K12Online09 LAN Party With Kathy Cassidy

4:15 – 5:00 We Like Our Blogging Buddies: The Write Stuff With Blogging Mentors
Kathy Cassidy is a grade one teacher at Westmount School in Moose Jaw, SK, Canada.  In the winter of 2008, Patrick Lewis’s university class of pre-service teachers were blogging mentors for Kathy’s grade one students. This presentation talks about that collaboration and the results of the research that was conducted about the effect this mentorship had on the students’ writing.

Link to Text Chat

16:15:23 Peggy George ->  this time is just flying by!! it's transition time for Kathy Cassidy to join us
 16:15:27 matt montagne ->  I found mark's online presentation to much more interactive than a traditional conference quite honestly
 16:15:31 wfryer ->  "hypercamp concept" - hadn't heard of that
 16:15:47 ds ->  new to me too, like the notion
 16:15:53 susanvg ->  I like the 20 minute limit
 16:15:55 Peggy George ->  welcome Kathy!! WE're so excited to have you join us today!
 16:16:25 Peggy George ->  thank you Mark!! that was a real bonus on top of your presentation!
 16:16:26 Paula Naugle ->  Thanks Mark.
 16:16:41 susanvg ->  Thanks Mark
 16:16:45 wfryer ->  Yeah Kathy! I'm so glad to be able to be here for your preso
 16:16:47 Peggy George ->  Jeff Lebow is my hero!!! Thank you!!!
 16:16:52 Lesley E ->    ¬†Thanks Mark, lots of great tips and ideas.
 16:16:53 wfryer ->  [clap clap clap] to Mark
 16:17:00 wfryer ->  yes clap clap clap
 16:17:15 Peggy George ->  Kathy's video in 2006 was life-changing for me and my teachers!!
 16:17:16 prw ->  Thanks Mark.
 16:17:31 marragem ->  last year
 16:17:33 Peggy George ->  today we'll be watching her last video on blogging mentors
 16:17:53 Doug_Henry ->  Very useful, Mark
 16:17:58 matt montagne ->  shout out for mark!
 16:18:02 MaryJJ ->  Last or latest video? I hope latest!
 16:18:24 Peggy George ->  http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=319 this is the link for Kathy's presentation today :-)
 16:18:29 Paula Naugle ->  Hi Kathy.
 16:18:29 ds ->  last for the LAN party, think that was....
 16:18:39 markwagner ->  Thanks, all... thanks for having me and thanks for a great conversation.
 16:18:40 prw ->  Oh Canada
 16:18:40 Peggy George ->  latest definitely!! hope hope hope!!!!
 16:18:49 Lesley E ->  People from BC love Sask as well :)
 16:18:52 ds ->  ty Mark, well done
 16:19:28 markwagner ->  I've gotta go... back to the family. :)
 16:19:37 Andy McKiel ->  Thanks, Mark!
 16:19:39 wfryer ->  thanks for your time, Mark
 16:19:42 markwagner ->  Good luck, Kathy... enjoy, all.
 16:19:54 Peggy George ->  Kathy is so humble!
 16:20:34 mrsdurff ->  indeed the most important
 16:20:47 Peggy George ->  Kathy provides such a great perspective on the balance of using technology with young learners! It's all about using the tools for communicating
 16:20:50 mrsdurff ->  good audio
 16:21:09 Paula Naugle ->  I taught Grade 1 for one year. Loved that I could "see" them learning.
 16:21:17 wfryer ->  I recognize that Garageband background audio I think!
 16:21:21 Peggy George ->  these kids were so wonderful to listen to!
 16:21:46 Paula Naugle ->  I have that music on one of my videos too.
 16:21:48 susanvg ->  Just want to point out that this was done with Patrick Lewis whose students were the blogging buddies
 16:21:57 matt montagne ->  that little boy just addressed UDL as it relates to technology and blogging (Universal Design for Learning)
 16:22:14 roxanne ->  I remember watching this during the conference....now I can share this again with other teachers at my school!
 16:22:31 matt montagne ->  blogging and technology makes the writing clearly makes the writing more accessible
 16:22:40 jackiegerstein ->  and authentic
 16:22:58 jackiegerstein ->  in real world contexts
 16:23:01 matt montagne ->  even though this is about young students, this very, very much applies to older high school students as well
 16:23:11 roxanne ->  writing for an audience is so important and motivating
 16:23:25 wfryer ->  that tent looks fun!
 16:23:27 roxanne ->  for further learning
 16:23:29 Peggy George ->  Kathy's blogging buddy program is such a great model for us!
 16:24:16 susanvg ->  http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=319
 16:24:34 matt montagne ->  @roxanne...I remember in preservice when we talked about the imporatnce of audience for student writing...at the time the big thing was publsihing books for school libraries. The web provides students with the most authentic platform for publishing that has ever existed
 16:25:06 susanvg ->  it's a win win situation
 16:25:10 roxanne ->  so true
 16:25:26 wfryer ->  I agree this model is great - getting and keeping an audience is a real important part of blogging, and finding that audience which can consistently provide constructive feedback is SO important for students
 16:25:55 wfryer ->  whoa! we went back to mark playing his guitar!
 16:25:57 roxanne ->  woah
 16:26:04 wfryer ->  this is a remix!
 16:26:04 Peggy George ->  I had such a funny experience with Kathy's YakPak--left it open on my computer and heard someone talking to me from the other room--couldn't figure out who was doing the talking  :-)
 16:26:09 ds ->  lol
 16:26:40 Peggy George ->  these are the joys of technology!!! wouldn't want to live without it though!
 16:26:44 sheila ->  47 viewers - what a crowd!
 16:26:52 Peggy George ->  Hi Sheila
 16:26:52 Paula Naugle ->  @wfryer:)
 16:26:57 sheila ->  Hi!
 16:27:02 matt montagne ->  JL is unflappable
 16:27:10 Peggy George ->  we have had up to 70 viewers at different times today!
 16:27:21 ds ->  not his 1st rodeo :)
 16:27:29 sheila ->  GReat news!  ;)
 16:27:36 prw ->  Nice recovery. Always need to be ready with tech.
 16:28:00 Peggy George ->  this has been such a great experience to watch the videos with the presenters in the chat room to talk with us and also on Skype!
 16:28:15 Paula Naugle ->  Did they get to meet face to face?
 16:28:37 Peggy George ->  this is almost as good as face-to-face :-) almost...
 16:29:15 wfryer ->  yes, YackPack! I love that program / website
 16:29:15 Peggy George ->  her students really understood the writing process as they explained how they blogged!
 16:29:38 ds ->  love that the synchronous aspect makes it 'live' warts/tech diff and all, re f2f et al.
 16:29:53 Peggy George ->  isn't that great that they could use skype to see their buddies?
 16:30:08 susanvg ->  too bad skype is blocked in so many places
 16:30:29 ds ->  another testament against blocking access to the worlds of the web
 16:30:37 ds ->  true Susna
 16:30:37 Peggy George ->  Kathy-did they get to meet face to face too?
 16:30:43 ds ->  sorry Susan
 16:31:49 Paula Naugle ->  My 4th graders skyped with another 4th grade class in Kansas. We read the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. We read left handed pages and they read the right hand pages. It was an awesome experience.
 16:32:06 wfryer ->  that is great Paula. How did you find that classroom to skype with?
 16:32:30 Peggy George ->  I got to do an interview with a 5th grade class in NC to tell them about AZ - it was so much fun!
 16:32:47 wfryer ->  "getting comments on their blog from people in other places really helps students understand they are global citizens"
 16:32:56 Peggy George ->  I could see the entire class on the video and they could see me in my Phoenix Suns tshirt :-)
 16:33:27 wfryer ->  "exciting to look at page reads for students"
 16:33:33 Peggy George ->  that's a great idea Paula!! I'm going to pass that on!
 16:33:44 wfryer ->  so good to have the parent nights to show commenting
 16:34:01 Paula Naugle ->  I found her on the OnlineProjects4Teachers Ning.
 16:34:15 Peggy George ->  we can continue the conversation after we finish viewing the video :-)
 16:34:49 ds ->  go JL
 16:34:53 Andy McKiel ->  Another good place to find educators interested in collaborative projects is http://teachersconnecting.com
 16:35:14 wfryer ->  thanks Andy, I hadn't heard of that site
 16:35:15 Peggy George ->  these are such great points about making the kids think about the writing process!
 16:35:15 ds ->  so far so good w vid
 16:35:22 wfryer ->  yes, video and audio is great now
 16:36:10 Paula Naugle ->  Had one of my students use the Flip camera to video the Skype call. I will be posting it to our classroom blog later this weekend so their parents can see the event.
 16:36:15 wfryer ->  "structured and unstructured questions" - what does he mean by that?
 16:36:17 Andy McKiel ->  @Wes - It was developed by Ben Hazzard, who produced the SMART Board Lessons podcast along with Joan Badger
 16:36:19 Peggy George ->  http://skypeinschools.pbworks.com/ another great place to connect with teachers on skype
 16:37:32 Peggy George ->  would love to see that Paula!
 16:37:45 wfryer ->  that is great Paula - please tweet me the link if you can and I'll RT/blog it
 16:37:58 sheila ->  Aww, have to go now. Thanks for everyone's efforts on this!
 16:38:03 wfryer ->  I love the integration of the student perspectives here
 16:38:09 wfryer ->  by sheila! thanks for joining!
 16:38:10 jackiegerstein ->  Gender differences - with the 1st graders?
 16:38:15 susanvg ->  I love the way the students reflect
 16:38:24 Peggy George ->  blogging buddies tell you stuff :-) love it!
 16:38:24 KathyCassidy ->  Yay!  It finally let me in!!
 16:38:30 wfryer ->  yeah Kathy!
 16:38:35 Peggy George ->  hooray Kathy!!
 16:38:41 susanvg ->  yeah Kathy
 16:38:42 wfryer ->  great integration of the student perspectives here, Kathy
 16:38:53 wfryer ->  @Kathy did you put this together with iMovie?
 16:38:55 Paula Naugle ->  Check http://pnaugle.blogspot.com/ later this weekend. It will be there.
 16:38:58 susanvg ->  Interesting that buddies concentrated on surface structure
 16:39:07 wfryer ->  @Paula OK I will! Thanks
 16:39:20 KathyCassidy ->  I can't take anycredit for the video.  Patrick Lewis, the professor that I collaborated with made this video.
 16:39:49 Peggy George ->  but you were the one with the story to tell Kathy! it's such an important story!
 16:39:57 Paula Naugle ->  It looks like he might have used Photostory 3 for this video.
 16:40:14 susanvg ->  It's important that preservice teachers see the power of this
 16:40:19 Peggy George ->  @Kathy-are other teachers blogging with their students in your school?
 16:40:31 KathyCassidy ->  Yes, some are.
 16:40:34 wfryer ->  yes, the expectation of a specific audience can be such a big deal
 16:40:46 KathyCassidy ->  My students from last year are not blogging right now, though.
 16:40:56 Peggy George ->  it's powerful for all of us to think that someone else is reading what we are writing!
 16:40:58 susanvg ->  what was great was the consistency of audience - there was always an audience
 16:41:00 wfryer ->  I would love to get some of our preservice classes here in Oklahoma modeling after your project
 16:41:06 kcaise ->  i love those illustrations!
 16:41:18 wfryer ->  yes, a F2F meeting!
 16:41:22 susanvg ->  great
 16:41:25 roxanne ->  Just think of the level of writing these students would have with ongoing activities like this at each grade level
 16:41:41 Paula Naugle ->  @kathy That is great that they got to meet f2f.
 16:41:57 marragem ->  I've been trying to get a link to pre-service teachers here in Brisbane - unfortunately no takers
 16:42:05 wfryer ->  the authenticity of this, in terms of the interaction with the preservice and primary age kids, is just superb
 16:42:09 kcaise ->  what a fantastic opportunity for preservice teachers
 16:42:20 KathyCassidy ->  Yes, the f2f was definitely the highlight.  I felt the same way at NECC last year!
 16:42:21 Paula Naugle ->  I know how excited I was to meet people I talked to online at NECC f2f.
 16:42:21 Peggy George ->  http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337 you can see Kathy's class blog here-incredible writing going on!
 16:42:24 susanvg ->  yes - the technology facilitates but the emphasis is on the learning
 16:42:51 wfryer ->  @paula I agree F2F can become so powerful when online interactions come first, esp lengthy conversations
 16:43:06 jackiegerstein ->  Pre-service teachers learned how to give constructive feedback - great skill
 16:43:18 wfryer ->  Kathy it would be good to hear you discuss how you've found Classroom Blogmesiter relative to other blogging tools / platforms for your primary age kids
 16:43:23 Andy McKiel ->  I love how the focus isn't on the technology itself, it's on the connections being made...
 16:43:25 Peggy George ->  good pint Jackie!
 16:43:31 Peggy George ->  point!
 16:44:17 wfryer ->  wow - yes, having to read all comments aloud would definitely take a lot of time
 16:44:36 roxanne ->  Another important point is how these very young students are already taking on responsibility for their own learning
 16:44:37 Peggy George ->  these are the kinds of experiences that kids want to continue on their own time because they are so exciting to them!
 16:44:40 susanvg ->  parent volunteers? could they be of help?
 16:44:54 jackiegerstein ->  The emphasis on using technology for project-based, authentic learning should always be on the products not the tools.  My 3rd through 5th grade gifted kids last year were thrilled aabout the products/projects they created not the technology tools they used.
 16:44:56 wfryer ->  reciprocal relationship between attitude and achievement
 16:44:59 KathyCassidy ->  @wfryer Classblogmeister is the only tool that I have used, so I'm quite partial to it.
 16:45:18 Peggy George ->  both the preservice teachers and gr 1 students gained so much from this experience!
 16:45:21 wfryer ->  I love these video feedback / evaluation pieces
 16:45:28 jackiegerstein ->  me too Wes
 16:45:31 KathyCassidy ->  The blog is a place to collect other things that we do, such as Skype calls, wikis etc.
 16:45:34 Paula Naugle ->  Yes Kathy. I'd like to know more about Blogmeister so my kids can have their own blogs. They are 9 and 10 year olds and don't have emails.
 16:45:40 KathyCassidy ->  I love this!
 16:45:48 KathyCassidy ->  Those darn consonants!
 16:45:54 Lorraine ->  During the skype chats, were the children/preservice teachers chatting
 16:45:56 susanvg ->  aaa
 16:45:58 Lorraine ->  about writing?
 16:46:02 jackiegerstein ->  A use of Flip cams is to have students interview one another about their learning
 16:46:04 Peggy George ->  notice the number of views on some of the student blog posts!! thousands of viewers!
 16:46:13 matt montagne ->  these student statements are so powerful
 16:46:14 wfryer ->  this is such a fantastic example of how powerful asynchronously recorded video can be: there is no way you could get all these kids to share all these things "live" - this could only be shared as a recorded video.
 16:46:30 wfryer ->  nice imovie special effect here :-)
 16:46:30 Peggy George ->  great point Wes!
 16:46:31 susanvg ->  this is great - interesting words
 16:46:48 KathyCassidy ->  The Skype calls were supposed to be about writing.  They weren't always--it depended on the buddy.
 16:46:54 Peggy George ->  love that--helps her think...
 16:47:14 susanvg ->  attitude - that's where it starts
 16:47:21 Peggy George ->  this rap is fantastic!!!!
 16:47:24 wfryer ->  @Kathy what mix of live/skype conversations and blogging interactions do you think are best for your primary kids? (how often to skype)
 16:47:27 jackiegerstein ->  LOL
 16:47:30 matt montagne ->  what a great partnership b/t students and pre-service adults...it inspired me to leave a commnet on Stanford's facebook fan page to see if anyone wants to participate in our school projects (stanford is close to our school)
 16:47:36 Peggy George ->  clap clap clap!!!!!!
 16:47:44 Paula Naugle ->  lol
 16:47:52 marragem ->  applause!
 16:47:55 matt montagne ->  oops...audio feedback
 16:47:56 Lorraine ->  A great model for early literacy.
 16:48:02 jackiegerstein ->  Make sure you also use two spaces after the period.
 16:48:03 Peggy George ->  storming somewhere?? :-)
 16:48:16 Paula Naugle ->  Clap, clap, clap. That was a thought provoking presentation.
 16:48:17 susanvg ->  guess that wasn't me - call ended
 16:48:29 roxanne ->  did we lose kathy
 16:48:33 Peggy George ->  the relationships are so valuable in this process
 16:49:32 Peggy George ->  time zones can be such a challenge with skype calls but worth the effort!
 16:49:35 susanvg ->  Would like to know more about other international blogging you are doing (with US and Australia)
 16:49:42 wfryer ->  yes lots of claps - this was great
 16:50:08 wfryer ->  3 or 4 chats with their buddy live over skype throughout the semester
 16:51:00 Peggy George ->  learning to give constructive feedback and guiding comments was really important for the preservice teachers!
 16:51:07 sr ->  sorry I have to bow out ..greast session
 16:51:54 jackiegerstein ->  Great point
 16:51:58 Paula Naugle ->  Kathy, I would love to Skype with your class. I teach 4th graders in New Orleans. I'm in the Central time zone.
 16:52:12 Paula Naugle ->  Skype name is plnaugle.
 16:52:19 matt montagne ->  it seems so easy to do this type of thing...Kathy has inspired me to try to remix her idea for use at our school.
 16:52:21 Peggy George ->  you can also find other classes to connect with via the links on Kathy's class blog
 16:52:49 Lorraine ->  From my experience, it takes some time for first graders to key in text.  Did the children type independently or with support or was it dependent on the individual student?
 16:52:54 susanvg ->  Kathy I would love to hear more about your experience with Australia and US classes
 16:53:26 Peggy George ->  http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337  Kathy's class blog one more time
 16:53:34 wfryer ->  ok Lorraie and Susan, I'll ask those questions to Kathy
 16:54:05 Peggy George ->  David is so responsive to teacher needs on classblogmeister!!
 16:54:47 wfryer ->  good tip: always take primary age kids to the computer lab and add "editors notes" to writing at this stage of the year requires extra adults hands
 16:55:13 susanvg ->  traces of progress
 16:55:19 Paula Naugle ->  Wouldn't it be great if older students could help younger ones and earn service credits?
 16:55:30 Peggy George ->  you can see Kathy's student progress through the year with their writing on her blog! amazing!
 16:55:39 Lorraine ->  @wfryer thanks
 16:55:50 wfryer ->  @Lorraine :-0
 16:55:51 susanvg ->  I see Amanda here
 16:55:51 marragem ->  I have Grade 4/5 students mentor my Year 2 bloggers
 16:55:58 wfryer ->  @Lorraine I meant :-)
 16:56:14 Andy McKiel ->  @Paula - in my district, we have many schools that have begun to use 'Computer Buddies' models with Grade 4/5 kids mentoring Grade K/1 kids...
 16:56:16 Peggy George ->  blogging buddies with Australia!! wonderful experience and evidence that time zone differences can work out :-)
 16:56:22 Paula Naugle ->  @marragem How do you facilitate that?
 16:56:23 marragem ->  they do!
 16:56:30 wfryer ->  Jeff is this being recorded for reposting on edtechtalk? (I think that answer is yes)
 16:56:43 JL ->  you are indeed psychic :)
 16:57:00 marragem ->  @Paula Naugle - same as Kathy
 16:57:04 susanvg ->  Thanks so much
 16:57:14 wfryer ->  We will be holding another virtual LAN party on Tues Oct 20th from 6 - 8 pm EDT (or 10 pm GMT)
 16:57:18 Lorraine ->  thanks very much! 
 16:57:19 susanvg ->  except for my static
 16:57:26 Andy McKiel ->  Kathy - you're amazing!!! Thanks...
 16:57:28 wfryer ->  yes, yes! we do hope this is the first of many!
 16:57:30 ds ->  thx kathy
 16:57:33 matt montagne ->  agree...the LAN party rocked!
 16:57:40 marragem ->  awesome Kathy!
 16:57:45 Sue L. ->  great to hear about the primary experiences! thx
 16:57:46 Doug_Henry ->  Thank you! Most enjoyable
 16:57:52 matt montagne ->  Kudos to K12 Online team, Worldbridges and ETT.
 16:57:52 kcaise ->  thank you everyone for joining us today!
 16:57:57 jackiegerstein ->  this was great
 16:58:08 matt montagne ->  This was an excellent PD opportunity. Thanks so much to all for your efforts!
 16:58:08 Paula Naugle ->  Thank you to the K12 Online Conference organizers. Job well done.
 16:58:12 marragem ->  Great LAN party all...worth getting up at 4am!
 16:58:12 Andy McKiel ->  Great job hosting the LAN Party today, folks :-)  Job well done...
 16:58:14 kcaise ->  thank you so much jeff for streaming today!
 16:58:17 ds ->  @JL most masterfully wizard'd once again
 16:58:18 wfryer ->  I am so thankful to be a part of this discussion. GREAT job to all our EdTechTalk webcasters and k12online09 live event committee!
 16:58:33 ds ->  and well done by all--great resource made here today
 16:58:35 Paula Naugle ->  Thank you EdTechTalk team too.
 16:58:42 wfryer ->  EdTechTalk rocks! :-)
 16:59:04 wfryer ->  K12Online09 presenters will be announced next week! Should be on Sep 30th.
 16:59:10 JL ->  Ustream Archives of today's presentations are at: http://www.ustream.tv/edtechtalk/videos
 16:59:14 susanvg ->  10:00 pm GMT
 16:59:17 roxanne ->  it's been a great day. thanks
 16:59:21 Andy McKiel ->  Do we know who the presenters will be for Oct. 6th?
 16:59:41 wfryer ->  @Andy I don't think that is decided yet. Give the Live Events Committee Members feedback if you have suggestions.
 16:59:52 kcaise ->  october 20th presenters will be announced later
 16:59:57 Peggy George ->  we'll let you know about the Oct. 20th presenters!
 17:00:14 Andy McKiel ->  Thanks, Wes - and thanks everyone for pulling this together!  Great session...
 17:00:17 kcaise ->  poor susan
 17:00:37 Peggy George ->  this has been such an incredible experience!! thank you everyone!!!!
 17:01:07 susanvg ->  presenters not yet selected for Oct 20
 17:01:17 wfryer ->  the kudos for this go to the Live Events Committee and EdTechTalk for this
 17:01:33 Peggy George ->  thanks Wes! This has been so much fun!
 17:01:52 Paula Naugle ->  I like the fact that the presenters could interact with the people in the chatroom. They were also able to tell us some of the how-to's of their videos.
 17:02:03 kcaise ->  during the holidays people will be pressed for time
 17:02:25 kcaise ->  it will be difficult to watch the videos and attend the fireside chats
 17:02:41 Paula Naugle ->  Would be a great New Year professional development.
 17:02:41 jackiegerstein ->  Peggy - that is such a great idea
 17:02:51 kcaise ->  last Saturday before Christmas
 17:03:06 jackiegerstein ->  Give folks time to watch and reflect
 17:03:16 matt montagne ->  Look at what happened here today...videos from 3 years ago to stimulate conversation! That is awesome!
 17:03:23 kcaise ->  hi lucy
 17:03:34 jackiegerstein ->  Would also like to get some K12 pres. viewing in SL
 17:03:38 LucyGray ->  Hi again Kim!
 17:04:30 Paula Naugle ->  @matt montagne I agree. The presenters felt like their 3 year old presentations were outdated but not true for many educators, or even to those of us who are up to speed.
 17:05:14 jackiegerstein ->  will there VT again this year?
 17:05:28 susanvg ->  Thanks all
 17:05:29 Paula Naugle ->  Love being able to interactive with the presenters.
 17:05:31 kcaise ->  thank you again jeff
 17:05:37 ds ->  thanks for a great day all
 17:05:37 matt montagne ->  good day all!
 17:05:47 jackiegerstein ->  bye - thanks