Thoughts about changing education

I've been meaning to continue this blog for awhile now, but haven't had:

• time
• the impetus
• ???

Now, I've been doing a lot of thinking about how much we as teachers do that compromises kids' futures though all we really want to do is help!

I'll probably start by sharing items I find through my reader that spark my interests or passionately move me (sometimes to tears).

This video is one of those, found in a blog post on Charter Schools by Carl Anderson:





How do we get to the point where we're truly working for kids - each and every one of them, in ways their own abilities and desires require???

Thing 22 - Nings and Social Networking

I was already somewhat familiar with the concept of social networking and have been a member of several such networks including Tu Diabetes and Type 1 Parents. I also recently became a member of facebook - mostly to reconnect with old high school buddies (and to "check up" on my teenaged daughter - lol).
I found the Web 2.0 Ning to have a wealth of information -- and like others have expressed -- it was a bit overwhelming! I can't wait to have some time to actually digest all I've learned!
Exploring some of the discussion groups via the forum, I found several interesting ideas:

1. Use Ning as a platform for book studies
2. Share educational tools - though "games that teach history" was a disappointing find
3. Pageflakes as a platform for my Current Issues course - this is a grand idea I will likely implement spring semester!

Thing 13 - Better LATE than NEVER!!!

Wow! Wow! Wow!
I put off this thing for so long I anticipated spending as little time as possible to accomplish the task -- ha, ha, ha.
I just spent the last several hours playing around with PRIMARY ACCESS, a web-based digital video editor for social studies :)

This is the best thing since sliced bread!

As a way to reinforce content knowledge, this tool enables learners to:

1. select images that portray a topic
2. write about that topic
3. get feedback on their writing/images
4. narrate the video and, finally,
5. apply motion in order to publish a movie -- how absolutely COOL!

The ability to scaffold student learning (as compared to PowerPoint creation) is amazing!
I plan to use this tool with my U.S. History students next semester -- we'll have a Film Festival to prepare for our End-of-Course Test :)

Thing 7c - Checking My Reader

Well, I check my reader fairly frequently since it is front and center on my i-Google home page. A recent post from American Pundit caught my interest -- it seems that several cities and towns around the nation are planning to declare an annual holiday to mark the election of Barack Obama. I think this is outrageous. While having our first African-American president is certainly a significant event, it is my opinion (not to offend anyone) that a holiday honoring him is over the top!

Thing 21 - Flaky Pages!!!

Pageflakes is very similar to i-Google, the platform I use for my home page. The Teacher Edition of Pageflakes has some additional features that lend it great utility as a classroom or course platform -- something I plan to explore for next semester in our non-traditional learning environment. The ability to have so much information right at your fingertips is incredible. I can make a single page for ALL Social Studies courses, then individual pages for each course I facilitate. This application may have some advantages over the wiki platform I currently use. I will need to discover how to/if I can add documents :)

Thing 20 - Doin' the Google Docs thing

Google Docs is something teachers at the Performance Learning Center are using on a daily basis!

Our techie guru has created an attendance log spreadsheet for us to use (since our traditional student data system is not amenable to our situation). It is FANTASTIC to be able to "share" this information, collaborating so that it's a living document that is ever-evolving :)

In addition to its current use among teachers and staff, students can benefit from the ability to upload and share assignments with us as well as collaborating in teams to jointly create documents and projects!

Thing 19 - Tubin' It!!!

You Tube search results:

• I found an AWESOME Psychology lecture series from UC Berkley!!!


• Here's a video for an Athens, GA Social Studies Conference about using music in video to teach 20th Century U.S. History :)


• Now I know How to Decorate my Christmas Tree - British style!


• Though not fun this video describes one young man's life with Type 1 Diabetes - a disease my daughter, and 3 cousins share :(

I also explored Teacher Tube - I have already posted my favorite video - I'm Just a Bill (an oldie but goodie from School House Rock) -- there are many good resources but I find it incredibly difficult to search this site!!!

I doubt I would produce a video for classroom use - students, however, might tape presentations, skits, procedural directions, etc.