New Blog

Cheryl & I have been working on a new blog - a book blog for students to share their views on titles that are selected/recommended by librarians in our region. We're having MUCH fun - and are excited to be using this. Hope the kids like it, too!!

http://gstbookblog.blogspot.com

Wiki stuff

I know that I have referred to posts from Will Richardson's blog from time to time, but I guess I totally missed the fact that he actually has a section of his blog dedicated to Wikis called "wiki-watch." Some very cool stuff! It will lead you to see wikis in action, like this one from some 8th grade students in Delaware.

That Will guy is just full of great information!!

Today is Read-Aloud Day!

I'm going to read aloud to three classes today - fun! I haven't read to primary kids since last Read-Aloud Day, I'll bet. Tomorrow I get to read to one more class. All in celebration of National Library Week!

:-)

Trying to be more intentional...

...about using this blog, I added a link to it to my personalized Google Home Page. So now when I open a browser window, it'll be staring right at me and reminding me somewhat accusingly (somewhat like my cat Triscuit when her bowl isn't filled to her specifications) that I haven't posted recently.


Who knows, I might even find interesting stuff to post!


My colleagues will be disappointed, I'm sure, if I don't include at least occasional panda information, and as there isn't ANY on this blog as yet, let me just add this lovely image of Tai Shan, the National Zoo's youngest panda (he's not REALLY a cub anymore, although he was when the photo was taken). A very good friend of mine took this picture last October when we went to visit Tai and his mom and dad (Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, respectively).

Back again

Well, so I'm not a prolific blogger. It's been MONTHS since I wrote here, and all kinds of things have happened, all kinds of opportunities have been missed. Ah, well. I've always been sort of like that; I kept a diary as a kid for awhile, then put it aside and didn't do anything with it for ages in between entries. Finally stopped altogether. Guess I'm easily distracted with the next new thing!

In any case, I use this primarily for the Blogs/Wikis/Podcasts class, so that's generally what prompts me to write. In fact, though, at the moment, I'm not coming up with anything that seems to be particularly full of wit, humor, and/or instruction. Maybe it's because we had yesterday off, maybe it's because I haven't had enough coffee, or maybe it's just too close to lunchtime.

Best I can do right now, I guess, is point you to this site I just found. I'm sitting here in amazement because I never saw it before, although it's apparently been around since November of 2005, according to The Wayback Machine:

TLT Group's Exploration Guide: Educational Uses of Blogs, Wikis, RSS Feeds, etc.

More Wikis, Podcasts, and Blogs stuff

Some articles and websites I've clipped

I've been collecting articles and websites forever, it seems, on various topics, figuring that some day I'd find some use for them. Actually, I do that with a lot of things...it's the pack rat syndrome, my dad always said, but I prefer to thing of myself as a collector. As if he had room to talk!
But I digress...
Here are some links to articles or sites that I found interesting on the various topics we'll be discussing in the workshop. I've got zillions more, but I'll just list a few lest it become totally overwhelming:

Podcasts:
20 Ideas for a better podcast (Lifehacker)
Podcast Books (Long Elementary School Podcasts via Will Richardson's blog)
Podcasts from California's Summer Reading Program

Wikis:
Ed week on Wikis (via Will Richardson's blog)
Great Deconstruction of Student Wiki Work (via Will Richardson again; you should just read his blog!!!)

Blogs
BlogSafety a forum to discuss and learn about safe blogging and social networking
Bloggers' FAQ about student blogging from the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Cool 7th Grade Science Blogs (once again via Will Richardson)

RSS
12 Things You Can Get Besides New on the Web via RSS (Lifehacker)
How to use RSS feeds (Lifehacker)

I think that's all for now - I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by the number I have clipped/bookmarked. Time to organize a little better...

More stuff to think about

In Will Richardson's book, "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms" (Corwin Press, 2006.), Will talks about the "Read/Write Web" and asks some very thought-provoking questions, one of which is "What needs to change about our curriculum when our students have the ability to reach audiences far beyond our classroom walls?"

I guess that's part of what we had in mind when we first designed this class, but we'd love to know what YOU think!

Potential Roadblocks on the Information Highway

So, class participants, as you muse on these new and emerging technologies, how do you see them fitting into what you already do? Or do you perhaps see them taking you on a detour in an entirely new direction?

We, the flagpersons on your information superhighway, want to know!

Wikis & Podcasts

Andy Carvin's Learning.Now blog has some great wiki:
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/wikis/

Also, Bob Pyke on the Web & Education discussion list (wwwedu) at Yahoo had some podcast sites for social studies:
Colonial Williamsburg podcasts: http://www.history.org/Media/podcasts.cfm
Smithsonian podcasts: http://www.smithsonian.org/podcasts/default.htm
Monticello podcasts: http://www.monticello.org/podcasts/index.html
Boston Freedom Trail podcast: http://www.boston.com/travel/boston/freedomtrail/podcast/

Actually, the Smithsonian podcasts offer science and the arts as well.
I'd also add my own personal favorite - Library of Congress. Haven't found podcasts there, but they do have webcasts that you can view. Definitely geared toward secondary level, though.