What Do Your Plurks Say About You?

Are you a user of Plurk? It has come to grow on me, now a daily part of my onneting with my PLN. I do know that I am creating a rather large digital footprint through all of my microblogging, blogging, websites, and collaborations. Just try searching your name on Google- you might be surprised to see what you discover. Well, Google isn't the only site tracking your digital thoughts. This Plurk Analytic analyzes your Plurks to give others some insight into you. From an analysis of my Plurks I discovered the following can be said about me:

• likes to share stuff
• feels the world
• is seeking answers by asking questions
• wonders how, wonders why

Plurk Analytics analyzes the comment qualifiers users most frequently use and then creates a Plurk Cloud of frequently used words and phrases. So who are you and what do your online thoughts say about you?

Wikispaces Does it Again- Only BIGGER This Time

In my last post I talked about Wikispaces surpassing their 100,000 free wikispaces for K - 12 educators give away. I was hopeful that with the 100,00 mark surpassed that they might continue to offer wikispaces to educators that are advertising free. My hopes have been realized! If you didn't hear the news, here are some highlights from the press release:

Two and a half years ago we decided that all K-12 teachers should have advertising-free, private, unlimited use wikis for free. No fine print, no usage limits, no catches. So far, it’s been a great success. We’ve given away over 100,000 free K-12 wikis used by over 535,000 educators and students!
We have worked with hundreds of you every day and heard your stories of engaged students and excited teachers. We have loved supporting such a vibrant community and learning how to build a better service for you. It’s what gets us excited about coming to work every morning. Thank you for making this such a rewarding experience.
250,000 More K-12 Wikis - Like the first 100,000, all of our K-12 wikis feature all the benefits of our Plus service:full privacy, only the people you allow in can see your wiki no advertising, your online classroom will remain ad-free unlimited use, as many users, pages, edits, and files, as you like, no limits a customizable look and feel, so you can make it feel like home The offer is worldwide and is available for any wiki that is used exclusively for K-12 (primary and secondary) education.

Click here to create your own K-12 educational wiki. Or, click here to access training resources for using Wikispaces in education. Already using Wikispaces? Share your experiences; click here to learn more.

It is so good to know there are companies out there championing and supporting our work with students. THANK YOU Wikispaces...you are the BEST!

Mission Accomplished: 100,000 Wikispaces for Educators

Back in January 2006, Wikispaces decided to offer give away
100,000 free K-12 Plus wikis. That included all the features and benefits that normally cost $50/year - for free. No fine print, no usage limits, no advertising, no catches. They hoped that educators would try a wiki at their school and help spread the word. Last evening, my visit to Wikispaces showed their counter to look like this:


Well, it seems that word has spread. This evening, a quick visit to check on the counter found that it looked like this:



100,000 wikis later, they have surpassed their goal and seem to still be going strong.

I know that I have certainly created and used numerous wikispaces to support my students' collaborative and global projects. My students have been excited and inspired as they worked and edited their wikis, peer editing their stories, reviewing favorite books, sharing their math connections, learning about lives in other countries, and connecting with others around the world. Their experiences and learning came alive on Wikispaces. Thank you Wikispaces for being an advocate for the education of students.

Do you think Wikispaces noticed that they reached their 100,000 mark?
Will they continue to offer free wikispaces for K-12 educators?

I for one, certainly hope so!

A New Beginning- Do You Believe Me?

After all of the planning, organizing, rearranging, this week another school year began. The feeling of anticipation filled the air as students flowed into the school with hope in their hearts. The hope of students worldwide are echoed in the words of Dalton Sherman, a fifth grader as he spoke to over 20,000 district personnel in Dallas ISD.

“Do you believe in me?”

Decision 2008 - Developing Tomorrow's Citizens

The presidential election of 2008 provides a wonderful opportunity to help your students understand the electoral process and their responsibility as citizens of the United States. Numerous sites are available to help guide your students in studying and understanding the election. Here as just a handful that appeared this week.

• Voting For A Book : NPRAn elementary teacher holds an election for a book president.
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• Math Problem: Democratic Convention's Logistics : NPR
  


• Wordle - Obama's Acceptance Speech
  


• Sarah Palin VP Acceptance Speech in Wordle | Thoughts from a tech specialist...
  


• Cable in the Classroom - eLECTIONS
  

  Help your students learn about politics with the eLections interactive game.

• The Exchange
  

  Website for developing the student adgenda for 2008 from the issues of the 2008 presidential campaign.

• Home (K12 Elections)
  

  Collaborative project site for posting projects about the 2008 presidential election.