January 22?

I believe our last class is January 21st - a new concern for January 22 and beyond.

I finally checked in with my iGoogle page last night and saw that posts were made this weekend, the very first weekend of vacation. Egad, I thought. I'm slacking. I had planned to give myself a break, enjoy the holiday and start of vacation, and enjoy (in theory) the rounds of family that have been visiting or staying. I hadn't picked up my computer in days. The lasagnas (meat and meatless), chicken parmesans, roasted vegetables... consumed my life for a change. What surprised me, was how easy it was to put all that I have immersed myself in these past months aside, and not give it a thought (except - jeesh, my rss reader is probably packed). As a matter of fact, I think I could have left this well enough alone for the duration of vacation. Scary thought for as me as I thought I had crossed this great digital divide and arrived on the web2.0 side. Is it this easily that I can leave it all behind?

With a quiet house, I thought I'd watch another K12 Online Conference presentation. Diana, I watched the one you commented on because I wanted to see about this Screentoaster thing. I like how he kept his presentation simple, clear, and directed (thought I did lose audio at the end). It was reassuring to see him present two tools that we have been introduced to in class, Diigo and Prezi. With all that is out there, I find it really helpful to see tools used repeatedly to help me get a feel for them and to see that they may really fit into my post January 21st life. I think now I may even have an idea for my digital sharing project. Need I be worried that I am still waffling (oh, a breakfast idea for family that is somehow still around - homemade waffles, yum)? One comment that Drew makes at the beginning is that if we find ourselves watching this, we are probably going above and beyond. It's nice to have that sentiment acknowledged, but it makes me wonder, will this ever be the norm for me and not above and beyond? Or will I always be caught in the middle straddling the divide?

As a humorous aside, does this blog post ring true for anyone those last few days of school with all the treats available? Don't miss the label.

K12Online2009, part 3

Two additional K12 presentations I watched included: You Might be a 21st Century Leader if... and Little Kids, Big Possibilities.

Little Kids, Big Possibilities was pertinent, interesting, and applicable (and still somewhat overwhelming). One of my frustrations with all that we have been learning and exploring in the this class is the fact that I teach at the elementary level, am not a classroom teacher, and split my time between two schools. While much of this seems great, the practical applications can be elusive as students at this level can limited by their age. This presentation introduced five web2.0 applications that would be appropriate to use at the elementary level, along with examples of how she used them with her students. She also demonstrated the steps a teacher would follow to begin using each. Wordle was the only one with which I was already familiar. Others include Wallwisher, Comic Creators, Comics.com, and Edmodo. All are worthy of further investigation. But where to start? What continues to surprise me is that with all the new tools I've been learning about, there are still so many out there. What's the best way to sort through the options?

You Might be a 21st Century Leader if... was geared towards school leaders. It was helpful to watch to keep in mind the direction in which teaching and learning are traveling. Standards were shared and compared. The standards related to core values, the way students learn, and the way teachers teach. Inspire, sustain, promote, manage, collaborate, model. The ISTE standard shared, which I think is important in creating a successful 21st century environment - "... the success of technology integration initiatives relies on leaders who excel in supporting, implementing, and sustaining systemic reform for schools."

Dennis, I just noticed you have a presentation, too. I'll add it to the list.

K12Online 2009, part 2: Wizard of Apps

I mentioned this video in a previous post, and have now had the opportunity to watch the 51 minute keynote presentation in it's entirety (don't forget to check out the backstory). I don't know if I neglected to do something, however, it was often difficult to for me to see much of what was on the screen (not the Wizard of Apps/Oz scenes) and the audio was occasionally difficult to hear. I'm afraid I might of missed important pieces, or have understood things incorrectly. I've tried to do perform Google searches on various items that I'm unclear about, however, I am not able to connect to Google this morning! Can it be that Google is "down?!" With that said, here is what I took away from the presentation, knowing I have to explore further:

• General theme, being an ethical citizen, creating a positive digital footprint.
• People search tools: pipl.com, 123people. Didn't know they existed.
• That's not cool dot com - will have to investigate further.
• Flickr storm - creating an image tray could be a great tool to use at the elementary level as the use of images can be contained to one source and students could access at home as well as school (yes?).
• Not clear on triangulation - that will be a future Google search.
• Other search tools - dulcinea. Wiki search tool. Surchur will search across social networks.
  
• GIGO - garbage in, garbage out. If your research is lacking, so will your product.
• Evaluating information - does neutral text exist? Who's the source?
• Wikis and twitter as a resource - twitter as a primary source. Now that it has been brought to my attention, I can see the logic as tweets can be created at the site, though I'm not sure I would have come to that conclusion on my own. (Twasa)?
  
• It's important to think about the audience when creating a presentation (I again refer you to the backstory).
  
• Dig tales, voice threads, xtranormal. Cool ideas shared: poetry anthology as a voice thread, trailers for books through animoto, student book reviews in glogster.
  

K12Online 2009, part 1

I like the way Kim Cofino structured her address and shared ways in which her thinking was challenged, and how she challenges our ways of thinking. Organizing the presentation by incorporating very real aspects of her life abroad was a great analogy - very creative! She challenged one of my ways of thinking by saying culture shock is not always negative. Good point.

Her presentation made me think about the time I spent abroad as a junior in college. I attended an American international school in London for a semester. Looking back on it, I wish I had been more aware of, and receptive to, the cultural aspects of this experience, not simply pleased that we didn't have classes on Friday which allowed more time to travel. Yes, that was a significant and important part of the experience, however, I'm sure there was more to it than what my teenage mind was focused on. One recollection - and that's if I remember correctly... At the beginning of the semester there was more intermingling among cultures, meaning, students from various countries frequently socialized together. As time went on, however, my photos become less diverse, and only include the American students. As time went on, it seems we gravitated to what was familiar. I wonder if that would be the same today where people are much more connected. I do think we still find comfort in what is familiar, and that's okay. One student in Kim's address commented on this.

Seeking the familiar is not a negative thing, but an observation and an awareness which allows us to be adaptable and flexible, leaving us open to diverse experiences. I have a very clear recollection of being with friends and ordering my first pint of Guinness with Mafit (I wish he told me then that woman order half pints, not full), marveling at the fact that Rodrigo never took a photo because he knew it could never adequately represent his memories, and enjoying tasty Greek tidbits with Dimitri. I will also remember passing by the tv room and seeing the students from Beruit watching the news, hoping their families and friends had survived the bombings. Vast differences in background at the time. Is that true today?

Next on tap.... The Wizard of Apps.

A new tweet

Can't resist. A tweet from Laura Ingalls Wilder - HalfPintIngalls.

Why can't we have one of those SPECIAL blizzards with bits of candy & cookies in them? Ours just have dead cattle.

It's been a while

I've sat down numerous times since my last post, but have not yet made it back to my blog to add a new one. I'm busy working, but find all sorts of other neat things to wade into. One trouble spot is Google Reader. I find that by the time I've gone through the feeds, the time set aside to complete class work has evaporated. So today I'm working through this problem by limiting the number of links I follow within my Google Reader feeds. Another trouble spot (if you can call it that) is that I've discovered that I really enjoy the book related blogs I am following. Whether it's a discussion of the future/existence of ebooks, an unveiling of new titles, or commentary on the cover of a recent School Library Journal issue, I'm pulled in, unable to resist the lure of a link. They are informative, insightful, and humorous.

Blog tidbits:
Critique de Mr. Chompchomp blog. He comments about ebooks, especially those that have special interactive features, and states " Gizmo promoters talk about making books interactive, as if they weren't." Cool comment. He also talks about the fictive dream. I'll include it here - "But there is a type of reading, both a pleasure and a skill, that all the flashy images and intrusive puzzles inhibit. It's that fully absorbing type of reading, sometimes called entering into the 'fictive dream.' While for many avid readers, reading in this fashion is second nature and is the reason why we read, it is, nonetheless, a learned skill. A reader must learn to fully engage the text, to offer up his or her imagination to the writing, engage in the collaboration of creating the fictive dream." I'm not sure how much sense this makes standing alone in this post, so I'd encourage you to read his.

Through another blog, Neverendingsearch, I was introduced to another K12Online09 keynote, Wizard of App (think Oz). I haven't watched the entire video yet, but love the back story included in the post that also includes the video. It's worth a read. One new piece of knowledge for me (and only from the first few minutes of the address - just think how much more awaits) is the existence of such sites as Pipl. She has students check their digital footprint as they begin the college process. One more link for me to follow, but tomorrow is another day...

I've also watched Kim Cofino's address and hope to add a new post soon (I was thinking it would be tonight, but you know what happens to the best laid plans), before I have to watch it again. She speaks of culture shock - My husband is the one in culture shock as I've been exploring all the web has to offer. The lights are off, the house is quiet, and here I sit. An image from Chris Van Allsburg's book, The Wretched Stone, comes to mind...