tie4teachers

Bully the New School Year

2009-08-27T22:58:00.002-05:00

It's time for school to start all over the nation, and as our kids go back to school we have to address bullies. It's a topic that has become hot over the past few years, especially with cyber-bullying opportunities.

Bullies are not really isolated to just school. They are part of our everyday life. The other day I witnessed a teenager intimidate an older person at Wal-Mart over a parking space. I also attended a meeting and witnessed bullying amongst adults. As a matter of fact, I was one of the victims of a "bully couple" at that same meeting. I'll admit, I handled it wrong. I gave them the outburst they were looking for and told them all off. My temper really flared.

I'm glad my son wasn't there to see it because it was the WRONG way to handle a bully. I knew that afterwards. As one half of the bully couple sat there and smirked, I realized I gave her what she was looking for. My temper flared even more and I reacted even worse. They won the battle that night. What's worse, is I knew that this couple acted like that. They have a habit of acting like they are better than everyone else, and they turn on their "friends". Before the meeting, I thought that we were friends. Our children sometimes play together, we talked at the bus stop, and we were friendly towards each other. However, I should have remembered how she treated another friend that lost their use to them and been prepared for this attack.

I have a ten year old child who gets bullied, and he's been learning to bully right back. That's completely wrong. I need to teach him to check his anger that develops when the bullies start, how to deflect the bully's taunts, and then how to handle the emotions that build up inside after dealing with a bully (even if it was a positive outcome for yourself).

I have found plenty of curriculum online to use, and plan on introducing to him the BrianPOP movie about Bullying tomorrow afternoon. He and I are going to do our own study on how to handle these social pests so we can be part of the solution, and not the problem.

For older kids who tend to be the bully, even slightly, I recommend reading the book "19 Seconds". More on that later.

Do Your Homework

2009-03-03T15:24:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile since I have blogged. Like many, I've been extremely busy. Right now I am busy on social networking sites for pleasure and business, preparing for several trainings with big customers, involved in getting our neighborhood watch program started, and other areas of our neighborhood.

I live in an HOA, deed restricted community. We are governed by a board of elected officials and managed by a company. In my case, Spring Ridge is being managed by Premiere Community Consultants. At least until the end of the month. The board elected to dismiss Premiere at the end of the month.

Here's my concern, the board has yet to be trained officially. They've had since November to be trained, but have ignored the requests. Many acted with prejudice. But the biggest complaint of them all is that they did not get the quotes for other management companies in place and had someone lined up to hire before releasing Premiere. They have left us with a possible gap of management coverage, and a risk of having fees increased if a new company is lower than Premiere's.

So why am I venting this on an educational blog? Well, for those of you who are teaching a career choice or business course, would your students find this action acceptable? More than likely not. It would be interesting to hear what the students have to say on this matter. I know my FBLA students that I meet up with at the end of this month would agree that first there needs to be a mediation, then get everything lined up to make sure that the HOA is covered.

Economically speaking, would it make sense to risk raising rates in a community where homes are already in foreclosure and hard to sell?

Little things to think about.

My answer, even after school is over, you will need to do your homework!

Interesting

2008-11-11T17:35:00.002-05:00

I was able to attend the GAETC conference last week and attended some GREAT sessions, including a few from favorites like Steve Dembo, Tony Vincent, and David Warlick. (One teacher asked me if I enjoyed David Warlock's session I was in. Didn't know David Warlick added that title to his name!)

You can listen in by visiting the podcasts here. Although, sadly, Steve Dembo chose not to podcast his sessions.

Anyway, when I got home I found a letter that was more than 15, maybe 18 years old. I honestly thought I threw all high school letters away when I moved, and I'm not sure how this particular one found it's way to my pillow of all places. I asked, and no one could honestly say where it came from. Strange.

I thought maybe I was suppose to find the author and reconnect. But the name is so common (Robert Murray) that I'm hitting a dead end. Plus, he moved away from the school before graduation. Tips on where to start?

Eco Challenge

2008-09-18T13:01:00.003-05:00

Dear Danielle,

The Lexus Eco Challenge is an opportunity for you, your 6th–12th grade students, and your school to make a difference in your community and win a share of $1 million in grants and scholarships!
Click here for entry details and to read the official rules.
What’s new in 2008–2009?
3 Challenges: Compete in as many as three Challenges (Land, Water, Air/Climate), for three chances to win and to qualify for a Final Challenge!
Exciting Prizes: Win larger grants and scholarships in the three Challenges.
Easy Entry Submission: Submit your Action Plan online with MS Word.
Customized Team Info: Edit your team’s profile online.
More Time: Take advantage of the extended prep time to complete the Challenges!
New Lesson Plans and Activities: Inspire students to get involved.Mark your calendar. Click here to see the dates for each Challenge.

Sincerely, Scholastic and Lexus

Random, Random, Random

2008-09-17T14:00:00.007-05:00

During trainings I use either a random number picker or a random name picker to give away doorprizes, depending on the size and mentality of the group. (I did the fruit machine with one group of high school people and got the strangest look!)

With Classtools.net I have variety of tools, graphic organizers, and timeliners at my disposal. My favorites are the Random Name Picker using the fruit machine and the countdown timer. I once even had my son tell me all the punishments he thought was fair for his very bad behavior and then we let the random picker select his punishment. He stood in timeout for 10 minutes that time because the computer told him to and mommy was no longer the bad guy. I have also used the counter. Joey loves the music to race against. I use the A-Team and grant him an extra 9 seconds when we only need a minute.

The Randomizer.org site is dry at first glance, but there's a lot here. The flipping a coin can be fun, especially if you select an antique coin. I use to use the random number picker here. We used the dice once when I couldn't find the dice I needed for a game (I forgot them at home actually).

Today I used the randomizer to pick the Florida Lottery numbers. Should I really go play them? Hmmm.

Social Networking

2008-09-16T08:15:00.003-05:00

Last year eSchool News said that social networking sites would be in the top six trends for this year. Today a new study was posted that proved that social networking has surpassed porn activity online.
However, teachers are still held back. We, as professionals, can find organizations to exchange lesson plans and to discuss hot topics. We try to keep these sites on the downlow so the techs do not block them. Twitter, Twhirl, For our students use though, the sites are often blocked. YouTube, even embedded in a lesson plan, is blocked from most schools. I understand there are some poor taste YouTube videos out there, but there's also a great bit of relevant videos. It's a shame that embedded videos are also blocked.
Certain other web 2.0 tools are also blocked. Again, I understand, but a teacher should be able to log in and access certain tools. The should be trusted to know which tools are best for students, what videos can help reach the standards, etc.
Our students are no longer looking at porn. They are using social media. Shouldn't we encourage proper usage of social media in the classroom?

My Tissues

2008-09-15T22:07:00.002-05:00

I'm not feeling well and have a box of Kleenex in front of me that are Anti-Viral. On the bottom of the box it says "It is a violation of Federal Law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. Use only as a facial tissue."

Uh oh. How many of you have broken the tissue law?

Izea, Part Three, Last Post

2008-09-13T21:01:00.003-05:00

I saved this for last because the presenter really irked me today with his flippant answer. He gave HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE advice to someone who asked a great, legitimate question. (Here is the video, and the remark was at around 45:40)

It was about copyright.

The speaker was Loren Feldman, and he was speaking on Video Blogs. The question was about where to find music that is copyright friendly. He gave the young lady permission to use whatever she wanted for her YouTube Video because basically YouTube has given permission or has come to an agreement with the artists on the use of the music.

He tells them to "go for it." Do not take this advice. You tarnish your reputation if you have to backtrack work because of a violation notice.

Yes it is hard to police this, and no one wants to be seen as a bad guy for doing so. At the same time when other presenters were asked what to do if someone copied part of your blog, there was irate and passion over send a cease and desist letter and how wrong that was. Hello! These artists are also being wronged when you use their music without their permission to make a profit.

YouTube has several mentions of this topic in their Help Section. I personally liked this entry from rewboss: "As a general rule of thumb, if it's a commercial piece, you'll only be allowed to use the music for your own personal use -- typically, you will not be allowed to "distribute" or "broadcast" it. Uploading to YouTube counts as "broadcasting". If you cannot find any information, you should assume that the music is protected under copyright and you can't broadcast it. It's only in the public domain if the author or the performer (whichever is appropriate) actually declares it to be in the public domain. "

And YouTube does have an agreement with Sony BMG and Universal. They do not cover EVERY musical artist out there, nor does that agreement give final say so.

As a matter of fact, if your music is used in a video that links back to your site and says that this video is sponsored by and gives a link - you are in violation no matter what. No longer are you using the music for personal use and expression, but you just gave PROOF that you are making money off that video. For instance, the video on Loren's blog is hosted on YouTube. If you go to his website, the video is there with YouTube in the corner of the video. UNDER the video it says "Today’s show brought to you by www.payoneer.com" Why did he need someone to bring you a show? Because he's getting some money from it.

Now let's pretend (I haven't watched the video yet) that there's a song used in the background that really enhances the video. And let's pretend the artist who recorded that song either is being sponsored by Payoneer's competitor or totally disagree's with their company philosophy. If the song was used as part of the video, it's misleading. And the average person is going to think they are linked. Big Snaffu issue!

Safest bet, don't use music that can be questioned. Instead either create your own using GarageBand and the special software they have to mix in different band sounds (watched a seminar on this at International Mall, but did not buy into it since I am musically declined), create your own music using Microsoft PhotoStory's music generator, find public domain music, or royalty free music (which you may have to purchase once, but at least you have it).

By the way, Creative Commons does not say that anything can be used creatively - you still have to follow copyright law. Creative Commons is a right that an artist can place on their art if they chose to.

We are really trying to encourage students to be conscience of the copyright law. It would be great if they could realize well respected bloggers, vloggers, and business people in general are also following the law that protects YOU!

IzeaFest Part Two- the Social Network Forum

2008-09-13T19:47:00.003-05:00

I thought it was interesting that there was a question from the audience from two current college students about being too personal on the Internet in the social networking circles. I want to re-emphasize what the panel was saying.

Anything you do or say online is apart of your new permanent record (popular presentation by Steve Dembo). If you join a site such as FaceBook or MySpace you do have the option to make it to where only your friends, peeps, etc can see your updates. With that said, if you want to show all fun, sassy, and possibly racy images online but you want to keep it within your approved circle, make sure you check your settings. And if you plan on going in a field where your personality and profile will be checked (education, politics, entertainment, etc) then think twice because private stuff can be copied and pasted. Right now it might be cool -but 20 years from now do you want it known that you "inhaled" true social media? Politicians really need to worry because they will find it harder to deny the actions when there is a photo, messages, and more to back up the claim.

Also, I like the points they made about keeping certain networks for your true personal friends. I agree that Face Book needs to be for friends and families. Join a group from Ning or websites with social components that have a similar interests as you. And if for some reason you are worried about personal information, create an online profile that has same personality as you, but the username, the birthdate, etc is no where near the real information.

I think that's one area they did not stress. Get off Twitter and Facebook already, what other professional networks do you belong to? Lena mentioned a professional network, but she never really detailed this area. I, as a educator and technology trainer, have joined many networks that relate to educational technology and a few with personal interests. As an educator we have many choices, some better than others. But where do these people go?

Last think I want to point out is it's okay for Mommy Bloggers to blog about their children if that's where they are comfortable and they take the precautions that need to be taken. As a mother of a ADHD/LD/OCD, High Anxiety, Sleep disorder, seizure prone child- I often look for other mothers who are going through the same thing. I don't need your child's name, but I would like to know age and if they are a boy or girl. It helps me make a connection. I personally add Joey's name, and include photos such as the one from his last sleep study. I never considered myself a Mommy Blogger though, and the people who follow me on a normal basis know my son. If they didn't, or if I had a more well read popular blog, I might consider twice before posting that information.

I did go back and watch this session, and some of the things that I took out of context there, I was able to put into context after listening to it a second time.

Izea Fest Part One

2008-09-13T19:33:00.002-05:00

This Friday and Saturday I was able to attend the IzeaFest in Orlando, FL. I'll admit the first day was not my favorite and I was very skeptical about returning for the second day. I mean, I learned a lot from the sessions but I didn't think they were truly geared towards my goals and learning objectives. I am very glad I stayed behind and did the second day though.
There was no evaluation form, so I'm going to use my blog to give my thoughts. I might even, for the first time, post my blog on Twitter. :-)
I already mentioned the first day was not my thrill point. However, if I could have done the second day first and then the first day second (reverse), I think I would have gotten more out of it. See, today we talked about Content with Merlin Mann (AWESOME!!!!), then had a network forum (uh - one participant irked me), then we talked about design (LOVED the fact that they talked about accessibility issues) and makeovers (great at sharing before and after and why). So today was all about the start to finish of setting up a good blog. Then Friday we talked about making money off the blogs, content, advertising and affiliates. The content part was alright, but the rest needed to be shared today so we would have the full view and concept, working forward instead of backward. Heck, you can't make money on a blog until you have content, people following and a layout that works for your viewers.
Other than that, I think things went really great and I might even consider going back next year. I will look at actually going to the night events and really socializing.
But I have two complaints and I'm going to make those in the next blog post.

Shouldn't be a big deal

2008-09-13T13:48:00.004-05:00

I'm at a blogging conference and I was going to pull up my old DEN blog for one person in the room who was curious about my style. Yeah, I could show this blog, but we were talking about comments, voice, etc. and I had more of a voice, community, and comments there. He wanted to learn more about social networking with teachers, so I wanted to show off one of the best social networks for teachers today. My log in for the community no longer works, but our blogs were still there. Hidden, but there. A former DEN member pointed them out to me and told me how they go back there to check a few tools I had mentioned.
Anyway, so I go to one blog I knew was still posted: http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/florida/2006/10/14/. He then asked me if I changed my name.
All my blog entries are no longer credited to me. Debbie Bohanan gets credit. Which shouldn't matter but goodness, it does. I feel like that whole 11 months was just wiped clean and they're gone. They were great times, and I don't hold a grudge against them for the restructuring - but goodness graciousness, can't they at least leave us as the author of those blogs?
Oh well.

Wall Flower

2008-09-13T08:00:00.003-05:00

I was hit smack in the head last night with a "God Awful" truth. I'm an introvert. I am not a social butterfly.

Thursday night there was an event social for IzeaFest. I got into Orlando a bit later than planned and chose to go to dinner with Kelly instead and then go watch America's Got Talent or read. I told myself it was because I didn't want to pay for parking, didn't want to get dressed up in a little or even big black dress, and I wasn't a drinker. Then yesterday I found a spot up against the wall, third table back. I told myself I chose this spot because of the power connection was right there. Last night I chose not to go to the bar event. I told myself I was really tired and wanted to go to dinner.

Truth was in all those events I didn't know anyone and didn't want to stand out as the loser. Yeah, I know I'm not a loser. Give me a bunch of my friends or teachers, and I can be a great social butterfly or social planner. Put me with a bunch of corporate people, or people I don't see an immediate connection to (because there are a lot of people here that are not a lot of corporate people here), and I freeze. I freeze at talking to higher ups in education - superintendent level- even my own old super. I freeze at talking to people who are financially savvy like these people who know how to work from home and make money blogging. I freeze at talking to those who know how to relax, have a drink, and have fun. I have slight panic attacks at the thought. Heck, I froze the first time I spoke to Hall Davidson!

But then I chastise myself each time I don't follow through with the social plans, don't take advantage to network, and sit back to be the wallflower.

Me, the one who was a manager for what I believe was a successful state (North Florida actually) DEN. Me, who will talk to total strangers and invite them to an event - but then don't know how to relax and enjoy Howl At the Moon the way it was meant.

So do I want to re-invent myself? Do I want to change? Yes. How do I expect to meet Mr. Right or a new great friend if I don't learn to really socialize outside of my comfort zone.

How many of you are really good at stepping out of your comfort zone? Think about it. Are you good at stepping out of the comfort zone? Do you get nervous? Freeze like I do?

Let's bring this back to education. How many of you ask your students to step out of their comfort zone? Do you forget to be compassionate in your grading when they do, but are not as successful as others that are in their comfort zone?

Is your professional development plan asking you to step out of your comfort zone? How do they help you step out and be successful?

I signed up for tonight's scavenger hunt. Let's see if I can do this.

Another Social Network

2008-09-12T13:57:00.006-05:00

BrainPop is a fun site, and I enjoy the videos immensely. So does Joey and Zoe. But often times I'm asked, "aside from showing the video, how do you USE BrainPop?"

BrainPop has decided to answer that question by giving their users a great gift. Welcome to BrainPop Educators. Here you can read their updated blog (I wanted to make sure it was going to be updated regularly before I announced it here), find lessons or submit your own, find videos from other users on how they use BrainPop, and more. Check it out!

It'll be interesting to see how much this community grows over the next few months and if it's going to be viral like Discovery Educator Network, or sort of dry like another one I won't mention. I have a feeling it's going to be very engaging!

Izea

2008-09-12T09:05:00.002-05:00

I'm at the Izea Fest with a bunch of people who have products or services like mobile ringtones, etc. This guy speaking is telling us how he was a failure first. Told us his whole life history of failures. Then he shows us his successes. He has websites that in 2005 earned over $30K a month based on ads.
So I feel totally out of place here. I honestly don't want to earn $30K a month. I know, how silly of me.
And since I don't follow these people normally, I don't know half, okay 98%, of what they are talking about.
But if I don't take away something then I realize that I missed out on time spent calling my customers and getting my email back to normal. So my takeaways:

Prioritize the potentially profitable projects
Do what others are unwilling to do
Make sure that there is still a need for service
Build your product for people, not for search engines or profits. If it's for people first then the profits will follow.
Grammatical errors on a blog are okay

I like that last one.

My Aha Moment of the Day!

2008-09-11T14:34:00.004-05:00

I'm running WAY late! I was suppose to be at Debbie's school by now, but I've been so busy - I can't get out the door!
So now since Debbie and I just went over a few things, I can relax before hitting the road. Tomorrow, I'll be attending a blogging conference, and so I decided I would spend my 15 minutes of calm time to see who the presenters are. It's not an educational group, so I don't know them at all.
They all sound interesting, and part of me is wondering why I asked to go now. I have nothing in common with any of them. But this one guy has a post that caught my eye and his opening sentence made me realize WHY I have problems writing "technical" help items for work, or even the third person article for our newsletters. James Chartand's post "What Jergens Hand Soap Can Teach You About Crafting Compelling Copy" starts off with the statement, "Want to be a better writer? Read. That’s a given."
I read all the time! But I don't read the proper books. For instance, I just read "Can You Keep A Secret" by Sophie Kinsella. In the book Emma pretends to have read "Dickens". I pretend too! But I have read James Patterson, Janet Evonich, JK Rowling, Nora Roberts, Vince Flynn - you get the picture. I just read four books since Thursday! Smoking would be a cheaper hobby! I also have a ton of books on my shelves, including The World Is Flat. I think I read part of the first chapter while traveling. Fastest dinner I ever ate! I finished in a hurry to make it to the bookstore. I had to have something entertaining to read. I have skimmed the book since then, but never read it cover to cover, and never will.
I have other books on my shelf like that.
So when I write, I write the way of the authors I enjoy. Stephanie Plum is telling her own story - not Janet. Nora writes details and is expressive, not straight and to the point. And so I want to give the background, the details, and I want to write the story as if I was the one reading it to you. Like we're having a conversation.
My suitcase is packed. I just guiltily looked at the latest ASCD book sitting on my desk.
I grabbed the Jayne Ann Krentz book I picked up yesterday instead.

Travel Stories

2008-09-06T07:50:00.002-05:00

This week I had a training in Birmingham, AL. I was excited because this is where one of my former students was going to school and where "Ms. Alabama" Pam Walker lives. I couldn't get a hold of Pam, but I did get a hold of Jay. Thanks to him, a book wasn't my dinner partner on Thursday night.

My adventures started in a Nissan Versa. I drove about a mile away from the airport, looked down, and saw all these ants coming out of the dash, cup holder, and the steering wheel. I think I killed about twenty before I even had the car turned around. For my problems the rental company upgraded me to a Mountaineer. It was either that or a Mustang, but that was not an option. I did NOT want to drive He told me he was giving me a small SUV like the Ford Escape. I've driven the Escape -that I can handle. This car was more like the Explorer or Edge.

And if I had realized how narrow some of the streets were, how ing, and that Alabama is not as flat as I once pictured, I would have begged for the smaller car without the ants.
Anyway, so I get to the hotel and the room is freezing and has a wet floor. Can't turn the air off without smelling the damp. Can't walk in the bathroom without slipping since the bottom of my shoes are now wet. And the air has to stay on so you can mask the smell, but it's not a comforting sound. But the room is clean - so I'll deal.
Jay and I had a great dinner at Johnny Rockets, caught up with how school's been going, gave him a talking to about performance in classes, etc. He even gave me a few minutes in the bookstore and didn't complain about my driving. Such a good kid.
The next morning I left the hotel for the 12 minute drive to the district office. I printed directions off in case my Garmin was wrong. The directions matched, I was good to go. I was leaving early so I could stop and buy black socks. Never got the socks. And I didn't get to the school board by 7:20 as planned. Instead, I was scared witless by 7:30!
I got to the location and it didn't look right. There was no school board offices, the houses looked run down, there were large empty lots that had the appearance of either construction work that stopped or never got started, and things just didn't feel right. But there was a McDonalds and a gas station so I pulled into the gas station for directions. The first person was from Mississippi - didn't know the area. The lady behind the counter didn't speak English. Three guys walked in, and I decided to ask them for help. They said they were from the area and when I said I was looking for 18th Street South or the School Board offices of Jefferson County. The bigger of the three guys asked me if I was crazy, "don't you know not to go asking no stranger for directions? You don't know where they goin' to send you." I responded that I was lost and was just hoping they would be nice enough to help me out. The guy said, "okay, I'll be nice. That here road is 18th Street. You came the north. Head that way for the south side. Just turn right out of the lot."
I walked super fast back to my car, and looked back inside the store. The guys were laughing. The big guy had his back to me, and when he bent at the waist, I saw the gun tucked in the back of his pants. I stepped on the gas and turned right.
Quickly I realized I was not going the right direction. Nope. Nada. See, I was headed down a dead end. No sign saying so, but the road stopped, there were trees all around, and no where to go. I did a three point turn, looked in my rear view mirror and saw the guys still at the store, and turned around. When I drove past them, they were laughing and pointing at me and one of them made the gun signal, shot it my way and then waved goodbye.
That episode of "The District" where Jack had to go to California for something to do with a case, and the car he rented had a navigational device or computer in it that had been tampered with. It sent him to a destitute, deserted lot. He was a cop who knew no fear. I knew fear.
I got back on the Interstate, pulled over at the next exit, plugged in Jay's dorm (on 14th Street South) and found my way from there.
Found 18th Street. Went the wrong way at first, so I turned around. Got to the 900 area and I'm not sure how far up it went, but all the sudden, the road dead ended into a beautiful historic looking school on a hill. I went around the school, thinking 18th street continued on the other side. Nope. But I did find a Police Station with an officer and a janitor standing outside.
I explained I was lost. I told him what happened. He said white girls shouldn't be on the north streets. Told me how to get to where I was going. It wasn't on 18th Street as I would find it. I called Jane. Her soothing voice helped calm me down. I was nervous I wouldn't find the site. But I did find it. I signed in at 8:15, still a bit shaking.
And I guess the training went okay. I had abotu 50 + hard working media specialists in there. We were cramped for time, barely covering everything. But I heard great comments and they said they wanted me to come back.
Especially since I know my way now. :-)

Election Questions

2008-08-31T20:18:00.002-05:00

You can't turn to the news, into a Twitter Conversation, onto a new webpage without seeing news or an ad about Obama or McCain. Nothing I'm hearing has swayed me to vote for either one - YET. I've heard a lot of great promises, but no actual plans yet.
Here are my questions:

We are paying for the health care for a lot of US Citizens and illegal immigrants. I do agree that everyone should have the right to the health care, but that's not what bothers me. What bothers me is the number of people who have jobs and cannot get health insurance. They still rely on the free health clinics and medical programs. So Obama and McCain - what are your REAL plans for health care, and more importantly - HOW DO YOU PLAN TO PAY FOR IT?

As as side note, someone on TV said that we needed to at least provide the same health coverage for Americans as the politicians get. That's a sore subject with me. They get FREE - no premium- health coverage in the state of Florida and teachers are having to pay a premium. And sometimes that premium is MORE than they can afford. I have a friend who has his children on the state plan because his WORK insurance is not affordable. HELLO????

We're in the middle of an economic crisis. Part of it is because of the gas prices and part is because of the UN-affordable housing. For instance, when I moved to Florida I found a great small lot with a dilapidated mobile home for just over $100,000, a home built in the late 1980s that needed about $50,000 or more worth of work for $175,000 and a brand new home that was up to code for just over $200,000. On my single paycheck, the mobile home was the most affordable, but it was not realistic or safe. When you live paycheck to paycheck to pay your mortgage, you can't save for retirement and you can't put back into the economy. No splurge shopping or "extras". Those help spur the economy. If no one is shopping, then those stores can't keep the jobs, they close down, jobs are lost, and houses go into foreclosure, eventually decline. I've seen it happening around me. We have 300 lots built in my community, 18 are in foreclosure, some are for sale and are not selling, others are on a "short sale" program and not selling, and then the others are struggling to keep things going in the depressing state our community is in. So Obama and McCain - what are you going to do REALISTICALLY for those who bought to high due to the market availability in their time of need (and not lower interest rates because I only know ONE person who was able to get the lower interest rate and not the other plan to be starting in October because it is also not aimed at the AVERAGE American.)? And what are your plans to make sure that the developers, builders, and mortgage companies DO NOT put the economy in such a state again? And how do you plan to carry it out?
What are your plans for education? How do you plan to support those plans? Remember, these are the future Presidents of the United States and you'll depend on them for plans on keeping you healthy and safe in all measures. Will it be more state testing and unfunded mandates? Is that realistic? How are you going to lower the stress for teachers today so they can TEACH and do more than prepare our students for state tests but for the real world? (So maybe Palin's PTO presidency will help with insight on what American Education is going through today? Just a thought.)
What are your plans for Iraq? Withdrawl? Stay? How will your plans ensure that America is not left vulnerable or seen as weak and encouraging another attack on our soil?

Abortion rights are actually not a concern of mine. I know, that's a step backwards for women according to some. I am not concerned with who is having affairs, who has the most houses, who raises the most money, or anything else that might be frivolous. I want to know who is going to take care of America first, take care of our real problems.

I got off track of the media frenzy though. I have noticed that while McCain has encouraged the funds to start preparing for the storms, that wasn't as media frenzied as Obama asking supporters to stop donating to him and donating to the Hurricane Relief Funds.
Hey both of you - Education budgets have been hit so hard this year- why didn't you both do a fundraiser for PUBLIC education and help them out? Why wait until you had a photo op, chance to get your name in the papers to do something "good"? I'm still amazed at how much each campaign needs to win their election. American

Playing the Political Lessons

2008-08-31T19:50:00.002-05:00

I was on the phone the other day with my aunt after Palin was announced as McCain's running mate and she expressed how excited and interested my cousin is with this election. He won't be able to vote this time around, but he's starting to realize the changes that can come about in America with this election.
Or can the changes take place?
In a discussion today the line Obama and his groupies have been using came up, "Who wants more of the same? We've had Bush for the past 8 years. It's time for new blood." My mother, a Republican who may or may not always vote Republican, said, "Well then we better hope that we get new blood in Congress, because it's not only Bush that created this mess."
And she's partly right. We have a system of check and balances. No office has complete control. If the President wants to pass a bill, he needs to have support of Congress. If Congress wants to pass a bill, they need support of the President. They can vote against his proposals, and he can veto theirs.
The other thing topic that got brought up was if there ever was a President and Vice President in office that were NOT of the same party. Yes, there was. In the original set up the person who received the second highest vote became Vice-President. This became a problem when Federalist John Adams won the Presidency and Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson became Vice-President. Imagine their conflicts over foreign affairs and state rights. Can you imagine what it would be like if we had the same set up in today's election? We could have an Obama/McCain or McCain/Obama or McCain/Clinton or Clinton/Obama or Donald Duck/Mickey Mouse election.
I would vote for Donald. :-)
I bring this up because the rest of the discussion was over what is the Vice-President's Role other than to be on the card and then to take the President's place if anything should happen to him. I found it interesting that the only thing that they could say was "to go deer hunting and hope not to shoot a friend" and some other off handed remarks.
So right now I'm trying to write lesson plans and I decided I'd focus on government. It's obvious that we can all use a refresher on the election process, the responsibilities of each branch, and the responsibilities of the President and the Vice President.

Putting It All Together and STACKS

2008-08-30T12:19:00.004-05:00

It's no secret that some of my favorite products include netTrekker d.i., Tech4Learning's entire product line, and Scholastic. I've also been enjoying Zoho lately as well. I found a way to make them work together!

Recently I was conducting a training on netTrekker d.i. and was sharing with the media specialists how to save the preferred links and the directions for the project in the My Portfolio. (For more information on this, contact netTrekker d.i. for professional development. They have a fantastic Integration Class. I'm not just saying it because I teach it, it really is good.) I also showed the teachers how to create a rubric using the free tools courtesy of Tech4Learning's Myt4l. We needed somewhere to post the rubric, so we uploaded it into Zoho's Spreadsheet and made the spreadsheet public. I then posted the URL for that spreadsheet into netTrekker d.i.'s My Portfolio, right into the folder for that particular project.

Then I overheard that it would be great if the media specialists could add a list of the preferred books for the unit. One said they could use the Template tool and put all the books on a list. I took that opportunity to showcase the Scholastic Book Wizard. I created a list of books about Abraham Lincoln and added the booklist to the project folder I created in netTrekker d.i.

Here's an example of a completed booklist. Joey has been asking me a lot about Superheroes lately and he only seems to be ale to concentrate or think about Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and the others like them. So we went on the Wizard and found other books about heroes, but necessarily with those that are well known. These are books that he'd like to read or has read at school.

And while I was on the Scholastic website, I found this great new social tool for students. It's called STACKS. It's still in Beta Testing, but there's going to be a lot of neat features to help students connect with other students who share their love of reading certain books. Check it out - there's some great stuff already there. My niece is playing with the links now.

Brain Freeze, Brain Fart, No Brainer

2008-08-22T17:08:00.003-05:00

First I want to finish up my vent since last post. I agree with Marsha that it is rude of people not to move. I do it all the time and don't see the big deal. Right now I'm stuck at the Fort Lauderdale Airport. Delayed due to weather. I'm sitting on the floor. Why am I sitting on the floor? Because this guy had a seat saved for his food and another for his bag. He ignored me when I asked if the bag seat was his and if I could sit there. But guess what? This other guy all decked out in fashion statement attire and two gold hoops came over and he moved ALL of his stuff for him. I'd have moved for him to, but that's because I'm nice. I guess the tassels did it it.

So on to Brain Freeze, Brain Fart and the No Brainer. I do nothing but read while I'm on a trip. I can't see purchasing an electronic reader because you can't use them during take off. And I love the feel of a book in hand. I have read 4 books this week alone. I need to find a cheaper habit, so I decided to try my hand at writing.
I tried to get back into the educational book but I couldn't. I'm not a technical writer. I keep getting things sent back to me from the group I work with because it's not crisp enough for training. I agree. So I abandoned that book.
But I have this great series idea and I'd love to actually flesh it out. The main character's name is Chrystal "Chrys" Clear. She's a teacher and well, I don't want to give away the plot. And the plot's okay. I've got that in my mind. I'm just having a problem with the start. I can't get happy about anything I'm writing. It's not right. Maybe I'm being to critical. My brain freezes during the scenes where characters are talking. I who love to talk don't know how to write a scene with people sharing a conversation.
Then I have a brain fart and forget where in the world I am in the story. I want to jump ahead and write about the dead body. Yeah, okay, so there's a dead body -maybe in the book. But I need to get to the dead body. I can't just jump into a dead body can I? That doesn't sound exactly right does it?
So as I sit in the airport with the brain freeze and brain fart, I finally have a no brainer thought. WHY am I trying to write blind? Mrs. Hunter is right. I need to flesh out my stories first. I need to create their map and have my journey planned. My former high school English teacher told me if I had Inspiration back in high school I would have been a better writer. Why am I not using it right now? Well duh!
My battery is dying, but I can start with pen and paper. Tonight, if I can't sleep, I'll transfer to Inspiration.
And in case Janet Evonich is reading this - why don't you run a contest where you'll pick an apprentice to help write their first book. Don't accept any other entries but mine. :-)
And maybe one day frequent flyers will buy my book to help them get through the flight and wait in the airports. One can dream huh?
Time to get inspired!

Travel Venting

2008-08-21T21:39:00.002-05:00

I have been writing a lot of posts lately as I'm flying and traveling to trainings, but only in my head. But right now, I really need to vent.

I use to be the perfect traveler. I checked my bag and only had my laptop bag with me. Then I decided to be one who took my bag on the plane with me. I have a 21 inch bag that fits the size wise dimensions, but it was really pushing it. Even Delta made me check it once - and it was not over flowing or expanded. As a matter of fact, it had plenty of room. So for my birthday last year my parents bought me a nice 17 inch bag. Perfect.

However, I'm getting really frustrated when I see people who get away with the breaking the baggage rules.

To the lady today who had a bag that would not fit in wheels first and had to take up more than 1/2 of the overhead compartment, plus had not one BUT TWO purses (one was a laptop bag she says) that were so big they took up the rest of the compartment - the guy who had to check his ONE bag thanks you.

To the man who had a suit bag, a suitcase, and a laptop bag - decide which one you want to check. The lady who was last on the plane would have appreciated it.

To the team that had each a suitcase and a laptop bag, and the lady had a huge purse and the guy was carrying a long tube - read the rules. Then you wouldn't have to figure out where to put everything.

And flights can leave on time.

Yeah, frustrated.

Last year I had to check my ONLY bag that had my MacBook Pro, my Garmin, my cell phone, my camera, my iPod, and my PURSE. The flight attendant made it sound like she was putting it up front in First Class. See, I was the last person to board because of my zone, had to sit behind first class and there was no more room for my ONE bag. There were plenty of bags that did not fit the size wise dimensions, but I still had to check my ONE bag. During the flight I asked the flight attendant if there was a ticket for my bag. She looked at me funny and said no. At the end of the flight I asked her if my bag was going to be brought up with the strollers. She said, "no, I checked it all the way through. You'll need to go to baggage claim." SHE SENT MY LAPTOP TO BAGGAGE CLAIM! I raced there to make sure no one grabbed it first, only to find out my phone was missing. Thank goodness only the phone. It fell out of the velcro pouch. And the airlines are not responsible for technology YOU CHECK!

Okay, starting to feel better.

But seriously people, please stop bringing bags on the planes that are not size wise or that are TOO heavy for you to lift. Ladies, your purse is a personal item. You have to choose - your suitcase, purse or laptop. Or put your purse in your laptop bag like I do. Yeah, I carry a small purse - but I've recently bought a bigger one. And it still fits! And to the people at the gate - start cracking down on the people who carry on too many bags or oversized bags. Start charging if needed. Dang, you charge for everything else.

Deep breathe. Sorry I vented. Had to get it out. Not like anyone really reads my blog anyway. :)

Communities: One Size Fits All?

2008-07-24T12:32:00.003-05:00

I read a great article, thanks to a twit by Cool Cat Teacher, about communities and social networking. It seems like a lot of people are using the buzz word "community" to try to pull people into their site. I know a few months ago I joined the American Idol community, the Oprah Community, Ellen's Community, and then a few others as well. Oh, and some food item community -I think it was Kraft -just so I could get the recipe.
The thing with each of those communities is that there was no desire to stay active. Okay, I take that back - I stayed active in the American Idol Community and was even the David Cook trivia person for the Tuesdays before each show in the David Cook forum, but since he's been crowned as our Idol, I haven't been back. And unless there is another idol of Cook's talents, I don't plan on logging back in. I only signed up for Ellen so I could keep up with the American Idol chatter. Oprah because there was a forum I was interested in, but that topic soon fizzled.
I have seen a few teacher communities with staying power. In the article, it was mentioned that a lot of "communities" are not true communities but rather end users and the problem with most "communities" is that they do not harness the passion or interest. Okay, I'll give him that. So what makes the community a true community?
One topic he brought to light was that those involved need to have a similar interest and a sense of shared experiences. So I go back to an education community that I joined over a year ago. I had an interest in their product. It was catchy to begin with. However, since it's inception I have not truly gone back to the "community" website because I did not share any experiences with the other members. The David Cook group all shared our anticipation up to the show on Tuesday nights, our prayers and wishes for David on Wednesday night, and then our joy when he won. Since then, the community has found another platform to share their experiences. The original community has fizzled.
So what can a community do to keep it from fizzling?
When I went back to the article I saw a response from Chris Abraham. I really like his quote: "What every successful community requires is community leadership. Community leadership can be organic and emergent or they can be hired in the form of online community managers or facilitators. A strong leadership — people who have skin in the game — is more important than a good web application; also, these community leaders are often the main draw to the community and can be the difference between keeping or losing your members when a competitor comes to town."
I can agree with that based on my experiences with the DEN. I was okay with it when it first got started, but once the leaders took their place, it became even more exciting. (Especially when I was a leader. ;-) ) I really believe the field managers make DEN the cohesive community it is today. Even when we lost the state/regional field managers, the leaders left -Lance, Steve, Scott, Betsy, Hall, Coni, and Jannita - really held the community together. The state leaders all stepped up and helped as well.
Some would say that the leader is not necessary when they refer to Twitter or even Second Life. However, those are loosely formed communities and someone always takes over to help organize the events. And in Second Life, there is a leader for those formally involved in the DEN, ISTE or other groups Second Life Experiences. There are also owners of the various islands who plan events. So again, a leader emerges.
So if anyone is thinking about creating a true community, they need to make sure that there is a central passion, opportunities to share experiences, and a leader with the same passion and goals of the members of the community.

Crazy, Life and Reading

2008-07-17T06:00:00.004-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I landed in Charlotte, NC. Five minutes into my drive towards Mooresville, NC I heard this song. I checked into the hotel, ran across the street to Kohl's to buy a new purse, and heard it again. (Shockingly, I bought two, but returned one because it was too big.) Then I went to dinner and guess what - it was playing there too. I ran into Sally's and heard it a fourth time, and wonder, are the radio gods trying to tell me something? What was the song? Machbox 20's "Unwell", and now I can't get "I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell, I know, right now you can't tell."

Anyway, I jumped on last night to a Second Life event led by Anne Truger. Now I had really never ever wanted to jump into Second Life again after the X Rated experience I had once before - over a year ago. But I actually enjoyed last night's session and learned a lot. I'm looking forward in participating in other professional development/personal learning experiences in Second Life.

After Second Life I played some more with Book Wizard from Scholastic. I helped my neighbor find some books for her children the other day using this great tool and decided I wanted to try it out for Joey. He's such a non-reader, but I've got to find something to spark his interest. When I was his age, I had read almost all of the Bobbsey Twins series and was reading other detective stories. I read almost 2 books while in Gurnee, IL last week, finished a book yesterday while flying, and have another one ready to be read on tonight's flight. I don't understand why he doesn't like to read. Hopefully the Book Wizard will help me find some great books to spark his interest.

Today I'm training on netTrekker d.i. I'm looking forward to the training and helping others realize that netTrekker d.i. is so much more than a search.

Social Networking - not Just for Sales Anymore

2008-06-26T16:01:00.002-05:00

I decided to try my hand at answering a question in the Linked In forum to show off my expertise. Don't laugh. I chose this one: Are sales people more or less likely to engage in social networking than those in other professions?

My social networking experience started when I was transitioning from teaching fifth grade to middle school business. I had to find a group for support, and so I joined the "I Must Be Crazy, I Teach Middle School" Yahoo Group. It was great. We'd share lesson plans, discussion board topics, etc. I also entered chat rooms and joined in conversations with other single parents, movies, books, and other topics of interest - but this group was my true network. I never met a single person from the group, but we had some great times.

And I'm not in sales. Well, not really.

I later joined a network as a member and then as their manager for North Florida. You know the one, Discovery Educator Network. I really enjoyed the connections we made and the power the DEN gave the teachers. Empowering. Empowering Passionate teachers. Infusing technology, methodology, and the trends. It was absolutely fantastic.

So of course I had to write my thoughts and tell Doyle Stanton my feelings. I edited it down big time to say, "Social networking is very strong in education as well. I would say any profession that is truly enhanced by reaching out and getting to know others in order to share ideas, connections, resources, and even help in a time of need engage in social networking. I think the amount of traveling a sales person engages in though increases their likelihood of networking."

When I edited, I cut it down by accident. I left off the thought that I see the same with teachers who travel to conferences, participate in activities not necessarily sponsored by their district, and are willing to try something new. The teachers attending NECC next week are busy planning where they'll meet up if they follow on Twitter, how to connect during the conference, and where to connect afterwards.

David Warlick has created a fantastic tool called hitchhiker that pulls all the blogs and topics about conferences together.
There is a Ning for the NECC attendees to join and stay connected before and after the conference is over.
Twitter people are keeping an eye there to keep up to date with what's going on at NECC, and I'll bet Plurk will be busy too.

And those are just a few ways teachers will network. By meeting in person, sharing an experience, and making these initial connections, their online connection will be even stronger.

So is it limited to just sales people? No. Social networking is there for anyone willing to join and take the time to contribute and connect based upon jobs, hobbies, or interests.

Take the summer to connect with teachers. Start off by joining in on Scholastic Discussion Boards, look for a Ning for you, or really plunge into a network like DEN or others.

If I Were President

2008-06-17T23:01:00.004-05:00

Tonight before the HOA meeting, I spoke to a teacher down the street. She is currently working on her units for next year and gathering all the materials now. I personally think this is a smart move.

With it being an election year, she is really looking to incorporate this theme in many lessons. Having the students create the laws of the classrooms, writing speeches to elect the classroom government, balancing budgets for classroom activities, and so forth. Of course I mentioned that she had to use the Online Activity from Scholastic titled ""http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif. I also mentioned the great one computer classroom software from Tom Snyder titled "Decisions! Decisions!". My personal favorite is probably "On the Campaign Trail".

With these great tools, teaching in the classroom can be even more exciting.

Maps, measurement and projects

2008-06-17T22:46:00.002-05:00

I learned the power of a letter yesterday. My home is in the preferred corridor for Progress Energy's new lines and expansion. My fellow community members received letters letting us know that we are within 250 feet of the projected path and our homes were going to be impacted. We were not told HOW they were going to be impacted and each phone call to their office gave us different answers.

So I wrote a letter to the editor and said that we needed answers. Basically our community is in limbo. With already a weak home market, we do not need this hanging over our head. My neighbor had the bid on her home withdrawn when she disclosed about the energy line project. She honestly could not tell the potential buyer how the project was going to impact the home, and therefore loss the sale. I had home improvements I wanted to do, but why spend money if my home is going to be taken in the next year or so?

The letter was published Monday morning. At 7:45 AM, my phone rang. It was a neighbor from the community next door. They read my letter and wanted to talk about the project. I received several other phone calls, including a representative from Progress Energy. I was finally told that my home SHOULD NOT be impacted or bought out.

More information came up tonight at our HOA meeting. I have been playing on Google Earth and working out the dimensions we were given. I just can't see the path the way they see it.

I need to learn how to use Sketch Up and the tools in Google Earth so I could really draw out the maps the way the company is talking. With the widening of the road, the new gas line, and then the new tower we are going to be getting crowded really fast.

Campaign Dollars and Education

2008-06-17T14:28:00.002-05:00

I was speaking to a FL educator earlier today about purchasing a professional development package. Of course, funds are tight right now and so they're not sure if they have the monies to buy. They then made a comment about the politicians getting free insurance and how their insurance rates might even be going up. I tasted their bitterness and can't say I blame them. One politician said they are providing a public service- well so are educators.

Then I saw an article about how much money the presidential nominees are spending on their campaign and how the DNC wants McCain investigated for on the legality of McCain's decision to reject $5.8 million in taxpayer funds.

That's a lot of money. McCain is spending about Two Million a week on advertising on TV. In eight weeks, that's over sixteen million. That's the shortage of about four counties in Florida for their education budget.

But schools are made to do without, find a way to cut the budget. So they don't purchase Microsoft Office, and instead use online office tools like Zoho or Google Docs. They become very creative in their spending to make the most of the situations for all of the people involved in the realm of education.

So what if instead of spending Two Million this week on advertising, he donated one million to education, posted his videos on YouTube, blogs, and other websites, and then focused the last million on fewer time spots.

If he did that - can you imagine the praise he'd get, which in turn would be free advertisement. Obama could do the same thing. Maybe he could choose health care to donate his million too, since that's another hard hit area with the budget hits.

Could each candidate do one week of campaigning where their expenses reflect the current economy and budgets our PUBLIC SERVICE AGENCIES are being forced to deal with?

Great math activity for students when they come back. Find out how much does it cost to air a commercial, how much to create the commercials, and other campaign expenses. Place it in a spreadsheet and make suggestions on HOW to cut their expenses. Hmmm - they could even give monies to state colleges that have video production courses/majors and have them create equal commercials and benefit by getting scholarship monies. The monies and video production would have to be equal - and it's a great learning experience for those students.

I know they are using Web2.0 tools like Twitter, YouTube, and blogs - but something has got to give.

Just me rambling and ranting.

Frightful Insights

2008-06-08T22:33:00.004-05:00

When NECC was held in New Orleans in 2004, I made the reservation to stay at this hotel that was rumored to have a ghost. I made that reservation on purpose, because I thought it would be cool to see a ghost. It was the first year I was suppose to be going to NECC by myself and my boss quickly changed my room reservation. Her reason for changing it - it was connected to Bourbon Street and there was no way she was letting a single female of her employ stay there by herself. Luckily she hired Cheryl T. and I didn't go to NECC by myself.

And luckily, she changed the room because I don't think I could have slept in a haunted hotel.

Now if you read my old blog you'll remember the story of a Friday in October of 2006 in the Pan Handle of FL where I started out in Destin, I freaked out on the road due to an overactive imagination, ended up making the wrong turn when rerouted for an accident, and ended up staying the night in the round Holiday Inn in Tallahassee, FL. I freaked out even more there because I had been reading a Nora Roberts book about vampires and well, I was too scared to even go to the drink machine to get a bottle of water!

Tonight I'm in Bartow at a fairly new (2 years old) Holiday Inn. I just closed the curtains and freaked myself out because all I could see was pitch black.

So I'm back on the computer. I thought about trying once more to write a book. I think I've started about 100, but this time it would just be for my son. See, he was just diagnosed as ADHD (which we knew and he was actually diagnosed before), OCD and/or high anxiety. There's also a chance he could be functioning autistic and something else - was it PDD or PPD or something like that. As dad says, he's the alphabet kid. Anyway, we're going to start treatments for the high anxiety, which will help us figure out if he's really OCD or just high anxiety or both. It'll also help us figure out some coping strategies. I'm just not sure if he'll start Thursday or in the fall.

So in the meantime, I'm thinking about writing a book for him. I have my Image Blender ready - a great tool to create images and create digital stories with. Trying to decide if I should make the boy a shark, since Joey is fascinated with sharks. Fascinated is actually too weak of a word to describe his passion for Great Whites. I've drawn a few silly things, and if the story turns out okay, I'll probably let my brother Kelly redraw everything to be more professional. But it's kind of calming to draw the ocean.

I just can't bring myself to draw the shark because even though I'm no where near the ocean, I'm already freaked out by the darkness I just saw outside my window - and I'm not usually afraid of the dark. Which brought me back to that trip from Destin, FL where I got lost on that one windy road that bordered the ocean and the deserted vacation homes and all I kept thinking was a shark was going to jump out of the water and get me if the trees pushed me any further off the road. (It was really dark, the trees were blowing hard in the wind, and my imagination was in overdrive times 100 and I think I had actually been forced to watch Sharkboy and Lavagirl before that trip too.)

So now I'm stuck. And scared. Time to find a comedy on tv.

Careful Conversations

2008-05-30T14:27:00.002-05:00

I talked to a stranger today. Obviously my mom never said not to, or I didn't listen to well. It was someone I met on Skype. Normally I ignore all the requests I get unless I know them. However, I talked to this guy a week or so ago, and again today.

Now I remember why I don't like the Internet Chat rooms. While you have anonymity and can be whoever you want, I never lied. I'm not the kid from the song by Brad Paisley with an online personality that is very different than my own. So the first alarm should have been that he asked me for a picture. He's a great looking guy from his picture, I'm a plain Jane. My picture is not going to impress him. Great. Then I decided to send the picture anyway, this is just a friendship, no big deal. I think I hit strike one, and lost his attention. The conversation shifted.

It shifted to politics. Strike two. I'm not good at keeping up with the views of the world and I hate discussing politics and today's economy. I agree that McDonalds is making a huge profit, but how can we compare something we need (gas to get to McDonalds or our job) to something we think we want (that Big Mac at McDonalds). And McDonalds raises their prices because the cost to ship their food all over is higher with the higher gas prices. He made a comment about one of the candidates, I responded and boom, the conversation went south. Not because we disagreed, but something changed.

I decided to end the conversation before I hit strike three. I need to stick with only talking to people I know or meet in real life instead.

Copyright Law

2008-05-30T14:03:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to fix the video I created showing how to use netTrekker d.i. and eChalk together. Unfortunately, I broke my mic on the way to Georgia and the sound quality on the retake is horrible. So I have to re-do a few of the selections and need it to be quiet in the house. Must wait for tonight.

Anyway, as I closed the project I saw the latest eSchool News in my inbox. One of the articles was about the YouTube Law Suit that they say will have an effect on the school's application of using Web 2.0 tools. I have not read the article in full yet, so I don't have the details.

But the title of it reminded me of another article where this kid who had an awesome voice auditioned for American Idol, had a real great chance of making it, but then goofed up on his final audition in a major way (showing more ego than Simon) and therefore never made the show. It was for the best because he'd NEVER have beat out David Cook, and I don't think he'd have been able to cope to losing. Anyway, now that American Idol has crowned the new King, this kid (okay, Josiah Lemming), gave an interview to MTV and said that [American Idol] "it's glorified karaoke -- they pick people with pretty faces and the pretty voices, and they don't let them write their own songs," he explained to MTV News. "They pick these good-looking people with voices, and they have them sing these songs that other people have written. And therefore, it lacks passion, it lacks emotion and it lacks the things that set an artist off from being good to being great. So that's my feeling on it."

Hmmm. David Cook fans would disagree. And I think so would David A.'s fans. David Cook for one had the talent to play with the arrangements and put some passion and soul. The proof though will be in the pudding, when David Cook sells more records than this kid.

But as Tom would say, I digress for the real reason I am about to post. It's not about the number of records David Cook will sell, it's about the whole karaoke deal. I'm going to guess that even a show like American Idol has to pay royalties for each song they play. Their royalties are probably lower than what they would have to pay the contestant if the contestant were to sing their own song. Or, American Idol knows that if they let David Cook sing one of his songs, then David Cook (or other artists) will have to sign the rights over to the show for the use of that song. The copyright use of that song would cause an issue too. Did David Cook write the song himself? Did he have a partner? Do they have to pay for the use of the song to both the performer and the artists. No, it's easier if they buy a song list from various record companies and tell the kids to go at it.

Which is why schools who are creating those wonderful DVD Yearbooks need to be careful before using today's popular music for the slideshows. Are they paying for the rights to use that music? Are they paying the RIGHT people for those rights? Is there a limited time on those rights? (American Idol pulled all the songs at the end of the season. I would bet that part of it is due to paying royalties for using the songs.)

Just some blabberings.

DimDim is Bright!

2008-05-07T09:30:00.003-05:00

One of the definitions that Webster Dictionary gives for dim is lacking pronounced, clear-cut, or vigorous quality or character. So when a product is called Dimdim, it makes you wonder if maybe the product is not going to be of quality.
But, it could also mean that the rest of us are being dim if we're not using this tool.
First, Dimdim is FREE! Now hopefully that has your attention. Now to the meat of the product. Dimdim is a web conferencing service, where you can share your desktop with others, show your presentations, chat in a given area, use VOIP, use a webcam to broadcast live and the next best thing - NOTHING TO DOWNLOAD!
The only drawback for some is that it only allows 20 people at a time to log on. Now for a very small cost you can get the pro, where more can log in. There will also be ads for the free version, but if you're like me - you probably have learned to ignore them.
Okay, so that's what it says up front. Now lets check it out.
It was pretty easy to sign up. That's a plus.
Now time to start a meeting.
Pretty easy. Oh, wait - I had to download a plug-in. Thought there wasn't suppose to be anything to install? Hmmm. A bit misleading to the average computer user. So I download the plugin and I restart Firefox.
Two buttons on the left offer me a chance to either share the desktop or the whiteboard.
The one to share the desktop is giving me a fit. Says there's another meeting open. Wonder what that's about. Nothing else but this blog is open.
Oh, and my email and my messenger program.
Skip that.
The whiteboard wasn't too bad. All participants were able to draw.
Was only able to share a PowerPoint or a PDF file. Not Excel.
I didn't check out VOIP and Video because I'm on the PC that does not have those items built in. I'll try it later on my Mac. And maybe even see what's going on with my sharing desktop.
So be bright bright and try Dimdim.

Inspirational Quotes and How I Killed George Burns

2008-05-06T23:10:00.004-05:00

Karen Seddon has another great posting about how she uses Inspirational Quotes in the classroom. She asked us to leave our favorite quote on her website as a comment. So I did. Mine is from George Burns. One night, during my senior year spring break on a late night TV show, George Burns said, "It's better to fail at something you love, than to succeed at something you hate." Year was 1991. What show? I can't remember. I know I went to the beach the next day and kept quoting it over and over, that was the last time I wore a bikini, and I won a bet by getting a fake tattoo. But I can't remember what late night tv show I was watching.
So when I realized I wasn't into the drama off the stage that often came with theatre and movies, I changed my career path to education. Yeah, I prefer the drama there. George's quote inspired me to try a different route, and I was pretty happy teaching the kids in the Gingerbread Theatre classes.
So how did I kill George Burns? Well in High School I told a friend of mine that I would know I was a success the day I got to star in a movie with George Burns. She commented on the fact that he was old and I told her not to worry - he wasn't going to die until we starred in that movie together.
It was around Spring Break (again) and I was back home (March 1996). I ran into that old friend and we caught up. I was getting ready to graduate with my degree in education and she was a bit shocked. She asked me about starring in the movie with George and joked about me putting him off indefinitely like that wasn't a very nice thing to do. I nonchalently said that George could go ahead and rest in peace now and die now, I was going into education. I didn't mean it literally! But the next day she called and informed me that I killed George Burns! Possibly of a broken heart because I was giving up my dream. Either way, I was horrified!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I killed George Burns. (But don't sue me for it. I was no where near him and unless he really was God there is no way he could have heard me!)

Making it Work

2008-05-05T13:51:00.003-05:00

I wanted to create a project folder to showcase in Palm Beach, FL for a recent training. I love project based learning, giving students the rubrics up front, and organizing projects in order to keep everyone on task. Since it was time to celebrate Earth Day (which should be celebrated every day), I decided to have students do a project on recycling.
I used netTrekker d.i. to gather my resources. First I created a folder about recycling. Then, I put images in one folder and websites in another (a folder within a folder structure). Then, using the new Template that is offered in My Portfolio by netTrekker d.i., I added the directions. I love the user-defined template! I added the title, gave the intro to the project in the description spot, and in the body I added the task/directions, the evaluation, and the conclusion. That's right, it's somewhat based on a WebQuest.
Now I ran into a problem when it came to posting the rubric. I wanted to use my favorite rubric builder - MyT4L.com. However, it produces either an HTML document you must host somewhere or an Excel File. I cannot upload documents into netTrekker d.i.'s My Portfolio, so what's a teacher to do? I used Zoho. I uploaded the Excel file into my Zoho account, made it a public URL and then added this external link to My Porfolio. I'm not printing out my rubric only for it to be trashed or lost or made into an airplane and my students still have access to it.
The other thing I wanted to do was have my students watch a video from BrainPop. I have an account from BrainPop, so I added the direct link to the videos I wanted them to watch and in the description I reminded them of the username/password. It was nice that everything is right there for them to view and I'm not sending them off into many directions.
The final project itself was a multimedia "commercial" sharing a simple way to help save the Earth and why you should carry out this simple step. Students could use one of the great multimedia tools from Tech4Learning, PhotoStory, or MovieMaker or other multimedia program of their choice. They used netTrekker d.i. to find images, articles, and other sites of interest to help with the background information needed for the project. Students also wrote a blog entry with their own take on the project.
Now I need to share that information with my students. One way is to bookmark the folder and place it into the school or district folder in netTrekker d.i. But I work with a few schools that are huge and they wanted another way of sharing that folder. We (participants in a meeting) brainstormed a few ideas and one SMART man gave the perfect option.
If you use a Learning Management System (LMS) or Course/Content Management System (CMS) such as eChalk, BlackBoard, Learning Village, Moodle or other program, you can right click on the folder and copy the shortcut and paste it into that location. First, I need to click on EDIT, ADVANCED OPTIONS, and make sure my students have the right to view that folder. Then I right click on the folder, copy shortcut, and paste.

So here's my link to that recycling project: http://middle.nettrekker.com/saver/?id=20275516

Let me guess, you tried to click on that link and it won't let you in? That's right. You can only view folders that belong to the account you are registered to. So if your district has an account, even though you are registered to a school, you'll be able to see folders within your district. Your work is protected! If you are IP Authenticated, it takes you straight to the folder. If you have to log in, once you log in it will take you directly to that folder.

With budget crunches and time savers desperately needed, it's nice to see how products work together. It's always been my firm belief that if products play nicely together, then those are the ones I should invest in. Knowing that netTrekker d.i. works with my LMS/CMS, other web tools, and keeps my students safe- well, I'd be more likely to invest.

Public Servant?

2008-05-02T11:16:00.003-05:00

Oh my goodness! As everyone knows, education budgets are being cut nationwide, and Florida is being hit extremely hard with a bill that was passed in January due to misleading information.
So what's my oh my goodness remark about? Our politicians have FREE insurance. That's right - FREE! They do not pay a premium for their insurance. One politician was seen on Bay News 9 saying that he's a public servant and that he gave up a lot to go into service for his state.
Hello? You're doing a service? What about the police officers and the firefighters who do a service? I bet they pay a premium for their insurance - and they RISK their lives in the line of duty. What about the teachers who are qualified for other fields in corporate America, could earn a lot more money, but instead live pay check to pay check because they are dedicated? And we hold them to a very high standard - higher than our politicians who get the perks for being a servant to our society.
But here we have politicians who have their ENTIRE family on the FREE plan. It costs 1.5 million dollars for taxpayers to cover these politicians and their families. Only six of the 160 opt out and use the insurance their full time employer has to offer.
Wait, it gets better!
Our high level state workers also get this beautiful fringe benefit. The total bill for their FREE, no premium insurance is $278,000,000. Yes, that is Two hundred seventy-eight MILLION dollars.
They could pay a premium and save us at least $46,000,000.
My dad is retired Air Force and when he retired he chose to keep his TriCare. Now my mom worked for a school district and they offered this great additional service for TriCare covered employees that was FREE. The state finally said, "whoa, that's not legal. They have to pay for something." So they are. It was worth it in the long run because their premium still cost less than what they saved.
So why isn't it illegal here I wonder? We can cut educational programs, health insurance coverage of others, but we cannot get our politicians to pay a premium for their own insurance?
One billion was cut from the education and health care budgets in Florida. $46 million could be given back.
If teachers, police officers, and

Ssshhh......

2008-04-21T22:08:00.002-05:00

I got home from training in Seminole today around 9:30. I went upstairs to check on Joey - and he's asleep.

By 9:30, he was asleep.

WOW! I moved the toys out of his bed, crawled in next to him, kissed his cheeks and snuggled with him for a few minutes. He really was sleeping. And he'd been great and calmer for the past few days. I mean SUPER DUPER WONDERFUL! Do I thank God that he's off the Depakote? Is it the 6 MG of Melatonin that I should be thankful for?

In all honesty, I'm just thankful. Prayers were answered. I just hope that it continues along these lines. So I really am thankful to God.

And now I can play! I have some great sites to check out that Jonathan Decker in Palm Beach shared with me this past week. Can't believe I actually have time.

Because Joey is actually asleep on time.

American Idol Gives Back

2008-04-09T21:12:00.003-05:00

Tonight my family watched American Idol Gives Back. The stories were very touching, and even made Joey pause, ask questions, and offer his piggy bank up. Simon showed his sense of humor. I even liked the Googlillion (or however it's spelt) that Ben Stiller was commenting on. It was beautiful and funny and touching.

Until the end. And then it was ruined.

Ben Stiller, this was a family show on a very touching topic. WHY did you have to end it with those cuss words to be bleeped out? I'm sure Joey's not the only kid asking what you were saying and why was it being bleeped. The monologue started off funny, but was ruined with that and sad to say, it made me close iTunes and put down the phone. I paused long enough to write this and then Joey and I are going to go read a book. But I wanted to let you know- in case anyone in your PR area has a Google Alert set up to know what people are saying about you - that one of your biggest fans was very embarrassed by that stint tonight and made me do a double take. I'm ashamed for you right now.

And it's too late for you to take it back.

Copyright and Education

2008-03-17T09:05:00.003-05:00

I love the copyright law, but really appreciate the way Fair Use protects education. I did my final project for my masters degree on the copyright law and education, and while I made an enemy of one teacher - I got my A! I'll also be the first to admit that I believe I have violated the copyright law somehow, one way or another, by accident - but never for a class project and never for a competetion.

Basically under Fair Use, you may use 5 images or 10% of a website, which ever is less. So if a student uses 1 image from a website for a project - then it falls under fair use. HOWEVER, if they are going to make that project available online, they lose the Fair Use Coverage. Double checked on the use of Fair Use for educational purposes, and once that project hits the open web, you lose those rights granted to you under Fair Use for educational purposes. Now if it is on a secure site that is unsearchable except by log-in users, then you are okay. Just make sure it is known WHY the presentation or website cannot go public.

What if they are using a template from a site such as BrainyBetty or an open source document/page layout? I would still document the source. The creator is not getting paid for it, but props is always nice.

What if it is from the Smithsonian or an actual Public Domain site? Check thier rules for use, and again- it only takes a few strokes of the keys to actually document it on a works cited page.

What if you paid for the collection? Then say images/media came from a paid subcription from XYZ and then send them back to that site. One site I use to use would even pay for the referral if people actually clicked on your site to get to theirs. It's all part of CYA.

What if it's a free streaming media site, such as You Tube, and you're going to embed a video from their site to your blog or web page? There are rules that apply. For You Tube, you must not download the video and then upload it to your site. (You should not be able to download the video!) You should embed the video and link back to the original source.

What about a video from a site such as Discovery Streaming that says that you have the right to edit it and is used in a digital storytelling piece? Again, just document the source. Teachers Domain also has some great videos that they don't mind you sharing with others. All they want is credit back to their own website.

Teaching students how to use a tool like the Citation Machine from David Warlick or The Citation Maker from Tech4Learning would be a smart thing to do.

So teachers, when you teach your students multimedia, WebPage Design or anything else that might be posted on the web, teach them how to cite their sources and encourage them to list each source, even if they think it's Public Domain. It's part of CYA - Cover Your Assets so you don't get in trouble later. Especially if it is something that will appear on the web, in an unsecured location and is part of a searchable page.

Oh, and let's all practice what we teach.

For those who need a chart to follow: http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/public_domain/

Joey

2008-03-03T21:17:00.004-05:00

This post is for me to vent. It's not really meant for anyone to read, and since my readership is so low - I have nothing to worry about.

It's frustrating as an educator to have a child who does not want to learn or who has put up such blocks to where learning is just impossible. We're going through the hoops right now to get him a 504 plan because of increased seizure activity, but I'm also trying to get him re-tested. He was tested in 2006 and the test results said low IQ, no disability. So what that translates to is that he's the child who will get left behind. Well since 2006, he's been diagnosed with seizures (petite mal's in the form of absent seizures) that we think are starting to increase even more with the medicine or turning into grand mals. We just had a third sleep study and I hope that it tells us something. But academically it won't. Wouldn't the seizures have an effect on his learning? More than just needing extra time on a test as the 504 will give him, but more like impacting his ability to learn and recollect the lessons later and apply them to other areas in his life or other lessons? Am I wrong in requesting a second testing?

So one of the things we were offered was medical homebound. We turned it down quickly, but I'm beginning to think I should take it. It might be just what Joey needs until his medicine is settled, his seizures are under control, and maybe with one on one help from his homebound teacher he'll start to learn. I'm not crazy over the idea of him staying home all day while I'm trying to work, but I'm not crazy over him failing again. Because it's not him failing - it's me failing him and the system failing him. (He's got a GREAT teacher, so I don't blame her one bit. It's the rest of the system that ties teachers hands and only look at the children who can bring them in extra money for programs or are "bubble" children that can easily be lifted to the next level.)

He wants to learn. He really does. But I think he's given up on himself. So do I go through with the medical homebound and keep pushing the school for other assistance? I can't afford the Sylvan Learning tuition to go that route, but I can't afford for him to give up on himself so young or think I have. What are my choices?

That's him at his last hospital stay. He's such a cutie, and really is my joy. (My PIA too, but that's part of being a kid!) He was ready to enjoy a 48 hour time of playing video games, watching TV, and ordering WHATEVER HE wanted to eat until 11. Only problem was his hunger streak starts at 10 and lasts until 2 AM, so it was hard to remember to order food that would stay okay to eat for those times.

So how do I not fail him like the system already has?

Abe Lincoln

2008-02-14T15:58:00.005-05:00

When I was in 3rd grade I had to write a report about Abraham Lincoln. I remember falling asleep in the library at school while reading a book about him. Not because the book was boring, but because the new couch was really comfortable.

Zoe, my niece, is in second grade. Not only does she have to learn about Abraham Lincoln, but she has create a fact sheet and a puppet. Aunt Dani is making her turn the fact sheet into a PhotoStory, but that's just for fun.

We're using netTrekker to find the web resources and images. But I found another great source for her to get some great information, and she didn't fall asleep watching it.

It's BrainPop, Jr. For those of you haven't seen it lately, go check it out. Not only did Zoe watch the video, but there were other goodies too. One of the things I liked about the video was that it gave tips on how to take notes. On the side of the video was a notebook and Annie used it to write the question that segment was answering.

The other thing I liked was that it gave Zoe suggestions for what other age-appropriate books she should read, a cute little joke, a comic (which was the only thing she went "hmmm" on) and other activities. I liked the activity that was designed to get the class to start talking and the writing activity. Zoe on the other hand liked the craft activity and said it was perfect for the puppet that she has to make.

She has also decided to create her digital story with a similar touch as BrainPop. She's going to draw the pictures either on the computer or by hand and then scan them in. They won't be animated like BrainPop, but at least she'll have the concept available to use.

Joey and I wrote to BrainPop this afternoon and asked what were seizures. He wants to share the video with his classmates. I hope they answer!

Seiures and ADHD

2008-02-12T23:17:00.002-05:00

My son, Joey, was diagnosed with ADHD in first grade. He was a struggling learner and had a hard time paying attention, so we weren't surprised. And his father was diagnosed with ADHD, so if it was hereditary - then we figured it was passed down. Joey's also never been a sleeper. His nurse would tell you that it's my fault because I woke him up at 3 in the morning to see him the night he was born. He was born on 2/16 at 10:16 weighing 8lbs 15 oz. His pop pop said to throw him back he wasn't a 9 pounder. But when Joey was born, he was also a bit blue and full of gunk. They took him to clear him. Plus, it was a natural birth and I needed some attention. I didn't get to hold Joey and was quite upset about it. So I kept asking for him. The nurse told me he'd never sleep through the night and it was my fault for setting the precedent.
So in 2006 when he was diagnosed with absent seizures that primarily took place during his sleep and explained some of his behavior and his lack of quality sleep, I felt the burden lift. We knew the problem.
The nice thing was my first insurance covered all of it. So the testing was fine and the medicine was manageable.
Now my insurance has changed and it's getting expensive. That's not what this blog is about though. It's about the fact that we are still left wondering as to what's going on with Joey.

He was changed to Focalin last year and his grades improved. He was finally getting on grade level and was able to comprehend things. We were thrilled. But then he started getting aggressive and that's not good. And his sleeplessness was coming back. The Clonidine wasn't helping. So they ordered another sleep study. Those are expensive, but I figured it would be worth it if we found out what was going on.

His Depakote, for seizures, was upped. He was prescribed Vyvanse, a pro-drug, for ADHD.

He wasn't as aggressive, but his grades flatlined. He's failing again and can't remember simple things like 2+2 or what he did for his birthday last year. He remembers Joe, Josh and Jay from 3 years before, but not last year. Can't remember the title of the book we had been reading or what happened in the chapter the night before. And then school started reporting to me that he was having a loss of bowel movements, sleeping in class, waking up dizzy and disoriented. Staring off into space for longer periods of time, confused about where he was, and then walking like he was drunk. Last week he totally fell asleep, but was clenching his fists and drooling. I had to carry him out to my car he was so out of it. Today his school called because he fell asleep, fell out of his chair, hit the ground so hard the teacher from the next room came running over to make sure all was okay - and he never woke. He slept from 6:30-9 last night and then 10 PM until this morning.He should not have been tired.

So we have another sleep study scheduled for later this month. I hope it reveals something for us so we can help him.

But here's something else I found out. Focalin's prescription paper from the pharmacist says not to administer with Clonidine or Depakote. It even says that it should not be administered to children with abnormal EEG's and are prone to seizures because it can actually increase seizure activity. Vyvanse's paperwork that came from the company never mentioned seizures as a side effect. But guess what? On the detailed sheet that's not so pronounced on their website and on the pharmacy sheet my mom was reading on Friday night, it says the same thing. Do not give to children like Joey. I called my cousin, a research pharmacist, and he said the same thing. CVS's website (Caremark) says the same thing. My doctor said that it was an old warning and they are okay to prescribe together. Who do I believe? The doctor or the druggists? (And the druggists didn't catch this. They gave me the paperwork, it was my responsibility to read it and check with my doctor.)

I did call Vyvanse and report it to the nurse who has to record all information for the FDA. What good will it be? I don't know. But in all honesty - I'm at a loss. Joey is no where near the desperate case of some- but he shouldn't have to be going through this. He's never going to be ready for third grade at this rate, and I don't know how much more of the antics he's been displaying lately I can take. Discipline is hard, and getting harder. We have to be careful not to discipline the medical issues, but sometimes it's hard to tell what is a true behavior issue.

His teacher has been patient. I've been blessed with his teachers at Pine Grove. They truly are an A school and I'm glad we're there. And his music teachers are making sure he continues in guitar since that's a time period he seems to calm down in and can focus. I have many blessings. It's time for Joey to get the one he needs with answers to his issues.

It's 11:43 and he's wide awake and hungry. Time to go deal.

Moonk is a Cool Tool!

2008-02-05T13:03:00.000-05:00

I'm trying this new tool that I learned about from reading post blogs after the virtual conference that took place this weekend and Geeky Momma's blog. It's a tool called Moonk, which puts a skin around your selected video and lets you be a little more creative.

I selected a video from Prelinger Archives in honor of Super Tuesday.

Get your own Moonk!

Voices

2008-01-29T20:00:00.000-05:00

I love digital storytelling and am hoping to teach a class on it soon. I learned of a new tool today, thanks to my Twitter friends, that I am going to have to test out though before I do teach that class. It's a tool that I had heard of before, but hadn't checked it out until tonight's reminder. It's called Voice Thread. Watching the little demo video gave me all sorts of ideas! One is a family idea. We have some pictures that everyone knows a piece of the story, but not the entire story. I think I'll scan a few of those in and then ask my family to leave a comment. The fun comments will be from my older Cousin Alice. I think she's in her early 70's but she still acts like she's 21. She's down here for a bit from Pennsylvania and I think it would be fun to get this type of a conversation going.

Another possible use is to let students collaborate on a story together. String the images together and sort of like choose your own adventure- each person leaves a section of the story. I'll bet that would be confusing and fun! Or collaborate on a project and give comments on what's going on in the picture, thoughts, and then use those comments and thoughts to create the final digital story project.

I can also see it used for a high school yearbook project. Let the class leave comments and vote on a couple of the photos. Those comments could be the captions for the book. Allows participation and ownership. I can see some problems with that, but it's got potential.

Worth looking into!

Book Tools

2008-01-27T14:42:00.000-05:00

Scholastic is the name in elementary and middle school books. (Kay pointed out that they don't usually do high school book fairs and that may be why.) In technology, it's probably the same way, but I'm here to tell you different. If you haven't been to the Scholastic website lately, let's take a tour of it together and point out some new greats and some old faves.

For all of you coaches out there, here's a fun place to get information, lesson plans, read articles, win a pitching machine, and more for each sport. It's the Scholastic Coach and Athletic Director and could become an invaluable tool for each coach out there.
The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers is sure to be an inspiration to your students out there. The contest looks interesting, but it's the anthology that grabbed my attention. It's not an anthology of world famous artists but some of the best young artists and writers in our world today. I wonder if they are the same authors who peer tutor in the writing section?
Write It! is a great tool for high school writing teachers and students. Great information on the steps to writing, feedback from teen authors who have won national awards, a place to chat about your writing, and even a place where students can publish their work. Students can create their own portfolio for writing right here.
This past week at FETC I was introduced to a new tool called Teacher Book Wizard. Thanks to this little wizard, Joey and I are about to run to the book store and find the books on the list that are similar but a bit harder than his all time favorite book, "No David". Then again, I don't need an excuse to go to the book store. I need to manage one.
With this tool I can create a booklist for my class on different genres or maybe a wish list of books that I want in my classroom library. The list will generate a unique url so I can post it on my web page, or I can print it out and send it home with my students. There'll be a green check mark next to AR or Reading Counts if there is a test that goes along with the book- which will prompt me as the teacher to see if my school has the test and if not campaign to get the test. You do need to register for the website to create and save lists - but don't worry - it's free. I really see value with this tool!
Of course Scholastic is carrying on the tradition of following the Presidential candidates. If you believe the statistics, the youngsters are great at predicting the future president! But there's more here than just election news. Check out the Scholastic News that includes KidTech (with a picture of Slash and Bill Gates on stage together), news about the unrest in Pakistan, and more. So for teachers who are a little nervous about using the news in the classroom - check out how these youngsters make the news relevant and entertaining for the students. From International to Political to Entertainment, there's news here for each subject to write across the curriculum.
Scholastic Connect is a great place for teachers and students. The discussion boards, teachers pay teachers, sweepstakes, and so much more are here to help teachers get connected with each other and with what's going on in today's classrooms.

These are all free services, and probably about 1% of all that's available at Scholastic. We need to thank Scholastic for providing these tools with us, and the best way to do that is to just start using them.

Gotta go. My booklist is printed and Joey and I are ready to hit the bookstore.

Comfort Zone

2008-01-25T22:31:00.000-05:00

Friday night I was asked to step out of my comfort zone. Well actually, I wasn't given much choice- there was no asking involved. And I vowed revenge, but I changed my mind on the way home.
Lee Kolbert from Palm Beach area and I are on Twitter. She wanted to plan a get together for all those at FETC that were Twitterers. I then won a party for 100 people at Howl at the Moon, but it had to be on Friday. We tried to get our Twitter Network to attend, but they'd only let me have Friday night. Most people had to leave on Friday night.
Now I'm a wall flower by nature. My first school dance was when I was in 7th grade. It was sponsored by the student council, but my homeroom candidate didn't want to work the dance. She wanted to dance. So I worked for her. I loved it. I was able to talk to everyone and not try to dance. The next year I ran for a student council office position and that meant working more dances. I have no rhythm, no moves and I'm too self conscience. So when Lee wrote that it was my birthday and I had to go up on stage and do the hokey pokey- well I just wanted to go crawl into a corner somewhere or in the wall. Especially since I forgot to pack clothes to go out in and I had my work pants still on and a drab shirt. My hair was horrible and I just wanted to hide. Nope. They shone a light on me. I was doing okay until they told us to put our hands on the piano. I was done.
But on the way home I thought about how many times I asked teachers to step out of their comfort zone and try technology in the classroom. Most of the time it turned out okay and the teachers started checking out the laptops on their own and planning technology infused lessons without me. I know once I had a teacher who felt okay with me there, tried it on her own and ended up in tears. The computers were acting out that day being extremely slow, pop up ads took over 2/3rds of the computers, and our firewall seemed to have failed her. She vowed never to use technology again, and I couldn't seem to get her back in the swing of things with a helping hand.
My parents tease me - and so did Dick the former Illinois DEN Manager- about me being a disgrace to my heritage. I'm Italian and Irish. I should have a party spirit somewhere and not only the wall flower seeds. So I'm not going to get revenge (as if I could) on Lee. I'll just try to be prepared next time to leave my inhibitions at the door and just have fun.
Well maybe not all the inhibitions.

Sad Times

2008-01-15T20:39:00.000-05:00

When I was in high school, I wanted to be an actress. I wanted to star in children's films. Now this was when I was a size 6 - so already I was too big for the silver screen. Plus- I was not really photogenic.But I remember everyone always saying that stars have it easy - shopping, big bucks for role-playing, and parties. I'm not much of a shopper. Never understood spending $100 on a tshirt and I'm not a party person in the Hollywood sense.

In college I studied children's theatre and every once in awhile we were called on to do weird things. Once I was an accident victim in a plane crash for the Airport Fire Department to practice their techniques. I didn't want to eat donuts or chicken wings for a long time after that -and I won't bore you with the details right now. Another time, 1994, Mali Finn needed several of us to help with auditions for a movie. We didn't qualify - I was the wrong age and the wrong sex. They were looking for a boy. None of the boys from our area were picked, but we heard the incredible story of how a DARE Police Officer accidentally helped Mali discover this boy who had had a real hard life. I think at age 10 he had already had some struggles with the influences around him. I remember talking about how this kid is getting a big break and maybe a chance to make it in the world.

I'm sad to hear that it was not true, and maybe I am glad that I never was the right person for Hollywood. The kid's name was Brad Renfroe, and today I learned he died at the tender age of 25. He had problems with drugs, alcohol and wasted the opportunity he was given. It's a shame because this kid had the opportunity to star with people like Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones, won 4 awards with only 4 nominations and yet trouble followed him around no matter what.

When students research a career and think that acting is the way to go and escape reality- they need to look at how it did not really change the life of this young man. They need to pick a career to study because they want to do the real work and not just reap the benefits.

Brad, I hope you finally find peace.

School Uniforms

2008-01-12T14:11:00.000-05:00

I was very shocked to hear that an administrator I admire thinks that school uniforms are too expensive to initiate. I totally disagree with him! Let me tell him my story.
When I moved to Florida, I found out my son had to wear uniforms to school. His uniform is khaki or navy blue bottoms and then a red, white or navy blue PLAIN polo shirt. No logo of any sort is allowed on the shirt with only one exception- the school logo. It was cheaper for me to buy him a couple of polo shirts for about $5.50 at Walmart, two at Bealls with the school logo on it for $11 each and then a handfull of khaki or navy blue shorts for anywhere between $6-$12, depending on where I bought them. I often help buy my niece her clothes. Same deal on the shirts, bought her a few jumpers at $12 each and some skorts for the same price. On Fridays they can wear a school tshirt. During the brief cold snap, they either wear a long sleeve tshirt under their polo shirt or a long-sleeve polo shirt. No jackets are worn through out the day. If they are cold natured, then they can wear a plain or school logo sweatshirt, zippered or regular style. No logo means no alligators, horses or any emblem embroidered on it. And what's really nice is I only had to replace 1 pair of pants, 1 shorts and buy two new white shirts that he destroyed with pizza last year.
So anyway, last year Joey thought he looked a bit silly the first day of school. He was use to wearing what he wanted to wear to school. Then he gets there and EVERYONE is wearing a uniform. He was very excited after that and liked the idea of everyone wearing the SAME thing. Then they had a Rodeo Round Up Reading day and everyone was able to dress like a cowboy/cowgirl. Joey didn't want to, he was afraid he'd get in trouble. He went and was excited about the whole dress up day, but was ready to wear his uniform the next day he went back to school. (That's also the day he had a seizure- which alerted us to the sleep seizures he had been having).
You can purchase school uniforms at Wal-Mart, Lands' End, Targets, and places like Sears or JC Penneys. So here's my challenge. I want teachers who really think that uniforms are too expensive to compare buying 5 outfits for a school that enforces school uniforms and 5 more outfits for a school without uniforms. Keep a spreadsheet to track the cost of each outfit. And if you have a store like Bealls , well they give a small percentage back each year to the schools on the uniform sales. (That's where I get Joey's logo shirts.)

Otronicon

2008-01-09T08:46:00.000-05:00

Training

2008-01-06T21:59:00.000-05:00

Wow. It's been almost a month since I've blogged. Honestly, it wasn't just the season that kept me from sharing my thoughts (with mostly myself), but just a lack of interest. I really didn't have anything to interesting to put out there.

But it's a New Year, and with that comes resolutions. I've made 2 resolutions. Yes, only two! I figured resolutions are usually a failure to start with and so I would limit myself to only two resolutions and one had to be something I KNOW I can do. So my resolutions for the year 2008: 1. Lose weight and try to eat healthier.
2. Read more, and try to finish The World is Flat.

I know I can do #2. I've already read 4 books, three of them while traveling for a training. This Stephanie Plum character of Janet Evanovich is fascinating. I got the strangest looks while laughing at her antics at the airport, but then again maybe they were looking at me strange because I actually had a book in hand and not earphones plugged in and tuned out.

The first one though is going to be a bit of a challenge. I was doing great on the eating healthier until I came across a Bojangles. I had to have a Bojangles chicken biscuit and then I went back for lunch just so I could enjoy their fries. They are my favorite fries. And then while sitting at the airport (with a delayed flight scheduled) and reading about Stephanie Plum enjoying her desserts and candy bars, well I had to go get the frozen yogurt for a snack. It claimed it would help my immune system. Just not sure if the Kit Kat had any benefits.

But the reason for this post is actually about personal trainers. After training on Saturday, I spoke with one of the teachers. They were really excited and thanked me for coming. They were interested in getting their school to pay for more training and asked me questions about cost and scheduling. Then she said something interesting. She said, "You know, unless you're trained on something you'll never really use it." Well yeah, I knew that. It was the next part that got me. "Think about it. If you start an excercise diet but don't have a trainer to encourage you, show you the good things, and get you pumped -you're probably going to lose interest right away and stop the diet. But if you have a trainer, you're encouraged to keep trying and you're not afraid to test your limits."

I hadn't thought about that. I had a trainer once. I'll admit, I was actually more embarrassed and afraid to test too many limits, but I did show up for each session and gave it my best. But that had more to do with the fact that he was a real cutie. But after our free sessions were up, and he moved on to the next new member - well I kind of stopped going to the gym. But if I had a personal trainer that was right there, pushing me, holding my hand, and not letting me fall into a rut - well Christine Brinkley would still have a job, but I'd at least be a bit healthier and able to fit into the fun clothes.

So to all the technology coaches and other trainers out there- good luck in helping all of your people reach their maximum potential this year. Make sure they are having fun and that you show them the benefits for their personal self as well as their professional self. Don't forget to also take care of your learning needs though too! I keep learning from Twitter, webinars, and from reading (not just Stephanie Plum books). As a matter of fact, netTrekker is hosting some free webinars to introduce their changes for the new year. Check them out and register at: http://crm.nettrekker.com/training/shared/training/freewebinar/ .

Since Plum is tempting me to go find that homemade chocolate chip cookie my neighbor brought over for Joey, I think I'll switch over to a Dr. Cross book. He scares me so much I can't think of eating!

Happy 2008!

Career Choices

2007-12-06T08:06:00.000-05:00

Today in history: - Dec. 6

Fifty years ago, on Dec. 6, 1957, America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed as Vanguard TV3 rose only about four feet off a Cape Canaveral launch pad before crashing back down and exploding.
In 1790, Congress moved to Philadelphia from New York.
In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.
In 1947, Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by President Truman.
Discovery Education made some drastic cuts and I was jobless.

The first event may have helped prompt people into going into technology. I believe so because we now have satellite TV and directional units such as my Garmin that keep us from getting lost. The second event may not have prompted too many career changes, but I wish I could prompt my friend Chris Marshall in running for Congress eventually. The next event caused a change of positions and career thoughts. The 1947 event I added only because it dealt with Florida. The last event is personal and had me thinking about what type of job I could do now that I was without.

I loved technology coaching. I really did. That's why I love to do the trainings as much as I can. Luckily I had two companies offer me a job before New Years, and now I'm with netTrekker. They're a small company with a HUGE heart and I'm happy to be apart of their family.

When others face this type of crisis, I wonder what they do? Do they turn to other similar companies and try to find a similar job? Do they turn to a new path? I hold a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education and a Masters Degree in Technology in Education. What am I qualified for? (Don't worrry- I'm not looking to change jobs - just curious.)

I found one great site with wonderful information about the different types of jobs based on your interests at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I like to read, and would love to write, but nothing else really appealed to me. Maybe the librarian, however I'd have to be quiet. I worked at a bookstore once, really loved it - but Hernando County is missing a bookstore. They're building -but it's not here yet.

I found another great site about careers you never knew existed. They even have games to help "experience" the job. Now I love my CSI, and I would love to try my hand at the board game. I remember once as a child my friend Terri and I dusted for fingerprints the cafeteria window that was left open because we thought the person we saw on the third floor broke in. We were collecting evidence before we called the cops. Turned out, he was the janitor and we were out a bit later than we were suppose to be. However, I don't think I'd make a very good CSI in real life. Why? My knowledge of science is not very extensive for one. But the real reason - I hate blood. I could never look at the dead body or theblood and make it through the scene to solve the case. There'd be so many open cases, I'd be fired.

Another fun site was "Could This Be Your Life? " For $7.95 I can take this test and see which Career Key will open doors for me. I can find other tests by going to the Career One Stop.

As a former career teacher, I love the new items that are online for students to get a real grasp of what's out there and what they would be succesful. I know some think that elementary is still too young to talk careers, but in truth - that's the best time. They love to act things out and "play" different roles. Give them a reason to work hard in school.

Back to my sudden career change - I did love my job and I value all the DEN members and my fellow coworkers. I met some wonderful people and had some great times. The move to Florida was great for Joey. And while I'm sad that my run with them only last less than a year, I'm happy that the FL DEN picked up and continued so strong. I'm also very happy that I was able to link up with a wonderful company and I hope that all of the other former field managers were also able to pick up the pieces and move on. I have heard from Susan, Katherine, Kristen, Jan and Gerard. Every once in awhile I see Rachel, Linda, and Dawn online. I still keep in touch with Karen. And I'm lucky enough to still get to work with Chris. (RUN FOR AN OFFICE CHRIS! GO INTO POLITICS CHRIS!). I'm glad to still be in education and working with teachers and am thankful that I did not let go of the pulse with what's going on in educational techonology. I don't think I could ever truly leave the field of education and be happy. (Unless the city of Tampa hires me to be a Sports and Education Link Specialist for the teams to promote them in a positive way to help meet state standards. Oh wait, that would still be education.)

Enjoy the career links and have a great day of teaching!

Cyber Bullying

2007-12-04T08:31:00.000-05:00

I've been following the sad story of Megan Meier on the Today Show and on other blogs. For those who are not familiar with her story, Megan was a 13 year old who suffered from ADD and depression, along with self-esteem issues. She was taking medicine, staying involved in school and athletics and was really trying to turn her life around. She ended a friendship with another girl though and the girl's mother (Lori Drew) decided to do some snooping. How? She used MySpace, created an account of a mythical boy and had that "boy" flirt with Megan. The mother's reasons- to get Megan to talk about her child and see what she was saying. I'm not sure if Megan ever said anything, but after so many weeks online flirting "Josh" turned on Megan and was really ugly to her. Megan took that to heart and hung herself, just shy of her 14th birthday.
Megan's mom say they did monitor her time online. They made a call today on the Today Show asking for schools to step up with the cyberbullying lessons. More on that in a bit. I want to add my 1 Cent on Ms. Drew's abuse.
1. On MySpace it says you're not suppose to post messages to harrass. Calling Megan the names she did, well that's harrassing.
2. The Terms on MySpace also say that " all registration information you submit is truthful and accurate". Obviously the person who created the account of "Josh" did not. My Space- step up and prosecute. Show that you are not going to allow people to abuse your services like this! Set an example!
3. Oops! Megan's mom is in violation because her daughter was not 14. No one under 14 should be on MySpace. There are reasons for that. One is for safety of the children, the second is because usually children under 14 do not have the mentality for online social networking, and I'm sure there are 3rd, 4th and more reasons.
4. Prohibited content on MySpace includes: is patently offensive and promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual (Drew's last post by Josh was offensive and promoted hatred of Megan.)
5. The following content is not allowed:
a. harasses or advocates harassment of another person (Drew to Megan)
b. solicits personal information from anyone under 18 (Her thoughts were personal, and that was the reason she created the account to begin with - to solicit what Megan was saying about her daughter)
c. promotes information that you know is false or misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous (Her information was false, misleading and was abusive to a troubled teenager. She also defamed Megan.)

Yes, I believe Drew should be held liable for her actions of posing as a teenager when in fact she is a mother of a teenager. This is not the first case of abuse online that has caused a teenager to take their life, but it is a case of a grown adult (a mother!) against a child.

Okay, I'll stop rambling. I have more thoughts on that but I want to get to the cyberbullying in schools.

There are a lot of schools that have embraced the 21st century skills and are teaching these to the students. Look at people like Jennifer and Vicki Davis. They are teaching blogging, online collaboration, and using other online tools. The ones who are teaching these skills, then cyber bullying is part of their curriculum. I dare say that the teachers who are not teaching these skills or who are only glossing over the use because they know they should but not because they totally believe in them forget the importance of teaching ethics with these skills.

If there are any parents who are reading this, check with your children's teachers and ask if they are teaching cyber ethics along with the technology skills. If you are a technology teacher (whether a classroom teacher who uses technology or you teach technology)- make sure others are also teaching about cyber ethics. I know when I taught business ed, the first week of class was always the safety in a business classroom and when using online technology. Safety for me included ethics. My colleague who taught the exact same thing did not teach the ethics part. She was more concerned about the students sitting properly and leaving the room right and then producing well typed out documents. But there was a difference of beliefs and techniques and so maybe that's why her computers were the ones the students practiced sending viruses on. My kids went through that portion in ethics.

And parents, have your child sign an AUP for home use of the computer as well. They cannot use the computer without you sitting over their shoulder unless they sign an agreement of behavior online. Make sure you enforce it. My son's not a techno kid, but we have our own agreement for video games and online activities. He was caught cheating on a game with his cousin and lost the rights to his DS and multiplayer games until Christmas holidays.

As a community member, a parent, and a teacher we need to encourage ethical use of computers and model the behavior as well.

Google Earth

2007-11-28T09:27:00.000-05:00

I heard Tom's frustrated cry when he read the article about Google Earth maybe going away. The reason for the fear of Google Earth going away? Google Maps are becoming even more intense, now including terrain cover and even "Google Map Community" which includes a wiki type of collaboration.
Google Earth is cool, I'll give you that. I love the new features for the sky. However, a lot of schools that I worked with either in SC or in FL had it blocked because of the tremendous use of bandwidth. For a teacher to model, that was fine. But once you start using it on 30 laptops, well you're really starting to drag the network.
I will say this, the Google Maps and Google Earth FINALLY have my address available and show ALL the street addresses in my community. Yahoo Maps do to now, but the Google ones are a bit more up to date.
Those that use Google Earth or Maps, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Another Twit

2007-11-27T15:35:00.000-05:00

I love it! I'm talking to a netTrekker user about videos, clicked to open a tab and instead opened up my Twitter tab. There I see a posting about Open Vault. I finish the conversation with the customer and check it out. I learn so much from Twitter!

Basically Open Vault provides content from WGBH (the same people who bring us Teachers Domain!) of videos with historical importance that were produced by this great public television station. It's meant for classroom (and even personal) learning. I looked at two videos and saw that they included the transcripts! WHOO HOO! I don't know about you, but sometimes in those "historical documents" I get lost in the lingo and the transcript would help me make notes and stay on task. I'm not seeing a way to download the video, but hey - if you're using it for research, then why download it? There are other great tools, but my phone's ringing and I really need to get back to work!

And my brother laughed when I told him I Twitter and learn a lot from my fellow Twits!

Rubrics

2007-11-27T08:34:00.001-05:00

No catchy titles lately. I'd probably be marked down for that if I was being graded on a rubric.
Rubrics have been a popular topic again lately. I see that as a good sign because that means there are is more project based learning going on. I'm okay with a few worksheets here and there to support learning- but I have seen more understanding through projects where the kids have to apply thinking skills.
While doing my trainings lately and talking to educators, I mention rubrics to grade a project and the teachers will ask, "Do you have a favorite site for creating rubrics?" Oh yes! YES! It's my favorite by far, and it's found at Myt4l (My Tools for Learning- a gift to educators from the creators of Tech4Learning products.) When I found their rubric maker online, I became one happy teacher. I like the fact that I can select the categories and subcategories, edit the text if needed, and when I save it- I'm either saving it as an HTML file or as an Excel file (which is great for making changes later). But besides being a great rubric maker, one of the things I really enjoy is the fact that it creates a checklist for the students.
I once helped a teacher do a study, after we read about a similar one online. We did a small project with a rubric with the ones column first and the fours last. We learned that a majority of the kids only did the ones column. They really do read left to right and they stopped after the first column. So lesson #1 - always start with your highest standard and work backwards. The next thing we did was do another simple project with the fours first this time. Much better results - but some of our smart slackers who read column three realized that they could do a little bit less and still get a passing score. So the third project we did a checklist of what was required. We had gone over the rubric in class and then handed out the checklist as a guide. The results were awesome, even from our smart slackers. For that reason, Myt4l's rubric maker is one of my favorites.
However, one of the things I have been learning lately is that teachers that have not taken a proper PBL class have no idea how to write a rubric and I am one of those masochists who believe everyone should try to write one by hand first to get a full appreciation for the rubric makers online. If you are trying to teach someone a rubric, I'd like to share with you something that I learned YEARS ago, I believe on the Beacon Learning Site.
Imagine that you are about to hire a maid. (I know- every teachers dream!) You can either pay her $25, $50, $75, or $100 a visit. Write out what you expect done for each amount. Obviously when you pay more, you'll get more. (A guy teacher once told me this made more sense dealing with buying a car- but it's the same concept.) Okay, so for $25 you want her to come in and vacuum, sweep and mop all rooms in the house. For $50 she's going to do all that, plus add in dusting, washing your baseboards, and cleaning the toilets bowls. For $75 she'll do all that and also change the sheets on the beds and change out all the guest towels and clean the entire toilets. For a $100, she's going to go from room to room and do everything, plus completely clean the kitchen, wash out the bathtubs, and any laundry within a time period that she can get done.
Of course, that's a little off, but you get an idea. And yes, the maid could be a male - didn't mean to be so gender specific there.
The next issue that comes up with rubrics are how to actually USE them to get the score. That's where this nifty little website comes in to play. I learned about it on Twitter (thanks JMaklary) and loved the explanation! The site is called Roobrix, and the explanation is the part that I really liked. So if you're new to GRADING by a rubric, check it out. OH, and it's free to use.
So come on teachers! Get out Inspiration, plan a lesson with web researching (using netTrekker of course), decide on a product outcome that would show understanding (Photostory/Digital Story, a blog entry, creation of a wiki with the organized information, a model, etc.) and use a rubric now that you have a cool tool for building AND grading!

Vendors

2007-11-26T10:12:00.000-05:00

I know that not everyone is a fan of most vendors out there. Whether it's the vendors at a ball game that overprice their wares and get you to drop money than you planned because you have a kid begging for cotton candy, sno cones, and a foam finger or whether it's at an Ed Tech Conference looking to take the few dollars that you have in your budget. I know that some of the true techies firmly believe that they can do it themselves, and for them I applaud. But for others who don't want to spend the time trying to figure out how to do it for free and how to keep it running smoothly- well that's what vendors are for.

I personally love vendors. When I was a tech specialist, they made my life easier. But I was not of the true geek sort and I also knew we had some money earmarked for the type of products we were in need of.

While at GAETC I ran into friends of mine from echalk. For those of you who are not familiar with echalk, they provide SAFE email for your students and teachers. Not only that but you can also customize a very easy to navigate website, host your podcasts, and even video. I like the ability to create a group for a professional development class to where the participants can post questions, share documents, participate in a discussion board, etc. It's just a great tool.

And yes, I could probably build something similar, give everyone an Outlook or other email account that I already have access to, and use another free source for the courseware, but in all honesty - I don't have hours upon hours to do so. Plus, if something breaks it's hard for me to find someone who has time and knowledge to actually help me on things I built myself. However, with echalk, I know I'll have access to a great support staff.

Pretty neat tool that's gotten even better.

GAETC

2007-11-16T11:15:00.000-05:00

The Georgia conference (GAETC) has always been one of my favorites.The teachers that present here are outstanding! (This is the first one that is a bit winded and hasn't gotten to the topic yet at hand, but its the first in years that I've encountered.) I did have to work the booth this time, which was great because I met a lot of great netTrekker users and potential users. However, I'm very thankful to Vicki Davis for ustreaming the sessions she went to so I could still enjoy the presentations I missed.
uStreaming is a really neat tool that I've been lurking and checking recorded episodes, but have not actually tried. I think I will though if I can find something useful to try it with. However, I decided NOT to enjoy the ustreamed version of Vicki's presentation this morning and instead went to enjoy it in person.
Her presentation was about the Flat Classroom Project in her classroom: My Seatmate Lives in China. Let me start with a quick thought. As a private school teacher who has an administrator that can empower her, Vicki has a bit more ease than most public school teachers at implementing such a project. She even mentioned study hall at one point. HOWEVER - if you listen closely and if you follow Vicki at all online, then you'll realize that she puts a lot of heart and time into these projects because she believes in them as a way to really educate her students. While she may have the ability to unblock and then reblock a site as needed and a normal teacher does not, she has her obstacles. So if a public school teacher is interested in re-creating, joining in on an e-collaborative project, or designing their own, they need to work with their school system to lower the hurdles where possible.
Vicki also mentioned that the number one problem they have with getting public school teachers involved is actually because of our mandatory assessments that have no real meaning in the real world. Side question: Do we test our administrators, community members, and policy makers/politicians every two weeks to make sure they are making the grade? No, we don't interrupt their work to test them. There are other real world benchmarks they use to know if they are doing a great job, a poor job or continue to live in their fantasy world.
Back on topic. I don't want to get into the whole presentation because you can watch it for yourself on Vicki's uStream Channel, but I do want to share a few tidbits I learned.

PowerPoint is out. Now try Google Presentations with the back channel so participants, even those that are not sitting in the same room, can participate without interrupting.
Silence is noise to today's students. Let them listen to THEIR music on their iPod. You might see more productivity out of them.
Make sure that your school has a great AUP in place, but protect yourself and your students even more with a special permission slip on your major projects - especially those that involve international collaboration and in-depth use of the web.
Ning now is offering free services to schools. Create a social network with your students. Not on Facebook or MySpace because they really do want their own space. Ning can be kept private.
Sandbox mode is extremely important, especially when introducing new software or tools. Not just for the students, but for our teachers. (She explains this really well in her presentation.)
Make sure that you are clickable and verifiable as a source.
I am probably misspelling this - but teachers need to be "Teacherpreneurs" - who connect, empower and encourage new methods, tools, and ideas for the classroom.
The first step of any project is to make sure that you are connected! With RSS feeders, bookmarks, teacher networks, etc. So teachers join organizations like the TIE network if you are in Georgia, DEN if you are a Discovery fan, or join a Ning network or just the Twitterverse and check out edtechtalk.

I have more to write, but I'll do that this weekend or next week.

STOP!

2007-11-12T16:24:00.000-05:00

I love Twitter! I learn so much from those people on there! Especially John Pederson. Today he twitted about a great online tool. Here's an online stopwatch for your next class/professional development session. You can put in the time frame you're looking for, either have it count up or count down, and go for it. You can download it for Mac or PC (haven't tried it that yet, but did try the count down for a time out for Joey and his rocket that ended up on my roof). They even have a LARGE version as well.

I once had some videos that did a 2 minute and a 5 minute count down, but lost them some computer changes ago. I like this tool so much better.

Quiz Builders and Subscriptions

2007-11-12T09:53:00.000-05:00

Last week I did a blitz of training in Marion County for netTrekker. I am always amazed at what we find in training and the uses the teachers come up with. A small group of us had a discussion about the Saved Search feature verses bookmarking sites with Del.ic.ious or another program. The general thoughts were that the sites from netTrekker were educational and teacher approved and by using the Saved Search Feature they have a secure way of sharing the links with their students, with the ability to edit the descriptions to turn the save search into a "Web Hunt".
One of the features of the Saved Searches is to add a website that may or may not be in netTrekker. Great way to add on a site that you found in another search later or to add a site that is not currently in netTrekker. One example I often use is a quiz on the same topic. Normally we then look at adding a lesson or quiz from Discovery Streaming (formally unitedstreaming), but Marion County does not have this service. So it was time to look at others.
The first one that came to mind was Discovery School's, but it is not available. I'm told that they are revamping it for security purposes. I'm hoping it will still be free, but we'll see. The next one was 4Teachers.org's QuizStar. This use to be free, but I guess federal funding is bare minimum and so they are now charging after a 60 day free trial. The price is not too bad, only $35.88 for an individual teacher. It's pretty affordable (unless you're one of the WAY underpaid Hernando County teachers who make on average $10,000 less than their neighbors). There are other pricing options for groups and districts to make it even more affordable. But if you're going to pay $900 for a Quiz Program, why not look at adding that $900 to another program and get a lot more for your money.
There are other possibilities out there. One is to use a tool like Zoomerang to create a "survey". It won't grade your quiz for you, but it is interesting to use in the classroom. Another that's more of a profile tool that would be great to use for organizing groups is ProfilerPro. Another option is the Quiz Lab from Teacher Vision. The prices start around $40 a year for one user. Teacher Vision use to have a great product, but I'm not sure what they are like now adays. They are from Pearson, which might be a plus or a con for some. No opinion here.
If you're a Moodler, then you have options there as well. However, I wonder how our every day teachers who are not into the tools that you have so much control over like Moodle feel about this option. Of course, it's a free tool, you just have to find a space to host it.
What are some other options that I'm overlooking?

Training Mania

2007-11-06T08:20:00.000-05:00

I got some great news this week - I'm going to GAETC! I have always enjoyed this state conference. The presenters are very knowledgeable and share some great new items and tricks of the trade. netTrekker will of course have a booth, so I'll work that some, but I also get to attend some of the wonderful sessions. YEAH! (I even enjoyed this conference more than my own when I was in SC!) I'm hoping to run into a few friends, like Katherine Aiken, LaQuita Hutchinson and others I had gotten to know through the DEN.

This past few days (and up until this Friday) I have been training in Marion County, FL. This district has been AWESOME at implementing netTrekker. They were quick to schedule their 8 days of training, printed out the letters for each school to send home with the students with their universal log in, and are working on other promotional items as I write to help promote the use of netTrekker in their school. Implementation strategies can really make or break a product and I firmly believe that Marion will be top users of netTrekker. Professional Development is always important, so it's equally great that they scheduled so many sessions to make sure that their teachers were trained.

One teacher yesterday admitted that they were a bit skeptical about why they were in training on a search engine from 8:30-3:30. How hard could it be to search? We do it everyday with Google or Yahoo. Well once we got into it they realized that netTrekker is OH SO MUCH MORE than a search. The tools that are involved to help with differentiated instruction and for other integration possibilities really make netTrekker a great tool for the classroom.

We did look at possibly adding a quiz to their save searches. Since they don't have unitedstreaming we looked at 4Teachers.org's Quiz Star. This use to be a free tool, but now you can only get a 60 day free trial and then you have to pay for it. At least RubiStar is still free.

Help Yourself

2007-10-22T23:22:00.001-05:00

I love TIVO/DVR. While reading to Joey tonight (Bunnicula!), I was able to tape Heroes. Since I am in my insomniac stage right now (read the sleep disorder entry- I think they are related), I decided to stay up and watch it before going to bed.
If you follow Heroes, I apologize for this slight recap. I am not going to give anything away. Last week though, Micah's cousin mimicked a wrestling move and kept the place she works from being robbed. The police officer tried asking her questions in order to catch the guy. She realized that she couldn't say anything out of fear of him coming back for revenge. See, he's a drug thug who uses fear to keep people from ratting him out. When she wouldn't say anything to incriminate him, the officer shook his head and said, "I can't help a community that won't help itself."
What a powerful thought. We as educators can't help a student who doesn't want help. We can't help our school or even our own community unless they want the change.
But what in education needs help? There are so many elements that need work, so where do we begin? State/Federal government involvement to the point where education is nothing but pushing students towards acing a state test? Character education? Technology education? Meeting the 21st Century needs? Preparing our students to enter the workforce of our own community?
What about the community that doesn't want to be fixed, or the school that thinks they can't change? What about the school that says, "if we change, we lose our federal tax dollars - after all schools that are poor achievers get more money from the government."? What about the parent who doesn't believe an education is worthwhile, that it's all worthless in the end because their child will still be right there in the town, doing the same thing the mom or dad is currently doing? What can we do to inspire them? To help show them the way?
How can we get them to realize that we as educators can only help the student, the school, and the district that wants the help?
How can we get our communities to want to help themselves?

You know, deep thoughts don't help me go to sleep.

Sleep and School

2007-10-17T08:54:00.000-05:00

This morning on the Today Show they talked about how sleep and the lack of it is an issue for our students. They focused mainly on the teenagers, but I want to share with you my experiences with this issue.
My son, Joey, is 8. He's my pride and joy- no matter how aggravating and wild he can be. We've had problems in the past with behavior that the South Carolina doctors said was ADHD. They asked me about his sleeping habits, and I explained that he was not one who liked to fall asleep and it was usually easier to let him sit in my lap then fight with him about staying in bed. They simply said he was ADHD and told me to try my hardest to make him stay in bed. One friend of mine, a school psychologist, didn't buy the answer, but what could I do?
When we moved to Florida, his behavior became more erratic at school, having a feeding frenzy at night (finally coming off his ADHD drug) and more of a problem going to sleep. His doctor was against it because of his weight, but said he thought maybe Joey needed an increase of his ADHD drug. About a week and half later he had his first seizure.
We were referred to All Children's Hospital. Joey was taken off all drugs until further testing. Poor Mr. Froman dealt with him the best he could. I know we were ready to pull our hair out at home. Even Joey was confused and trying his hardest to make sense of what happened.
They did an EEG in the office and said he had irregular brain waves. They scheduled a 2 night sleep study/EEG test to see what was going on. We came home on Thanksgiving morning thankful that we finally had our answer. Joey was having mini-seizures that you almost couldn't tell were going on. They were like lights were on but nobody was home type deal. Sometimes he'd snap out okay, but other times he'd be confused and wouldn't understand what just happened, so he acted out. At night he was having episodes that if they were closer together would have been a full blown seizure, but instead they were keeping him from getting to the final round of sleep. Because of this disruption of sleep, his body and mind knew there was a problem at night time and he became anxious. He didn't want to go to bed and that's why bedtime was a nightmare for all of us. Seriously- this kid would sometimes not go to bed until 1 AM and that's just because of pure exhaustion taking over.
So now he's on medicine (Depakote, which James Patterson scared me about my son taking in one of his novels) for his seizures and a new pill (Vyvanse) for his ADHD. Then there's a little pill at night that helps him sleep. We're going back in on the 26th of October for another sleep study because it's believed that the previous dosage of medicine is not working. He's been having difficulty sleeping and more irritable at school again. Plus, his friend has told me he likes to stare a lot at school and the doctor thinks he's having more mini-seizures at school.
Why share all this? Well for one, to let you know that if this describes your little pride and joy, you're not alone. A second reason, Joey learned a lot of his ADHD behavior because of his sleep problems. If we had known more about the sleep issues and insisted on a sleep study, he probably would not have had some of the same behavior issues he has now. So if you're a teacher, at the next parent conference with a problem child, ask about the sleep behavior and then recommend that they talk to their doctor. Especially if they also seem to have staring spells during the day.

School Tube

2007-10-05T09:08:00.001-05:00

Are you ready for another tube? YouTube is not always accessible for school purposes. TeacherTube is for the teachers. But what about the students? They want to share their creative rights of passage? Where can they go to upload videos that are school approved? Your answer...........SchoolTube! Just a baby now, but look out! I have a good feeling about it!

Staying Connected

2007-10-05T08:48:00.000-05:00

A few years ago the only way a teacher could really stay connected was to be a part of a list-serv, attend conferences, read professional journals, maybe join a group online and that basically was about it. Then we were introduced to blogs, and teachers were no longer isolated until conference time, but able to reach out and really start communicating with others. Podasts, wikis, Twitter, and other tools have only enhanced this process.
Now we did have groups online- such as the one I was involved with "I Must Be Crazy- I Teach Middle School", and I did learn a lot from those folks. Great advice, great ideas. But there was little collaboration on projects and ideas.
Then Discovery opened things up with the Discovery Educator Network. I believe Apple had a teacher group first, but not sure. But the DEN (as we lovingly called it), really opened up collaboration, communicatin, and creativity for not just Apple users but all technology literate teachers. I loved the inspiration and power that came from the group of awesome teachers.
But if you are not a member of the DEN, don't have access to unitedstreaming or other Discovery products, what do you do? Well you join either Inspiration, Tech4Learning, Promethean, SMART, Yahoo, or Google's community and connect that way. You can even join any one of the NING groups, such as Karen Seddon's or Classroom 2.0. And now, there's another one that just popped up on my radar. STAR Online. Check it out and see what you think.
With so many choices out there, any and all teachers have a way to stay current on today's topics and trends. Then everyone would know what Digital Literacy and 21st Century Skills mean!

Ssshhhh

2007-10-04T11:43:00.000-05:00

I am having a hard time keeping quiet. But I promised. So let's play a game. How many of you have checked out Tech4Learning lately? Have you read their new Creative Magazine? Have you clicked on any links that might help you make new connections? What do you think about the site?

Prayers and Wishes

2007-09-11T09:21:00.000-05:00

My son's first grade teacher was awesome. He was a young teacher, eager and willing to help the students succeed. He worked with Joey after school, on his own had many interventions, and was in constant contact via the phone and email. Absolutely a delight. When we were told he was moving up a grade for this year, we were excited and hoping Joey would have him. Well, he moved up to 3rd grade instead. I told Joey he'd have to work hard and hopefully have him again in 3rd grade.
Last week we were told that Mr. Froman had to be taken from the school. He was throwing up and violently ill. We were not sure if it was a heart attack or heat stroke. Today I heard it was a possible anneuryism and that he's in a coma. It does not look good. The school can't give us any information and no one knows where he is or what the truth is.
So Mr. Froman, here's a prayer from Joey, myself and the rest of our family. You're a rare great teacher that really has it together and the kids need you. We pray that God will let you continue here on Earth teaching our children and that you will be healthy again soon. You are much loved and respected by your students. Bless you!

I know what it's like to lose a teacher that is much loved, and it's got to be hard on the students. I wish the school could at least give us some information. My neighbor's son is in his class and he's lost without him. So anyone who is reading this, please send your prayers for a talented teacher who is very much missed by his students- Ernie Froman - for a speedy recovery.

Neccessary Technology

2007-09-07T17:08:00.001-05:00

Today I was asked what I thought was neccessary in the means of technology in the classroom. What did I think the bare minimum should be in each classroom and what would be ideal. WOW! What a question! It's really a tough one to answer.

Of course we need at least 1 computer for the teacher and there I'd suggest a laptop, along with a projector. I would definitely suggest a SMART board, along with their response pads to really engage students. Inspiration, Internet (netTrekker), and of course unitedstreaming. If we're on a Mac, then iWorks. If we're not on a Mac (why not???), then Office or access to an "office" type program.

I would love for each student to have their own laptop (especially a Mac where they can really get creative!). If they had that, I need rollerskates. Or better yet, how about SynchronEyes. I had a simliar program that really assisted me when teaching in a lab, but I like to keep my programs running smoothly. If I'm going to get the SMART Board and response system, then let's stick with their software.

Creativity is a plus, and that's where Tech4Learning comes in. ImageBlender is my favorite, but any of their tools are great. MediaBlender and Twist would also be a great addition.

Access to blogs, wikis, and a place for students to collaborate is a major importance, especially since I'm trying to get my students ready for the 21st Century. How many will work as a "virtual employee" and will they be ready to manage their time and know how to work with others long distance?

I know I'm missing some things, so go ahead and add on. What do you think is important for today's classrooms?

Guitar Lessons

2007-09-04T07:22:00.000-05:00

I started this post on Friday night but had to stop. Tried again on Sunday afternoon, but had to stop.
Joey had been asking for a guitar for awhile, and last Christmas I had decided to finally buy him one. Before I could, "Santa" - a good friend actually- sent him one for Christmas. We struggled to find an instructor that would work with an 8 year old, and then we struggled with an 8 year old who I wasn't so sure was ready for lessons. This week, I finally found an instructor and finally we started the lessons.
Friday afternoon, Joey and I raced to his first guitar lesson. He was so calm, I wasn't sure I had the right kid. He used his manners, really focused on his lesson, and was very good about the lesson being over. We taped the lesson using the iPod so he could review over and over when we got home. I don't think I needed to do that because instead when we got home he gave all of us a mini lesson again. There were a few times he'd say I'd have to listen to the recording to know the rest of the lesson, but boy did he practice!
And listening to the guitar being strummed over and over, him refusing to put it down until he was distracted by something else, kept me from writing the post. Saturday we spent the day together and then that night he gave a mini lesson before our movie to our neighbors. Then Sunday I sat down to do it again, but had to watch him practice instead.
My son does not want to learn to read, does not want to practice his school work, nothing. He doesn't do it well and has taken the low road and just refuses to face his weakness. The teasing and low self-esteem has won (hopefully temporarily). But with the guitar, the teacher praised him before he went into the lesson, praised him during, and praised him after. He treated him like an adult and did not talk down to him. He told him to patient and that he'll learn it piece by piece, but it would take practice. Joey accepted that. There was no fustration, except for the times I told him it was time to put it away.
I wonder if I did him harm at showing fustration and pushing him to learn to read, if his own teachers also showed any signs of strain, and forgot to keep things positive. He has a problem learning things the way other students do- some would call that a learning disability- but it's really a challenge. However I can't help thinking that maybe if we all kept things positive and didn't push him, he'd be begging me to let him read more and not to have to put the book away.
He'll want to practice again tonight. I bought him a book to help him and hoping we can read it together. I'll sneak in the reading with his new found passion.

Celebrate New Beginnings!

2007-08-26T21:43:00.000-05:00

On December 6, 2006 the world stopped spinning for myself and some of my friends - the former Discovery Educator Network Managers. Some of them I hear from now and then, especially as they sign new contracts and move on with their lives. Which reminds me, I need to log in to Yahoo and see what's new with Linda and Gerard.
Anyway, tonight I received an email from Susan Staat - the former West Coast DEN manager. She signed for a new job, in a new district last Tuesday night and started Wednesday morning. She is a new Assistant Principal at a middle school. I had to call her right away and congratulate her! She's always been an elementary person so the grade level was a shock, but you know what? I think middle school is right up Susan's alley.
She's a great educator, a wonderful leader, and she'll make a great administrator. My only advice Susan is to keep your sense of humor, because in middle school, you need it.
To the rest of the DEN managers - I hope you all found a job that makes your heart happy and pays the bills. Best of wishes as the new school year begins.

Virtual Playground - again

2007-08-20T20:41:00.000-05:00

I have said this before on another post and actually was slammed because I said I understood it might cost. Sorry, I don't have the skill, the knowledge, or the time to create what I'm about to talk about. Wes Fryer mentioned it on his blog recently. And after today's training, I just don't see how we're going to get around it.
Currently I am doing a workshop on Integration of netTrekker with other tools and in the classroom. We were going to use PBWiki, but it's blocked. We can get to WikiSpaces though. Hmmm. We can't get to Twitter or Email or Gaggle.net, but I can get to my blog here on Blogspot. It just blocks out the toolbar up top. I couldn't get to Bubble-Share or SlideShare. We were suppose to do a Google Trek - but the teachers won't have access to Google Earth. Going to change the lesson using Google Maps instead. They loved ToonDoo, and they created some cute toons (here's mine), but they also found some disturbing toons - one specifically relating to the Virginia Tech Shooting. I couldn't even get to my website because it's uploaded to my .Mac account.
I truly understand the reason for filters and for being blocked. I don't blame the schools one bit. We need to educate the students and yet, we still need to protect them. Yes - we need to teach the ethical use of the tools and encourage them to only do what they are suppose to do, but come'on! They are kids and they are going to test the limit and see what they can get away with.
Instead, we need a playground of Web2.0 tools that students can share photos from class field trips of historic or scientific sites, blog about the latest book they read or about their current event (which makes more sense than cutting out an article and bringing it to class), post their videos that they created about any given educational topic, collaborate with others, create and share and not worry about WHY it's being filtered from the system. If we had something in place - maybe with ads that were geared towards the textbooks or other popular sites to support it or as a paid subscription, then I think it will work. I want a safe alternative that a school can use without fear of what might pop up. I want teachers to be able to teach and not to add another item to their juggling act. Yeah, some of you might be able to use these tools- but you're probably one of the fortunate ones who have leaders with an understanding of technology integration/use and somehow are just ahead of the game of everyone else.
So I decided this week while I'm in Texas and when I get back to Florida, I'm going to play the lottery. I don't usually - but I'm going to. And if I win - I want to hire educators who are really good at technology use and integration to help design this playground for the students of web 2.0 (and just creative) tools. I'll fund it - you build it. Deal?
Now what numbers should I play?

Classroom Pet

2007-08-12T23:38:00.000-05:00

I know a teacher back home in South Carolina who loved having lots of class pets, but one year had to get rid of the hamster (someone was allergic), the spider and snake (a student was petrified of them), the turtle because a parent complained they were unsanitary and her bird (forget the reason). Only the fish remained. She was a third grade teacher and she said that pets in the classroom really helped teach responsibility.
I think I'll send her a Webkinz this year for her class. Think about it - anyone who does not get their tag pulled, lose a color, or whatever you do to keep track of discipline in your classroom- has a chance to play for 10 minutes in the "WebKinz" world. They can't spend the money unless it's to buy the food for the day. Then on Friday, as a class, you can purchase another room, new furniture, and other fun stuff. Your pet's happiness and health are monitored, there are some great educational questions in there, the responsibility to feed your pet healthy food choices, and so much more also turns it into a learning reward system. Just make sure that even the kid who can't sit still and gets on your last nerve gets a chance to interact with your webkinz.
And I haven't met a kid yet who's allergic to a computer (that's kept clean), you can't get sick from a computer (that a teacher keeps clean), and who's going to be petrified of a Webkinz? (Just make sure you clean your computer - and there's no excuse!)
I think I'll get my son's teacher one this year for the class.

Spirit

2007-08-12T23:12:00.000-05:00

I am on the Spirit Committee for my community's HOA here in Brooksville, FL. Part of our job on the Spirit Committee is to plan events around the community. For instance, next Friday we are holding a Back To School Celebration and Chili Cookoff. We have no money for advertising so we are using word of mouth, email and printed out flyers that we are donating to the event. Instead of having one person responsible for RSVP, we are using our wiki to sign-up and tell us what they are bringing. It's great because then we don't end up with a BBQ of all Baked Beans and without any of the paper products. Plus, no one has to be responsible for taking the phone calls.
Lately though I haven't wanted to be apart of the Spirit Committee. There's a lot of nagging and little issues going on. The community wants a newsletter, but we have no budget for one and I'm not going out to sell ads in order for us to have a free one. No one wants their HOA dues increased to give us a fund for the newspaper. So we're stuck in a catch 22. There are other things too, but mainly those who are not involved in the Spirit Committee like to dampen the spirits of those of us who are.
Tonight I spoke to a first year teacher at Wal-Mart. She was buying some school supplies with a graduation gift card and were all excited about the first year of teaching in a neighboring district. Then she stopped, made a sad little face and admitted that some of the other teachers though are dampening her spirits. She explained how she learned how to use a lot of technology in her college courses, knowing that not all schools have access to much, but that she was excited and ready to try some of these fun and creative lessons. I guess her new school not only doesn't have a lot of technology, but they are not into technology. I asked her about that and she gave me a couple of the reasons. One of their reasons? "Why do we want to spend money on technology when it's just going to break or collect dust because no one wants to use it." I asked her if she asked why no one would want to use it and she said that the teachers told her once she met her kids, she'd understand. Her spirits were already starting to sag.
That's a shame.
I know I'm not an official educator anymore since I'm out of the classroom, but my heart is still in education. I'm even working for an educational technology company who's motto is to go do something good for the kids. Anyway, one of my pet peeves though has always been when new teachers come in so excited and so ready for the first day and these veteran teachers instead kill their spirits and make them dread the first day.
I encourage all veteran teachers this year to suggest to these new teachers places like Scholastic's New Teacher Resource Section or to join a community like Inspiration, Discover Educator Network, Yahoo Teachers or some community found on Ning so they can find people to talk to, learn from, and connect with. Introduce them to some great blogs to read so they can continue to learn and grow. Make sure they know which resources they do have available to them (and if they have netTrekker, check out the teacher tools section with the great resources for any teacher -new or old!). Be patient with them as they learn the ropes.And check on them every once in awhile, even if it's to just say hi.
I'm sure that readers of blogs are not the grumpy teachers out there that like to kill the spirit of other teachers, so I don't need to ask you not to kill their spirit. Instead, you can intercept these grumpy kill-joys and spread some grounded happiness.
That's what I decided to do with my personal community. Each time they point out what we're lacking, I'm going to point out how we've adapted. Sure we don't have a newspaper that gets printed 6 times a year. We do have a pretty up to date Wiki that anyone is welcome to edit and add information so it's always current and useful. Sure we don't have a budget for our get togethers but we do get together so we can share culinary treats from our own kitchens to help break the ice.
Sure you don't have a lot of technology and your kids are not always thankful for the hardwork you go through each day, but you know you are doing something good for the kids
and someday they will send a thank you to you- whether just a silent one whispered where no one else hears it or they come back to show you what a success you've made them.
Just don't lose your spirit along the way.

Have a great year as you go do something good for the kids!

Meme of 8 Random Facts

2007-08-11T00:35:00.000-05:00

Meme. Sounds like a name a kid calls his grandmom, more specifically what the McAllister boys call their Grandmom Linda.

But in the computer world, it's more like a game and if you get tagged or feel compelled to answer a set of questions (like when Wes started a meme about Internet Speed), then you follow the rules. And I've been tagged. Actually, I feel it quite an honor because I was tagged by someone I don't know and actually have started reading through all her blog posts. Yet, as Tom says "I digress" and it's time to get to the point.

First the rules:

Post these rules before you give your facts.
List 8 random facts about yourself.
At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names, linking to them.
Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Eight Random Facts About ME

My favorite singer/band is Bon Jovi. Always been a fan, probably always will. And I think that's the only concert I'll pay to go to again anytime soon. Even putting a juke box in my office with Bon Jovi 45's. Yes, 45's!
My original major in college was Children's Theatre at Columbia College. I wanted to work for Disney and produce family movies. I even got to be a Patchwork Player during the Christmas of 1992. I played Master Johnny and Little Tommy in an original play by Jeannie Eaker.
My ultimate day of professional development would include sessions with Wes Fryer, Steve Dembo, Vickie Davis, and Jennifer Dorman. These people are passionate about education, technology and how these two should work together. (I actually have a list of people I want to see present someday. This is just a start.)
My favorite show is CSI: Las Vegas, but I cover my eyes for a good bit of the show because I don't like blood and guts. I became hooked when living with my brother last year. Some day I want to be a dead body on their show. Or a possible witness to a murder. Even have a script in mind. And if I'm not the dead body, I know who I want to have killed. (insert evil laugh)
I don't have a life, so I read. Romance Novels like Nora Roberts, Vickie Lewis Thompson, Rachel Gibson, Sandra Brown, Chris Kuzneski and JK Rowling (what's next now that Harry is finished? A series about Dumbledore? Please!)
I am now a Mac person and am really hating the PC I have to use for work. I've converted a few others I know. Just came back from spending over $2000 of my neighbor's money getting her set up with a Mac and iPod accessories.
I once won a Best of the Best Presentation Award from ISTE ,the Inspiration Scholarship 3 times and Tech4Learning's Innovative Educator.
My biggest fear when I started with Discovery Educator Network was that I had to blog. I was sure I was not going to meet my goal. By the time of our departure in December, I had the #2 read blog in the DEN and exceeded my goal of posts something like 3 times over.

Okay, now to tag people. Sorry ya'll! I hope you haven't been tagged yet.

1. Steve Dembo 2. Wes Fryer 3. Karen Seddon 4. Jennifer Dorman 5. Joan Denahy 6. Marsha Cruce 7. Jennifer Gingrich 8. Lee Kolbert

What's the Big Deal with the Web?

2007-08-03T13:06:00.000-05:00

There's an interesting article on the Newsvine about how Second Life with dwarf the web soon. I am not much of a Second Lifer, as I've said in the past, I need to catch up on my first life. Not only that but I keep coming across some things that make me go "hmmmm." For instance, I was trying to get to Kathy Shrock's place on the web and I ended up in some nudist party. I checked the location - and it was right, but technology messed up on the other end and I ended up in a dance I didn't want to be in.
However, there are many virtual worlds out there, and Second Life was not the first, nor will it e the last. Some of the images that Tom Clancy's Net Force Series bring to mind make me think of Second Life actually.
It wasn't the thought of Second Life though that really got me interested in the article. It was a comment later from someone tagged as "Deep Thought".

"Information actually lower down the list, as most people find it difficult to tell the difference between legitimate information and junk. Also, most people use the Internet in their spare time and tend to want to relax, not learn anything. MySpace, YouTube and Facebook are hardly educational."

I guess I'm one of those freaks that turn to the Internet for information. I remember the first time I was online. It was in an office, above a bank in Florence, SC. I was there to help this guy from college study for Biology - not my best subject but I was a lot better than he was. It was November 1, 1993. Why do I remember the date? Because River Phoenix had just died. That was the first thing I found out on the Internet, right there on Yahoo's main page. I actually read about more deaths online than I do in the obituaries- one section of the paper I try to avoid. At that point in time, the Internet became a fascinating place to find information on many topics. I hope I've learned over the years how to tell the difference between legitimate information and junk.
As a matter of fact, that's what most educators teach. They teach students how to research using the Internet, how to collaborate, and communicate. They teach how to remain safe, how to tell a good site from the bad, and how to decide which tool would be useful for them. And while MySpace, FaceBook and YouTube are not really educational, teachers have found ways to use tools like these to reach their students or to just get out of the hole of their classroom and connect with other educators from around the world, not just their own school/district.
But what's the big deal with the web? You can teach your students how to create a video without it, but how would they validate their hardwork? Not with a grade- that's so old school! Students can use Word without the Internet, create a PowerPoint without SlideShare, and so much more. Before the web they knew how to pass notes (the old fashioned text messaging and Twitter) and therefore knew how to communicate. We had encyclopedias, newspapers and other material to research from.
I'd say the big deal with the web is the ability to find more than one side or opinion on any given topic, communicate in REAL TIME with other students, upload and get feedback on something they created, and yes, even play a video game in a virtual world. Yeah, you can do without Internet (God Forbid!) for a workshop. There's always a work around. But in real life, that's where the students are going. Teach them the right way. Otherwise, borrowing a quote, "The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded. "
And if that includes proper behavior in a virtual world, then prepare them. Because while Second Life may not be THE virtual world in 10 years, they are becoming even more prevalent. While SL has a teen grid and an adult grid, your little students can even participate in virtual worlds with WebKinz, Nicktropolis, and even the newly acquired Disney site Club Penguin .
And those are just a SMALL number of virtual sites aimed at kids.
There are some other great comments on the article that started this train of though. The fact that virtual worlds has not caught on is because of the hardware limitations on current machines is probably a huge factor. My MacBook Pro does not like to run Second Life and I must restart right after if I do use it.
My thoughts have been interrupted again. Ouch. Between Twitter, the phone, email, kids on summer break, my other phone, and my parents - how can I handle a second life? And since I'm suppose to be working, let me just leave you with this final tidbit. If you're an educator interested in more on Second Life, check out Kathy Schrock, Discovery Educator Network, and ISTE for places to start.

When is it okay to delete?

2007-08-03T10:14:00.000-05:00

I have not had a need to do this in a long time, but today I deleted comments. I was appalled that someone would actually use a curse word on a comment, but they did. I don't think they know who or what I was talking about, I was offended by their language, and so I deleted the comment. Is that okay?
Normally I'd say no. Blogs are about open communication and being able to share ideas freely. If you don't want someone to disagree with you, then don't post it. I'm pretty good at walking the wire. If you're going to delete comments, well then you're not really being open in your discussions. No open mind, no need to blog. Sort of like the politician who blogged, but didn't allow responses because he didn't want to hear what the public truly thought. I want to say he was in Illinois, but I could be wrong. The Discovery Educator Network members and field managers were impressed that Discovery allowed the blogs and discussion boards to openly allow people to vent after the December 6 meltdown. They keep an open mind.
However, I do have a few readers, and those few readers actually read it in their school. Why do I want to give ammunition to the school administrators to block blogs when my own blog has a bad word on it - thanks to a comment? When I worked for Discovery, Steve had to delete a comment that was more on the lines of a bot spamming the site (Lady of the night and her offerings).
We want our students to blog- because face it, blogging has become their world. If they blog their homework response about whatever they read and relate it to their own world, they are more likely to retain the information and to pay attention in class. More likely to do the homework too. That whole point relates to a blog I read earlier. Anyway, back on topic. In the blogging world though, we don't always know who will be commenting and we don't know what people are going to say. There's a product out there now for school blogging that I really don't like. I don't like it because I found a whole bunch of student accounts and their blogs were not educational at all! I don't think the teacher was reading them because if they were they would have known who was planning to skip class, who was not doing work in the library but playing a game, and stuff. They actually turned it more into a Twitter application.
If you blog with your students, then this is what I suggest:

Create settings that only registered users can comment. A few students might want to comment anonymously and have great reasons to, but by only allowing registered users to comment, you are protecting the outside world from leaving inappropriate comments.
Check the blogs your students write, along with comments, and frequently. If you start something, finish it all the way through. If they are going to have access to it over the holidays, then you need to check it through the holidays.
Make sure the site is safe. There are plenty of them out there. Some are free, some cost. Some parents wouldn't mind paying a few $$ to help with these costs, so keep your options open.
Each student should have an agreement of ethical behavior for any and all online activities on file, signed by parents. I don't care if you're an elementary teacher using WebKinz in your class and you allow the student of the week access to the site and to take care of the virtual class pet. Sign an agreement and file it away.
Model what you preach. If you want ethical behavior from your students, make sure you also display ethical behavior, even with your private online persona. I'm sure the kids can find that MySpace page, personal blog, or other item. Be smarter than they are.

You can learn more by reading works by such greats as David Warlick and Will Richardson.

eBook Reader

2007-08-02T18:17:00.000-05:00

I have a passion for reading, but my son is a very reluctant reader. I've bought him books on every subject I can think of to encourage him to read. I even agree to read shark books with him, but nothing has made him interested in even trying to learn to read.
Today there was an article in the eSchool News about eBooks becoming more popular in schools. Can you imagine having all of your textbooks on the reader? That sure will lighten the backpack! I didn't read the entire article - yet. But it got me thinking. I want an eBook reader that will either highlight and read the words back to the student or let them click on a word and get the word sounded out, the definition, and any other needed information. Sort of like what netTrekker does for the web for students. I don't necessarily want it to read the entire book to them, but just enable them if needed.
I need to learn more about the Sony Reader, although I doubt I'll be able to afford it anytime soon. Anyone know of a kid friendly reader?

I'm a Kid at Heart

2007-08-01T16:23:00.001-05:00

I use to get into trouble at my old school district for saying things like "Today we played with PowerPoint" or "Today we're going to play around on the web", even though the PowerPoints were their science projects and the Internet was research based. I'm one of those that believe in the power of play - whether it's structured or free-flowing. (At times though, structured play works best. Classroom time is one of those times.)
So I love that right now I have the opportunity to play with new tools. I especially love the free tools. Woo hoo! I'm learning more and more from Twitter each day.

Uploaded with Skitch!

One of the greatest things about the Mac is the screen capturing capabilities. It's so much easier. But then you have to still take it into a program to add any text boxes or anything else you need to add. I mentioned earlier that I got one of those wonderful copies of Skitch, and I finally tried it out today. Didn't take me long to create this today. Just take a snapshot - or use your camera - and add details where needed. Not too bad. And it was quick. I really spent less than 5 minutes learning the program and doing this. WOO HOO!

But wait, this is only for my Mac. What about when I have to work on my PC? (I'm one of those who absolutely refused to do the Windows side with Boot Camp. Why deface a thing of beauty? But I have to use a PC for work purposes.) What do I do then? Well then, I would use Jing. So cool! And it's actually for PC or Macs. You can create a simple video cast or image, with all sorts of draw tools. Then you can get a link for your screencast! The video by the way even records AUDIO! The first time, I did this, I didn't realize it and had Sponge Bob in the back. You can still slightly hear him, but I re-did it and added the audio. You can check it out here.

And I learned all this on Twitter.

Oh this is tough. Which tool do I want to use?

I'm a Kid at Heart

2007-08-01T16:23:00.000-05:00

Uploaded with Skitch!

One of the greatest things about the Mac is the screen capturing capabilities. It's so much easier. But then you have to still take it into a program to add any text boxes or anything else you need to add. I mentioned earlier that I got one of those wonderful copies of Skitch, and I finally tried it out today. Didn't take me long to create this today. Just take a snapshot - or use your camera - and add details where needed. Not too bad. And it was quick. I really spent less than 5 minutes learning the program and doing this. WOO HOO!

But wait, this is only for my Mac. What about when I have to work on my PC? (I'm one of those who absolutely refused to do the Windows side with Boot Camp. Why deface a thing of beauty? But I have to use a PC for work purposes.) What do I do then? Well then, I would use Jing. So cool! And it's actually for PC or Macs. You can create a simple video cast or image, with all sorts of draw tools. Then you can get a link for your screencast! (http://www.screencast.com/t/oGpmoKqan) . The video by the way even records AUDIO! The first time, I did this, I didn't realize it and had Sponge Bob in the back. You can still slightly hear him, but I re-did it and added the audio. You can check it out here: http://www.screencast.com/t/N_y1LBcL

And I learned all this on Twitter.

Oh this is tough. Which tool do I want to use?

Daily Lit

2007-08-01T12:07:00.001-05:00

Anyone who really knows me, knows I love to read. I also don't usually travel without at least one or two books with me. I'm not talking about ASCD, ISTE, or other educational books, but rather paperback novels that let me escape my ho-hum life and be a voyeur in someone else's. Harry Potter Series, Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, etc. But besides being bad at reading the books of the trade, I'm also pretty sad at not reading the classics. For instance, I've never read Pride and Prejudice. I know -that's horrible of me. I always found a way around it, and I'm one who truly believes that if you don't want to read the book- don't. Try reading a couple of pages, but if it does not intrigue you, then it's a waste of your time. Books - the written word - should be appreciated for the images, passion, thoughts, and more that they deliver.
And I'm not one who can listen to a book. Those actually drive me crazy. My mind wanders if my eyes are not engaged. Not good. I tried listening to a Dan Brown book and I think I missed something like 4 chapters before realizing I wasn't paying attention. Not good. Audio books are not for me.
Anyway, I've heard of sites where you can download books that are classics from various authors for free. Sometimes even finding the audio to go along with the novel of choice. However, they were usually bulky and did not really grab my interest. Until today. I finally found a service that I think I'll be addicted to.
DailyLit is a site that delivers installments to your email. Everyone - unless they are twittering - has time to read emails. Easy to read whenever you have a few minutes to read the items in your inbox. You might be even able to hide it from your boss - but I wouldn't tempt fate. Anyway, you can search by category, title, and by author and select which book you want to start with from there. I started with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and I have to admit - I'm captivated. I am looking forward to five o'clock when I can go to the end of the email and click on "Next Installment" and read what happens next.
Already read all the books by Alexander Dumas the old fashioned way. Maybe I'll finally get around to reading "Wuthering Heights."
I'd pay for this service with some of those professional books. Nice little chunks. Manageable. Perfect.

Wasted Technology

2007-07-31T08:31:00.000-05:00

There were times I would attend a conference, casually talk to other teachers, or whatever and hear about all this technology that they had available to them, but weren't using. The reason was usually that they weren't trained and therefore didn't know how to integrate the tools available.

I also remember a few of my resourceful teachers who made do without a projector. Instead they used scan converters, but with one TV - that's not always a good choice. These teachers took it one step further. I told you, they were resourceful. They went to stores and begged for older TV's that were no longer the hot seller or somehow damaged on the outside (dent, marks) and wouldn't sell right, went to garage sales, and any other places they could think of to get cheap TVs. They then connected NOT one TV, but several to the scan converter and scattered them around the room. One science teacher had a TV in each corner and one on each side (total of 6) that showed her monitor. It was really cool and the students loved it! Everyone could see.

So it upsets me when I see wasted technology. I'm not talking about the iPods that sit in a display window, because those usually get sold at some point. I'm talking about the ring of TVs in Houston Airport in Terminal E that are only used for aesthetics and show blue, red and then images on each of the 50+ monitors. Instead, sponsor some art materials or an art scholarship and have the students create a visual for that space. Donate the TV's to the school. The Mall of Millennium has a couple of really neat monitors that are used for fashion designs and other images. I guess that one shouldn't bother me so much, but it does.

I understand that some of the technology is there for entertainment or advertisement purposes. Not all is a total waste. I'll give that. But that ring of TV's just really bother me. The images were not that great, and all it did was cause people to stop, look around, shake their head and ask "What's the point?"

A Reason to Twitter

2007-07-29T12:53:00.000-05:00

I have to scream a huge "THANK YOU!" to Steve Dembo. Even though we no longer work together (sniff, sniff) - I still learn so much from him. He's an awesome inspiration. He was one of the influences for me turning to a Mac user, got me blogging, and now Twittering. He gave me a great reason to head back to it and give it some serious attention. I've been learning a lot. I love clicking on the tiny URL's in the tweets and just a look into the everyday life of people. Some are addicted. I don't date - but even I know not to tweet on a date Wes! :D
Anyway, so thanks to Twitter and Steve Dembo, I am now following another amazing educator and he's going to "hook me up" with a beta test of a cool Mac program. I'm excited! Thrilled! Steve told me, via Twitter, to ping ijohnpenderson and ask him to "hook me up". I did, and he is!
Looking forward to playing, I mean experimenting. If it's half as cool as I keep hearing, I bet it'll become one of my favorite programs. But I wouldn't have had this opportunity if I didn't network with other people. I don't believe I have ever met John Penderson in person, but Steve was able to connect us. It's amazing. I encourage all educators - heck, everyone - to learn how to network and not be a "hermit". That's so easy to do, and there are some awesome people to learn from in so many ways. You don't always have to attend an event face to face to really learn or connect.
Now, time to get back to work.

Twitter Thoughts

2007-07-24T10:11:00.001-05:00

I'm in training right now for the Turning Point Response system. They are pretty easy to use. I can't say the same for my new laptop. I have really become a MAC user. One of the things I didn't realize I wasn't doing anymore is accidently moving my cursor while typing. I'm dong it again on the PC. Need to figure out what I'm doing so I don't do it anymore.

Anyway, in catching up on my feeds this morning, I noticed that Cool Cat Teacher mentioned the Twitter Debate. As you notice from my "Twitter Party Badge", I'm new to Twitter. I've enjoyed reading everyone else's Twitters, but Im just getting use to adding my own. I only seem to be able to do it when I go to the page, but I was told I should be able to use the instant messaging tool.

But is it useful? I'm beginning to think so. As I follow others, I learn some interesting thoughts that would have been lost otherwise. Just quick little tidbits that give me something else to research or read. The note about the PBWiki from Bud the Teacher was great and much appreciated. I use wikispaces usually, but PBWiki is worth looking into. The twitter from Tom about Woot's SD cards would be very much appreciated if I was able to get my credit card out of my purse and purchase without everyone knowing what I'm up to. Chris Craft shared a bit about slidecasting with SlideShare - and he made me think of a PhotoStory alternative for when I'm in a MAC environment and for some reason I don't want to use one of the awesome Mac tools.

Can I see it being used in schools? That's the tough one. I like being connected to the professionals and not feeling alone. I like the sense of community that the Web 2.0 brings. But Twittering in the classroom with students I think could end up being too distracting. I can see it being used in Professional Development, amongst teachers, but with students - we'll, not really convinced there. After they get home - yes, I can see a way to use it. An algebra student is struggling with a problem, they twitter that and might be able to find someone to help them. A History Fair Project participant needs to find someone to interview or a resource, and they can find what they need. Just like we are

Would love to take a webinar on Twittering.....hint, hint.

I'll add the links later. I need to start paying attention again.

Copyright

2007-07-18T12:44:00.000-05:00

I am a person who likes rules and believe that most of them are there to protect us in one way or another. I am also a big fan of the copyright laws and acts, and believed they should be followed. So I've been very hesitant to work on a mash up or digital video or whatever it would turn out to be, using audio clippings from the latest Harry Potter movie (that I have seen now 3 times). Am I legal? Can I go ahead and do what I want? It's about 5 minutes total of audio sounds. Hmmmm.
And since we're talking about Harry Potter and Copyright, I'm very excited about the latest and last installment of Harry's adventure and dealings with the Dark Lord. I thought it was interesting that someone posted it online and that they cannot legally be in trouble because they are Sweden? Hello! Sweden, don't you have any artists that you want to protect the rights of? I did try to download it, and was successful. I peeked, but then trashed it. It's probably the real thing, but you know what - I want to wait until Friday at midnight to get my copy. I want to read it all day on Saturday (after the Safety Fair), on Sunday and then while traveling to Ohio next week. I want to enjoy JK Rowling's works the way they are meant to be enjoyed.
But am I just a stick in the mud? Is it okay to break copyright laws no matter where we live? As frustrating as they may be, are they not there to protect us, especially if we ever get a great idea that starts on a napkin?

Dispersed Teams

2007-07-11T07:47:00.000-05:00

I have been working from home since January of 2006. I have to laugh when people think that this means I have all the time in the world and so forth. Let me tell you, it's not easy - especially in the summer with an active child at home. Luckily Scott Kinney gave us all a great book about working on dispersed teams, building trust within the team, getting to know the team, and how to effectively work together. That's probably the toughest, learning how to work with people you don't know and probably will only see face-to-face 4 times a year.
So now I'm working for another company -yes, it's official - I'm with netTrekker as the Georgia and Florida Customer Service Rep. Again, I am lucky to be working with a great team of experienced people who I am sure I will learn something from.
Today I attended the Teaching and Learning Institute with the Florida Digital Educators in Gainesville, FL where my focus was netTrekker and the 21st Century. (Email me for the presentation!) On the side I was talking about collaboration and how we use blogs and wikis to really share our ideas. I even shared how my community is using a Wiki to sign up for events and share news. An interesting thought started running through my head - another plug for really collaborating in and out of the classroom.
More than likely many of our students are going to work on virtual/dispersed teams of some sort. They might be dispersed by time shifts or locations, but there will be a dispersement going on. How will they communicate and stay on track with one another? My dad, when he worked in a plant in South Carolina, depended on email. The workers all checked the data, read the memos and knew what was going based on the emails sent to them at work. With today's teams we can use wikis, but the trick is getting them used.
If our elementary students are using Wikis to collaborate in the classroom on group projects, when they get to middle school the students will be ready to collaborate with another class on a project. Then when they get to high school a teacher can actually take the next step and partner with a class in another school - whether it's in their district or outside of their district. How cool would it be for a teacher to plan a lesson with another teacher in lets say Australia? Oh! I know, they could plan a lesson teaching conservation and endangerment and the central figure could be the Sea Cow. Australia also has these beautiful creatures, so it's perfect project for a Florida teacher and Australia to team up for. The students would all have to plan a project, collaborate via email and or their wiki and then create a project. Using PhotoBucket, SlideShare, any of the Google Apps, this should be easy enough to work out. The rubric could be created (I personally love Tech4Learning's rubric maker) and the teachers could grade the students on collaboration and the outcome. It may not be perfect, especially the first time, but it really will get the students introduced to working on a dispersed team.
And then when they want to work for a company that has a huge presence in their area, but not an office, they can honestly say they know how to work on a "virtual team" and are the perfect candidate for the job.

Fun shirts

2007-07-09T22:07:00.001-05:00

Tom and I were chatting earlier about shirts. I really am thinking about splurging on the Harry Potter shirt that says "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" and on the back "Mischief Managed". The actual shirt I want is only sold in junior sizes. Well I'm still debating on which shirt I want and trying to talk myself out of it when I came across this site. This goes back to the addiction thing we mentioned earlier. CafePress has some great shirts, and I originally went there to check out the unique Harry Potter shirts , but started looking at the great tech shirts instead. So now I'm torn. Harry Potter or a blogging tshirt? (Click on the link to "I'm torn"!)

K12 Online Conference

2007-07-09T07:27:00.000-05:00

Looking to attend a great conference, but really don't have the funds or time to travel? I keep hearing wonderful things about the K12 Online Conference, but each year mess up and schedule something else. Well this year, I have marked it in my iCal, so hopefully I won't make that mistake yet again! The list of presenters look awesome and I can't wait to get the times so I can really block off all the time I need. :-)

Addictions

2007-07-09T06:51:00.000-05:00

I have terrible addictions, such as biting my nails, blabbering, reading novels and not always "professional" type books, and so forth. But an addiction to blogging? Yes, when I was with Discovery I'd say I was 100% addicted. But now? Well, after reading Tom's blog, I had to test my own blog addiction. My score was 78%, but it probably could be higher. For one, I read blogs in various different ways. I love my feedblitz, but there are a few that I actually click on each day to read, such as Marsha's, Moving at the Speed of Creativity with Wes Fryer, the Discovery Blogs (I know, I should just subscribe to them), Inspiration, a few others and two different Harry Potter blogs. And I downplayed the amount of time I read because it really does vary. One day I spent about 6 hours, another 8, but I usually keep it to about 1.

Anyway, 78% is a bit high personally. What's your addiction level?

78%

Mingle² - Online Dating

Transform

2007-07-07T23:09:00.000-05:00

I lead the most exciting life on Earth. I really do! Tonight I went - for the second time - to see Transformers . So now you know that I'm dripping with sarcasm when I said that I live the most exciting life on Earth.

For those of you who have not seen Transformers, I encourage you to go see it. It was a pretty good movie. Tonight I took my son and a friend of his from down the street. Sebastian asked me why did Megatron want to kill all the humans and take over our world. So I explained what deceit means and how it relates to the Decepticons. Then I explained how "Barricade" had the Decepticon motto on the side of his police car, "Punish and enslave". Where was I going with all of this? I then ended it with how Optimus Prime and the Autobots believed that we should all have choices and be free to make those choices, but that Megatron didn't believe in free will or equal treatment and wanted to deceive the technology into taking over the world. Decepticons wanted to destroy while the Autobots wanted to protect.

The kid looked at me and said, "So Megatron and the Decepticons are like slavery and the Autobots are like America and freedom."

WOW! So if you're teaching slavery this year, no matter what continent or era, try relating it to Transformers. A rising second grader made a pretty good argument explaining how.

Then we started talking about going back to school and how excited they would be when they do get to go back. Joey's interested in the social promises, but not the learning. Sebastian is a learner, so he's excited about both aspects of school. I was driving and they were playing in the dark with Transformers in the back seat. I asked the boys what they liked the most in a teacher. Both like fun teachers who are not mean, who don't yell, and who make you want to learn. Then Joey said, "I got it! Decepticons are the mean teachers and Autobots are the fun teachers who let you make your own choices!"

He's right. Decepticon teachers are very much like our old way of thinking and teaching. They keep everyone in rows, they have a level of authority, and there is no free will. Autobot type teachers educate their students on how to make the right choices, encourage creativity, and then allow the students to make choices. Free to choose.

And I'm sure most educators out there agree that our Education System needs to be transformed into the 21st Century with Optimus Prime's belief of "choices" at the core center.

I'm also sure that you all would agree that I need a life!

Time Bank

2007-07-07T14:35:00.000-05:00

What a cool concept! Basically a time bank is where you donate an hour or so of your time doing something for someone else in an area that you're strong in, like teaching how to use a digital camera, and then you earn a time dollar to spend by having someone else teach you something you want to learn, such as Yoga. The more you do for others, the more time dollars you earn to learn or get help from others in return.

Why post this on a blog about education? Simple. Students need to learn about service learning, and it's part of the Twenty First Century Skills (social responsibility). If your school sets up a "Time Bank", students can tutor younger students or their peers, and then cash in to learn something new from another Time Bank Contributor. For instance, you have one of these really smart kids who right now is ignored by the jocks and popular kids. This kid though is BRILLIANT at math and science and has a knack for helping others understand those tough subjects as well. However, this kid is scrawny and weak when it comes to physical strength. Now look at another student who is struggling in school, such as an athlete. (I hate stereotyping here, especially since at my old high school for the past 7 years an athlete has held the salutatorian and valedictorian spot). Anyway, pair these two up and the athlete can learn from the book smart student and then the book smart student can learn from an athlete.

Still not so sure. Okay, look at this scenario. You have a high school student who tutors a younger student for two hours a week for free. However, this kid would really like to take a digital photography class or another sort of lesson. The younger student can't help him out, but since he belongs to the "Time Bank" he cashes his "Time Dollars" in for lessons with another patron to learn digital photography. That person who teaches the high schooler digital photography cashes her dollars in for resume help.

Anyway, neat concept and so much that a school/district can do with it. Think about it.

Passionate Careers

2007-07-05T18:29:00.000-05:00

When I taught Career Choices, I always told my students to start with things they love to do and then investigate what type of careers are available from there. We always looked at odd jobs, entry level positions that lead to great positions, how much of an education you would need, salary expectations, cost of living, and how fast to expect to move up and start earning what they dreamed about.

Most of my students, like many of yours I'm sure, said they were going to be a great basketball player or football player. Why not? Ray Allen came from our town, why couldn't they be the next hot shot? But we looked up biographies of the players and showed them how they all had a back up plan. They went to college for more than playing sports. Buffalo Bills' Jim Kelly became a very profitable business man. I met another football player who won at least one Super Bowl Ring (but I forget his name and with which team) and when he retired he opened his own catering business in Columbia, SC. So always have a back up plan.

Well according to an article in eSchool News, sports are now taking a new edge. Science is taking ahold of students love of sports and turning it into a real career possibility. When I taught fifth grade, we did look at Sports Science, especially the science of hockey, with Exploratorium. But now, it's a real possible career field with more than $400 billion waiting for people to put to use in testing and designing the best. What a great way to really get the students to pay attention to science class. And usually the students who are really into the sport understand the sciences of how and why things happen and what is needed to get improved results. If we as educators embrace their passions and find a way to teach them the standards, well we have a winning combination.

The possibilities are endless. Especially with technology. Someone who's not very smart about sports have the power of technology at hand. (I still don't get baseball. I thought it was all about enjoying time with Joey and my family, socializing with friends, enjoying cracker jacks and hot dogs, but someone said that there really men who hit baseballs and run the bases. Someone recently told me I was wrong.)

And admit it, it is important to love what you do, or else - your career is really just a job.

Apple is not Flat

2007-07-04T21:05:00.000-05:00

I have to share this. I'm a new Mac user, since January of 2007. I was a life long PC user until then. My uncle has to buy my cousin a laptop for college. He asked me which laptop I thought was a great deal. I said Apple. He laughed and said they were too expensive and went on and on. Okay, sure, buy a PC for $350 or whatever the ad has it for today. However, when I had a problem with my Mac (a minor issue that was more my fault) and I went to an AMERICAN store and got help. They even fixed it in an hour! When I called with another question, the person told me they were in the US and I could understand everything they said. So aside from it just being a wonderful computer, I get great service!

I have no problem with other cultures. I loved my time in Germany. However, as an American, I do believe we need to support jobs here in America and help our own economy first. (I even do more shopping in person because I'd rather give the local dollars to my county/state first and help someone else have a job and not a computer. I love technology, but a computer doesn't need a job the way a human does.

Now I will say, my mom bought her computer from Best Buy and she can take it to their store to get help from an American. However, if she calls Compaq, hmmm- I don't know where the call will go. I know my friend spoke to someone from India for Dell. I know because I actually had to help him make some of the calls to get the work done!

Okay, enough said. I'll get off the "World is Flat" soap box. Just had to brag about my Mac.

My Take Away

2007-06-28T21:21:00.001-05:00

I was asked yesterday while in the security line at the Atlanta Airport what was the one thing that I took away from NECC this year. I would have to say that what hit me the most was making it personal.

Let me explain. It all relates to School 2.0 and Web 2.0. With the Web 2.0 you are able to be part of a huge community, and yet be an individual. In the past, in before the Internet and other tools really got involved in education, all students were taught the same. Each student sat in a desk, in a row and were taught in the same manner. Slowly things evolved and we realized that many students needed differentiated instruction. I'm even curious if there are some students out there that are not truly Learning Disabled, but in need of a differentiated instruction program. Anyway, with cooperative learning and differentiated instruction, we started to see some changes. Then we introduced the computer and things became even more individualized. Unfortunately the beginning (and still just a wee bit) marked us using canned programs with no outside interaction. Thirty students came to the lab, sat down, worked on the computer for about 30 minutes and then went back to the classroom with no more use of technology unless it was the Television.

But with technology today, we really learned how to differentiate the programs. We use PhotoStory, iMovie, Inspiration, and other great programs. Through Web 2.0 we have started using blogs, wikis and podcasting. And actually, to give even more credit to the Web 2.0 movement, we as educators have formed communities to learn from each other. Educators, as David Warlick pointed out, are becoming even more mature and responsible for their professional growth. Communities such as School 2.0 in Ning, Inspiration's Community, and Discovery Educator Network have provided teachers with more outlets to learn and grow than schools were ever able to offer. The blogs from NECC all point to the most treasured event was the Bloggers Cafe (I wish I had gotten to more and even up there. Maybe then I too would understand Twitter and become an addict.) Through the meetings at the Bloggers Cafe, educators learned from each other and grew even more.

Twenty-first Century learning was showcased, and I personally loved the "R U 21" shirts from netTrekker. A few people look at netTrekker and they don't realize the value the program has. The ELL Channel, the new 21st Century Channel, the readability, the saved searches, the read aloud - well it empowers the students. Plus it's a safe all in one package.

Oh, and creative! Oh so creative! The arts are coming back in their own way. Through video creating, using the paint and art tools in creative ways . I wish I had made it to the Creative pre-conference with Tech4Learning. I love their products and kept hearing how great they are whenever I went around. By being creative you are allowing your students to be an individual.

So what do I take away? Through Web 2.0 and School 2.0, teachers are learning to make connections with each other - no matter what bounderies are in the way. They are sharing and empowering themselves and not waiting for their administrators to empower them. Through Web 2.0 and School 2.0, teachers are learning to individualized lessons and meet each students needs through creative means. We are learning to be creative with 1:1 computing (when available) in the 21st Century and we are making it personal and allowing our students to be individuals.

What did you take away?

NECC: It's Not Over Yet!

2007-06-28T10:58:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note -
Yes, you can read all the wonderful blogs (Wes Fryer's are my favorite to read through because he has taken awesome notes!) about NECC 2007. Here are a few to start off with, since they are the official bloggers of NECC 2007. (And Florida's own Tom Turner is on the list! Woo Hoo!)
But did you know that you can actually watch webcasts from NECC? I'm about ready to cue up Alan November's video. I missed it live because I ran into some more wonderful people.
Then there are a bunch of Video On Demands to watch too!
Then there are podcasts to listen to as well!

Joe - Change Your Attitude.

2007-06-27T07:18:00.002-05:00

Attitude is everything. When we (The DEN) went through our job loss, I cried my eyes out. I won't lie. I was sitting at the Pensacola Airport all red faced, eyes swollen, and such. But I picked up the phone and started calling contacts. I was not going to let this keep me down. During interviews, I couldn't say anything bad about the DEN, just true shock over what happened, but not a dislike about the DEN. I even went on three more DEN events after that incident and I stayed positive. Attitude is everything.
When everyone tells me the they are old and I have to understand, I tell them that attitude is everything. So last night when Joe Caruso expressed that he was tired, he was ready for bed and that he was OLD - I told him that it was all attitude and he needed to change his attitude. Cheryl Woolwine is actually a few years older than Caruso and she wasn't out there complaining about needing her bed. You are only as old as you feel and well Cheryl, she's so young at heart she'll never get old. :-). I told Joe it was all about attitude, and he needed to change his. Yes, you read that right. I told Joe Caruso to change his attitude.
Wouldn't you agree with me?
Joe and I also talked about blogging and other great wonders in technology. He wants to learn about blogging and I told him I would be happy to introduce him to the wonders of the written word and open communication on the web. He asked me why would I do such a thing, and I told him it was part of paying it forward. I had a great teacher, Steve Dembo, and he didn't ask for anything in return. So I'm paying it forward and passing on what I learned from Steve to Joe. Someday Joe can pay it forward and teach someone else, or at least inspire us in his blogs to fill in the gaps of time when we are not blessed with his presence.
Then I curtsied and he was shocked.
Again, it's all about attitude. I hope I have the right one.

Running through the Day

2007-06-27T07:18:00.001-05:00

WHAT A DAY! I'm sure all the bloggers are saying the same thing, but it truly has been an amazing day here at NECC 2007 in Atlanta. I started the day in the exhibit hall (putting up my shirt for later) and ran into a good friend, Trish. Trish use to be my software representative and then she took a break. She is now with Academic Super Store. If you are on the East Coast, give Trish a call. She is absolutely wonderful! Tell her Danielle sent you. :-)
I actually ran into Trish on my way to a TableTop session. She was at the Visions Table, who sells some great books as well, and John was trying to talk me into writing the book he's been asking me to write for the past six years. I promised him a rough draft soon. Any tips?
Finally got out of the conference hall to get to the table tops. I really was looking forward to them, but never made it. Instead I ran into Chris Craft from Columbia, SC. He's awesome. I really wanted to attend his open source class, but well that's another story. I also ran into Mark Jeffery and so we talked professional development in today's world, incorporating tools from Web 2.0 with programs like netTrekker and BrainPop and how our students today are really blessed with having so many choices. I also ran into Pam from Alabama -who I must refer to as Ms. Alabama. She's a joy and always full of smiles. More people and well, I never made it to the first table top even though I was standing right there!
But I did run into Wes Fryer on my way into a School 2.0 session with Timothy Magner from the Department of Education. Wes and I had a great conversation about why communities are so important, what factors really make a difference in large communities, and then he gave me a great lesson about blogging on a Mac. He suggested a piece of software and I am definitely going to look it up. I might even switch over to Word Press, or just use my Mac software that I already have. Hmmm, choices!
The session on School 2.0 was really interesting. It wasn't what I thought I was going to, but really good. Bandwidth is an issue. The United States is lagging. I'll save the details for when I can get back home and really process it. Or you can read Wes's blog since he did his live. Smart man!
From there I met up with Cheryl T from Sumter, SC for lunch. We talked about what's new and what's changed since we last came to NECC (July 2005!) It's interesting to really think about how much everything has changed, even in just one way or another. We talked about interactive boards, software, other tools, and all the stuff vendors throw at the teachers to snag them in the booth.
Speaking of vendors, I had to run off to netTrekker's booth. I promised Jill that I would fill in for an hour today and I still had to get out of my T-shirt and into the professional shirt they gave me. Luckily, the sympathized and said that it was okay if I didn't change. I got to jump in and talk with educators about the features of netTrekker. Their favorite? Not sure if it was read aloud, the readibility, or the eye popping new section, 21st Century Skills. They let me talk (like they could shut me up!), I let them talk, they let me talk some more, then I got to scan them and give them a shirt. I was a lucky person to get a shirt from. Why? At least two of the people that wore their "I'm 21, RU" shirts won $50. Cash. YEAH!!!! But because of my love for talking and my belief that this product really is a gem for schools, I ended up working until the booth closed. So an hour turned into three, but that's fine by me. I had fun interacting with educators in the booth.
The night ended with a customer appreciation dinner at the Georgia Aquarium and then fireworks at Centennial Park. Did I sit and eat? Nope, I enjoyed roaming the tables to chat with customers and talk about netTrekker. Yes, I really do love to talk. The dinner was made even more beautiful by running into Dolores Noechel from Florida. Okaloosa County and I have a history, which I look at in good humor. But it was great to see her and hear about the technology changes that she's going through and the sessions she found most useful.
Off to the fireworks and dance at a private party for the customers. It was a truly classy event! Luckily I was able to stay away from the dance floor, but I did mingle and enjoy a Sprite. I'm such a lush, I know!
What a day. So much to process so I can come back and share more than just my daily run down.

NECC Begins with a BANG!

2007-06-25T06:22:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I ran into Cheryl Woolwine from Putnam County, FL (GREAT DISTRICT!) and we decided to hang out for a bit before the show. So we check in (we're staying at the same hotel), head over to the conference hall, buy some shirts and books from ISTE (I can't turn down a book!), and then FINALLY found a place to eat. (We also ran into Joe from Discovery's Digital Storytelling Blog!) While we waiting for our food I was itching to ask this guy if he was Mark from eChalk. Poor Cheryl had to sit there while I was ancy trying to figure it out. So finally before we left I just got up and asked him. He was! I love eChalk, especially for schools that don't have the tech people to design a well organized site. Anyway, after lunch we came back to the hotel to unpack and then went back to the hall. We were the last ones in at StarBucks and this one ISTE lady didn't get in, so I bought her the drink she wanted, getting her order through the window. All I wanted in return was a bag. As a registered vendor I don't get a bag or a program. How am I suppose to know where to go tomorrow? Guess I'll be online tonight looking it up!
Before the keynote yesterday I ran into Kathleen from Leon County. YEAH! She made it! She hung out with Cheryl and I for the keynote and our attempt to get into the Aquarium. We waited for 40 minutes until we ran into Kathy Shrock. She was literally running so we had to stop her. She explained there was wall to wall people inside and they were only letting so many people in as people left. With all the line jumpers and the fact that we were moving - we decided to give up. Cheryl and I had gone to the aquarium last year, and I'll actually be going back with netTrekker on Tuesday night.
The keynote was great! After a spirit raising welcome from the Atlanta Drum Line, a great opening speech with a reminder on why we do what we do from President Trina Davis,Andrew Zolli stepped up. Not only was he educational, he was entertaining. He had so many good points that I was itching for my iPod to record or a notebook to take notes. I was so unprepared to be motivated! But, if you check his website, he should be adding this presentation to his Speeches and Articles area. Check it out.
This morning on my way to McDonald's and an affordable breakfast, I ran into Robert M. Can't remember his last name right now. We use to work on grants together, he being our evaluator. He said something that really made me sad. "You can't buy a grant right now, they are that hard to get." I can only imagine how hard it is for districts that depend on the funding from grants for their tech programs.
Let me give you one quick warning. I have fallen in love with Firefox as a browser and hardly EVER use Safari. Well I went ahead and downloaded the new child safe search engine from Firefox and it's been a bit quirky. One of the biggest quirks, each time I have to accept terms before I can actually use the Internet, I'm locked out. So I'm doing this in Safari without my usual tools being available. I'll have to come back later and add all the links. I just don't do old fashioned anymore. Spoiled with the toolbars!
Enjoy NECC. I'll be at the Virtual Playground today with netTrekker and then tonight I'm on my own.

Register of Excuses?

2007-06-22T09:53:00.001-05:00

"Mr. Chalk" seems to be a bit outdated with his teaching methods and his knowledge of what our kids today are facing. I cringed when I read his post, and must say I am thankful he will never be my son's teacher. (He's in the UK, and I have no plans or desire to move to the UK.)

In his post he talks about how sugary diets are part of the problem our students face today. I'll give him that. Sometimes it's cheaper to give the kid a snack out of a pack rather than a fresh piece of fruit - or you're in a location that only offers that as a choice. But that's not the only thing he commented on. He also said that parents can list any "disease" like ADHD or Bi-Polar disorder and it's like "get out of jail free card". No siree! My son gets rewarded for behaving in school. He might get a movie night with me, get to eat dinner at Chick Fil A on the school night, or something simple. When he's bad, he loses time to play outside with friends, TV time, or toys taken away. Or he gets a good old fashioned spanking. Depends on the crime. We do not allow him or his teachers to use ADHD or his absence seizure as an excuse. We do however look to see if behavior is escalating and if maybe the medicine is not helping him or some other source might be influencing the wrong behavior.

I can imagine what Michele and Cheryl think about this man's belief. They work with these students who have such "diseases" and I can promise you, they are not so negative or demeaning about the children. They look at each case as an individual case and not blanket everyone with ADHD as a problem child on sugary highs that can do no wrong because he/she is unjustly under the influence and overdiagnosed with ADHD.

Lexile Conference Day One

2007-06-18T12:31:00.001-05:00

Today is the first day of the Lexile Conference. I couldn't really leave the booth to go to the keynotes, but from what I heard - they were absolutely awesome. There were attendees that mentioned the writing component of Lexile. Yes ladies and gentlemen, it's not just about the reading levels!
I saw Debbie Bohanan, and surprise to me -a lot of people from Lake City, SC. Lake City is where I started my teaching career. I'm still in the exhibit hall though. Dangerous place to be. Why? Well there are about seventeen vendors. Scholastic though has this huge booth set up and they are selling Harry Potter books at $2 a copy!! Well, not just Harry Potter - but all paperback books are now $2! I bought 25 books and 2 make your book kits. Dangerous! I might have to go back there. I don't need to eat. Maybe if I spend all my money on books, I won't have the money to eat.
Brandon's at a session right now. I'll have to get his input on it and share.

Get this and other HP countdowns at LeakyNews.com

Lexile Conference

2007-06-17T18:02:00.001-05:00

Right now I am sitting in my room at the Coronado Springs Resort at Disney World. I'm waiting on Brandon Cohen so I can learn how to set up the booth for netTrekker. We're both here for the Lexile Conference. Pretty snazzy place to be setting up for a conference!
While waiting for Brandon (who flew Delta so of course there were issues with his flight), I talked to one of the marketing teams for the Lexile Group. Corrie Hartline explained to me how this is the fourth year, and their largest, Lexile Conference yet. Over 1000 people are registered, and the presentations look pretty exciting. I saw that Debbie Bohanan is part of a team representing Achieve 3000 and Reedy Creek Elementary. Mary Lane Sloan will be here from Richland County School District Two, SC to present on netTrekker. There were a few other names I recognized as well. Looking forward to putting faces and names back together.
As far as vendors, there's Pearson, Follett, some new ones, and then the one that's going to break my pocketbook -Scholastic. They are selling their books and boy are those prices awesome! I don't want to, but the reader in me has to, finish the series of Charlie Bone. Plus she has the Artemis Fowl book I have yet to pick up. Then there were some books for Joey and maybe Auntie Dani can pick up one for Zoe as well - oh, but there's another book for me. Maybe I'll get lucky and Brandon will keep me and my purse down at the netTrekker booth. :-)
netTrekker is here because of the way they use Lexile reading scores in their searches. Did you know that you can narrow down your search by the Lexile Reading Score, meaning you can actually help your challenged readers find even more appropriate material when using netTrekker? Pretty snazzy if you ask me!
Snazzy - that must be my new term.

Scheduling Mistake!

2007-06-17T07:54:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe I just did that! I made a huge scheduling mistake! I agreed to do something the day Harry Potter comes out!! How could I? I always save that date to lock myself into a reading space and read! I cannot believe I agreed to help with a Safety Fair on that day, but what's worse -I even suggested that date! ARRGGHH!!

Here's something from the Leaky Cauldron to hold me over I guess.

Pipl

2007-06-15T08:22:00.000-05:00

Have you "Googled" yourself lately? I decided, after watching a report online the other night, to set up a Google Alert for anything that comes up with my name. I was curious. Well today I received results from that Google Alert from Pipl. I had never seen this search engine before, so I backed up to the original domain and was quickly intrigued. I retyped my name. No results. But wait, there were there just a minute ago. So I typed in Hall Davidson - he's always got hits. No results. How about Steve Dembo, I mean he's all over the web. No results. So I typed in JK Rowling. YEAH! I got hits. And the other things tagged with JK Rowling were just as interesting. So I go back to do one more search - look near the bottom and find out that Pipl is in it's Alpha stage. Guess I should cut it just a bit of slack. I think this will be a fun search engine once it's up and running at full speed. I can even think of a few ways to use it in the classroom!

Letterpop

2007-06-14T11:33:00.000-05:00

I am currently working with my community on a newspaper. We know we want to have an online version. Should I use Pages from iWork and PDF the final copy and upload to our wikispace? Or should I use Letterpop? Is there a similar online tool out there? Or should I use Word, since most people have Word, and just upload it without the PDF?
The things that make you go hmmmm.