Thing #12

I started by setting up a calendar. This tool seemed like it could be hugely helpful at the moment for my husband and I. We constantly seem to struggle to keep up with each other's things, our kids, and what is supposed to happen for summer and spring break, etc. He doesn't see the calendar I stick on the fridge - that is just some thing that sits in front of the ice cream. This tool could be hugely helpful to teachers too. I imagine keeping all the schedules and due dates organized is a job in itself. Having a calendar pop up on your desktop and say "HEY! this and this are due today" would be a huge help. I know I struggle to keep up in just every day life.

My Calendar

The next thing I tried was the google translate.  I used the book video below since it is French. The title is:

Vidéo Promotionnelle du Livre Pop Up "Il était une fois..." de Benjamin Lacombe édité en France par le Seuil Jeunesse.

Promo Video Pop-Up Book "Once upon a time ..." Benjamin Lacombe published in France by Threshold Youth.


Mot de l'éditeur :

Huit contes classiques évoqués par une double-page au mécanisme ingénieux, dans un livre magnifique qui associe prouesse technique et talent artistique.Retrouvez les personnages des contes les plus célèbres : Alice, Pinocchio, La Belle au bois dormant, Barbe-bleue, Peter Pan, Le Petit Chaperon rouge, Madame Butterfly, Poucette mis en scène par Benjamin Lacombe et en volume par José Pons.A la fin du livre, un point de vue de Jean Perrot, grand spécialiste des contes et de l'image de jeunesse, viendra éclairer l'ouvrage.

Suivez le lapin Blanc...


Editor's Note:

Eight classic tales evoked by a double-page ingenious mechanism, in a wonderful book that combines technical prowess and talent artistique.Retrouvez characters fromthe most famous tales: Alice, Pinocchio, The Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard, Peter Pan ,Little Red Riding Hood, Madame Butterfly, Thumbelina, directed by BenjaminLacombe and volume by Jose Pons.A end of the book, a point of view of Jean Perrot,specialist tales and picture of youth, will illuminate the work.

Follow the White Rabbit ...


That was so neat! And, though I am far from an expert in French, I believe it is quite accurate. I can see where you could run into trouble with it, but for little things here and there it could be hugely helpful. I can see this as something that could be a lot of fun teaching students about languages and other cultures. Talking to students about sentence structures in English and how they differ in other languages. Students could translate their very own words into Icelandic. This could be addictive. It is a bummer they don't have a recording for all the languages - but maybe that will come.

sonas ar mian leat (Irish - wishing you happiness. ) This was one where I thought this could get you into trouble. Irish can depend on the spelling (whether or not is anglican), word choice (meaning doesn't always fit neatly in. Sometimes whole sentences are whittled down to one word.), etc. Irish is tough on purpose, so probably not a fair assessment. Still mostly good tool and fun. 
sláinte 

Thing #11

I cannot say that I found the search tools - outside of Google - to be helpful. I found Topix.net good for news. I really didn't like the design of Syndic8.com. I found it hard to go through. I immediately felt tired when I looked at it. Too busy. Too disorganized. I have enough of that on my own. 

Going from the list I find the best blogs through google. And those blogs lead me to even better blogs usually. One good blog usually leads me to numerous other fantastic blogs. So far I find that to be best way to find stuff. I found this video on one of my recent treasure hunts:

This is from educating alice. I love it. I found this blog through Phil Nel's blog - Nine Kinds of Pie. Phil Nel is a professor at Kansas State in Children's Lit. They have a great program there. I knew of him - but not his blog. I found the blog through a post on 100 Scope Notes. And on and on and on. This is my best favorite way to find things. I feel like I find treasure that way. It makes it more fun.

I subscribe to these blogs through my RSS feed, some of them email me (which I like best), and, most recently, I have added them to my customized start page. That is my second favorite place. The ones that email me I keep up with best. I also added them to a tool bar on my blog, so I can find them quickly when doing school work.

Thing #10

I waste a tremendous amount of time checking for updates on my favorite sites. I try to use bookmarks. I have tons of folders of stuff tucked here and there. But some of those things are never updated. They just exist. It is a very, very inefficient, mixed up system. I waste time constantly and it drives me crazy. But I am addicted to my sources - I cannot just give it all up. I was just thinking the other day "if only there was a way to make my own webpage where all this junk got dumped and I could just roll through it quickly here and there all day." Ask and you shall receive - here it is the RSS. How did I miss this? I think I was too lazy to check into it, read about it or learn how to do it. Not that it was all that hard, but it takes more time!! And I was already wasting to much on my computer. I also assumed it was to high powered to be of use for me.

I went ahead and made a google one with the usual ones I check. It turns out that I have a RSS automatically through my yahoo account so when I hit that little RSS button it goes straight to my yahoo email "frontpage." This is what yahoo has been bugging me to create - I ignored them. I regret that now. Could have saved me tons of time. I will see what I like best - truthfully, so far, I like the yahoo set up. This may be because I have had my email account there for years, and all the features and designs in yahoo are familiar. I am going to give google a chance, though. All the coolest, smartest people I know swear by google, so I feel like I might be missing something.

Since starting this class I have come across tons of blogs and the like that I think "Oh! I have to watch that. What they are saying is interesting, important, creative, inspiring, etc.." But where do I put this - I started putting a couple on the "blogs I follow" feature on this blog so I could find them quickly and easily. Also I have made many bookmarks. They get lost in the jumble of all the websites I bookmark. This is so much better. This could be so helpful to a teacher - who has time to check all this stuff!! Certainly not teachers. I love that all my favs will be on one page. I know this is something that will help me in my personal life, student life, and will some day help me in my teaching life.

Thing #9

I think my dog has an anxiety problem. Or maybe this is just anthropomorphizing, but she always seems worried. She does live with a 3 year old who likes to dress her up and take care of her like she is a baby.

I made this image with http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/. It was a little tricky/ fussy some times. I had to reload the page a couple of times when making it. And the saving instructions were written for the pc - not the mac. And for some reason it didn't save my text the first time, so I had to go back and re do it. I think some of these problems, though, were operator error. I have a tendency to plow ahead and not read instructions carefully. There are lots of fun things you could do with this in the classroom. Student photos with quotes, characters from stories, characters stating math rules, etc.




I made this one with http://www.imagechef.com/. There were tons of things to do in here. I like mosaics so I went with the word mosaic. This was super easy. Much less fussy than the photo one up above. You can change the color, word, symbol, or design. There was a lot of ways to go with it. I kept it pink with love and added the sunshine because this is what my daughter liked.




I made this one with the idea that these could be used as signs in the classroom. The heart above didn't lend itself to anything outside a Valentine's party. The sign could be helpful to tell students where to turn things in. I tried it with Homework - but the word was too long. The shape lost meaning.










ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

This is a quote from one of my favorite children's books The Three Questions by Jon Muth. It is his own adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's The Three Questions. I wish I could have had another slide - to complete the entire quote. I also wish I could control the speed, font size and choice, and how the words are on the page. But it is free - so I guess I cannot expect to get all those things with free. And for free it is quite cool. I could think of little things that this would be good for - just for fun. You wouldn't want to use for important information. It is too distracting. But things like hang up your coat. sit down and do your work page, etc..

Thing #8 Photo Mash-Ups

I read Educating Esmé over winter break. It was the journal of a first year teacher in an inner city school in Chicago. Kind of a tough read at times - she had some rough times. But she was an amazing teacher. One of the things she did was a personality board. She did this to get to know her students and so they could get to know each other. I think the Mosaic feature would really fun to do with your students. Hanging their pictures around the classroom - I believe - builds a sense of pride. Gives students the sense that this is their space. Which, hopefully, in turn makes them feel safe, respected, like they belong, and like they want to respect this place.

This mosaic came from my facebook profile pictures which is why there is a few weird ones in there and duplicates. I wish I could have chosen the photos - but I didn't figure that out. I also wish I could have changed the centering on at least one. 

When I looked at all the mash ups I could think of the fun things you could do to draw students in. Surprise them with words written in crazy letters (as my daughter would say)





This was fun - oh so easy. I cannot wait to spell my kids names for them! They will love it. The photo mash ups are so cool - I am a little overwhelmed by them. This has opened a new door for me. I do so much with photos - just plan old boring photos. The idea that I can play around with them so easily is exciting. Encouraging students to get creative and take projects to a new level is so exciting.

Thing #7 Flickr

I had a flickr account years ago. I used it to put up pictures of my kids for their grandparents. The truth is I put the photos up and never really explored the site. While doing the tutorial - which I never did - I made a Flickr badge for my blog. I really liked that - and it was so easy. I need to upload a few current photos to it.  Flickr tells me that I am nearing the 200 limit and I need to upgrade to flickr pro - this costs $24 a year. At this point I have moved on to Shutterfly - which is easier for the grandparents to use so I probably won't do that. But it is nice to see those old photos again.

The thing I was most excited about so far is the Commons, Places and the Galleries. That is so amazing! These photos can be so much help to a teacher. I could spend a lot of time in the commons. I found this garden photo from the Smithsonian from 1930. It doesn't look like a real place! Looks more like a movie, but it is California, so may be it was. 

Arcady [slide]
Originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution

















I found other images that were so beautiful, but I was unable to share them here. I tried looking through the groups. There is so much there it is overwhelming. I ended up looking through the paper fetish group. I love collage type art - and I hoped to find something interesting. There was some people who were selling things - I think. Kindle covers which, though nice, were not what i was looking for. I did find this nice one from czekocyna. It is a bit Valentine's-ish. I found it hard to get these photos in my blog. I did the first one with the blog it feature, but I wanted to second one to go into this post. Not as easy. So I just copied the HTLM code and put it in the blog. Just like the old days.

Thing #6 Discovering Web Tools 2.0

The web tool I have chosen is Etsy. I am a devoted Etsy fan. In fact, on occasion, I sell scarves on Etsy.  My shop at the moment is empty because I am here in school. It has been really hard to find the time to make things. But I really enjoyed it when I was doing it. I often buy gifts for myself or others on Etsy. I love that I do not have to live in New York City, Paris, or London to get amazing, unique handmade or vintage things - I can be in my living room in little ole Clarksville, TN. I am excited every time I open the home page or daily email. I have a long, long list of favorites I keep tabs on. I am inspired by all the amazing crafters and artists out there making beautiful works.

The only down side to etsy is that it is hard to go through. It is so full - I feel like there are tons of things I never get the chance to see. When you search etsy it will show first who has most recently posted. It costs money to post - not much like 5 or 6 cents, but that can add up after a while when you are trying to sell things as inexpensively as you can and cover all your costs. I always wonder what is on page 547 of the searched pages - is that where the perfect, unique, amazing thing I am looking for actually is? And not on page 3. Etsy is huge - and I know they are working hard to make the search part of it work better. I know this is a huge job. It is still a wonderful site - the first thing I ever bought off Etsy was amazing ring from Singapore.

Thing #5 School 2.0

School 2.0 means more exciting ways to learn with students. When reading Web 2.0 A Guide for Educators I was really excited about the online video tools. That seemed like a really fun thing to add to a reading or social studies assignment. Students love to make films - but also to edit them! That would be really fun. I imagined my son would be over the moon to do that. So I clicked on the links to the free online software in the article. What I found was that jumpcut, eyespot, and spymac are all gone. Toufee is still around and you can have a 14 day free trial with it. This lead me to think what has replaced it because this stuff didn't just go away. It has probably grown and changed since the article. A quick google search brought up many, many more which at the moment I didn't have time to go through, but I will. My son will love this. A lot of these might have a hard time competing with the programs that come with computers now, too. My kids love to play with photo booth on our Mac -

They made this video one snow day last year. It was a lot of fun. And I see huge potential for this sort of thing in the classroom.

Technology is a huge part of students life. They come by it naturally. It must be part of the classroom or what is going on in there will seem obsolete. I am excited about the things School 2.0 can offer. I see ways to reach students that where not there before. I see ways to engage students who are bored and uninterested. It is a great way to foster creativity. School 2.0 means a future of children ready to develop the next great thing. I imagine if I was in school with all this technology I would come out ready to jump in head first. I see the students grabbing the torch and running with it.

Watch the full episode. See more Digital Media - New Learners Of The 21st Century.

Aired on PBS on Feb. 13th.

Thing #4 Commenting on Blogs

In the previous post I said that blogs would be good for in class journaling. I was also thinking that this would be important to help students understand the idea of public. When sitting at our computers in our pjs in our living room making comments on things - we feel right at home. We are not as careful about the way we say things. And we don't think that things we have said can be interpreted completely differently then what we meant. Then, of course, there are the times when we say things we shouldn't have said. Letting students comment on each other's blogs, then discussing the blogs and comments within class is a really good way to show them just how public and open to interpretation blogs are.

"It is important that we model for children the right way to disagree on a topic and to show that we can do it while remaining civil and not attacking the other's right to their opinion," from Cool Cat Teacher blog. I really liked this idea from Cool Cat Teacher. Modeling behavior for students can be the very best teacher sometimes. And having the ability to discuss things in a civil, smart, open and educated way is a million dollar skill. This is truly something students will use every day. Every single day. 

It is important to encourage comments and to comment back. Otherwise a blogger is just out there spouting out what they think. That seems kind of self centered and silly. The whole point of a blog is to find people who are interested in or dealing with things that you are dealing with and create a conversation with them. The blog community is some place when those who are thinking about the same things, but are thousands of miles apart can come together and chat. As Problogger said, "it creates a culture of interactivity and gives the impression to other readers that your comments section is an active place that you as the blogger value." 

While it is important to encourage comments you want to make sure it is a safe place to comment. You don't want potentially smart and helpful people run off by mean, unfair, and out there commenters. So it is important to set boundaries. As stated by Problogger, "setting rules can make commenters feel safe - knowing that some will enforce rules about respect within the blog. If you know there is a moderator who will delete any sort of personal attack on you if you have a different opinion you may feel more inclined to express that opinion." If potentially smart, insightful commenters feel they will be respected they are more likely to engage in a conversation. People with a different, fresh perspective sometimes offer more to the conversation then those who agree with your position. Being a moderator who respects and appreciates his or her audience is important. There are a million blogs out there. If you ignore those reading they will find some who doesn't. We all want to know some one is listening - kind of the reason for the blog. So, as Problogger said, you should reward comments. And really this works every where in life. Everyone likes to hear that they are smart, interesting, have something good to add to the conversation or that you are just listening to them. Works in the classroom, or the real world. It creates self esteem which in turns creates the feeling of safety - which makes you respected and listened to. It is all a cycle. 

"If you died today and don't share 'your secret,' it will die with you and you will miss the chance to leave behind something far more important... a legacy." This is from Cool Cat Teacher Blog. I believe what she means is don't be a chicken - get out there and say what you think. I am going to try not to be a chicken, not to have thin skin, and get out there and learn something from the many, many conversations going on out there.


Thing #4 Part two... (this is still under construction)
I am still trying to read all my classmates blogs. I have commented on two:

1. The first was going goder's post about using blogs in the classroom. I really liked her idea of using a blog to post art work or videos made by students. A virtual gallery would be an inexpensive way to share with the class, other classes, make comments, and make it feel public. I liked her blog on a whole. Very down to earth.  I am a follower on her blog.
2. I commented on teachartlearntech post about the blogs she follows. I really liked poppytalk. I could spend way too much time there. She has a lovely blog - such nice images. I am also a follower of her blog. 

Blogs I follow:

1.I also follow - A Year of Reading. I really love this blog. It is written by two teachers and is all about books. I sometimes find things I have already read and I really like reading their perspective and other's comments on the books. Most of the time I find something new and illuminating there. This blog is a treasure.
2. I follow - 100 Scope Notes. This blog kindly comes to my email. It is written by an elementary school librarian. He puts up books but also cool art projects, interviews, and leads me to many other blogs. He posts often and I always find him amusing or interesting.