Category: Early Childhood

NECC This Morning

I’ve spent most of today participating in the following sessions and meeting online friends in the Bloggers’ Cafe. I’m looking forward to the presentation of the ISTE Classroom Observation Instrument (ICOT) later today. I’m curious to see how it stacks up against similar instruments like LoTi. Perhaps I’ll get a chance to post my thoughts about it. For now, here’s what I’ve attended to day.

Diigo: A Swiss Army Knife for Your Browser by Maggie Tsai, Diigo Co-Founder
Maggie gave a crash course in the basic features and use of Diigo. After her presentation she asked to interview me on camera and I reluctantly agreed. I shared some of the most common ways that Diigo is being used by my students, teachers with whom I mentor in professional development, and by me. She also asked me to share ways that I thought their technology could be improved and I reiterated ideas that I’d previously shared on Miguel’s discussions (here and here) related to this topic. I was pleased with her responses to my technical and design suggestions (She even contacted the engineers about one of the issues while we were talking.) and she provided Diigo’s rationale for why the ads, for now, will continue to exist throughout the tool. She assured me that they are indeed considering

Creating a Ning Network from Scratch by Steve Hargadon
If you want to learn about setting up your own Ning you might as well learn from the master. I’m comfortable using this “tool” but Steve provided useful insight regarding design and implementation which I found valuable.

Using Understanding by Design (UbD) to Create Technology Rich, Deep Learning Unit Plans by Chris Lehmann and Marcie Hull
There are oodles of similar models out there but I found this one to be practical but thorough. I’m going to take another look at Understanding by Design when I return home.

This Afternoon at EBC

Diving Deep into Google Earth and Google Maps

Web 2.0 in Teacher Education (Program Info)

  1. My presenter notes
  2. Alternative to the term Web 2.0 is the Read, Write Web
  3. Teacher education and professional development that effectively helps teachers better integrate technology with teaching and learning
    • Allow the teachers to select their own goals and help them reach them
    • Online social networks can more easily provide the in-time assistance, coaching, mentoring, etc. that individuals during development/learning, but teachers often don’t think about using the networks
  4. How do we prepare teachers to teach in the 1-to-1 environment?
    • The emphasis should change from "teaching" to designing learning that engages the students.
  5. Resources for future teachers

Designing the 21st Century Global Learning Environments (Program Info)

  1. Building on some online discussion that has been ocurring for the past year here and here.
  2. If there were no barriers what would education look like? Brainstorming notes

This Morning at EBC

I’ll be updating this post throughout the day to alert you of things happening here at EBC San Antonio. The full list of sessions is here. I’ll be sharing information form the sessions that I’m attending. The session titles are in bold.

Social Networking for Professional Development

Scott Merrick is sitting next to me and streaming this discussion live.

  1. Should it be organized or self-forming?
    • Should the tool(s) be dictated?
  2. An atmosphere promoting risk-taking is imperative.
  3. Teachers know what they want to learn. Professional development should be tailored around them rather requiring them to attend PD in which they had no say.

Social Networking in the Classroom

Vicki Davis is sitting by me and is streaming this seession here.

  1. Teachers in the room are using Ning, Elgg, and several private online communities.
  2. Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis updated us about the Flat Classroom and the Horizon Project.
  3. How important are digital citizenship and pedagogy in these decisions?
  4. If someone says a curse word in the classroom do we close the school? If there’s a fight at recess do we quit having recess? Why do we over react to these problems in online spaces?

Newsletter on Educational Technology

Throughout the years many of the preservice and in-service teachers in my classes, workshops, and presentations have requested that I start an email newsletter. They indicate that in addition to this blog they would like to receive occasional emails sharing rich resources related to technology integration. I’m excited to announce that I have answered these requests.

Clif’s Newsletter on Educational Technology focuses on the effective integration of technology with teaching and learning. Subscribers of this free service will receive occasional emails providing valuable resources and information about lesson plans, activities, technologies, research, etc., related to educational technology.

OPEN TO PUBLIC
Subscription to this newsletter is open to everyone. You are encouraged to share this with everyone with an interest in education (teachers, administrators, homeschooling families, friends, classmates, co-workers, etc.). Everyone is invited to receive this free newsletter.

PRIVACY POLICY
Your email address will never be shared with others. You may unsubscribe at anytime.

MANAGING SUBSCRIPTIONS
You may subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter as you wish.

Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0

Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0I’m teaching a special topics seminar this summer for graduate students. The topic will be Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 Technologies. I began preparing for this course in June 2007 and I’m very excited about it. While we’ll consider common trends and issues and survey many of the popular tools and services related to Web 2.0, the heart of the course will be learning to effectively integrate Web 2.0 technologies and principles with teaching and learning. The focus will be on K-12 education but accommodations can be made for individuals from other fields (health, corporate, military, higher education, etc.). This draft version of the Course Topics provides an overview of the likely curriculum.

While the dominate driving force in the development of the curriculum and resources has been the upcoming class, I always planned for this to be a relatively open learning community. In keeping with the principles of Web 2.0 I encourage the participation of everyone with an interest or expertise in this topic. You may contribute to the discussion and fun by using the following tag/keyword: idt7078

Related Resources

More Favorite Children’s Books

I enjoyed our recent discussion of favorite children’s books so much that I wanted write a follow-up. A lot of teachers have mentioned that they have already bookmarked it for future reference. This blog exists for exactly that reason – to be a resource for teachers.

My favorite genre of children’s literature is wordless picture books. It’s fun to see kids get swept away in these books. The artwork is usually stellar and the author’s/ illustrator’s work typically invokes our creative interpretations. Wordless picture books can be a great way to encourage higher order thinking, creativity, and self-expression. They can often be used to practice the elements of a story (setting, plot, character, etc.) or to initiate activities in creative writing, art, drama, multi-media, etc. It’s often a good way to level the playing field with regard to student reading levels. Here are a few of my very favorite wordless picture books.

The Silver Pony – One of the very first books I “read” from my elementary school library. This book has many elements that I have always enjoyed: horses, Greek mythology, art, imagination and creativity. I wish I knew how many times I checked out this book. I need to go buy a copy for our family library.

Animalia – Another outstanding work by Graeme Base.

Tuesday – Mostly a wordless picture book about frogs.

New STEM Resources and Games from PBS KIDS GO!

Our kids watch several of these programs and have enjoyed playing these games. All things considered these games are pretty good.

April 23, 2008 – Several new online science and math games are now available from PBS KIDS GO!

PBS KIDS GO!More and more educators are discovering the value of online games, which allow students to practice new skills and educators to quickly assess student understanding. The games and activities below provide teachers and students with fresh approaches to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) that are critical to 21st century learning.

Cyberchase: Math and Sports
Make a connection between math and sports. Explore this newest thematic unit from Cyberchase that encourages kids to see and practice the math concepts used to plan, track, and calculate facts and figures in sporting events. Find classroom activities, view online video and play the new CyberOlympics game.

Dragonfly TV: Nanobots
Learn more about nanotechnology by adjusting the positive and negative charges to guide a nanobot through an obstacle course. Traverse preexisting courses or build your own.

Fetch!: Geyser Surpriser
Discover what is required for a geyser to exist by manipulating three of the elements that make up a geyser. Then, add to your knowledge of geyser trivia while playing a bonus game.

Fetch!: CSI: Squeak Sneak
Use problem-solving and logical reasoning strategies to deduce who stole Ruff’s squeaky toy. Search for clues at the crime scene, analyze and identify the clues in the crime lab and identify the thief by matching clues to suspects.

–From PBS Teachers

Favorite Children’s Books

DetailEarlier this week I was a parent reader in the class of one of our children. Although I’m an elementary math and science teacher I do really like children’s literature. We read with our mother nearly everyday growing up. One of our grandmothers was an elementary school librarian and she kept us supplied with books, books on tape, magazine subscriptions, and more. I was also blessed with many teachers that loved books. I made a conscious effort to read books to my students because I wanted them to see books being appreciated by a man, a mathematician and a scientist. Now, our home’s bookshelves overflow with children’s books as we enjoy reading to our own children. All that to say, I always have a difficult time selecting the books to read in these types of situations. Here are some of the reasons.

  1. There are so many great books with which I want all kids to be familiar.
  2. There are some books that I really want to read to them, but am nearly certain that they’ve already encountered them (Where the Wild Things Are). I’m never completely sure, though.
  3. I like to read a book that our son or daughter especially likes and point this out to his or her classmates.
  4. Reading a book with a moral purpose is always desired.
  5. I like to narrate the story (with character voices and sound effects) which limits the pool of potential books to some degree.
  6. Books based on television programs, computer games, websites, toys, etc. pretty much are not going to make the cut.
  7. I want all the children to fall in love with the book.

Do you see why I have a bit of trouble deciding what to read? It’s a great delima with which to be faced, though!

Here are some of the books that received strong consideration.

I actually received input from many of this blog’s reader via Twitter. As a result, I thought it would be a useful idea and a lot of fun to mention and discuss your favorite children’s books here on the blog – thus, this post. So,…

What are your favorite children’s books?

UPDATE: Join this closely related discussion.

Creative Commons License photo credit: ianus

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1 Thing

I’ve added a new feature to Clif’s Notes called 1 Thing. This special section is an area where guest bloggers can communicate “1 thing” they would like to share, suggest, say, demonstrate, etc. about a particular topic. This section will forever be a work in progress, so feel free to suggest guest bloggers and topics anytime. You can easily access this section by clicking on the 1 Thing link in the main menu.

Teaching and Learning with Squidoo

*DISCLAIMER: I’ve hesitated to share this resource because of the advertising and economics tied to it. I have given it a quick test and think that all of that stuff remains invisible. I’m sharing this resource because, in the right context, I see true potential in its integration with teaching and learning.

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Have you seen Squidoo? I would roughly describe it as a means of mashing up information from a variety of resources into a lens (as in the eye of a giant squid; fancy word for webpage). This is accomplished through customization and pulling together a good number of RSS feeds, favorites, bookmarks, page rankings/voting, etc. Lenses are ranked, money is given to daily winners, etc.* You can actually earn money for charity or for yourself just by using the service.* I have browsed through many of the existing lenses and been impressed by their quality. I am guessing that the whole free market competition model encourages quality effort as those with lenses with the highest use and approval are rewarded. Most of the ones I reviewed were by doctors, therapists, professors, etc. and all seemed well-credentialed. It is likely that you will find some lenses that you can use in your own classroom.

I haven’t completely made up my mind about what I think of Squidoo (I found it very, very late last night) but it has certainly given me some things to consider. Ideas for integrating it with learning and instruction have flooded my mind. In the right context it would be an interesting tool for teachers and learners to use for webquests, research, scavenger hunts, presentations, cooperative learning, online classes, a Web 2.0 activity, etc. Additional ideas and strategies are very end of this post.

There is also a section called Hey Monkey Brain where students can pick, research and debate a topic. Again, in the right context this feature has several positive educational implications.

I joined and threw together my own lens on the topic of educational technology. Take a look…

You can setup your own free account using here.

Integrating Squidoo

I thought it might be helpful to all of us if we brainstormed ways to integrate the use of Squidoo with teaching and learning. Here are some of the ideas (classes, lesson topics, activities) that came to me.

  • Business
  • Economics
  • Research
  • Writing and editing
  • Information design
  • Current events
  • Math/ science/ health news and research
  • Travel planning/ virtual field trip scenarios
  • Marketing
  • Student designed and developed webquests
  • Homework helper
  • Tips for parents
  • Book reviews
  • Debate/ critical thinking/ persuasive writing
  • Newsletters
  • Service learning/ moral education
  • Instructional design/ lesson planning
  • Online/ web-enhanced learning
  • Focus on composers, painters, or sculptors
  • Communicate information and resources to teachers about particular special needsMuch of the above can be modified for use in foreign language classes