Blog Day 2007

BlogDay2007

These are Paul Harrington's instructions for what to do on Blog day so I will attempt to follow them and find some new blogs. I don't know how to link with them properly yet but I will try to do the right thing

BlogDay posting instructions:

1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2007
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link:
http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2007 and a link to the BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org
So I wont get it done today but I will try !!

Also here is the link for my first effort on Animoto
http://animoto.com/play/ba542ce8f54290dcd9c297517fb472b9

Ok this is getting addictive...

72%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Dating Site

Ok so thanks to Paul Harrington's Blog, I took the test and found that I am 72% addicted to blogging. Well I have been reading around the edges for a year and now finally having a go and really it is just taking up so much of my time and I think my conversations (sorry family and friends) but it is like someone has lifted a veil on a whole new world . Oh stop exaggerating Sue -nah it is quite like that. Well I added myself to the support Blogging wiki and that was a first today as was Jo putting me in her blog! Thanks Jo.All this is a welcome direction for my energies at the moment .. ok I am hooked,

images

Connected Classroom and Dylan!

Ok this one is via the digital chalkie wiki of videos and some of it is a bit dated but still a good conversation starter when people come and ask me about what I am doing, so in it goes. It seems that is taking more of my time - talking about what web 2.0 means to me and that is great as it makes me clarify my ideas. Went to the Pixar exhibition today and came away so inspired - might dust off the materials I have on claymation and think about that and I will definitely do some work on digital storytelling with both year 8s and 9s. Maybe we can do a digital Tall story!!! Also went to Bob Dylan on Friday night and it was a fabulous concert Was our twentieth anniversary present to ourselves- oh how ironic but still a sweet note to end on. I sat there taking photos on my phone sending them to Jo who couldn't come and getting photos to keep for myself. Felt very digital native for a while there and we realised we should have recorded it on the ipod. What a change since our last Dylan in 1986!
On Friday I announced that I would be doing some e-whiteboard work if anyone was interested and seven people came on a Friday arvo when we had a function on as well! So that was promising and Euan is now going to start offering IT training more often so that should be great.What else - well I am also looking at a site called 'We are teachers imagine' which is looking at providing a platform for teachers. It all seems to be growing so fast that it must be so pleasing for those who have worked at this since the start and tried to promote the web.Yay you guys - we are reaping the benefits of your persistence!

Darren Draper superstar!

Darren Draper is so far ahead of me that I just need to keep track of where he is and use his fabulous presentations as a starting point for discussions. Thanks Darren for such wonderful inspiration!!

E-learning rocks

Have just returned from a day inservice on designing the schools E-learning plan at Glen Waverley Sec College. While they are in a unique position in so many ways they are also struggling to make the most of limited resources and provide a rich curriculum. We had a tour of all their areas and what they are doing is outstanding and a credit to them.The Intranet they have developed has answered many of the issues which we have about record keeping but doesn't cover some of the issues which Studywiz does address. Got to meet lots of interesting IT people from different schools. The Balwyn High School PD plan does seem to be excellent approaching the issue of getting staff on board from a very practical way and I would like to get a copy of what was presented. The physical aspects of the school were really wonderful -so many aspects of what a learning community can be! How all this will translate this back into what happens at school will be interesting, but I did enjoy being part of the process and the discussion. I also met Lorraine who was the winner of Teacher of the Year the year I was Runner up and we talked about what she did with her prize. She went to the USA and visited a school doing environmental education. She is still at Whittlesea Sec College and has applied what she learnt over there so it sounds like a place to visit and catch up with her more. Soo.... a stimulating day!!!

Jonathan Harris- how do we feel?

It seems Sunday is the day I get to read and find things and this talk from the TED website was discussed by Chris Betch and I just wanted to make sure I could keep it for further thought Thanks Chris

Another Sunday but another life...

Well its a week since my last post and things at home are changed so that has been fairly difficult all round. I am pressing on as this is important and the week has been equally as busy at school.We have a demonstration session of Studywiz at school this week and that I hope has initiated some thought among those who attended. Several people have said that Scholaris appears to have more features so I shall have a look at that one too. On Monday we had a meeting regarding the possibility of an Upwey High TV channel and there is a follow up meeting tomorrow so that will be interesting. It sounds terrific with channels for faculties and the kids and we would be a pilot school so that would be great. As for me I haven't got any editing/ media skills yet so that makes it tricky for me and a challenge I should get into. I am also going to a day conference on the school's e-learning plan - strange how I have jumped from just a user to a planner so quickly huh! That should be interesting and I guess that is how I get change to happen. the other area of interest is the Teacher Summer School announcement from the Minister which most peole were fairly cynical about but it may be just what I need to keep me busy in what may be a very slow time this year. I will wait and see but it could be good to apply. I have been trying new things in classes and am quite interested in giving digital storytelling a go so have found lots of great sites to help me with this. We had our third WRAP session on Thursday night and that was great because it finally started to make sense with me and I will really start to make an effort with it and also do the second Spalding course so I acn use it. We had a conversation about allotments and courses for next year and are needing to get some things in place soon for things to happen. Pam has some great ideas for the Festival related to making it an Election related one- speaking out about issues and a focus on oral skills so that is all happening and we are sorting out how our Night Of The Notables will work as we have more classes and less space! In clas I had a go with getting Year 9 to make motivational posters- read optimism here- for putting up around the school and year 11s are doing Inspiration maps of the play and I am going to get them to do life size character profiles using -yes the teacher's friend - butcher's paper. I have done my first presentation for the electronic whiteboard as a starting point for them so I think I have sorted out the handwriting recognition issue. The boy's Year 10 class are really getting into R&J the game is working but I have been using lollies to help the enthusiasm- amazing how 'reluctant' learners will do stuff when a reward is involved. At least it has been fun for us all! I have been teaching some of the others how to use the whiteboard so we can hopefully get a group of users developing the materials to make use of it. Year 9s are using epals and actually sending off letters some are really getting into the idea What I want is a lab attached to/in my room and ...... I think that I am getting excited about where this can all go. Thank goodness there is something good at the moment. Here's my favourite current lolcat from my cheezburger site. Really this is me learning how to do links but this one is delightful.

html lesson #1

size 100 text
ugly colour



heres a random post of a nit of html i was teaching my mum(sue)
bold
italic...see?

lots of new things mum doesnt know...just a few basics to get her started!
woot..next up is jump links...when she does a longer blog i guess
and heres a link for her to learn more on with out me.

LINK YAY

as you can see i dont follow in her "english" foot steps

Sunday, sunday

Well this week has been full of things I have done the second week of the Spalding WRAP course and that has been challenging trying to learn the syllables for teaching or re-teaching reading and handwriting. It is all hard to absorb when my brain is so preoccupied with what I am reading at night on these blogs and where they are leading me. We had an inservice about teaching thinking and then I had a moment to show Greg what I was fiddling with which was good. I am also trying to learn how to use the electric whiteboard and get others excited about it so it gets used. We also had an external review of the Leading Schools project which focussed my mind more on what the project can be. As well as all this and teaching my five classes, we went to Brighton Sec College to see their Year 9 learning centre and Matt, Debbie Marty, Emily and I had lots to discuss on the way home! No wonder I am feeling a bit brain dead when I read all that is happening. The thing is that it all seems to flow in the same direction and makes me have to really sort through all my ideas.The things that I need to note are studywiz which we are having a trial of this week. It is being used at a number of Victorian Govt School so it may work with Cases. Ok so what has been good in class this week? Well using the whiteboard to take notes on the students Soapbox issues, getting them to take photos for Cedar B. Hartley work on items out of place in Nature, getting year 9s to write letters for jobs and then do Epals and do photos for motivational posters and the reading of Freedom of the City in Year 11 - kids getting really fired up- and starting R&J with the boys in Year 10. Another thing which is tickling my brain is the presentation about optimism which the speaker from Geelong Grammar made at our inservice day. Very thought provoking. I hope that writing my thoughts down -which is always such a struggle for me -will help me record the things I need to develop and improve more effectively