Not an Expert

The final DPS Tech Challenge item is to create a Wikipedia account and do some editing.  My first thought was - "I know a little about a lot but I'm not an expert on anything!"  So what to edit??  For some strange reason, I've been thinking lately about a series of books that I was crazy about as a young child - the "Lonely Doll" and "Edith" books by author, model and photographer, Dare Wright.  I LOVED the books which might seem odd if you are familiar with them.  The illustrations consist of still photography of dolls positioned with their surroundings and/or other toys (like teddy bears).  From doing a little research, I've learned that some people find them creepy.  So I guess I was an unusual child.  I edited the Wikipedia page on Dare Wright and added two external links - one to the Dare Wright Facebook page, and one to an article about her books from the NY Times in 2005.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dare_Wright)

I've worked with Wikis before.  In fact I created one for an emergent literacy class at Chapel Hill.  The professor loved it because I would post all of the resources she gave us at the Wiki.  Unfortunately, the professor and I had trouble getting everyone else on board.  It was intended to be a place where the students would share their lesson plans and projects, but because it wasn't mandatory, few students used it.

The thing I hate about Wikis is how disorganized they can become when many people are working on the same site.  A central administrator is always necessary to decide how the Wiki pages will be organized.  Let's see how the DPS Media Coordinators Wiki goes this year!

Edmoto anyone?

The AIG teacher is excited about using Edmodo with our students this year and so am I.  However, I'm wondering about all the privacy and acceptable use policy issues.  What kind of permissions are necessary from parents?  What other issues arise out of having students create accounts online?  What about all the other tools we've been trying this summer that require some sort of account?

I've created a "Holt Hawks Library" group on Edmodo so once we get started I can start posting "news the kids can use".  (http://www.edmodo.com/home; code to join is fltt2p)  I can even feed my blog posts to the Edmodo page!

Anyone else using Edmodo, and if so, can you share your experience??

Prezi for NCCBA nominees

Here's a link to my NCCBA Prezi:  http://prezi.com/8gdyeq6iv4rc/nccba-2011-12/ (I don't like the way Prezi's embed feature works.) 

To be honest, I'll probably do the presentation over again in Animoto.  I find it easier, more like "video" and you can easily add music.  This took FOREVER and I don't really like the text.  I tried to group the books into categories, which wasn't easy.  It uses 2 clip arts images from Creative Commons so at least I can cross another challenge off the list.  None of the book covers were available through Creative Commons.  Hopefully they fall under educational use, etc.

Warning! Low-Tech!!

Thought I would share a bulletin board that I've been wanting to do for years but just got around to.  Here's my "Media - Old and New" board:

Hopefully you can see most of the items.  Here's a list:
Top - reel to reel audio, vinyl 45, vinyl album, cassette, 8-track tape, CD
Bottom - Edison Cylinder Phonograph, an old "View-master", reel film, slides, film strip, VHS, laserdisc, DVD

Once the board has been up for 2 weeks and the student's are still curious, I'm going to put up cards that describe each item and when it was invented.  And (sadly), I have had experience with almost every one of these items in my lifetime!  (Maybe not the Edison - I'm not that old!)

Facebook "friending" a student...

It's been ages since I posted because a new school year has begun and I've been swamped with low-tech stuff (bulletin boards, read-alouds, PLCs, shelf-marker lessons.......).  But I also just received my second friend request on Facebook from a current student.  Don't worry everyone, I didn't accept it!  However, it leads to a quandary about social networks and schools.  When a student friends me, I seek that student out at school, pull them aside and explain to them why I cannot be their friend on Facebook.  I usually tell them how great they are (because they usually are), but... it isn't appropriate for a teacher to be a Facebook friends with students, AND because Facebook sets an age limit at 13 (I think?) I would be seen as encouraging them to break the rules.   I've considered having a Holt Library page on Facebook so I could post book recommendations, library events, etc. BUT would that not also be encouraging under-age kids to create Facebook accounts?

I think social networks are currently not an option for elementary schools.  Anyone else have thoughts about using social networks with students?

Be Funky

I tried out a new online photo editing tool tonight.  I remember taking a Photoshop course in the 1990s and being amazed at the effects you could create with the software.  BeFunky.com lets to stylize many of your own photos and it's free (with some "premium" features).  My 19 year old son takes a lot of amazing pictures so I used one of his to create artistic effects.

Original:

 Impressionist effect:

Pointillism effect:

You can upload photos from your hard drive, but also from photo sharing sites such as Flickr and Picassa.  I see this tool being useful in art classes, particularly because as students study an art style, they can better understand the style by applying it to their own photos.  However, it would enable students in other classes to express themselves creatively.  You can add text to your photos, then upload them directly to your Flickr or Facebook accounts.  I've posted this on my son's Facebook page, we'll see what he thinks!

PicLits for writing practice!

I'm excited about this tool!  Not only can your kids easily choose an image and create their own text to describe the image BUT the text can be chosen from columns of Nouns, Verbs, Adverbs, etc.  How great that reluctant writers could just drag and drop text and learn grammar at the same time! The word to choose from are different with each image and when you drag and drop a word you are given the option to change the form of the word (butterfly can be changed to butterflies, stretch to stretches, etc.)  There is also a "freestyle" option for unlimited word choice.  Currently the site is free but the creators are weighing an inexpensive paid option.  The only thing that doesn't seem to work is the ability to post to a blog.  So click below the image to view the PicLit I just created (it's very simple - I'm no poet!). 

http://www.piclits.com/viewpoem.aspx?PoemId=108910