There’s been an interesting game of blogosphere tag going on and I have just been tagged by Jennifer Wagner. The way it works is you tell 5 things about yourself that most might people might not know about you and then you tag 5 more people. I’ve enjoyed reading about the other bloggers that have been tagged before me. And now for me:

1.    Before going to college for elementary education, I was actually going to go into education via a different route; interpreter for the deaf. I started learning sign language in 2^nd grade. This is how my friends and I helped each other out with answers to our schoolwork! Shhh! don’t tell Miss Grad!

2.    Although I’ve traveled quite a bit, (around the
U.S. and
Europe), I’ve always wanted to go to the Monarch Sanctuaries in central
Mexico. The opportunity has just not presented itself.

3.    The reason for #3 is that I raise, tag, release, and track Monarch butterflies during the summer. I usually average 300-400 butterflies in my home every season, with most of them starting from the egg or young larva.

4.    The first book I ever read on my own was, “Magic Fish in the Sea”. This is what started the fire within me to read everything I could get my hands on. Now, as an adult I read everything from picture books, young adult novels, computer books, Janet Evanovich, John Grisham, cereal boxes, candy wrappers, blogs… get the idea?

5.    I’ve been working on a couple of different ‘books’ and hoped to become a published author someday. My 13 year old daughter was actually published this past summer and finds it funny that she was published before me.

The five people I will tag are:

Darren Kuropatwa

Jim Dornberg

Kathy Schrock

Kevin Hodgson 

Ben Rimes

I am amazed at how connected the world becomes on a daily basis. What used to be a cliché, has know become the truth. We literally have the world at our fingertips. Everyday people like you and me have the possibility to create and publish our work for the whole world to see. With the creation of YouTube, people from all walks of life have found an outlet for their creativity. Young people have become prolific on writing and creating original works and posting them for the world to view and critique. Granted, some of the pieces out there are not on my favorites list, but still these kids are putting themselves out there and taking a chance.  One of the videos I came across this morning on YouTube, is called Welcome to the YouTube Nation. I think that this is where we are at now as a connective world. Tonight on ABC, they are airing a segment called ‘Caught’ The year’s best video – from the wild to the wacky, and the obscene to the absurd.. I believe that YouTube will become the most disruptive technology piece for 2007. 

An excerpt from the YouTube show notes, Caught:From the frontlines of the war in
Iraq to the political battleground of the 2006 midterm elections, the surge of online video has changed the dynamic.“When [people] take on these tools of TV, they can do amazing things,” said Jarvis. “They’re telling their stories. That’s incredibly powerful. I think we’re just seeing the beginning of what the people can create, now that they have the tools of creation.” 

My daughter even plays around with creating original ‘movies’ and ‘movie trailers’ for what could’ve been the next installment of Harry Potter. She has a group of friends that are very much into creating fan fiction and they’ve taken the next step by creating trailers for their writing. My daughter and I have many discussions about copyright and what is appropriate. She readily shows me what she’s working on and seeks my approval and comments. She became a published author this past summer and understands how important it is to protect one’s work.  What do you think? 

This Christmas seemed to be very technology-based. Many new gadgets and toys graced themselves under the Lykowski tree. My youngest daughter seemed to be the most surprised. She has been playing around with movie making, (using my video camera) and Movie Maker 2.0. This Christmas she was surprised when she opened up her own video camera and new video-editing software. Check out the pictures below to see some of the techie presents.

 How many of you are Harry Potter fans? Well, if you are then you are one of many who is waiting for the title of the seventh book in the series to be released.  On the 21st of December, Scholastic, which is J.K. Rowling’s publisher, released the title of the book.

Now I could easily just tell you the title. But, I like the way Rowling thinks. She came up with a creative way for kids and adults to discover the title all on their own.

This came from CNN.com on December 21st. J.K.Rowling has released the title of the final copy of the Harry Potter series. This is an interesting way to discover the title. Just follow the directions below and have a little fun! Enjoy!

If you go to her home page, click on the eraser and you will be taken to a room — you’ll see a window, a door and a mirror.

In the mirror, you’ll see a hallway. Click on the farthest doorknob and look for the Christmas tree. Then click on the center of the door next to the mirror and a wreath appears. Then click on the top of the mirror and you’ll see a garland.

Look for a cobweb next to the door. Click on it, and it will disappear. Now, look at the chimes in the window. Click on the second chime to the right, and hold it down. The chime will turn into the key, which opens the door. Click on the wrapped gift behind the door, then click on it again and figure out the title yourself by playing a game of hangman.

OK I know I am late on this posting but here’s my excuse: Teaching full-time, working on my Master’s (in Educational Technology), 6 kids, 2 chocolate labs, one aging mother, one husband out of the country, and a fat squirrel in a crabapple tree, (or was that a partridge in a pear tree?) Anyhow: KUDOS! to those listed! I took part in the K12 Online conference and this was definitely a great learning opportunity. Also, there are several winners that I read daily, so my hats off to all winners. Keep up the good work! I am learning so much from all of you.

2006 Edublogs Award Winners

Best Audio and/or Visual Blog:
absolutely intercultural!
Anne Fox (Denmark), Laurent Borgmann (Germany)

Best Group Blog:
Polar Science 2006
YES I Can! Science team, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Diane Hammond, Susan Stiff, and Dr. Tom Stiff (Canada)

Best Individual Blog:
Christopher D. Sessums :: Blog
Christopher D. Sessums (USA)

Most Influential Post, Resource or Presentation:
K12 Online Conference 2006
Darren Kuropatwa (Canada), Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach (USA), Wes Fryer (USA)

Best Research Paper:
Nancy White: Blogs and Community
Nancy White (USA)

Best Teacher Blog:
Have Fun with English! 2
Teresa Almeida d’Eça (Portugal)

Best Library/ Librarian Blog:
Hey Jude
Judy O’Connell (Australia)

Best Newcomer: (joint winners)
Ed Tech Journeys
Pete Reilly (USA)
tilt!
Paz Peña (Chile)

Best Wiki
Flat Classroom Project
The Flat Classroom project is a genuine assessment project between Julie Lindsay’sgrade 11 ITGS class at International School Dhaka(ISD) in Bangladesh and Vicki Davis’ 10th grade Computer Science class at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia

Best Undergraduate Blog:
CILASS Student Blog
University of Sheffield Student Ambassadors of the Centre for Inquiry-based Learning In the Arts and Social Sciences (England)

Edublog Star Award (Convenors choice):
Duck Diaries
Barbara Cohen (USA)

I came across this post from Kathy Schrock, http://kathyschrock.net/blog/index.htm. Blink has now become a new Web 2.0 verb!

blink

noun
1. a Web link to a blog entry

verb
1. to include a Web link to a blog entry on an Web page or in a print source; “The local high school blog was blinked in the local newspaper and on the state Department of Education Web site.”

Well, my students are definitely keeping me on my toes. I have actually 3 groups/projects that are keeping me busy.

First, my sixth graders are finishing up their digital stories. I have to say the majority of them are so excited that they’ve been practicing on Movie Maker 2 at home and then trying out and teaching their fellow classmates the new things they’ve learned. We will be premiering their stories by the end of the week. I’m thinking of doing it up and having a red carpet and popcorn.

Secondly, my students dance mat vending business has had two weeks of success ~ they’ve sold their alotted tickets for both weeks and they are learning that they must ‘talk up’ their business. They have become very protective over the Playstation 2 consoles, games, and dance mats. They will not tolerate any horse play. It’s nice to see a hard-working group taking this seriously. As one student said, “If we mess this up, we may never get another chance to play video games in school again!”  I wonder if any of them realize that this is more than just playing video games? It’s about the physical activity and exercise and the reading and math skills that are being develop from tracking the arrows and following the pattern of the arrows. Well, I’m sure that will come soon enough.

Lastly, I am going crazy preparing my group of broadcasters to present at out state capitol building in Lansing, Michigan. On November 14th, our broadcast group, (seven students) will be presenting at the AT&T/MACUL Student Technology Showcase. They begun broadcasting a weekly news show and streaming it into the classrooms. They write the scripts, film and edit the video, and then create the final project. What an amazing group. I am excited but nervous.

On a final note, I have made a connection with a fantastic group that has just begun podcasting. YouthRadio

It’s all about me! It’s all about you! It’s all about us! This weeks Time magazine cover article has just named me, er you, er us -Person of the Year! I’ve been working towards this all my life and I’ve finally made the big leagues! As Time magazine puts it - The winners this year were anyone using or creating content on the World Wide Web. We are the citizens of the new digital democracy.

You can check out the story at www.time.com .

On a daily basis I am amazed at how I literally have the world at my fingertips. No matter what my little heart desires, I can search, seek, and find. I am able to connect to people I know well and those I don’t know at all. I am able to connect to those that are next door, around the block, and around the world. Truly amazing!

This is an opportunity to build a new kind of international understanding, not
politician to politician, great man to great man, but citizen to citizen, person
to person. It’s a chance for people to look at a computer screen and really,
genuinely wonder who’s out there looking back at them.

Go us!

Thought for the Day ~ “The world is getting smaller. It would only be better if we took the time to learn about someone else.”

This is my hope as I lead my students to investigate and collaborate in using blogs, wikis, and podcasting. My students are connecting to other students outside of their ‘little world’ hence leading them to a smaller world.

Kudos to the writer of the original blog post: http://anne.teachesme.com/, If No Child Gets Ahead, Then No Child Gets Left Alone. The original writer/commenter, Liz Ditz from http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/ compares education’s NCLB with football. How closely the two resemble each other. Anne wrote the original post about High-Stakes testing and Liz commented. I felt it was worthy enough to pass along as well.