Do You Have a PLN?

The last couple of weeks I have had some technology issues that I had either forgotten about or had never heard of before. I started to think of what my resources were to try and find the answers to these issues. My first issue was with flash items no longer working on a SMART Board. In the past, I would call SMART tech support and I could be on hold for a long time. So, I just kept thinking about how I could find out how to fix this problem. Then it hit me, ask my PLN (Personal Learning Network). One of my favorite PLN's is Twitter. I posted the question about flash not working anymore in SMART Notebook and asked how to fix it. I then remembered that I was following @SMART_Tech (SMART Technologies), so I went to their twitter feed. What do you think I found? That's right! I found the answer to my question. In less than 10 minutes, I had a solution to the issue. Here is a link to the solution: http://knowledgebase.force.com/articles/Troubleshooting/You-re-unable-to-interact-with-Adobe-Flash-Player-objects-in-SMART-Notebook-software-after-updating-to-Adobe-Flash-Player-11-9-X?utm_content=Active+X+issue+in+11.9&utm_campaign=Software+Updates+EDU&utm_source=Twitter%3A+SMART_Tech&utm_medium=post&WT.mc_id=Twitter%3A+SMART_Tech_Software+Updates+EDU_Active+X+issue+in+11.9.

My next technology issue was how to import a document into SMART Notebook. This time I went straight to Twitter and posted the question directly to @SMART_Tech. I also am a member of a SMART Notebook Users Group in Edmodo, so I posted the question there. Within 5 minutes I had the answer to my question. As soon as I saw what the solution was, it was a head-smack moment. I remember that from when I first learned how to use SMART Notebook but I had forgotten about it. The answer was open your document (pdf, word, etc.), click on File, click on Print, and print to SMART Notebook. Simple, right! 

My point in sharing all of this is how awesome having a PLN is. My main go-to's for learning is Twitter and Edmodo (after my awesome co-workers and boss of course). If you are not a member of either, I encourage you to join. They are both free and have great educators that are willing to help.

Image was created using Wordle. 

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More Election Connections!

This morning Melissa wrote a blog post about Let's help students make connections with elections! This reminded me of some more election resources, but through Edmodo. When you are in Edmodo, there are several election communities that you can follow. (Remember you can follow any of these publisher communities in Edmodo by click on the Browse button next to the word Community). In these communities, you can connect with other teachers teaching about the election or find resources on the election. Here are a couple of communities that you might be interested in.

photo credit: Vaguely Artistic via photopin cc

Bill of Rights Institute: There is a video on the history of voting, and teaching with current events. You can sign up for lessons to be mailed to you on current events, voting, free press, the constitution, etc.


Election Insights: Activities for the debates, election, etc. Click on the button Collections for more resources.

iCivics: Constitution resources, branches of government resources, etc. Click on the button Collections for more resources and games.

Edmodo has some ideas for teaching the election: 3 Ways to Engage Students through Edmodo.


Image from PhotoPin: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaguelyartistic/61275039/

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Back to School with Edmodo

photo credit: Avolore via photo pin cc

What do you do with last year's groups? You want to keep the group name and all the information, but you want to clean the group up to start fresh. 

Your first step would be to rename that group. For instance if you have Social Studies per 1 group, you might want to rename it SSper1. To rename a group, click on the group, then click on Group Settings and change the name. One of the reasons to rename your group is that you cannot create groups with the same name. Then after renaming the group, you should archive the group.

To archive the group, click on the group you are going to archive. On the right hand side, click on Group Settings. You will notice a button at the bottom of the box that says Archive Group. By archiving that group, no one else will be able to join the group but the teacher can access the group if it is necessary. Then the teacher can create a new group (with the original name) and all the files and links the teacher had in the original group will still be available in that group.

For more information from the Edmodo blog, click here: "Your Back to School Checklist". Make sure to read the teacher rollout resources and review the best practices. There is some great information located here.

Image from Photo Pin: http://www.flickr.com/photos/52636849@N00/204934333/

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Help! I Changed Schools ...

... How do I get all of my information from my old school in Edmodo and be connected to my new school?

Never fear, this is very easy for you to do and without losing any of your information!

The first thing you will need to do is to log into Edmodo. Once there, follow the directions below.

You will be asked for the new school code. Talk with your Tech Facilitator or email Dorene Bates  for your school code. Please make sure you put what school you need the code for.

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Are you hungry for learning?

Do your students have an appetite for math or does math make them sick to their stomach?  In middle school we see both ends of this spectrum.  In searching for a proportions lesson I stumbled upon some snack food that will help feed our students in math classes.  The tool I'm about to share is really cool and engaging BUT the way I found it can give any teacher power to find new ways to engage students in math and all other subjects. (So stayed tuned to the bottom and find out a powerful tool to help find ideas for ALL teachers)

Math Snacks is a really cool website:  http://www.mathsnacks.com/ that is produced by New Mexico State University.  Math Snacks have engaging animations, a learner guide and a teacher guide with each math concept.

Take a look at this math snack on ratios and proportions. http://www.mathsnacks.com/badDate.html
I know that kids will love this video and it gives them an opportunity to experience ratios and proportions in a new light.  This particular math snack comes with a learner's guide that will them from the examples used in the video to other real life applications.  The teacher's guide is a detailed lesson plan with directions, answer key and extension activities.  Explore and check out this website.  It is still in development and currently has 9 available snacks and plans to have at least 20 by next school year.  It is sure to satisfy some of your most reluctant student's appetite for math.

Now for the really good part.  As a teacher, finding quality resources was sometimes difficult.  One of the biggest problems with finding them was TIME.  I would spend some time doing a typical Google search and in the end have no results.  I found this and several other activities using Edmodo.  Edmodo is an incredible social media platform for schools.  In the past I have used Edmodo as a collaboration tool for my students.  I have recently explored the communities in Edmodo.  Once you sign up for an account you can browse many different communities.

Once you see a community of interest, click on it and explore.  These communities are full of other teachers around the world who are searching and sharing innovative ideas.  You can choose to follow particular communities.  You can post a question.  For instance, if you were looking for new ways to teach inference, you might ask in a post for ways to do this.  Other teachers then share their ideas with you and the need for a Google search has been eliminated.  The resources and ideas shared are typically great and inspiring. 

So if you are appetite is for math, check out http://www.mathsnacks.com/.  If your hunger is for learning some new teaching ideas then check out the communities http://www.edmodo.com/. 


Bon Appetit!!!!

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Great Teachers Make Master Gurus

This past Monday I had the opportunity to visit J F Kennedy High to share some information about our new email system.  In between sessions I had the opportunity to visit a few classes.  There are incredible things going on at JFK.  The first thing you notice when talking to any faculty member there is the positive attitude they have towards their students.  This attitude in conversation was also evident in their classrooms through their interactions with students.  I truly believe a positive relationship with a student is the catalyst for motivating him/her and helping them reach their full potential.

One of the teams I visited was the Masterminds!  What a great name for a group of kids.  This team inspired me not only on the surface but they have really made sure these kids know they have potential.  Instead of sharing with their kids they have an A,B,C,D or F they use the following terminology: Master Guru, Philosopher, Scholar, Apprentice, Recruit.   Each of those titles correspond to a letter grade but all have a positive connotation.  Imagine getting a recruit on a paper instead of an F!  F could shut a kid down while Recruit insinuates they could be on the path for Master Guru Status.  The kids also know what each of the status' mean and how to increase to the next level.  One of the neatest things I saw was how Ms. Thiel used her district website to promote the student achievements.  She posts her Master Guru list(not only for academic but for character) on her web page. Below are some excerpts from her Master Guru page.

We often times look for ways that technology can help in our classrooms and our own websites are a great way to praise kids to build those positive relationships with students.  I remember my mom wanting every newspaper with her kids names in it and how proud I was to show her when my name was in it.  Our websites allow us to publicly praise our students daily.

Another great feature of Ms. Thiel's classroom was her center driven approach.  When I walked in she was working with students in a small group setting, there was a center where students were working on hands on manipulatives, and then there was the computer stations.  I really liked this approach because often times as a classroom teacher it is difficult to sign up for an entire computer lab.  Using her approach she was able to stay in the classroom and use the few computers that were available to her. 

So how did she guide students in what needed to be done?  She was using Edmodo for her students to interact and to post assignments.  She had links to videos that students were directed to watch, links to interactive math games, links to quizzes etc....  Some of the assignments students had to take a screen shot of their results to submit while others she required them to message what they learned.  Students and teacher were able to track the progress of the student.  Edmodo is the perfect marriage of the student's need for online social media and the teacher's requirement of curriculum and standards. There are a multitude of resources for Edmodo that can be found on our district wiki.  Explore and give it a try. 

Often times we are faced with not having enough technology to do what we want.  Ms Thiel and the staff at JFK are taking what they do have and making it happen.  And that makes the kids smile....and me too.

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