Steve Hargadon's Comments

I'd like to recommend that you add at higher ed place to this site. I have looked at other sites and I still find myself coming back here to connect with educational professionals

Hi Steve
Great work with all the "Classroom 2.0 Live Conversations". I have just added the google calendar to our Events link - http://edubloggerdir.blogspot.com/2008/01/search-results.html
Hope to see you joining the Directory sometime :-)
Patricia

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out.

Thanks Steve. For some reason I deleted the wrong one but that's ok.

Award...LOL...I have a bad habit of going all out on a new job, especially if I get to use my computer. Just ask my principal :-)

I just never thought about doing it before now. It doesn't take much time, and it's nice to know someone cares that you are there. Thanks for encouraging volunteers to step forward.

Hi Steve,
Thanks for the party today! I have gained so much from being part of this network. My learning curve has been steep and the journey has been lots of fun! I am now in a role where I can share many of these wonderful web2.0 tools and resources with others. This makes it even more rewarding.
I am more than happy to welcome people to Classroom 2.0.

Dear Steve Hargadon,

I am an instructor at Big Bend Community College, Moses Lake, WA and a great beneficiary of your very great work at Classroom 2.0. I recently attended the excellent conference you organized in San Francisco. Good job!

I have a great need and i am hoping that you will assist me to reach as many members of Classroom 2.0 as possible.

My need is this. The alumni association of the high school that i graduated from in Nigeria is in the process of starting a campaign that is aimed at improving the learning environment at the school. Presently, due to lack of funding, the learning environment is not conducive for the students. The infrastructure is completely not in place. One area that the alumni has identified is the need for books. I want to appeal to Classroom 2.0 members to help my old high school with books (old or new). the books can be on any subject area that is high school level.

The name of the school is Federal Government College, Wukari, Nigeria. The alumni website is www.fgcwukarialumni.org. My email is zacht@bigbend.edu

Thanks.

Yes, absolutely. I saw two of your sessions at IL-TCE, very interesting and thought-provoking. Happy to talk anytime.

Online Educational Comics Helping Students Write, Read, Tell Stories
Dear Mr. Hargadon,
I am an author of books that are used in many educational programs to
encourage students to express themselves through writing. I have launched a free new web site -- http://www.makebeliefscomix.com -- where students can create their own comic strips. The site offers fun animal and human characters with different moods, thought and talk balloons to fill in with words, and story prompts. It's a wonderful resource to spur children and adults to write, read and communicate their ideas and to practice English, Spanish and other languages. It is also being I am an author whose books are used in many school programs to used as a tool by educational therapists who work with deaf, learning disabled, and autistic people, as well as trauma victims, to help them understand concepts and communicate. I would be very appreciative if you would share with your members and colleagues, or tell me whom I should contact to share this information. Any list-servs you might suggest would be welcome. I need your help because it takes a community to build a community resource like this.
With thanks,
Bill Zimmerman

Online Educational Comics Launched to Encourage Writing,
Reading and Storytelling in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Latin by Author/Journalist Bill Zimmerman
–- http://www.makebeliefscomix.com

Dear reader,

I want to share with you news of my newest educational project and also ask for your help to make it succeed.

A year ago I launched a new web site -- http:// www.makebeliefscomix.com -- where children and adults can create their own comic strips. They can select from 15 fun characters with different moods -- happy, sad, angry, worried – and write words for blank talk and thought balloons to make their characters talk and think. There also are story ideas and prompts to help users create graphic stories.

This site can be used by educators to teach language, reading and writing skills, and also for students in English-as-a-Second-Language programs to facilitate self-expression and storytelling, as well as computer literacy. It is now being used in 160 countries by educators. Some educational therapists use it with deaf and autistic people to help them understand concepts and communicate. Parents and children can create stories together, print them to create comic books or email them to friends and family. Others will find the site a resource to be creative, calm down and have fun.

Because so many Spanish-speaking users asked us for the ability to write their cartoons in Spanish as well as in English, we recently upgraded the site to accept words written in Spanish, including appropriate accent marks. This can be a useful tool for someone who is learning Spanish as well as someone whose first language is Spanish. This feature has also been expanded to other languages, such as French, Italian, German and Latin.

I am hoping that you will share http://www.makebeliefscomix.com with your colleagues, teachers, students or readers of your publications and resource lists. The site is free with no advertising. Any help you might offer in getting word out about this project is very appreciated. If you can suggest other people or groups whom I might contact to make them aware of the site please send me their names, email addresses or phone numbers. Any list-servs I might join? Relevant Internet resource sharing groups would be helpful, too. It takes a community to build a useful resource like this one.

As one who learned to read with comic books, I know that creating comic strips can help people tap into their creativity and practice their language and storytelling skills. The site is free and stems from my lifelong mission to create resources that help people find their voice and express themselves. The concept for makebeliefscomix.com is derived from my earlier books, Make Beliefs and Make Beliefs for Kids of All Ages (which can be found on my other web site: http://www.billztreasurechest.com). A Make Beliefs interactive feature appeared for 13 years on my syndicated Student Briefing Page for Newsday, and in National Geographic’s World Magazine.

I hope you like http://www.makebeliefscomix.com and will use it in your work and personal life. Your feedback is welcome and very helpful.

With thanks and every good wish,

Bill Zimmerman
(wmz@aol.com)

Sorry about the over-emphasis on my companies services. I like the idea of this site and would like to remain a member. I try to only bring up the service if it is something specifically asked for my a member. I hope that would be alright.

Ok , Steve I have done as you requested. Had a chat to the students. They were fine Email has been sent.

Hi Steve,
Sorry about that didn't realise 13 was the cut off point. I will look for an Australian site instead. Go ahead and remove the students accounts as I won't see them for a few more days. You may as well remove mine as well as I joined so I could keep an eye on my students. Sorry for any trouble.
Leigh Farrar Cobden Primary School

Hi Steve
Re: International Edubloggers Directory. Would you consider putting up a notice on your Support Blogging Wiki informing any new additions that the Directoy is also available - if they wanted to join it? Over the next couple of weeks, | will try and leave a comment on the listed blogs to invite all those lsited to join up on the Directoy as well. Didn't know you were into Open Source. Me too :)

Hey Steve. I wonder if you have seen a widget that I can embed on my class Ning for chatting. Kind of like the short-lived yack pack widget for anyone that is online in the space?

Why thank you Steve! Being a Voki is cool for the teacher too.

I was thinking that, too - it bugs me, but it's like somebody who comes to the wrong party or something. No harm done; it happens. I think you are the victim of your own success: when a blogger sees a network with this many people, they are tempted to crosspost just because it is a HUGE audience, potentially. I guess that is the motivation. I still find it weird, though. :-)

I know you are such a busy person!

BTW I've been having fun watching the similarities/differences in how Connie Weber's Fireside ning goes from day to day, compared to the giant Classroom2.0. I keep an eye on both of them with much interest and continue to tell everybody about how cool the world of ning is. Excellent stuff.

Hi Steve, I left comments on the last two posts by William Peterson - I don't know what he hopes to gain by crossposting here since he is already a writer at ZDNet, but he's also hawking software (the first of these two posts). Anyway, no mention of students to be found... :-)

Steve, Elizabeth Davis suggested I leave a message for you. I am a music teacher and was wondering if you could add music as a subject area. You have math, reading, art, etc., but no music. I want to invite my music teacher friends, and I'm sure it would be easier to blog if we had a music area to go to. Does that make sense? Thanks, Christina