Last Class Presentation!

 I hope everyone has had a great school year so far. We would like to wrap up the final meeting for your STI projects before Thanksgiving break, so we've set up some dates and times you can choose from to join a video Hangout with us.


  Monday, November 18th, 6:00
  Sunday, November 24th, 2:00


If none of these work for you, please let us know. The expectation would be you simply explain (and screenshare if applicable) your project with the group in the hangout. There is a limit of 9 people per session (plus the instructor) so we may have to add additional dates if needed.


If you have any questions, please ask.

Student Video!

I am super excited to share that this video shows one of my students using the Educate program! She was able to login, see that there was some learning targets that she needed (the yellow boxes), then go to a pathway that I had created and see what pieces of evidence she could complete to certify proficiency on this learning target. The video doesn't have sound, but she was navigating through the program with ease and is actually eager to complete the learning targets that she has not reached proficiency on yet. I've never had students asking me if they could do more math or move ahead faster, so although it has taken a lot of time and hard work to load all these resources into Educate, I'm thrilled to know that it's really is benefiting my students and their learning.

Lindsay's Project- Student Perspective

Hi Everyone-- I made another movie that shows you how I am being transparent with my students and doing some reverse teaching. As I say in my video, Educate is all ready to go on my end, but it isn't launching for students and parents until Friday. I have been conferencing with all my learners and showing them the pathway and the resources as much as possible. They also have all these artifacts in paper form and are tracking their learning "old school". 

I'm having trouble uploading videos to my blog. I use the "insert a video" icon, then choose the file I want to upload (I make sure it's under 30 seconds). My computer thinks about uploading and attempts for a while, but then I'll get an error message. Any reason this would be happening, or any other tips for uploading a video? Thanks!

So what did you think of this book? Do you think we should use it again?

Digital Connections in the Classroom(Marcovitz, ISTE, 2012)

Was this worth it?  Do you have another recommendation?

*Don't forget to make sure you have commented on each chapter unless you were the initial poster...  and post your plan proposal & Setup.

Now you can focus on your Project.   Don't need a post until end of this month on what students are doing, how its going.

Chapter 9: Basics of Web Design and HTML (Marcovitz, ISTE, 2012)

Chapter 9: Basics of Web Design and HTML (Marcovitz, ISTE, 2012)

Critical Information Literacy

Digital Connections in the Classroom(Marcovitz, ISTE, 2012)

At the beginning of this chapter, Marcovitz lists four reasons for people to have a basic understanding of HTML code even if we do not plan on using or teaching it. Reason #4 resonated with me the most. If I have even a basic understanding of how HTML code works (the behind the scene work of my everyday tools), I will be able to use the more simple tools more effectively. Who doesn't want to increase the effectiveness of their blog, wiki, or Moodle?

I thought this chapter had some good practical hints that I could take away and try out without much difficulty. For example, I really like the idea of adding “target=new” to the HTML so that the page opens in a new window or tab. Also the ability to make and edit a “webpage” from a word processing document. All the different ways to make the website appear the way you want it too (font, bolding, indentations, images, tables, etc.) are helpful tips but definitely make me want to use a “WYSIWYG” program that doesn't require me to remember/use all of these protocols and focus on the actual information I'm trying to present on my webpage.


In college, I was the communications director for a club that I was part of. I was responsible for re-doing our website. It sounded fun and exciting at first, but quickly became cumbersome and difficult to keep updated. I forget what program I used, but I definitely spent way to long with the formatting of the site that I barely had any helpful information, pictures, or links. After the week at the STI and the readings, I definitely felt that this chapter was informative but further proved the need for the “WYSIWYG” services. If my only job was to be a website designer/producer then I would definitely be more interested with HMTL, but as I said before I want to understand HTML coding enough to help me use the easier programs in a less frustrated, quicker, and effective way.

Kayla's Project

Here is the link to my blog. I sent home a letter last night about the blog, so there is not much action yet.   One of my classroom jobs for my students is to reflect on what they learned that day and write it down. Then, at the end of the week, they will write (hand write for now) a "post" that will go on the blog. I also have "media" as a classroom job. This student will be in charge of taking pictures. I am hoping once I start posting students' photos and pieces of writing, more parents will check it out!

Let me know what you think! Suggestions are welcomed and appreciated! :)