I know that I may be a little bit behind on this post but I was lucky enough to get to attend the NCTIES Conference at the beginning of the month of March. While there I got to see a number of people that I have not seen since last years conference. I also got to showcase a couple of years of work on my part into concurrent and technology fair sessions. For the better part of the past three years I have had a little side project within our school district separate from my normal everyday activities. This side project has been on Document Cameras(doc cams). How it all came about was that one day while at a school I was teaching a workshop at one of the teachers came to me and said that her doc cams was not working and would I be willing to take a look at it to see what might be wrong. Well with it being me I said sure why not I will take a look at it, I know a few things about doc cams. When I went into her classroom I immediately realized that I was not as smart as I thought. The reason was that the doc cam that she had was not one that I knew about. You see our district has normally used Lumens doc cams, but this was one by AverMedia. I knew nothing about AverMedia products so I spent some time in there working on the issue she was having all along making mental notes about what I was doing along with saying how many other types of doc cams are in out there in our school system. It turns out there are many different types of them in our schools. If you want to get really technical we have doc cams from four different companies and almost 15 different model types. It took me a while but over the three years I have learned as much as I can about these products and what makes them tick. I have contacted companies and technical departments regarding issues that I have come across. I have researched many different ways that you can use doc cams in Education and for instructional use. Well armed with that knowledge, a comprehensive Livebinder and another member of our Instructional Technology Staff I came to NCTIES2011 to present "The Three C's of Document Cameras." This was a culmination of three years of collaboration, getting dirty, tweeting, blogging and talking with as many technicians and people that I could. Now I have to admit this was the second conference I have ever presented at. The first one was about two weeks earlier. Although both made me nervous the NCTIES one was more nerve racking than the first. I kept wondering if I had everything, if the preso would be enough, if I was going to be able to get the points across to the attendees and most of all I was worried that when I turned around in the room to present there would only be a handful of people made up mostly of my co-workers showing their support. To my surprise there was close or maybe more than 50 people in the room. I immediately started sweating and all the fears of what might happen flooded into my mind. So it was time for the session to start and it was time to put up or shut up. Well in my normal ADD fashion I started off with asking the audience what types of doc cams they had by asking what the colors were of the units they had in their schools. Of course I got responses for all of the colors I asked about and even a few colors that I did not ask for which made me kind of laugh a little bit. That was enough to break the ice and make me feel just like I was back in one of my schools teaching our in district teachers. Then I began to think, hey this isn't so bad, oh and what made it even funnier was that my boss was snapping pictures from the back of the room while we were teaching and I kept wondering if I was moving around to much. So all in all my experience at NCTIES was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be an of course I also know that it could have been far far worse. So will I do it again and take that plunge into the conference presenting realm? Sure, now that I have gotten to see what it is like to be a presenter I no longer feel of it as something that I have to do but rather something that I look forward to doing.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
We all know Google will do searches, mail, calendars, images and tons more stuff but I got really excited when I came across this list on Twitter with all the Google Tools and Apps, listed A-Z. So many great resources.
It was so helpful, I have done several workshops for our district on the lesser known Google tools that can play big roles in the classroom and plan to do several more.
Below is the presentation. What are your favorite unknown Google Tools?
It was so helpful, I have done several workshops for our district on the lesser known Google tools that can play big roles in the classroom and plan to do several more.
Below is the presentation. What are your favorite unknown Google Tools?
On my blog, I have a widget from Wonderopolis called Wonder of the Day. On the Wonderopolis homepage, I noticed that there are categories in the sidebar listing everything from Animals to Fairy Tales to History to Nutrition to Seasons to Transportation to Writing (archived Wonders of the Day). I decided to see what was in the Colors category ...When the Colors category opened up, there is a big picture of a School Bus with the caption: Take a ride with Wonderopolis as we discover how school buses got their signature color.
What a fun topic to learn about! My 4 year old loves to see School Buses. She starts school in August and keeps telling me that she wants to ride a School Bus. We'll see. :)
On this Wonderopolis page, there is a video (Liv's First Day of Kindergarten). There are also some questions to capture the reader's attention:
Have you ever wondered…
- Why are school buses yellow?
- Is “school bus yellow” a real color?
- What is the most attention-grabbing color?
There is a Try it Out! section as well as Wonder words to know and use on the page. There are so many ways parents and teachers can use the wealth of ideas here to have a discussion or even just to spark an interest. There is even a link to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's interactive.
At the end of this Wonder, there is a clue about the Wonder of the Day for the next day ...
So much great stuff!
I shared the Wonderopolis site as an example of one thing a teacher could do to use some online tools and sites to help Build Literacy in the Classroom. Think of all the reading and writing that simple ideas can serve as starters for ....
150th Anniversary of the Civil War
Commemorate the sesquicentennial with over 300 video clips from
A&E Television Networks and numerous teacher resources!
A&E Television Networks and numerous teacher resources!
What do you know about the Gettysburg Address? Abraham Lincoln? Ulysses S. Grant? From 1861 to 1865, the War of the States created a significant amount of historical content in which we now share with students starting the day they attend school.
Learn360 and our longstanding content partner A&E Television Networks, which includes A&E®, HISTORY® and BIO® , bring you all the resources you'll need to engage your students in one of the most important events in U.S. History!
With over 1,500 Learn360 resources surrounding the Civil War period, including 300 video clips from A&E®, you can bring this era back to life in your classroom. Click here to view videos, speeches, images and articles and customize a lesson plan that's right for you.
To further support the anniversary, A&E Television Networks is hosting the National Civil War Student Challenge in April, in recognition of Civil War Week on HISTORY® . Students 13-19 can register for the Challenge through the end of March, which will take place April 7th-9th, and qualify to earn scholarships based on their answers to a 100-question quiz. Learn more.
Bring history alive in your classroom today with Learn360 and A&E Television Networks!
Sincerely,
Your Learn360 Team
(WSFCS Teachers can access Learn360 through Learning Village)
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
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| 'Using the SMARTBoard in Room 14 - 25' http://www.flickr.com/photos/10204545@N02/3129063547 by: Jess McCulloch |
SMART Boards: According to SMART Technologies, do not use anything abrasive to clean the board. This includes Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and Mr. Clean Wipes (this is also true for the Promethean ActivBoards). Here is a link to SMART's Article on not using abrasives. On the SMART Board Interactive FAQ section, there is a paragraph about removing permanent ink from a SMART Board.
How can I remove permanent ink from a SMART Board interactive whiteboard?
You can use a cleaner such as Expo Board Doctor or, if you have dry-erase markers (but not non-scented markers), you can cover the permanent ink with the ink from a dry-erase marker, and then wipe the surface with a soft cloth or paper towel. If any trace of the original permanent ink remains, spray a cloth with standard glass or whiteboard cleaner and wipe the area clean.
I personally do not recommend writing over permanent ink with ink from a dry-erase marker. Try using Expo Marker Cleaner or Windex. Make sure to spray the cleaner on a soft cloth, not directly on the board.
Promethean ActivBoards: It is recommended that teachers use baby wipes or a damp washcloth for basic cleaning of the board. Make sure the baby wipes are not saturated in liquid. If permanent markers or dry erase is used on the board, clean with Expo Marker Cleaner or Windex. Make sure to spray on the soft cloth and not directly on the board. Here is an image of the flipchart that was recently shown to teachers learning about ActivInspire and ActivBoards.
Be careful about using the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser too hard or too much. It could put a shiny spot on your ActivBoard.
Friday, 25 March 2011
I had another great opportunity this year at NCTIES to attend a session with Leslie Fisher on tech gadgets. For me it seems to make a great start to my conference happenings when I get to have the ADD-Geek moment and get it out of the way first thing.
As usual we had a packed house in the session room and there were people sitting in the aisles, standing along the walls and sitting on the credenzas in the back of the room. I don't know but I think that Leslie seems to be a big draw at the NCTIES conferences, "I'm Just Sayin."
Since I am unfortunately not on the Mac bandwagon I usually tune out when talk turns in that direction. Maybe someday I will be there it just has not happened yet, so I will review some of the PC related items shared in the session.
Rock Melt seemed to be a great tool for the Social Media conscious person. It allows you to round up all of your frequently visited sites, whether Facebook, Twitter, etc. and bring into one location. Almost like you would have in an RSS feed.
We talked about Google Voice in that it allows you to create one telephone number that will route all of your other ones to. So if you have a cell phone, house phone, fax number, another cell phone, a business number you can route them all to that one number. You also have lots of additional features similar to your home telephone but without the hassle of the phone company.
EventBrite allows you to Publish, Promote, Manage events. You can find events in your area or where you are going to be.
Primary Pad which is what use to be called Etherpad, so for those of you that are familiar with the product will easily be able to use this new website.
Don't forget about Twitter and the fact that you can create Widgets that you can embed onto your website. Whether it is your personal page, blog, wiki or even your school so that you can event.
Evernote allows you capture everything, all of your notes, sites, information and puts it into one area so that you can find it fast.
Dropbox allows you to utilize cloud storage for your resource materials and provides you with access to them anywhere you have an Internet connection.
uStream allows you to broadcast yourself over the Internet with the need of very little equipment. All you need is a webcam and a microphone and you are ready to go.
Weebly allows you to create websites on the fly, with or without the need of a domain. They offer premade design templates. Drag and drop capabilities. Auto creates your CSS. Can setup multiple pages on the fly, has an education version that offers security.
Mozy is a cloud based storage site. You get 2GB free then $5 for more. Amazon is also offering their own version as well.
Pogoplug is a piece of hardware that is cloud based, best description is a cloud storage. Load it to the pogoplug and then upload to the Cloud, works similar to dropbox.
It was a great session and I always enjoy the opportunity to hear her speak and she has many more resources that she shares for both PC and Mac and if you have the chance to check out her sight here is the link to her sight http://www.lesliefisher.com/
As usual we had a packed house in the session room and there were people sitting in the aisles, standing along the walls and sitting on the credenzas in the back of the room. I don't know but I think that Leslie seems to be a big draw at the NCTIES conferences, "I'm Just Sayin."
Since I am unfortunately not on the Mac bandwagon I usually tune out when talk turns in that direction. Maybe someday I will be there it just has not happened yet, so I will review some of the PC related items shared in the session.
Rock Melt seemed to be a great tool for the Social Media conscious person. It allows you to round up all of your frequently visited sites, whether Facebook, Twitter, etc. and bring into one location. Almost like you would have in an RSS feed.
We talked about Google Voice in that it allows you to create one telephone number that will route all of your other ones to. So if you have a cell phone, house phone, fax number, another cell phone, a business number you can route them all to that one number. You also have lots of additional features similar to your home telephone but without the hassle of the phone company.
EventBrite allows you to Publish, Promote, Manage events. You can find events in your area or where you are going to be.
Primary Pad which is what use to be called Etherpad, so for those of you that are familiar with the product will easily be able to use this new website.
Don't forget about Twitter and the fact that you can create Widgets that you can embed onto your website. Whether it is your personal page, blog, wiki or even your school so that you can event.
Evernote allows you capture everything, all of your notes, sites, information and puts it into one area so that you can find it fast.
Dropbox allows you to utilize cloud storage for your resource materials and provides you with access to them anywhere you have an Internet connection.
uStream allows you to broadcast yourself over the Internet with the need of very little equipment. All you need is a webcam and a microphone and you are ready to go.
Weebly allows you to create websites on the fly, with or without the need of a domain. They offer premade design templates. Drag and drop capabilities. Auto creates your CSS. Can setup multiple pages on the fly, has an education version that offers security.
Mozy is a cloud based storage site. You get 2GB free then $5 for more. Amazon is also offering their own version as well.
Pogoplug is a piece of hardware that is cloud based, best description is a cloud storage. Load it to the pogoplug and then upload to the Cloud, works similar to dropbox.
It was a great session and I always enjoy the opportunity to hear her speak and she has many more resources that she shares for both PC and Mac and if you have the chance to check out her sight here is the link to her sight http://www.lesliefisher.com/
Thursday, 24 March 2011
We could focus on the struggle for women to win the right to vote. Find out more at Social Studies for Kids and check out who was arrested for trying to vote for president and ordered to pay $1,000. Maybe we would have a woman mayor, lawyer or even president some day.
Graphic courtesy of ArtToday
Thinkfinity has a great listing of lesson plans, newsletters, and calendar events noting women's accomplishments throughout the years.
How about getting the scoop on who was the first First Lady and how she changed the way people thought about the presidency in EDSITEment. So many lessons, student resources, and websites to become acquainted with.
There are over 400 search results for Women's History in netTrekker. It was exciting to view the online exhibits from the National Women's History Museum and become a part of the history through audio, video, and images.
Here are a few other resources with activities, lessons, timelines, and much, much more:
Women in World History Quotes
Time for Kids
TeachersFirst: Women's History Month Resources
Women's History Month Livebinder by KB..Konnected (Resources tab)
Traditionally, we think of the classroom setting as a relationship between teachers and students. The teacher is expected to create an atmosphere that fosters learning while preparing their students for the next step in the educational process. The student is then responsible for learning the material presented by the teacher and proving their knowledge on exams. On some level this still occurs, however fashioning a classroom that prepares students for success in the 21st Century goes beyond the common lecture within the classroom.
Now more than ever school districts are expected to assist their classroom teachers with the tools to help students succeed in our present era. Not only do teachers need to possess the abilities to do this, but there is an important need for districts to establish learning goals through their policies, professional development, curriculum guidelines and school environments. Our students are evolving with our society, therefore we need to change the way that we educate them. We are doing our students a disservice if we do not prepare them for the world that lies ahead.
It is no secret that we now live in a technology driven world. Personally, professionally and socially we are dependent on computers, cell phones and social networks. As educators, we need to embrace these technical advancements and use them in and out of the classroom to improve the learning process. In addition, we must prepare our students to excel in the world in which they live. Yes, students must be able to learn using these tools, but they must also possess the ability to apply what they have learned in their daily life and their future professions. Thus, the 21st Century classroom must feature teachers and learners preparing for present and future success in this technology driven era.
Recent technological advancements provide us with an advantage in the amount of knowledge we can provide to our students while also improving how we present this information. Expecting our students to learn through teacher-led memorization and repetition is no longer acceptable. To improve student accomplishment, it is increasingly important to create a student-centered atmosphere that will engage students in their learning; doing so will result in them having the ability to analyze information and appropriately apply it in practical situations. These skills are necessary if they are to excel at the local level, as well as in the international society in which we now live. If we, as educators, successfully apply all that we know about technology, educational methodologies, and today’s students, we will produce students that possess these 21st century skills. That is, our students will possess the confidence and abilities to exceedingly pass through our educational system; ultimately resulting in an understanding of how to appropriately communicate with others and think critically to solve complex issues.
Now more than ever school districts are expected to assist their classroom teachers with the tools to help students succeed in our present era. Not only do teachers need to possess the abilities to do this, but there is an important need for districts to establish learning goals through their policies, professional development, curriculum guidelines and school environments. Our students are evolving with our society, therefore we need to change the way that we educate them. We are doing our students a disservice if we do not prepare them for the world that lies ahead.
It is no secret that we now live in a technology driven world. Personally, professionally and socially we are dependent on computers, cell phones and social networks. As educators, we need to embrace these technical advancements and use them in and out of the classroom to improve the learning process. In addition, we must prepare our students to excel in the world in which they live. Yes, students must be able to learn using these tools, but they must also possess the ability to apply what they have learned in their daily life and their future professions. Thus, the 21st Century classroom must feature teachers and learners preparing for present and future success in this technology driven era.
Recent technological advancements provide us with an advantage in the amount of knowledge we can provide to our students while also improving how we present this information. Expecting our students to learn through teacher-led memorization and repetition is no longer acceptable. To improve student accomplishment, it is increasingly important to create a student-centered atmosphere that will engage students in their learning; doing so will result in them having the ability to analyze information and appropriately apply it in practical situations. These skills are necessary if they are to excel at the local level, as well as in the international society in which we now live. If we, as educators, successfully apply all that we know about technology, educational methodologies, and today’s students, we will produce students that possess these 21st century skills. That is, our students will possess the confidence and abilities to exceedingly pass through our educational system; ultimately resulting in an understanding of how to appropriately communicate with others and think critically to solve complex issues.
Upcoming Webinar!
The netTrekker Training Team will be sharing valuable tips during a webinar Monday, March 28 at 4:30 PM EST. The webinar, "My Community," will be focused on the new Teacher-only widget that easily connects you with the rest of the netTrekker community. Learn about the various resources available to help you make the most of your netTrekker subscription! Click here for more information and to sign up for this Learning for Today event!
Explore... Learn... Connect... and Build with NT101
Are you new to netTrekker? Do you want to connect with other netTrekker teachers? Are you looking to deepen your understanding of netTrekker? Do you have limited time to devote to professional development?
If you answered "YES" to any of these questions, click here to find out about the many benefits of enrolling in NT101!
Guest Blogger: Sharon Kaffen Incorporates netTrekker at Akron Early College High School
Do you want to prepare your high school students for college research? Discover how Sharon Kaffen uses netTrekker to help her 9th grade Physical Science students augment English skills, while learning to write college-level research papers. Click here to read more from this netTrekker teacher!
Free Access to Defined STEM Resources
Defined STEM is Defined Learning's solution for providing real-world relevance to students and teachers for exploring connections between 21st century learning skills and all subjects. All netTrekker subscribers have FREE access through March to Defined STEM's 1,000+ resources, which stimulate student understanding of science, math, engineering, and technology studies, and demonstrate how these subjects can be applied across the curriculum.
Following the March free trial, netTrekker subscribers will continue to have access to three select Defined STEM resources, which can be found by doing a keyword search for Defined STEM:
Defined STEM: The Business of Optics With this Defined STEM activity, students will view a video on optics and then answer questions on how optics are used and what business opportunities are presented by them.
Defined STEM: Lunar Gravity and Mathematics Students will use mathematics to explore the difference between the force of gravity on the moon versus other objects in the solar system.
Defined STEM: Wind Turbines and Society Defined STEM provides a video and activities in which students will examine the societal arguments for and against wind farms.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Did you know ...
You can learn how to create and edit audio that you can insert into software or web apps like EDUGlogster? You can also create and edit podcasts. View the tutorials on Audacity and start creating and editing audio.
Have you heard about ...
Curriki is free open source curriculum resources. View the tutorials to learn how to search for these free resources and become a member of Curriki for free.
How about ...
ActivInspire and SMART Notebook? Do you need to refresh your skills on how to use one of these for your interactive whiteboard? View the tutorials and get a quick update.
Near and dear to me ...
EDUGlogster is an interactive digital poster that includes text, graphics, video, and sound. View the tutorials to learn how to use this in your classroom.
What about ...
netTrekker? View these videos on netTrekker to learn more on differentiating instruction with standards based online resources.
Look at ...
Prezi. View the tutorials and learn how to use a web based presentation tool that is free for teachers and students. Make sure to sign up for the Student/Teacher licenses called the EduEnjoy account.
How about ...
Skype and Twitter? Use Skype to connect your classroom with other classrooms and experts in their fields (for example authors, scientists, etc.). Use Twitter to learn new skills and resources. View the tutorials to learn more.
What about ...
VoiceThread? Learn how to share images, videos, presentations, and documents. Allow your students or classmates to view and comment on the thread. View the tutorials to learn how to use it in your classroom.
All of the above can be found in Atomic Learning. Why not check it out?
Web 2.0 and Social Media information is easily available for teachers, administrators and other school leaders. Through blogs (like this one), Twitter, News sites, Wikis, and general websites, it can get a bit overwhelming if you try to sit down and sift through all the fluff to get to the good stuff. Thank goodness for RSS and RSS Readers.What is RSS you ask?
In a nutshell, Really Simple Service, or RSS allows you to get instant updates when your favorite sites change. For example, this blog has an RSS feed that you can subscribe to. So instead of checking back here hour after hour and day after day, your reader will notify you when I have added a new post. Most sites offer the ability to subscribe, via RSS, so you can keep up.
Not sure if your favorite sites offer RSS? Look for this symbol:
So, now that you understand a little bit about what RSS is now you need a reader. A reader you ask? Yep, you need a place to organize all those feeds in one easy to view location. Kind of like an electronic newspaper, except you get to choose the content. There are several options out there, but one of the best is Google Reader. Here is a great video tutorial on setting up a Google Reader account.
Google Reader in Plain English from MJT on Vimeo.
So, you are armed with your Google Reader and a basic understanding of RSS and how to subscribe to feeds. What else is missing? Ah, feeds! You need some feeds to subscribe to. Check out this post I did on Educational Blogs you need to be reading. There is also a great collection of all types of Educational Blogs, organized by curriculum area and/or subject matter here. And here is another list of Education Blogs.
If you want to learn more you can check out the Online Learning course we have on RSS and Google Reader. Check out the Instructional Technology Calendar for more information.
So, go forth, subscribe away. Remember, it can be overwhelming at times. Learn from me. A few weeks ago my reader hit 1500 entries a day and I had to scale it back some. So, go slow. But do remember, check it each day and learn something new!
Image from Flickr Creative Commons
Monday, 21 March 2011
So often we hear the phrase “21st Century Learner,” but what does that actually mean? This exact question was asked of me by one of my professors awhile back and I admit, it caught me off guard. Not only was I put on the spot, but I too pondered the same question for quite some time. The only truthful way I knew to go about answering this question was to draw on my own experience and intuition. I sat and pictured my students in my classroom and visualized what I wanted to see them doing...
- Communicating
- Collaborating
- Problem Solving
- Evaluating
- Innovating
To be fair, I asked the same question in regards to teachers. ”What does a 21st century teacher look like?” If we are supposed to prepare students for the future, how does that change our role as teachers? Teaching literacy, no longer means teaching someone to read and write with paper and pencil. Today, literacy is digital literacy. We need to facilitate and inspire creativity amongst ourselves and our students! As 21st century teachers we need to continue to...
- Design authentic and relevant lessons that engage students
- Model digital citizenship
- Communicate ideas effectively
- Collaborate using digital media/formats
- Be a life long learner!
Moving forward in 2011, we must prepare ourselves for what issues lie ahead as we strive to prepare our students for the 21st century. In order to create 21 century learners, teachers and administrators need support! Teachers need time to develop/redevelop their lessons to include the use of digital technologies. Teachers need to be comfortable with the technology they are using and not be afraid to update their methods. Teachers need strong leadership that values technology and understands how it can enhance the curriculum. Instead of pushing for high test scores, we need to teach students to think critically and decide whether or not a piece of information is credible. One must know how to identify a problem, think through solutions and explore new options if their solutions don't work. If students can do that then high test scores should follow because students can actually be problem solvers and informed decision makers.
Now is the time to not just think outside the box, but think through them, be a risk taker and be creative!
Congratulations to Meadowlark Middle School who will represent WSFCS at the Regional Battle of the Books Competition on April 8! What an awesome team of readers and competitors!
Congratulations to ALL the middle school students who participated in Friday's competition! The students demonstrated that they were well prepared and were ready to "battle" over the details of the books. Great sportsmanship, good manners, and mutual respect for other readers was exhibited all day long.
Thanks to all the volunteers who officiated (judges, timekeepers, scorekeepers, Room Managers, Door Monitors,) and especially our moderators, Alex Hoskins, Lisa Turner, Ann Long, and Gayla Bucher. Thanks to everyone for your patience as we worked through the logistics of a new facility and schedule.
Second Place Winner: Hanes Magnet School
Third Place Winner: Paisley IB Magnet School
Close Fourth Place Winner : Jefferson Middle School
Next year's list of books will be released by NCSLMA (NC School Library Media Association) in the next few weeks so everyone can start preparing for WSFCS Battle of the Books in March 2012!
Good luck, Meadowlark Middle at Regionals!
from:
Jackie Pierson
Program Manager for Library Media Services
image is of the Meadowlark Middle Battle of the Books team
I have recently been learning even more about the EDSITEment site from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This program consists of over 500 lessons, 300 sites, student interactives and a monthly newsletter, as well as a Facebook page and twitter feed. They are trying to share resources and information in as many ways as possible.
I agree that teachers of any grade level should not shy away from the resources geared to other grade levels because you never know where you will find great resources and information.
This program consists of over 500 lessons, 300 sites, student interactives and a monthly newsletter, as well as a Facebook page and twitter feed. They are trying to share resources and information in as many ways as possible.
They also have a number of other features which are not so easy to find such as under the Reference Shelf , they have four quick reference indexes of lessons and one for websites:
- Advanced Placement U.S. History Lesson Plans
- Advanced Placement World History Lesson Plans
- Nineteenth Century American Literature
- Civil War Lesson Plans
- Spanish Language websites
I agree that teachers of any grade level should not shy away from the resources geared to other grade levels because you never know where you will find great resources and information.
Friday, 18 March 2011
I have been invited to attend the 20th Annual National Conference on Family Literacy. I am very excited about attending this conference. One of the things they have asked me to do was to send digital images of blogs, wikis, etc. to share at the panel presentation I will be a part of. This reminded me that I hadn't written a blog post about Wonderopolis™. I wrote a blog post about Thinkfinity resources for Black History Month, one for Smithsonian's History Explorer, and Thinkfinity from Verizon.
Some other things that I like about the wonders of the day:
There is always an introductory video. This is always a good lead into a lesson or activity.
Questions are listed of what people have wondered about. These would be good "Essential Questions" to start out with.The "Did You Know" section and "Try it Out" section gives you an explanation of the wonder and some extension activities to try.
The two that I like the best are: vocabulary words and lesson plans attached to the wonder. These are huge! We are always trying to get our students and children to build their vocabulary. If a teacher has an interactive white board, they could take these vocabulary words and make activities for students. Then, they could create extension activities using the lesson plan attached.
One of the past wonders (on dictionary's I think) had a great idea for vocabulary. It said to go to a daily word website, write the word down on an index card, write the definition, draw a picture to illustrate the word, and then share it with someone. Instead of writing the word down on paper, another idea would be to create a Glog (using EDU Glogster). The students could do the same thing on a Glog as on an index card, but it would be digital and could be shared with other classes.
Why don't you go and check out Wonderopolis™ and view the wonders of this website.
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Are you sitting in your classroom wondering why you do not have the same technology products as the other teachers have in their schools? Are you wondering how you can get those technology items for the students in your classroom.
Why not try Donors Choose. What is Donors Choose you are asking.
"DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need."
So what do you do to get funding for your technology needs. Well all you have to do is to start with an idea, then take that to Donors Choose and then sit back and wait. Well it is not that easy but its pretty close. The process is very simple and easy to follow and will have you online and going in just a few minutes.
So what do you have to do? First you have to create an account with Donors Choose. You can find out more About Donors Choose from their webpage. This page gives you a broad overview of all aspects of the website from how it works to partners to affiliates and many other areas which will provide you with the necessary information to make an informed decision as to participating in the program.
So what you have to do is to set up your account by providing a small amount of information including your school email address and location, which you pick from a list of locations in the area in which you are from. Donors Choose will only send supplies to your school location they will not deliver products to alternative addresses. Then of course you have to check off that you agree with the terms of the agreement for using the site.
What else do you have to do? You will need to keep them apprised of the progress your students are making while using the technology in the classroom. This can be shown through video and pictures of the students interacting with the technology. You will also need to maintain your account and update any information that needs to be changed or modified.
Once a project is accepted, "fully-funded," you will be notified and will have a predetermined amount of time to respond with a Yes or No to the materials. Once that is done you will be required to send feedback on your project. This can be in the form of video, photos, letters thanking the donors for the funds to make your project take shape.
Go take a look at the site, sign up and get started with that project idea you may have set aside because you or your school did not have the money to purchase the necessary technology to complete the task.
Why not try Donors Choose. What is Donors Choose you are asking.
"DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need."
So what do you do to get funding for your technology needs. Well all you have to do is to start with an idea, then take that to Donors Choose and then sit back and wait. Well it is not that easy but its pretty close. The process is very simple and easy to follow and will have you online and going in just a few minutes.
So what do you have to do? First you have to create an account with Donors Choose. You can find out more About Donors Choose from their webpage. This page gives you a broad overview of all aspects of the website from how it works to partners to affiliates and many other areas which will provide you with the necessary information to make an informed decision as to participating in the program.
So what you have to do is to set up your account by providing a small amount of information including your school email address and location, which you pick from a list of locations in the area in which you are from. Donors Choose will only send supplies to your school location they will not deliver products to alternative addresses. Then of course you have to check off that you agree with the terms of the agreement for using the site.
What else do you have to do? You will need to keep them apprised of the progress your students are making while using the technology in the classroom. This can be shown through video and pictures of the students interacting with the technology. You will also need to maintain your account and update any information that needs to be changed or modified.
Once a project is accepted, "fully-funded," you will be notified and will have a predetermined amount of time to respond with a Yes or No to the materials. Once that is done you will be required to send feedback on your project. This can be in the form of video, photos, letters thanking the donors for the funds to make your project take shape.
Go take a look at the site, sign up and get started with that project idea you may have set aside because you or your school did not have the money to purchase the necessary technology to complete the task.
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
For some unknown reason, this primarily elementary school person has been spending time learning about resources for middle and high school. Most of the sessions I attended at NCTIES were related to middle or high school, and I have spent the first three days of this week at either a middle or a high school. I wonder if someone is trying to tell me something ...In the workshop I did today, I asked teachers for resources they thought would be useful to other teachers so I could include them in a teacher resource my school system provides. After one session, a teacher asked me if I had ever heard of Shmoop. I had to tell her that was one I had not heard of (and in my mind I was wondering about the site based on the name). That teacher said that site was shown to them last year, and when she starts a lesson series on The Odyssey, she visits Shmoop. She showed me that Shmoop has learning guides and teacher resources. According to the website, it is a collections of "lively learning guides by experts and educators."
For The Odyssey, I found information on the characters, quotes, themes, assignments/activities, setting, analysis, music/video/photos, as well as a summary and even more. They are even sections on certain types of quotes (ex. lies and deceit quotes). When I kept looking, I found a section of the challenges, pitfalls, and opportunities of teaching The Odyssey and with a guide to the Homer writing style in The Odyssey. Wow!
Here are the Popular Learning Guides listed on the site:
There are areas in Shmoop devoted to Literature, Poetry, Shakespeare, Best Sellers, US History, Civics, Economics, Biography, Music, Pre-Algebra, as well as exam prep and College 101. I was impressed by the high levels of information and background building materials to support critical thinking and analysis skills.
image from the shmoop site
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Ok, here is the update process. First of course make sure you have the RF receiver plugged in the USB port of your computer and turn on all the remotes. Also, make sure that the RF receiver and the Pulse remotes are on the same channel. Click on the eInstruction icon in the system tray and choose “eInstruction Device Manager”. Right click on the icon for the Pulse RF receiver and choose “properties”. Press the control and shift keys at the same time. You will see two more tabs appear, “update keypads” and “update base”. If you haven’t updated the firmware on your RF receiver, click the “update base” tab and update the RF receiver. Click the “update keypads” tab to update the firmware on the remotes. Click “browse”, select the 0.54 folder and click “open”. Select “English Pulsestring” and click “open”. Click “update”.
You will see a message “You are about to upload new firmware to your Pulse keypads. Do not remove the USB receiver during this process. If you are sure you want to continue, select ok, otherwise choose cancel to abort the update.”
The next step is: “Manually join all CPS Pulse clickers to channel 21 by pressing digits 21 (your channel may be different) on each clicker and then pressing send. When all clickers have joined, press ok.”
The next message displayed is: “The firmware update is currently being sent to all CPS Pulse clickers. The clicker LCD may display blank during the update, please wait until all clickers read powering down and have powered off completely and then press ok to continue.”
The last message you will see is: “The CPS Pulse firmware has been successfully updated. Press ok to end the update process.”
I hope that helps. Thanks.
I am constantly encouraging teachers to use the Web 2.0 tools I blog about and teach about in their classroom. One of the tools I use to hook teachers is Google Docs. I have been using Google Docs for a while now. I like the ability to write and create from anywhere and the ability to give access to others with a simple email invite (Think Collaboration...isn't that the definition of Web 2.0?). While there are a few things missing, overall I have moved away from creating documents, presentations and spreadsheets in stand-alone applications to online creation.
Google continues to roll out improvements to all of the Docs applications. One of the newer ones is the ability to create charts in the spreadsheet application. Because editing charts is as simply as editing an URL, it is now possible to make some pretty amazing charts to spice up your presentations. There are tons of websites that will walk you through the process. I recently discovered a few on a list that came to me from Twitter. Here are the the highlights:
Create Pac-man Charts: Google’s own Matt Cutts describes how you can make a pie chart that looks like Pac-man.
Making maps with Google Chart API: With the Google Charts API, you can make maps and even place charts on top of maps.
WeatherMole: This site uses a number of different Google charts to display weather data like wind speed, hourly temperature, and humidity.
Convert simple tables to charts: Here you’ll find out how you can take simple two-column tables and turn them into attractive charts.
Automated Polls: This automated poll site displays poll data in real time with Google Charts.
Using Google’s Motion Chart to visualize population trends: Analyze trends in population with Google Chart API and Motion Chart.
Twitter Statistics with Yahoo! Pipes and the Google Chart API: Google Charts makes it possible to create a scatter plot that shows how much a user "tweets."
Excel and Google Charts: With Google Charts, you can easily and quickly make charts for Excel that would otherwise be difficult or impossible.
Track your grades: Start visually depicting your grades for various assignments with the Google Chart API.
There are several more, so hit the link below to see the rest of the list. If you create one using any of these, drop me a line so I can see it or share it with me. Now, get to creatin' some fancy Google Charts!
50 Google Chart Tricks
Image Courtasy Matt Cutts Blog
Thursday, 10 March 2011
... What do you do now? I went to a workshop yesterday afternoon that my boss, Marlo Gaddis conducted on a classroom solution cart for the Activ Classroom. She talked about turning the computer on (and where it was located in the cart); the speakers, microphones, remotes, calibrating the board, and introduced the document camera.
On the remote control for the projector, there are a couple of buttons that everyone should be aware of:
- Blank button - (could sometimes be No Show on some remotes) if you don't want students to see what is on the board when they first come into the room, just Blank or No Show on your projector remote. You can still see your computer monitor, but it is not showing on the board.
- Freeze button - You can freeze the the interactive white board and do something on your computer without showing it to the students. Also, if you are reading a book to students, you can put the book under the document camera, freeze it, then pick up the book to read to the students.
The ActivBoard comes with two pens a dark gray and a light gray. Usually the dark gray is used as the teacher pen. Make sure to keep these pens in the drawer of the cart, or attached to the
board.
To calibrate the ActivBoard:
- Take pen and hold over flame (at the upper left hand side of the board) until the flame turns blue, or
- Take the pen and click on the Activ Icon in the system tray (bottom right hand corner of your board or computer screen), click on Calibrate, follow the on screen directions and click the pen in the center of all the crosses. Don't press the barrel button or the calibration will quit and you will have to start over again.
Document Camera:
- Red button on the camera turns the document camera on. On your computer screen is an image of a ladybug. Double click that icon to open the software for the camera. Click again on the ladybug to open the software menu (you will see a group of images).
- To display a live image, click on the upper left corner (looks like a piece of paper with a magnifying glass on it).
- The remote for the document camera is red and it also has a Freeze button that works the same as the remote for the projector.
- When placing a book under the document camera, one side might be hanging off the cart. You can turn the book upside down and then press the rotate button on the document camera to rotate it right side up.
- To close Ladibug software down, right click on the Ladibug in your menu bar and left click Close.
- The camera can be used as a web cam; just turn the camera to face the students and rotate the image (great for using Skype).
- To Annotate over an image, open the Ladibug software, click on the Annotation icon (an image with a hand holding a pencil) and write on the board over top of the image.
If you haven't heard by now, Animoto is one of the best photo/video mashup tools out there. (You can read some past posts I've done on it here.) In a nutshell, users can upload photos and videos, select some music to set the mood and create some of the most professional (and really cool looking) videos out there.
Here is one I did for the Inauguration
A while back I asked my PLN what advice they would give to new Animoto users. Here is what they said:
What great tips! Remember, Animoto is free for Educators. Which means it will be free for your students to use. So head over there, sign up and get those creative juices flowing!
Here is one I did for the Inauguration
A while back I asked my PLN what advice they would give to new Animoto users. Here is what they said:
What great tips! Remember, Animoto is free for Educators. Which means it will be free for your students to use. So head over there, sign up and get those creative juices flowing!
About.com has a "Long List of March Holidays and Special Days such as
Women's History Month
Irish-American Heritage Month
Youth Art Month
It was really interesting to see that March 7th was the day that Alexander Graham Bell's Telephone Patent was granted and that the first paper money was issued on the 10th. What a fun way to do trivia questions, journal entries, or a great lead-in for a project.
Check out these other websites and resources for lessons, videos, and activities.
Learning Village:
- The Encyclopedia Britannica in NCWiseOwl spotlights Women's History.
- Thinkfinity for what's happening "Today in History"
- "This Day in History" in Learn360
- "Women in History" in netTrekker
- Surfing the Calendar at Surfing the Net with Kids website by Barbara J. Feldman
- March Madness activity in SMART Exchange
- Social Studies for Kids
- My Vocabulary - Home of the VocabularyUniversity
Here is a website for teachers called The Teacher's Corner with lots more lesson plans, thematic units, and activities. The calendar can be printed to help remind you of what is coming up next.
Image created in Wordle
Did you know that netTrekker has groups of resources to go along with themes each month? You can find these Monthly Projects by looking in My Portfolio in netTrekker. Each registered user of netTrekker has their very own portfolio to store things in ... so if you don't have My Portfolio in the sidebar when you visit netTrekker, make sure you register using your school code and the teacher code.
Inside My Portfolio, look for a folder called Global: netTrekker portfolio. This is a collection of resources and projects from netTrekker users. In this portfolio, you can find a folder for Monthly Projects. Each month has its own folder containing project ideas and resources already pulled together for those projects. (There are also instructions on how to copy resources from that portfolio into your own portfolio.)
For the month of March, you can find resources and project ideas for:
- Famous American Women
- Music
- Nutrition and Johnny Appleseed
- Pi
- St. Patrick's Day
I just found out that OUR WHOLE SYSTEM has a trial of netTrekker's new product called igotta until April 9th. Here is more information about igotta: http://www.nettrekker.com/pages/igotta
We also have Defined STEM available through netTrekker until March 31st. Here is more information about Defined STEM: http://www.nettrekker.com/us/solutions/search/premium-upgrades/defined-stem
title created using letteringdelights.com
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
My workshop today scheduled for today was on Google Lit Trips. We ended up talking about Wordle. You might ask what the connection is between those two things ...Our Instructional Technology Department has a wiki where we post resources for the workshops that we do as well as a range of other resources. As I was guiding teachers to that wiki to the Google Lit Trips page which is linked to a LiveBinder full of resources, they saw something they liked on the wiki's front page. On the wiki's frontpage, there is a word cloud created with Wordle.
One of the participants said she had seen an advertisement showing something like that, and she made a copy of it to remember it. I told them about the website I used to create that word cloud. I saw some interest in technology and decided to seize the opportunity. My workshop participants were not classroom teachers and although they may find Google Lit Trips interesting, they might be more likely to use something like Wordle. (By the way I did still share Google Lit Trips information and resources)
These ladies started looking at the gallery in Wordle to see what others had created. As soon as they saw some examples, they started working together to brainstorm how they could use Wordle and who they needed to tell about that site. I started looking at and discussing the gallery with them. We talked about what kinds of projects we thought were being done based on the word clouds in the gallery. (That would be a neat project to do with students since it could work on inferencing skills as well as critical and creative thinking skills.)
One of the ladies decided to try to create a word cloud. She was so impressed with how easy it was to just type in the words (or to copy and paste), and she got so excited about the ability to change the font, the colors, and the layout of the words. She told me that she would not get any work done tonight because she was going to be playing with Wordle. I love that! Find a technology tool and play with it to see what is possible!
While looking at the Wordle Gallery with those teachers today, there was one word cloud that really caught my attention. It was a word cloud made with the world Tangled. Now if the person had just typed in the word Tangled several times, then that one word would just be very large. I noticed that in one word the A was capitalized (tAngled) and in another word the D was capitalized (tangleD) and so on. I thought the repetition of that one word forming a word cloud looked really interesting.
After I got home from the workshop, I noticed that one of my coworkers (Steven W. Anderson) had posted about Wordle on our department blog just yesterday. I made sure to send that resource to the school I was at today. Here are some other Wordle Resource that might be helpful:
- Ways to Use Wordle in Your Classroom
- 50 Interesting Ways to Use Wordle in the Classroom
- Using Wordle for Comparision (example uses inauguration speeches)
- 43 Interesting Ways (and tips) for Using Wordle in the Classroom
- Word Cloud Resources, Tips, and Tools (provides some options for making word clouds besides Wordle
- More than Wordles
- Tips, Tricks, and Resources for Word Clouds including an idea and directions for putting wordle image over another picture
If you have other ideas for ways to use Wordle, please share them with me. I know there are some other great word cloud creators out there, but I have mainly used Wordle (which is why I guess I keep writing about it).
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