Here's the list of the winners from the EduBlog Awards. Only one of the blogs I voted for won, which was Free Technology For Teachers, in the Resource Sharing Category. This blogger also won for best individual blog. Way to go!
Please take a look at those who were nominated and won as they are all fantastic sites!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Busy Bookworm Challenge Update
Magyk was a little elementary for me, but I bought it at our school book fair last year and a lot of kids bought it, so I was willing to give it a try. It's a cute story and reminded me of Harry Potter in some places. I would have liked to have seen the ending happen a little quicker, but I am interested to see what happens in the next book.
The Giver was totally different than I thought it would be. It was a little more dark and less futuristic than I had imagined. I wish I read this before Ender's Game, Unwind, Uglies, and The Hunger Games, though. It was in the same genre as these books and would have been a great beginning to these other books for me.
Do Not Pass Go, made me think it was going to be like Monster, which I read last year with my school book club. But it wasn't like it at all and I liked this one better. At my book club, some people thought it made prison look too good and thought it would have a bad message to kids who think they can maybe get away with something. I thought it showed a little about second chances and letting yourself open up to other people helping you.
Maximum Ride was another book I bought at our school book fair last year. I REALLY enjoyed this book and the others in the series are on my list of books to read. I love Max's sarcasm, Fang's somewhat nonchalance ways and that he seems to be a big old softie on the inside, Angel's challenging, yet unpredictable mind, and that the boys are just boys. I also found out that James Patterson wrote two adult books with some of these same characters in them.
And finally, Catching Fire! Oh, what a GREAT book! Cannot wait for the third book in this series. I, like many of my friends, thought this sequel was even better than the original, Hunger Games. I was very worried at the end that my major question was not going to be answered and it very pleasantly surprised when it was answered; although not in quite the way I expected. There is definitely a good cliffhanger at the end of this one!
Here's the list as of today:
Challenge List (to be read by December 31, 2009)
1. Belong to Me by Marisa De Los Santos
2. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
3. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
Finished:
1. Magyk
2. The Giver
3. Do Not Pass Go
4. Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
5. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Probably for 2010
1. The Wednesday Wars (school book club)
2. The Book Thief (friends book club)
3. New Alice Sebold book
4. Carpe Diem (school book club)
5. Home of the Brave (school book club)
6. The Compound (school book club)
7. Black Duck (school book club)
*photo Byron's Books by Valentinian found on Flickr.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
EduBlog Awards: Who I Voted For
It's that time again! Time for the Edublog Awards, an award among the educational community nominated and selected by your peers. Voting ended last night and here are the blogs and bloggers I voted for, along with some honorable mentions. I should also state before I begin, that this is what I looked for. I don't like long statements on educational rhetoric, I want to know what kinds of ideas, projects, and lessons that have worked and haven't worked with students and what training among technology coordinators and resource teachers they have used with their faculty and staff. I guess that's because that's what I try to do on my blog and it's what helps me the most.
I also look for humor-it has to keep my attention, especially if I'm going to keep coming back to read it or add it to my google reader. It should also be organized. There were some blogs I visited that had so much information and extra widgets on them that I didn't know where to begin looking. That's a time waster for me. I want my information short and to the point.
Here's my list:
Best Individual Blog: edte.ch*. There are some great training and resource sharing items on this blog that I loved!
Honorable mention: Learning Is Messy
*I nominated Philly Teacher for this category, but it didn't make the nomination list. However, it did make it for Best Teacher Blog.
Best Group Blog:The Adams 14 Global Learner Blog
Honorable mention: Afgahn Women’s Writing Project. I was blown away at the immense true life stories written here.
Best Resource Sharing Blog: Free Technology for Teachers. I get so many ideas here!
Honorable mentions: Edgalaxy and Don’t Waste Your Time. I really enjoyed the items I found on Edgalaxy.
Best Teacher Blog: Welcome to NCS Tech
Honorable mentions:Blogush, Philly Teacher and Tip of The Iceberg
Best Class Blog: MrCs Class Blog*. I found this class blog just a few weeks before the edublog awards and enjoy reading what the students are doing in class.
Honorable Mentions: Borman Blogging, Class 4OQ’s Blog, and Huzzah!
*I nominated The House That Blogs Built for this category, but it didn't make the nomination list.
Best Student Blog- Eric’s Blog
Honorable mention: Josh Halliday.com. Josh is a student journalist in Britain!! I couldn't say no to a student journalist!
Most Influential Blog Post - Bud Hunt’s Would You Please Block? Very different thought process to the blocking of websites.
Dean Shareski’s Student and Teacher blogging that succeeds
And finally, those new bloggers...they get me every time! I can't help but want to vote for every single one of them, because they always pull at my heart strings. Those new bloggers (also mostly new teachers) have a knack for sharing the best stories, the best experiences, their humor, and what they've learned about themselves and their students. So SOMEHOW, I narrowed it down to these guys...
Best New Blog: Trails Optional*. I again found this site several weeks before the Edublog awards and it immediately went into the my google reader. She was also nice enough to share some smartboard resources with me that I've been adding to my fusion page for my "smart" tips.
Honorable mentions:David Cox’s Questions?, I’m A Dreamer, and Technology Tidbits
*I nominated Tip of The Iceberg in this category but it didn't make the nomination list. However, it did make it for Best Teacher Blog.
Congratulations to each of you and I hope you win!
I also look for humor-it has to keep my attention, especially if I'm going to keep coming back to read it or add it to my google reader. It should also be organized. There were some blogs I visited that had so much information and extra widgets on them that I didn't know where to begin looking. That's a time waster for me. I want my information short and to the point.
Here's my list:
Best Individual Blog: edte.ch*. There are some great training and resource sharing items on this blog that I loved!
Honorable mention: Learning Is Messy
*I nominated Philly Teacher for this category, but it didn't make the nomination list. However, it did make it for Best Teacher Blog.
Best Group Blog:The Adams 14 Global Learner Blog
Honorable mention: Afgahn Women’s Writing Project. I was blown away at the immense true life stories written here.
Best Resource Sharing Blog: Free Technology for Teachers. I get so many ideas here!
Honorable mentions: Edgalaxy and Don’t Waste Your Time. I really enjoyed the items I found on Edgalaxy.
Best Teacher Blog: Welcome to NCS Tech
Honorable mentions:Blogush, Philly Teacher and Tip of The Iceberg
Best Class Blog: MrCs Class Blog*. I found this class blog just a few weeks before the edublog awards and enjoy reading what the students are doing in class.
Honorable Mentions: Borman Blogging, Class 4OQ’s Blog, and Huzzah!
*I nominated The House That Blogs Built for this category, but it didn't make the nomination list.
Best Student Blog- Eric’s Blog
Honorable mention: Josh Halliday.com. Josh is a student journalist in Britain!! I couldn't say no to a student journalist!
Most Influential Blog Post - Bud Hunt’s Would You Please Block? Very different thought process to the blocking of websites.
Dean Shareski’s Student and Teacher blogging that succeeds
And finally, those new bloggers...they get me every time! I can't help but want to vote for every single one of them, because they always pull at my heart strings. Those new bloggers (also mostly new teachers) have a knack for sharing the best stories, the best experiences, their humor, and what they've learned about themselves and their students. So SOMEHOW, I narrowed it down to these guys...
Best New Blog: Trails Optional*. I again found this site several weeks before the Edublog awards and it immediately went into the my google reader. She was also nice enough to share some smartboard resources with me that I've been adding to my fusion page for my "smart" tips.
Honorable mentions:David Cox’s Questions?, I’m A Dreamer, and Technology Tidbits
*I nominated Tip of The Iceberg in this category but it didn't make the nomination list. However, it did make it for Best Teacher Blog.
Congratulations to each of you and I hope you win!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
2009 Edublog Awards Nominations
Hope you've been enjoying the links! I've been a little lazy on my blog posts again. But here's a great way for me to jump back in!
Here are my nominations for the 2009 Edublogs Awards:
New Teacher blog - Tip of the Iceberg
Teacher blog - NCS Tech
Individual blog - Philly Teacher
Class blog - The House That Blogs Built
Student Blog - Eric's Blog
Resource Sharing Blog - Free Technology for Teachers
My Honorable Mentions:
Teacher Blog - Blogush and Magistram (lots of great classroom ideas!)
Class Blog: Huzzah
Resource Sharing Blog - Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day
Good luck!
Here are my nominations for the 2009 Edublogs Awards:
New Teacher blog - Tip of the Iceberg
Teacher blog - NCS Tech
Individual blog - Philly Teacher
Class blog - The House That Blogs Built
Student Blog - Eric's Blog
Resource Sharing Blog - Free Technology for Teachers
My Honorable Mentions:
Teacher Blog - Blogush and Magistram (lots of great classroom ideas!)
Class Blog: Huzzah
Resource Sharing Blog - Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day
Good luck!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Websites You Should Check Out 12/08/2009
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Websites You Should Check Out 12/05/2009
where kids learn to be smarter consumers!
from Free Technology for Teacherscreated by Vaughan Memorial Library
from Talking Smartboards and Much More!Interactive Tutorials and Quizzes On Human Anatomy and Physiology
from Talking Smartboards and Much More!
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Websites You Should Check Out 12/03/2009
Kindergarten: Have passport, will travel | Tip of the Iceberg
Description of Google Earth lesson
EasyBib: Free Bibliography Maker - MLA, APA, Chicago citation styles
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Websites You Should Check Out 11/19/2009
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
National Months and Weeks
I learned today that this week is National Geography Awareness Week. That's great, but a little late notice. I've found great resources which I've put here. However, this made me think about what other "national" weeks and months may be out there that I am not aware of. Here's a rundown of what I found, both educational and a little unusual:
January is the month for books, hobbies, bread machine baking, and eye health care
February is for African American History, Boost your self-esteem, Dental, American history, and my personal favorite: chocolate lover's. It is also the month for Returning Shopping Carts to the Supermarket and Berry Fresh in the Sunshine State
March celebrates women's history, national nutrition, music in our schools, youth art, noodles, and frozen food
April is the month for Community service, stress awareness, Fresh Florida Tomatoes, and Soft Pretzels
May celebrates Asian/Pacific American Heritage, National Physical Fitness and Sports, bikes, Share A Story, Artisan Gelato Month, and Chocolate Custard Month
June is for National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, Audiobooks and Dairy
July is Lasagna Awareness and Culinary Arts
August is the month for Catfish, Peaches, Harvesting and Water Quality
September celebrates Hispanic Heritage, Self-Improvement, Women of Achievement, and Hug a Texas Chef
October is for Book Fairs, Computer Learning, National Applejack Month, and Popcorn Poppin' Month
November celebrates American Indian Heritage, Novel Writing, Latin Americans, and Raisin Bread
December is for Reading a New Book, Universal Human Rights, and International Calendar Awareness
Months from: http://www.quamada.com/months.html
Some Important Weeks include:
America's Safe Schools Week October 21-27, Red Ribbon Week October 23-31, National Health Education Week October 20-24, Teen Read Week October 19-25,
World Kindness Week October 1-7, Return The Borrowed Books Week March 1-7, National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week November 16-22
Weeks from: http://www.epromos.com/calendar/promotional-calendar.html
January is the month for books, hobbies, bread machine baking, and eye health care
February is for African American History, Boost your self-esteem, Dental, American history, and my personal favorite: chocolate lover's. It is also the month for Returning Shopping Carts to the Supermarket and Berry Fresh in the Sunshine State
March celebrates women's history, national nutrition, music in our schools, youth art, noodles, and frozen food
April is the month for Community service, stress awareness, Fresh Florida Tomatoes, and Soft Pretzels
May celebrates Asian/Pacific American Heritage, National Physical Fitness and Sports, bikes, Share A Story, Artisan Gelato Month, and Chocolate Custard Month
June is for National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, Audiobooks and Dairy
July is Lasagna Awareness and Culinary Arts
August is the month for Catfish, Peaches, Harvesting and Water Quality
September celebrates Hispanic Heritage, Self-Improvement, Women of Achievement, and Hug a Texas Chef
October is for Book Fairs, Computer Learning, National Applejack Month, and Popcorn Poppin' Month
November celebrates American Indian Heritage, Novel Writing, Latin Americans, and Raisin Bread
December is for Reading a New Book, Universal Human Rights, and International Calendar Awareness
Months from: http://www.quamada.com/months.html
Some Important Weeks include:
America's Safe Schools Week October 21-27, Red Ribbon Week October 23-31, National Health Education Week October 20-24, Teen Read Week October 19-25,
World Kindness Week October 1-7, Return The Borrowed Books Week March 1-7, National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week November 16-22
Weeks from: http://www.epromos.com/calendar/promotional-calendar.html
Friday, November 13, 2009
Websites You Should Check Out 11/14/2009
The Best Sites For Learning About Pearl Harbor
from Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Websites You Should Check Out 11/13/2009
All About Adolescent Literacy
- Classic Novels and Literature You're Free to Share
Imagination Prompt Generator: Random Writing Blog Prompts, Writer's Prompt Tool
50 Google Charts Tricks for Your Next Classroom Presentation | College@Home
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Veteran's Day Resources
Our school wanted to share a video during morning announcements on Veteran's Day and taking a look at it made me realize that what I traditionally think of for the word veteran has changed. I, probably like a lot of others, think about World War II, Korea, or Vietnam vets; older soldiers who served years ago. I had to stop to think that soldiers today are also veterans-even if they are still serving in the military. It made me appreciate living and working so close to Quantico and Fort Belvoir.
Here are some resources to help teach students more about Veteran's Day:
Vets Day on Veterans Administration site
History of Veteran's Day
Veterans, We Honor You
DE Streaming Video search for middle school
Want to help out those currently serving?
Donate books to soldiers at http://www.booksforsoldiers.com/or http://operationpaperback.org
Disable American Veterans offers scholarships to students who volunteer in Veterans hospitals. There is an outpatient clinic in Fredericksburg
Want to know what's close by?
National Museum of the Marine Corps
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
Here are some resources to help teach students more about Veteran's Day:
Vets Day on Veterans Administration site
History of Veteran's Day
Veterans, We Honor You
DE Streaming Video search for middle school
Want to help out those currently serving?
Donate books to soldiers at http://www.booksforsoldiers.com/or http://operationpaperback.org
Disable American Veterans offers scholarships to students who volunteer in Veterans hospitals. There is an outpatient clinic in Fredericksburg
Want to know what's close by?
National Museum of the Marine Corps
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
There's A Surprise in the Jack O' Latern!
Disclaimer: Please excuse the gushing in this post. :)
Our Spanish classes recently learned about the importance of the Day of the Dead in the Mexican culture. This awesome celebration of life and loved ones takes a little twist at our school. Instead of remembering the dead, students pick a teacher in the building to give an ofrenda or special offering to and celebrate them! When a teacher is selected, they are given a questionnaire to explain the project and the day, and asked about their likes and dislikes, hobbies, etc. The students then put together a visual presentation, keeping the questionnaire in mind. When they are finished, they present the ofrenda to the teacher and display it in their room. They also write a letter to the teacher again explaining their project and thanking them for all they do!
This is the second year for the project and both students and teachers get so excited about it! Their ofrendas are very creative and well put together.
I was lucky enough to receive one last year and got a very cute basket with pink and purple flowers, which included some candles, apples, and my favorite--chocolate!
But, I have to say, they did a fantastic job this year! My display board represents the things I like most, the best of Fall with orange leaves, apples, and pumpkins and spiced candles; technology is represented with glittered CD's, my love of books is represented with two victorian style looking bookmarks, and Halloween with a teddy bear dressed as a mummy. I also got some chex mix, granola bars and...of course, chocolate...in the Jack O' Latern!
So thank you, Katelyn, Laurel, Alyssa, and Kaitlyn for my wonderful ofrenda!
Our Spanish classes recently learned about the importance of the Day of the Dead in the Mexican culture. This awesome celebration of life and loved ones takes a little twist at our school. Instead of remembering the dead, students pick a teacher in the building to give an ofrenda or special offering to and celebrate them! When a teacher is selected, they are given a questionnaire to explain the project and the day, and asked about their likes and dislikes, hobbies, etc. The students then put together a visual presentation, keeping the questionnaire in mind. When they are finished, they present the ofrenda to the teacher and display it in their room. They also write a letter to the teacher again explaining their project and thanking them for all they do! This is the second year for the project and both students and teachers get so excited about it! Their ofrendas are very creative and well put together.
"The Day of the Dead project really brings out the students' creativity! Most students start off with no knowledge of the holiday, yet they learn so much as they create their own ofrendas that I think they begin to value the ideas behind this important holiday! And of course the teachers and staff absolutely love the end results! Creating these Day of the Dead projects is by far my favorite time of the school year!" Our Spanish teacher, Mrs. Wheeler
I was lucky enough to receive one last year and got a very cute basket with pink and purple flowers, which included some candles, apples, and my favorite--chocolate!
But, I have to say, they did a fantastic job this year! My display board represents the things I like most, the best of Fall with orange leaves, apples, and pumpkins and spiced candles; technology is represented with glittered CD's, my love of books is represented with two victorian style looking bookmarks, and Halloween with a teddy bear dressed as a mummy. I also got some chex mix, granola bars and...of course, chocolate...in the Jack O' Latern!
So thank you, Katelyn, Laurel, Alyssa, and Kaitlyn for my wonderful ofrenda!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Websites You Should Check Out 11/06/2009
The Ambush Wiki-Professional Development Videos
Professional Development Videos
www.mrnussbaum.com
Drag and Drop numbers to help with long addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Websites You Should Check Out 11/05/2009
Phys Ed, Comics and the Classroom
Mr Robbo – The P.E Geek
resources and links for teachers
A Unit Study on Brazil - EasyFunSchool
EasyFunSchool
from Thoughts from a Tech SpecialistWebCasts « Maine Learning Technology Initiative
Free webinars for 2009-2010 school year
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Websites You Should Check Out 11/04/2009
The Complete Guide to Google Wave
How to Use Google Wave
TCEA 2010 "Charting New Waters"
Possible Conference to attend in some future time?
Share ideas, rate ideas, they make donation to Teachers Without Borders
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Just one those strange happenings or a Halloween visitor!
Friday, October 30, 2009
My Week, 10/26
It was a quieter, "let's catch up on some things" week.
On Monday, I attended MS Office 2007 Training, which we are switching to next year. We discussed new features and also plans for training in our buildings. The rest of the day, I spent catching up from my day off, going through emails, and updating our Six Kingdom website, which took more time than I thought it would.
Tuesday, I worked on completing my agenda for our next airliner integration session that occurred on Wednesday, and finished up the lesson for the CTE e-portfolios for Thursday and Friday. I also did some research on DE Streaming Science.
On Wednesday, I did the airliner session during grade level planning periods and a few other odds and ends around my office.
Then on Thursday and today, I am working with the 8th grade CTE students on their home pages for their e-portfolios using iweb and then helped staff with some questions and/or technical difficulties.
Overall, a good week! I am on the hunt for some new units to help plan soon! What do you have coming up in your curriculum that you have ideas for? Or do you need ideas? Share in the comments below. I'd be glad to help out!
On Monday, I attended MS Office 2007 Training, which we are switching to next year. We discussed new features and also plans for training in our buildings. The rest of the day, I spent catching up from my day off, going through emails, and updating our Six Kingdom website, which took more time than I thought it would.
Tuesday, I worked on completing my agenda for our next airliner integration session that occurred on Wednesday, and finished up the lesson for the CTE e-portfolios for Thursday and Friday. I also did some research on DE Streaming Science.
On Wednesday, I did the airliner session during grade level planning periods and a few other odds and ends around my office.
Then on Thursday and today, I am working with the 8th grade CTE students on their home pages for their e-portfolios using iweb and then helped staff with some questions and/or technical difficulties.
Overall, a good week! I am on the hunt for some new units to help plan soon! What do you have coming up in your curriculum that you have ideas for? Or do you need ideas? Share in the comments below. I'd be glad to help out!
Photo "Elements of My Perfect Little Notebook" found on Flickr, uploaded by Patrick Ng.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Trails Optional
I have a new blog addiction. Trails Optional written by blogger and educator Jen Deyenberg is inspirational to me. I found it while searching for some ideas for "Smart" Tips and saw the ones Jen had created. They were very straight forward and to the point, exactly what busy educators need. Then I started reading some of her other posts and realized she just started blogging with her students, as well. That's something we've just started doing at my school too (more on that later). It was great to read and "hear" the challenges and benefits of blogging with students.
I like her candid humor as well, describing in one post, "What have I done? I’ve created a groups of kids that rolls their eyes if I pull out a worksheet. Ok, so I roll my eyes when I pull out a worksheet". It's the typical catch-22 educators who overtly use technology find themselves in. We know there will not always be a time when we can use technology, in fact, when we most certainly should NOT use technology. There are times where it's more beneficial for an activity to be hands on, however, it's also a world where students have technology all around them. Okay, enough of my soapbox.
I'm looking forward to more thought provoking posts from this blogger and can't wait to see where Trails Optional heads to next!
Photo of Rock Garden Trail, in Glacier National Park, found on Flickr, uploaded by kweaver2.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Update Your Lesson Activity Toolkit to 2.0
We're learning more and more about that Smart Notebook software! This week during my airliner training I'll be discussing the Lesson Activity Toolkit within this software. I'll be showing examples and where to find activities. These will come from the Lesson Activity Toolkit. However, most of you (in my building) still have the old version of the toolkit and we need to update it to 2.0. Follow these directions and you will be all set!
1. Open Smart Notebook.
2. Click on the Gallery.
3. Check to make sure your lesson activity toolkit says "1.0".
4. Select the wrench.
5. Select "Check for Updates"
6. Select Lesson Activity Toolkit 1.0
7. In the new window, make sure Lesson Activity Toolkit 2.0 is checked.
8. Click next.
9. Wait for it to update.
10. Click Finish.
1. Open Smart Notebook.
2. Click on the Gallery.
3. Check to make sure your lesson activity toolkit says "1.0".
4. Select the wrench.
5. Select "Check for Updates"
6. Select Lesson Activity Toolkit 1.0
7. In the new window, make sure Lesson Activity Toolkit 2.0 is checked.
8. Click next.
9. Wait for it to update.
10. Click Finish.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Six Kingdom Posters Finished
Yesterday I finished up the website with the completed Six Kingdoms Posters the 7th grade students made in Comic Life. Last week, I previewed a little bit about this project, which the students had a great time with! They did a little bit of research of some of the kingdoms and used their recall skills from class lectures with others. They then did an image search to find images that best represented each kingdom. I had the students use Safari on our macbooks to send their images straight to iphoto, which then automatically came up in their Comic Life library. After that was completed, students then went into Comic Life, found a template to add to their page, and then dragged their images from the library to each box. They then added speaking bubbles with two facts about each kingdom. They labeled the kingdoms, added a title and their name and then were allowed to do special effects, colors, fonts, background, shadows, etc.
This was one of the best projects I've done and I'm really happy with the results. However, there are a few things I learned from this project.
1) Have students put their name on it first. For some reason, we had a hard time getting student to put their names on their posters.
2) No matter how many times we told the students to put their information on their poster first, then look at the effects, we still had students who didn't finish because they were changing all the effects. I would hate to do this, because I want students to learn time management and be responsible for getting their own work done on time, but maybe next time I should break this up into two parts. In the first part, students have a checklist (which they had) and they must show us everything is checked off before they can move onto the effects. I saw some great posters with lots of variety and they would have been awesome--had they been finished. There were also other students who went beyond what we asked and put in whole paragraphs about each kingdom or had additional "comic" comments after the information had been added. They were fun to read as well as informational.
3) I would do this type of project again. It took the students about a period and a half to create their posters, but they won't be forgetting this assignment anytime soon.
This was one of the best projects I've done and I'm really happy with the results. However, there are a few things I learned from this project.
1) Have students put their name on it first. For some reason, we had a hard time getting student to put their names on their posters.
2) No matter how many times we told the students to put their information on their poster first, then look at the effects, we still had students who didn't finish because they were changing all the effects. I would hate to do this, because I want students to learn time management and be responsible for getting their own work done on time, but maybe next time I should break this up into two parts. In the first part, students have a checklist (which they had) and they must show us everything is checked off before they can move onto the effects. I saw some great posters with lots of variety and they would have been awesome--had they been finished. There were also other students who went beyond what we asked and put in whole paragraphs about each kingdom or had additional "comic" comments after the information had been added. They were fun to read as well as informational.
3) I would do this type of project again. It took the students about a period and a half to create their posters, but they won't be forgetting this assignment anytime soon.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
My Week, 10/19/09
What a busy week! I keep saying that, don't I? This week was full of professional development and some really cool Science posters!
On Monday, I had a staff session on Social Bookmarking, where I explained to teachers in my building that social bookmarking is a way to organize and store your favorite websites and share them with others. We talked about Google bookmarks, Portaportal, Delicious, Diigo, and StumbleUpon. I haven't quite figured out that last one and really stick with Delicious and Diigo. Is there anyone out there that uses StumbleUpon? If so, why do you use it or what is that you like about it? Come convince me!
The teachers who attended thought this was a great way to share resources! Here are some of the comments they had to share:
From our guidance counselor, Amy:
From one of our 8th grade teachers, Deborah:
My presentation from Monday is uploaded here.
Last week, I hinted at using the program Comic Life for this week. So on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I worked with the 7th grade Science classes using Comic Life to create posters of the Six Kingdoms: Archeabacteria, Eubacteria, Fungi, Protista, Plantae, and Animalia. See what I learned this week? The students had a great time and I loved seeing them help one another with the program. Each poster was truly a spirit of themselves and their creativity-there isn't one that looks alike. They discovered fonts I didn't know about. Three or four students found fonts that looked like animal tracks or had borders to go around their letters for the title. I think all of us thought they did a great job and now that they know the program, we are already thinking of what they can use it for next!
Which brings me to Friday! Well...I'm taking a break and I'm headed to Radford, one of my favorite places and my college. Have a great weekend!
On Monday, I had a staff session on Social Bookmarking, where I explained to teachers in my building that social bookmarking is a way to organize and store your favorite websites and share them with others. We talked about Google bookmarks, Portaportal, Delicious, Diigo, and StumbleUpon. I haven't quite figured out that last one and really stick with Delicious and Diigo. Is there anyone out there that uses StumbleUpon? If so, why do you use it or what is that you like about it? Come convince me!
The teachers who attended thought this was a great way to share resources! Here are some of the comments they had to share:
From our guidance counselor, Amy:
"I think it's great! I'm always finding pages and bookmarking them and then I can't find them when I go to a different computer. These will be wonderful!"
From one of our 8th grade teachers, Deborah:
"I think it will be a convenience to me because I will have material readily available to me whether I'm at work or at home".
My presentation from Monday is uploaded here.
Last week, I hinted at using the program Comic Life for this week. So on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I worked with the 7th grade Science classes using Comic Life to create posters of the Six Kingdoms: Archeabacteria, Eubacteria, Fungi, Protista, Plantae, and Animalia. See what I learned this week? The students had a great time and I loved seeing them help one another with the program. Each poster was truly a spirit of themselves and their creativity-there isn't one that looks alike. They discovered fonts I didn't know about. Three or four students found fonts that looked like animal tracks or had borders to go around their letters for the title. I think all of us thought they did a great job and now that they know the program, we are already thinking of what they can use it for next!
Which brings me to Friday! Well...I'm taking a break and I'm headed to Radford, one of my favorite places and my college. Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
FETC Fall Virtual Conference Tomorrow!
The FETC Virtual Conference is tomorrow! I blogged about this back in August and here's your friendly reminder about it! Visit http://virtual.FETC.org from 10am - 6pm EST tomorrow for some great FREE professional development opportunities. Register here.
I'll be working with students tomorrow most of the day, but I'll catch you up on what sessions I was able to get to.
Here's the schedule:
10:00 - 11:00 Dedicated Exhibit Hall Time
11:00 - 12:00 Keynote Presentation: Unleashing Teacher Creativity and Effective Instruction in the Digital World*
12:00 - 1:15 Unleashing Teacher Creativity and Effective Instruction in the Digital World* A Panel Discussion with "Beyond Textbooks" Advocates
1:30 - 2:45 Three Types of Immersive Interfaces: Implications for Learning and Teaching*
2:45 - 3:15 Live Chat hosted by Pano Logic in the Networking Lounge
3:15 - 4:30 Beyond Drill and Practice: Developing Automatic Recall of Math Facts for All Children*
4:30 - 5:00 & *5:00 - 5:30 Tight Budget? Learn how K-12 Districts are Saving Up to 60% with Parallels and Achieving Their Student Technology Needs
5:00 - 6:00 Building 21st Century Classrooms in the Clouds! - A Desktop Sharing Presentation*
I'll be working with students tomorrow most of the day, but I'll catch you up on what sessions I was able to get to.
Here's the schedule:
10:00 - 11:00 Dedicated Exhibit Hall Time
11:00 - 12:00 Keynote Presentation: Unleashing Teacher Creativity and Effective Instruction in the Digital World*
12:00 - 1:15 Unleashing Teacher Creativity and Effective Instruction in the Digital World* A Panel Discussion with "Beyond Textbooks" Advocates
1:30 - 2:45 Three Types of Immersive Interfaces: Implications for Learning and Teaching*
2:45 - 3:15 Live Chat hosted by Pano Logic in the Networking Lounge
3:15 - 4:30 Beyond Drill and Practice: Developing Automatic Recall of Math Facts for All Children*
4:30 - 5:00 & *5:00 - 5:30 Tight Budget? Learn how K-12 Districts are Saving Up to 60% with Parallels and Achieving Their Student Technology Needs
5:00 - 6:00 Building 21st Century Classrooms in the Clouds! - A Desktop Sharing Presentation*
Monday, October 19, 2009
Today's Kid Reporter...Go Vote!
How cute is this! The Today Show is holding a contest to find a kid reporter. They have videos online of each child's submission and you can vote in their semi-final round.
While I watching one submission, it occurred to me that some of these videos were very similar to students creating digital stories or videos. One child, Vanessa Radke, did a report on how to conserve water. She had all the facts in her report and made it professional, yet entertaining to watch too. It reminded me of an alternative assessment. You have to think that she did research to learn more about this topic and give tips and then report on it.
Another child, Noah Johnson, did a report on trains and why they were important in American History. He interviewed one of the conductors and tour guides and did a great job of putting information into his report.
I guess it's the journalism major in me coming out, but go check this out!
What do you think? Do you get any ideas for videos students could do? Post away in the comments below!
While I watching one submission, it occurred to me that some of these videos were very similar to students creating digital stories or videos. One child, Vanessa Radke, did a report on how to conserve water. She had all the facts in her report and made it professional, yet entertaining to watch too. It reminded me of an alternative assessment. You have to think that she did research to learn more about this topic and give tips and then report on it.
Another child, Noah Johnson, did a report on trains and why they were important in American History. He interviewed one of the conductors and tour guides and did a great job of putting information into his report.
I guess it's the journalism major in me coming out, but go check this out!
What do you think? Do you get any ideas for videos students could do? Post away in the comments below!
Smart Tips on Lesson Activity Toolkit 2.0
Looking for some ideas on how to use the Smart Notebook program more effectively? I found a free webinar today that Smart did back in May. You do have to register, but it's free, and so worth it!
During the webinar, I got great ideas for how to use the Lesson Activity Toolkit 2.0. This has pre-made tools that can work with any lesson. I also found out that if you click on the toolkit, underneath that there is an example folder, full of examples of every tool in the toolkit. There's a wealth of activities here! I recommend watching the webinar soon!
I'm so excited to share these, that I'm going to change my plan around a bit on the smartboard/airliner training and include some of these activities in my next training session on the 28th.
During the webinar, I got great ideas for how to use the Lesson Activity Toolkit 2.0. This has pre-made tools that can work with any lesson. I also found out that if you click on the toolkit, underneath that there is an example folder, full of examples of every tool in the toolkit. There's a wealth of activities here! I recommend watching the webinar soon!
I'm so excited to share these, that I'm going to change my plan around a bit on the smartboard/airliner training and include some of these activities in my next training session on the 28th.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
DEN "Trick or Treat" Virtual Conference
DEN's Fall Virtual Conference takes place on October 24, from 9am - 4pm. I've been participating for two years now and really enjoy the information I receive. In total there are 7 one hour sessions full of information. I encourage you to try this FREE and easy way to grow your professional development network and learn about some FREE ideas to use in your classroom.
One of the ideas I've learned about from past DEN experiences is adding web 2.0 tools to DE Streaming, which I then came up with the idea of using these tools with Schoolfusion. I've also learned how to change closed captioning on DE Streaming videos and how to insert DE Streaming videos into Google Earth. The list could on. Okay...I know it's a Saturday, but take one hour and try one session. Here's a suggestion: Try the 11 a.m. session on "Thinking Outside the Slide". This sounds like a session on PowerPoint and I'm sure will include some tricks on how to better use PowerPoint. It's late enough that you can sleep in and early enough before your day really starts.
I'm intrigued by the session at 1 p.m. entitled "What on Earth is a Gloggle?" Sounds like it could be a mix of Glogster, Blogging, and Google Earth? What do you think it could be?
Click here to register, if you're interested.
And here's the whole schedule:
9 a.m. Can I Help You With That? The Student as Collaborator, Creator and Director with Justin Karkow
10 a.m. Do You Have the Audacity to Podcast?
11 a.m. Thinking Outside the Slide
12 p.m. Putting the Bling in Your Builders with Steve Dembo
1 p.m. What on Earth is a Gloggle?
2 p.m. Be Nice and Share: Publishing Your Media-Infused Projects for the World to See
3 p.m. Can I Help You With That? The Student as Collaborator, Creator and Director, encore presentation with Justin Karkow
Still not convinced? Click here.
One of the ideas I've learned about from past DEN experiences is adding web 2.0 tools to DE Streaming, which I then came up with the idea of using these tools with Schoolfusion. I've also learned how to change closed captioning on DE Streaming videos and how to insert DE Streaming videos into Google Earth. The list could on. Okay...I know it's a Saturday, but take one hour and try one session. Here's a suggestion: Try the 11 a.m. session on "Thinking Outside the Slide". This sounds like a session on PowerPoint and I'm sure will include some tricks on how to better use PowerPoint. It's late enough that you can sleep in and early enough before your day really starts.
I'm intrigued by the session at 1 p.m. entitled "What on Earth is a Gloggle?" Sounds like it could be a mix of Glogster, Blogging, and Google Earth? What do you think it could be?
Click here to register, if you're interested.
And here's the whole schedule:
9 a.m. Can I Help You With That? The Student as Collaborator, Creator and Director with Justin Karkow
10 a.m. Do You Have the Audacity to Podcast?
11 a.m. Thinking Outside the Slide
12 p.m. Putting the Bling in Your Builders with Steve Dembo
1 p.m. What on Earth is a Gloggle?
2 p.m. Be Nice and Share: Publishing Your Media-Infused Projects for the World to See
3 p.m. Can I Help You With That? The Student as Collaborator, Creator and Director, encore presentation with Justin Karkow
Still not convinced? Click here.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Busy Week!
It's been a busy week! It started with our Differentiation Day on Monday, where our librarian and myself helped teachers learn how to use Schoolfusion more effectively. We even had time to talk about some web 2.0 tools that could be embedded, such as Blabberize, Voki's, My Studyio, and Glogster (if it's not blocked). Everyone seemed impressed with Blabberize especially. I've received great feedback! Some discussions from the day however, led me to realize that I may need to provide some workshop time on basic tools with Office products, especially Word and PowerPoint. Our librarian was willing to help me with those sessions and I would love the chance to collaborate more with her.
On Tuesday, I worked with our art teacher to start documenting samples of student work for an e-portfolio project our CTE and art classes will be piloting this year. I worked with both the eighth grade classes and soon we will be using PhotoShop Elements to crop pictures and do another project where the students will add filters and manipulate digital photos.
Wednesday was quieter as I was in a TRT meeting in the morning and finished up preparing for the Study Island training session for Thursday afternoon.
On Thursday, I worked with the Science teachers to prepare for the Comic Life project and prepared for the Airliner Training on practice writing for Friday.
Which leads me to today, where I worked on the Study Island Training Video and stopped by some classrooms to see what everyone was up to. I saw a great lesson on discounts in a 7th grade classroom. They reviewed percentages and discounts in their warm-up activity and then "went" to the Ice Cream Parlor and had $25 each to buy as much ice cream as they wanted. BUT, they had to remember that the $25 included a 5% tax and 15% tip. Then they had to calculate how much money they had left over. It was very interesting to see the students helping each other and then get frustrated when they figured up their order and had to take something off because they didn't have enough money left over for the tip! I thought this would be a great smart activity, as well. 8th grade was also doing discounts and I saw one 8th grade teacher using the Smartboard and had a graph with Sales price, discount price, and total price and the students had to figure out the total price and write it on the Smartboard.
Like I said, busy week! How was yours?
On Tuesday, I worked with our art teacher to start documenting samples of student work for an e-portfolio project our CTE and art classes will be piloting this year. I worked with both the eighth grade classes and soon we will be using PhotoShop Elements to crop pictures and do another project where the students will add filters and manipulate digital photos.
Wednesday was quieter as I was in a TRT meeting in the morning and finished up preparing for the Study Island training session for Thursday afternoon.
On Thursday, I worked with the Science teachers to prepare for the Comic Life project and prepared for the Airliner Training on practice writing for Friday.
Which leads me to today, where I worked on the Study Island Training Video and stopped by some classrooms to see what everyone was up to. I saw a great lesson on discounts in a 7th grade classroom. They reviewed percentages and discounts in their warm-up activity and then "went" to the Ice Cream Parlor and had $25 each to buy as much ice cream as they wanted. BUT, they had to remember that the $25 included a 5% tax and 15% tip. Then they had to calculate how much money they had left over. It was very interesting to see the students helping each other and then get frustrated when they figured up their order and had to take something off because they didn't have enough money left over for the tip! I thought this would be a great smart activity, as well. 8th grade was also doing discounts and I saw one 8th grade teacher using the Smartboard and had a graph with Sales price, discount price, and total price and the students had to figure out the total price and write it on the Smartboard.
Like I said, busy week! How was yours?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Six Kingdoms to Comic Life!
I'm working with the 7th grade Science classes next week using the software program Comic Life to create posters on The 6 Kingdoms. I went over the details of our project with one of the Science teachers today and did a refresher with her on Comic Life. We took a class last year together on the program and I learned how to not only make comics, but also change the boxes around to use it as a way to present information. The plan is for students to do research on the kingdoms and find 2 facts per kingdom, plus pictures to show examples of each.
I've started to suggest Comic Life to teachers as a substitute for Glogster, which seems to be blocked at my school right now. Here's the example we did today to show students next week what we're looking for:
I'll give you an update on how it goes next week!
I've started to suggest Comic Life to teachers as a substitute for Glogster, which seems to be blocked at my school right now. Here's the example we did today to show students next week what we're looking for:
I'll give you an update on how it goes next week!
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