St. Louis WizKids - Advisory Council

....words...words....learning new words!

Coy, Archive, Vulnerable, Vertex, Forthwith, Righteous
These are some of the words that the Wiz Kids have learned and felt compelled to write on our new words list. Below are some quotes by some of our Wiz Kids:
"You have to have a strong vocabulary to be a rapper."
"Today I learned that a word can have more than one meaning."

First Impressions

Net Skills Self-Assessment

I recently saw a short self-assessment of net skills. I thought it was on the CTCnet or America Connects site.. but now I can't find it. I've spent over an hour looking and so now I am asking our Advisors for help. As i recall, the assessment had fewer than 10 questions, asked no personal information and covered only the basics of the web such as "What is a brower?", "Are you comfortable using the Web?", and other questions about the basic components/functions of a browser (scroll bar, back button, etc.). Please help me find it if you can.

Also, I'm looking for a single image of a browser with each of the main components seen on screen identified. I've looked at many Intro to the Net courses and can't find a simple image. I can make one, but I'm so certain that it must exist! BTW, I've been struck by how many of these classess start with the (boring for kids) history and breakout of a URL.. I think it best to focus on how it is used and then provide more background for the curious.

Fairview Elem on TechTV

This morning on TechTV's Call for Help (26 March 2004 episode), Mikael from Ms. Wagner's class at St. Louis' Fairview Elementary was on. I missed the first part of the call but Leo, the host, was talking with the class via Netcam. He was showing his blog on Typepad and talking about Typepad and w.bloggar, a program he uses to edit his blog from his desktop. It was all very cool.

Maybe they'd like to do a call from WizKids once the project gets going; you have to create a question you want answered on the air. You can set it up a few days ahead of time; they have a recently-posted FAQ including a link to an email form for sending in questions. The show will soon be aired 3x /day so that's a lot of exposure all around. I don't know what the chances are of getting on....It is on digital cable so unless you have the necessary tools, viewing and recording your call will take planning.

If you haven't checked it out, TechTV is quite a resource both on the air and online. I use it about as much as I use sites like Wired, C/Net and ZDNet for news, product reviews, tips and other information.

I watch Call for Help, Fresh Gear (the latest bells and whistles), and Screen Savers (all kinds of technology info, not just computers) as my schedule allows. I found out on Screen Savers (19 March 2004) that a woman, Susan Kare, designed the first Mac icons (the smiling (or sad) Mac displayed on startup, the little bomb shown when programs crashed, all that good stuff).

TechTV is big on gaming; Macs get a good share of attention.

State of the Black Union | JigZone: Jigsaw Puzzles Online

Two very different topics:

The State of the Black Union 2004 is a two-part conversation with a broad cross-section of Black leadership from around the United States. This year's focus was on the Black Family. These fora are usally led by Tom Joyner and Tavis Smiley who team up on this and the Tom Joyner Morning Show and other projects included on BlackAmericaWeb.Com. The Tom Joyner Morning Show leads me to think it might be worth checking it out for possible support, recognition for someone in the STL community or families, and definitely for the political perspectives, humor, news, and activism. The State of the Black Union is available on C-SPAN.

The JigZone: Jigsaw Puzzles Online is a place to get free online puzzles in a number of sizes. I tried it at the site of Claudine Hellmuth, a collage artist I like. She used her own artwork but there are photos to choose from. I don't know how often she changes her puzzle. Adults: stay away from the puzzles; it could be like solitaire!

World Radio Forum

I found the World Radio Forum site intriguing simply because it has an international youth focus that includes UN activism. I really believe that people would be amazed if they knew how relatively easily it is to be part of the worldwide body of organizations working to make change even in giant institutions like the UN.

I came to the Forum through Penelope's Radio which led me to Pickleberry Pie's Children's Music Web.

They all share lots of resources, tips, guidelines, and programming.

Safety on the Net Presentation

Please take a look at the nearly final version of our Child Safety on the Net presentation. It's in Powerpoint and will be presented to all St. Louis WizKids participants, volunteers, staff, and caring adults who are invovled in our program. The slides will be adapted with varying verbal cues for the different age groups. All adults will also get a copy of our safety policies (which I'll have online soon). The presentation was prepared by Don Holt, from our partner, Computer Village.

For background, the first draft of this presentation was discussed on this blog back in December.

Don has also prepared a short article (in PDF format) on the importance of being attentive to child safety on the net.

Eager to hear your thoughts!

Poetic License

Poetic License is an Independent Television Service (ITVS) site complete with a teachers' lounge, a youth area, and a curriculum packet (or a la carte) which includes the film, teacher and viewer guides, and a double cd of live audio of a teen poetry slam--for a pretty reasonable price, discounts for teachers paying out-of-pocket, and a section for university orders.

PBS - P.O.V. Interactive - Youth Views

"Modeled on P.O.V.'s successful Community Engagement strategies, Youth Views offers P.O.V. films to youth-serving organizations nationwide as a means to incorporate media into their existing programs, tailoring events to the needs and interests of their constituencies." from
PBS - P.O.V. Interactive - Youth Views . Partnerships

According to a San Antonio activist:

Due to the incredible success of our event, our youth were further inspired to create guerilla street theatre about the murders and organize local components of a national campaign of protests to bring awareness to the situation

— Vicki Grise of Esperanza Peace and Justice Center referring to their screening of Señorita Extraviada about the unsolved murders of over 270 women in Juárez, Mexico

Japan Media Review -- OhmyNews Makes Every Citizen a Reporter

This Japan Media Review article is very inspiring. It covers OhmyNews' "citizen journalists" of all ages who are putting the word out about their communities and, quite likely, influencing Japan's political processes in unprecedented ways. I think it assumes a certain amount of homogeneity--similar backgrounds, academic skills, literacy, and access to some kind of technology that they're not afraid of, know how to use fairly well, and have something they want to discuss openly with others (and don't mind doing so in this way).

Japan Media Review -- OhmyNews Makes Every Citizen a Reporter

TCLA:. The Digital Divide:. Politics & Education:. G.I.S. Maps:. 4/7

Someone asked me if there were organizations like Austin Free-Net in L.A. Not content to send her to CTCNet's Member Directory, I looked it up myself. On the extensive California listing, I found CalTek Net's site for the California LINCT Coalition Project . There is an amazing report by Jordan High School's GIS program on Internet access from home and single parents--TCLA:. The Digital Divide:. Politics & Education:. G.I.S. Maps:. 4/7. This project is, in turn, part of a 2001 Teaching to Change LA project.