The first site is called MagCloud and it is a site for people who want to get into publishing magazines without having to purchase their own print areas. You can upload your magazine while they print and distribute it for you. Is this where printable magazines are headed? Regardless of the Web 2.0 interaction and the decline of print material, couldn’t cost be saved by using Mag Cloud for printing resources for a limited readership? And if you are a blogger who wanted to publish a yearly summary of the blog, what better way than with MagCloud?

The second site is called I’m from Driftwood and it is a blog/social network for gay teens to post their own “Coming Out” stories from the small towns they belong. It is more than just a perspective on gay teenagers; it is a perspective of small town life and acceptance. Very interesting and true stories with great perspectives from the group gathering and posting on this site. Posts include a Google pic taken from the satellite perspective of the small town in which they belong.

What is really interesting about the author of this site is that he helped push the nation’s number one dating site E-Harmony to include gay coupling as part of its site.

With so much “change” in our country, it is great to see more than just the propaganda from both sides of this issue. It is inspiring to read the stories of the citizens in the small towns. I really suggest you check out the site. As a teacher, it would be interesting to develop a similar discussion on a perspective on any issue and share what it is like to live in a smaller town and how that issue affects the citizens in that town. Go back to slavery, to voting rights, to women’s rights, to prohibition, etc. and write from the perspective of your own town on how these rights and the STRUGGLE itself affect you or someone in the town..

Today, I sent emails that had responses within minutes.

Today, I participated in a group demonstration that connected us to a video stream of someone in a different city.

Today, I posted notes on Twitter that were shared with people all around the United States and over half of them I have never met.

Today, I worked on part of a grant on a Google Document shared with two people I have never met but we are all collaborating on the same page.

Without technology, I would have to rely on my own horrible handwriting. I would have to print various copies of it over and over, then use mail to send the writings to the people. I would then have to wait for their responses.

Without technology, the demo of video conferencing resources would never have happened.

Without technology, the idea of Twitter could only be associated with the idea of a billboard and random drive-by’s who see the message on their way to work.

Without technology, I would have drafts of a “work in progress” document and notecards pinned to it as we corrected the different drafts into one solid document. Again, using snail-mail to connect us.

I know I take these tools for granted daily. On Twitter, the Fail-Whale is frustrating to see when it shows that the system isn’t working. My phone has to reboot maybe once a week because it disconnects from the network. My computer runs slower than usual some days. The Internet slows to a crawl after lunch…

These slow-downs happen. But….we are still plugged in. We are still accomplishing amazing things!

And yes, we get frustrated in our jobs when we don’t see progress going as fast as we would like. But….we are doing amazing things. Day by day and day to day.

What amazing things are you doing day to day?

Responses so far:

“Great wealth of information teachers, technologists and instructional integration. Don’t let time scare you away from integration. As many of the presenters share, these tools are free and easy to use and your students will love them.” This person also added that when I get ready to offer training, she would be willing to help offer some ideas and training too.

“There are so many sites for information and resources out on the internet for teachers and students that it is mind boggling. We haven’t scratched the surface in KISD. Other districts and teachers are doing some incredible teaching through websites, blogs, wikis; going paperless during meetings and other administrative types of activities; organizing information through paperless,searchable software (like ONE NOTE) that could save the district $$ in binders and paper as well as increase productivity and save time. I thought I was knowledgeable about technology and I realized how little I really know.”

“Wow! The amount of technology and resources that are available to educators is awesome and continually increasing. It is up to us who went to this conference to share our knowledge of the resources with others who can use it in the classrooms. Thanks to everyone who made it possible for us to attend!”

“This has renewed my creative energy in technology integration in my classroom.”

“It was invigorating! What a refreshing change to see all the integration being used. I would love to see our elementary school try some of the great integrations ideas that are out there.”

I think they liked it! And this isn’t everyone! Will post more as they come in.

Now….can you see why I have the greatest job in the world???