Final Exam

The thing I enjoyed most about Pi 2.0 was the combination of exposure and practice.  There are so many times when I have learned things (especially related to teaching), but if I don't put them into practice immediately, they are forgotten.  The repeated exposure has also been good for me.  As many times as I've posted on this blog, there are still things I'm figuring out.  Just today my Task 11 suddenly showed up unreadable, and I ended up having to change my template.  But, in a way, that was good - because it reminded me HOW to change a template.

Honestly, there wasn't a lot I didn't like about the class.  There were some tools that, while interesting, didn't seem to have much application to the classroom (like the one that makes a puzzle of a picture or the fake newspaper article), and I got kind of frustrated with those.  

My favorite task was blogging because I immediately set up my blog, and since I've had to maintain it, I'm retaining what I've learned.  It's been a great tool for the kids, and something that has more relevance to them than many of the things I've taught.  

I also like how it forced me to keep finding out about, and learning how to use, new things.  In the past, I might hear from a colleague about a good tool, but s/he wasn't there to walk me through it and explain all the ways it could be used.  It was also helpful to be able to post questions on my blog and have them answered so quickly and effectively.

In terms of what I didn't like, at first, I really hated Delicious.  I just couldn't seem to grasp it.  Partially, I think it's the way it was packaged (or the way I interpreted the packaging) as being mostly helpful for using multiple computers.  Since I almost always use my laptop, that's not really an issue for me.  But what IS an issue for me is keeping track of websites - I've never used my bookmarks as much as I should - and being able to look at them by category is great.  Now, instead of wandering aimlessly through the internet, I can tag the articles of interest and return to them when needed.  AND I'll have them to refer to next year, rather than starting all over (which I generally seem to do).

I definitely think Pi 2.0 will influence me in the class - well, it already has.  The kids have been excited to try new things, and that gives me energy to stick with it.  Plus, I don't get bored...frustrated, often, but not bored.  My fear is that I won't keep up with some of the things I've learned.  However, I know I'll keep setting up blogs and wikis, and I know that I'll use Delicious, especially to keep track of my resources.  I guess the "tools" analogy is an apt one because I feel like I have more in my toolbox now:  more ways to present information, more ways to be creative and encourage creativity in kids, and more ways to reach the students.  

Thanks to Amy and all of you who supported this project.  For me, it was great.

Task 12

Today, John Greene talked about Pi 2.0 in our faculty meeting, and I was able to do a piece on some of my Pi 2.0 "products".  I showed the teachers the A Separate Peace blog that I set up, demonstrating the different categories and postings.  I also explained Pixton, how I'd gotten the idea from Ben's presentation at the all-levels meeting, and showed them an example of one of the comics my student did using our vocabulary words.  Because Delicious came up during John's presentation, I also demonstrated how that works.  I've only gotten so far as to organize my websites by category, topic, etc..  I have not done a lot of exploring others' tags, but we played around with them a bit together.


People seemed receptive and interested, though there seemed to be some hesitance about the amount of time some of these things take.  In general, I feel like just about everything I've done on Pi 2.0 is, or will eventually be, a time saver - though new things always take me extra time on the front end.

Task 11

Well, I sort of did this out of order, but as we learned about some of the new tools, I implemented them right away.  That tends to work better for me because then I remember exactly what to do and learn as I go.  The first thing I did was use pixton.com, the comic-creating website.  On three occasions now, I've had my class take vocabulary lists, two associated with grammar and one from A Separate Peace, and create comics using the words.  It has been interesting to see how difficult this is for some of the kids, which means it's a good exercise.  I was a little worried about them spending too much time on the characters/backdrop and not enough on the words, but most of them could complete the assignment in one class period.  And do I even need to mention that they LOVED it??  If you'd like to see their creations, just email me, and I can give you the log-in and password.

The second thing I did is set up a blog for my literature class.  When we started A Separate Peace, I based mine on one that you gave us to check out early on (I think it was from Woodward).  For the past several weeks, the kids have had to post an entry once a week - in a different category each time.  We've also done some in class, using our netbooks.  Here's the link: http://piaseparatepeace.blogspot.com/

While, overall, it's definitely been a positive experience, there have been a few struggles.  With the netbooks (and sometimes the desk tops) several kids lost their work, so I've encouraged them to write in a word processing program and then post their comments.  I've had to work hard to get them to proof (and do things like capitalize!), but they do seem to respond to the idea that anyone out there can read it - and judge them.  (Ah - using teenage insecurity to my benefit!)

However, the blog positives have definitely outweighed the struggles.  I've loved reading the posts, especially from those who have difficulty speaking up in class, and I'm amazed at the depth with which they are analyzing the material.  I also love the fact that, as we approach our final test or project, there a load of information on the blog to refresh their memories and inspire them.

So, these have both been great tools that I will use again, hopefully with fewer glitches next time!

Task 10

Well, as you can probably tell from my last few postings, I've run into a few problems trying to implement the two more "cool tools" I chose.  I hadn't experimented with Voki yet, so I gave that a spin.  While I think it's a great idea - mostly for grabbing kids' attention - I can't get it to show up on my webpage.  While I was investigating it, I found lots of comments from teachers about using Voki in the classroom.  I'm having trouble imagining how, though, unless it's something like the person saying a vocabulary word and using it in a sentence; that might be cool.  Or I suppose you could have the figure read a lit. response aloud, rather than turning it in written.  However, I could see kids spending tons of time on designing their characters, rather than putting the time into their responses.

I also investigated Butns.com, where you can make direct links from your website to all sorts of others.  I set one up with things like Google, Dictionary.com, Wikipedia, etc.  However, I've had the same issue with getting it to show up on my website - it's there to edit, but then it won't post.

Amy is coming to rescue me from my sorrows tomorrow.  I'm sure there's an easy answer, and I'll look forward to seeing these things in action.

My Next Voki/Butns Problem

Using the "HTML Snippet" button on iWeb, I've now gotten them both to appear.  However, even though I've updated the page, when I go there, neither one appears.  I'm going slowly insane!

butns.com question - much like the Voki one

So the same thing is happening when I try to add a link from butns.com.  If gives me the link and says to set it up as a hyperlink, but when I do that, all I get is the code:  Web Resources

Voki Question

For task 10, I've been looking into more tools.  I went on Voki, which is really cool.  I constructed a person with a recorded message, but I cannot figure out how to get it on to my class website.  I tried several of the different codes they gave for embedding, including "standard website"and "other", but I can't get it to show up on my website - only the code appears.  Any suggestions?  Thanks!