Music and Video Tutorial

I am going to try a music and video tutorial on web2.1. I didn't commit to doing it yet, just testing it. I'm not sure if it is something I want to spend a lot of time on.

Tech Dept Comes Through for Us

I am happy to report our district technology department has listened to my pleas about unblocking del.icio.us. I am ecstatic. I am tagging my websites for teachers. Yesterday, I was able to have a teacher use delicious to get my saved sites for Study Skills. He will also be able to peruse other delicious sites. The Study Skills class is a new elective at our school and new to the teacher. It is tough to be assigned a new course just a few days before classes start. I was thrilled that he asked me to collaborate with him. I am really looking forward to it. My schedule is packed, but I am looking forward to the challenge. I will meet with the class at least once a week. I have posters up around school to advertise a new club. Instead of a book club where we read and discuss books, I am trying a club where we will challenge each other to get one more reader to read a favorite book. I have 3 students that are writing the syllabus for it. It sounds like so much fun. This challenge will start with 4 of us. Hopefully, by the end of the first month of school, we will have 50. Three more teachers are on board to begin October first, when we will break off into smaller groups. I sure it works as well as these kids have planned. They are very excited about it.

Reply from Tech Director

Amazing.
I e-mailed the director of technology yesterday(Friday)at 5:30 p.m. stating my frustration about the filter blocking del.icio.us as well as our blogs for CSLA's 23 things. This is Saturday night at 10:15, and I have a reply. It seems the County of Orange has added a new filter, at least they are testing one. I'm told there are many problems, and to be patient. He told me when it is done, he will do whatever he can to unblock the sites we will need.
He is quite impressed that 4 or 5 of use are taking these Web2 tutorials. I do believe that he will at least meet with me and most probably come through on my request at least for delicious. Now, we just need to keep bugging them to allow the rest of the tools in our schools.
I just stumbledupon --
Absolutely amazing technology. It was presented at the TED conference and is just being developed. Here is a video of the TED conference. ENJOY!!
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/129

Disappointment

I was so disappointed when I returned to school and discovered del.icio.us is filtered. These blogs are also blocked. I immediately e-mailed our tech department and asked them to unblock them. It is so discouraging to see the filters tightening. I am of the belief that our students need to be taught responsible use of the internet. I hate to see the use of technology squashed. Our kids can't have ipods at school either. I have stated my case over and over, but it seems to be an administration fear of backlash from parents. I know all it takes is one, but the majority suffer for it.
I was really hoping to have my del.icio.us account available. I know there are tons of bookmarking sites, and I am thinking about it but fear they will soon block those also.
So sad.
Stumbleupon is not blocked, go figure!!!

Wiki vs. Ning

I have created both a wiki and a ning to test which is better for a book review for students. I have asked friends to start posting and commenting so I can see what works best . I wish we could all use one blog and every person post so you would see everything on one page. I am sure there is something, I just have to figure it all out.

Using What I Have Learned

I created a wiki for my sister's gate class. Now, I just have to convince her that this will be awesome.
I named it Ancient Greece.
She will write a portion of a report using both correct and incorrect information.
#1. Each student will have to find and correct (using a different color font) one incorrect portion of the report. They will need to add a comment and cite thier sources.
#2.Students will draw from a hat different subjects about Ancient Greece. They will have to decide where in the report to insert their info. Of course they will need to again cite their sources. She will decide how many sources they need.
She can use this as a peer writing project and let them edit it after it is complete if she wishes.

I think this is a great idea. I am going to show it to my 6th grade language arts/social studies teachers and see if I can convince them to try it.