Forest Farewell

It's hard to think that next week the forest rendezvous will be over - what a phenomenal climb! I'll leave this class enriched by my classmates, more well-versed in Web tools and feeling more confident to tackle future technology adventures.

What I liked...

• -Getting my feet wet into the different Web tools.
• -Creating a blog and screencast.
• -Learning from colleagues.
• -The selected How To videos.

What I didn't...

1. Feeling like a bug, buzzing around to collect all the information on a weekly topic. It was difficult to be in a self-guided course as an absolute beginner.


2. Receiving little to no feedback from the course on work products. Because I'd like to do more Web-related projects professionally, I would like to know what's good and how the work can improve, along with see best-practice examples.


3. Timing on topics. I wish there were less time spent on the more familiar topics (Google Earth) and more time spent on the less familiar topics (casting). I wanted more on podcasting, which was in the course objectives.

What I recommend for improvement...

1. Create a weekly lecture on each Web tool. What is it? How is it being used in the classroom? Some of the problems with it? Best practice examples.


2. Comments of student work projects. What's good about the project? What are the areas that need improvement?


3. More depth on some topics. Splitting the weeks, giving you half a week on a less involved Web tool and a week and a half on something more involved to improve learning exploration time.

What I'll use...

• The VideoThread and Screencast Web tools for science classroom work.
• Aggregators for professional development.
• Blog for personal science education initiatives.

Ultimately, I enjoyed my climb and am more familiar with my climbing gear. But, I am still feeling like a beginner and know I have a lot of climbing practice hours to put in to improve my techniques. My guiding principles are helping me keep a focused path though. And upon review, I couldn't agree with my principles more...

And so, forest friends, I thank for all your wonderful climbing suggestions. I have learned so much from you and hope to stay in "the woods" with you going forward.

But for now, from my tree to yours, farewell...

Science Girls

Final Project Plan No. 3

Note: This is the one I'm most excited about and wanted to start for years. Now that I have the tool knowledge, I can't wait to get started!

Goal: Create a Web site for young girls that teaches about science in fun and engaging ways and gets them excited about becoming a scientist.

Program One: Science Girls Web site, ages 4-9

Plan: Create a Web site for young girls that features science videos, scientist expert videos, science facts, amazing things about science, experiment how-tos and related videos for families, social justice projects, and data-collecting databases that they can participate in, along with science products to purchase and recycle to other future scientists.

Action Items:

• Look for and select a Web site development tool.
• Develop Web strategic framework.
• Start building Web site content outline.
• Design and produce products.
• Gather, write and add Web site content.
• Get copyrights.
• Launch.
• Market.

Geyser Puzzles

Final Project Plan No. 2

Goal: Create a water cycle program that incorporates Web-based and hands-on activities.

Program One: Water Cycle, grades 2-3, science inquiry

Plan: Merge How Water Got Me to School screencasting story, VoiceThread water cycle explanation, data-gathering virtual tour, classroom experiment and hands-on engagement activity into one fluid unit.

Action Items:

• Write Geyser Puzzles lesson. Done.
• Create How Water Got Me to School screencast. Done.
• Develop water cycle VoiceThread. Finished lecture, but only started VoiceThread.
• Design a virtual data-gathering tour. Completed PowerPoint. Need to move to Slideshare.
• Create an in-classroom water experiment. Done.
• Design Geyser Puzzles. Construction and design concept complete. Need to pick photos and create puzzles.
• Put all pieces together.

eTraveling Science Programs

Final Project Plan No. 1

Goal: Convert two in-class programs to Web-based programs to educate more students across our service territory on energy fundamentals.

Program One: Energy Lab, grades 3-5, electricity and magnetism

Plan: Create a video of an Energy Lab program. Upload a series of video segments based on various topics, such as: What is electricity? How does electricity travel? How do you make electricity using magnets? What is a conductor? How do you make a circuit? I'd also like to have an area that discusses the scientific method and how to use it to conduct circuit experiments.

Action Items:

• Develop program - lecture and instructional aides. Done.
• Videotape program. Done.
• Select video feed and organize for an online format. Upload.

Program Two: Building Electricity, grades 1-2, energy

Plan: Create a VoiceThread that discusses different energy sources, uses of electrical power, and how electricity is made and sent to homes and schools.

Action Items:

• Create screen graphics. This is what I've developed so far...

• Develop lecture materials. Done.
• Record VoiceThread and upload.

Developing Social Media Strategy

"To develop a meaningful, engaging social media program, you need a methodology. You need to know why you’re active in social media, for whom you are active, and how success will be identified." (A quote from marketingprofs.com for my Webinar: Putting Why Before How: Seven Steps for Focusing Your Social Media Strategy, Presenter: Jason Baer.)

I enjoyed the Webinar format for a learning platform, because of the comment capability and exchange, instant gratification for getting your questions answered, and current ideas. The presentation shared some great insights on social media ("It's not a conversation. It's where the conversation takes place.") and provided some unique perspectives on designing a business case for social media. Here's my take on what was shared along with a few questions of wonder...

First Perspective: Reason first. Use tools last.

Interesting because didn't we do this in reverse? Although I mostly agree with this general idea, you do also have to be aware of what tools are out there, so that you do know how to accomplish your goals. Provided in the Webinar was a link to the Conversation Prism, which shows a wheel of current Web tools by categories, such as wikis, livecasting, video, social networks and more!

Second Perspective: Learn how your audience uses social media.

Fascinating because I don't recall us spending any time talking about how students use social media. Do you? We did receive statistics that students are using social media. We also received information on how social media is being used in the class. But did we discuss how students use social media? Are they creating social media, or just listening to conversations, or participating in it by chatting, or are they critiquing others' work, or are they a mixed user? I am very interested in learning more about this, and that's why I found this profiling tool from Forrester Research, Inc. to be intriguing. It's set up for companies, and has an 18-24 age group, which is fairly close to high school. In it the females are mostly spectators and joiners, whereas the male, although high in spectators as well, increase in the areas of creators and collectors. Fascinating! I wonder what our Web tools' class profile would be?



Third Perspective: Take your social media offline.

We continued to push our content online this course. But this brought out another important point, which our text referred to, what are you doing around your Web technology to ensure effective learning?

The course, although valuable, added even more questions...Plus, I think I'd like to try creating a Webinar.

My Heart is in the Pines

It's the beginning of August, and school is right around the corner. Students are collecting crayons, pencils and glue, and I can't help but feel the buzz of excitement for another school year. And as we all scurry about to get ready, I couldn't help but enjoy the activity on my street.

Where I live, there's a school, one public school teacher, one religious school teacher, one homeschool teacher and one special education teacher, plus many houses filled with young children. And it was one of these children that caught my eye this week. Carrying a bag filled with rasberries, this particular boy was speeding home, running as fast as he could across the street, with his red superman cape streaming in the wind. I had to stop and revel in this great moment, for I realized the most important part of my personal learning network is not the expert or tool, but the child.

If I am going to teach young children, I must learn to wonder and play and be like them. They are ready to discover and explore, whereas I'm ready to pull my hair out with stress. They are overjoyed by their findings and want to share them with others, whereas I want to vent. They want to run to their future, whereas I mostly want to hide under the covers. And where's the joy of learning with bed bugs?!

The hero with the cape taught me a lot this week. He reminded me to listen and learn from children. What questions do they have? How do they learn best? What are they most interested in? He further made me wonder if any of us have a single student in our network? I know I don't (yet), and that's what I'm going to focus on, starting with my street. This week, in talking with my neighbors, I invited them to collect fire fly data and enter it on my blog. If students get excited about learning stuff and talk to other students, wouldn't that build our network too? Think of all the value they would bring with their inquisitive nature!

And so even though my goal for this course is to climb to the treetops, I realize that my heart is in the pines. I love children, and therefore, need to remember never to climb too far from them. For if I'm at the treetop, how can I see the little trees below? And if the little trees don't grow, how will the forest be sustained?

Forest Fires and Grasshoppers

My husband and I are truly blessed. With a lot of help, the flames of July are finally dying down. But up until two days ago, the stress of the fire (losing two grandparents, selling his home - yeah!, moving, getting an offer on my house, looking for a place to live - still looking, wrecking a vehicle, going through the concern with my mom's accident and head injury, learning my friend totaled her moped and was rushed to the hospital, finishing another graduate class, working and just plain 'ol living) nearly overcame us...What saved me from the smoke? Here's the story...

I pulled in the driveway from work at 7:18 p.m. on Wednesday night. And there to greet me were three adorable neighbor kids. With my car door open, all three were scrunched in between my car and my husband's truck, with me still sitting in my front seat. What did we talk about? Teeth. And of course, I had to ask where the tooth went, and if it was going to grow back, and if a tooth was a bone, and if all bones grow the same. It was wonderful to wonder with these children. While still chatting science, I finally escaped my car seat. Then, out of nowhere, the littlest one came running out with his very own insect box. He set it down proudly before my husband and me, and announced that a grasshopper was inside. After he pointed out the grasshopper in the box, we had to ask, "What does a grasshopper do?" And without hesitation, he put his body in full motion and exclaimed, "Jump!"

And this, young grasshoppers, is exactly what we need to remind ourselves to continually do as science educators with web technology and tools. We must jump, not for ourselves, but for the kids. We must remember that even small jumps are important to take in the midst of a forest fire. And we must keep in mind that some of the best jumpers are kids. And therefore, we must learn to jump from them and with them.

So besides jumping in the fire, what did I learn? To me this week was about two things: 1) the power of the story and 2) tying that powerful story to the students. What I'm wondering about is if personal ties to the story will increase students' science understanding? I noticed in a lot of the great stories out there, the presenter often used personal pronouns, such as "her group," "I," or "what we found." Is there research available on this? Secondly, if the story creates a sense of unbelievable imagination will that increase students' science understanding? With no further ado, I hope you enjoy my opening twist on the Water Cycle: How Water Got Me to School...

Soon to be featured in my water cycle stories are the original driveway jumpers (aka neighbor kids).