Thing 13 Reflection

Im still enjoying this. Blogging is somewhat therapeutic I think. Education and technology are fun topics for me to talk about. So, this kind of thing feels very natural. In seeing a few other blogs, it seems like others are having fun with it too. Here is my only concern: sometimes I wonder if anyone will ever read these posts. If I randomly put the work "taco" in a blog post, will anyone see it or care that its there? I dont think so. But honestly, I dont think it matters. The blogs have been good for me. Ive learned things by doing this research and Ive felt good about expressing some reflections. So, if someone wants to write something silly in the middle of a blog post, go for it. Chances are I will never catch it. Just make sure you enjoy the research and try to learn something along the way.

I dont think the same is true for our kids though. I believe having an audience that cares is very important to them. Passionate adults can blog our hearts out about topics we love, and if no one reads it, who cares? Its still good for us! But most kids are not going to buy it. Of course we would require students to post to each others blogs and that is a step in the right direction. It is still important to make the students feel like the work has a purpose. Read it. Comment on it. Tell them in person that you enjoy the work. Try to get it posted where others can see and enjoy it. All good things!






taco

Thing 12 Message Hop

MessageHop is a free website that allows you to post photos and messages. Then the site organizes them in a neat little presentation. You are then given the link to the presentation to send in an email or share in some other way. You can also post the message directly to your favorite social network. No usermane or password is required which is a major plus!

Learning with video. Thing 11

I feel a little like a video snob...I dont mean to be but I would like to see the education business pay a little bet of attention to details on digital media. We always ask a lot from our students, but its not uncommon for us (leadership) to throw together something mediocre. Here is what I mean, watch the podcast posted in Thing 10, short and sweet, easy to listen to, no weird hums or nosies in the background, and a simple backdrop. Then, we have a typical educational podcast. Its dark, noisy with hums, and full of distractions. It has nothing at all to do with the camera or editing software. Someone can do good work with a flip cam and movie maker. We just have to raise the bar a little. Sorry. The content of this video is good. But it is still hard to watch because of its poor quality.

Digital Age Assessment - Thing10

Last year, near the end of the year, I was able to obtain a set of smart responders. I knew it was going to be a little work to set up my classes, so I only used them in anonymous mode. Um....maybe that was not the right choice. I see many of my teachers using responders to take tests, informal assessments, BRs, all kinds of things. What I love most about using responders is the feedback the teacher can receive. Imagine being able to make adjustments on the fly to meet the students needs. I've been in dozens of situations when I was teaching, and seeing lots of head nods and smiles and I think "WOW! they are getting this! really getting this!" Then, the students bomb the quiz or test! Sound familiar? Well if the teacher is using responders (not in anonymous mode) then he/she can better judge learning. PERFECT!

Shutter Speed (Part 1) Thing 9

I am currently work with our Digital Imaging teacher to educate our students on how to obtain proper exposure with digital cameras. Most of the examples I show with my own camera so the students can have a hands on experience. However, the guy on the video is brave enough to remove the lens and release the shutter (something I would never do with my own camera). So, I used this podcast to demonstrate what happens inside the camera when a picture is taken.

Shutter Speed (part one) from 2bit Photos on Vimeo.

Thing 8 - Reflection

I have visited a bunch of blogs. It's neat to see how everyone is doing and what all we have come up with. Im not sure if the reflection is supposed to go here, in this new blog, or if it should be as a comment on the blogs we read. So, I am going to do both.

I had a project worked up to adapt the 23 things project to a series of trainings I was going to lead at HHS. Unfortunately, that lesson series is not going to fly just yet. However, I still have plans to pull in a few of these. We'll see how it goes...

Thing 7 Image Editing

I love doing this! I stared with a crop. Then a little vignette to focus the attention on my beautiful wife and baby bump. I used color curves to adjust the colors a little. Lastly, I added a warming filter. Before on left, after on right.

Thing 6 VoiceThread

Thing 5 My favorite Bible verse.

This is my favorite verse. Can you guess it?

Thing 4 Wallwisher.

Thing 3 Tweet!

I tweeted this.

I received this.
This was cool because I got feedback and advise from twitter users (experts on this topic) in only a few seconds. Plus, the info comes to me rather than me going out and searching the web for days!

Thing 2 All Kinds of Things!

I love things! Things are a good thing. The idea of sharing things with teachers is also a good thing.

HAHA! Really though, what a neat idea! This blog will follow my journey through the 23 things project in WV Learns. As I lean new "Things" I will blog about them here and share this "thing" with my staff. Here we go!