Thing #8 Wiki's ...

We use wiki's at our school to schedule computer times in the labs.  This is such a great method, but sometimes teachers (YES, TEACHERS) erase other people's names.  Our librarian has to now make it private so that she is the only one to that has access to it.

I created a Wiki for our 5th graders to use to encourage them to read the Texas Bluebonnet Books.  We will have a Bluebonnet party at the end of the year and to be eligible to participate, they will have to have read at least 5 books and participated in the wiki.  I'm going to ask the librarian to put the link on her SYMBALOO so that the 5th graders can have easy access to complete their entries.

Jane Long's Bluebonnet Book Wiki

I will eventually add a poll so that the voting can be done on the wiki.

Thing #7: Image Creator

WORDSIFT ~ in one word ... AMAZING!!!

I have used wordle to make word clouds before, but OH MY GOODNESS ... this program takes vocabulary development, main idea and summary to a whole new level!  I copied a one page sample of a passage to see what would happen.  The passage was on rattlesnakes.  When the Wordsift was created from the words I pasted in, this is what was created ...

snake wordshift


On this word shift, you can find images, videos, a virtual thesaurus, as well as many options for shifting the words.

My school has a very large ELL population.  I think this is going to be a great tool for teachers to use in Science and Social Studies as well as ELA teachers working on main idea and summary.

Thing #6 Netvibes

WOW!!!  I've always wondered how sites like these work.  I found it very interesting that I can have all the sites that I visit at my fingertips without ever leaving one page.  What a great way to organize yourself.  The site, Netvibes, itself, was kind of hard to navigate.  I want to organize it another way, but found it took so much time.

I was a little overwhelmed at the amount of information that is out there.  The tab feature is most helpful due to the fact you can be very specific on your RSS feeds that you gather.  When searching for topics on my writing tab, I found a McREL webinar that I've registered for.  Without these exercise, I would not have known about the program.  I would like it to be more "searcher" friendly.  I do not have time to sit and look through every item.  I found myself adding sites that I may or may not ever use.

I want to create a tab for my son on my computer so that he has his "personal" page for all of his sites that he visits on a daily basis.  Students in classrooms could use their teacher's netvibes to do research on specific topics, but I think I like the web 2.0 tool Symbaloo better for that purpose.

 Kim's Netvibes

Just wanted to follow-up with the webinar I found on my RSS feed ~  WONDERFUL presentation.  Some really great ideas and spreadsheets that I will be able to use when I am planning my change unit for our Systems class.  I'll share with everyone on Monday night.  :)

Thing #2

My first experience with blogging came from my sister's friend who started blogging when she was recovering from a miscarriage.  She used her blog to let her friends and the world know her struggles and eventually the joy she and her husband experienced when they adopted a little spitfire of a girl and a docile little boy.  As time has past and the kid have consumed her world, she does not blog as much.  My cousin, on the other hand, had a blog about her struggle as a mom of a child with autism.  Another friend carried us through her journey of discovering her 5 year old daughter having a brain tumor, surgery, and being left blind in one eye.  Every year she updates the blog on the anniversary of her x-ray to always give everyone a good report.

Well, since all these "blogs" have stemmed from tragic beginnings, I never really thought I had any reason to have a blog.  The ability to write and talk about myself always seemed very daunting to me, but her I go ...

off to the blogging universe!

Thing #1 Lifelong Learner

THING #1  Lifelong Learning ...

When I Googled "lifelong learning,"  it had over 30 MILLION hits in 30 seconds!!!  What a TOP TOPIC!!!

I consider myself a lover of learning ... and have always attempted to instill that in my students.  I think I had a wonderful example of LIFELONG LEARNING in my grandmother.  You would find her, at 86, at Brazosport College in Lake Jackson, TX, attending a wood carving class or visiting her friends (some 10 years younger) at the nursing home on a daily basis up until the last 3 months of her life.

When I look at the 7 1/2 Habits listed of Lifelong Learners:

1,  Begin with the end in mind.

2.  Accepting responsibility for your own learning

3.  View problems as challenges

4.  Have confidence in yourself as an effective, competent learner

5.  Create your own learning toolbox

6.  Use technology to your advantage

7.  Teach/mentor others

1/2 PLAY!

My grandmother really demonstrated that you had to "accept responsibility for your own learning."  She would seek out the classes she wanted to take and never doubted herself as an "effective, competent learner."  She made many things we, my family, treasure to this day.  This was all done before "technology" really became prevalent as it is today.  I'm almost certain that if she were alive today, she would be a hot mess on Facebook!  :)  

Because of this example, I have never wanted to give up or consider there to be something I could not learn.  I want to teach and lead by example and leave a legacy to my son and step-daughter just like Grandmommy left for me.

Learning Contract

Thing # 5 Mashups

I found mashups to be something quite UNIQUE!!!

The Flickr Montage was very interesting.  I have seen these posted before, but had no idea how to create anything like this.  I do believe people are so ingenious when it comes to writing programs and HTML codes that enable the computers to work so fast.

I also thought the flickr.coverpop was awesome.  I especially liked the stick figure in peril and the flickr.coverpop peace tiles.

You could spend HOURS just creating and exploring these mashups.

My daughter uses djearworm --- now I know what she is talking about :)

Thing #4 Flickr

My Vacation to Hawaii

This summer my husband surprised my family by securing a once in a lifetime vacation to HONOLULU, HAWAII!!!  

We boarded the plane on June 26 and spent 8 glorious days exploring the island of Oahu.   We rented a car, so we were able to drive to every possible adventure the island had to offer.  I do believe the highlight of the trip for me was ... well, I don't know if I can just capture one highlight.  The breath-taking view from the coast was one that still lives in my mind when I close my eyes, the powerful waterfalls, the sea turtles swimming wild in the ocean and basking in the sun on the deserted beach, climbing Diamond Head ... the list goes on and on and on!

This summer was one that I will never forget and wish everyone would get an opportunity to experience at least once in a lifetime.  

Kim 

Thing # 3 Photos

These are some of my favorite women in the world! 

  Love my beautiful mother, sister-in-law, and sister 

My wonderful aunt, niece, and daughter!