This week's Wows! 10-26-09

This week's Wows!

This week's wows are all word related. Vocabulary is such an important part of what we do. Here are a few sights for high lighting vocabulary in different ways.

WordSift.Com: WordSift is a visualization tool for text. With word sift, you can type in one word, or paste a whole paragraph of text. If I type in "ocean" I will get pictures of oceans and a word map from Visual Thesaurus with words related to ocean. If I paste in the text of the "I Have a Dream Speech" I will get a word cloud, similar to a Wordle. I can click on any word in the cloud and get photos and a Visual Thesaurus. This can be a powerful vocabulary tool. It is good to play first and figure out what text gets the most accurate responses.

ImageChef Word Mosaics: ImageChef has some interesting things to do with Text and Photos. Some more appropriate than others. The Word Mosaic Tool works much like Wordle except you can also choose to have your word created with different shapes.

Spell With Flickr: This site lets you type in a word and then it generates an image of the word created with photos found on Flickr. GeoGreeting.com does something similar with images from Google Earth that look like letters. Give it a try, it is fun.

Vision for Technology

This week in our District Tech Meeting, I asked members of the team to share their vision for tech in the Mount Vernon School district. I asked them to share "Twitter Style' using 140 characters or less. I was excited to hear the great insite from the committee. We have a long way to go, but we do have hope and a vision. I took their responses and created a Wordle. This will be a great conversation starter at our next meeting as we look at how the words were weighted and determine what our focus and priorities should be.

• My vision is equal access to technology for all students and staff.
• Pervasive, extended access to knowledge and learning tools that enhance a person's life choices.
• My vision for tech is for all students to have access to computes. In addition, all students get to learn and use at least, basic applications: Microsoft, Internet, Photo, Adobe, etc.
• All students no matter age, grade or ability level have access and ability to use technology. All teachers have the same.
• Equal opportunity and access for all.
• Non duplicated one stop shopping connecting all students, parents and staff.
• Freedom, Fast, Friendly, Functional, Fun
• Tech used to collect, connect, create, collaborate, communicate and solve real world problems.
• Equitable access to transformational learning tools equals student engagement and success in school and life.
• Staff and students doing cool, new, global, rigorous, or unique things with technology. Possibilities are endless!
• Technology is a seamless aspect of teaching and learning, just like pen and paper are now. The world becomes our students limitless classroom.
• An ever expanding gateway to 24 hour engagement, discovery and learning.
• Technology considered an essential learning and teaching tool.

10-12-09 This Week's Web 2.0 Wows.

Now this is very cool and easy to create. With Xtranormal you can create Text to Video animated movies. You pick your characters and scenes. (Limited for the free version). You type in text. Choose camera angles, expressions and actions and a movie is created. At this point, they do not have an education version, but one is in the works. I know that students would LOVE creating digital stories and dialog with this tool. It is also a fun way for teachers to introduce a lesson or give announcements. I shared this tool with middle school Science and Social Studies teachers in August. A few of the teachers have used this tool to share class rules. Here is Xtranormal movie I created as an Ad for Digital Literacy Workshops.


Someone just shared Triptico with me this weekend so I still have more exploring to do. This is a digital magnetic word wall. You put in some words and then the words are turned into word "magnets" which are mixed up at the bottom of the page. Think of the refrigerator magnetic poetry. This would be amazing on a SmartBoard, but can be used with a mouse at a computer as well. The cool thing about Triptico is that not only will it make word "magnets" of any words you select, but it also provides a large selection of graphic organizers as a background. So, you can take your words and put them in a Venn Diagram or a Word Web. You can alphabetize words and much much more. Lots of possibilities here.

I am a big fan of TEDTalks. TEDTalks are inspirational and motivational speeches by some of the greatest thinkers around. Some of the TEDtalks deal directly with education, but many have to do with other issues as well. In this TEDTalk, Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, talks about Motivation. Would love to hear your ideas about the implications of this research in education.

Discover the Den and Did You Know

This Week's Web 2.0 Wows

Discovery Educator Network:
The Discovery Educator Network (DEN) is a global community of educators passionate about teaching with digital media, sharing resources, collaborating, and networking. With over 100,000 members providing professional development to over 600,000 educators worldwide, the DEN connects teachers both on-line and in-person. Discovery Educators have exclusive access to a wide range of resources, professional development activities, networking opportunities, exclusive Discovery Educator events and more!

I have gained so much by being a member of the DEN.  I have had opportunities to participate in some incredible DEN sponsored events like the National Institute in Berkeley, CA and the Leadership Institute in Silver Spring Maryland.  I've had the opportunity to meet Reed Timor from Storm Chasers and the Deadliest Catch Crew.  I have had the opportunity to learn from educational leaders through webinars.  And most importantly, I have built a great learning network who I call on almost daily for collaboration.

It is easy to become a member of the DEN, just sign up. If you'd like to be more involved, you can commit to becoming a DEN Star.  With Star status you have access to even more resources.  We currently have 3 STARS in the district, myself, Lisa Monson and Michael Guelker-Cone.  We'd love for you to join us.

Did You Know?
More video has been uploaded to YouTube in the last 2 months than if ABC, CBS and NBC had been airing new content 24/7/365 since 1948?

Perhaps you have seen this video Did You Know that came out in 2007 or Did You Know 2.0  or maybe even Did You Know 3.0 .  Well things are changing so quickly that a new Did You Know 4.0 has just come out.  All are interesting videos to watch and are great conversation starters when it comes to talking about how quickly things are changing in our world and how these changes are “flattening” our world.  The last video moves away from the educational aspects and focuses more on the economic implications.  All are very interesting to watch and to think about. I think as we plan for the future of education, we need to keep these changes in mind.  We are moving from a society that consumes content to a society that produces and shares content.  We interact and make changes in new ways. This is not about technology, it is about mindset.

New Digital Media Literacy

Our school district is in the process of getting a new website. We have contracted with a very creative local company called Pondry. Because of this local connection, I have the privilege of following the progress of this new site as it moves from vision, to framing, to design, and then to launch. We are very excited about the possibilities of building a site in this way. As we have thought about and researched what we would like to include on our site, how we want it to look and how we want consumers and producers to interact with the site, we have learned a great deal. Designing a website is definitely a skill and an art. This skill is not just for the creative types like Pondry who have made a business out of helping others create and communicate in this new media, this new media literacy is a skill that we all need to learn in order to be literate in the world we now live in. Dr. Jason Ohler defines literacy in this way. "Literacy means being able to consume and produce the media forms of the day." Ohler suggests that the default media form has shifted from the essay to the multimedia collage. We no longer just consume print in a linear fashion. We read with video clips, images and hyperlinks. Knowing how to navigate in this new media is definitly part of literacy, but literacy is not just reading, it is also writing. We need know how to write in this new media as well. Understanding the elements of art has become a valuable part of literacy as we don't only need to know how to create a good paragraph, but where that paragraph should go on a page and what other elements will be linked to that paragraph. Ohler suggest that this new literacy brings art to the forefront changing the basics from the 3 "r"s, Reading, wRiting, and aRithmatic, to the 4 "r"s including aRt.

There are many connections between the skills needed to develop a new website and the skills needed to be truly literate today when communicating with new media.

1. Know your audience. Choose font, words and images that meet the needs of your audience.
2. Move from linear to hyperlink. There is great power in making connections, everything doesn't have to fit on the front page.
3. Know the rules of the road. Creativity is great, but don't change the rules of the road. People should be able to know where to go and be able to follow your thoughts.
4. Keep it simple. Flashing text and twirling objects rarely add to understanding and enjoyment.
5. Get out a map. Collage should not mean lack of planning. Plan the design and navigation before you jump in to the creating.

On Monday I will be sharing a great web tool called Glogster at Digital Literacy Workshop.

Glogster is a great way to practice the skills needed to communicate using media literacy. You and your students can learn by creating digital collages. The great thing about digital is that it is so easy to change if things just don't quite look right or make sense. No messy glue to deal with. Play with colors and shape. Decide what text is important enough to make it to the front page. Decide how you are going to connect the readers to other important information that doesn't make the first page. Determine paths that make sense. Check to see if your colors attract or detract the reader from the important content. I hope that you will explore this tool share this tool with your students.

My mind swims with ideas about how this rich media can lead to deeper thinking, problem solving, making connections and collaborating with others.

Photo: http://davegoblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/lilymouse.jpg

Asking the right questions:

One of my many hats is that of coach. As a coach, I am trained not to just tell someone how to do something, but to ask questions that encourage deeper thinking and planning. Playing the role of coach in my position with technology is not always easy. A lot of times, teachers just want and need to know an answer on how to do something. They need me to train, not coach. But as I train, I also want to coach.

The other day, someone posted the following question. "Does anyone have a good Social Studies lesson using Movie Maker?" Knowing the context, I know that this was a trainer, wanting to show examples. But it got me to thinking about those times when a teacher is excited about using a new tool and that tool becomes the focus of the lesson, not the content or the process. I decided to go to my PLN (Professional/Personal Learning Network) and ask this question. "What questions should you ask before planning a lesson using technology?" I received some great suggestions.

Many of the questions focused on setting objectives.

1. What is the learning standard being addressed.
2. What is the main goal the teacher wants to achieve?
3. What is it they should learn through technology?
4.How can we set the scene so students create, share, and rework the new information & make it their own?

Some questions were about the reason for using technology.

1. What additional skills will they learn through this tool?
2. Is this the most appropriate tool to use?
3. What tool or technique engages or delivers?
4. Why are you using technology?
5. Is the use of technology really a better student experience?

Then there were a few practical considerations.

1. How much time will it take?
2. Do you have the proper resources?
3. Have you tried this before and know what the glitches might be?
4. What is your back up plan if tech fails?

All of these are really great questions. Much of the time, technology has the power to make things more engaging, promote higher level thinking skills and encourage collaboration. These are great reasons to use technology in your classroom. But sometimes, you can reach the same objective, even better without using technology. Unless your learning target is simply to learn how to use a specific application, that should never be your first step in your lesson plan. Start with the objective, then choose the proper tools.

For some great ideas of how to include technology in your content based lessons, take a look at the Washington State Technology Standards. They have done a great job of giving suggestions of where different types of technology plug in to content area lessons in a meaningful and rewarding way. I think as you build your tech tool box, just as you have built your teaching tool box, you will begin to identify when and which tools are appropriate and powerful.

Thanks to those members of my PLN who helped me generate some great questions:
Ann Oro , Diana Laufenberg , Andy Losik , Sharon Elin, Tina, Ginger Lewman
Chad Brannon, Shannon Smith

9-21-09 Web 2.0 Wows

Google Fast Flip:

Are you a news junkie who still likes to turn the pages of a news paper or magazine? This might be for you. Google recently launched Fast Flip. Google has teamed up with 36 publishers for the initial rollout. Users who visit the Fast Flip site are greeted with large thumbnail images of various articles sorted by their source, topic, or current popularity. Once you click on an article Fast Flip lets you flip through the pages as if you were flipping through a traditional print magazine or newspaper. There are lots of great tools (many of them Google) for aggregating your news sites to meet your needs. This tool can do that, but it's main focus is providing you your news in a Fast Flip format. At this point, it is more of a tool for you than your students. But I thought it was worth sharing, because we as busy teachers, don't always have time to sit down and peruse a magazine or newspaper.

Conquering Technophobia:

This is great! Two of my favorite edTech Presenters, Hall Davidson and Steve Dembo, have teamed together with CDW and Discovery Education to create a series of short videos on a variety of Web 2.0 tools. It is like they have taken what I want to share during Digital Learning Workshops and condensed it even further into this great introduction to many useful Web 2.0 tools. Beyond the great and timely content, and the humorous way they present, I love the way that they filmed the segments, using a green screen and interacting with screen shots. I can't wait to find a teacher who would like to try out a project like this. There are 6 videos and they are each about 5-6 minutes long. So take a few minutes a day to be inspired and conquer any technophobia you might have. Once on the site, you will find other useful links and resources as well.

Changing Thoughts about Grading

As we become much more intentional about grading in ways that provide meaningful feedback that students and teachers can really use to set goals and improve performance and understanding, it becomes evident that grades can and should mean much more than a percentage of how many questions were marked right. As we make these shifts, not only do our assignments and assessments change, but our grading process changes as well.

As one of the resident EasyGradePro and AIMS "gurus", I get to be a part of lots of conversations about grading. More and more, teachers are wanting to move towards a more Standards based approach to grading. Lots of great thoughts and questions as we think through this process. There are a few shifts that have to happen, to really move toward Standards Based grading.

1. Assignments need to be intentionally created to assess a Standard.

• This means that the Standard/Learning Target comes first.
• Next we must determine how your are going to define proficiency in the Standard.
• Then you need to decide how to report that proficiency.

Many times, we put the cart before the horse. We decide that we want to do Standard's Based Reporting but we don't change our assignments and assessments to reflect that. What we end up doing is just changing As, Bs, Cs and Ds to 4s,3s,2s,and 1s.

2. Standards based grades are not averaged. With Standards, you are grading on a continuum and not a average. If your score reflects proficiency on a Standard, there should be no scores to average. The Standard grade shows where the student is at the time of reporting, not the average of how the student has done over the grading period. How exciting to see that a student knew nothing about a particular learning target at the beginning, but by the end of the class, this student was proficient. Standards reporting shows growth.

This is a huge shift for students and parents when following the progression of grades through out the grading period. Students and parents are used to seeing a grade that reflects percentage scored on tests, completion of assignments, etc. They are not used to seeing a grade as a place on a continuum. "A Growth Chart".

3. You must decide what to do with all the other things you want to track and report that aren't necessarily reflected in a Standards Based Grade.

We know that effort is the most important element in success in learning. It is important for students to be able to see where they are on the continuum, but it is also important to see the effort (turning in assignments, participating in class, etc) that correlates to that success.

Lots to think about. Way more than just changing a grading scale. I find the more that I work with teachers on this, the more complexities I discover. Teachers in our district are truly trying to find ways to use grading not only as a reporting tool, but also a learning tool for students. I would appreciate your thoughts and ideas on this subject.

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons: Tony Crider

Digital Literacy Workshop

Have questions about AIMS and Easy Grade Pro? Join us on Monday, September 21st for Digital Literacy Workshop. District Tech Lab opens at 2:30, AIMS/EGP session starts at 3:15.



Our Digital Literacy Workshop got off to a great start with 20 participants who got a chance to work with PhotoStory3. I think all would agree that is a very easy to use program and there are great possibilities for using in class. If you didn't get a chance to attend, you can have a look at the resources here.

There were lots of people there who came with questions about Easy Grade Pro and AIMS. With help from and other teachers, lots of questions were answered.

At next week's Digital Literacy Workshop, I will focus on Easy Grade Pro and AIMS. Sharing some of the new things in AIMS and showing some tricks for customizing Easy Grade Pro to meet your unique needs. I will do a formal presentation on AIMS from 3:15 - 4:00 but you are welcome to come early or stay late to work on other projects or get other questions answered.

As we become much more intentional about grading in ways that provide meaningful feedback that students and teachers can really use to set goals and improve performance and understanding, it becomes evident that grades can and should mean much more than a percentage of how many questions were marked right. As we make these shifts, not only do our assignments and assessments change, but our grading process changes as well. I know many of you are thinking about this process. I am as well. I have written a blog about my developing thoughts in the area of grading. If you are interested, take a look. I would love to read your comments and thoughts.

Social Media Revolution

About a year ago, I introduced my mom to Facebook. Although, I am not a big Facebook user, I could see the power of this for my mom. I set it up so she was one click away from her Facebook page when she turned on her computer. It took her a little while to dive in, and even now, she is mostly a lurker. But when I call , she always has news to share with me that she has learned on Facebook. She follows her children, her grandchildren and lots of nieces and nephews. She knows what they eat for breakfast, when they wake up in their dorm room with an ant infestation and when they aren't being very appropriate. She get's it. She is part of the Social Revolution.

My mom is still toe dipping into this whole Social Media thing. Most people are. But that's the thing, even if they aren't in the deep end yet, most people are in the pool. And this is changing the way things get done.

I have built an incredible think tank of creative and inspiring Educators who I go to daily, to receive and share ideas, ask for advice, share resources and create and collaborate together on innovative projects. Yes, we sometimes share what we had for breakfast, but more often we share great tools and ideas and ask big questions like how do we deal with the reality of the Social Media Revolution in an education system that blocks many or most of the tools that the rest of the world uses to share, create, inquire and contribute?