

Cons:
1. When using columns, it's set up so that the 2nd column is fixed. In other words, if you resize the page, the 2nd column does not change it's size, but the 1st column does. This caused a problem on at least one of his pages.
2. We were not able to find a way to edit table borders. We tried to create a table when we had problems with the columns but there wasn't a way to make the table borders invisible.

Overall, he felt that the ease of use of the google sites was fantastic and said he's recommend it as a tool to use in the future. He will be sharing his site with students in his class next week and has been asked to present it to the graduation project committee during their county-wide meeting (also next week). He hasn't finished the site as of this moment and has asked that I don't share it yet. Once he give me the ok, I'll post it here.

Apps of Steel

2009-05-01T14:36:00.000-04:00

Our Mac server arrived today for the 21st Century Lab! The lab is not ready yet, but we're setting up our ipod cart so that it works with the server, allowing us to manage the apps and other settings on the ipods. I want to add lots of apps to the ipods so teachers can start learning and helping me to find those "Apps of Steel" that should be on all of the units. We're looking for all the apps we can try that are related to the various curriculum areas in a high school. Teachers will evaluate them and once we decide which apps each department wants to use, we'll put them on the server to sync with the ipods.
I have talked with one teacher and actually gave him one of the ipods to try. He's been very successful in learning to use the ipod as well as find many apps that are available for his discipline (Social Studies). His department recently got together and he shared what he was finding. I asked how it was received and he said it was positive, but with any new technology, there were concerns.
Not only are teachers concerned about learning how to use the equipment, but they are still looking at it as an "extra" thing to add to their day. I mentioned this in another blog post and it becomes more aware to me every day that I need to refocus their thinking on technology integration.
It was also mentioned that teachers might be a little resentful of the new equipment because of the budget cuts in our state. My talk with this teacher solidified the fact that I may need to step lightly around this for a little while-at least until the dust settles this year. In the mean time, we are pushing forward. I believe once a few of the teachers here start to see the educational options available with the ipod touch, word will travel quickly and we'll get buy-in from the teachers. I know I already have excitement of the students because every student that walks in my office drops their jaw when they see the stack of ipods on my table!

Tweetdeck versus Twhirl

2009-04-30T20:49:00.000-04:00

Twitter has become one of my biggest resources for my personal learning network and I find that I check it multiple times a day-sometimes multiple times a minute, so I figured it was probably time to look for an easier way of keeping up with the latest tweets. I was given the recommendation to look at Tweetdeck and Twhirl.

My first impression of Tweetdeck wasn't good. I found it a little more difficult to use, but if you want all the bells and whistles or have a complex listing of tweets, this might be the way to go. Tweetdeck has 3 columns ( you can add up to 10 I believe), one for your full listing of tweets, one for your @ replies and one for your DM's. Personally, I wanted one column and found that there is a way to reduce it down to just one listing of tweets.
I did like the color customization with tweetdeck-it allowed me to make the window my school colors, which was fun. I also liked the alert sound when a new tweet came in. We all know that colors and sounds are very important, right? One small problem I found is after I shut down my computer for the day and returned the next morning, I couldn't get tweetdeck to reopen in a small window. I'm not sure why-I'm assuming maybe I did something wrong, but I still haven't been able to open back up without it taking up my entire screen.

Tweeting was easy with tweetdeck, but it did take me a second to figure out that sending a direct message or @reply had to be done by holding my mouse over the picture of a person. One neat feature I did like was that urls could be easily shortened with a click of a button into a tinyurl. Always nice when you have limited characters.

After the problem I had with tweetdeck, I was ready to download Twhirl. It seemed to me that the install process with twhirl was a lot faster. It was up and running in less than a minute.
My first impression was good. It had the small "chat size" window I was looking for and it was kind of cute. There aren't as many color options with twhirl, but that's not really the point here, so I didn't focus on that. I was able to easily switch between dms, @replies and my listing of tweets via small buttons at the bottom of the window.

One of the first things I looked for was the shortened url option I had liked so much in tweetdeck and twhirl did have it! Found tweeting to be very easy and also noticed with twhirl that when you do an @reply, it places the picture of both you and the person you're replying to next to the tweet.

In the end, I picked twhirl. I am more simplistic in my needs for a tool like this and twhirl had all I needed in an easy to use, small window. I can see that if I had a lot more followers or followed a lot more people, tweetdeck would be a good option as I could see everything in one area. I might also be more interested in tweetdeck if I wanted to see facebook status updates as it has an option to integrate those as well.

Not a school + technology

2009-04-27T08:32:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to attend the DEN Virtual Conference and listen to Chris Lehmann speak. One thing he said was that a school should not be a school + technology, the school should change the way it thinks and be different with the technology. I've already noticed that our school is becoming known as that "old" school with lots of new technology. I don't want people to think we just have it sitting around and our teachers aren't doing anything differently now that we have it.
Before spring break, I had a lot of this in my head and took a few moments to write it down. I now have a big yellow sheet of paper on my wall with all of my thoughts about how I'm going to change the way the teachers here think about how technology should be used in the classroom. I immediately thought of that big yellow sheet when I was listening to Chris speak and was excited to hear him talk about the things I had already been considering.

I have a lot of ideas and hope to get more as I talk with others over the next few months.
First of all, I need to change the way I'm doing training. When I first got here, I found that most teachers just needed to be introduced. They weren't aware of the things that were out there for them and I needed to make them aware of what is available. We focused on Web 2.0 quite a bit. I"ve noticed this year a shift in how teachers are looking at things. Many are asking for more and they want to practice and play.

With that in mind, next year my trainings will be mostly hands on and the teachers will leave with some kind of product. They'll learn as a student would in the classroom. I'll play the part of the teacher and we'll focus on various disciplines throughout the year. I'm hoping that by modeling how the teacher should be in the classroom, we'll end up with a more seamless integration of technology at our school.

In each of my trainings, I hope to cover 3 important things:
1. What do you, as the teacher, NEED to know to do this project
2. What do you, as the teacher, need to be able to learn ALONG WITH your students
3. How do you foster the collaborative classroom atmosphere (tips, thoughts, sharing, etc.)

I'm hoping that by covering each of these a little in every session, not only will the teacher better understand the project and how it can be used in their classroom, but they can also begin to understand the importance of collaboration.

I'm currently working with my administrative team to make the theme of next year "collaboration". The new lab we're doing, the new teacher appraisal instrument and the PLC's all are focused on collaboration so I think it stands out as a theme to carry through the year. Announcing this at the beginning of the year and then mentioning it several times throughout will surely help in placing the focus in the right direction.

Tips for Starting a Second Life Program

2009-04-24T13:12:00.000-04:00

Once people find out what I'm doing with second life at my school, I tend to get a lot of questions about getting started with a SL program. We are moving slowly here (on purpose), but I've learned quite a bit so far that I thought I'd share. I'm sure this list is only the beginning.

Talk to your technical team.
They will be highly involved in the success of implementation. I recently talked to mine again because Second Life is about to be a county-wide resource as opposed to it currently only being run in my school and maybe a little in one other. Because of this, there are many things to consider. What we have decided to do is block of a period of time to run Second Life on one machine, then run it on several simultaneously. The technical team will watch what happens with bandwidth etc. depending on the activities being done. This will help us move forward to determine how many people can be on at once and if it will affect any programs we're currently running.

Know what you're doing before you begin implementation...
then go learn a little more for good measure. I've said over and over that I can't believe how much there is to learn in Second Life. Just when I begin to think I really know how to do something, I learn something else. It will be imperative to know a lot before beginning to teach other people about second life because the questions that come up tend to be complicated at times.

Get your admin on board
They may be terrified at first, but find the most positive way to introduce it and explain it as fully as you possibly can. If there are complaints or questions about what students are doing in Second Life, they'll be the first person a parent calls, so they need to be fully aware of how it is being used and why it is a good educational resource.

Start small
Get a few teachers interested that will help spread the word. With something this big and this new, it's best to have a few people around that are willing to share their thoughts and ideas, so pick those people and help them get started first. Use this quickstart guide to help you

Check your computers for minimum requirements to run second life
One of the biggest problems I have had is our computers not being able to handle the graphics of second life. It takes a good graphics card and many school bought computers don't have that because they usually are not equipped with extra features. We ended up getting a mac lab at our school specifically for second life use. Check the requirements on the second life site to be sure your computers are ready.

Get a premium account
I've had to enter a few support tickets to fix little problems here and there. One of those problems, for example, dealt with allowing more than 5 accounts per ip address (which is a problem you'll most likely encounter). You have to have a paid account to enter those support tickets. Linden's support center is pretty good, so you will most likely need their help at some point in the process.

My Big Three

2009-04-07T13:20:00.000-04:00

I was given the advice from Susan Wells to have a big three. In other words, focus on 3 big things and always know what those are so you know you're working toward your goals. I've been thinking about this for a while and after having feelings of being totally overwhelmed lately, I decided it was time to put it on paper. I think I cheated a little because I came up with two sets of big threes, one for work and one for other things. Once I look at them, they're all work related, but the three I put under work were directly related to my school. My school is my first priority, so I'll begin with those (in no particular order)
1. The collaboration center (AKA 21st Century Lab): This will be consuming most of my time from now, through the summer and a good chunk of my time through the course of next school year. Now I am doing a lot with budgeting and planning. Over the summer I'll be putting it together and then next year will be a lot of training to show our teachers how the lab should be used. It's a full time job in itself!
2. Second Life research. I'm putting a lot of time right now not only learning about second life, but also working to make sure it will function correctly at school. I'm also working with my administration and teachers to write a grant for getting our own island. Due to the fact that the island will be on the teen grid, I have spent and will spend quite a bit of time learning about the teen grid and everything associated with using it as an adult instructor.
3. Training-It's the end of the year and I always find a strong decline in attendance for my workshops. So, I would like to focus my trainings on important topics that relate to teachers even at the end of the year.
My "other" three could probably actually fit as subgroups into the 3 above are all ones that will change a bit over the next couple of months or even be eliminated, but serve as high priority right at this moment. These 3 involve preparing for our county's technology camp, finishing up the semester at my other job as a part time college instructor and preparing for my new job as an instructor for NCVPS!
And just so you know I don't work ALL of the time, I do have one final thing that trumps all others-to do something interesting for myself once a week-by myself or with friends-that doesn't involve sitting around the house or being on the computer! Everyone should have something like this as it serves as great stress relief!
So, I encourage everyone to create a big 3 (or six in my case!). Sometimes it helps to write it down and just see where you stand. It helped me refocus today-try it for yourself!

A new idea is hatching!

2009-04-02T22:56:00.000-04:00

I've been working and dreaming with my principal for about a year and a half now to create a 21st century computer lab complete with a lab, animation stations, podcasting booths and whatever else we could dream up. It's made many changes over time but within the last few weeks we have made most of our final decisions.
Our room will include a full computer lab, 3 smartboards, animation stations, podcasting centers and ipod carts. The focus of the room will be to Create, Communicate and Collaborate. Several centers will be set up to allow small group projects where students become the focus of the learning environment. Upon describing this to someone, they replied by saying, "wow, sounds like it will be noisy in there"! They were exactly right! I expect noise and would be disappointed if it was silent during a visit. Not everyone would be excited about the noise factor, but I think it is essential in a room like this in the 21st century.
Today we received the computers for the room which really made it sink in that this is actually happening. It has only been in my head for so long, it's exciting to start seeing it come together. I will be posting more blogs about the creation, the drama and the excitement surrounding this construction, including photos, so stay tuned-plenty more to come!

iPod, uPod, we all want iPods!

2009-03-26T05:14:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to visit Susan Wells, the principal at Culbreth Middle School in Chapel Hill yesterday. My principal joined me in the visit allowing for a bit of a different perspective on the iPod's use in the classroom. Upon first talking with Ms. Wells, we were excited about the positive atmosphere she has set up for her school. She shares my philosophy of slowly implementing new ideas with staff before bringing the ideas to the kids. I appreciate her understanding of this and believe it was one of the reasons her implementation of iPods in the school has been so successful.
Culbreth has an ipod cart for every school team and several wireless access points around the building. Upon visiting classes, you'll see students working collaboratively on applications installed on the devices and a new excitement on behalf of the teachers. I was impressed to see how the students were working together and talking about the activities they were doing on the iPods. Not only are these great tools for individual work, but the petite design allows for easy collaboration in small groups.
Upon leaving, my principal and I had to get out the ipod we had and find the apps that related more on a high school level. I was pleasantly surprised at the quantity AND quality of many of the apps out there. We purchased a few and tried a few freebies, mostly in the area of math. I think the interaction that many of the apps have is what makes them a fantastic addition to the classroom. Yes, you can read about theorems and postulates in your book and listen to your teacher talk about them, but being able to actually manipulate them on the ipod is what takes learning up a notch.
This trip has caused us to rethink some things and to consider making iPod touch a tool in our school too. If you haven't explored this option yourself, I would highly encourage it. We both went in a little skeptical but came out totally sold on the idea.

The Zone is Ready-are you?

2009-03-15T12:27:00.000-04:00

I am completely amazed at the fact that the teachers at my school can't stop talking about Second Life! I'm all about the "tell a few and let them bring in the others" and it really worked on this one. I started with 1 person that I know is always willing to try anything new that I throw out at her. Then, another came on board and totally wowed me with how quickly she caught on. Now? We have a building called the NCHS Learning Zone, we held our first meet and greet last Thursday and we have over 20 teachers using Second Life. To put the cherry on top, every last person on my administrative team (of 6) has an avatar!
The day after the meet and greet, you could feel the excitement. Everyone that attended kept talking about their experience and teachers that are normally not interested in technology were asking how they could get involved. I must admit, though, that I'm a little surprised. I did not expect this level of enthusiasm right off the bat. It took me 2 weeks to totally figure out the clothing and I had two people make clothes (something I've not tried yet) within the first few days of having an avatar! They're picking it up quickly and I've found that many teachers have been in-world quite a bit this weekend!
There are, however, a few concerns about the social aspect of it. It's exciting, it's new and they want to play with it. Everyone is at the goofy phase right now where dancing and being silly is the norm (as it is for many just getting started in SL).
Soon, I'll be holding a learning session in SL which should be about the time they're over the social aspect and ready to consider the options for work. We all have to play with the dances and gestures at first, but eventually, the funniness wears off and one realizes that it is a great resource for the classroom.
In the meantime, we are putting together a list of second life tips for keeping teachers safe. I"ll post them once they are complete, but would love to hear anyone's thoughts if you're willing to share.

Great Games for the SMART Board

2009-03-15T12:16:00.000-04:00

Jeopardy Templates created by JeopardyLabs
This is a long list of templates for use in K-12 Education. Jeopardy Labs has created a simplified version of jeopardy that is easy to use, quick to set up and great for many disciplines. I always encourage teachers to look for things that are already done-no need to spend lots of time doing it yourself!
These templates start by asking you how many teams you have, then you are taken to the game board where you select what category the student would like to answer. If the student answers correctly, a click of a mouse will tally the scores for you!

P. Twitty

2009-03-12T14:46:00.000-04:00

I recently did a Personal Learning Network session with my administrators. We talked about twitter and Second Life mostly because those are the two that everyone is talking about a lot right now. I also believe that twitter is great for administrators with a small, precious amount of time because it's quick, short and to the point.
Through the course of preparing for the workshop and in the week after, I've noticed twitter in the news and on TV quite a bit! The latest mention of it was on the Ellen show yesterday. P. Diddy was a guest and I was quite surprised when I liked the way he explained what twitter is and how it is used. Take a look at this clip from the show.

Everything's Amazing, Nobody's Happy

2009-02-25T15:27:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus
This is an interesting video with a funny spin on how our world is changing. I encourage you to take a look at it and consider how you fit into this picture. Are you so fast paced that the smallest hiccup causes you stress? I know I tend to be! I think many of us (especially those that fit into the nerd category, such as myself) not only expect things to work, but expect them to make our lives easier. I don't know how many times I've said, "all the technology in the world and THIS is how we have to complete this task?" I always find myself thinking about how things could be made better and am annoyed if the way we're doing it just doesn't make sense! Would love to hear your comments!

Is it time for "the talk"?

2009-02-21T21:29:00.000-05:00

When I was growing up, "the talk" had something to do with birds and bees. Yeah, you know the routine--Mom or Dad fumbling over their words while you sit with your eyes on the floor (or anything but your parent for that matter) and pretend like you didn't just hear them say sex for the third time! Yeah, it makes me a little queasy thinking about it too.
And now, years later, I'm the parent and I often think about how I'm going to be in this very same situation one day. But is this the only talk I need to have with my daughter? Absolutely not. In today's world of the internet at your fingertips, there is yet one more "talk" you need to have with your children. I'll be referring to this one as the "Web talk". The web talk is just as important as the sex talk and for many good reasons.
Children today are growing up in a world where chatting online is more common that talking on the phone. They're sharing anything and everything about themselves without considering the possible consequences. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children states that 1 in 7 youth aged 10-17 experience a sexual solicitation or approach while online. This information alone is enough for many parents to ban the internet in their house. Banning the internet, however, will work about as well as what you want to ban in that other "talk" mentioned earlier. That in mind, though, it is important not to ignore this information. Parents need to take the time to explain to children what the internet can bring and prepare them for situations that may arise. Do your children know what to do if someone approaches them online? Don't ever assume that they do. They may know how to use the internet, but knowing how to safely use the internet is what is important.
There are many internet safety sites available to parents. I like the information provided by the National Center for missing and Exploited Children and encourage parents to check it out now!

SMART Touch Recognition

2009-02-06T13:57:00.000-05:00

Just wanting to share this one! This is a fantastic enhancement to an already awesome product!

Sexting and Schools

2009-02-06T08:34:00.000-05:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Sexting is becoming a widely known term today. This video is a great conversation about the consequences of doing so and what can be done to help prevent this from continuing to be a problem. A comment is made in this video about how we filter the internet to prevent teens from accessing sites, but on their phones, kids can get just about anywhere. The good news is that people are starting to realize this and are finding ways to filter phones and help prevent some of the consequences that are found in this video.
The first time I heard of this happening in a school, I was totally suprised and couldn't believe that anyone would do such a thing. But, now I learn that 1 in 5 teens have tried sexting. So, now we know it's an issue. Let's brainstorm ways to prevent it.

Who Inspires You?

2009-02-01T12:16:00.000-05:00

In the midst of working on a project, I was directed to the book Presentation Zen. I quickly found the website www.presentationzen.com and was drawn in by the very first article, "Who inspires you?" This is a question most people don't consider, but upon really thinking about it, the people who inspire me are always on my mind. When I come to a tough situation, I often think about the people around me and consider what they might do if given the same issue. Professionally, I think of a very dear friend of mine who taught me to:
1. Build your learning network, it will help you grow in many ways, both personally and professionally.
2. Challenge old ways of thinking and help to create new ideas in others' minds
3. Stay up to date with new ideas by researching trends in educational technology. There's always something to learn-especially in this profession.
4. Push yourself to be as good as you believe you are. Don't let fear get in the way when your heart is telling you what you need to do!
This last one is the one that is really hard for me. Still working on it, but I'm getting better and with encouragement, I'll get there one day.
So, I would like to ask everyone to think about someone that inspires you. I only mentioned a professional example in my life, but we all have many people that inspire us in many facets of life. Think about yours and share your gratitude with them.

Being a dinosaur is not so hard after all?

2009-01-26T09:44:00.000-05:00

The 21st century skills guidelines have recently been released and teachers around here are a bit hesitant to even look at them, let alone implement them. One of the teachers in my school recently brought in an article that could make everyone feel better about the changes. Find that article here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/406/story/463086.html
Kay McSpadden has done a fine job of making the teachers feel more comfortable with the changes we are all facing in education. She mentions that she is a "dinosaur" and that her use of gadgets is lacking (although, after reading what she has tried, she's ahead of many). Upon reading the new skills a little more closely, she realizes that not all of the skills deal with gadgets, but are more real life skills that are needed in today's workforce.
So, if it is not about the gadgets, then why are schools spending so much money in technology? Because the gadgets help create that hands-on environment that kids today want so much to be a part of. Having capabilities to do podcasting and moviemaking for class projects helps students soar to the next level in creativity and collaborative skills. Students could very easily give their thoughts on a poem they've learned in English class by writing their thoughts on a piece of paper. But, to take their thoughts, record them in an audio clip similar to what they might hear on a talk show and sharing it will their friends, teachers and family? That's what makes a difference.

Feeling a little Twitterpated?

2009-01-16T11:54:00.000-05:00

Recently read an article about twitter from the desk of David Pogue at the NY times, "Twittering Tips for Beginners". I find that many people have similar situations when using twitter. They'll try it out and think it is way too time consuming, so they'll put it aside. Then, someone shines the light on how it can truly be used as a helpful tool and they become addicted to it's usefulness.
I, personally find that twitter is one of the biggest components to my personal learning network. Upon first using it, I too found it to be a little overwhelming. Then, I got used to the fact that I probably wasn't going to be able to read every last post that was written. Another thing that helped me so much was the addition of finding @ replies. Being able to see all of the replies directed to you is important so you don't miss answers to questions or other good tips along the way.
I find some of my best information from twitter. Once you find the right people to follow (those that don't post every other minute and those who post excellent ideas), you'll understand why it is an important resource to use. Not only do I find great information there, but I also find the most up to date information. If something new and exciting happens in technology, you can be sure that someone is talking about it on twitter.
I encourage everyone to check it out. Give it 2-3 weeks before you cast it aside. It might take that long for it to really click how great it is. www.twitter.com

Web 2.0? What?

2009-01-14T20:53:00.000-05:00

While reading up on all my twitter posts, I discovered this great little sound byte about Web 2.0 and Web 3.0. I love the explanation and just wanted to take this opportunity to share with everyone. Follow this link to hear the audio: http://www.ijohnpederson.com/images//2008/06/jim-kloss-on-web-2.mp3
I truly believe that schools need to focus their attention on these tools and make Web 3.0 our NOW and our future. It will take buy in from teachers, parents, administrators and county/state decision makers to really make it part of the curriculum. Students today understand it. They get it. They want to make it part of every aspect of their lives.
I recently surveyed the students at my school and they had an overwhelming plea to have more access to collaborative tools and to use them in the classroom. Teachers are always looking for ways to make learning interesting. Turns out, it's right under our noses! And so easy to use!

Wordle provides education and fun!

2009-01-09T11:34:00.000-05:00

I discovered www.wordle.net quite some time ago, but hadn't really considered some of the things that one could do with it. For those that may just be discovering wordle, once you visit the website, it asks you to paste text into a text box and then it creates a word cloud of that text. If you used one word over and over again, that word will be larger than words you only used a time or two. Today, while counting down the minutes during lunch duty, I had an opportunity to explain it to a colleague. Through the course of that conversation, we came up with many great ideas of how to use it.
1. Have a student put their research paper into wordle to see what words stick out the most. This could serve as sort of an evaluation tool as well. Are you emphasizing your topic with appropriate terminology? Could you focus more on a topic than the wordle is showing? There are many questions one could ask themselves about a paper after viewing their wordle.
2. What if you recorded yourself into speech recognition software while giving a speech and put your speech into wordle? We discussed the possibility of "uh" showing up as the main, bold word. It would be even more interesting to compare the speech text to the written speech a student made before hand.
3. The final idea, before the lunch bell rang, was to put a resume into wordle. The wordle you see above is created from copying and pasting my resume into the wordle website. It's interesting for me to see that technology and school show up as the two main words. I think this will be something neat and interesting to paste into my online resume so employers can see my main focus before even looking at my qualifications.
Wordle is so much fun. I've been playing with wordle now to show everything that makes up my personal learning network. I think it will be a fun way to show people what my network looks like. I would like to use it as an introduction to explaining personal learning networks to teachers in my school.

Second Life update

2009-01-06T10:28:00.000-05:00

I've been on Second life for about a month an a half. I thought I'd do an update on where I am and what I've learned. You may be able to tell from my picture that I have learned how to change my appearance and I have found a new hobby-shopping! I've even paid actual money to buy hair!

I have met lots of great people that have helped me learn new things, join groups that are of importance to education and do a little girlie shopping! My personal learning network grows every day with the new people I meet.

I've learned things like how to create a laptop in world with links that take you to my blog and my website. I've also learned how to do a presentation using a presentation board and laptop. One of the neatest things I've learned is how to create a tour. The tour allows you to create pictures of places you might visit in Second Life and give the person on the tour a description of that place, maybe even an assignment and a picture! I"ve not gotten to use any of these on actual people yet, but hope to do so very soon.

I"ve attended some great workshops on integrating technology by some big name folks in technology education. There are so many things to do in Second Life with all the events to go to. Workshops, parties, dances, socials. They're all ways to meet people and share ideas.

I've also had the chance to share Second Life with my administrators. While we were in world, we were able to voice chat with another administrator on SL integration. It couldn't have been a better way to show them how well it could function as a tool for learning.

I've now been asked to research more on getting an island for my school and possibly my school district. I have a few administrators online and have pulled in a few technology facilitators. I'm on pretty much every night if only for a few minutes and I constantly seek out new learning opportunities.

A lot of progress in less than 2 months! Can't wait to see what the next two months brings!

It's official! I have a space!

2009-01-06T09:47:00.000-05:00

I finally have a website! I've been planning to create one for quite some time and am so excited to finally announce that www.mrslachance.com is up and running! It is very basic at this point, but does include a page for Second Life and a page for Google. My plans for the future are to include lots of information on various resources available for technology integration in the K-12 classroom. I also want to include lots of information about creating and maintaining a personal learning network.
So, please stop by and check it out. I'm accepting comments for anything you think I should change or update.

I'm movin' on up!

2008-12-27T13:02:00.000-05:00

Got the best Christmas gift ever! I'm now blogging on my new 20 inch iMac!! It's great to get a new computer not only because of the new "technology smell", but also because I can reorganize all the "junk" from my old computer. When prompted to connect a firewire and pull in all the files from my old computer, I opted not to because I think this is a great opportunity for me to start fresh and new and only use the things I need. I'll slowly weed out things that are necessary from the old laptop and hopefully, in the end, I'll be left with a nice new computer free of clutter.
Just to let you know how behind the times I was, I am going from a 60 gig macbook to a 500 gig iMac! My macbook was so full, I couldn't save a single thing to it. Now, I have so much space, I don't know how I'll fill it! (I'm sure I will).
Although it's new and exciting, I am finding I have to learn a new operating system (which I think I'll like) and a new Microsoft Office Suite (which I also think I'll like). So, I'll be busy for the next few days, playing with my new toys!

Now entering the land of slow technology

2008-12-21T15:55:00.000-05:00

I'm heading home to the great state of West Virginia for the holidays. Now, you know I love the place. It's beautiful in any season and has some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. However, as a technology geek, I struggle with my visits. My mom has dial-up. No high speed here. Don't even think about looking at pictures, let alone virtual worlds! So, going home for the holidays is becoming down time for me. I'm leaving my internet addiction at home and enjoying time with family for a few days. I plan to come back nice and refreshed, ready to enjoy the rest of my break....online! See you then.

Wanted: Technology in Action

2008-12-21T08:11:00.000-05:00

I am starting to plan for a multimedia room at my school. My plans for this room include a podcasting booth, an animation design center, a video corner with green screen and a full working lab. Before we get too far into planning, my principal asked me to do a little research and see if I could find a school with a similar (or maybe even a better) situation. We want to make sure we're spending the money appropriately and we want the room to be top notch for our students and staff.
So, this is my challenge to you! Think about any school you may know of that has a similar situation and email me: mrslachance@gmail.com (or post a comment to this entry). We'd love to visit the school to see their resources in action.
Or, if you think there is something different I should be doing, please feel free to comment or email me as well. I'm accepting any ideas at this point.

Share it all with Google

2008-12-11T12:02:00.000-05:00

I recently discovered a neat little tool called Google Sharing. It allows you to put a button in your browser and easily share the website that you are viewing with friends. There are several sharing options once you press the button. In one way, you can simply email the link to someone. Another allows you to post to popular social networking sites and the final way is to post to your Google sharing page. With all options, you are asked to enter a brief description of what you are sharing so the recipient knows how it can be used.
Yes, this is very similar to social bookmarking, but the ease of use in my opinion is fantastic! I think that this would be a great option for sharing sites amongst the staff at my school. Once you create your page, all you have to do is share your link!
Happy Browsing! My google shared site

A look into Second Life

2008-12-08T07:31:00.000-05:00

I've been exploring Second Life for a couple of weeks now and have learned a lot! I've spent most of my time on ISTE island, which has been great for helping me to learn new things about, not only education, but also how to navigate the program.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the program and have become a bit addicted. I'm one of those people that has to completely immerse myself in something until I learn it.
Upon first entering the program, I was pretty pleased with how easy it was to get started. Successful at navigating and changing my appearance, I headed over to ISTE Island. After a few nights of visiting, I met someone there that invited me to watch a class at Western Carolina University's Island. This class was a group of students that were presenting lesson plans they had created. It was amazing! I knew this kind of stuff happened, but it really took seeing it to totally grasp the concept.
After that night, I started having problems with the program crashing. It wouldn't let me in but for maybe a minute or so at a time. It was becoming more of an annoyance at this point. It took me about a week but I finally figured out that the problem was the video card in my computer. So, I tried it on my Mac last night and it worked fine.
I think this could be a great option in high school for not only staff development, but for classes as well. Now that I know that so many universities and businesses use this, I think it is important to either use it as a school district (you can buy your own island). Or at least talk about it to students so that they will have at least heard of it by the time they have to use it.
My Second Life name is Julie Sugarplum.

Innovation Day

2008-11-19T13:33:00.000-05:00

November 18th, 2008 was Innovation Day in the state of NC. Schools were invited to participate in the event by opening their doors to the community in order to see what is changing in the schools in the 21st century. Two schools were selected in my county, one being my own and I felt that it was a success. We applied late, so we really only had a week or so to prepare. Schools are supposed to invite people to attend and because of our late notice, we didn't get many invitations out. We did have a few local school leaders in attendance, though. They were given tours of certain classrooms to see what we are doing that is Innovative at our schools. They were shown the classrooms that have 21st century equipment, classrooms that are using nings and wikis and classrooms that are using interactive games. All said they enjoyed the experience and they were glad to see some of the things going on in the schools. I look forward to doing this again next year now that I know all about it. I think it will grow in its success as each year passes.

Technology Enrichment Day a Success

2008-11-11T07:54:00.000-05:00

My school district started a new program to educate teachers more on technology. Schools were asked to select three teachers to send to "Technology Enrichment Training" and learn more about SMART Boards, Web 2.0 and more! The three teachers selected would attend the training and then be asked to go back to the schools to present the information learned to the rest of their staff. It really is a win-win for everyone!
Technology facilitators in the county were asked to present the information and the first session, titled "We're So SMART!" was held last week. We started with the basics, such as how to write with a pen and orient the board and by the end of the day, we were doing page recordings and changing themes. We had all levels of learners present from those that had never used a SMART Board to those that used them every day. The goal was to educate everyone on something new.
As a TF myself, I always tell teachers that after 2 weeks of having the board in their classroom, they'll definitely know more than I ever will, just for the simple fact that using every day creates a mastery. This was proven to be so true. There were a few teachers that had SMART Boards in their classrooms and those teachers taught us things we would have never figured out on our own. One of the most helpful was how to change the language of the board so that it would recognize something other than English as it's main language.
This first workshop was a full day from 7:30 to 3:00 and it was packed full of information about Everything SMART (Document Cameras, Boards, Senteos, Notebook, Airliners) all presented by three people. The next two sessions will be all about Web 2.0. Several TF's will be presenting on all types of educational tools available online. More updates to come soon!

A gift exchange....across the miles?

2008-11-03T13:03:00.000-05:00

In my family, we have decided to go for the gift exchange thing rather than buying everyone a present for the holidays. I'm sure many others are in a similar situation this year, but we did this last year for the first time and found we actually enjoyed it more than getting a ton of gifts. What made it even more fun was that when we were shopping all the sales (ex: Black Friday), we could buy for ourselves (we normally have a "don't buy for yourself after Thanksgiving" rule.) This brought a whole new excitement to getting up at 4 in the morning!
Now, I know you're sold on the old save money, less stress aspect of holiday gift buying, but what about those families that are all separated by a few states and you just don't have the means to get together to do a "drawing" of names out of a hat? This is the first year everyone in my family won't be getting together for Thanksgiving, so we had to find a way to exchange names without meeting face to face. We all decided that we did want it to be a secret, so the nerd in me decided to go look around online for a cyber-alternative. I found a great website called Secret-Gift.com.
This site gives even more options than I was expecting. You can set up profiles for each person you are inviting. They receive an email, then they fill out information about themselves and answer preset questions about things they might like to receive. Once everyone has accepted the invitation and filled out the answers to their questions, the manager of the group can select those that shouldn't get each others' names. For example: Husbands and Wives don't really want to draw each others' names. Once you set those parameters, you tell the program to draw and it emails everyone with their secret names.
So far it is a success in our family. We all (whether we admit it or not) have a nerdy side, so everyone is excited about the fact of drawing names online too.

How I Became Fabulous

2008-10-07T09:31:00.000-04:00

Many years ago I would list "searching the internet" as one of my hobbies. Yes, with weird stares and questions about what I could possibly be looking for. I just liked the thrill of the hunt. You never know what you might find out there.

Well, as the internet has grown and I found myself busy with a job and a family, that hobby was lost until I met a good friend who helped me learn new and interesting ways to find those neat websites. (Thanks Jason)

Now that I'm a technology facilitator and hang out with a "bunch of nerds" (they're aware I call them that and I think they're actually appreciative). They always ask "how do you know all this-you're fabulous!". I may have embellished the last two words on that quote, but I'm pretty sure they were thinking it! :)

Anyway, truth is, I'm not really that fantastic, I just have a few great tools to help me get there. I figured I'd take a moment to share those few things which are so helpful to me.

1. I share. This is probably my biggest resource. You may be thinking that sharing is me giving ideas away, so how on earth can it be a resource? Truth is, once you start sharing, a wonderful thing happens and people start giving back to you! It works in many aspects of life, but I find it works really well on the internet.

2. I use twitter. (www.twitter.com) Twitter is a microblogging site that allows you to share what you're doing with the world (or at least the part of the world that wants to follow you). I have found many great people in technology to follow on twitter and we all share great ideas with each other about new technologies that are available. Any time a great new web2.0 tool is discovered, someone is talking about it on twitter.

3. I follow blogs on google reader. (www.google.com/reader) Google reader is a tool that helps you put all your blogs in one place so they're easier to read. Anytime I go to a technology conference and hear a great speaker, I look for their blog and add it to my google reader. Anytime they do an update, it appears in my google reader so I don't miss a thing!

I use a few other things as well, but these are my three main resources. I don't want a lot of stuff clogging up my brain or my computer, so I think it is best to keep it simple. It's hard to keep track of several different tools, so just pick a couple that you like the best and stick with those.

I ask anyone else that reads this post to please comment on any other tools you are using to make you fabulous!

Look out for the Glogster!

2008-09-28T20:50:00.000-04:00

I stumbled upon a new web 2.0 tool the other day. Glogster.com is currently in Beta and followed by the tagline "Poster Yourself". I find it an interesting twist on social networking, but also had to explore the possible educational aspects of the tool. Within a few minutes I had signed up and was trying to create my own poster or "glog". There are many design elements to play with on the site to make your glog interesting and unique. It was fun to create my first glog with all the different objects. After I was done playing, I got the basic understanding of how this could be used in a classroom.

You could have students create "posters" of the topic of interest which would include links, pictures and videos.
A teacher could use a glog as a teaching tool. He/she could create a glog with all the different parts of the lesson (again: links, videos, pictures, etc.). Think of it as a new-age outline.
A technology specialist such as myself could use the glog as an advertising tool for an upcoming workshop.
Along the same lines, a club or group could use a glog to promote an activity or even they are planning.

After thinking of it's uses on my own, I went out in search of those glogs that were already being used in education. Here are a few good ones I found:

http://andifeyrtr.glogster.com/The-Civil-War-for-what/
A Glog on the Civil War
http://joshisawesome457.glogster.com/Abraham-Lincoln/
A Glog on Abraham Lincoln
http://cybrarian.glogster.com/glog-701/
A Glog on technology uses in the classroom
http://cybrarian.glogster.com/Decisions-Decisions/
A Glog on travel by 3rd graders-great way to show videos.

Administrators Get Organized with Google!

2008-09-07T14:36:00.000-04:00

Administrators in my school are constantly trying to balance calendars. In a school with around 2000 students and over 100 teachers, there is always something going on in the school community. How can you keep everything straight and make sure that major events don't overlap? I suggest google calendar.
Google's calendar is not only easy to use and edit, but it is also easily shared amongst your fellow administrators and staff. In as few as 3 clicks, you can share your calendar. Each administrator can have their own calendar and then there can be just a general school calendar that everyone can update. All calendars are separated by colors and are easily turned on or off depending on what information you need to see.
To add an event is as simple as a click. You can create a bubble that allows for basic information such as meeting at 3 or you can even add additional information such as how long the meeting will last and where it is located. Events can be shared too. If an administrator schedules a meeting that is to involve the other administrators in the school, he/she can share the event with the others and they will be notified of the added meeting.
The person that is in charge of the overall school calendar can also publish to the web so that the entire staff can access the information. This can all be shared via hyperlink and does not require a google login for your entire staff.
Google calendar can also be easily synched with Microsoft Outlook, ical and several phones.

Technology Camp is a Success!!

2008-08-12T20:58:00.000-04:00

I've been talking for quite some time about our county's first ever technology camp. Today was our first day of it and I was so amazed at how wonderful it turned out. We've been working on this for about a year now and there have been many trials and tribulations, but to hear a teacher say that this is the best thing they have ever attended, really makes it all worth while.
We had very few problems the entire day and every person left with a smile on their face. Every technology facilitator left a little tired as we did most of the presentations throughout the day, but we all agreed that it was a success and we were pleased with the outcome.
Our day started with a keynote by Janice Adams from Apple. She talked about a 21st century classroom and how teachers should change the way they create lessons to better accommodate the needs of the students. It was excellent and most teachers I talked to said they walked away with something to think about. That's what we all want out of a keynote, right? I made sure throughout the day to reference a few of the things she said because I know everyone didn't remember everything, but the constant reminders always help.
The rest of the day was filled with 4 sessions, a lunch break and lots of neat giveaways. Each participant got a ticket for every session they went to. Those tickets went into a box to draw for prizes, so if they attended all four sessions, they have 4 opportunities in the box to win. I wasn't sure if this would work well or not, but it really did and everyone was really excited that there was an extra incentive to go to all of the sessions.
My sessions were awesome. I presented all 4 times today as I picked up a session on conducting successful web searches at the last minute. It was tiring doing so many in one day - and all were in different rooms. I got my walking in, that's for sure!
Many sessions were very full while others only had a few. I had one session with only about 7 people in it and then I had one with people standing out in the hallway listening because there wasn't any space left in the room!
It was all very exciting and I'll have more to post after the second day. Please stay tuned as I'll be sharing a plus delta of my own concerning some of the events of the past two days. If you are interested in viewing our camp wiki, here is a link: cabarrussummertech.pbwiki.com

Clean Up Your Space!!

2008-07-22T19:13:00.000-04:00

We are in a time that most of the "brand new" teachers have a social site somewhere and probably login every day. More and more, though, we hear of teachers being reprimanded for their antics on their social networking sites. This article from the Washington Post sums it up quite nicely. Is this a problem that should be addressed? I am very aware that some counties draw a line that no teacher can have a social networking site where other counties don't have any policy. So where do we draw the line, or do we need to draw any at all?

This research article on student and faculty relations in facebook found that there were no positive or negative effects on how students viewed the professor after finding he/she was on a social networking site. But, I found it interesting that students had mixed reactions about faculty being on the site. I found similar feedback on this in the article "Is My Space Your Space As Well" by Andy Carvin. Students didn't really like the fact that teachers might be viewing their profiles. One student even comments that people have things on their myspace page that they don't want other people to see such as those with alcohol and smoking. (A whole different blog post on that comment later!). That student, however, does go on to say that having a teacher as their "friend" could be nice when she had questions about homework.

We know that social networking can be a great way to communicate with students. Why not tap into what they already know and use it for meaningful education? New facebook applications are coming available every day including many geared directly toward education. You can do anything from create a wiki within your page to linking your students together to have a group discussion.

I went searching for some school districts that have rules for social networking accounts posted online. I found a list from the Jefferson County Board of Education that deals mostly with blogs, but social networking would fall under many of the same guidelines. You may notice that many of their guidelines include "informing" people of what they are doing and how they are doing it. Education is key. If everyone understands what is going on, they will be more receptive to the new technology. This is true for anything-not just blogs and social networking. I can imagine the difference in reactions if a teacher informs the parents that she has a facebook page set up for her class rather than Johnny coming home and telling mom that Mrs. Smith is on facebook!

I truly believe that training is important with this sensitive issue. Teachers need to be informed of how social networking can negatively effect them and how they can prevent that from happening. Most all of the situations that cause a reprimand of a teacher involve inappropriate material on their site which could easily be avoided. New teachers are in a generation of folks that aren't making the connection of internet and real world. All too often I hear of young kids commenting that "oh, that's just on myspace, everyone knows that doesn't matter". Teachers need to be well informed that "oh, yes it does matter". In my opinion, this training needs to be extensive for first year teachers to your district and then a refresher every year after. So much changes with technology and the internet from year to year, everyone needs to be reminded of the importance of not only internet safety but protecting ourselves as teachers.

All this in mind, there are social networking sites available specifically for educational purposes. One, Elgg, is highlighted in this article, titled Don't Tell Your Parents: Schools Embrace Myspace. Another, that is growing quite rapidly, is Ning, which is also a great resource for teachers including many specialized groups for sharing ideas in education.

Mixbook makes an A+

2008-07-18T21:07:00.000-04:00

I discovered mixbook.com, an online book creation tool, few months ago. I was instantly hooked, but wanted to see what the teachers thought. I pulled in a select few teachers that I knew were interested in technology as this would be the first introduction of a web 2.0 resource. Not only were they hooked, but they made plans to use it in their classes and produced some interesting projects.

Mixbook is very easy to use and the best thing about it is all the different layouts it includes. Teachers tend to like those colorful additions and Mixbook has a ton of them.

If you are just getting started, you can search the listing of books that are already published and use them as a tool to get started. One that I often use to get teachers excited is one on World War I created by a high school class. This is just one example of how a class could use mixbook to cover a topic. If you look at the book, you'll notice that each student was assigned a page to do on their own.

One of our students created a piece on "All Quiet on the Western Front" as part of a project in her English class. This one has already received good feedback from other mixbook users! This brings me to the next great feature of Mixbook. I had this book printed for use in my training sessions. You can print your finished copy for as little as 12.99. That's a pretty good deal and the quality is great.

Are you hungry for Timetoast?

2008-07-16T21:27:00.000-04:00

As my husband is a social studies teacher, I tend to pay close attention to new sites that cater to some of the things he does in class. One thing he always mentions is that kids really don't like to do timelines. I recall not enjoying them in school either-not to mention then are a huge waste of paper when done the old fashioned way (which is how most teachers do them).

Enter Timetoast. Your online timeline creation tool. www.timetoast.com

I ran across this neat little tool by accident, but it is proving to be a great addition to my collection of web 2.0 resources. Not only would it be a great tool to use for individual or groups of students in a classroom, but also an awesome tool for your interactive whiteboard. Find a great example here of a timeline for NASA:
http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/86

In 10 minutes time, I signed up and created my first short timeline (5 entries). It was quite easy to get one started and even easier to add entries. I was pleased that the popup box with the entry information was short. All you need is the title, date, description and an optional picture for each entry. This is great for students and teachers that want to do a quick timeline and don't need a lot of fancy options. You can also write a long description because it is hidden until you click on the entry in the timeline.

Another great thing timetoast does is organizes all of your timelines on one page-with pictures (that you add of course). So, from semester to semester or year to year, they are organized on your main timeline page in an easy-to-find format.

Technology Camp-No Bug Spray Needed!

2008-07-15T19:41:00.000-04:00

As a technology facilitator in Cabarrus county, I am faced with the task of presenting several sessions at our first ever technology camp. We are now past 600 participants (no, we weren't expecting even half that many) so we know that this is our shot to really make an impact on the teachers and administrators in our county. I have volunteered to do 4 sessions.

One session, luckily, I get to do with another person. We will be doing something with Mixbook and Toondoo. We have a lot of great mixbook examples because once I found it and showed it to a few tech facilitators, it was being used like crazy! ToonDoo didn't take off quite as well, but I still think it's a great program and now I know how to promote it a bit more. The people coming to these sessions will most likely never have heard of these tools, so we're basically going to do a quick demo of each and give some educational examples of how they're used.

The second session I'm doing is for administrators (yikes-not sure how I got myself into this one). I'm a little excited and a little nervous all in one. It's a little scary doing a presentation for administrators only. It's titled "Let's Get Organized - Digitally". I created a neat little thing on the SMARTBoard that allows principals to do the schools master schedule using smartnotebook software. Before, they had these crazy magnet boards with magnets that I found out cost 1400.00!!! That's insane and I told them so-and then created the notebook. Well, it's a hit in two schools now and I'm hoping with this presentation, it will be a hit in the other schools as well. In this session, we'll also go over the wonderful world of google and I'll show them igoogle and google calendar specifically. I'm going to focus on the sharing part and help them realize it could be an awesome tool for working together.

The third session I'm doing is on Google Apps. This one is for teachers and we'll just go over igoogle and all the neat things that integrate with it like reader, calendar, bookmarks, etc.

My fourth session I adopted after someone wasn't able to do it, but the more I think about it, the more excited I am to do this one. It's called "Using the SMARTBoard in High School". I'm thinking that I'll show several different lessons that I've collected, some lessons from the SMART website and give them a few interesting uses of some of the things in the gallery.

I'm going to be quite busy, but I think it will be a great thing in the end. I'm also thinking that once I have all of these set, I have something to present at several conferences this year! Looking forward to that! NCETC, NCAECT and FETC-here I come!!! Oh wait! Can I fit NECC in there too?

www2.0 (wonderful world of Web 2.0)

2008-07-10T21:35:00.000-04:00

While perusing the wonderful world of web 2.0 this evening, I found a couple fantastic sites that I thought were worth sharing. I really tend to get into the nitty gritty of websites and I throw out probably 95% or more that I look at -specifically if I can't figure them out within a minute. So these are simple, time saving sites that I found very helpful.
1. http://whenisgood.net/ We've all had the problem. You exchange emails, comments, posts, phone calls, calendars, etc. looking for a good date for a meeting or even. This site eliminates all the craziness. You simply fill in the dates that are good for you, it creates a link that you send to your colleagues/friends and they fill in the dates that are good for them. Eventually it gets narrowed down to some workable dates and voila, you have a date picked without frustration! I love it!
2. http://www.groupcard.com/ This one is awesome and I can't believe everyone in the world isn't using it. This site allows you to send a group card to someone. Yes, you pick the style, pick where you want to sign, sign it and even add a picture if you want. Then, you simply pass it on for the next person to sign! I sent a few of these within minutes of finding the site and they were a huge hit! Oh, and a nice little bonus is that you can even get your card printed. Someone can actually sponsor the printing so the recipient doesn't have to pay themselves. It really is a great concept and very easy to use.

Wii Fit

2008-06-30T19:20:00.000-04:00

My husband surprised me with a Wii fit today. I have to say that my nerdy side was quite interested in trying it and my non-fit side was really interested in seeing if it would get me moving. Of course the first time we turned it on was a learning process so we didn't get a lot of "exercise" out of it, but the 2nd time was all work! I was sweating, having trouble catching my breath and all out exhausted after only 20 minutes of exercise. The two person run was quite interesting as my husband and I were side by side doing an "in place" run. If someone happened to walk by our window at the right time, they'd have thought we were complete idiots.
I sat a goal to lose 5 lbs using the wii fit in a two month time span (all done within the software). I'll fill you in on how well it works, but from what I've seen tonight, the cost of the program is totally worth it. Fun and hard work all in one!

Watch out-Summer Ahead

2008-06-13T20:14:00.000-04:00

Today was my last day of school for a while. I'm sure I'll be in next week because I can't stay away, but I don't HAVE to go.
I had a few interesting things happen while talking to everyone at the end of the year banquet. First of all, had a great conversation at my table about how important technology is in the lives of students today. I tried to just sit back and listed because I didn't want to be the one to initiate any interesting ideas on this one. It was really interesting to hear the teachers talk about how they knew technology was one of the best ways of reaching students. A couple of teachers even mentioned that technology projects they implemented this year were viewed as "best projects" by their students. I'm really interested to see what these teachers come up with over the summer. The excitement over the county technology camp is overwhelming and I truly believe it will affect how lessons are developed in the coming year.

As the year comes to a close.....

2008-06-03T09:07:00.000-04:00

I've been working a good part of the last few days to "tie up loose ends" around here. Cleaning the labs, FINALLY getting a chance to organize my office and pulling in all the borrowed technology equipment from throughout the year.
I always find myself reflecting on what I did right/wrong and what I'll do for next year. To be honest, I started thinking about next year several months ago. So, you may ask, what are some of the changes I'll make? Here's my list:
1. I sat down one day and picked dates for the entire next year and planned workshops-with topics too! I turned that list in to the office so they know to plan around those dates as best they can. I think that if I have the dates posted at the beginning of the year, teachers will be able to plan for them better. After I made the list, though, I realized that I could totally offer a workshop every week to cover all of my material. So, still working on whether or not I can handle that.
2. I will be working most of the summer to get a lot of handouts and maybe even some step by step videos on my website so if teachers have questions, they can go to there for help.
3. I want to get into the classrooms more to observe technology being used - specifically with our smart boards. I had a goal this year to go and watch and something always came up to prevent me from going. Next year, I'd like to actually get that done-my goal is to see all the rooms with smart boards at least once.
And, I'm sure I'll add more. There's always room for improvement and I like to re-evaluate from time to time to see what needs to be changed.
Looking forward to a summer of planning and a new year ahead!

2+2-a+b=Photostory?

2008-05-28T09:05:00.000-04:00

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to do a quick presentation on how to use photostory for a group of students taking a statistics class. I thought "hmm, wonder what's going on here"? So, I showed them how to create their story (mainly a 5-10 minute overview of the program) and told them to go for it! I walked around for a few minutes to see exactly what they were doing and I heard the following topics being passed around : Growth Hormones, Video Game Violence and, the oddest, Cheese. I figured I must not know much about statistics and I'd just wait and see what the final outcome was.
Over the next several days I had random questions like "Can I borrrow your microphone?" and "Why isn't this saving correctly?" but never totally got the overall idea of the project. I was getting excited to see what they were doing with this.
Today was the day to watch the movies they had created. I was excited as I had no idea what I was in for. I thought I'd go watch the first presentation and then head back to my office to finish up a few projects I was working on myself.
The first presentation started with the photostory itself and the topic was about growth hormones. The students had beautifully selected appropriate pictures featuring cows, music of "cotton eyed joe" and text explaining why growth hormones are used. Then the music changed, got a little slower and the photos changed to pictures of little girls. The text started explaining how hormones in meat effect menstruation cycles in girls. My eyes welled up a little and I knew I was hooked!
I ended up staying the whole period and thoroughly enjoyed watching everyone's project. And I was even intrigued by the one on how cheese relates to "#2"! And hey-it really doesn't cause constipation in everyone!
The best part of all this is how well it integrated with the statistics curriculum. Students were using terminology as if they truly understood it, used graphs to show the survey data they had collected and even commenting on what they learned and what they would have done differently a second time. I was very impressed with these projects and I look forward to seeing more in the future.
Getting Math to integrate technology like this has proved to be a challenge at all schools I have worked in, so it was extra special to see something like this work out so beautifully. I hope to be able to share a couple of these shows once I get permission from the students.