Tech 2.0 Teach

1. "No child left behind" now means that no children miss the bus at the end of school.
2. Bring back shop class.
3. Each teacher should have a modern laptop, which, they can take home.
4. Each student should have access to a modern computer.
5. Every school should have fast reliable internet in every classroom.
6. A crime committed in school should be treated the same as when committed out of school.
7. Teachers should be held accountable if they fail to move forward with integrating technology into the classroom.
8. Acknowledge that there is more to teaching then the curriculum.
9. Reduce class size.
10. Stop accepting things that don't make sense just because it's a district policy.

I came across this post in undernews and thought I would share it you. It is the story of Mr. Chew and his convictions regarding standardized testing. Please read and comment.

Webware just released the top 100 web 2.0 sites of 2008. Check them out! There is a lot you probably already use but some that I am sure you could have fun exploring. I am bookmarking this site for future reference. If you know of any innovative ways these sites can be used in the classroom please leave a comment and I will be sure to include it in my next post.

I have been fooling around with ustream tv and CamTwist over the last couple of days and I am really impressed. Ustream tv is a service which allows anyone to to have their own internet tv channel and record show or stream live shows. CamTwist is a Mac application that allows you to add various quartz elements to you webcam, things like an RSS feed, Scrolling text, Pictures, and tons of visual effects. In fact CamTwist has so many features and is so user friendly I can't believe its free! How could you use all this in your class? Start your own channel. Imagine having the kids script and record there own T.V. show. Or how about using your class as a studio audience and streaming your own show. You could then download a copy of your show to your hard drive and post it to YouTube. The possibilities are endless. Check it out for yourself.

I just wanted thank the folks at Animoto for offering an educator account. I am pleased that they are offering this service. I suggest you check it out and see how you can use Animoto in your classroom.

I just stumbled upon this list of top 100 tools for teachers and it got me thinking. What are my favorite tools? Well Keynote for sure (Mac's version of PowerPoint) but what else? What do I use everyday? Minuteur is one of my best tools, and so simple, and so free. Minuteur is for the mac but I am sure there is something for windows users. Basically Minuteur is a small timer application that sits on my desktop. It can display a timer on the screen in the front of my room using my projector. I use Minuteur at the beginning of class as a visual and auditory cue that class is going to begin. Minuteur also comes in very handy during standardized testing, and any other activity that is time sensitive. I am also becoming a huge fan of Google docs, specifically the presentation application now available. I have an example at the bottom of the page and I also have one on my Wikispace. I see a huge potential for this presentation application. Some things I hope to see in the future are: audio, animation and something like VoiceThread. Ahhh dare to dream. Anyway what are your favorite tools, what can't you live without?