Encinal High's Songfest is a Smashing Success!

Brian Rodriguez's AP Euro and American History students put on their annual Song Fest last week. The students sang and danced their way through historical European and American historical events. What a fantastic night!

Under the MicroScope with Henry Haight's Joyce Craig!

Henry Haight's teacher Joyce Craig is featured in KQED's Quest Science Series!
Joyce has been passionate about teaching elementary school science for the past 20 years. Her students receive an average of five hours of science instruction per week! This is well above the national average.
Watch this inspirational video to find out how Joyce along with other bay area science educators are motivating their students to become 21st Century scientists.

Feel free to leave feedback for Joyce in the comment section at the bottom of this blog post.

If you try viewing from within the district, let the video play through once to eliminate the buffering (sluggish) play quality of the video.

Renzulli Election Resources Galore!

Renzulli Learning has created a .pdf with loads of election activities for your students. Check it out!

Take me there now!

Renzulli Learning Site...Loads of Activities

Mark Your Calendar! Discovery Educator Network Offers Free Webinars

Discovery Education is sponsoring a series of innovative online webinars this fall.

The beauty of the webinar is that you attend via your computer and it's all for FREE! Just check out the amazing line-up of events below!

One not to miss...Fall Discovery Virtual Conference... it's on a Saturday.
Last year I stayed in my pajamas, drank coffee, did laundry all while attending some of the best PD ever!

Go to the Discovery to ENROLL for the sessions you'd like to attend.

Enjoy! Diana

October 22 4:00 -5:00 p.m	Father of the Web Quest- Bernie Dodge
October 25 6:00 a.m - 2:00 p.m.	Fall Discovery Education Virtual Conference
October 28 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.	Tech or Treat Web 2.0 Tools
November 4 4:00-5:00 p.m.	PowerPoint- Integration Ideas
November 11 4:00-5:00 p.m.	Storytelling with PhotoStory
November 19 4:00-5:00 p.m.	EdTechConnect with Alan Kay
November 25 4:00-5:00 p.m.	Thanksgiving Special
December 2 4:00-5:00 p.m.	Podcasting Throughout the Classroom
December 9 4:00-5:00 p.m.	Ten Things You didn't Know You Could Do with Cellphones
December 16 4:00-5:00 p.m.	Closed Captioning Tricks for PCs and Macs.

Google "Quotes" the Candidates!

Every time I turn around Google has created another useful educational tool.
In Quotes allows users to compare what politicians have to say on popular issues. Users are in control what politician and topic they want to compare. Mix, match and let the dialogue begin!

Where In the World is Matt?

TechKnowTuesday- Election Central

Here is a great video to illustrate how the electoral college works in our country. Great for classroom use. Check out this new CommonCraft video called...

The Electoral College in Plain English

Tons of Google Election Tools

Check out the election maps. I've embedded one below...but there are many more!

C-Span in the Classroom Free resources for teaching Civics and U.S. Government!

September 16, 2008

TechknowTuesday will feature grant resources, 21st Century learning resources & just plain fun Web 2.0 TechKnowTools!

• Science, Technology, Engineering Grant Cognex funds education projects. Some examples include computer labs, robotics competitions, science projects, etc. To apply, you will need to submit a one-page proposal describing the project/need, who will be affected, and the costs. Send/Email your application by September 22nd to Nora Toy-Desmond, Alameda Education Foundation, ndesmond@alameda.k12.ca.us

• DonorChoose Easy to application process! See earlier blog post about Washington's teacher Liza Young.

• Digital Wish Over 45 grants available for putting technology in the classroom

• Discovery Education Online Stream-a-Thon Tuesday, September 23 9:00 a.m. ending 6:00 p.m.

• Discovery Education Network Virtual Conference Saturday, October 25, 2008 - 6:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m. Fire up your computer, grab a cup of coffee & stay in your pajamas for this one!
• Computer Using Educators Conference CUE October 14-16 in San Jose

  Pre-registration: On or before September 19, 2008:
  Full Conference Registration Fee (3 days)	$295

• Google Apps for Education: AUSD has secured over 700 secure Google Apps for Education accounts. Accounts include the use of Gmail & Google Docs which includes word processing, presentation program with the ability to use back-channel chat, spreadsheets and survey form generator. Contact Diana to set your students up with an account.
• Seeking Class to Collaborate: Contact Kim Corino 21st Century Literacy Specialist at the International School Bangkok in Thailand. Read Kim's blog post for more information on how to collaborate with her students throughout the year.
• Tikatok Create a story program. Check out the Education portion of the site.

Diana 1962



Yearbookyourself

Diana in 1974

• Shelfari social network for people who love books. Create a virtual shelf to show off your books, see what your friends are reading and recommend books for your students- free!

Check out my books in my Shelfari gadget on my blog.


Periodic Tables Videos
Short videos explaining the each element on the Periodic Table

CyberSafety- Do You Know the Rules of the Road?

The internet can be a complicated place to navigate even for the most tech "savvy" individuals. Imagine what kinds of obstacles & hazards our students must go through each time they log-on to the internet.
Educators have traditionally accepted the responsibility of teaching face-to-face socialization with their students. Now, even more, whether we like it or not, I feel we should accept the responsibility of teaching how to socialize on the Cyber-Highway with our students.

Below is a collection of sites with Cyber-Safety teaching resources!

• CTAP IV Cyber Safety Project
• iSafe K-5 Curriculum
• iSafe 6-12 Student Toolkit
• Predator Tipsheet

:) Diana

Innovative Site of the Month: READ THE WORDS

Listen to my blog post!

ReadtheWords

Mistakes are Tools for Learning...

Mistakes are Tools for Learning was a huge banner I had hanging in my 3rd grade classroom many years ago. Whenever one of my students made a mistake and was down on themselves, I just pointed to the banner.

This past week I had the opportunity to work with about 40 of AUSD's innovative teachers. I will get to my main point in a minute but I want to explain what was so unique about this group of people.

One of our administrators asked if they were all high school teachers. Not a chance. They were a perfect mix of of elementary, middle, high school educators, ELD and SpED.

The Director of Technology and myself put this innovative group of educators through the ringer! We exposed them to more Web 2.0 resources than any human should be allowed to endure in five days! Here's the thing...they took it all in...struggled, made mistakes, helped one another and created blogs, Animoto videos, Voicethreads, Google Docs, iGoogle, Jott, Jott to blog, Jott to Google Calendar all this and much more. Lots of "mistakes" and lots of "learning" too!



Check out this cool video created by Cindy Frankel, Media Specialist at Lum Elementary

Story Creator: Myths and Legends

Okay...so finally my lack of attention has some positive results! I wandered over to Plurk and found a comment from Kevin Honeycutt asking if anyone has used this Story Creator: Myths and Legends. Kevin is such a thoughtful member of my PLN, he included the link to this fabulous resource...Perfect for just about anybody wanting to tell a story. Check out this creative tool...and let me know what you think! :) Diana

Just used Plurk to find beta code for ping.fm...you guys are so cool!

Getting Started With Google Docs

Found this useful tutorial on how to use Google Docs @ Scribd.
Note: enlarge the screen by selecting the "screen enlarge" button on the upper right side of the page.

HOWTO use google docs - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: HOWTO use google docs

Grants Galore!

Do you or your school have plans to implement a "Green" or outdoor education project? Plan on taking your students on a field trip? Want to branch out and try introducing technology into your classroom curriculum? Why not apply for one of these "easy" to obtain grants. Remember, if you would like help, just ask me!

Teacher Testimonial

"It’s EASY!!! Many of your colleagues in Alameda have done it. You should give it a try. Each proposal takes less then 30 minutes to write and they walk you through it step by step. In less than a year, I have had 5 proposals funded, totaling more than $1000. So check it out: DonorChoose." L. Young, 5th grade teacher, Washington School received the following items:

1. HP PHOTOSMART M425 DIGITAL CAMERA -- HP Digital Cameras; Photosmart M425, quantity 1, $119.99 each (Quill Corporation)

2. HP PHOTOSMART D7160 PRINTER -- HP Photosmart D7160 Photo Printer, quantity 1, $119.98 each (Quill Corporation)

3. Family: Book Bundle for Grades 4-6 (14 Books), quantity 2, $72.23 each (AKJ Educational Services (Educational Books))

4. Newbery: Book Bundle for Grades 3-5 (12 Books), quantity 2, $64.4 each (AKJ Educational Services(Educational Books))

5. JUNIO STAINLESS STELL CHILDREN'S SCISSORS, 5 BLUNT -- Acme 5" Junior Scissors; Single Pair, Blunt Tip, quantity 36, $1.34 each (Quill Corporation)

6. RIGHT TIMER OVERHEAD TIMER, quantity 1, $55.34 each (Teacher's School Supply)

7. PREMO SCULPEY CLAY, PRIMARY CLR 8PC 2OZ, quantity 20, $11.25 each (Blick Art Materials (Punch Out))

PREMO SCULPEY CLAY, NEUTRAL CLR 8PC 2OZ, quantity 10, $11.25 each (Blick Art Materials (Punch Out))

8. Esperanza Rising -- Teacher Guide, quantity 1, $10.46 each (AKJ Books)

Esperanza Rising, quantity 18, $5.22 each (AKJ Books)

More Grants to consider....

• Lowe's Toolbox for Education Earn up to $5000.00 instantly. Check the website in July to apply for 2008-09 school year.

• Teaching Tolerance Grant Earn $500.00-$2,500 to improve inter-group relations at your school. Grant applications are ongoing.

• Best Buy Teach Grants: Earn $2,000-$10,000 & complete for eight awards of $100,000. Check this site in July for new application.

• Ezra Jack Keats Mini-Grant Program: $500.00 award. Application due by 9/15/08 could be used for ePals, book making, podcasting projects etc.

• GreenWorks! Grants: $250-$5,000 awards. See examples of winning school projects. Fall application cycle: October 2008

• Target Field Trips: Check website in August for fall application cycle. Think you can't get funded? Check out '07-'08 recipients from CA!
  

• Lowe's Outdoor Grant Program:Awards range from $2,000-$20,000. This grant is designed to provide schools with outdoor, hands-on science education to students in grades K-12. Check website in July for new application.
  
  

Young People Music & the Internet

Just found this useful website via Ewan McIntosh's blog.
Childnet International has launched a worldwide campaign to inform teachers and parents how to explain the complex legal and ethical issues surrounding online music.

Checkout Young People Music & the Internet

:) Diana

World Environment Day: June 5, 2008

How will you and your students celebrate World Environment Day?
Students at New Zealand's Motatahi Area School invite overseas schools and students to be part of "their" day, by asking them to share their own 30 word "sustainability pledge" on their site.

• Motatahi Area School in the North Island Website.
  
• World Environment Day website: 80 ways you can participate.
• More information....

Let me know if any of you are planning on celebrating World Environment Day! I'm available to help you with uploading your pledge to Motatahi's site.

:) Diana

Fifth Graders are Movie Makers!

Paden's fifth graders have been using PhotoStory 3 to create short videos.

Enjoy,
:) Diana

How Do We Prepare our Children for the Future and at the Same Time Think About the Past?

I just listened to a conversation between Yong Zhao, Professor at Michigan State University, and Julie Duffield of Infinite Thinking Machine at the NCTI Conference website. Yong speaks to the importance of innovation, how technology is defining new talents, and why we all should embrace change.





Yong believes that we need to teach our students:

• ability to design
• to tell stories
• to feel empathetic
• organize to lead
• how to create avatars
  
• navigate Second Life or other virtual worlds
• to put multimedia together
  

Yong expresses the importance that educators understand the "critical" point in education that we are in. ...Give it a listen

:) Diana

Thanks to Lucy Gray's mention of this video on Twitter this a.m. ! :)

"I Just Got a Document Camera...Now What?"

Are Document Camera's the Next Big Thing?

"...document cameras are a good candidate for the next universal presentation technology adoption. ... “the document camera is the single most important piece of technology for all teachers, especially for math teachers who are seeking to understand their students’ thinking about the mathematics they are learning.

Susan Brooks-Young, "Are Document Cameras the Next Big Thing?," T.H.E. Journal, 6/1/2007, http://www.thejournal.com/articles/20746

Okay, you just received this cool new document camera and your not sure what do next; let alone get rid of your trusty overhead projector....Well, I've collected thoughts and ideas from our colleagues all over the country in the use of your new document camera.

• Check out the Kennewick Unified School District' 101 uses for a document camera.

:) Diana

Google Docs in "Plain English"

The folks over at Common Craft have done a terrific job at creating yet another easy to understand video! Check it out! :)Diana

100 Days of School

Trouble Rembering Passwords? Not Anymore!

Check out Password Bird..It's not only cute but really functional in helping you create a password you can actually remember!

:) Diana

"Do Schools Kill Creativity... Learning?"

I never tire listening to the keynote by Sir Robinson. He expresses perfectly how I feel about educating our teachers and students about the importance of technology literacy in education!
Please share with others..I have! :) Diana

Re-thinking PowerPoint...

I found this on Carolyn Foote's Not So Distant Future Blog. I hope anyone using powerpoint will consider Carolyn's suggested "Less is More" techniques.

:) Diana

| View | Upload your own

Get Out of Jail With Twitter...

=

Twitter has been the single most important part of my personal learning network (PLN) this past year. I have been introduced to more cool web 2.0 tools than I could have ever done just surfing the web on my own.
But tonight...I think I found another use for Twitter! You get sent to jail...who do you call? Twitter! Yes, that's right, Twitter! Read and learn how!

:) Diana

Got Sounds?

I'd like to share a fabulous site thanks to fellow "Twitt" science teacher, Elaine Plybon
aka. glad2be, who posted a great site for anyone looking for sound effects.

FindSounds

Search the Web for Sounds

You need a sound? Need to find just the right sound for mayhem, pencil sharpener or katydid?
Find it on FindSounds!

:) Diana

Who Needs a SMARTBoard?

What do most people use a SmartBoard for? If you said, "highlight and enlarge text." Then I have a FREE solution for you!
ZoomIt! is an amazing screen zoom tool that is compatible with all versions of Windows...sorry Mac users!

"ZoomIt is screen zoom and annotation tool for technical presentations that include application demonstrations. ZoomIt runs unobtrusively in the tray and activates with customizable hotkeys to zoom in on an area of the screen, move around while zoomed, and draw on the zoomed image."

No more trying to explain to your audience/class the details of the website...just ZoomIt in...

Thanks to David Jakes and John Pederson for sharing their cool tools with the rest of us!

Enjoy!
Diana

Are We Preparing Our Students for the World in Which They Will Live and Learn?

Mathew Johnson an Educator from Pennsylvania created "When I Grow Up". This short video asks the question of educators worldwide: "Are we preparing our students for the world they will live and learn?"

I believe there are pockets of educators who have realized that we've got to re-think how we educate our students. These educators get the idea that our students are "powering down" to come to school. I'm hopeful that our district will soon realize that we have to take a look at just how we create engaging learning environments for our students.
New research from the Metri Group states that multimedia can improve learning .
We can't continue to wish away the "technology" use in the classrooms.
And look at this...there may be hope after all: The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) is "launching a new leadership initiative aimed at giving superintendents the tools and resources they need to understand the transformative role of educational technology, as well as to lay out a blueprint for technology leadership and action."
Empowering the 21^st Century Superintendent, aims at providing district leaders with the skills they need to lead effective ed-tech programs, strengthen school district leadership and communication, infuse 21^st-century skills into the curriculum, create engaging learning environments, support professional development, and improve assessment.
Maybe our students will stand a chance of competing in this "Flat World!"

Diana

Student Internet Safety : What's your approach?

After having a conversation about student internet use and safety with my Innovative Educators during our last Blogs and Wikis training I came across this timely blog entry from Vinnie Vrotny.
Vrotny suggests that we stop teaching our students using negative messages of what not to do on the internet, but instead teach them how to think about the consequences of their actions.
Vrontny has recognized that our students are active in all aspects of the web from social networks, gaming to YouTube and beyond. He proposes that we ask them a series of questions that have the potential to make our students "think before they post."

Vrotny's questions:

If people were to Google you, what conclusions would they make?

From observing your on-line communication, what kind of person would they believe you are? What type of thinker are you? What skills do they think that you have?

From looking at your digital self, would people think that you are full of creativity or are you a copy-cat, mimicking the works of others without any new original thought?

What do you do if your work is being misappropriated? What if you discover that there are images of you on other’s sites which are unflattering or potentially damaging?

What's your approach to teaching your students about their safety and presence on the internet?

For the whole blog entry go to Changing my Tune - Internet Safety for Students

Diana Kenney

Innovative Educator's VoiceThread Project

Roxanne Clement, one of our district's techno-innovator Media Specialists recently created a VoiceThread interactive project with her students to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday.

Let me know if you and your students have created an innovative technology project! I'd love to showcase it here!

Diana Kenney :)

Embedding...Really Embedding Video in PowerPoint

Engaging students in their own learning is not only powerful but just good teaching. Why not spice up those flat PPT's by embedding video segments into your presentation.
Watch how your students become instantly engaged in the learning process...
Try it, I think you'll like it!
:) Diana Kenney

The Effects of IM Can't Be All That Bad!

Kimber, Jeff Utecht's from Shanghai, China create this Gloster poster! See what this 14 year old has to say about the effects of IM (Instant Messaging) on America's youth!

Internet GEMS from CUE (Computer Using Educators Conference)

I'm back from an accelerating trip to the 30th annual CUE Conference. There is so much to share that I will just bullet the GEMS below. Let me know if you plan on using any of them! ENJOY!

• Visible Body: The Google Earth of the human body! You must launch in Internet Explorer.

• Scratch: A new programming language (developed by MIT) that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web. Students will learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also gaining a deeper understanding of the process of design.

• ToonDoo: Create your own comic strips, Publish, Share & Discuss

• Animoto: The coolest new technology out there! Create your own movies.The heart of Animoto is its newly developed Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology that thinks like an actual director and editor. It analyzes and combines user-selected images and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills & techniques that are used in television and film.

• FreeRice: Is the sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com. Build your vocabulary and feed the poor at the same time.

• I Learn You Learn We Learn: The focus of this wiki is to provide resources about contemporary technology tools that could make a difference in the way we educate our students.
  

• The Math Worksheet Site: With The Math Worksheet Site you can create an endless supply of printable math worksheets.

• Free Stock Photos: Free photography for personal or commercial use.
  

I'll be adding more resources regularly. So keep checking in!

Diana Kenney