http://www.smartteaching.org/blog/2008/08/100-best-youtube-videos-for-teachers/

I was looking into this about a week ago but didn’t have enough time to finish my research. So, thanks to this great wiki page, my work has been done for me. Miguel lists web tools to grab the video, web tools to convert the video, tools for FLV files (when you finally figure out how to download the video and you now want to play it).

Link to the Share More! Wiki:  http://tinyurl.com/5upwv9

This particular video has been around for a while but continues to get my attention. It was created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University. It is — “a short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today – how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime.”

Here is an excellent video on Cyberbullying — it is under one minute but gets the point across.  Great to show students.

Last week, a “Book Talk” was held. We discussed the book, The Kids are Alright: How the Gamer Generation is Changing the Workplace by John Beck. One of the focuses in the book is on the traits of these gamers. It was an interesting session and, even though I didn’t read the book, I got a lot out of the session and plan on reading the book.

Stop by the DEN — tomorrow will be another day and another session I am looking forward to.

 
Sitting here watching the Harry Potter movie we got for Christmas and since I have spent the last 3 days sick in bed, I have been thinking about the past year, the future year, things I am thankful for, and things I want to change.Many things happened this past year. 

The year started off very badly in January with the death of my mother who I miss so much.  Of course, the year had to go up from there and it did.  I did much more with the Macintosh computer, did podcasts with students, worked more on my blog (but still not as much as I should), reviewed and updated my feeds in Bloglines.  I love having my blog and my Bloglines account.  When I want to unwind at the end of the day, I get out my laptop and open my Bloglines account and start learning — just read and learn with no pressure.  I also created my Technology Resource Wiki which was a goal of mine for a couple years.  Gave professional development to the teachers and several teachers started their own wiki.  Started a new job with another school district the beginning of the school year.  I left the elementary environment and am now working in the secondary environment.  It was a great move and I am learning a lot of new tools and meeting a lot of great teachers.  I miss the teachers at my elementary school but have been keeping in touch with them and hope to continue to do so.  I have learned a lot about my video iPod.  Now I have an iPod Touch and have been working with that.  Today, I subscribed to several technology podcasts that I am going to transfer to my Touch.  Love the wireless on my Touch.  Have learned to love “books on tape” because I have a 30 minute commute now, so I rely on my books on tape.  I am going to work on using my iPod in the car and listen to my podcasts also.

In August, I got involved with Second Life.  It has been a very different and interesting learning experience and I am enjoying it.

Last January, I attended and presented at the National Accelerated Schools Plus Conference in Memphis on 25 Ways to Use Technology to Promote Differentiation.  I also presented with Beth Knittle at the MassCUE Technology Conference in November on Second Life. 

So, what about the new year? 

Well, of course, want to blog more.  Keep up the resources on the wiki.  We have Discovery Education Streaming at my schools and I would like to become very knowledgeable with this tool so I can give professional development to the teachers. 

I would like to give some more serious thought to Second Life.  I have been taking and giving professional development in Second Life, but all the sessions have focused on Second Life.  It is time to move on and expand the sessions to go beyond Second Life.  Aftr all, that is why I am in Second Life — to use it as a venue for professional development for teachers and ultimately for students.  I would like to start thinking about what kind of presentations to do in Second Life.  Time to start brainstorming.I am enrolled in a few Masters courses in order to continue learning and earning credits beyond my Masters.

Personally, I would love to start to include exercise in my schedule and bring back pleasure reading instead of just “technology” reading. 

It is going to be a busy year and hopefully an exciting (in a good way) year!

So, it got me thinking about why I couldn’t do it.  Well, if I have a question or need a definition, where do I go — the Internet.  A few years ago I didn’t want a cell phone, but now I do need it to keep in touch with my daughters.  I am taking a class right now that is (yes, you guessed it) online.  Every day I go in and read all the blogs I subscribe to.  This has become part of my professional development.  We have four computers in our house all connected wirelessly and if one computer is not working, it is given top priority because we love our digital world.  As my one daughter notes — we are a family of geeks (at least 3 of us are — other daughter would not want to be labeled in that category).  At work — I could never give up the computer because that is my job.  It got me thinking about how excited the kids are with computers.  The other day I went into a 3rd grade classroom with the SMARTBoard and a fraction lesson I created.  They were all excited about getting their turn to go up to the SMARTBoard — they didn’t care they had to do a math problem but instead they wanted their turn to use the whiteboard — all the while they are learning math.  Next day, I went into the same classroom and they were using the Fraction Jeopardy game I just created.  Talk about fun!  Yesterday, I went into a 2nd grade classroom.  The teacher had already set up our mobile laptop lab and a projector.  She wanted to show the students how to format text in Microsoft Word (something very basic for us but very exciting for these students).  I love going in to the classroom to see the big smiles on their face when they change their font for the first time.  This is their world now and it is so exciting for us and them.

Maybe I should just take a week’s vacation to a remote island or cabin in the woods?  I think I could do without “digital” if given that option! 

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 Your Mother Is Always With You

Your mother is always with you…

She’s the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street.

She’s the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks.

She’s the cool hand on your brow when you’re not well.

Your mother lives inside your laughter. She’s crystallized in every tear drop…

She’s the place you came from, your first home..

She’s the map you follow with every step that you take. She’s your first love and your first heart
break….and nothing on earth can separate you.

Not time, Not space…
Not even death….
will ever separate you from your mother…. You carry her inside of you…. -

Author Unknown.

Tech Savvy Educator points us to a site that allows us to view an African watering hole.  The site streams live video and audio, allowing you to hear the birds, insects, and animals.  I have been peeking in for the last several days and have seen many animals and lots of birds.  Many times nothing is going on but you can still close your eyes and listen to the birds and insects.  Site is found at http://www.africam.com/.  Click on Nkorho Stream in the upper left-hand corner of the page.

Wesley Fryer has created a well-documented post for setting up home Internet connections.  I have set up a home wireless network but this goes into some good detail on the security which I need to check. 

Another link Wesley Fryer posted about is ProfCast software for Macintosh.  The cost is $29.95.  Software can record presentations, create enhanced podcasts, use screen capture. 

Thank you Wesley Fryer for yet another tool — Dropload.  This is a site you can use to store your large files.  Others (with an e-mail address) can then pick up the file at Dropload.  I was just working with a vendor a couple weeks ago and this is how they sent me some patches.  Recipients you specify are sent an e-mail with instructions on how to download the file at Dropload.  The file will stay on their server for 7 days.  The file limit is 100Mb each and can be any type of file — mp3, movies, pdfs.  

Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher Blog, posted a link the other day that will certainly be a help at our school — online typing software.  Great for students that have a few minutes to work on their typing skills.  I like that you can type in what you want to practice also.

Another cool tool she wrote about is a tool called Rasterbator.  Rasterbator creates huge, rasterized images from any picture (max file size is 1Mb).  You upload your image, select your size, and the result is a multi-page pdf file.  You can then assemble the file in the correct order.  I fooled around with this yesterday and took a photo of a colleague.  When I looked at it, it just looked like a bunch of huge dots.  I figured I would print out the first “row” of photos (consisted of 4 sheets of paper — the whole file was a 4 x 4 square).  I taped the sheets together, hung it in their office, and asked if they knew what it was.  Knew right away and when you step back from the photo, you can see the image very clearly.  Close up it still looks like dots but it is very cool.  Now, I am waiting for the right image to use for this.  It was very easy to do.  I read more on this tool and found out you can play around with the dot size to make it a finer image.

Post by Miguel Guhlin focused on a tool called dumpr.  This tool allows you to change your Flickr images.

…you grant it access to your Flickr account, then select a picture, select how you want it represented/framed, and it works it’s magic. But that’s not all…then, dumpr gives you the option of UPLOADING your picture back to Flickr. So, everything is done online using Flickr!

Another post at Around the Corner is a tool to convert various file formats to PDF.  Entitled PDF Online.  You can download a free trial.  Not sure whether the trial expires, but even at $14.95 it is a good buy.

Beth Knittle posted about a painting package entitled ArtRage.  There is a free edition of this software.  This might be fun with the students I am working with in an Enrichment cluster where we are blending technology and art.

I am glad this post is over.  Been working on this one for a while to get all these great tools documented.  Thanks to everyone for all the great posts.