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!