Technology in Education

Pledge Now

2010-10-14T12:18:00.001-05:00

NCLB in the comics

2009-02-21T20:05:00.002-06:00

I love Web 2.0 tools and thought I would use ToonDoo, one of the student favorites, to create this cartoon about a funny story from our family. If you haven't tried it yet, you should. It is lots of fun. Our students have created ToonDoo's of vocabulary words, events in American History, New Year's Resolutions, math problems, and more. The commenting feature allows for collaboration and the kids love the chance to be creative and get real feedback. Enjoy! Note, I've posted the comic twice so you can see the two embedding options they offer. One has a scroll bar and one is interactively scrolled.

by camruns | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

Message to the President from 1st Graders

2009-01-21T10:38:00.003-06:00

Here is a great example of giving kids a voice. Here are the Corgill Kids-1st graders, sending a message to President Obama and the Secretary of Education.

Go to You Tube and Share your comments with the class.

Easy Live Streaming from your phone

2008-12-15T22:32:00.003-06:00

A friend introduced me to QIK. It is an easy way to share live streaming with anyone anywhere. I was able to share my son's symphony concert with my family who couldn't make it just by turning on my phone and starting QIK. The live broadcast was available online and participants could participate in chat while watching. It also records it for future viewing. You can download and embed recorded videos as well. This is a great service. Remember that anyone can stream so you should not really let students head to the main site because you never know what will be live at the time. However, you have your own site that carries your streams so you could direct link to your own QIK site. See example below.

Connecting with Friends and learning new things

2008-10-20T20:24:00.005-05:00

Because of the vast array of technology tools out there, we were able to easily connect my daughter's 1st grade class in Alabama with a 1st grade class in Canada! Ms. Cassidy's class in Canada had a Yack Pack on their site which we used to call in and see if they were available. They were, and 5 minutes later we were Skyping and learning about each other. We visited the students' blogs and learned about Pictaps where you can create drawings that will dance. We are studying the human body so it will be fun to try drawing our self portraits and watching them move. Thanks to our friends in Canada for teaching us lots of new things. My daughter made her first Pictap below. You will soon be able to see the Corgill kids' Pictaps and new blogs since we have been inspired by our Canadian friends.

Fun Web 2.0 Tools in Elementary

2008-06-09T11:18:00.002-05:00

There are so many wonderful teachers out there incorporating web 2.0 tools in the classroom to engage students. I have just been looking at Kathy Cassidy's page. She has a Ustream live broadcast of butterflies emerging, a Yackpack where you can connect with her class, and great 1st grader blogs. I learned how to animate a tomato from a student named Brendan. You can see the results below. Visit Kathy's page and learn!

Live Streaming of Butterflies emerging

2008-06-08T20:54:00.001-05:00

Broadcast powered by Ustream.TV

Interesting Thoughts from Steve Hargadon

2008-06-08T15:05:00.002-05:00

The Proactive Learner

Message from the Students

2008-06-07T08:23:00.000-05:00

In Plain English

2008-03-30T23:29:00.004-05:00

Someone asked me about Twitter but I can't explain it as well as the folks at Common Craft.
http://www.commoncraft.com/show The Common Craft Show is a series of short explanatory videos. Check the out the video on Google Docs, too. They really do make it easy to understand. So here is the Twitter explanation courtesy of Common Craft:

AHA Film Festival-Bringing it all together

2008-03-30T22:56:00.003-05:00

I am attending the 5th Annual AHA Film Festival in Effingham, IL. If you want to see real world application of learning across the curriculum, you need to see this! Read about it here:
http://www.effinghamdailynews.com/local/local_story_060124856.html
I like this quote from the article: “We have guests coming in from all over the country. The film festival is usually sold out. By the end, we have people calling up and saying, ‘You gotta get me a ticket!’” he said. “It’s wonderful that the communities support us and fill up a theater to watch kids’ homework, basically.
Joe Fatheree and co-teacher Craig Lindvahl have prepared these students well. Students also realize that they have a role to play in making this world a better place. Tonight we gathered a local youth center with students from high schools across the nation to discuss the United Nation's 8 millennium goals. These students are talking about how they can use their talents to make a difference.

Media literacy, authentic assessment, service learning---all right here, right now. I hope districts across the country will follow this successful model of making it real and making it count for our students and teachers. I am looking forward tomorrow to a film training workshop taught by the high school students. Then, it will be time to enjoy the festival. Joe Fatheree also has other projects. You can read about his No Barriers project here: http://www.nobarriersproject.com/ We can make a difference and it can start with one person and an idea!

Video Editing Online-Contest

2008-03-15T22:50:00.000-05:00

ITVS has just released a new program that will allow you to edit video via the Internet. You need no additional tools. The people at ITVS are sponsoring a contest for students around the country to help children think about what they eat and what they are made of. The ITVS film, King Corn, is showing in select theaters around the country. Footage from that film and Getty images is available online at the ITVS website for the students to edit. They can also upload footage of their own. The process is very simple and challenges students to use higher order thinking skills for advanced problem solving. Their website can be accessed by going to the following url: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/filmocracy/ The project can be integrated into almost every grade and subject level.

If you are what you eat, what are you made of?

PBS’s Independent Lens invites you to make a statement about the politics of food. Enter to win the Filmocracy mashup contest. It’s easy!

Make a short film using KING CORN clips and footage from Getty Images. You can even upload your own clips and mix it all up with the Eyespot online editing tool. When you're done, check out everyone else's videos and rate your favorites.

The grand prizewinner gets $1,000 and a chance to be screened throughout the country, plus a KING CORN DVD, soundtrack and other fabulous corn-free prizes! The most popular and highest rated videos get cool prizes too.

Want to make the best film you can? Learn how with tips from the pros! Be a corn connoisseur, visit the KING CORN website and get acres of information about the crop.

Mix it up and make your statement about food. Have fun and good luck!

Contest dates: March 7 - May 30, 2008
Find out more at:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/filmocracy/

KING CORN, a documentary about two friends, one acre of corn and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation, premieres on Independent Lens on PBS, April 15 (check broadcast listings.) KING CORN, by Aaron Woolf, Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney, is a co-production of Mosaic Films Incorporated and the Independent Television Service (ITVS) with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

pdtogo.com : Professional Development For Busy Educators : lessons, files, podcasts

2008-02-29T15:46:00.000-06:00

Found this site today. Enjoy learning on the go! The title says it all. It had a great lesson on notetaking and the Smartboard. I'm sure you will find more. Put them on your ipod and be professionally developed anywhere!
pdtogo.com : Professional Development For Busy Educators : lessons, files, podcasts

50 Ways to Tell a digital story

2008-02-05T20:56:00.000-06:00

The excellent Discovery Education Network virtual conference I attended Saturday gave me some great ideas. One was this site that shows 50 ways to tell a digital story. I've used a few of the ways with some classes and we have had lots of fun. I will have class samples soon. You can see all of the 50 ideas here:http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/StoryTools

Some of my favorites are Toon Doo, Voice Thread and Blabberize! :) I can't wait to try more. My 5th graders loved Blabberize and they will soon help our 1st graders make the animal pictures tell all kinds of interesting facts they have learned while researching. 4th graders are storytelling by creating cartoons and I can't wait to use Voicethread for sharing with our younger students. I hope you have as much fun as we have with these cool web 2.0 collaborating tools!

Learn about Voicethread here:

Here is a voicethread I created to try out the video doodling and stop motion video. Cool!

See a sample Toon Doo where you can bring in your own photos. How about creating a book simliar to Knufflebunny with real pictures and cartoons mixed?

And of course, a talking amphibian. Our 5th graders loved making covered wagons and gold talk as they explained what happened during the westward movement. They also made cells talk.

Just remember that anyone can post a blabber so there might be inappropriate creations along with the innocent posts. I had the students use a unique tag so that we could find our blabbers easily.

Blabberize!

2008-02-02T17:36:00.001-06:00

I attended a virtual conference today sponsored by Discovery Education. It was so nice to attend such a worthwhile event without even leaving my house! I found so many new ways to use Web 2.0 tools to engage students and allow meaningful collaboration. If you have used Discovery Education and its many resources, you should give it a try! One of the tools shown today was Blabberize. I can't wait to have my students create all kinds of talking pictures to teach others many new concepts. We tested the site and quickly created a talking dog. However, with more time my 5 year old (the voice) will be able to make the dog tell you all kinds of things about dogs! Enjoy! http://www.blabberize.com/ My 7 year old created the talking hurricane. It would be great for a weather unit. We will add more facts later! See below.

By the way, you can find recorded versions of the Discovery Education seminars at: http://www.discoveryeducation.com/
Go to community and find the archived webinars. You need to be a DEN member I think to see them.

Talking Hurricane:

Creativity In Education

2008-01-10T21:46:00.000-06:00

You might have seen this already but it is worth seeing again.

The video is posted here: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66
Let's make sure we are not killing creativity, but nurturing it!

Tiger Creek Map - Discover Skin

2007-06-26T12:38:00.000-05:00

Tiger Creek Map - Discover Skin
This is an example of a Digital Photo Map used as a virtual field trip. Videos are linked to each photo.

CommunityWalk - make your own map, build interactive maps, create a map with photos, videos, more

2007-06-26T12:36:00.000-05:00

CommunityWalk - make your own map, build interactive maps, create a map with photos, videos, more

Another great place to create Digital Photo Maps and Geotag.

Gee Whiz Community

2007-06-26T12:35:00.000-05:00

Gee Whiz Community

Learned about this in a great session at NECC 2007. It was called Global Awareness through Geogagging: Creating and Using Digital Photo Maps.

We used Flickr and Tripper Map to create our Digital Photo Maps.

Podcasting in 1st Grade using G-cast

2007-03-14T15:16:00.000-05:00

A teacher sent me the following e-mail. I was so excited to receive it! She is definately a lifelong learner!

Cameron,

I just have to share my success with you. I joined GCAST and now have my children reading books and saving them as pod casts for us to assess reading fluency! We only have a list of 4 readings so far but the children are excited. And how many times do they actually get to hear what they sound like reading? It is going to be very helpful with reading. But as you already know there is so much that can be done through this site. My mind is spinning with the different pod casts we can make and what we can do with them. If you want to listen to ours, go to podcasts in itunes, go to subscribe to podcasts, go to advanced in the top menu and type in http://www.gcast.com/u/mwiggins/. That should bring up our list.

Secondly, I have successfully transferred cassettes to CDs using Audacity! I use a listening center daily with books on tape or teacher made listening lessons/activities so this was so important to me. All the cassette players around here are breaking. Again there is so much more that can be done with this.

Thank you so much for all the inspiration you give me. It is because of you I can do this and my classes will forever benefit. These are baby steps in the big picture but they are big steps for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Minnette

Now, it isn't because of me, it is because she took what she learned in a professional development and tried something new! Thank YOU Minnette! You can hear her students by going here: http://www.gcast.com/u/mwiggins?nr=1&&s=101733983 Click POSTS to see a list and click the initials of a student to hear.

If you have a success story, please comment on this post! Maybe you will inspire someone to try something new! Thanks!

Being 2 places at one time with Camtasia

2007-01-13T13:07:00.001-06:00

As with most technology specialists there are many times when I need to be two places at one time. I've started using Camtasia Studio to record my lessons. I capture my screen movements and voice when I teach a lesson. I save the file as an avi movie file and teachers can press play and have me with them in the lab teaching via video. The program has lots of features like mouse highlight and click highlight to help focus the viewer on the correct part of the screen. The sound quality is great. I used the built in monitor microphone of our Dell monitors and it picked up my voice and the students' voices. The teachers who used the video lesson later said that students were answering my questions as if I were actually in the room. Camtasia is easy to use and allows for lots of saving formats so you can show lessons over the web or even e-mail them. The funny thing is when people hear my voice coming from both labs and wonder how I can be two places at one time. Now you know!

You can find out more about Camtasia here: http://www.techsmith.com/

Free Wikis for Educators-no advertising!

2006-10-18T15:06:00.000-05:00

Wikispaces.com is offering free, no advertising wiki sites to Educators. Click this link to sign up: http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers100K
I have used this site for a few months now. It is easy to use and provides an excellent collaboration tool for your students. One new feature is concurrent editing. Now, more than one student can edit your wiki page at the same time!

Wikispaces goal is to have 100,000 teachers take advantage of this — so tell your educator friends.

New Free Sites everywhere

2006-10-15T20:04:00.000-05:00

It seems that everytime I search I find fun and exciting ways to share information online. The great thing about them is, so far, they are all free! I've used http://www.scrapblog.com with 3rd graders who are scrapblogging the year in 3rd grade. The neat thing about this site is that it is a scrapbook and blog all in one. The blogs can be private or public with comments from those who are invited or available to all. http://camruns.scrapblog.com/school/

Another exciting way to share information is through podcasting, though many might think it is too difficult. Not anymore--try www.gcast.com. On this site, you can use your telephone to podcast! How easy is that? We are having students read books for ESL students to listen to online or you can download the file as MP3's or wav files to play on CD players or other music players. You can hear some young children demonstrating how to count and skip count on this sample podcast. Just click the PLAY triangle to hear it. http://www.gcast.com/u/camruns/students You can embed these in your blogs or wikis and parents can subscribe to the podcasts to hear what's going on in your class!

Next, there are some neat photo sharing sites that offer so much more. Try http://www.pickle.com or http://www.bubbleshare.com. You can see my sample bubbleshare of a school fun run below. I used the "bouncy animation" show. The site offers all kinds of ways you can share and you even can include audio. It is as easy as drag and drop. It is lots of fun! So, get out there and learn how to learn---I know you will have some fun along the way!

Time Top 50 Coolest Websites

2006-08-16T22:31:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed looking over this list and thought you might, too.
http://www.time.com/time/2006/50coolest/index.html
Though not all pertain to education, there are a few that would offer some great benefits. One is Google Spreadsheets which allows for online spreadsheet collaboration. Another is a neat search engine that flags desirable and undesirable sites based on your preferences called Scandoo. I keep other links of interest on our pilot classroom wiki links page here: http://hcsepilot.wikispaces.com/LINKS in additon to my bookmarks page.

Technology in Schools: Let's Make the World a Better Place

2006-08-12T14:05:00.000-05:00

This article was published in the Alabama School Board magazine. http://www.theaasb.org/

What if Alabama Led the Way

2006-08-12T13:59:00.000-05:00

The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) executive director, Chris Stephenson, recently posted a blog entry regarding Alabama. See link below:
http://blog.acm.org/csta/ See August 8th entry.

or read it here:

(comments below or by Chris Stephenson, Executive Director CSTA)

August 08, 2006
What if Alabama Led the Way?

Last week I spent a great day at the University of Alabama at Birmingham talking to computer science faculty and local high school computing teachers and administrators about working together to improve K-12 computer science education. During what turned out to be a wide ranging discussion, Alabama Teacher of the Year Cameron McKinley asked some interesting questions:

"What if Alabama decided to lead the country in improving K-12 computer science education? Could this happen? What would it mean for the state and its students?"
Our discussions during the day touched on many so called "local issues". Certification for CS teachers in Alabama is a mess. As Amber Wagner explained, there is no certification for computer science, so computer science teachers have to write the praxis exam in an area that has no computer science content. This is a story I am hearing from CSTA members all across the country.

Jeff Gray of the University of Alabama at Birmingham talked about how student misconceptions
about computer science as a discipline and as a career destination are driving students away from computer science at a time when companies cannot find enough qualified workers to fill the jobs available in the computing field.

And we all admitted that computer scientists in general do a terrible job of explaining our field and why it is so exciting. How many student, for example, really understand that the most exciting breakthroughs in the sciences and even in the humanities require computer science expertise? How many students are even aware that computer science makes the gadgets they love possible? Too few!

What would it take for Alabama to address these and other issues and so become a national leader in K-12 computer science education? First it would take vision and committed leadership at the highest political levels. Fortunately Alabama has "an education governor" so that is a good start. Next it would take the commitment of educators on multiple levels. The University of Alabama at Birmingham Computer Science Department is ready. The folks from the Faculties of Education are getting ready. The teachers I met are very ready.

It would take an unwavering long-term commitment to creating a state-wide computer science curriculum and providing the resources to support it. This would require a plan for on-going professional development for all teachers and a campaign to help students understand the opportunities that are available for them in the computing field. These are things that CSTA would be happy to help with.

Business and industry would have to step up, offering financial and other support. Not just the high tech companies, but the industries that hire 80% of the computer science graduates to keep them up and running, such insurance companies, banks, the auto industry, and the health care industry just to name a few.

Of course, something would have to be done to fix the certification mess. And just maybe, teachers would be paid a livable wage.

What kind of place would Alabama be if it did these things? Alabama would be a place where all students have the opportunity to acquire the computing knowledge and skills required to survive and thrive in this new global economy, Alabama's booming high-tech and medical industry would have access to the skilled workers it needs to drive innovation and economic prosperity. And a world of career opportunities would open up for this and future generations.
Wouldn't it be a great thing? I believe that it is a possible thing.

Chris Stephenson
Executive Director
CSTA

Top 25 Cities for High Tech Jobs? Montgomery, Alabama!

2006-08-03T19:43:00.000-05:00

Forbes.com had some exciting news to report. An August 2006 article reads:

"If you want to find the top-paying jobs in the U.S. tech industry, you may want to look in the obvious places--Montgomery, Ala., Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Fort Smith, Ark., for instance.
Surprised? So were we. But for those looking to make top dollar as programmers, systems engineers and hardware technicians, these seemingly technologically out-of-the-way metros rival better-known high-tech hubs like San Francisco, Boston, New York and Washington D.C., for wages. "

To read the rest of the article, click here: http://www.forbes.com/2006/08/01/technology-careers-jobs_cx_pm_0801techjobs_print.html

Alabama is leading the way in using technology in education with our ACCESS distance learning program, ALEX, Technology in Motion, and many more programs. Visit the Alabama State Department web site for more on our technology initiatives. With the top tech jobs right here at home, we must make sure to continue funding technology in education and supporting innovative initiatives and computer science programs so that we can fill those jobs with Alabama graduates!

New Teachers-Hoover City Schools-Slides from Speech

2006-08-03T18:24:00.000-05:00

I was asked to speak to the new teachers who are joining Hoover City Schools this year. It seems like yesterday that I came to Hoover as a new teacher. In my speech, I stressed the importance of learning to learn. I also promised I would post some of the ideas from the speech. If you go to my web site and click Presentations, you will find a link to a PowerPoint show.
http://www.hoover.k12.al.us/rres/mckinley/mckinleymegabytes.htm
If you did not attend, it might be difficult to follow but you can still use the site links.

Computer Science Workshop-July 31, 2006

2006-08-03T15:19:00.000-05:00

I was pleased to be a part of a Computer Science teachers workshop sponsored by the UAB CIS department. We met Monday, July 31st. The keynote speaker was Chris Stephenson, the Executive Director of The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA). CSTA is a membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science and other computing disciplines. CSTA provides opportunities for K-12 teachers and students to better understand the computing disciplines and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and learn. You can read more about CSTA here: http://csta.acm.org/index.html . The number of students entering the Computer Science field is dropping though the job opportunities are growing in this field. We need to make sure students and parents understand the critical need for computer science education. Computer Science is more than just learning office applications, it involves problem solving skills and logic where students can actually be producers of solutions rather than just consumers of information. CSTA has excellent publications available online here: http://csta.acm.org/Publications/Publications.html#dbottom . The results of the UAB workshop will be posted soon on the UAB CIS site: http://www.cis.uab.edu/ . I especially enjoyed seeing the student presentations of the the Alice programming language and the lego robots. My former high school math teacher attended. One of her current students (and my former student) was one of the presenters. It was exciting to see a legacy of lifelong learning continuing. I am also pleased that the students wanted to form a partnership in helping to work with younger students and their teachers over the coming year. It is always rewarding to see students who want to give back and teach others.

Alabama Education Technology Conference (AETC) Fantastic!

2006-06-29T12:46:00.000-05:00

I attended AETC this year and learned so much. The opening session featured internationally known presenter Alan November in addition to remarks from Governor Riley and Dr. Morton, our State Superintendent. Alan November said he didn't know of any other states other than Alabama that had the major political forces in alignment on distance learning! He commented that we had the alignment of leadership and vision from the top down. The governor, the state superintendent, and the head of the Alabama's Office of Technology Initiatives all have the necessary vision to move Alabama forward. It was exciting to hear the Governor talking about the ACCESS distance learning initiative. Alabama is able to offer courses in rural areas that just were not available before. You can read more about the ACCESS program here: http://www.governorpress.alabama.gov/pr/pr-2006-06-28-01-access-photo.asp

I thoroughly enjoyed Alan November's session on Global Learning. He said we must give kids a Global Voice. As teachers, we can't continue to give same types of assignments. We must give innovative, creative and motivating assignments that could not be done without the technology. Technology is not a $2000 pencil. We need to use it to do things that we couldn't do before. Alan gives excellent examples in his presentation and on his site. It isn't even difficult to do. He suggested you give kids job assignments to learn podcasting, blogging, editing, etc. Then you have them teach others and soon you are in business globally communicating and honing the communication skills that will be needed to survive in our global economy. You can find more at Alan's site here: http://www.novemberlearning.com/ or visit his global learning links: here http://www.novemberlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=159&action=cat&lcl=2&parentID=32.

Next, I enjoyed three sessions by Bernajean Porter involving Digital Storytelling. Powerful stuff! She says a lot of the same things I keep saying. The projects need to be real world, and the technology is essential and TRANSFORMING, where kids are producers of useful information not just consumers. This came from Grappling Technology and Learning Spectrum. You can find it here: http://www.bjpconsulting.com/files/MAPPSpectrum.pdf The bottom line of all of this is that it's not about the tech, it’s about the learning. The technology when used properly can accelerate the learning and allow us to give kids a global voice! You can see examples, and find resources for evaluating projects here: http://www.digitales.us/

Podcasting, blogging, RSS Feeds. If you don't know these terms or what they could mean for your students, it's time to show those lifelong learning qualities and dive in. The water is just right!

One final note... I found out that Bernajean Porter, one of the featured presenters I mentioned above, received her masters in instructional technology at Lesley University and was an adjunct professor there, too. I am currently a member of the Lesley cohort for the masters in technology program. It is an excellent face to face program that meets locally in Hoover once a month. If you are interested, please e-mail me at cmckinley@hoover.k12.al.us. Lesley also offers cohorts in Literacy and Integrated Teaching Through the Arts.

Neighborhood Housing Youth Recognition Luncheon

2006-06-09T16:54:00.000-05:00

Today I was honored to be the speaker at the Neighborhood Housing Services of Birmingham Community Service Youth Recognition Luncheon. The luncheon was to honor those who had just completed a year of service and learning and to recognize those who will participate in the program next year. It was great to see the community and corporate sponsors offering quality education programs for the young people and their families while also making sure the students are involved in giving back to the community. I hope to visit again when school starts to work with a technology and learning program for the students and parents. You can visit the Neighbor Works America site at http://www.nw.org/network/home.asp or find out more about Neighborhood Works Week here: http://www.nw.org/network/neighborworksprogs/nww/default.asp

Squeak, Alice and UAB Computer and Information Sciences

2006-06-09T16:33:00.000-05:00

This past Monday, I visited the Computer Science Department at UAB. I was impressed with the programs they have that reach out to the community, especially to high school students in the local area. They offer computer science camps and competitions in the summer and programs throughout the year are available for elementary and up to show students what computer science is really all about. Dr. Jeff Gray told me that most people, parents included, seem to think that computer science is about using word processing or other office-type products. He wants to get more schools in Alabama to offer the kinds of computer classes that will introduce students to programming and other skills that will help them to be more successful. There are only a handful of schools offering these AP level courses for students in our high schools. Hopefully, we will be able to offer more in the future. If you've read The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, you know that technological skills, problem solving skills and communication skills are all going to be critical for survival in our world. Programming allows students to develop the skills they will need. There are programming languages like Squeak and Alice that introduce younger students to the exciting world of computer science. We need to get the word out and get more schools and students involved. Contact the UAB Computer Information and Sciences department or read more about these programs at the links below.

Alice: http://www.alice.org/
The focus of the Alice project is now to provide the best possible first exposure to programming for students ranging from middle schoolers to college students.

Squeakland: http://www.squeakland.org/
Squeak is a media authoring tool used to design and create projects. It involves a lot of different skills which include sequencing-like programming commands. On the site you will find many educational uses. There is a great html page showing an excellent introductory project for 9, 10, and 11 year olds. Reading through this project will help you understand what Squeak is all about. Squeak is open source software, created by a body of individuals. You can read more about the significant contributors on the Squeak site. A new book by BJ Allen-Conn and Kim Rose was published in 2003. It is called "Powerful Ideas in the Classroom - Using Squeak to Enhance Math and Science Learning". It tells of exciting projects created in Squeak with 5th and 6th Graders and would be a useful guide for parents and teachers.

Testing Blog This feature of Picasa with cool aquarium picture

2006-02-07T23:23:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd test the Picasa Blog This feature with this cool picture from the kindergarten field trip to our local science museum. This is the aquarium floor. The divers were cleaning the tank and gave us a nice close-up view of the eel.

Bookmarks back up

2006-01-26T23:04:00.000-06:00

My bookmarks are back up and I've added some new ones. You will find a link to my bookmarks on my home page.
http://www.hoover.k12.al.us/rres/mckinley/mckinleymegabytes.htm
On my bookmarks, try the project ideas folder. I've just added links to some 100 days of school projects, an Excel spreadsheet idea for 5th grade and a mapping activity for 2nd graders. Also, don't forget all the excellent e-manipulatives you can use. You'll find them on each grade level page on my lab home page.
That's all for now!

Been awhile-Bookmarks site is down

2006-01-08T22:30:00.000-06:00

Well, I haven't been blogging much because I'm in graduate school and I am posting on discussion boards there quite a bit. I was a big fan of web-based bookmarks because they are so easy to update and you can reach them from anywhere. However, you can only reach them if the site who hosts them is up and running. There is the problem. I have all my bookmarks on Ikeepbookmarks.com. They have been down for the past few days. I am hoping they come back up this week. I have a backup of the sites but it is from September! Also, the backup is not in the same format as the web-based bookmarks and I cannot add to it easily like I can from the bookmark site. If it doesn't come back up by the end of this week, I will find another bookmark site. Until then, I made a temporary link page so everyone can still get to my links. Sorry for the inconvenience. You should find them here: http://www.quia.com/pages/backupbookmarks.html

Class Newsletter

2005-09-05T08:34:00.000-05:00

Class Newsletter

I am testing using Blogger with Microsoft Word. If this works, it will be an easy way for teachers to add their weekly newsletters to the web.

Cool Garden Spider

2005-09-03T18:37:00.000-05:00

I am testing the picture feature on this blog. We saw a really neat web in our yard and took a picture. My son tried to publish it on Blogmeister but it didn't work. Notice the zig zag pattern down the middle of the web.

Student Blog is Up

2005-09-03T18:30:00.000-05:00

I decided to use Blogmeister (http://epnweb.org/blogmeister/index.php) for my student posts because it allows for teacher e-mail review before posting. It also allows you to add a class password for parents to see the entries. I set up the student blog with 2nd graders. Typing is the only roadblock. They were able to log into the blog and add articles but it takes them a long time to type. I might have them do this as a home project with parents taking dictation.
I will keep using this blog. It is easy to use and has more features like spell check and font changes. Hopefully I will have more time to blog when school settles down.

New to blogging

2005-08-16T13:42:00.000-05:00

This is my first entry on my new blog. I am trying to find an easy and safe way for elementary students to share their thoughts and ideas on the web. I am testing set up on two blogs...blogmeister.com and this site blogger.com. So far, the set up was pretty easy. However, I am not sure how easy it will be to get the younger students to find the site, log in and post information. In addition, I need to be able to see the post before it goes up. I like Blogger because I think it allows images, too. However, I still haven't figured out an easy way to set up a class yet if the students don't have an e-mail address. I will keep working on it. Time to post and see what happens! More later!