One of the things I really like about my position as ES Technology & Learning Coach is the opportunity to work with a wide variety of colleagues, all of whom are in different places in their own personal technology journey as well as different grade levels of students.

Every classroom in the ES has a class blog.  They are “windows into the classroom” and used in a variety of ways.  Here’s some of the things our teachers do to bring parents into the classroom digitally:

• Newsletter posts (no more paper)
  Some teachers create a newsletter pdf for parents to download – some write the newsletter right in a post
• Class Magazine (using Youblisher)
  Embeds in a post and turns pages just like a magazine.  G4-5 students take turns at creating the magazine rather than the teacher.
• All links are in one place – the class blog!
  This requires the students & their parents to visit the blog to access information
• Homework posted on the class blog
  Sometimes the student homework is to get their parents to comment on a post! Kids love it when their parents have to do some homework too!
• Use the email subscription widget – (Especially excellent to have ready at Back to School Night)
  This handy plugin makes it easy for parents to sign up with their email account to receive an email whenever the class blog is updated.  As the teacher, you can also see who is signed up to receive this kind of notification
• Facebook Page (Parents can “like” the page & receive status updates)
  Some teachers have trialed the use of a class facebook page as a “snapshot in time” into the class – due to our policy of discouraging our ES students having a facebook account – only the teacher logs in and updates this page – although wouldn’t it be great if it was a student’s class job to update the class facebook page 4 times a day with what was going on – images & reflections
• Each class has a Collection on our school flickr account
  This collection URL does not change so it’s linked on the class blog – everytime a new set goes in the collection, the link automatically shows the latest images!

  There’s some of our ideas.  What things does your school/class do to digitally bring parents into the classroom?

Click here to view the embedded video.

By the way … we are truly lucky to have Amy Krouse Rosenthal visiting ISB in the new year! I am very excited to meet her! Click on her name above to access her site.

Of course, today is even more special as it is my son’s birthday – he’s 10 (wouldn’t it have been so cool if he was turning 11?).

Currently I use Presentation Zen for PD sessions with faculty as much as I can, but when I was in the classroom I used Presentation Zen Keynotes for Readers and Writers Workshop.  The result in the classroom was (I think) better conversations, shorter mini-lessons and increased motivation and inspiration – especially for writing.

Recently at the JIS Technology Learning Institute, the Presentation Zen- Introduction session I ran, was very popular.  Below I’ve included the Keynote (uploaded to SlideShare) to introduce the basics of Presentation Zen.  After the basics, we looked at an actual Readers Workshop keynote that I’d used in the past, then I asked the session participants to begin work on their own Presentation Zen keynote.  It was a great way to not only introduce the basics of keynote, but encouraged a really good conversation about Creative Commons and copyright, which a lot of schools are struggling with.

Do you use PresentationZen? What ways do you use it?

Below is the Keynote from the first Blogging Session – How To Get Started that I did with JIS Faculty – unfortunately their blogging platform was not ready – so I did a lot of the talking. Good questions were asked and I hope I answered most of them – especially about why Blogging in the Classroom can be so rewarding for students (and for the teacher – after the initial hard work!).

I also hoped to do another session with the JIS faculty – Blogging – Making it Sustainable! But as with these things, we ran out of time. I’ve included it below as well. Special thanks needs to go out to my twitter PLN mates for their super ideas on sustaining blogging in the classroom – @dakinane @heymilly @lenva @pam_thompson @allanahk @glassbeed – you guys are awesome and included in the credits!

It seems that this is a “hot topic” in a lot of schools as we head back to begin another school year.  JIS, was no exception.  We started off with a great conversation about ipads vs laptops vs netbooks – why would I want one of these in my class?  My personal opinion is, it’s another tool – use what you’ve got – experiment with what you’ve got – make what’s been made available to you work.  I’m also one of those people who’s prepared to purchase my own tool to experiment with to see if it works in the classroom for my students and/or myself before I ask admin to consider purchasing said-tools for the classroom.

A couple of days ago, I bought the iPad2.  (My son already has an iPad – it’s become his personal device – so I really don’t have the heart to permanently “borrow” his!  And that’s exactly what the iPad is supposed to be – a personal device.  But, we teachers like to take things that we only have one or two of, and make it work in the classroom environment with many more “bodies” that it was originally designed for!  (That’s why we’re such a creative and innovative bunch!).  So I believe you can make 6 iPads work in class of 20/22/32.  It will take organisation, it will need experimenting, and it will take some effort – but it can be done!

I’m glad we had an opportunity to talk about iPads in the classroom, I’m glad that teachers were able to voice their concerns, their excitement and their questions before we got down and dirty with some top apps for the classroom and ways to use them!  JIS has purchased 40 iPad2′s for their campuses.  I’m hoping that I’ll hear how it’s going and what teachers are doing with them in classroom over the coming year!

Now, here’s the part of the session that really started to buzz – the apps!  Oh the apps! There’s so many great apps out there! So, modeling one of the new online tools that I’d already exposed the teachers too, I used LiveBinders.com to create a resource called iPad Apps for the Classroom.  Click on the link or click on the image below to see this resource.

Uploaded with Skitch!

LiveBinders was perfect for introducing 9 other fabulous tools to use in the classroom – not just at the start of the year, but all year long.  Please, feel free to add your ideas to the side text boxes if you’re using these simple tools in the classroom too.

I loved the format of our session, so I thought I’d share that with you too:

• Share the LiveBinders link:  http://livebinders.com
• Search for teachingsagittarian in public binders
• Begin with Tab #10 (LiveBinders of course)
• Show sign-up, a few features like edit menu, text layout – set the timer for 7 minutes and have sand-pit (dabble) time
• When the timer goes, you have to share something you discovered when playing around with the tool, with the person sitting next to you (3 minutes)
• Repeat with next tool – Tab #1 – #9

This is a really good way to minimize the “teacher is the expert” thinking or expectation in your classroom.  I always “dabble” a little before I introduce any new tool to my students – but I let them “discover” things too.  Almost every time I do this, someone discovers something else I didn’t know about the tool – it’s very empowering for students to discover something the teacher doesn’t know!  I love it! And in less than 20 minutes most of the students in your class have a fair idea of how that tool works!  Sometimes I’ll ask for 4-6 volunteers to show small group something they’ve learned to do – then we’ll do a round robin of discovery – it takes a bit to organise, but worth the effort too.

So, here it is – The LiveBinder “10 Online Tools to Kick Start the Year (click the images or the link)

Uploaded with Skitch!

Hope you find it useful!  What are your favourite online tools?

Image by Mark Brannan http://www.flickr.com/photos/23403402@N00/1197947341/

It’s been a humbling experience to be invited to Jakarta International School as a consultant for their Technology Learning Institute PD.  This is the second time JIS has conducted this kind of PD for their faculty – but this time, if teachers wanted to attend, they returned 3 days early from their Summer Break.  And quite a few of them did!

For the past 3 days, they have been taking part in technology PD sessions run by their incredibly talented team of team integrators/librarian/techie staff faculty members from across the Elementary, Middle and High schools.  From Moodle to iWorks to iLife to Blogs to Online Tools to PresentationZen – the attendees have had a plethora of sessions to choose from.  A flexible, adaptable schedule with time-out sessions added to process or work on something new, added up to a low stress (although overwhelming at times for those new to technology) fun-filled three days of learning.  It was an absolute pleasure and honour to have been a part of this experience and special thanks must go to Lindy B (who asked JIS to bring me in, because she’d been reading my blog!)

Special thanks too, to my awesome PLN who helped me with ideas for a couple of my sessions – your input, as always, is the reason twitter remains one of my favourite places for learning new things!

Over the next few posts, I’ll be sharing links/presentations etc that I used with JIS.

Here’s the first:  Ten Online Tools to Kick Start the Year

One of my many favourite sessions with Grade 5 bloggers has to be our Beginning Blogging Sessions.  When classroom teachers decide that they want to blog (individual blogs) with their students, they can book me for 4-6 getting-started sessions.  These sessions go hand-in-hand with our Digital Literacy Unit for the start of the year.

Our Guiding Question:   What makes a quality post?

Investigate:

We used the “noisy round-robin” techniques to get all our ideas down on paper.

Noisy Round Robin Technique:
In groups of 4, brainstorm ideas for 1-2 minutes then pass your sheet of paper to the next table.
Rule 1: 1 person to read all responses to rest of group
Rule 2: Add more ideas/responses to the new sheet but DO NOT repeat what you have already added to the previous sheet/s.  Repeat process 3-6 times.  Groups then decide on top 2-4 ideas on their sheet.

Plan:

One person from each group reported back the top idea from the chart.  No repeats are allowed, so students had to listen to each other.  Everyone had to agree that the idea belonged on the master list of what makes a quality post?

Create:

Here’s what I was hoping they would come up with:

• Make sure your work is the best it can be
• Think before you post: Make sure what you write is appropriate to put online
• Always tell the truth on your posts
• Say what you mean, and mean what you say
• Online work is NOT private. Never say anything on a blog that you wouldn’t mind seeing on the school bulletin board, or in the local newspaper
• Get descriptive in your title. The title helps your audience decide if they want to read your post or not.
• Try to link to other ideas or resources that back up the point you are trying to get across or further explain or enhance your content.
• Is your post learning related?
• Make your writing physically attractive. Add a supportive image, use bullets and paragraphs appropriately
• Give credit in your works cited list to anyone whose work you use. Never use other people’s work and call it your own. In other words, don’t cut, copy, or plagiarize Internet content!
• Share your knowledge with others; when you learn something new, pass it along to someone else who can benefit
• Carefully proofread your online work before you post, just like you would a regular letter. Use good form, spelling and grammar
• Capital letters are regarded as “SHOUTING.” Be careful with them
• Don’t publicly criticize (or “flame”) others. Don’t be offensive, and don’t ever use bad language

Final List for “What Makes a Quality Post”:

1. Don’t offend people (no swear words, insults, racist comments, and no discrimination).
2. Add images, videos, and captions if necessary or if it is related to your writing.
3. Be thoughtful when posting. Start with a good idea.
4. Check your punctuation spelling and grammar! (Capital letters= shouting, so only use it when it is needed).
5. Keep your personal information PRIVATE!
6. Make your reader (audience) feel like you are talking to them.
7. Always have a title. And be sure to make your title a hook.

What I’ve noticed is that when students help construct a list, they are more likely to understand the foundations of a good quality post – more so that just brainstorming a list together as a class.  It gives the teacher more of an idea of what the students are thinking about blogging already.

The “noisy round robin” technique is certainly that – noisy!  But I like it and I’m pretty sure the students do too.  Everyone has a voice, everyone can contribute and from others’ ideas grow more ideas!

Each of the 23 links below take you to an Edublogs Teacher Challenge page for a tool with an overview, a task & challenge plus help & support links.

What a perfect challenge for the summer if you’ve got time to dabble with this list of free web tools.  It will only take 30 days!  Some of them you will have heard of before.  Which ones will you try out?

#1 – Wallwisher
A Web 2.0 free online tool where anyone can build a “wall”.  Discussing a new idea? Taking notes? Giving feedback? Voicing opinion? Wishing a happy birthday?  Your students can then go onto the internet and stick post-it notes electronically onto your wall.  The notes can include linked pictures, You Tube videos, PowerPoints, PDF documents, Excel Spreadsheets, or web page links.

#2 – Self-grading Quizzes
Learn how to create a self grading, multiple choice quiz using Google Docs

#3 – Bitstrips for Schools
A web-based resource that enables any student to write their own great-looking, original comic strips without having to draw.

#4 – Classtools.net
Free flash tool website that allows you to create quizzes, diagrams, and educational games. You can then host them on your own site free of charge.

#5 – Edmodo
Web 2.0 tool that allows teachers to safely share ideas, files, assignments, videos, projects, etc.with students and with other teachers in real time. It is a safe and secure social learning site for classrooms.

#6 – DoInk
A simple & friendly vector editor that can create flash-style animations.  You can download your art, post to YouTube or Facebook and use the community art or just your art.

#7 – Kerpoof
Kerpoof is all about having fun, discovering things, and being creative. Here are just a few ways that you can use Kerpoof: Make artwork (even if you aren’t good at drawing!); Make an animated movie (really! it’s easy!); Earn Koins which you can trade for fun things in the Kerpoof Store; Make a printed card, t-shirt, or mug; Tell a story; Make a drawing; Vote on the movies, stories, and drawings that other people have made.

#8 – Glogster
GlogsterEDU (the Basic, Free version) is a Web 2.0 tool that allows students, or yourself, to create an online interactive poster/presentation/research on any topic that combines graphics, backgrounds, videos, images, sound, text and hyperlinks.  (This is one of my most favourite free web2.0 tools for the classroom)

#9 – ToonDoo
Free, fast, and facile comic strip creator.

#10 – Wordle
A word cloud, helps to interpret the meaning of the words by assigning font size according to how frequently the word appears in the targeted text. (Another favourite of mine)

#11 – Skype
Free voice and video calls using Skype is great for talking with authors, experts, peer classrooms, language classes, and more.  (Highly recommend this one!)

#12 – Animoto
Web 2.0 tool that allows teachers and students to create impressive and unique digital stories and presentations (incorporating images, video clips, music and text) quickly and easily. Animoto is a wonderful tool for students because it allows them to focus on content creation rather than trying to learn an editing or manipulation tool. In the school context, Animoto For Education is ideal tool for students to create their own booktrailers, digital stories or music videos.

#13 – VoiceThreads
An application that can be used right from your browser, which allows you to use different types of media to create an interactive slideshow.  You can use pictures, videos, documents, or even presentations.  Then, you or your students can record video/audio that allows you to describe each slide in more detail.  You can even draw right on the slide to circle or highlight different areas of interest.  (Love this tool!)

#14 – PhotoFiltre
We, and our students, all need to edit and manipulate images at some point. There are many image editors we can use to do this. However most of these are quite complex to learn and are also often only available at a relatively high cost. PhotoFiltre is both simple to use and free to download.

#15 – Livebinders
A digital 3 ring binder that you can put virtually anything into; webpage, PDF, document, image, or video. Everything is organized by tab and you can even have subtabs within those tabs.

#16 – WeeBehave
WeeBehave provides online chore and behavior charts to help teachers and parents track and record behavior patterns. The WeeBehave philosophy is that children can be better self-managed when using behavior and chore charts. Research shows that children will accomplish more if they can visibly see their results and participate in the goal setting process. This website helps accomplish that!

#17 – DropBox
A free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again! (Personally, I adore this application & wouldn’t leave home without it!)

#18 – Jing
Jing is a screen sharing tool. It allows you to capture anything on your computer screen either as a still image or as a video up to 5 minutes long. It is a good free  tool for narrating and sharing what is on your screen.  (ISB staff – you already have jing installed on your laptops – just type jing in the spotlight to find it)

#19 – Audacity
Free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. (Similar to GarageBand)

#20 – LearnBoost
LearnBoost empowers with a free all-in-one online classroom management solution so they can track student grades and progress, create standards-aligned lesson plans, generate beautiful analytics and reports, and organize their schedules from a central dashboard, all while integrating with Google Apps. Teachers can share academic progress and attendance with parents and students using the safe and secure student and parent platform.

#21 – Wetoku
A simple platform for interviewing someone via the Internet. Collaborating globally is a must for our students and as result interviewing can be a challenge. Wetoku makes doing an interview as easy as filling out some basic information, creating an interview session and then sending the creative interview session’s URL to the interviewee.

#22 – Little Bird Tales
Little Bird Tales is an incredibly easy to create a high-quality digital story. The site allows users to create narrated slideshows, using their own photos or illustrations and their own voices.

#23 – Wikispaces
Wiki comes from the Hawaiian word for “quick” and a wiki is a website that can be modified quickly and easily.

And here’s one of my own personal favourites that is well worth “dabbling” with over the summer …
# – Prezi
An easy to use, online editor that makes zooming presentations.  CheatSheets & Video Tutorials to help you learn Prezi are provided!