Progress???

I appreciate the comments about my wiki experiment. I am worried about staff thinking that it is another thing to do. I realize that I have to simplify to make it easy. With that said, this module has caused me to really look into one Web 2.0 application only to come to the realization that there is more out there than I thought. I need to get staff to look into these things more than we currrently do. We keep waiting for hardware and "stuff", but the stuff is really out there and free.

Wiki

I just completed our staff meeting for the week. The staff is tired today. They try so hard. I continue to believe that teaching is not that hard of a job if you don't care.
On to the wiki. I am so new to this, but the concept is that people provide "threads" which is like comments/chats. We can include profiles, videos, photos. I am looking to create chapters or areas in this wiki. One area or thread on Differentiated Instruction, one on Technology in the Classroom, one on Literacy Strategies, and one on Assessment. So my theory is that when teachers try things that they add to the wiki in the appropriate chapter/thread heading. When a website is used, the teachers can add that in the bookmark area.
Now, how do I get teachers to visit? How do I get teachers to look to see what others have done. I will have to learn about how folks are alerted to the fact that the wiki has been updated. I think that if people have to go to the site that they might not do it. If they are alerted via an email that has a ready link, then they might. People are trained to look at email and they will read it, but to proactively and thoughtfully go to a website - well.
Andy

Wetpaint

I ;have set up my wetpaint wiki site and am ready to begin adding items and collaborating with one of my teachers. The site and how it works is very much like my iGoogle page. It seems that I can add bookmarks and "sections" and photos. Others that are invited can add sections too. I hope to invite my entire staff to the site and to begin the process of collaborating and sharing professional development activities and efforts.
Professional development seems to have hit the skids lately, as all we do is try to correct behavior. I hope this is just a momentary bump in the road. We seem to be dealing with so much more than just education. While this is a technology class and a tech project I'm undertaking, the stuff we're dealing with is old-fashioned behavior.
Hanging on

Progress???

I made zero progress today in setting up my Wetpaint wiki. My goal is to have it be a collaborative professional development tool. The day was filled with team meetings and a seemingly endless trail of eighth grade boys' bad behavior.
I did have a chance to comment on the other blogs. I passed along the Pixlr site to our art teacher and she was really impressed. Again, there is so much to find.
I hope to make progress tomorrow.
Andy

Monday Monday

Well, we have reached mod 4 - the exploration of a Web 2.0 tool. I checked out the sites that were offered. I spent quite a bit of time exploring on Kathy Schrock's site. Again, I feel stupid because there is so much out there that I don't know how to use.
I looked at Yugma, which is a web-conferencing site. Really cool. I just don't live in that world and don't see that I would use it much. But, it's free for the most part and it might be something we could use in the future.
I also looked and Ning. I have read about it before and I hear people talking about Ning quite often. Since I am not a Facebook person, I don't easily relate to Ning. It quotes itself as a social networking site - kind of like Linkedin. I don't see myself using that.
So, onto an educational application. I am going to dig deep into one of the Wiki sites like Wetpaint, PBwiki, or Wikispaces. I really want to see what we could do with them in a class situation. I am looking for something I can share with my teachers as well.

I liked the story from last week out of New Jersey where the middle school principal tried to limit kids access to Facebook. He said that no kid should have it and urged parents to step in. That was interesting. Now schools are policing out of school behavior too!

180 Tech Tips

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Frustrating Thursday

Hello All,
First of all, Diane, I sent you three different comments on your latest post and each time I got to the post part and it didn't save or send or whatever. So, good job on you last blog. I guess I just wasn't meant to comment on that one.
Lori had some posts about texting and cell phones in the classroom and in schools, and I am really struggling with that. In a different week, I might feel better. But this week our kids have decided to make bad choices with their phones in schools, so I am "frustrated". It's not the phone; it's the way the kids use them. I get that but....
I saw and played with an IPad yesterday. I have seen more emails and invitations to meet about IPod use in the classrooms lately. Many schools in our area are buying classroom sets of IPod Touches for use in the primary grades with skill development. Seems like a neat idea. How long will it take the IPad, or a similar product, to become common in our schools??
On a different, non-ranting, note, Diane and I interviewed for an IMC/Librarian position. A candidate used the term "Cybrarian" Think about how that position has changed over the years and will continue to change. I like the term.
Here is a link to a blog about IPod Touch in the classroom - http://www.classroom20.com/group/macclassroom20/forum/topics/649749:Topic:103645
Andy

Boiler Plate

It's Wednesday, and I am just trying to hang on. Our admin team had and all day meeting to review school board policy on Tuesday. I heard the word Boilerplate throughout the day. So I checked into the origin of the phrase. Folks suspect that it comes from the newspaper industy that used large metal sheets to set type and that the sheets looked like metal used to make large boilers. Who knows.
In the world of technology, I am hearing a greater number of schools who are experimenting with IPod Touches in classrooms. Almost all of the apps are free and the IPod can be used for many review activities. Besides, the kids will love using them. There is a conference in Green Bay in a week about how that large school district is using them.
I continue to have my ongoing issues with cell phones in the school and with social networking (Facebook) outside school. The kids just can't seem to learn to use the cell phone appropriately - or at an appropriate time. Texting in class and taking pictures and sending them to other kids.... Am I just ancient?? I am not opposed to the phone; I just want the kids to learn some manners about use. And Facebook creeps into the school because of the content that is posted. Our parents are getting run over by what their kids can do and are doing. Then they look to us to fix it.
I welcome suggestions
Andy

Monday Morning

I made it through the weekend and am back in the land of teens. I clicked on the Module and was initially confused by the Google Reader. I did everything right, but I guess I just expected something different. Seems a bit busy.
I made the RSS feed to my blog. That was simply. I have subscribed to my blog on Google Reader. I have subscribed to some other sites on the reader as well. There is a cool site about web 2.0 tools in education Steve Hargadon is the author. He discusses how we must learn to look at our children differently because of their exposure to tech. This weekend I also purchased the book Born Digital - Understanding the first generation of Digital Natives. The book is written by John Palfrey. Search him for ideas.
On a personal note, I subscribed to some mushroom hunting blogs as well. It's Morel Season.
I am a bit overwhelmed by the size and scope of what one can do in this world of blogging and such.
Andy

Principal's Page

I found another blog that I have bookmarked and have an RSS feed. The blog is http://www.principalspage.com/theblog/. This is a blog wirtten by Michael Smith,a blog he began in 2009. He has been in education for 15 years and began the blog 6 years into his principalship. I am impressed by the depth of his blog and he has some nice links. The narrative is really more about coping and the funny parts of the job and about family. But, sometimes that's what we all need. There are valuable educational links on the page, but it's intent is to lighten the load with some wit and humor. This is a blog I will follow because of it's humorous nature and because it will link me to other administrators. Check it out!

Free Tech for Teachers

A blog site that I think is great, and it is vast and huge, is:http://www.freetech4teachers.com/. The blog's author is Richard Bryne. I do not know how long this blog has been available or why he started it. He has 19,000 daily readers, and he is a Google Certified Teacher. This site deals with newly developed software trends and their application in an educational environment. He offers help with starting a PLN - professional learning environment, Google Tutorials, projects with web tools, video creation, and creating blogs and websites. In addition, there are content specific links to curriculum and instruction. This is an impressive site. He also helps with RSS feeds and the posts are label for categorization.
The most recent post is for an application called Spaaze. It is an online "sticky note" function that teachers can use to organize and highlight information found on the web. Seems like an interesting application. He also offers several links to uses of Spaaze.
I encourage you all to visit this site.

Professional Development Round Two

My last post had the same title, but I got off track and didn't address the topic of professional development. I am interested in creating an INTRANET in our building where teachers blog and comment about instructional, assessment, or curricular issues. For example, a teacher is trying a new strategy in reading and blogs about how to do it and its success. If a email is sent to all staff that there is an update on the blog, they would read it and thus could comment on the strategy or use it. I can see so many positive applications. And, this is easy to do. We would simply need to make this a part of the teacher's behavior or a part of their day. We have a staff member who is looking into setting up this type of intranet. Exciting times.
Andy

Professional Development

Here is my second attempt in one day!! I have continued to review the MANY blogs out there and I find that many are just not that good. So many are not up to date! It seems like lots of blogs are just initial attempts without follow through, and they lack real substance.
Here's one I like:http://www.freetech4teachers.com/. On a daily basis this site gives useable and practical information. I would encourage you to bookmark this site.
As practice blogging and linking, here are two other athletics related blogs I look at. Phil C. http://cycleciola.bravejournal.com/ is a local bike rider who blogs about his rides and Chrissie Wellington http://www.chrissiewellington.org/blog/ is the current Ironman World Champ. I will try to stay on task and search more educational sites. I will look for some by administrators.
Andy

My First Post

I guess that everyone has a first time or a first day for everything that happens in life. This is my first attempt at a blog. I am thinking of the movie Julie and Julia - I think that is the title - where the young author attempts to recreate a year's worth of Julia Child's recipes. The young author is not a chef, but she used a blog as her medium of communication to a world that might be interested. What I like most about the movie was watching her blog and react to the responses.
Setting up this blog was certainly not a difficult process. I did have to work to get a url that was not used and to find a title. I don't think that is a great barrier. I think that the success of a blog is the consistency with which the author posts or the reader reads. I do not read many blogs. There is a bicycle racer who blogs everyday about his training rides and how fast and how many miles etc. I read that daily, but I do not at this point read a professional blog. I have found this process to be easy and the post fun. Will I do this on a daily basis??? A few years ago when I was training to race a half ironman triathlon, I wrote in a journal what I had done to train each day. I could have used this forum and I tried to find something easy. I was not diligent enough to find a blog spot. Now I can. I like the ease of setting this up and maybe this is a place, other than Facebook, where I can communicate with family.
I suppose I should comment on something in education. First, our school is hiring a new IMC specialist. What a change that job - the librarian - has undergone. I am excited to see what the candidates see as the future of a library. Diane and I begin interviewing next week.
Second, now that spring is herre in the midwest, we are starting to see the attitudes of the middle schoolers changing, and keeping them focused and positive about learning is a challenge. The student attitudes ends up affecting the attitudes of the staff. The teachers feel bad when the kids don't care. How do I keep the staff's morale high? How do I convince them that what they're doing is right and that the kids will get it soon?