summer learning

My favorite by far–the freakonomics blogs

really interesting article on Freakonomics—The top questions on the Prisoner’s Dilema game (choice, economics). http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/the-winner-of-our-prisoners-dilemma-is/Question Four: “What is the name and address of your most cherished family member?”

The interviewee should lie. There is no advantage to give out this information and allows the interviewer to exploit the situation by adding negative, external costs to the game. In fact, an interviewee can gain further if they listed the name of an enemy and then proceeded to defect to get some external benefit as they placed their enemy at risk for retribution.

This was the most popular question—but the most threatening. This blog does an analysis of all 5 questions. Very interesting and very useful!
http://www.quantitativepeace.com/blog/2008/06/prisoners-dilem.html

I also plan to use the information from the 08 election article
“Which states are likely to be decisive? Our list of battleground states are headed by the usual suspects [Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan], but campaign strategists take note: Beyond the big four, a few surprises emerge. Colorado, Virginia, and California are next-most likely to determine the election.”http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/election-08-markets-and-models/

Dropped two—NY Times Middle East and also the general History. Kept the more specific History.
Students 2.0 had a series of sad stories about how difficult it was to be connect with other kids and also to be an outstanding student (the 3 AP classes were not enough apparently.)
Google Reader June 19 and 21
Have checked the reader a few more times. There is simply too much. I will have to drop a few more feeds. I am really enjoying the Freakonomics stories and I definately find this useful. Very practical and will add to my curriculum as well as general knowledge. (Point learned today—wealth = happiness.http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/happiness-on-nightline/ )
The NY Times had more opinion stories I was interested in. A story focusing on Obama’s father’s day speech had this bit of data. “In 2006, for the first time in U.S. history, a majority of all births to women under 30 — 50.4 percent — were out of wedlock. Nearly 80 percent of births among black women were out of wedlock.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/21/opinion/21herbert.html
This would be data I would use in class to talk about the impact on happiness—and economic status.
I’m experiementing with the Slate feed—I might just want the jurisprudence feed—so I added that and will check out what is the most useful. Slate had so many articles it is difficult to handle

Thing 13 and 14

I sort of combined these –once I got started tracking down information on Wendy Wolfe–after listening to the podcast –I checked out several of the sites she suggested.  And I went to Thing 14 to see what was there.  I just kept my notes on my writeboard–so I could come back to this several times.  Some of the ones there were also suggested by Ms. Wolfe and I had notes on them with Thing 13.  So, it was easiest to just combine the answers.
http://k12online.wm.edu/If_All_Classes.mp4
https://k12online07presenters.wikispaces.com/Wendy+Wolfe

Wendy Wolfe is a Social Studies instructor and I thought some of the ideas she presented would be directly applicable to the classes I teach. I unfortunately downloaded the podcast version and not the full screen media player—but you live and learn. I will check out the ToonDoo as it looks as if it is something my Academic 7th grade World Cultures could work in to develop vocabulary or even to work on those abstract thinking skills for political analysis. Ms. Wolfe was especially helpful in indicating how all 4 sites she explored could be used in the classroom and what were the benefits/drawbacks/limitations of each. For example she discussed Gliffy and indicated what it could do better than Inspiration (finally something I have worked with!) and how Imspiration was better if you wanted to convert an outline. But Gliffy allows for collaboration and partners can make a flow chart and the url can be posted to a class wiki.
She also indicated that boys like Gliffy—the group I want to engage and entertain. This would be something I would like to experiment with—for powerpoints. I already looked at Zoho show to see what I might like to do with this. Ms. Wolfe indicated it was easier than Powerpoint—especially for quick one slide support. And it can publish to Wiki’s. I’m not so sure about the G-Cast creating a podcast—but she suggested it for presentations or for absent students lecture notes. I like the suggested idea of using it for auditory learners and the creative suggestion to make radio broadcasts. I will go back and explore these sites.
http://zoho.com
www.toondoo.com

I think this would be useful for creating cartoons for some of the quotes I want the students to learn.  They would have to focus on what is being said and how to illustrate it.  I don’t know how much time would be spent looking at off task stuff–have to figure that part out.

www.quizlet.com

This is something I would use with my students.  Very simple review–but they could make them up–not me.  I don’t have enough review games for the Econ group and it does lend itself to this type of review.  It does have the social feature of discussion–but I want to encourage the use of only one space for general questions, comments, etc.  I will ask them to use either the edline blog (which we are to learn about this fall–or the nicenet site we have used in the past.)  They do like to ask questions and make general comments.

www.writeboard.com

I have used this quite a bit as I have traveled this summer.  I can work from any computer and don’t have to worry about where to find my notes.  I do think my students would use this for something as simple as the exam review–especially the discussion questions.  Someone would presents ideas about the answer and others would respond.  They could see lots of different approaches to the response.
www.gliffy.co

I will go with her suggestions below.

Online cartoon generators:
ToonDoo & Comic Creator Uses: Telling a story, Illustrating a concept, Defining vocabulary, Illustrating a scene of a reading, reating editorial cartoons, Autobiographies, Family histories, General fun

Gliffy Graphic organizers:Flow charts, Diagrams, Comparisons, Timelines (Illustrated or not), Telling a story, Layouts for skits,Maps, Scale drawings

Online Presentation Tools (Zoho, Google docs (docs.google.com) – Presentations)

Online book reports, Online stories, Online writing assignments, Photo essay, Online travel brochures,
Country reports, History presentations (self-teaching), Online photo sharing

GCast: Reviews for exams, Any sort of interview, “On the scene” reporting
Helping students with disabilities who need to do more with auditory processing to be successful.

This was easier than thing 11.  I simply stuck with the Bubble Share and worked with it.  I still have some of the text at the bottom of the slide show cut off–not sure what to do with this.  However, I will add more pictures to this and use it next year.  I would like to identify several of the significant religious places for the 5 major religions so the students can recognize these locations.

Click here to see my very simple slide show.

I didn’t enjoy this activity at all. I suppose I will learn how to do this easily, but it took hours longer than I expected. Several times information came up from my computer about loading up stuff or where to store stuff or other things I had no idea about. I had to consult my in house computer expert to see what I needed to do. This delayed the process several times. I finally got three pictures on my wiki space with the names of the photographers (and I had to go back and find the pictures to get the names for two of them because I failed to record them the first time.) I was only able to get two of the three in a folder in my computer and one on my main page. I will have to figure out how to get all three together. I may have copied the link wrong for the image as I got the location off the picture and not from the navigation toolbar–but it seems to get to the flicker page so I guess it would work. This took over 3 hours!!!!!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2067/2423704482_dbe448d939_b.jpg St. Peter’s Cathedral at Dawn by wenzday01

I can see that I would use this for getting images to present information–religion, government, natural resources or significant landforms for various nations.  I don’t believe I would use it as much in my government or econ class.

I have noticed the CC logo–but did not know what it meant.  I think it will impact what we do in the class.  I have tended to simply use links to material I want the students to see or use.  I rarely create new material for them–but part of why I took this class was to get comfortable about doing so.  I looked for some music on SoundClick.  Didn’t have a song I like called “Shepherd Me O God” but once I got to the classical (which was religious) section I tried something more familiar. “Be Thou My Vision.”  –That page a group that also had “Shepherd Me O God” on their list.  It is interesting it didn’t show up in the general search–but it was prefaced with the name Trinity Choir–so maybe that is why.  It was terrible at any rate.  Sort of indicates a drawback –really terrible stuff can be out there.  But this “Be Thou” was pretty good.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6437565

The Soviet National Anthem wasn’t on SoundClick but I found it on YouTube by googling it.  I will have to learn how to find the CC sign on other sites.

I would think it would be a problem to release something–and then find out that someone used your stuff in a way you didn’t want/approve/doesn’t make you happy.

I wanted to check out something really recent –but also something I had a fair amount of info about already.  So, I checked out the article on Tim Russert.  They included all the stuff I had heard off the news –but also some details I hadn’t heard. (I knew he had returned from vacation in Italy–but I didn’t know that his wife and son were still in Italy when he had the heart attack.  I can imagine that difficult flight they had home.)  The discussion section was really interesting–some editing of information to keep it past tense (not still an avid Bills fan) and some serious consideration of whether to identify him as a Democrat. (or conservative–Moynihan wasn’t conservative!) They settled on moderate Democrat–and noted he kept his politics out of his reporting.  Also–someone wanted to remove links to Youtube as they would expire and not really journalism.  The discussion section was more fun than the article!

Thing 8
I’m in the process of working through this assignment and have run into a few technical glitches.  Comcast can’t find the web page or load it or something for a few of the places I want to visit. This is a bit frustrating–but I just move on. (Working from home is nice–but Comcast isn’t great.)  I get very distracted.  I spent some time on the selected article and then got off track looking at all the things the Westwood students had worked on.  Some of them seem very simplistic and some very interesting.  Misspelling (I have issues with this on my own) seems to be common and it was interesting to see a discussion comment –please correct the spelling of poem–or let me access it to correct it.I think that might be a common anxiety. . . seeing something wrong/incorrect and not being able to “fix” it.
It got 28 of the 43 things on the humor Web 2.0 or Star Wars quiz.  Don’t know still which ones I got right/wrong.  That sort of thing is not profitable and very distracting and yet I go straight there!  I also spent some time reading about Web 2.0 to really get a better understanding of what that meant.
I thought the Hannah Lee wiki was the Woodward one (yes) so I visited that first.  I like the organization–and I can see that it will take some careful thought as to what should be included initially.  I visited several of the options and listened to the readers and viewed the slide show on the language.  The illustrations were interesting–but they didn’t always help to clarify the meaning of the vocabulary/figurative language that was presented. But several were excellent and I can see using something like this to help my academic students work through the vocabulary for World Cultures.  The Timeline and Map was also interesting and something I would use.  Finally, the technical notes in the Other category were very helpful.  I will have to spend time learning more about how this was all done–but they give me a starting point.
 I expected to like the Flat Classroom but I didn’t really.  I will have to find the time to watch the video on this–but I didn’t get a lot of information from the project itself.  I wonder if the Students came up with the organization/outline?  It was very specific and directed them as to what they were to do–which is good–but I wonder if the students ever read the book on which the assignment was based and if they were able to put in the thought that this topic deserves.  Or were they just following the outline of the instructor. (Not a bad thing–but the book is a pretty heavy duty one –I used it in a graduate course–and I wonder if the students understood the implications of the topic–or merely researched the examples.  I am sure they understood at the end–so much detail involved/necessary–but was the “ah ha!” element of learning bypassed?  The rubric for grading is very helpful and I will spend some time reviewing this.  I also liked the Clocks!  And I wonder how I will work with 70 students on something like this–they each had a class of 12 or so.
I thought I should look at something simple–more in line with what I might attempt–but Welker’s Wikinomics looked too interesting.  I will spend some time here this summer and next spring!  The organization was very simple but appropriate.  I think I would organize it with more specifics–to really help my students through the material.  A separate Supply and Demand section certainly.  I like the criteria for grading the Blogs and the postings.  I struggle with this and any guidance is great.  I definately would like to work in a Test Review–but I don’t want to be tied to the computer to answer questions the night before the test.  I want them to answer the questions for each other.  I will have to explore the learning outcomes–because my initial impression is that this is simply another platform for presenting information and I’d rather see something more interactive.  
So, I’ll have to check out the tools used –Hannah Lee will be useful and also the links from the Wikinomics.  I will need to figure out my preferences for organization and really think about my learning outcomes.  I would rather do a smaller wiki on a specific topic–and expand on it–than attempt the larger wiki like Wikinomics. 
Overall–I spent about 3 or more hours on just this.  I see I will have to find more time in each day cause I still have to get to the sandbox.  (And my computer glasses are just giving me a headache!)

I like the NY Times opinion RSS but I think I will eventually drop the NYTimes Middle East RSS.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/world/middleeast/11egypt.html  

It has so many stories about the number of people killed or injured that it may not be very useful.  However I did like the story about cultural differences in the US and Egypt and this type of information is what I would use in my World Cultures Class.  It also indicates why our foreign policy has had problems!

The History is Elementary really is a collection of other blogs and I decided to view a few and added  

http://edtechtalk.com/  It has a video and I enjoyed the 4 educators who presented ideas and topics.  I will try to watch several webcasts–they have several interesting topics under 21st century learning.  I will have to learn how to manage my time and control my desire to check out all the suggested links.

Finally–I have enjoyed reading the comments and ideas of my two colleagues.  They have a different perspective on this technology–one has obviously used a lot of technology in her instruction (but she has the advantage of being younger and it was a part of her high school/college experience.)  I plan to check out some of the links they have included.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/outgunned/index.html  

I will enjoy reading the opinion editorials from the NYT’s and the responses that also are presented.  The article –this link– discusses a Supreme Court case–expected ruling on the 2nd Amendment.  It deals with the question of the right to bear arms–an individual right (the expected ruling) or a state right (militia).  The case will likely be ruled in favor of the individual right–which will settle one issue–but will then open the door to very specific rules/regulations of when/where/how that individual right will be authorized. This is lacking at the present time as the debate has been centered on the right–not the regulation.

Blogging   Thing 4
The genre of blog writing in general seems to be non fiction amazement of how wonderful blogging is and what a difference it has made in life in general.  Mostly it seems as if people simply write to tell others how thoughtful and insightful they all are.  Everything is first person–or else the royal “we” is used.  The reading is less a continuous narrative and more short snippets of thought.  The writing does get to the point very quickly. Teaching Brevity Students 20 blog http://students2oh.org/2007/12/16/teaching-brevity/#comment-273 reinforces this idea and generally everyone feels that brevity is to be desired.  I suppose when you are reading lots of comments it is, but I’m not so sure that brevity in and of itself should be a goal of writing. One interesting point raised in “A Rationale for Educational Blogging” http://anne.teachesme.com/2007/01/17/rationale-for-educational-blogging/#comment-36767 was where does the responsibility lie in protecting students from harming their futures?  One mom/educator wrote back that it was the parent’s responsibility and she was teaching her children to realize the impact of what they wrote on a blog.  I am not sure that everyone is/can/will and ultimately the educator will have to deal with the issue of inappropriate blogs or blogs that reflect immature thinking–that may be archived and later come back with negative consequences.  I will search for more comment along this line of thought.

How to Prevent Another Leonardo http://wanderingink.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/how-to-prevent-another-leonardo-da-vinci/#comment-3173 had very interesting ideas about why No Child Left Behind won’t do wonders for the American Educational system.  But one individual pointed out that Leonardo probably would have done just fine and actually the interconnectedness of the global network means that no one individual achieves greatness–but that lots of quietly working groups are achieving brilliant things in very specialized subjects.  Blogging obviously is working for them and there does seem to be a blogging literacy –collective/collaborative but most importantly accessible to many.

I really liked the ideas of The Ripe Environment “The simultaneous personal and public experience of using all of the tools at the teacher’s disposal to tear down walls, collaborate with each another, and question the traditional role of technology in the classroom.” http://http://yongesonne.edublogs.org/2007/06/29/the-ripe-environment/ as this discussion really looked at how overwhelming all the new technologies are for most instructors and what we wanted to develop in the classroom and in the student was not really mastery of the technology itself. 

The extreme biology comment section really looked like the blogs my students did.  People just having conversations with each other about a topic.  Some give direct suggestions. Others opinions.  This individual had his/her opinion changed as result of the conversation. http://www.missbakersbiologyclass.com/blog/2007/10/07/imagine-turning-the-faucetand-nothing-coming-out#comment-1574  This is what I imaging happens on most blogs.