Feel free to share your favorite finds of the week using the comment link found at the bottom of this post. In no particular order, I have listed my favorite top 10 sites, blog posts, and videos of the week below…

1. Third World Farmer – a simulation designed to make you (and your students) think as it simulates the real-world mechanisms that cause and sustain poverty in 3rd World countries. Information from the site… “In the game, the player gets to manage an African farm, and is soon confronted with the often difficult choices that poverty and conflict necessitate. We find this kind of experience efficient at making the issues relevant to people, because players tend to invests their hopes in a game character whose fate depends on him. We aim at making the player ‘experience’ the injustices, rather than being told about them, so as to stimulate a deeper and more personal reflection on the topics.”
2. Dove Evolution – the visual evolution of a model photo shoot…
   dove evolution
3. 8 of World’s Most Inspirational People – a blog post written by Gracie Murano on the Oddee.com website…powerful.
4. Fotki – “mainly a photo-sharing, photo-printing, photo-selling and blogging site, Fotki also provides its users with what seems to interest people on the Internet most – connection, much in the spirit of the Internet’s very idea – the Web connecting people all over the world.” A free account comes with limited storage. A premium account comes with UNLIMITED storage and advanced features and tools at a cost of approximately $20 a year. I have not recommended the site in a blog posting because content is not monitored and I generally try to stay away from commercial sites in my regular blog articles (however, photo print pricing looked very competitive when I compared it to other online photo services).
5. 10 Quick Tips for Powerful Proofreading – I know I should practice these proofreading tips posted on the Ghostwriter Dad blog. I hate to admit this, but I post when I write because I can’t seem to write far enough ahead. You might want to share some of these great tips with your students.
6. Sound of Music | Central Station Antwerp (Belgium) – More than 200 dancers performed their version of “Do Re Mi”, in the Central Station of Antwerp. I wish I had been there!
   Sound of Music | Central Station Antwerp (Belgium)
7. Don’t like reading? Read on… – don’t throw those ol’ text books away! This fantastic blog post features some marvelous ideas that use books in new and innovative ways…you really need to link to this blog post to appreciate the fascinating book art. Here is a sample photo from the post….
   
8. 40 Ways to Let Go and Feel Less Pain – I subscribe to enjoy the Seeing Good Blog written by Lori Deschene. This is one of my favorite posts.
9. Well, whadya know? – I also subscribe to the Indexed blog and especially enjoyed this particular post (if you are not familiar with this blog…all posts are visual in nature)
   
10. BBC One Minute Wonders – these short video clips are educational, fun, and short..just right for young students who need a one-minute break!

I recently added a number of videos to my VodPod account. You can watch them using the widget in the left column of this blog. There are a number of videos featuring 21st Century Skills. As a reminder…all my VodPod videos are videos I would consider appropriate for professional development purposes. Let me know if you agree!

I’m chuckling out loud as I write this post. You see I just came across a new application that claims to provide wisdom on demand. Gosh, oh golly, I wish I could have accessed this Web 2.0 app during my first year of teaching! I’m intrigued by grandiose claims and decided to perform a search for additional wisdom-oriented Web 2.0 apps. Would you believe my search yielded ten very different applications? And none of them were at all similar. I guess wisdom comes in many forms online, as well as in real life. At the very least, maybe the three applications I am sharing in my post today will help you become more wise to the wiles of some web 2.0 resources that claim to be wisdom-oriented.

i-Wise – the byline for this application is “wisdom on command.” (if only it were that easy in real life). The goal of this site is to “organize the world’s wisdom and make it universally accessible and useful.” If you are a person who enjoys reading through quotes (like me) you will find this site fascinating. You can search for quotes using #hashtags (in the twitter world when you type # in front of a word (see the Twitter Fan Wiki for a definition of hashtag). Don’t worry…you do not need a twitter account to enjoy this online source of wisdom. If you do not see a hashtag that suits your search needs, you can also search the site by typing in words, thoughts, questions, author names, or phrases. The site also features quotes of the day, featured authors, and twitter feeds that include your search criteria. When you find a quote that you like, you can retweet the quote with the ease of clicking on a link, gift it, save it, copy it, bookmark it. See the graphic below for a visual sample of some quotes I received when I searched for the word tenacity.

Below is a sample of how a downloaded PowerPoint slide looks…

Overall, I think this application would be handy to use if you wanted to post a quote as a writing prompt or use a prompt as part of a presentation. It’s also very interesting to see what people are twittering…though you do need to know that you could be projecting unfiltered content if you chose to share this online application in the classroom.

Quotes Daddy.com- this is another site that popped up when I queried Google for Web 2.0 wisdom applications. The application does not offer as many bells and whistles as i-Wise, but it offered a lot more quote results when I ran sample searches for similar key words. The site boasts “over 1,000,000 famous quotes and user quotes that you can save to your favorites, subscribe to, share with friends, add to your site or blog and post in your social network.” When you register for an account you have the option to add your own quotes…”Become famous! Share your wit, insights and wisdom with the world. If enough QuotesDaddy users vote for your quote (by adding it to their favorites), it will be featured in our permanent famous quotes collection alongside quotes by Churchill, Einstein and Mark Twain…” This could offer students an interesting challenge…would their quote be good enough for inclusion on the site? You can sign up for an RSS feed on any of the tagged searches…a nice feature if you are looking for themed quotes. You can also email a quote to friends or embed a quote on your site (like the one below)…

Factoidz – this wisdom-oriented site does not focus on quotations, instead it focuses on the “wisdom of the group.” Factoidz is an article community where people can ask questions and other people can write articles to answer those questions. Individuals (that includes students) can write an article and conceivably have it viewed by thousands and potentially millions of people. Registration is required to participate in the group. “Even if you don’t write, you could still be a part of the community by asking questions, commenting and reading all the knowledge experts have to share with you.”

I found the site quite fascinating and very diverse. You can find articles about parenting, covering a tattoo, baking a tuna casserole, remodeling…just about anything you can imagine! Registration is required to post a factoid article Once a factoid is published online readers can rate the article for usefulness and/or click on a link to email the article to a friend, family member, or teacher. Users can also tweet an article via twitter or save it to a Reddit account. Students could be encouraged to write a factoid article of their own and/or review articles for accuracy, interest, etc. Users can also post questions and look for responses to their questions. The site includes a flagging option in the event that an inappropriate article is posted, but there is a chance that an inappropriate article could slip through. Social sites carry some risks, but they also offer educators an opportunity to share and discuss appropriate online etiquette and evaluation of resources.

I’m cheating a little bit today as I share my thoughts about trust in education, in life, and in the world. This is not my typical post. I am not sharing a Web 2.0 tool or resource today…so, if that is what you are looking for stop reading now and check back tomorrow.

What sparked this change in direction? A number of things I suppose. I can’t shake this pervasive sad feeling I have had following some breaches of trust that recently occurred in the news, in a few schools I have encountered, and in society in general. At this point, I should probably admit that I am a person who truly, truly wants to see the good in everyone. Pollyanna (by Eleanor H. Porter) was my favorite book as a child. I have a strong (it used to be unwavering) belief that we are all put on this earth to make other lives better. I live in a fanciful, hopeful, (somewhat) trusting state of mind that probably makes me vulnerable to breeches of trust.

Why do I feel betrayed by a TV station for example? How can parents publicly betray the trust of eight young children who are entitled to a safe and loving environment (Jon and Kate plus 8)? What on earth is wrong with a society that feeds on the break up of a family during such a painful time? What is wrong with a television station that benefits and builds ratings during the much publicized break up of the two parents? Again, and most importantly…what are the parents thinking? Why am I so saddened by the dissolution of this family? Do I feel betrayed because I allowed myself to let media manipulate my emotions as I came to care about a family that I am not directly related to?

When I taught students, I was attuned to the moods of my students and could often sense that their home lives impacted (and impeded) their school lives. Children’s feelings do not switch off when they walk through school doors. Perhaps, the Gosselin children symbolize all the students I have worked with who have experienced similar family issues. I am not going to watch the show any longer. It’s too painful a reminder of all my past students who struggled through similar (but not as public) parental break-ups.

It’s quite likely that my strong drive to write this post is also influenced by an excellent article I read today: From Consultant to Courtier: Trust is the Pathway written by Matthew May. In his article, May’s points out that consultants tend to underestimate the importance of trust in the consultant/client relationship. In my mind, consultant/client could be replaced by administrator/teacher. He contends that consultants [administrators] mistakenly believe trust comes from simply providing excellent and reliable service. He also states there are some organizational cultures that are characterized by a lack of trust. I suggest that this holds true in some school cultures as well.

Sadly, my first administrative experience occurred in a district where trust was an issue. I walked in starry eyed and sure that I could introduce technologies that would make a difference…technologies that would help teachers teach and students learn. I soon learned that I had stumbled into a district where a number of individuals were guarded and afraid to be perceived as vulnerable. I did not realize how wearing it was to work in a culture where there was a prevailing sense of distrust, until I left the district. (In fairness…I should mention leadership has since changed in the district; perhaps the culture has also changed).

So here is the thing…I find myself in a mentally pivotal position. On one hand, I have all this passion and knowledge I want to share. I genuinely believe that technology can be used to impact learning across the curriculum. I’m absolutely sure that as educators we are heading in a wonderful direction when we look at the 21st Century Partnership skills we are trying to instill in our students (and ultimately our workforce). On the other hand, do I want to put myself in a position where I am vulnerable once again?

Perhaps, I am taking a risk by sharing my thoughts in this post. It’s been a while, since I really put myself out there. If Mays is right when he stated in his article that “trust and risk give rise to one another—they do not exist apart,” then, I guess I am ready to trust once again. As I finish writing this post, I am no longer sad. I am at peace with my decision to risk and trust as I continue to seek a position where I can use technology as a tool to help students learn. However, I will not be watching Jon and Kate plus 8.