Put a Podcast On Your Blog

If you would like to include a podcast that you have created in your blog, you'll need to upload your podcast to a web service that stores them. A good one to try is "Internet Archive". Click here to get started storing your podcast.

Do you need some really great ideas for reaching the 21st Century learner, including links to virtual labs and simulations? Click here to view a webpage full of wonderful resources.

How To Blog

By now you may have noticed that this blog was created using Blogger.com. This is now owned by Google. I have had lots of fun teaching educators how to blog using Blogger and it's been a big success! If you have created an education-related blog, please post a comment and let us know what your blog's URL is. I'm excited about reading them.

Free Ed-Tech Videos from eSN TV

eSchool News is an interesting journal that contains articles about educational technology. To keep up to date on the latest trends in educational technology and to receive current data and research findings, visit www.eschoolnews.com to find out how you can subscribe. You can receive an electronic newsletter or the hard copy journal.

A new feature they provide is "eSN TV" with free online videos about educational technology. Take a look, you might find something that you can use with your faculty or students. Click here to see the videos that are available.

Where the H*ll is Matt?

Here is the link to that video of Matt Harding traveling the world that we shared with you in the Apple Academy on July 19, 2007. Enjoy!! Click here.

Motivational Videos Re: 21st Century

Two great videos to watch for motivation! Please share these with your fellow teachers:

• http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=799aaa845e1c2e8a762b (This is an excellent video that raises awareness of globalization.)
• http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=40c570a322f1b0b65909 (This is a great video that teaches us about 'Digital Natives'. )

BTW, if you haven't yet heard of TeacherTube.com you need to check it out! It's like YouTube, but it's done by teachers for teachers and students. You might find some videos that you can use in your classroom there.

Shout Out to Our Troops

A 15 year old student created this video and it's very moving. I just wanted to share it with you, and show you what students can create given the opportunity to share their thoughts using digital video technology. I hope that you'll watch it and be amazed. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ervaMPt4Ha0. This is a great example of students sharing their thoughts and feelings using technology that they are comfortable with.

Online Learning Communities

Duval County Public Schools uses Blackboard as the online course management system for all of our online courses. Currently these courses are for teachers and administrators only and not for students. In addition to using Blackboard for online professional development, it can also be utilized for online learning communities. Several schools have online learning communities set up in Blackboard and are sharing documents, presentations and other files, and using the forums for multiple "virtual" discussions. To access Blackboard, visit http://duvalk12.blackboard.com and log in. For demonstration purposes, we have set up usernames "teacher1" - "teacher25", with the password, "password". When you're ready to set up an online learning community for your school, please contact Paty Savage at savagep@dreamsbeginhere.org.

Climb Aboard and Blog!

Blogging...I love it! I am one of the 8 million people identified by the Pew Internet project that read blogs. I get my news from blogs, and for entertainment I read blogs on celebrity news. One of my all-time favorites is Go Fug Yourself, a blog that makes fun of celebrity fashion choices. My husband reads Michele Malkin's blog daily. As a native New Orleanian, I was very worried about my family, friends and our old neighborhoods in the hours and days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. How did I get the most up to date news? It wasn't on CNN, instead I turned to the "blogosphere" and read blogs, comments and forums. With the advent of Web 2.0, the Internet is no longer a vast virtual space that provides readers with information, but rather it's become a huge global community with opportunities to share, communicate, and interact. Blogs are an integral part of Web 2.0. As educators, we need to recognize the potential of using blogs as another tool to engage our students. Here are the links I shared in my session on Blogging at the Principal Institute on June 4 -5.

Examples of teacher and classroom blogs:

• Ms. Fighera's English Class
• Grade 1 Classroom Blog
• 5th Grade Classroom Blog
• Western Civ Classroom Blog
• High School English Classroom
• Mr. Chase's Classroom Blog
• Math Playground

Blogging Resources:

• Blogs in Education
• Teachers First – Gated Blogs for the Classroom
• Classroom Blogs
• Steps Toward a Successful Classroom Blog
• What’s the Scoop?
• A Practical Guide to Blogging

Now, climb aboard and blog! You can use this same service, Blogger, to start your own blog!

Happy blogging!

What is a podcast, anyway?

The Principal Institute on June 4 - 5 featured several "elective" breakout sessions on topics ranging from increasing one's comfort level in using Microsoft Excel, to learning how to create podcasts and blogs! I facilitated a session on podcasting entitled, "What's a podcast, anyway?"

Here are some of the links that I referred to in my presentation:

• A Hotlist on Podcasts
• Exploiting the Educational Potential of Podcasting
• Podcasts in Education

One of the most common question asked is "Why podcast?" IMHO, the question should be, "Why not podcast?" Anyway, here is a quick list of activities that integrate podcasts in instructional activities:

• Have students record their science reports
• Have students write and record a book review or book talk (like Reading Rainbow’s, “But You Don’t Have to Take My Word for It”.)
• Have students write and record an author report
• Type notes in NotePad, transfer to the Notes folder on the iPod – study notes in doctor’s waiting rooms, in line at the bank, etc.
• Record vocabulary in foreign language, type words in NotePad, read and listen
• Record a show in which one student interviews the author of a book
• Record a science report
• Conduct “Man on the Street” Interviews about timely topic at school
• Current Events - Record a news program
• Any type of report
• Record original story
• Create video tutorials and then view on iPod
• Audio public service announcements

We also discussed podcast subscription software and services. The most widely known is iTunes, however there are others. Here are a few:

• iTunes (and iTunes Store)
• Odeo
• Podcast Alley
• Podcast Net
• Podomatic
• Podcast Spot
• Yahoo podcasts

On the CD distributed to all principals, there are step by step directions for creating a podcast on a Windows XP computer using Audacity, free downloadable software. For more information, visit the Audacity website.

Happy podcasting!

Think Tac Toe!

At the end of January, I attended FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference) in Orlando, FL. This is a great conference, however sometimes it's challenging to find sessions that really interest me. This year's sessions were a real treat! There was so much to choose from. My focus this year was anything "podcast" and anything pertaining to online professional development. I didn't find much on online professional development (note to self - apply to present for the next FETC on developing online professional development for educators), however I found several wonderful sessions on podcasting, blogs and wiki's.

One of the sessions I attended was presented by 2 delightful elementary teachers. They shared how they integrate the use of podcasting in reading, writing and literacy activities. They shared how they search for free audiobooks at iTunes, by searching for podcasts. They also shared some examples. Now, here is the tasty morsel that I really enjoyed hearing about - they use something called a "Think-Tac-Toe" for their student-created projects. Using this instructional strategy in your classroom will require purposeful planning on your part, but here are the basics:

• Identify 9 activities around a particular topic and make sure that each of the different learning styles is represented within those 9 activities. In the example shared in the presentation, many of the activities seamlessly integrated the use of technology (i.e. create a song in GarageBand, write an additional chapter to a favorite story or book in Word, film a Book Talk using digital video and edit it in iMovie or MovieMaker, record and submit a podcast book summary, interview with a book's author, etc.)
• On a poster (or do this electronically), draw the traditional Tic-Tac-Toe grid
• In each square on the grid, write a description of the activity.
• Make sure that multiple learning styles are represented in the grid.
• Instruct the students to select a row of activities to complete either horizontally, diagonally, vertically. When they finish, they have completed their Think-Tac-Toe!

One of the main advantages for this type of learning activity is that you automatically have student by-in and student acountability, since they select their activities. You're also able to meet the needs of each student by addressing different learning styles. You can differentiate instruction using the Think-Tac-Toe grid.

Here is an example of a Think-Tac-Toe

Explanation and example of a Think-Tac-Toe

Think-Tac-Toe and differentiating instruction

When I first heard about this, I Googled "Think-Tac-Toe" and got less than 100 results. Tonight I Googled it and got over 1800! It looks like Think-Tac-Toe is growing in popularity as the word spreads.

Thanks for reading! I hope that you'll be able to find a way to use Think-Tac-Toe in your classrom.