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Archive for September, 2011

Webinar Week – DIY

Posted by Kathy Adkins on September 23rd, 2011 No Comments

Lettering from http://www.letteringdelights.com/

Do you make time to DIY(Do It Yourself) for yourself? As lifelong learners we have to schedule opportunities for learning and DIY to learn something new. This week’s personal DIY activity involved attending and participating in online webinars plus learning the tools and components to host webinars using Eluminate Live – Blackboard Collaborate. The main focus on learning was how to effectively use the tools to deliver and engage participants. Yes, it was about the tools in the application and yes, it was also learning about the learners, the pedagogy, and resources from the community. Isn’t that how we want learners to learn with technology?  Read more at an excellent post by Jackie Gerstein, Ed. D.(@jackiegerstein) – It really is about the technology and… it is not about the technology. What will you learn in the coming weeks? Will you DIY?

Four for Friday – Upcoming Webinars and Two Tools

Special Saturday “Day of Learning” - September 24 from SimpleK12 offers six different 30 minute sessions from Online Activities for Younger Children to The Google+ Guide for Educators. Check out more of their webinars for the coming weeks at Simple K12 Teacher Learning Community.

Learn it in Five was recently shared by Richard Byrme, Free Technology for Teachers. Be sure to check out the Digital Learning Strategies Blog for ideas. Create your own learn it in five or ten using one of the free tools below.

Big Marker is a free service for meetings and unlimited web conferences. Read more at Big Marker at Free Technology for Teachers and check out its many features.

JoinMe is another free service that offers screen sharing. View this short video tutorial to see how easy you can use Join Me. Attend a join me session on your IOS mobile device using the free app.

DIY Graphic above created with words using the free Try Me Now feature at LetteringDelights.com.

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Building Community for all Learners

Posted by Kathy Adkins on September 16th, 2011 No Comments

One team of our district’s instructional technology staff is participating in a year long professional development course to build and develop strategies for the district’s BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) initiative. The course, Engage Me With IT – BYOT, partners these educators with teachers in their buildings to develop and implement instructional strategies in utilizing mobile devices students bring to the classroom.

At a recent session, there was such an engagement buzz in the room which reflected a strong community was being built. These educators collaborated by posting lessons and reflections in our learning management system. They brainstormed hurdles and sucesses with the online tool corkboard.me and built a list of management strategies in a goodle doc. They were given time to collaborate and design lessons to implement in their buildings. During the day there was so much engagement and learning occurring it was very difficult to halt the momentum and move to the next part of the session. What stood out was this framework of learning is how learning should be in today’s classroom. Through design for collaboration and input from learners, community was built and the day was a success. How do you build community for your learners?

Thank you to our ITS team of rock stars for a a great day of learning. Here is a great link from Edudemic with an awesome video message – An Incredible Way to Teach!

A Few For Friday – Tools for BYOT

Corkboard.me is a very simple web app that allows you to post sticky notes. No registration is required. You are given a url which can be shared with your community. View a short video at Lifehacker.

Primary Wall is another online sticky that doesn’t require registration unless you want to format.

Lino It is another very user friendly sticky note + canvas that is user friendly on mobile devices! You do have to register but then you have a dashboard of all your canvases. Lino is a free app for IOS devices.

Primary Pad and TypeWith.me are two favorites that have been very successful in the classrooms. Teachers and students can collaborate in real time.

Google Docs rock but educators need to remember that usage should be for 13 years and older. Check out more at Google Docs for Educators.

Photos from Engage Me With IT – BYOT Session

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Let Them Doodle – Tools in Hand

Posted by Kathy Adkins on September 9th, 2011 No Comments

Do you let your students doodle their learning? In a recent article at Good Education’s, Liz Dwyer states, “People are more apt to remember something if they write it down, it makes sense that drawing further stimulates the brain’s ability to recall information.” Should we let them doodle? Opening doors for creative doodling allows us to observe the artistic ability of learners and can also highlight their passion for learning using their talents. Dwyer highlighted the August edition of Science magazine’s article, Drawing to Learn in Science, that shared drawing was an important tool to science learning. The Science article was also the focus of Audrey Waters excellent post at Mind/Shift, “More Doodling Makes for Better Learning.” Watters shares some good news about drawing and learning but asks questions on the impact of using new technologies. There are so many opportunities for doodling using whiteboards and mobile devices. Will you let them doodle in math and other content areas? Will you let them doodle with pen and paper or will you let them explore their creativity on the whiteboard and mobile devices?

“Yes, that is what creativity is…more than one right answer!” Quinn McDonald, Artist and Creativity Coach

Five for Friday – Doodling Tools and Resources

Ten Great Art Resources for Your Interactive Board – These sites offer a very different drawing experience for learners. Sumopaint, Sketchpad and Crayola would be great tools for doodling learning. Danny Nicholson shares many resources on The Whiteboard Blog. You can follow Nicholson @dannynic.

Dabbleboard – This online whiteboard is a great tool because it features online collaboration.

Doodling in Math Class – Binary Trees is from a selection of videos that highlight where doodling can expand learning. This interesting video will get you thinking about why we should allow doodling.

Doodle Showcase at Doodle Revolution – Some great examples that share how doodling is a great form of learning expression. How would you showcase learners’ doodles?

What We Learn From Doodles – A great read from CNN and a quick video interview with Sunni Brown, a creative doodler and forward thinker at Doodle Revolution.

A Few Apps for Doodling

Doodle Buddy (Free) Paint, draw and connect with a friend to doodle.

Whiteboard Lite (Free) Doodle with friends on this easy to use whiteboard app.

Kids Draw (Free) Great ease of use drawing app but only for the iPad.

Drawing Pad ($1.99) This is an iPad only app but with ease of use features.

Image above made with Doodle Kids, an app created by a 9 year old. Image created by taking a snapshot on mobile device. (Press Home + Power button)

 

Posted in Inspire

Approachable & Quotable

Posted by Kathy Adkins on September 2nd, 2011 No Comments

The school year is young with lots of new opportunities to share your passion for learning and engaging young learners. How do you foster and create new avenues for learning experiences with your community? First and foremost, you have to be approachable. Scott Ginsberg,(@nametagscott) shares a plethora of information on approachability and ways to build your personal skills and own identity at his site, Hello, my name is Blog. He is the guy that wears a name tag all the time and actually has it tattooed on his chest. Ginsberg shares 26 ways to be approachable in three parts from past blogs. (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3). Listed below are just ten that can jump start you. He suggests writing these thoughts on sticky notes in clear view around your work space to reinforce these philosophies.

 

  • Be comfortable, confident and consistent to your true self!
  • Be sensitive to others’ experiences
  • Be assertive not aggressive
  • Be someone others can be vulnerable and dumb in front of ….be smart but don’t be asmarty pants.
  • Make it easy for others to be playful around you
  • Share what you are thinking and feeling
  • Expand your openness to others
  • Practice your questioning
  • Recognize disagreements as opportunities
  • and one I really agree with…communicate before you have to

Scott’s wealth of information and ideas on how to get your learning staff to come to you now are ways to guide you to become more approachable. He provides quotes on his Stuff Scott Says website that supports his beliefs and will inspire you. One he shares, “If they can’t come UP to you, how can they get BEHIND you,” is so true. Scott puts himself out there and the only question is will you do the same?

“As leaders it is important to share your passion, not your expertise.” Kathy Adkins

Five for Friday – Quotes to Inspire

BrainyQuote – This site offers several features including Quote of the Day.

The Quote Garden – Grab some inspiration and teacher appreciation to share with your community.

Quote Daddy – Follow on Twitter @quotesdaddy.

Quotations Page – This site contains a large collection of famous quotes from authors.

MyQuoteBox – Shares quotes and offers a place to store your favorite quotes online.

App Resources for Quotes- Grab inspiration daily for free

Ultimate Quote Machine

Famous Quotes

Best Inspiring Quotes 5001

Photo created with Custom Sign Generator This site should not be used by students. Remember to always look thoroughly at generator sites to be sure they are student friendly.

 

 

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