My First Digital Story

Well, let the fanfare begin!  I have created (and I use the term loosely) a digital story about the life of Harriet Tubman.  My vehicle of choice for this venture is Microsoft's Photo Story 3.  I must admit, I am not the greatest fan of this software, mainly because it doesn't offer enough in the way of variables when creating a mix of image, text and audio.  Listen carefully to this VERY ROUGH DRAFT and you will see what I mean!

I have my work cut out for me in order to separate the wheat from the chaff, but the basics are here and I believe it will be an effective tool for use with 4th-5th grade students.  Tell me what you think.  Remember:  it is always better to follow the Golden Rule! (Be nice).

Cookies, cookies, cookies!!!!

Please enjoy this survey -- I insist!

Diigo Diligence!

Hey!

I have been hard at work harvesting bookmarks, annotations and notes for my Diigo bookmarking bonanza, 

and here is the (current) result!  Hope some of these are as informative for you as they are for me.

How's This for a Flat Classroom?

In my endless scurrying about to view as many wiki pages as I can (in hopes some of the magic will rub off!), I came upon this wiki, which I believe to be the best example of a flat classroom concept I have yet seen.  It is part of the International Baccalaureate school system, in this particular case concerning a Fine Arts section.

Take a look at how it is arranged.

Notice the entries and where they are from.

View some of the video posts.

Look at the Art Exhibit entries from the different areas.

I marvel at the simplicity of this wiki, yet I can see the far-reaching application of such a concept.  Can you?


photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/guy_on_the_streets/2921076357/">guy_on_the_streets</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

2nd photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/julielindsay/637727065/

Learning Through Technology

I came across a wiki entry (see here), with a class-created video which I think sums up the true value of 21st century literacy and how it has changed the face of education.  Have a look:


I think Mr. Truss has summed up the truly transformative nature of e-learning potential here.  What do you think?

IPad Apps for the Common Core!

Well, I figured it couldn't be too long

before we had some tech help to get up to speed with the Common Core Standards!  I was perusing a site called Teachhub.com, and this particular entry caught my eye.   I don't know about you more seasoned teachers, but for those like me who have yet to run a classroom, this bit of news was a welcome relief.

I think I'll do some more digging and see what else is out there, but to me, every little thing is a decided help.

What do you think?

What about blended learning?

I have been reading quite a bit about the concept of blended learning recently, and have to admit I am a definite fan.  My own children have been doing blended learning for the past few years, starting in 1st grade with a program called Xtra Math.  My kids love this site, and I do, too!  The teachers supplement the work they do in school with a constructed curriculum of after-school activity (homework to those old-school types) that really excites the kids.  I never thought I would see them that happy to do homework!

Another that starts in 1st grade for this district is SpellingCity.com, where they not only have assigned work, but are encouraged to go out on their own and try creating their own lists of words.  Again, the kids love it.

All of this is aside from any project work they do in school, some of which pertains to online software such as Prezi and Glogster.  Blended learning, indeed!  On the above-mentioned site, the authors predict that by next year, 50% of secondary school students will have taken a class online, and that by 2019, 50% of their learning will BE online.

I don't know about you, but I think it is happening faster than that.  What do you think?  Fan or foe?