Don't be alarmed

if the page doesn't fill in immediately. The posting of all the pictures of the 2000 bloggers takes a little time to load. It does not display properly in Internet Explorer but does display very well in Firefox. I'll keep this dated out a bit to keep the reminder handy. Feel free to scroll on down and read the current items. Thanks for coming by to visit! Technorati Tags: 2000Bloggers, z-list, IE7, Firefox powered by performancing firefox

down-beat, backbeat

From This is Your Brain on Music, The Science of Human Obsession by Daniel Levitin I find this quote worthy: When people clap their hands or snap their fingers with music, they sometimes quite naturally, and without training keep time differently than they would do with their feet: They clap or snap not on the down-beat, but on the second beat and on the fourth beat. This is the so-called backbeat that Chuck Berry sings about in his song "Rock and Roll Music". This may also help to explain why sometimes you get out of sync if you try to watch another to keep the beat. Don't follow, just listen to the music. They may be on the "backbeat" or another beat altogether.

Song and dance

From This is Your Brain on Music, The Science of Human Obsession by Daniel Levitin I find this quote worthy: Singing and dancing were a natural activity in everybody's lives, seemlessly integrated and involving everyone. The Sesotho verb for singing (ho bina), as in many of the world's languages, also means to dance; there is no distinction, since it is assumed that singing involves movement. I find this intriguing as it falls in line with my own Fire Circle Story.

Review: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms

Will Richardson has written an excellent handbook on how to use basic web-based tools into the classroom to foster and advance learning. He walks you through each tool with a careful step-by-step approach. By the end of each chapter you should have some familiarity with the tool, know some of the uses of it in the classroom and have both examples and additional information available to you. He is careful to provide advice and information to advocate for the use of such tools in the "Read/Write Web Classroom" knowing full well that there are school districts and or people that don't quite "get it" yet. In the chapter on blogging Will writes: ,,, blogging is a genre that engages students and adults in a process of thinking in words, not simply an accounting of the days events or feelings. In fact, learning specialists Fernette and Brock Eide's research shows that blogging in its truest form has a great deal of potential positive impact on students. They found that blogs can promote critical and analytical thinking be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking promote analogical thinking be a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information combine the best of solitary reflection and social interaction (Eide Neurolearning Blog, 2005) At another spot in the Blogging chapter Will writes: Writing stops; blogging continues. writing is inside; blogging is outside. Writing is monologue; blogging is conversation. writing is thesis; blogging is synthesis... none of which minimizes the importance of writing. But writing becomes an ongoing process, one that is not just done for the contrived purposes of the classroom. Ken Smith, a writing instructor at Indiana University puts it this way: Instead of assigning students to go write, we should assign them to go read and then link to what interests them and write about why it does and what it means, not in order to make a connection or to build social capital but because it is through quality linking... that one first comes in contact with the essential acts of blogging: close reading and interpretation. Blogging, at base, is writing down what you think when you read others. If you keep at it, others will eventually write down what they think when they read you, and you'll enter a new realm of blogging, a new realm of human connection. (Smith, 2004) In the chapter on Wikis, Will writes Philosophically, wikis can play havoc with the traditional ideas of copyright and intellectual property. Obviously, they follow closely the open-source software ideal that the quality of the collectively produced product is more important than owning the idea or code. Really, wikis bring the concepts of open source to the mainstream as the ideas and process are no longer reserved just for software developers. All of these challenges are great entry points for a discussion about the use of wikis in the classroom. As we continue to move toward a world where everyone has access to ideas and where collaboration is the expectation rather than the exception, wikis can go a long way to teaching our students some very useful skills for their future. Wikis are a challenge to old style teaching: ... early implementations of wikis in educational settings have shown that the more autonomy teachers give to students in terms of negotiating the scope and quality of content they are creating, the better. It's a very democratic process of knowledge creation. In using wikis, students are not only learning how to publish content; they are also learning how to develop and use all sorts of collaborative skills, negotiating with others to agree on correctness, meaning, relevance and more. In essence, students begin to teach each other. Teachers who impose a lot of right and wrong on the process can undermine the effectiveness of the tool. As an example of how to use a wiki in the classroom, Will writes: Which brings up another way that you can use wikis in your classroom: have your students create or edit entries to books that have already been started elsewhere. Introduce them to the concept of a wiki, show them how it works, have them pick an entry to edit, review their edits with them, have them share the link when their work is posted, and then have them track their edits to see how others might edit them. It's a great opportunity to introduce students to the concepts of open source software, community collaboration, respect for other people's ideas, intellectual property and public domain, and much more. Wikis can be used by teachers (and others) to collaborate: Another great wiki idea was spawned by Rob Lucas, a sixth grade teacher from North Carolina who created the Teacher's Lounge. Basically it's a site where any teacher can some and leave a lesson plan for other teachers to share. Rob is trying to "develop an extensive library of creative, finely tuned, engaging exciting lessons". A similar, more local, wiki for teachers in a school district might be an equally interesting idea. Collaboration can be a challenge for those who are used to having their way. Will writes: Regardless of how teachers feel about the potential of wikis, and I understand the hesitancy many teachers feel, one thing remains certain. The collaborative environment that wikis facilitate can teach students much about how to work with others, how to create community, and how to operate in a world where the creation of knowledge and information is more and more becoming a group effort. I'm serious when I say that I get chills sometimes when I think about the amazing work that's being done at Wikipedia. In many ways, it gives me great hope for the future because it is a testament, I think, of good people doing good. Using wikis, we can start to show our students what it means to be a part of that process. In the chapter on social bookmarking services, Will writes: Now there are many of these social bookmarking sites that have been created in the past couple of years. But two, Furl.net and del.icio.us, have come to the forefront of the pack for some very different reasons. Once again, these are both free services that any teacher or student can access on the web. As with other sites, although the content you'll find there is primarily safe and in good taste, take the time to become familiar with both before you use them in the classroom. Will provides the insight to the differences between the two services: Whereas Furl is about saving content, del.icio.us is all about sharing links in as easy a way as possible. But although it may not have all of the flexibility and power that Furl has in terms of searching and archiving, its simplicity makes it an equally powerful too for teachers and students. In the chapter on podcasting and screencasting, Will writes: One step up from podcasting is screencasting, which is a relatively new medium that I think has a lot of promise in the classroom. Simply put, screencasting involves capturing what you or your students do on the computer with an audio marration to go with it. The easiest way to understand screenacsting is to watch one. So right now, go watch this screencast about Wikipedia that was done by John Udell at this link. Will provides the example (above) and then the information on how to do it yourself: Basically, Windows Media Encoder and a microphone are all you need in a Windows environment. You can download the software from Microsoft here. And yes, after reading this chapter, I created my first screencast. It does take time to do it right but it is as easy as he outlines. I think this should be enough of a summary to convince you to go by the book try some of these tools (if you have not already used them before) I do recommend this book! The Read/Write Web is not limited to the classroom. These tools can be used in business (and your personal life) to help prepare for success tomorrow.

Scholarship scams

Be on the alert for scholarship scams. The article by Michelle Singletary in today's Boston Globe has a great summary of what to look for. Read the full article here. (free registration maybe required) As a teaser, this is the summary: If the pitch says your child is guaranteed a scholarship or you'll get your money back. Of course there are always conditions that make that promise useless. If you believe a claim that they'll do all the work. Come on, every scholarship I've ever seen requires the applicant to do some work. If you fall for a claim that "you can't get this information anywhere else." Hello, there's this thing called the Internet and because of it, not much is a secret anymore. There are plenty of books that cost less than $50 that will help you and your child search for money. You are being pressured to give your credit card or bank account number to "hold" a scholarship for your child. If a company tries to get you to hand over such information unsolicited, hang up the telephone or get out of the room. You're contemplating paying a fee to apply for a scholarship . That's no different than when you're told to send money to claim cash supposedly won in a lottery. You're excited about an offer that comes in the mail that says your child has received a scholarship for which he or she never applied. The catch: You have to pay a fee to apply for it. Scholarship or financial aid scams aren't likely to deplete your life savings, but there's no sense in throwing away money for something you can get for free. Thanks Michelle, nice summary!

Rapid Fire Learning

The challenge is there. Rosa Say has tossed the gauntlet down at the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog today. Quick, what five things have you learned this month? Oh, another five things meme! No, this one is special. You don't have to tag anyone. You just need to identify what you have learned. You have learned something this month haven't you? I learned you can't use eggnog in ways you might think you could. where Cat Stevens went to and why the Peace Train maybe coming back how to use Performancing (it's okay, I'd rather Qumana get fixed which should be anytime now) about global warming when I finally saw An Inconvenient Truth how to have some photo fun with FD Flickr toys and the month is not over yet!

10,000 hours

... ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert -- in anything. In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is the equivalent to roughly three hours per day, or twenty hours per week, of practice over ten years. Of course, this doesn't address why some people don't seem to get anywhere when they practice, and why some people get more out of their practice sessions than others. But no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery. Yes, 10,000 hours! What have you done for this long? From This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin. I am continuing to work my way through this book which is full of such thought provoking quotes as noted here.

Educational Opportunity

The Senior Center is under construction here in Franklin. Once complete, it will provide a place for the seniors to gather and enjoy some good times. Oak Street Elementary School is located next door. They are looking forward to tapping into the seniors to interact with the students. The two generations can share in learning and improving life. ... See my Tabblo>

Learning by the book - Eugene Lee

Learning by the book When Lee was growing up in Beloit, Wis ., the rule in his family was that if you wanted to learn something, you got a book. So he started young in figuring out how to make things work. Theater was also in his blood: His father was an actor and his mother worked backstage in community theater. So what did book learning get Eugene Lee? Sets for Wicked, Sweeney Todd, Saturday Night Live amongst others, and forty years of sets for Trinity Rep Theater in Providence, RI. Read more about Eugene's story in this article from today's Boston Globe. (free registration may be required). What book are you reading? What are you learning from the book?

Review: An Inconvenient Truth

I finally got to view An Inconvenient Truth last night via OnDemand. A powerful film. One I recommend that if you have not seen, you MUST SEE. The data speaks for itself. If you don't trust the data, listen to the weather reports from around the world. Is there a place in the world that is NOT experiencing a different weather pattern? Is not experiencing a real dramatic change? One flaw in the movie I find was Al Gore's insistence on going back to his own story to emphasis the political side, even though he clearly states a couple of times that this crisis is not a political but a moral issue. He introduces himself in the film as "once was the next president" and then after the audience chuckles, he goes on to say "I don't find much humor in that". Which is exactly my point! He should focus on the story, on the science, on the stats and the images that state the case. Continuing to make side barbs with a political bent ("she is now a science adviser for the current administration") detracts from the message. You don't get ahead by putting someone down. You get ahead by by sticking to the high road. You don't need to play in the mud with them. The inconvenient truth is that in less than 50 years life, as we know it, will be changed significantly. Low land areas will be underwater as the ocean levels rise. Greenland can melt. Antarctica can melt. This melt would raise the ocean water levels 20 feet. Major population centers around the world; Calcutta, Beijing, Shanghai, the Netherlands, and New Orleans. The 911 Memorial in NYC is projected to be underwater eventually. A good number of us certainly won't be around in 50 years to see this but our children will. What legacy will we leave for them? What life will they have? I find that the problem with the film is the lack of detail on what, if anything, you and I can do to help. There is a clear graphic that shows that existing technology can provide solutions such that if the collection of them were implemented, we would be able to reduce our CO2 creation to levels seen before the 1970's. The 1970's is significant as since then the records show dramatic increases in temperature and reductions in the ice caps in the North and South Pole areas. What can you do? Check out the web site. There are a number of simple things you and I can do. The film blog has been silent since Sep 2006. This is unfortunate. The site does have a section for educators with classroom materials for K-12 grade levels. Free registration required but fortunately, this blog is active. Do something! A little bit will help. All of our little bits will help!

College Goal Sunday 1/28/07

From Christopher Penn at the Financial Aid Podcast

Introducing Sherku - Part 2

The continuation of the posting introducing sherku, answering a reader's question

Introducing Sherku

a podcast of the posting introducing sherku, a new form of haiku poetry

Knock Knock for Rosa

Knock knock Who's there? Orange Orange who? Orange you glad to see me? Yes, we are indeed! Rosa Say is back from her annual Ho'omaha with a new Ho'ohana and ready to go.

How is it

that a team can go and do so well during the regular season and yet fail in the playoffs? How is it that Coach Shottenheimer has such a poor record in the playoffs? (a total of 5 wins, 13 losses with 3 different teams) He must be doing something right to get there? How come he has not learned to take it all the way to the big one? Puzzling questions.... What do you think? What can we learn from this?

Podcast Collection

This is the collection of podcasts I have created thus far. January 2007 How to read this page November 2006 The JJL Anthem Today's IPO - How I blog October 2006 What comes next (for Joyful Jubilant Learning) Orange numbers (poetry) Fire Circle Story September 2006 Podcamp Boston Recap Evolutionary Blogging Technorati Tags: podcasts, learning, podcamp, Jouful jubilant learning powered by performancing firefox

Cool fun with FD Flickr Toys

In case you have not noticed, I have been playing with the FD Flickr Toys and what it can do with some of my pictures. Ultimately this will lead to something for Beth's Birthday card. I made an Andy Warhol type image, a Hockneyized image of the same photo, a fake Flickr badge, and a mosaic. These were all easy to do. These took very little time as the grunt work is done by the slick software tool. Have you played with any of the toys? What one would you recommend? Technorati Tags: FD Flickr Toys, Flickr, learning powered by performancing firefox

Dreamland

Dream land Originally uploaded by shersteve. If you could work somewhere else where would that be? Would you work for yourself or another company? What do you dream of? If you can visualize it, you can make it happen. Within reason, almost anything is possible!

All too much of me

All too much of me Originally uploaded by shersteve. Andy, I hope you don't turn over. Tried a Flickr Toy to prepare for Beth's contest and this was the result. I like the colors.... way to go Andy!

Juggling Dream

I have great respect for jugglers. I wish I could handle the pins, balls, etc. as well as they do. Of course, in order to do so, I would have to spend considerably more time practicing than I currently do (which is zero). I only have time for juggling ideas these days. Which in and of itself is fun, and challenging ... but sometimes, the roar of applause from the crowd would be good to hear. Check out the juggling routines of Michael Moschen. In particular, I liked the video sample on Three Balls, Triangle, and the Motorola ads. Thanks to the FunSmith Bernie Dekoven for the lead! Technorati Tags: juggling, funsmith, fun powered by performancing firefox

Poetry is hard work?

"Most of the human race is equipped to respond to art," Vendler continues. "Every tribe in the world has produced an aesthetic sense that supports and enriches its people and brings the whole person into play, the whole soul. It's the only way to make a well-rounded person, to develop human sympathy." Helen Vendler is quoted in this article in Sunday's Boston Globe. I am not sure if sympathy is the proper word. Sure it is what she said, but if she had said "respect", then I think the difference between those in the arts (practioners like Vendler with a list of credentials an arm and a leg long) and the remainder of the folk would have an equal chance. Maybe its just me, but why do some folk in the arts try to keep it elite? Read the full article (free registration may be required) and decide for yourself.

On the twelfth day of Christmas

my teacher sent to me Twelve mentors a-menting, Eleven commenters conversing, Ten trackbacks a-tracking, Nine podcasters a-casting, Eight Skypers skyping, Seven geese a-honking, Six tags a-tagging, Five jubilant learners, Four annual forums, Three blogging tools, Two thoughts inspiring, And a joyful network for learning. According to wikipedia: ... the modern use of the word mentor: a trusted friend, counselor or teacher, usually a more experienced person. Some professions have "mentoring programs" in which newcomers are paired with more experienced people in order to obtain good examples and advice as they advance, and schools sometimes have mentoring programs for new students or students who are having difficulties. The world has flattened such that we can come together and share from each our own backgrounds something we know. This peer learning is also a form of mentorship. We are each experienced in our own way. We can leverage each other in the areas where we individually need to. The Joyful Jubilant Learning group is starting small but with mentors like these amongst us, we can all go far. Blaine Collins David Rothacker Greg Belanko-Dickson Phil Gerbyshak Chris Owen Dan Ward John Richardson Rosa Say Terry Starbucker Toni Howard Tim Milburn As 2007 begins, consider subscribing to Joyful Jubilant Learning. Join us in expanding upon these 12 days of Christmas! Pick up some new tools, share some of your best practices, learn tagging, Skyping, etc. And above all have some fun doing so! BTW - we are looking for a few good singers. I don't have a good voice and the others are more reserved.

On the eleventh day of Christmas

my teacher sent to me Eleven commenters conversing, Ten trackbacks a-tracking, Nine podcasters a-casting, Eight Skypers skyping, Seven geese a-honking, Six tags a-tagging, Five jubilant learners, Four annual forums, Three blogging tools, Two thoughts inspiring, And a joyful network for learning. Comments = blogger manna from heaven. Comments = conversation! Conversation, an exchange of views... generally allows for learning to occur. A day without learning is a wasted day. Wouldn't it be cool if there were eleven comments to this posting? Can you help by leaving your comment? Thank you!

On the tenth day of Christmas

my teacher sent to me Ten trackbacks a-tracking, Nine podcasters a-casting, Eight Skypers skyping, Seven geese a-honking, Six tags a-tagging, Five jubilant learners, Four annual forums, Three blogging tools, Two thoughts inspiring, And a joyful network for learning. What is a trackback? When someone creates a post, you can comment on their posting. If what you would like to write would take more time/space than a comment would allow, then you can create a trackback. You create your own post on your own blog, and then link back to the original with a trackback. There is usually a special reference number or URL for this. I use Haloscan to create trackbacks for my Blogger blogs. Trackbacks are not easily created. Haloscan has improved since I first started using it. It now will prefill the title, permanent link and a snippet of the opening text for you. You then need to input the reference number/URL for the trackback and ping the server. S*p*a*mmers did a number on some blogs with automated trackbacks so trackbacks are not very much used today. Trackbacks do create "link love" and are appreciated by most if not all bloggers no matter how much they are a pain to create. Will you trackback today?

On the ninth day of Christmas

my teacher sent to me Nine podcasters a-casting, Eight Skypers skyping, Seven geese a-honking, Six tags a-tagging, Five jubilant learners, Four annual forums, Three blogging tools, Two thoughts inspiring, And a joyful network for learning. Podcasting is fun to do. It does take a little more work than writing but there are benefits. One of the goals of the Joyful Jubilant Learning group is to increase the number of folks who are comfortable with podcasting. Not that everyone has to, or everyone should, but everyone can. Consider podcasting. For samples prepare to listen to: Evolutionary Blogging Today's IPO - How I blog JJL Anthem

On the eighth day of Christmas

my teacher sent to me Eight Skypers skyping, Seven geese a-honking, Six tags a-tagging, Five jubilant learners, Four annual forums, Three blogging tools, Two thoughts inspiring, And a joyful network for learning. Skype is the internet based phone service that provides for free phone calls from computer to computer. When a group is located across as diverse an area as current members of the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog cover, this service allows for good communications at a really reasonable price (i.e. "free"). "Free" because if your system is not already equipped with a microphone, there may be a purchase involved to become fully enabled. You can also use a web cam to share live video during your phone call.

On the seventh day of Christmas

my teacher sent to me Seven geese a-honking, Six tags a-tagging, Five jubilant learners, Four annual forums, Three blogging tools, Two thoughts inspiring, And a joyful network for learning. The lessons of the geese remind us of the benefits to honking support to one another and flying in formation to conserve energy. There are actually more than seven geese honking over at the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog. Will you join the formation? Honk! Honk! Honk!