Online Conference (Thing # 12)

I watched/listened to a presentation about Flickr. It was actually helpful for me because I have not had much experience with Flickr and it was nice to have the information presented in a simple, easy to understand way. I really like the visuals. Without them, I would not understand much of what was going on! It was not too long or too short.

Bubbleshare for Beginners (Thing # 11)

I used Bubbleshare to create this very brief slideshow. It will be fun to play around with this when I have more time (ha, ha, ha.) Bubbleshare was very easy to use and it was a good thing, too, as I was becoming discouraged after the Creative Commons/Flickr disaster.

Listomania! (Thing 13)

If you are task oriented, then here is a site for you! The Ta-da List website is really cool. It allows you to make list for every topic imaginable, and then check off tasks as you complete them. You can also share lists with friends. I am a listoholic and I admit that I sometimes spend more time making lists than accomplishing the tasks; heck, sometimes I even complete a task, then add it to my list just so I can check it off! Speaking of which, each task has a nifty little box that you can check off once the task is completed. It feels so good to do that! Check it out (or off!)

Flikr Frustration! (Thing 10)

I was really frustrated with this task, but Sarah helped me (thank you Sarah!) I am glad I figured it out, but I am not excited about ever doing it again! The tutorials and videos did not help this time, and we ended up using a different strategy altogether. Flikr is really overwhelming (but so is work right now!) I would like to come back to this during the summer when I have more time.Photo Credit

Creative Commons (Thing #9)

Okay, so my head is spinning but I’m not sure that’s good. I get Creative Commons in theory and now I am trying to understand it in a practical way. For years, we teachers have done our best, pulling together resources and “borrowing” from whomever and wherever we can. But now I find out that  I can legally  find and use lots of educational learning material????? For free????? I looked at some of the sites that were listed on the instructions for Thing #9, but I found it difficult to navigate these sites (remember, this is new for me!!!)

So here are my questions for you:  How do you easily locate these “free” materials? How do you properly give credit? If you have been “borrowing” for years, how do you find out if that material is in fact free to use (this could lower my guilty conscience immediately!)

But let’s go further. If I want to write a book or poetry and I want to make lots of money selling that book, why would I want to put it on Creative Commons? What would be the incentive? Would it be free exposure? Or if I want to sell that book, should I just keep it to myself and not share it?

Wicked Wikis (Thing 7)

Wikis are wicked (if you are from the Northeast, you know that “wicked” is meant to imply totally cool and awesome, at least that’s what we used to say growing up!) It was fun and informative to explore some of the wiki links provided. Since I’m a Kindergarten teacher, most of the wikis I visited were from primary classrooms, although the Online Clinic was really neat. You can click on any system or body part to get info. It was easy to explore this wiki.

I liked the Kindergarten Counting Book so much, that my math group contributed to this wiki today! We had so much fun! I gathered the kids around my computer, showed them the wiki, and then we scrolled down the list to find out what numbers were still available. We paid attention to the objects that had been used so that we could try to come up with different materials to photograph and upload. I was amazed how quickly the kids caught on and just went for it! The only thing that would be a bit more helpful on this wiki is maybe an introduction that explains what to do and that lists the numbers that still need to be done, however, we figured this out fairly quickly!

The Primary Math wiki is a great resource for teachers. The sign of a really good teacher is one who is willing to share their great ideas with others in the hopes that they will use them too. I am always looking for innovative ways to teach math. This wiki is one that I will be using to see how other teachers teach kids math, and my goal will be to contribute to it before the school year ends. I’ll think of it as my own personal stretch task!

The Schools in the Past wiki is a great example of simplicity. You don’t have to have bells and whistles to put a good wiki together. This wiki reminded me of Jose and Sarah’s class, where they have their kids interview their grandparents in anticipation of Grandparent’s Day at school. What a neat way to share that info and make it a global project.

As I think about how I might use a wiki, sharing classroom activities and teaching ideas immediately comes to mind, although I’m not quite sure of the format. I think that I’d probably want to separate wikis, one primarily for teachers, and one for kids and parents. I also imagine setting up a wiki for a creative writing space. I’m going to spend some time exploring what’s out there and contributing to existing wikis. As I begin to learn more by “doing”, I will uncover what wikis want to be created by me!

My A-ha Moment of the Week(Thing #6)

I enjoyed reading Dave’s blog about Mashups. As a technologically-challenged-always-open-to-learning-something-new, as I read about mahsups, I realized that I didn’t know what they were. I was able to sort of figure it out through context clues and then I asked a colleague for clarification. I love the idea of being able to mix and blend different technologies to create something that helps you do something better in a cool way. But the lesson today is not what new terminology I just discovered. What I really learned is that I know what it feels like to read something that you don’t understand (as many of my students do) and then have to figure out a way to find out. Everyday I ask my kids to decode unfamiliar text and then be able to understand what they’ve read. It’s easy for some, more challenging for others, but it is a real and important task. Sometimes I’ll talk to my kids during meeting and use a term that they do not understand, and I just keep talking until: 1) I notice their blank stares or 2) some kid will ask “what does THAT mean?”    I need to constantly be able to be in my students frame of mind  shoes so that I can try to understand their thought process and try to enrich their learning…and mine. I also love having great colleagues that I can go to anytime and ask,”What does THAT mean?” and get answers without feeling stupid. I am really grateful when I experience something (like this course!) that allows me to be a student and feel frustrated, confused, accomplished, and gratified.

Teachers Making the Big Bucks (Thing #5)

I read with intrigue the At Charter School, Higher Teacher Pay about teachers receiving a much higher salary than average.   How many times have we heard, “you teachers should make more money.” I also admit that I can get engrossed in conversations about how much more money we should be making for what we do to prepare kids for the future. “Teaching is a such a noble profession,”  is another way of saying “wow you sure don’t get paid that much, do you?” I absolutely LOVE what I do and I love where I’m doing it. Our faculty is brilliant, collegial and really good at what we do. Our school nurtures kids and the parents are really involved in their kids’ education. This is a place for teachers who love to teach, and who would, if they could, probably do it for free. The reality is that we can’t do it for free. We need to earn a living to support ourselves and our families.If you visit The Equity Project’s website, the school featured in the New York Times article, it becomes clear that these would be teachers will undoubtedly earn their pay. The pluses: you get three (count’em 3!) planning periods per day, you get to observe another teacher daily, and you make $125,000 plus the opportunity to earn $25,000 more in bonus pay. Oh yeah, and they practically force you to take a sabbatical every 5-6 years (wouldn’t that be nice?!) The drawbacks:  You work year round, including a six-week institute every summer, you teach until 6:00p.m. most days, and you have many non-teaching responsibilties including attendance, discipline issues, etc.(you know, the things teachers ususally have to do for free.)I worked for one year in a pilot school in Boston similar to The Equity Project in New York City. We did not make more money than other public school teachers, but we did lots of extra work including hiring, observations, home visits, facilitating. It was gratifying work but it was so much work! It was non-stop. There wasn’t a minute in the day that you weren’t thinking about school. The investment that the teachers made to the school was enormous. In turn, the school was extremely popular. There was a lottery and a very long waiting list. I think teachers should make a six-figure salary for doing exactly what we are doing right now. A six-figure salary should be baseline.Do I wish we made more? Yes. Does it need to be $1 million per year? No, but a tenth of that would be nice. We are worth at least that.

Post #3 Reflections about Blogging (Thing 4)

    I love blogging!!! Okay, I mean I love the idea of blogging ( I am still learning what it means!) It was so interesting to read the blogs of other educators out there because I realized that there are so many different types of blogs, and so many different ways to blog!!! I could really get lost in blog world, and I can think of a dozen different subjects I’d love to research and read. One of the things I really like about the Web course is that I have a focus and a task. Those of you who know me know that I can easily (and innocently) get off track and momentarily forget what I am supposed to be doing.  Blogging is meant to be conversational; that is, it is reading someone’s thoughts and ideas then being able to to have a conversation about those thoughts and ideas. What’s really cool is that you get to read the thoughts, reflect on them,  and then come back and respond in a thoughtful way.   I am particularly interested in  how people use blogs with younger elementary students. I  teach five and six year olds and while the range of their writing skills varies, they are all at the beginning stages of writing. That’s why I loved the dead words blog, because it allowed kids to write exactly the way they write, inventive spellings and all. How exciting! I was impressed with the WATER CONSERVATION BLOG because I can see how using blogs helps kids to formulate and share their opinions and I loved the way the teacher, Ms. Baker acted as a facilitator to the students. Blog writing is immediate. You can publish your work instantaneously. Because it’s published, I think it makes you a lot more accountable for what you write. It also frees you up to share your ideas which, for teachers, is invaluable. I think we learn by communicating with each other, and blogging is a great way to do that.  

Post #2 - Thoughts about Web 2.0

At the beginning of my teaching career, I often felt very isolated and alone. I didn’t feel that I had other professionals to connect with on a regular basis. I didn’t think I had good ideas. I didn’t feel like I was a good teacher. I didn’t think anyone else in the world felt like I did. I wanted to have other people to talk to, share with, and learn from. I wonder how different I might have felt had this technology existed then. With Web 2.0, there is no need (or excuse) to ever be alone again!  At this time, in February ‘08, because I know so little about Web 2.0, it is hard for me to imagine exactly how I will be able to use this technology with my students. I know I will use it as a way to connect with other professionals. There is so much for me to learn, and I as I do, I will incorporate what I’ve learned with teaching. For example, when a technology person at school helped me with the “Thing One” audio comment, she said that this technology would be a great way for my students to begin “blogging” about their work. Since most of them are emerging writers, audio blogging would be a fantastic way for them to be able to talk about and describe their work. I suspect that the more I learn , the more difficult it will be to ever think the same way about teaching again. Before I signed up for Web 2.0, I didn’t even know what a blog was, and now I am actually blogging! I am so excited! I am so overwhelmed!  I think that all of this information is mind-boggling, and the impact it will have for teaching in the 21st century is limitless. I think it is critical for teachers of all generations, and levels of experience to become technologically savvy to be able to successfully guide and facilitate our students. That being said, I don’t feel that I am in any position to change my teaching right now….or am I? What I will commit to do is to take baby steps…learn something, do something, introduce something to my kids. It can be just one small thing. That small thing will lead to something else…a connection will be made and I will learn something else…and on and on an on. Let the learning begin! My head is spinning!!!