Cheryl Oakes

2012-01-30T17:55:00.001-08:00

Just have to promote this.

Roadmap or Round Robin Hood's Barn

2012-01-17T18:07:00.001-08:00

Roadmap or Round Robin Hood's Barn

So, do you think you want an ipad roadmap or do you want to go round Robin Hood's barn?

We know ipads are important to education, but right now we don’t know how important. There are many educators, parents and students who will agree and as many who will dispute this. The fact remains the ipad allows for instant differentiation in a classroom. This one tool allows for incredible differentiation without too much of a learning curve for student and educator alike.

When I bring the ipad into a class, all the students take notice. First they begin thinking, next they ask questions, “Is that yours?” “Does it belong to our school?” “Why do you have this?” “Do you have Angry Birds?” “Can I use it?” Each student and adult will have their own agenda of questions and their own ideas for use. That is the point! The ipad allows for purposeful differentiation.

However, at my school, I think we have skipped a step with our students. Without defining the specific use for the ipad, and leaving it open ended, we left a doorway open. Of course the students had their own uses for the ipad figured out long before the adults. We never discussed the purposeful use of the ipad in school. It is not too late, but the time has come.

How did I come to this realization? When I went to upload some audio books for our students, I noticed that I had run out of room on the ipad. A yellow caution triangle appeared as an indicator that the space on the ipad was filled! How was this possible? Well, our students are savvy, and they have logged into the ipad and downloaded games using their itunes accounts. Yes, we left the ipads “open”, we chose not to lock things down. It is easy enough to restore an ipad to the original software, and then re-install the chosen classroom applications.

So, now we will implement the roadmap of acceptable use with our ipads. This is similar to the roadmap of acceptable use we have modeled for computer and laptop use. But to our students the ipad is ‘different’ enough that they did not internalize the same kinds of explicit parameters for acceptable use that we expect with our school computers and devices. We will now be purposeful and explicit about the ipad use.

So, do you need a roadmap or can you travel round Robin Hood’s barn to get to a happy medium of ipad acceptable use in your classroom? A little bit of both! Since the ipad is so new and the availability of apps changes every day we need a little bit of traveling the circuitous route in determining uses of the ipads in our classes. However, the roadmap that we can put in place should be purposeful and explicit so all adults and students know the classroom rules and expectations for the ipad.

Here are some apps of purposeful and explicit expectations for a high school special education resource room:
Easybib- a tool for collecting bibliographic information when researching
Evernote- a tool for storing the information you collect when doing research
Dragon Dictate- a speech to text tool where one can speak about 30-40 words and then email the written text to themselves
Audio Notes- a tool for recording information which can then be emailed
Animoto- a tool for making short photo movies about a topic
Kindle- the Kindle app for collecting your books
Dictionary- Oh yeah!
Quizlet- compatible with Flashcards apps
Whiteboard- a tool for drawing and recording
SAT prep
Google Earth

Watch for other ipad posts coming soon. Let me know your favorite apps for the ipad!

hAPPy nEw yEAr! It is a SN-app!

2011-12-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

One thing about working with young adults is that you run the risk of alienating them at the same time you are trying to share good ideas and ways for them to improve their learning and independence.As a special education teacher in a rural high school in Maine, I work at unlocking the doors to the future by using online digital tools with my students.

Teaching our students to use online tools under our direction, soon allows them more independence and the ability to use their skills no matter where they are. Our students are beginning their large research projects when we return to school and these apps will help our students keep things organized and at their finger tips.

Here are my top apps.

Easy-Bib app is an app for the computer where a student is able to copy a URL, clip the text from the URL and get help with a MLA bibliography. Now with the mobile app Easy Bib, http://easybib.com the student has the ability to take a photo of the ISBN number and all the MLA information about the book is logged into the mobile device. How sweet is that?

Evernote app provides a way for our students to collect information for a research project into one place in the cloud. No matter if they use their mobile device, including smart phones or ipad/androids, or desktop computers our students are able to save everything to one space and access that information when needed. Check out evernote peek as a way to make your own flash cards or quizzes! http://www.evernote.com

Animoto app- Have you ever said to someone , “Oh, you should have seen the fun we had!,” Now you can make good on that statement by using the animoto app on your smart phone or mobile device. Create an animoto http://animoto.com account and take about 16 photos, then open the animoto app, gather the pictures, choose some music and create a mini video of your event. Again, there is a feature for sharing with social media like Twitter and Facebook. Our students use this as a way to share a limited number of images, with short captions when they are working on projects in school. Whenever we can use an online tool to capture the content from a course, we take advantage of the “cool factor” and the “medium is the message” theory promoted by Marshall McLuhan . Our students, especially the ones for whom writing is something to be feared and avoided at all costs can tell a very succinct and poignant story using images. After all, look at how much money is spent on 15 seconds during Super Bowl Sunday.

VoiceThread app-Is a great online tool for collaborating and telling a story at the same time. The features on VoiceThread http://voicethread.com have grown exponentially from use on computers to now on the iPad and other mobile devices, including text messages, video messages, audio messages and even a way to phone in a message with your phone.

Remember to share a little fun and humor with your students. I am sharing this Alpine Replay, http://www.alpinereplay.com where the app, logs and registers the snowboaders’ and skiers’ actions on the slopes. Not only is the app fun to use, but it also teaches at the same time. Skiers and snowboarders will learn about, calories burned and energy used, speed, slope and the app even allows one to see where the ski area is on the earth. An added feature is that the social aspect of the app allows you to challenge your friends to any one of the features that the app tracks, like most days on the slope, most kilometers traveled, most vertical, most calories etc. So far I have two medals for being on the hill before 9 AM. Probably the only one I will continue to consistently earn.

hAPPy nEw yEAr! It is a SN-app!

2011-12-13T15:59:00.001-08:00

LED Tree Kennebunk, Maine coakes

During the season of darkness, in the northern hemisphere, we rely on daily brightness “of sorts” to lighten up our days.

Here are some “gifts” for you and your students to brighten your days.

Check out the 2nd round of google search stories
ghotit.com - a gift of spell check and grammar check as your student is finishing that essay, watch your student’s faces light up!
365 photos, take a photo a day and post somewhere,there is even a facebook app, it is a great way to keep a diary/journal
todo.ly a great way to keep a list of tasks with an automatic countdown
ipad apps- check out http://a4cwsn.com/
Kiva a great way of giving http://www.kiva.org/
Electronic Village Online- the 12 year of free online classes designed by TESOL teachers and friends,

That’s all folks, stay busy, yet relax and keep your days bright, or brighten someone else’s day.

What do you need most? TIME

2011-11-17T15:50:00.001-08:00

What do you need-most?

Many of us say, “If I only had more time I could .......” you can finish the statement .

What would you change about how you get your professional development?
Do you need to be in a group in order to best learn? Do you need a sandbox in order to play around with the new tools? How about feedback from your students, or their parents? Do you need to take a day off from school or work to attend a workshop?

Each time I think about learning a new tool or new professional learning, I have a new strategy. Sometimes I call a friend and we learn about a tool together. Other times I search Twitter and find people I follow and see what they are recommending. Lately, I've been using Diigo for my professional development. Diigo is a tool for filing bookmarks, articles, collecting research, highlighting information and saving all of this in the Cloud. However, there are so many of my good friends using Diigo and saving and sharing information, that I am using Diigo as my professional development.

Each morning I read through my email, then I make a 10 min. window to check out my Diigo recommendations. I have not had a day where I was disappointed. Each day I learn about some new app for my ipad or I learn about a new website that I can share with my students.
For me, Diigo is the best professional development for my time investment.
I choose Diigo for my PD because:
*I have incremental learning in 10 minute blasts of time.
*I can always share one thing I learned from Diigo with my students or staff.
*I am gaining from the wisdom of others.
*I can share back to Diigo when I find items of interest.
Best of all, Diigo is FREE. Check out their informational movies, then make Diigo your PD.

http://www.diigo.com/

Think of One Thing that you Googled in the Past Three Months or the Past Three Days?

2011-10-26T18:13:00.001-07:00

Can you think of one thing that you googled in the past three months or the past three days? As I sat with a friend at the Harbor we were talking and looking at low tide and discussing what happens to the sand during the tidal pull. She said, “that can be explained by fractal geometry -those little ripples, as she pointed to the sculptured sand. The tides pull the water, the ripples in the sand are evidence of the water ripples which are evidence of fractal geometry.” I thought about that for a bit. I really didn’t know what fractal geometry was, but I did know it sounded like the Fibonacci in nature where everything is systematic using the 1,3,5,8,13,21,..... Now when I look at sand ripples I will think of fractals. “Approximate fractals are easily found in nature. These objects display self-similar structure over an extended, but finite, scale range. Examples include clouds, river networks, fault lines, mountain ranges, craters,[8] snow flakes,[9] crystals,[10] lightning, cauliflower or broccoli, and systems of blood vessels and pulmonary vessels, and ocean waves.[11] DNA and heartbeat[12] can be analyzed as fractals. Even coastlines may be loosely considered fractal in nature.” Wikipedia

This is an example where STEM really needs to be part of education for all of us.

There are some conversations that naturally lend themselves to what we call reciprocal conversations where I say one thing, you make a comment, it reminds me of something which I say, and you make a comment about that and then it goes back and forth. The reciprocal manner is where people have a conversation that you can predict the conversation is full of ebb and flow. However, with my friend at the Harbor looking at low tide there was absolutely no way I could predict where the conversation was going to end up, nor could I predict how those subjects were going to be woven into those conversations. That's really amazing to me because we’re in an exciting time and we're having conversations where making connections that normally wouldn't have been made BI, before internet.

So, I'll ask again, when was the last time you looked up something totally unfamiliar to you? When was the last time you had a conversation with someone that was not scripted? But rather, it was really reciprocal with give-and-take and you were sharing in the teaching and learning. How can we make this happen more often?Let’s think about that! Let’s think about ways to provide an avenue for that to happen in our classes! Let your students be teachers and let your teachers be the learners!

coakes photo

Resources
http://www.misterteacher.com/radialsymmetry.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal#In_nature

http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_17.htm

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Tags: google , search

iPads Transforming the Field Notebook

2011-10-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

Once you are a teacher, you are always thinking of ways to use new technology with purpose. Purpose to make your job easier, purpose to help students learn new skills, or purpose to make changes in the process of being an effective 21st Century Learner.

Last week while talking to our youngest son,( a Surveying Engineer working on surveying a gas line on the east coast), he was telling me how he purchased an ipad for his personal use, then when he began “playing around” with it, something changed and finally, he was excited that this was going to end up being a tool he could use at work.

For a week, each morning he would call with an idea or process that he had tried out on his iPad and how it made his job easier. He explained that he could make his surveying plans into a PDF, mark them up and share with others, through their email, laptops and smartphones. Then the fact that his iPad had a camera, where he could document the joints in the pipes with an image and geotag it with longitude and latitude, added even more value to his productivity. This may not sound exciting to us in the classroom, but when you are out in the field and every second counts in a project, every joint, every cross reference, using the iPad is making his life easier and more accurate.

When I asked him how he knew how to use this softeware/app, he said, “ I just kept reading about the things the software could do, then I made it work out for this job.” For most of us the HELP button on each software program, just sits at the top of the screen and when we are stuck, we may check it out. For Dan, the Help button has been a mentor, instructor and guide as he navigates his way through his software to do his job. The Manual for this app is an interactive pdf doc. Dan explained that the PDF manual was a great interactive tool and he used it like an on demand interactive tutorial.

When one of his co-workers asked him how he knew how to run this program and how he figured it out, Dan said, “My Mom was all about technology, if you knew her you would know how I followed this problem solving technique.“ So, teachers, be all about technology, encourage all your students, use the HELP button, play and let your students play with the web, play with software, play with the HELP menu, learn it, take charge of it and own it.

This is the transformative process implementation that many educators have been waiting for. It is starting to carry over with our students into the business world. Keep pushing in your classroom, this 21st Century Skill is necessary for our next generation. As Dan says, “ Mom, this iPad is transformative!” I asked him where he heard about transformative use and he wasn’t able to tell me. But, regardless of that, he certainly has the understanding, the process and he sees how his engagement is paying off in his job. He and fellow engineer, Brandon, are beginning to convince those they are working with that the iPad should be their field notebook and he has great reasons.

One set of gas line plans costs about 300.00.
When changes are made then the contractor needs to reprint the plans and distribute them to all the clients to ensure accuracy. More printing costs at about 300.00 for each set, again.
iPad instant pictures with geotag information.
One ipad about 600.00, and the ability to share documents electronically with others, priceless!

If a leaf changes color and no one sees it, has it really happened?

2011-08-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

cross posted at techlearning.com

This is the third post in a series of posts about a summer science camp for teachers that I attended.This summer when I spent the week with the TOTE, Teachers of the Estuary I learned so much that I have spent my summer blogging and sharing the information. I think I saved the best for last, Picture Posts! Throughout the Wells Reserve there were 3 posts that are part of the Picture Post Project. This project is something very simple; it complements Phenology, observing nature’s calendar, utilizes simple technology, it is something any class can participate in from preschool to Senior College students. The posts are set up as a stand alone or an existing post surrounding a structure, body of water, forest, garden or school. This project is open to anyone and has the capability of looking at, photographing, and documenting change over time. The change can be a daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal or a yearly change.

Picture Post is a part of the Digital Earth Watch (DEW) network. DEW supports environmental monitoring by citizens, students and community organizations through digital photography and satellite imagery.
You can...

contribute photographs to any Picture Post
add your own Picture Post
measure environmental change in your neighborhood, and
contribute to science networks.

Educators can learn a lot about Digital Earth Watch projects. http://picturepost.unh.edu/DEW_education.jsp There are so many worthwhile projects I am sure you would find something to interest all the students in your classes. There are explicit instructions detailing how you can get started and build a picture post. http://picturepost.unh.edu/build.jsp

The Picture Post Project has made this accessible to all with step by step directions, and movies at their site. The recycled plastic post topper with gradients cut out around the 360 degrees setting is a fool proof addition to the project. I was able to snap my 8 photos, then an additional shot of the sky, upload and view my photos all in a matter of 20 minutes from field to classroom. I enjoyed comparing my photos of a summer day with February photos of someone else. You will have to check out the site and compare photos from a specific site as there isn’t a way for you to see my comparison.

There is so much one could do in the classroom by participating in this project; math, geography, poetry, environmental science, but most of all, your students will become the life long learners we all hope for. Check out Picture Post, and let me know if you have heard of it before. If not, please help to spread the word. My students will be building a picture post at Wells Harbor and possibly in our woods on school grounds. We want to have as many students and community members involved as possible. Now, when leaves change colors we will all be able to see that it has happened!

For more information you can contact at this © Copyright 2011, The University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 | About | ADA Disclaimer | Terms of Service | Contact | Picture Post is supported by NASA

Phenology Affects Us All!

2011-08-10T05:26:00.000-07:00

cross-posted at TechLearning.com

This is the second post in a series of posts about a summer science camp for teachers that I attended. I was really smitten by this next part of the summer science workshop! Phenology! What is phenology?Phenology refers to recurring plant and animal life cycle stages, or phenophases, such as leafing and flowering, maturation of agricultural plants, emergence of insects, and migration of birds. However, I like this simpler description of phenology, it is easily understood as ‘nature’s calendars’. It’s awesome how this hands-on important project-based science work can be done by all ages, all grades, all abilities! I like that we can share this work with our students and they can become Citizen Scientists and lifelong learners-beginning now! No matter where you are in the United States you and your students can join this project. You can learn more about the projects and register here at this link.

“Citizen scientists are individual volunteers (students) or networks of volunteers, many of whom may have no specific scientific training,who perform or manage research-related tasks such as observation, measurement, or computation.”

coakes photo

Signs of the Seasons is in international project,, and has many educational resources available for classroom use including maps, graphs, writing prompts and data gathering and reporting. One of the most famous projects for us in New England is Journey North about the flights and migration of the Monarch Butterfly. Here is the mission of Journey North, “Journey North engages students in a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. K-12 students share their own field observations with classmates across North America. They track the coming of spring through the migration patterns of monarch butterflies, robins, hummingbirds, whooping cranes, gray whales, bald eagles— and other birds and mammals; the budding of plants; changing sunlight; and other natural events. Find migration maps, pictures, standards-based lesson plans, activities and information to help students make local observations and fit them into a global context. Widely considered a best-practices model for education, Journey North is the nation's premiere "citizen science" project for children. The general public is welcome to participate.” http://www.learner.org/jnorth/

What does all this have to do with technology? Our students are budding scientists! They have digital cameras at their disposal and a way to publish, write about and share their observations. Signs of the Seasons, Journey North, the USA National Phenology Network and an immediate project, get ready for Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere are all viable networks for gathering all this student data.

You and your students can track monarchs, whooping cranes, hummingbirds, seasonal changes and even plant tulips for spring observations. This is all part of global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change.

You may even have a state run Signs of the Season project office in your area. In Maine, our project is connected to the University of Maine. So, don’t be the last one left indoors as you and your students head back to school, head outdoors and observe!

Resources:
A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to attend a Teachers on The Estuary workshop in Wells, ME at the Wells Estuarine Reserve. Read further if you are looking for science examples to use in your instruction in your classes. This science information is not just about understanding science, but about being a life long learner and steward of our planet.
http://umaine.edu/signs-of-the-seasons/
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/season/fall2011/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_science
http://www.usanpn.org/participate/observe
http://www.usanpn.org/
TechLearning post 1 Working outside my Comfort Zone!

Playing with Media - a fabulous read, listen and view!

2011-08-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

Playing with Media - a fabulous read, listen and view! by Wes Fryer, author

Like many of you I saw the Tweet where Wes mentioned that his ebook wasready. It was late and I was all ready to turn in for the night, but Iwanted to get this ebook right away, so I clicked to Amazon, downloadedand began reading. I am so glad I started reading this right away, as Iam getting ready for back to school, and I do my best planning andthinking at night.

With the cover image, by his youngest child Rachel, I was hooked or youcould say engaged! Then the purpose "to inspire and empower", had metaking notes and planning where in my classroom I would introduce someof the digital storytelling tools for my students to add to theirdigital toolkits.

To begin with Wes has a chapter dedicated to Tips for Reading and aglossary that my 82 year old mother could understand. Although thiscould be mundane, ever the storyteller, Wes, gets the informationacross in an entertaining way.

I like how Wes has examples to illustrate his ideas, which leads thereader, inter-actor, teammate, actor, playmate, viewer, listener, andcreator to engage with this ebook. Wes gives all of us permission toplay in the sandbox. He gives us strategies to try as we move along inthe book. He gives us enough history so we are grounded and understandthat " we learn deeper when we actively DO rather than passively watch", ( Wes Fryer, Playing with Media).

His comments about testing, Common Standards, NETS, and 21st CenturySkills are woven into the storytelling journey with compellingstatements about how we need to incorporate digital media inTransformational ways. Once you begin reading or listening orinteracting with this book and begin creating, you will betransformational and part of this story!

Wes thanks for this wonderful inspirational ebook, I will begin bycreating the Flickr group 180schooldays , a public book where you andyour classrooms can begin the year long journey of a photo or image aday. Join the Flickr group 180schooldays and tag your images with#180schooldays. The power of the crowd going deep into new andtransformational interactive learning.

Trying out thinglink a way to tag your images!

2011-07-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

An image from my weeklong Summer Science Camp, TOTE2011, Teachers on the Estuary, Wells, ME
Using Thinglink, I was able to tag the photo and add 3 links to important resources!
It takes about 5 minutes to login with Facebook, then add the widget to your own blog, stay logged into Thinglink and you are in business.

What is not to like???

Thinking and Working Outside my Comfort Zone

2011-07-26T05:20:00.001-07:00

Cross posted at TechLearning.com

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to attend a Teachers on The Estuary workshop in Wells, ME at the Wells Estuarine Reserve. Read further if you are looking for science examples to use in your instruction in your classes. This science information is not just about understanding science, but about being a life long learner and steward of our planet.

I am lucky in my position at Wells High School, I get to work in special education classes and co-teach science with highly qualified science teachers and I assist as the highly qualified special educator. It is a program that works well as an inclusion model in our continuum of classes offered for all students. This summer, when I had the chance I immersed myself, along with my co-teacher at the Teachers on the Estuary week long workshop, the TOTE program.

I learned a lot about our local marine resources and how NOAA does an incredible amount of really good scientific work in areas other than weather! How many of you think that NOAA is only about weather; hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards and dust storms? Check out their logo for more topic areas that NOAA promotes.

NOAA has a whole section of their web dedicated to Education and Teacher Resources, The topic, estuaries, where the river meets the sea, and fresh and salt water mix, has some online classes you can take advantage of   and specifically the Estuary Workshop 101 for high school students. ( NERR is working on a middle school and elementary option too.) Who knew NOAA was so involved in so many areas?

NOAA has partnered with other organizations notably METEd and Comet, whose mission is: “MetEd is operated by The COMET® Program, a talented team of scientists, instructional designers, and developers. We've been producing quality educational materials since 1989.”
There are free online course modules for educators and learners from middle school to adults who are life long learners. These courses would be awesome for the classroom to infuse scientific work into your instruction. I was fascinated by the Arctic Ecosystems which in fact explains not only the Arctic Ecosystem but builds with the foundations of photosynthesis, carbon cycle,the greenhouse effect and the life and food cycle of the arctic region. This particular module really resonated with me as one of our guest scientists, Cameron Waite, UNH professor and researcher spoke to us about Climate Changes, and one way to help make people aware of these changes is to include in the conversation what role the changes play in Systems!   “Unlike science of a century ago, Earth System Science is focused on the interactions between several disciplines that determine the state and evolution of our planet. The impact of that on human behavior - as well as the impact of human behavior on the planet - is an additional focus of Earth system science.”
( Atmosphere, Biosphere, Geosphere, Hydrosphere, and Human Interaction Systems) http://essedesignguide.org/
As a culminating part of my summer TOTE workshop, I will be designing, with my students, a stewardship project about our local watershed and how we can protect and promote it to the public.
For a quick look at how a stewardship project about watersheds can be implemented in your classroom, here is a TOTE stewardship project from last year.   Pam and I are planning our stewardship projects over the summer. I’ll report out here throughout the summer and school year.

Resources:

National Estuary Day http://www.estuaries.gov/GetInvolved/Default.aspx?ID=153
September 24, 2011.
Stewardship Project http://www.estuaries.gov/News/Default.aspx?id=527
Earth System Science http://essedesignguide.org/
NOAA Teacher Resources http://www.education.noaa.gov/
Teachers of the Estuary http://www.estuaries.gov/GetInvolved/Default.aspx?id=401

Simplebooklet for the classroom

2011-07-18T04:33:00.000-07:00

Morgan, this is for you.

Google at its Best

2011-07-03T08:11:00.001-07:00

Check out these great google presentations from ISTE11 and some very clever GCTs.
http://iste2011.googleapps.com/

Make a puzzle from your photos

2011-07-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

provided by flash-gear.com

Leave your Heartprint

2011-06-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

Updated with links. cross-posted at cheryloakes.com

Many of us are in Philadelphia for the International Society of Technology and Education 2011. If you are reading this and you are not here in Philly, then I hope you have found some of the keynotes or sessions online at http://ISTE.org . Here is the keynote.
The conference opening keynote began with some energetic dancers who ROCKED the house. Next ADOBE presented Student Voices, one of many student-produced videos.You can view some examples here. This particular movie ended with a child saying "The end, (pause) the beginning." (go to blackscreen)
For some of us it is the end of the school year, for others of us it is part of a vacation with school beginning again in a couple of weeks. Regardless of what our internal or seasonal clock says we are at ISTE and we are all Unlocking Potential.
All that I have seen and heard here, so far, is about passion. Why else would over 20,000 educators from around the world take time and often personal expense to get to this gathering in Philadelphia, PA USA?
The keynote today was a mashup of Dr. Stephen Covey, Muriel Summers, principal of A. B. Coombs, an elementary school in North Carolina, the facilitator, and two well- spoken, fifth grade, students.
Leadership is communicating people's worth and potential, so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.
Dr. Stephen Covey, ISTE 2011 Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Covey video-conferenced into the venue. His message was so powerful and the examples so meaningful that it felt as though Dr. Covey was in the room speaking to us. Principal Muriel Summers then spoke of how she and her staff transformed her school, students, and community over the past ten years using Dr. Covey's principles. She believes these times of challenge are really times of great opportunity, if we approach it that way! Her challenge of ten years ago has also been her greatest opportunity. Ms. Summers believes we are most creative when our backs are against the wall. She says we have the power to reshape education as we know it - right now! You can see how her school has been transformed at this site.

by Chris Olson

Transformation begins with a change of heart, not a change of program.

"Leave your heart print on your students."

Muriel Summers, keynote, ISTE 2011 Philadelphia, PA

The End
and for all of us the beginning.

Listen up and you shall hear....

2011-06-07T19:05:00.001-07:00

As we in some of the northern states come into the home stretch, and call this 2010-2011 school year to a close, I was looking for a way to keep it interesting, challenging and purposeful right to the end, June 24, 2011. In Maine, as I am sure in other rural states, we drive long distances just to be with family and friends. The time we spend on the road can be considered a consumer of free time or better yet, time that could be spent doing other things.

This past weekend, although it was a beautiful day for a drive, I had a just a few end of the school year projects I needed to complete! Not wanting to succumb to any more stress than I had to, I was brainstorming with myself about how I could change up my end of the school year summary to students and parents while I was driving.

I thought about using my dragon dictate app and “Tap and Dictate” but that would mean me speaking, the app transforming speech to text, and parents and students would be reading long messages from me. Then, I wondered if I could record my voice into a memo, and send the voice memo to my students and parents. They would hear the excitement in my voice, some kudos for a great year, hopefully a challenge for the summer, and a comment that I would look forward to seeing them in the fall.

It worked! By the end of my 4 hour round trip, I was nearly done with my unique end of the year summaries about my students. I was nearly done with another task from my to do list. I will bet this is the first time my parents and students will have a voice message in their email from a teacher. Oh, it was fairly easy, I pushed the record button and put the phone down and just talked like someone was in the car with me. If you are looking for a stress free way to sum up your school year, try a voice memo.( Or a welcome message for next fall!) It will be easy on the listeners as well.

I just went back and listened to my end of the school year messages. I sent a couple test messages and received positive responses from parents. What a nice way to end my year!
coakes photo
Turn your audio into mp3's to make sure other computers can read the format.
PS. Here is the feedback I have received.

Message 1 from a parent:

I loved your voice message to Chris! What a great way to encourage and motivate a student :-)

I had a thought of playing Mad Libs with both of my kids as soon as I heard you say this area still needs help, adverbs, adjectives etc...

Thank you so much for being there for Chris! You are an amazing gift to us and I wish you a nice, relaxing, and healthy summer :-)

Message 2 from a parent:

Well that was certainly an interesting way to get a report. Very nice. I appreciate everything you have done for Ashley this year and I am glad that you get to continue working with her next year as well.

Your final project by Cheryl Oakes - read the free ebook now from ePub Bud!

2011-05-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

Your final project by Cheryl Oakes - read the free ebook now from ePub Bud!

App it Forward!

2011-05-24T19:30:00.001-07:00

cross-posted at techlearning.com

Thanks to Bob Sprankle for the Catchy Title!

Many of you are winding down for the school year , well in the northern hemisphere anyway.
What is in your future? Where will I spend my time? What will my students be doing during an 8 week break?

We live in a tourist community and many high school students work throughout the summer, so I know what some of them will be doing. As for me, I have visions of running a virtual summer apps camp. If I call it camp it may make learning more palatable, maybe I can run it through my classroom Facebook page. Like I said I have lots of ideas and I think if I build it they will come! My goal will be to choose an app that interests me has a purpose and is easy to share. The only requirement to participate will be that all who stop by the Facebook page will need to share an app with purpose. Some categories could be FUN, organization apps , time management apps, photos, research, vocabulary practice and math practice, for SATs for example.

Simple, engaging, purposeful. I'll let u know. Stop by and share ur app and tell how u use it.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Learning-Cafe-Door-to-the-Future/143027879070492

Special Needs Students using Collaborative Google Apps

2011-05-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

cross-posted at techlearning.com

Recently, I was asked about how I was using Google apps with students who have special needs. I thought about it and decided to document what I have seen this year.(Shout out to Penny in Australia, for her question.) I am teaching in a high school, using google apps with students who have a difficult time completing classroom assignments, organizational challenges and missing paper syndrome.

By using Google docs, spreadsheets and presentation applications, my students always have evidence that they have turned in their work because they can always share the items with their teachers. This may not seem like a huge learning expectation, but I can tell you that at least 50% of student worksheets are completed, yet they find their way to the bottom of the backpack and, without an adult intervening, the work is not turned in and graded. (Note to self and others, put your work assignments in a collaborative google document and your students are more likely to complete and turn them in for grading.)

The best part about using Google apps with special needs students, for me, has to be collaborative editing of student work. When a student gets an assignment, the first thing that happens is that the student begins the document, presentation or spreadsheet and immediately shares the work with a teacher. Within moments of receiving the email notification for the shared item, I reply to the student and begin my coaching. I like to comment on the title, the thesis or question that the students start with, I ask about the due date, the rubric and then begin breaking the assignment down, differentiating for each student.

I like using the revision history and sharing this option with the student. This is where we have a discussion about work expectations and the ability to see how much time the student has put into the work. This is going to be an important part of work and employment accountability in the future and thus a life long skill.

So far, the information I have shared could be used with all students. However, the editing part of google apps is the best and most meaningful part for special needs learners. When students share their document with a teacher, the editing part can become a very creative and meaningful process. Often I use the insert menu and the drop down comment tool.This allows me to leave a place mark in the body of the document, while leaving an entire comment off to the side of the document. Using this process I can leave suggestions, comments, and notes for the student to improve the existing paper. The student then has the option to reply to me in the comments, or to delete the comment when the “fix” has been completed. I use the insert comment, I can highlight, change the color of text and otherwise be creative with edits and suggestions. No longer do the edited comments need to stay in the red mode. I can use colors, fonts, bold, italics and more to set the text aside for instructional purposes. The best part, none of my students have reacted badly to the edits in their work. It almost seems like with the comments as part of the documents, the student focuses more on fixing the edits as a next step in the process, rather than an attack on their ego, their writing or their learning, or even that this is additional work when addressing the ‘fixes’.

Often, I will sit side by side with the student as they work. We are logged into two different computers, and both have the document or presentation up on our screens. We can be working on different parts of the assignment.This helps to demonstrate that we can work together in the same room or miles apart. As soon as an edit is posted, the student gets to work and I keep processing the rest of the paper. I have edited with students in the same room, same building, same town and even miles away when I went to a conference and the student was back at school. An added advantage is that I am able to edit any time or place when my students use google apps and the sharing tools. We don’t have to wait until the next day when the student is available to come work during support study.

Finally, working with google apps is an efficient way to collaborate with all students, the benefits of doing this work with challenged learners is that the coaching and support happens without the judging that some students feel when working face to face with their teachers on their written assignments. Below is an example of an edited assignment recently turned in for World Studies.

I know this is an effective way to work with students since a few of my students open a document and begin sharing before they begin writing. Here are some important steps I follow.

Start with a school google account for teachers and students.
Give assignments in shared google docs, presentations or spreadsheets.
Begin coaching during the editing process of the assignments.
Always leave instructional comments for the students to act on.
Always leave comments about parts of the assignment that you like.
Be the cheerleader! Cheer that student on towards success!

Share your successes here in the comments!

An Honor

2011-04-27T03:34:00.000-07:00

Cross posted at TechLearning.com
I had an opportunity to present to a group of special educators in NH, last week. They asked that I come and demonstrate how I was using Google apps in our school district. They asked that I emphasize how I was using the apps especially with special education in mind. They wanted to know how I used the apps with my peers, and by the way, did I have any specific ways of using Google apps with students?

I immediately asked if I could bring a student with me to demonstrate how adults in our schools used Google apps, then I figured I would have Morgan explain how Google apps fit into her school plan as a way to access her education.

Morgan and I planned and reflected upon a normal school week. That part was very easy. We use Google apps frequently. Morgan was a natural presenter during her explanations about Google. It was easy to see that she used the tools throughout her school day and it was very easy for her as she explained how she went about planning, researching and creating.

I don’t have to tell you that she stole the show. Once she began explaining how she used the calendar, shared documents with her teachers for editing purposes, shared her presentation about the evolution of cell phones, she took over. The educators in the audience fired questions at her, which she answered one by one. She patiently demonstrated how she shared in Google docs, how she added to her Google calendars, and how she made her Google presentations.

I was very proud when the educators asked if they could clone her for their high school. Morgan smiled. I smiled. The power of a student presentation.

Lessons Learned on a Winter Hike and Overnight in Maine

2011-03-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

First of all, if you have ever wanted to take a field trip and didn’t have the budget, try applying for the Target Field Trip Grant. Each grant is valued up to $700.00. When the trip is over, Target provides a website where you can share your story about your trip, no more than 500 characters! How easy is that? I applied in August and was awarded the money in December 2010. After submitting our information to the principal, the superintendent and making a presentation to the school committee we were granted permission and on our way into Maine Trails and Huts for a winter hike and winter overnight in the woods.

Three years ago, I wrote a blog post about teaching our young people about going green. It was based on a trip I made to Maine Huts and Trails- Poplar Stream Hut, and learning about what had been done in the middle of the woods with a hut that was pretty much a sustainable venture.

I wanted to go back to the Hut, and now that the grant had been awarded we were free to go and take some of our students.

In the fall, our Biology class studied about sustainability, green resources; hydro power, solar power, wind power, limited resources, and how to make a sustainable city of the future. Little did our students realize that their teachers were planning a winter hike to see first hand how a sustainable hut could be built and function in Maine, especially Maine Winters.

As we planned, Pam Parrott (we co-teach) and I, thought about the kinds of things our students would learn about on the trip. We had ideas about how the group would bond while on the trip, how they would support one another, how they would satisfy their curiosity about going green, and about whether this might be something they would consider in their future! Maybe this trip would open doors to their future with job opportunities or new dreams. These were all reasonable ideas, something every teacher would want for her students.

However, as we all know, we need to be prepared for more than the plan. We found there were many things our students had in store for us! While we planned, made lists, planned some more, talked with parents, shared a video about where we were going, our students had their own agenda.

Lessons our students shared with their teachers.

Hiking a 5 mile round trip in the middle of winter was secondary to getting out of school for two days. No surprise there!

Many of our students only go outside, in winter, between their home, the bus and school. They never wear anything more than a hooded sweatshirt and a pair of sneakers. So, when they showed up on the day of our field trip. I learned how to borrow winter jackets from our school lost and found, and how to share boots that we brought to wear ourselves.
When I had a fleeting thought to bring my birthday container of bungee cords, it was a premonition. Our students did not understand pack in and pack out. Two of the girls brought their items in garbage bags. (They did have several backpacks to choose from, but chose not to use those packs.) Thankfully, David brought two flying saucers. So, between the flying saucers, bungee cords and my co-teacher’s extra long shoe laces we jury-rigged a way for the items to be dragged into the hut, as well as transportation for the boys down the steep hills.
Bungee cords can double as a belt for saggy pants, because it is hard to carry a pack, pull and sled and pull up the pants while hiking.

I had stuffed extra boots, and snowpants into my car, just in case. My students taught me that although I could plan for that, I couldn’t realize how many other items I should have brought.

The students taught us that if you ask enough people at school, there is someone bound to have an extra pair of gloves, they are willing to give up! Thanks, Mrs. Perry.

Our students taught us that they were adventurous throughout the trip. They hiked in 30 degree Fahrenheit weather, and on top of that, it snowed the entire hike. Not one complaint. Even when we hiked to an elevation of 1300 feet up many, many hills. That is a lot of elevation when you come from sea level, in Wells, Maine.

Our students shared their meal family style, hut style. It was a great adult meal, Jambalaya with rice, sausage and shrimp, maybe not a kid friendly meal, but they ate it, well most of it. Breakfast was a hit with orange juice, bacon, sausage and pancakes. If they didn’t eat, they didn’t complain.

Our students were polite, friendly and fun. We played charades, Apples to Apples, we went sledding down the hills and there were plenty of hills.

When it was quiet time, we all created something with a slab of clay from the local potter. We sat around a large table and talked and shared stories. Then at lights out, the ghost stories appeared and kept the interest of my bunk mates. Finally, at 10 PM, lights out and quiet time, everyone was asleep within 15 minutes.

A day hiking and playing outside still makes people tired.

There is nothing better than food to get students up and moving for the 7 AM breakfast call.

Cell service was something to celebrate! Whenever anyone got 4 bars the group cheered!

Our students said thank you as we traveled back to school. They had new stories to share. Their classmates back at school were envious. A few of our adventurers even said they would go on the hike again.

Check out our other resources for more information.

http://www.mainehuts.org/lodging/poplar-stream-falls-hut/

http://animoto.com/play/zDfj1TRpJDH6khKRf3NI2A?utm_content=main Morgan, thanks for making this.
http://mehutswhs.posterous.com/#!/what-happens-when-you-take-8-teens-and-3-adul We used this site to report from the field. Posterous is a great way to get your students involved in the reporting!
cross posted at TechLearning.com/

Me huts whs

2011-03-16T05:07:00.001-07:00

Johnny all excited for the trip!! (:

ipadio: Weather For Wed

2011-03-14T16:38:00.001-07:00

ipadio: Outdoor Practice

2011-03-14T15:18:00.001-07:00

UDL What is the excitement all about?

2011-03-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

UDL What is the excitement all about?

It is happening! I am starting to question and think like a UDL( Universal Design for Learning) promoter. When did this happen, how did it happen? What is the excitement all about?

I am setting up a themed unit about Weather, Climate and Global Warming. I am looking for resources for all our students and planning their class time. My goal is to provide them with options, choice, interest and finally a place to share their information with their peers.

My first research sites began with NASA, NOAA, NOVA, PBS, science standards and of course CAST. I collected lots of information, added it to a google doc and then began my outline.

The information I gathered was for a high school physical science class of freshmen. A bonus was that some friends shared an open source HS online textbook about Climate and I added that to my collection.

As I talked with some teachers, who were explaining how a student was using a technology presentation tool in class, I wondered why this was a topic to share. But, then it dawned on me, this student was the only one who was using that particular technology presentation tool.

Step # 1 to UDL promotion- If a student is the only student to use a technology tool, then we are further isolating that student and making them look different. Offer a couple of technology tools to all students to use as they do their work. ( Some ideas are Prezi, ebooks, StoryRobe)

Step # 2 to UDL promotion- As we differentiate in our classroom, we will offer a variety of activities for students to research and gather information about the topic. Normally, we make a couple of differentiations for our students with gifted and talented needs, our students with learning disabilities, our students with English Language Learning needs. Offer these differentiations to all.

Here is how I started. http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/tools/udlgoalsettertutorial.cfm
Click step by step and follow the tutorial for setting goals. You can do this on your own, and then get your feedback when you share with others. When I needed more support in the design process, I could click on a link and get a suggestion.

Step # 3 to UDL promotion- Start small, share, and watch the excitement level in your classroom blossom as you meet your students along the way.
Here is an example of ScienceWriter.cast.org While it may look a little young, all our students use this, and can choose to use the hints and audio tools, or not.

DNA model

2011-03-08T04:22:00.001-08:00

Sent from my iPhone

National Technology Plan and Universal Design for Learning, What's not to Like?

2011-02-23T03:56:00.000-08:00

What does the National Technology Plan have to do with Universal Design for Learning and why are they mentioned in the same document? I was very excited to read about this marriage. Finally, a section of the document I could live with and promote.

“The model of learning described in this plan calls for engaging and empowering personalized learning experiences for learners of all ages. The model stipulates that we focus what and how we teach to match what people need to know and how they learn. It calls for using state-of-the-art technology and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) concepts to enable, motivate, and inspire all students to achieve, regardless of background, languages, or disabilities. It calls for ensuring that our professional educators are well connected to the content and resources, data and information, and peers and experts they need to be highly effective. And it calls for leveraging the power of technology to support continuous and lifelong learning.”
http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010/letter-secretary

UDL, Universal Design for Learning, what do you know? Here is a fun quiz to get you thinking. Be sure to come back and continue reading.

Alice Barr photo

As I get ready to coordinate the learning of 20 students, I am embedding UDL into the plan for the next 3 weeks. I will present information in many ways to my class, I will offer
student choice in presenting and reflecting upon what they learned, I will be sure that student engagement is in place daily which means that I will offer a variety of options which stimulate interest and motivation in learning. Will it take more time? Sure at first, but eventually this will save time in the end, and save some learners.

I will have engaged students who will work on the multiple collective assignments. I will have a busy classroom

How can UDL work in any classroom? Here is a comprehensive website which will assist you as you become adept at integrating UDL principles into your mainstream or specialized classrooms. What you will find is that most of the suggestions from this website will be things that are common sense ideas that we need to bring to the forefront of our planning. For example, Art Beyond Sight is a web resource which explains how to discuss and describe art to individuals who are visually impaired or blind. If you and I had a blind student we would be sure to include this in our daily planning. However, what UDL promotes, is by offering this kind of instructional alternative as part of our daily routine, we meet the needs of students who function with limited visual understanding or any student who may learn best with this modality and support. This is the main difference in a UDL classroom.

As you begin this process of embedding UDL into your lessons and classroom, start slowly, follow the prescriptive outline at the website. Soon you will be adding options for your visual learners, your auditory learners and, your language learners, as you continue teaching your content area.

This is what all teachers can begin to do. It is good for our teaching and learning process. It is good for all learners, general education students, gifted students, special education students, ELL students and, it is good for the teacher as well.

Lisa Parisi said it best in response to Karen Janowski's Twitter post wondering why more teachers won't try UDL options in their classrooms:

Educators must believe that they are responsible for teaching every child
Educators must teach students how to access tools and then allow them the access
Educators must give up that position of power to allow students the freedom to do what they need to be successful

The one person in the classroom working the hardest is learning the most, I am planning that it won’t be me, but it will be all my students! Good luck as you begin to adopt UDL measures, your students will benefit!

Resources:
http://udl.spps.org/UDL_Examples.html

http://udl.spps.org/

http://www.invisiblefist.com/2010/06/01/udl-from-the-bottom-up/

http://lisaslingo.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-wont-more-teachers-set-up-udl.html

http://www.accessfirefox.org/

http://www.cast.org

Liven up your Class or Meeting

2011-02-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

cross posted at TechLearning.com
Smackdown Web Tools
Try something new in your next class or staff meeting. In the spirit of open source learning, we should capitalize on the success of what is known in technology workshops as a smackdown. Originally smackdowns happened in the realm of entertainment wrestling. A smackdown is defined by Merriam and Webster as a confrontation between rivals or competitors.

In the world of technology conferences, a smackdown is a session dedicated to volunteers from the audience sharing the projector and 2 minutes to explain the latest web 2.0 tool and how it is used in a classroom, a meeting, a personal learning network.

As one participant said, “it is a great way to attend a session, you don’t have to sit through a potentially boring session because the presenter changes every two minutes.” My reasons for attending a smackdown are; I often have something to share, I get to meet some of my Twitter followers and the people I follow, and last but not least I get some very valuable tools to share with my peers and my students.

The latest smackdown I attended was at ATIA in Orlando at an Assistive Technology Conference. Thanks to Chris Bagaj for podcasting the session. I am sure he will be happy to share his podcast and blog with you.

Take the smackdown idea to the next level. Take the smackdown into your classroom and have students share information in 30 seconds before moving on to the next person. Take the smackdown into your next staff meeting and have folks share an idea or program that is working for them. To begin with start out with a time limit for each person and an overall time limit during the meeting or class. How are you using the smackdown idea in your school?

Thanks to tsmackdown.wikispaces.com/ for their image.

AAAS - Project 2061

2011-02-08T16:50:00.000-08:00

AAAS - Project 2061

These standards are important.

Untitled

2011-01-29T19:42:00.001-08:00

Beth Goodwin and I shared about our Writing Toolkit for Students at the ATIA conference. Many people were interested in this concept of toolkit theory.

Click here to see the Presentation

It is in a wiki format. The audio will be coming soon.

ATIA 2011 Create an Online Writing Toolkit

2011-01-28T04:00:00.000-08:00

Beth Goodwin MSEd. and Cheryl Oakes MEd.
Beth and Cheryl presented in Orlando, FL at ATIA 2011.
See the links for the presentation and resources.

Student to teacher, “What is your favorite part about your job?”

2011-01-24T17:25:00.001-08:00

It didn’t take me long to answer! It was about 7:45 AM on a weekday in a support study class. You can imagine the chaos that begins a school day for high school teens. A teacher orchestrating the group of students to help find some bit of school work for them to complete, while making a personal connection with each student, and encouraging independent work then beginning the cycle again.

This was just that sort of day. However, when he asked me that question, the room went silent. I didn’t hesitate, “My favorite part of my job is, years after meeting a student and working with a student, somehow over time, there is a huge reward, when I finally hear what the student has chosen for a school, college, job, family and place to live”, I said.

My student didn’t miss a beat and responded, “Oh, so you hate your job.” I began to protest, then I replied, “You asked me about my favorite part of the job, which is the surprise after all the waiting.”

I did not go on to say that I look forward to each day, that I reflect on my days and my meetings with students each week, as I learn something new to mention in my next meeting with a student. I did not go on to say that, I cherish the moments when a student gets a good grade after all the hard work. I cherish the teaching and the learning, especially when my students are teaching me and I am the learner. Everyday is worth it, but the surprise after waiting years is still the best.

Daniel Tyler Graduation UMO 2010
Originally uploaded by cheryloakes50

After all those years!

Interactive Poll for Physical Science

2011-01-02T09:47:00.001-08:00

Create interactive meetings at Poll Everywhere

The Best of the Best of 2010 from Larry Ferlazzo

2011-01-02T05:55:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for anything you will find it here.
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2010/12/12/all-my-the-best-of-2010-lists-in-one-place/

New Media at my House

2010-12-28T16:16:00.000-08:00

New Media at my House

Permanent linkcross-posted at cheryloakes.com
In October, with my son Nathan’s prompting, I posted about new ways to view media and new ways to communicate. This update is an additional post about the new media added in our home. Thanks to Vicki Davis’ tweet about her use of Roku, I have added some new technology to our home theater unit.

One of my criteria for adding a new technology module was that it needed to be a plug and play unit, which the Roku is. Also, since I use Netflix already, this unit was compatible with my Netflix account, something I am already familiar with. (It is also compatible with Amazon Video.)

Why add a Roku? We do not have any TV station reception and no cable TV. The Roku is an alternative that offers several options to a media hungry family. You must have internet access in your home in order for this to work. It even works with a wireless internet modem. Our internet comes into our home through the telephone service, TDS . ( I know you are thinking that this cannot possibly be fast enough to stream Netflix, stream archived news, stream radio, etc! There are disbelievers in my family too. But not anymore.)

In about 1 hour, I was able to plug in the Roku, register for an account on my laptop, then begin adding FREE channels to my account. The first show we watched through the paid Netflix account was Mystery Theater 3000, Santa Claus. I did add the Hulu Plus subscription account which has allowed us to watch Law and Order, Three Stooges, MediaFly, Face the Nation and more. Shortly after, my son added Pandora to the list of channels and now we are streaming personalized music. Life is Good.

The Roku is a plug and play unit. It did enhance the media offerings for my family. It is very easy to follow the prompts during set up. Be sure to order the additional plugs/cords so you have everything you need to set the Roku up without another trip to the store or waiting for a package to arrive from your online shopping center.

Resources:
CoolCatTeacher http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/

netflix.com
Hulutv.com
http://www.hulu.com/tv

automotivator picture

2010-12-20T05:01:00.001-08:00

automotivator picture
Originally uploaded by cheryloakes50

Making posters!

One Person, One Gift

2010-12-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

This is the last post in the blog challenge from Melanie Holtsman and I am not looking forward to it. How can I choose just one gift, never mind one person? Can I choose a group of people to give one gift?
While at first this challenge appeared easy and I let it go at that, now that I am putting the words in a post, it is impossible!
Here goes. If I am able to give one gift to my students I would give the love of life long learning. Similar to the give someone a fish and you feed them for that meal, teach them to fish and you will feed them for life. My gift would be specific in the introduction, yet have far reaching appeal and long lasting effects.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deqalb/1497728891/#/photos/deqalb/1497728891/lightbox/

Recipe for Life Long Learning

Ingredients:

Huge bowl

Questions

Answers

A Personal Learning Network

Connection to the Internet

Curiosity

Laughter

Love

My life as a Scientist

2010-12-05T15:39:00.000-08:00

The Blog Challenge this week fits me to a tee! What is your life as a scientist like? What kind of observations do you find yourself making? Do you have a wondering? Have you ever tried to find the answers?

As a life long learner I hope to model what we should all be experimenting with!
I am curious about Vernal Pools. Someday my friend Charlene and I will write a children's book explaining how important Vernal Pools are to all. I take trips to Vernal Pools, I photograph Vernal Pools, I practically live in a Vernal Pool.

I am co-teaching science classes at our High School. The science teacher is highly qualified in science, I am highly qualified in special education, we are a team. I have always wanted to use the Farmer's Almanac with a science class as one of the textbooks. We started out the project this past week. So far, so good. I want to thank the Farmer's Almanac for setting up an educational price for this project. We will have more about this in the upcoming months. There will be teacher materials, templates and student responses about our journey with the Farmer's Almanac. The Farmer's Almanac is a perfect science notebook. There is something for everyone, inventions, predictions, improvements, it sounds like the Scientific Method Live!

snowflake from 2010-12-04 coakes photo, iphone

But, my favorite topic to study is snow! I have a snowflake lesson which incorporates symmetry, ice crystals, weather and history. My hero is Snowflake Bentley, and there is a terrific children's book about Snowflake Bentley you should read if you are interested in the history of snowflakes. I go out and ski in the snow, I shovel snow, I take photos of snow, I make movies about snow, I make snow ice cream and yes, I even get stuck in the snow.

Lastly, one of these winters I will take a trip to Mount Washington Weather Observatory for a Winter Edutrip! This is a trip to the extreme weather on our planet. Mount Washington has a great summit conditions page which I check every day in the winter and weekly during the other seasons. The reason I check the summit conditions is that I want to know what I will be skiing in for temperatures, wind and snow conditions. I am working on a spreadsheet to collect data so I can predict the weather at my favorite ski mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain. So far, I have not been really successful, it is a work in progress.

I can't wait to read the other science blogger challenges. You can check them out here.

A glimpse at my years in high school for the Blog Challenge!

2010-11-28T16:13:00.000-08:00

Way back, in high school, I was considered a "B" student. I was shy, yet a leader in some small organizations like Sunday School, Future Teachers-yes way back then, I knew I wanted to be a teacher, and I was a little bit on the edge in my classes. I questioned everything!
If we were given an assignment, I wanted to find out a way to do the assignment, but to do it differently. When we studied Civics, instead of doing a huge project, I invited the city planner of a neighboring community to speak to our class. I had to set up the interview questions and make sure that it related to our course work, which I did, and it ended up being a great experience. Maybe that led me to be a webcaster on Edtechtalk and interview educators for Women of Web 2.0 and now for Seedlings.
I was co-chair of my junior prom, 'Barefoot in the Park', I traveled to Europe that summer and when I graduated from Suffield High School and was accepted as a student at the University of Maine, and never went back to live in Connecticut. I graduated from Univeristy of Maine, both undergrad and graduate school and have lived and worked in Maine since 1974. I did travel back this summer, to Suffield, for our 40th Reunion, which was a blast! It was like the years disappeared and it was like the old days, the the girls riding around in Lana's car looking for things to do, but really it is about talking, planning and living life.

Making a Transition Plan for your High Schooler

2010-11-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

cross posted at TechLearning.com

Since 2004 IDEA re-authorization, schools have been charged with creating transition plans for students with IEP’s to include specific plans on how the student will be prepared for life after high school, whether it be work, post secondary education, or both. Let’s look at where you might begin with your middle or high school students as they being thinking about careers.

This is where I am going start with my students.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/argonne/4534362371/sizes/z/in/photostream/

First, register at Princeton Review and then click here to take the career interest 24 question survey. Be sure to save your registration information so you can save materials and go back and look at what you have saved. As with most surveys answer the questions fairly quickly.
Once you finish the survey you get a an Interest Color and A Usual Color. Mine happen to be Interest=Green and Usual=Red. Then about 50 careers are generated from my interests with links to each career that give me more information including facts and figures about salary, the options to move up the career ladder, what the present and future may hold, and even what someone in this profession might read.
This site is also linked to SAT’s, ACT’s and college information.

The other Career site I found was Office of Science Education
Here I began with 127 careers, I chose 2 categories, narrowed my choices down to 10 careers. Next, I selected about 30 skills I felt I had or would like to have, finally I ended up with 5 careers if I had a Master’s degree and 3 if I had a Bachelor’s degree. This only took about 10 minutes to get to the 8 careers I ended up with.

Another great website will send students to look at what their career may eventually pay them.This website would be a great site to look at with groups of students so they could read, collect data and report out to the group the variety of jobs they might be interested in.

If you are on holiday, share this blog with your students, let them begin the search. One nice result, I still have teaching in my career choices, but also a few in the science field I did not know about. I wonder what my students’ career options will be?

Resources:
http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/trans.index.htm

Hosted the Day in a Sentence Week! November 15, 2010

2010-11-20T04:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all who participated during this really busy week.
To see the original gathering spot, check out Wall Wisher . Here you will find sentences and links to many bloggers.

Bonnie wrote: Big Week Coming: NWP in Orlando and lots of wordcount coming for NaNoWriMo!

LynnJacobs wrote: As the bell rang today, releasing the students (and us) for a week's vacation, I was slammed with a boisterous, nasty head cold that continues to build tonight.

Murcha wrote: I loved being part of the Global Education Conference this week - heard global presenters, made new friends, shared stories. A Mirtschin (Australia)

Mr. Wood: I love the way you manage your own learning.

Tracy wrote: I caught a young student holding hands with a classmate who is in a wheelchair with no oral communication skills, little movement - encouraging!

Cheryl wrote: "That's what I am talking about!" Seems to be what I repeat for most things! Especially when my students tell me of their successes!!

Bonnie, I hope the NWP was a successful week for all who participated. Lynn, I hope you get through your nasty head cold quickly! Murcha, we are glad you are part of our Global connections! Mr. Wood, excellent sentence, I am sure it motivates your students. Have a great week, and look for a note from Bonnie signaling the beginning of another DAIS.

The important thing about being thankful

2010-11-14T03:41:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffyoungstrom/

I just read some student blogs this week, they wrote about animal research using Margaret Wise Brown's book as a model, The Important Book, I borrowed their idea.

The Important Thing about being Thankful
is that the glass if always half full.
It is an adjective,
it is useful,
it describes me most every day.
But the important thing about being
thankful is that the glass is always half full.

Let Universal Design for Learning, be all about “Assisted” Technology for All

2010-11-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

cross posted at TechLearning.com

Our goals for our students include independence as life long learners. When you work with challenged learners it is imperative to focus on their independence and life long skills and practice using those skills. Here is the how to: Help your students achieve independence as a life long learner, anytime, anywhere.

In September, we introduced our students to the suite of Google Apps. All students were given a user name and password for our school google domain. Once logged in, a calendar was introduced as a way to keep track of assignments, family vacations, days off, tests and quizzes, Homecoming, Sporting events, school plays, Marching Band and the end of first trimester. Next we shared how to access their email, a google doc, how to answer a survey in a google form and finally how to make a presentation. All of these options are located in our google domain. This google introduction took about 3 weeks as we shared how to use these apps and how to find purpose while making good choices.

Most often, the use of google apps allows for collaboration, whether that be a shared calendar, a shared presentation, a google doc or a shared spreadsheet for data collection. Shared calendars not only serve as a reminder of when a project is due for a student, but it’s also a way for the teacher to see when an important competition is scheduled, and then it’s a reminder for a teacher to attend that school event .

Our students even chose to use google presentation as they prepared for classroom slide shows. They were able to use google presentation with the teacher as editor, or with peers as collaborators on their projects.

The most powerful reason for using google docs is that the app allows for a teacher to be editor across time or space. Also, the teacher can choose to open the document at a later time and leave editing comments and questions for her students. There are never enough hours in the school day to work with all students, however, by going digital, the opportunities for revisions and edits extend far beyond the walls and hours of the classroom. One evening I told my students that I would be online to edit student work. One student left me a note the he had his essay ready to be edited. I edited the work, left him questions and comments with suggestions for changes. He immediately started making changes on the document as I was working on it. We chatted using google chat and in less than 20 minutes, he had a revised document and was ready to turn in the paper the next day.

The next focus was teaching our students with some excellent web 2.0 tools. We chose to use Animoto, an online slide collage production tool, complete with Text, titles, spotlights and music. Finally, we taught our students how to use Quizlet. Quizlet is a vocabulary flashcard online tool. One Friday afternoon we shared this app with a student, he had not done well on his previous English quiz. During the weekend he taught himself how to use Quizlet, added his vocabulary words and on Monday he re-took the quiz and passed with 100%. That is the power of student choice, student digital access and student designed toolkits.

Until recently, classroom tools have been teacher chosen, teacher driven and teacher taught. This week, each of our students began designing their own toolkit with powerful online tools. We hope that by having students design their own toolkits, that they will have a reference spot to go to when they are completing school assignments or long term projects. Since these toolkits reside on the web, it provides our students anytime access and choice in which tool to use and complete their assignments.

This week our students created their toolkit from a google doc template. They added their own tools, selected colors and personalized their templates. Then they published their google doc to the web. Finally, by giving their toolkit webpage a tiny url, our students are able to find their toolkit no matter where they are.

Stop by for another installment about our continued use of webtools in our toolkits. These tools allow for all our learners to be independent life long learners.

Resources:
This blog post is part 2 of multiple blogs about UDL, toolkits and independent learners.
For more information, check out the toolbelt theory by Ira David Socol http://speedchange.blogspot.com/2008/03/csun-2008a-toolbelt-for-lifetime.html or the UDL tech toolkit started by Joyce Valenca and Karen Janowski, http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/. Finally, from CAST.org, http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/toolkits/tk_procedures.cfm?tk_id=61
we have teaching every student.
What should your students consider for their digital toolkit? http://techlearning.com/blogs/33988

Am I a writer? What is my life as a writer like?

2010-11-07T13:53:00.000-08:00

What is your life as a writer like? Do you write for work and or pleasure? What kind of things do you have to write as an adult? When you do write is it texting, computer, paper, journal or other?

My life as a writer, adult, educator, blogger, parent, friend, learning network... Never in my wildest thoughts as a student back in my K-12 education years did I ever consider that I would be a writer. When I was a student I wrote out of necessity. I wrote answers to tests, quizzes, short stories, research papers and letters to friends and send them through snail mail.
Today, I write for TechLearning.com, for TeacherHub.com, my own couple of blogs, SEEDLINGS @ edtechtalk, a weekly newsletter to my students and our Skills Cafe, my IEP's, accommodation notices to students and staff, keep up with my Facebook pages, Twitters and texting on my cell.

I am glad I learned to write!

Skills Cafe Newsletter 2010-11-01

2010-10-31T15:44:00.001-07:00

Skills Cafe

A week at a time - November 2010 TAKE this Survey please.

Welcome!

Congratulations to our sports teams! Football!

F. Links

BridgeURL.com
This link will take you to all the links we have used.
http://bridgeurl.com/Skills-Cafe-2010-2011-1

G. Did You Know?

You need to keep track of your community service. Get a form and get started. We can help!

H. What is in your IEP?

What is in your accommodations list? Be an advocate for yourself.

I. WatchME Video Contest

check the bulletin board

November 1, 2010

A. Week 10- What's Ahead?- Your Webpage for your Toolkit!

Glogster! do you need to make a poster?

See Mrs. Oakes for a username and PW.

Try BridgeURL to have one link to go to your favorites!

Did you take the survey?

GOOGLE CALENDAR- add new deadlines! Are you all caught up? Do you have all your Trimester 2 classes chosen?

C. The Weeks in Review

What belongs in your Toolkit? As a student you need to have tools in your toolkit which will make your life easier. The google domain has a calendar, a document , a presentation, a website tool, gmail, Quizlet and a way to record audio! Sciencewriter.cast.org, Literary Companion, Sparknotes, Animoto, what else? Snapgrades? Make your own document of all the links. See directions in Moodle.

D. Books on Audio, mp3, itouch, shuffle, CD

Have you thought about listening to your books? We have Night, Mango Street and many more. But even more if you have a library card from Wells Public Library, you qualify for a Portland Library Card, and you also can qualify and download your own audio books. See Ms. Cowan, Ms. Jortberg and Ms. Oakes to get other books on AUDIO.

E. Do you have a learning tip to share?

You can share your ideas here with your classmates. One of your Animotos, a poem, a story, ideas, your own photos or movies! Nothing to Do? Here is the $20.00 Challenge

You can write an essay for NPR public radio student essay. If your essay is published, I will give you a $20.00 itunes gift certificate. You can have help with your essay. Here are the essay rules. http://thisibelieve.org/guidelines/

Explode the Small Moment!

2010-10-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

Blog Challenge Week 5

The challenge this week is about explaining a moment in the week where an unexpected event gives us pause, causes us to reflect, think and savor what we are doing. I had such a moment.

I started a new job this year in a Resource Room at our high school. In the two weeks I had to plan with another teacher we decided to use the toolbelt theory with our students while giving them support to pass their high school classes, we also wanted to teach them to find, collect and maintain a digital toolkit.

It has been a challenge. Most of the students wanted their support to be what they were used to. However, we kept true to our goal of providing one or two skills a week, skills which could be used during their school assignments, projects and in the future. Finally, this week, week 10, we began to see the payoff.

The small, seemingly insignificant moments included:

a student requesting to use "a graphic organizer thingy"

a student using Readability before printing some work from the Internet

students using sciencewriter.cast.org to write up their science lab

the boys choosing to solve the 'games' in design squad at PBS instead of a dirtbike race

students staying afterschool to continue working on projects that just take more time

I could continue, but you get the idea. Yes, it is November 1, 2010. We have had a few weeks of school, we have taught new skills and now we are seeing the payoff. Students are beginning to choose to use the new tools over the 'old ways'. A small moment that caught me smiling. It has been a challenge, it has been worth it.

What Should your Students have in their Digital Toolkit?

2010-10-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

As we work with students in our resource room at the high school level, our plan is to support our students becoming lifelong and independent learners.While I have only been back in the classroom for two months this year, here are my favorite 10 items that we have considered for their toolkit. While some of these tools are tools we are using in specially designed individualized instruction, all of the tools are good in terms of Universal Design for Learning.

Tools 1-5

We are part of a google domain, so we assigned a domain gmail account to all students, complete with calendar, documents, chat and presentation. This is the number one tool our students are using.

Students share their calendars with their teachers.
Students share their writing for editing purposes with their teacher.
Students share their presentations for editing purposes with their teacher.
Teachers email students with messages about assignments.
On occasion, I am able to chat with students when I am online during the school day and this is a nice feature.

Tool 6

Animoto is an online tool where students make slide shows with images, music, text . Educators can request free education accounts where students can make slide shows lasting more than the free 30 second shows. It is a fairly simple process, an educator requests the free classroom account, Animoto sends a classroom code, good for 6 months, then have students sign up using the code and the resources are free to use.

Tool 7

Moodle, we use moodle as an online course delivery system. We have designed a Skills Cafe course where our students check in weekly for the skill of the week. This is place holder where our students can go back and check our recommendations for their tool box.

Tool 8

Readability; This button works on Firefox and is a way for students to use the internet for research and strip the webpage of the ads and extraneous details. This is perfect for all learners. Follow the link, and then drag the Readability button to your browser toolbar.

Tool 9

Khan Academy, is a wonderful resource that all our students will need to have in their toolkit. It was recently recognized in the Google Power of Ten /\ One Hundred Competition and will be subtitling their movies into many world languages. Again, this is great for lifelong and independent learners. If a student is working on a chemistry problem and they have forgotten the process, a quick visit to Khanacademy.com, will allow them to have a quick video moment to view the process being taught to them as often as they need it.

Tool 10

Quizlet- is another student favorite. This is where students can create, collect or collaborate their learning new vocabulary in any content area, foreign language, science, world studies etc. There is a way to login as your Facebook account and really easy ways to share with others. Did I mention, there is an app for this?

Our next step is for each of our students to make a digital toolkit. This is intended to be an online collection of their favorite tools, available to them at all times no matter where they are, no matter which computer they are on and no matter what they are working on. Stay tuned for the next post about how we had our students create their digital toolkit. By the way, what is in your digital toolkit? Here is an example from the CAST.org website, sponsored by Verizon Foundation. Another Planning for All Learners is another great resource.
Thanks to my students for trying out the different tools. Thanks to my teaching partners for stretching the learning landscape.

What book made the biggest impact on your life? Was it read to you, did you read it?

2010-10-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

The book, The Wind and the Willows , by Kenneth Grahame, written in 1908 was read to our 5th grade class, by a long term substitute.

When asked by his friends Ratty, Badger and Mole, if Toad had learned the error of his ways in driving a motor car and was he really going to reform Toad looked this way and that and
“Certainly not!, replied Toad emphatically. “On the contrary, I faithfully promise that the very first motor car I see, poop-poop! off I go in it!”

I can still hear the giggles that broke out in the classroom as the teacher read that last line.

In 5th grade, we had a long term substitute who came in mid-year to get us through the end of the school year. For some unknown reason our class had been through a couple part-time substitutes before a long term sub was hired. This woman was a young teacher and knew exactly how to take an unruly group and captivate them with her choice of a read-a-loud. She came into our classroom and shared a ‘secret’. She was going to read a really wonderful book to us each day after we finished our classroom work. We were on her team immediately. Then part way through her read-a-loud she announced that if we could get our work done by the last quarter, we would take time and make a play out of the Wind in the Willows and put on a play for our parents and the whole school.

Although the read aloud is just a memory, the scenes of the play still come back to me throughout my life. I ended up being the curtain manager, thus I knew the whole play, all the lines, all the characters, the entrances and the exits. I still remember getting the book as a present and although I never read it again as a child, it was on my shelf as a good friend. When I had my children, I remember reading it to my son and sharing the story that now for me lives on as a memory.

My Life as a Mathematician

2010-10-17T03:58:00.000-07:00

This post is part of Melanie Holtsman's challenge to blog about a topic during the next 10 weeks. This is week three. When I saw this topic I was excited to write about it, because I love math! I love the challenge of trying to find the answer and the pattern of math in our lives. Now, I did not say that I practice and can answer all math questions like calculus or statistics, but rather, I like the study of mathematics, I like the problem solving challenges, and I love searching for patterns in our answers!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucapost/694780262/
My favorite mathematical term is Fibonacci! When I was teaching math, as an adult, I learned about Fibonacci. When I taught this concept to my students as 4th graders, they just moved into understanding the Fibonacci sequence of numbers, as well as, understanding how to divide large numbers! It was amazing to watch the power of that understanding.
How do I use math in my everyday life? Well, this weekend, my husband and I are working on a project, tiling our entryway. It requires measurement, problem solving, prediction, reflection and finally, we hope success. The price for success is practice, problem solving and troubleshooting! It is a challenge. Usually on the weekend I am cooking and preserving food for winter. That requires measuring ingredients, looking for recipes, and finally following the directions to make corn relish. Math is all around us. I am a mathematician! So are you.

Entry way half done.

New Media and New Ways to Communicate

2010-10-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

Cross-posted at Tech Learning
This blog post is for my son Nathan. Last week he kept sending me links, Mom, you need to blog about this! Gizmodo , had a post about how to replace your landline with google voice and a couple of gadgets. Then, he suggested I also blog about how Google TV and Logitech Revue were teaming up to change your TV viewing options. While I have read both articles and claim to not entirely understand how these gadgets will work, I get the big ideas!
With the latest gadgets and a little reading, some comprehension and ingenuity I would be able to add enormous functionality to my TV set and video conference right from my living room, among many other options. For the phone piece, I would be able to circumvent the monthly fees associated with a phone company coming in and plugging in a box with wires and phones in order to meet my communication needs, by buying a gadget and setting up my own phone system!
While these options are revolutionary, I think there is too much of a learning curve for me and most of us, to attempt to add these tools to our household gadgets. However, I believe in twelve months, these two options will have been streamlined for anyone to be able to plug and play. After all, that is what most of us want, the best and newest options in working order, without us understanding all the background information necessary to make the changes, we just want to plug and play.

Now, on the other hand, Google Voice is something that I have embraced and here is why. With my google account and user name, I signed on to have my google voice number collect calls from my student’s parents. Why? Do you know how difficult is it to get a phone line out of a school building, or to have a way for parents to get a hold of you without giving your home phone number? My google voice number gave me the freedom to have my phone number available to give out to anyone. The beauty of google voice is that the incoming phone calls go right to voicemail and are transcribed to text, so I get the messages instantly as text, even I am not taking calls. It took me all of 5 minutes to set up.

I even gave the Google number to two of our students who are on vacation. They call in each day and leave us a report about their travels. It is great to have the audio and the text of their reports.

The next service I am using is Netflix Instant Viewing through my Netflix account. I used my paid subscription to have DVD’s sent to me and then I can also use the instant viewing to watch selected movies on my computer at a moments notice. The BEST feature I just found, is that I had watched part of a movie at home, then while on the road I signed into my account to finish viewing the movie. The account remembered how far I had watched the movie and picked up where I left off. How sweet is that?

So, thanks to Nathan, you are getting these posts about some revolutionary things you can begin using immediately without much of a learning curve. However, you will also have some even more revolutionary things to look forward to in the coming months. As for me, I am waiting for more plug and play functionality and less of a learning curve while taking advantage of these new media and communication offerings.

Blog Challenge 2010-10-10

2010-10-10T04:56:00.000-07:00

A simple survey! I have to share my favorite, longest running simple survey. The author of the blog, Kevin's Meandering Mind, Kevin Hodgson, sixth grade teacher from Western MA says,
Greetings.
It’s been quite some time since I have launched Day in a Sentence, the collaborative venture where I ask you, dear reader, to boil down your entire week or a day in the week (your choice) into a single reflective sentence. Then, you post your sentence as a comment to this blog post. My job is to collect all of your sentences and then publish them together over the weekend.
So, what do you say? Do you have a pocket of reflective energy? How can you capture your week or a day in your week in a single sentence? Add your sentence to the comments here, and spread the word.
I have been a commenter to Kevin’s blog for over 2 years now. Most weeks I am able to comment, one sentence! Sometimes, I put the challenge aside and then I forget. However, this is the longest running response I have made in the digital world. Kevin is very creative and our responses have been in the form of alliteration, poems, sentences, on a whiteboard (Scribblar), one word and more. We even take turns as the prompt writer, collector and finally author of the post. Shared authoring helps spread out the tasks, and my sharing week.

I have to mention the other “survey” collection that I have been part of, the 365 Days of Photos. Today is actually day 356 of 365 in my first year. Yes, that means I am going to continue with either 365 days in year two or 365 day in 730 (365+365= 730). This is a visual journal of my year, and each image has a story to tell. A story I would not have written down. My point, be creative and appeal to all the learning senses when asking a “survey” question. Allow your students to leave a word, a sentence, or an image in response. You can actually try it out here and leave me a comment about this post. The directions are posted on a sticky. You can leave an image as long as you get way back to the original URL that contains the .gif or .jpg ! If the word FILE is part of the URL, you didn't get far enough back. (FlickR use to allow a jpg URL, but no longer. I use wikipedia ) My other purpose in sharing WallWisher is that you only have room for 160 characters. My students are delighted that the response has to be SHORT! As is best practice, all comments will be moderated. Stop by and give it a try. Leave a comment in words or an image.

I am a reader!

2010-10-03T09:39:00.001-07:00

Introduction:
Melanie Holtsman posted this challenge at her blog as a way to find/have purpose for blogging. I liked her idea. I blog for TechLearning.com two times a month, I blog for TeachHub one time a month, I blog for myself, hm, well, uh.... when the spirit moves me. So, thanks to Melanie, I will blog for myself, using her topic prompts for the next 11 weeks. If you are reading this and have been waiting for the right moment to begin blogging, I mean posting to your blog, not just reading blogs, this may be the moment you have been waiting for. Try it. Be sure to email Melanie and she will link back to your blog. You will see the power of your new personal learning network! Here goes!
The Topic for this week's challenge:
What is your life as a reader like? Do you read for work, pleasure, instructions or emails? What is your favorite author and/or genre? What is your favorite reading spot? What did you like to read when you were the age of your students?
As a high school student, in Suffield, CT, I read just about every young adult book I could find in my public library, and when our new high school was built with a beautiful library I read poetry and fiction/fantasy. My favorite poet was Rod McKuen, author was Tolkien, The Hobbit, and newspapers, magazines for current events.
My favorite reading spot had to be my bedroom. My favorite author wrote stories about Maine and I devoured them all. I may actually remember her name, sometime.
Currently, I read hundreds of emails a day, at least a dozen blogs, pages of Facebook and Twitter. You will notice I do not read books for pleasure. However, I listen to hours of books! My most recent is the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo series. I loved listening to that series so much that I finally bought a book to read during winter. My question to you readers, is listening to audio books reading? I say a huge yes! What do you say?

I did it!

2010-10-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

I made a challenge for myself when I changed positions and moved to the Wells High School Resource Room, that I would hit the google search within the year. I was going to check each month to see when it happened. Today, October 1, 2010, when I googled wells high school resource room this is what came up in .38 seconds! I made it in one month.

What has changed in the periodic table, the environment and education in the past 40 years since I last took chemistry?

2010-09-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

Permanent link cross posted at TechLearning.com

I am co-teaching in a Physical Science class. Actually, I am co-learning about the Periodic Table. Here is an interactive periodic table where you can look at the historical perspective by hovering over each element. No wonder I did not recognize the periodic table. Look at how it has changed since 1970!

On April 22, 1970, we celebrated our first Earth Day, now 40 years later we are finally taking our own cloth bags to the grocery store. Why? We hear that plastic bags may take from 20 to 1,000 years to decay. Things have changed here too!

In November 1980 the Superfund Bill was established to clean up the hazardous waste sites in the USA. Why? After years of stockpiling waste in metal containers the containers finally started leaking and spilling into the water supply and the land. We have made progress in this area.

In June 1990 the Spotted Owl was declared endangered in the West. It was fought by the logging businesses as it would stop their cutting of old forests. Some folks are now talking about taking some animals off the endangered list!

In education we have a similar timeline.
1970 - Jean Piaget's book, The Science of Education, is published. We begin an era of discovery based teaching.

1990 - Public Law 101-476, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), renames and amends Public Law 94-142. In addition to changing terminology from handicap to disability, it mandates transition services and adds autism and traumatic brain injury to the eligibility list.

2001 - The controversial No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is approved by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. The law, which reauthorizes the ESEA of 1965, holds schools accountable for student achievement levels and provides penalties for schools that do not make adequate yearly progress toward meeting the goals of NCLB.

September 2010
Education Nation will this spur on change? Is this the tipping point?

What has changed in the past 40 years in science, the environment, education? How much has stayed the same?

Run Away!

2010-09-12T17:49:00.001-07:00

Run Away!
Originally uploaded by Burwash Calligrapher
Getting ready for TechLearning
Cross posted at TechLearning

Back to school this fall season meant back in the classroom for me. Ever since I went to the MLTI Student Conference last May 2010, I was yearning for life as a classroom teacher again. Be careful what you wish for, my wish came true. There was an opening at our local high school and here I am. High school resource room teacher/facilitator!

You will be hearing lots of stories this year about high school, special education, universal design for learning, assistive technology and our google domain.

We decided to begin with making some changes in our support study. We now have a Skills Cafe. This is organic, flexible and as one of my peers says crunchy. Ask the students what they think, they have a few more descriptors like this is not what I want to do, why do I have to do this, this is dumb, and many more. Anything to get out of being organized and collaborative. However, we have a plan and we are sticking to it. I should mention that some students thought it was cool, especially since they can add things to the calendar like football games, field hockey, drama, and marching band. I will be busy trying to attend something for each student!
Our first step was to get all students into the google domain, with a shared calendar, shared folder for their assignments and a place to check their email. We accomplished this in a two week span. At the end of the second week, I left messages in all their email accounts with a good job email and if necessary a reminder to complete missing assignments. I can peek at their grades and see what is missing, send them an email reminder, talk with their teachers and all this from one stop at my computer.

This is going to be a year long journey. We will have some challenges, some celebrations and some student success stories. If you have something to share along these lines leave a comment, let’s build this together and share with others.

Resources:
My new blog Learning Cafe a door to the future http://learningcafe-doortothefuture.blogspot.com/

Our twitter: Door2Future

Our moodle page: http://moodle.wocsd.org/course/view.php?id=199

Our Twitter Feed goes right to the blog and to our Facebook page.

Planning Session

2010-09-12T08:51:00.003-07:00

Planning Session
Originally uploaded by Kaptain Kobold

How will you plan your week?

Flickr

2010-09-12T08:51:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Seedlings are back! Here is the teaser for our 3rd season!

2010-09-11T11:41:00.001-07:00

Teaser for SEEDLINGS Sept. 16, 2010, at edtechtalk.com 7:30 PM EST. (19:30 GMT)

SEEDLINGS 2010-2011

2010-09-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

We are BAACK! Bob, Alice and I met this morning for 3 hours by SKYPE. I just love SKYPE. We are all over the state, yet we caught up and made a plan for this year. No big announcements just yet, but we are searching for new guests for our Thursday evening show, 7:30 PM EST (19:30 GMT) at Edtechtalk.com .
We jazzed up our Facebook Seedlings site, if you don't already have a Facebook account we hope you consider getting one, our Twitter feed, if you don't have a Twitter account we hope you consider getting one, and re-affirmed our mission.
In 2007 our purpose was to find a virtual space where we could connect, create, publish and collaborate with others.

In 2010-2011 SEEDLINGs mission remains the same! I think we would add that our purpose is to find a virtual space where we can connect, create, publish and collaborate with educators from around the globe, who in turn connect, create, publish and collaborate with more people. Spread the words and conversations! Stay tuned!

Social Networking on the fly!

2010-09-03T09:31:00.001-07:00

Just finished getting my multiple accounts set up!

First VERY, VERY, Hot week at Wells High School

2010-09-03T04:17:00.000-07:00

It was a short week, a teacher workshop day, our internet was flaky, our student information system was even flakier, some of it could be attributed to the newness of it. For me, it didn't help I worked in the 09-10 school year for a day! Thankfully, our data chief figured it out and now I have student access.

Amazingly, resilient students sat and listened, engaged and participated during the heat and humidity. All a tribute to the social nature of their beings and the learning situations that face to face school puts all of us in.

We have all tested the waters, we will be back next week and we will begin to find the balance of learning, social networking, connections and collaboration in this journey called high school.

Please visit my classroom blog.

2010-09-02T03:25:00.000-07:00

New clustrmap on my classroom blog. Please visit so my students can see the power of connections and conversations!

http://learningcafe-doortothefuture.blogspot.com/

Thanks to Ivstan.

Thanks to the global community over 43 spots on the ClustrMap in 24 hours!

Scientists at work

2010-09-01T17:32:00.001-07:00

Students engaged in learning.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Shrinking budgets! What is a Superintendent to do?

2010-08-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

Shrinking budgets! What is a superintendent to do?

cross posted at TechLearning.com
Permanent link

Chuck McLaughlin photo

In Southern Maine, the superintendents took action! After a county meeting, the superintendents asked their curriculum coordinators and technology coordinators to get together and see where collaboration would benefit the group.

For five meetings, spread across five months, this eclectic group met, offered ideas, discussed, created an action plan and went to work and designed a professional development day in the middle of August for county administrators. (Since most of the work was done during the work year there wasn’t an additional cost associated with this planning.) The group surveyed local administrators to see what they would be interested in, from a list of our suggested ideas.

With survey results in hand, a little bit of skepticism, the group continued with the planning. We had the normal questions, would anyone give up a summer day to attend? would teachers agree to be presenters for the administrators? would we be able to offer a valuable workshop for this audience?

This may be trite, but build it, do your homework, and they will come! We tailored the workshop to the administrator’s needs, we offered a workshop site where most people only traveled 20 miles to attend, we demonstrated the ISTE standards. You can download the standards for student, NETS-S the standards for teachers, NETS-T and the standards for administrators, NETS-A.

There was an audible gasp from the group, when a statement was made about the building leader being responsible for driving (and modeling) the change for technology integration and meaningful work by staff and students. The whole day was about driving this change and providing secure examples of rich technology lessons and what an administrator should look for during a walk through or teacher and lesson evaluation.

We talked about purpose and purposeful use of technology. There were over 60 administrators in the room participating in a technology rich day, all using their MLTI laptops. The survey results at the end of the day were full of anticipation for a new school year, excitement about taking some of the knowledge back to their buildings, and appreciation for what they learned throughout the day. A bonus, this group of administrators have their own personal learning network.

All the administrators joined an Edmodo social network where they can experience the continued virtual conversation. All the web 2.0 tools the presenters shared had a dual purpose, as the tools were FREE and something that an administrator could use when they returned to school. We will be offering two follow-up dine and discuss evenings in early autumn and early spring to continue the conversations and learning. Stay tuned.

Web 2.0 Tools used during the workshop day.
Wallwisher http://www.wallwisher.com
Edmodo http://www.edmodo.com
Twitter http:/twitter.com
LOTI http://loticonnection.com/lotilevels.html
H.E.A.T. http://loticonnection.com/HEATframework.html

To find more examples of other leadership initiatives, see the post by Dr. Scott McLeod,
Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State University, also the Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE).

Vác Gates & Doors - The "Portrait" Collection

2010-08-18T03:38:00.001-07:00

Vác Gates & Doors - The "Portrait" Collection
Originally uploaded by Istvan

Getting ready for my high school resource room and blog. The Learning Cafe, door to the future. I am going to use this photo by Istvan!

Back to School with UDL

2010-08-12T06:39:00.001-07:00

Cheryl Oakes here, blogging for Wes Fryer as he vacations with his family! Thanks for the opportunity. I hope this post adds a challenge to many educators heading back to school for the 2010-11 school year.

We are all familiar with accessibility on our sidewalks, the curb cuts were designed to make sidewalks accessible for people using wheelchairs or crutches. In 1990, in the USA, theAmericans with Disability Act, required that curb cuts be in all sidewalks. While the intent was to make access available for anyone using a wheelchair the outcome has benefited everyone from joggers, children with tricycles, strollers and packages on wheels. Who knew? ( It has taken 30 years for curb cuts to be ubiquitous!)

Who wouldn’t want to have more successful students? If it doesn’t cost much, who could argue? Let’s stop putting road blocks up in our classrooms, take down the barriers and allow our students to be successful by looking at brain research, learning theory and some fairly easy modifications. Some of the best support for making curricula changes are the advancements, ease of use, and access to digital media for educators and students.

In 2004 Universal Design for Learning hit the airwaves. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 and the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 have provisions for Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning. (Race to the Top also includes reference to Universal Design for Learning.) Similar to the Americans with Disability Act, this Act, was designed to benefit a few students, but has implications for the success of all students in our classrooms. Will it take 30 years for Universal Design for Learning to become ubiquitous?

Let’s look at some easy strategies and available resources to make this school year a differentiated and Universal accessible classroom for all. The best place to begin is with theCAST.org site and use their lesson builder after you watch their how to video. You can do this, your students will benefit. Without any scientific research for this, I am sure making these accessible changes in your classrooms, more of your students will meet standards.

You will need to become a FREE member at the Lesson Builder website of CAST.org . Once you do, you will have access to create your own UDL lesson. There are built in supports which will guide you through the design process. Challenge yourself and create one lesson based on UDL principles each week. You will see the differences in your students.

For your middle and high school students Strategy Tutor is a FREE web-based program designed to help with reading and research on the web. Check out this tool which your students can use on any computer, anywhere, anytime. As a bonus, there are resources for teachers with shared lessons and strategies.

For your grade 6-12 students there is a CAST.org support Science Writer which helps your students with their science labs and class reports. Using this online tool adds a text to speech toolbar to the webpage allowing audio access for your challenged learners.

Start your school year with a new mantra, Universal Design for Learning, for all learners.

Cross-posted at CherylOakes.com

Resources:

Wikipedia

Differentiated Instruction and Implications for UDL Implementation

What is Universal Design for Learning?
Companion Website for the book, Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning

Students say it all: thanks to Dr. Frances (Fran) G. Smith for posting this video!

National site with examples about how to change curriculum goasl to more UDL friendly goals for your classroom.

Elementary Resources
Middle and HS Resources

Universal Design Learnsite- great learning site for students and adults