Confusion over Comments4Kids
I have put a new list of Comments4Kids Assignments on the spreadsheet. If you have already done a post for this week, that's OK. But if you haven't, do the one I have just added to the spreadsheet. And if already have done one, consider doing another so some student won't be left out! Thanks.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Did You Know 4.0
Did You Know 4.0 is now available! Add a review of this new version to the assignments already given for September 20, 2009.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Jim Fawcett Reflects on EDM310
This morning I met Jim Fawcett in the hall on te main campus. He was excited about the prospect of turning his presentation last night into a video. I demonstrated how I could make a movie from the presentation I captured on my Mac last night in class. In a little while (after my 11 class) his movie will be available here. Since we were practicing with video, I interviewed Jim using my iPhone and immediately transferred the video to You Tube. Here is that video, a brief demonstration of what you will be doing with faculty later in the semester.
The movie is also accessible through a URL Jim Fawcett Reflects on EDM310
The movie is also accessible through a URL Jim Fawcett Reflects on EDM310
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Blogs Where We Thought Comments Were Off
Wrong again. But that does not matter as long as we find out! Just click on the title of the article written by the 8th grader and you will be take to the entire article and comments will be available.
If your ran into this problem, please get started catching up with last week's assignment. As you can see from the eighth grade English class (in Virginia) blog English 8, the students are expecting you!
If your ran into this problem, please get started catching up with last week's assignment. As you can see from the eighth grade English class (in Virginia) blog English 8, the students are expecting you!
Comments4Kids Assignments Now Posted
1. Assignment is on your spreadsheet in Google Docs
2. See all special instructions
3. Single person assignments so if you don't do yours some kid will be left out. DO NOT let that happen.
4. One blog RBS 4th Grade works a bit differently. There are 43 entries into a Table of Contents on the left of the blog. Each entry in the Table of Contents is a post by a kid. Click on the TC number assigned you.
Then click on the icon shown here (looks like a piece of paper and a cloud, or the speech icon in a comic book) to get to the Comments area. It is to the right once you see the paragraph or more written by the kid.
5. Start as soon as possible. The teachers expect comments tomorrow. If you have not watched the video in link on the previous post, do so! Then you will understand how important this assignment is!
2. See all special instructions
3. Single person assignments so if you don't do yours some kid will be left out. DO NOT let that happen.
4. One blog RBS 4th Grade works a bit differently. There are 43 entries into a Table of Contents on the left of the blog. Each entry in the Table of Contents is a post by a kid. Click on the TC number assigned you.
Then click on the icon shown here (looks like a piece of paper and a cloud, or the speech icon in a comic book) to get to the Comments area. It is to the right once you see the paragraph or more written by the kid.
5. Start as soon as possible. The teachers expect comments tomorrow. If you have not watched the video in link on the previous post, do so! Then you will understand how important this assignment is!
Monday, September 7, 2009
If You Are Not Convinced About the Power of Blogging and Commenting...
...just read this thank you from Ms. Priscilla Lavakula, teacher of Room 10 Pt England School, Auckland, New Zealand and then watch the video.
"Hi Dr Strange,
The children and I have made a movie for you and your class. We will also will be posting it on our blog. It's just to say thank you to you and your students for leaving us lots of lovely comments. The children have also included questions.Thanks again.
Kind regards
Priscilla Lavakula"
Teacher, Room 10
Pt England School
Auckland, New Zealand
In a separate in an email to me, Dorothy Burt, eLearning Team Leader at Pt England School said that the children in this school came from the poorest families in New Zealand, few having technologies in their home. She went on to explain why they blog:
"We actually blog as part of our approach to Schooling Improvement via 21st century literacy, and we have a researcher working along side us to see how our literacy improves as we blog. Our research shows so far that access to technology AND the response from an authentic audience are the two biggest motivators to our students to write. And the classes/students who blog have had some amazing improvements in their test scores.
We have lots of blogs at our school. They can mostly be accessed form here.
http://www.ptengland.school.nz/index.php?family=1,451
And I blog about the pedagogy behind our student blogging here....
http://manaiakalani.blogspot.com/2009/02/literacy-cycle.html"
If you read this, and aren't blogging and having your students blog, you I recommend you get started immediately!
A Wordle of EDM310 Class Blog
This is a Wordle created by linking the EDM 310 Class Blog to Jonathan Feinberg's wonderful Wordle page.
To see a larger version of the picture, just click on it.
Picture Too Large for Google Presentation?
If Google tells you that it can't upload your picture into Google Docs/Presentation, what do you do? Watch the new movie (second from last in Instructional Movies by John H Strange on right)Reduce Picture Size with Picasa.
This will work for PCs and Macs. But Mac user will probably find it easier to use iPhoto. I'll do a quick movie on that later today.
You can also use Adobe Photoshop Elements which is on all the computers in OUR lab classroom (not other labs). I will do a short movie on that techniques as well later today.
This will work for PCs and Macs. But Mac user will probably find it easier to use iPhoto. I'll do a quick movie on that later today.
You can also use Adobe Photoshop Elements which is on all the computers in OUR lab classroom (not other labs). I will do a short movie on that techniques as well later today.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
I Need My Teachers To Learn
John Strange says I found this video on At The Teachers Desk posted by Mr. William Chamberlain. I urge all teachers and aspiring teachers to watch it and think about the message in it. Also, my students should think of it as an example of one technique that could be used for their "Substantive Presentations" due near the end of the semester. Listen to the song written by Kevin Honeycutt from ESSDACK Video. Check out other YouTube Videos Directed/Edited by Shawn Gormley (otherwise known as changingworldbyfilm).
Mr. Chamberlain said:
I found this video on Wesley Fryer's blog Moving at the Speed of Creativity. I think this is an excellent example of how to create content that is powerful and meaningful. Watch the video below and listen to the message. Do you think this video might change the way someone you know thinks of using tech in the classroom?
Mr. Chamberlain said:
I found this video on Wesley Fryer's blog Moving at the Speed of Creativity. I think this is an excellent example of how to create content that is powerful and meaningful. Watch the video below and listen to the message. Do you think this video might change the way someone you know thinks of using tech in the classroom?
Mr. Needleman's Visit
On Tuesday September 1 Mathew Needleman visited (via Skype) two of my EDM 310 classes. This was very exciting for me and, I think, for my students as well.
On the previous Thursday, when leaving the TT 11 class, one student mentioned that she had a comment on her blog from "some guy named Mathew that I don't know." Immediately behind her, the student said "Yeah, I had a comment from him too. Isn't that the guy who wrote the movie?" I interjected, "What? You got a comment from the author of 'Mr. Winkle Wakes', Mathew Needleman?" "I think so. How did he find us?" I guessed as to how he found us (and was wrong it turns out). The students left. And then, checking my email I had one from Mr. Needleman volunteering to speak to one of my classes the next Tuesday. I could hardly wait. What serendipity! A chance to demonstrate the power of their assignments to comment on kids blogs (see the post immediately below this one).
In my email thanking Mr. Needleman for his visit, I explained why I assigned my students to comment on other kids blogs (as Mr. Needleman had done for several of my students). I include this here because it is important for my students, and other teachers, to understand the power of the new communications technologies. Oh yes, and all of this is FREE! And thanks also to Mr. Chamberlain (@wmchamberlain) who taught me how important it is to leave comments!
I make the assignment to my students to comment of kids blogs around the world because I want to:
a) Encourage comments on blogs they visit
b) Get them to see what kids can do with blogs (kids - not students in a college class!)
c) Get them to see real classes that use technology - and to understand its role in the curriculum
d) Let them identify teachers who could be helpful to them when they start teaching
e) Get them out of a classroom into the world
f) Use the technologies themselves
And now, take a few minutes and listen to Mr. Needleman and the conversations he had (after a brief introduction) with my students! It skips a bit since, even in our labs, there was insufficient broadband to have a perfect transmission of the video and audio. But that did not matter to TT 11 and TT 2. Enjoy. And don't forget to leave a comment!
On the previous Thursday, when leaving the TT 11 class, one student mentioned that she had a comment on her blog from "some guy named Mathew that I don't know." Immediately behind her, the student said "Yeah, I had a comment from him too. Isn't that the guy who wrote the movie?" I interjected, "What? You got a comment from the author of 'Mr. Winkle Wakes', Mathew Needleman?" "I think so. How did he find us?" I guessed as to how he found us (and was wrong it turns out). The students left. And then, checking my email I had one from Mr. Needleman volunteering to speak to one of my classes the next Tuesday. I could hardly wait. What serendipity! A chance to demonstrate the power of their assignments to comment on kids blogs (see the post immediately below this one).
In my email thanking Mr. Needleman for his visit, I explained why I assigned my students to comment on other kids blogs (as Mr. Needleman had done for several of my students). I include this here because it is important for my students, and other teachers, to understand the power of the new communications technologies. Oh yes, and all of this is FREE! And thanks also to Mr. Chamberlain (@wmchamberlain) who taught me how important it is to leave comments!
I make the assignment to my students to comment of kids blogs around the world because I want to:
a) Encourage comments on blogs they visit
b) Get them to see what kids can do with blogs (kids - not students in a college class!)
c) Get them to see real classes that use technology - and to understand its role in the curriculum
d) Let them identify teachers who could be helpful to them when they start teaching
e) Get them out of a classroom into the world
f) Use the technologies themselves
And now, take a few minutes and listen to Mr. Needleman and the conversations he had (after a brief introduction) with my students! It skips a bit since, even in our labs, there was insufficient broadband to have a perfect transmission of the video and audio. But that did not matter to TT 11 and TT 2. Enjoy. And don't forget to leave a comment!
Your Comments4Kids Are Having An Impact
An Email from Dorthy Burt in New Zealand:
Dear Dr Strange
We were very pleased to have you visit one of our class blogs yesterday and leave our students such warm feedback. They (and of course their young teacher, Priscilla) were thrilled to hear from you.
We are not sure how you came across our blog, but incase you know nothing about us, we are a primary school in Auckland New Zealand. In NZ schools are ranked by the socio-econimic status of their parents (true) so we are 1a which is the poorest you can get. 66% or our students are Pasifika (parents from the Pacific islands and 33% are NZ Maori.
Our students are amazingly clever kids and love learning, but because of lack of funds their homes do not have a lot of technology. So it is not easy for them to get comments from family and friends on their blogs. This makes the possibility of visits from people such as yourself and your students especially important to us.
We actually blog as part of our approach to Schooling Improvement via 21st century literacy, and we have a researcher working along side us to see how our literacy improves as we blog. Our research shows so far that access to technology AND the response from an authentic audience are the two biggest motivators to our students to write. And the classes/students who blog have had some amazing improvements in their test scores.
We have lots of blogs at our school. They can mostly be accessed form here.
http://www.ptengland.school.nz/index.php?family=1,451
And I blog about the pedagogy behind our student blogging here....
http://manaiakalani.blogspot.com/2009/02/literacy-cycle.html
Thanks once again for your interest
Dorothy
A Tweet from Susan Carter Morgan in Virginia (@scmorgan)
Dear Dr Strange
We were very pleased to have you visit one of our class blogs yesterday and leave our students such warm feedback. They (and of course their young teacher, Priscilla) were thrilled to hear from you.
We are not sure how you came across our blog, but incase you know nothing about us, we are a primary school in Auckland New Zealand. In NZ schools are ranked by the socio-econimic status of their parents (true) so we are 1a which is the poorest you can get. 66% or our students are Pasifika (parents from the Pacific islands and 33% are NZ Maori.
Our students are amazingly clever kids and love learning, but because of lack of funds their homes do not have a lot of technology. So it is not easy for them to get comments from family and friends on their blogs. This makes the possibility of visits from people such as yourself and your students especially important to us.
We actually blog as part of our approach to Schooling Improvement via 21st century literacy, and we have a researcher working along side us to see how our literacy improves as we blog. Our research shows so far that access to technology AND the response from an authentic audience are the two biggest motivators to our students to write. And the classes/students who blog have had some amazing improvements in their test scores.
We have lots of blogs at our school. They can mostly be accessed form here.
http://www.ptengland.school.nz/index.php?family=1,451
And I blog about the pedagogy behind our student blogging here....
http://manaiakalani.blogspot.com/2009/02/literacy-cycle.html
Thanks once again for your interest
Dorothy
A Tweet from Susan Carter Morgan in Virginia (@scmorgan)
Friday, September 4, 2009
Layout Information Incorrect for TT 11
I gave you incorrect information for the links to mail.
The links should not include http://
Remove the 7 characters above, SAVE and all should work OK. Remove from both email links if you did two.
A revised video is available that corrects the mistake.
Sorry! But it won't be my last mistake I assure you.
The links should not include http://
Remove the 7 characters above, SAVE and all should work OK. Remove from both email links if you did two.
A revised video is available that corrects the mistake.
Sorry! But it won't be my last mistake I assure you.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Project 6 Starts - Comments4Kids
Your assignments are on a spreadsheet. I sent you an invitation to view the spreadsheet to your gMail account. Instructions are now available in the Syllabus and Handouts area of this blog. A video will also be posted regarding this assignment. But get started now.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Transcript of Did You Know? 3.0 Now Available
Courtesy of Anthony Capps (W6). Can be found in Syllabus and Handouts.
Thanks, Anthony!
Thanks, Anthony!
Check This Blog Daily
You are responsible for checking this blog daily. I am continually posting to it and you are required to keep those posts and changes in mind as you do your work.
One reason for a working RSS feed is to keep up with this blog!
One reason for a working RSS feed is to keep up with this blog!
Trouble Leaving Comments with Firefox
For the second straight week I have been unable to leave comments using Firefox on a Mac. I have reported that to Google. If you are using a Mac, use Safari. It works. If you are using a PC, try using Safari. You can download it free from Apple. Or download Chrome from Google. See if it works. Firefox was working OK on a PC the last time I tried, as long as you have signed in first. But you never know. Please report other difficulties to me.
Week 3
Here's what we covered in Week 3:
1. Mr. Mathew Needleman Skyped in to the class. The recording of his visit will be available no later than Friday midnight on the class blog under Important Links.
2. We covered RSS Feeds. and we introduced iGoogle. There are instructional videos on both. You must have an RSS of the class blog feed working on your iGoogle page by next week.
3. We covered Layouts. You must have two new Layout Gadgets working by next week on your blog. They are; a Gadget foe Email Me using your gMail address and another email address if you use another address. The second Gadget you must have by next week is an Important Links gadget with a link to the class blog. There is a video on the class blog under Instructional Video that covers this material.
5. Assignments were made for the first round of Project 8. You were emailed (to your gMail address) a spreadsheet with the assignments. You should do these on THURSDAY every week. There is also a written set of instructions on the class blog under Syllabus and Handouts. You must read that handout before you begin to make your comments. You must also post to your class blog after you have completed your weekly assignment. These assignments will continue throughout the semester.
AND...
We did not get to:
a. You must have an Evernote account. I hope to have a video on Evernote up on the class blog by Friday or Saturday. If you missed class this week, watch for it.
b. We covered three tools for shortening URLs. I hope to have a video on these tools up on the class blog by Friday or Saturday.
c. We started a discussion on Search techniques. More will follow. I hope to have a video on search techniques up on the class blog by the end of next week (9/11).
d. Forms
4. You must create a Delicious account and begin using it. There is a video on the class blog under Instructional Videos. Did only in W 6
AND in TT 11 I provided incorrect instructions for the mailto: code. The correct code should NOT have http:// in it. Please go to Layout and correct by removing the http:// The code should read (after the a tag beginning) href="mailto:...
Sorry about that. First mistake I made yesterday. (Well among the first 100. We learn from mistakes. Do not be afraid of them. Use them to learn!)
We will get to these things in Week 5.
1. Mr. Mathew Needleman Skyped in to the class. The recording of his visit will be available no later than Friday midnight on the class blog under Important Links.
2. We covered RSS Feeds. and we introduced iGoogle. There are instructional videos on both. You must have an RSS of the class blog feed working on your iGoogle page by next week.
3. We covered Layouts. You must have two new Layout Gadgets working by next week on your blog. They are; a Gadget foe Email Me using your gMail address and another email address if you use another address. The second Gadget you must have by next week is an Important Links gadget with a link to the class blog. There is a video on the class blog under Instructional Video that covers this material.
5. Assignments were made for the first round of Project 8. You were emailed (to your gMail address) a spreadsheet with the assignments. You should do these on THURSDAY every week. There is also a written set of instructions on the class blog under Syllabus and Handouts. You must read that handout before you begin to make your comments. You must also post to your class blog after you have completed your weekly assignment. These assignments will continue throughout the semester.
AND...
We did not get to:
a. You must have an Evernote account. I hope to have a video on Evernote up on the class blog by Friday or Saturday. If you missed class this week, watch for it.
b. We covered three tools for shortening URLs. I hope to have a video on these tools up on the class blog by Friday or Saturday.
c. We started a discussion on Search techniques. More will follow. I hope to have a video on search techniques up on the class blog by the end of next week (9/11).
d. Forms
4. You must create a Delicious account and begin using it. There is a video on the class blog under Instructional Videos. Did only in W 6
AND in TT 11 I provided incorrect instructions for the mailto: code. The correct code should NOT have http:// in it. Please go to Layout and correct by removing the http:// The code should read (after the a tag beginning) href="mailto:...
Sorry about that. First mistake I made yesterday. (Well among the first 100. We learn from mistakes. Do not be afraid of them. Use them to learn!)
We will get to these things in Week 5.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
New Videos and a New Handout
I have revised the video on Layouts in Blogger. The new video can be found in the Instructional Videos by John H Strange section to the right under the title Blogger - Layout
I have prepared a handout (available in the Syllabus and Handouts section to the right) explaining how to use Delicious and how to add some important Delicious tools to Firefox. It is called Delicious and Firefox. In addition, I have prepared a video to accompany that handout. The new video can be found in the Instructional Videos by John H Strange section to the right under the title Delicious and Firefox: Using Delicious.
I have prepared a handout (available in the Syllabus and Handouts section to the right) explaining how to use Delicious and how to add some important Delicious tools to Firefox. It is called Delicious and Firefox. In addition, I have prepared a video to accompany that handout. The new video can be found in the Instructional Videos by John H Strange section to the right under the title Delicious and Firefox: Using Delicious.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Comments on Your Posts
I have just finished TT 2 and TT 4. Making progress! Only W6 and the assignments due last Sunday are still to be dealt with.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Do Not Remove Comments Before You Consult With Me
I will repeat what I said in class this week.
I do not anticipate the need to remove a comment made on your blog, but two people can remove a comment: the owner of the blog and the person who posted the comment.
If you believe it is necessary to remove a comment that has posted to your blog, do not do so until you have consulted with me and I have approved its removal.
I do not anticipate the need to remove a comment made on your blog, but two people can remove a comment: the owner of the blog and the person who posted the comment.
If you believe it is necessary to remove a comment that has posted to your blog, do not do so until you have consulted with me and I have approved its removal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
