What are you doing this month?

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 February, you can find resources and project ideas for:

• Black History Month
• Groundhog's Day
• Leap Year
• President's Day
• Valentines

Remember all the resources in netTrekker are teacher reviewed so they are safe for students ...

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News from Learn360

I received some information from Learn360 about things that have been added to their site, so I thought I would share them:

Notable News:

There can never be too much quality content, so we're continually adding more titles and producers to the site! Here's what's new this month:

• Sunburst Visual Media: It's official. Sunburst's award-winning health and guidance and professional development programming content is now exclusive toLearn360! Their realistic and engaging content is well suited for life skills, counseling, guidance and health education curriculums. Find these only on our site!
  

• National Geographic: We've added more of your favorite National Geographic series to Learn360, including "Amazing Planet", "Africa Extreme","Animal Genius" and "Strange Days on Planet Earth". But that's not all!
  

• Rising Star Education: "Auto B Good" is an Emmy-winning series geared toward K-6 students and is amongst one of the favorites for elementary teachers. Search and watch them.
  

• Genuine Pictures, Inc.: This award-winning and independent producer offers high-quality, relevant programs ranging from geography to musical documentaries. They have it all, and now we do, too!
  

• Worldwide Academic Media: Another producer with unique titles and feature films is now available to you! Their series include "Extreme Environments"and "Famous People in World History & Culture", to name a couple. But that's not all, so be sure to check them out.
  

Things that might be helpful for the month of February:

• Valentines Day (February 14): Get out more than just flowers and a box of chocolate; Valentines day can be a great time to teach students about the history of the holiday while you pass out candy hearts in class. Go search to see what results generate for the keywords "Valentines Day".

• Presidents Day (February 21): With our new content additions, teachers can provide students with information on each of our 44 presidents throughout the History of the United States! Search and see what results come up for, "United States Presidents".

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How many ways can we journal?

Journal writing was something I strongly encouraged in my 4th grade classes (so many benefits). Some years we (me and students) would write in journals for 15 minutes at the beginning of writing class. There would be music playing and students knew that this was a time for thinking and working not asking questions. One year, I had students write in journals at the end of the day about things they had learned or things that had happened that day. Students had to share those journal entries with someone each night (in an attempt to avoid the "What did you do at school today" and "Nothing" conversations). My last year in a classroom, my students used blogs as "thinking logs" or as a type of journal. Journals can take many forms, and, as much as I like to encourage writing, they don't even have to be in written form.
I got to thinking about all the ways students could do journals after watching my 4 year old daughter walk around the house carrying a Flip camera. According to her she was making a video to send to a family member. When I started listening, I noticed that she was telling about her day, her toys, the weather outside, and a little about herself. Those are the things I remember writing in a diary or things my students wrote in journals. I guess my little girl was making a type of video journal ...
Realizing that caused me to think about the ways various technology tools could be used for "journals":

• GlogsterEDU could be used to create "A Day in the Life" posters or even a "What happened this week" poster
• Student created blogs could easily be used as a replacement for the spiral notebook journals in my classroom ... as a teacher, I used blogs to keep track of the things I tried in the classroom that did or did not work
  
• The "A Picture Each Day" project many participate in could be seen as another type of journal ... pictures could even be posted on things like VoiceThread where narration could be added
• Programs like Animoto or PhotoPeach could be used to pull together photos to be used as a visual journals
• Interactive Timelines could be used used as journals

I am sure my short list is not very comprehensive. What other things can be used for journals?

image created using Wordle.net

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It's Google...Only Squared

The world of search is changing. Google, the leader, is being challenged by Microsoft and it's new search engine, Bing. In order to stay ahead Google is constantly working on new and innovative products to stay #1.

Last year Google unveiled, quietly, what they say is the next "big-thing" in search. And while it is, quite possibly the best search feature they have, it still has not caught on. But what is it? Why is it so good and why do I think it will change the way students conduct research online.

First, Google Squared is a search engine. It works just like Google Search. You type in a search term and you are presented with results. What is different is how the results are presented and what you can do with the data.

For this review I am going to use the search term "British Prime Ministers." When you do a regular Google Search you get what you expect, several sites that contains lists of British PM's. Students would then have to work through each of the links, trying to find the information, not knowing how that information is going to be organized on each resulting page.

With Google Squared the search results are presented in a table. Results are organized horizontally with several pieces of information (or what Google calls Attributes.) In the case of the British PM's you get the name, picture, description, date of birth, religion and who they were proceeded by. All of the results in each of those columns comes from different places on the web, organized in the Squares. You can check the information for each Result and Attribute but clicking the link in the Square. (Remember, its always a good idea to double check where the information is coming from.)

So how could this be of benefit for students. Lets say I want my students to research British PM's and I don't want them to know the religion, rather, I want them to know the date of death and political party. Again, these could all be separate searches on multiple pages, taking lots of time. In the Square you can designate what Attributes you want displayed. There are suggestions for Attributes or you can type your own. In the case of date of death, that is a suggestion. However, political party is not. So I type it in and am presented with the political parties for all the British PM's.

Do you not like one of the search results, or do not need one of the search results? Press the X and it goes away. So basically your search results are customized for your needs or what you want your students need.

Try some of these cool searches:
Baseball Teams
Types of Dogs
Elements
Roller Coasters

These are just some examples of how you could use Google Squared. Remember, this product is still a baby, so there are going to be mistakes or search results that just don't fit. But I am sure, just as other Google products, it will get better. So, head on over to Google Squared and give it a try!

Google Squared

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More Resources for Black History Month

Since February is Black History Month, I have some web resources that I would like to share.

A couple of days ago I wrote a blog on lesson plans and resources from Thinkfinity. The blog link is here.

NCWiseOwl has a list of Black History Month web sites for teachers and students to visit. 

LEARNNC has a list of lesson plans by NC Standard Course of Study. African-American History Guide.

Below is a list of websites for lessons, videos, timelines, and activities:

Time for Kids
Teacer Vision
Fact Monster
African American History Month (Library of Congress)
History.com Black History Month
Black History Month
Biography.com Black History Month
Scholastic Online Activities and Interactive Learning
Black History Month Livebinder by KB....Konnected
Black History Month Livebinder by MrsGutierrez
Social Studies, Black History Livebinder by laurarahaim

Here is a web page filled with more resources that Jerry Blumengarten (aka Cybrary Man) has created.

Original image created in Wordle.

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Art Work presented by Google

As an Art teacher are you always wondering how you can help your students to understand the feeling behind a Chagall, Rembrandt or Picasso painting? Do you struggle to try and show line and depth using a 2D photograph from a textbook?

Well it just so happens that Google has brought you a new way to look at Art with Art Project. This website is the culmination of a collaborative effort of 17 museums from around the world to share their artwork for all to see. What I think is interesting about the site is that when you are looking at the art you see a small compass tool like object along the left side of the screen that allows you to zoom in and out as well as to pan and move. It is very similar to what Google offers you in its Street View add on for Google Maps. I don't know about you but I immediately started thinking about Virtual Field Trips when I saw this site.

When you land on the sites homepage you choose from the museums listed(17), once you make your selection the website background will change to a theme inspired by the chosen museum. You will then see to the right of the list a work of art and an explore museum option.

When you click on the View Artwork the work comes full screen where you can interact with it either by using the zoom in/out tool in the top left or bottom right of the screen. Once you have zoomed in you can pan around the picture by clicking and dragging around. There is a small photo shot of the artwork in the bottom left that shows you where you are on the image when you are using the zoom in feature.

Along what I would call the toolbar there are some additional options to choose from. One is an informational link at the far right of the page displays information about the work of art. On the left side of the toolbar you can choose a new location as well as another piece of art from the drop down menus.

If you had chosen the Explore Museum option you are taken to a similar screen which displays a point of view look of the museum. As you move the mouse onto the screen you will see arrows that allow you to walk around and move in on a specific area of the page. Just as you would if you were using Street View on Google Maps. When you walk around the room looking at the artwork the ones with a plus(+) sign will allow you to view/inspect them more.

This tool is a great opportunity for teachers to give their students a completely different view of art without having to look through a book or travel to a museum. The Virtual Field trip idea is what hooked me. Art in the virtual world and in a computer lab situation could allow students to walk through the National Gallery in London or the The State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Places that many students may never have an opportunity to visit.

The website also offers you a Learn More button that gives you some general information about the site and how to use it. You are provided with an FAQ section as well as the list of all participating museums. And if that was not enough Google has provided you with a link to the Art Project You Tube channel so that you can view some of the created videos that go along with this site.

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Black History Month and Thinkfinity

MLK Jr.

 Thinkfinity is a great resource any time of the year. However, since February is Black History Month, this site has a great selection of lesson plans for teachers to use. Remember resources and lesson plans in Thinkfinity are free for teachers to use.

The NAACP Interactive Timeline has classroom lessons, links to other websites, and artifacts for teachers to use to teach about Black History.

Edsitement also has lesson plans for Black History Month. Check out "The Quest for the American Dream: A Rasin in the Sun" and listen to Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech and Maya Angelou's poem Still I Rise. This lesson plan is called "Introducing Metaphors through Poetry".

From Smithsonian's History Explorer, there are lesson plans, artifacts and activities. One of the activities, "Word Art with King's Words" has students reading Dr. King's biography Martin's Big Words and then creating a Wordle from some of the words or phrases that students find meaningful or important to them.

The Blues Journey from The Kennedy Center Arts Edge, is an audio history. Be sure to turn on your speakers for this journey.

African Americans in Science from Science Netlinks offer lesson plans, tools, and resources. The tools and resources will take you to different web sites related to the lesson plan.

Make sure to look at all the resources in Thinkfinity. I think you will be surprised at what you will find.


Original image: 'A Stoic MLK, Jr.' by: Harris Walker
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36121865@N03/3337436779

Released under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License

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