UCLan Ponderings

Looking back this blog was set up in December 2007. My aim for this blog was never to be me writing a journal and telling the world, but to be a place where I add links and bits of useful information I have found that might be useful to others. I know I have readers but not too many commentators (not that I am fussed by that). Professionally I am also not out to pontificate my ideas to the world either. I read many blogs and only occasionally have I actually learnt something new …… reading someone’s thoughts of a conference presentation and getting different angle to mine.
The point of today’s 250 word blog (way longer than my usual “here I have found this”) Is to meet the criteria of a University Assignment I am working on (Child Safety on the Internet). From my previous posts you can see I have an interest See 1 2 3 4 5 6
Teachers dabbling with Blogging with their students tend to use moderated sites allowing for teachers to view posts before editing. Many schools expect some for of User Policy to be agreed with students, parents and the school including such things as only first names to be used, appropriate langage, criteria for images or student work.
Issues outside of school are flaring up with such sites as Facebook and microblogging with Twitter and Formspring, where there is no moderation and action can usually only be taken (ie comment taken down) after the face and it has been seen by the world…. and possibly stored. the think before you click, it a vital element of consideration to avoid any nasties.

Fabulous Movie

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie the King's Speech, and a nice thought that Lionel Logue was born in Adelaide. HRH King George VI speech now has a whole new meaning.

Visualisation Tools

Just a collection of links for graphic organisers or visualisation tools inspired by this interactive graphic: Periodic Table of Visualization Methods



7 Free Diagramming Tools To Create Diagrams Easily
What can turn out to be a complex design can become simple if its represented via a good set of diagrams .......
Tools for Reading, Writing, & Thinking
help students engage in rigorous thinking, organize complex ideas, and scaffold their interactions with texts
Exploratree by FutureLab
Exploratree is a free web resource where you can access a library of ready-made interactive thinking guides, print them, edit them or make your own ......work on them in groups too
MindMeister ...... multi-user planning, brainstorming, and project management sessions all from within a standard web browser.
Gliffy online diagram software, you can easily create flowcharts, diagrams, floor plans, technical drawings, and more.
Bubbl.us is a simple and free web application that lets you brainstorm online.
Kidspiration Activities From Edina Public Schools
Graphic Organisers Resources - Mount Isa District Literacy Coaches (Queensland Australia)
Notemaking ....... "notemaking" because "taking notes" is passive: just as we must make meaning, so we must make notes---in our head, on the page, and in our notebooks.
Printable Graphic Organizers for Teachers, Grades K-12 - TeacherVision.com

free pictures for blogs - Wylio

Excited by Wylio as a source for images for blogs and other work as it uses Creative commons images.
It allows you to search for Creative Commons images, size, position, paste the code into your article and gives automatic image hosting and attribution.

Google's Christmas Card 2010

This morning opening Google and seeing their Holiday Card .... an interactive adventure. It thrilled me even more to see Pierogi as one of their highlights (one of my most favourite foods). I'll leave you to find it and find out what pierogi are :-).

According to the designers at Google it to 5 designers and 250 hours. Here's the link to the whole development and some other designs.

Flip Cameras (and their related cousins)

One of my favourite gadgets is my Flip Camera which I bought a couple of years ago now. I love its ease of use ....and yes it won't make a Hollywood movie just yet ... but has been great getting students to record what they are doing. The market has now blown open with other companies also creating their own USB enabled cameras.
Today via Twitter I received this link from Wes Fryer's blog using a Flip Camera for a Scavenger Hunt activity - which I look forward to developing one for younger students.
These are some also useful resources for teachers:
Flip Camera Quick start user notes (Janice Johnson-Palmer - Seattle US)
Windows Movie Maker Quick Start notes (Kelly Beattie, Berwick SC - Vic)
Forty-Four Interesting Ways* to use your Pocket Video Camera in the Classroom PowerPoint
Collections of useful links Flips and Digital Cams (Maryna Badenhorst - Vic)

A touch of class to a blog post - Daily Drop Cap

Why o why are always interesting and creative bits found after a finished unit of work. This would have been an interesting resource and discussion starter with my senior secondary students when learning about typography.

"The Daily Drop Cap is an ongoing project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. Each day a new hand-crafted decorative initial cap will be posted for your enjoyment and for the beautification of blog posts everywhere."