My DEN Crib by Lee Kolbert

Twitter_EdTech

I know I’ve been blogging a lot about Twitter lately. But, the network that has been embracing me has been amazing. What an accepting and generous group of people. I’ve been learning so much about Web 2.0 tools, giving presentations, teaching in different parts of the country under varying circumstances, and lots more. I’m finding that there are lots of people out there with very similar interests who are willing to help out total strangers. Frequently, a tweet will come through with a request for some tweets at a particular time. The request typically comes from someone who is giving a presentation and wants to show how the real time shot-in-the-dark kind of conversations that Twitter offers can be very productive.

Well, in an effort to share our resources even further, I put out a Tweet to request that anyone in our “network” who has a del.icio.us account and is willing to share their del.icio.us “name,” to please send it my way and I will compile the list. This way, we can add each other to our del.icio.us networks. One of the drawbacks of all these social networking sites, is the separate interfaces, usernames and such. We are all hoping for the ultimate Mashup of social networking one day.

I’m very excited to get this ball rolling and even more excited to explore all the great bookmarks that our friends, with similar interests in education are sharing. If you would like to be included, just post a comment here with your del.icio.us “name” and I will add you to our network. Then, just follow these easy steps:

1. Go to del.icio.us (sign up for an account if you don’t have one already)
   
2. Click on Your Network (top left)
3. On the right-hand side, in the text box, type in Twitter_EdTech
4. Click ADD
5. Now Twitter_EdTech will appear in your network beneath in blue
6. Click on Twitter_EdTech
7. You are now in Twitter_EdTech’s bookmarks, but there are none… BUT WAIT
8. In the gray box at the top, it reads:
   

   All Twitter_EdTech’s items (0)
   Twitter_EdTech is in your network, view Twitter_EdTech’s network

9. Click on VIEW Twitter_EdTech’s Network

That’s where the magic happens. There you see all the bookmarks shared by everyone in the network, which can be a little messy OR you can look over at the right. There you can click on each member’s name and look at his/her individual bookmarks. You can even add each member to your own del.icio.us network. As more members join this Twitter_EdTech del.icio.us network, you’ll see them added.

For now, you will see these people have put themselves out there and offered to share their great finds that they have already posted to their del.icio.us accounts:

• TeachaKidd (that’s me)
• zemote
• lisashusband
• brightideasguru
• pelgin
• cnansen
• mpsteachers
• mino_public_schools
• idahomitchell

Leave a comment here with your del.icio.us name and you’ll be good to go, too…

(cross blogged from my GeekyMomma blog)

Just a week ago, I was at a school in my district (shout out to: Poinciana Elementary School) giving a teacher workshop. We were in one of their computer labs. On the walls of this lab, were these sculptures made from old CDs. A conversation with the Computer Lab teacher, who by the way, is absolutely AMAZING, quickly gave way to how much collaboration goes on in that lab and how much project based learning went into just creating those sculptures (not to mention the robotics lab and all other very cool hands-on experiential learning that takes place).

So when Kevin Jarrett, K-4 Computer Teacher & Technology Facilitator at Northfield Community School tagged me (via Twitter) to contribute to this Passion Quilt meme, I didn’t have to look very far to pick a photo that exemplifies what I am most passionate about.

So my photo, although seemingly simple and not very artistic or colorful, is the picture above (the CD airplane) that I took with my cellphone. The CDs were collected from the old AOL, NetZero and CompuServe mailers which teaches the students to not only recycle but that old technology is still good for something. Designs were drawn, storyboards were sketched and decisions were made, so collaborative learning had to be at an all time high here. How did they come up with the idea for an airplane? Why that particular airplane? Why on that wall and how did they know if it was straight (or not) and centered?

In addition, I love that their ideas resulted in a more beautiful environment, not just for them and their classmates, but for future classmates in years to come.

Mostly though, this phots shows my passion for teaching because it reminds me that the classroom can be a happy, less stressful place where learning can be rigorous, relevant and FUN!

So, now it’s your turn. I challenge you to add to this meme Passion Quilt. Here are the rules:

3 Simple Meme Rules:

• Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
• Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
• Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

At GeekyMomma blog, I passed the baton, specifically to these bloggers:

1. Kim Cavanaugh at www.brainfrieze.net
2. Tanner Johnson (I think a young person’s perspective is important here) at www.tannerrjohnson.blogspot.com/
3. Karen Seddon at web.mac.com/seddonk/e-cubed/Welcome.html
4. Karl Fisch at thefischbowl.blogspot.com/
5. Steve Dembo at blog.discoveryeducation.com/digital_passports/

HOWEVER, here at My DEN Crib, I’d like pass the baton to every one of our STAR DEN members. Won’t you post what you are most passionate about on your page and keep this meme going? Hey, if you’re like me… at the very least you’ll be searching Google for what “meme” means, right?

Ok folks, don’t let me down.