Notes from Millie D

• Should teachers be held accountable?

  Here is an interesting take about a “what if” scenario of year-round schooling.

  tags: accountable

• keypractice / Keyboarding Links

  Kate Olson’s wiki on keyboarding resources. There is a wealth of information for you to check out.

  tags: keyboarding, typing, keypractice

If this worked properly. You should see a book called “Last Day Blues” from a service called LookyBook.

• Comic-Life » Schools

  This wiki showcases different ways Comic Life can be integrated into elementary and middle schools’ curriculum.

  tags: comiclife, comics

• Around the Corner - MGuhlin.net : WINE Doors

  Install and run Windows apps on a Linux box using this product.

  tags: Wine, Windows, Linux

• Who Should I Follow? | Twitter Friend Recommendations

  If you need more Twitter friends then you found the right place.

  tags: twitter, friends, tools, web2.0, social

• Arcademic Skill Builders: Online Educational Video Games

  A nice variety of flash based games that elementary students. You can find single and multiplayer games on a variety of topics.

  tags: math, reading, elementary, interactive, education, technology, kids, teaching

• Presentation Zen: Al Gore’s latest TED talk

  I had forgotten about this post but I rediscovered it and found it very interesting. Al Gore has a way of presenting information that is compelling, much in the same style Steve Jobs has made famous with his Keynotes. This post talks about what we can learn from Al in presenting.

  tags: zen, gore, ted

• TweetWheel - Find out which of your Twitter friends know each other!

  This is just one of those resources that is fun. However, the TweetWheel does show the connectivity of your “friends”.

  tags: tweetwheel, twitter

My children have Webkinz fever. My wife caught the fever and asked for one as a Mother’s Day gift and guess what…she got one. My family gave me an early Father’s Day gift, my very own Webkin!

Being the ever-loving father, I accepted the gift with all of the love one could have for his children. After thinking about it for a while I thought I would take a page from Maria Knee’s classroom and use my Webkin as an educational tool to work with my primary grade students.

But my Webkin doesn’t have a name. I need your help. I’m running a contest to come up with a name for the Webkin, which I’ve been told is the Webkin of the Month for June. I really appreciate your assistance but please be kind as this is a family friendly area.

If you have any uses of Webkinz in the classroom that have worked I would like to hear about those experiences as well.

tags technorati : webkinz, MariaKnee

Are you looking for quality sites that students can sharpen their skills over the summer months?  You may want to check out Arcademic Skill Builders. I found this site via eSchoolNews and it was nice to find “drill and kill” games that is not covered with banner ads or popups.  The games are flash based (which if you know the Safari trick gives you off line access) and games are either single or multiplayer (public or private access).  There is even a teacher’s manual for putting together an implementation plan in your classroom.

I strongly suggest you check out the variety in their games.  If you haven’t decided to check it out yet let me add that they’re linked to 4Teachers.  They’ve gone through a makeover (for the better) recently and it was worth the time to rediscover this great resource.

What are some of your favorite sites that you would suggest to parents?

• TweetWheel - Find out which of your Twitter friends know each other!

  This is just one of those resources that is fun. However, the TweetWheel does show the connectivity of your “friends”.

  tags: tweetwheel, twitter

• CogDogRoo » StoryTools

  Alan has done a lot of work synthesizing web resources that could be used in digital storytelling. Thank you Alan!

  tags: web2.0, digitalstorytelling, tools, wiki, storytelling, multimedia, resources, digital_storytelling

• Easily Boot Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) from a USB flash drive | USB Pen Drive Linux

  If you have ever had a Windows computer not boot then you want to read this way of trying to salvage the data on the drive. Results may vary…

  tags: ubcd, usb, linux

• LeaderTalk: Shift Happens — Now What?

  Here is another late archival of a nice post. Stephanie talks about the next step once you’ve realized that the shift has happened.

  tags: leadertalk, Technology

• U Tech Tips » Blog Archive » Connecting Your Mission Statement to the Community

  Okay I’m a little behind in archiving sites. This is one that shouldn’t be ignored as schools look at linking their mission statement to the local community.

  tags: connecting, mission

• Free Educational Movies - The KidsKnowIt Network - Educational Websites For Kids

  The site is geared for elementary and middle school students. There are videos that breaks down science and social studies related topics. There are math and spelling related videos as well.

  tags: movies, videos, tutorials

This weekend I spent a lot of time in the car and listened to some great podcasts that made me think.  One of the topics that kept popping in my head was meaningful professional development for educators.  Sometimes we know what we need to work on to grow as a professional but don’t have the time based on federal, state, or even local mandates.  That lead my thinking to Google’s 20% rule. 

As today worn on I knew I needed to further developed the idea.  I put out a twitter message to see if the idea had any resonance and I was encouraged to keep moving the concept forward.  Which leads me to my first draft of a plan I will be presenting at our school’s last professional development committee meeting this school year in 2 weeks.

Please remember this is in draft form, any constructive feedback is appreciated.