E-porfolio: wordpress.com vs. wix.com

The survival of the fittest has begun! In trying to get my e-portfolio up and running, I have entered the arena with www.wordpress.com and www.wix.com I first started out using wordpress. I got all of my artifacts and rationales uploaded, but I was at a loss of how to make it cute.... In my experience, www.wordpress.com is more technical. I then turned to www.wix.com to check out the competition. I really liked what www.wix.com had to offer. I like the look and the layout is much more user friendly. When creating a wix website, everything you need to create is on the same window. Once I figured out the mini-pages, it was a cinch. Is my e-portfolio all cute and stuff? No, not yet. I still need to play around. But, it is a work in progress. I do believe that www.wix.com will be the survivor in this dual!

Wordpress.com and E-Portfolio

Examples of e-portfolios:
dixie.edu -- education --resources--e-portfolio examples

• When using wordpress.com, remember your signin name needs to be simple, it becomes part of your URL address.
• Hyperlinks will embed the documents right into your blog. You only will have one post, with different pages for each artifact.
• wordpress is password protected, so not everyone will see your resume etc.
• www.candruswebquest.wordpress.com/ - this website is a step by step guide on how to create an e-portfolio on wordpress.com
• If you want to change your URL address, you will need to create a new post. That is fine, just don't use the old one. But, beware that you will need to create the post from scratch.
• You can import templates from other sites
• E-portfolio -- this is the POST, then you will adding pages
• Delete the option to leave a comment!!!

Photosharing

Websites that help you to store your pictures. The following are some sites which you can store your photos. You can make the photos private, public to all or just give out the address to certain people. It is usually free, however you need to create an account to upload pictures.

• http://www.flickr.com/
• http://www.photobucket.com/
• http://www.webshot.com/
• http://www.picasa.com/
• http://www.walgreens.com/
• http://www.slide.com/

Picasa and flickr both allow you to stream in your latest photos into your blog, using one of their gadgets. Good thing to remember when I set up my classroom blog!

Photobucket.com -- you can upload quotes and have them directly on your photo, get lyrics, change backgrounds. No copyright on the music -- you can just download. You can upload your photos directly onto facebook. Can do themes of your page. Can create slideshows Online scrapbooking.

Flickr.com -- need a yahoo account. Creative commons has tons of pictures you can use for educational purposes.

Slide.com -- you can create a slide show and post it on your blog.

These are public domain, so share away!

Bookmarking

A couple of different bookmarking sites:

• www.delicious.com
• www.flickr.com

I have set up my own account at www.delicious.com.

I am loving bookmarks! It makes life so much easier -- this way I can access all the sites I need to, even if I am not on my own personal lap top. Very functional. Very helpful.

Podcasting For Teachers

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Podcasting For Teachers

View more presentations from William Breitsprecher.

Podcast

WARNING!!!!! Podcasts can be VERY addicting! One of the most addicting aspects of podcasts is that they are FREE! Love free stuff!

• What is a Podcast? A mix between an iPod and a broadcast.
• Can be downloaded as audio or with video (Vodcast)
• Each time you synchronize your iPod, you can put the settings to automatically download the latest version of your Podcast

Instructions to downloading a Podcast in iTunes:

1. Connect to iTunes store
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the iTunes Store page
3. Select 'podcast'
4. 'Podcast Quick Links' is located to the right of the page. You can select audio, video, new releases, the iTunes picks, staff favorites etc.
5. Subject matter for podcasts include: fitness, religious, language learning, news, financial, parenting to name just a few.
6. Each podcast can last from a couple minutes to more than 1 hour, depending on what you select.
7. Once you have selected a podcast, you can read about it, then listen to a snip-it before you choose to subscribe to the podcast

Educational podcasts via iTunes:

• Poem of the day
• Children's Story Time
• Science show for Kids: 5 min. audio of science questions being answered
• ESL Teacher Talk - activities, games, insights
• Teacher's Lounge: teaching challenges addressed
• Bookwink: get kids excited about reading a new book
• Sixty Second Science: entertaining thoughts and provoking science exposed

Other sites for downloading podcasts:

• teacherspodcast.org: news, views, research and resources -- fun ways to incorporate technology into the classroom
• nationalgeopraphic.com/podcast: wild animal chronicles
• sonibyte.com: audio recordings of poems of the day
• epnweb.org: The Education Podcast Network - this has it all -- teaches you how to teach with podcasts, different subjects etc.
• podcastforteachers.com: adventures in transformative learning
• podcastsforlearning.org

It really is limitless.... see what I mean about it being addicting?

Understanding Learning Disabilities

Understanding Learning Disabilities has been one of my passions from the time I was very young. Little did I know then that I would give birth to someone with a learning disability and have to endure the stigma, lack of understanding and judgements that inevitably come your way.

I was introduced to Rick Lavoie several years ago, when my daughter was young. However, I have just recently investigated more on what Rick Lavoie does to help educate others about learning disabilities. Check out his website at www.ricklevoie.com. I have posted on my blog his RSS feed as well, entitled "Tales from the Road". One day, I want to do what he does.

Above, I have inserted some of his work. Many of the books and DVDs are available at your local library.

Have fun perusing!

Memories That Won't Last

We created a video using Photo Story 3 for Windows. It is a free download. I really liked the program. I have purchased other programs, but they are too complicated and frustrating. This I can handle. My children really like to see themselves in these kinds of videos as it celebrates specific aspects of their lives. The tool is free -- and I am positive that students will love this software as well!

Wiki Walk-Through

Wikis kinda confuse me... so in an effort to dispel the mysteries of the work of wikis, I've done a little bit of research:

• WWW.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/ - a site that lets any visitor become a participant, it is continuously under revision and is a collaboration of many people sharing in the creative process. The word "wiki" means 'quick' or 'fast'. Wikis are used mainly by educators to conduct or follow-up after professional development workshops, communication tool with parents or students participating in their development.

Ways a wiki can be used in the classroom (information taken from www.teachersfirst.com):

• travelogue from a field trip -- or a NON field trip the class would like to take (Our non-trip to the zoo and what we wish we had seen)
• "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Mrs. Eyring's Class" -- students can contribute to an ongoing list of how education spills over into the real world
• What I think will be on the test -- others can contribute
• FAQ or NSFAQ (Not So Frequently Asked Questions) about a unit of study
• On-going vocabulary lists and examples of words -- contributed by students
• Study guides made up by students for students
• Students write about how they used math to solve a real world problem
• Groups explain the steps to a mathematical procedure, such as factoring a polynomia or converting a decimal to a fraction
• Students demonstrate numbers as many ways as possible
• Student made glossary of scientific terms with illustrations and definitions
• Observations from field sites, such as water testing in local water streams
• A collection of propaganda examples during a propaganda unit
• Detailed and illustrated descriptions of government processes -- how to bill becomes a law
• A "fan club" of your favorite president
• A continuing story in which your class adds a sentence using a new vocabulary word

Sample Wikis:

• http://aristotle-experiment.wikispaces.com - High School English
• http://terrythetennisball.wikispaces.com - Elementary school
• http://room4-wiki.wikispaces.com - learning to write in 1st grade
• http://westwood.wikispaces.com - grades 8, 9, 10 integrated with class blog

Here are some Tutorials and Guides for creating a wiki:

• www.teachersfirst.com
• http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com
• www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english
• http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com/page/How+we+use+wikis+in+class?t=anon

The information out there is limitless..... I think I now have a better understanding of how I can use wikis in my classroom.... Thanks, google.com, for your nifty search engine!

E-Portfolio

What is an E-Portfolio? An ELECTRONIC Portfolio is organized around standards and contains artifacts that reflect your growth and best professional work. The uniqueness about an e-portfolio is that your artifacts (i.e.: research papers, letters of recommendation, lesson plans etc) can be accompanied by a video clip of you teaching, power-point presentation, or audio clips.

Benefits of the E Portfolio include:

• Demonstrate technology knowledge and skills-showcase your best work as a professional and demonstrate your knowledge and skill with technology.
• Facilitate distribution-- e-portfolio's web address can be given or a CD-ROM can be mailed mailed to a prospective principal or superintendent.
• Store many documents--presentation portfolio allows a reviewer to click and point to artifacts that interest them.
• Increase Accessibility--allows the reviewer to access the portfolio wherever there is a computer i.e.: on a plane, in the office, conference room or before the interview.

Creation of an Electronic Portfolio:

• Save artifacts electronically
• Document experiences electronically

Examples of Pre-service E-Portfolios can be found at:

• www.durak.org/kathy/portfolio/
• www.portfolio.rimestimes.net/
• www.kzoo.edu/pfolio/example/totten/

Examples of In-service Teacher Portfolios can be found at:

• www.mandia.com/kelly/portfolio.htm
• www.wizzlewolf.com/ep.html

CITATION: Campbell, D.M., Cignetti, P.B., Melenyzer, B.J., Nettles, D.H., & Wyman, R.M. (4th Ed). (2007). How to Develop a Professional Portfolio - A Manual for Teachers. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

WebQuest

Ahhhh... the wonderful world of Web Quests. Although they seem like a lot of work at the beginning (this being spoken by a person who has yet to create one and feeling overwhelmed at the process its creation) yet I am excited to conquer the task at hand!



Please note that the information contained below is taken from Ann Howden from UEN Professional Development at http://www.uen.org/.



A "real" web quest facilitates the transition from knowledge to understanding of a subject in the mind of a student. Tom March says this of a "real" web quest, "A WebQuest is a scaffolded learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students' investigation of a central, open-ended question, development of individual expertise and participation in a final group process that attempts to transform newly acquired information into a more sophisticated understanding. The best WebQuests do this in a way that inspires students to see richer thematic relationships, facilitates a contribution to the real world or learning and reflect on their own metacognitive processess."



Okay, that was a HUGE mouthful. Here are 6 components of a webquest and sites on the web to hopefully break this process down into smaller bites:

1. Introduction - Dangle a carrot in front of the student to "hook" their interest.


2. Task - focus the learner and clearly describes essential questions & learning objectives


3. Process-lays out individual action steps the student will take, the resources to be used and how the student should organize their data.


4. Evaluation- Provide students with the rubric so they are aware of their responsibilities


5. Conclusion- Bring closure to the webquest, encourages student reflection, assignments to complete and provides an extension activity as homework (optional)


6. Teacher's Page- provides optional addition to a webquest, gives directions and guidelines to assist other teachers with wequest implementation and includes information about targeted learners, core standards, essential questions, lesson objectives and student work.

• http://www.QuestGarden.com -- build a quest in the "quest garden"


• http://webquest.sdsu.edu/ -- Example


• http://www.bestwequests.com/ -- Example


• http://www.teachersfirst.com/ -- Keyword search: webquest

The "Best" Web resources to use in your webquest:

• http://www.uen.org/k12educator/ -- Link Center / Curriculum Resources --Themepark, multimedia presentation resources for educators, Marco Polo, Pioneer Online Library and PBS teacher Source


• http://loc.gov/ - the Library of Congress


• Keep in mind: the webquest must link to resources that foster learning, analysis and evaluation. The best websites for student use are interactive, media-rich and "exciting"

Okay -- we are armed with knowledge --- let us go forth and conquer this Quest!