Is Plurk the new Twitter?

It is tough to stay open minded about microblogging when I've been "in love" with twitter for so long.  When twitter turned off the reply tab for days and just wouldn't respond, we were forced to try something else for NECC and after playing with Pownce and others, lots of plurk-ing emerged. (See the plurk page "who likes to plurk?")

So, after setting up ping.fm to update all of this microblogging sites, I'm warming up a little to plurk.

Now, do not expect plurk to be twitter, it is not!

It is a hybrid between twitter and discussion threads -- sort of a microdiscussion thread type of approach.

To see what I mean, take a look at this "plurk page" that was built when I asked for educators who are plurking to share where they are from.  I've done this over and over with twitter and struggled with getting all the information and replies on one page.  It was a struggle and all of the code knocked down my rss feed.

Because some people were public and some private, I couldn't just share my reply tab.  It was quite difficult.

Now, each "plurk" makes its own page and others can respond to a specific "plurk."

The disadvantages are that it takes some getting used to!  I've found that I have to tell it to "view only my plurks" to see the responses -- then, I go to the one page and tab through them that way!

It is very different.  I'm still using both twitter and plurk although plurk has some cool things going on.  It looks like to me in twitter that many are at least trying out plurk.

I hate to say that twitter has been its own worst enemy in this entire thing.  Their unreliability and unresponsiveness (spurred by their growth) has pushed people to try other things.

Twitter needs to:

• Keep their service reliable and scalable (sounds easier than it is!)
• Make threaded replies possible (this really is an advantage)
• Make it easier to look at fans who aren't following to add them as friends more easily.

Plurk needs to:

• Give another way for us to update via mobile b/c many of us don't have smart phones.
• Figure an easier way for us to read the replies. I'm struggling with this.
• Changing fans to friends HAS GOT TO BE EASIER!!!
• I hate the "karma" thing.  I really do.  Guess some like the extrensic motivation to use their service but I don't.  Wish I could turn it off.

I don't think Plurk is the new Twitter.... yet.  But who knows? What do you think?

Technorati Tags: ping.fm plurk twitter microblogging

NECC Live Webcast Wrap up Saturday 7/5/08 11am EDT

Just got this note on this NECC live wrap up on Saturday, July 5th at 11 am EDT:

"A message to all members of Classroom 2.0

We'll be having an NECC wrap-up and review show Saturday morning--while memories are still fresh! EduBloggerCon, NECC Unplugged, the Bloggers' Cafe, and all the rest. The best links, leads, streams, podcasts, vlogs, and blogs. What you loved, what you didn't. We'll try and document all in a special 90-minute show.

Details at http://www.classroom20wiki.com/live+conversations/, or log in directly for the show at https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=1101&password=M.8DAFD346DA4B268DC185FED8466556

Steve

Steve Hargadon
www.stevehargadon.com"

Join in if you're around.

Sites that Caught My Eye Today 07/05/2008

• Plurk Basics

  TV tutorial about plurk basics. I must say, I do like the plurk page.

  tags: plurk, edu_newapp, education

• UChannel - Students and Electronic Media: Teaching in the Technological Age

  Resources from the princeton Future of Education Conference including videos and audio.

  tags: education, bestpractices, professionaldevelopment

• Wikinomics and The Cool Cat Teacher | Make IT Happen

  I love how this teacher is truly emerging into the blogosphere, after a comment from me, and pinging technorati with thoughts, this teacher's post has received noticed from the bloggers at the Wikinomics blog. This teacher is doing an excellent job with blogging and we're only seeing the beginning.

  tags: education, wiki, wikinomics, edu_news

• Wikinomics » Blog Archive » Wikinomics in the Blogosphere

  This incredible compliment from the people at wikinomics means a lot.

  tags: education, wiki, wikinomics

• Web 2.0 Smack Down! | BlogWalker

  Blogwalker's notes on Web 2.0 smackdown -- another set of great notes.

  tags: web2, education

• Almost Live from the Web 2.0 Smackdown - NeverEndingSearch - Blog on School Library Journal

  Web 2.0 smackdown notes from joyce valenza - she did a great transcription of notes from this session. I love the photo of the web 2 keychain!

  tags: education, edu_newapp

• Twitter / pingfm

  You can find the most recent "beta codes" from pingfm on their twitter statuses. This is how I got in.

  tags: education, geeks4, edu_newapp

• borderlinetheory.com » Updated: Ping.FM Tutorial

  I've been spending some time on the various microblogging places and really don't have time to go to all of them, so now, I've used pingfm to update them all. (There is a place to go to get the most recent invite beta code, that will be my next link.) This great tutorial got me started on pingfm so that it will update all of the services I use. Very nice tutorial.

  tags: education, geeks4, edu_newapp

• A Library By Any Other Name: 371.3 NECC08: Wonderful World of Wikis

  Notes on the wiki presentation that I did with Adam Frey -- I'm saving all of these and also want to link to those who took the time to link and write about the sessions that I was a part of. Thank you for such a great outline!

  tags: education, necc2008, wiki, technology

• US teacher is suspended for letting pupils read bestseller | News | guardian.co.uk Books

  This teacher was banned from using the freedom writers diary in her classroom and now has been suspended. I don't know all of the facts, however, I have to wonder why the school sent her to a Freedom Writers workshop and then wouldn't let her use the book.
  
  I do respect the desire to limit the profanity -- I wish that perhaps there was a explitive-free version of the book to handle this issue, however, it looks like this entire issue was mishandled. It grieves me as more issues like this seem to be happening in schools. I haven't read this book to have my own opinion, but would love to hear from some of you who have.

  tags: education, edu_news

NECC Wiki Workshop

I love the blog post from Laurie Fowler about the Wiki workshop last week at NECC.

Laurie says:

"This workshop really opened my eyes to the collaboration that the web 2.0 tools can encourage. And it reminded me, too, that it is about the content and the collaboration, NOT about the tools. The relationships we encourage students to make with one another and students around the globe are much more important than which tools they choose to communicate that message"

We had fourteen in the workshop in person and about 7 participants from around the world.  Our goal was for the participants to experience a flat classroom and, it worked!

Julie and I will be offering an extended version of this course this upcoming week in St. Louis and are talking about doing another extended workshop next year in Australia if we can find a venue and enough participants to make it happen.

We will have a very small number of openings this upcoming Tuesday and perhaps Wednesday.  First tweet, first to go on the list. (just direct message or e-mail me.)  Just remember that top priority goes to those who are there in person, although, I think it is a meaningful experience for everyone.

I think what I love most was this comment:

"And at the end when NECC folks were coming up and giving their reflection on video, I saw Kim Vance from Cincinnati come up and talk and I realized that she is in my Influencer Online Book group that we are doing with Scott McLeod from CASTLE in Iowa. What a small world!"

Here are the ustream reflections from participants:

Live .TV show provided by Ustream

We still have some room in the workshop next Tuesday and Wednesday, July 8, 9 in St. Louis.  Join us!

NECC Wiki Workshop
Here are the snippets of the ustream of the Wiki Workshop.  (It is a long workshop, but you can forward it and get some out of it if you wish.)

Broadcast by Ustream.TV

Technorati Tags: wiki necc Julie Lindsay professional development pd education flatclassroom The World is Flat

NECC to me: Ten of my takeaways

My Leadership Day 2008 post

Many people have reflected on "their" NECC experience.  While I was at NECC, to me the most important thing was to focus on sharing and sending out as much as I could with those not there (or with my future self.)

Here are my thoughts:

1 - NECC is Overwhelming
No one can be everywhere.  And with the total overwhelming fatigue that sets in after the first few hours, I doubt any of us are at our 100% best anyway.

I'm going to spend practical time going back through and viewing ustreams and blog posts about the content that was shared.  There was a lot of great stuff, and I a particularly enjoyed Chris DeDe's presentation on the evolution of assessment.  It was brilliant and I felt my own educational viewpoints evolve as I heard him speak.

I also heard that Hall Davidson's cell phone presentation was amazing and am looking for the ustream of it.

At edubloggercon, I enjoyed the Web 2.0 smackdown (the great links are on the page-- the world wide participation was awesome.) Joyce Valenza and Blogwalker took great notes of the session.



I loved Kevin Hunnicut's Web 2 keychain (shown above courtesy of Joyce Valenza), it is worth forwarding through the ustream recording on the wiki to see him describe use of this amazing tool!



2 - Time to Rename
With the increasing focus on global connections and the second day keynote of two amazing Canadian educators, it is time to either:  1) rename necc the ietc (international education technology conference) or 2) start a separate international conference that is either held in conjunction w/ an existing conference each year or is merged w/ necc. 

3 - Remember Interpersonal Skills
To say I was quite annoyed at the bloggers who blogged publicly asking Steve Hargadon to state his relationship w/ Pearson (there is none) instead of walking up to him and asking (as I and some others did) was dissapointing.  (Ask before you blog!)

Bloggers should understand that once it is blogged, it cannot be taken back, so as a good journalist would do... go to the source.  Ask, then blog.

This also happened with the ISTE policies.  Instead of e-mailing the conference organizers, some blogged it first.  Why?

For blogs to be counted as dependable, they need to get their facts straight.  It doesn't mean they should be sanitized, never criticize anyone type of places, but it does mean that people should get their facts straight before getting readers all hyper over something that is a non issue.

The type of people that will grow with the edublogosphere will also have good interpersonal skills.  I've seen many bloggers burn bridges this week -- if someone is sitting in front of you, ask them.  Steve Hargadon doesn't get paid a dime and has asked for help with organizing edubloggercon and some of the same people he asked privately, blogged publicly about what he should have done.

What ever happened to getting the facts right?  Treating others like we want to be treated ourselves?

It wasn't just edubloggercon, but I saw this happen in several instances.

People are people and people deserve respect -- no matter who they are.  Some of us are lone wolves because we don't "fit in" and I'm wondering if some are lone wolves because we have terrible interpersonal skills.

I don't profess to be perfect myself, but getting the facts right and treating people with the dignity of having the first chance to respond are just the right thing to do.

3 - It is about the students.
This, "I'm not going to necc" or "why you should go to necc" -- it is so irrelevant.  I even heard some people at edubloggercon say that they were unsettled with a student presence at the conference.

I loved meeting the students.  I loved their voice.  What is wrong with that?

If "you" don't want to go to necc, don't go.  If you do, go. NECC doesn't make you smarter or solve the worlds problems, but it is a great way to share best practices for those who want to improve their classrooms.  It is a marvelous place to meet students doing cool things.  Its not the headliners that make the difference, it is the average regular people doing cool things.

4- It is not about me
Within many of the ponderings about NECC, I see "me" reflected.  Some bloggers left edubloggercon on Saturday and told other new bloggers,

"don't go to edubloggercon, it is not what I think it should be."

Rather than planning something they thought would fit or creating an impromptu session, they took their party home.  Was it that "their" workshop didn't get voted in in the morning?  Was it that many newcomers "they" didn't know were there? (I say bring on the newcomers.)

I feel so unimportant
When I go to NECC, I always leave feeling very very small and like I have a long way to go.  I hate to say I feel unimportant, and yet, my own contribution to this web 2.0 movement is such a small blip on the radar.  And I do feel pretty unimportant.

And yet, my part is so very important to my students.  I love them and am delighted to be their teacher.

The arrogant "me-centric" viewpoint shown by some (I'm not linking, we all have to ask this question for ourselves.) is quite bothersome.  I asked my husband about it and described some observations and he said,

"Vicki, don't you understand that this is about turf?"

Those who leave a legacy are those who:

• Intentionally seek out beginners to encourage them.
• Intentionally welcome beginners and all people.
• Look others in the eye and take a moment to listen when they meet them face to face. (This one was hard while getting ready for sessions.)
• Treat others with respect in their words and actions.
• Understand the power of the written word and take what they blog very seriously.
• Blog the truth and not accusations that may or may not be true.

This is a challenge as the email gets fuller and there are more people who know you, however, it is part of what I aspire to be.  Not only do I personally not want to be arrogant, I don't want to be perceived as being arrogant (which can be tough to do.)

I'm so thankful for all of you who came by and introduced yourself and said hello and told me your story.  Thank you for saying that you were inspired or telling me about what you like.  You are why I'm here.  It is certainly not because I want to be a part of some think tank that solves the worlds problems.

Reject arrogant elitism
People often talk about the blogosphere by talking about who is "in" or "famous" and who is out.  Ultimately outside the edublogosphere, few people know about us at all.  We're not nearly as important as we think we are.  In mainstream education we're not "famous" and we're certainly not "in."

This type of attitude makes me angry but realize, this is my own perspective and many others won't agree with me at all.  Most edubloggers aren't this way at all and take time to talk to a wide variety of people.  I was so amazed talking to Dean Shareski, Jo McLeay, Julie Lindsay, Scott Meech, Lisa Parisi, Kristin Hokanson, some really amazing middle school teachers, elementary teachers, and others in brainstorming how they can flatten their classrooms across subject area.  Most edubloggers are just great, humble, wonderful down to earth people.

I would just like to ask that we stop talking about edubloggers being "famous" or "in" or anything like that.  These things are perceptions that we all have and I think they are divisive.  Two years a go, I was nothing, I wasn't "famous" or "in" and yet my classroom did some things that have helped others.

Mark my words, some people are just emerging into Web 2 right now that will literally change the face of education.  Don't discount the beginner.

Arrogance will limit the ability of the "famous" or "in" from finding these beginners who are going to change things.  So if you are feeling like you're "in" one of these categories -- work hard to intentionally include beginners.  I will too.

No one "owns" the Web 2 story
Sitting on a Classroom 2.0 panel with Steve Hargadon, I heard a person beautifully describe Web 2.0 that I had never met.  I didn't know her.  But the way she described it was so amazing and wonderful. It was then that I realized that none of us "own" this story.

Web 2 is growing far past the ability of any of us to lay claim to it and really it is quickly merging into Web 3d which is quickly becoming a topic of interest.

5 - The Redefinition of Computing
Cell phones, ipods, and other handheld gadgets are rapidly moving mainstream as IT personell realize the struggles created by shrinking budgets and the futility of spending money on voting devices, when students who have cell phones can do the same thing using polleverywhere.  This is why I think "computing" should come out of the name of the conference.

I heard it said that "in the 90's content was king, now contact is king."  I would add, it is less about computing and more about contact.  The content should still always be there, however, contact is very important!

6 - Meeting Face to Face
Meeting someone face to face does something.  It changes the relationship and for me, it almost always improves it.  There is still a really long list of who I want to meet, but also, this includes people I want to "help discover" and bring into the radar of the edtech community.

Meeting people face to face helps establish trust as well as idea generation when something "clicks."  There is value in this.

7- The evolution of assessment
Chris DeDe's presentation on the evolution of assessment was truly a hinge point for me as he discussed River City and the research emerging from this 3D immersive environment. (See multi user environment paper.)

I've been looking for the 3D maps that he used to map stronger students and weaker students but cannot find them.  The whole idea of data mining wikis and other tools in order to get at student behavior more readily is very attractive to me.

8 - The Ascyronicity of Conferences
To me, the great challenge of conferences is making them evolve into both sychronous environments and asychrnonous.  As an ISTE member, I think I should be able to attend NECC all year long.

With 100 volunteers this conference could be ustreamed and affect many.  It could become part of iste membership and provide far reaching benefits for many.

There is an inherent selection process that goes on for those who can attend NECC. 

I literally have to work and speak at conferences to save all year long and send myself to NECC because it is not in the budget for our school.  Is it worth the effort?  Yes.

However, there is a great need to podcast and stream sessions and I believe it can be done in a way that is open and yet still preserves the value of the NECC conference.  I believe if people could see for themselves the sessions at NECC, that it will make them want to go more.

It will also include those who need the pd.  There is a digital divide between those who can go to necc and those who cannot and if we talk about digital divide... we need to bridge this one as an example.

9 - The hypocrisy of our delivery methods
We talk about engaging, interactive spaces and yet, there is way too much lecture still.  We need backchannels and meaningful ways to engage learners.

It is so ironic to hear the profound lectures on how sage on the stage doesn't work.  And yet, the actions of those lecturing show what they truly believe.  This evolution is tough and none of us have the answer yet for how this engaging experience for massive groups of people should look, but we still need to work with it.  (I mean, who wants to experiment w/ a keynote!?  High risk!)

10 - Necc 2009
So, to make 2009 be what we think it should be, it is time to suggest things now.  Fill out the surveys that they e-mail to you.  Talk to Steve about edubloggercon.  Tag it Necc2009. (Hey, so here's my Necc 2009 page like we had for necc 2008.)

So, enough about what "I" think.  The NECC experience will be as diverse as we all are and each person must decide for themselves what things are worth their own time in light of their own jobs.

We have a lot of work to do.

It comes down to:  what will help me be a better teacher?  What will improve my classroom? What will enhance the lives of my students?

I'll work to share some of these things with you soon.

Technorati Tags: necc2008, necc, Steve Hargadon, Chris DeDe, Dean Shareski, Jo McLeay, Julie Lindsay, Scott Meech, Lisa Parisi, Kristin Hokanson

Children and Electronic Media Panel Discussion:

After inhaling NECC 2008, I'm going to spend the next few days giving you as much pd as I can find for you to share.  I'm going to save my own reflections of NECC for later.  I've found much of the NECC jousting between bloggers to be so far off focus that it is quite bothersome.

It is about the students and improving teaching.  So, that means I need to get past the edublogosphere introspection and share some things with you that you can USE!

This is an older video from the Princeton conference back in May, but it has been released on youtube and I'd like to share it with you.



I'll see if I can find the others to share with you.  I must say that all of the other speakers on this panel had me totally enthralled.

I LOVED the way that the oceans of know teaches fractions and I also am planning to integrate virtual worlds into my curriculum next year.  This was a great conference!

Presenters:
INNOVATIVE USES OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM
Moderator: Lisa Markman, Associate Director, Education Research Section, Outreach Director, Future of Children Journal, Princeton University

Speakers:
The Flat Classroom
Vicki A Davis, Teacher/ IT Director, Westwood Schools , Google Certified Teacher

Second Life
Kevin Jarrett, Google Certified Teacher, Technology Facilitator/District Webmaster, Northfield Community School
 
Oceans of Know 
Daniel P McVeigh, Director, Ocean of Know

Technorati Tags: necc2008, education, teaching, princeton

Sites that Caught My Eye Today 07/03/2008

• Globaloria: Social Networks for Global Learning

  Open source curriculum and spaces for creating programs in all subjects! From our speaker at necc.

  tags: education, all_teachers, math, science, literature, history, curriculum, professionaldevelopment, edu_newapp

• MaMaMedia.com - THE place for Kids on the Net

  Website shared by our keynoter for parents and children. Big network. I want to explore this. The person who founded this is Seymore Papert's grad student.

  tags: education, edu_newapp

Live blogging closing keynote at NECC

Sites that Caught My Eye Today 07/02/2008

• Nuggets from NECC 2008 (1) » Moving at the Speed of Creativity

  Wes Fryer quoted an excellent conversation that some of us had at NECC.

  tags: education, web2, learning

Classroom 2.0 Panel

Getting ready to start a classroom 2.0 panel -- going to participate and take notes in backchannel today - http://www.chatzy.com/610230759294 -- password is:  necc

Hyperlink for page - http://necc2008.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=1997968%3ATopic%3A11028

Live blogging Chris Dede- Assessment of Immersive Environments - #necc 2008

Live Blogging Keynote - Wisdom of Crowds NECC

Sites that Caught My Eye Today 06/29/2008

• Handipoints Login

  Cool page to work with children. Can also use with a personal report card and add teachers.

  tags: education, all_teachers, edu_newapp

Live Blogging Edubloggercon at NECC

Ustream channelBroadcast by Ustream.TVWill be live blogging Edubloggercon here.May have some other people join me.Also, a monstrous group chat is evolving here. (Passcode: bikx9 )

Laughing at Wife of the Year: Elaine Freedman (Terry's wife!)

Adding to my list of reasons to go back to England, my friend Terry just sent me this hilarious video where he interviewed his wife.

I love her! Like I always say, behind every great man is a woman who keeps him humble! Elaine Freedman, you're my kind of woman -- I want to meet you!



I just love Terry -- he is one of my most trusted advisors and has been one of our many amazing researcher/pedagogical experts who tells us the truth about what we need to do on things like Horizon and Flat Classroom. Terry is a "straight shooter" and also has practical classroom experience in his back pocket. I am very grateful to all of his hundreds of hours and assistance he has given behind the scenes.

Oh, btw, Terry recorded this as he was evaluating the flip video.

Terry Freedman, humor

Sites that Caught My Eye Today 06/27/2008

• techLEARNING.com | Web 2.0: from Curious to Competent

  New web 2.0 ebook - I haven't read it yet, but would like to see your thoughts on this. Those who read book get 30 days of atomic learning.

  tags: education, web2.0, technology, techintegrator, professionaldevelopment

• The Top 50 Proprietary Programs that Drive You Crazy — and Their Open Source Alternatives | WHDb

  Very nice article sharing about the open source alternatives to proprietary programs.

  tags: education, techintegrator

A photographic journey into plurk: See for yourself before you jump the twittership

BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare


I chronicled my trip from Twitter frustration to curiosity about plurk. Follow the journey. However, as you can tell, my recommendation is, don't jump the twitter ship yet.

Plurk isn't instant, you can't import your e-mail, although it says you can. There are features in there that just don't work, and yet plurk doesn't say it is in "beta." I really like the interface of twitter better.

My thought: hang tight and see if twitter can get its act together. Use Summize to see one's replies by typing in @yourid -- just remember, this will only show you replies of people who are on the public timeline.

For right now, twitter is like a bad boyfriend: you're crazy about him but he's just not there when you need him. He's still the best one I've got for now. Maybe he'll fix his wandering ways and shape up!

My plurk page

twitter, plurk

Help my friend Scott, we need your clicks

A friend of mine from high school, Scott Rigsby, is the first double amputee to complete an iron man in history.

We did an amazing interview with him on Wow2 a while back and I've blogged about him before. I'm asking you to do me a favor, he is in the running for the "Energizer Keep going Hall of Fame" but it is determined by votes.

You may vote here once a day until July 26. (and read more about the contest)

Please help me help him win this! I appreciate it very much! Scott is an inspiration (as are the others who are finalists.) The difference is that I know Scott and his journey out of addiction to pain pills and depression in order to get where he is today -- to run his first iron man at 40 on prosthetic legs -- wow!

Thank you! I would consider this a favor to me if you would pass this along!

Sites that Caught My Eye Today 06/26/2008

• K12 Online Conference 2008 | Announcing K12Online08 Keynotes!

  Keynotes for K12 online 2008 -- you have 16 days to submit your proposal. This is a wonderful conference and Julie and I are so excited to be keynoting the strand, "Kicking it up a notch" -- we're working hard when we meet at necc to "kick it up a notch" as we brainstorm on this keynote!

  tags: k12online2008, education, professionaldevelopment

• Publishing : Posting to your blog - Google Docs Help Center

  Publishing from Google Docs to blogger. So, this is what you could do. The teacher has enabled the link to the blog in the teacher's account settings. Students and many others create a document and then share it with the teacher. After the document is as it needs to be, the teacher can then post to blogger from google docs automatically.
  
  This really gives you the best of wikis, blogs, and peer review as well as the ability to look at the revisions and who has contributed. This is something that I'm going to look at doing.

  tags: education, Google, technology, bestpractices

• preclectic

  Jeff Giddens, formely of Segatech, one of my favorite bloggers has had to move his blog b/c of a hacker. I hate the loss of that amazing content, however, I ran into him at GTA today and am

  tags: education

• Welcome (Google Almanac)

  Cool site that will teach you about so many uses of Google maps -- not just about Geography.

  tags: google, education

• 1-800-GOOG-411: Find and connect with local businesses for free from your phone.

  Stop calling 411 on your cell - this service is free and will text you anything you need. There is a cool video here. I do a module on searching on your cell phone and will use it this year.

  tags: google, education

• Search Features

  Special features and information about how to search on Google. This is a great page to take your students and have groups glean information about how to search.

  tags: Google, education, edu_newapp, tools, technology

• More Google Products

  A list of every product that Google has -- I use well over 75% of these.

  tags: Google, education, all_teachers, edu_newapp

My day at Google Teacher Academy

Tomorrow on this blog, you'll get a lot of links. Also, I have a post coming from Google docs with my notes.

Although it is 12:10 on the east coast and I'm dead tired, I just have to reflect on my thoughts about Google Teacher Academy today.

It was a wonderful experience. To be here at such an icon of our time... the company who showed what it was like to become so wildly popular as to literally become a verb, I felt like a part of history.

I am proof that a teacher who was formerly behind and didn't know a thing about anything Web 2.0 can jump into these tools and combine a commitment to excellence with a desire to learn more and share the process of learning -- can make a difference.

And I'm not the only one. There are many of us teachers who are reaching and connecting like never before.

I dream of a day when many teachers present at 5-6 conferences a year about best practices in the classroom. I dream of a day when pd is embedded as part of our day and that reading our rss reader will be considered important PD rather than "goofing off."

I dream of a day when it isn't about edtech bloggers but we have an lit-edublogosphere sci-edublogosphere hist-edublogosphere lang-edublogosphere -- even more than we have today. Where blogging is more mainstream and each discipline has its own "coolcatteacher" -- a practicing teacher who discusses ALL the tools of teaching that discipline.

We've got to do a better job of connecting teachers in their own discipline. Should we make a list of bloggers by discipline? What should we do? It is time to move it past edtech because these tools are so important in every class.

But it is not just about the technology - it is about great teaching.

Today, I shared this video from the miracle worker -- it is who I am. It was very personal to share and I always tear up when I see it. Every teacher, every professional developer (you're a teacher too) -- this is our holy grail of teaching.

Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller's teacher, is my epitome of the greatest teacherpreneur. This is who I want to be.



I hope you listened to the end. Teacher.... Teacher.... Teacher....

That is me.

And we are in an era where progressive companies who understand education (by listening to educators) want to include rank and file teachers in their equation.

Cristin Frodella, the manager of the Google Teacher program, Mark Wagner, from CUE, and Mike Lawrence, Executive Director of CUE, did a phenomenal job of organizing. And the google technology crew, filmmakers, av team... they were "tack sharp." Wow! Absolutely amazing.

But perhaps the thing that impressed me the most was Cristin's willingness to encourage all innovation of all kinds. It was not the kind of conference where we only talked about Google tools, although those were definitely the focus. Insight into the innovative mindset of the company taught me a lot.

The Google Culture
Google sees the big picture of innovation and culture... having good food to eat, large large green areas (but small elbow to elbow work spaces), and a strong knowledge of who their company is. I see why Google is successful.

This place oozes creativity. Tons of bicycles, a casual dress, and unique, beautiful natural areas. Interesting decor from a sea kayak to large balancing balls that one can grab to sit on.

I learned a lot. Not just about technology but about a culture of excellence that doesn't have to be restrictive and tight.

No Wool Suits 4 U

I recall my early days at GTE -- it was a wool suit EVERY day -- in 105 degrees, there I was in my heels and wool suit, traipsing to work.

The Day I let my hair down to present
And today I took a chance and did something I've literally NEVER done before. I'm shocked at myself. I let my hair down, literally -- I've always put my hair up either in a barrette or (ugh) a bun or french twist.

Now, you men may not understand this, but I have been so brainwashed to the point that I had to "look the part" and I still know there is something to it. However, for some reason, I felt OK just being ME. The atmosphere of "be yourself but be incredibly good at what you do" is contagious and you know what, I wasn't distracted. It was nice.

I'm a teacher. At 39 years old, and OK with who I am. I love my husband, my three children, and my students. I love my school and my job and it is really cool that a few times a year I get to go to some amazing places like Google Teacher academy and become a better teacher.

I want this for more of you, my friends, the teachers because it is about time that we connect. It is time that we all let our hair down and be who we are and be OK with it. It is time to realize that we have a job to do and that many things are just a distraction.

We want kids to come to school and want to improve the dropout rate -- and yet, what do we do? We tighten the dress code, we serve food that is worse than most prison food, and we test students like crazy. WE put them in class sizes so large that their teachers don't know all of their names and put them in uncomfortable seats. Now, work is always going to be a little bit unpleasant for most of us at least at some times, but how about making the MAIN THING the MAIN THING.

It is about learning. It is about educating. Teaching students to think, create, problem solve, and be successful in life. To help them see the larger world and have a purpose.

Today, I used my example about a cupcake and ask if cupcakes are good or bad and then I show a cupcake that says "I hate you" and ask if it is good. (The point is that any tool can be good or bad, it is the use.) At least 10 educators responded that they ban cupcakes at their school. "We only allow healthy non-sugar choices," said one. Another said, "we only allow presealed treats, cupcakes might be poisoned."

What?

So, instead of teaching proper behavior, it has come to the fact that we no longer allow kids to eat cupcakes in school.

Many people blame blame blame today's kids. I was always taught by my Mom that if I pointed at someone that four fingers were pointing back at me. These kids are not only a product of our society but they are a product of our education system. If we're not happy with today's kids, then we should also not be happy with ourselves.

We don't let them eat cupcakes. They can't play outside. They are bad if they play video games all day. They are bad if they hang out at the mall and spend money. They are bad if they veg in front of the tv. Don't go building a fort in your front yard, the neighbors won't like it.

Sometimes I feel sorry for the kids of today. We've taken away a lot of the great things I remember about being a kid. And we wonder why they turn to technology? What else can they do?

I'll tell you that the students I've worked with give me amazing hope and excitement about the future. (But then again, we eat cupcakes. ;-) When I get discouraged is when other teachers tell me how many things they CAN'T do.

Life is messy and not perfect. Kids make mistakes. A zero discipline problem, no controversy school is not possible.

I just know that if I'm going to have issues w/ parents, I want it to be because I do the right thing not because I'm being slack. I want these kids to thank me, today and in the future. And I want what I have in my classroom for more teachers.

I think that is why I travel sometimes. I want others to know that there is a better way and it doesn't come from being a Mini Cool Cat Teacher -- it comes from educating oneself as a teacher and having the empowerment to customize your classroom to the students and objective.

In a world that doesn' t need cookie cutter students, we no longer have room for cookie cutter teachers and cookie cutter curricula, and the training experiences like I saw today help make teachers and professional developers qualified to customize their classrooms.

OK, it is very late now and this has rambled quite a bit.

If you ever get the chance to apply for Google Teacher academy or you were one of the 200+ people who didn't make this class, PLEASE PLEASE apply again -- take a look at some of the videos that people submitted and go ahead and film and make your case so that when some more classes are announced, you'll be ready.

Such a time in history when classroom teachers, technology integrators, principals, curriculum directors at the local level count enough to be involved in an icon of our time. Be a part of history (and improve yourself in the progress.)

I'm proud to be a Google Certified Teacher. Does it mean I'll use Google exclusively, no? Does it mean I'm connected with amazing educators who know a lot about getting the most out of Google... oh yeah, and that is the best thing... the connections.

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Notes from Google Teacher Academy

Notes from Google Teacher Academy

Note: I took these notes in Google notebook and exported them to Google docs and after they were formatted, I posted to blogger from Google docs.

Google Teacher Academy

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