You know your too busy when you stop taking time to reflect. So as I finally enter another blog entry after a long hiatus, I found today’s holiday a time to pretend I am someone else. Pre-kindergarten students from Jardin de Ninos Early Education Center came by my district office to show off their costumes and clamor for some tasty (but healthy) treats. I interacted with several princesses, super heroes, storybook characters, and other dressed-up children. This was my opportunity to bring an old costume out of my closet that was last worn back in the 1990’s when I worked at both Coutin School and later Annandale Elementary School. So here is a snapshot of me taken by a colleague today using her iPhone. Thanks, Kirsten!
At a time when the amount of work has increased for me, it was refreshing for me to say that work was “so easy, even a caveman can do it!” And so a “thank you” also goes out to Geico Insurance for providing the inspiring words. Check this out if you have time to waste: http://www.cavemanscrib.com
We are approaching mid-point in our Teach the Teachers Collaborative program for Los Angeles Unified School District science teachers. So far, banter has been going back and forth regarding the end-of-the-week video montage we should present. Currently, we are having participants contribute to a special web-driven slide show on Cellblock.
Some “pros” of using this are that (1) everyone can contribute freely to the slide show without having to track down a designated person, (2) images can be viewed in the presentation immediately after they are sent as attachments from e-mail, and (3) a cellular phone becomes an acceptable device for contributing. I was hearing about some “cons” today from several sources, though: (1) pictures uploaded cannot be downloaded as individual image files, (2) media is not automatically arranged in chronological order but is instead listed in order of Cellblock receiving the e-mail attachments, and (3) music is not integrated into the slide show.
We will see what happens on Friday, but right now we are settling for having the slide show play as participants walk into the culminating meeting with music created in GarageBand playing in the background (just as is without trying to make it a large production).
What do you think? Would you just let it play as is, or would you create that montage using a video-editor such as iMovie or a photo-show such as Photo Story 3?
It has become a weekend ritual this past month. I walk to the coffee table, and I see little larvae begging me for fresh food. So I go to my refrigerator and look to see what I can prepare them. Of course, on my way to the kitchen, my son asks me to get him something for him, too. I choose to take care of my little visitors first. These silkworms are with us because my wife is continuing her passion to make learning real for her kindergartners. She is having her students document the changes occurring in these critters. But I get the pleasure of seeing them Friday evening until Monday morning. I just plopped a mulberry leaf on top of them and let them do their thing. I decided to stream video of them live this weekend using Ustream.
This is just a pre-recorded clip of the live stream. To see the actual stream, go to my live Ustream channel: Learning Side by Side. In her class, they have been making comparisons of the life cycle of a silkworm moth to the life cycle of a butterfly. Third grade students have come in to help with the learning. More of the kindergarten students’ learning is documented in my wife’s classroom blog: What’s Happening in Mrs. Rivera’s Classroom? But such learning is not unique as other teachers are sharing their classroom investigations about the life cycle.
The second grade students in this class have documented the growth of their live specimens so far, and I’m sure they will documenting the transformation of the chrysalis into adult butterfly in the near future.
Yes, I only get to experience snapshots of the experience students have with such activities. Even in the summer when I work with 4th grade teachers on podcast projects to document their life science investigations, I only get to experience changes within the week I have with them at Teach the Teachers Collaborative as we look at plant and animal environments. It is in reflection of my dilemma that I understand the need to experience the whole process of learning. As i think about my work for the next school year, I charge myself with making sure I learn with the students in the various schools I support rather than to drop in for a moment in time with the hope that I understand the “life cycle” of learning.
Late yesterday afternoon, I was facilitating a Local District 5 Technology Leadership meeting when I went to my blog to show some resources I compiled. To my shock, I saw my old Kubrick layout for the blog was gone, and things were not in my usual order. I, of course, went on with my meeting, but was also worried that someone had found out my password and was toying with my blog. I finally logged back in this morning and saw that the new layout was still here. So I logged into my Edublogs account and read the message that the default theme was changed. Here is the information about the change: http://edublogs.org/2008/02/22/bye-bye-kubrick-hello-cutline. Okay, I actually like this new default theme. I may keep it a while. And I am relieved that my account is still intact!
