Valley Garden

Implementation Plan

2009-08-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

There are two projects I will be completing this year. I have already started a library wiki which needs to be completed for viewing. I am excited to have library information and policies available for parents. My goal is to include student book reviews, also. This is a work in progress and will be developing over time.

I have digital photos of authors who presented at a conference I attended this summer. I am excited to create a voice thread with information about each author and their books. This would be a great project to share with classes at the beginning of school year. I would share with grades 3 through 6th in class, but also would like to embed the voice thread within the wiki.

I have been exposed to many tools I would never have seen otherwise. My view has been changed and I am more open to trying some of these tools withing my teaching.

Web 2.0 New Tools, new Schools

2009-08-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Chapter 1: The globalization of business is astonishing. I was aware, yet not fully aware how pervasive the internet has become. I was also reminded how American education has fallen behind other countries in educating use of internet tools. My skills have been left in the dust! Change is happening whether education, school districts or individuals keep pace.

Chapter 7: Web 2.0 is generally open to the public creating a greater security risk and copyright issues. Districts are trying to use the tools within a secure environment by creating district communication systems. I teach internet safety classes and the awareness has made a difference for those students who realize the dangers. Many students have shared home rules and guidance provided by parents. Others have disregarded lessons and pointed advice by our security officer and have continued dangerous behaviors on the internet. Internet safety on publicly open tools is an invitation for greater risks.

Chapter 9: Next generation schools. What will the schools look like in 5 years? It used to take many years for education to morph, but now change can happen very quickly. David Warlick's vision of educator's blogging would be a great help in faciliting librarian and teacher cooperatively working together. E-textbooks, games and student wikis for homework response seems to be the direction. How can I say its good or bad? It is just the direction. As the world becomes more open, individuals become more isolated.

Chapter of my choice: Chapter 4: This chapter demonstrates how teachers are using various tools across the curriculum. Teachers use blogs and wikis for assigments and discussions for social studies and math as well and literacy studies. Flickr is being used for digital storytelling. Broadcasting and video production has been opended to include all classes creating podcasts rather than just a few students. We are just at the brink of possibilities.

Week 8, Thing #19.1

2009-08-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

When I have used Digital Pipeline, I have gone to the kid's stuff section or Student Research. This exercise helped me discover "adult" possibilities. I created a folder with health information and was surprised to find a very informative video on breast cancer. Booklist and School library Journal are available! The three things I learned:
1. I can now access a current copy of Booklist.
2. I can use my folder to access collected articles quickly.
3. Vidoes can be also be placed in my folder for quick access.

Week 9, Thing #23

2009-08-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

This has been quite a ride. So many new ideas and actitivities. I have expanded my techno boundaries far beyond I thought possible. Thank you for creating this course. I will need to keep this course as a reference to continue the experience.

Week 9, Thing #22

2009-08-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

The free book downloads are amazing. I downloaded The Sea Wolf by Jack London. I have also used the site the AK public libraries offer. Many of those books are current titles students enjoy reading. As I posted this note, a reader of At the Back of the North Wind started reading the book! This is too much fun...so much for staying focused and finishing the course.

Week 9, Thing #21

2009-08-09T20:41:00.001-07:00

After becoming very confused about how to download podcasts to my computer, I explored the teacher podcast site and found a podcast on Readers Theatre which is on this blog.

Teacher Created Materials: TCM Podcasts

2009-08-09T20:40:00.001-07:00

Teacher Created Materials: TCM Podcasts

Shared via AddThis

Introducing the Book repost

2009-08-09T20:06:00.001-07:00

Introducing the Book repost

Shared via AddThis

Week 9, Thing 20

2009-08-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

I found teachertube to be fun to explore and could spend many more hours... but must stay focused! I tried to embed a video, but it didn't work on first try. The video is on site under Aug. 9 posting.

Week 8, Thing #19

2009-08-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

I created a LibraryThing account and a list of books I enjoy or will read.

<

thing 18

2009-08-07T10:51:00.001-07:00

Week 8, Thing #18

Zoho is an exciting possibility. Yesterday, I digressed for about 3 hours and created a zoho wiki for my family. This class definitely takes too much time. Staying focused is the key. For a techno novice, I am struggling to get through these lessons with at least a general idea of the possibilities.

Week 7, Thing #17

2009-08-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

I posted a comment under wikis.

Week 7, Thing #16

2009-08-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

As I investigated the wikis presented in this lesson, I was impressed by attraction/distraction of the sites. Creating a wiki just to have one is a waste of everyone's time, but having a viable, interesting site is very helpful. I loved the Ann Harbor site created by high school students. It was enticing and the information very useful for visitors or new residents. Meredith's list of things she learned while creating the 2005 ALA wiki is also very helpful. Creating a wiki for a specific audience keeps the content viable. I have started a wiki for my school library and can use these examples of best practices.

Week 6, Thing #14

2009-08-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

Technorati has taken a few hours of exploring. I am quite excited to have added several blogs to my account. Since I am not a blog reader, this is an expansion to my techno horizons.

Week 6 Thing #13

2009-08-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

I viewed two instructional videos on using del.icio.us. I will need to return to this site and think about how to use it for students and personally. After viewing my long list of "favorites" in Explorer, defintely some clean-up work is needed.

Voice Thread

2009-07-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

Voice Thread has so many applications for education. Bookreports, Battle of Books reviews, classroom reports and on. I like the security provisions, also. I will be attempting to use Voice Thread for my project for this class.

Week 5, Thing 10 & 11

2009-07-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

In my explorations today, I found the "play" time to be most useful by finding revolutionhealth.com. This site is very useful by providing basic information on health issues. It has many links which are also helpful. Myheritage and Geni were interesting. I also generated a comic birthday wish, but the "upload" didn't happen.

Week 4, Thing #9

2009-07-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

I have created a RSS Reader and have added a few items, such as Dilbert and a librarian's blog. The search tools I found most helpful are Topix and Technorati. Blogdigger was not at all useful for me. I can now enjoy RSS services for those sites I visit on a monthly basis. Exposure to this service was very helpful.

Week 3

2009-07-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

I have explored Fliker and have opened an account and placed a photo, yah! While looking as the "mash-ups", I stumbled into smilebox and created a scrapbook with some photos from Easter 2008. I wanted to do something with them to share with family, and now thanks to Web 2.0, it's done!

Week 1

2009-07-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

Much has been said about being and creating life long learners. I enjoyed reading the 7 habits and can readily relate to them. The toolbox is my favorite and my most challenging is #6, using technology to your advantage. That's why I'm here!

Week 2, Thing 3

2009-06-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Week 2, Thing 3

This is fun, but also very frustrating. It has taken hours to complete a relatively simple task, but determination will win.