My nine-year-old came home with a project from his gifted services teacher last month linked to Art History Month. He was asked to select an artist, musician or playwright whose work has stood the test of time and determine which of the Habits of Mind this person demonstrated.

My son selected Vincent Van Gogh, probably because the art teacher at my son’s school had delivered a great lesson on Van Gogh recently. We got books from the library, found websites, and my son started taking notes in Inspiration.

After a while, he thought that one of the habits of mind that Van Gogh demonstrated was “Listening with Empathy and Understanding,” because of his compassion for the poor. He consulted with his art teacher, who suggested that “Determination” would be another hallmark of this artist. Another online connection through a professional learning network (an art teacher who is a friend’s mother) suggested that Van Gogh’s experimentation with color might demonstrate “Creating, Imagining, and Innovating.”

My son browsed online galleries, collected the paintings that he thought best represented each of these Habits of Mind, and began assembling his tri-fold board. He’s done a nice job on it, and I’ll post a photo of it here tonight.

Somewhere in the process, he asked me if we could do something using some of the technology that I use every day with students in the district where I teach. I wasn’t sure what that would look like, but he collected the paintings in a folder on our computer, and started keying in some notes about what he wanted to say about each one. He really liked the idea of using the green screen effect and the Alpha Tool in Keynote, so we assembled the project there.

I was really proud of him for learning so quickly how to import, crop and edit photos in iPhoto, export them to Keynote, layer the photos after removing the green, and then resize himself appropriately for the paintings. It reminds me a bit of the book Katie’s Picture Show.

He then set to work writing his own scripts for each slide. He rehearsed them and recorded them (patiently, as I had not done that before, and we kept making mistakes.) Then he happily ran off to play while I worked on exporting the Keynote to a QuickTime movie so that his school could show it.

But then disaster struck. The exported version made all the timings go wrong. So we re-recorded the audio and re-exported it. It was even worse than the first one. Suggestions from my online PLN came in, and we opted to try to reconstruct the whole thing using Audacity, GarageBand and iMovie. So that meant having to re-record the audio AGAIN.

He got most of it done Sunday night, but was just too tired. So get this — he got up at 5:45am on Monday morning to record the last four audio clips before I went to work. THAT’S dedication.

Anyway, it took a little tweaking and editing, but he completed it. He added some cool transitions. (Gotta love Keynote for those!) And he selected the parts of Don McClean’s song that he wanted. I’m proud of him for wanting to do something different, something 21st century and beyond the trifold board. I’m proud of him for recording all of the narrations three times. And I’m really proud of him for all of the tech learning he’s done in the last week.

So proudly, proudly, I share with you… his presentation.

Please leave your comments for him here or on the fliggo site.

You see, I think that what I teach them really does impact their future, and they should not need to “study” for this exam if I have taught it well.

The official name of my class is “Computers,” but my name for my class is “Under Construction: The Digital Me.” In my class, we talk about the results of the reports being released by the Pew Internet Group, and whether the students think these reports accurately reflect their own online experiences and behaviors. As we begin to create the students’ online identities, we discuss how each Web 2.0 tool introduced to them allows them to “personalize” their online identity without making it “too personal.” As they practice commenting on other student blogs around the world, we reiterate the importance of expressing opinions respectfully. By the time they earn their own blog space, they are able to rattle off a long list of the types of things that they should never reveal about themselves online.

And these are not things I expect them to forget.

Those of us in educational technology leadership roles know that even as the true integration of technology into the American classroom crawls along at an unbearably slow rate, the “connectedness” of the average American child has been racing along at a breakneck speed. Most parents have no idea that their school age children compete against virtual strangers in their online gaming, either on the family computer or the family Wii. Most parents are unaware of the contents of their children’s text messages with “friends,” and a disturbing number of parents are unaware of the existence of websites built by their children.

In these times of economic crisis, many school districts are being forced to cut technology budgets and technology personnel. It is becoming more and more unlikely that students will get any formal training in the online ethics — although they are spending an increasing amount of leisure time online in their off-school hours.

Who will teach our students how to make good decisions about their online identity, if we don’t? Some will say that it is the parents’ job. And while I concur in theory, I can only shake my head at that prospect, since I know how many parents can’t open or send an e-mail attachment, can’t access their child’s grades online without a call to the HelpDesk, and openly admit to asking children for help on the home computer.

So I take my role seriously. I teach children how to think through the tough decisions. I question their thought processes, and I hold them accountable to protecting each others’ safety online. I want each of them to leave my classroom this week with a clear understanding of how to be safe online while continuing to be an active contributor to their online world. They shouldn’t have to study for my final exam.

They should be prepared to articulate these concepts so they can live by them.

Today I handed the students a list of questions, from which they were each to choose one question and either blog their response or videotape their response. I did not assign the questions, but did not allow more than two people to choose the same questions to respond to, ensuring that I would get a reasonable number of questions answered in each class. The full list of twenty-one questions is below:

• Explain what a Wordle is,and why we made them.
• Explain what a Voki is, and why we made them.
• Explain what Glogster is, and why we made them.
• Explain how other teachers you have are using anything like Wordles or Vokis or wikis or glogs in their classroom, and how that compares to other “more traditional” reports or projects you have done.
• Explain “Responsible Commenting”.
• Explain how you learned about (and how we practiced) commenting.
• Explain Blogger Bucks. How do you earn them, and what are they used for?
• Explain WHY we blog.
• Explain the “rules” of blogging. What don’t we reveal in our blogs and why?
• Give some examples of what you CAN write about for blogging. Why are these topics OK?
• Explain why you had to write a “Top Ten” list of ideas for blogging. Did it help or not?
• Explain why your topics are not assigned by me.
• Tell about your personal experiences with MySpace or Facebook (if a friend or a cousin or someone you know has an account). Has your opinion of these social networking tools changed in the last quarter? Why or why not?
• Tell about something you have seen or heard about online that is just a little risky or dangerous. (You don’t have to use any names.) How would you have dealt with this before this class, and how would you deal with it now?
• Tell about anything you have learned in this class about being safer online.
• Give the pros and cons of the ePals blog space we use. Would you recommend it to another class?
• If you wrote MORE than the required five blog posts, tell why.
• If you like blogging, explain why you might want to continue to blog, even after you are done with this class.
• Tell about your favorite post you have written, and explain why you like that one.
• Tell about the post for which you got the most comments. Were you surprised that that post got the most comments? Why or why not?
• Tell about a surprising comment that you got, and what your reaction was. Did you reply to the commenter? Why or why not?

I haven’t looked at the students’ blog posts or videos yet. But I do think that these responses will give me a pretty good idea of how effective my teaching has been.

I’ve been busy with learning my way around my new job, but EVERYONE is busy. Honestly, I have been doing more microblogging than before, and that’s taken time that I could have used to write a quick post here and there. (And yet, my colleagues on Plurk have actually SAVED me hours by offering quick answers to my often complicated questions. The collective knowledge of my network of online friends who are educational technology experts all over the world – my professional learning network, hereafter referred to as my PLN -   is amazing! And worthy of great awe on my part.

At any rate, in order to teach my new fifth and sixth grade students the importance of blogging and commenting (and how they are inherently related), I need to step up and walk the walk. So, here we go.

Yesterday’s challenge to myself and my students was to see if we could manage to get all of the network permissions in place to allow all students in my two computer labs to create their own personal avatars on Kidzui. We did get this accomplished – sort of. As I perused the results of yesterday’s class time after the students had left, I discovered that a few of students did not follow some specific directions that I had given for the set-up of their accounts. As I was very clear about how watchful I would be over their accounts and avatars’ behaviors, I had no qualms about promptly deleting those students’ accounts and avatars. Those students and I will talk briefly about this today, and they’ll have another opportunity to follow my specific directions. I will be very clear that additional instances of not following directions will be noted and considered when looking at other opportunities for students to interact with others online; yet, if this was a “one-off” (and possibly related to the 10-minute interruption to class for a scheduled tornado drill) then no other consequences will come of yesterday’s blip. (But I must note that more than 85% of the class was able to follow the directions, and they had the same interruption.)

Anyway, today they will navigate their way around the extensive world that Kidzui has provided. Some will dabble there this weekend, no doubt. It’s a pretty cool place!

But next week, we begin our investigation into the concept of student blogging. Due to MAP testing, we’re computer-less for three days, so I plan to use that time to do some rare teacher-directed reading of a variety of student blogs using the LCD projector. This will give us an opportunity to talk about the purpose of blogging, how it relates to their learning (even state standards, wink, nudge), and why reading/commenting on other students’ blogs is an important and awesome responsibility as a part of the process.

By Thursday, when we return to our lab, I hope to have the shell created that will become the home for their blogs. I’m still waffling between using a Glogster home page for each student on a class wiki space or a cleaner/simpler student blog space. Hopefully, my PLN will be able to help me sort that out this weekend!

In the meantime, please DO leave a comment if you have any advice, words of encouragement, or suggestions for student blogs that are currently up and running and open to comments from my awesome students!

A few weeks ago, I attended a session by Will Richardson titled “Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts”. (The business manager almost didn’t let me go to this. Because it had the same title. Hmmm!) Anyway, Will brought this online tool to light once again, and I resolved to complete the project with my youngest son that I once envisioned in Meg’s session .

Background Info: In February, we had a rare set of circumstances come together that allowed us to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands. We were packed (virtually, at least) and ready to go when the message came back from youngest son’s school, “Please have him read every day, and have him write a Travel Journal.”

This innocent request, made by hundreds of thousands of classroom teachers to those (awfully irresponsible) parents who have the NERVE to pull their children out of school for a family vacation, actually stopped me in my tracks.

I have an “outdoor child,” one that we have affectionately called “BBB,” as in our Barefoot Backyard Boy. He spends every moment of any free time he has — outside, digging and bug-searching and planting and eagerly scanning the fences for neighborhood buddies who might have escaped their houses to their own backyards.

This child, I was certain, would be “in his element” at the beach, digging and building and holding marine life in his hands. How — I repeat, HOW — was I going to get him to spend even one waking moment with a pencil and paper in his hand when there were so many undiscovered treasures out there at the water’s edge?

On a truly impulse buy (my husband says I know no other type), I stopped into the Apple Store and picked up a Belkin recorder that would attach to any one of our iPods. I envisioned my small son running up to me on the beach and excitedly relating his tales of discovery and kingdom conquest (LOL) as I demurely pushed the “Record” button on my Belkin.

Truth be told, we did SOME recording while there, but not of the level nor quality I’d expected. However, once home, I refused to delete these audio files from my iPod, thinking that they’d be useful eventually.

Last night, I pulled up the VoiceThread into which we had uploaded our photos, and recruited youngest son to do narrations. I even played the audio files for him from my iTunes, just to get him “in the mood.” In the end, I thought he did an amazing job of composing his thoughts for each image, and overall, of telling the “story” of our trip.

However, I didn’t expect some things…

• I had no idea that “free commentary” would be so daunting to him. My ever-verbose child INSISTED upon dictating his words to me. I keyed them into Word, and he read from there. Towards the end, improvisation and ad-libbing dominated, even with the script before him. Yet I was surprised at his “dependence” upon having it in front of him.
• While I worked very hard to not let the “teacher” in me come out, I found it amusing and somewhat disheartening when he would “self-correct” for what was seemingly my benefit alone. Twice he recorded the “spontaneous” voice saying, “We are busy-busy bees,” (which I know to be reflective of his experiences with his kindergarten and first grade teachers) and deleted it. I worked hard to convince him to keep it because HE liked it, no matter how “trite” it felt to me.
• I was surprised at how very aware he was of his audience. Originally, of course, the only intended audience was his teacher, and the purpose was for a grade. Once I resurrected the project from the “forgotten” pile, his audience became my Professional Learning Network (PLN). (Funny, he knows them from the Twitter screen. “Oh, she’s the one that sent you the “Bulgarian ‘Ken Lee’ YouTube link!” or “Oh, she’s the one that has the baby chicks, and she has a son my age,right?”)
• I was even more surprised at how the awareness of this audience affected his choice of words. He knew that he was speaking, for the most part, to educators, so he threw in his own editorial about the integrity of Christopher Columbus. Yet, he also knew that there would be students in his audience, so he captured the essence of “My parents made me do this…” every now and then. (Wouldn’t want to be TOO enthusiastic about something educational and reality-based, now, would we?)
• I was surprised at how this “child of nature” began several narrations at the end of the Voice Thread with, “This is a…” and seemed to stop there after identification purposes, despite volumes of knowledge contained in his head about that species. Oddly enough, he had more to say about the historical sites that we (evil parents) dragged him to see, unwillingly. (Justice. Grin.)
• Finally, I was surprised that he was adamant that his classmates should not see this. He didn’t mind “creating his digital presence,” as Steve Dembo promotes. However, he didn’t have any interest in having his current peers comment on the current product. He actually begged me to swear his teacher to secrecy and not share this with his classmates.

As always, I learn every time that I work with kids and technology. This time, the lessons were more esoteric. Now why wouldn’t I have expected that from this child?