The Wired Classroom

While I wasn’t able to make it to NECC, many of my Cooperating School District colleagues were able to, as well as my v/c community friends. Roxanne Glaser and Janine Lim are in San Antonio, Texas, and they are updating their respective blogs with all the stuff that is taking place! To check in on what’s going on, visit VC Rox and Videoconferencing Out on a Lim. Janine has several interviews linked on her blog with content providers, including Tonya Muro and Lisa Inks from Global Nomads Group. Roxanne & Janine, thanks for being so thorough and timely with your NECC blog posts!

 Janine Lim and Sue Porter talk about Read Around the Planet

(Don’t be confused by my screen shot (I liked the picture)!
Please click on “talk” above to see the clip).

To read up on NECC, visit http://www.necc2008.org/.

Today was the final of three days in Movie-Making in the Classroom: Creating Digital Stories and Photo Essays (June 23, 24 & 26 in the tele). Martha & Stacey taught the class, and Karen Montgomery was on hand. Participants had their choice of using Windows MovieMaker (PC), iMovie (Mac), or PhotoStory 3 (PC) to create their movie.

Today was the Boundless Learning in Videoconferencing tele class. Districts represented were Hazelwood, Ritenour, Francis Howell, Normandy, and Parkway. During the day, participants learned about videoconferencing- everything from the equipment to programs to funding. We connected the class to three content providers- across town, across state, and across the country! Saint Louis University (AIMS), The Discovery Center in Springfield, and the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY all provided v/c demos, sharing what they bring into classrooms. In addition to learning about different kinds of content offered, participants learned where to find programs and the best ways to schedule them. 

We told participants where to find free videoconferences (government agencies like Library of Congress and NASA). Multipoint versus point-to-point were covered, as was “upon request” and set times- common buzzwords. Participating teachers happened to be in New Links to New Learning districts, so we also shared what membership means. Of course, we gave them time ask questions, to click around the Moodle, to check various v/c content provider databases, and to skim all those v/c blogs out there!

Last year’s videoconferences on forgiveness & empathy were so popular that we’ve decided to do a series on forgiveness this upcoming school year! We’re working with Lynne Lang of BJC School Outreach & Youth Development to put together five or six professional development sessions together. These sessions will be part of New Links to New Learning’s Mental Health videoconference series. Our target audience is high school staff for the forgiveness series. We’re still working on dates, fees, etc., but once those are set, we’ll post them.

We are also doing three of our traditional one hour videoconferences. Those will start in January and run through March. The interactive videoconferences always run 4 to 5 o’clock central.  2009 topics include: dealing with the death of a classmate on January 8; media literacy and teen behavior on February 12; and peer versus sibling bullying on March 12. 

If you have questions about the Mental Health series or if you want to sign up for any of the videoconferences, contact me, Rebecca Morrison, at rmorrison@csd.org. 

K12 Online Conference is a free, collaborative, world-wide program- created by educators, for educators. If you click on the orange box above, you’ll go directly to the website where you will find a lot of information! 2008 is the third year for the October conference and presentations are still needed, according to the site: “this is our second call for proposals for the third annual “K12 Online Conference” for educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice.” The deadline for submissions as been extended to July 11.

A little history: in 2006 and 2007, David Warlick was the keynote, presenting “Derailing Education: Taking Sidetrips for Learning” and “Inventing the New Boundaries”. On the website, you can click around and learn how to get professional development and graduate credit for participating in the K12 Online Conference. There’s a section for “first timers” and a link to the Ning set up by participants. Sounds interesting! All presentations will be archived online, and the conference has a Twitter account to update interested parties. You might want to take a few minutes and click around the website and see what they’ve done, and what they plan to do, and what you can do with Web 2.0.

 In an earlier post, we congratulated Cindy Lane from the  Lindbergh School District on being accepted to the Google  Teacher Academy. She’ll be heading to California next week.  We wanted to learn more about it, so we visited Google (that’s  where we also found the icon to the left) and here’s what the website says:

“The Google Teacher Academy is a FREE professional development experience designed to help K-12 educators get the most from innovative technologies. Each Academy is an intensive, one-day event where participants get hands-on experience with Google’s free products and other technologies, learn about innovative instructional strategies, receive resources to share with colleagues, and immerse themselves in an innovative corporate environment. Upon completion, Academy participants become Google Certified Teachers who share what they learn with other K-12 educators in their local region. 

A Google Certified teacher is an educator attended a Google Teacher Academy and is now a Google Certified Teacher. Google Certified Teachers are:

• Exceptional K-12 educators with a passion for using innovative tools to improve teaching and learning.
• Creative leaders who understand their local needs and can spread innovation as a recognized expert.
• Ambassadors for change who model high expectations, life-long learning, collaboration, equity & inclusion, and innovation.
• Certified in Google technology and able to lend their knowledge to you through professional development.

Each Google Certified Teacher has:

• Developed a “Personal Action Plan” to extend their learning to their community.
• Actively participated in the Google Certified Teacher Online Community.
• Shared the impact of their work with other Google Certified Teachers and will continue to do so through an end-of-year reflection.“

We’ve set up the following dates/times for Pat McKissack’s upcoming videoconferences. Pat is an award winning author who has written over 100 books! She does three part series, the first session always with teachers, the second and third with students. For more details and descriptions on the interactive programs, visit www.authorvisit.wordpress.com.

Winter Holidays Around  the World 
November  4, 2008-  4 pm
November  25, 2008-  9:30  or 11 am
December  16, 2008- 9:30  or 11 am

Creative Writing
Fall dates/times:                        Spring dates/times:
November 11- 4 pm                  February 24- 4 pm 
November 25- 1 or 2 pm           March 3- 9:30 or 11 am 
December 16- 1 or 2 pm           March 17- 9:30 or 11 am

Fact vs. Opinion with Arlene Zarembka
February 17, 2009 -  4 pm 
March 3, 2009-  1 or 2 pm
March 17, 2009-  1 or 2 pm

You’ll note that we are offering Creative Writing once in the spring, and once in the fall. We are also going to bring back the Historical Fiction/Biography series, but we haven’t set those dates- yet- but check here and at Pat’s blog, Can You Imagine? for updates. All times listed are central- Pat videoconferences live from St. Louis, Missouri at Cooperating School Districts. The cost for each series is $650 for New Links to New Learning members, and $750 for non-members. For information on New Links to New Learning, click here.

 While Martha and Stacey are in the podcasting class today, Ruth is  attending a week long training with Dr. Jim Knight. His area of focus  is instructional coaching. Dr. Knight is from the University of Kansas’ Center for Research on Learning.  According to its website, “Instructional coaches adhere to three core principles: Choice, dialogue, and knowledge in action.” Also, “Instructional coaches are on-site professional developers who teach educators how to use proven instructional methods. To be successful in this role, coaches must be skilled in a variety of roles, including public relations guru, communicator extraordinaire, master organizer and, of course, expert educator.”

Today Ruth reports Dr. Knight has discussed the complexity of change, and how to approach change. She said he’s emphasized that people are willing to make change, but often do no commit to sticking with the change, and that’s as important- it has to be integrated (and maintained!) to be sustainable. She’s really excited about the training. We’ll report back more throughout the week. In the meantime, check out the website:
http://www.instructionalcoach.org/.

Today teachers learned from Ron Carr and Bill Bass how to record digital audio broadcasts, edit them & upload them to the web- how to create a podcast. So much was covered- from products to production! Just a few tidbits: the technical needs for creating a podcast were reviewed, like having a microphone and a USB headset. The better input you have, the better quality recording you’ll get. They talked about different programs for making podcasts (there are many options!)- like using Audacity and GarageBand. They discussed how to make your message clear & reach your target audience when you podcast. Ron and Bill shared many tips & tricks for creating and finding quality podcasts. Martha and Stacey were on-hand in the tele to assist & answer questions.

Show-Me a Movie is an annual digital storytelling contest for Missouri students to demonstrate their creativity & digital movie making skills. Based on curriculum and with a content focus, videos will showcase what students know, care about, and are able to do. What does your class have to say?

There are 3 divisions: Elementary: Grades 2 - 5; Middle School: Grades 6 - 8; High School: Grades 9 - 12. There are 4 categories: Show Me Something New; Show Me a Story; Show Me a Challenge; and Show Me Your Community.

Furthermore, each 2 minute video is judged in five categories by a panel: Content, Creativity, Storyboarding, Videography for Live Action or Videography for Animation, and Reflection.

The deadline to submit the 2 minute movies is December 15, 2008 at 5 p.m. Mailed entries must be addressed to: 

Show-Me a Movie
Cooperating School Districts
1460 Craig Rd.
St. Louis, MO 63146
(E-mailed entries should be sent to mbogart@csd.org - just remember to also submit the paperwork before 5 p.m.)

For complete rules and details, like teacher checklists, please visit  http://www2.csd.org/showmemovie/index.htm.  Winners will be showcased at a reception during METC 2009.  Questions about Show-Me a Movie? Contact Martha Bogart at 314-692-1258.