WooHoo! Cool Stuff at TSETC!!

It's Saturday, October 2nd, and I'm having a fabulous time at the Tri-State Education Technology Conference!  New Milford High School is the location for this conference that has close to 500 attendees and two dozen presenters. 

It is very exciting and motivating to listen to the presenters' topics and the buzz generated by them.  I'm sure that most of the teachers here will leave with a complete new bag of tools and ideas to use to motivate our students.  That's what it's all about -- engaging our students in learning by using tools and techniques that they can (and do) embrace.

Lisa Nielsen gave an enthusiastic presentation about the power of what is possible and getting around "the ban".  Adam Bellow offered a fast-paced session on ten very cool -- and free -- web tools that all of us can and should use!  Samantha Morra just gave a sensational presentation on digital storytelling, and she gave us many great ideas to incorporate.

Despite the challenges of hosting so many people/presenters, this conference is terrific!  I'm very glad that I am here to learn and participate!  I look forward to sharing some of the many resources with teachers and students!

Collaborate!!!

You may have heard the expression that "two heads are better than one".  When it comes to problem-solving of all kinds, that is often the truth.  Why?  It's all about perspective.  We each come to address questions from our own viewpoints.  To arrive at a well-considered answer, however, it is generally a good idea to reflect on the puzzle at hand from a variety of viewpoints.  

The world is getting smaller, and it is essential to apply a global perspective in our efforts to solve many of our current challenges.  Collaboration -- working with others -- allows us to see issues through multiple lenses.  This way of working may be new to you.  You can start in small, local ways and build up to true, global collaborations.

With the availability of so many Web 2.0 tools (and most of those are free), collaboration has never been easier!  I hope in this new school year that we can all try to use some of these resources in our effort to look at various issues in more global ways.  

I welcome discussing some of the options with you.  Please come to chat with me and/or respond to this post with one of your own.

Talk about an authentic learning experience!

Last Thursday, the NMHS BookChat! club skyped with young adult author, Sara Zarr.  What an outstanding experience!

Several months ago, one of our members asked about the possibility of bringing in an author to speak with our group.  Having conducted author visits in the past, I know both how valuable and how expensive that would be!  I also knew that Skype, the free software-for-online-communications service, would probably provide a workable solution. 

I browsed the list of writers who participate in http://www.skypeanauthor.com/.  While most of them serve a younger crowd, there are some wonderful young adult authors too.  I researched the young adult authors' books to see if I could find several choices for BookChat! 

At our April BookChat! meeting, members chose one of the books I had proposed -- knowing there would be a skype possibility.   We selected Sweethearts by Sara Zarr.  I contacted the author's representative, agreed to the modest honorarium, had email discussions with a recent reference, and set up a date.  It was BookChat!'s good fortune that the NMHS Student Council agreed willingly to pay the author's fee.  We are very grateful for their generous action!

Sara was very easy for me to work with.  We sent several emails back and forth to settle various details.  Prior experience had taught her the wisdom of checking in advance that all the necessary tech elements would work well, and we did test them out  the week before the session.

In advance of our June 10th skype session, members read Sweethearts.   There was palpable excitement about the upcoming chance to see and hear a real, working author talk with our group. 

We had 13 members of BookChat! take part in our skype session, and it will remain a wonderful, memorable experience for all of us who were there.  Sara filled a full hour with discussion about Sweethearts,  her motivation for writing it, the craft of writing itself, and answers to direct questions from many of our club members.  She was very natural -- some club members were surprised at how down-to-earth a real author could be -- and, we found it very easy to chat with her.  Sara encouraged our club members to keep reading and writing, and to contact her if she could be of help. 

                                                                       

I enjoyed our skype session as much as the students did.  It was a bonus for me to see their enthusiasm and enjoyment.  This experience was a highlight of BookChat!'s year, and I'm so glad we were able to do it.  Talk about an authentic learning experience!!!

Important Reading: The "Speak Up 2009: National Findings" Survey

The "Speak Up 2009: Creating Our Future: Students Speak Up about Their Vision for 21st Century Learning" survey should command the attention of all stakeholders of our school community (and all school communities). This survey was commissioned by Project Tomorrow, a national organization whose mission is to prepare students to succeed in the global, technology-driven 21st century world.



This inclusive survey received input from students, parents, teachers, and administrators. The participants represented urban, suburban, and rural districts. They work at public and private schools. Every effort was made to include respondents from a range of geographical, socio-economic, and multicultural backgrounds.



Questions focused on a variety of technology tools, such as wikis, blogs, cellphones, ipods, social media (such as Facebook and Twitter), and online games. Respondents provided input on the pros, cons, benefits, and risks of integrating such technology tools into classroom instruction. Some questions concerned the independent use of such technology tools outside the classroom by students for the purposes of learning, collaborating, and/or entertainment.



The results show that these technology tools are widely used outside of school and that students can act in a very self-directed manner when given a wide berth of tools to help them reach their goals.

Please review this important survey by clicking here. I hope you will write your comments and reactions by clicking on the link for comments that follows this post.

2010 Teens' Top Ten (Book) Nominees

To BookChat! members - and all teen readers - this post's for you!

The list of 2010 Teens' Top Ten nominees has been determined, and now it is in your hands. You know what happens when people are eligible to vote and decide not to -- Don't let that happen this time. You are all eligible to vote in this one.

Every year teen advisory groups from 15 school and public libraries across the country draw up a list of nominations for favorite books for teens that have been published in the past year. In other words, teens have pre-selected a list of favorites, and it's up to you to select the final top ten from that list.

Your "task" -- so that you can be an informed voter -- is to read at least some of these books. Voting will take place online between August 23 and September 17. The winners -- the Teens' Top Ten -- will be announced during Teen Read Week in October. Please join in the fun: Read, and then vote!

There are great choices on the list too that should satisfy summer reading requirements and beyond. To see the list of books with brief summaries, click here.

Our school library has the following titles:
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson -- an award-winning author
Fire by Kristin Cashore (this is the prequel to Graceling, an excellent book)
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (the sequel to The Hunger Games, a fabulous book)
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen -- her books are always popular
If I Stay by Gayle Forman -- thought-provoking

I encourage all of you to read some of the books on this list. After you read one (or more), please post a comment to let everyone know your reaction. Take action, and be part of the process!

Flex Your Reading Muscle!

Ahhh, spring -- The time when flowers bloom, baseball starts up, thoughts turn to getting in shape for the approaching summer, and...reading! Oh wait, were you not thinking of reading?

Well, I hope you will put it on your to-do list! Although reading isn't exactly a muscle, it is a skill that needs attention to grow. Just as you invest time to exercise to make your body fit, you need to flex your reading muscle -- by reading -- to improve your mind.

There's good news too...There are so many reading choices! If a lot of time has passed since you last flexed that reading muscle, start out easy -- Try a magazine, a graphic novel, the newspaper. What matters is that you are reading. As mentioned in previous posts, maybe you can opt to download a book to an e-reader or listen to an audiobook.

Maybe you'll decide to get back into reading a novel. Have you ever read books by James Patterson ("Maximum Ride" series), Sarah Dessen, Laurie Halse Anderson? Want something different? Try The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

What about nonfiction? You might like reading about something to do with the environment, something about politics, sports, other.

Just as with exercise, you need to change it up. If you always read the same kind of thing, you're not flexing that reading muscle as much as you might. So, go out there and exercise -- your body and your mind! Kick up your reading, and you may be surprised how much you enjoy it!

One last thing...I'll be happy to make suggestions for you, if you're not sure where to start. Just ask!

Seriously, give it a try - You might surprise yourself!

Trying Out Google Docs

Do you love using Google when you need to look up something? Most of us do. Were you aware that there is SO much more to Google than just simple searching? Next time you go to www.google.com, check out some of the other features that are on the same line as Web, Images, and Maps.

Google Docs is a suite of applications that includes documents, spreadsheets, presentation, drawing, and forms. As I learned in the webinar I participated in yesterday, the drawing format is new. Google Docs continues to evolve.

If you have not used Google Docs yet, it is (they are?) quite easy to use. You need to create a gmail (Google mail) account. You can create a document/spreadsheet/presentation/etc. and then invite others to view/edit your document. When you have a gmail account established, someone else can invite you to edit his/her document.

The best part of Google Docs is that it offers a collaborative webspace for creating and editing these various types of documents. Think of the possibilities! Whether for brainstorming ideas, planning lessons, drafting newsletters, tracking team statistics, or many other purposes, Google Docs is a great way to work together - collaborate - without being in the same physical space. Google Docs is web-based, and as such, it is available wherever you have Internet access.

I urge you to try out Google Docs!!