Jeff's CSUSM Ed422 Spring 06 Blog

The good new is that we are almost half-way through the course; the bad news is that we are almost half-way through the course ;-)

I sincerely look forward to the PowerPoint assignments and the group presentations that will be graded with your awesome rubrics. I know this week was probably a bit of a challenge for many of you. I want to thank you for your hard work.

Remember: It is very important to have submitted your PowerPoint and bring at least two copies of your rubrics to class (Tuesday or Wednesday). This is going to be the only class time that you have to present to each other and your peers are counting on you to grade and give feedback to their assignment.

IN CLASS THIS WEEK: You will be presenting PowerPoints to your peers and grading each other using your rubrics. We will also be introduced to a very cool program, Inspiration and its K-5 partner, Kidspiration. There will be nothing due this weekend!! However, you all should be working very hard on your journals . . .Don't let this easy and fun assigment weigh on you . . .

THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL ARTICLE (NUMBER 5): "In With the New" ISTE, L&L Vol 30, Number 3, by Gail Lovely (no kidding). This article is a software review of Inspiration and Kidspiration. I am also copying a very cool link to give you some ideas for how to use Inspiration/Kidspiration. Scroll down below the link of 50 ideas to get a link to some cool examples. Examples are a very good thing for teachers . . .
http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/conceptmap/50uses.html

Wow, ya'll have accomplished a lot in five short weeks. I saw some amazing newsletters that show me how much some of you have grown. I say "some" because I know that I cannot take credit for all the amazing talent in my three classes. Thanks for all of your hard work!

I have graded everything up to date, including all redos. If you find an error or something that needs graded, please let me know. There were quite a few of you who have yet to complete the Task Stream assignment. There were also a couple who submitted something on webCT but did not complete the assignment on Task Stream. As the intent of the assignment was to use Task Stream, I will not grade the assignment until it has been posted there. I took note of who submitted on webCT, but not Task Stream; everyone else loses points for being tarde.

We started PowerPoint projects last week and learned how to scan. The scanning assignment is to scan the "Statement of Own Work" that we will be adding to Task Stream. Don't forget that we will have a guest from Student Services, Credential Evaluator Robert Erichsen, who will visit on Tues and Wed to answer any application questions you might have about the paperless applications to the Teacher Education Program.

This week we will refine out PowerPoints and learn how to construct rubrics to assess the assignment.

DUE THIS WEEK: the PowerPoint assignment is due on Sat; the scan assignment isn't due until March 18! And don't forget to work on your journals.

This week's journal article: "Rubrics, Portfolios and Tests, Oh My!", which can be found on the ISTE website, publications, L&L: Volume 30, issue 8. It is in the "In the Curriculum" section.
This is journal number 4! Journal articles 1 - 5 are due on March 17!!

It's week five and if you have made it this far, you are capable of scaling the entire 422 mountain! Last week, you were awed by the marvels of Task Stream and Blogger. You are all on your way to an exceptional web-based, electronic teaching portfolio. Also, blogging should now be second nature to most of you. Congratulations!

This week's journal article is about PowerPoint, the same application with which we will be working this week. "Is PowerPoint Crippling Our Students?" is a point/counterpoint article from the November 2005 issue of ISTE's L&L. To access, simply go to ISTE, log on, under the publications tab in the top menu, choose L&L, look at past issues, Nov 2005 (Vol. 33), and download the article. I believe this article might even be a free download so you can all tell your friends!!

We will discuss the application process for the Teacher Education Program and I will also show everyone how to use the scanner to scan the document, "Statement of Own Work," which is to be uploaded to Task Stream next week.

After I thaw out from my exciting but very cold visit to Jackson Hole, WY, I will add more to this week. See if you can find the moose in the picture. It was spotted, with its mother, in the front yard of my friend Pete.

Due this Saturday: The summary of TPE 14/ISTE NETS through Task Stream. For this assignment, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUBMIT ANYTHING THROUGH WEBCT. You only need to complete the summary, ask for feedback, and add a comment requesting to have the summary reviewed. You will receive points through webCT, and comments through Task Stream. Also, the tracking sheet is for your personal use only. YOU DO NOT NEED TO SUBMIT THE TRACKING SHEET!! I will discuss the assignments you included on the tracking sheet, but you do not need to turn it in.

Attention bloggers: ISTE changed its current issue, which makes the link I posted last week dead! To top it off, when you search for past issues and find the "Ubiquitous" article, it isn't downloading. I will place the article on webCT under the Journal Reading/Blog assignment.

This week's journal article: "Blog On: Building Communication and Collaboration among Staff and Students" March 2005. To access: sign in, publications, L&L, past issues, March 2005. The article is the Features section.

Also in week four, we will be introduced to the tracking sheet and a TPE 14 assignment to get familiar with Task Stream. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, get the Task Stream subscription if you haven't already!! We will also discuss the Power Point assignment this week (Update: we may have to wait until next week to get the introduction to Power Point. Let's see how the Task Stream intro works on Wed night!)

Due: Newsletter is due on Sat, Feb 11 by 11 pm. The blog/journal assignment is an ongoing assignment, but I would like for everyone to submit the blog address as soon as it is created. The instructions are on webCT.

Extra, extra, read all about it! The ED422 students are making newsletters. Okay, that's a bit corny, but who cares. We started the newsletter in class this week. Trust me, you will be using something like this to communicate with your students and parents in the future.
Also, the Journal Reading/Blogging assignment will begin this week. The Wed class will get the introduction Wed night, while the T/Th classes will get the intro on Thursday.

EVERYONE PLEASE LOOK AT THE ASSIGNMENTS SECTION, I HAVE ADDED A WAY FOR YOU TO PROVIDE VERIFICATION FOR YOUR ISTE/TASK STREAM SUBSCRIPTIONS. I included instructions and a sample of what it should look like. This must be completed by the end of the week!

First Article: “Ubiquitous Computing in a Web 2.0 World”
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/Current_Issue/December-January_2005-2006.htm
(You can download this article as a PDF file and read it on your computer. You shouldn’t have to print it!)

Explanation of Web 2.0: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

SLACKER ALERT: now the ISTE publication L&L has changed to the new issue. You now must be a member to access the article, "Ubiquitous Computing in a Web 2.0 World". The link above no longer works. To access the article, you need to sign on to ISTE, sign-in on the right hand side. In the upper menu bar, find the publications tab, click and select Learning and Leading with Technology. You will see the new journal pictured (A female posing like Superman). On the right hand column, select past issues and choose Volume 33, Issue 4 (Dec/Jan). Then you will see the article listed.
Good Luck and I'll answer any further questions on Tues/Wed.