One of the challenges we face is how to teach students to search well.
Jane Knight posted this interesting new tool, Boolify, which seems ideal for children–and, well, some of us adults, too!
By moving icons, such as "and" "but" and "or" onto the screen, one is able to use search terms to limit those ever-expanding internet searches.
I am definitely going to explore this one.
Early this morning, I opened my Google Reader and linked from this to this, a history teacher’s blog I hadn’t read before.
As I read through some of Glen Wiebe‘s posts (and many are posts to which I’ll return), this one about a new book caught my eye. I had been to Borders earlier in the day and almost purchased it.
(I was after presentation ideas in this book instead, and it deserves a separate post later.)
The 12 rules in Brain Rules provide "nice research and examples to
explain how we interact with our environment and each other, especially
how we as teachers can impact student learning," Wiebe says.
They are all fascinating statements, but this one in particular jumped out at me:
EXPLORATION | Rule #12: We are powerful and natural explorers.
Next, I wanted to look something up in my Reader, and a link from Dana Huff took me to another great read, teacher Lisa Huff, who posted about a new tool, Moonfruit, which may be what I am looking for–a way to post student portfolios online.
When I finally decided to write a post about this serendipity, I went to grab a picture from Flickrcc and discovered you can now edit your pictures in Picnik from the front page!
All in all, it’s been a productive morning. And it’s only 7:30 am!
Image: ‘Morning Mist on the Dumoine II‘
www.flickr.com/photos/17875539@N00/542306837
We started spring break today
So with nothing to do, nowhere to go, and no one else home, I propped up my feet and started to clean up my laptop.
One of my old bookmarks, which I’ve transfered from machine to machine, was labeled "blogs."
Now, these days, I don’t save blogs in my bookmarks. I use RSS like everyone else I know.
I chuckled to discover my first blog, and that back in June of 2004, I was sending a post to my teachers to "learn RSS."
Funny.
Four years ago.
And I’m still sending out the same messages.
Then, I was the lone user. Now, I am happy to report many teachers in my school use RSS. And they blog. And they twitter. And they teach me things.
This was a happy discovery.
My job is done.
I can relax.
Image: ‘A Picture Share3‘
www.flickr.com/photos/48600072071@N01/124936
Have you ever been to a concert–a big concert–and sat there staring at the performers, thinking: "Oh my gosh, I’m seeing [insert name]. I can’t believe it!"
I felt some of that yesterday, when David Warlick came to town. I’ve been reading David’s work for years, and to finally hear him in person was such a pleasure.
Talk about quiet confidence. Vision. Presentation skills.
I ustreamed the event, a first at a conference for me. Chatting with the 17 people in the chat, figuring out where to aim the camera, and listening and reflecting to David’s thoughts were challenging at first, but soon I was multi-tasking like a …..beginner. Nothing pro about my work, but listen to David’s keynote and you’ll be inspired.
It was also fun to see the members of the VAIS tech committee on which I used to serve. And seeing Jamie Britto from Collegiate took me back. I attended a conference in, I think it was 1999 or 2000, where he led us in discussions about using tech in the classroom. So long ago. Funny how we are, in some ways, still saying the same things. And yet the world is different.
Today, my colleague Jennifer and I will present on using web 2.0 tools for ourselves and our students. After some difficult conversations at school this week about what our vision is for teaching and learning, I am struggling to get my head around what these tools truly mean for us. How do they fit into the big picture of how we learn, how we can help our students learn, and what they mean in this "flat world."
Of course, it’s not the tools themselves but a philosophy of education–and I can’t go there until I have more coffee.
Thanks to Dennis Richards for links to Big Think and videos like this:
