It's my first week of summer! WooHoo! I am now just finding the time to catch up on my bloglines. It sure can fill up in a hurry!

For some people attending conferences during the summer can be exhilarating. For others, re-charging means some downtime away from it all. I would have to say that I am one who needs the downtime first, but only for a little while.

I have been following the NECC live blogs and other postings. It sounds as if it was a great conference. I tell you with all of the new technology you can really get a feel for what was happening there. In the next few days I hope to explore some more.

I need a few more days to re-charge so to speak. Maybe I will see some of you at PSU in St.Louis in 2 weeks. I will be running around with Eric interviewing and podcasting the event. Stop us and say Hi.

I will also be conducting teacher training in Pekin, Indiana in 3 weeks. Can't wait. It should be loads of fun to meet people.

Here's to summer!

A Gift!

I received the best gift a teacher can receive this week. It only takes one of these every few years to make it all worth while.

One of my Odyssey of the Mind team members wrote a book in his 6th grade class. The books were sent to a company that professionally binds them.

This student wrote a book based on a character that we used this year on the team. What was extra special was.........as I opened to page 2...... I noticed that he had dedicated it to me. I was very very surprised and moved to a tear or two.

I now keep this book on my shelf in my office. When ever the day gets rough I just look at the book and I feel better.

Even though these moments are few it only take one or two to realize why we do what we do.

It's Great to See Someone When they "Get It!"

I atended another one of Alan November's workshops last week. It was as great as ever. I attended with several colleagues. The administrators were very excited to learn what Alan November shared. My only disappoint was that I have been delivering Alan's message now for about a year throughout our district.

I guess that is why Alan November does what he does. It took him about 1 hour to explain the read write web. I think they "got it" for the first time. Let's hope so. Thanks Alan.

The lesson I learned? It's delivery of the message!

What Are We Creating?

I have been involved with Odyssey of the Mind for 26 years. It has been quite a passion of mine. I have coached, judged, directed, and served on a state board of directors. The best part of my experience though has been with the kids. We just returned from The World FInals held at Michigan State University last week. Our team place 10th out of 45 and performed extremely well. I am very proud of them.

I do have a couple of observations though that I would like to share and hopefully get some insights and feedback.

I have noticed that this group of 6th graders are extremly afraid to make mistakes. I mean just everyday plain mistakes. They have a really hard time admitting anything when it goes wrong. This translates into their fear of risk taking. When something goes wrong they become extremely upset.

I have also noticed their eagerness to please. They will do anything to make you happy.

I am wondering if it's just this particular group of kids or if there is more to it than that.

My question is this: Could this be a result of all of the testing they have gone through? Could our teachers be emphasising the tests to the point of creating this anxiety I see. I can only imagine the pressure teachers are under to get good test results.

I am just thankful for programs like Odyssey of the Mind and hope it will be able to instill the skills needed to be a creative problem solver.

Teacher's Desk of the Future?

Ok, so my first thought was how are we going to fit this into the classroom and how on earth are we going to train teachers to use it? Then I quickly realized I was shoving a square peg into a round hole.

What I should be doing is trying to envision how this desk can help us to better organize our students to learn. This may mean that our students might not be in the classroom, or even in the school building. Our resources may not even be in our classroom closet!

My second thought was how this desk would stand up to the person who stacks their space with just about every conceivable object known to man. How would they attempt to interact with the surface when they can't find the surface?

It's funny what pops into your head when you see something cool like this! How do you see a teacher behind this desk?

Internet Safety

We have created an Internet Safety class in our high school. We have 5 students who were able to schedule their time on short notice, about 2 days before the second semester began. These 5 students have done a ton of work. They have become iMentors through the iSafe.org program. They have developed lessons about cyberbullying and predators. These lessons have been given to our 3rd grade classes by the iMentors. The students have planned a community night where they will deliver instruction to parents and community members. A contest was created as well. Students in grades 6 through 12 will be able to win an iPod Shuffle for the best product that promotes Internet safety. Students can write, create a slide show, movie, song, podcast, etc. The class will choose the best of each grade level. 7 prizes will be awarded. 3 assemblies will be conducted by the iMentors and local officials including the police. iSafe.org has been a tremendous help. Most of our material has come from iSafe.org. Our local police agency has some great resources as well.

I hope to share with you the outcome of each of the activities above. It has been a scheduling nightmare at times, but well worth the effort.

If you have any activities you have been involved with please comment below. I'd love to hear about them.

Please visit the Sidney iMentors blog and wiki. We are looking for other students who have become iMentors or who want to let fellow students know about Internet safety.

It Just Gets Better!

A weeks vacation really helps! Jumping back in has never been better! This past week has been relaxing as well as enlightening. Every where you look you can see the influence of the Internet. It's all around us! How long before it becomes an integral part of education?

The comment, "education moves slowly" is very frustrating to hear. Yet I read that comment or hear it in a podcast all the time. Why? Will it take web 4.0 hitting us in the head before most of us even look at web 2.0?

This past week has been tragic and has caused us all to take pause and evaluate many things, including our childrens' safety online and in reality. If you pay attention you will see how the Internet has played a significant role in all of this. The major news outlets heard about it from the VT website. Police are perhaps getting their best evidence by searching Internet and e-mail records. Students and parents were able to communicate immediately via the Internet. Cell phones were a life line to many.

That reminds me, cell phones, hhhmmm..........good or evil? I think that we can really turn around the typical response to cell phone use in schools. Why not use them as a major communications tool. We can instantly communicate with our students using technology. There are several tools available. A five minute search revealed many tools available to send sms messages to mobile phones. Is anyone out there using one? What a concept...........a cell phone used for good not evil.

I also ran into another website ustream.tv. I have many ideas for using this. Check this out! More on this later. I need to play.