My Blog has a new home

Hi everyone

I am trying something new -- and have moved my blog over to a new address --

http://onlineprojects4teachers.com/wordpress/

The content will be the same -- but the look a bit different, and I am the host now!!!

I hope to see you at my new place. Grins, we should have a housewarming party.

Jen

A Moo---dling Experience

If I don't have enough to do, I decided to enter into the world of moodling. I have heard many comments at NECC about the wish to Moodle but the fact that schools might not let teachers log onto their servers --

So I decided to buy a domain and create a moodle for my participants to use within my projects. And I thought, hey, this would be easy.

And I gave myself one hour to do it. LOLOLOL

That was 2 days ago -

after hours of "hair pulling", I started asking for help and Vikki Davis pointed me towards Wesley Fryer -- who sent me on to Miguel Guhlin and Jonathan Moore -- who all helped out and gave me some ideas and assistance. And Sharon Peters, a skype pal from Canada, kept reassuring me that all would be fine!!!

I also had to write my webhost who had to tweak some things as well.

And finally -- about 10 minutes ago -- I was able to get it to work. Woo Hoo!!! And then it doesn't work.....sighs. And I am having issues now with how to control who can use it -- and I am having issues with signing in. (grins -- luckily I have time for this)

But -- now I have to wait to find out if I can even offer this option. I would think it is okay -- other people have the word moodle in their websites -- but I am waiting to hear from Martin.

The last 24 hours has both humbled me -- and exhilarated me. I can't wait to play with this software and introduce it to my teachers.

Jen

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Reading Wes Fryer's Blog

I have had an enjoyable morning reading "Moving At the Speed of Creativity" this morning. Wes Fryer must have had some cup of coffee this morning (hopefully at Starbucks with his wife - grins) because he is cranking them out today.

I truly enjoyed his "My Journey of Faith" and I applaud him on his boldness to state his faith in his blog!! Way to go!! And his post on adult blogging was quite interesting. Though I am not 50 yet -- however, getting very close -- I was a bit saddened by the low amount of bloggers of our age group -- but feel certain that that number will climb as more teachers find out about blogging and jump on the blog train!!!

But what I enjoyed the most this morning was his "If I had" blog posting. What a fun and educational read that was. It really made me think -- and if I might, I would like to add mine as well here ---

If I had the money:

1. I would pay off all my debts.
2. I would take 3 of my best friends to Europe for a summer.
3. I would buy myself a Mac notebook.
4. I would a buy a home (with a porch and picket fence) and buy a Newfoundland puppy.
   
5. I would donate a lot of money to create scholarship funds for kids who struggle to pay for college and have to drop out due to lack of funds.
   
6. I would move to Savannah, GA.
   
7. I would give all the kids I nannied $100,000 to pay off college loans and create a nest egg.
8. I would have lasik eye surgery.
   

If I had the time:

1. I would learn another language.
   
2. I would volunteer more.
3. I would sit on a mountaintop to watch the sunrise and then drive down to the beach to watch the sunset.
   
4. I would ski more.
   
5. I would learn how to be a better writer.
   
6. I would host more sophisticated online projects.
   
7. I would learn how to cook.
8. I’d spend more time with friends.

If I had more self-discipline and/or motivation:

1. I’d be sure to spend more time alone with God each day.
2. I’d start an exercise plan.
   
3. I’d travel more.
   
4. I'd deep clean my home.
5. I'd save more money each month and spend less on money on frivolous items.
6. I would read more books of substance rather than books of entertainment.

If I didn’t have a real job: (grins -- this one was easy!)

1. I would stay in my pj's until 10 occassionally.
2. I would enjoy Regis and Kelly a couple of times a week........I enjoy hostchat!
3. I would visit more museums.

If I had more power:

1. I'd fight for equal pay for private school techers compared to public school teachers.
2. I'd provide teacher training opportunities for teachers to understand technology and how it can impact their classrooms.
3. I would rewrite computer curriculum so that it becomes woven in seamlessly rather than a stand alone.
   
4. I would take my elected officials out to lunch once a month to find out exactly WHAT they are doing and how they are representing me.
   
5. I would take away the barrier of standards and just make sure that kids are learning and using what they know.
   
6. I’d create a way to evaluate teachers in a more productive and positive way and I would do away with tenure and establish a scale that evaluates the teacher more on how they teach and how students are learning rather than how long they have taught.

Thanks Wes --
Jennifer

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Monthly Poll -- Interesting Results

In November of last year, I started hosting a month mini-poll at my Techospud Projects website.
http://www.technospudprojects.com/tsp_poll.htm

The poll usually has between 30 to 50 votes and the topics have been interesting but not of any depth.

But the last 3 polls got a bit more interesting (I tracked technology use, blog awareness, and computer use). And for some reason, last month really took off and over 280 people votes.

The question last month was about what kind of computer do most of my "readers" use and it was overwhelming a PC crowd -- 238 were PC with 49 as Mac users.

I was surprised because I thought the numbers would be more evenly divided. My projects are always generic and be used on any platform.

It doesn't matter to me what you use -- I am comfy in both worlds. But I sort of thought that in education, the world still leaned towards Macs (at least it seemed so at NECC). Hmmm, perhaps I am wrong.

Enjoy your day
Jennifer

A Blog From Israel

My friend, Karen, lives in Israel and is way too close to where I wish she was not. We have skyped several times this week and she has brought a stark reality to knowledge that I had only been gaining by television. Though I wish you were not there, Karen, I am glad you are able to help others and I continue to pray for your safety.

Karen directed me to a blog written by her friend who lives where all the action is happening. His blog is quite well written and I would like to invite you to read it --

You can view his blog at http://yvesinisrael.blogspot.com/

Jennifer

Thoughts from a friend

I am working on a chapter about Online Projects and Collaboration and wrote to some of my participants to query their thoughts about projects.

I received this very nice response yesterday which I would like to share with you here.........

The very first Internet Project in which I ever participated was Jennifer Wagner's Starburst Challenge 2001 (http://www.technospudprojects.com/Projects/starburst/starburst_updates.htm).
Once I saw the excitement of my students, the places they took the project, and the authentic learning involved, I was IMMEDIATELY hooked on Internet Projects!

Since then, I've participated in many of Jen's projects, along with those of others, such as Marci McGowan and Susan Silverman, but I can't thank Jen enough for introducing me to this wonderful practice on the web.

There are many reasons for joining an Internet project. Here are just a few of the benefits for you and your students:

Collaboration - for both you and your class. Internet projects bring the world to you and your students and you and your students to the world! Your kids can connect with other kids. You will meet other teachers from around the country and world. Some of my very best friends are teachers whom I've met through projects!
Professional Development - Joining an Internet project is like attending a workshop or conference. There is SO much to learn! You will be able to view work from other classrooms and discover wonderful resources! I have NEVER joined a project and not learned at least one thing that greatly enhanced my work in the classroom!
Resources - Not only will you learn about resources, you will be able to return to them again and again with just a few keystrokes (sure beats those file drawers). Most hosts leave pages from projects posted for years.
Addressing the Standards - Virtually all Internet projects are aligned to state standards. Although they may not be your state's standards, if you investigate you will find a close, if not exact, match to your own state's frameworks.
Curriculum Integration - Most Internet projects lend themselves to great cross-curricular work - a wonderful and easy way to integrate your program.
Creativity and Excitement - Internet projects stretch you and your students. They challenge you to reflect upon your practices and be the best you can be. They also challenge the children to do their best - after all, their work will be on the Internet!
Communication - Having your students' work posted on the Internet allows busy parents to peek into the window of your classroom, any time of day or night! They are also thrilled to see their children's work published!

Thanks Lanise --
you made my day.

Jen

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DOPA -- and another point of view

As usual -- I find myself a bit more to the right than most of the blogs that I read. I tend to be a bit more conservative AND a bit more "optimistic" of my elected officials.

And I would like to applaud the effort to protect our kids.........I just think that they way they are trying to protect is wandering around the issue and making a BLANKET statement rather than perhaps looking at the situation in a bit smaller way.

I have to agree with what I read on CoolCatTeacher's Blog and what comments she made about student's use of the internet. For I, also, am not finding the misuse of internet at school or the fear of a predator.

My student's were protected at school -- not just by filters, but also by supervision and expectation of correct behavior. Only 1 time did I have a student disappoint me with internet usage (a substitute was in the class) but with a help of printouts of his internet wandering (dont' you just love "history" in firefox), the student admitted wrong use and received his consequence (due to a well written AUP) quite well and never ever misused the internet again -- IN THE LAB.

But I could tell you horror stories of what the student's tell me of their internet use at home. I could tell you scarey stories of what I have seen in homes with internet use and no supervision at all by parents.

And that is where I think DOPA is missing the mark. I think that DOPA needs to be written an an awareness issue rather than a blockage issue.....and I have written the same of my elected officials. I also think that our elected officials are trying to cover a huge issue instead of breaking it into smaller parts and dealing with each one on its own.

I 100% believe that the internet should have filters -- but I also 100% believe that one of those filters is in the brain and integrity of the each student -- wherever they use the internet!!!!

I think that many parents are naive -- or perhaps they are ignorant -- about their child's use on the internet and they need to be made more aware of what is going on. But, I also think that that is a parental issue -- not a student issue -- and too many parents are walking away from our kids during the hardest times -- and they need to get back involved.

But -- and I might get a bit of flack from this one -- I think the biggest problem with DOPA is us. We need to not only be writing our elected officials, but also calling them, and meeting with them. To be totally honest -- WE, the bloggers, the teachers of technology, the "in the trenches" educators know what we are talking about -- and we are the MAJORITY here. And our voice -- not our anger, not our disdain or disgust - but our voice of education and knowledge needs to be heard by those less educated.

And that might be our students, it might be our fellow teachers, it might be our elected officials -- but I know for sure -- our voice needs to be heard by parents.

I always appreciate your thoughts.

Jen

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Hmmm -- worth a churckle

As you know, I am unemployed (well partially now) and when I heard of a way to make some money on the internet with Google Adsense -- I decided to give it a go. And I will 100% gladly admit, it is a very easy way to make some money. I have heard stories of people making thousands a month....however, I am quite content with my average of $15 per month right now.

But what tickled me -- completely -- was how the generate what ads appear on your site. I might need to work on this one, because if you visit my FAQ page on www.technospud.com, these are the ads you see ----



Hmmm -- I might need to work on my meta-tags to get some more appropriate links. Except, that potato pancake might be worth a try. (smiles)

If you would like to try google adsense, please click HERE!! And I wish you the best, it is a very easy way to generate $$.

Smiles,
Jen




ps -- I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to Sharon Peters for introducing me to the personalized Google Homepage. What a timesaver!! If you dont' have it -- go to Google and look to the right for Peronalized Home link.

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