katie.christo.blog

I do love the beginning of school.  There are so many exciting opportunities and everything is still a possibility!  All the great ideas from summer conferences are being put into action (or at least a plan for action).  And the best is seeing all my teacher friends and the students again. 

My teachers are off and running this year.  Now I just have to keep up with them… 

• I’ve got one 8th grade math teacher who has already completed a Voicethread with her class on the Origins of Algebra.  Students had to research the history of Algebra and then make a text post about what they found most interesting from their research.  Students then commented on each others posts.  It was a fabulous project and one that was mainly homework.  What a great way to use valuable face to face time for other topics.
• Another teacher is having 7th grade math students create their own review games on http://www.superteachertools.com/index.php. 
• A Spanish teacher is having her 6th graders take the data they collected from from a classroom survey and creating graphs in Excel.
• One of our ESL teachers is embarking on a movie making project and an audiobook project (she is very ambitious).
• We’ve had teachers using the SMART Board and video cameras already.
• We also have had many beginning of the year PowerPoint projects (I was sure to give my Presentations 101 training first to the students). 
• Students used video and audio for advisory assembly presentations. 

And these our only the things I know about…

It’s nice to work here!

How’s your year started? Any great projects going?

Image Attribution
Image: ‘3, 2, 1 …‘
www.flickr.com/photos/7729940@N06/2354238160

Just wanted to send a big thank you out to everyone who voted for me!  I’m so excited to be elected to the ISTE SIGILT Board as a Member At-Large Officer.  I can’t wait to get started at NECC this summer.  Thank you again everyone!

Image Attribution

ISTE Logo – http://www.iste.org

I made myself a promise that at some point I would take the time to learn Google SketchUp.  Our Middle School is getting a new library next year and we needed to make a model to show teachers.   It is not drawn to scale or any of the thousand other things I’m sure it needs to have – but I’m proud of it.  Using the libraries of pre-created models was huge.  Google SketchUp feels much easier to use than I was expecting, although there is a definite learning curve (make sure to give yourself time to learn it).  I really like the ability to change the style of the sketch and to save different scenes and create an avi animation of your sketch – that way you don’t have to worry about messing up your zooming in a presentation!

I just have to say that Made to Stick is one of the best books I’ve ever read.  The premise of the book is that there are 6 essential traits of sticky ideas.   You can use these six traits to help make any message or idea more “sticky”.  The six traits are: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and Stories (SUCCES).  I’m not going to go into each of them here as the book does such a fabulous job of it and is a joy to read.

Two times in the past week these six traits have really helped me.  Earlier this week I was filling out an application for a position on a board and had to write a narrative.  Thinking about and refering back to the 6 traits made sure I was staying on topic and hitting the most important points in the 250 words alloted. 

Secondly, I’ve been helping a collegue plan a big presentation and been amazed at how much thinking of the 6 traits have helped me to pare down the presentation to the core message and design the presentation.  We now have a Simple core message – “Debunking the Myths of Curriculum Standards”.  The presentation will open with an Animoto video showing pictures of our students and asking “What is our role in their future?”, making the presentation Concrete and Credible.  We will be telling an Unexpected and Emotional Story to get participants thinking about why curriculum standards are an integral part of teaching and learning.  We will then move into “Debunking the Myths” surrounding curriculum standards by answering their doubts and concerns.  Still working on the ending – but I believe it will involve Concrete, Credible and either Emotional or Story.  

Anyone else found this book as helpful as I have in writing and designing presentations?  Any other books you would suggest?

I am using Evernote and truly love it… I have it on my machine, on my itouch, and can access it anywhere on the internet.  It is truly one fabulous app and you can now pull in your Google Notebooks.

We are winners!
Evernote won the TechCrunch Crunchie for Best Mobile Startup of 2008. This is a tremendous honor. We thank everyone that helped make our mantel a little more crowded. You all rock! 

Google Notebook importer
Recently, Google announced that they were stopping development on Google Notebook. To ensure that no one is left out in the cold, we released a Google Notebook importer that makes it incredibly simple to bring content your content into Evernote. If you know a Google Notebook user, make sure to let them know. Learn more: http://s.evernote.com/googleimport

I’m currently reading Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.  It is a great book and I highly recommend it!  As I was reading this weekend one of the parts that struck me was the discussion on what motivates people to buy into an idea.  They discuss Maslow’s list of needs (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs), essentially needs and desires that people are trying to fulfill, and how we can address those needs as we are making an idea “sticky”.  The authors point out that the list isn’t really a hierarchy but instead that people tend to pursue these needs simultaneously.  The needs/desires are:

Transcendence: help others realize their potential

Self-actualization: realize our own potential, self-fulfillment, peak experiences

Aesthetic: symmetry, order, beauty, balance

Learning: know, understand, mentally connect

Esteem: achieve, be competent, gain approval, independence, status

Belonging: love, family, friends, affection

Security: protection, safety, stability

Physical: hunger, thirst, bodily comfort

The authors go on to point out that:

The results of spending too much time in Maslow’s basement [the bottom four in the list above] is that we may overlook lots of opportunities to motivate people.  It’s not that the “bottom floors” – or the more tangible, physical needs, to avoid the hierarchy metaphor – aren’t motivational.  Of course they are.  We all like to get bonuses and to have job security and to feel like we fit in.  But to focus on these needs exclusively robs us of the chance to tap more profound motivations. (Heath, 185)

As I think about my role as an instructional tech I need to look more at this list and think about how my appeals to integrate technology match this list.  I know that I try in my presentations and trainings to address many of these.

What do you think?  Which needs/desires are you tapping?

The survey is going great – getting lots of responses!  Thank you to everyone who is participating – the information is great!  I will still be collecting responses through the end of next week.  The survey is here: http://tinyurl.com/7yl9ph and the responses are here: http://tinyurl.com/7dxj9x

My K-12 school is looking for ideas for next year for hosting blogs, wikis, eportfolios, forums, etc. I would really appreciate your feedback on my quick What do you use for Web 2.0 applications in your district/school? survey. The survey is here: http://tinyurl.com/7yl9ph
Thanks in advance!

I am so ready for a new year. This past year has been great and it got us where we are but I’m really looking forward to this year. I’ve written all of my “personal” resolutions but have yet to work on my “work” resolutions. So here it goes. I wish I could remember where I wrote it down but one of the bloggers I read spoke recently of the 4 Cs. Connect. Collaborate. Contribute. Create. These are definitely four of my resolutions. These and my others you can read below:

1. I will connect with my peers and help my teachers and students connect with their peers. I will do this through trainings on tools such as PLNs, Social Networking, and RSS Aggregators.
2. I will collaborate with my peers and help my teachers and students to begin collaborating. I will do this through the same trainings listed above and through perhaps our own Ning and/or global collaboration projects.
3. I will contribute my own thoughts out there (that would be this and other blogs, wikis, etc.) and help my teachers and students contribute.
4. I will create content, handouts, slideshows, etc. that I will make available through creative commons to allow anyone to share, edit, and use and I will encourage my teachers and students to do the same.
5. I will help my teachers meet their own technology integration goals.
6. I will showcase the ways my teachers are using technology to enhance their teaching and their students’ learning.
7. I will help my teachers “Explore the Possibilities” (thank you Donna) of what is out there and how technology can help their teaching and learning.

So here they are.  Let me know what you think and a Happy New Year to you all!  If you have your own work resolutions posted I’d love to see them – link to them in the comments.

December’s Big Questions from the Learning Circuits Blog is “What I have learned About Learning in 2008?” As I look back over my learning in 2008 it has been about creating and expanding my Personal Learning Networks. I’ve been reading a slew of blogs in my Google Reader for many years now I’m really trying to engage more and lurk less! I’ve been commenting on blogs, posting to Ning, tweeting when I remember, being part of virtual conferences, and trying to get into Facebook. I’ve tried to post to the ITS Think Tank (a group blog I’m part of), my personal blog, and now I’ve just started my own professional reflection blog here.  It has been a lot.

So, maybe what I’ve learned (or re-learned) about learning is that you need to step back at times or you will be overwhelmed.  I seem to remember this from my college days.  You can go, go, and go and read, read, and read and at some point you have to take a break.  I’m at that point with my learning now.  I need to reflect on what I’ve learned so far.  I need time to process everything we are doing and begin to see what is on the horizon.  Then I can refocus my learning on what is next.

Can I just say that I am so ready for a HOLIDAY!