This is an easy one. One of the things that has been most helpful for me was establishing the RSS feed and checking it regularly. I’ve always checked several web sites. I had played around with RSS feeds before, but hadn’t used them regularly enough to see the benefits. After doing the RSS thing (Thing 5 I believe), I saw the light. I now regularly use the RSS reader (though I am playing around with different RSS readers). I get it now. For that, I’m thankful for being part of this project.
I should note that I adjust which sites I’m subscribing to. If I’m losing interest in the site, I delete it from the feeds.
All in all, this one was a winner.

More on social bookmarking. This seems to be very much something that is a great resource for teachers. The bookmarking process is wonderful for teachers to share bookmarks. I like that it is easy to share links if you know someone else’s user name. The ability to tag and search for those same tags elsewhere on delicious provides some serendipity.
Again, I see this as much more useful for teachers and professional sharing and development. For those purposes, it is quite useful.

News and Information

NMSA Annual Conference, October 30 – November 1, 2008
Housing and Transportation updated on website.  Make housing arrangements via their website for discounts on hotel rooms. 

1.  Students want more use of gaming technology in their learning.  64% of students report that they are gamers and consider that a must have in their schools.  Only 15% of teachers see that as a means of effective teaching.  Source:  eSchool News. 

2.  DimensionM:  Learn Algebra through a Second Life style interface and solve problems in the game that teach algebraic concepts. 

3.  Recommended game resources: 

• Create a graphic novel from a traditional novel using Comic Life or spice up your notes with creative visuals using the Comic Life software to mix up your notes and presentations.
• Restaurant Empire:  Create a restaurant, choose your recipes, hire your chefs and manage your empire in either a free limited version or a full pay version.  More simulation games from this group here.  (NMSA)
• Oil Tycoon:  start with a small plot of land, some cash and build your empire to rule the world!
• Civilization:  Take on the attributes of a past civilization and guide it through time.  The always entertaining version of “what if” in History.  Barzun, Graff, and Breisach (Historiographers and researchers) might take issue with it to a degree, but it gives the student a way to investigate what happened vs. what might have happened if they knew then what you know now.  All that without worrying about messing up the space/timeline thingy and figuring out a Heisenberg Principle Compensator device . . .
• Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom:  Online simulation of China’s Middle Kingdom.
• Health Care simulators.

Online Insight: Challenges beat Cheerleading
Simply providing online discussion forums is not enough to keep students engaged in virtual courses, according to educators who are well-versed in online instruction: For real learning to occur in an online setting, virtual-school educators must establish clear rubrics and enforce rules for participation.
Check out the article for more information.

Wikis
Learn about Wikis and discover ways they’re being used.  (Wiki-Waki-Woo!)
Wikis have great potential as an educational tool for both teachers and students because they encourage collaborative learning and resource sharing. Among the things they can be used for are:
– Collaborative writing
– Brainstorming
– Creation and organization of content and study guides
– Lesson summaries
– Group notetaking
– Dissemination of classroom information
– Literature circles
– Collaborative textbooks
– Resource collections
– Vocabulary study

Comparing Hemispheres – project between schools in NY and Australia
Westwood Schools Wiki – online space for Camilla, GA students
Welker’s Wikinomics – AP Economics class at Shanghai American School
Hanalee Book Wiki – 5th graders study of the novel, Turn Homeward, Hannalee
Arbor Heights Elementary School Wiki – wiki as a school web site
Flat Planet Wikispace – students in Canada and UK examine environmental issues
Photosharing with Flickr Workshop – wiki to provide resources for workshop
wikiHow – collaborative project to build world’s largest how-to manual

Create a wiki at WikiSpaces.

Good spot to find more information about a variety of technologies. Common Craft.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

News & Events

2009 NAIS Annual Conference

February 25 – February 28, 2009
McCormick Convention Center
Chicago, IL, USA
Schools of the Future: Sailing the Winds of Change

NMSA:

Innovative Practices Across the Curriculum
Lakeville, Minnesota
June 24, 2008

Putting the World into World-Class Education
Washington, DC
July 10-12, 2008

Institute for Middle Level Leadership
Colorado Springs,
Colorado
July 13-16, 2008
Charleston,
South Carolina
July 20-23, 2008

Best Practices for Student Success
Baltimore, Maryland
July 28, 2008
Fargo, North Dakota
August 6, 2008

NMSA Annual Conference:
Denver, CO
October 30, 2008 – November 1, 2008
Conference Blog —- Registration Information

National Teacher of the Year
Michael Geisen of Oregon

State winners:

Alaska Raymond VoleyColorado Seth Berg Hawaii Pascale Pinner Illinois Ruth Meissen Kentucky Chandra Emerson Maryland April Todd Michigan June Teisan Missouri Eric Langhorst New Jersey John Kline, Jr. North Carolina James Bell, Jr. Ohio George Edge Oregon Michael Geisen Pennsylvania David Woten, Jr. Wisconsin Beth Oswald

Reading First is rated as Ineffective:

An Initiative on Reading Is Rated Ineffective

By SAM DILLON

Published: May 2, 2008

President Bush’s $1 billion a year initiative to teach reading to low-income children has not helped improve their reading comprehension, according to a Department of Education report released on Thursday.

More from RESA’s 23 Things:

Blogging
2. Learn about blogs and create your own – you will use your blog throughout this project.
3. Explore how educators are using blogs to support teaching and learning.

RSS
4. Learn about RSS and create your own Bloglines account.
5. Subscribe to blogs in order to keep up with new posts.

Photos and Images
6. Learn about online photo sharing and explore Flickr.
7. Share photos of your own on Flickr.
8. Have some Flickr fun with mash-ups.
9. Use an online image generator to create classroom resources.

Comic Life

A great little program that does a lot with pictures, graphics and words.