Project

A few project notes:

Analysis:
1. There are a lot of recent posts in the educational blogs about the future classrooms. It is a hot topic. Use technorati to help you search. A few posts to get you started: Will Richardson, Scott McLeod.
2. I would use interviews for the old classroom information. I bet you can find old textbooks in the library as well. Yearbooks? Has SHS changed much even though the world has grown by leaps and bounds?
3. Keep track of your sources and cite them correctly.

Movie:
1. Please put a draft of your movie file (WMV) in the UDrive. I have a "final movie" folder there. Label it with your name (JohnnyJ-Iraq-1st draft). Put entry in your blog, ask people to watch it and give you comments/suggestions.
2. Be sure you tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end.

Wiki:
1. Work on the multimedia (video-sound) part of the wiki. This might be links to CNN videos, etc...but I would prefer that it is embedded in the wiki.
2. Be sure you are citing all of your sources.

Bookwork:
1. Be sure you are studying as you go and reading the chapters.

Good news

Check out the attention we got about the Ayiti game. Blogging is a powerful tool. Excellent post, Rachel.

A few notes about the project so far:

For all:

Check the rubrics! They include a lot of the details about what you should include.

HTML:

• On project 8, the java script is blocked by internet explorer. When you make the funwith phonics page it will be a white screen with a picture. It is important to understand WHY we use java scripts before you move on.
• Project 7 should work fine now.
• Some of you still insist on not reading the chapter and making this a typing class. Remember, you must be able to orally explain each project/concept and be ready for a quiz.

Movies:

• Remember, to tell a story. Beginning, middle, end.
• You can't use copyrighted images.
• PLEASE tell a story, dont just string images together.
• Make sure you talk about the essential question about the topic. What do people need to know?
• I'm working on finding open-source music. Take some time to search. You probably need creative common licensed music. You cannot use copyrighted music.
• CITE YOUR SOURCES PROPERLY OR NO CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN

Wiki:

• These seem to be developing. The collaboration seems to be working. I encourage all of you to check the pages out and add comments on the discussion page or make edits yourself.
• You might need to do some work from home where youtube or google video isn't blocked. You are expected to include some multimedia in your wiki.
• CITE YOUR SOURCES PROPERLY OR NO CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN

Final Project

The pages for the final project are set. I will refine and adapt these pages over the next few days so keep checking back. The rubrics should be up today. This is an opportunity to stretch your wings on a project for two weeks. Impress me. This is your only remaining grade, make it count.

David Warlick (the blogmeister) wrote an interesting blog post on New Years Day. I am trying in this project to work on some of the ideals that he speaks about. I have tried to create independent thinkers where students actively pursue the learning, they don't sit passively and wait for the teacher to dispense knowledge. Many of you have grown tremendously as students during this period.

During these next two weeks you should work intensively on the project. However, please leave time for studying for your final exam. We spent the last two weeks before break reviewing for the exam (so you have a "practice exam") but I will post further practice over the next few days. Remember, three components; 1 page memo, HTML, vocab.

If you have any missing work because you were absent, see me Wednesday. If you have missing work because you fell behind and you didnt do anything over vacation....well, that ship might have sailed.

Technorati Tags: David+Warlick education+renaissance

Tuesday

We are finishing the second part of our sample exam today. Some of the pages are very impressive. I think all of you did well once you sat down and tried to solve the problem. Today we will evaluate the projects and look at our classmates work. I think you will be impressed by how far we have come.

You will need to do this on the exam without any assistance. If you need to practice, start now.

I think our class is getting a lot of reading world wide which is cool. Check the clustrmap on this page and on the blogmeister. You should all have a clustrmap on your blogs. Let me know if you try to insert one (I have to upload it). Those of you who are still skeptical about EVERYTHING must recognize how the dynamics of the class change now that people realize we are being monitored world-wide.

I think this is my first movie post of the year but vacation is coming up and I wanted to update my movie picks. With a baby at home, its hard to keep up.

Movies I have seen recently: (stars out of five)
Casino Royale: Three stars (first scene was five stars)
Da Vinci Code: One star. (horrible....)
This is Spinal Tap: Five stars
The Departed: Four stars (rough movie, not for kids).
The Break-Up: Four stars (Mrs. Schneider says-5 stars)

Movies I want to see:
Pursuit of Happyness
Good Shepherd
Rocky Balboa

Tuesday

By midnight Tuesday you must post your memo to blogmeister. Click here for the wikispace explanation. I think the wikispace for the class is going fairly well. Its nice to have access to the work from home and there is never "I lost the paper" excuse.

Check out the clustrmap on the right. You should all add a clustrmap to your blogs. Can you find Bangledesh on the map? What about the other countries? Who is reading about us?

A few notes on your memo.....First, be brief and be specific. Second, follow the format!!, Third, demonstrate a deep understanding of the tools we have learned about. Choose the best tool for the job! If you finish early don't be afraid to add links or other cool stuff to your memo (but keep it professional! no hot pink fonts!)

Technorati Tags: clustrmap blog Bangledesh

Listen to this article

Monday

For this weeks project go to the wikispace.

If you are interested in doing a special project about games you should start here. I know nothing about this process but I do know that educational games are becoming more and more important and getting more press. Most are online and interactive. If you did a project on this you would have to do some reading (espcially the teaching guides), find relevant blogs, and then start learning the program. Making a wikispace would be great.

For those of you making movies, can you find examples of student work on the internet that use movie maker? Compare your work to their work. How can you improve? Include links on your blogmeister.

If you are more interested in the graphics manipulation then doing the tutorials in Flash and Fireworks and making a wikispace about them for other students would be a good special project.

Some of you spoke about teaching a class or giving a clinic for senior citizens, teachers, or parents on web basics (email, how to find a website, cool stuff you can do, etc...). If this was your project we would need a detailed action plan. How would this happen. This would make an excellent project for collaboration with other students or a service project for a club.

Exploring the google maps and the myriad of new applications that go along with it might be another interesting project. I showed you the bookmarking program the other day. Here is another post to check out. Maybe you would like to explore ideas for flickr instead.

A few of you will be creating wikispaces based on a project for another subject. One group is exploring how a special car parks itself and will use geometry and physics to explain it. This is a good use of a wiki where video, fireworks diagrams, and other applications can be applied.

In short, I encourage you to do something. All of these application are new to me and I can't keep up with all the ones that are coming out. If we work together and use the tools we have (blogs, wikis, etc...) we could raise our collective knowledge. Also, I realize that many of you take the "safe" choice and stick with your textbook. If you are doing it because you truly want to learn more about HTML forms, then OK. If you are doing it because you think it is easier or safer, then I urge you to reflect on how you approach learning. Take a chance. If we ALL did the safe thing school would be boring and we wouldn't learn that much.