December+2008

=December 2008 ETT Meeting =

Internet Safety Poster Contest
Principals will receive their Memo on Thursday, December 4th. You can start reviewing the rules and regulations now, however please do not hand out any information until you have talked to your principals yet. The official start date of the contest is Thursday, December 4th.







= =

Edublogs - VBCPS [|http://blogs.vbschools.com] (104 Blogs to date - Join on the ETT Site)
=Digital Citizenship=
 * Digital Communication** can be defined as the electronic exchange of information. To better understand this concept, watch the following clip

media type="youtube" key="LFX8f_LqlZs" height="344" width="425"


 * Discussion Questions:**
 * 1) What types of communication tools/technologies do you use?
 * 2) What are the advantages of using these tools? Disadvantages?
 * 3) Do you think digital communication brings us closer together or isolates us?

**Part II: At Home--Interaction**
Communication today includes cell phones, internet phones (VoIP), instant messaging (IM), text messaging, video conferencing, email, and a host of other technologies. Although these tools are readily available, do we really need to be in contact with other people all the time? Do we understand what is appropriate when using these digital communication devices?

media type="youtube" key="x2q2OYpQ1_A" height="344" width="425"
 * Home Discussion Questions:**
 * 1) How realistic is the scenario in the video? Do you and/or your friends ever rely too much on digital tools when face-to-face communication might be more appropriate?
 * 2) How do you feel about the "wired world" we inhabit? Has technology improved or hindered our ability to communicate?
 * 3) What digital communication guidelines do you think are reasonable?

=Blogs=

What is a Blog?
[| What Is A Blog.pdf]

Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a USER GENERATED journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site. The entries (or Posts) are often displayed in chronological order.

A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog.

Blogs can also contain links to other sites, images, movies, podcasts, and so on. Sometimes you can embed the movies (i.e.. from teachertube.com) directly into your blog (meaning it shows up as part of your page and not a link to another page) other times you just provide links to other sites that contain the content (which is better in terms of your storage quota).

Many blogs focus on a **particular** topic, such as web design, home staging, sports, or mobile technology. Some are more eclectic, presenting links to all types of other sites. And others are more like personal journals, presenting the author's daily life and thoughts. Generally speaking (although there are exceptions), blogs tend to have a few things in common:
 * A main content area with articles listed chronologically, newest on top. Often, the articles are organized into categories.
 * An archive of older articles.
 * A way for people to leave comments about the articles.
 * A list of links to other related sites, sometimes called a "blogroll".
 * One or more "[|**feeds**]" like RSS.

media type="youtube" key="NN2I1pWXjXI" height="344" width="425"

Rationale for Using Blogs in Education

 * 1) [|Rationale for Educational Blogging] by Anne Davis
 * 2) [|Quotes From Blogging Teachers] by David Warlick
 * 3)   [|Sample Blogging Assignments -ISTE Aligned] by David Warlick
 * 4)   [|A Vision for Classroom Blogging]- Anne Davis
 * 5) [|20 Reasons Why Students Should Blog]- Anne Mirtschin
 * 6) [|Bloom's Taxonomy Blooms Digitally]- Andrew Churches

Blogging As an Educational Tool
[| Classroom Uses of Weblogs.doc]


 * Sample Instructional Blogs**


 * 1) [|Mrs. Cassidy's Classroom Blog] 1st grade class blog from Canada (ClassBlogmeister)
 * 2) [|A Duck with a Blog] school-wide elementary blog (Edublogs)
 * 3) [|Ms. Boyd's Grade 2/3 Blog] class blog for sharing student work from New Zealand (Blogger)
 * 4) [|Ms. Boyd's Writing Blog]class writing blog from New Zealand (Blogger)
 * 5) [|Mrs. Watt's 4th Grade Computer Class Blog] notice the use of categories
 * 6) [|Ms. Fullerton's 5th Grade Class Blog] (ClassBlogmeister)
 * 7) [|Mr. Klein's 5th Grade Blog] students take turns summarizing the day's activities (EduBlogs)
 * 8) [|Room5@Work] Mr. Baker's 5th grade class blog--notice the blog rules
 * 9) [|Mrs. Markwart Grade 6/7 Class Blog] teamed up with another class (ClassBlogmeister)
 * 10) [|Mr. Fisher's Class Blog] check out colonization blogs (EduBlogs)
 * 11) [|Guerrilla Season Book Blog] 8th grade book discussion blog with interaction from author (Blogger)
 * 12) [|Ms. Winze's Orchestra Blog] middle school orchestra teacher's blog (EduBlogs)
 * 13) [|Ms. Martinos' Algebra Class Blog] discussion of word problems (EduBlogs)
 * 14) [|Kakos Grade 10 English Blog] use blog to develop thesis statements (Blogger)
 * 15) [|Mrs. Hopkins American Literature Class Blog] students take on character role in blog throughout course (21Classes)
 * 16) [|12th Grade Class Blog] (21Classes)
 * 17) [|Student's Senior Thesis Blog] Every student has a blog to chronicle the development of senior thesis (Blogger)
 * 18) [|Novel Discussion Blog] //Their Eyes Were Watching God// Novel Discussion in groups (LearnerBlogs)
 * 19) Hamlet Character Blogs check out the ghost under group 4 (LearnerBlogs)
 * 20) [|Pre- Cal 20S] a math blog in which the teacher shares slides of daily lessons and also students take turns as "scribes" summarizing daily lessons (Blogger)
 * VBCPS User Blogs**
 * 1) Kempsville Middle School Blog
 * 2) [|Northern Ireland Project]
 * 3) [|MrMayo's Blog]
 * 4) [|Mr. Gibbs Class Blog]
 * 5) [|Trantwood ES Blog]
 * 6) [|Malkin Class Blog]
 * Educational Technlogy Blogs**
 * 1) [|2 Cents Worth]
 * 2) [|Alan November Weblog]
 * 3) [|BlogBoard]
 * 4) [|Blue Skunk Blog]
 * 5) [|Infinite Thinking Machine]
 * 6) [|Kathy's Kaffeeklatsch]
 * 7) [|learning.now]
 * 8) [|Moving at the Speed of Creativity]
 * 9) [|The Savvy Technologist]
 * 10) [|teach42.com]
 * 11) [|Teachers Training Teachers]
 * 12) [|The Tech Savvy Educator]
 * 13) [|weblogg-ed]
 * 14) http://www.tommarch.com/ozblog/
 * 15) http://practicaltheory.org/serendipity/
 * 16) http://chalkdust101.wordpress.com/
 * 17) http://khokanson.blogspot.com/
 * 18) http://intrepidteacher.edublogs.org/

= =

[|VBCPS Blog Site]
=VoiceThread=

**Voice Thead**
http://voicethread.com/

[| An Overview of Voice Thread.doc] [| VoiceThread Tutorial.doc]
 * Voice Thread Resources**

[|VoiceThreads: Extending the Classroom with Interactive Multimedia Albums] VoiceThread for Education Wiki [|Digitally Speaking](wiki with Bill Ferriter's resources)

[|Mrs. Heisey's Morning Kindergarten] [|Trantwood Elementary 5th Grade VA History] [|Jack's Monster Cards] [|Student Poems] [|Many Voices on Darfur] [|What Do You Value?] German Art Project Spanish 5 Myths and Legends Spanish 4 Experiencias AP Spanish Scary Stories [|Grandparents' Day] [|Color Poems] [|Lindero Loves Books] [|Why Do People Hate]
 * Examples**

[|VoiceThreads for Education] [|The Power of Professional Conversations] [|Wondering about Web 2.0]
 * Professional Development Examples**

[[image:Wikis.jpg]]
=Wikis - Instructional Uses=

= = =What is a wiki?= ="Wiki" ( /wiːkiː/  ) is originally a [|Hawaiian] word for "fast".= = =

= [|50 Ways To Use Wikis In Education] =

Articles

 * [|Make Way for Wikis]
 * [|Wiki Wisdom: Lessons for Educators]
 * [|English Teacher Shakes up Learning with Positive Results]
 * [|How Do I Use WIkis in the Classroom]
 * [|For Teachers New to Wikis]
 * [|Benefits of a Wiki]

**Samples of Instructional Wikis**
> A high school media specialist created this wiki for her students. > Course site for senior biology students. > Each participating class (grades preK - 6, from throughout the US and world) chose one or more of Dr. Seuss's books and created either a webpage, a wiki, a blog, a presentation, a bubble share, etc about their book. The project began in August of 2007 and concluded in December of 2007. > This project is open to Fourth Grade classrooms across the Commonwealth of Virginia. The goal is to help students learn about the state of Virginia from each other. > > The **Flat Classroom Project** is a global, hands-on collaborative project for middle and senior high school students based on the concepts in the book by Thomas Friedman, __**The World is Flat**__. Grade 6 students in an international school in Malaysia learn about the human body in order to open their own "online medical clinic. > High school sports medicine students create online fitness training programs and sports injury information for the public. > High school math students post their Geometry, Algebra I, and Algebra II unit summaries. > Middle school students work collaboratively to choose topics, complete projects, and publish their work. > Second and third grade students share what they are learning with the world. > First and second grade students collected 1000 names. > Fifth graders identify astronomy terms. > Sixth grade students create an online reference to help other students with their study skills > This wiki is the result of a middle school study of the novel, __Holes__.
 * 2008 Presidential Campaign
 * World of Biology
 * Salute to Seuss
 *  Regions of Virginia
 * Flat Classroom Project
 * Code Blue
 * Kinesiology
 * LMMATH
 * Mr. Bruce's U.S. History
 * Ms Webster's Class Wiki
 * 1000 Names
 * Astronomy Alphabet
 * Study Skills
 * Holes wiki

Free Wikis for Educators:

 * [|PB Wiki For Education]
 * [|Wet Paint]
 * [|Wikispaces for Educators] - ** This is the one we recommend **

**Wikispaces Tips**
When you sign up for an account, be sure to identify yourself as a K-12 educator by using the above link (Wikispaces for Teachers). This will make you eligible for a wiki __without__ advertisements. If you happen to sign up for your wiki on the regular wikispaces page, click on "Subscription" under "Manage Space" and request a complimentary upgrade to **Plus for K-12 education**.

There's an easy way to create accounts for students - even if they don't have email addresses! Email help@wikispaces.com with a list of usernames, email addresses (if you have them - **__if you don't just leave them out__**), and passwords in the following format and request to have the student accounts created.

code format="text text" user1,email1@address.com,password1 user2,email2@address.com,password2 user3,email3@address.com,password3 code

A few important notes that will help wikispaces.com create student accounts for you quickly:

//Usernames// A large number of accounts already exist on wikispaces.com, so many combinations of first names, last names, and initials are already taken. It's much more likely that they can make all the accounts you request if you add a school identifier to the students' usernames. For example, if your school is called Alanton Elementary School, instead of requesting for the usernames, //adam//, //james//, and //dom//, we recommend //aes-adam//, //aes-james//, and //aes-dom//.

//Length of Usernames and Passwords// Please make sure that usernames are __at least__ 3 characters long (we allow letters, numbers, underscores _, or dashes -) and that passwords are __at least__ 6 characters long.

//Which Space?// Finally, make sure to let wikispaces.com know to which wikis you'd like the students added as members.

[|Wikispaces Video Tutorials]