006.7 EdubloggerCon: One Year Later

Gosh, one year ago today...I was attending one of the best educational gatherings ever (for me anyway)... EdubloggerCon08 that was held in San Antonio. I learned SO much on several levels about working in the virtual world, learning in the virtual world and just how much fun all of it can be. The big plus was meeting and talking and sharing with like-minded people! I was floating and didn't need Second Life to do it!

The whole week (as it moved into NECC 08) was so overwhelming...all the things there were to see and learn and all of the people who wanted to share.

If you click here, you can review the posts I wrote while there.

The results from my attendance:

1. After seeing almost EVERYONE working on a MAC, I was determined to bring MAC back into my life and I did and I love it just like I knew I would!

2. I AM a part of the revolution and PROUD of it.

3. I came away even more convinced that I must be an agent of change and do as much as I could to bring about change in my own little circle of influence. In my mind, it is not that education (and school libraries right along with the bigger picture) need to change ...they HAVE to change...and not everyone involved believes it...yet!

and I almost forgot one of the most important things I learned...

4. be sure and bring the power...the power strip that is! If you have an extra plug or two available, you get to meet the coolest people up close and personal. That is Cathy Nelson of TechnoTuesday who shared a bit of power time with me! I really enjoyed the 2-3 brief encounters we had thru the week.

I came across the pictures while searching for something else in FlickrCC and just decided to mark the anniversary by showing you I was there! :-)

Here is the link to this year's EduBlogger Conference...including the traditional "stair" picture and notes from the discussion.

Here is the link to NECC 09 and all of the resources.

To everyone there, have a grand time...I am definitely there in spirit! And I will be checking in as much as I can.

Credits: The Edubloger08 pictures are from kjarrett

006.7 EdubloggerCon08: Mission Accomplished!!

In the excitement of who I was around and what I was learning, I completely forgot to tell you, I accomplished my one and only pre-set (i.e. before I got here) objective...

I got it!!!

didn't have to run...didn't have to tackle anyone...didn't have to wait in line...didn't even have to resort to bribery or out-bid the highest bidder!!

I AM a part of the Revolution...and I wear it proudly!

006.7 EduBloggerCon08: Reflections

Being at the unconference yesterday was quite a treat! About 200 or so educators who blog and use other 2.0 technology to make students successful! A roomful of people who "get it" and don't let roadblocks get in their way. Not that they ignore the roadblocks...large chunks of time were spent taking about how to get others to "get it" too, or at the very least, get outta the way!

The sitting around talking was the best part of the day...yes, most of the day I spent on the fringes (anyone who knows me well, knows that is my favorite spot) watching and listening. But even I ventured forth and struck up a few conversations...usually because of my power... my power connection, that is! The best $7.00 I have spent in quite awhile. Yes, community is created if you have an extension cord. Daisy-chaining increases the size of your circle!

Everyone deals with the same problems. Everyone is eager to share the successes. And everyone, for the most part, wants to hear what you have to say...their successes and problems are no more important than yours.

One of the things that was almost totally absent (at least in the conversations I was privy to) was the question of $. No one really blamed their problems or shortcomings on the lack of funds, or used it as an excuse for not doing something. these folks are masters at figuring out ways to do almost anything and not allowing anything or anyone to stop them.

Yes, people who get in the way, was a big discussion topic...one whole session on what to do with administrators who don't "get it" tells you what is considered an big issue! Parents were mentioned a little, but most said that parents were easy to convince...the kids usually got their parents on bother by simple "kid begging!" Trying to bring colleagues or teacher groups on board was also discussed, but again, the idea of starting small, grabbing hold of risk-takers and friends willing to jump off unknown cliffs, usually was the solution.

It's the people at the top of whatever level of heap you find yourself on that seems to be the one rock that is hard to push out of the way...no matter how successful you are in some cases. For me personally, I was so glad to be able to say, that is no longer a problem where I am. Critical, key leaders (not just administrators) do get it ...and let me tell you...it makes the road to success so much easier and better. Our students are lucky!

Yes, there is a difference between leaders and administrators...a single person can easily be both, but quite often, it is two different people and that causes problems. Leaders will let you do what you feel is a way to success, whether they themselves can or can't do...and usually they can. Administrators spend lots of time managing, and often, to give up any of that management control, makes them nervous, so they don't.

Overall, this dynamic group does not accept "no" and pushes forward. The results speak for their effort. It was a privilege to be among them for a day. I am in awe of many of them...a little bit of hero-worship is probably a good description. I have added some new names, if not faces, to my list and I look forward to what else they give me as I explore their online warehouses of information. I still can't believe the 2.0 world lets me play in their playground. Yippy!

Here are some of the leaders I hung out "around"

David Warlick Two Cents his review of the day

Steve Hargdon EduBloggerCon is his idea another place of his Classroom 2.0

Dangerously Irrelevant Scott McLeod

Cool Cat Teacher Vicki Davis

TechnoTuesday Cathy Nelson, SC school librarian

Not So Distant Future Carolyn Foote, Austin school librarian reveiw 1 review 2

Kevin Honeycutt KS ed tech specialist who was hugely genereous with one-on-one conversation...the key ring thing is his...more about that in another post later. his podcasts
Chis Lehmann Practial Theory SLA

Paul Gates, the 2nd grade teacher from San Antonio who talked to me about the great things he does with his young children...and who is looking for someone to blog with! filmclip of one of his adventures

I KNOW there many, many others...I just didn't know who was who and couldn't keep up with the lightening flashes of names and ids. I learned from you too and will look for you around the "neighborhood"

Pictures: part of group on the stairs for photo op; David Warlick; C. Fooote & C. Nelson

I have a few more pictures that need "fixin' "...will include them later if I can get them light enough.

Ok...gotta finish getting ready to go checkout what's going on this afternoon!

006.7 EdubloggerCon Unconference -- Saturday AFTERNOON at NECC in San Antonio

1:00 If the administration doesn't get it ...then no one else will be able to use these things!
LEADERSHIP--Scott McCleod facilitating

SLA Chris Lehmann: managing up...we don't teach them how we want to be managed
At his school, they spend lots of time telling leaders what they want...which leads to student success

From a ms/hs principal:
kids multitask and we turn around and departmentalize them and we wonder why they are disengaged.

We need leaders who see themselves as learners...how can we help them accomplish this..to be learners

Also have to deal with risk-taking and all that is involved for the takers and the administration that supports it...or doesn't!

One of the speakers talked about a conference called Leadership 3.0 - administrators in small conference where they got this info. how to integrate technology. [could not find info about this--was hoping could find a laundry list of what was presented]

What does education look like in 21st century? David Warlick asked how many administrators get asked this question...are they ever faced with deciding what this looks like. Could they give a decent answer, a correct answer..at least correct as we see it!

Why are leaders, leaders if they don't get it! Lots of noise around that comment.
As a result, it lead to this statement: leaders and administrators are really two types of people

The principal is often caught in the middle...teachers asking on one end, higher ups demanding on the other. Another chimed in...everyone is caught in the middle!

Scott McLeod: we get caught up in the minutia [my term] of school life and loose sight of what is important.

Everyone in the room agrees that "everyone wants kids to succeed"---HOW to achieve the success or even what success looks like is the problem that causes the conversation going on right now

How do we show administrators the right tools that will help with minutia and still allow other things to happen that need to happen?

Need leaders who say "I don't know what the value of the laptop in classroom is, but I trust that you do so go with it!"

If you are asking your kids to use the smartboard to give the answers to the question your read on pages 1-20, that is fiscal irresponsibility...we need transforming tools...not fancy old tools that perpetuate the old ways. I am reminded of the comments heard around my home circle about activeboards that were holders for butcher paper and markers because a few teachers had not bought into it as it should be used!

David Warlick: Showcase what the kids are doing 2.0 away from school to principals...even things like World of Warcraft [blocked in district]...which he said was even a bit of a stretch for him! I had an opportunity to see it up close and personal a while back and I know exactly what he meant!

Principals are no longer instructional leaders, they are managers putting out lots of little fires so far removed from what is going on in the classroom. I remember when they were specifically id'ed as THE instructional leaders on campus, but that designation hasn't been heard in a long time!

Scott McLeod--pointed out that he and another are only two of a few leadership trainers who get technology into their university preparatory programs...and there are over 500 programs across the country. The other college person said he is expected to attend only academic conferences and had to search for the $ to be here because his administration doesn't understand it either!


A Scottish speaker: American educators tend not to have empowerment..that is what he has noticed...there were several "amens" from Americans in the audience. [yes, it sounded beautiful with his accent...even another speaker said he hated to follow him!]
American educators who do empower are often seen as mavericks, scorned sometimes.


When the leaders are forced to live and die by tests..then we have to show them how this 2.0 world will help.

A long-time principal said he had to give up the idea that he needed to know everything.
but he also recognized that he also must model.

And then there was the "why should I change anything if all is ok"...i.e. my kids are scoring the top off the tests so why would I think I need to change anything. Sound familiar?

One of my favorite terms of the day: trojan horse learning...do it for one reason and sneak in some more

Get the leadership to look beyond the neighborhood...not just measure against the district next door. Must go world-wide.


Sometimes you have to jump to another level of administration and get the support there until the administration comes on board. Often there is risk in doing that!


To get teachers to buy-in make it a buffet of possibilities...choice for teachers as well as kids! I think the 23 Things accomplishes that to an extent.

One got up to say he disagrees with idea that leaders don't need to know the technology...would we accept leaders who only know assessment half way?

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Side note:
Cathy Nelson, a blogger from SC and I finally met...power [strip] brought us together! Great conversation. Felt like I was talking to an old friend!

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SMACKDOWN facilitated by vicki Davis (CoolCat)

[ok, this session is on battery so if it ends..you will know why! battery held up...my fingers, ears and brain did not. I will include sources for the complete list]

Objective: in 3 minutes or less, present a tool. If you go past your time, you will get smacked down...only speaker to do was Vicki!

There will be a list of all this on the edubloggerCon wiki site. They are using all kinds of tools to get the info there. Vicki Davis is facilitating and she went so fast all I heard was Twitter....

Polleverywhere.com...cheap alternative to the vote clickers! it was fast and he also told people to use their cell phone. classroom sizes up to 30 for free

chacha.com Cell phone users fact checking, research...1-800 - chacha # to call. she spoke into phone the question and the answer will be texted back. uses it a lot on field trips.
Similar to google 411

Animoto--an old friend. only about 15 people held up their hands that had used it.. I was surprised! For anyone interested, here is our list of examples...a list added to whenever someone lets me!

PicLens --bulletin board of pictures. One comment...satisfies i-phone envy! looks pretty coll. may have to investigate...not sure when!

freemosquitotones.com -- not sure the value of except to let adults know because kids use it!

Summize -- this one was mentioned several times all day as a way to get info, capture info? goes along with Twitter, compliments Twitter...hence me not understanding because I have not "learned" Twitter yet [scares me a little--not sure I will get it when I try to]

Cover it Live -- they talked about going to the back channel of this. very short demo of what it looks like. several people covered it live earlier today...live blog this way... [mine is really not really live blogging!] back channel is a chat behind the scenes of something. Connected Classroom has several examples of what it looks like to the reader. Cool Cat also
[these tools make my pitiful attempt to blog "live" look......pitiful! o well]

handipoints.com -- keep points for doing things. demonstrator uses it with her two kids for chores. turns it into a talking session with her kids, a good end of day conversation starter. special needs kids --good for them in certain circumstances, especially with parent support. there are activities on the site that can be used outside the point system I believe.

diggo -- use tags to create auto posts.

Peggy Shehan, Second Life -- new project on Second life...multimedia , foreign language and ? islands.

Key ring of staff development --the least techie thing of the day...and one of the coolest...a way to help teachers get it! picture forthcoming!

Makebeliefscomix.com cartoon creator site...doesn't require an email address. 3 panel was demonstrated.

Doodle -- no login or profile required. way to find time to do something, schedule a meeting with a group of people. Note: not .com...you won't end up in right place!
Timebridge is similar..can sync with google calendar, works with outlook

tag galaxy.de -- mines pictures from flickr based on tags


webkins in the classroom -- kinder teacher uses especially for teaching being digital citizens ...uses the website to accomplish this.


back channels -- chats for quieter students who won't speak up . chatter us is an example.

plurk -- similar to twitter..real conversations available

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Another Afternoon session...

facilitated by Steve Hargondon who put the day together (with lots of help, I'm sure)

I stayed in a room that had power...saw it was going to be a small group and decided I would just sit and reflect and not really participate. Wrong...I got involved simply because it was a small group...a bunch of friends just sitting around talking about "life" in the education world.

There are no ceilings for the kids today--David Warlick
[he sat right in front of me--he is much younger than his pictures portray...he's no kid, and still is sage age....and has very nice skin and blue eyes...i told you, he was sitting right there....I couldn't help noticing.]

Long history of non-respect of learners...we don't honor the children as learners. Think how we treat adults who are "nerdy"--life-long learners.

A first-year teacher said she had to teach this way because it is what she knows..she has had the internet since 5th grade. she is using a lot that she learned outside of school as her teacher program did not promote her learning 2.0.

A facilitator of learning is very different from the traditional teacher model. Is perfectly ok for a teacher to say I don't know...how will we go about to find out the answer.

Interesting point...haven't we been fighting this issue for a long time...the changing position of the teacher...even before 2.0

Democratic classroom...allowing the children to choose their learning..they have had choice on the internet..participatory ..they get to choose there too.

The kids are very good at play; we have to show them how to be very good at work--david Warlick

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WOW! what a day...and all for free!

006.7 EdubloggerCon Unconference -- Saturday at NECC in San Antonio

and the fun begins...

[Warning: this a rough copy at this point...lots of typos, few links, missing names...I will clean it up and add some pictures later this evening!]

am in the room with David Warlick...still admiring from afar
Vicki Davis is here too...Judy Lindsey

had a great chat with a 2nd grade teacher from SA who has been blogging with his kids for a few years...last year his big thing was movies...his objective for this is find someone to blog with...another class

there are a whole bunch of 2nd Lifers...real ones! (as in they don't crash and they always remember how to sit)

the group is voting about the sessions they want...I don't care. I'm a lurker here so I will find a nitch to fit in. besides i can't blog and vote at the same.

Track A
social networking for pd 9:30 MY choice
social networking in classroom 10:45 MY Choice
1:00 if the leaders don't get it, it won't happen My choice
2:15 Web 2.0 and Teacher Education
3:30 designing global learning

track B
9:15 filtering policies
10:45 digital storytelling..change agent
1:00 diving deep into google earth, maps
2:15 web 2.0 smackdown My choice
3:30

track C
9:30 google classroom
10:45 shirky booktalk
strategic teacher tools
who me? researcher
hands on byol

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SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR PD

Did this live and they were moving fast so it is full of snippets!

SOCIAL NETWORKING TOOLS
discussion of value of Facebook, etc...so easy, don' know what they are going to do with it..some profs worry about that
Net1...contained environment part of IsTE...has purpose...better than Facebook idea

tools in general...asynchronous and synchronous is a need
having as much as possible together in one place
self-organizing networks...let them organize the way that works best for them...choice!

creativity, build your own is a key ...once it becomes constrained, then many feel they need to move on!

any form of email, google, blog group gets people started and then as they become more comfortable they can move on to things that appeal to them more, fit them better.

assessment, continuity....not same in every class and how to measure learning

BUILDING COMMUNITY
There are podfaders....are there social network faders as well
What keeps you coming back?
the feedback! commentors for bloggers keep the blogger blogging!
Creating a sense of community is essential....a ning (one example) can provide this

immediate purpose...creates need for response which helps keeping it going
nervous in group at beginning is normal.
immediate feedback when someone joins whatever...we welcome students in our schools as quickly as possible, we need to do that in these communities also

digital repoire....greet them at the door (the Wal-mart model)
intellectual speed dating !!
When you say something and no one says something back...discouraging

The site Classroom2.0 has gone beyond critical mass...hopefully ppl use it as entry and then go off to form own group

web2.0 helps us do our job..hence the success of it
DW used "simize" (sorry--new to me ; will have to research) to find a topic...
unreliable tools often cause ppl to "quit" the idea...it was mentioned that Twitter is unreliable in many respects..interesting comment, want to follow up on that at some point

instant network..blog with people in your already created network!
the right people as opposed to lots of people
they need a connection of some kind!

Risk-taking schools...how do we get people to come out of their shells
we ARE digital bridges...how we play that part...bringing those that do together with those who don't
don't think of technology type things as separate courses...infuse

When did teachers stop being learners?
the emotional response was high from the group on this one! THE tests got a lot of the blame
principal--permission to fail, allow them to be risk-takers
just-in-time learning

GA college professor...trying to get professors to show these things to their students
risk-aversion seems to be prevalent in a lot of places because "scared" of so many other things

Carolyn Foote
tools different your bldg vs working on a world-wide network
repository necessary for the ones coming...work for those now, but necessary
let them decide what they need to know...more choice

Don't do it to ppl ...do it with ppl
r u an educational detached retina...are you looking for a community, support, etc. Start small
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Be still my heart---Vicki Davis, THE Vicki Davis is sharing my extension cord...of course, she has already been pulled away so I will continue to admire from afar...besides I am dumbstruck...i have absolutely nothing of any consequence to say to these people...at this point!
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SOCIAL NETWORKING in the Classroom - Session #2

online h.s. isolated community
hardly every see each other
next semester 725 students...first network for teachers!
started small..tutoring groups, raised funds for wildlife fund

open source use
project k-6
cross-connect for the kids..district-wide
doing assignments form other classes because they think they are cool!
authentic audience..it is open to parents, aunts, uncles, grandpa, etc.
teacher chooses what goes public, what stays private
"a walled garden"
specific case...boy who writes book about WWII..a resource kid...get comments from others

Vicki Davis
students have to learn how to be a professional student...this is how you need to behave in this safe space...mentioned the language issue...she does not consider this a "social" network...facebook is social...you don't behave the same way in the classroom ning...she had to kick some off until they learned to behave.

give students a place they are comfortable...ning--so familiar to them. gadgets--need rating system. summer assignments...talking all summer...cool summer assignments.

the president's rule about pictures...

Judy does a project together
digiteens
digital citizenship model ...be safe, secure, private
created lessons to use with younger kids

digital citizenship vs pedagogical model
provides vehicles to teach certain things

one teacher (didn't get his location but his accent is Australian) finally mentioned animoto! talked to a few who had not heard about it!
The kids will tell other others---bring it back to the rubric...kids will self-correct

The power of the back channel
the recorded learning...the kids can go back and see their thoughts, etc.
the side stories that come about

some teachers won't learn in front of kids...some teachers won't learn in front of other teachers.

mentoring kids to live in this world
the story about the art group k-12...and having to ask the older kids t change avatar.
moments of grace...complimenting other kids...

how to handle language issues...if you heard bad language in your hallway..do you close your school?

we learned them in our professional lives...they learned in their personal lives...so they have to be taught how to deal in the "professional" world..the school.

what is the acceptable risk tolerance level.

it is not a technology problem...it is a behavior problem, issues.
strong library of best practices will also counteract the issue of not allowed.



teachable moments...lots of learning takes place outside class because of the coolness of the tools.



educating the parents, teachers, parents about the safety of the

example of the car marker with team name and number

much safer than mall or at the convenience store.



there are no rule books...unlike education 1.0

what are classroom practices that work..specific examples, stories are creating the rules.



kinder teacher...she has responsibility to teach the kids, but feels as much responsibility in educating the parents as well!



it is so exciting sitting here talking and listening to people ...from Australia...their accent is totally fascinating..I forget to follow the thread of the conversation because I'm listening too hard!

The gang is breaking to take a picture..wee will see where it shows up