Fundraisng Find

Earlier this school year, I was informed of a fundraising option through J & R School Supplies.
It is a vending machine that offers pens, pencils (regular and mechanical) and erasers for either 25 or 50 cents. I have located it just oustide our computer lab and use the profit to supplement the IMC budget as well as fund our IMC Club. We keep half of the profit and may use the machine for months, quarters, or even years. The club members have even taken the designer pencils to the lunch room and offered a five pencils for a dollar sale. The students were able to pick out the pencils they would purchase rather than letting the machine "decide" what they will receive. The link to J&R is found here. Happy Vending!

Dim Dim to the Rescue

I had talked to my colleagues regarding some author visits about a month ago. The cost was approximately $3000 to be split between three elementary schools in our district. After taking this course, I look at DimDim and other such sites as a hopeful alternative. If cost is an issue (answer...of course), then see if having an online chat with your author is more realistic. More students will be able to ask questions and hearing answers will be less of a difficulty. One could display their work in progress to share with the guest author as well. You could even have a conference among several authors without leaving your computer lab. Until the comfort level and potential of blogs is realized, conference software is another powerful option to work with other schools whether 3, 300, or 3000 miles away.

Tales, Trickery, and Podcasting

I was recently sharing the story of the Hungry Hyena by Mwenye Hadithi. This animal folk tale showed how trickery may come to backfire on someone who wishes to use it to get what they want. The children heard in the excerpts were able to listen to their own words, the emotion they used for certain lines, how the audience was able to hear them and how sound effects may liven the retelling of a story. I am hoping to use this more with the older students (grades 3-5) next year when sharing new books. We will record the reading of any pages used for an introduction and store them online for students to hear at home or school.

Podcasting Picks

I took the opportunity to look at both Juice and NewsFire as podcasting collection tools. They did not measure up to iTunes in my opinion. It has served me well in the past for both musical and presentation podcasts. The last lecture of Randy Pausch was truly fascinating as I heard and viewed his presentation on iTunes. I hope to bring excerpts from this podcast to the teachers during a future staff meeting.

It's Gliffy Time...

I was intrigued by the options that Gliffy.com would provide in both math and science instruction. The flow charts, floor plans, and geometric shapes made for a host of ideas when one wishes to design an online worksheet. The collaboration follows the nature of a blog as students may create their own problems to challenge the class. They may also explain multiple methods for solving such problems as I will use this week as a warm-up. If you are at Gliffy.com, go to "MrC Docmaster" to view the sample. I have to say that I was impressed that the built-in features allowed such a worksheet to come together in ten minutes.

One Small Step toward Blogging...

The first step is now complete. The option to apply for a Think.com account was approved yesterday. I look forward to seeing what the students (who left on a three day field trip to study Wisconsin wildlife) have to say about their journey to the great outdoors. This may present a first opportunity for the students to share their thoughts in the form of a blog.

I am looking forward to an upcoming discussion of podcasting. I feel the students I work with will share as much interest in this area of technology as they may when blogging becomes a realistic option in our district.

from the desk of BadgerBlogger

Socials and Pics

I added my social bookmarks selection (MyYahoo!) and pictures (Flickr) on this day. The Flickr link is included in my blogroll. However, the social bookmark site does not have the RSS Feed, and will not display as a result. The link is "http://us.bookmarks.yahoo.com/" for my quick access links.
**[UPDATE-I was able to add links on the Blogger site...RSS feeds or other URLs.]**

I have not heard from Bloglines tech support how to add comments (or if it is possible). Another site that allows comments may soon be the home for my "official" blog.

Well, I am off to work on one of my many "hats" that gets plenty of wear in my position as a media specialist.

Hasta lunes...MC

[from Bloglines...first posted on April 10th]

Blogging with the Pets

Two weeks ago, I was meeting with our school IMC club. I explained how we were going to promote an online literary magazine with the theme of "Pets Personified" for this year and into next year as well. We discussed ideas that included poems, captioned photos, short stories. comic strips and more. Suggestions for story starters were also shared. Thus far, I have heard about tales that included skateboarding horses, swimming cats, and dogs cooking in the kitchen.

The option to establish a blog in conjunction with this extracurricular project would inspire more students to read the works in progress and consider becoming authors as well. They would be able to work together to build a story, even if only a line at a tine.

I am in the process of starting an account with Think.com. I am hopeful to get approval to start with small, well-managed situations where the students could see why safety and informed choices are the best way to go when blogging in this World Wide Web.

[from Bloglines...first posted on April 8th]

My Blog Beginnings...

As I consider my role as a media specialist, I have pondered what purpose blogging could play in fulfilling student growth and education. I often see a handful of students who struggle to realize that when you come to the IMC, it may benefit you to think about what type of book strikes your fancy on that particular day. I subscribe to the notion that if you choose a book that does not work for you, the experience was still worthwhile as you know that avoiding that subject, genre or author may be a necessary evil.

Several students often form a "clump" around the scary stories collections (i.e. Schwartz, San Soucci, or Stine) or magic titles such as those by E. D. Baker (i.e. Frog Princess, Dragon's Breath or No Place for Magic). However, there are pleny of students who do not hear the casual comments on whether a particular book was a good read or waste of paper. It may be shyness or a feeling that you simply would not like a book that the person across the row from you would enjoy. Blogging could make such snap judgements less likely as everyone could see a review simultaneously. Students would be anonymous and any perceived "stigmas" would be much less significant to a reviewer and those who wish to dialogue as well.

A simple template of a numbered rating, a question as to why you would recommend the book and suggestions of similar titles for those who want to expand their horizons would guide students to the effectiveness of a blog in this facet of their education.

[from Bloglines...first posted on April 5th]

Starting Point

As I begin this blog, I am looking forward to the upcoming break and a few moments of recovery and recharging. This is my second year at my current position as an elementary media specialist. I am in my 13th year overall as an educator. Signing off for now...MDC

[from Bloglines...first posted on March 15th]