Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Best Websites for Teaching and Learning
Websites of Interest
Challenge your students to discover how they compare with others nationally and from around the world. Select a subject, grade level, and answer questions.
Kerpoof! offers students a fun way to create movies, cards, stories, and more!
Kerpoof Studio via kwout
Mind Mapping and Other Tools
These sites were compiled with college students in mind, but certainly they have value for younger students as well. Anyone interested in graphic organizers should take a look at these helpful resources.
http://associatedegree.org/2009/07/27/50-useful-mind-mapping-tools-for-college-students/
Need a stop watch?
A stopwatch could come in handy in your classroom. Try this:
Study Guides
Collage of Careers
Help Kidz Learn
Global Classrooms
http://www.tigweb.org/tiged
From the website: TIGed provides rich, interactive learning experiences designed to improve students' global citizenship, critical thinking, and leadership skills, bringing the world to students and preparing students for the world! You can access existing projects, create a safe, interactive, virtual classroom, access online learning activities and resources.
Professional Library
Uniondale High School is the home of the district's library of professional titles. You can search the collection from an in-district computer by visiting http://follett or from home at http://follett.uniondaleschools.org. Our most recent acquisitions include books that are suitable for the technology-curious. Browse through the slideshow below, and contact your building librarian to arrange to borrow a book! You might also search the catalog: http://follett.uniondaleschools.org. Choose the high school. In the search box, type TCHRS and look on the top bar so you can click "number" as your way to search.
Project Explorer
Virtual Field Trips
Virtual Field Trips is an offering from the SimpleK12 website, full of free resources to make learning dynamic and fun. See below for a list of virtual field trips currently available.
Vital New York
At the conference on Friday, I was reminded of a terrific resource. VITAL NEW YORK is an online library (free!) of digital multimedia resources for the K-12 community. Channel 13/WNET has put together public television video and interactive content to support the curriculum. The Grade 3-8 Core Curriculum includes content for ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies. The High School Core Curriculum covers Global History and Geography, U.S. History, Living Environment, Earth Science, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering and Technology. Check out http://vital.thirteen.org/, set up an account, and enjoy!
Argument Maps
Examining Works of Art Online
Google has come through with another amazing resource that is sure to enrich our classrooms and libraries. Whether you are an art teacher or just want to introduce an interdisciplinary unit to your students, check out Google's Art Project where you can explore museums and their art works from around the world. The zoom feature adds extra zest to the experience.
Listening and Learning
Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
for a discussion on the effects of distracting technology on learning (and doing homework!).
Technology in Education--Is It Worth It?
Illuminations
Many of you are probably familiar with Thinkfinity which links out to a vast store of quality resources. A recent visit brought me to Illuminations, a product of the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics. If math is part of your curriculum, take a look.
21st Century Information Fluency
According to this website, digital information fluency is the "...ability to find, evaluate and use digital information effectively, efficiently and ethically." Check out the resources to help your students achieve their information needs.
Videoconferencing for Learning
Videoconferencing is catching on in several of our schools. At the high school, teachers who are participating in the LI Cares Grant have introduced videoconferences to some of their classes, and elementary classes have enjoyed online visits to museums and other programs. Introduce yourself to this technology by visiting the website below.
AHS Learning Ecology
Thinkfinity--Ker-Splash
Ker-Splash via kwout
Sketchfu
For the artists among us, and those of us who aspire to a new level of creativity, here is a site that demonstrates just how to put pen (or pencil or crayon or whatever...) to paper to create a drawing by showing us, stroke by stroke, how a drawing is made. Check out Sketchfu.
Twitter in Education
Mary Saragnese and Nancy Rebore put together this list of resources to prod us to consider the advantages of using Twitter in education. It's making me think about it...What about you?
Twitter in Schools – a select Bibliography
A Vision of Students Today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o (at home)
http://lightspeed/safevideos/Video.aspx?id=dGCJ46vyR9o (in district)
Twitter is the most popular platform for microblogging, which combines the features of blogging, text messaging, and social networking. Since it launched in 2006, Twitter has attracted more than a million users, including a growing community of educators
UHS - Time to use 21st century learning tools. Principal of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ4qQU0ULUY (at home)
http://lightspeed/SafeVideos/Video.aspx?id=RQ4qQU0ULUY (in district)
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6 resources for using Twitter in Education
3 useful resources: Twitter Handbook for Teachers; Twitter 4 Teachers ; Twitter for Teachers and Educators. Also, a must watch video by AP Biology teacher:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTZMODNeKyc
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Nine great reasons why teachers should use Twitter
Why should educators get involved? Offers answers that you might like to share.
“Following smart people on Twitter is like a mental shot of expresso.”
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Should your school be using Social Media?
Excellent article … and don’t miss the last section: My proposal to school districts everywhere: If I were in charge of my local school district, I would view social media, the internet, and technology, something like this …
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Reasons to bring Twitter into the classroom: 1.) To examine Twitter itself as a part of media literacy; 2) To use Twitter as a collaborative tool.
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Twittering, Not frittering: Professional Development in 140 characters Teacher, David Cosand , on Twitter, follows high-profile edubloggers such as David Warlick and Wesley Fryer, regulars on the conference circuit who share their insights from afar via Twitter. "I'm here for the learning revolution," reads Fryer's one-sentence Twitter bio.
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iPhone and iPod Educational Apps
http://web.me.com/dowd/Touch/Welcome.html
http://oedb.org/library/features/top_50_iphones_for_educators
Helpful and New Web 2.0 Tools
Cut My Pic http://cutmypic.com/ allows you to upload your pictures and crop them to your liking. I tried one, and it was as easy as it promised to be.
Lingus TV http://www.lingus.tv/ is a web-based tv channel designed to teach Spanish through video clips.
On Google Translate http://translate.google.com, translations can be read to you.
Always looking for alternatives to Google (not that I don't love Google, but variety makes life more interesting). Check out Search Cube http://www.search-cube.com/, a visual search engine.
We all should be cognizant of copyright and model proper practice for our students. Check out some resources for free and legal images on the web: http://www.blogherald.com/2008/10/06/5-sources-for-free-and-legal-images/. Also, free stock and public domain images: http://mashable.com/2009/08/04/free-blog-media/
On a higher level thinking quest? Check out the Problem Solving Site: ttp://www.theproblemsite.com/.
The Value of Interactive Whiteboards
For anyone still wondering about whether or not there is a correlation between the use of interactive whiteboards and academic achievement, read the Educational Leadership article that explains the findings of a study. What resonated with me is the importance of creating meaningful flipcharts, ones well-connected to objectives, with visuals that support topics and don't clutter the aim. Which is why, of course, staff development is so important. Be sure to sign up for one of our inservice courses, request one-on-one or small group time with our trainer, and/or take the time to plow through Promethean Learning's tutorial.
This week I visited a few classes where the board was being used. The flipcharts were created to guide the students through new learning, and the eagerness of the children to participate--and think through their responses--was evident.
WatchKnow
"Just think: millions of great short videos, and other watchable media, explaining every topic taught in schools, in every major language on Earth. WatchKnow is both a resource for users and also a non-profit, online community that encourages everyone to collect, create, and share free, innovative, educational videos."
See for yourself:
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Learn Online
Tell Your Story: Adobe Voice is free for the iPad
iPads in your classroom? Poll your students!
AnswerGarden - Plant a Question, Grow Answers! Generate a live word cloud with your audience. via kwout
Create a wall! An online bulletin board
