What would you share with a guest at your school? Join me for a tour of Wells Junior High School!

What would you share with a guest at your school?

Last week I had two guests visit me at school. After we chatted a bit about our technology and our hurdles we still have to meet, they asked for a tour.

I was thrilled to show them the renovations that had been made at our once aging Junior High School building. That is really an impressive sight! Especially the 3rd floor library where you have Atlantic Ocean views. However, I also shared the natural things that are happening in our classrooms. They are so natural to me and to those in our school that I had lost sight of where we were in the whole scheme of "using technology and 21st Century Literacy Skills.

Our first stop was a visit to a classroom with a Smartboard projector system. It just so happened that the bulb had blown out and was set to be fixed later in the day. The teacher shared how the day before the lesson had happened with students locating European countries by using Smartboard software and that today they continued finding countries with pencil and paper. Great job with a backup plan, but I wonder if the students had a preference, or if the teacher had a preference?

Then we observed a student Skyping into his classroom from the first floor. He had broken his leg and was waiting for his hard cast to be applied before he resumed classes out in the mainstream. Our teachers were using Macbooks to stream their course content to the student who was using a Macbook on his end too. He did not miss one day of class due to this technology. How is this outstanding? Well, we have another student who is also Skyping into his classes and the preparations took over 3 months to make plans for, while this student's plan was almost immediate. Once the principal heard about the broken leg, he offered up that we could have classes streamed by Skyping the course work to the student. Since the process had been initiated, it was simple to replicate. There wasn't much preparation with classroom teachers, it was just an expectation, and it was done with great expertise.

Then we visited a language arts classroom, where the teacher talked about how we had blogged with 116 students the previous year. This year we were going to begin that project in the fall rather than waiting for spring. A natural progression.

Our last stop was to check in on the physical education class. The students were in small groups and participating in a fitness routine on their Wii. What a great way to use the technology in a way that students will use outside of school too.

What kinds of things are naturally happening in your schools? What kinds of things can you envision happening in your schools? Just a little planning will make some small things happen, those seemingly small things will have a much bigger impact once you and your school begin the journey into the 21st Century.

Thanks to the great folks I work with at Wells Junior High School, you are making a huge difference in your students' lives.

Posted by Cheryl Oakes on September 23, 2008 11:07 PM, Posted at TechLearning. BUT, here you can leave a comment! What would you share at your school? What do you wish you could share?

OneTrueMedia part 2

Do you have some students working on a project about the election? Here is a way for them to promote participation. Try OneTrueMedia It is a simple way to create and publish a message. You will need to register. It is free for the basics. Here is my media.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

OneTrueMedia a new way to share!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Somethings are meant to be shared!

Last summer, I went to an international conference called BLC, Building Learning Communities, in Newton, MA. It was a great conference in many respects. I met some bloggers from Manitoba,Canada,  Scotland, Australia, all over New England and many great places in the USA. It was amazing to have so many people coming together to share their school experiences and their technology uses.

One presenter was David Truss, Vancouver, CA. He was such an engaging speaker that I was thrilled to see him put some of his work on BlipTV right here.



David has such a nice clear way of presenting his message  and for engaging the viewers to put this message into practice. I love his challenge, I"ll take the laptop and you take the pen and paper.

If this is interesting to you, you can go to Bob Sprankle's site and listen to the keynotes and many of the presenters from the BLC08 conference.

Thanks to Liz Davis for this path I took to find David. Check out Liz's blog.

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Does this all count?

A few minutes from our first Seedlings show@edtechtalk.com on August 28, 2008, with Bob Sprankle and Alice Barr, and I am reflecting on my MEME, rhymes with seem.

I did it, I made all my goals for the summer MEME. More details to follow on the extent of my goal attainment.

Want to celebrate! Tonight I graduated!

Again, I graduated. This time it was from my webcast academy class of 1.2. For the past 2 years I have listened to webcasts, listened to podcasts, created webcasts and podcasts. After plenty of practice, actually teaching the class, with fellow webcaster Susan Ettenheim we graduated! Alice Barr- from Kennebunk, ME, Susan Ettenheim- from NYC and me, Cheryl Oakes- Wells, ME.
So, what is a webcast, I like to call it Internet Radio. It is a collaborative, supportive group of people, some educators and some not, but we join together and have conversations on the Internet, publish the conversations and often have live chats going in a chat room while the audio conversations are happening.
Where can you sign up? How much does it cost? Check out edtechtalk.com, listen to a few shows, participate in the chat and the if it is for you, join the webcast academy class.

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Back to School, homework for Educators!

It is that time! You can smell fall in the air in New England. The evenings and mornings are crisp! You need a jacket for a bit when the sun goes down.

It is also time to apply for a couple of grants for educators!
Here is a new one to me from Target.com/community  then look for Education and the many options. Here is my favorite, field trip grants! You can apply anytime from Sept. 2, 2008 and the last date is closed on November 1, 2008.  Take advantage of this one. Target says it will send one out of every 25 schools nationwide on exciting, enriching field trips. Let me know when you get this grant.




The other is the Best Buy Te@ch Award! You must submit between July 1 and October 12, 2008, winners announced on March 3, 2009. Details are here.

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Grant information for K-12 math and science.

This is lifted from THEjournal.com.

2008 TAF K-6 Math and Science Grant Deadline Approaching

by Dave Nagel

The deadline for this year's Toshiba America Foundation's Science and Math Improvement Grant for K-6 is looming. Educators have until Oct. 1 to apply for the grants, which award up to $1,000 to fund science or math projects. The Toshiba America Foundation (TAF) is urging educators to apply, saying the program "is very easy to access for science and math teachers."
The Science and Math Improvement Grant awards schools for "programs and activities that improve teaching and learning in science and mathematics" in K-12 education. K-6 teachers can receive $1,000 mini-grants for math and science projects. Teachers of grades 7 through 12 can receive grants of up to $5,000. The deadline for K-6 grant applications is Oct. 1. Teachers of grades 7 through 12 can apply at any time during the calendar year. Teachers can also apply for grants larger than $5,000. Such applications will be reviewed twice per year: Feb. 1 and Aug. 1.
The Toshiba America Foundation has so far granted some $9 million to educators since its inception, supporting about 1,600 schools in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. More information about the grant program can be found here.



Try your hand at applying for a grant, your idea might be funded.

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What is a techtorial?

"Education World Techtorials are weekly, step-by-step instructions on using some aspect of technology in the regular classroom. Short, practical, and educationally sound, Techtorials provide classroom teachers with simple, straightforward tips they can use today!" Taken right from the Education World website!

Do you feel like you are the only one in your hallway that doesn't know how to:

Skype: Talk to Anyone, Anywhere for Free
PhotoStory3: Projects, Slide Shows, and More
A Beginner's Guide to Wikis
Build a Blog
Creating a Podcast
Record, Edit, and Share Sound Files With Audacity
Social Bookmarking
Understanding RSS Feeds
What is a Podcast?

If so, then hop on over to  Education World website!
There are many, many more techtorials, one to surely interest you.

You will find the answers to the questions in the tutorials and way more!

The techtorials are all PDF files, which you can open in your browser, open another browser and try out the recommended tool while reading along. You could even print out the PDF, get a partner and follow along together. What a great way to network and learn a new tool! Good luck.

Over and out.

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Just the best thing since sliced bread! Now how long ago would that have been new?

If you have been looking for great resources for your students, grades K- 6, check out these sites:

Wikijunior Books-
The aim of this project is to produce age-appropriate non-fiction books for children from birth to age 12. These books are richly illustrated with photographs, diagrams, sketches, and original drawings. Wikijunior books are produced by a worldwide community of writers, teachers, students and young people all working together. Text taken from the site.

Another great resource you will want to check out is the Encyclopedia of Life.

Wikibooks-

The project is a collection of free textbooks and manuals. You can edit any book module right now by clicking on the edit this page link that appears in every Wikibooks module.

The project was opened in response to a request by Wikipedia's Karl Wick for a place to start building open content textbooks such as organic chemistry and physics in order to bring education to humanity and reduce the costs and other limitations to top-quality learning materials. It was started on July 10, 2003 and has been growing steadily since. As a result of the continuous growth, Wikibooks was split into several language-specific subdomains on July 21, 2004. Text taken from the site.

You can see some of the many resources connected to the Wikibooks site. Click here.

BTW, by the way, here is the information about sliced bread from wikipedia.

The phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread" (and variations thereof) is a commonly used hyperbolic means of praising an invention or development. Sliced bread appears to be something of an arbitrary selection as the benchmark against which later inventions should be judged. It has been said that "the phrase is the ultimate depiction of innovative achievement and American know-how",^[6] although it is commonly used in the United Kingdom as well.

The popular use of the phrase derives from the fact that Wonder Bread, the first mass-marketer of sliced bread as a product, launched a 1930s ad campaign touting the innovation. Text taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliced_bread

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Dog Days of Summer! (for the Northern Hemisphere that is)

If you are living in the State of Maine, and you are a 4th grade teacher teaming with an art teacher you can apply for a grant from WMTW TV Through a Child's Eye.
This sounds like a fabulous effort by WMTW to empower Maine students to explore and document their world! Do it soon, the deadline is September 15, 2008. Oh, btw, good luck. Let me know how you do!

Here is another digital photography contest from TechLearning.
This is for K-12 for photos that students have taken from Jan. 1, 2008 to October 1, 2008.

The other great grant opportunity is with Best Buy. Best Buy offers a Teach Award. If you work in a school in a 50 mile radius of a Best Buy, you are elegible. The award window is open from July 1, to October 1, 2008.
Here are some further rules:

• Awards will range from $1,000 to $5,000 based on specific school needs.
• $10,000 will be awarded to up to 15 applications supporting 9th grade programs

This grant has been awarded to people in our school district, and to a neighboring school district. You can do this. If you would like more information follow the links. If you would like help filling out the award, just contact me. I'd be happy to help. Good luck!

Best Buy also funds a specific donation program if your idea qualifies. Check out the criteria here.



I'll stop back frequently when I find other opportunities!


Add your bubble

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Great link for Social Studies and 21st Century Literacy

The Parntership for 21st Century Skills has published the 21st Century Skills Map for Social Studies with benchmarks at Grade 4, 8 and 12. This document provides the necessary language and examples for any teacher to make meaningful decisions in a classroom about how to present material encompassing 21st Century Literacy.
Here is an example for 8th grade communication:
Outcome: Research, organize and present information in clear, complete and effective formats.
Example: Research information on the local implications of a global issue of concern. Students organize their information and a possible solution and write a persuasive letter that is to be proof-read, peer edited, and finally sent via e-mail to a local public official.

Just by adding the words global issue and email to an already designed lesson, you have bridged the next century. Just try it. Just because this is a social studies content area, don't dismiss it. I am sure you, the great teacher that you are, can find a way to make this work in your content area.

Summer Professional Work Links

Check out the work that summer allows!

Donna W, Beth C, Charlene K, Michele L

It has been most impressive. There are still two more weeks of classes. Aug. 4, WHS and Aug. 11, @WES all about assistive technology and Universal Design for Learning.

Come Join the Fun!

Highlights for this month!

In an effort to support my classroom teachers I am going to publish a monthly collection of the newest classroom resources.

My first for elementary students is a site created by two retired teachers I met at NECC. I will be interviewing them soon and will like the podcast here. They designed the site as a place for students with reading levels from 2nd to 4th grade to research animals, presidents, geography and they are constantly adding to their site. We purchased a subscription from them for our elementary school. It was less than 100.00 for the whole school for the school year. This is such a bargin. You can get more information by going here http://www.facts4me.com . I hope you enjoy their site as much as I do. Be sure you bookmark their site when you get there.

This is for anyone looking for primary source documents from American History. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is making primary documents available from all eras available FREE of charge. There are podcasts from historians, lessons plans , and a searchable database of more than 60,000 primary-source documents and transcripts for classroom use and online exhibitions. Also you will want to check out their related site, History Now. If you have never used primary source documents with your students make this year the year you try it out.

This is for anyone looking to engage and motivate their students with lessons and digital resources used by other teachers in your subject or grade level. You can search Nortel Learnit, and Curriki for great ideas and lessons. You can also pay it forward and send in your own lesson ideas for others to use. Check out and register for this site, Nortel Learnit. I love this statement on their lesson plan page, " The 6E's lesson plan format was developed by teachers in consultation with faculty from schools of education in North America and is based on a constructivist model of teaching.

The model we have developed is called the 6ES Model of Instruction (6 E's and an S--Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate, Extend, and Standards)." from the Nortel Learnit , learn about their lessons.
I loved their lesson, Getting Along for early elementary, with a clear social studies theme.
Then this one for grades 7-12 Our troubled world, global issues.
Just by checking out this website your first month of school would be planned!

Come back next month for some more goodies.
Over and out!

Half way to accomplishing my summer goals and meme!

I just realized that I am halfway through summer vacation, (sorry for this brutal reminder), and halfway through accomplishing my meme. My professional learning circle has expanded. My toolkit has expanded and become more purposeful and streamlined. I am adding an online component to my in district professional development course. My learning on a good path!

BLC a session I was able to uStream

I was fortunate enough to attend the session put on by Darren and Clarence. Here is the uStream of their presentation, after fashion, I do get out of the way so you can actually see the presentation.



Here is Clarence's site. Here you will find Darren's site.

Now the focus of this post should be on you viewing the Ustream, however, a quick note about the "background". It is so easy to set up an account to Ustream.
Then configure your laptop with the videocam to allow you to record both video and audio , you select start recording, start broadcast, send out a twitter to your network, or email folks the stream URL for your "TV" station, you are in business!

This makes the learning transparent. This makes a meeting transparent. This makes a meeting available for all to attend whether f2f or virtually. Try it.

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BLC08, David Truss

Use this link all the afternoon http://fon.gs/keyword/http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
David Truss
Here is the CoveritLive Blog

UDL Concord Consortium Science for Middle and HS

Use this site http://itsi.concord.org/share/blc08

Introduction to our afternoon, with probes and their science lessons.

Probes, http://itsi.probesight.org

Use the probes or use the models already uploaded to the site and given data.
I made activity 1085 on temperature.

Web 2.0 for Newbies, Jim W. November Learning

This is a way to deliver the message to new teachers. In 1991 the first Mosaic Website was built, the Internet wasn't just for science anymore. So our students just graduating in 2008 have been alive as long as the Internet. Things are changing so quickly.
This session is totally full, and people are sitting on the floor.
Jim had us introduce ourselves with each other, I met a woman from Detroit.
You want to get a network so when your kids are creating their content, you can get someone to comment on their work. Do this with staff as well.
When youtube is blocked, you can use Zamzar at home and download the youtube video and it is converted so you can use it at school.
Look at the purpose of why you will wiki, blog, moodle, etc.

Shelly Paul has created a website with 15 min. videos on how to use some of the web 2.0 tools. Check it out!
http://k12learning20.wikispaces.com/

Blogging is easy to use and allows feedback in a controled way and it allows students to share. Comments should be approved.
Blog is chronological, the wiki is more like a book, table of contents,etc.
Much easier than using the old websites.

If teachers are blogging, then administrators need to use RSS to make those connections.

Jim is calling a website to demonstrate gcast! Then it is published to the web instantly.
Great presentation.

Universal Design for Learning

http://udl.concord.org/share/blc08

This is dedicated for younger students. This is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Initial starts in grade 3/4 and 5/6.
Carolyn shared the different ways that the information on the portal is available to students, larger/smaller fonts, Spanish/English, speech to text. This is all based on science content. When text is highlighted it auto reads.Students control their input with various changes, feedback and real work.
The Smart Graph Work, is an intuitive graph that gives instant feed back to the student.
Trying to make all the tools, under the learning, to work smarter and more explicitly.
Venier and Pasco probes work with this grant.

5e's BSCS. engage, explore, explain, extend, ellaborate
So activities are based on the above. The Plant photosynthesis project takes the data and sends to the interactive graph. Data collection.
The electricity probes offer a chance to collect data based on the movement of gears etc.
Stories and the CAST story builder.

Since the teacher has a portal, kids log onto the portal, and all the data is saved at the UDL research site.Kids will see all the data collected and are able to write a report based on real data. This is the FEB. edition.
The scaffolding:
Level 1:one or more examples of good responses. Students asked to add to the response in their own words.
Level 2: Students selects the best of several suggested multiple-choice responses.
Level 3: Parts of response are provided, but missing content.
Level 4: Clues are given
Lefel 5: Multiple choice answers to choose from, and chance for the kids to add.

Cloud unit, with a story. Students read the stories over a couple days and then begin the activity.Some stories use models, some use probes.The glossary will be teacher controlled, so words can always be on, or only at the beginning of a chapter.
The questions are scattered throughout the activities.
As part of the teacher portal, teachers control the level the student begins, whether the student can choose the level.
the teacher's computer collects the data to send to the research. The teacher has a program to see what the kids are doing on their computer.
The snapshot function, and student can also take a snapshot of their activities to build information for their report. The snapshot has an interactive piece, text box, draw, and use the snapshots to build a record of the project. The snapshots are then used to answer the questions from the unit.
Alternative assessments.
Teacher can access the test data from the whole pre-test down to a specific student. There is a bar graph showing progress for each student.
Using the CAST story builder, the coaches help encourage the student about specific prompts.The coaches offer help during activities and prompt the student to follow the activity steps and collect data.
Collecting data from AK, MA, MO,CA.
Now we can sign up for the portal, as a teacher.
http://udl.portal.concord.org
Always looking for school districts to be part of this project!!! K-12