Things 5 and 6

Linkedin and Nings:

Who names this stuff?
Linkedin looks like a hopefull place for people trying to make professional contacts. Great for small business owners, new business owners, people looking to make a change in their career or those who are unemployed.
My other impression is that anyone else is so busy doing business that they don't have time to get involved in the site. But, for those who need the resource, it looks like an interesting place and I bet people make great use of the site. Thats why this whole 2.0 thing is so interesting. Something for everyone.
I don't presently need the resource. I am so busy doing what I need to do that I barely had time to visit to find out what was going on with all those people linking up.
I guess I am just lucky that way - for now, anyway.

Now, about Nings.
I like the way it lays out with the circles in circles, although I have to admit that I clicked a bunch of circles and went in circles for a few minutes there. Then I got in the swing - must be my age. Its ok though because I needed the exercise.
I signed up for the Global Networking Ning - International Networking is a goal I have for this year. I want to hook my students up with other students around the world to gain a global perspective on environmental issues the 8th grade girls are researching. Maybe some global chats or webcams and such will be in the picture for our multigenre project.
I will be following up with this one.

Things 3 and 4

I can see how blogs can provide great resources for people to share ideas and get answers to questions. The interactive aspect is so powerful. In reading people's blogs, I don't usually feel compelled to comment, but I know I will find it helpful to ask questions or to follow links or add links to expand a topic.
It is so part of being human to want to reach out and share our thoughts with others - ever since the earliest cave drawings, people have felt the need to share their experience - even if they never expected to meet those who would later view their work. I wonder what people like Aristotle or Caesar would have thought about blogging?
Do you think blogging is helping shut-ins feel more connected to the world? Does it make people feel happier and less alone? Do psychologists recommend it to their patients?
I'm not sure how much of me I want out there on the Internet. It is so permanent. At least a personal journal can be stowed away and kept private - so much of what we think is important today, turns out to be of little meaning to us down the road.
All these words out there floating around in space. Strange.

Thing 3

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1340000334/post/130020413.html
NeverEnding Search: PowerPoint Reform - A First Chapter


"High school librarian Joyce Valenza shares highlights from her presentation for senior English classes on how to stop making miserable PowerPoint presentations. 
I found this blog entry to be helpful. I work with my classes to encourage more professional and interesting PowerPoint presentations. I like the creative emphasis mentioned here. I linked to Dave's Utube presentation outlining qualities of interesting PPT presentations. I liked the artistic look that he encourages. More fun to create and more effective in telling the story you want to tell.
We will definitely use some of these ideas for the girls' multigenre presentations.
 
 
http://bobsprankle.com/bitbybit_wordpress/?p=349/
 
Bit by Bit by Bob Sprankle was also interesting. Love the TV image with rabbit ears reference. Integrating digital components into teaching is what we have been doing at ASH for a long time. It will be fun to see what comes next along these lines. Good job tech department.
 
http://itc.blogs.com/patrick/2005/02/5th_grade.html
 
Patrick's update - Grade 5
What a neat kid. I just love that he wrote that he was having trouble getting good grades in spelling and thought he might be "felling". Ahh - I know the pain - I am such a mediocre speller myself.
I wonder how many great writers will start by sharing their thoughts on blogs?
I hope parents are reading the Posts in response to make sure kids don't get hurt by inappropriate responses. How about the guy bragging about his IQ  and then also feels perfectly comfortable swearing in a response to a fifth grader. Yikes!
 
http://wanderingink.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/how-to-prevent-another-leonardo-da-vinci/
 
Kris writes about how schools limit creativity and the pure learning and inquiry based pursuits of true great thinkers. Interesting. We have been talking about how we have to many seperate classes in the MSG. Combining and integrating some would be much more learner friendly and less anxiety producing for the children. Nicely written piece and apparently offered many readers something to think about. That can't be bad.
 
 
http://sddc.blogspot.com/2009/02/upside-down-pop-quiz.html
The Upside Down Pop Quiz
Hmm. I will be using a new text book on the Constitution and Constitutional rights found for us by Alan E. The girls will be reading the text prior to the lessons and I think this Pop Quiz as a way to reinforce the reading/compreshension process will work well with my 7th graders. We have quite a mix of student strengths and weaknesses and this positive psychology approach will be very supportive for them and will help to clarify some difficult material. Also,encouraging kids to read, reread, analyze and make connections are important learning strategies to reinforce. Sounds good.
 

23 Things: Hmmmm

I am interested in knowing what the world is talking about when they say they are blogging or tweeting or whatever.
Who knows, I might find I have something to say to the world. Hmmmm