Thursday, October 1, 2009

Google Wonder Wheel

I had to give it it's own spotlight post because I think it's so cool!
Check out the Google Wonder Wheel for searching!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Homecoming Week in Oregon

It has been a busy week! BKE 4th grade took pictures of their students at a desk w/green screen last week. I edited them last Friday and put them sitting at the President's desk in the oval office. On Monday and Tuesday, we recorded their voices in Photostory, I added music and exported them out as .wmv files. They showed them at the Open House we had on Thursday night. I am sure they were a hit!

Dawn Bagniefski was inquiring about iTunes library sharing. So, I dug and and we tried it! It works. Now, thanks to Dawn, Emily Laga is going to put together a playlist for staff to use in their classroom each month! Go Brooklyn!!

Jennifer Lynch and I worked on getting her website/glogster updated and running smooth! Mary Weber was bummed that we don't have the old Kid Pix with the COOL panther mask to printout for homecoming! I found one to satisy online and I can't wait to see those kindergarten students wearing their masks at the parade today!

I am in my 3rd week of doing internet safety lessons with 3/4th graders at BKE. We talk about keeping their personal information private, creating online screen names/log ins and passwords, online predators, and appropriate online ettiquette. I show them all the soccergirl rewind video, which they LOVE! It prompts some good discussion.

I worked with a few TIP students that had to miss the last part of class. We got them set up and running with a Delicious account!

I spent some time at OHS working with Erika on voicethread and Google Presentation options for a project she it planning for her students. I also worked with the new Flip Ultra Cameras at OHS and found that the software we had didn't work with those cameras. So, we cancelled the training we had planned on Thursday and rescheduled for next week. Doug got the software working and Jeri and I have a handout created for staff!

I got some time on Thursday for my own professional development! I worked on cleaning out email and reading/cleaning my reader! I got to catch up on some of my blog postings and share many sites with staff members. Some of the sites I discovered were:
My favorite - Google Wonder Wheel
Discovery has a great site about natural disasters and Africa
Jenn is going to start the Flat Stanley Project this year!

I also worked on my NING account and got Chris and Jenn to join the Global Collaboration Project, as they are both interested in collaborating with other classrooms. My PLP participation is getting better, I got accepted to the NING and I have a good feel for the wiki at this point, but I still have a lot of questions and feel like I am sailing in unchartered waters. I am stretching!

Today, I am off to graph with Mrs. Klein's class at NKE and then pulling the float for PVE in the parade!
Go Panthers!!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Green Screening Video

I took a class this week and one of the great things I learned is how to green screen myself on to a video file and/or still image! So fun!
Here is the link to my YouTube video! Enjoy!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Boys Adrift - Dr. Sax

This is the sequel to Why Gender Matters. I found it quite interesting. Basically, he discusses why boys are having a tough time having that drive to succeed.
#1 - We need to let Kindergarten be what it used to be. Focus on reading in 1st/2nd grade. The expectations at 5 for a boy to read is too early. They need more movement in school. The expectation for them to sit still for long periods is difficult.
#2 - Limit Video Games. Engagement in the REAL world is good. They shouldn't play video games in which they are the "bad" guy shooting the police or figures of authority, like an officer. This gives them the ideas that it might be ok to kill the "good" guy.
#3 - ADHD medications. They are finding that the effect of taking medications for ADHD are actually CHANGING the demeanor of children and they are turning out to be different beings even AFTER they are off the meds.
#4 - Endocrine Distruptors - basically, the polyethylene terephthatlate seeping out of plastic bottles in which they drink soda/water from is distrupting their hormone/testosterone development.
#5 - Loss of Positive Role Models - restoring the bond between generations.

If any of this peaks your interest, I would recommend checking this one out!
Below are the links to his page and to some sites that talk about endocrine distruptors and our current environmental situation.

www.boysadrift.com
www.ourstolenfuture.com
www.noharm.org

Transformation

In the past 9 months, my school has been fortunate enough to gain access to many different tools and opportunities including  Sphero balls, ...