Some things that I have learned about Video sharing sites:
1. Not JUST for entertainment purposes.
2. Although students knew about this site before I did, they still could use lessons on copyright infringement, You Tube netiquette, and what posting videos does for their online portfolio.
3. Highly addictive.
4. Great source for instructional videos for free pro-d!
5. Great source for videos to supplement educational resources.
6. Another tool that can help reach out to parents/care providers.
7. Need an attention grabber for a unit or lesson? There is probably a video for it. Check out this plagiarism video for a lesson opener on academic honesty.
What You Tube and Teacher Tube can do for the classroom:
1. Teaching a difficult concept in Math? Create an online tutorial using Teacher Tube so that parents can follow along with the children to help them with their homework.
2. Not enough Library admin. time to go to each classroom and deliver book talks? Create a video that students can access online to see what is new in their library.
3. According to Wikipedia, there is are 65,000 videos posted everyday. With this many videos in a searchable database, teachers are sure to find videos that would tie in with their curriculum content. For example, I was teaching a unit on Pow Wow dancing and found many videos that I could use in the classroom.
4. Expand the way that students express their learning. Have the students trade podcasts with another classroom across the city or the WORLD! Students can share their projects online, create tutorials for other classrooms, and see what other students their age are doing in their classrooms.
A passionate exploration of libraries in the 21st century.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Truth About Teacher-Librarians and an Epiphany.....
Yes, I'm a Teacher-Librarian...........but I'm also a Music teacher, a French teacher, a Literacy teacher. This is not at all uncommon in BC. For a school with 200 students I only have .203 allotted to me to be the librarian. So tonight, while I rather be reading, I am planning and prepping to teach my five French classes next week. So, being the techie that I am (hehe)I am online searching out activities and games for my classes. I've come across crossword puzzle makers and word search makers and actually started making some for my classes to complete. It hit me then......why couldn't my students be involved in this process?
My two grade seven classes have access to laptops and love to be involved in deciding what they learn and how they learn. So, here is my plan. Post the learning outcomes for the term (this will be my criteria by which I mark students) and ask the students what they want to learn. Would they like to learn about Quebec's Winter Carnaval? Great! I can lead the students through the research portion online and we can decide what the important vocabulary is for the unit, what "survival French" we would need for a visit to the city during the Carnaval and then students can search for and use (and create) tools to practice/learn the vocabulary. In fact, in my own research for Quebec Carnaval resources, I decided to create a blog to hold my videos and websites that I have found relevant to that topic. I figure, when it is time to begin this unit, I will have a one-stop-shop for the resources that I would like to use.
My two grade seven classes have access to laptops and love to be involved in deciding what they learn and how they learn. So, here is my plan. Post the learning outcomes for the term (this will be my criteria by which I mark students) and ask the students what they want to learn. Would they like to learn about Quebec's Winter Carnaval? Great! I can lead the students through the research portion online and we can decide what the important vocabulary is for the unit, what "survival French" we would need for a visit to the city during the Carnaval and then students can search for and use (and create) tools to practice/learn the vocabulary. In fact, in my own research for Quebec Carnaval resources, I decided to create a blog to hold my videos and websites that I have found relevant to that topic. I figure, when it is time to begin this unit, I will have a one-stop-shop for the resources that I would like to use.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Photo Sharing Online
Again, this is not my first forage into photo sharing online. I have used Picassa in the past due to the fact that I have other friends using Picassa and we are able to share albums that way. Apparently, some time ago, I created an account with Flickr but never posted anything to it. Today was my first experience uploading, tagging, posting notes, and blogging my photos. I have to say that I think that I will convert!
MY OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH MY PHOTOS
Back in the days when we had to develop our photos to view and share them, I was the person who was always asked to "print doubles" or even triples of pictures so that I could give them away. That got a little bit pricey and if forgotten, I would have multiples of pictures floating around my house for months! I was so excited to make the switch to digital photography. Instead of printing out every photo, I could share photos online and invite specific people to view specific albums in a few simple steps. However, in doing so, I am also making the decision to put pictures of other people online. I am still struggling with the idea of giving my friends access to pictures of themselves but also giving them the option of keeping the pictures just to themselves. I haven't come up with an easy solution to that issue yet............
PROFESSIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF ONLINE SHARING
I am not going to delve into the professional implications of sharing my personal photos online as I trust myself to put in place the necessary precautions and securities to keep my personal photos (the ones that I wish to keep personal) safe. Instead I would like to focus on the professional implications of the use of Flickr and other photo sharing sites. Here are some of my ideas of how Flickr could become an integral part of my Language Arts curriculum:
1. Following Richardson's lead: Flicktion. I would either choose photos for students to write about or have students choose their own photos. There are plenty examples available to show students such as :
2. Choose photos for students to write dialogues for. This would work well in any second language course. Students could also create their own "comic books" by creating a slide show and writing subtitles for each picture.
3. Students could post pictures of poetry and use the "notes" function to label parts of the poem and/or explain personal connections throughout the poem.
4. A Day in the Life Of ________? Not much different from scrapbooking, but students could upload pictures from home and give other students a glimpse into their own lives. Maybe one student's cat is having kittens? Or maybe another student is learning how to ATV? How about A Day in the Life of a student from Africa?
5. Non-fiction writing. If students groan or quake at the idea of writing reports, they may be intrigued enough by the photos on Flickr to search out photos and facts and create an online report.
6. Poetry Slam. Instead of the traditional poetry reading at the end of the yearly poetry unit, have students create presentations including their poem, music and pictures to their writing?
Anyway, my head is swimming with all of the possible ideas and I know that I have only brushed the surface of what I could do with Flickr in my classroom. I can't wait settle in for another afternoon of playing around with this tool. I am still trying to find the best way to search for specific items on Flickr. Does anyone have any search tips that they can pass along to me?
MY OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH MY PHOTOS
Back in the days when we had to develop our photos to view and share them, I was the person who was always asked to "print doubles" or even triples of pictures so that I could give them away. That got a little bit pricey and if forgotten, I would have multiples of pictures floating around my house for months! I was so excited to make the switch to digital photography. Instead of printing out every photo, I could share photos online and invite specific people to view specific albums in a few simple steps. However, in doing so, I am also making the decision to put pictures of other people online. I am still struggling with the idea of giving my friends access to pictures of themselves but also giving them the option of keeping the pictures just to themselves. I haven't come up with an easy solution to that issue yet............
PROFESSIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF ONLINE SHARING
I am not going to delve into the professional implications of sharing my personal photos online as I trust myself to put in place the necessary precautions and securities to keep my personal photos (the ones that I wish to keep personal) safe. Instead I would like to focus on the professional implications of the use of Flickr and other photo sharing sites. Here are some of my ideas of how Flickr could become an integral part of my Language Arts curriculum:
1. Following Richardson's lead: Flicktion. I would either choose photos for students to write about or have students choose their own photos. There are plenty examples available to show students such as :
2. Choose photos for students to write dialogues for. This would work well in any second language course. Students could also create their own "comic books" by creating a slide show and writing subtitles for each picture.
3. Students could post pictures of poetry and use the "notes" function to label parts of the poem and/or explain personal connections throughout the poem.
4. A Day in the Life Of ________? Not much different from scrapbooking, but students could upload pictures from home and give other students a glimpse into their own lives. Maybe one student's cat is having kittens? Or maybe another student is learning how to ATV? How about A Day in the Life of a student from Africa?
5. Non-fiction writing. If students groan or quake at the idea of writing reports, they may be intrigued enough by the photos on Flickr to search out photos and facts and create an online report.
6. Poetry Slam. Instead of the traditional poetry reading at the end of the yearly poetry unit, have students create presentations including their poem, music and pictures to their writing?
Anyway, my head is swimming with all of the possible ideas and I know that I have only brushed the surface of what I could do with Flickr in my classroom. I can't wait settle in for another afternoon of playing around with this tool. I am still trying to find the best way to search for specific items on Flickr. Does anyone have any search tips that they can pass along to me?
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Not My First Blog
Although I am not new to setting up a blog, I am new to using a blog as something other than a glorified journal. None of the other two blogs that I have set up have amounted to anything beyond a three post site that have since faded into the vastness that is cyberspace. I chose blogger.com as my host for my blog because I am familiar with the layout and find that it is very user friendly.
I have high hopes for this blog as it already has a clear focus and purpose. I am going to use this blog to explore new web tools, reflect on my experiments, and share my experiences with fellow teachers. I have used websites to communicate with my students and their parents, but it has only been a read only experience for them. My concept of blogging has been greatly altered by reading Will Richardson's thoughts on their purpose. In the past, the weblogs that I have followed have been online journals of friends. Although reading their blogs has given me insight into their experiences and beliefs, it has not lead me to new experiences or grow personally or professionally.
In my professional life, I am proud to say that I take my professional development seriously and am always looking to take extra coursework or go to workshops to further develop as a teacher. I am ashamed to say that I have overlooked perhaps one of the most accessible resources for professional development. I did not realize that so many teachers out there had professional weblogs that I could access at any time of the day or night, for FREE! To tell you the truth, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of weblogs out there and am having trouble choosing a few to follow. I am one of those people that tends to get lost, following link after link until I have forgotten what I was originally looking for! My goal is to find a balance between trying new things and being able to keep these tools organized and updated so that they don't float away, forgotten with my past blogs.........
I have high hopes for this blog as it already has a clear focus and purpose. I am going to use this blog to explore new web tools, reflect on my experiments, and share my experiences with fellow teachers. I have used websites to communicate with my students and their parents, but it has only been a read only experience for them. My concept of blogging has been greatly altered by reading Will Richardson's thoughts on their purpose. In the past, the weblogs that I have followed have been online journals of friends. Although reading their blogs has given me insight into their experiences and beliefs, it has not lead me to new experiences or grow personally or professionally.
In my professional life, I am proud to say that I take my professional development seriously and am always looking to take extra coursework or go to workshops to further develop as a teacher. I am ashamed to say that I have overlooked perhaps one of the most accessible resources for professional development. I did not realize that so many teachers out there had professional weblogs that I could access at any time of the day or night, for FREE! To tell you the truth, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of weblogs out there and am having trouble choosing a few to follow. I am one of those people that tends to get lost, following link after link until I have forgotten what I was originally looking for! My goal is to find a balance between trying new things and being able to keep these tools organized and updated so that they don't float away, forgotten with my past blogs.........
Hypertext Minds, Parallel Cognitive Structures, Or Just Making Connections?
Will Richardson reflected on William D. Winn's ideas on the changing nature of student's cognitive structures. Winn called it "hypertext minds"(pg.7 Winn, Richardson). Non-linear thinking, jumping around between ideas. Although this idea has major implications on how we organize and present data to today's students, is it truly an earth-shattering idea? Please correct me if I am misunderstanding the idea of hypertext, but isn't that a new way of saying that we learn by making connections? Making connections is not a new concept for education. Technology is just enabling us to act on our connections as readers (clicking on a link) or to share our connections with others (posting links for our readers).
One of the most common traits of good readers is their ability to interact with the text as they are reading. In today's classrooms, I think teachers are making great leaps helping students make those connections. Although many students are responding well to the increased emphasis on making connections, many are also failing to make meaningful connections. Can we help those struggling students by presenting them connections at their finger tips?
Do I agree with Richardson when he states, "All of this paints the picture of an educational system that is out of touch with the way students learn" (pg.7 Richardson)? Maybe not. Have we found a way to reach MORE learners in a variety of ways? For sure!
One of the most common traits of good readers is their ability to interact with the text as they are reading. In today's classrooms, I think teachers are making great leaps helping students make those connections. Although many students are responding well to the increased emphasis on making connections, many are also failing to make meaningful connections. Can we help those struggling students by presenting them connections at their finger tips?
Do I agree with Richardson when he states, "All of this paints the picture of an educational system that is out of touch with the way students learn" (pg.7 Richardson)? Maybe not. Have we found a way to reach MORE learners in a variety of ways? For sure!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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