Thursday, May 13, 2010

Definitely read this if you teach High School English!

This site called 6o Second Recap provides a recap summary of classic novels in a unique video format...For each novel, the teacher/actress has created 6-8 short videos covering plot, theme, characters, context, etc... It does not tell the whole story, but rather serves as a reminder of the book that might have been read at an earlier time... It seems like it would be great to study for a final exam to recall the basic elements of a particular novel. They are well done. The only drawback is that the site does not have a ton of books yet... only 30 so far, but all popular classics. The creator says she will add a new book each week. Its really well done. Heres a sample from Video 3 of Great Expectations:

Definitely read this if you teach High School Math, Science, or US History!

Ok- this is one of those sites that I opened and said...wow...this is FREE? Are you kidding? Its a non-profit organization that is given free online course content from other organizations. It is real, interactive, free online coursework. It may be especially valuable to teachers of Algebra, US History, Living Environment, Environmental Science, Physics, and Statistics. I am amazed at the quality and depth of the lessons I previewed so far. I could see assigning it as review, or really even as prep/homework to get ready for a lesson. You could take a particular lesson and work through it as a class. Its high quality, interactive, and free... it think... check it out and let me know what you think...

From the site: "The HippoCampus website can be customized to make it better suited to meet the needs of an individual instructor or a group of students. In order to use the customization features, you will need an account. Creating an account is quick and easy - just click on Create Account and fill out a simple form. Once you have an account, you can create announcements, hide unwanted subjects and courses, remove unused textbooks, and bookmark specific multimedia topics."

http://www.hippocampus.org/

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Results of High School Poll using Poll Everywhere

We had an assembly at the HS today that dealt with the dangers of driving while distracted or with ability impaired. Dave Collins and Tim Hulihan showed a British public service announcement that recreated the horrors of an accident caused by the driver being distracted by texting with her friends. (Warning-this video is very graphic.) They also showed a testimonial of two parents who lost their two teenage daughters in a DWI accident. With the videos, Tim and Dave asked several questions and had students text in their answers. The answers were compiled and shown on the screen in real time. This was done using a free service called Poll Everywhere. Here are the results of the three poll questions. Click on any of the graphs for full screen. Stay tuned for more about how you can use Poll Everywhere in the classroom.

Make your own poll voting question with Poll Everywhere

Monday, May 10, 2010

Open Meeting of Tech Review Committee

Hi everyone. Hope your Monday is going well!! This Wednesday at 3:00 in the LGI we will be hosting an open meeting of the Tech Review Committee. We will be highlighting some great new technologies that will be being introduced in the coming weeks. It will give you a chance to get in on the ground level of some pilots and hear about the plans for having all of our classrooms with permanent projection technology by this time next year... You don't have to be on the committee... just stop by and learn something new!

We will also be debuting our new "Tech and Teaching" forum. This will just be a fun and low key weekly meeting at both the elementary and the secondary level where people can just stop by and see cool demonstrations, ask questions, and share best practices. There is no obligation week to week. Just show up when you can. Schedule to follow! Stay tuned to this blog or to Keith's Blog for more details.

Here are some great links for Educational Games:

1297 Great Free Elementary Games
Dozens of Science and Social Studies Games
35+ Educational Games and Games Resources
25 More Educational Games and Games Builders

10 Sources of Educational Science Games

(Thanks to FreeTech4Teachers for these leads. This is a great site. You should link to it with aRSS, a iGoogle Gadget, or a bookmark...and check it everyday)

Monday, May 3, 2010

Contemplating "Tech & Teaching" Weekly Forum... Thoughts?

Here is a short screencast to demonstrate how to use the new video library that is available for schoolwide use. It allows teachers to approve any video you want for use by students.

Click Here for FULL SCREEN

Keith Rafaniello and I are thinking about offering a weekly forum called "Tech & Teaching" at both the secondary level and the elementary level. We envision it as a fun low-key get together during which we can just talk about and explore the entire topic of using techonology to improve the teaching and learning process. We would all share resources and ideas and give attendees the opportunities to teach each other or sit back and watch. It would be an environment that would be perfectly appropriate for beginners and experts alike. What do you think? Any ideas or suggestions? Please comment below... and stay tuned...

Oh... and take a look at this when you have a chance....

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Not Just for Math Teachers...

Similar to the theme of yesterday's post, but from a Math perspective...applicable to all teaching...(and shorter!)... Thanks to Heidi B. for sharing this... Thoughts? (also, feel free to comment on the bottom of these blog postings... good things to be talking about)

Monday, April 26, 2010

Doing Homework in Class...

First of all, a quick reminder- If you havent already taken the survey about professional development day 2010, please click on this link: Professional Development Day 2010 Feedback Survey. The survey will close Wednesday, 4/28.

I went to a lecture the other day by an educator named Dr. Alan November. I was quite struck by his presentation. His basic premise was this: The HUGE amount of information that is at our fingertips now is literally turning education upside down. We give kids homework... ask them to answer questions and solve problems. How long does it take for them to get feedback on whether or not they are right or wrong? A long time...too long, anyway. Then, we bring them into class and we lecture content to them...content that is already available to them in a million different formats in a zillion different places (A great example is the content that is podcasted on iTunes U- lectures and classes about all sorts of subjects). We spend time recreating lectures, slideshows, notes, etc. that are already available. In class we give them stuff they could really do at home. We ask them to do stuff at home that would be much more effective if it was done in class... "What used to be classwork should be homework, and what has always been homework would be better as class work. Here is a video by Eric Mazur, Physics Professor at Harvard, that i really think is worth watching. Just put it on in the background while you are doing other work (its kind of long) and see if it doesn't make some sense. It is not DIRECTLY applicable to our classrooms, but it has some pretty strong parallels and its worth consideration.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Feedback Survey for PDDay2010

Hi Everyone- A few things:

1. Please take the Professional Development Day 2010 Survey online as soon as you can. It will only take a few minutes. Here is the link . Please take the survey whether you attended STEM, Archery, Mohonasen, VESID, or even if you didn’t attend at all. We are interested in all feedback!

2. If you are interested in purchasing John Robinson’s book, here is the link. He promised that he would provide an autographed copy to anyone from Mohonasen who ordered through this link. (http://shop.wmht.org/shop/home.php) He also sent me a note thanking us for being very welcoming and mentioning how much he enjoyed his morning here.

3. Please check out the 70 incredible Resources page that was used in Workshop A1. It can be found here: (http://mohonit.wikispaces.com/PD+Day) This is just a sampling of the unbelievable number of high quality resources that are becoming available in recent months. You wont believe some of this stuff. Oh, by the way- to anyone who was in A1- Remember those awesome things you could do with Google Earth? Well I forgot to show you that the free software also includes a FLIGHT SIMULATOR with which you can fly all over the Globe at whatever altitude you want in an F-16 or in a Twin Engine. Last night I toured the whole capital district from Sacandaga Lake to Thatcher Park and over to Albany in a twin engine. Then I jumped into the F-16 and shot up to the Northern Adirondacks to check out my camping spot on Fish Creek Pond! Honestly, as I said to someone just today- a year ago you would get 10 links to resources and find that one or maybe two was actually a legit resource. Now it seems like 9 of the ten are excellent resources and one of those completely amazes you…

I urge you to continue to develop your personal learning network! Please don’t forget to fill out the survey. Here is the link .

Patrick

Several Resources...

Check out this blog post from FreeeTech4Teachers. It describes a website called Udemy.com. It seems like something worth exploring for anyone who wants to look into creating an online classroom environment.

Keith and I have added more resources to the 70 Incredible Resources page. It is probably a good site to add as a bookmark or put in your iGoogle page)...Remember- you can add to this page as well... just make an account at wikispaces.com and jump on board.

Here is a free guide that describes many cool uses of Google in the classroom. Click the button for full screen to view document full size. More info can be found at this blog post.

Google for Teachers -

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Some reflections...from the Rear View Mirror

So this year's Professional Development Day is over and Spring Break is just ahead! We weren't all together in the same place Friday, with the science, math, tech folks in Ballston Spa and the PE group in Scotia, but i hope everyone benefited somehow from their experiences.

Two things took place on our stage yesterday. Early in the morning, congenital amputee John Robinson walked, yes walked, up the ramp and talked with the majority of our staff about facing challenges. His message, conveyed through his life and through his words, was: "behind every challenge is an opportunity." I believe that this resonated with so many of us because we DO face very real challenges. Maybe they aren't the same type of challenges John faces and overcomes everyday, but they are serious and significant challenges nonetheless. Johns words encouraged us to face our struggles and see them as a chance to make a difference, as an opportunity to make people's lives better.

Later the same day, students from across our district took the same stage in an incredible performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I could tell by the way Dr. Spring had described it after seeing it Thursday night that it was going to something special, but I still was not prepared for the magnitude of what happened in our auditorium Friday night... The cast took a cartoon version of a Bible story, like something that would be found in a board-book in my son's toybox, and made the animation come alive before our eyes. I was spellbound by the talent, enthusiasm, creativity, color, and humor of the production. That is not to mention the sheer size of the group of kids that came together for an hour and a half to create this work of art. It was absolutely great. If you didn't see the play, I urge you to see it tonight(7:00) or tomorrow(2:30). Kathy Derochie and Nicole Gabriele have set an incredible bar in their first year leading Mohon Masque. Congratulations!

Its been a long winter... in fact, a long year. But spring is a time of hope... There were two standing ovations in the Mohonasen auditorium yesterday. The first was for a message of hope and for a man who embodied that message. The second was for an answer to why we have that hope... a huge group of kids performing their hearts out...giving their all...taking part in something that rose above the ordinary. If the challenges we face in school everyday can bring kids opportunities like this one, then I say- bring on the challenges!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Professional Development Day 2010!

70 Resources in 70 Minutes

0. (BONUS) Focused Flow Chart for Email
http://lifehacker.com/5502057/the-focused-email-flowchart-helps-you-power-through-your-inbox

1. Technology Standards & Performance Indicators for Students (NETS from ISTE)
"What students should know and be able to do to learn effectively and live productively in an increasingly digital world …”
http://nets-implementation.iste.wikispaces.net/Student+Friendly+Standard+Names (Student-Friendly Standards Names)
National Educational Technology Standards for Students
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007_Standards.pdf (PDF)
http://nets-implementation.iste.wikispaces.net/ (NETS Implementation Wiki)
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS-S_2007_Student_Profiles.pdf (Profiles)
(The profiles highlight a few important types of learning activities in which students might engage as the NETS are implemented)

2.www.nylearns.org - NY Learns: a gigantic free database of lessons tied to NYS Standards

3. http://www.ed-links.org/techssentials/ (Invaluable Ed Tech Resource)
Welcome to Techssentials-- a "low-hassle" place to acquire essential computer technology skills and explore ways to integrate technology with teaching and learning.

4. teachingandlearningatmohonasen.blogspot.com -A blog that will pass along ideas, news, and opportunities. Add it to your Feed Reader!

5. http://www.districtadministration.com/viewpage.aspx?pagename=staticpage/CurriculumHotspots_07.htm (Curriculum Hotspots)
The latest guide to the best education sites on the Web.
6. www.AwesomeHighlighter.com - highlight important notes from any page and save them or send them.

7. http://www.educause.edu/7Things (Professional Growth)
Seven Things You Should Know About... (Several Educational Technology Topics)
8. www.issuu.com - publish your own work or the work of your students

9. http://tarheelreader.org/ (Fluency)

Tar Heel Readers are online books, many written by children and teachers, that are focused on beginning reading levels.

10. http://phet.colorado.edu/index.php- Interactive Science/Tech demos

11. http://storylineonline.com/ (Fluency)

Storyonline has books read by members of Screen Actors Guild.

12. http://www.rain.org/~karpeles/- primary document library- also http://www.digitalvaults.org/
13. http://www.readthewords.com/ (Comprehension)

Allows students to have a text read~ creates an audio file from any written text, website or RSS; supports txt, doc, pdf and html files. You can control reader speed and choose(or create) an avatar.

14. http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/02/100-video-sites-every-educator-should.html- 100 Video Sites Every Educator Should Know.

15. http://www.storyjumper.com/ (Comprehension - Digital Story Telling)

StoryJumper is a place to create and discover stories for kids

16. http://www.google.com/options/

17. http://www.internet4classrooms.com/computer_lab_help.htm (Technology Integration)

Integration Help for Computer Lab Teachers

18. http://books.google.com/ Google Books

19. http://oakdome.com/k5/
K-5 Computer Lab Activities

20. http://scholar.google.com/ Google Scholar

21. http://www.abcya.com/

ABCya! is the leader in free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learnon the web. All children's educational computer games and activities were created or approved by certified teachers.

22. http://www.google.com/ig - iGoogle - your home page

23. http://www.eschoolnews.com/ (Professional Growth)
Technology News for Today's K-20 Educator

24. http://maps.google.com/?hl=en Google Maps- becoming a standard

25. http://www.stager.org/podcasting.html (Educational Podcasting)
Support for Progressive Educators

26.http://docs.google.com/ Google Docs- online "microsoft-office-like" applications and your personal storage.

27. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html (Educational Websites & Resources)

Curriculum Material Online

28. http://www.google.com/reader/ Google Reader

29. http://www.techlearning.com/ (Professional Growth)
Practical resources and expert strategies for transforming education through integration of digital technologies.
30. http://www.google.com/chrome Google Chrome- a different browser

31. http://www.Kids.gov/
This a great resource that is divided into age groups K-5, and 6-8. After you select an age group then it is divided into subject areas (and sub-categories). After these selections are made you are given a list of relevant and appropriate links and a description of them. I have found so many great sites from this site. (Thanks Meghan!)

32. http://earth.google.com - Google Earth

33. http://www.kizclub.com/ (Educational Resources)
Learning Resources for Kids

34. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/ A MUST SUBSCRIBE blog for every teacher

35. http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/customer_login.asp?accessdenied=%2Flibrary%2Fasp%2Fhome%5Ftumblebooks%2Easp (Fluency)

TumbleBookLibrary is an online collection of animated, talking picture books which teach young children the joys of reading in a format they'll love.

36. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/12/15-most-popular-posts-on-free-tech-4.html- the most popular posts on FreeTech4

37. http://www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=82&Itemid=40 (Professional Growth)
21st Century Skills for Students & Staff
38. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/11/six-easy-ways-for-students-to-create.html- Six Easy Ways for Students to Create Videos Online

39. http://teachertube.com/ (Educational Videos)
Teach the World!

40. http://freetech4teachers.pbworks.com/History+-+Geography+-+Economics+-+Social+Studies -Social Studies Resources

41. http://www.tlsbooks.com/kidspagearchive.htm (Free Worksheets)
You'll find a variety of free printable worksheets for home and school use.
42. http://freetech4teachers.pbworks.com/Foreign+Language+-+ESL- Foreign Language/ESL

43. http://www.rhlschool.com/reading.htm (Free Reading Comprehension Worksheets)

Featuring free reading comprehension worksheets for teachers and parents to copy for their kids. They include original stories, poems, essays, and articles. They are most appropriate for upper elementary through middle school years.

44. http://freetech4teachers.pbworks.com/General+Technology+-+Content+Creation- general technology-integration-to-classroom links from FreeTech4

45. http://www.lauracandler.com/
Laura Candler's Ready-to-Use Resources for Today's Classroom

46. http://freetech4teachers.pbworks.com/Mathematics- Great Math Links from FreeTech4

47. http://www.starfall.com/ (Phonics)
Interactive Phonics Games

48. http://freetech4teachers.pbworks.com/Science Great Science Links from FreeTech4

49. http://languagearts.pppst.com/reading.html (Reading, Word Identification, Comprehension Games)
Many educational games - base words, prefixes, suffixes and more

50. http://freetech4teachers.pbworks.com/English+-+Language+Arts Great English/ELA links from FreeTech4

51. http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/lookcover/lookcover.html (Practice your spelling - Game)

The game starts out with 10 different words, but you can click on the words to erase them and add your child’s spelling words for the week. It is a fun way to practice spelling words and integrate computer technology.

52. http://www.shmoop.com- electronic learning guides to great literature

53. http://www.kgurbanvillage.com.au/sharing/digital/index.shtm (Digital Storytelling)

Teachers creating digital storytelling for instructional purposes

54. http://twitter.com/writing_prompts Writing Prompts from Twitter

55. http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/language_arts.html (Digital Storytelling)

Take a look at this digital storytelling on 'favorite books.' Imagine your students; reviewing their favorite books, though perhaps with more conversation and the 'why' of choices.

56. http://www.ted.com - TED Talks Great talks/keynotes... "Ideas Worth Sharing"

57. http://www.freechild.org/issues.htm (Writing Prompts)
Social justice issues - real purposes (8 and older - some issues may cause parental concern at young ages)

58. http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/02/map-as-history-animated-historical-maps.html- Historically animated and Narrated Maps

59. http://storybird.com/ (Composing)

Storybirds are short, visual stories that you make with family and friends to share and (soon) print.

60. http://www.paperrater.com/ Free Online Proofreading and Plaigiarism Detection- Tool for Students

61. http://www.janbrett.com/games/flash_card_dolch_word_list_main.htm (Word Identification)

Jan Brett Sight Word List - Dolch Word Flash Cards

62. www.aviary.com online software that rivals Photoshop and also audio mixing software.

63. http://www.spellingcity.com/ (Practice your spelling)
SpellingCity: the ultimate online spelling program.
64. http://web.wm.edu/hsi/index.html HSI: Historical Scene Investigation

65. http://crocodoc.com/ (Researching and Collaboration)
Crocodoc lets you mark up and annotate documents online. Even PDF files.

66. http://www.placefy.com/- fun geography/ bell ringer game

67. http://www.diigo.com/ (Researching and Collaboration)

Great social bookmarking system; among the tools are annotation, bookmarking with tags, sticky notes and sharing to individuals and groups. Works well for researching.

68.http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com an excellent blog to subscribe to.

69. http://www.customtyping.com/ (Improve your typing skills)
NOT FREE-but can he customized. Several districts use this with great results-assessments (data!), guides, games and more, very organized.

70. http://www.whopooped.org/ .............

---

Educational Website Reviews

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/all-ages/educational?action=new-releases

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (FREE - to install on your computer at home)

http://www.malwarebytes.org/
Proven to thoroughly detect and remove even the most advance malware (tip: malware is very bad for your computer)

---
KIDS Sites
www.si.edu/
www.yahooligans.com/
scholastic.com/
www.timeforkids.com/TFK/
www.howstuffworks.com/
http://pbskids.org/
kids.discovery.com/
disney.go.com/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/
http://www.nick.com/

K-5 Sites

Adrian Bruce's Educational Teaching Resources - Reading Games - Math Games

http://www.mathwire.com Awesome math site (also ties in literacy)

The Florida Center for Reading Research

More K-5 Teaching Resources

http://www.canteach.ca/index.html Great for poems and songs

http://kids.aol.com/KOL/2/Games/FlashHolder/KOL-Fun-Wordz (Word Identification)
Game - Type as many words as you know in 2 minutes

Writing Prompts & Ideas

http://www.orato.com/
http://bleacherreport.com/
http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/
http://www.squareamerica.com/
**http://www.treehugger.com/**

****Did You Know?**** - Globalization; Information Age
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q

The Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites

Health & Science

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2327436,00.asp
Technology
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2327445,00.asp

Best Ed. Sites
http://www.bestedsites.com/

Award-winning educational websites http://www.computedgazette.com/page11.html

Sites for Teachers
http://www.sitesforteachers.com/

Ten Cool Sites http://apps.exploratorium.edu/10cool/index.php

Archive of Web Seminars (Educational Leadership Topics)
http://www.districtadministration.com/webseminars/webseminararchive.aspx

Internet Safety

A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety
http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm
kidsites.com - your guide to the best kid sites on the web
http://www.kidsites.com/

Surfing the Net with Kids
http://www.surfnetkids.com/
http://www.safesurfer.org/

Internet Filter Software Reviews http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/

Education Software (Great Prices for Educators & Students) http://www.campustech.com/

Explore & Learn

http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/
http://www.earthalbum.com/
http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php
http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/
http://www.fixya.com/

Free Online Books
http://bartleby.com/
http://www.dailylit.com/
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Health
http://webmd.com/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/

Information Portal for the Busy Professional
CEOexpress.com

Free File Sharing Sites
http://drop.io/
http://www.mediafire.com/

Free Productivity Software
http://www.tucows.com/
http://www.zoho.com/
Homeschool.com's Top 100 Educational Web Sites of 2008
http://www.homeschool.com/articles/top100-2008/default.asp
TUTORIALS
Google Docs
http://www.google.com/google-d-s/tour1.html
http://services.google.com/apps/resources/overviews_breeze/DocsSpreadsheets/index.html
Google Docs Tutorial http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=bebba8f772a34eae096e

Webinar - Google Apps Lessons from the Classroom

Cool Sites with Photos (Writing Prompt & Journaling Ideas)

New! Google Reader Play is a fun way to browse interesting stuff on the web. Give it a try!

http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/03/22/binder-clips-apparently-work-great-as-cable-organizers/

http://www.caglecartoons.com/images/preview/%7B276623f3-ae10-43de-914b-ba2e691fab7b%7D.gif

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/boston/seating-sofas-armchairs/livingstones-modular-seating-by-stephanie-marin-112053?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+apartmenttherapy%2Fmain+%28Main%29

http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/03/todays-pic-the-worlds-largest.html

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/03/23/potd

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/03/dummies-are-much-smarter-than-they-used-to-be.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BradDelongsSemi-dailyJournal+%28Brad+DeLong%27s+Semi-Daily+Journal%29

http://dvice.com/archives/2010/03/chainable-usb-p.php

http://thisisnthappiness.com/post/458440329/the-ungooglable-man

http://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/lock-hide-files-folders-windows-free/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ITHelpDeskGeek+%28Help+Desk+Geek+-+Help+Desk+Tips+For+IT+Pros%29

http://10steps.sg/inspirations/artworks/50-most-creative-anti-smoking-advertisements/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+10Steps+%2810Steps.SG%29

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