BP4_2009121_PicLit

See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

This was my first PicLit in practice mode.

tbird said 20 hours ago:
Tell us more about this meeting. Where is it taking place. WRITE more and often. Thanks



See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

tbird said 13 hours ago:
Clever and very apropo.

This was my second and I made it for this post.



See the full PicLit at PicLits.com


tbird said 13 hours ago:
Well said. Grasping the magnitude of change and over-abundance of information. Just some of my thoughts. Thanks for sharing this PicLit. Kudos.

chata said 14 hours ago:
The agony and the joy of working on the edge!

After playing around I made this one and earned 4 stars! Very exciting.


PicLit.com is a site that brings pictures and words together. The idea is to creatively match words that capture the spirit of a photo. A single word, phrases, sentences, or even a paragraph may be written. Rhyme or prose, the end result is liken to the many posters we have seen hanging on the walls in classrooms.

Creating a PicLit is very simple. A photo is chosen, words can be dragged and dropped from a provided list of nouns, verbs, and adjectives or the user can ‘freestyle’ and write from their own thoughts. The PicLit is then published and the user is given an embed code and Url to share their work in other places on the web. ELA teachers have long had students use the strategy of using images as prompts for story starters. As a part of my writing project courses picture prompts were used for quick writes. Finding just the right words to convey the message of an image isn’t an easy task, but just imagine using PicLit to jump off the creative writing mojo of students.

I created the above images in less than 10 minutes and was really surprised at how quick someone had viewed my work and made judgments so soon after I posted. The viewer of my work came from the PicLit founder, Terry Friedlander. His critique of my work was very exciting. This made me think about how feedback is so important to learners. Comments and ratings are formative assessments, nudges.

In my opinion, the site is not cumbersome and easy to navigate; the graphics are pleasing and does provide sparks of thoughts for writing. The directions are simple for even the youngest reader. The site even provides 3 levels of writing lessons for users to differentiate their writing experience. Each level has its own instructions for writers. Coming soon to the application will be the ability to print, search, and tag PicLits. There will even be a weekly contest.

PicLit is a great tool for inspiring students to think, write, and share their work in a creative way online.

BP3_2009121_EdulUses4Blogs

Photo Credit: Michael Karshis

Musing about blogs.

Jibber. Jabber. Yaada, Yaada, Yaada. I loved Seinfeld and his cronies and their gift of gabbing about everything from muffins, dates, jobs, and just about a whole lot of nothing. It was always talk and banter about some of the most asinine things. No matter the talk we all tuned in for years of episodes because in the whole lotta nothin’ there was a trace of somethin’. Thinking about blogging makes me think of Seinfeld, or various other shows where the speaking is fun and fast. Blogs can be fun or serious, full of air or substance, and nothing in particular or just as specific as it wants to be. It can be a swirl of all of the above. Nonetheless, it is a way to share one’s thinking on just about anything with a virtual audience. No vocals necessary.

A blog or weblog is defined as a website of chronologically ordered entries or posts (Zawilinski, 2009). These posts are like journal entries. The author expresses ideas, opinions, or inform its audience on how many licks it took to get to the center of a Tootsie pop (just having fun). Blogs are open to everyone and in every form.

Educational uses of blogs.

I’ve run a cool race searching for the “it” list of educational uses for blogs, but there isn’t an “it” list.

Here are some ideas from www.teachersfirst.com/content/blog/blogideas1.cfm:


Post writing prompt
Week in review
Respond to a reading
Find the facts
Critique a site
Current events



References

Zawilinski, L. (2009). HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking. Reading Teacher, 62(8), 650-661. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=39232973&site=ehost-live

BP2_2009121_RSSFeeds

Adding blogs to the Google reader can be quite messy without organization. Within the reader I've created several folders to organize my subscriptions. I've labeled them art, brain, gifted, AR, FSO, professional, etc. In my professional folder I have more than 5 feeds but I will share those that I think will help me in my Full Sail journey and beyond. I've subscribed to Reading Daily Today RSS feed. This is a blog from the International Reading Association, IRA. This feed will allow me to stay abreast of information concerning reading and literacy. The second feed is ISTE Connects from the International Standards for Technology Education organization. I look forward to staying up-to-date on technology teaching and learning for students and teachers. The third feed that I have is ASCD inservice blog. Access to the information shared with administrative leaders, provides a different point of view. The last two feeds I will list here are from seasoned professionals whom are passionate about technology. They are Dangerously Irrelevant and CoolCatteacher. These two sites will provide information about technology, leadership, and classroom teaching ideas. I am working on tailoring my feeds to sites or blogs that will help me with my Action Research (AR) project.

Huger-McGrew, D., (2009). Screenshot6.png.[Frame]. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from http://www.google.com/reader/view/?hl=en&tab=wy#overview-page

BP1_2009121_iGoogleScreenShots

Google Homecoming!

I am very excited to return to my iGoogle page. Over the course of the last 3 months it has been extremely difficult to merge the FSO world with my Google world. I'm a veteran Google suite user since the 2007-2008 teaching school year, my final school term. Then, I was looking for ways to integrate technology. Research writing was a part of the 8th grade ELA curriculum and I just knew there was a more efficient way of handling all the parts of the writing experience, i.e. a virtual concept mapmaker, a virtual notebook, etc. Once I figured everything out like my fellow course mate,Christina Hewitt, it was time to put my new learning to use. I had my students to create Google mail accounts and add the notebook tool to their home browser. Like I've said in numerous posts on the Full Sail Online discussion post boards, this was the best teaching and learning experience in a regular classroom setting that I had ever had. I still have the communication from this experience archived from the following: Google chats, emails, docs, and notebooks. This experience was the one thing that was nagging at me when I decided to leave the classroom because I wanted to use Google the following year (my action research before I knew of such a thing). I'm really grateful that spiritually much of what I have thought about has been solidified by my participation in the FSO program and the network of friends I've met here. When my course instructor, Rena Hanaway, shared her story, it was like she and I shared a journery, only in different states. I, too, believe that public education could use an overhaul and revolution led by it's strongest ally, the public school teacher.