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Highlights from Saturday Educon Sessions

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Here are my take-aways from the three Saturday Educon2.2 sessions I attended:

2.Go – Paul Bogush – I really liked the way Paul Bogush rolled out the Web 2.0 tools to our group, most of whom were new to wikis, blogs, podcasts and Google Docs. Paul presented these tools “from the trenches” via his class wiki – http://collaborationnation.wikispaces.com/. As he walked us through samples of students’ collaborative writing, he shared lessons learned along the way, such as creating a classroom culture for checking the wiki each morning for assignments: you simply continue to refer students the site for FAQs about assignments.

My favorite question & answer from the session was the difference between a blog and a wiki: “A wiki is for team hardcore content  and empowers the class as a whole. A blog is for the outside world and empowers the class around a ‘total question.'”

Learning 2.0 – Overhauling Classroom Best Practice – David Warlick – As if Son of Citation Maching were not enough, David Warlick is working on a new program: http://knitterchat.com/plotter/. Think about assignments some of your colleagues are currently giving students. Maybe the classic Write a State Report assignment. Using this ‘plot-a-thought’ tool, as teachers collaboratively brainstorm how to bring the assignment into the 21st century, they could watch the assignment move  up on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Of course, teachers could do this without an online tool…given some common planning time…but that’s another conversation.

Using Technology to Foster Exploration and Reflection in Science – Lucy Gray & Debbie Leslie – I really enjoyed the shared conversations in the session about ways to leverage technology to support hands-on, inquiry-ba1-31-2010 12-26-28 PMsed science instruction. Lucy Gray and Debbie Leslie work together at the University of Chicago Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education on the Science Companion program – http://www.sciencecompanion.com/. Although this program is connected to a textbook adoption, you can preview some of the units on the Science Companion site.  How can we promote a love and understanding of science in our youngest students? As the  “I Wonder Circle”  shows, students need permission to wonder without a right answer.  The discipline of science is really about the questions, not the answers.

I have the good fortune of extending my Educon experience through morning and evening meet ups with my NWP colleagues – which is where I’m headed right now:-)

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