Thumann Resources

21st Century ideas to help facilitate good teaching and learning.

Classroom 2.0 - Ten Reasons to Join in 2009

Posted by lthumann on January 1, 2009

When I introduce teachers to Web 2.0 in a professional development event, I urge them to join Classroom 2.0. When I read Peggy George’s request to submit a list of Top Ten new ideas, techniques, tools, books, conversations that made 2008 special for you for the “What We Learned in 2008.” show on January 2, 2009, it gave me the idea to create a list of reasons why teachers new to Web 2.0 or Social Networking should join.

Here’s the list - please let me know if you think I’ve missed anything important as I value your input.

  1. Ask a question get an answer if you are active in your PLN.
  2. Classroom 2.0 is THE best place for Web 2.0 Ed Tech Newbies to get started.cr2_japanese
  3. If you want to learn about Screencasting – check out the thread CR has on it – there are 48 posts with over 25 useful links to check out.
  4. You can search CR2.0 by area, by subject or by tool, which makes it a bit easier to find specific information when you don’t know what keyword to search with.
  5. With over 15,000 members, Classroom 2.0 has to be the best resources for information for classroom teachers – not just techies.
  6. There are over 300 subgroups within CR 2.0 including one for Second Life, the DEN, one for educators interested in brain research and one for music teachers . There is something for everyone.
  7. You can add the Classroom 2.0 badge to your website, blog, Facebook page, pretty much anywhere you’d like to let people know you are a member and where they can go to find out more information about you. CR2.0 provides the code for several different badges at http://www.classroom20.com/main/embeddable/list.
  8. Don’t speak English? Not a problem. CR2.0 is available in 11 languages including Portuguese, Hebrew and Japanese .
  9. Classroom 2.0 is not only a Ning . It’s so much more – including FREE Professional Development. There are the workshops and the weekly Elluminate sessions on Classroom 2.0 Live.
  10. Join the CR2.0 Wikispace and contribute, subscribe to updates and changes, or just bookmark this great resource.

I know there’s so much more, but I wanted to keep the list to ten. Your comments abd additions would further show the power of a PLN as I point educators to this list during the coming year.

mwsnap010122

Happy New Year! I hope to see you in the chat at the “What We Learned in 2008″ Classroom 2.0 event with Peggy George, Kim Caise and of course, Steve Hargadon tomorrow at 1pm EST.

Posted in 21st_Century_Learning, PLN, web2.0 | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Seven Things You Don’t Need to Know about Me

Posted by lthumann on December 27, 2008

Liz Davis tagged me in this meme. I figured that it would be a great topic of conversation as my husband and I prepared for the family to come for Christmas dinner. It was pretty entertaining to create the list as we peeled shrimp, sauteed various vegetables, and worked to keep the kitchen clean and the kids occupied.

Seven Things You Don’t Need to Know about Me

1. I was always envious that my cousin had a lavender room when we were kids. I fulfilled a childhood wish by selfishly painting my daughter’s room lavender.

chocolate

2. I actually dropped a math course in college because the professor lectured using his middle finger. (The professor was rumored to have been the inventor of AstroTurf, but I’ll admit that it wasn’t until I wrote this that I finally confirmed that false.)

3. My first career out of college was in book publishing.

4. My second career out of college was in financial services. But I moonlighted as a cannoli stuffer in my then boyfriend’s (now husband’s) pastry kitchen.

5. I met said husband at a photo copier. He was making copies. (Don’t you remember the Saturday Night Live skit with Rob Schneider?)

6. My husband accuses me of favoring Dirty Dancing as my movie of choice, but it’s really Clueless.

7. My parents had my brother and I convinced we were allergic to chocolate growing up. When I got to college, I became a chocoholic - and lived to tell about it.

Here are 7 more bloggers that may have 7 things to share:

AJ Kelton

Clif Mims

Kern Kelley

Erica Hartman

Angela Maiers

Lisa Durff

Cathy Nelson

Posted in PLN | Tagged: , , , , , | 11 Comments »

ThumannResources gets the Bronze at the 2008 Eddies

Posted by lthumann on December 22, 2008

Emanna Romano looking at her blog nominations in SL

Emanna Romano looking at her blog nominations in SL

It was, in all honesty, an honor to be nominated by Liz Davis and Kevin Jarrett in two categories for the 2008 Edublogger Awards. I never thought that I would win. I actually predicted that Angela Maiers would win for Best New Blog and she did. We started our blogs at just about the same time and hers is so chock full of quality and meaningful resources and information that I knew she was sure to be awarded the honor. Among the other 13 nominees was also Human, which came in second and a host of other Edublogs that deserve a read.

I also really enjoyed the experience of the awards ceremony. (I had to attend - it was an excuse to go shopping in Second Life.) I commented in the EdTechTalk (which incidentally won for Best Use of Audio) that it was difficult to simultaneously manage the chat in EdTechTalk, the chat in Second Life and the audio which I was listening to through iTunes as the quality was better than in Second Life. But it was worth the multitasking, to be able to communicate with everyone that came to participate in the event. I especially enjoyed my time with Riptide_Furse who represented the DEN for their award, Best Use of a Virtual World.

Everyone in the chat and the audience at the awards were very supportive of all the nominees and Josie Frasier did an excellent job MCing the event. Should you have missed the hour-long ceremony, you can go back and view the video or chat logs at EdTechTalk. You can also see the pictures that I took as I posted them on Flickr. (They’re a little biased though, I will admit.)

eddies-awards-ceremony_005

Emanna Romano and Joyce Story waiting for the Awards Ceremony to begin.

ThumannResources takes the Bronze!

ThumannResources takes the Bronze!

The After Party at Jokaydia

The After Party at Jokaydia

Posted in 21st_Century_Learning, PLN, SecondLife | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

You Get What You Get and You Don’t Get Upset

Posted by lthumann on December 18, 2008

http://www.babble.com/

Source: http://www.babble.com/

Several weeks ago I was with my husband at parent teacher conferences getting good reports about how the girls were doing in school. There were no big surprises. Our first grader has great handwriting, the kindergartener is an excellent reader. Our first grader is on the shy side, our younger daughter is friends with EVERYONE. Our first grader tends to be bossy, our kindergartener tends to be a bit immature. But the wise words that were delivered during the evening conferences that have stuck with me ever since, were those not of the teacher’s, but of my five-year-old.

You Get What You Get and You Don’t Get Upset

WHERE DID SHE HEAR THIS? Her kindergarten teacher admitted it wasn’t in her class. We don’t use the phrase at home. (Well we hadn’t. We do now.) She must have heard it in her own network of friends and teachers in the last year or so, but was able to use it appropriately when one of the children at her table didn’t get the color crayon he wanted.

Our letter read: The NECC 2009 Program Committee has completed its review of this year’s proposal submissions, and we regret to inform you that your proposal(s) were not accepted for inclusion in this year’s program.

Every effort was made to balance the program in the areas of content, topic, grade level, focus, and audience. Due to space limitations, many excellent proposals could not be accepted. We appreciate the time and effort involved in preparing a proposal, and thank you for offering to share your expertise with other educators.

Ok. So, now what?

Last night on Twitter, there was some wallowing (I was bummed that the proposals that @lizbdavis and I submitted together didn’t get accepted), some genuine anger towards the NECC-proposal-approval-process and thankfully, some kudos and congratulations.

tweet1

tweet2

tweet3You can search Twitter, if you’d like to see all the Tweets about the submissions. Just use http://search.twitter.com. Last night I only search for “NECC”. Today I searched for “congrats necc” and it made me smile.

Steve Hargadon, blogged about Edubloggercon2009 and NECC Unplugged urging everyone to sign up and participate in the conversations and present their sessions there. So if your session was rejected, you still have the opportunity to present in D.C. this June. Also, Vicki Davis blogged today about rejection and reminded us as educators that it is about the students.

Ok. So, now what?

For me? I’ll be at NECC09 as a listener, sharer, contributer, collaborator, however I can participate and learn. I’m looking forward to it. But for tomorrow I need to focus on the work I have coming up with teachers and students and the other projects I have going on.

Congratulations to those of you who will be presenting at NECC. I’ll give it another go next year.

Posted in 21st_Century_Learning, PLN | Tagged: , , , , | 13 Comments »

The Sylvia Charp Award

Posted by lthumann on December 16, 2008

As you are getting ready to take a week or so off for the holidays? When you have some quiet time to yourself, (I know, I know, who am I kidding?) reflect back on the achievements of your students, your school, your district and yourself. Think about all the wonderful things that you do or contribute to doing to help improve teaching and learning in your building(s) and consider applying for the Sylvia Charp Award.

charpaward-banner

Nominations for this award only opened yesterday, December 15, 2008, and will remain open until March 16, 2009.

Sylvia Charp, was the editor-in-chief of T.H.E. Journal for 30 years until she passed away from serious injuries as a result of a car accident  in 2003. Dr. Charp was known for her countless contributions to the field of educational technology and her dedication to helping educators use technology with their students to improve achievement. 

To nominate your district you will need to submit three things via e-mail to charpaward@thejournal.com:

  1. A description of the district’s innovative technology program, including how this program met the NETS (http://cnets.iste.org/students/s_esscond.html) and a one-paragraph description of the technology planning process including a list of people involved.
  2. A description of the effectiveness and impact of the technology program, including evidence of impact on student achievement.
  3. A letter from the Superintendent and/or school board president supporting the application.

The winner will be notified this April. The award will be presented at NECC 2009, June 28-July 1, 2009 in Washington, DC. (The winner will receive a check in the amount of $2,000 to go towards registration, travel, and housing for two representatives from the winning district.)

Please visit T.H.E. Journal for more information about nominating your district or to read about the 2008 Sylvia Charp Award recipient.

Posted in 21st_Century_Learning | Tagged: , , , , , , | No Comments »

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