Thumann Resources

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

Preparing for the Next Google Teacher Academy

Posted by lthumann on September 1, 2008

The draft of my presentation is due this Friday for the next Google Teacher Academy. I had fun putting together a Google Presentation on my topic, Google Sites, and deciding how I wanted to go about discussing this particular app with the next cohort of GCTs.

I know decisions are being made sometime this week on the chosen 50 and I’m looking forward to hearing through my PLN who they are. When the last cohort was announced in preparation for June’s Academy, the GCT’s Tweeted out links to their blogs and created wikis for informal pre-GTA gatherings. As my flight arrives in Chicago mid-afternoon the day before the GTA, I’m hoping this upcoming cohort is as socially forward-thinking.

Any-who… One critical component of my presentation on September 24 will be to share examples of how Google Sites is being used in the classroom. Please share with me either by commenting here or sending me an e-mail at lisa.thumann at gmail dot com with a link to your Google Site (here’s mine) and an explanation as to how you are using it with your students or how you use it as a current Google Certified Teacher or professional development provider. I would love to include your information in my list of resources on September 24 at the next GTA.

Thanks in advance.

Posted in Google, PLN, web2.0 | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

My Web 2.0 Whirlwind Needs to Pick Up Some Momentum

Posted by lthumann on August 24, 2008

Back in April I wrote a post the day before I was teaching a small group of educators about Web 2.0 applications. I was undecided as to whether I should completely abandon the eBoard I had been using as a resource in my workshops.  I decided rather than tackling that huge project, I would post the ten tools I was going to be sharing during the workshop that day and asked for your feedback.

During the workshop, I Tweeted out each tool as we went over it. Many of the people in my PLN were so generous as to share their experiences with the tools in their classrooms. I also asked the participants to help create a Google Doc and shared the URL on Twitter so that I could further include my PLN in the day.

Well, it’s time to get some momentum going as I prepare for not only tomorrow’s Web 2.0 workshop,  but as I beef up my Google Site for my sessions at the upcoming Google Teacher Academy on September 24 in Chicago and for one of the sessions I am facilitating on October 14 for NJAET’s Annual Conference titled 21 “Must See” Web 2.0 Websites for Educators.

Here is the Google Doc we will use during the workshop. I’m still working on the wiki pages. It took me longer than I thought it would. There are some blanks in the table and I’d like to add some graphics. (It’s a bit of a sore spot with my husband and my kids right now.) But since everything is always a work in progress, please let me know if you think I missed anything.

Thanks in advance for your help. And BTW - that day in April was the day I first met Christy Tvarok who ran full speed ahead with creating her own blog and bringing her school into the 21st Century - many of you have had the pleasure of meeting Christy F2F or on Twitter. Heather Johnson was also with us.  Heather is one of the Center’s consultants.  She is knowlegeable, energetic, and a National Board Certified Teacher, and this past year she has spent some time with me and her new PLN, learning the tools necessary to take good teaching and learning to the next level. I applaud her thirst for technology literacy! And finally, that same day I met Megan Smith who ultimately joined the Center’s 21st Century Learning Initiative along with 23 other NJ educators. Megan is emmersed in Diigo, Twitter and many other tools gearing up for the 2008-2009 school year.

Posted in CMSCE, PLN, web2.0 | Tagged: , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

iTouch the Future…I Teach - Social Studies

Posted by lthumann on August 12, 2008

ThumannResources - Google Sites

ThumannResources - Google Sites

You don’t have 20 years of teaching experience if you’ve been teaching the same lesson the same way for 20 years. You have to revisit and revise every time you teach a lesson because there is ALWAYS room for improvement.

I’ve decided that one of the things that I can do to improve the professional development that I offer is to move some of my resources from my old eBoards to my new wiki. As I’m doing this I’m adding some of my presentations to SlideShare and of course editing and updating many of them as well.

On August 13, I’ll be teaching my iPods in Education workshop again. This is one of my favorite sessions. I always look forward to sharing all that you can do with the iPod and I have had a great time blogging about all the resource that are available to educators and students that have access to iPod Touches.

There are a few resources I’d like to share for Social Studies, including some for the upcoming Presidential Election. Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you’ve found any others.

iCandidate Poll

This is a set of 20 questions that you answer to determine which of our two Presidential Candidates is a better match for your political opnions based on your answers.

iPodia

This site is Wikipedia for the iPhone / iTouch. iPodia does promise a new version is coming out soon, but I did not have a problem with the current version. Everything that you see on Wikipedia on the regular-sized monitor looks very nice and is readable on their mobile site.

Speedymarks.com offers some interactive quizzes for the iTouch. Pictured to the right is the quiz for the location of the United States. The user can select whether they be given 2, 3 or 4 choices to respond to the red highlighted area.

This same website also provides a Country Quiz. The user has a half dozen or so regions to choose from before they have to respond to questions specific to that region.

Once again, I’ve published the Google Doc that I used to gather the Social Studies resources for this post. Don’t forget you can also view my wiki on iPods in Education at http://sites.google.com/site/thumannresources/ or click on the Google Sites button under my picture on the right side of your monitor.

Posted in iTouch | Tagged: , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Backchannel Backlash

Posted by lthumann on July 22, 2008

For the life of me I can’t remember who I overheard say it or where. It was sometime before NECC. But the statement was, “at this point presentations are for the presenter and the backchannel is for the attendees”. THIS WAS SO NOT THE CASE AT BLC08.

//pairadimes.davidtruss.com

image from http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com

Most of us came prepared for the backchannel. I know when I arrived at Liz Davis’s house Sunday evening, the first thing I did was make sure I could connect to her wireless network. Her husband just laughed. He knew Liz and I would be lost in the technology for the rest of the evening. Come on - admit it. The desk in your hotel room looked similar Dave Truss’s. There’s no shame in admitting that you came to BLC08 prepared to document, record and participate in as much as possible to build your learning community.

The caliber of sessions I attended was outstanding. I missed two because Liz and I presented twice. (You can view our session wiki at http://bolc08.wikispaces.com/)

So back to the backchannel. Most of the sessions that I attended were UStreamed. Bob Sprankle even recorded podcasts of several for his subscribers. There were dozens of sessions that I wasn’t able to get to since they have not yet been able to perfect the science of cloning. So, UStream and podcasting extended my conference experience by allowing me to attend additional sessions.

One of the sessions that I set up the Stream for had 30 people in the chat room. Now I have no way of knowing if all 30 were from outside of the Newton Marriott, but when I asked the facilitator, Darren Kuropatwa, if I could relay some questions from the chat, we were able to include BLC08 virtual attendees Lisa Durff, CathyJo Nelson and Bud Hunt in the conversation. Had I not been following the backchannel, Darren would not have known until much later that some of his viewers had questions.

Speaking of just-in-time teaching and learning…

Where’s the learning with the backchannel?

Is it a distraction? Maybe sometimes.

It is what you make of it. I feel it’s part of our collective intelligence. It allows for the opportunity to offer a different point of view than what you might be thinking of had you been viewing the presentation in silence or isolation.

The backchannel affords us the chance to discuss, in real time, the topic at hand, rather than going back later when the speaker is unavailable.

Karen Janowski set up a Ning for BLC08. They have a group that is getting together the links to the UStreams from the conference.

Listed below are the resources that I have put together so far. Some of them I have on my iTouch, some in my Diigo, some in my head.

BTW - If you can remember who made that comment about the backchannel - let me know, would ya - I’d like to talk to them about it.

Pre-Conference: Alan November Published Google Doc with links to everything thanks to Dave Truss

Keynote: Ewan McIntosh http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/562434
Keynote: John Davitt http://bobsprankle.com/bitbybit_wordpress/?p=440

Everything Old is New Again with Darren Kuropatwa and Clarence Fischer
http://dkuropatwablc08.pbwiki.com/Everything+New+is+Old+Again

A Day in the Life of a Technology Teacher Presentation by Darren Kuropatwa
http://dkuropatwablc08.pbwiki.com/A+Day+in+the+Life

Joyce Valenza’s “Web 2.0 Meets Information Fluency: Designing Projects for 21st Century Learners”
http://bobsprankle.com/bitbybit_wordpress/?p=445
Resource: http://newtoolsworkshop.wikispaces.com/

Dave Truss
This, My Blog Has Taught Me
http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/this-my-blog/
This is just one of three presentations that Dave did while at BLC08

Clarence Fischer at BLC http://ping.fm/NhJb4

Reflection from the end of the conference:
http://dkuropatwablc08.pbwiki.com/Ustream+reflection+from+end+of+conference


Posted in 21st_Century_Learning, PLN, web2.0 | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments »

Designing with Wikkis

Posted by lthumann on May 19, 2008

My husband and I had grand plans to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary this past Friday night at a quiet, pricey, romantic restaurant. Our plans were squashed when my brother-in-law called early Friday morning to inform us he had the flu. Both grandmothers already had plans that night - and mysteriously the next night as well. I called the babysitter and left a message on her cell asking if she was available that night and waited all day for her to leave school grounds so she could turn on her phone and retrieve it. (Why can’t highschoolers check their voicemail during studyhall?)

It was a no go. She wasn’t available to watch them on Saturday night either.

Saturday morning I called the back-up sitter. She was unavailable as well. I even called the back-up to the back-up. She was unavailable too. I went out to run errands.

When I got home, my husband recommended that instead of staying home and he and I having to cook, that we change the reservations and take the kids out to a more family-friendly locale.

On to the reason why I’m blogging about this meal…
When we entered the restaurant (we were in the Atlantic Highlands in New Jersey, about to sit on the deck overlooking the Sandy Hook Bay) my two daughters, ages 4 1/2 and 6 were asked if they wanted to make some wikis.

MAKE SOME WIKIS? This fried seafood restaurant that was going to supply my girls with hotdogs and chicken strips had wi-fi? My kids don’t even get technology at school and my full-day kindergartener is right across from the computer lab all day long.

It turns out that there’s another kind of wiki I was not aware of. But my girls loved them. They used their Wikki Stix to make all sorts of creative creations: dogs, people, microphones, lolipops. They had a blast. They hardly ate. They requested more Wikkis (which fortunately for us the kind waiter didn’t even blink at) and while they collaborated with each other on how to use the tools they were given, my husband and I talked about our eleven years of marriage - and yes, wikis and blogs and all things ed tech.

Wikki Stix can be found at http://www.wikkistix.com.

Posted in web2.0 | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »