Symbaloo for Education

At ISTE 12 in San Diego, I attended a party co-hosted by Symbaloo.  Symbaloo is another social bookmarking site, but not like any other I have seen.  It tiles your bookmarks in a more visual fashion.  In order to receive my pass to the party I had to visit their booth.  Upon speaking to a representative, they suggested to check out their site and my immediate question was, "Can I import my bookmarks from Delicious?" 

Today I tested that question by using the link that was given to me, and it was an easy 3 step process.  I was impressed, yet mad at myself for not tagging my bookmarks better in Delicious first. It organized my bookmarks without tags alphabetically.  So now I feel the need to go back and reorganize, but I don't know how time consuming that will be!

The great thing about Symbaloo is that you can create a Webmix, or list of bookmarks and share easily through email, Twitter or Facebook.  I can see many uses for this in the world of education.  A Webmix of links for students on a specific topic to research, or one for teachers to share among one another.  Again, the thing I like most is how it is represented visually and has a Google search built in.  I haven't played with the bookmarking tool yet, but it seems similar to the Delicious tool I was already using.  Lesson learned: tag your bookmarks!!!!

One of my Symbaloo Webmixes

The Basic Version is Free and they offer premium packages for school districts and teachers.
Follow Symbaloo for Education on Twitter @symbalooedu

Returning to the Blog Scene

After connecting with so many great people at ISTE 12 in San Diego, it became apparent that I need to begin blogging again to stay on top of all the latest in the Ed Tech world. So here I am starting my journey again. I have recently moved to South Carolina from New Jersey, leaving my tenured position behind for a great job offer that my husband received. I would love to connect with educators and help develop them with technology. I figured blogging was a good way to start after the advice I received from my new PLC friends. Networking at the Ed Tech Karaoke party was a great place to meet new people.

The View from the San Diego Convention Center

This was my second time at ISTE and I was able to present a poster session with my fellow graduate classmates, which was great! We had exceptional feedback and learned a ton from other educators. The best session I went to was a BYOD hosted by Chris Fitzgerald Walsh (@fitzwalsh) from the New Tech Network titled "Even More Google Geekiness". The time seemed to fly as he amazed us with geeky tech tips for using all sorts of Google Apps including spreadsheets, docs, and the new Google Drive. I was so happy that he shared a Google Doc with us that linked us to all the goodies! I know I will reference it often.  Check it out!

Always learning something new...

Being a part of the MAIT program always lead to new finds in applications of technology.  It can be overwhelming, but I remember someone once telling me to find one thing that is applicable to you and what you teach and give it a try.  If it works, great!  Then it become part of your toolbox, I think all teachers have a toolbox of ideas for lessons.  If it doesn't work then you move on to the next one.

Recently, I found a new Web 2.0 tool that my students have enjoyed using to prepare for quizzes and tests. It's called Bubbabrain.com . It allows teachers to create simple review games, kind of like the game Memory, to review key terms and ideas.  The teacher must give his/her students their passcode and the students can go to the site, punch in the code and play.  I have used it in the past week with my students and they seem to enjoy it.  Give it a try!

Kodu Game Lab

I am excited to possibly have a capstone idea! I hope to spend some of the current semester exploring Kodu Game Lab. It was recommended by a fellow MAIT student, which is using it in their own school. I see the connection between Social Studies and gaming. In the classroom, I often reference video games that are currently out that point to moments in history. I have also read other blogs about how playing online has taught student geography skills. Students have learned that playing online with players in other countries have time differences and increases their interest in learning about another country and culture to relate to the other player.

One ends and another one begins...

As the journey of my Master's in Instructional Technology continues, I feel as though I had hit a significant milestone, I can help others now!!! I actually have enough experience in the program to relate to newbies and provide some "expertise" based on my experience. It is nice to not be the rookie anymore.

It really is true, you rely on your Professional Learning Community to support not only your learning, but also your fears and frustrations. It is great to have a group of students in the program that feel your pain and can relate to your concerns. I am happy to pass the torch and provide the same assistance that I recieved from more senior members of the program in my beginning days.

It's also exciting to continue increasing the tools in my toolbox.

Really can see the growth!!!

It's amazing to see how far we have all come in the Theory class this semester, front-loaded semester. It was interesting to see how we took ideas from one another and improved upon the glitches along the way. Part of me was relieved to go early on in the semester, but the other side thinks of how I could have improved had my group presented at the end.

The outcome is still the same, I learned and the group learned in the process. I am eager to try and apply some of the theories, but it can be difficult knowing which theory is best to use at the time. I need a good theory cheat sheet I guess, maybe a summer project idea!!!!

Problem Based Learning

It's come to that time of year that us Talent21 schools have to complete our Problem Based Learning Unit. We chose to have students tackle the problem of reducing their ecological footprint. It's truly hard to let 11 and 12 year olds go off on their own and tackle this huge project. We decided to not create a sample project, thinking that they would copy it. We left the requirements loose so that their creativity would flow. How do you hold those students accountable who won't be excited about tackling the problem?

We are planning rewards and a kick off assembly, but it can be tough taking a step back and letting the students do the driving. I am very interested to see what they learn. We have to plan curriculum for next year and if anyone knows of any great PD for PBL please let me know.