Notes from Millie D

I just thought I would take a moment to thank Jen W at Technolspud Projects for the timely integration projects I’m undertaking this fall.  Our second and fourth graders are engaged in the O.R.E.O. project.  I’ve even started a page for the project.

The other project is going to be for the kindergarteners.  October’s theme in their classrooms is centered around pumpkins.  Jen launched over the weekend a pumpkin seed project.  I wanted to jump on the project as it is limited to 200 participants. 

I point out these projects because of the great integration between standards and technology.  In my room I like to link skills to actual situations and Jen’s projects definitely accomplish that.  Kids enjoy the fact that they are working with students from all over the country and even from other countries.  The projects are left online for viewing after the collaborative portion is over if the topics might fit at that time but may at another time.

There are some great projects coming up over the next few months.  Check it out you may find something you like.

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Thanks to the Pats game being at 8:15 tonight  I was able to check in with the group Seedlings for their monthly podcast.  I had a lot of fun checking out Vyew.com (thanks Cheryl).  I’ll listen to the podcast tomorrow to see how the it came out.

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Okay, this one gave me a good laugh.  Even though it is a little tongue and cheek it still makes a lot of sense.

Dad’s Household Computer Rules

* Do not break the law. I don’t have money for bail or fines.
* Do not invade others’ privacy (and I will respect yours).
* Do not give out ANY personal information about yourself or the family.
* Be truthful about who you say you are in online communications.
* Talk to me if anything about a website concerns or confuses you. I know that bad sites can be accessed accidentally.
* Don’t download and install software without my permission. I mean it.
* Be as smart, skeptical, and cautious online as you are elsewhere.
* Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do if I were watching you. I just might be.

If I were rewriting these today, I would add:

* Watch how much time you spend online. Too much and you’ll go blinky and possibly psycho.

Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Dad’s Computer Rules

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NCTM: Curriculum Focal Points: Free Downloads

The last time NCTM took a stand about math curriculum, back in 1989, was a start of a math education revolution.  Now NCTM is at it again when it comes to math curriculum by applying the theory that less topics with greater coverage will mean more student retention of the material.  In the prekindergarten through eighth grade years each year is broken down into 3 main topics of math study/investigation.

Hopefully this model is adopted on a national level and NCLB takes a page from NCTM.  Teachers everywhere will rejoice and not stress/burn out on covering volumes of topics that might stick into long-term memory.

technorati tags:NCTM, NCLB, curriculum

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Tabblo

Yes, there is another online photo service, Tabblo. This one is a little different than Picasa or Flickr
because it works in conjunction of these services. Tabblo alllows you to upload photos and put together collages, posters, or tabblos (as they call it). After uploading the pictures you move them to a lightboard for assembly. You can change the layout and design then export your final product or purchase the final product as a poster, print, or card.

Tabblo doesn’t take long to figure out and the service is pretty user friendly. The next thing is to figure out a way for students to use this service but for teachers this service would be a great visual display of projects, students at work, or collage of the time spent together.

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Dangerously Irrelevant: It’s the first day of school!

Somethings are best left to explain themselves.

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edublogs.org currently upgrading at incorporated subversion

I think the link speaks for itself.  Hopefully tomorrow we will have the flickr integration and other goodies to add to our blogs.  Thanks James!

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Podcasting - K12 Handhelds

   For those of you who got a taste of podcasting and want to find out more about it but don’t know where to begin may want to start here.  This website provides a nice overview of how teachers can use it.  Not surprising is a link to Bob’s Room 208 podcasts.

Best of luck to everyone in starting off their school year.

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