Today we had district-wide Professional Development. On Wednesday of last week the “Activity Catalog” in our web-based ‘PD Planner’ updated to show the options for the full-day sessions. Immediately emails began popping up on the PTRN listserv. There was NOTHING being offered for TTLs (Technology Teacher Leaders) or lab teachers. As such, we were all…
This summer I have been teaching Project Based Learning to a small group of 7th & 8th grade boys at a camp in Philadelphia. My classroom is a Study Lounge in a dorm with a dry erase board that barely erases, desks with chairs attached and carpeting throughout. I have been teaching an Ecosystems unit…
In a recent blog post, Scott McLeod asked “15 questions to ask about the technology leadership in your school district.” Many of his questions got me thinking about how we plan for technology in our schools and in our districts. Many of the questions of leadership can be solved through good planning. (you can read…
When I read Scott McLeod‘s call for a Leadership Day, asking bloggers to reflect on and advocate for preparing our students with 21st century skills and improving student outcomes, I was very excited. What a great idea to have everyone reflect on the same topic in their blogs. We were guaranteed to get many different…
A few hours ago I read Lee Kolbert‘s blog entry about vendors at NECC 2009. I wanted to comment, but worried that my comment would be too long. I decided to respond and piggyback on her entry with my own! As a ‘Newbie’ to NECC, I had heard mixed things about the Exhibit floor. “Don’t…
PortaPortal & delicious are 2 social bookmarking sites. They allow you to save links that you want to go back to and organize them by topic or tag.I decided to experiment with PortaPortal instead of my 2 Delicious pages (Page for K-3rd & Page for 4-6th). At NECC 2009 I sat in on a session…
http://www2.shidonni.com/s/default.htm?af=shidonnihome Overview Shidonni is a Web 2.0 tool with which students can create animated worlds. First, students choose whether they want to create a bird or a four-legged animal. Then, they draw the animal with a basic crayon or pencil. There are also mini tutorials for how to draw a particular kind of animal (giraffe…
Jam Studio http://www.jamstudio.com What is it? JamStudio is a free music-making tool created by Dave Edwards, a musician and software engineer who wanted to offer a music-making tool for people wanting to make their own music. Users can create music for free without an account, or they can create an account to save and share…
Dumpr http://www.dumpr.net An Overview Dumpr.net is a site where you can upload a photo to the site and it will automatically add any effect you choose. The effects range from a Rubik’s Cube to an Easter Egg to a Sketch effect. These files can be saved (jpg format) to your computer for future use.In my…
A Band Without Instruments? So I was sitting in the Blogger’s Cafe and realized that the person sitting near me had a guitar out. He was strumming and noticed my ‘Rock Star’ ribbon on my badge. He then explained that he was playing guitar on his iPod touch and oh boy was I intrigued! I…