Coffeechug Concepts Diigo Updates 04/30/2011

• Daylight Saving Time - Why, When, Where? - Cloud view

  Another cool tool that could be incorporated into the classroom. I wasted time reading through this example. Good stuff here.

  tags: project technology education classroom

• What Annoys Audiences About PowerPoint Presentations? | L e a r n i n g 3 . 0

  This is what I am trying to teach to my students as they create Google Presentations. If I wanted paragraphs I would have asked for a research paper. I will be using this article in my class Monday.

  tags: education classroom write website audiences annoys project technology

• Too Many ‘Likes’? Designer Proposes Alternatives for Facebook - DesignTAXI.com

  Too funny!

• WRITE THE WRONG ESSAY COMPETITION

  Will be having students write for this contest.

  tags: education write website project learning classroom

• Free Technology for Teachers: Who Am I? A History Mystery

  tags: education website tool

• Cool Cat Teacher Blog: 15 Fantastic Ways to Use Flipboard

  Some excellent tips on using Flipboard. I need to go back and utilize this app some more.

  tags: technology education teacher ipad

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Best Road Trip Songs Ever

My two favorite people on the internet, Rhett and Link, have crafted a new video that I love. It is my favorite video(at least until my next favorite one comes along).

Go ahead and watch and see if you don't find yourself singing along.



Anyways, I am thinking I should make my own version. Yes, you read that right. It is time for the Nerd Factory to make a video. It has been empty on the videos way too long.

I might even have students sing some songs at school as well. I will build a little recording booth.

Yes, you also read that correctly.

So, please leave a comment with a song suggestion for my very own Road Trip video.

Darth Vader Projection Alarm Clock

Home & Office : Darth Vader Projection Alarm Clock: " Who doesn't want to wake up next to Vader every day? Good morning, honey! A shrunken head of Vader, about 6' tall, that projects the time onto the wall or ceiling. Wake to the sound of creepy breathing. If that doesn't wake you up, Vader will Force Choke you. Maybe. You'll have to sleep in to find out. $39.99"


I want this for my classroom. Willingly accepting donations along with a lightsaber to teach with(idea from Stump the Teacher).

Any good ideas for a good lightsaber toy/device for me to teach with?

Coffeechug Concepts Diigo Updates 04/29/2011

• QR CODE - Content-rich Resume on Vimeo
  I am so doing this as a scavenger hunt type activity next year to start the school year. I love this!!
  tags: qrcode content technology teaching classroom project

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Book Club Meeting Another Success

Tonight we met at the public library to discuss our second book in our little book club. When I say "we" I am referring to some wonderful teachers and staff at the middle school where I teach(or attempt to anyway).

I started the club to have a chance to talk about books and see some people that I don't always get a chance to talk to during the routine of my school day.

The first time we met we read and discussed True Grit and there was only three of us.














Tonight we expanded to five members as we talked about Winter's Bone.







It was another success. It is important for us to have time away from students and the YA world. We spend so much time reading YA novels(rightfully so as they are really good). However, it is important to take a step away and just have some adult talk about adult novels. These two novels have lead to some great discussion as they both take on the journey idea of a young female in pursuit of find their father. This was not intended, but it worked out that way.

We have decided to read one more book before the school year ends. Time is of the essence as we have only about a month left until we are done for the year.

For our third book club we are going to read Heaven is for Real.


Have you read this book? Feel free to leave some insight, ideas, questions, etc.

Do you have any other book club suggestions. We found it humorous how out of touch we were with the non YA world and are in need of some suggestions.

Best content in Coffeechug Concepts | Diigo - Groups

http://groups.diigo.com/group/coffeechug-concepts

Flat Classroom: Netvibes and my PLN and CMP Reflection

Here I am several weeks into this program and I have already revamped much of how I operate my classes. I have my students working on wiki pages and leaving to be self sufficient and to prove their own learning along with the collaboration of students.

I have created a Netvibes account. I love it. I have made some changes over the weekend. I went a little crazy on the Flat Classroom tab(always afraid I am going to type Fat Classroom which would not be good). I simplified all the updates. I realized how far behind you get when you don't check on a regular basis. In my case I did not do much with the class or anything since the chat on Tuesday. After several days of neglect I returned to a ton of updates. I loved reading them all, but the downside is that I did not take the time to respond as much as I would have liked. I need to do a better job by checking each morning or every other morning.

Additionally, my students are wiki editing machines and therefore I have hundreds to check each day. I am staying on top of this one as it is my first time taking kids through the process.

What I am learning is that they still don't understand how to use the Discussion tab. There is very little educational/feedback/collaboration talk going on. There is with some of them, but I would say 75% is just social type comments. I have talked at length about this, but it does not stop them. I plan on having them peer review the latest Flat Classroom Project and rate the videos that I am judging to help them learn how to critique and offer feedback properly. I have it designed that when they come to class they have 5-10 minutes to do this on their own. They are using the time, but not for the intended purposes. I will work to correct this. What I don't want is for them to scramble at the very end and post the comments I am looking for just to earn the grade. I think they are still a little timid about this. Either because they have been ingrained to do their own thing and not help one another. I think part of the perception is that it is almost like cheating and I keep telling them to use one another. Help each other. Offer guidance. Offer answers and help. Collaborate to take each other to a higher level. It has not sunk in quite yet nor did I expect it to after only 6 classes.

I wish there was a way for me to have a RSS feed for Google Documents. My students are collaborating on a project using this tool and it would be nice to have a feed when they jump on so I can check instead of manually checking on my own. I have not found this option yet.

My iGoogle page is rocking. I have it updated. I rearranged, added some things needed and deleted unnecessary widgets. Any good widget recommendations? Yes, I went with a Portal 2 theme as this game is slowly taking over my life(I have only played for a few minutes, but the addiction has started)

I updated my Google Calendar. Changed the image background to make it unique. Synced up with Buzz, but not sure how that helps me. It looks cool and need to check into this more.

Now my Google Reader needs some help. It needs to be organized. I need to work with tags and folders more. Time to sort through some feeds by deleting some and looking to add some that I am missing.

Things take time and that will be a project for the week.

Any other items I should consider in my PLN? Symbaloo is my next project to put together some good webmixes.

That is all for now. Thanks for reading.

Board Game Review: Lego Creationary

 Finally, after months of having this new project on my to do list I have finally started. I am going to be adding board games to my review topics. I have done books and will continue to review books, but I needed something else. I have decided to go with board games. I have started a board game club at my school that will eventually lead to student created book reviews. For the first few I have decided to go ahead and make some examples for the students to see and seek some feedback.

If you want me to review a board game, video game, or anything else along those lines please send me an email and I will be glad to help out.


Here we go with my first review and I have chosen the game Lego Creationary. Did you think I would go with anything other than Lego?

Creationary from LEGO® Games: A new way to play!

Introducing LEGO® Games, the world’s first collection of games that you build, play and change. With the unique buildable LEGO Dice and changeable rules, LEGO Games is a great way of having fun together with family and friends.

Roll the LEGO® Dice to select one of four exciting building categories: vehicles, buildings, nature or things. With three levels of difficulty you can show off your building skills, while the others guess what you are creating. A great game for family and friends to test your imagination, creativity, building and guessing skills to the max. An interactive game for 3 – 8 players. Game play approximately 30-60 minutes.

• 1 buildable LEGO Dice
• 1 LEGO minifigure
• 1 LEGO microfigure
• 96 cards
• 1 rule booklet

Here is my review. I made a video. Enjoy!

Libary Load Just Got Bigger

After finally finding the book Addy had hid in her books on her bookshelf(that dreaded Caillou) I had a large pile of books come in. Go figure they all come in at one time. That is how it always works. You wait forever and then BAM 20 holds.

Don't forget I am also reading Wolf Storm and Game of Thrones.

Any other suggestions or see one that I MUST read?

Coffeechug Concepts Diigo Group, iGoogle, Symbaloo, and Bit Literacy Organization

As I have downsized my email accounts it has forced me to become even more organized in other aspects of my online life. As I quit using my email account as a storage device and began to determine whether or not something was worthy enough of  keeping I had to begin to sort and organize the material.

For example, sifting through the hundreds of emails in my gmail account I began to realize several things
1. I was keeping emails that really held no importance to me. For some reason I kept an email thinking it was way too important to delete, but not so important for me to read and do something with instantly. Over time I collected hundreds of these emails and when going through them realized they held no significance to me.

However, if they did contain something important, then it was time to read and if worth keeping filing and sharing on my Diigo group, Coffeechug Concepts Feel free to follow and join my group where I will share any articles or links I find interesting enough to keep. I have loaded up quite a bit since going through all my email so there is plenty for you to back read. Feel free to share your own and I look forward to creating a great network of people to share information with.

2. I simply forgot to email people back. I am to a point where I receive a lot of emails. With the hectic schedule of my school day I often do not get any time to check my gmail account. Over time I simply forgot to write someone back which is a pet peeve of mine. I try to respond to everyone within 24 hours. My lack of organization lead to be someone who drives me insane and not very professional.

3. I sure send a lot of emails to myself. Most of unread emails were from me either via Twitter, websites online, or just sending files back and forth to various computers. Problem is that I rarely did anything with them. Now with my Diigo toolbar and creating a Symbaloo page I should be able to better sort resources that I need.

4. I kept emails to remind me of important in which I would forget because I could not find the email. I have now restructured my iGoogle page and my Google Calendar. Things are going great. It helps to have emails and texts when meetings and things are getting ready to happen.

I feel much more at ease with things. I think I am the most organized I have been in a while. I still have a long way to go, but I am making strides. As I continue to organize myself I can see different aspects of my life finally being organized(books, music, toys) as well.

On a final note I have to share this and I don't intend to toot my own horn, but I cannot tell you how excited I was to see that my blog viewings were coming in from a new source. I checked out the source and about fell out of my chair to see that I was mentioned by Mark Hurst, the author of Bit Literacy. The man who has created a book that has literally changed my life. I have to share it here http://goodexperience.com/ because not too often does my insights are writing make it very far. It is a honor to be referenced by Mark Hurst. So cool. So very cool.

This has made my day.

Back to becoming more Bit Literate.

Book Review: Winter's Bone

Title: Winter's Bone
Author: Daniel Woodrell

When Ree Dolly's father skips bail, the 16-year-old knows if he doesn't show up to answer the drug charges against him, her family will lose their home. Her goal had been to leave her messy life of poverty and join the army, but first she must find her father, teach her little brothers to fend for themselves, and escape a downward spiral of misery.
My Thoughts

This is our second novel that we have selected for our little book club that some of us teachers decided to put together to have a break in the action from the YA scene and have an adult outlet. You can see our wiki page here.

I am reading this very close to our meeting so I had already heard some insights from a few of the teachers in the club. Many were a little unsure about the novel. They said it was slow moving, hard to understand with all the family connections, and I think that overall they maybe were not as impressed with the novel as they had hoped. Now, this is just speculation as we have not discussed the novel yet.

I started reading the book with some doubt. However, all doubt left my brain right away. I was sucked into this storyline. It is a slow paced story, but I think it was designed that way to reflect the landscape and setting of the story. Life in the Ozarks is not a fast paced lifestyle(once again speculation since I have not lived there).

Things were simple. The book did not go into great detail. Once again I believe it was done to be reflective of the storyline. Things are simple. There is not much money. Life is bleak with almost everyone using or selling crank and other drugs.

I read this book in one sitting. I stayed up super late to finish. I could not believe the treatment of Ree. I just felt so bad for this girl. She had so much to deal with in her life. I am not sure I would have been able to carry her burden. The things that happen as she tries to hang on for what is left just amazed me.

I also believe that this novel reflected society in some aspects. The men were almost tyrants in this community. The women never went against the grain no matter how terribly they were treated or cheated on. They just did not have the backbone to stand up for what was right. Where else would they go? They have this view of being stuck in a rut. Even Ree who was the strongest starts to succumb to this outlook. We don't know whatever comes of her, but I highly doubt she ever makes her dream of escaping to the army.

I recommend this book. It is not a high octane action adventure read, but one that is a fantastic read in contemporary fiction. I was hesitant to read the novel at first, but now regret waiting so long to read it. I cannot wait for the book club meeting to discuss it.

Flat Classroom Chalenge #8 Bonus! Edit Wikipedia

Do: Join wikipedia and edit a topic that you are knowledgeable about. Before editing, familiarize yourself with the talk page and engage in discussions there. Note that some pages on wikipedia require one to earn a certain “status” or trust level on Wikipedia and information posted in error could cause you to be banned from the site as an editor. Follow the topic for several days.

Share: On your blog reflect on editing Wikipedia. How can students be prepared to contribute in a world where increasingly those who edit and converse succeed and those who consume information without contributing can be left behind?


I was scared to do this. For some reason I was nervous. I joined wiki and I felt like I was part of something very special and powerful. I am now part of a community that is a perfect example of crowd sourcing. 


I had to think about what I wanted to add. I was not sure. I went with the latest book I just finished which was the book to Waiting For "Superman". I chose this for no other reason than it was fresh on my mind. I checked out the history and how things had unfolded on this page prior to me. I kept the edit simple. I added only a sentence or two. It was a great experience. It made me appreciate Wiki even more. I cannot believe how much edits and research and back channel talk to make things right and accurate. 

The feelings I felt about making sure I was correct and accurate is what I want my students to feel. I want them to have a personal investment in their work. I know that if I mess up on Wiki that my image is damaged and I lose respect. I need to find ways to make them have a personal investment in what they are doing.


Additionally, just reading the edits and talk going on some of the pages I was able to learn so much from these discussions. We no longer have to rely on people in our local area, but now we can work with experts from all over the world. It is important to teach our youth about the power they harness and to make sure they utilize their skills. It is our jobs as teachers to teach them their skills and how to put it to good use. 


We have to make the connection that what they students are capable of is important to society and they need to feel that sense of empowerment.


This was a great bonus challenge. I plan on adding to wiki in the future and hopefully as I get more comfortable I will expand on what I share. This was probably my favorite task so far because I felt nervous and I had not felt that for some time in a project.

Flat Classroom Challenge #8

Challenge #8: Collaborate and Communicate.

Do: Participate in a collaborative wiki project with your class or in one of our on-line communities with a group of at least four people.
 
Share: Compare and contrast a collaborative wiki editing project with traditional in-class group work on your blog. What is the difference between cooperation and collaboration? How can collaboration be taught?



I currently am taking part in three projects(two involve wiki) with my students.


1. Lunchbox Project - this is a project I have my pen pal club involved with. It has been a super exciting and enjoyable project. We have learned a lot about culture.


2. My own wiki project with 7th grade language arts - I am learning more from this project than any other project this year.


3. Communication with Japan - Not really a wiki project, but talk about a learning 
 experience like no other.


I just had a conversation last week about a similar topic to this reflection. I was sharing about how much we are learning from our friends in Japan. I mentioned that what we are learning through our projects is so much more substantial than anything a textbook can provide. We are not just reading about a group of people. We are embracing the people of Japan. We are learning differences in culture(community vs. individual outlooks) firsthand. We are learning about language barriers and how to overcome them. We are learning about time difference. We are learning about how to effectively communicate when you cannot see them in person and they don't understand the local slang. We are learning about how to take constructive feedback and changing things to make it better. The learning is jumping off the pages and not only are the students bettering themselves, but they are acquiring skills that they will need for the future.


With my other two wiki projects the same things are happening. The Lunchbox Project requires us to work with several countries. We have had to work on speaking more than one language and to embrace the difference in cultures. I think my students involved in this project are walking way with an understanding about how some things need to change in America. They are not as oblivious to how things operate around the world. It has been a great experience.


Moving to my own wiki project I have a whole new experience going on. These students have never done anything of the sorts before. I have had to scale things back and do daily mini lessons and reflections about the process. I have had to teach them about how to represent themselves online. I have had to teach them to be careful about what and how they post because people from all over the world are reading their work. For example, one project required them to write a letter to a cousin on the east coast after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They had to write from the perspective of a Japanese American on the west coast. In their letters they(not all of them) created these made up Japanese names. I had to teach them that this is not right. It is culturally insensitive and comes across as being disrespectful to the very culture we are reading and studying about. It might seem small, but to me this is a huge teaching moment. They were not being insensitive on purpose and many saw nothing wrong with it so it lead to an interesting class discussion.


One thing that they struggle with is collaboration. I have them working with other class periods so they are working on collaborating online when they are not on at the same time. I have provided them a wiki and Google documents to share research and communicate. They are struggling, but I am leaving it to them to figure out how to organize themselves. It has been interesting to watch the six groups work as each one has a different method. It shall be interesting to see how things develop.


Collaboration is a learning technique. It requires more than just cooperation. Everyone must contribute. People take it personal when someone does not collaborate. They are looking for help. They expect the other students to share and contribute. They will know when you don't do your work. There is a peer element of making sure you don't let your team down. To collaborate you may not always agree, but it is important to make sure everyone is heard and has a say in the final project.

Flat Classroom Challenge #7

Challenge #7: Empower Digital Citizenship Action

I work in a district that am very grateful to be part of. I think this all the time. We have a luxury of a lot of technology and always looking to be at the cutting edge of what is needed in education. We have fallen behind a little bit, but I know that the district is making strides to get back on top.


I have had several conversations with people in my district about student empowered digital citizenship and reverse monitoring. I think the whole idea is making headway.


We will soon have wifi in our building. With wifi comes 1-1 computing and at this point you have no choice but to open up the student powered digital citizenship learning opportunities.


At my building we have a computer class for 6th grade which I think right now is a joke. I taught the class for one year and it about drove me insane. They do keyboarding and learn the Office programs at a basic level. What a waste. This class should be teaching about student empowered digital citizenship. Let them learn how to navigate online. Let them be part of an online project. The typing and other skills will fall into place.


As I work through my own wiki experiment project right now, I am realizing that despite the fact that my students can find any game online and can bypass any filter you put up in school, they are lacking digital citizenship. Nobody has ever taught them. They are way behind in this aspect of life which is scary considering how much time they spend on computers. Typing that last sentence just made me ask myself, "If students are on the computers for hours a day at school, then what are we doing wrong that they don't have these necessary skills and knowledge?"


As I have thought over and over again in this course we have some serious changes that need to be made. It is time for us to shift to the new levels of collaboration and prepare these students for the future.


In order for this to happen it takes administrators the courage to let some teachers jump in head first and learn. It takes these teachers to learn how to do things and then teach their peers. It has to be a district wide initiative, but done at a pace that is comfortable and not forced.


This is such as exciting time as more and more people are realizing that change is coming and you better get on board before you get left behind. The economy struggles and as this continues people will begin to understand that our education system needs to be revamped for us to get back on top.

Google Reader - My next step in Bit Literacy DOMINATION!!!

Yesterday, I tore it up. It took me all day from morning until night, but I dwindled my gmail account down to 10 emails. My goal is to eliminate those today. My hotmail account is still at four emails after one week. Things are improving.

I am now tackling my Google Reader.

I need some help or guidance.

I currently have all my feeds as one big giant list. They are not organized into categories or anything. It is just a hodge podge of my education sites, book review sites, hobby sites, technology sites, etc.

I feel like I need to organize these a little bit better so I can access what exactly I need.

I have several that I am testing out to see if they even belong as suggested in the book.

My guidance that I need is:

1. How do you have your Google Reader or any other reader for that matter organized?

2. What else should I consider when organizing my feeds?

3. What are some of your favorite feeds that you have in your reader?

I look forward to your suggestions.

I cannot even begin to tell you how stress free it was this morning to come down to my computer and have a cleared out inbox. I did not think it would have any effect on me, but I was wrong. This is great.

Eliminate emails in Gmail and Teacher Inbox - IMPOSSIBLE!!!!

Currently working on eliminating my emails in my Gmail and School inbox accounts. This is almost impossible.

I cannot let go of some of them(by some I mean hundreds upon hundreds).

I feel like it will come back to haunt me.

I am trying to become Bit Literate, but right now I am failing.

Follow my journey on my Twitter account @coffeechugbooks

How do you do it?

What is your system for storing important files, links, and all the other bits?

I have set up Diigo (check previous post for link, or the sidebar, or Twitter to view)

I have Dropbox

I have created Evernote, but not quite sure how to integrate.

Continue on my wayward son, may you delete your useless past(despite the fact it all feels so important)

At Home On Friday - my sporadic mindset is now reflected in my household

Right now as I type this here is what is happening:

1. My daughter is blaring "Party in the USA" for the 35th time all upset that her hair "not down". Whatever that means. She is running and singing very loud in my basement.

2. My son is drawing a strategy plan for Starcraft. Yes, too young to see the game, but one level is safe enough(he cannot hear the bad words due to Miley Cyrus in bouncing our brain around in our brain). He is  like a military general. He has more thought into a strategy than I thought possible. The sad thing is that I think his plan is actually the answer to beating the mission. How stupid I feel?

3. I stopped by the library yesterday after finding a book my daughter hid from us. The book was a Cailloo book. I hate this cartoon character. I despise him. I despise him even more after paying a fine for my daughter keeping this book hidden. I should not hate a cartoon character and seems immature, but I do. Maybe I will post my reasons later.

4. I am adding more and more content to my Diigo group. I think it is really helping me keep my one email inbox down to 4 emails. See my Bit Literacy Experiment posts from earlier in the week to get caught up in case you missed them. Feel free to join and share information.

5. I am making a long list of things to get done this three day weekend. So much to do.

6. Can you believe that we are adding another native to the tribe in about two weeks. How our world will be turned upside down, but for all good reasons(except the poopy diapers).

7. Time to figure out what book to read next. I had 20 books on hold at the library and they all came in at once.

Here are the ones I am considering right now.

• Howard Gardner - Five Minds for the Future
• Waiting For Superman companion book to movie
• The Element by Ken Robinson
• Beef Eater by Richard Whitmore

8. Who knows what is about to unfold after I drink this pretend hot tea from my daughter. 

What are some other things I should check out on this great day of hanging out at home with the family?

Time for some real coffee, clean the house, and continue my pursuit of being Bit Literate by "attempting" to clear out my school email and my Gmail.

Try Something New

Just do it. The famous Nike slogan. I know that you have something that you wish you could try out.

Go for it.

See what happens. Who knows, it might really work.

Who cares if it is small or large in terms of what you are trying to accomplish. Who cares if anyone knows.

For example, I am experimenting with teaching an extension through the use of a wiki where each student has their own page to document their learning journey. They have freedom to edit, change, modify, etc. within reason in that I am constantly checking the changes through my CMP(also a new idea for me to try).

I was scared. I was nervous in terms of how it would work out. I am so glad I tried. The students have really taken to the project.

Yes, there have been mistakes.

Yes, we have had many teaching moments. But is that not what education is all about? Create your own pathways and take away the essence from each moment.

I am learning just like my students.

I love it.

It could be even simpler. For example, taking the same wiki example I mentioned above, I had this video that I wanted to show the students to provide them a visual of Pearl Harbor and what life was like. I wanted them to have images in their mind before we read our novel. Typically, I don't like showing videos, but if I did I would put them on the projector screen and the kids are bored out of their minds. I tried something new.

I gave them headphones

I gave them the freedom of their wiki page

I told them to watch the video at their pace and take notes into the old style graphic organizer KWL chart and to fill in the "L"

They loved it. They were so engrossed in the vidoe.

They took great notes.

So simple, but it gave them a sense of power. They were in control.

What are you going to try?

Share your ideas in the comments. I would love to hear from you.

My Problem With Earth Day

Why is it that the people who support Earth Day more than the others waste so much paper promoting the day?

Does it not go against what the day is intended for?

I look around my school and community and see posters, papers, flyers, etc. and to what avail? Do these things really help promote the day? In my mind they are wasting materials to promote an event where most will not do anything to help Earth.

Instead of printing posters and pictures, why don't we take the kids outside and plant a tree, do some cleaning up, make them appreciate what we have.

I don't know. Maybe it has been a long week, but for some reason this just bothered me all week.

Happy Earth Day tomorrow.

Make the world better, but don't waste paper promoting it.

Book Review: Poke the Box by Seth Godin

Title: Poke the Box
Author: Seth Godin
Author Site


Amazon.com Review

Book Description: If you're stuck at the starting line, you don't need more time or permission. You don’t need to wait for a boss’s okay or to be told to push the button; you just need to poke.

Poke the Box is a manifesto by bestselling author Seth Godin that just might make you uncomfortable. It’s a call to action about the initiative you’re taking-– in your job or in your life. Godin knows that one of our scarcest resources is the spark of initiative in most organizations (and most careers)-– the person with the guts to say, “I want to start stuff.”

Poke the Box just may be the kick in the pants you need to shake up your life.  

My Thoughts

READ THIS BOOK! I am a Seth devotee. I came across Seth a few months ago when I read his other book Tribes.  This book opened me up to the world of Seth Godin. I read his blog posts, I am reading more of his books, and take time to listen to what he is saying. I may not always agree, but it gives me the fuel to think about what I can do to make myself better and how I can go about achieving my goals.

I read this book on my Kindle App and when finished I had 40 highlights and 6 notes. There was just too much good stuff to process all at once. What I like best about this book is that it is not a How To program. There is no template to follow. It is simply ideas and thoughts to get you moving in the direction you want to take. The ideas that he suggests are exactly what are missing in society today. From the business world(although that could be argued by some of the amazing things going on) to the school system where parents, teachers, and students are so afraid to "fail". We have to be so safe that rarely to allow ourselves to try something out and if we fail, learn from it, and move on.

One of my favorite passages from the book is:

"Imagine that the world had no middlemen, no publishers, no bosses, no HR folks, no one telling you what you couldn’t do. If you lived in that world, what would you do? Go. Do that."

Go do that! Go right now. This is what I am trying to teach my students. Don't do the conventional. We are in the midst of an independent study project. Don't give me a PowerPoint. Don't do a triboard because that is what you have done so many times before and you know people like. Do something different. Make a documentary. Try an experiment. What would you do? I know I would do what I am doing now. Trying to make the changes in my job that I believe are important. Not being afraid of trying something new to see how it unfolds. I have had several projects this year that were a bust. So what? Seth Godin is trying to get this mindset out there. Get started, get out there and try. See what happens

As Seth states in the book "When can you start? Soon is not as good as now." Get started. Go read this book, find some motivation, leave your fears at the door and get started.

Top book of the year for sure. A wonderful read. Just what I need to reignite my passion for life. Thanks Seth Godin.

Book Review: Doodlebug

Title: Doodlebug
Author: Karen Romana Young
Author Website: http://www.karenromanoyoung.com/

From the publisher website

Moving is tough. Being the new kid in school is even tougher. But the hardest thing of all about the move that Doreen “Dodo” Bussey’s family is making is that she suspects it might be because of her. She got into trouble at her last school.


On the drive to their new home, her mother gives Dodo a blank notebook, which she uses to chronicle the move, the first days in a new city, and the ups and downs of starting a new school and making new friends. In the process, she reinvents herself as the Doodlebug. Her little sister seems to adjust to everything so easily—why is it so hard for Dodo?

My Thoughts

I read this book pretty quickly. I liked the format. It was something different and new to me. It is not a simple book that read from top to bottom. There are doodles all over and they help to tell the story. I liked the storyline and how she stood up for who she was. I showed the pages to my wife who is a math teacher, very straight forward and linear and she did not like the format. I showed my son who is 6 and is starting to read and his comment was that it looked like it was hard to read. My daughter who is 4 and has a wonderful imagination loved looking at all the pages(no, she cannot read). I share these perspectives to showcase that the format is not for everyone. The storyline is great. It was just a good old fashion feel good story about moving and trying to find your place in life.

I am glad I came across this title. It was a nice break in the action. Many times I felt like stopping to doodle myself. Anyone who is interested in drawing and doodling check this book out because it is cool to see how she incorporated her art into storytelling.

Come on and share

Do it.

Right now go ahead and share one thing that has helped you in your profession lately.

Maybe it has been a new app.

Maybe a quote, a suggestion from someone in your occupation.

Maybe a book or magazine or article you read.

Maybe you just had a great cup of coffee.

For me, it has been several things.

I feel rejuvenated. My Flat Classroom Teacher class has presented me with a whole new set of ideas to try to incorporate into my teaching. I am one who loves the challenge of making it work. I am almost upset that I only have a few weeks left of school.

I did say ALMOST. I love my break.

I have been helped by my kids who teach me to appreciate the small things in life like playing Cheese Tag.

Don't forget the great reading of Seth Godin.

Last, my new lists on Twitter. I created a list for my edubloggers(you want to be part of it leave me your twitter name) and a list for my Flat Classroom friends.

What is yours?

Book Review: Bit Literacy by Mark Hurst

Title: Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload
Author: Mark Hurst
Website: http://bitliteracy.com/

From Amazon.com

Product Description

Bit Literacy is essential reading for anyone who has experienced "digital overload": the daily flood of e-mail, multiple todo lists, a cluttered desktop, documents in various file formats, and the constant distraction of cell phones and other devices. More than a quick fix or another "how-to" guide, this book offers an entirely new way of attaining productivity that users at any level of expertise can put into action right away. This is "bit literacy," a method for working more productively in the digital age, with less stress. Mark Hurst - who has reached hundreds of thousands of readers through his Good Experience e-mail newsletter, Uncle Mark technology guides, thisisbroken.com, and other websites - has revealed the way to survive, and thrive, in the digital age: "Let the bits go."

My Thoughts

I decided to read this book after seeing it mentioned several times in my reading and coursework to becoming Flat Classroom Certified by Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay. From what I read about the book it seemed like an interesting read. Let me tell you that it was more than interesting. It is changing my structure in life and how I do things in the bit world.

If you read my blog then you are aware that I have already begun to put some of what is mentioned in this book into practice. I have started with my email. I am working to eliminate the overload of data that comes from my email, Twitter, social network sites, blogs, RSS Readers, etc. One thing I never considered as being part of this formula is digitial photography, but after reading about this it all makes complete sense.

This book opened my eyes to many things that I do in my life that could be eliminated and allow me to be more bit savvy. About every single thing mentioned in the book that is viewed as doing it wrong, I currently do. From my email inboxes as storage devices, to writing out long to-do lists on paper with no set daily goals to always being connected online with my feeds.

This book has set me up with some key parameters to help make life easier. I have already elminated on email account down to 4 emails(I cannot get down to 0 for another month). Check out my previous posts to understand why. I still have a few more email accounts left to go, but it is a start.

I read this book on my Kindle App and used the highlight and note tools to keep track of key parts of the book to go back and visit when I ready to move on to another part of my bit life.

This book is a MUST READ for anyone who needs some guidance in making sense in the bit world. We are saturated in so much information that it take some serious work to sort through everything effectively. This book will help you do just that. Check it out to let the bits go.

Coffee For The Brain Book Tournament - ULTIMATE WINNER - The winner of the tournament is.....

After months of reading and judging and evaluating, the staff, students, and parents of the school have spoken.

The winner of the 1st Annual Coffee For The Brain Book Tournament is.......

Matched by Ally Condie beat out Maze Runner by James Dashner by ONE SINGLE VOTE!!! The closet voting of all time.

Congratulations to both authors.

















Here are the final results

Supreme Champion: Matched


Worthy Adversary: Maze Runner



3rd place tie:

Red Kayak

Compound

5th place tie:

Fallen

Eon

A Dog's Purpose

Thirteen Reasons Why

9th place tie:

Power of Un

Lost Hero

Notes From a Midnight Driver

Waiting For Normal

Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

Speak

Escape From Memory

Side Effects

17th place tie:

Bag of Marbles

Phantom Tollbooth

Angel Experiment

Hurt Go Happy

Iqbal

Black and White

Report Card

Dead and Gone

Peeps

Lock and Key

Gym Candy

Art of Racing in the Rain

Life As We Knew It

How To Steal A Dog

Rules

Sunrise Over Fallujah

33rd place tie:

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

Crackback

Hattie Big Sky

Fallen Angels

Forest of Hands and Teeth

Petey

Pendragon

Dead Tossed Waves

If I Stay

Where The Red Fern Grows

Jeremy Fink

Soldier Boys

Kissing Doorknobs

Runaway

Night

Stuck in Neutral

Bit Literacy - Test 1 - 0 Emails - Updated Progress

Here is a video of my latest progress with eliminating my emails down to 0 in one of my email accounts.

Here are the prior posts

Flat Classroom Teacher: Challenge #6: Creating a CMP: Classroom Monitor Portal

I think I have done it.

It is basic.

It is simple

I have plans to make this my main screen once I tailor everything to my needs

Check it out: http://www.netvibes.com/coffeechug#General

You should see two tabs

Flat Classroom Tab is for the AWESOME course that I am taking and learning so much. If you want me to add your feed to my page please let me know. I went with the blogs that I have checked out so far. If you are part of the group and I missed your blog please tell me and I will add it because I value all your input and insight.

Farewell Tab is for my 7th grade language arts extension where I am working on monitoring their work on the wiki. My plans are for them to have a page similar to this. Time will tell.

If I should have a new tab, a new feed, or you have any suggestions or insights please let me know. This is all new to me.

I chose to use Netvibes because I can make my pages public. I still have iGoogle in use, but Netvibes is one that I am starting to like more and more for educational purposes.

Flat Classroom Teacher Certification Course - Module 3 - Citizenship Journal

'What?', 'So what?', 'Now what?' model

• 'What?' - describe the learning experience including factual information about new tools and resources discovered
• I never gave any thought to the fact that to be a digital citizen that we had to consider five areas, but after reading and thinking about the five areas it makes complete sense. Vicki Davis and Julie Lindsay identify the five areas as
• Technical Access and Awareness
• Individual Awareness
• Social Awareness
• Cultural Awareness
• Global Awareness
• It is important to always remember that students do not come to us ready and equipped with the skill set to just jump on a computer and go. We must teach them the necessary skills. As educators it is time for us to step up to the plate and realize that we are responsible to teach the kids how to behave globally with others and even stepping back to teach them how to behave while online. We have a whole new "curriculum" that has unfolded on our laps and whether or not we want to admit it, it is our jobs to prepare them. The preparation is not being done at home to the level that is necessary for us to do our jobs.
• To teach students each of these five areas we must think about the following in each area
• Safety
• Privacy
• Copyright
• Fair Use
• Legal
• 'So what?' - Reflect critically on how this new learning has impacted on your life as an educator, share what you believe were the highlights and difficult aspects of the module
• This module has provided me with many more things to add to my teaching. I strive to incorporate some of these areas mentioned above, but I have more that I need to develop. It is almost a guarantee that many of us teachers have no problem teaching about copyright, but how many of us actually take time to include music, photos, and video? There are more things to consider than just the written word. As I continue to experiment with my classes on moving to the next level of connections online I am realizing that I need longer class periods. One period to teach the ideas above and another period to teach my content. It all goes back to my basic beliefs about education. It is time for a new education system where we focus on real world skill sets. Time to maybe do away with memorizing historical facts, but include the skills about how to function and think on your own two feet. Learn how to deal with people next to you, online, in another country, etc. Time to quite being so "standardized" and allowing kids to shine with the talents given to them.
• 'Now what?' - write about your ideas for taking this learning to the next level and what you are going to do with the new tools, new concepts and describe a possible path for development
• I have already started with my next level work with the wiki I am currently experimenting with my language arts extension. I have plans to make things even grander next time around, but will figure this part out first. My pen pal club has been an amazing part of my teaching this year. As we work with several countries we are constantly discussing the five areas above. I seriously believe that the students involved are slowly realizing that the day to day operations of our lives is not the same all over. We have had many discussions about each of these topics and what we can do to make sure we represent ourselves in a proper manner and show respect for our international friends.
• To see my work check out my wiki project: http://bmsfarewell2manz.wikispaces.com/
• To see my international work this year(all done this year for the first time): http://coffeechug.wikispaces.com/

On a side note I have been working on my Bit Literacy skills after reading Bit Literacy(it has been mentioned by Vicki several times in reading and chats). I have been working this weekend to reduce my email inbox in one account to zero. Read about my journey here: http://coffeeforthebrain.blogspot.com/2011/04/bit-literacy-test-1-0-emails-intro.html

Flat Classroom Teacher Certification Course - Challenge 5 Bonus - Student PLN

This week I sampled for the first time wiki where students have complete control over their pages and journey through this 7th grade Language Arts Extension.

As I make my path down my own journey in the Flat Classroom class I am learning more in these first few days than I have in a long time. This extension has opened my eyes to a variety of new things.

The bonus challenge was to create a student personal learning network where they have a start up page that provides them with everything they need to start the day.

I have decided to keep them right where they are at this time. Not sure if I get my points for this bonus or not, but the wiki has already proved to be enough. I have more teaching moments with this one wiki and think that adding a PLN to their menu of options will be too much at this time.

None of them has prior history to using wiki. We are starting each class talking about social network etiquette, how to help one another(and not harm), how work collaboratively, and to provide a network of knowledge and resources.

They have a mindset where they want the stuff to be for them. I am trying to teach them to embrace the wiki as a place to help each other. It will not be considered cheating if John for example goes to Bob to offer help on his spelling errors. It is not cheating if John reads something on another page and wishes to add the information to his own as long as he gives credit. It is okay to do all of these things.

Our topic for this extension are the Japanese internment camps during WW2. It is very hard to find a RSS feed for this topic. Students will treat the wiki as their PLN. They have the access with this one wiki to view the work of everyone in all the classes. They can all go to the "recent changes" tab to see what the latest improvements are. They have learned so much in just a few days. Learning how to offer feedback, how to add pictures, how to cite sources, how to read the history of their page, etc.

I dove in head first and am still afloat swimming in this massive ocean of learning. I just hope we don't sink along the way.

This is link to the wiki. We start reading the novel Monday so more of the work will be developed this week. It is still in the infancy stage, but I think my students and myself are handling the most we can at this point.


http://bmsfarewell2manz.wikispaces.com/

Feel free to offer guidance, suggestions, comments, etc.

Bit Literacy - Test 1 - 0 Emails Intro

Okay, here is the start and intro to my Bit Literacy project

You can backtrack and read my two previous posts about my project.

Let the games begin.

Go ahead and join the challenge to become Bit Literate.

More videos and posts to come this weekend as I start this journey.

Becoming more Bit Literate

A few days back I posted about how this weekend I am going to apply some of my recent learning from both the Flat Classroom Teacher class and also from the book Bit Literacy.

 In my previous post I mentioned how I am moving one of my email accounts down to 0.

Every single email will be sorted and deleted.

This is crazy. This is going to be so hard.

I am going to start with my one email account that has an email dating back to 09/2009.

I start tonight.

I still need your help. What is a good To Do List type app/program? I am looking for one that is simple to use and syncs between my mac, ipad, and phone, and possibly even one that I can add to my PLN(Personal Learning Network)

I have iProcrastinate, but have not had time to fully use and play around with it.

As stated in the book, "Completion is when the todo is done, and checked off the todo list."


I have many to check off my list and it is time to get better organized. 


It starts today. 


YIKES!!!!

Book Review: Human .4

Title: Human.4
Author: Mike A. Lancaster

Publication: EgmontUSA
Genre: YA Sci-fi

Summary from Amazon:

Humanity, like computers, can be upgraded. And old versions disappear. . . .

At some unspecified point in the future, when technology is as advanced as possible and we are a race of super beings, some old audio tapes are discovered. On the tapes is the story of fourteen-year-old Kyle Straker.


Hypnotized, Kyle missed the upgrade of humanity to 1.0. He isn’t compatible with our new technology. And through the recording, he narrates what the upgrades really mean. And it’s absolutely terrifying.

My Thoughts

How can one not want to read this book based on the cover? I love the cover. My daughter who is 4 hated the cover. She could not even stand to look in my direction while reading this book. Good thing it only took about a day and a half to read.
 
This was a cool read. The story is the voice of Kyle recorded on old cassette tapes. Yet, the story is in the future. Love it! It had that old noir feel to me, but in a futuristic way. I know, that contradicts and does not make sense, but after you read maybe you will feel the same.
 
For the longest time I was trying to figure out what was happening after the crucial moment that sets the pace for the book. Kyle has not been upgraded and how it all ends and what it means is something that is as cool as the Matrix. How does one come up with these ideas? I want to spoil it so bad right now that you have no idea.
 
If you like technology, future concepts, crazy setting, and a good old fashion storytelling, then read this book. I found it to be quite enjoyable. I hope you do too. Time to go find out if I actually have any cassette tapes hanging around the house. Memories of making mixtapes the old way.....

Global Gossip: New Experiment for Students to Share Knowledge and Culture: Example: Sakura Trees

I am experimenting with an amazing teacher in Japan a new idea for students to collaborate, share, and exchange bits of information about themselves, their cultures, and day to day life. This week we have started to experiment with our project.

We have many ideas and trying to find out what works best.

As of right now we(teachers) are really in control with student input, but once we get things smoothed over and figured out the students will be in charge and take their education down the paths they want to explore.

I don't want to get into all the details of the project because it is still in progress, but I woke up this morning to see the following info posted in the project.



View of Mt Iimori from the bank of Muromi River. Sakura in bloom all pinks and whites.




What a great way to start your day!

I love technology and the chance to work with great educators from around the world.



A Goal For Myself Among The Other Flat Classroom Projects: Bit Literacy and Email Account to Zero

I am taking the Flat Classroom Teacher class working with some AMAZING people who have done nothing more than help me become more efficient and push me to levels with technology integration in my teaching. In only two weeks I have already set up many new tools and goals for myself to help me become a better teacherpreneur in my school.

One of the things that I have done while studying and learning for this course was create a list of books and resources. On this list is a book titled, Bit Literacy

I am only about 24% through this book, but I am really inspired to become Bit Literate. I am realizing that every bad habit Mark Hurst mentions in his book so far is a staple of how I operate things. His suggestions make complete sense.

Let me back up and explain what Bit Literacy means. From the book, "There is a better way. It's something I call "bit literacy," a set of skills for living and working with bits in a healthy and productive way."

I will be blogging about this several times over the next few weeks, but just need to post one of my goals this weekend. 

To have ONE of my several email accounts to read ZERO emails in the inbox. He suggests that you clear them all out and don't do it in a gradual process. I cannot do that yet. I am not comfortable going all out with them all. I will start with one and progress to two and so on.

I am scared and nervous. I have emails saved from years ago that I just cannot let go. It is time.

From the book, "Success in the bit world comes from creating a quiet, empty place where we can focus on the bits we want, when we want them."

One of the things that stood out to me so far was this passage.

"E-mail is just a medium; the content determines what the message truly is and where it belongs. Users should use the right tool for each kind of message: a todo list for todos, a calendar to store appointments, and so on. No message, no matter what it says, belongs in the inbox."

This is the passage that clicked in my head. It is just a medium. Not a storage device or a cluster of to do agendas. I need to get better organized. It starts this weekend by clearing out one inbox. I will let you know how it goes. 

In the meantime, how do you organize your bits? With all the information being thrown in our direction, how do you make sense of it all? Is your inbox full? What do you use to keep track of your To Do List? This topic will be covered in the future. I am bad at this let me tell you.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.

Coffeechug Challenge

I came across an amazing video the other day thanks to the awesome author John Green. He posted a link to the following video: Places between Places. http://dft.ba/-hN0

Did you watch the video?

If not, then go back and watch.

Here is the challenge. Quite simple and very open. This video caused me to do some searching of my own.

I want you to do some searching of your own. So the question posed to you is:

What are the Places Between Places for you?

Make a video or slideshow or any other type of presentation format and send me a link or email me the video for me to share here on the blog. Maybe this will get so big that I will have to make my own separate page.

Bettendorf Mansion

Bettendorf Mansion, a set on Flickr.

Go to our wiki to learn more about why we were there. http://coffeechug.wikispaces.com/2010-2011+4th+and+5th+Grade+Independent+Study+-+Exploration+of+the+Quad+Cities

Flat Classroom Teacher Certification Course - Module 2 - Go Mobile

Challenge #5: Go mobile!

Do after: Module 2 Communication
Do: Using your own mobile device find at least one educational way it may be used. Share: Using the text or multimedia of your choice, share on your blog how this may be done and your thoughts on using it with students (the age of your choice.) 
tag: fcc5_mobile 
www.flatclassroombook.com/challenge5/


I used my iPhone the other day while taking my students on a tour of Joseph Bettendorf mansion. The headmaster(it is now a school) gave us a wonderful and very insightful tool. I used my phone for several things.


1. Notepad - I took many notes about stories and facts that I knew I would need to bring back to the classroom.


2. I took multiple photos of students in action to use on the wiki(will be up later tonight)


3. Captured some video for a student who is using the mansion as her research project and she needed help with some visuals.


Later, when we were back in class the next day my students are expected to make their own phone calls to set up their interviews (the project is here http://coffeechug.wikispaces.com/2010-2011+4th+and+5th+Grade+Independent+Study+-+Exploration+of+the+Quad+Cities)


The number was long distance and our school phones don't allow long distance so my students used my phone to schedule an interview.


I have used my phone for a Lego Robotic app that helped my team test and score our runs.


I have used my phone for conversions during a science extension.


I have used my phone to balance our Lego Table with another app.


I have used my Voice Memo to record my voice with ideas that I don't want to forget.


I have used my phone for just about every single thing you could imagine.  (Dropbox, sharing student facts on Twtitter to Japan and Portugal, fixing images for a student)


I hate the fact that our school bans cell phones when it could make life a whole lot easier.


Phones are able to accomplish so much more and students are comfortable with them. Simply give them parameters and expectations and give them a chance. It is time for students to be trusted. The projects we could do in class would be so much more if allowed to use the tools stashed in their pockets.