Rss Reader-Wiki's and the UN

What a surprise when I read that the United Nations was going to use Wiki pages to help staff in 80 countries share information and come to a consensus on decisions quickly.
I must admit I have had my doubts about wiki's but after working on a collaborative project and reading this on RSS Reader I am changing my mind on how useful wiki's can be.

How Wiki's are changing the way we communicate.

Podcast with just voice vs. Podcast with music

After several attempts to create a podcast, I finally succeeded in creating two that you can hear on my computer. I must admit podcasting is great if you are a public speaker and have something to say about a particular subject. However, to just sit and podcast for a class was very difficult. It is like talking to yourself but then letting everyone else listen.
Anyway, I created and did some minor edits to the first podcast and saved it because I wasn't sure that I could create one with music. Then I did it and after quite some time of trying to edit off the end of the music so you wouldn't hear voice I saved it as it was.
Because my computer is a bit older the voice comes out very soft so I went to my brother's and recorded at his house. There is a little background noise but I felt bad enough being at his house and asking them to leave the room that I didn't have the nerve to go back and ask them to stop talking altogether.
So please listen to my podcast and be kind on your comments since this is my first time podcasting.
I have tried Podomatic.

Podcast

It is healthy to accept confusion as part of the
learning and knowledge processes. (Siemen's Knowing Knowledge)

Wiki Collaborative Project

One of our assignments for class is to create a wiki page with students from our class and students from a class in Canada. It is going so smoothly that I am waiting for the ball to drop. We are feeding off each others ideas and creating what I think is a great page that reflects not only our collaboration but our distinct personalities. We are hoping to have a conversation on Skype on Wednesday night to put our final ideas into focus on where we want to go and what we need to clean up. Every time I log on someone has gone in and changed something on their page or a collaborative page. It has been interesting to watch and then it sparks new ideas for me. I am really enjoying the project. I am anxious to talk with everyone tomorrow to see where we want to go with this project.

http://citytours.wetpaint.com/

Elluminate

This is my second time on Elluminate and I must say that I got so much more out of it. I think that being a moderator allowed us to use more of the tools. The depth of what you can do and share with a group of people is endless. I really enjoyed breaking out into small groups. I have never been to a workshop where you didn't break into small groups. You could take any topic and break it down and join the small group that interest you or be assigned to a small group. I am excited about going on to the K12 online conference to learn more about what is available on the Internet and to gather ways to use it in my classroom. I am certainly an infant when it comes to this and the funny thing is I thought I was pretty good on a computer. Well, I can type and search and use PowerPoint, excel and other tools that almost seem prehistoric to me now that I have taken this class. What an eye opener. I have never spent so much time on the computer and wanted more.
I think it is addicting. They will probably have a computer anonymous class eventually.

Bain Gym and pathways

As I read this week's assignment in Siemen's Knowing Knowledge book, I can't help but think of a class I just finished last week called Brain Gym. I originally took the class because I was interested in learning techniques to use in the classroom when the children have lost focus. Brain gym is a series of small exercises that help create pathways to both the right and left side of the brain.
Today I am reading and they are talking about network pathways and how knowledge is changing at such a rapid pace. Staying focused and alert and being able to simulate knowledge at such rapid pace is more important today then ever before I don't believe it is going to slow down but will continue to accelerate at light speed.
What I realized from the Brain Gym class is that we all need to stimulate the pathways that connect our brain so that we can absorb these changes and teach our students so that they are ready for knowledge that is changing everyday.
If you would like to read about Brain Gym log onto www.braingym.org

Smartboards

After reading a blog on another site it reminded me of Smartboards and that maybe there are some teachers out there that don't know what they are. If you are familiar than you know they are pretty cool. I was lucky to have one in my room when I taught fourth grade at another school. This past year I taught 2nd grade and wrote a grant with the technology director and the fourth grade teacher and purchased a Smartboard to be shared. You can hook up your laptop or any computer to the Smartboard and bring up an endless supply of interactive educational sites for the children to do some cool activities on. My favorite is math and there are so many sites that make learning fun and interesting without paper and pencil. The children are so engaged in the activities and they can't wait to go up and manipulate the board. My wish is that we will be able to purchase more boards so that they are permanently set up in teachers' rooms. I found it tedious to go gather the board, the projector, the cords, and a laptop with the program installed. When I taught fourth grade it was mounted on the wall and it was much easier to use. Currently our 6th Grade Science teacher has a smartboard mounted in his room and he uses it everyday. That is the ideal situation. Check out the Smartboard web site if you get a chance to see what these boards can do.

Cool Cat Teacher

I read this amazing blog on RSS reader with the best tips for starting the year off on the right foot. This teacher uses an amazing analogy about hydrangeas and students. I don't want to tell you what is in the blog this is a must read for all teachers new and old. I wish someone would have offered my some of these tips when I started teaching.