Citizen Science: Monarch Butterfly Webinar

What we know now. Citizen science research.

From the upgraded research, completed by Monarch Joint Venture, the Western Monarchs appear to be the same variety as the Eastern Monarchs.

It's del.icio.us!

Del.icio.us was the first social bookmarking web application I ever used. As a teacher, I thought, "Wow! I could really teach my students to paraphrase with this tool!" Yes, I love the online bookmarking part of del.icio.us, and I love the sharing, the social networking part of this bookmarking system.

Unfortunately, the research part of writing; the paraphrasing, the note-taking, the quoting of sources, can be a tremendous stumbling block for students in middle and high school. As soon as I was introduced to del.icio.us, I knew I could teach this to students and they could use it effectively to learn and practice these skills. Since I am always on the lookout for web applications for use with effective instructional strategies that will greatly boost student achievement, I knew del.icio.us fit the bill.

Over the years, I realized that my students could write fairly well, and I credit that to the commitment Kansas has made using the 6 Traits of Writing in a systemic immersion from Kindergarten to high school. Parents, teachers and students know it is a good system. I can depend on students knowing the basics of writing because of it.

Often, students believe this idea, or misconception really, that someone else's words are better than their own. In its pure form, I have to admire that idea, because it means that students honor authors, books and reading. The misconception lies in the idea that THEY can't really learn how to research and write well, but they can. Once students learn to take notes and paraphrase, their writing always takes a great boost in quality.

Another problem for me, as a teacher, was helping each student stay organized throughout the research/writing process. In a way, it seems rather odd that writing or looking for sources is not the beginning writer's downfall, the difficult part is keeping lists of resources, notes, and quotations throughout the writing process. As soon as I saw how del.icio.us worked, I knew it was the solution for this developmental milestone. The wonderful folks at CommonCraft do also, and here is their excellent video, Social Bookmarking in Plain English.



All the organizational problems are solved with del.icio.us and other social bookmarking networks. Students can bookmark their sources and take notes as they find them. First impressions are always helpful to remember. The writer can easily edit, yet it is often difficult to remember just what attracted you to a particular resource. Using del.icio.us, a student can quote, paraphrase or note future areas of research.

As a teacher, I can access all the students bookmarks because I put them into my class network, a social educational network. I can use del.icio.us to check student organization, progress, quality and reliability of resources on the fly. This makes it easier to give timely feedback which encourages students and increases their overall achievement in writing.

That is the beauty of social bookmarking. It's del.icio.us!

Counting's for the Birds: The Great Backyard Birdcount

For the Birds, for the Kids, for the Environment, for Research and for Fun.....let's all join people across North America from Friday, February 15th through Monday, February 18th, 2008 to count every bird we see. It's easy, it's fun, and it's very important!

How many times do you really have an opportunity to make an impact on learning from your own backdoor? Not often before, but now you can.

Click on this link: Great Backyard Bird Count.
Read and follow the simple steps, and you can sign up to help count the birds in our backyard (or any other place, like a park, lake or farm). Even though you can download the forms and mail them in, you are encouraged to complete the easy to use online data forms. Wherever you call home is the place where you can count birds, for as little as fifteen minutes or as long as you would like.

Share this wonderful lifelong learning opportunity with everyone. This project will encourage and improve community interactions with the schools, so think about ways to involve teachers and students with the rest of the commmunity. Try it! You'll like it!

Going, Going, Gone! WikiSpaces

One of my widgets is a WIKISPACES counter that tells how many education related wikis have been provided by WikiSpaces, and I can see by the numbers that they are rapidly meeting critical mass in their endeavor to provide 100,000 ad-free wikispaces. I first learned about WikiSpaces from one of their founders who came to TappedIN last year to give us tours and provide personal support for our first wiki experiences. I had tried to make wikis before, but I find Wikispaces is more intuitively developed to enhance your development opportunities.

If you don't have a WikiSpaces wiki yet, just get one! WikiSpaces has provided over 55,000 of the 100,000 education websites, so they are GOING FAST NOW!

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Wikispaces is a great place for teachers and those who work in education to build a wiki-website-blog with a space that has no advertisements. Once you get your own education WikiSpace, you can make it as public or private as you would like.

I think wikis are great places to use as websites, and WikiSpaces is the most highly rated by the group who knows words best, the American Librarian Association. In a review of wikis, Wikispaces was recommended as the most versatile, powerful, yet easy to use.

What I like about WikiSpaces is the support you get. If you have a question, you just email the WikiSpaces HelpDesk. From my experience, I think you will get a prompt, helpful response.

Relevance and Rigor: An Ongoing Struggle in Education

This is my response to an excellent blog posting I read earlier today. The topic of technology in education and our present level of acceptance in and out of schools has been on many people's minds lately. It seems to me that part of the human condition includes the urge to look for ways to improve productivity and make life "better".

I caught this train of thought and responded to a recent posting on Tom March's Ozblog: "Intriguing Ourselves to Death" by Tom March, presently in Australia, who is the co-developer of the WebQuest strategy with Professor Bernie Dodge.

My comment on Tom's blog posting:

IMHO, you are on target that there are many voices, ideas and models for education in a technological world, and I agree to help. Your goal is similar to my own.

Many people that you may not even know have been blogging about philosophical content similar to that you describe, so all we have to do is join the 1's and 0's into coherence.

Here are some related threads on a few other blog postings:
Walk a Mile
Support Is Everything
Learning to Share: Part 1
Sneaking Suspicion

When Quality Counts, n2teaching sez: Be TappedIn

What is my professional and personal perspective of TappedIn? How did I discover Tapped In, the most enduring of all the high quality educational social networks?

I have always thought of myself as a gleaner who shares with my family, friends and community. That is why I enjoy working with teachers and students. I gather curriculum, materials and other necessaries to share with my friends and students. TappedIn is the quality place for me to join my gleaning and sharing activities for one purpose. I can glean and share ideas, techniques, research and experiences with other members of the TappedIn community in my office, private chat and in meetings around the TappedIn campus.

Having taught, at various levels of education, for many decades, my professional and personal identity continues to evolve…adapt or die. I find this online iteration of my professional life is very satisfying, and I want to thank the TappedIn community for their help in this ongoing process.

Frequently, I invite others that I know to join TappedIn also, and I really enjoy that quality experience. It is like being Johnny Appleseed to those online who are interested in education, children and camaraderie.

Call it synchronicity, serendipity or a discrepant event. I am always amazed at how wonderful it was that I found the TappedIn community. I discovered TappedIn, during the winter of 2004, while looking for information about researchers and educators working in the area of projects. This was before the NEW buzz phrase, project based learning and then problem based learning, became ubiquitous.

I was looking for research by Art Costa and information about his work. I knew some of his work had been published by Skylight, so I included Skylight in my search string. I couldn’t find them (they no longer exist in their previous form). I did find references to SRI, so I followed those links, and they led me to TappedIn. As Professor Peabody always told Sherman in The Fractured Fairy Tales, “…and the rest is history”.

After joining TappedIn on January 18, 2005, I started my life in this quality educational community by looking around the campus….checking out my new home. It was pretty overwhelming, but exciting. I continued to look around to, to be a sightseer. Since those heady early days, I learned that a more commonly used term is “lurking”, but that word has such a negative image. I like to think that my TappedIn visits were more like excursions around the virtual city. In some ways, I was a tourist.

On my first excursions to TappedIn, I would examine the map of the campus and the monthly calendar. From the calendar, I found information about the various groups and their activities. I also really liked the emails that I was receiving. The scheduling and information provided gave me confidence to go to TappedIn to follow up on the topic of the email or newsletter. As time went on, I finally made a critical mass of experiences, so I no longer felt that I wanted to be an onlooker.

As those travelers before me, I discovered the TappedIn Reception Room. At first, I didn’t even know what I wanted to know, but BJ Berquist asked me some questions, including, “Had I been to my office?”

Well, I didn’t even know I had an office, but I thought having an office was a great idea. Then I learned the most important stuff, how to meet and greet other people. I love the info icon.

Over the years, I have developed my office, although it still is not up to par. It is open, and I invite you to visit anytime. Also, I have enjoyed developing good working relationships with many other education professionals and lovers of learning at TappedIn.

Between Jeff Cooper, David Weksler and BJ, I really made great learning gains over the past year. Jeff knows so much about the ways of the internet, and his instruction is always on point. While David knows lots about technology, I really appreciate his support knowledge of how to best use technology to teach science and math. BJ always seems to know how to ask the right question, and she is always full of confidence in the human capacity. I have come to know people who live in other countries and other circumstances, and that has been most inspiring.

For teachers, parents, students and other interested people, I believe that TappedIn is the best first choice for a quality community experience. This past spring, I joined the HelpDesk. It seems that there are always visitors, and sometimes I can help. The TI Festival was another fantastic community experience, and I learned so much that I am still sorting through all the information.

My next adventure with TappedIn is to start a professional development group, and I am working on that as we speak.

Having grown up on college campuses across the United States, especially in the South and Great Plains, I really relate my TappedIn experience to those early years. Lots of fun, lots of learning, and lots of inspirational work goes on here at the TappedIn community. People of many different levels of experience and education come together in good company to be together.

The most important reason is personally professional. I appreciate the quality of TappedIn. One of the major needs of educators relates to knowledge overload and the friendship factor. Technology has changed so much since I was young. Our class schedules were given to us on a punch card and the first computer language I really liked was Basic. There are so many more books and materials available for teachers and students, but we still need each other.

No matter where we are in this journey of life, it always seems best when we have great traveling companions. That is what I have found in the online educational community of TappedIn.

n2teaching Recommendations for Photo Sharing

Do I recommend Flickr or Photobucket:

My n2teaching answer to Injenuity who asked in her gathering data stage for the development of a recommendation for the teachers she works with now.

One of my programming friends recommended smugmug over flickr, and his photographs are very professional looking. The smugmug website is highly recommended and aesthetically pleasing.

Currently, I use Flickr because other teachers were using it when I needed to put pictures online. I think that Flickr gained a presence early on and became officially recognized by many applications, especially when Yahoo purchased Flickr. Some Google applications, such as Blogger and Jaiku also recognize Flickr.

Since I first began to use Flickr, I have learned more about Photobucket because my tech-ed mentor uses it, as does my daughter and her friends. Photobucket has an immediate use function that is great when texting or in a webinar meeting and speed is necessary.

I don’t believe that you should limit yourself to one online photo application, especially since there are many differences in the uses of these applications.

Better Schools and Classrooms

We all admire Better Schools and Classrooms. Why? For inspiration, confirmation and professional development because each of us wants a better school and classroom. We're teachers! We're achievers!

In pursuit of this excellent achievement, there is one book, Classroom Instruction that Works, that you can use and make Better Schools and Classrooms. Read it one day and use the ideas in your class with great success the very next day. Many of the ideas may be familiar, yet even the most experienced teacher should find this meta-analysis helpful for improved practice....for Better Schools and Classrooms.

Research in education has been vastly under reported in our American media, even the educational media. To remedy that, many educational research leaders began to perform a particular type of research called meta-analysis. While some research can summarize a single researcher's lifetime of accomplishments, such as Vygotsky, Art Costa or Howard Gardner, meta-analysis is compilation of combined research of many people on ONE TOPIC like the research that encompasses theEffective Schools Research or Classroom Instruction that Works.

While the Effective Schools meta-analyses is more of an umbrella covering a multitude of effective educational methods, categorized within the Seven Correlates of Effective Schools, Classroom Instruction that Works may be considered by some to be a specific category within the Effective Schools movement.

No matter the case, Robert Marzano et al picked an excellent topic and performed a very extensive meta-analysis of educational research that relates to this topic of Classroom Instruction that Works. One of the most appealing qualities of this meta-analysis is that one teacher doesn't have to practice all the instructional strategies to improve their classroom instruction. Each teacher can pick one or more of instructional methodologies that fit in their own toolbox.

Any teacher can improve their own skills by reading this research summary. Entire schools, districts or states can definitely increase student achievement by improving their skills in the practice of the tenets driven by the meta-analytic research of Classroom Instruction that Works.

I Still Don't Get It! What's Your Sign?

Even after all these years in Teaching, I am still shocked and amazed that teachers, who should be the BEST interpreters of all, still can't understand the reality the choose to visit, share or advise.

The lack of critical thinking skills among those who profess to be on the forefront of their teaching field boggles the mind. I will admit, I do recover faster than I used to when I was younger, after a surreal encounter with these characters. Most times, I don't try anymore to explain to these people they are walking down a blind alley. Let them be blissfully ignorant. LOL! Those who cannot see.....

If I wasn't a teacher, with a strong background in successful collaboration, I don't think I could bear to know that there are teachers in our schools, especially our universities, who can't think their way out of a paper bag. LOL, Yes, I know I wouldn't be able to stomach it. LOL No wonder the public talks about teachers like they do.

It is my contention that a truly valuable lesson can be learned or refreshed here, by inexperienced, as well as experienced teachers. Humility and courtesy can improve thinking skills through cooperative learning, interpretive skills and true collaboration.

Here is the story:
A new member, I will name Done, joined one of the interactive educational social networks where I am a member. Done immediately came online, starting a redundant discussion topic. I see this kind of New Bee all the time and usually avoid these people.

This is their most insidious trait. Dones elicit the caretaker response in rational people who want to help them avoid embarrassment. That is WRONG. They are not capable of experiencing embarrassment. LOL

Done vehemently asserted that Done's proposed project was a unique revelation. It was nothing like the one several people mentioned. Done's position was laughable, so laughable it was sad. That is probably the source of my feelings of frustration. If Done can't figure out (interpret) what we are saying, how can Done teach? Don't these Done teachers have to understand and interact with people in the act of teaching?

It has been my experience that these heraldic New Bees are people who will not do a search to discover what is already going on in a network. They are going "a viking" to gather booty for themselves. What's up with that? Isn't that antithetical to the psyche of the teacher?

I think this lack of critical thinkings skills and ability to work in collaborative groups is a major problem. Frighteningly, teachers who have this problem don't even recognize it.

For those of you who are trying to understand and interpret your environment, teaching effectively within it, here are some traits of egocentrism that you can recognize. Steer clear of these people.

1. The kid is their favorite character in the book The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

2. Join my group invites w/o reciprocating. A rampant del.icio.us network problem.

3. Take primary sources and spin them to other networks as their own.

4. First adopters without a clue. Think about the kid who just has to have a new pet, but gets tired of it after a few weeks....same concept....They are fickle, and they can't think straight.

5. Can't plan in a holistic manner. All planning revolves around them. If you fit in, fine. If you don't, fine.


I believe these are the teachers who have given us all the poor reputation for teaching content that is a mile wide and an inch deep.

Thanks, Dr. Bebb!!

PittState is my alma mater. This wonderful university became my college home, a kid from the desert plopped down in the Great Plains, by circumstance not of my own making. Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg in Pittsburg is now known as Pittsburg State University, PittState.

Today is a day of thankfulness. First, thanks to Dr. Bebb for helping me make a decision that transformed my life in the most exceptional way. Dr. Bebb talked about the KSTCP Education Department in such a way, I knew I had found a philosophical home. I wanted to be a part of this group. I wanted to learn from these professors to become an exceptional teacher and friend to education's partners....kids and their parents. Hughes Hall, home of the Education Department at Pittstate still looks the same as when I attended classes there the first time.


Now, Pittsburg State University Education Department still upholds those philosophies that drew me into the fold of generations of teachers graduating from this excellent university. Thanks to my alma mater for maintaining traditions while growing into the future world of education.

Today, I visited my advisor for my Master's of Science in Curriculum, Dr. Kent Runyan. He is the professor who helped me traverse the graduate program with ease. My most valuable class for me, personally, during this masters program was the class called Trends and Issues. I learned so much that I never knew and didn't learn anywhere else. Every teacher that I have known who took this class has agreed. Thanks, Dr. Runyan.

Today, there were visits to the Instructional Resource Center, headed by Michelle Hudiburg, the Axe library and the VISITORS Parking Lot that is still located 1/4 mile from the Administration Building. It is next to the football field. Pittstate has a great football field.

Thank you to all.

Captain Kangaroo and Me!

Most people think that the time when they grew up was the best of all times, and I am no exception to that truism. I grew up with Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Greenjeans, andShari Lewis who interacted with me through the cutting age media of the time, the television. Yes, I loved the TV, but not as much as I loved books, especially those recommended by these TV friends. Because of them, I can truly say that my first love in education is the book.

I am particularly indebted to Captain Kangaroo and Magic Drawing Board for helping me develop a yearning for good books. Each day, the Captain would tell a story, from a picture book, with the help of the Magic Drawing Board. You could say that the Magic Drawing Board was the precursor of the interactive white board. Now we all can have our own Magic Drawing Board, but that is another story.

One of my favorite stories was the American picture book classic, Make Way For Ducklings, written by Robert McCloskey. This book was a Caldecott Winner. An award given, through the American Library Association, for books with the best illustrations and interaction within their story.

Make Way For Ducklings was illustrated using sepia tones, so its beauty and desirability remain timeless for the art and the story. Every child should read Make Way For Ducklings because every child wants to know that the world can be generous and so can the people in it. Plus you get to fly around New York!

This picture book, Make Way for Ducklings, can be used for recreational reading, but there are themes in the book that lend it to use in various units or projects that a teacher may be developing. There are science, social studies, and character related theme. I would suggest that you need to read this book for yourself to learn first hand what it's fine points are. You will never go wrong reading and teaching Make Way For Ducklings.

You might even be able to work out some related lessons on the Magic Drawing Board. OOOooops, I mean.....interactive white board.

7 Steps For Online Class

TappedIN, an educational social network, is sponsored by Stanford Research Institute, Inc. within their Center for Technology in Learning, an innovator in educational research interests, including TappedIN.

Follow
these seven simple steps to discover TappedIN, the online tech campus.
You can have an office and make protected classrooms for K-12 students.
TappedIN is robust and receptive to the educational needs of teachers,
students and tech leaders:

1. Visit TappedIN as a guest. Sign in as a guest. Enable chat.
   


2. After signing in, you will be directed to the Reception Room.


3. You have arrived. Usually, volunteers are available to help...if you want.
   


4. Move your cursor to the bottom of the TappedIN Reception Room and read the Quick orientation to Tapped In.


5. At the top of the webpage, you will see tabs. Click on the Me tab. Read your message.
   


6. Click on the TappedIN tab and visit the campus, people and calendar of events.


7. After that, the "sky's the limit"...read more, join TappedIN, talk online or visit offices.

Integrated Curricula and PBL opportunity

• Want to integrate your curricula?
• Want to start a simple PBL opportunity?
• Want exciting, educational afterschool PBL extensions?
• Want your PBL experience to be successful?
  

Leni Dolan, a colleague at the TappedIn campus, and an experienced teacher-leader, can collaborate with you to meet these goals with Postcard Geography. Leni creates and moderates online projects, including Westward Ho!
Teachers can sign up to participate in the 2007-2008 Postcard Geography project anytime before September 23, 2007. While there is no cost to register, your school would need to invest in the postage necessary to send the class postcard packet, but that is a nominal expense.

I believe that Postcard Geography will provide any teacher an excellent opportunity to make the greatest impact for student learning and achievement through PBL. The Postcard Geography project is a part of the Cyberbee group and is recognized as a Blue Web'n Site. The project is respectful of teachers' need to protect the privacy of students, so the only information you place in the project database is your name, address, and the number of students that will join you in the Postcard Geography project.

Leni explains the design and process of the Postcard Geography project in an easily understood format. I believe teachers appreciate her attention to detail, especially the resource guidance she provides to help you determine where this PBL will fit with your students, curricula and classes.

The Postcard Geography project is arranged into three age categories: Elementary, Middle, and High school levels. If you are a middle or high school teacher looking for a educational service project, your older students could work with younger students in afterschool programs or as helpers for elementary teachers working with the Postcard Geography project.

Leni's directions are simple, yet effective. Here is a sample instruction from the Postcard Geography website:
"The teacher blog provides a place for participants to share ideas and ask questions. The discussion blog also allows the project moderator to inform participants of address changes and other developments as the project progresses. While you may not wish to post messages, we expect everyone to read them. Active use of the discussion blog is crucial to accomplishing the goal of the project – making sure ALL participants receive postcards!"

If you want your students to participate in an effective, educational, and fun PBL, join the Postcard Geography project.