Wired Wednesday Mini-Session that flopped..

March 31, 2010~ Getting ready to share a mini-session on Fotobabble I noticed that the volume didn't work on the desktop I was on..or so I thought. A couple of clicks later I realized it wasn't just my computer, it was all the computers in the lab. Ugh! We couldn't hear the recordings and we couldn't press the record button to record our comments. If you have had this issue and know how to resolve, please share. Nothing like sharing a tool to teachers only to have it not work!!!

BTW..it worked yesterday on the same computer...

Caching In On Geography

March 12, 2010~ Got an email from Donor's Choose. The time frame on funding my grant proposal is running short. If you know someone or are interesting in working with Donor's Choose to fund our project, see the link below. I am very excited about started a Geocaching club/group at my school but in this time of budget crisis the money is just not available to purchase the supplies needed in order to facilitate geocaching with the students.
Caching In On Geography

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Resources

October 26, 2009~Came across the following resources across my reader and wanted to share. The first is called Soople and there are many faces to Soople. There is the search aspect of Souple that streamlines the searching process tremendously. Google has Advanced Search with is similar but you still have to use the various strategies like plus, minus, etc. There is also the calculator aspect of Soople. This will assist those with an array of mathematical computations and may not have access to a calculator which at a price tag of over $100 can be out of range if not provided). Lastly but definitely not least, is the Translator which will assist in language transitions.

Soople Search

Soople Calculator

Language Translations

The second resource is Historic Maps for Students and Teachers. If you have ever attempted to teach geography or incorporate into a lesson, finding historic maps has always been a hindrance. Here is a resource from the Florida's Educational Technology Clearing House. It is Historic Maps for Students and Teachers. Teachers and students may use up to 25 maps for free without having to gain permission. There are over 5,000 maps to peruse for any subject area. If you have ever used Google Earth and needed maps for an overlay comparison, this would be a great avenue for such an activity.

Historic Maps

Marzano's Keynote from CUE 2009

September 30, 2009 Perusing my reader today I came across Dr. Jan's Blog in which she shared Marzano and Interactive Whiteboard Technology...wowee...
Hope you find it as interesting and useful as I did.

Christmas in July??

July 23, 2009~ Recently, I attended the SC Middle School Associations Middle Level Summer Institute focusing on the Schools to Watch Model (STW). It was during the Q & A session in which I was struck by how naive I can be sometimes. While my school is contemplating the process as a learning experience and to gain feedback from an outside entity and either validate we are on the right track or assist us in getting there, other schools do not see it in that manner. It seemed as though they were looking for another ornament to hang on their "tree". My question to those participants would be...what is your motive and what drives you on a day to day basis? Because I work in a place that is student centered and our driving force is what is in the best interest of the child, what can we as professional educators do to assist that child in becoming the best person they can be regardless of their backgrounds or their socioeconomic status. It is our job to maximize their potential.

I look forward to undergoing the STW application and reflecting on our process of meeting every child's potential with with high-quality teachers, resources, learning opportunities, and supports.

Attribution: Photo Credit by Whitney Salonich

Web 2.0 in the Classroom

June 22, 2009~ Yes, it is June 22, the first Monday of summer and I am at work already planning for professional development for the fall. Budget cuts have forced my 220 contract to be changed to a 190. This removes my days of planning prior to the teachers arriving. So here I am avoiding the 100* heat,getting ahead of the game. For once...rather then waiting until school starts (which is ultimately too late to begin with!)

So for those of you still at work or needing a break from the summer fun, I would appreciate any and all comments on my Voicethread!!

Wandering While Writing

June 16, 20009~ I find myself wandering as I attempt to finalize my narrative for my grant. As I organize my data so it can be effectively analyzed for our reporting, I keep getting sidetracked. (Now that is not a bad thing at the moment since I still have a few days until it is due to my supervisor). So let me share what my latest wanderlust is at the moment. It is TweetPsych created by Dan Zarella. Now, not really sure at this point how I could use this in the classroom but personally can see some items that are interesting. For example, my score on the cognitive for education is 218. So does this explain why when I am at a social gathering and feel quite comfortable and confident when I have conversations with those in the educational sector but if my conversation partner is a non-education person I often feel stressed at making small talk?

As for the second graphic below, having just come out of a training session in All Kinds of Minds, I will have to refer to my Glossary of Terms more indepthly to understand about the temporal references and such.


But for now..this looks like an interesting tool and I look forward to more study as to applications in the classroom or perhaps a tool to understand your fellow educator. Hmm...maybe I will run this on my teenage daughters to better understand them??? Think it will work???