Texas Bluebonnet Writing Project Blog

Barbara Ganley's Sessions at TXBWP MidWinter

2008-03-07T13:34:00.001-08:00

I apologize for not getting these podcasts up sooner. I thought I had posted them already. Enjoy!

Session 1

Session 2

Mid Winter Conference

2008-02-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

Hi, Everyone! My thoughts were with you during the Midwinter Conference. How did it go? Who came? How was Barbara? I'm down in Houston with Jessica. Her baby is going to be born tomorrow! We needed all weekend to get prepared and have mother/daughter time together so I couldn't be with you, but you were all in my thoughts! Fill me in!

The Learning Ecology of Authors' Workshop Blogging

2008-02-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

Here is my Powerpoint and and a copy of the handouts of my presentation for the MidWinter Literacy Conference: Digital Literacies in the K-12 Classroom.

learning_ecology_workshop_blogging.ppt

learning_ecology_workshop_blogging.pdf

Joyce Jacobs - Bibliotherapy Teaching Demonstration

2008-02-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Please follow this link http://kinderbeaniejournal.blogspot.com/ to my teaching presentation from the Bluebonnet Writing Project's Midwinter Conference on February 2, 2008.

Check back often as the materials and links will be updated!

Joyce :)

MidWinter Conference is upon us!

2008-01-23T18:38:00.000-08:00

Click on the image above to see the larger flyer.

Technorati Tags: txbwp, scott_s_floyd, bgblogging, barbara_ganley

Online Photo Sharing in Plain English

2008-01-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

I am double posting this here and here.

To piggyback my previous posts about design and photography and Flickr usage, I would like to offer this short tutorial video about online photo sharing. Thanks to the folks (Lee LeFever) at Common Craft for once again making this an easy to understand topic. So don't let a little fear of a software program slow you down from joining the fun and learning of photo sharing.

Technorati Tags: scott_s_floyd, flickr, lee_lefever

Art and the Art of Writing

2008-01-09T21:26:00.001-08:00

For those of you combining art and writing, I thought I would share this blog with you. Natalie and the Big Picture. Natalie is an art professor at Colorado State and also is a student teacher facilitator. She is blogging hard but not getting much in the way of comments. Here is one section I found very interesting from a post called "Sometimes you have to hide the carrots":

Writing in the artroom is kind of the same way. Seems like the most effective writing applications are fully integrated and 'hidden' in the content of the class. A lesson taught by one of my students at the Lab School brought this idea home. Students made a dwelling and then wrote a story about who might live there. But what filled the assignment with artistic goodness was the way the student did it. It wasn't just a story, it was a story that had to reference how the dwelling came to look the way it did. It had to address the visual elements and not just be a story. YES! Full integration - veggies in the sauce!

The added bonus for me as the observer was that this particular student had been reticent to the whole writing process. When we met in the computer lab for our final assessment she lamented "But you told us we were done with the writing part!" And now here she is, hiding the writing so well I don't think kids were aware they were doing it. The room full of 6th graders was totally silent and fully engaged. The best part was they were all thinking about their artwork. What a delicious lesson.

Natalie really brings home the point that writing is a part of a much larger process of learning in all subjects and not just English. If only we could get that across to all of our student teachers and current teachers. Go read what she has to share and then let her know you are there. Gotta help keep those professors blogging, you know. Thanks to Bud Hunt (CSU NWP) AKA Bud the Teacher for sharing the link via a Twitter post.

And while I am on the topic of art, I have been trying to keep up with the 366photo group on Flickr. The object of these educators and students is to take one photo a day for the whole year. Tag your photos on Flickr with the 366photo tag so we can find them. Also do a tag search for that tag to see what other educators are posting. Pretty cool idea to help us focus on design and storytelling. Here is one of my latest photos of my son (the one above is one of mine as well):

Technorati Tags: scott_s_floyd, txbwp

BGBlogging is coming to BWP's Mid-Winter Conference!

2008-01-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

Barbara Ganley, in her blog post, announced her intent to present at Bluebonnet Writing Project's Mid-Winter Conference on February 2, 2008. Thanks to Pete Smith we are excited to be able to host her. Folks, you don't get opportunities like this every day. Take advantage of it and plan to attend. Stay tuned to this blog for more information as it comes available about this wonderful FREE professional development event.

Technorati Tags: scott_s_floyd, txbwp, bgblogging, barbara_ganley

My Favorite Photographs of 2007

2007-12-31T23:15:00.001-08:00

While we focus on design being important in educating our youth (or their learning), I have begun to pay particular attention in how things look around me. I think that giving our students the opportunity to understand and appreciate the elements of design will allow them to create better finished products to display their learning. Photographs will also allow them to generate tons of writing. Have your students share their photos with the rest of the class. Give them time to create a storyline about what is happening in the photo. Then allow the owner of the picture to divulge the truth. Vote to see which storyline is the favorite. You can even create a bulletin board out of this project. The kids will love it!

While I am at the earliest stages of caring what my photographs look like, I am at least trying to get better. Following the tips of others, I think I will show some improvement over the next year. I am getting to the point where I can visualize what I want the photo to look like. Now I just need to get the skills to adjust the camera accordingly. If I start this post as an annual event, it will give me a little inspiration to get better as well.

I had the opportunity to play with several different digital cameras over the past year. I have many favorites of family members, yet they (the family members) remain shy about Internet exposure. Following the lead of educators such as Dean Shareski, David Warlick, Brian Genier, D'Arcy Norman, Ewan McIntosh, and others, I thought I would join the "sharing" group. So with that being said, here are the photos I have chosen. Feel free to give me suggestions to make them better. I generally use an Olympus E-Volt 500 now.

My son anticipating the waves at Gulf Shores, AL, USA:

My son enjoying the rodeo in Gladewater, TX, USA (my personal favorite of the year):

I took this one at a church camp during a men's retreat outside of Tyler, TX, USA:

This photo was taken while picking strawberries in Hallsville, TX, USA:

Of my nature photos, this is one I really liked because of the different perspective. Taken in my front yard:

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, photography

Top Web 2.0 Tools for ESL/EFL and More

2007-12-23T20:53:00.001-08:00

Larry Ferlazzo shares his Best Web 2.0 Applications for Education from an ESL/EFL educator's point of view.

I decided to start putting together various “Best Of” lists for this year, and am starting out with my picks for the best Web 2.0 applications for education. I’m taking the broader view for this list, so I think these sites are the best ones for students across the board — not just for ESL/EFL students.

I think this list is a great start for those in education looking for some unique tools to incorporate into their curriculum. Take a look, give them a try, and then post your own list to your blog and share the link here in the comment section.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, web20, txbwp

Google Reader and Sharing the Love

2007-12-20T11:47:00.001-08:00

My Twitter bud @ijohnpederson created a tutorial for sharing your Google Reader finds with others (among other nuggets of Google info in there). Thought you might find it handy to help you build your own personal learning network. Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, google_reader, ijohnpederson

Why have a blog?

2007-11-30T09:14:00.000-08:00

Lee Lefever and the folks at Common Craft are at it again. Here is their latest video on the why's and have's of blogs. Check it out (on TeacherTube if it is blocked at school):

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, blogs, commoncraft

Now SnagIt is free!

2007-11-28T09:00:00.001-08:00

Earlier in the week I shared that Camtasia was giving away their older version of screencasting software for free. Now they have added SnagIt to the list of free offerings.

Here is an update from Miguel:

UPDATE: 11/28/2007 - Free Screen Capture program

SnagIt Pro is now giving away retail editions of SnagIt screen capture software for free. Follow these steps to download SnagIt for Free:

1. Get the demo version of SnagIt 7.2.5 via FTP at ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/SnagIt.exe
2. Request a SnagIt 7 Software key

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, camtasia, snagit, screencasting

Camtasia for FREE!!

2007-11-26T06:25:00.001-08:00

If you have ever wanted to be able to record what you were doing on your computer screen for either archive or playback at another time (think tutorials, review, video, etc), then this is the software you need. Camtasia has long been recognized as the leader in screencasting software. The only downside is that they do not have a Mac version yet, but you never know. I heard rumor it might be in the works.

So, thanks to a post by Miguel Guhlin on this offer, you can go download Camtasia's last version (3.1) for free. Considering the newest version (4.0) runs around $100 or so, this is a great deal. Take advantage of it. It is an awesome tool to use in the classroom.

Download here.
Get your software key here to unlock it.
Check out some tutorials here.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, camtasia, education

NCTE 2007 Presentation... The Ecology of Learning a la Web 2.0

2007-11-15T09:35:00.000-08:00

Here's the Powerpoint for our NCTE presentation in New York.

bluebonnet_ncte2007.ppt

Persistent Pondering

2007-10-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

SO I've started my own site. It's called Persistent Pondering so its address is persistentpondering.com

I will still keep up Suzie Q's Whirled as well, but Persistent Pondering is for my educational stuff.

I just posted some cool stuff about a thing called Trailfire. Check it out! Leave me comments please.

Janelle

Can you ToonDoo?

2007-10-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

This is a ToonDoo. (Go to www.toondoo.com) Please scroll over it to see if it makes you chuckle in the slightest. I just learned it from the K-12 Online Conference... it's so fun to play!

PS. Blogger is acting funny with my linking so you'll have to do this one manually. Sorry.

Beautiful Belize

2007-10-21T11:57:00.001-07:00

Check out Scrapblog.com Another wonderful resource from the K-12 Online Conference.

Free VoiceThread Pro Account for Educators

2007-10-16T09:03:00.001-07:00

Remember at SI '07 when we all made some really nifty VoiceThread presentations? Well, not they have made them better by giving educators some great free features that they are charging others for. Check it out here.

Also, check out the Educator Guide.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, TXBWP

In Some Schools, iPods Are Required Listening

2007-10-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

Read this article...what are your thoughts? Will you allow iPods in your classroom?

By WINNIE HU

UNION CITY, N.J., Oct. 8 — A ban on iPods is so strictly enforced at José Martí Middle School that as many as three a week are confiscated from students — and returned only to their parents.

But even as students have been told to leave their iPods at home, the school here in Hudson County has been handing out the portable digital players to help bilingual students with limited English ability sharpen their vocabulary and grammar by singing along to popular songs.

Next month, the Union City district will give out 300 iPods at its schools as part of a $130,000 experiment in one of New Jersey’s poorest urban school systems. The effort has spurred a handful of other districts in the state, including the ones in Perth Amboy and South Brunswick, to start their own iPod programs in the last year, and the project has drawn the attention of educators from Westchester County to Monrovia, Calif.

The spread of iPods into classrooms comes at a time when many school districts across the country have outlawed the portable players from their buildings — along with cellphones and DVD players — because they pose a distraction, or worse, to students. In some cases, students have been caught cheating on tests by loading answers, mathematical formulas and notes onto their iPods.

But some schools are rethinking the iPod bans as they try to co-opt the devices for educational purposes. Last month, the Perth Amboy district bought 40 iPods for students to use in bilingual classes that are modeled after those in Union City. In South Brunswick, 20 iPods were used last spring in French and Spanish classes. And in North Plainfield, N.J., the district has supplied iPods to science teachers to illustrate chemistry concepts, and it is considering allowing students in those classes to use iPods that they have brought from home.

“It’s an innovation,” said Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, which selected Union City educators to speak about the iPod classes at the group’s annual conference in Atlantic City Oct. 24-26. “Most people think of the iPod as just entertainment.”

At José Martí, the silver iPods, with built-in video screens, cost about $250 each and are passed out at the beginning of class along with headsets and Spanish-to-English dictionaries. The iPods are collected at the end of class, and school officials said that none have disappeared or been broken.

In one recent class, eighth-grade students mouthed the words to the rock song “Hey There Delilah” by the Plain White T’s as they played the tune on the iPods over and over again. The braver ones sang out loud.

“It speaks to me,” said Stephanie Rojas, 13, who moved here last year from Puerto Rico and now prefers to sing in English. “I take a long time in the shower because I’m singing, and my brothers are like, ‘Hurry up!’”

Pedro Noguera, a sociology professor at New York University who studies urban schools, said that more districts were using new technologies like iPods to connect with students. For instance, he said, teachers have designed video games around history lessons and assigned students to re-enact novels and plays on YouTube.

“You know the No. 1 complaint about school is that it’s boring because the traditional way it’s taught relies on passive learning,” Mr. Noguera said. “It’s not interactive enough.”

In many affluent communities, iPods have evolved into an essential accessory for students. In 2004, Duke University led the way by outfitting its entire freshman class with iPods that were preloaded with orientation information and even the Duke fight song. While Duke no longer gives away iPods, it maintains a pool of them that are lent to students for classes. Last spring, 93 of the 2,000 or so courses at Duke required iPods.

The Brearley School, a private girls school on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, has used iPods to supplement foreign-language textbooks and its music, drama and English classes. Every Brearley student in seventh through ninth grades is required to buy or rent an iPod.

Here in Union City, the iPods are a splurge for many of the immigrant families who live in this densely packed urban center, once known for its embroidery factories. About 94 percent of the district’s 11,000 students qualify for free or reduced lunches.

The Union City district, which has a $197 million annual budget, places a priority on bilingual classes because more than one-quarter of its students are learning basic English skills. District officials said the stakes are high; 4 of the district’s 12 schools have been identified as needing improvement under the federal No Child Left Behind law, largely because not enough bilingual students have passed the state reading and math tests.

Grace Poli, a media specialist at José Martí, said that she approached district officials about buying 23 iPods for an after-school bilingual program in 2004 after being struck by students’ passion for them. Spanish-speaking students seemed bored by their English-language textbooks, she said, which they found outdated and irrelevant.

The program became so popular that it was added to the regular school schedule the following year, and in 2006, Ms. Poli received 60 more iPods. Last May, the district decided to buy 300 iPods to expand the program to other schools this fall.

Ms. Poli scoured the music charts for songs that appealed to students, compiling an eclectic mix of tunes by Shania Twain, Barry White, U2 and the Black Eyed Peas. She downloaded their songs to the iPods and typed out the lyrics. Then she deleted all the nouns — and in turn, the verbs and adjectives — forcing the students to fill in the missing words and learn their meaning.

In class, they sing or recite the completed lyrics back to her.

“A lot of our bilingual kids are very shy, and they feel like outsiders,” said Ms. Poli, whose parents immigrated from Ecuador. “You have kids who never said a word in English, and now they’re singing Black Eyed Peas. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it.”

Ms. Poli has also downloaded audio books, including the Harry Potter series, and added recording devices to the iPods so that students can listen to their pronunciation as they read poetry or talk with one another.

While the iPods have been used mainly in bilingual classes, the district plans to try them with students who have learning disabilities and behavioral problems as part of the program’s expansion, which is set to begin next month. Last year, Ms. Poli helped an alternative education class create podcasts of test-taking tips that were shared with the entire school.

Ms. Poli said her Spanish-speaking students — known around the school as Pod People — have been able to move out of bilingual classes after just a year of using the digital devices, compared with an average of four to six years for most bilingual students.

Geri Perez, the principal at José Martí, said parents have requested that their children be enrolled in the iPod-equipped classes. Ms. Perez, who does not speak Spanish, said that bilingual students who once shied away from talking to her have gained self-confidence and now come up to her in the hallways.

Dianelis Cano, 13, who moved here from Cuba less than two years ago, said that she had learned so much English that her mother, a saleswoman in a clothing store, bought her an iPod over the summer as a reward for good grades. Dianelis loads her own songs onto the iPod to practice English outside school, though she also includes Spanish music.

“I’m going to check your iPod to make sure there is English music there,” Ms. Poli teased her. “I’m going to make home visits.”

Check out this book - it is a must read!

2007-10-06T15:52:00.001-07:00

Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century: The Importance of Paying Attention
Author(s): Cynthia L. Selfe

Foreword by Hugh Burns

Part critique of existing policy and practice, part call-to-action, Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century explores the complex linkage between technology and literacy that has come to characterize American culture and its public educational system at the end of the twentieth century.

To provide a specific case study of this complex cultural formation, award-winning educator Cynthia L. Selfe discusses the Technology Literacy Challenge, an official, federally sponsored literacy project begun in 1996 that has changed—at fundamentally important levels—the definition of literacy and the practices recognized as constituting literate behavior in America. Selfe tries to identify the effects of this new literacy agenda, focusing specifically on what she calls "serious and shameful" inequities it fosters in our culture and in the public education system: among them, the continuing presence of racism, poverty, and illiteracy. She describes how the national project to expand technological literacy came about, what effects it has yielded, why the American public has supported this project, and how teachers of English, language arts, and composition have contributed to this project, despite their best intentions.

A primary goal of this study is to make teachers of English and composition increasingly aware of the new literacy agenda and to suggest how they might positively influence its shape and future direction, both in the classroom and in the community. This awareness is an integral part of educators' larger professional responsibility to understand the way in which our culture thinks about and values literacy. Perhaps even more important, argues Selfe, this awareness is part of teachers' ethical responsibility to understand how literacy and literacy instruction directly and continually affect the lived experiences of the individuals and families with whom teachers interact.

Studies in Writing & Rhetoric (SWR) series. 182 pp. 1999. College. NCTE/CCCC and Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 0-8093-2269-2.

Why do you blog?

2007-09-28T18:24:00.000-07:00

What a great question with some equally interesting responses.

Here are some of my faves from a discussion posted on Sandhill Trek.

"Anne Mathewson of Fishbucket says,

Herman Melville put it best when he said, "We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results." A perfect description of blogging, don't you think?

I started blogging some years ago largely to pass time and share experiences. A small part of me, however, was selfishly hoping for admiration and affirmation; a shallow attitude I've long abandoned. Eventually, I discovered the joy found via "invisible threads" and "sympathetic fibers" - those human connections made along the way. Blogger tend to be a lovely comfort of strangers.

Dervala Hanley says,

When I set up my first Blogger account three years ago, the form asked for a tagline. For want of anything better, I put "A love letter." By the time I had fifty thousand words on the clock, it got a bit clearer what I'd meant by that.

It's all about lurve, baby.

I blog for the same reasons that Alistair Cooke read those Letters From America until he was ninety-six or seven. I'm an emigrant. My family is thousands of miles away, and my friends are scattered around the world. Each entry is a letter home, wherever that is, and it's also a letter _about_ home, wherever that might be.

It's a love letter to some kid not yet born, and to the friends, strangers, sisters, exes, and former classmates who might stop by. (Funny how those circles overlap.)

And it's mostly (even when I'm cranky) a letter about the things, people, and places that I love. I could store up enthusiasms until I burst, but writing them down is a better way to absorb and share them.

I haven't much interest in the debates that seem to go on--that weird A List thing, the blogging-versus-journalism angst, the schism between warbloggers and cat diarists. I'm not much of a linker or an argufier. I still hate the word 'blog'.

My blog is a message in a bottle with a FedEx tracking number. Hello World."

So why do you blog?

More Ideas with VoiceThread

2007-09-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Miguel Guhlin for your ideas on this. We actually started playing with VoiceThread this summer, and I love having this tool.

Here's Miguel's post:

Digital Storytelling with VoiceThread

Technology Applications:TEKS (TA:TEKS) teachers attending The Power of Comprehension workshop were some of the first teachers to see VoiceThreads, an exciting digital storytelling tool. The power of VoiceThread is that it can be used regardless of what type of computer you have since it is web-based. VoiceThread describes itself in this way:

A VoiceThread allows every child in a class to record audio commentary about the ideas and experiences that are important to them. Whether an event, a project, or a milestone, children can tell their story in their own voice, and then share it with the world.

For teachers, VoiceThreads offer a single vessel to capture and then share all the diverse personalities of an entire class. You will hear the pride and excitement in their voices as the students "publish" their work.A VoiceThread can be managed with little effort, creating an heirloom that can be shared by students, parents, and educators alike.
Read More

In addition to using VoiceThread for digital storytelling, you are able to use it for a variety of purposes. Some of those include (note the links to examples):

Poem book: In this activity, participants share their favorite poems to create an audio poem book.
Great Book Stories: According to Wes Fryer (SpeedofCreativity.org), The idea is basic: Narrate five pictures to share why you love a specific book, and why other people should read it. If you’re interested in contributing, please check out the site and the guidelines. The password to edit the wiki is “share” without quotation marks.
Online Literature Circles: Wouldn't this be a neat way of having literature circles online? Still looking for examples.
Social Studies/Geography Applications
Using Moodle in Technology Applications Classrooms: This was created by TA:TEKS teachers as a way to explore VoiceThread while at the same time share ideas about using Moodle, an online discussion forum and teaching tool in their classroom. Note that someone Allanah King, a New Zealand teacher was able to leave an audio comment on one of the "slides."
Teaching Chemistry Lecture
A Book Review by the GED Book Club
A student presentation regarding The Invisible Children

There are many more VoiceThreads available online, spanning a variety of media genres including poems, self-portraits, lectures, book reviews, multimedia presentations, and digital stories. Why not add your students

Want to use VoiceThread in your own classroom? Consider these resources to get you started:

The SAISD Office of Instructional Technology Services is happy to work with you and your students. Please feel free to contact Miguel Guhlin at mguhlin@saisd.net or by phone at 210-527-1400.

We're here!

2007-09-28T08:01:00.000-07:00

Here's the first pic from the NWPTX meeting at Texas State University.

Shelley and Dianna drove, and we got here safely despite the crazy traffic.

We are discussing NWPTX's mini-grant to discuss Web 2.0 to sustain and increase capacity for our state network.... Scott, why aren't you here?

We miss you all!

Free. Quality. Self-selected. Your pace. Your place.

2007-09-26T06:42:00.001-07:00

What else can I say about the technology sessions offered in the k12online conference? Check out the poster below, and then check out the site. This is your chance to learn new technologies and the pedagogy behind them without having a class full of people sitting around you. No pressure to move on until you are ready. Yet, there is a ton of free support offered in this as well, so you are not left stranded. The conference is one I highly recommend.

Oh, did I mention it is free?

If you need help getting an RSS feed reader set-up so you can follow the conference happenings easier, let me know. I am always more than happy to help out.

Technorati Tags: Scott_S_Floyd, k12online07