Blog For Free!
Archives
Home
2005 October
2005 May
2005 March
2004 December
2004 November
2004 October
2004 September
2004 August
2004 July
2004 June
2004 May
2004 April
2004 March
2004 February
2004 January
2003 December
2003 November
2003 October
2003 September
My Links
EducationalBloggersNetwork
Bay Area Writing Project
Weblogg-Ed/Will R.
HomoLudens/Pat Delaney's Ed
EduBlogNews/Pam Pritchard
Edbloggers Praxis
EduBlog Insights/Anne Davis
PEDABLOGUE/Mike Arnzen
Literacy & Technology Instructor's EduBlog
EducationalBlogs/Albert Delgado
Weezblog
Gorelets/Mike Arnzen
Reflections of a Techie
rebecca's pocket
elearningpost
webmonkey
diarist.net
BayAreaWritingProject--Examples of ClassBlogs
The Dullest Blog in the World
ESL/EFL Weblog-AnneDavis
Learn,Teach,Learn...repeat
BlogHeads
Handhelds in the K-12 Classroom/Kathy Schrock
Everyday Matters
Julia Lerman Blog-Don't Be Iffy...
Incremental Blogger
Tabula PC
Tablet PC Post
Gizmodo-The Gadgets Weblog
Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger
The K-12 Tech Guy
Blinger: A Linguistics & ESL Blog
Bloggers's Blog
Tuttle SVC/Tom Hoffman
Reflections of a Techie
WritingHTML
tBlog
My Profile
Send tMail
My tFriends
My Images
Sponsored
Blog
|
| Tablet PC's and writing |
| 02.27.04 (9:19 pm) [edit] |
I just can't express how much I miss having the use of a Tablet PC! I've yet to get over the withdrawl symptoms and have taken to carrying around my Wacom tablet (I've downloaded the driver on two computers at school). I miss the flexibility of inking and the coolness factor, but I seriously miss not having to use the mouse. Using a stylus totally does away with any carpel tunnel pain!
Today I read a post on Tabula PC about InfoPath, an application that facilitates the use of ink on business forms by utilizing a pop up overlay. This is the kind of application that I have posted about wanting (without the business forms of course)--an application which I could use to take students through the writing process. I'd like to be able to ink a draft, then in the revision stage be able to have an overlay pop up in areas where students wish to add inked revisions. The ink should then become typed text and should move surrounding text so that it can imbed itself. Just imagine how much easier it would be for students to get into the meat of writing without the frustration of hunt and peck typing and with a more intuitive way of revision. I can think of so many ways to use tablets in the classroom--I really think it would be a great way to have students create online inquiry based portfolios in which students could record measurements, temperatures, sketches, pictures with captions, diagrams along with notes, questions, conjectures, and post them to an ink enabled site, inviting discussion.
I really don't understand why Tablet PC manufacturers aren't making more efforts to put tablets into the hands of teachers who are interested in creating and implementing lessons using tablets and inking. Imagine the sales they could make once teachers have identified ways in which the tablet is superior to laptops (which are half the cost of tablets.)
I think I read somewhere that one could install the tablet os and softare on a laptop and use a wacom tablet to get the tablet and inking effect. Hmmm. I'm seriously considering trying this out so I can try out the copy of OneNote I got my hands on (before I had to return the tablet I had borrowed from Gateway.) I might be able to use OneNote to get some of the inking and revision capability I'm looking for and I've read that some people are inkblogging with OneNote. Until I can find a way to get my hands on a tablet I might have to just make my own!
|
|
|
| |
| Just a box of rain, I don't know who put it there... but get it away from our INTERNET CONNECTION!!! |
| 02.22.04 (8:34 pm) [edit] |
It's been raining in Southern California for 3 days now. I live in a california bungalow snuggled into the hillside, not far from the Rose Bowl and everything looks so smudged today. Looking out my big 'ol livingroom window I can see the jacaranda and crape myrtle trees across the street are beautifully drenched, while the hillsides are tinged with fog. It reminds me of the chorus of one of my favorite Grateful Dead tunes, "Box of Rain:"
Just a box of rain -
wind and water -
Believe it if you need it,
if you don't just pass it on
Sun and shower -
Wind and rain -
in and out the window
like a moth before a flame
It's just a box of rain
I don't know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
or leave it if you dare
But it's just a box of rain
or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long long time to be gone
and a short time to be there
I don't mind the rain at all--we need it out west. But, one thing that's a bummer about the rain is the internet goes out at school! Yep, and it happened on Friday. It's so annoying. Why should this happen at all?
The cool thing is that now we have 3 class blogs up and running and they are beginning to comment on each others blogs! The 2nd grade blog is Mozart Concept Question Blog, the 3rd grade blog is Learning is Fun, and the 5th grade blog is Ms. P's 5th Grade Bloggers. They were able to visit each other's blogs for one day, then the rain hit and zapped the internet! Hopefully, it will be up and running this week!
Well, the rain is beautiful and needed so I guess in the big scheme of things it doesn't matter if the internet is down. But, it sure does put a monkeywrench in the works when it comes to blogging!
|
|
|
| |
| People--TRIP OUT!!! |
| 02.20.04 (3:17 pm) [edit] |
Whoa! Check out this totally cool video of Sony's QRIO robots via Robert Scoble's Blog! It's amazing--their movements are so fluid. It's not animatronics folks, it's robotics!
I've been waiting for this since I first watched "Gigantor the Space Age Robot" as a kid in the 60's! (Oh how I wanted to be little Jimmy Sparks, Gigantor's pal.) I still remember the words to the song:
Gigantor Gigantor Gigantor
Gigantor Gigantor Gigantor
Gigantor the space age robot
He's at your command.
Gigantor the space age robot
His power is in your hands.
Gigantor the space age robot
He's at your command.
Gigantor the space age robot
His power is in your hands.
He's bigger than big
Taller than tall
Quicker than quick
Stronger than strong
Ready to fight for right against
Wrong.
Gigantor Gigantor Gigantor
Gigantor Gigantor Gigantor
This just reminds me once again--our students have so many possibilities and it's up to us to pique their interests and help them forge their abilities so that they can develop and use technology for the good of humankind. Or, is that just my dream... Gigantor, Gigantor...
|
|
|
| |
| Help with iMac! |
| 02.16.04 (12:20 am) [edit] |
Today a friend upgraded my iMac DV to OS 10.2 and all was great with the world. She was showing me how to use iMovie when her daughter reached over the table and accidentally caused the power cord to come loose. Click--the power went out. We restarted AND now the display looks weird! It's only dark blue with black around the icons. There are no yellows, oranges, reds... YIKES!!!
Anyone out there know what might have happened? Video card, CRT, OS X problems... any ideas?
UPDATE: I started the iMac this morning and the display is now green and yellow and the sides of the desktop are curved in. There are black horizontal lines across it. Did OS X mess with it?
|
|
|
| |
| Tabulas is great for collaborative blogging! |
| 02.15.04 (9:56 am) [edit] |
I've been participating in the ESL/EFL Weblog I blogged about previously. It's been a great opportunity to share ideas with educators from so many different countries. Many have been wondering about collaborative blogs and I know that some, like Alberto, have been using them successfully.
The collaborative blogs that I've seen are all hosted on the user's servers. I haven't seen any collaborative blogs on free hosted sites--specially free sites that are ad and pop-up free... with the exception of TABULAS.
So, I'm posting here what I shared on the ESL/EFL group about using Tabulas to create a collaborative blog for anyone who might be interested in this topic:
I've read various posts from people wondering about collaborative blogs. I've been using Tabulas, which I LOVE! A tabulas blog has the ability to add endless Shared Journals. Shared Journals are collaborative journal spaces.
Here's how it works:
1) You create your blog, which will always be your front or home page.
2) Then, you create a Shared Journal, which is extremely easy. It's like creating an entry--you name it and post it. That simple.
3) Now, whoever is going to post to it registers with tabulas, meaning, they also get an account (they can then create their own blog orthey can just use it for posting to the Shared Journal).
4) Once they have an account, they go to the Shared Journal you created and join it.
5) You, as the Moderator of your Shared Journal, add them to the community and voila, you have a collaborative blog space!
As I said, it is a collaborative space on your blog. It is not a stand alone collaborative blog. But, it is the best I've found on hosted sites--and I haven't found any that offer you this feature for free and WITHOUT ads or pop ups!!! And again, you can create ENDLESS Shared Journals. Perhaps you have different projects and want different groups working on them. So, you create different Shared Journals!
Here is the URL to the Shared Journal I have been using for a blog class. BlogClassSharedJournal As you explore it you'll see that many people initially posted--it was started during a blog class--a few remained consistent participants now that the class has been over for one month.
If you click on the right side where it says "Community Members" you will find there are 17 teachers who joined. You can click to see their blogs--some are dormant because they only learned to do it in the class but haven't started using them and some like Mozart and 1007 along with a few others, are actively using them.
So, Tabulas is a great place for a Shared Journal, attached to a main blog. You can also create Content Pages to post information to support learning. Tabulas is a great, great site with excellent teacher support. And, if you purchase a subscription, you can upload 300 pictures, and several media files, for only $25.00 per year!!!
|
|
|
| |
| Red letter day Part 2--there's more!!! |
| 02.12.04 (11:37 pm) [edit] |
WHOA. Stop the presses!!! Yesterday I posted a comment on Loren's Incremental Blogger inquiring about the possibility of creating a Tablet PC application that would allow students to easily edit their writing by either inserting editing marks in a writing piece using a stylus and having the text automatically move to make room for the changes or by adding an overlay so that students could see their draft underneath and then edit with the stylus on the overlay.
Loren kindly blogged about my comment, turned my question over to his readers, and provided a link to an examples of a "gestured based editing" application he's been "dabbling" with! It's just the kind of thing I've been thinking about!!! See it HERE!
I'm really excited about this! So many teachers don't even use the computers in their rooms because their students can't type so using the computer for writing takes excruciatingly long. Unfortunately, many teachers can't get over the idea that computers aren't glorified word processors so they don't even use other software expect for the occasional teachers who'll use PPT. But, I can imagine a day in which students draft a piece on their tablet pcs using a stylus, easily revise and edit, possibly with "gesture based editing," and develop their ideas further by seamlessly adding diagrams, labels, illustrations--even pictures they've annotated, all with the use of a pen/stylus--just like paper and pencil!
Move over Mavis Beacon...
|
|
|
| |
| A red letter day for me... um, I mean, SuperThinker!!! |
| 02.12.04 (10:30 pm) [edit] |
When I started blogging 5 months ago it was out of a gut feeling that this blogging thing might just work with elementary school students, and it was in response to Will's advice: "To teach blogging--blog." I had no idea what would develop but I had hopes and was excited at the possibilities.
Today I can say I'm really surprised at the power of this medium to share knowledge, develop and strengthen writing, and create community. I'm in awe of what bloggers like Will and Anne are doing with their students. The writing their students produce is really impressive and that renews my determination.
Sometimes I've been feeling scattered, like I've got too many irons in the fire. With this blog, BlogHeads, Learn, Teach, Learn...repeat, Stories for YOU..., and the BlogClassSharedJournal, along with fanning the fires of fledgling blogs born out of Weblogs: The Reading/Writing Connection--the blog class I taught, there have been times that I feel like I'm on a hamster wheel. Sometimes it feels like there's no result, then BOOM, things explode! And today--oh yeah--today was an an explosive day!!!
I was in Mrs. P's class using the laptop and LCD projector to demonstrate some blogging moves on their Ms.P's 5th Grade Bloggers site when the students and I discovered that they had new comments---from the Wrinkles bloggers!!! Holy cow! Faces lit up, there was alot of "wow" and "cool," and questions about "where's Georgia?" "how far is it from California" "how old are they?" "yay, we get to write back!" It was so exciting!
We went to visit the Wrinkles site and to my surprise I found a wonderful idiom based short story written by Emily in honor of... *gulp* SuperThinker! We read it out loud together and I just couldn't believe it! I was so proud (for SuperThinker, of course!) One of the kids said, "They're friends with SuperThinker, too!" It was so cool!
SuperThinker composed an idiom based response to Emily and will post it tomorrow. Emily's a wonderful writer--she takes risks and writes about serious topics, uses humor in her posts, and reveals a sense of ease and enjoyment with words. Like Will's student, Meredith, she reveals a desire to engage in the world and "do some serious damage on the bad stuff in the world." With these supergirls on the planet, I have faith in the future...
|
|
|
| |
| Will does it again! |
| 02.11.04 (9:52 am) [edit] |
I was inspired to begin my blog after reading Will Richardson's advice, "To teach writing--write. To teach blogging--blog." Though I've never met him, his writing reveals he's a "roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty" kinda guy who inspires others to do the same. And now, he's rolled up his sleeves and done the ultimate... he's gotten a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist to mentor one of his journalism students!!!
How did he choose the student? He had his students blog about WHY they wanted the opportunity, of course!(drum roll please) And the winner is... MEREDITH!, the all time luckiest fledgling journalist on the planet! You MUST read her response to the assignment HERE! It's awesome! You go Supergirl!
Will must be totally excited AND he must realize the impact this will have on his student, his class, his school, and if Meredith has her way, on the future of the world! I'm thrilled for both of them, and a little jealous. But, it's making me think... perhaps I can find a writer to come and mentor a group of students. hmmm...
|
|
|
| |
| Idioms really ARE FUN!!! |
| 02.09.04 (3:09 pm) [edit] |
At the end of my blog class for teachers, I had stated that I would be happy if just one blog still had a heart beat. Well, I'm thrilled to say that more than one has a heartbeat and the blog excitement seems to be spreading, so we have added a couple of blogs!
I'm really happy about the status of our BlogClassSharedJournal. I thought the shared journal would die out after the class but on the contrary, that shared journal seems to have the strongest heart beat of all! I attribute that to two things: 1) a few core teachers are good at sharing insights and resources, so they post, and 2) a few of us make it a point to visit each other's blogs and post comments to keep the momentum going. Case in point, FINDING TIME TO BE ME... is our coordinator's new blog. He had tried blogging a few months ago but let it go after a while. During our blog class, he got inspired and decided to try it again. Now he posts on to the shared journal and comments on other blogs, encouraging teachers to keep on blogging!
Keeping up a class blog is like tending a fire--you have to keep adding fuel and fanning it or it dies out!
SuperThinker has been blogging with a group of 5th graders at our school. They're ESL students so SuperThinker asked them to visit Anne's blogIdioms Are Fun! They were so inspired that they worked on some idioms of their own and have now started their own blog! Here's a picture of the Idioms Are Fun! bulletin board which graces the hallway outside their class. [image]npera2_842942599.jpg ALIGN="right"[/image]
Check out their new blog Ms. P's 5th Grade Bloggers The first idiom has been posted. Plealse leave a comment to spur them on!
I've just posted my fourth entry on my new blog Stories for YOU... Check it out and tell me what you think!
|
|
|
| |
| This one's for Anne! |
| 02.06.04 (9:05 pm) [edit] |
During a grade level meeting yesterday, in which all the participant teachers are part of the bloggers network, I brought up Anne Davis' Idioms Are Fun!. We talked about idioms and, later, when trying to get up out of a rickety wooden chair I said, "I got a hitch in my getalong," and, referring to some Reading First documentation I said, "I'm gonna go online and certify you 'cuz you're all certifiable." Anyway, they just stared at me! I had to explain, "Hitch in my getalong, you know, hitch in my getalong--Walter Brennan, The Real McCoys. It means I have a limp!" And, "Certifiable--you know, loco." No, they didn't know--they had no clue!!! Can you imagine!?! Man, I'm getting old!!!
Well, you really must check out Anne's wonderful site. It's great for learning about idioms and for realizing that you're old and in two short weeks you'll turn 43 years old, which is really just 7 short years from 50, at which point you will officially be older than the hills and might as well rename your blog "Over the hill... and still rolling." And, oh, oops, sorry man. I guess I'm just having a senior moment.
|
|
|
| |
| Cool new gadgets! |
| 02.05.04 (8:26 pm) [edit] |
I'm a sucker for gadgets--and these look really cool. The Virtual Keyboard ($99.00) from iBiz.[image]npera2_1178665450.jpg ALIGN="right"[/image] I just wonder---would a laser keyboard cause health problems because of radiation? And check out these foldable displays (prototypes) EDRC Foldable Display. The site has 3 different displays--note pad size, double note pad size (folds in half) and full page size (folds in thirds). Cool, que no? 
|
|
|
| |
| Making connections... |
| 02.02.04 (11:57 pm) [edit] |
I'm trying out different kinds of blogging. I think we make a mistake when we promote blogging for teachers as simply this great way to get students to read and write. It's so much more and NOW I'm just beginning to scratch the surface. We need to allow teachers to discover all the creative potential of blogs. For instance, this weekend I realized that I'm fulfilling one of my lifelong desires—writing, really writing. I mean, writing CONSISTENTLY, not necessarily linearly. I've always loved to write but I only write when necessary--given an assignment, a task! I've always known I could write my way out of a paper bag. I'm especially good with technical writing--but it's not the same, not as expansive, as what I'm doing now. It may be that what I'm doing now is more personal, so I connect more. I think the visuals are a big part of it, too. The colors, the layout, the images--pictures, drawings...it's like a whole flood of creativity gets unleashed when your Control Panel pops up and, YEAH, you get to play with the buttons—break the code. Weblogs like traditional journals--with pictures, sketches, diagrams--just in digital form (see Everyday Matters.) And, publishing bits and pieces for an audience is great experience. That, along with communal support, is what's hooked me into blogging. I need to remember that each time I do professional development and as I continue to interact with our new bloggers network. Be creative. Take risks--what's the worst that can happen? You can change it if you're not happy with it. YOU WILL NEVER GROW IF YOU DON'T TAKE ANY RISKS. As teachers, we get caught up in teaching "The Writing Process." First pre-write, then drafte, revise, edit, publish--like it's a mathematical formula! No wonder our students don't get it. We don't get it! It's not linear, we just teach it that way! In reality, the edges blur because they exist as tools to help mold the content, NOT the other way around! Blogging is REALLY helping me make that connection much more deeply. Write, revise, share, revise...oh, and publish in a visually appealing way that furthers your content! If Weblogs constitute a separate Genre, then the visuals are part of that criteria! The pictures, sketches, bolded text that emphasize a point. It's all about making connections!
The same goes for professional development. We all take the courses, but how many of us implement our learning? Be honest now! I'm realizing it's because we don't connect with our learning. This is why I'm going out of my way to find connections for my teachers--fun blog cards, getting together at the local hangout ("bring your laptops everybody"), tagboards for the quick "tap, tap" hello. Making connections—making it meaningful.
I'm so proud of my latest entry on my new blog Stories for YOU... I'm experimenting with color, text in boxes, images, and links. I haven't learned to use Photoshop (and I really want to learn FLASH, or SWISH like Mike Arnzen uses on Gorelets). I've been restoring pictures with MS PAINT (very basic--I can see why I need to learn Photoshop) but I've been able to restore scratches and missing chunks in pictures, along with coloring backgrounds. Again, I'm making the connections--I know WHY I need the tools now, the tools don't DRIVE the content. I think that's critical for our students so we REALLY need to internalize it ourselves. Do read my latest post at Stories for YOU... and let me know what you think.
|
|
|
| |
|
|
