I found out today that my proposal to present a poster session at NECC in San Antonio was accepted! I will be presenting a poster session on Global Explorers - Where Students are Making the Global Connection. The presentation will be on July 2, 2007 at 9-11 am. Hope to see everyone there!

This in from: Michigan Discovery Educator Network

Where will you be on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 7:00 pm (EDT)? Join Discovery’s Ed Tech Connect for professional development with author, Daniel Pink.

Daniel Pink, bestselling author of A WHOLE NEW MIND, will describe how three powerful economic forces are putting a premium on right-brain abilities in the workforce. He’ll describe the six artistic, empathic abilities that now matter most — and discuss how educators are beginning to surface and sharpen those abilities in students.You will not want to miss out on this opportunity. There is still time to register.

You can RSVP at http://tinyurl.com/2y6f9c TODAY!

Technorati Tags: MI_DEN DanielPink

Chris Craft from Crucial Thought and his sixth-grade students have come up with a brilliant project, called “Teach Jeff Spanish”. The students are creating videos to help teach Jeff Corwin, (and anyone else who would like to follow along) Spanish.  These motivated students have created their first episode and I have to applaud their work. Keep in mind, as you wander over to Teach Jeff Spanish, that these very motivated students created this with very little help from their teacher. YES! That’s what learning is about! My students, who are involved in a collaboration project, Global Explorers, with students from Colombia, (South America) will definitely follow this project, as we all the help we can get with our Spanish!

Fantastic job and we are anxiously waiting for the next episode!

teachjeffspanish

Today at our county-wide inservice I was able to participate in an all-day workshop with David Warlick. I will blog more about this later but here are some notes and links to check out for now. I will say this- Excellant presentation! Awesome day!

How can you effectively provide content when the walls are down?

Most of us grew up in schools that prepared us to work in straight rows, perform repetitive tasks, under close supervision

It is no longer that future for our students now. Our students no longer look at their parents and see their future.

Our culture can carry our information and communication with us

In 2003 we generated 5 exabytes of new info

5 exabytes in Library of Congress X 37000

Only 0.01% of that info is printed

We need to start teaching students to learn digitally not with pen and paper

We are preparing our students not for my future but for their future

Students are being insulted by learning in a 19^th century classroom

Students of today carry conversations with them. They have tentacles that reach out to those connections.

Most info we will need in 10 yrs will be digitized. If they do not have access then it is though they cannot read.

Will students learn formal language with imspeak?

We should be amazed at students who invented this language.

We should not teach them how to write but when to use imspeak and formal language.

Wombat= waste of money, brains, and time

We look at information as a product. Something we consume.

Students see information as raw material. What can we mix it with to create new information?

Take content off of the internet and create new info.

What do you hope that person knows that empowers them to tell me what to read? What does it mean to be literate?

Students need to be prosumers of information.  We need to raise discriminating prosumers that can discriminate and tear apart info when gathering.

For the first time in history, our job as educators is to teach our students for an unknown future.

Stop integrating technology and integrate literacy.

Teach our kids how to teach themselves.

We were taught to read what was handed to us. This was literacy. Our students are reading in a global electronic library. We need to be literate in this new information environment

Find the info

Decode it

Critically evaluate it

Organize it into personal digital libraries

Arithmetic expands into employing information

We need to be effective readers and learners, as well as producers of information.

We are now able to be part of the global economy and flat world.

If all you can do is communicate in writing it will be without value if no one chooses to use it.

Writing expands into Express ideas compellingly

We see technology. Students see information.

What is it about the elements of a video game that is so compelling, that we can bring that into the classroom and our teaching?

 Handouts are found here:

 http://davidwarlick.com/wordpress/?p=206

Technorati Tags: flat, classroom, warlick

As much as I would like to think that I have complete control of my life and what takes place, I know it is an illusion. I am too busy to be sick and can’t possibly schedule a day off. Most of us can’t. Last Thursday, after fighting a horrible kidney infection, I was admitted to the hospital. I had finally given in, reluctantly. Mostly, because I didn’t want to miss school and my husband was scheduled to leave for Japan on Sunday. Well, here I am and I miss my students. As I sit, reading through the home-made cards that they made, I had a great idea! Just because I am not there physically, why can’t I be there virtually? Enter my fantastic networking circle, which comprises Webcast Academy, Twitter, Second Life, Skype, and various others. I sent out a message to many people about the simplest and best way to still interact with my students while lying in a hospital bed. My friends and I decided upon UStreamTV and Slideshare. We figured the ease of producing and sharing would be easiest for those who would need to show it to my students. I am able to place the productions on my class web site, MrsLykowski, and they will be able to view them in the tech lab, on the classroom monitor, with a projector, or at home. Now some teachers I am sure, will ask, “why go to all of this trouble?” My answer? I have based my classroom on making connections and to always treasure learning experiences. I truly miss my students and the joy they bring me every day. (No. This is not the medications talking.) I can tell that since I began the Global Explorers project with my students, they are hungry and thirsty for more. They are excited about the connections we are making across the globe. Some have even downloaded Audacity at home, and played around with it. They excitedly check out our wiki, they tell everyone that their podcasts are in iTunes, and they can’t wait to learn more; do more; teach others more. Below is the first video I uploaded to my site. Now I am off to create a Slideshare about our upcoming Adventure book report. My students are waiting!

The Global Explorers is in full swing! Four of my students presented this project to state government officials last week in Lansing, Michigan at the AT&T/MACUL Student Technology Showcase. We have 3 podcasts posted, 2 from Michigan and 1 from Colombia. These should be available in iTunes soon. If you are interested in checking out this project and following us, please go to the Global Explorers wiki.

Drop us a line at globalexplorers2.0@gmail.com

My youngest child, Kelsey, is 14 years old. I would have to guess that she is like most typical 14 year olds – loves watching tv, playing on the computer, listening to music on her iPod- you know the type. Well, I am sure because we have such close contact with each other after all we live in the same house, things I do and say rub off on her. In the last few months, my family has been living through the writing of my thesis proposal and preparing for the research project, as well as getting ready for a new school year.  Apparently, all of my talking about my project has rubbed off. She came to me with an idea of collecting short video clips from around the world of people saying hello in their native language and /or English. She intends to edit the videos into one video and post them on YouTube.

Enter edubloggers from around the world. If you are an educator outside of the US or you know of an educator outside of the US, how about passing on this post. Help Kelsey out with this project that she truly believes in. I am going to get the students from Colombia to do a quick video blog to say hello.

Contact me if you are interested in helping her out.

I have just finished a fantastic chat with Women of Web 2.0 over at Ed Tech Talk. I was invited to join the conversation via Skype.  The main topic of discussion was global collaboration projects. I was able to share my thesis research project that is just getting underway, Global Explorers. In this research project, my fifth grade class will be connecting and collaborating via podcasts with a peer group located in Bucaramanga, Colombia. During the WOW chat, I discovered other people making some significant contributions to global connections.Jen Wagner, Technospud – Jen is TECHNOSPUD! She has been creating online projects for teachers for many years and has helped teachers make global connections in varying ways and with varying topics. Salute to Seuss, O.R.E.O., and Charlotte’s Web are just a few of the terrific projects she heads up.Kristin Hokanson, has developed a great wiki called, The Connected Classroom. Her site holds a plethora of information about connecting our classrooms and the tools that are useful. She has been involved in some fantastic projects and to listen to her talk about them, has inspired me.Vicki Davis has had two phenomenal global projects and is beginning a third. The Flat Classroom project and Horizon project have been tremendous endeavors that were extremely successful in connecting and collaborating beyond our four walls of the classroom.There are many more projects that educators are involving themselves and their students in. A question had been brought up during the chat, although I honestly don’t remember who asked it. “Why collaborate with another country outside of the USA? Why not connect to another state closer by or across the country?”Why? For me I feel an important need to expose my students to the world beyond what we know.  As an educator, I need to help my students’ gain the knowledge and skills that will help them become successful and productive global citizens. This can begin in elementary school by exposing students to new cultures, languages and geographic locations.  Students of today need to move past learning superficial and trivial bits of information concerning other cultures. Being able to identify festivals and food associated with a particular culture will no longer be enough. Today students must be able to compete globally on a higher level.

Thomas Friedman identified 10 trends that are literally flattening our

world and making collaboration and connectivity an everyday occurrence.

These trends; the Berlin Wall coming down, creation of the World Wide Web,

work flow software, uploading, outsourcing, offshoring, supply-chaining,

insourcing, informing, and what he refers to as the steroids,

(digital, mobile, personal, and virtual) are helping to wire the world

and make it possible for people to do increasing amounts of work,

anywhere and at anytime (Friedman, 2006). As our world moves technologically forward,

so must our students if they are going to be capable of competing at these levels of intensity.

What do you think? Do you feel this type of collaboration is important or are educators jumping on the bandwagon because it is the thing to do? I am, in particular, doing this type of research project because I see the importance and the impact it will have my students. I am interested in knowing how you feel.

Here in my school district we have just finished 3 days of professional development. On the district-wide professional development morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see the video below shown to the staff. I am sure that most of you have seen this video as it has been viewed over 2 million times in various locations and re-mixed. The original was created by Karl Fisch. My principal and I discussed this video last spring, (He actually brought it to my attention, (I had already seen it several times) and I was just excited as he was that he had discovered it!). At our staff meeting for our building later that morning, he brought up the discussion about the video and then surprisingly brought up my thesis research on International Collaboration with Elementary Students. He explained to my colleagues that as a school, we will be embarking on an exciting adventure, as my class connects and collaborates with students in Bucaramanga, Colombia. I am hoping that with this video, it will spark some much needed conversation among my colleagues. I already heard whispering in the wings. Fingers are crossed and I am ready to talk.