Module 8: More Cool Tools

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3551800/Character

Above is the link for the sweet web tool that I found called Wordle. It is an innovative way to present any list of words to students. It is a ton more creative than the vocab lists at the back of any chapter. Wordle can be used in all curricular areas. It also allows you to choose only those words that you wish to present. You simply paste or type in a list of words and it Wordle turns that list into a poster. You can then change the layout, the font and the color as you wish. I can't believe how quick the whole process works. And it's just fun to mess around with. There are advanced settings as well where you can weight (to change) the size of the words, and specify only colors you want vs the color palettes provided. 
I will use this tool for my Character Ed classes and use it all the terms we cover in class. I have included in this first Wordle, the whole list that is used to discuss, define and describe the terms we will be discussing. And I will also be using it for specific units, such as Respect, using words that define, describe or express Respect. I will include words such as regard, esteem, admire, value, prize, revere, venerate. There does not have to be any particular number of words. You can have as few as one and I'm not sure what the ceiling is. I have spent the last three days just messing with this tool and I think it would be well worth your time to check it out if you are looking for a creative way to present vocabulary words.

Podcast for Character Ed II

I had a bit of trouble trying to edit and redo the recordings. This is why I ended up with two podcasts. It felt clumsy trying to get through the process. I think a little bit of practice would end up making this tool very easy to use.

I did a lot of looking around in the Education section of Podomatic and the Resources listed in our class. There is such a wide array of subject areas as well as times on these blogs. I really liked the podcasts for classes such as Biology and Psychology. I really think podcasts would be great for classes when students are absent and don't want to miss the lecture and assignments. I think it would be a very good tool for on-line classes as well. The potential for using pods, videocasts and screencasting is limitless. I think the access it allows for in terms of speakers, experts, and specialits could make for very effective professional development. I feel like we are arely hitting the tip of the iceburg.

Podcast for Character Ed

http://mfcarlso.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-01T09_18_04-07_00

http://mfcarlso.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-01T09_38_48-07_00

Here are my liinks for my podcasts. The first one is a brief overview of Character Ed at MHS. The second one is an interview with my daughter Midge who was a student in my first Senior Leadership Class. We even included a picture of the bonfire we had at the end of the year!
I had a bit of trouble trying to edit and redo the recordings. This is why I ended up with two podcasts. It felt clumsy trying to get through the process. I think a little bit of practice would end up making this tool very easy to use.

I did a lot of looking around in the Education section of Podomatic and the Resources listed in our class. There is such a wide array of subject areas as well as times on these blogs. I really liked the podcasts for classes such as Biology and Psychology. I really think podcasts would be great for classes when students are absent and don't want to miss the lecture and assignments. I think it would be a very good tool for on-line classes as well. The potential for using pods, videocasts and screencasting is limitless. I think the access it allows for in terms of speakers, experts, and specialits could make for very effective professional development. I feel like we are arely hitting the tip of the iceburg.

Module4/RSS

Below is what I have written in the Discussion Forum describing my experience with establishing and adding subscriptions to my Google Reader. As it has been a couple of weeks since we did this, I have added more feeds. I am encouraged by how much there is out there addressing Character Education at the secondary level. When I started my research and classes for this five years ago, there was not much at all on Character Education at the high school level. That is changing a lot right now. I am close to 50 subscriptions that include Character Education primarily, but also gardening, herbs, cooking and a couple of my favorite authors. I am trying to get more comfortable with how everything works. I know the more we use these tools, the easier it becomes. For now it still feels like I'm tripping over myself, but I'm excited to be learning all of this, so that keeps me going.


"I subscribed to six feeds on Character Education. The Muscatine Community School District has opened Google accounts for all staff members and I used that account to set up these feeds. We needed to set up a gmail account in order to do this, but have a different e-mail address. I'm not sure what the difference is. This is what tends to feel overwhelming to me. Trying to keep track of all these is a challenge.

But I think the RSS feeds can really  help to organize all our favorite resources.It will also update us on different subjects, saving us time on research. I have created a folder for my Character Ed feeds. You're right...this can be addictive. Everything looks good! I also created a folder for these Web 2.0 tools that we are learning about and have added ten feeds. I think if I have all the tools in one place, I will be more apt to use them more consistently. This could be fun!"

Flickr

This uploading Flickr files has been quite the challenge. To be honest, a potographer, I am not. The only time I was attached to a camera was when my babies were young. When they started taking pictures, I was pretty much done.  So most of the photos I posted were taken by my kids. I posted pics of my three daughters, Shannon, Bridget and Madeline (Midge), and my boy child Kenny. They are the loves of my life. There is also a phot of my sisters and me. My daughter Midge helped me find, upload and post these photos. I had told my kids at the beginning of this class that they were on call, because I was sure I would need some help. This is the first time I had to ask. And I am grateful for her help.
But I could definitely see students using many parts of this tool for class. Again, like the Diigo, what's so cool about it is the fact that you can get to it from any computer. I had to be on Shannon's computer to upload these photos and now I can get to them from anywhere!

But feel free to check out my photos at the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61667108@N07/

Diigo

I am loving this new tool we are looking at called Diigo. I am particularly appreciating the organizational capabilities as opposed to past bookmarks. I also really like that we can get to our bookmarks now regardless of what computer we are at. I love the tagging and the highlighting that allows me to remember why I was looking at a particular site, what I intend to use it for and the ability to highlight specifics in the articles.
I have already been using it on a personal as well as professional level. I have bookmarked recipes, gardening sites, authors and the possibilities are endless!

Wiki

I just created my first wiki!!
http://secondarycharactered.wikispaces.com/
Please feel free to comment or make suggestions. I have a feeling all of this will take a bit of time to evolve. It is a work in progress!
There is so much to learn, just figuring out what all the wiki managing tools do. I want to post links to my favorite CharEd sites. I want to know who is doing CharEd in high schools across the country…what works and what has been tried and faded away.
The most frustrating thing for me has been organizing all the log-ins, user names, passwords, etc…feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I know this will get easier as I continue to learn to navigate these strange new waters.

April 9, 2011 10:32 AM