Saturday, September 27, 2008

The Day After...

I have not been able to stop thinking about the ideas that were hatched in Chicago. I know most of the Google tools and the applications of them, but the GTA connected me to the people to implement my ideas. Naturally, you drink a little Kool-aid and get excited about all that Google has to offer, but the thing I really walked away with is the instant network I became a part of and the potential for more in everything I do.

One thing that I want to work on is my 20%. What can I do for an hour a week with my kids that is outside the box and will better prepare them for the world they are entering? I am kicking around an interdisciplinary online collaboration around the idea of place. I would naturally throw in some earth science but I would want it to be accessible to other disciplines too. I already have four burners going so my 20% might be on top of an already full plate. I'm sure most other educators are in the same boat so maybe I ought to just jump in.

Stay tuned for more on The Place Project! Anyone interested?

2 comments:

  1. Why not introduce your kids to SketchUp? Of course, suggesting a tool is not suggesting a cohesive 20% project, but if you're talking about place, SketchUp strikes me as a really cool entrypoint for kids to get excited about a place. Afterall, they get to design, "draw," and create. And then they can post their "place" in Google Earth, write an expository essay in Google Docs, share their different KMLs/Docs in Google Sites - there are a million ways to get kids excited, get them to connect with one another, and get used to communicating with an audience

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  2. Thanks Cristin!

    I like the idea because it would allow students to work independently on something interesting to them while contributing to a larger body of work. Thanks for the idea. I have avoided SketchUp because I struggled using it the first time but maybe I should take another look at it.

    Has anyone done anything like this before? I'd like to see some projects to get an idea of what 8th graders can do.

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