Thing #19 VoiceThread

I definitely see potential for the use of VoiceThread in the classroom. Being able to easily do a voiceover to accompany a still picture while using the doodler to visually indicate what you are talking about is a great tool. The sample that I have embedded shows how this could be done to talk about the layers in sedimentary rock beds. If a teacher has a Promethean Board she could do the same thing live but if she doesn't then she could do a VoiceThread ahead of time and project it. Or for beginning teachers who aren't confident in their content or are overwhelmed by everything they have to do, they could use a VoiceThread that has been prepared by someone else.


I also liked the idea of using a VoiceThread to have students explain a process. I really like this example of students showing how to figure volume using water displacement.

Thing #18 YouTube

I think this rap about the Large Hadron Collider is great! It shows the potential for using songs and raps as both a tool to present information and as an assignment for students to show what they have learned.
Show all


This would be a great clip to show mass movement.




There are how to videos for all kinds of things on YouTube. In this video, you can learn how to change a tire on a bike.



This video is about the best dogs ever, Rhodesian Ridgebacks. You have to watch a short commercial first though and embedding is disabled so you have to use a link.

I also checked out Teacher Tube to see if there were any videos I could use for elementary science. You really have to wade through a lot of videos that aren't very good to find something you can use. Makes me think about my own attempts to make teaching videos. I also wondered about some of the clips from commercial videos that were posted. Are they legal? Anyway, the kids that made this video on erosion did a nice job. I can see having students do something like this at the end of a unit. It would be a time hog though so I don't know how practical it would be. Maybe 4th grade could make them in May to review the main science concepts they need to retain for 5th.

Thing #7A Google Reader Revisited

Checking my Google Reader is pretty much a habit now. It is on my iGoogle homepage so it is convenient and easy to check. I've subscribed to sites for general news, personal interests and lots of science news. I really try to stay up on current science news so I can link what students have to learn to what is going on in the real world and so I can help teachers see why all this stuff is relevant.

Here are a few items from my reader today.

This link made me smile. They tried a fun little experiment to see if they could get people to take the stairs instead of the escalator. It worked! In the short term anyway. It would be interesting to see what happened in a month or so.

This link about how banded rocks reveal clues about conditions on Earth when the rocks were formed, directly supports the TEKS about interpreting sedimentary rock sequences.

I am super excited about something I learned on today's Tech & Learning Blog. It is about how to use SMS messaging for educational purposes. That isn't what I'm excited about though. One of the links I followed from the blog took me to this site. It shows how a group of educators used technology to share with each other what they learned at a conference. I'm so excited because next month is our state science conference and I got some good ideas for ways we can bring back and share info. We mean to meet afterwards but it ends up being very difficult to schedule and by the time we do talk we have forgotten lots of important information. One of the things this group did was create a Google survey that they filled out each day with a reflection about what they learned in a conference session. The spreadsheet that Google creates from the survey can be shared with the group so everyone can learn from each other. I LOVE THIS IDEA!! They also created a Wiki for bringing everything together. I'm trying to decide if that is needed or not.

Thing #17 Podcasts

Be afraid, be very afraid of podcasts!!! I started this assignment last weekend and meant to knock it out in a couple of hours. Instead I subscribed to a bunch of podcasts and kept following links from one thing to another and the hours went by. So then every evening during the week, I came home with the resolution to finish this activity and the same thing happened. The moral of this story is that for the obsessively curious, you must be very disciplined when you start subscribing to podcasts. (and blogs)

Some of my general findings about podcasts were that I prefer video to audio and if a transcript is available I will read that before listening to the podcast. Even when the podcast is of a NPR program that I love to listen to when driving, I have a very hard time just sitting and listening to it. I need to be physically doing something, ... like driving a car. :-)

I subscribed to podcasts in two ways with iTunes and with my Google Reader. Right now I prefer my Google Reader because I really like having everything in one place. The cool thing about the Google Reader is that the podcasts are right in with the blogs, journal articles etc... When I select the title, the podcast opens with a player so I can listen or watch it right there. I'm also putting them in iTunes with the idea of eventually using my iPhone to listen to podcasts. The problem is that I don't like using the earbuds with my iPhone, the speaker in the phone isn't loud enough for me, I don't know how to make it play through my car speakers and haven't been motivated enough to figure it out.

Some Podcasts that I sampled:

• Geek!Ed! - The episode that I listened to was like sitting in at a grade level meeting where teachers are analyzing a problem and trying to figure out why they are having the problem. I wasn't vested in their particular problem, I wanted to know about the issue on a national or international scale. While it might have had some broader implications, I didn't really want to listen to the raw data. I would rather a researcher attend hundreds of meetings like it and synthesize the data for me with maybe some excerpts from individual meetings.
• NPR: Books Podcast - I subscribed to this podcast because book reviews and author interviews on NPR are how I primarily find books to read other than suggestions from friends. I often hear an author talking about a book and stop at the store and buy the book before I get home or I order it from Amazon.com that day. I also come into the office talking about what I just heard and my coworkers end up buying the book too. I really should get commissions.
• Scientific American: 60-Second Science - I subscribed to a bunch of science podcasts but this was one of my favorite. That may say something about my attention span. It is very well done and they get an amazing amount of information into 60 seconds. I even like the intro where they say, "This is only going to take a minute." It makes me smile every time.
• EarthSky - In this episode, they talk about damage Hurricane Ike did to the TX barrier islands. I can really see using episodes from short, well done podcasts like EarthSky in the classroom to provide relevance for concepts students are learning about in science.
• TED: Ideas worth Spreading - These are amazing talks by fascinating people about a whole range of ideas. We currently use this episode in the 5th grade curriculum to spark interest in the concept of adaptations.
  

There are several ways I can see using existing podcasts in the science classroom. When I was in high school, my biology teacher required us to read and review one science article a week from a list of approved journals such as Scientific American. This was one of my favorite assignments from the class and obviously made an impact since I still remember it 25 years later. I can see giving a similar assignment to students but also using podcasts in the list of possible sources. Another way to use existing podcasts would be to play particular episodes for the class to illustrate a concept or provide a real-world application for that concept. I would like to provide links to certain episodes in the on-line curriculum but I worry about how long the links will stay viable. Then I wonder if it would be breaking copyright to download some podcasts and load them directly into the online delivery system instead of providing links.

I will also be getting into the production end of podcasting out of necessity. Well not really podcasting because I don't intend to create content on a regular basis that people can subscribe to. I will however, be producing video and audio files that will be posted in a way that people have access to them. I need to create virtual field trips from the geology trip I took this summer. They will need to be produced in such a way that classroom teachers can use them with their students to address particular student expectations. I really need to get busy on that assignment. I also need to create files for the purpose of staff development. Both FOSS and STC have created teacher how to videos to guide teachers step by step through the lessons that go with their kits. I need to do the same thing for other things in the curriculum. Sometimes teachers can't make it to a traditional staff development session, they forget what was said at the training, or the training was canceled due to lack of interest. Short videos might provide just what they need, when they need it. My problem is that I don't really believe there will be much of an audience so I'm not very motivated to put in the hours needed to produce a good product.

Thing #16 Library Thing

I checked out the different aspects of Library Thing. I'm already using the Visual Bookshelf on Facebook. They are similar in that both allow you to keep track of your books and read other people's reviews. I like the VB because it is simple and I can see what my friends are reading quickly. Library Thing has a lot more functionality with the tag clouds, and recommendations. I like following a tag to see what other books in that category are out there. I usually do that through lists on Amazon. The book suggester didn't work for me. It just brought up the book I entered.

For work, I could see creating a group to explore books on science. It could be a way of doing a book study for staff development.

Thing #15 My First Wiki

Tyrissa Wiki is my very first wiki. This is definitely just in time staff development. I need to create a wiki for a geology class I'm taking that starts on Saturday. So, I was very motivated to learn how to do this. I need the wiki for my class because my team will be creating virtual field trips for our assigned locations and we'll need a space to work in collaboratively. We'll be working on the virtual field trip while we are on the trip but we'll need to finish it when we get back. Since the participants live all over TX, a wiki is perfect for this purpose.

I thought the instructions were straight forward and I would whip this thing out. Like normal, I was wrong. I seemed to have to try everything a couple of times before I could get it to work. I don't know if it is really that hard or if it is just part of the whole no sleep thing. One of the hardest things for me to do was to get my layout to save correctly. It would all be lined up right in the edit mode but when I selected save, the pictures and text would move about. I finally got them to stay in line by putting many rows between each picture and each section. Then when I selected save, everything stayed where it belonged.

Thing #14 Exploring Wikis

I enjoyed reading Vicki Davis' blog on Wiki Wiki Teaching. I think it is really cool when kids get excited about a project and take over ownership like that. I checked out some of the study guides that the students put together. The real value in something like that is for the students creating it and the ones reading and adding or editing it. However, it wasn't easy to figure out the dates for what I was looking at. I had to go back to look at the history to figure out that it was from 2005. It made me think about all that data out there. I wonder if students from the next year figured the wheel had already been created so they could just use the existing page? Would they learn as much? Should the old ones be taken down? It made me also think about the geology class that I'm taking this summer. The preparation for the field portion is being done through a website, blogs and a Facebook group. Last year's website is still out there too and a teacher that was just added to the class found it and ended up confused about what we will be doing this year. She thought she was looking at the page for this year. Just something to think about when leaving everything out there.

I also checked out 1001 Flat World Tales. I loved the idea of have students from around the world collaborate on writing. I found the site confusing though and it looks like it has been abandoned. It would be nice if the creator posted something about that so you weren't left hanging.

I found the SalutetoSeuss site very satisfying. The purpose of the site was very clearly stated and it had a beginning and ending date posted. Students were to create wiki, blog or other product about a Dr. Seuss book. It was easy to find the student work also.

Code Blue was a creative way to combine having students learn about different medical careers while also having to show that they understand how a body system works.

Most of the wiki pages I looked at seemed to be organized by having links to the different pages on the left sidebar.

I'll be creating and using a couple of wikis. I'll create one wiki for the Science Resource Center. It will have delivery schedules, inventory sheets, FAQ's, and other resources dealing with science materials and equipment. It will be a restricted wiki though because not everyone will be able to make changes on it. Another wiki I will be creating is for my virtual field trip team for the geology class I'm taking this summer. That wiki will serve as a place for us to continue to collaborate after the field portion of the class. We'll be needing to produce a product and we live all over the state. I might also create a wiki for the Regional Science Fair committee members so we can make sure we all have the same information.

Thing #13 Using Delicious

Using Delicious to keep all my bookmarks in a central place accessible from any computer is a no-brainer for me. I love the idea of having access to other people's bookmarks too. Patty suggested we start a district science account on Delicious. I think that is a great idea. While writing curriculum last week, I kept saying, "Remember that link I emailed out?" Everyone would then start searching their email archives to find the link to the website we needed. If they had been saved in a science delicious account, we could have saved all that time!

Thing #7a Update from the RSS Feed

Gladwell Calls out Insipid Digital Utopia caught my eye because I'm interested in all things Gladwellian. Gladwell reviewed Chris Anderson's, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. Anderson believes that digital information will eventually all be free. Gladwell contends that this is wishful thinking. He compares this thinking to claims in the 50's that nuclear power would be free. The people in the 50's were wrong because they didn't consider the cost of infrastucture, distribution, waste disposal etc... and Anderson is wrong too because he can't begin to consider all aspects of digital distribution. Gladwell concludes by saying, "The only iron law here is the one too obvious to write a book about, which is that the digital age has so transformed the ways in which things are made and sold that there are no iron laws."

Thing # 12 Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

I used Blabberize to create the talking photo. However, when I saved it the mouth didn't move anymore. I tried a couple of times without success. Not sure how to use this efficiently in the classroom. You could just shoot video to begin with or do a voice over. Maybe you could use it to have the organisms in a food web explain their positions. It takes a while to get the mouth selected so it moves correctly and then of course you would have to see if it works in the end. This site is open to comments so it has a social aspect in that way.

I created a to-do list in Ta Da and I checked out 30boxes but I would never use them. I already have a to-do list and calendar in Outlook and I'm trying to simplify my life not complicate it. I need everything in one place.

I created a poll in Poll Daddy but can't get it to post here. I use polls and surveys all the time in my job to find out what teachers need or want. I can definitely see using them in the classroom also. You could do a pre-class and post-class science attitude survey. I'll probably stick to using the survey option in Goggle Docs though unless I need a different type of functionality.

I thought Gliffy was going to be a homerun since collaborative concept maps are a standard in science instruction. It only has a 30 day free trial though and then you have to subscribe. So, it is out.

I really like Wordle. I can see having students come up with terms that relate to science and then having to defend their choices. They could print their final product to decorate the cover of their science notebook. I could not get this to post here though using the html so I had to print it to pdf and then convert the pdf to a jpg file and upload it as an image.

I think Weebly has possibilities too. I need to have a website for the Science Resource Center. Right now we are talking about putting up a wiki for it in the district wiki site. I don't know if that is what we really need though. Wiki's are for collaboration and for the SRC site, I just want to post information.

Thing # 11 Using Image Generators

I created the sun image using the Visual Poetry template from ImageChef. I used the Word Mosaic template from ImageChef to create the conserve water droplet image. I liked Patty's idea of using these to have kids make an image of an element's symbol with words describing the element inside the symbol. It tried to simplify that and think of ways to use it with elementary students.

I also played around with some of the Flickr Mashups. I especially liked Colr Pickr. However, I didn't want to spend time crediting everyone so I deleted my creations. :-(

Thing #10 Embedding a Slideshow

Renewable Resources

This slide show reviews renewable natural resources as defined by TEA

in the 5th Grade Science TAKS study guide. I used slide.com to create

the slideshow. It has a music option but nothing seemed appropriate.

The slideshow was very quick and easy to create once the photos

were located. The only thing I didn't like was that the title of the

slideshow doesn't show. I had to put a label above it in the blog so that

it made sense. Having to create links to both the photo and

the photographer's photostream on Flickr was very time consuming.

Photo Credits

1. Soil by Soil-Science.info

2. Animals by law_keven

3. Water by snapr

4. Air(Oxygen) by [xinita] is Oliver Twist!

5. Plants by pusteblume

Thing #9 Using Flickr

As part of this assignment, I decided to search for pictures of renewable natural resources. I liked this cool cow picture that law_keven posted on Flickr and decided to download it. I'll use it as part of a slideshow on natural resources.

In exploring how other educators are using Flickr, I really liked how Teacher Dude used it to teach vocabulary. Students had to find pictures to illustrate words. Since having students illustrate key terms is a basic strategy for vocabulary instruction, this just adds another way of going about doing that.

Overall, Flickr isn't quite as user friendly for me as Wikimedia Commons. It seems like you have to go through more steps to find what you need. That may just be lack of familiarity on my part. It does provide me with another source of photos though. I didn't realize before that some pictures in Flickr had Creative commons licensing.

Thing #8 Using Creative Commons

I love Creative Commons. It has made my job sooo much easier. I am constantly looking for good quality images to illustrate different science concepts particularly in Earth Science. As a classroom teacher it wasn't such a problem because I could generally use a picture in my classroom under fair use rules. Now that I need to put together materials to post for many others to use, it is a big problem. So I had to start taking the pictures myself, or get permission from someone else to use theirs. I have found pictures protected by the big C and gotten permission to use them but that process is very time consuming. Before so many CC images were available, a group of local science supervisors even banded together to create our own image bank.

Now I use Wikimedia Commons all the time. That is where I first learned about CC licenses. I also use the Earth Science World Image Bank which gives educators rights to use the images but doesn't use CC licenses. I intend to upload some of my images to Wikimedia and feel very guilty that I use that resource extensively without giving back. I just can't seem to find the time to get it done. Really the only negative to using CC images is keeping the proper attributions linked to the photo. Usually when I save the photo, I put all that information in the properties of the photo so it doesn't get separated. So, if I have pictures that I own, they are still the easiest to use.

I was very excited about OER Commons when I first heard about it but really haven't found much that is useful at the level I teach. I need to remember to keep checking back. I didn't realize I could do a Google search specifying to only find pages with CC licenses. I'll have to try that more.

Who owns the teaching materials that I produce on the job? Mesquite ISD does. Since they pay me to produce curriculum materials, they retain the copyright on those materials.

Thing #7 The Importance of Commenting

I thinking commenting to blogs is an important aspect of the whole experience. I think it is hard to refine your thinking without discourse. Having to consider what someone has said and craft a response forces you to think about the issues at a much deeper level than if you just skimmed and moved on. That being said, you can't really think about everything at that level or you will never get the clothes washed. So, I think you have to pick and choose. Skim most of the items in your feed and choose a few to ponder and respond to.

A few other things I noticed about commenting was that I do not like having to register to comment. Most newspapers require a registration before you can comment on an article. I have to feel very strongly before I'll go through that process. Also, I need to figure out the track back (I think) so I can see if anyone commented on my comments. It is a hassle to keep checking back to see if anyone has responded. I also noticed that many of the feeds that I subscribed to don't allow comments. Not really sure what that signifies.

Thing #6 Hi-lights from my RSS

While skimming a story from the blog, All My Faults are Stress Related (Love that title!), I found a story that grabbed my attention. The American Geological Society has started a program called EarthTrek that will allow laypeople to participate in collecting real data for ongoing research starting this summer. It reminds me of the data collection that students do in Journey North. I love the idea and I get very excited about these type programs but I wonder how many people actually follow through? I've been trying to get some teachers to participate in Journey North for several years and as far as I know, no one has.

I was able to skim through most of the articles in my feed fairly quickly without stopping at too many. I am going to have to winnow the list down. There are way too many to wade through regularly.

Thing #5 Using RSS

Before I do my assignment, I think I should confess that I am afraid of RSS. I already wake up in the middle of the night wondering about something and have to go google information about it. I sit in my driveway or drive around the block so I can hear the end of a story on NPR. I don't want to miss anything. So, if I subscribe to a lot of feeds, where will I find the discipline to skim and move on? Definitely something I will have to work on.

Now to the assignment. I really identified with Patrick Higgens' Admission from my Tech & Learning feed. He admits that social networks make him feel more connected to family and friends instead of the dire warnings that they will feed the trend of increasing social isolation. I feel the same way. By gathering most of my friends and family in one place, I can very quickly keep up with the little things going on in their lives. For friends that have moved far away and are very busy with careers and children, connections generally go from occasional emails to yearly Christmas cards to nothing. With online social networks, you can keep up with so many more people in the time it used to take to maintain ties with just a few. Those yearly Christmas cards have turned into frequent updates and conversation. More face to face meeting are scheduled too. So, while I think children need to be taught about levels of friendship and discretion in posting, social networks are a positive thing in my life.

Thing #4 Blogging about Blogging

Thing #4 Blogging about Blogging

In general most blogs seem to be informal and conversational in tone and definitely editorial. Most blogs that I have read in the past were almost stream of consciousness and served no other purpose than catharsis for the author. The education blog samples provided for us though seem to be much more meaningful and serve a useful purpose in aiding collaboration. I liked the blogs like this one where the author took the time to do some research before writing. I also really liked this post where the teacher posted an issue for students to discuss. I think this method of facilitating a conversation could be used to ensure that all students participate. Also, having to express themselves in writing causes them to think more deeply about the subject than they probably would in a quick classroom discussion Blogging also changes the way students write because it is authentic and they expect it to be read and commented upon.

Thing #2 Thoughts about Web 2.0

My initial thoughts about Web 2.0 were that many of the tools were exciting and useful but that many uses seemed like a waste of time. I loved the idea of wikis, image banks, and podcasts but resisted the social networking sites and most blogs. I still don’t like the idea of writing blogs for the whole world to see. I do love Facebook, which really shocked me.

Web 2.0 tools have many roles in 21^st Century teaching and learning but one that I think is most exciting is how they facilitate collaboration. Students, teachers, and people from around the world can interact in real time now. Back in the day, I would set up pen pals for my students with a class across the country. But printing out pictures and mailing hard copies of everything was expensive and cumbersome. Now, the same thing can be done for free with the click of the mouse. Another exciting use is having students participate in virtual experiences with scientists in the field. They can collect and analyze data that would be too expensive or dangerous for them to do in person.

A few tools that I am planning on using are podcasts and wikis. I hope to create podcasts on content for teachers to use with students and also podcasts that will serve as training aids for teachers. Teachers schedules are so packed that I hope giving some the option of learning at the time and location of their convenience will be helpful. Since many teachers are now getting their Master’s Degrees online it is a mode of learning they are coming to expect. I’m also hoping to use a wiki to set up better communication between teachers and the Science Resource Center.

I use Web 2.0 tools to support my own learning all the time. Recently, I was looking for a particular kind of image on the Earth Science World Image Bank. As I was browsing, I came across a picture that I found confusing. I looked up the name of the person that contributed the image and then I googled him. I found the university he taught at and looked up his email address. I then emailed him my question. He responded the next day by sending me a detailed explanation of the phenomena and a couple of powerpoints too. The user created image bank is wonderful but the idea that I can communicate with the people posting the pictures is incredible.

Thing #1 Reflections on Lifelong Learning

In considering the 7.5 habits of the highly successful lifelong learner, a few habits stood out to me in the context of this assignment. Probably the most challenging habit will be the one that usually comes most naturally to me. In general when I start any project, I have to develop a vision of what I want and then work backwards to decide how to accomplish it. Since I really don’t have a clear picture of what I want to do with this class except to finish it on time and open my mind to possibilities, it is difficult for me to begin with the end in mind. The habit that resonates the most with me is to have confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner. I am so thankful that I had parents and teachers that instilled me with confidence from a young age. I don’t have to waste any energy worrying if I can learn something. I can use that energy to do whatever it takes to learn or accomplish the task at hand. Finally, I think the habit that is most important for this course or any self-directed learning is to accept responsibility for my own learning. It will be up to me to get help if I need it and up to me to pace myself so that I can finish by the deadline.