Feb
24
Semester almost 1/2 way point and……
February 24, 2008 | |
This semester is just buzzing by. I am teaching two online classes this semester in addition to my new position as director of the Learning Commons (www.fhsu.edu/tlc). Overwhelmed does not describe things……..
We, well, there is a committee with lots of opinions, but I am doing most of the work, Suzanne is doing the huge job of the conference website and Mike is doing the college credit stuff, but the actual conference arrangements, logistics, etc. are all in my lap. I have to admit I am feeling a bit of panic. We sent out nearly 300 invites to vendors to have booths, 3000+ invites to attend. Actually, 3000 is low, the first two mailings were 3000, the third mailing will have the 3000, but each principal (elementary, middle, high school) will receive another 25 invites to distribute to teachers. We are hoping to get 20+ vendors and couple hundred participants. WESLEY FRYER is our Keynote speaker and that is very exciting. You can find more information about the conference at:
Mobile Teaching & Learning: Preparing for Learning; Connecting with Technology
April 8, 2008
Fort Hays State University
www.fhsu.edu/mtl
As far as classes are going, they are moving along. In my Instructional Technology for Elementary class we are just about to begin our VoiceThread unit. VoiceThread is an amazing tool http://voicethread.com/#home and now they have an account just for teachers, YEAH! Wesley Fryer did an interview with the developers a couple of weeks ago, Podcast 211-Technology Shopping Cart-Wikis, VoiceThread, and MathCasts. It is worth a listen for sure.
One of my students from last fall is student teaching in a small Catholic Elemetary School that has next to zero technology. She wants to do a VoiceThread project with her kids for a poetry unit (2nd grade, I think). So, she is checking out a Mac from the Learning Commons, so she can do the project as easy as possible since the mentor teacher is apprehensive about using technology. Of course she is, she has none!! The Mac has built in mic and camera, so she can even easily get photos of the kids and manipulate them in Photobooth. No names, no safety issues to worry about. But the kids will be overjoyed at the fact that their poems will be on the web and they can show their parents. I will be posting a link to their projects soon. In the mean time, if you are using VoiceThread and have one to share with my students, please join in our discussion on our Classroom 2.0 site http://spring2008tecs390.ning.com. Please join in any of our discussions if you have an opinion or something you can share. It really helps these future teachers to hear what real Teachers in the Trenches have to say. So, please come join in the conversations please. http://spring2008tecs390.ning.com
I am have trying to to the Webcast Academy 2.4 class. But sadly falling behind. So glad I can repeat it the next go around and finish the projects. I am not our yet and I amy finish, I amhoping this week will be a little less hectic at work. I had completed my two way telephone call but the recording did not record. Grrr…….So need to try that again. I was using Wiretap. Need to try one of the other tools they suggest. I understand how my student feel in my class, the one difference is that I explore and keep trying until I figure it out. For these future teachers it seems they generally don’t think outside the box much yet. They want a recipe that works perfectly every time. Every tried making a souffle’? I hope that changes for them, if they don’t broaden their scope, teaching is going to be frustrating. Maybe that explains why nearly ½ leave the profession by the 5th year.
And now our state of Kansas is changing the certification requirements. Seems any joe smo with a degree might be able to get a teaching certificate. I do agree that some of the requirements do need changing, like eliminate the PPST test for admittance to Teacher Ed. We are eliminating lots of kids from teaching because they freak out over the PPST. And we all know teacher salaries need tremendous improvement. Come on Bush and all your cronies, what the heck are you thinking? How many times has someone asked you to take a multiple choice test since you left college? And lets get real, what do they even prove, except making schools and teachers stressed to the max. Okay, enough soapbox for Sunday morning.
My Introduction to Instruction Technology is learning about United Streaming (http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm) and Quia (http://www.quia.com/) and is just finishing up making games in PowerPoint. It is always nice to take them beyond using PowerPoint for just little slide presentations. They don’t know it yet, but I am planning them taking their PowerPoint Games and putting them online using Google Presentation. I hope it works so I can link them off my website. If you have any advice on that, I would appreciate hearing from you.
A few resources to check out:
Something to think about: What does a week’s worth of food look like around the world?
http://www.technolote.com/?p=161
A superintendent enthused about digital storytelling
http://www.techlearning.com/blog/2008/02/a_superintendent_enthused_abou.php
Have you ever wanted to convert files without the need to download software?
Zamzar: http://www.zamzar.com/
Cover the Material - or Teach Students to Think
http://shoemap.edublogs.org/2008/02/21/cover-the-material-or-teach-students-to-think/
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