Thing #3 Skype

I must begin by stating that I approach Skype with mixed feelings. The plain truth is that I don't like telephones, especially cell phones. Society has made them more of an intrusion than a useful tool. Their usefulness is unbounded if used the proper way and at the proper time. Most folks just don't do that. So when I first encountered Skype, which is both telephone and real-time image, I was uncomfortable.

I went through the whole routine of applying for an account and entering the site and using it. Lisa Branon and I had a Skype conference call during a technology petting session. And it was an interesting experience. Everything is user-friendly, straight-forward and not too difficult. I felt a bit self-conscious during the actual conversation.

Translating that experience over to elementary, I can see how the children would have to be closely monitored while using this tool. I can just see them sitting there making faces at each other.

However, there are possibilities .... how nice it would have been when I was studying foreign languages to be able to dial up a native speaker and go back and forth with them. I never got enough practice with spoken French to consider myself very good. Skype could certainly have improved on that.

Another possibility is mentor contact. Instead of waiting for a weekly visit, a child could visit with their mentor on a daily basis from the classroom.

Travel also comes to mind. At Ridgecrest, travel for our students means going to Memorial City Mall or the apartment swimming pool. Some of them get down to Galveston. That's really uptown. Skype could go a long way in expanding their horizons by hooking them up with children or adults in other countries. A Japanese connection would be fabulous!

Thing #2


Playing with all these things is like getting into the sandbox and throwing it all around. Are we really working? This is how the students hopefully view it as well. Wordle appears "gimmicky" at first until you dig into it and consider the possibilities of its educational value:

1. Reinforcing sight words (did we used to refer to this as whole language?)
2. Personal word walls
3. Map of emotions for a student having a bad day

When I think Animoto or Voki, I think projects with excitement and flair. When a class receives an assignment for a project, the common reaction might be here we go again. When a class receives an assignment to be completed in Animoto or Bookr, the reaction starts with excitment. Look what we get to do! These image generators allow the student to be in control, encourages lots of creativity, is hands-on, and appeals not only to the visual learners, but to all learners.

I first encountered Voki last year and ran back to campus and sprang it on the PGP children. We had the time of our lives using the Barack Obama voki and e-mailing President Obama to our principals and teachers with a message. My only first grader e-mailed one of our assistant principals with the request that she come to work for the new President as his secretary. He would pay her $100!! Eduardo thought he was uptown.