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Wednesday, 28 July 2010

To become a better reader, you have to read ...

Posted on 12:00 by Unknown
Interesting and though-provoking ideas taken from Warlick's 2cents worth blog (older post): Can Literacy be Taught?
"Students who become fluent in reading, do so because they read, not because they were taught the basic reading skills. Of course, it wouldn’t have happened without having been taught the basic reading skills. But they become fluent because they are required to read for the rest of their formal education and beyond.

If we expect students to become fluent in the broader and equally critical information and technology skills of being literate in a networked, digital, and abundant (contemporary) information environment, then they should be required to use those skills in all of their formal education, just like reading. Reading, for education, is a learning literacy. Reading, processing, and expressing knowledge in a networked, digital, and abundant information landscape are equally important learning skills — learning literacies. "

The paragraph above just screams "integration" to me. Students and teachers should be using technological skills in all parts of the curriculum. Just because a teacher or a student uses something one time does not mean that they "know" it so well it will become natural. That is where the saying, "practice makes perfect" comes in. Repeated use and exposure to technology and "learning literacies" will increase the ease of use. My English/Language Arts students who were used to creating blog responses, wiki pages, voicethread projects, glogs, and other things chose their own ways to respond to novels and articles. That freedom of choice and medium allowed for self-expression and differentiation of student learning.

image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickgage/3738107746/sizes/m/

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Posted in Melissa Edwards | No comments

Thinkfinity from Verizon

Posted on 10:57 by Unknown
Thinkfinity is a website that contains lesson plans, interactive student materials, educational resources, and professional development; all for free. These resources have been created or reviewed by Content Partners. Content Partners are: Xpeditions, Science NetLinks, EconEdLink, readwritethink, ArtsEdge, Smithsonian's History Explorer, Illuminations, and EdSitement. The front page of Thinkfinity is where you can view resources just added, a calendar "Today in History", lesson plans, intereactives, blogs, etc. At the bottom of the page is where you can find the Content Partner sites. Did I mention that all of this is free?

Xpeditions is from National Geographic. You can search for lesson plans by standards, topic, or grade level. At the bottom of the page you can enter Xpedition Hall which is a virtual museum. Mapping Mars is a sample lesson plan from Xpeditions.

You can search Science NetLinks for Lesson Plans, Tools (interactives), Resources, and Benchmarks. You can also search Science NetLinks by benchmarks, grade level, or topic. Here is a sample lesson plan that includes student E-Sheets and an Interactive. The lesson is "Animal Diversity".

EconEdLink is from the Council of Economic Education. The main items on the front page is CyberTeach, Current Events, DataLinks, and WebLinks. You can click on one of these links to find lessons and activities, or search for a topic. A sample lesson plan from EconEdLink is The Trading Game.

ReadWriteThink is hosted by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English. There are tabs for Classroom Resources, Professional Development, and Parent and Afterschool Resources. A sample lesson plan from readwritethink is "The Tale of Despereaux: Fact or Fiction?".

ArtsEdge is from The Kennedy Center and incorporates the arts into lesson plans. The main elements to this page is Teach, Connect, and Explore. "A Lens into the Past" is a sample lesson plan from ArtsEdge.

Smithsonian's History Explorer is from the Smithsonian. This site is a little different because you can search for resources by historical era. A sample lesson plan from Smithsonian's History Explorer is "A Landmark in American Justice".

Illuminations is sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. An interactive sample on Illuminations is Vector Investigation: Boat to the Island.

EdSitement is sponsored by the National Endowment for The Humanities and has lesson plans for Art & Culture, Literature & Language Arts, Foreign Language, and History & Social Studies. "The Declaration of Independence: An Expression of the American Mind" is a sample lesson plan.

Each website can be searched by topic, grade level, or standard. They all have interactives and web links as extensions to the lesson. As a teacher, you are allowed to use, change, or copy anything within Thinkfinity for your class. If you go to a website outside of Thinkfinity or one of the partner sites, make sure to check out the copy right information for that particular web page.

By the way, did I mention that it was free?
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Posted in 21st Century, Dorene Bates, Thinkfinity | No comments

Thursday, 22 July 2010

Learning Village additions coming soon ... (hopefully)

Posted on 13:14 by Unknown
If you are a WSFCS teacher, and you have not looked at the Learning Village Curriculum Warehouse in a while (or ever), well ... you should! :-) There is even a link to Learning Village off the district homepage (it is the 2nd one in the list of Quick Links). If you go look at a department webpage for one of the curriculum areas (English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science), there are links to the WSFCS Learning Village Curriculum Warehouse there too. If you can log into a computer at school, then you should be able to log into Learning Village.

In Learning Village, you can find find ideas, resources, and even lesson plans for curriculum areas (just pick a grade level and subject area). SCOS competency goals and objectives have links to specific resources from LearnNC, netTrekker, and Learn360. You can also find templates for flashcards, bingo games, and graphic organizers for all grade levels in Resources.

If you don't find what you are looking for, or if you have suggestions for other things to include in Learning Village, there is a place for discussions and feedback. When you share ideas or wants or needs, I try to see what it possible to make that happen. I think my job to is help you get what you need, so just let me know!
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Posted in Learning Village, Melissa Edwards | No comments

Cropping Student Photos for class activities with ActivInspire

Posted on 08:45 by Unknown
The start of school is fast approaching. Are you ready? Do you have something planned for the first day of school? Why not use your ActivInspire software and a simple digital camera(or document camera or web cam), to take pictures of your students and crop out their heads so that you can create fun interactive flipchart pages with them.

So how do you do this you might ask, well after you have taken the pictures and uploaded them to your flip chart follow these simple steps using the Camera Tool to crop out each students picture.

Click on Tools (from the main toolbar)

  • Click on Camera.

  • Select what you want to use; Point to Point, Freehand, Window or Fullscreen Snapshot.
  • You will see a Rectangle, some pick up boxes and a Camera Shapshot toolbox on the screen.
  • Highlight, select or click on the area you want to capture.
  • When the Camera Snapshot box appears select the destination for the image; Current Page, New Page, Clipboard, etc.



Now that you have the images in your ActivInspire flipchart you can now use them in any way you want. So how do you use them?

You could have your students search "People" in the Resource Browser and choose a character image and put their head on the character using the Grouping Feature.
Watch this short video to see how its done.


Or you could set up a class flipchart page for your students so that when they come into class in the morning they can move their picture to show they are present and mark if they have a bag lunch, box lunch or hot lunch for the day.
Check out this short video.


This is just the beginning of some of the things you can do with your ActivInspire and using the Cropping Tool under the Camera Options.

Slides and Images: Kathryn Vaughn
Videos: eherreid
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Posted in Evan Herreid, promethean | No comments

"AwesomeHighlighter" is...well, awesome

Posted on 05:53 by Unknown
We live in an exciting time for web-based tools. There is no shortage of great free options that can be used in the classroom. The challenge often exists when wading through all of them on the Internet and finding the right ones for your class. My latest recommendation for an addition to your "teacher toolbox" is "the awesome highlighter."
The awesomehighlighter can be used to highlight text on web pages and create a link to the highlighted page.

It's a great way to provide a little guidance or instructions for using a site (above) or maybe posting discussion questions on a website (below). After you have highlighted the site and posted discussion questions, you will be given a unique url that you can then share via email or on your website. It is easy to use and free without the need to set up an account. Although you may choose to create one in order to save highlighted pages.


I think the awesomehighlighter can be used in classrooms with interactive whiteboards, projectors or mounted flatscreens, but also by teachers who would like to add the awesomehiglighted link to their websites.
Awesomehighlighter, a cool little web tool worth adding to your collection.
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Posted in Emory Maiden, web-based tools | No comments

Wednesday, 21 July 2010

Timeline = Understanding?

Posted on 17:44 by Unknown

I was looking through some NC History information that involved lots of dates and events. I am also reading a novel that gives lots of dates, events, and information about Soviet Union history (that is another story that I am not really sure why I keep reading it, but I do). When I read information from either of these sources (or any type of information like that), I try to organize it in my mind, but don't do a very good job. Since I am a visual learner, I realized that I am trying to visualize a timeline in my head to organize and make sense of all that information.

Students could create timelines to organize events or events in a story. Now I remember turning my piece of paper sideways and attempting to draw a straight line to create a timeline. I like to add details, so my paper will fill up quickly, and then I would not know what to do if I came across more information that needed to be added in the middle of the timeline.

Luckily, technology can help students today create, compare, and view interactive timelines. I believe organization of ideas and information leads to better understanding, comprehension, and learning. I have found several online timeline creators that could be used on an interactive white board (IWB) for a group activity or even at computers for partner or individual work. I can see students coming up with all kinds of way to organize information. Please let me know if you have other tools to add to my list.

  • ReadWriteThink Interactive Timeline Creator
  • TimeToast
  • Teach-nology timeline creator (horizontal and vertical timelines available)
  • OurTimeLines.com
  • TimeRime
  • Capzules Social Storytelling
  • XTimelines
  • Preceden-The easiest way to make a timeline
  • TimeGlider

image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/yggg/2659337941/sizes/m/

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Posted in Melissa Edwards, web-based tools | No comments

Tuesday, 20 July 2010

Transforming Education

Posted on 11:52 by Unknown
Technology enabled classrooms should have self-directed learners and teachers who can manage their classrooms. Every child learns differently and children should be allowed to learn at their own pace. If we expect students to learn how to solve problems, collaborate and communicate then we need a new way for them to learn through the use of technology. To prepare for the 21st century learning must take place inside and outside the classroom using technology to improve the learning outcomes for all students.

Students need to be self-directed learners who “select, manage, and assess their own learning activities” and are given the freedom to pursue learning “at any time, in any place, through any means, at any age.” Teachers would “emphasize skills, processes and systems instead of content coverage and tests.” So how can this be done?

The article listed three essentials:
  1. Learning must move from teacher-centered to student-centered – this isn’t a new concept in education but how many teachers really know what this means and how to accomplish this in the classroom?
  2. Students must take charge of their own learning – again not a new concept, but how many students want to be in charge of their own learning? How do we create an environment where students want to be involved learners?
  3. Assessments must be formative and summative – formative assessments provide feedback to the students by addressing learning gaps showing teachers where to re-teach concepts. Summative assessments show the proficiency level reached by the student.
The article outlined four ideas.
  1. Create – teacher created multimedia lessons – hands on, collaborative learning activities
  2. Teach – keep students focused on the lesson and learning
  3. Learn – allow students time to collaborate, interact with the materials and create meaning from the lesson
  4. Assess – formative assessments giving students feedback throughout the lesson – re-teaching and providing additional materials as needed
One of the best ways for teachers to accomplish these goals is through classroom-management system software but what if your school district doesn’t use a classroom-management system? Teachers could begin by building more student-centered activities through project-based learning. As I read through the following list it was easy to see the similarities.

Project-Based Learning outline from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project-based_learning
  1. Organized around an open-ended Driving Question or Challenge – (Create)
  2. Creates a need to know essential content and skills – (Teach)
  3. Requires inquiry to learn and/or create something new – (Learn)
  4. Requires critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and various forms of communication – (Learn)
  5. Allows some degree of student voice and choice – (Learn)
  6. Incorporates feedback and revision – (Assess)
  7. Results in a publicly presented product or performance – (Assess)

I compared this list to a recent posting I wrote about project-based learning. Here are the steps as outlined from Edutopia. http://www.edutopia.org/maine-project-learning-six-steps-planning

Six Steps for Planning a Successful Project
  1. Develop a compelling topic that covers state standards - (Create)
  2. Develop or design a comprehensive final product that each student will have a role in creating - (Create & Learn)
  3. Involve professional organizations and professionals from the community to connect the academic study with the real world - (Teach & Learn)
  4. Identify and organize the major learning resources (Teach & Learn)
  5. Coordinate calendars and allow enough time for each component to be done well - (Learn)
  6. Plan a final experience or culminating event - (Assess)
You can find lots of information about project-based learning, problem-based learning and inquiry-based learning on the internet. To help teachers find ways to transform education, build 21st century skills and prepare all students for the future take a look at these links.

Project-Based Learning Links
Project-Based Learning for the 21st Century- http://www.bie.org/
Project-Based Learning from Edutopia - http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning
Project-Based Learning - http://pbl-online.org/
Problem-Based Learning - http://livebinders.com/play/play/19470
Build Project-Based Learning Checklists and Evaluations - http://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/checklist.shtml

To read the article Transforming Education:
http://newbay.ebookhost.net/tl/smart/2/ebook/1/index.php?e=46&user_id=22907&flash=10.53
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Posted in DeLea Payne, Project Based Learning | No comments

Friday, 16 July 2010

Can you read me a story?

Posted on 18:52 by Unknown

A few weeks ago, my 4 year old came home from daycare telling me about If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. I told her that I would try to find that book for us to read at home. Even though she kept asking about it, I kept forgetting to look for that book. (I think it may be in my boxes of "teacher stuff" in the basement) Over the last few weeks, I have been working to correct some (lots and lots) broken Learn360 links in WSFCS Learning Village (our county's curriculum warehouse where we want teacher to go for resources and ideas for planning lessons). One day I noticed something about Reading Rainbow and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie on Learn360. One hundred fifty-three Titles from Reading Rainbow have recently been added to the content available in Learn 360. I knew I had found a solution to my problem (or at least something that would give me a little more time before searching in all those boxes downstairs). My little one would probably love hearing the book read aloud and seeing the illustrations on the computer screen. That got me thinking about how teachers could use some of these titles with their Interactive White Boards (IWBs). Imagine how students would react to having that large of a screen to view a book! Hearing and seeing the story appeals to multiple learning styles.
I searched through my delicious bookmarks (and a few tweets on twitter) to see what else I could find to provide students with similar storytelling experiences.
Here is what I have found so far:
  • Storyline Online
  • StoryBee
  • StoryCove - A World of Stories
  • Topsy Turvy Tale
  • LoudLit
  • Smories
  • Mrs. P's Magic Library
  • StoryNory
  • Signed Stories
  • BookHive
  • Big Universe
Please let me know what other sites can be added to this list!
image from Phillip Martin ClipArt
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Posted in Melissa Edwards, reading | No comments

Monday, 12 July 2010

Robot Technology

Posted on 13:27 by Unknown
In Los Angeles a young boy with autism is learning to mimic the moves of a robot. Around the world computer scientists are developing robots that can engage people, teaching simple skills, household tasks, vocabulary words and imitation. Researchers are also looking at robotics as instructors for foreign language or for developmental problems such as autism.

South Korea is using hundreds of robots as teacher aides in the classroom. According to Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, “with the right kind of technology at a critical period in a child’s development, they (robots) could supplement learning in the classroom.”

In one study children with autism spent thirty minutes with a robot when programmed to be socially engaging and another thirty minutes when the robot was programmed to behave randomly. When programmed to be socially engaging the children spent more time directly interacting with the robot. What does this tell us? When the robot acted more human the children responded better to the robot.

Timing the robot’s responses was also very important. If the robot responded too fast or too slow to the child this disrupted the interaction between them so the physical rhythm of the robot is crucial. When the robot was able to bob or shake in rhythm with an autistic child, the child would be less fearful to engage with the robot. “Simple mimicry seems to build a kind of trust, and increase sociability”, said Anjana Bhat, an assistant professor in the department of education.

For robots to be truly effective guides with children, robots will have to learn from students. According to Andrea Thomaz, assistant professor of interactive computing at Georgia Tech, if ”scientists could equip a machine to understand the nonverbal cues that signal “I’m confused” or “I have a question” — giving it some ability to monitor how its lesson is being received” then the robot could accumulate knowledge through experience.

Researchers would like to find ways that “robots can learn to learn, on their own and without instruction.” Then can a robot be programmed to be “responsive to the needs of a class, even an individual child.”

Not sure if a robot could replace a teacher, what do you think?
To learn more about the robots mentioned in this posting please check out the links below.
  • RUBI the robot  -  http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/18319
  • CosmoBot - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmobot
  • Asimo Robot - http://asimo.honda.com/  
  • Bandit Robot - http://robotics.usc.edu/~kheldman/  
  • Nao Robot - http://www.aldebaran-robotics.com/en  
  • South Korea Robots - http://www.plasticpals.com/?p=21283  
To read this article please click on one of the links below:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/07/12/students-meet-your-new-teacher-mr-robot/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/science/11robots.html?_r=2&emc=eta1

Images from Bandit Robot, CosmoBot Robot and Nao Robot sites
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Posted in DeLea Payne | No comments

Thursday, 8 July 2010

Students Design World Fixing Solutions

Posted on 09:45 by Unknown
Have you heard about Imagine Cup, the student technology competition? The competition was developed by Microsoft to encourage young people to use their imaginations, their passion and creativity to design technology innovations that can make a difference in the world today.

Each team is challenged to come up with solutions that improve health, reduce poverty or boost literacy based on the UN Millennium Goals. To learn more about the United Nations Millennium Development Goals - http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

The competition hopes to inspire more students to become interested in technical careers and prepare them for future careers. To view some of this year’s finalist videos click on the link and select a country - http://www.msstudentlounge.com/studentrally/tabid/81/Default.aspx

The competition categories are: Software Design, Embedded Development, Game Design, Digital Media and IT Challenge. To read about each teams’ projects - http://imaginecup.com/Competition/Finalists.aspx

Although this is a global competition how can you inspire your students to become passionate about learning and making a difference in the world? What project-based activities could you do with your students next school year? Do you want to design a student-centered project from scratch or find project-based activities online? Here’s some help with available project-based ideas from the internet –
  • Computing Technology for Math Excellence - http://www.ct4me.net/math_projects.htm
  • Internet4Classrooms: Project Sites - http://www.internet4classrooms.com/project.htm
  • Mrs. O’s House: Projects - http://www.mrsoshouse.com/pbl/pblin.html
  • Youth Learn: Inquiry Based Project -
    http://www.youthlearn.org/learning/planning/lesson-planning/how-inquiry/how-inquiry
  • Project-based activities in Math & Science - http://www.squidoo.com/project-based-activities
There are many other sites on the internet that guide teachers in developing project-based activities and many sites that offer examples of project-based activities. This summer is a great time to revamp your lesson plans and incorporate project-based activities throughout the school year.

To learn more about Imagine Cup - http://imaginecup.com/
To view videos from Imagine Cup 2010 -
http://www.eschoolnews.tv/MN/Mnp/eSchoolNews/eSchoolNews.aspx
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Posted in DeLea Payne | No comments

Wednesday, 7 July 2010

Instructional Resources in Learning Village

Posted on 12:40 by Unknown
Where is the first place you go to look for ideas for a lesson on a certain topic?

We all have our favorite places to go. Some of your commonly used resources may be listed in the image above. Did you (as a WSFCS teacher) know that you can go to one place and be able to access all of the sites listed?

These Instructional Resource for you to search in are all linked to the front page of the WSFCS Learning Village Curriculum Warehouse. I was impressed to be able to find them all in one place, but what even caught my attention more was that if you search for your grade or subject in Learning Village, there are links to specific things in most of these resources.
For example, if you were supposed to teach a 4th grade Science lesson on Rocks and Minerals, in one place in Learning Village, you could find:
  • NC Standard Course of Study Objectives
  • Links to Lessons from LearnNC on this competency goal
  • Links to the Standard Search Site for both Promethean and SMART
  • Links to a variety of Online Resources for this competency goal
  • Learn360 search results for videos on this competency goal
  • Link to netTrekker Search Results on this competency goal
  • and Links to Related Content (which may include some already made lessons complete with Essential Questions and other needed information)
That means you won't have to take time to search the various sites in the image above for the pieces that fit with your curriculum area and Standard Course of Study. Learning Village is not just for Elementary School teachers .. there is also content available for both Middle and High School subjects.

To get the the WSFCS Learning Village from our New Website home page, look to the left to see Quick Links. Learning Village is the second one there. You can also get to Learning Village by clicking on Employees in the blue channel bar. From the drop down menu, click on Resources. Once you click on Planning, you will see the Learning Village Curriculum Warehouse option!

image taken from WSFCS Learning Village

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Posted in Learn360, Learning Village, LearnNC, Melissa Edwards, netTrekker | No comments

Tuesday, 6 July 2010

ArcGIS Explorer Online Can Be Used as an Option to Google Earth

Posted on 12:46 by Unknown
ArcGIS Explorer online http://explorer.arcgis.com/ is a free web application that allows users to look at existing maps or add content to their own maps.


The first thing you will need to do is install Microsoft Silverlight (a 5.96 mb file) on your computer. Once this is done, the program will load when you open the website. The default base map is a topographic base map, however, there are 12 other base maps available by clicking on the base map button. From this dropdown you can choose a Bing aerial base map, a Bing road map, streets, terrain, terrain with labels, a USA topo map, shaded relief, Imagery, Imagery with labels and others. The controls on the left side of the map are very similar to Google Maps. You can zoom in & out, use your mouse and scroll wheel and the arrow keys on your keyboard. The Map Center on the far left of the screen allows you to view pre-saved maps. Maps that you create can be shared with everyone, shared with specific people you designate or kept for your personal use. You can search for locations by typing in the address, zip code, international postal code, intersection, airport code or geographic coordinates. The pre-made maps contain details that you can click on to learn specific information about each place. You can add content to your maps, measure distances and areas and create presentations for later playback. Presentations allow you to create captures of maps or slides that include titles and other relevant content you add to the map. You can also add pop-up windows that include text, pictures or video. Once you have created all your slides, you can have users advance the slides manually or automatically. This online resource would be very beneficial to Social Studies and Math classes as well as other subjects.
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Posted in Brian Piekarski, geography, Google | No comments

A Virtual Day Makes A Difference

Posted on 06:15 by Unknown

A regular school day. A beautiful summer day. A virtual day. What!?

What do all three of these have in common? More than you think. As the District Distance Learning Coordinator - I see all three of these descriptions rolled into one.

We are off to a great start for the North Carolina Virtual Public School 2010 summer session. Many of the students in our district have chosen to enroll in virtual courses over their summer break. Believe it or not... for many, reasons - but surprisingly - the students are not complaining about using their summer to work. How could this be, you might ask? Simple enough - virtual learning is learning... but in a different environment. What does this mean? It means students are engaged, but quite differently.

I am a firm believer that learning styles play an important role in every student's ability and willingness to learn. Find the right learning style and student engagement is not far behind. NCVPS has done just that for many students across NC. A virtual learning environment offers some similarities to the traditional classroom.... standard course of study curriculum, DPI certified teachers and, of course EOC testing. But, what exactly are those differences that continue to draw the students (and parents) into this type of academic option? Simply put? Delivery. The course content is the same, the teachers are the same - but the method of delivery is totally different. Take the same course title, same course work and sprinkle in online features/functions with many 21st century tools - and “ta-daaa” you have peeked the curiosity of many students who felt simply "stuck" in the normal classroom.

Now, our teachers are doing a great job face-to-face, but as we have all come to realize, today’s students are interested and quite capable of taking our 21st century tools to the max in education. NCVPS offers a different approach to learning – and different tools to assess and communicate what the students have actually learned!

Reasons to take a NCVPS, Learn & Earn or any type of virtual learning course? Schedule conflicts, no access to a specific course needed, credit recovery, or special circumstances that require the structure of a virtual course. Remember… Parent, Principal and Guidance Counselor permission required!

This summer, many students are living out the best of both worlds…. School work, while still enjoying the sun’s rays. Do you ever remember taking Algebra I sitting on the beach? I sure don't!

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Posted in April Patterson, Learn and Earn, NCVPS, online learning | No comments

Friday, 2 July 2010

Big Universe

Posted on 03:49 by Unknown

"Instill the love of reading, writing, and learning."

I think that statement pretty much sums up what I think education should do for students. Those were my goals as a classroom teacher, and finding that statement as the heading on a website made me like the site before really even looking at it!
Big Universe is a place to "read, share, and create books online" that uses the above statement on its homepage. I have enjoyed reading and sharing some ideas from there on twitter (@biguniverse). Since I enjoy many of the ideas they tweet, I decided to go look at their site. There is information there for parents and educators, as well as an informative video. The reading teacher in me started thinking of some ideas, but then I wondered about the quality of the stories. so I decided to try them out. My 4 year old daughter crawled up in my lap while I was looking at the computer(21 inch widescreen monitor), so I thought I would read some stories with her. We started off looking at the FREE member-created books. My little one enjoyed naming the animals in the The Wild ABC's by Reaghen West. She wanted to read more. I started thinking about how reading and even creating alphabet books like that could be used as a great project at school for younger students learning the alphabet but also a project for older students to see what they had learned at the end of a unit.
My little girl did not want to stop, so we looked for more. This time we looked at one of the Premium Publisher Books (not free, but there is a free trial): What Really Happened to Humpty? My little one loved all the characters that she recognized, and I liked the more complicated mystery story line that would interest older elementary school students. The illustrations for this story looked nice. I liked the way you could "turn the pages" with the click of a mouse to make it even more like a book. I kept thinking how nice it would be to use a story like that on an Interactive White Board. The teacher could "write" on the story to emphasize and teach certain skills. Students could circle the parts of the story/pictures that helped them predict what would happen next. The story would be large enough for all to see.
I let my little one choose one more story. She wanted a pirate story, so I decided to try out the search box (keyword, category, reading level, age, subject, genre). When I typed in pirate, there were three choices. She chose The Pirates? The Princess (those are her two favorite things right now). This was another Premium Publisher Book, but this one had a read aloud option with it. My daughter and I were both impressed with the read aloud since the characters had different voices, there were some songs, and the words in the story changed color as they were read aloud.
Both the parent and the teacher in me really like this site, the quality of the stories, and all the other things it has to offer involving both reading and creation of the stories (there's over 7,000 images available). Even though I am a big fan of FREE things, I could see myself paying for this.
image from http://www.biguniverse.com/
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Posted in Melissa Edwards, reading, writing | No comments

Thursday, 1 July 2010

Twitter & Foursquare-A Game Worth Playing?

Posted on 10:24 by Unknown
My blog posts, for the most part, follow a predictable pattern. I blog about experiences in ed tech or maybe a new tool I've found that I feel deserves attention. I generally avoid topics that I think will create a stir, in part because I cross-post on my department's blog, but also because I don't like to publicly rain on parades. However, sometimes a lot can be learned from a discourse on a subject and maybe a good comment to a blog post will help me learn something.

So here goes . . . I don't like Foursquare, and I think it deters efforts to encourage educators to use Twitter.

I'm not a "foursquare expert," but I'll explain it as best I can. On Wikipedia, Foursquare is described as a location-based social networking website that allows users to "check in" at locations and earn points, badges, etc. . . . Foursquare can be integrated with Twitter so when a Foursquare user "checks in" the update is broadcast in Twitter.

In the past year I've spent some time talking about the ways I think Twitter can be a great tool for educators to build a PLN that will share ideas and resources related to learning and education. I've tried to dispel the notion that Twitter is for movie stars and narcissists who think the rest of the world cares what they are doing. Because I believe Twitter is a great tool for making connections and sharing ideas with other skilled, passionate educators from around the globe. Then along comes Foursquare which allows users to turn in location-based reporting into a game. Collecting badges and ousting others from their "foursquare Mayor" duties.

Now I'm not arguing there couldn't be educational value attached to Foursquare (on field trips, for example), and I know there is a need to learn technology ourselves so we can help guide students to make wise decisions using mobile technology. I won't even scratch the surface on some of the privacy issues that need to be considered with any location-based programs. And I don't have issues with geolocation games (who doesn't like games?).

I'm focused on Foursquare's impact on Twitter because my twitterstream will now occasionally include:

"John Doe just became Mayor of Best Buy"
"Jane Doe just unlocked her newbie badge"
"I'm at Chick-fil-a at Northgate Mall"

(Sigh) Now I know I could "unfollow" users of Foursquare and these updates would disappear. But a lot of these people often bring real value to my network. I respect and learn with many of these educators, and I don't want to lose that value. And I am not against some of the social aspects of Twitter. I really enjoy some of the support and water cooler banter that is on Twitter every day. So I'll tolerate the updates on where you ate lunch because I value you, your ideas and your commitment to education.

But for the new user, the skeptic, the teacher short on time who is still evaluating Twitter or the tech dept making decisions about whether Twitter is a website worth unblocking for teachers, I think Foursquare is a negative force. I think it adds to the notion that Twitter is just a social tool meant to report "What's happening?" I think while Foursquare helps Twitter become a more "social" tool, it harms the credibility of Twitter as a "learning" tool.

So Foursquare users am I uniformed? Not giving Foursquare a fair chance? Missing out?

Additional Reading:
  • Vicki Davis recently posted a Foursquare Beginner's Guide from ISTE (including Steven W. Anderson) that is well worth reading and maybe has a different view of Foursquare.
Image Credits:
Both images used were licensed under CreativeCommons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dpstyles/3367761841/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marco40134/3264740932/
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Posted in Emory Maiden, Twitter | No comments

Project-Based Learning

Posted on 06:14 by Unknown
I recently came across two articles and three videos dealing with project learning from Edutopia. We all know that students need to be engaged learners and project-based learning is not a new concept for teachers but many teachers may not fully understand how to create a meaningful project that includes all content areas. The video examples showcased a learning expedition where students and teachers spent up to a semester working on a learning project.

The first article “Six Steps for Planning a Successful Project” provides the steps and examples of how to create a project from beginning to final product. The next article “Five Questions to Ask Before You Start a Project” posed questions the teachers should consider to make sure there are enough resources and examples to make the project meaningful for all students.

Each of the videos detailed a project the students worked on and presented to parents and the community. The projects involved community resources, teachers from universities and experts in various fields. The learning expeditions were real for the students who interviewed people, took pictures in the community and presented the projects from their perspectives and point of view.

Here are the videos:
  • Anatomy of a Project: “Soil Superheroes” includes links to additional resources, teacher planning guide, and samples of student comic strips.
  • Anatomy of a Project: “Give Me Shelter” includes samples of student work, links to additional resources, teacher planning guide and assessment forms.
  • Anatomy of a Project: Kinetic Conundrum” doesn’t include any additional resources.
It’s important for teachers to remember that these learning expeditions can be tailored to fit the time and resources available in their communities. A learning project doesn’t have to include an entire grade level of teachers; a well-planned project could be carried out by a couple of teachers. Also, think about including technology resources such as Skype and available free software that could be utilized for the project. Students need to learn from real-world situations; students need to learn how to explore, problem-solve, collaborate and work as a team; teachers need to know how to use technology as a tool to change the nature of learning; and students who participate in learning expeditions will turn into investigators, problem-solvers, scientists, writers, artists, multimedia experts, presenters and communicators.

One guiding principle was prevalent throughout the articles and videos - after designing the learning project the teachers went through every step of the project, investigating, collaborating, designing and presenting a final product to the group. The teachers learned how to scaffold the tasks and learning of new skills so the students would be successful each step of the way through the learning expedition. This was a key factor in the success of the project – teachers taking the time to work through the learning project and completing a final product because what looks great on paper in reality may not work.

To read the articles and view the videos please go to Edutopia:
http://www.edutopia.org/maine-project-learning-how-to-plan-a-project
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Posted in DeLea Payne, Project Based Learning | No comments
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