Knowing that I needed a little inspiration and a bit of humor to jump start writing my district’s EETT Round 7 grant, CTAP3 mentor and friend Lauri Bailey referred me to Ken Robinson’s 2006 TED presentation. It’s worth the load time.  And I’m now sufficiently inspired to sit down and write Web 2.0 technologies into the proposal.

This post is in response to Anne Mirtschin’s request for cybersafety resources for students. I’m currently out of the classroom, but for the past two years I’ve been teaming with our district webmaster to provide Internet safety workshops for teachers and administrators, who during the course of the 2-hour session often swap their teacher hats for their parent hats. Fortunately, the resources for students, teachers, and parents are plentiful and growing.

Here’s the opening slide from our PowerPoint. I like to start with the humor of the New Yorker cartoon*, quickly transitioning into the implications and realities of “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog” by showing the Trevor’s Story video.

I’ll be adding Anne’s post as an example of how an elementary teacher prepares students for safe travels across the information highway.

Here are my top 10 Internet safety resources:

1. i-Safe – Sponsored by the US Dept. of Justice, i-Safe offers free online training and certification as an iSafe instructor, parent, or mentor. It takes about 5 hours to complete the certification, after which you’ll be familiar with all the iSafe resources, including the classroom lesson resources they’ll send in hardcopy.
2. iKeepSafe.org – Keep scrolling down the parent resource page and you’ll find excellent videos, including the What You Need to Know video. If I could direct parents to only one resource, it would be this video. It clearly explains the dangers of the Internet AND also makes a clear case for why Web 2.0 tools are important for 21st century students.
3. Pete Reilly’s article Facts about Sex Abuse and Schools – In addition to the stats that make clear that school is NOT where online predators are meeting up with students, I love his opening words: “In education circles the magical mantra has been ’student safety.’ The fear of online predators has been used to curtail, restrict, and prohibit the use of some of the most promising online educational technology tools. …” and his closing words: “As educational leaders we need to be safety conscious. We need to be prudent, reasonable; but we won’t live in fear and we won’t act from fear. It is by opening doors, not closing them, that we create new possibilities for our children and new futures for ourselves.”
4. Statistics from the Pew Internet and American Life Project – Why would a district block blogging, for instance, when the stats show that “Some 93% of teens use the internet, and more of them than ever are treating it as a venue for social interaction – a place where they can share creations, tell stories, and interact with others.”
5. Ideas for Integrating Internet Safety into the Curriculum – Kudos to the Virginia Department of Education for providing a model of how to align ideas for addressing Internet safety in the context of their state content standards for students.
6. Elk Grove Unified’s growing bank of resources – We continue to add resources and plan to reorganize soon by k-3, 4-6, 7-8, and 9-12 categories. Really, we were planning to do this before finding Virginia’s site:-)

7 – 10 Cyberbullying recourses – While we are certainly concerned about protecting students from online predators, the main focus of our program is to educate workshop participants about this heinous problem of cyberbullying, which unlike the old days when a bullied student could escape taunts once the school day ended, we recognize the seriousness and heart-wrenching consequences of 27/7 cyberbullying:

• NetSmartz’ Real Life Stories -My favorite video is Broken Friendship.
• Stop Cyberbullying – Provides excellent background information
• Spirit Desk’s Hero in the Hallway – This video is truly a K-12 resource. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the video link.

*Cartoon by Peter Steiner. The New Yorker, July 5, 1993 issue (Vol.69 (LXIX) no. 20) page 61

I would like to show my support of edublogger Al Upton by pointing readers to Sue Water’s wiki, which includes a link to Rob Darrow’s recent post, in which I found Miguel’s link to Graham Hughes’s badge and a link to Steve Hargadon’s interview with Al.

I looked through my categories, but couldn’t find one that fit Al and his Minilegends. So I’ve added a new one: In Support of…

Following on the heels of my trip to the CUE Conference, last Wednesday I headed over to our Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium (SECC) to help judge the SEVAs (Students Educational Video Awards). As I sat with a team of teacher reviewers scoring middle school entries, I kept thinking about Mathew Needleman’s second graders’ amazing going-beyond-Open Court productions , such as as Camouflage Jones – Private Investigator. Making an award-winning film requires more than a well-designed storyline and storyboard. A bit of background in basic camera shots can make all the difference in grabbing and keeping an audience’s attention (and scoring judges points)!

As part of my district’s DOLCHE project, we provided participating teachers with a copy of Niko Theodosakis’s The Director in the Classroom. As engaging and comprehensive as this resource is, it does not include a section on basic shots. Fortunately, to complement Nikos’s book and videoconferencing trainings, my talented DOLCHE partner Krishna Harrison-Munoz jumped in with both a teacher workshop and a student workshop on basic shoots, much of which is included in her Roadmap for the New Video Producer and her Roadmap for the Student Video Producer.* Combine this handout with Mathew’s Kinds of Shots Tutorial, and even I (Queen of Bad Photography) feel confident about taking digital storytelling to the next level.

*Note: This was my first time using the K12HSN’s edZone to upload a document. Very easy! And I love having all that free space for uploading!

I’m joining in this morning’s K12 HSN videoconference to learn more about edZone – a suite of applications for educators trying to figure out how to bring more of the blocked applications from the public Internet (e.g., YouTube, Blogger, Flickr) into their classrooms.  EdZone offers basically unlimited storage for documents, videos, and podcasts for California educators. Coming up soon: wikis, moodle, and instant messaging.  For non-California teachers, administrators, and IT folks, I think you’re going to be impressed with edZone, which could certainly be replicated in other states!

Benefits of edZone:

• “Federated” search across the Zone: If you click on any of the channels, a variety of resources across the board will appear. The same feature holds true for the Search function. Less than a week old – and there are already resources that have been tagged and posted!
• Blogs - EdZone’s setup is so easy.  I’m really thinking about using edZone in my blogging workshops. Although the initial plan was to develop a blogging tool via WordPress, it proved easier to create a HSN tool, which can easily be modified and enhanced, based on user input.
• Videos – HSN is coding videos as Flash. Still a bit of tweaking on this application. But there is already content posted. You have the ability to create albums, which is a collection of content – with the ability to display your albums.
• Podcasts – Listen from your computer or download and listen later.  Upload to your heart’s content! I really like to ability to create albums!
• Images – You can click on “Share” or not.
• Documents – I like the rating system. PDFs open right in the browser window.
• My EdZone Page – Shows all your areas (videos, document, podcasts, blogs) with number of uploads, tags, channels, and categories.  You can make this content available only to you or to the public, but you also have to certify that you have the right to the content.
• Coming soon: Student accounts, the ability to create groups for sharing your content, personal avatars, ability to put other people’s content into your album; ability to embed videos into blog posting; further integration of help desk, and then Moodle.

Next steps?

• Professional development – start working with teachers to bring up issues of policy, copyright and fair use so that we do the roll out professionally.
• Figure how suite of tools fits into the collection of resources and tools at local CTAP regions and districts. Alan Phillips is already working on a user guide and training videos.  No need to create the training materials:-)
• Terms of Service Agreement already in place.  When you post, certification will be attached giving you right to your own materials.
• Flagging content as inappropriate is available for all posted content.
• Already looking at partnership with Exploratorium and Thinkfinity to bring the best into edZone with links back to site.

And did I mention that edZone if completely FREE?!

I have not heard the final tally yet on the number of California teaches who were “pink slipped” this week, but in my district alone the number is over 200! Unless there is a surprise in my mailbox today (5:00 today – the “ides” of March – is the cutoff for notification), I still have my job. Given that most of the cutoffs will go to those with the least seniority, California schools will be losing many of their newest teachers, along with the energy, enthusiasm, and innovations they bring fresh from their credential programs.

The Voice Thread below is in recognition that all of us as educators will be impacted either directly or indirectly by the 2008-09 budget cuts. I left a message earlier on Murcha’s Day in a Sentence Voice Thread, but wanted to also dedicate today’s post to this painful topic. Comments are welcomed!

Note: Pink slip images copied from http://www.wackycats.com/lingerie%204.htm

Day two was another great day (except for ups and downs of wireless connections) at CUE. Here are my snippets:

The K12 HSN – We’re Not Just About the Wires – Alan Phillips: I’m still in a state of amazement over Edzone, the HSN’s newest project. Not only can California educators grab a blog (or blogs), they also have free storage for uploading – and sharing – videos, podcasts, and documents. Setting up a blog takes only a minute. I’ll be reposting from BlogWalker into BlogWalker’s Twin, not to defect from Edublogs, but to fully test the capabilities of an Edzone blog and to share with teachers in sites that block all forms of social networking. I’ll be checking out both podcasting and video uploading this week. Edzone is a wonderful gift to California educators!

Digital CPR: Bring Your Reading Series to Life in Video Podcasting – Mathew Needleman: For the past year, I’ve been following Mathew Needleman’s work with bringing filmmaking into the Open Court curriculum. Mathew opened the session with an amazing “film noir” produced by second graders. Check out the student film projects at http://www.needleworkspictures.com/vic/, and I think you will join me in standing back in awe of the way he has integrated film into the classroom. No, these are not the GATE students. Mathew taught at a school improvement site in LA County (same school he attended). His presentation included tips, strategies, and a strong argument for filmmaking as a way of increasing student achievement. My favorite tip was to avoid simply retelling a story and, instead, develop a script around a unit theme. A very inspiring presentation! (Note to self: find research on the link between students being able to make intertextual connections and literacy gains.)

Google Earth in the Classroom – Joseph Wood: Well who isn’t blown away by Google Earth?! So GE plus a highly entertainly presenter made for a packed session. But it was worth sitting on the floor for an hour to start thinking about all the possibilities for engaging students with GE and Google Maps, and Google Skies and on and on. Joe has posted his GE in the Classroom handout, along with many other GE resources. I left this session inspired to create a Google Lit Trip or two, using the Time of Remembrance Interview Archives. Yes, you can upload video into Google Maps:-)

AFI Screen Education Center: Digital Filmmaking in the Core Curriculum – Frank Guttler and Mitch Aiken: This fast-paced session was a slice of the training for teachers offered by AFI. They are currently offering a very complete manual in PDF format on exercises for budding filmmakers. Unfortunately, I can’t find the link either on their site or Discovery Education’s site. If I locate it, I’ll update this post. (Note to self: look into attending an AFI Summer Institute!)

Yes, that is CUE’s Mike Lawrence on stage with the band at Friday afternoon’s poolside reception. I wish I could have stayed for the Saturday session, but I thoroughly enjoyed my two days at CUE 2008 (three days counting the EdubloggerConWest session). A fun ending to a fun-filled conference

Starting with Wednesday’s Edubloggercon and ending with the Friday poolside reception, the trip to Palm Springs to attend the 2008 CUE Conference was well worth the trip to Palm Springs! Despite some lousy connectivity issues for both presenters and participants, I walked away with new ideas and resources from every session I attended. Here are some snippets from Day One – Thursday:

Technology to Bring the Past Alive – Mike Lebsock: Well right off the bat, when you meet an 8th grade history teacher with the guts to dress in colonial attire, that’s sort of an indicator that he’s all about engaging students with the past. I valued the resources he shared (in his demonstration and handout) and, even more, his sharing of how he structured the introduction of and integration of podcasts in his US History curriculum. Before having students create collaborative podcasts on the Declaration of Independence, for instance, his students listen to professionally done podcasts hosted at the Colonial Williamsburg site. After listening to actors readings of historic documents, the students are ready to start recording their own versions. To build on comprehension, Mike also has students include images with their podcasts. Excellent presentation! (Note to self: Notify CUE staff that you were not totally focused when filling out the evaluation for Mike’s session – and might have marked all 1’s instead of the well-deserved 5’s.)

Blogs and Wikis: Writing Across the Curriculum - Brian Bridges: This was my first time to hear Brian Bridges present. Even though he has posted all his handouts online, his hilarious presentation style made it a memorable hour. Since I am always looking for royalty-free music for students projects, I was glad to learn that Jamendo, a site I looked at a year ago, now has over 7,000 albums online, with artists offering them to the public royalty free. (Note to self: send link to Jamendo to all DOLCHE project teachers.)

Integrating the Internet into the Primary Classroom: Gayle Berthiaume – One of my goals for this school year is to take a closer look at technology integration in the primary grades, so I’m glad I caught the tail end of Gayle’s presentation. I’ve always been a fan of Scholastic products, so it’s no surprise that they offer a ton of resources for the younger student. (And thanks to a little prompting from Alice Mercer, they be adding RSS feeds to their sites.) Besides sites like Scholastic’s Go Buggy, Send a Letter to Clifford, Publish Prehistoric Tales, and the spinning wheel of computer lab favorites, we also toured fun sites such as Giggle Poetry and very promising sites such as Panwapa – where students can make their own avatars, play many learning games, and make safe “connections” with students around the globe. Here’s a link to Gayle’s favorite primary sites – http://del.icio.us/tag/gayleinternet(Note to self: start putting together workshop for primary teachers.)

Digital Imaging and Tips & Tricks for Photoshop & Photoshop Elements – Arnie Abrams – I would love to do a hands-on workshop with Arnie Abrams. He is a master at simplifying all things Photoshop. I’m still working with PSE 3, but am tempted to spring for PSE 6, based on the Photomerge Group Shot option and the right click ability to send photo to a Google Maps.

Coming up next…Reflections on CUE 2008 – Day 2

Pageflakes – Get it Together Annotated

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• Here’s a list of ELD resources from Alice Mercer’s Diigo links – post by gdesler

Not all sessions are being streamed, but here’s a link to what’s been archived – http://www.ustream.tv/channel/edtechlive.