http://lifelonglearning20.edublogs.org Exploring life, learning, and educational technology. Learning in Community through my Personal Learning Network (PLN). Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:31:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Warning:  personal post coming your way.  Read at your own discretion. For those of you in my PLN who are close to me, you know that personally, these past four months have been the most difficult time in my life. It's ironic, because professionally, it has been a wonderful time. I am ... http://lifelonglearning20.edublogs.org/2009/08/31/otg-gone-overboard/ If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. ~Mary Engelbreit For the past ten years, I have been teaching at an Independent Study charter school.  I've taught 34-40 students each year, in a unique school environment.  We serve students who ... http://lifelonglearning20.edublogs.org/2009/08/05/creating-school-change/ Recently, I was invited to visit with the folks at Edutopia, (George Lucas Educational Foundation). Several PLN friends have asked begged for a detailed account of the day.  Prepare yourself for a play-by-play.  I'm still in awe of the experience! I was accompanied by Alice Mercer, Larry Ferlazzo, Derrall Garrison, ... http://lifelonglearning20.edublogs.org/2009/08/03/edutopia/ This summer, I have been working on several creative projects that I wrote proposals for this Spring.  There is one additional project that I was assigned to do which has not been as exciting.  In fact, I am having a hard time with it.  It involves working on pacing guides ... http://lifelonglearning20.edublogs.org/2009/07/28/ditching-the-textbooks/ Live conversations about the impact of the Internet on society and culture can be found at Conversations.net, brainchild of Steve Hargadon.  It amazes me how many great ideas can be brought to life by just one person. If you're not familiar with just how much he has accomplished so far, ... http://lifelonglearning20.edublogs.org/2009/07/24/conversationsnet/ I've been thinking about school starting in the fall.  Not because I want to. I relish the thought of summer lasting for weeks and weeks. I've been thinking about it because several of the bloggers I follow have started writing about the start of school. Summer is a great time for ... http://lifelonglearning20.edublogs.org/2009/07/22/lifelong-learning-steps/ On the surface, this seems like a great site for learning about explorers. However, this isn't a just another website for history lessons.  All About Explorers is a great tool to use to teach students about finding validity in what they find on the web.  Wikipedia defines digital literacy as ... http://lifelonglearning20.edublogs.org/2009/07/21/all-about-explorers/ It was 106 degrees at the outdoor amphitheater in Wheatland. We were all extremely hot, as it didn't seem to cool down until 11pm. That didn't seem to affect the energy of Chris Martin as he ran across the stage, jumped around, and pretended to swim on stage during ... http://lifelonglearning20.edublogs.org/2009/07/20/coldplay/ Scott McLeod encouraged bloggers to consider contributing to Leadership Day 2009. He asked for blogposts about effective school technology leadership.  It is a great way to encourage administrators to look at what it means to prepare students for the 21st century.  It also helps them see how to utilize technology ... http://lifelonglearning20.edublogs.org/2009/07/12/embrace-learning-in-community/ EduBloggerCon was exactly what I hoped it would be.  Innovative, flexible, and interactive.  Meaningful conversations.  Organized just enough, yet adaptable and unwritten to allow for spontaneous sessions. After the Web 2.0 Smackdown, I spent some time in the session led by Mark Wagner. I loved the concept for the session, "Wish ... http://lifelonglearning20.edublogs.org/2009/07/12/necc09-reflections-edubloggercon-part-2/