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.

I feel as though I am on Cloud 9! I just received a phone call from MACUL. This past June, I applied for a MACUL Technology Grant and the phone call brought the best news! I GOT IT! I am so excited.  The grant will help fund equipment that will assist my students in their collaborative project, Global Explorers, this fall. The explorers are connecting and collaborating with a peer group in Bucaramanga, Colombia. I truly feel honored that my project was chosen. In September, I will take four students to our Capitol Building in Lansing, Michigan to present this project to state politicians in the AT&T MACUL Student Technology Showcase. In March, as part of the grant award, I will present this project at the MACUL Conference. I am so excited that I am beyond words right now.

Sadly, the last class of Webcast Academy came to a close. But all is not finished. I am in no way ready to graduate and I am completely OK with that. When I think back to five weeks ago when I started this new adventure, I was thinking that I would be ‘finished’ in five weeks and another ‘badge’ under my belt. Wow! Did I miss the point but quickly gained it back. The process of the past few weeks has been a challenge and a fantastic, awesome learning experience and I am in no way, ready to be finished with it. Not because I didn’t do the assignments or finish my work. That’s not the reason at all. The connections that I have made in the last few weeks have been so incredibly awesome, that I am not ready to give that up. At any given moment, someone from the academy was online in the Skypechat. Everyone was so willing to help and give their thoughts or share their experiences, frustrations, and successes. I have met people who really understood and cared that I was succeeding.  I feel that the connections that I have made in the last few weeks, will continue long after this last show ends. This is what it is all about. The connections.  The collaborations.  The learning.  The growing.  The experiences. The challenges. The successes. Oh, did I mention the connections? I love this.

Today, along with being Good Friday, has been named Cyber Compliment Day by Jen/Technospud.  One of the many people I owe thanks to is Will Richardson. I saw Will at a onference 1 yaer ago. The inspiration that I walked away with is what fueled the fire to start me on the blogging path, and to begin connecting to the world outside of my four walls. In the past year I have been inspired and fueled by may people and most don’t even realize that they have touched me. Jen Wagner from Technospud  and Vicki Davis from Cool Cat Teacher has inspired me in many ways by helping me connect to others and to show my students how to reach beyond our four walls of our class and learn from others.  Everyday is an exciting day for me because I never know what I will discover or who I will connect to.  Thanks to everyone for accompanying me on my journey.

As a continuation of my previous post,  Social Networking in the Hot Seat…Again!  I came across this timely post from the Infinite Thinking Machine and Chris Walsh. The post, And The Walls Come Tumbling Down discuss “online communitites”  and how they can and are being used in educational institutions.

Club Penguin, Whyville, and Imbee are just a few “online communities” geared for the under 14 crowd.

MySpace, Facebook, and Second Life are few sites geared for the older teens and adults.

My daughter and her friends tend to use MatMice as their connection.

Check out the article and see what you think. Can these sites be used in educational settings for good? Will be able to wipe away the negative thoughts that are conjored up when someone says MySpace or “social networking” ?

This morning as I was enjoying my morning coffee, (caffeine is a good thing<grins>) and watching the local morning news show I became aware of a report that bothered me. The report was about a school here in Michigan that not only filters and bans the use of social networking places, (MySpace named frequently) during the school day as most schools do, but they are also instructing their students to not use, visit or otherwise be a part of any social networking site after-school hours, including in their own home. Wow!  This has debate written all over it. The school, St. Hugo of the Hills, in Bloomfield, Michigan is a private school that services k-8^th grade (as far as I can tell). The internet usage policy, including this addendum has been posted here.  They are banning the use of MySpace and other social networking sites, although they decline to mention which sites might fall under this category. According to their policy:It was also stated that the following behaviors are not permitted:  

• Sending or displaying offensive messages or pictures ON OR OFF the St. Hugo network.
• Using inappropriate language to harass, insult or attack others.

The “myspace.com” sites of many of the students violate these rules.  Therefore, it is the RULE of St. Hugo School that NO ENROLLED STUDENT SHALL have a “myspace.com” webpage or any similar type personal internet site.  Students were informed on March 20, 2007 that they must delete their “myspace.com” accounts if they wish to continue to attend school at St. Hugo.  If a family chooses to allow their children to continue their “myspace.com” account, they will not be allowed to continue as students at St. Hugo.

They sited the reason for this move as being a police officer and teacher who had used a social networking site to lure young children. (It did not appear as though these two incidents affected students from this school.)I know that there are bad people out there waiting to do bad things to children. That is a fact, (unfortunately). These types of people can get to our children anywhere, not just through the interent. Do we not teach our children the rules of ‘stranger danger’? Isn’t this another area where we need to be vigil on teaching safety rules to our children? A computer is a tool that needs to be used safely and correctly, just like any other tool that we entrust to our children. I do not plan on putting my daughter behind the wheel of a car when she turns 16 and tell her to use the car to get where she needs to go. I will teach her, (as well as a driver’s ed. Program) the correct and safe way to use that tool to get her where she needs to go. When she began learning how to write, I instructed her on the safe and correct way to use a pencil so that she did not ‘stab’ herself or others and she was able to use it correctly to communicate. I could go on and on about the tools that we teach our children to use on a daily basis. We teach them how to use these tools to be safe and successful. In an article that appears in the April, 2007 edition of NEA Today , MySpace has become the third most visited web site behind Yahoo! And Google. Although MySpace has paved the way for this revolutioon, there are hundreds of sites that are designed like MySpace. The article gives results from a study done by Pew Internet and American Life Project concerning the use of social networking.

I am not in denial that some of these sites have been used to wave a malicious attack on a fellow classmate or teacher. I am also not in denial that if we want our students to know how to use a tool, we need to teach them, both at school and at home. My daughter and I have an open communication about what she does on the internet. Her social networking area, (not MySpace…she’s not old enough by their standards) is a way for her to connect to those friends that are near and far. This gives her and her friends a place to communicate, create, discuss, and debate anything they feel that is important in their young lives. She is learning how to use her tools safely and correctly. Yes! I said her tools. She has known nothing in her life but cell phones, walkmans, iPods, computers, video games, and internet. These are the tools of her trade –her existence. They are here to stay and as a parent I recognize this. So my duty as a parent and educator is to make sure she safely and successfully can use the tools of her trade.

What do you think?

Tonight I find myself excited, anxious, nervous… Tomorrow is the start of MACUL conference for me. This year it is held in Detroit so I will drive up in the morning. I will also be going back up Friday morning. Tomorrow’s feelings are a little different than what  I expect to feel Friday morning. Why? Tomorrow morning I am sharing my car ride with five of my students that create our weekly news broadcast at school called the M.I.B.~Mustangs In Broadcasting. They will be presenting at the student Technology Showcase. They were so excited today and I’ve received 3 phone calls at home for last minute checks.

As I prepare for the next two days I started reflecting on a post from Jim Wenzloff. His post, Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho It’s Off To MACUL I Go discusses what he hopes to get out of the conference this year.

MACUL has a different meaning for me this year. One year ago, I sat at MACUL listening to Will Richardson. I was so inspired by the time I got home, that I devoured his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts  in one weekend and began blogging withion a coup[le of weeks. Since that time, I have been blogging, podcasting, broadcasting, creating digital stories, wikis, colaborating with people near and far. I have grown a lot since last years conference and I look forward to growing even more this year.

What I hope to get out of MACUL:

1.       Meeting new people that will help further my growth professionally.

2.       Seeing what is new in the way of technology and how it is being used in the classroom.

3.       I hope to be inspired and challenged as I was last year.  I want to take something with me and learn how to implement within my teaching.

4.       Watch my students as they shine at the Student Technology conference. They did an awesome job in Lansing, Michigan last November  and they had only produced 4 shows at that time. Now they are seasoned veterans!

Well, I better get some sleep. I’m sure my students will keep me on my toes tomorrow!

I have been working with two 2^nd grade classes in my building with podcasting. They have recorded a couple of podcasts with me this year and when the opportunity came up to collaborate with another classroom, I called upon this terrific class of 2^nd graders again. We are collaborating with a 2^nd grade class in Killeen, Texas and will be sharing podcasts throughout the year. Our first podcast is an introduction to not only ourselves, but to the state of
Michigan as well. It’s the first time we did an enhanced podcast of sorts. We used

Microsoft Photostory 3 to record our podcast and used pictures to enhance our message. We have already begun our second podcast for our new buddies and the student’s enthusiasm is running high. I have already seen (heard) a difference in some of the students with their speaking voices. Some of those that have a quieter voice are now speaking a little louder. These students are very good at using expression in their voice and it doesn’t take too many tries to record their lines. Check out the Vidcast below and you can listen to the rest of our podcasts at our webpage or subscribe to Mustang News Radio in iTunes. 

Christmas 2007 has come early for me this year. Last September, I applied for a Best Buy Teach Award.  They were to announce the winners on Monday, February 19^th, but they announced them on Friday! I happen to be checking on Bloglines, when I read my friend, Jennifer Wagner, had found out that the list had been posted early! Well, I quickly checked, not expecting to see my name and WOW! My name was there! I couldn’t believe it! The grant, in the form of a $2500.00 Best Buy card will be used to support the newest endeavor that I began last fall.

I wrote the grant with starting a weekly kids news broadcast in mind. The group of students that I began this adventure with last fall couldn’t wait to get started, so we started with what we already had. my district-issued laptop, a camcorder from another grant, and Movie Maker 2 software, which is a free program.

With this $2500.00 grant I will purchase a new, more powerful laptop that is geared for movie editing, a new camcorder, and movie editing software. My broadcast kids, MIB ~ Mustangs In Broadcasting do not know the fantastic news yet. I will let then know on Tuesday during our planning meeting.

This is an awesome group of kids to work with. They have presented at our state capitol building, school board meetings, and will present at MACUL in March at the Student Technology Conference.

When reviewing the winners list, I see that I am in impressive company, which makes this all the sweeter! Not only did Jen win, but Bob Sprankle from Wells,
Maine won as well. I am honored to share the list with these fine people.

Ok, I admit it! I bought it because it’s cute. Verizon’s Mint Chocolate has become part of my family of techno gadgets. I really like it and I already have a few songs on it and my contact list transferred. Ok so I splurged, but sometimes you just need to do it!