I will be presenting 3 tech workshops to the certified staff at West Hancock. The first one is tomorrow [Nov 30] and is titled "Blogs and Blogging." In December, we will learn about free online books and Wordle. In January, we will cover Glogster and Animoto. Each topic has 2 sessions, one from 7-8am and one from 3:30-4:30pm. There are 16 people signed up for tomorrow afternoon's session!
Geoff Reiter has been busy heading a team making an underwater robot camera for St. Olaf' College's January class in the Bahamas called Island Biology. Check out this video link: http://www.stolaf.edu/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=NewsDetails&id=4992
This is my walk down the road of technology! Join me!
- T. L. Reiter
- A baby boomer, married, mother of 3 adult children; Teacher Librarian by profession; enjoys reading, genealogy, and spontaneous events!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
On the road again.....
I hadn't realized that I'd been away for so long - almost 2 months! Since that time I have started employment with Waldorf College, Forest City, Iowa, as the evening reference librarian in the LVH Library. I work Monday thru Thursday from 5-11pm. That's in addition to my regular day job! [8am-4pm]! Anyway, I have my own desk and computer. I sit at the Reference desk from 7-9pm, but I am on call throughout the evening. Waldorf provides its full time students with laptops and the IT Dept is top-notch!
I have certainly raised the level of my techie knowledge bar! I am responsible for assisting students who might have computer problems with printing, emailing, website assessment, etc. It is exciting [exciting?] to move from PK-12 academics to higher education! I am using tools that I never use in the public schools. Thank goodness that the student assistants are well trained! Of course they are digital natives!
Plus the college library's media collection is cataloged by the Library of Congress Classification System! [You're used to using the Dewey Decimal System to find nonfiction materials.] It's been over 30 years since I've used the LCC system. The last time was when I went over to Briar Cliff University, Sioux City, Iowa, and borrowed books from their library collection.
It's interesting to help the students from other countries! Half the time my American ears are not familiar with their foreign accents and I must strain to understand their speech. There are students here from England, Scotland, Australia, Africa, China, and South America.
Bye for now....
Theresa
I have certainly raised the level of my techie knowledge bar! I am responsible for assisting students who might have computer problems with printing, emailing, website assessment, etc. It is exciting [exciting?] to move from PK-12 academics to higher education! I am using tools that I never use in the public schools. Thank goodness that the student assistants are well trained! Of course they are digital natives!
Plus the college library's media collection is cataloged by the Library of Congress Classification System! [You're used to using the Dewey Decimal System to find nonfiction materials.] It's been over 30 years since I've used the LCC system. The last time was when I went over to Briar Cliff University, Sioux City, Iowa, and borrowed books from their library collection.
It's interesting to help the students from other countries! Half the time my American ears are not familiar with their foreign accents and I must strain to understand their speech. There are students here from England, Scotland, Australia, Africa, China, and South America.
Bye for now....
Theresa
Friday, August 6, 2010
We Need Librarians or Not!
I'd like to share these articles I found on SweetSearch.com......
Young Learners Need Librarians, Not Just Google
Mark Moran, 03.22.10, 03:00 PM EDT
The ubiquity and ease of Google searches could make kids' minds go soft without the ability to critique or contextualize the answers.
A year ago The New York Times presented a multimedia, packaged gift to school librarians everywhere. With its profile of Brooklyn, N.Y., school librarian Stephanie Rosalia, at long last, a major newspaper had chronicled the 21st century school librarian’s role as Web curator and information literacy specialist.
The article made the Times’ "most e-mailed" list for days and was featured on more than 100 blogs, as educators and parents everywhere recognized the need for media specialists to guide students. In a School Library Journal article that deemed Rosalia "The New Poster Girl for School Libraries," Rosalia said she was "awestruck at how this article has struck a nerve all over the country with people who are not librarians." Yet she was also surprised by a school board director who was "absolutely clueless" about how important school librarians are to student success.
BuzzCut to the present, and librarian blogs tell a different story. Many absolutely clueless administrators still believe that a search engine is an adequate substitute for a trained research teacher. With the nation's schools budget-strapped, librarians--and even libraries--are being cut from coast to coast. Even President Obama, whose creation of a National Information Literacy Awareness Month suggests he should know better, left additional funding for school libraries out of his FY 2011 budget proposal.
AND THIS ONE:
Thursday, November 5, 2009
A Digital Defense of School Librarians
Books are giving way to e-books; newspapers to news aggregators; encyclopedias to Wikipedia. And that is why we need librarians, especially school librarians, now more than ever.
If you think that librarians are archaic, you’re most likely thinking of a 1950s bespectacled stereotype. Librarians are no longer – if they ever were – those hushing and shushing guardians of books. They are media specialists, guiding children and adults through every form of media, from books to databases, newspapers to blog posts, and even from YouTube to Twitter.
In the libraries of old – the ancient days of 1990, say – mastering the Dewey Decimal system was enough to get you started on your research. But there is no card catalogue 2.0. In order to use the Internet as a library, you need 21st-century research skills: the ability to pick out reliable sources from an overwhelming heap of misinformation, to find relevant material amid an infinite array of options, and to navigate the shifting ethics of creative commons and intellectual property rights. As good as your kid may be on Facebook, she is not born with a digital M.L.S. These skills are learned, not instinctive, and the only way for students to learn them is for someone else to guide and teach them.
This seems as elementary as the ABCs – but apparently nobody’s told the school districts. Librarians and teacher librarians, who are double-credentialed, are being driven out of their increasingly stripped-down libraries. Painful as it is, it’s no surprise to come across a tweet like Shankhead’s: “being an engaged school librarian, at least in my neck of the woods, now means being an ‘Austerity Specialist.’ Whatever it takes.”
I’m not sure what it takes to convince the school districts of common sense, but it definitely takes librarians to teach students how to evaluate credibility, create content of their own, and conduct research in their increasingly interconnected world. And it might take the SKILLs Act, a bill in the House of Representatives, to ensure we still have school librarians to train the next generation.
Students will create and consume online content, and even social media will find a way into their research. Should a student trust a blog as a source in a paper? If not, then how about a blog on The New York Times website? A blog run by an online magazine? Can they use collaborative technology, like wikis? Even teachers need help answering these questions. There are no official guidelines to using the Web, and even if there were, they would change by the minute.
As the information landscape becomes more and more complex, why would we abandon our professional guides to it?
My reply......
Why indeed? Of course, being a teacher librarian sort of makes me biased. I know that in Iowa, schools are required to have a certified teacher librarian on staff. However, the law does not say how much time the TL actively be in the district. Full time? Part time? So many days a school year?
From my personal experience I can tell you this is frustrating! I work with 3 different school districts with 7 library centers total. And I'm not the only person in this kind of situation. Schools, in a effort to cut costs, have cut the staff in the library media center. Some TL's are part time teachers/part time librarians and some only work as part time librarians.
This fall my time spent in the schools has been reduced. In one school I am in the district 45 days, in school #2 I am in the district 72 days, and at school #3 I am in their district 18 days per year. It is frustrating when you feel that you have not presented an adequate curriculum or LMC experience for all students. I also feel I don't connect with the students or staff on a personal bases as much as I would like.
You might ask, "Why do you stay?" The answer? Because I believe in the importance of literacy, critical thinking, books and imagination. I love books and reading and where reading can take me. And I truly believe books will never die.
OK, what about e-books? Aren't they just mechanical books? Once upon a time, books were written on clay tablets and papyrus and now we've moved to a kindle or a computer. They are a part of our everyday life. I have always supported the idea of reading what ever interests you - books, newspapers, comics, magazines, graphic novels, pamphlets. Whatever! YOU ARE READING! And practice makes perfect!
As for 'anyone' running a LMC, yes, a clerk can do a clerk's job. In my case, I have wonderful library aides! Thank you ladies! But, clerks are not trained teachers or trained librarians. I saw a t-shirt that read, 'Librarians - The original search engine.'
It does take a guide in that wonderful world of printed pages and computer screens of knowledge. Will the classroom teacher do it? Maybe. Why not use the person who was trained for the job?
Don't get me wrong. I support technology. I see the importance for people to be able to use tech tools or Web 2.0 tools. But for me 'technology' is that tool that is used to solve a problem or find an answer. Now that tool could be a wiki, an Excel sheet, a Google doc, a globe, or a book! You need to try out different tools and find out what's best for you. Ask a librarian for help!
May I suggest these Web Resources:
www.SweetSearch.com/sweetsites.html (to help educators introduce students to the best Web resources)
www.Cybraryman.com/research.html
www.SweetSearch.com (a search engine for students)
Theresa L. E. Reiter
K-12 Teacher Librarian
Young Learners Need Librarians, Not Just Google
Mark Moran, 03.22.10, 03:00 PM EDT
The ubiquity and ease of Google searches could make kids' minds go soft without the ability to critique or contextualize the answers.
A year ago The New York Times presented a multimedia, packaged gift to school librarians everywhere. With its profile of Brooklyn, N.Y., school librarian Stephanie Rosalia, at long last, a major newspaper had chronicled the 21st century school librarian’s role as Web curator and information literacy specialist.
The article made the Times’ "most e-mailed" list for days and was featured on more than 100 blogs, as educators and parents everywhere recognized the need for media specialists to guide students. In a School Library Journal article that deemed Rosalia "The New Poster Girl for School Libraries," Rosalia said she was "awestruck at how this article has struck a nerve all over the country with people who are not librarians." Yet she was also surprised by a school board director who was "absolutely clueless" about how important school librarians are to student success.
BuzzCut to the present, and librarian blogs tell a different story. Many absolutely clueless administrators still believe that a search engine is an adequate substitute for a trained research teacher. With the nation's schools budget-strapped, librarians--and even libraries--are being cut from coast to coast. Even President Obama, whose creation of a National Information Literacy Awareness Month suggests he should know better, left additional funding for school libraries out of his FY 2011 budget proposal.
AND THIS ONE:
Thursday, November 5, 2009
A Digital Defense of School Librarians
Books are giving way to e-books; newspapers to news aggregators; encyclopedias to Wikipedia. And that is why we need librarians, especially school librarians, now more than ever.
If you think that librarians are archaic, you’re most likely thinking of a 1950s bespectacled stereotype. Librarians are no longer – if they ever were – those hushing and shushing guardians of books. They are media specialists, guiding children and adults through every form of media, from books to databases, newspapers to blog posts, and even from YouTube to Twitter.
In the libraries of old – the ancient days of 1990, say – mastering the Dewey Decimal system was enough to get you started on your research. But there is no card catalogue 2.0. In order to use the Internet as a library, you need 21st-century research skills: the ability to pick out reliable sources from an overwhelming heap of misinformation, to find relevant material amid an infinite array of options, and to navigate the shifting ethics of creative commons and intellectual property rights. As good as your kid may be on Facebook, she is not born with a digital M.L.S. These skills are learned, not instinctive, and the only way for students to learn them is for someone else to guide and teach them.
This seems as elementary as the ABCs – but apparently nobody’s told the school districts. Librarians and teacher librarians, who are double-credentialed, are being driven out of their increasingly stripped-down libraries. Painful as it is, it’s no surprise to come across a tweet like Shankhead’s: “being an engaged school librarian, at least in my neck of the woods, now means being an ‘Austerity Specialist.’ Whatever it takes.”
I’m not sure what it takes to convince the school districts of common sense, but it definitely takes librarians to teach students how to evaluate credibility, create content of their own, and conduct research in their increasingly interconnected world. And it might take the SKILLs Act, a bill in the House of Representatives, to ensure we still have school librarians to train the next generation.
Students will create and consume online content, and even social media will find a way into their research. Should a student trust a blog as a source in a paper? If not, then how about a blog on The New York Times website? A blog run by an online magazine? Can they use collaborative technology, like wikis? Even teachers need help answering these questions. There are no official guidelines to using the Web, and even if there were, they would change by the minute.
As the information landscape becomes more and more complex, why would we abandon our professional guides to it?
My reply......
Why indeed? Of course, being a teacher librarian sort of makes me biased. I know that in Iowa, schools are required to have a certified teacher librarian on staff. However, the law does not say how much time the TL actively be in the district. Full time? Part time? So many days a school year?
From my personal experience I can tell you this is frustrating! I work with 3 different school districts with 7 library centers total. And I'm not the only person in this kind of situation. Schools, in a effort to cut costs, have cut the staff in the library media center. Some TL's are part time teachers/part time librarians and some only work as part time librarians.
This fall my time spent in the schools has been reduced. In one school I am in the district 45 days, in school #2 I am in the district 72 days, and at school #3 I am in their district 18 days per year. It is frustrating when you feel that you have not presented an adequate curriculum or LMC experience for all students. I also feel I don't connect with the students or staff on a personal bases as much as I would like.
You might ask, "Why do you stay?" The answer? Because I believe in the importance of literacy, critical thinking, books and imagination. I love books and reading and where reading can take me. And I truly believe books will never die.
OK, what about e-books? Aren't they just mechanical books? Once upon a time, books were written on clay tablets and papyrus and now we've moved to a kindle or a computer. They are a part of our everyday life. I have always supported the idea of reading what ever interests you - books, newspapers, comics, magazines, graphic novels, pamphlets. Whatever! YOU ARE READING! And practice makes perfect!
As for 'anyone' running a LMC, yes, a clerk can do a clerk's job. In my case, I have wonderful library aides! Thank you ladies! But, clerks are not trained teachers or trained librarians. I saw a t-shirt that read, 'Librarians - The original search engine.'
It does take a guide in that wonderful world of printed pages and computer screens of knowledge. Will the classroom teacher do it? Maybe. Why not use the person who was trained for the job?
Don't get me wrong. I support technology. I see the importance for people to be able to use tech tools or Web 2.0 tools. But for me 'technology' is that tool that is used to solve a problem or find an answer. Now that tool could be a wiki, an Excel sheet, a Google doc, a globe, or a book! You need to try out different tools and find out what's best for you. Ask a librarian for help!
May I suggest these Web Resources:
www.SweetSearch.com/sweetsites.html (to help educators introduce students to the best Web resources)
www.Cybraryman.com/research.html
www.SweetSearch.com (a search engine for students)
Theresa L. E. Reiter
K-12 Teacher Librarian
Sunday, August 1, 2010
I am eyes WIDE open!
YOU ARE A GENIUS AND THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR CONTRIBUTION
I learned so much by 'attending' the e-sessions of the Reform Symposium 2010 over the weekend. Here are some stats: 712 registered users, 3 days of conference, 35 presentations/keynotes/panels, 313 attendees in open keynote, 4875 visits to the website, 4239 tweets during the conference, 2401 unique visitors, 59 different countries were represented, 366 visits from mobile devices, 79 PD forms were down loaded, and 3401 visitors on Friday & Saturday. GO TO THE WEBSITE: www.reformsymposium.com FOR ARCHIVES OF THE PRESENTATIONS!
Some of the sessions I listened in on and participated in were Edu-Blog, 21st century skills, blended learning, Skype, playing to learn, abolishing grades, using social media in the classroom, students redefining schools, HOTTS-higher learning thinking skills, and tech tools. Presenters were from all over the world!
I am eyes wide open! I have a notebook to go thru with sites, names, and blog addresses. I have so many new tools to try: Diingo, wolfram alpha, shelfari, live binders, cool tools for schools, voice thread, and vacaroo to name a few!
And the people: Shelly Terrell, Silvia Rothenthal Tolisano, Alex G. Francisco, Scott St. Pierre, Terry Freedman, Judith Way, and Steven Anderson. [TO NAME ONLY A FEW.] So many talented educational architects!
Here are some blogs/websites/wikis you might want to check out:
www.Kalinago.blogspot.com
www.zarcoenglish-tooloftheday.blogspot.com
www.kcreutz.blogspot.com
www.web20classroom.blogspot.com
www.ictineducation.org/symposium
www.scottstp.com
www.langwitches.wikispapces.com
www.doug-johnson.com
www.alexgfrancisco.webnode.com
www.NerdyTeacher.com
www.tinyurl.com/bloomsdigitaltaxonomy
**I hope I wrote them down correctly :)
It's not about the tools. It's about using the tools to facilitate learning. Andrew Churches
Terry Freedman offered his book, The Amazing Web 2.0 Projects for free download at www.ictineducation.org/symposium or by contacting Terry at Terry@ictineducation.org
My brain is on fire!
Until next time...
Theresa
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
FREE Online Education Conference
Don't forget to register and 'attend' the free online world education conference - Reform Symposium 2010! Go to www.reformsymposium.com for complete inormation.
Showcasing Innovation in Education
The Reform Symposium is a free online conference for educators, administrators, parents and students. This year the conference is focused on innovative practices in education and what role these practices can play in educational reform.
Opening Keynote: Steve Hargadon
Steve Hargadon is Elluminate’s Social Learning Consultant, founder of the Classroom 2.0 social network, host of the Future of Education interview series, and co-chair of the Global Education Conference. He pioneered the use of social networking in education, particularly for professional development. He blogs, speaks, and consults on educational technology, runs the Open Source Pavilion and speaker series for the ISTE, CUE, and other edtech shows, and is the organizer of the annual EduBloggerCon, OpenSourceCon, and the “unplugged” and “bloggers’ cafe” areas at both ISTE and CUE. He is also the Emerging Technologies Chair for ISTE, a regular columnist at School Library Journal, the author of “Educational Networking: The Important Role Web 2.0 Will Play in Education,” the recipient of the 2010 Technology in Learning Leadership Award (CUE), and a blogger at www.SteveHargadon.com. He has consulted for PBS, Intel, Ning, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, CoSN, the U.S. State Department, and others on educational technology and specifically on social networking. His wife and him have four children.
Steve Hargadon is just one presenter. Check out www.reformsymposium.com for more info!
See ya there!
Theresa
Showcasing Innovation in Education
The Reform Symposium is a free online conference for educators, administrators, parents and students. This year the conference is focused on innovative practices in education and what role these practices can play in educational reform.
Opening Keynote: Steve Hargadon
Steve Hargadon is Elluminate’s Social Learning Consultant, founder of the Classroom 2.0 social network, host of the Future of Education interview series, and co-chair of the Global Education Conference. He pioneered the use of social networking in education, particularly for professional development. He blogs, speaks, and consults on educational technology, runs the Open Source Pavilion and speaker series for the ISTE, CUE, and other edtech shows, and is the organizer of the annual EduBloggerCon, OpenSourceCon, and the “unplugged” and “bloggers’ cafe” areas at both ISTE and CUE. He is also the Emerging Technologies Chair for ISTE, a regular columnist at School Library Journal, the author of “Educational Networking: The Important Role Web 2.0 Will Play in Education,” the recipient of the 2010 Technology in Learning Leadership Award (CUE), and a blogger at www.SteveHargadon.com. He has consulted for PBS, Intel, Ning, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, CoSN, the U.S. State Department, and others on educational technology and specifically on social networking. His wife and him have four children.
Steve Hargadon is just one presenter. Check out www.reformsymposium.com for more info!
See ya there!
Theresa
Monday, July 26, 2010
Teacher at School
Today I'm at the B-K school working as part of their technology team. This year's PD will focus on using tech tools in the classroom by BOTH teachers and students. This is a continuation from Scott McLeod and AEA 267's Shift Happens. We're working on blogs, wikis, delicious, and playing around on the computer with these sites.
I'm really excited about the avenue of education! The B-K School will be heading down the road of what the future WILL be like. We are so lucky to have wonderful guides along the way. Sounds too cliche, doesn't it?!? Sorry.
Our instruction staff will be divided into smaller groups facilitated by co staff worker to lead the way. My job is to be a floater from group to group to assist in any way I can. These groups will continue throughout the year.
Is your school doing anything like this?
Theresa Reiter
K-12 Teacher Librarian
I'm really excited about the avenue of education! The B-K School will be heading down the road of what the future WILL be like. We are so lucky to have wonderful guides along the way. Sounds too cliche, doesn't it?!? Sorry.
Our instruction staff will be divided into smaller groups facilitated by co staff worker to lead the way. My job is to be a floater from group to group to assist in any way I can. These groups will continue throughout the year.
Is your school doing anything like this?
Theresa Reiter
K-12 Teacher Librarian
Friday, June 25, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
I did it again!
I made another short video with Animoto.com. This time about the Mid-America All-American Indian Center. It's fun!
Yesterday I rested up after the all intense computer boot camp. Now I'm ready to go!
I read a book by Doug Johnson, "Machines are the Easy Part, People are the Hard Part: Observations about making Technology work in Schools, 2nd Edition" and in it he said that 'The Librarian is the Library.' How true he is! And this got me to thinking and wondering just how good are the libraries I supervise? How good am I in doing my part to help students learn? The teacher-librarian is a connector for students to information. "The single key ingredient of a successful program is a
library media specialist who is approachable, collaborative, and supportive of staff and students." as quoted from Johnson's book. That's what I want to be more of!
Dr. Scott McLeod has added some fuel to my fire too. His comments during a recent CASTLE/SAI computer boot camp I attended caught my interest. We were discussing the trend to move teacher-librarians to a minor role, even to the point of reducing their time spent in the schools to a limited number of days per month. He said that we need to be better sales persons of our talents and make our value seen. OK, Dr. Scott, I take on your challenge! I may be a digital immigrant, but I'm willing to learn AND USE those tech tools you demonstrated to us! AND to spread the news about them to others.
Just a few things to keep me busy for the upcoming school year....
Just a few of my goals...
Theresa
Yesterday I rested up after the all intense computer boot camp. Now I'm ready to go!
I read a book by Doug Johnson, "Machines are the Easy Part, People are the Hard Part: Observations about making Technology work in Schools, 2nd Edition" and in it he said that 'The Librarian is the Library.' How true he is! And this got me to thinking and wondering just how good are the libraries I supervise? How good am I in doing my part to help students learn? The teacher-librarian is a connector for students to information. "The single key ingredient of a successful program is a
library media specialist who is approachable, collaborative, and supportive of staff and students." as quoted from Johnson's book. That's what I want to be more of!
Dr. Scott McLeod has added some fuel to my fire too. His comments during a recent CASTLE/SAI computer boot camp I attended caught my interest. We were discussing the trend to move teacher-librarians to a minor role, even to the point of reducing their time spent in the schools to a limited number of days per month. He said that we need to be better sales persons of our talents and make our value seen. OK, Dr. Scott, I take on your challenge! I may be a digital immigrant, but I'm willing to learn AND USE those tech tools you demonstrated to us! AND to spread the news about them to others.
Just a few things to keep me busy for the upcoming school year....
Just a few of my goals...
Theresa
Friday, June 18, 2010
More tools!
Today was the last day of our 3-day conference/class/computer boot camp. So much info, so many tech tools! [de.lici.ous, Big Universe, Google.docs., Webquest.org, Web 2.0, Animoto, Wordle.net, & wikispaces.com - to name a few] I'm now a tweeter! It's going to take me a few days to revisit all the tools they showed us.
That's after I sleep and get my brain power back! I must say I miss the soft, fluffy bed and air conditioned COLD air of the hotel room in CF about now!
It was so nice to reconnect with classmates and meet new people who share their vision of the 21st Century learner-teacher-school. I'm setting down plans to share this info with people at my 3 schools. Of course, I'll start small at first.
Well, this is just a short note and I've other places in cyberspace to go.....
Theresa
That's after I sleep and get my brain power back! I must say I miss the soft, fluffy bed and air conditioned COLD air of the hotel room in CF about now!
It was so nice to reconnect with classmates and meet new people who share their vision of the 21st Century learner-teacher-school. I'm setting down plans to share this info with people at my 3 schools. Of course, I'll start small at first.
Well, this is just a short note and I've other places in cyberspace to go.....
Theresa
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Reflections
Yesterday I was introduced to some new tech tools and revisited some I already know about or use.
After a keynote address by Iowa & National Teacher of the Year Sarah Wessling-Brown where she she shared her vision of a panoramic digital learning world there are some concepts I need to think about. I especially liked her idea of teaching by theme or major questions rather than by things. "Technology is not the motivation to learn, it is the gimmick. We need to tap into the students' motivations." and "Let go of the hierarchy and let collaboration occur." are two ideas I plan to ponder. Sarah showed how she uses www.PollEverywhere.com, www.Wordle.net, and MITOPENCOURSEWARE in her classrooms. I will also be checking out author John Dewey and the book by Garr Reynold called 'Presentation Zen.' HA-HA, I just used check out as a pun.
After her address I attended her session on technology in the literacy classroom where she demonstrated some tools she used in her classroom at Johnston High School.
I especially like and want to try www.animoto.com and www.wikispaces.com.
Nick Sauer introduced our group to creating a blog [web log] using a Google email account and we made a personal blog. You're reading mine! I have others. WE ARE BLOGGERS!
We looked up other blogs using Google Reader and also suggested www.technorati.com to use for the same purpose.
OK. What are some ideas you especially like/use? Have you used any of the tools I mentioned?
Today we learn how to use more tools under the direction of Mr. Nick Sauer and Dr. Scott McLeod of CASTLE. It's an all-day computer boot camp!
Well, my wake up call from the hotel called and it's time to get ready for the big day! See ya!
Theresa
After a keynote address by Iowa & National Teacher of the Year Sarah Wessling-Brown where she she shared her vision of a panoramic digital learning world there are some concepts I need to think about. I especially liked her idea of teaching by theme or major questions rather than by things. "Technology is not the motivation to learn, it is the gimmick. We need to tap into the students' motivations." and "Let go of the hierarchy and let collaboration occur." are two ideas I plan to ponder. Sarah showed how she uses www.PollEverywhere.com, www.Wordle.net, and MITOPENCOURSEWARE in her classrooms. I will also be checking out author John Dewey and the book by Garr Reynold called 'Presentation Zen.' HA-HA, I just used check out as a pun.
After her address I attended her session on technology in the literacy classroom where she demonstrated some tools she used in her classroom at Johnston High School.
I especially like and want to try www.animoto.com and www.wikispaces.com.
Nick Sauer introduced our group to creating a blog [web log] using a Google email account and we made a personal blog. You're reading mine! I have others. WE ARE BLOGGERS!
We looked up other blogs using Google Reader and also suggested www.technorati.com to use for the same purpose.
OK. What are some ideas you especially like/use? Have you used any of the tools I mentioned?
Today we learn how to use more tools under the direction of Mr. Nick Sauer and Dr. Scott McLeod of CASTLE. It's an all-day computer boot camp!
Well, my wake up call from the hotel called and it's time to get ready for the big day! See ya!
Theresa
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
First One
This is the blog I'm going to use to list new technology ideas. I'm going to add to it when I find/see something I like. Maybe you'll add to it too!
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