Eco Trip # 3 - Elepants and Rivers!

March 11-13 ISB will head out for the 3rd eco trip of the year. It promises to be an exciting one whereby we stay on a raft boat in Sai Yok national park on Friday and then work with elephants on Saturday and Sunday at Elephant's World in Kanchanaburi.

Permission forms can be picked up on Mr. Dyke's desk in the Community Service Office (next to nurse office and book store).

There is only room for 25 and it will fill up fast. HS and MS students are welcome, but swimming ability is a must as we will stay on a river.

See Eco Trip Itinerary and camping checklist here

Eco Survey

Thank you for helping me with this survey.

I need people to take my behavioral survey and attitude survey. I just need synergy students to answer the questions honestly (don't say what you think I want to hear; just be honest). This will be the pre-test and in about 3-4 months I will ask you to take it again for the post-test.

Part 1: Pre-test. Please do both by clicking on the link.

• Behavioral survey (Eco Footprint). Please copy and paste the survey in a word document, complete the survey, and email it back to kerryd@isb.ac.th.
  

• Attitudinal survey. There are 3 groups. Please read to make sure you chose the correct group depending on your experience.
  

Group 1: Those who have never taken the Environmental Stewardship class before.
Group 2: I have taken the Environmental Stewardship class in the last year or less.
Group 3: I have taken the Environmental Stewardship class more than 1 year ago.

Part II: Post Test. This will take place in February.

Thank you for your help.

Meatless Mondays

September 13th, 2010 ISB will host a Meatless Monday. Could this be the start of something more permanent?

Meatless Mondays

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Check out these films.

FOOD INC.



Food Matters

Earth Week

Earth Week is from April 26-30. We will have different events each and every day as well as special guests. Hope you will participate. Check out the events below.

Earth week 40th anniversary

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If you would like to volunteer to help out. Please click here.

Earth Day at ISB

Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. At ISB we celebrated it by looking at what we have accomplished over the past 5 years. Please check out this video to see what changes have been made at ISB... many of them by students.



This video shows what students are doing for the environment or what they will do during Earth Week (April 26-30)



Also today 3 students (Katie, Eng and Oliva) went on Spanish radio to talk about the environment. This was broadcast in Spain, USA, and South American countries.


Congratulations ISB for taking steps towards a greener school.

Ready to Launch 3... 2... 1...

Our project is ready to be launched out into space... cyberspace that is.

Andy and I have put together a PE unit we are very proud of. It was really fun doing this unit with the 7th grade students and enjoying their work and their pride in their culture.

The unit is MULTI-CULTURAL GAMES. It is great because students get to learn about their own culture and the culture of others, they gain organizational and teaching skills, and they incorporate technology throughout.

Students did all the research, put together their lesson, taught it to their class and posted it all up on their blog. We took the best of the best and made a wiki for the world to use. It includes the game, country, rules, history, a video, and the student's reflection.

Our hope is that PE teachers and students around the world will use our games in their schools to teach about other cultures. We also hope others from every corner of the globe will contribute themselves by doing a similar project and having their students post their work on this wiki.


We hope you have as much fun with these games as we did!

MULTI-CULTURAL GAMES

Setting up the Multi-Cultural Games Wiki

My colleague, Andy V., and I decided to expand our multi-cultural games unit to make it even cooler than it already was (which was pretty cool to begin with). The basics were the same; students do a little research on the history, rules, how the game might relate to that time or that culture, etc. Then students share this game by teaching it to the others in the class. Only this time we wanted to go beyond our class and share it with the world. All students were expected to then video their lesson, edit the video and put everything up on their blog. In the end we compiled nearly 100 games.

From what I recall, all the games were great and about 95% of students did a great job of being prepared and teaching it well. Since blogging was new to many of the students there were some things missing, but overall we were very happy with the results.

We then asked about 15 of the best groups to volunteer to meet with us once after school and transfer their work from their blog to our new wiki for multi - cultural games. More than half showed up. The lesson is in the video below.



Overall, I am very pleased with the lesson and was amazed at how smooth it was. The kids were switched on and with the exception of a few glitches of getting used to a new program (Wikispaces), it was pretty easy to figure out.

Stay tuned for the actual site itself... coming up!

Facebook in the classroom

I'm sure you all experienced having students using computers in class and many of them are sometimes off task and on Facebook. Last week I actually encouraged my students to go to Facebook. We have started a project to ban plastic bag around Thailand. At the moment we have over 7000 members on Facebook. That Saturday we were hosting our first event, V-Day, to ban plastic bags. Villa supermarket agreed to ban all plastic bags from Feb 20th onward. Students were helping me with this project from the beginning and in class they went to Facebook and invited all their friends to attend, changed their status to promote V-Day and also contributed to the Ban Plastic Bags wall. It actually helped because I noticed numbers went up a significant amount that night.

Our goal was to have at least 500 supporters show up and shop. In the end we had 1397 supporters, almost tripling our goal. This method of consumers helping business make change is from a new organization called Carrotmob. I recently started the 1st Carrotmob in Asia. We are the Bangkok Carrotmob. The event was a huge success. Villa has now banned the bags, the owner wants to expand the project, students were highly involved in the process and technology was used throughout in the form of social networking and blogs.

Phones in PE

You won't believe this but I actually started writing this blog during my PE class. Sounds like I am not doing my job, but I am. Kids all have cell phones here, and we constantly tell them not to bring it to PE. Well, today I told them to get their phones because we need the camera on the phone. We are doing photo orienteering. I just put the kids into teams of 3 with a map, phone/camera, photo cards and other needed orienteering materials. They are in a race to find different locations around the campus that are all outlined on their map. Once there they have to take a photo that matches the photo on their photo card.
As I speak groups are racing past me frantically looking for a mark in this area. This is a part of the Outdoor Ed course that we are developing for grade 7. There isn't a technology focus, but in this case it fits nicely.

My Big Prez

Ok, so this is not the assignment I am supposed to do, but it certainly is integrating technology and making a difference in the world (even if it is within guarded walls at the moment).

This is a presentation I gave today in the Chevron theater to inform people about my cause of banning plastic bags in Thailand. Surprisingly the theater was full, so 500+ I think. The presentation explains in 5 chapters what we are trying to accomplish. I don't want to give anymore away, but I think it is certainly worth watching. Since this is a Tech class, those of you who like the presentation technology can find it at PREZI.

Ban Plastic Bags on Prezi

Make it FUN!!!

Technology or no technology?

Regardless of what you use to teach... MAKE IT FUN! If you want participation people need to enjoy it. This video is proof; just watch.

Peripheral Tools

I haven't had much experience with peripheral tools, with the exception to the "Flip Camera". Teaching PE, the Flip Camera has been extremely useful, since it is so simple and user friendly. Currently we are using the Flip to film the students teaching their own multicultural games. The students will then edit the video and put it on their blog. At the time of this writing, this was not a completed process, but some students have finished and you can see it at PE period 1, period 2 or period 3.

Another class where we sometimes use the Flip camera is my Environmental Stewardship class.


Students learn to recycle by collecting items at home and then earning a little money when we take this trip. They also learn about the neighborhood composting program that is a win-win for farmers and the community. All this is done on an eco friendly solar bus which Nichada kindly provides for us.

Dangle Your Carrot

Post is crossed referenced at Mr. Dyke's Blog

What the heck am I talking about? I'm talking about a whole new way Activism. The world is opening up due to technology and this has created new innovative concepts of changing the world. Traditional methods of activism included riots, protests, debates, boycotts, etc. Yes, some had success, but when we were 'holding the stick' often it developed an atmosphere of 'US' vs 'Them'.

This new way of thinking is about putting down the stick and tangle the carrot. With technology it is now easy to gather a large group of supporters from all over the world. A group believing in the same cause, that is able to communicate easily can be powerful. A group willing to put their money where there mouth is can shift a mountain. Consumer power at its finest!

I got this idea from Carrotmob and I want to start a Bangkok Branch. Ok, here's how it works. Get a large group of concerned citizens to join and support the cause. In this case it is ethical consumerism. Approach several similar businesses and propose a competition amongst them. The winner will have all of the carrotmob supporters show up and shop there. Not only does this give the shop extra large profits on the day everyone shows up, but concerned consumers are loyal to companies making a positive difference, so they will return. As well, the money made on the big day could pay for many of the 'good' things the business implemented to improve.

Where do I want to go with this? Right now I am looking at putting together a strong team covering many skills. Then we will spread the word and build a support base. Next step is to approach businesses. My goal right now supports another goal I have been working on and that is reducing or eliminating plastic bag use in Bangkok (join the Facebook group). I want to challenge Villa, Foodland, Carrefour, Central, Emporium / Paragon, 7-11 and others to reduce or eliminate their bags. There are several ways of doing this, but I won't go into that now. However, instead of threatening to boycott if they don't do it, we reward those who do by going there in a mass gathering and buying lots of things. To take it a step further, you make it an event with media covering it and giving the business positive press. This not only helps the business, but educates others about the movement, thus building more support and possibly attracting more businesses. I am currently in the beginning stage of this and should know more in about a week. If you want to have a positive impact on the world... stay tuned.

Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.

Laptops in the classroom

Is this what the next generation of teachers will be faced with... starring up at a hundred glowing apples?

Looking up at your class you see an outline of a body so you can only assume someone is sitting there, but you never see their face. You hope they are listening, but truthfully there are probably 100 more interesting things they can be doing on their computer instead of hearing what you have to say.

While you are trying to get your 'ever so important' point across she is updating her Facebook relationship profile to "It's complicated"; he is watching the latest skateboarding accident on Youtube. Another student is signing an online petition, while neighbor is in a chat room.

These are real situations some teachers face today and with increase use of digital tools the problem can certainly get worse. However, it doesn't necessarily have to be a problem. Perhaps the teacher can adapt the lesson to be more suited to using the computers. Perhaps he can encourage a chat room right there with everyone in the class and later post the chat online for the class to see. It's a way of sharing notes. I have no doubt that teaching the 'old' way will get 'real old' for students and they will switch off if the lesson is not engaging.


There are several excellent resources on the internet with guidelines to laptop management, such as Basics of Laptop Management, by John Rice. However, some methods I use to handle laptop use in the classroom are:

• Traditional classroom management techniques
• Lid half way down when I am speaking and really need their full attention
  
• Encourage and compliment good behavior
• Computers are a privilege not a right (this may not be the case in some situations)
• Kids want to play games, well sometimes I send them to a game I want them to play.
  
• Know what your computer has. It is frustrating to try an activity only to find out you are missing something on the computer to do it.
• Don't be afraid of the technology; what may seem distracting at first may be used as an effective tool is used properly.
  

How relevant are the NETs for Teachers and Administrators to being a "Good Educator" today?

I certainly agree that education is changing and we need to keep up with the times and technology has to be embraced because it will move forward regardless of how we personally feel about it.

The Nets have some really useful skills they want students to learn such as those below:


The new NETS-A emphasizes educational administrators' abilities to facilitate systematic growth in the following categories:
-- Visionary leadership
-- Digital-age learning culture
-- Excellence in professional practice
-- Systemic improvement
-- Digital citizenship

Although I feel these are 5 very useful areas to learn, I am not sure how important the NETS are. I am not saying that NETS are unimportant, but before taking this course I haven’t even heard of NETS. So to me it is not important, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important on another level. Perhaps administrators have used NETS for a long time, thus it would be important to use NETS to keep up with the changing times.

What do you need to know?

How can teachers and schools ensure that their students are learning what they need when it comes to Technology and Information Literacy?

There are probably as many different ways of accomplishing this as there are ensuring learning (without technology) is taking place. Since technology is constantly changing and the level of implementation varies around the world this is difficult to answer. However, to have success in this area students need to be given opportunities. A 1 to 1 laptop school will have more opportunities than a school with 1 computer lab, however, even this doesn't guarantee anything if the students are not using it appropriately.

If a school is serious about this, they need to implement an atmosphere encouraging use of technology and it might be necessary to have benchmarks at certain levels. For example, in Elementary students will learn how to type, write, internet search, podcasts, etc. In Middle school students will learn how to blog, voice threads, and do collaborative work with other schools in the world using things like wiki's or Google docs. Perhaps there could be electives such as moving making, etc.

Of course teachers should have the freedom and creativity to implement and use their own set of tools, but a few bench marks along the way can help everyone. For example, right now my environmental class, which happens to be made up of a lot of 6th graders at the moment, are doing blogs. It was great knowing that all MS students actually have their own blog already so it was easy for me to implement this in my class. However, the problem I found was the students knew the tools, but didn't know how to write a good post. It either lacked content, links, pictures, and/or a pleasant appearance. This is our first year implementing all of this so it is evolving, but it would be great to know that all MS students will have the skills to use the tools and have already learned what is required to make a good post. If you know what skills students are coming to you with you know where you can start and can go further.

At ISB we have a set of evolving tech standards. However, I am unaware of how well this is known or implemented.

Solar E-Readers

Recently in our class we have discussed the usefulness of Kindle's and newer versions of E-readers coming out. However, any truly futuristic product will have to consider the environmental impact. That's why I like the idea of these solar readers. Check out this article by Megan Treacy.

Standards... Are they needed and who should do it?

I am no expert on this subject and let me be honest in saying I hate this kind of stuff. I realize it is important and I'm glad someone is does it, but I'm more of a 'doer' and I get no enjoyment out of discussing statements, standards, and wording things in the perfect way. I like to get on with the job. Nevertheless, as a class we compared and contrasted standards from NETS and AASL Standards. There were some obvious differences between the two types of standards, but more importantly there were differences in opinion if we need this at all.

Some felt we needed these technology standards and it should be embedded in the curriculum; others felt many statements were redundant. If we are to prepare students for success (survival) in today's world of course we need to give them the opportunity develop tech skills; but is a complete overhaul needed? I feel like most schools and programs already have up-to-date effective standards and that technology standards can/should be included into already existing standards. I don't feel the wheel needs to be reinvented. At ISB we have a group called ISB21 who have come up with these standards.

So who's job is it to teach it? Many people have to play a role. Parents should be informed and perhaps lead in the role of teaching and observing tech safety. Teachers should look for 'appropriate' opportunities to included technology into their courses where it enhances the program. Schools should take a stance and ensure that teachers are reaching a basic minimum standard of technology and Tech departments need to ensure that they train the teachers.

Some issues I face in my elective is I have students from grades 6-8 and all have varying levels of tech skills. I wish I could say each grade level ensures kids reach a certain level, but that is not the case (although some grade levels are very tech savvy). The problem is we don't have the standards worked out and there is no minimal level that a grade level has to reach; thus this would be a good start. With that in mind, there are other problems; we are an international school and our population is very transient. As a result, even if we made sure every 6 grader has a blog, made movies, etc that doesn't mean that in grade 7 you could count on those skills being there. Therefore, perhaps a more worldly approach in needed. Think about typical school curriculum and how they have solved this problem. Transient students moved from USA, to Germany, to japan, etc. Did they change curriculum every time? Yes, until IB came along. One of the goals of IB, MYP, and PYP was to be more internationally minded and although the students moved around the planet, if the student went to another IB school, they were still in a consistent curriculum. Perhaps tech standards need to take this approach so as students are shifting they come with the appropriate skills for level.

Project: Operation Starship 2009

October 2009, 32 8th grade students from International School Bangkok took a journey to SPACE CAMP in Huntsville, Alabama, USA.

Throughout Space Camp students trained in similar conditions as astronauts as they prepared for their missions. All students found this experience to be more than worthwhile. I hope you, and future groups thinking of attending, will get a small sense of their experience through this video.

Screencasts in the class

Often when new computer/internet tools come along I feel like it could be useful, but is probably more trouble to learn than its worth. I often question how useful it will actually be compared to amount of time consumed using it. Rarely, does something come along where I instantly see the potential and immediately think it outweighs the time needed to learn it. Screencasts were the exception. It is easy to learn and makes learning easier for EVERYONE else. As a teacher you can tell students how to do something and it if forgotten quickly, you can show them and they learn better, but they still forget how to do it 5 minutes later. If you type up the instructions it is sometimes hard to follow and confusing. However, screencasts work by filming the screen you are using as you use it. All you have to do is send the link to the students and they have a video that shows them the instructions of how to do something. I have used it to show students how to set up their energy savings on their computer, set up a blog, print double sided, etc. I also used it to show other schools our recycling center set up. Personally, I use Jing Project and found it to be fairly user friendly.

It can be used to help with homework and assignments, but I believe it is most useful in showing students how to do something on a computer. People can learn something as simple as opening and saving files, searching on Google, uploading a picture, or even how to make a movie, blog, etc.

In our dept it can be used to get everyone (hmmm Peter) up to speed, for example we used it to show everyone how to use google docs. It can also be used to help with Panthernet.