Task 052 Dustin's Embed your Glog to your Wiki Page Video

This video tutorial shows you how to embed your existing Glog into your wiki homepage!

Click the following video click to view the video:

http://www.screencast.com/users/hastidr/folders/Jing/media/7db79bcf-6a64-416d-b2eb-0345358b5d56

Task 029 Edited Image

The subject of my original image is a street in a less than desired neighborhood. It’s on the outskirt of town. It’s on the “other side of the tracks” and typically people avoid the area. The point of view is from someone that doesn’t live there but wants to understand the people from it. The emotion is a little unnerving because it makes you step out of your comfort zone. The purpose of the image is to capture the other side’s point of view. What should be taken away is the want to integrate and be mindful of others.



The subject of the edited image is a divided area. It’s how the “other side of the track” people view the two areas, as two different places where they aren’t wanted or accepted. The emotion is that one day it’ll change, that at least it is a wooden fence instead of a brick wall. What should be taken away is the fact that people change and it’s a good thing to grow as a person.

Yodio - Root Words with Mr. Hastings

Task 065

This is an example of the Task 065 posting of my Video (Task 064b file).

Task 018 Dustin's Illustrated Poster

This is my example Task 018 Illustrated Poster.
It contains four examples of protists (Paramecium, Amoeba, Euglena and Volvox) and three characteristics of their Kingdom Protista(eukaryotic, multicellular, unicellular).

I hope you enjoy! See you all soon...I'm on Skype if you'd like to say "hello!"

Final Project

I did a combination of assignments for the final project. Hope you like!

First Assignment Hyperlinks:

Exploring Biomes: A Virtual Field Trip Across the World

Angela and I used www.weebly.com to create a website for students to complete virtual field trip to all the biomes of the world. Students will use Google Earth to visit each preprogrammed location. During their virtual field trip students take notes on their graphic organizers, develop a project, present their findings to the class and create a document to research information about their chosen biome. If you'd like I can email the Google Earth itinerary file the students will open. Just let me know.

Second Assignment:

I decided to "spruce" up my wiki page and give it a different look. I still used edu.glogster.com, but decided to change it up a bit. Let me know what you think.

Mr. Hastings' Wiki Page

Response to Article: Six Uses of the Internet to Develop Students’ Gifts and Talents by: Del Siegle, Ph.D.

I'm on the DIRT (differentiated instructional resource team) committee at my current school and I found this article very interesting. I'm really glad they pointed out the use of the Internet as a way to differentiate learning.

Last year I had a gifted student and honestly I was not impressed with the quality of their work. It was sloppy and rushed, but when I pointed it out I always got the same answer, “well, I completed the assignment.” Even after I gave him higher expectations I never really got the level of work I expected.

Now, I can differentiate instruction using the Internet and Web 2.0 tools for gifted students. I plan to start off small so I don’t get overwhelmed, but I’ll keep everyone posted!

Response to Article: The Student WebQuest by Maureen Brown Yoder

When I first heard the term WebQuest I immediately associated it with an online Scavenger Hunt, another busy work assignment for students to zip from one website to another to find fun facts and trivia about certain topics. Boy was I wrong!

Maureen Yoder’s article, “The Student WebQuest: A Productive and Thought-Provoking Use of the Internet” does an incredible job giving an in-depth look at what WebQuest are and ways to effectively integrate them into the classroom. I really liked how she explained each building block of a WebQuest (Introduction, Task, Process, Resources, Evaluation, and Conclusion) and I’ll definitely keep this article as reference for when I create my own WebQuests!
I can’t wait to use WebQuests in my classroom next year!

Response to Article: YouTube Comes to the Classroom By Anna Adam and Helen Mowers

YouTube, like with anything on the Internet, must be monitored and used appropriately. I've been in both school systems where one didn’t allow YouTube in the classroom and like at my current school which does allow it in the classroom. In my personal experience, "safety and security risks" have not been a major issue and the benefits have outweighed the risks. It was very frustrating to know YouTube videos could have benefited my classroom educationally, but wasn’t an option because it was blocked on the server by the school system.

However, last year I did have a student ask me to watch a video she put on YouTube of herself dancing. Well, I knew right away it wasn’t something that needed to be published for the world to see, so I spoke with my team and we decided to speak with her about the content and the dangers of posting material like that on Internet (she was dancing very provocatively to say the least). We also spoke with her mother and of course she had no idea her daughter posted video of herself on YouTube. Needless to say, after we spoke with her mother later that day the video was removed.

It just goes to show that as teachers in an ever growing technology-rich world we don't need to assume our students know what is and isn't appropriate behavior on the Internet. Kids need to be taught and then need to be reminded often of what is and isn't appropriate Internet behavior.

And, interestingly enough when I was at the bank depositing a check I noticed on the counter a booklet entitled, "New Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online" put out by www.onguardonline.gov which is full of information to teach students how to be responsible and safe on the Internet.

If you'd like to order free copies of the brochure, visit bulkorder.ftc.gov

The booklet also has a glossary that defines online vocabulary such as cyberbullying, firewall, hacking, badware, P2P, sexting, and spyware.

I plan to go over them during the first week of school, and to quiz them before they are allowed to use computers “freely.”

Skype

Laura and I explored Skype and found it very useful. Things we did using Skype:

1. Chat - Very useful to collaborate, ask questions and work on assignments at home.
2. Video Chat - We found this really useful when we couln't type, but we could talk.
3. Send a File - This is going to be very useful when we want to edit papers, send pictures, power points, etc. Very fast and convenient as well.
4. Screen View - This is great! Laura took screen shots to show me how to turn my microphone on and change the setting so she could see and hear me. What a great way to "walk someone through a website" etc.

Skype is a great tool! I keep it on when I have the computer up and I really enjoy being about to collaborate with the class in an easy, effective way.

Lesley Web 2.0

Genetics WebQuest

Click the link below to go to the WebQuest Angela and I created:

hastidr.weebly.com

Let us know if you have any questions! Enjoy!

BP OIL SPILL

Have you been down to the beach to see the BP Oil Spill? I haven't had an opportunity, but plan to next week. My friends have text messaged pictures and it is terrible and heartbreaking. I plan to bring some back to keep in my classroom, so if you'd like any let me know and I'll bring you some.

Projects for NXT 2.0

This summer I'm teaching a robotics camp and choose to go with the LEGO Mindstorm NXT 2.0 classroom set...check it out different activities at http://www.nxtprograms.com/index2.html

Also, there is a great blog I'm following with update to information for NXT 2.0 users...

Glogster EDU

Glogster EDU is incredible and I can't wait to share with the class everything I've learned. Glogster EDU is safe, easy-to-use, and best of all FREE! There is a "premium" version for $99 a year per teacher, but isn't necessary at all. Get ready to learn about Glogster EDU, how to use it in your classroom, and what age groups would best benefit from it. This is truely a powerful tool to use in the classroom and I hope everyone likes it as much as we have.

Visit http://edu.gloster.com to look around...

See you Saturday (bright and early!)

2nd Weekend Prep

At the Hoover Library to work on our Web 2.0 and WebQuest assignments. If you're getting my updates and want to work on them with Angela and I come on up!

iSchool prototype - education applications

Tech Tip of the Week

KickYouTube

type kick infront www.kickyoutube.com/???/???? to download

Did You Know?

Top Google Tips

1. Change results to a higher number
2. Way Back Machine - Can find archived items.
3. Can view all catalogs online (google.catalogs.com)
4. Google images
5. * for missing words
6. * doc, pdf, ppt
7. KidRex.com
8. netTrekker.com
9. Google - 4nets
10. Big Six - Research model for schools - can use in classroom and library

Final Project

Project Ideas:

1. Virtual Fieldtrip - Investigating Biomes - use GoogleEarth to "visit" each biome.

New York Times Video

Today I start my Lesley Blog for ECOMP 6008. We've completed several activities including the one to the left. With a classmate we interviewed each other and wrote a paragraph to create a Wordle.

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The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins
By: Waterhouse Hawkins
Summary:
The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbra Curley is a story about Waterhouse Hawkins who was an artist in London during the 1850’s. Waterhouse grew up sketching the world around him, and when he was a young adult he found his true passion of animals, especially dinosaurs. The most exciting project was creating life size models for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert for the Art and Science Museum Crystal Palace.
The process of how Waterhouse constructed these dinosaurs was a drawing, small clay model, life-size model, mold, iron skeleton and then finally the finished dinosaur.
One of his big concerns was acceptance from the scientific community. To show off his creations Waterhouse planned an elaborate dinner party for 21 prominent scientists and supporters. The dinner party was a huge success leading Waterhouse into his next project in America where he was commissioned to complete another dinosaur museum in New York City’s Central Park.

Two years into the construction of the museum Waterhouse’s new project was thwarted by a corrupt politician named “Boss” Tweed causing him to abandon the project.
However, Waterhouse went on to give America paintings of dinosaurs of the development of life on Earth in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

When Waterhouse returned to London in later years he learned of the discovery of dinosaur skeletons in Belgium confirming his life’s work.
Editorial Reviews