Friday, December 28, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
D.A.R.E. Graduation Celebration!
Watch the Movie Clip of Officer King, Officer Miller, and Cliff
Multiple Intelligences and Autism
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Cyberbullying Study!
http://www.schoolcio.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604866
Saturday, December 8, 2007
More on Podomatic
I have been experimenting with uploading podcasts and trying out podomatic. So far, it has been very easy. My students are especially excited that their voices will be heard. Podomatic is a Website that is usually blocked at school, so we will need to work around this by working at night to upload files that we have made during the school hours. I really want to thank my students for working hard at night on the many blog activities and a special thank you to all the parents who have supported blogging, podcasting, and wikis.
Thank you so much for all that you do to make this happen.
Monday, December 3, 2007
As the weather changes!
Tomorrow the weather will change several times. Let's track this storm by watching the weather channel.
See you at school!
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Screencasts
Here is an example of a Screencast I made for my class to show the students how to log in and work in Class Blogmeister. This was one way I worked around blocked sites at our school. I can make a screencast then download it onto my jump drive or laptop then take it to school http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/watch/ciXUbqMn
Class Blogmeister
Friday, I brought a lamp into my classroom to use with the Webcam camera because we didn't have enough light. It worked. The avatar started moving with every word the student spoke. The student stated that, "I was a wonderful teacher because I brought the lamp." What am I saying???? My students loved the Avatar and podcasting.
My students are excited because they can use a Webcam camera and they can use digital audio to record their voices. THEY ARE EXCITED AND WILLING TO WORK ON CREATIVE WRITING AND MORE!
Is it worth it to find ways around the blocked pictures, movies, slideshows, podcasts, and more? Yes, because when you get kids excited they will go home and try out what they are shown at school.
1. We use audacity to record podcasts!
2. We use podomatic to house our podcasts!
3. We use an Avatar!
4. I use Screencast-o-matic to prerecord blocked sites so I can show my students Web 2.0 tools.
Check this out On Class Blogmeister, I have made two screencasts and submitted two podcasts that the students have made.
In addition, you might have seen the dinosaur avatar that the students use while reading their creative stories.
Our newest Blog Website
Class Blogmeister
Class Blogmeister was created by David Warlick. By the way, teachers must send an email to him to get approval to join Class Blogmeister.
What I know so far about Class Blogmeister....
1. It is completely safe because everything has to have the approval of the teacher before it can be posted.
2. Once approved the teacher will publish the posts to the blog.
3. Comments made by students to students also go through an approval process and are published by the teacher.
4. No emails for students to use.
5. Emails are sent to the teacher in-charge as soon as a student has submitted a post for publishing. Using feeds or netvibes, the teacher can easily keep up with posts. In addition, you can read and approve student posts from your email account. Truly Awesome!
6. The students love it.
Difficulties that we address everyday:
1. Our Main blog page is unblocked; however, the students' blogs are not unblocked so they can not work on them at school. In other words, we can not post at school and when needing to discuss the relevant information on our blogs we cannot.
Going around the difficulties:
As I mention, I have made a screencast using screencast-o-matic which is blocked at school, but can be downloaded to my laptop or flashdrive then taken to school.
Sad but true Podomatic and Screencasts are blocked. Students must go to Class Blogmeister at home to take advantage of the latest Web 2.0 tools.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
The Machine is Us/ing us
Parents, teachers, and students will need to become familiar with these terms.
Technorati Tags: blogs, Blogwalker, Communication, social networking, tags, Teaching Machine
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Update on Fusion Finds
Fusion Finds has a blog at jgarton.edublogs.org
If you enjoyed the podcast information, you will enjoy this.
Technorati Tags Janetta Garton
Educational Blogs
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Fusion Finds
Technorati Tags Janetta Garton
Educational Blogs
Friday, November 9, 2007
Outstanding Parent/Teacher Conferences
As the upcoming months go by, I would like to share my thoughts and opinions on several subjects. This is a blog and I welcome your responses and comments.
Looking forward to keeping you updated and informed.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
November
Great job students!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Brookfield Zoo Video
Technorati Tags Brookfield Zoo
Aggressive Blocking
Research, reading, and the Internet
The Internet is full of remarkable resources that require reading.
We can learn about many things while surfing the web; for example, here is an Website on elephants.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Backchannels and Wikis
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/QLox8kSjp,x9MygcHOnnqw
Technorati Tags Vickie Davis The Flat Classroom
Backchannels
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Windy Day!
The students enjoyed watching the animals and walking around in the awesome open areas around the Zoo.
This was a day full of fun and excitement. The animals were visible, active, and interesting to watch. As we were walking by the lions' den, we heard a lion roaring. We also captured on video spider monkeys, elephants, giraffes, bison, and camels.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Dont' Give up! Keep Trying!
Do you very best in everything you do and try! Great motivational video.
Technorati Tags Vicki Davis
Thursday, October 11, 2007
October
I feel I have seen an increase in participation in writing because the students have an audience when they write and their work is publihsed.
Check out what they have been writing at http://pritchardspress.blogspot.com
Listen to this article
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Balanced Literacy!
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=a8ce66358eb576b8912c
Listen to this article
Technorati Tags Literature Circles
Carol Morgan School
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Students Blogging
Listen to this article
Technorati Tags Blogging Wikis
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Email Addresses
For our newsletter, we will be using a wiki and blog! The wiki will be used as a collaboration place for the reporters and editors of Pritchard's Press. This is a place where students will be editing and polishing their articles. Pritchard's Press blog will be used to post the articles for the newsletters.
We also have a class blog! This will be used to blog and respond to others.
Our special classroom activities will take place at . This will be kept private for our classroom use only.
If your child is in my class, have him/her show you what they are doing in regards to wikis and blogs.
Listen to this article
Technorati Tags Blogs Wikis emails
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Blogging!
Things to remember:
Students:
As you read and post comments to blog articles or information, remember not to use the comment section as a place to say hello to your friends. This is a blog where you are submitting your opinions on what you have been reading in the blog posts. You can use your email accounts to visit with friends.
Also, remember that various people are reading your comments, so check your spelling of words before you submit your comments. Use microsoft word to create your post and check for incorrect grammar usage and spelling errors.
Listen to this article
Technorati Tags blogging
Monday, September 3, 2007
Blogging is Important!
Enjoy the video and check out Rachel's Blog!
Technorati Tags Rachel Boyd
Open House Wednesday
I am looking forward to meeting the parents and discussing blogs, wikis, email, and podcasting.
This is an exciting time where students, teachers, and parents are learning about the changing world of the Internet called Web 2.0. Our children need guidance and modeling on the proper way of conducting themselves when using email, blogs, and other Internet activities. We must teach by using great examples so that our children can stay safe in a changing environment. Let's work together to teach our children how to be successful and productive users of the Internet.
Listen to this article
Technorati Tags Whittier School
Web 2.0
Open House
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Open House is Wednesday!
Listen to this article
Technorati Tags Whittier School
Posting to this Blog!
To get started: I would like for you to tell me about your summer vacation. Did you visit family? What was one exciting thing you did over the summer? Respond to this post in the comment area!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Audacity!
I installed audacity on my laptop and was able to make a MP3 file without a microphone. My laptop was purchased in 2002 and has Windows XP.
Setting Audacity up was quite simple with the help of Audacity. Don’t forget to download LAME MP3 encoder so you will be able to export MP3 files from audacity.
If you want a simple way to have your students or children record and make MP3 files, this would be a good way to introduce the process one student at a time.
Listen to this article
Technorati Tag audacity
Friday, August 24, 2007
Whittier School
I discussed and introduced Adora in this blog in August. I have heard from Adora's mom who wants to set up a live video conference where Adora shows the fifth graders how to blog. This will be exciting. I will let you know more later.
Listen to this article
Technorati Tags Whittier School Adora
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Whittier School Newsletter!
Look for our newsletter in September! The students will bring home a copy for you.
Here's a fun activity for writing!
Technorati Tags Whittier School
TrackStar
Monday, August 20, 2007
Teachers Going Back to School!
Back to school today with meetings and preparation of classroom. School starts Wednesday, August 22 for the students. Whittier starting and ending time is 8:15-2:45. There is an additional 15 minutes this year.
Above is a picture of some of the Whittier Staff celebrating the start of another school year!
Listen to this article
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Poems for Kids!
4teachers has other tools for teachers that are worth checking out!
Below is one example of how you can use trackstar!
http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/ts/viewTrackMembersFrames.do?number=288912&password=
Listen to this article
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Welcome Back to School!
I am very excited about this year’s adventures in computers. This summer, I attended the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in Atlanta, Georgia where I learned about blogs, wikis, Web 2.0, Furl, tags, podcasting, edubloggers, social networking, facebook, RRS feed, elluminate, vodcasting, meebo, Ning, GoogleDocs, Google Earth, and more. The conference was attended by 18,000 individuals interested in making technology a priority.
We are now entering Web 2.0 which means we are using the Internet not only to read but to write and publish.
This year your child will be involved in working on blogs and wikis. Blogs are used to communicate thoughts, ideas, and opinions. In addition, people reading various blogs can post comments. Please visit this site frequently for information throughout the school year.
In addition, check out my wiki at http://paulpam2.wikispaces.com.
During the school year, we will be involved in various assemblies and field trips. Our open house is scheduled for
Listen to this article
Sedona, Arizona
Welcome Back to School!
The summer sure went by fast. Here is a picture of
Listen to this article
Friday, August 17, 2007
Back from Vacation!
It is exciting to go on vacation as well as getting back and catching up on everything. I was visiting family in Arizona and Nevada and haven't been able to blog. The wonders of the Hoover Dam is still amazing.
Listen to this article
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Talkr for Audio
This is fantastic because there are audio learners who enjoy listening to posts being read. Now, posts can be visual as well as auditory. My students will enjoy making their posts with this audio feature.
Listen to this article
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
July and Mixed Feelings!
Listen to this article
Sunday, July 29, 2007
International Day of Peace September 21
Technorati Tags Alex Savage
7 year old Abby Blogs!
http://aboutabbyf.blogspot.com/
Technorati Tags Abby
Why our students need to Blog!
http://weblogg-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/WebLoggingSmall.mov
I was reading Jo McLeay's Blog about another video.
Rachel Boyd made this video to explain the importance of Blogging with our students! This video was available for the public at teachertube.
Enjoy the video and check out Rachel's Blog!
Technorati Tags Rachel Boyd Jo McLeay
Will Richardson
Wes Fryer: Teaching Digital and Will Richardson: Importance of Blogging
Wesley Fryer has excellent information about technology, Web 2.0 and more! You will spend days on his wiki reading, very, very, interesting and informative.
Check out this video on Weblogging or blogs in the classroom by Will Richardson!
http://weblogg-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/WebLoggingSmall.mov
Podcasting!
Wesley Fryer has written an interesting article called Options for Podcasting Publishing and Web Feed Creation.
Technorati Tags Wesley Fryer
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Sharing Photos Private or Publicly!
Web Pages Made Simple!
I used Google Page Creator just now for this post. It was very easy. What a great way to get your children interested in technology. Let them create their own Webpage that you can monitor. This gives your child or children the opportunity to work on something they can be proud.
There are several templates for backgrounds and it is very simple to insert pictures.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Netiquette
Using all capital letters is considered shouting! SHOUTING! Therefore, try not to use all capitals when you write because you are considered as being impolite or rude. Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Avoid sarcasm because it may be taken to mean something different and come back to haunt you.
Check out this Netiquette Quiz!For additional information:
http://www.learnthenet.com/English/html/09netiqt.htm
http://oregonstate.edu/~healeyd/pci/netiquette.html
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Library Cards!
You can also take a virtual tour of the Historical Museum!
Technorati Tag Blue Island Public Library
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
A Little About Us!
Paul and I will be celebrating our 24th year of marriage in November. We have been living in the Chicago area every since we were married. Paul and I love to read; many evenings we spend time talking and reading. The Internet is used by us for various activities, but our favorite is looking up information. Anytime we are in a conversation that leads us to wanting to know something more about a topic, we use the Internet for our answers. What a great source? We can look up any topic, anytime of the day, from anywhere in the world!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Online Dictionary
Students need a dictionary to be successful in learning new vocabulary words and there is an online source that is excellent http://www.onelook.com. My students have found this site easy to use and it provides them with enough choices on dictionaries that they can usually find the words they are seeking. Sometimes student dictionaries are not complete and this causes students to look for other sources. Knowing about and using Internet dictionaries can save time for the students as well as the parents.
At Onelook, there are approximately "8,853,196 words in 937 dictionaries indexed"!
Check out the Onelook feature called Reverse Dictionary where you know what the word means but cannot think of the word. You can describe the concept and you will get back related words to what you described.
Technorati Tag onelook
Friday, July 20, 2007
Whittier School News Blog!
Our principal, Jeanne Bodnar, enjoys communicating with our parents as well as the community, so she started this blog. She will be updating the blog with exciting news and updates regarding Whittier School. You will be able to check the blog periodically to keep up with the news surrounding Whittier School.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Blogs
Recommended sites:
http://egyptdays.blogspot.com/
http://www.sandaigprimary.co.uk/pivot/
http://weblogs.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/georgia/
Technorati Tags Egypt Days Sandaig Otters Weblog Georgia NJ Connection
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Wikis and Blogs
How will Wikis and Blogs be used to support teaching and learning in the classroom?
To answer that question, let me first define wiki and blog. The basic difference is that wikis are for facts and research while blogs are usually used for opinions, reporting news, insights, informational articles, selling items, and more.
What are Wikis and how can they be used to support teaching and learning in the classroom?
Wiki is the Hawaiian word wiki-wiki that has been shortened; it means quick or super fast. According to Will Richardson (2006), "a wiki is a collaborative Webspace where everyone can add content and anyone can edit content that has already been published" (p. 8). This collaborative spaces allows students to work together on projects while not necessarily sitting next to each other. The group members may be participating from home, school, library, in another state, or anywhere they can access the Internet. Wikis have four layers or pages (i.e., information page, discussion page, history page, and notify me page). For example, the information can be used by the teacher to describe and create a project for students including slideshows, images, videos, and audio. The discussion page allows students to collaborate on the assigned project. The history page is the history of each members participation and what was contributed to the project by each member. The notify me page allows updates to be feed in a RSS reader so that teachers keep current on the latest posts by students.
What are Blogs and how can they be used to support teaching and learning in the classroom?
As you explore the Internet for Blogs, you will find that Blogs are created for many purposes. Many times blogs are thoughts and opinions on topics of interests, informational articles about upcoming events, personal experiences, vacation stories, storytelling, sharing of photos and videos, success stories, notes from conferences, updates on school events, and more.
For the classroom, blogs can be a form of journaling, writing stories, novels, experiences, notes, news from around the school, keeping a diary, and more. For an example, visit Adora Svitak at http://www.adorasvitak.com/Blog.html
References
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful Web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Technorati Tags Will Richardson Adora Svitak
Monday, July 16, 2007
Bison
Technorati Tag Bison
Saturday, July 14, 2007
9 Year Old Author Blogs
More about the Infinite Thinking Machine at http://www.google.com/educators/index.html
Technorati Tag Adora Svitak
Friday, July 13, 2007
NECC in Atlanta, Georgia
I can't thank Dr. Shepard enough for making me aware of the conference. There is so much to learn; it was easy because I was surrounded with the same type of people who wanted to talk technology.
I am making a Wiki for my students to use in the Fall. I teach fifth graders and I think they are going to have a lot of fun and excitement with Wikis and Blogs this year. I was able to listen to a broadcast of Vickie Davis and Adam Frey; it was a tutorial for the Wikis, blogs, and much more. So, I got started and had fun doing it.
View this Wiki as an example: http://paulpam2.wikispaces.com
On my Wiki, under technology, I listed all new terms and websites with free resources. This is so valuable to any school district. Again, I cannot thank Dr. Shepard enough for being on the cutting edge and placing her Walden University students there with her.
Technorati Tags Vickie Davis NECC Will Richardson Adam Frey Kathy Schrock