I learned about the rights of users that are protected by copyright laws from Kristin Hokanson’s session which will be useful as I work with our 4th grade multi-media projects this week. Then I participated in a chat with 60+ other educators in a conversation about what should stay and what should be changed in our ideal school of the future facilitated and recorded by Will Richardson. His Google Notebook for the session offered a list of related current writing. I listened to Gary Stager review his not so humbly titled “Best Ideas in the Educational World”. They are a good list to keep in mind; I especially like the thought, “Document success wherever you can…,” as I need to remember to share and publish what we are doing that demonstrates the creativity and learning of our students. While in the chats I recognized some participants and communicated with others I didn’t know. Will Richardson included those in the chat as a discussion group in his session and checked in with us online to connect us to the room. I found some new people to follow on my Twitter network and found new blogs, nings and student projects that gave me ideas for our schools. In all, a fun way to learn on my own terms in my own time.

Tomorrow I will change it up a little and participate in the two afternoon sessions with my K-12 colleagues Alice & Mike so we can have a conversation about what we see and hear. I would have loved to be there in person for the sessions and the times in between, but this new technology allowed me to take part in a stimulating professional learning experience from several hundred miles away.

Thanks to the organizers, the student videographers and all who made this experience possible!

Yesterday I sat down and sent out an email to classroom teachers (grades 2-4) describing what I hope will help us focus our work:
1. Creativity of expression using many forms of media — writing, drawing, photography, video, voices, etc.

2. Audience — as our students use these various forms of media to create, I’m looking for ways we can share their work with audiences within the classroom, within the school, connecting to homes & families and possibly connecting to students around the country or around the world.

I’m hoping addressing these two goals will help to define what we do with classes and students. To me, it is the 21st Century skills and preparation for lives as creative communicators and innovators. For teachers and students I need to break it down into what we can do on a given day, at a given age within the learning goals of the curriculum.

There are abundant examples of our students engaging in activities indicated by the NETS•S in grades 2 through 4 at Y.E.S. I find that we don’t need to spend time on the standards technology operations and concepts as they are best learned as part of using technology tools for expression. I introduce 2nd graders to the computer environment via. drawing programs so that they start off as creators of content. We then add writing, often accompanied by illustrating (esp. using Clicker 5 & Clicker Paint). After a few weeks of using the computer to create we begin to use interactive Internet sites in support of language arts and math skills being learned in the classroom (Educational Resources). Some classes have used voicethread.com to record aloud the text of books they have created and illustrated. These books have been posted online for comments by parents. Now at midyear 2nd graders are accessing information about the Arctic online and using various sources to create text and pictures describing the adaptations of an animal. They are beginning to address the areas under the standards research and information fluency and critical thinking, problem-solving and decision making as they use digital tools and resources.

Students in 3rd and 4th grades expand on the skills learned in 2nd grade. This year they have:

• interacted with entomologists manipulating an electron microscope online using “bugscope“
• recorded folk tale puppet shows on voicethread.com
• planted tulips as part of Journey North
• recorded
  Download as geologists
• posted videos of class plays online
• added content to a “100th day” wiki,
• created class blogs to review books they have read
• presented a Class Mystery on voicethread.com
• created multimedia group slideshows using ezedia
• accessed encyclopedias online
• used “safe-search” tools
• learned Internet safety guidelines as digital citizens

In addition to accessing information students are analyzing and making meaning of their own learning. A challenge is to explore taking part in international collaborations for classes learning about culture in other continents and to increase awareness of our global community. In the last year there has been a huge increase in the tools for sharing online and these may support new ways for us to or communicate and collaborate with other classes anywhere in the world.