Friday, February 26, 2010

Websites You Should Check Out 02/27/2010


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Friday blogs

Here are some blogs you might like to peruse this weekend...

1. Create Critical Thinkers Using Databases (and Spreadsheets)
     ISTE'S NECC '09 Blog

2. Learn Something New Everyday
     Talking Smartboards and Much More

3. The Trick to Image Fill
     TeqSmart

4. Teaching Commenting Skills
     The Edublogger

5. What Happened the Year You Were Born?
     Talking Smartboards and Much More

And I couldn't resist-if you need a smile, check out this photo on Technology Times!!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Websites You Should Check Out 02/26/2010


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

What is a Google Alert?

Google Alerts lets you set up an automatic email "alert" when something new on the web is posted about the search terms or topics you are looking for.  I've heard a few things about this before, but until I read a post today about a teacher who has set up an alert for "Google Earth", I hadn't really check it out.  On the Alert website, it says you can, monitor a developing news story or keep current on specific subjects.  This sounds like a great way to keep up on political events for Civics or like our health classes are doing right now, researching and learning about the effects of Tobacco. By setting up an alert, you can have just about anything you are interested in, pop right into your inbox!  

So let's give it a try...(I'm typing as I try this) I'm going to http://www.google.com/alerts.  I'm searching for "Google Earth + Math".  I've heard Google Earth is a good tool to use in math classes, but I haven't seen too many actual lessons and am curious about how we can incorporate it and have more "real world" problems.  Once I type that in, then I can choose the type of material I want to search for, whether it be news, blogs, websites, videos, etc. I'm going to choose "Comprehensive".  

Then I need to choose how often I want to receive alerts: as-it-happens, once a day, or once a week.  I'll start with once a day and see if I'm being bombarded with emails or not.  Next, I need to choose email length, either 20 or 50 results.  I'll got with 20 for now.  Then I have it delivered to my gmail account.  It's that easy!


I'll see how it goes, I'm really excited to see what happens and how often I might be using this feature.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Monday, February 22, 2010

Websites You Should Check Out 02/23/2010


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

What do you think?

"The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows."
~ Sydney J. Harris

What do you think the purpose of education is? 

Friday, February 19, 2010

Friday Again!

It's been a quick week, only being back in school for three days.  Here are some education blog posts from around the web that you might enjoy this weekend!  Happy Friday!

1. Using Voicethread for Writing Ideas and for Peer Marking
    EDTE.CH 

2. Where Do You Live?
     iteach
 
3. 25 Best Sites for Free Educational Videos
     Technology Times
    
4. Finally! A SAFE, easy way to show and share YouTube videos in school!
    Welcome to NCS-Tech

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Monday, February 15, 2010

What do you think?

“Once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road.”
~ Stewart Brand

Interesting quote today...it made me stop and think for a few minutes.  In education, especially in my job, I hear about new websites and tools all the time.  When I find something really great, I get really excited about what I see and start thinking about how I can use it, how teachers can use it, and then how our students can use it.  This is when I become part of that steamroller. 

Then I want to go and share the idea with someone and when I do, that's when I hit a stumbling block.  And it's various reasons, it could our schedules don't match and the idea gets set off to the side for awhile, or there's benchmark testing, or someone just doesn't see how it's going to work in their classroom or (and this is the worst one) I realize there really is a better tool out there and we could make this idea work more productively another way. I don't want to feel like I'm part of the road, but sometimes THINKING about using a new technology calls for it.

How do you feel when you hear about new technologies?  Which side do you feel you're on?

Friday, February 12, 2010

Happy Friday!

I've been out of work for pretty close to two weeks due to the incredible amounts of snow we've been getting.  We broke the record of 54.4 inches back from 1889 and the new record is now 54.9 inches.  But I'm still glad it's Friday!  Here are some education blog posts from around the web that you might take a gander at this weekend!  Happy Friday!

1. Why podcasts haven't revolutionized education...yet
    ISTE Blog
2. Notebook files to share and a second post to share
    Talking Smartboards
3. Top 10 Web 2.0 sites for educators
    Teach 42
4. Smart Notebook 10.6 Parts 1 and Notebook 10.6 Part 2
    TeqSmart
5. Student Blogging Challenge
    The Edublogger
6. Around the World
    Trails Optional
7. World Maths Day
     NCS-Tech

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Websites You Should Check Out 02/11/2010


Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Have a Great Science student?

If one of your students is great in Science class, have them check out the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.  A competition for students in grades 5-8 to compete to be America's Top Young Scientist.  To compete, students need to send in a video about the science of everyday life with the topic focusing on the science of safety and security. 

Good luck!

Monday, February 8, 2010

What do you think? 2/8/10

Technology... the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it.  ~Max Frisch

I personally don't agree with this quote.  I think technology has let us experience the world in new ways.  Students can learn from other students in other countries, share a video and a experience with it.  It lets us communicate at any time, by phone, text, and email.  I can see a photo a friend took half way around the world only seconds after they took it.  Technology has personally led me to experiences with people I never would have met otherwise. 

Has technology helped you or kept you from experiencing the world around you?
Comment below!

Monday, February 1, 2010

What do you think?

Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.  ~Aldous Huxley

Do you agree or disagree with this quote?  We didn't have the many technologies we have now when Huxley said this.  Do you think the technological advances we've made in education have been a detriment to our students or a way for them to become more independent thinkers?

Comment below!