Free+Falling+Planning+page

=Free Falling in January A Blog Club= = = =Free Falling in December A Blog Club=

This letter is from BJ (hostess at Tapped In) regarding ideas for keeping the conversation going at Tapped In. **So feel free to leave your input as she requests.**

Hi, Sheryl, > > Just a couple of comments about the conference...feedback that I heard > was really positive! The events wowed the participants and they got a > ton of new information. The problem now will be to sustain that > learning. Many of the participants are those risk takers that already > were on the cusp of innovation....but a large group are like me. I can > get exposed to a huge quantity of new learning, but I reach a point > where I shut down because I need time to process. The diversity and > variety of the conference events was great, but it may have put many > people on information overload. > > > So, my suggestion would be (and I think that there was a consensus > during the last hour regarding sustaining the conference) would be to > schedule a monthly event on the Tapped In calendar. The focus each month > could be on one conference event to allow those who need feedback or > have questions to sustain what they've learned. The monthly discussions > could be supported by SKYPE, but I did notice that there were several > people who were unable to connect for one reason or another. > > > If you want to post this to the conference wiki to get input from other > conference participants, that would be great. > > > Hugs, BJ >

> Hi everyone. This is Chris Harbeck. I am willing to start planning for a followup using Tapped in and Skype. I am doing marks this week but if you have a prefered day of the week and time of the month I will start the ball rolling. Sundays are better for me or Saturday evening (Central Standard Time). Do we want a follow up during December or should we wait until January. Keep the torch lit and enjoy new things to play with in your classrooms. I had a great 2 weeks and enjoyed popping into 9 conversations during When Night Falls.

Chris Harbeck

>

I am impressed and inspired by the quality of all presentations and also the sense of community that has developed over the last two weeks. It would be irresponsible to let this momentum fizzle out. I agree with BJ and Chris that regular meetings (Tapped In chats or skypecasts, or both) would help build upon and strengthen this emerging community.

I would love to help out in organizing these regular events. Weekends, in my opinion, would be ideal. Let's start in December - I think that would give all of us enough time to digest all the outstanding content that's been generated by the presenters.

How about a Tapped-In chat sometime soon to discuss all the details?

[|Konrad Glogowski] (teachandlearn@gmail.com)

> I agree with starting in December. If we wait until January, we may lose some momentum. Saturdays and Sundays work pretty well for me. I would be willing to help organize.

[|Jeanne Simpson]

I also agree with starting in December! I would recommend earlier in the month rather than later. I'm wondering if instead of focusing on one conference event in each chat, we could focus on the larger strands of the conference. That way if we've seen different sessions we can all participate. Just an idea...

Carolyn Foote

I think weekends are best to accomidate the time zones around the world. It's going to be 2am somewhere, but if it's a weekend I can stay up til 2. On a week day...not a chance. :)

[|Jeff Utecht]

As I see it there are three weekends in December that would be before the Winter break here in Canada. December 2, December 9 and December 16. Any Preferences. I'll give it a few days and then book the skypecast and figure out how to post this on the K12 tapped in room and calender. Time of day could be tricky. I am a good morning person which allows Europe to be part of the discussion in the late afternoon or around "tea time". And in Australia and Asia..... I have no clue. What do you think

Do we want a specific topic...I was thinking what we have started in our classrooms since k12 a status report. Perhaps pass out some url's and get people to give feedback. Or Option 2 Use this forum like a book club. All visit one presentaion and then have a themed dinner ;-) and talk about the possibilites. Option 3 Freewheel and talk about topics important to us brought about by K12. Lets hear some feedback on the **date** the **time** and the **possible topics for discussion**.

Ok. I blame the need for the Video on The Cool Cat Teacher. I just can't stand to see a wiki without some embeded video. This video remided me of When Night Falls and all the interesting things that happened to moderators. Also you can't go wrong with Sesame Street. Chris Harbeck
 * media type="youtube" key="fK30qJLeKPM" ||

I love the choice of video and the decision to embed for the sake of it! I also just had to make an edit to this wiki cause I can! Lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and gained a huge amount of info and enthusiasm from it! Thanks!

Michael Cridland

I think option 2 holds the most promise, as it will allow us to focus a bit. Option 1 will be the tail end of the discussion, when we've exhausted the discussion on the topic. I see that as the recurring theme. A freewheeling discussion, though, if you get any significant numbers, will get crazy. 'Book club' also gives us a common ground. If I want to talk podcasts but you guys are all about wiki's, where am I left if I haven't prepared?

That said, I'll be there no matter what the topic. I just love hanging with you guys. By the way, Chris- first round is on the moderator, right?

Vinny Green

The buzz is about the [|2.0 school Presentation]. How about this as the first topic. Leve me a note and I will do the rest!! Here is there [|Movie Presentation].

Update Nov. 8

We need to have a tool included in this skype cast. I propose to use flickr in an interesting way...like the embedded comments on a flickr picture ala Alan Levine Keynote. Homework would be for everyone to take an intersting photo from where they live and put it to flickr and use the comment feature. What do you all think about this. I have tried to update the Tapped in room with little success. Once we finalze this event we will need to add and edit the tapped in room. I like Nancy's idea but 12 hours might be too much. I see the value of having more than one skypecast though. This would accomidate all people around the globe.... or we make a podcast available (I'll remember to put on my recorder this time.)

Chris Harbeck

Great idea! It will be great to continue the conversations. I liked the idea of Option 2, having a more focused conversation. Weekends work better for me, or maybe a Friday night, but school nights would not be the best. Since we are all over the world, maybe we could run a mini-version of When Night Falls. Maybe a 12-hour long version (The Sun Also Rises??? No wait, Hemmingway already used that one!) Thanks for coordinating this--hopefully my confidence in these new tools will increase to where I'll be able to help organize one of the sessions. [|Nancy Scofield]

All right the agenda is set for the first When Night Freefalls "book club" **(someone come up with a better name)**. Your homework for this Skype/tappedin session is as follows.... Familiarize yourself with the following presentation on [|Planning the 21st Century School] by Chris Lehmann and Marcie Hull. Here is thier [|movie]. Formulate questions we want to ask each other and perhaps if we are lucky the presenters will be part of the discussion. I have emailed Chris inviting him to this session. Familiarize yourself with Flickr and more importantly play with [|These Tools] that Allan Levine talked about in his keynote presentation.
 * Part 1**
 * Part 2**

Your homework is to create a picture and modify it using the Flickr tools. I don't care what it is of (clean pictures only;-) but have some kind of modification on it to share with the group. How would you use this tool with your class? What interesting things happened while you were using these Flickr tools. Allan Levine's presentation can be found [|here]

We need a date. I am available on Dec 2, late in the day on the 9th or anytime on the 17th of Cecember. I have Fridays available too. Time wise if it was late in the evening it would negate the child factor in my home. This takes Europe and Asia out of the picture (I think because they would like to sleep). Please advise on a time and I will start the ball in motion.

Chris Harbeck