Eighteen blogs, a couple of wikis I’m supposed to contribute to regularly, a Twitter account, a wife, a dog, and the grass that keeps growing in my yard often conspire together to prevent me from commenting on everything that comes through my Google Reader. Here’s a small list of things I should have blogged about…
- The Washington Post reported last week on the rise of Rep. John P. Kline (R-Minn.) to the position of ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee. They called it “a watershed” because Kline wasn’t in Congress when No Child Left Behnd was passed in 2002. He does not fully back the rigorous accountability requirements of NCLB.
- Philly.Com published an article early this month on a Rand Corp report on charter schools in eight states. That report seemed to indicate that charter schools were no better than public schools at the elementary level. I’ve always had two basic problems with the charter model. First, there’s usually some minimum population requirement for “at risk” students in a charter school. That might be an advance in large school districts with lots of resources; but in rural Appalachia almost every child is at risk. Second, the resources for a charter school are usually drawn from within the district they serve – a burden in poor districts, making charter schools a luxury that only larger, relatively wealthy districts can afford.
- Dr. John Lloyd (Curry School at University of Virginia) pointed out an article this week in Education and Urban Society that seems to show that all day preschool produces reading gains in first grade.
- Dr. Lloyd also pointed out a study in Science that seems to indicate that dyslexia can be prevented.
- My Facebook Friend David Warick put out two polls last week. One asked whether you could be a good teacher without using technology. I voted “no” but 68% of his readers said “yes.” The second poll asked if a teacher who doesn’t use technology is doing their job. And 88% of his readers said “no” to that. Interesting blog post.
- Dr. Scott McLeod at Iowa State University (another Facebook friend) published a list of questions to ask yourself about technology at your school.
- Teacher Magazine reported that former WV Governor Bob Wise is now chair of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
- Tracy Rosen (a Canadian teacher and Facebook friend) took a look at an interesting updated version of Bloom’s taxonomy.
Note: Back on June 11 I blogged about a goal of developing a new technology skill on an average of once each week. And I’ve been trying to blog about keeping up with that goal. So…
On June 15th I attended a workshop in Charleston on WebTop (which I’ve talked about in some detail here and here).
The workshop was actually a five-in-one set of hour-long mini-workshops. We were introduced to a tool for creating electronic portfolios (ePearl) and a virtual classroom (Manhattan). We got a look at developments in the evolution of our state’s student records system, WVEIS (and we were cautioned, on pain of death, that we could no longer call it “Wee-vus,” but had to say the letters – “dubya-vee-ee-eye-es”). We were given an introduction to Google Sites (which is embedded as a tool on the new virtual desktop). And we got to see how the desktop and its accompanying social network, WebTop Communities, works.
I tweeted.
Now, I know there will be some of you thinking, “What does that mean?” It means I used Twitter to record my thoughts and experiences as the workshops progressed. Twitter is a microblogging tool that allows users to publish statements of up to 140 characters in length. And I live tweeted the workshop – publishing about 30 Twitter posts (or “tweets”) as the day progressed.
Twitter uses something they call a hashtag to track topics. So I put the hashtag #WVDE in my posts, but that only works for a week. You can find things I’ve posted to Twitter at my Twitter page: http://twitter.com/gregcruey.
Live tweeting is quickly replacing live blogging of conferences and events.
Below is a list of tweets I posted during the workshops. I’ve arranged them in chronological order, even though almost any Twitter client tool would present them with the most recent post first.
- Tweeting from a workshop in Charleston WV 2day ay Capital HS. Workshop on WebTop, the new virtual desktop. #WVDE #WebTop
7:46am Jul 15th
Starting with a tool called ePearl. We’re in small groups in computer labs and we are on the same keyboard all day. Nice… #WVDE #WebTop
8:27am Jul 15th
Presenter for ePearl: Donna Landen http://wvde.state.wv.us/dir… eLearnign Coordinator #WVDE #ePearl #WebTop
8:32am Jul 15th
Toying with customizing the appearance of ePearl. Students can pick images and color themes they like. #WVDE #ePearl #WebTop
8:53am Jul 15th
ePearl is open source. Nice. #WVDE #ePearl #WebTop
8:54am Jul 15th
Naming/color coding folders. Students can color code folders to show level of completeness – so teacher can assess it. #WVDE #ePearl #WebTop
9:10am Jul 15th
Discussing how ePearl could be interfaced with other software – like techSteps and Writing Roadmap. #WVDE #ePearl #WebTop
9:12am Jul 15th
Looking at example of student portfolio. Teacher has included a rubric. Includes a box where teacher types comments. #WVDE #ePearl #WebTop
9:16am Jul 15th
ePortfolios provide a way to fix Pontius Pilate Syndrome: “What I have written, I have written.” Get kids to edit. #WVDE #ePearl #WebTop
9:22am Jul 15th
Resource section for ePearl includes both text and video based tutorials. #WVDE #ePearl #WebTop
9:23am Jul 15th
Next up, Fernando Ibanez on Manhattan Virtual Classroom http://wvde.state.wv.us/dir… #WVDE #PBL #WebTop
9:58am Jul 15th
Manhattan is intended to facilitate project based learning for Teach 21 wvde.state.wv.us/tea… #WVDE #PBL #WebTop
9:59am Jul 15th
Creating a class on Manhattan. WVDE has given 500 mg of space to students for their ePearl portfolios #ePearl #WVDE #PBL #WebTop
10:10am Jul 15th
Looking at modules available within Manhattan course. 17 different module formats that can be used in combination. #WVDE #PBL #WebTop
10:20am Jul 15th
Discussing the possibility of interfacing Manhattan & Writing Road Map. #WVDE #PBL #WebTop #WRM2
10:34am Jul 15th
I received this tweet from… ladyvolhoops@gregcruey 17 modules for what
10:43am JUL 15th
I received this tweet from… ladyvolhoops@gregcruey i am sitting in a conference with people doing pbl globally. listening to how it is done in italy
10:43am JUL 15th
I received this tweet from… ladyvolhoops@gregcruey r they looking at eports for how many years. 5oo mgs would not be enough if done correctly for 9-1210:44am Jul 15th
@ladyvolhoops Modules that can be used in structuring a class for Manhattan Virtual Classroom -open source, in WebTop #PBL
10:45am Jul 15th
Adding students to Manhattan classroom. Searchable list of candidates based on people in the WVDE WebTop System #WVDE #PBL #WebTop
10:46am Jul 15th
@ladyvolhoops epearl in WebTop for ePorts. Can be uped to 1 gig on request. ePearl can be passed on 2 next grade #ePearl
10:49am Jul 15th
I received this tweet from… ladyvolhoops@gregcruey y would you want a virtual classroom? what r they saying is the purpose?
10:50am Jul 15th
@ladyvolhoops Fernando says it helps manage the interaction between face-to-face teaching and online tools. #PBL #WebTop #WVDE
10:53am Jul 15th
Discussing how teach21 can be used inside Manhattan Virtual Classroom. #WVDE #Teach21 #PBL #WebTop
10:54am Jul 15th
I received this tweet from… ladyvolhoops@gregcruey don’t mean to be a pain, but what is fernando basing this on? we already do this in our school without a virtual class
10:55am Jul 15th
@ladyvolhoops No pain…I suppose it’s just an alternative format. It’s a free open source tool. But, bout to break for lunch…
10:59am Jul 15th
Session 3 is on WVEIS. Presenter Richard Pullin http://wvde.state.wv.us/dir… #WVDE #WVEIS
11:39am Jul 15th
I received this tweet from…jonbecker@gregcruey I worked with lots of OIS folks a while ago when WVEIS was a system way ahead of its time. Made for great research databases 
11:42am Jul15th
@jonbecker We’re basically getting a run down of what WVEIS can do. FERPA prevents much hands on work in a workshop. #WVDE #WVEIS
11:55am Jul 15th
WVEIS (our student records) has gone from a tedious DOS-sorta application to being web based. Much nicer, more user friendly. #WVDE #WVEIS
11:59am Jul 15th
Presenter: Jeff Takarsh on Google Sites #WVDE #GoogleSites #WebTop http://wvde.state.wv.us/dir…
12:57pm Jul 15th
The WebTop virtual desktop uses Google Sites as a tool and links from that virtual desktop. #WVDE #GoogleSites #WebTop
12:58pm Jul 15th
Creating a new Google Site – practice, basically. #WVDE #GoogleSites #WebTop
1:05pm Jul 15th
All normal Google Sites stuff. But the account comes thru the Department of Ed. Keeps personal things separate. #WVDE #GoogleSites #WebTop
1:39pm Jul 15th
Presenter: Chris Casto http://wvde.state.wv.us/dir… on WebTop Communities #WVDE #WebTop
1:55pm Jul 15th
WebTop Communities is a closed social network (much like Facebook) for WV educators and (eventually) students #WVDE #WebTop
1:56pm Jul 15th
WV’s WebTop Communities page is available in 28 (twenty-eight) langauges, from Arabic to Vietnamese… #WVDE #WebTop
2:11pm Jul 15th
Hadn’t noticed the bookmarking feature in WebTop Communities before. I can share bookmarks with WebTop friends. #WVDE #WebTop
2:20pm Jul 15th
WebTop Communities gives me a gig of storage space separate from the gig I have at the WebTop desktop. #WVDE #WebTop
2:21pm Jul 15th
Looking at creating communities in WebTop Communities. Any WebTop user can create communities. #WVDE #WebTop
2:30pm Jul 15th
“Any WebTop user can create communities.” Check that: students will NOT be able to create communities. #WVDE #WebTop
2:34pm Jul 15th
Well, headed home…
2:45pm Jul 15th
