Thursday, December 27, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Gooru - A Great Source of Math, Science, and Social Studies Materials

Free Technology for Teachers: Gooru - A Great Source of Math, Science, and Social Studies Materials: "Gooru is a service that aims to provide teachers and students with an extensive collection of videos, interactive displays, documents, diagrams, and quizzes for learning about topics in math, social studies, and science."

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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: What's Your Strategy for Getting Comments on Classroom Blogs?

Free Technology for Teachers: What's Your Strategy for Getting Comments on Classroom Blogs?: "Earlier this week I received an email from a teacher that was looking for ideas on how to get more comments on her students' group blog. My usual suggestions are as follows:

1. Connect with and ask other teachers on Twitter if they will comment or have their students comment.

2. Submit your blog to the Edublogs community.

3. Connect with teachers on a network like The Educator's PLN. Again, ask if there are people willing to comment or have their students comment. You might also consider starting a group within the network just for the purpose of connecting classroom blogs for commenting. "

'via Blog this'

The Best Places To Read & Write “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

The Best Places To Read & Write “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: "A key concept that’s important for students to learn is the importance of engaging with the text — not just being a passive reader.
There are obviously many effective instructional strategies to help them practice that lesson.  One pretty explicit way is for them to have access to reading “choose your own adventure” stories where they are periodically given choices of what they want characters to do, and then participate in the construction of the story itself.  The Goosebumps series of books is a well-known example of this genre.  In the world of English Language Learner teaching, these kinds of stories are also called “Action Mazes.”"

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Liquid Networks, PLNs, and growing professionally | History Tech

Liquid Networks, PLNs, and growing professionally | History Tech: I can't capture enough of the article for it to make sense... Follow the link.

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Hacking Flipboard for fun and profit | History Tech

Hacking Flipboard for fun and profit | History Tech: "Okay. Probably not profit. But hacking Flipboard to make it all about you can be fun.

Yesterday I talked about creating your own liquid network, a professional learning network that makes you and those around you smarter.

But PLNs are not just people. Your PLN should also include news feed apps and RSS aggregators. If you’re not familiar with RSS, head to this handy Youtube video clip. Basically these are tools that you can customize so that just the specific news and information you want automatically appears in that tool. So you don’t have to go out and search for stuff, the stuff comes to you. (One of the easiest tools to use is Google Reader.)"

'via Blog this'

Sunday, December 2, 2012

MarilynMonrobot

MarilynMonrobot: "Heather is currently conducting her doctoral research at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute and running Marilyn Monrobot Labs in NYC, which creates socially intelligent robot performances and sensor-based electronic art. Founder of the Robot Film Festival and Cyborg Cabaret, Heather was on the 2011 Forbes List for 30 under 30 in Science."

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Gmail+1 = Student Email Addresses to Register for Online Services

Free Technology for Teachers: Gmail+1 = Student Email Addresses to Register for Online Services: "The Gmail+1"hack" isn't a new trick and I can't remember when I first tried it, but it still works and it still provides a solution to a problem that a lot of teachers run into when they want their students to use a new web tool. Let's say there's a new service that I want my students to use but my students don't have email addresses that they can use to register for that service. In that case I can quickly generate Gmail addresses for my students by using the Gmail+1 hack."

'via Blog this'

Saturday, November 24, 2012

A Summer of Android

A Summer of Android

Free Technology for Teachers: Professional Learning in the Digital Age - A Review

Free Technology for Teachers: Professional Learning in the Digital Age - A Review: "Last spring my Google Teacher Academy buddy Dr. Kristen Swanson sent me an email asking if she could interview me for a book that she was writing. I agreed and we connected over Skype for a conversation about the role that blogging has played in my professional life. This week Kristen's book came in the mail and I was surprised to see how much of our conversation made it into her new book, Professional Learning in the Digital Age. "

'via Blog this'

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Meetingl - Free and Easy Video Conferencing

Free Technology for Teachers: Meetingl - Free and Easy Video Conferencing: "Meetingl is a free service for hosting video conferences. A Meetingl conference room can be created in less than a minute. To create your room just go to the site, click "New Room," name your room, and send out invitations."

'via Blog this'

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: 110 Page Guide to Publishing With iBooks Author

Free Technology for Teachers: 110 Page Guide to Publishing With iBooks Author: "Apple's iBooks Author is an excellent tool for creating multimedia ebooks, but there are some elements of using it that can be confusing and or frustrating. While you can figure it all out on your own as you go, that's how I've been going about it, you can save yourself a bunch of time by reading a good guide ahead of time. I wish I had done that."

'via Blog this'

The Best Screenshare Tools To Help Others With Computer Problems | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

The Best Screenshare Tools To Help Others With Computer Problems | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: "I’ve sometimes had to help my in-laws with computer issues, and have identified some useful tools that allow screensharing very easily.
I know there are quite a few out there, but these are the ones I’ve found to be the most simple and effective. Let me know if what you think is missing from the list.
Here are my choices for The Best Screenshare Tools To Help Others With Computer Problems:"

'via Blog this'

Friday, November 9, 2012

Explore Island of the Blue Dolphins

Explore Island of the Blue Dolphins: "A thematic exploration of the historical fiction novel--
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell."

'via Blog this'

Thursday, November 8, 2012

JAM with Chrome: Play music live with your friends online | Official Google Blog

JAM with Chrome: Play music live with your friends online | Official Google Blog: "If you ever dreamed of playing in a band, now’s your chance to be a rock star. JAM with Chrome is an interactive web application that enables friends in different locations to play music together in the Chrome browser on their computers. No matter what your level of talent—from daydreaming air guitarist to music pro—you can JAM together in real time over the web"

'via Blog this'

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Educational Leadership:Teacher Evaluation: What's Fair? What's Effective?:Beyond the Scoreboard

Educational Leadership:Teacher Evaluation: What's Fair? What's Effective?:Beyond the Scoreboard: "The key driver of teacher development isn't accurate measurement of teachers' performance. It's guidance on exactly how to improve."

'via Blog this'

Engaging Parents In School… » New Haven Seems To Do “Parent University” Right….

Engaging Parents In School… » New Haven Seems To Do “Parent University” Right….: "I’ve posted a lot about “parent academies” or “parent universities” around the country — and my critique of them for not being parent-driven by emphasizing issues that parents want to learn about.
I’ve often contrasted it with the Parent University program at our school.
I read an article in The New Haven Register today about a Parent University in that city which seems to really “get it.” Here’s an excerpt the illustrates what I mean:
“New Haven’s Parent University is unique in that workshops not only address how parents can support their kids in school, but also how they can enrich their own lives. Topics include tips for successful job searching, learning a trade, computer literacy for adults, resume writing and starting your own business.”
That’s what I’m talking about!"

'via Blog this'

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Meograph - 4D Storytelling in Education

Free Technology for Teachers: Meograph - 4D Storytelling in Education: "Meograph is a digital storytelling tool that launched this summer. Using Meograph you can create a digital story that uses a timeline, a Google Map, images, videos, and your narration. I like the service enough that I have included it in a couple of workshops this summer and fall. Meograph recently launched a new education page on which they are featuring examples of using the service in education. I've embedded one of the samples below.
"

'via Blog this'

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Don't Know Much about History (of Education)

Don't Know Much about History (of Education): "Sal Khan recently sat down with Forbes’ Michael Noer to record a mini-lecture, Khan Academy style, about the history of education. It’s the history of education “from 1680 to 2050” in 11 minutes, so needless to say it’s a rather abbreviated version of events.

Of course, history isn’t simply a collection of events strung together on a timeline, such as the one that Khan draws for viewers here. History is explanation, description, and narration. It is framing and reframing. History is always partial, and it is always told from a particular vantage point — now — by a particular subjective storyteller — in this case, Sal Khan and Michael Noer."

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Video Projects and Common Core Standards

Free Technology for Teachers: Video Projects and Common Core Standards: "Video Projects and Common Core Standards
Last week I ran two workshops on video creation in the classroom. A part of that workshop was a discussion of Common Core standards that can be addressed through video creation projects. I've pulled out some of the standards that I think a video creation project can address. The standards that I chose all came from the Language Arts standards. I would love to hear from mathematics teachers who have ideas about Common Core standards that can be addressed through video creation projects.
"

'via Blog this'

Free Technology for Teachers: Use Studeous to Create a Discussion Forum for Your Class

Free Technology for Teachers: Use Studeous to Create a Discussion Forum for Your Class: "Studeous is a new service that teachers can use to create online discussion forums for their courses. In your Studeous account you can create a discussion forum for each of the courses that you teach. In addition to using Studeous as a discussion forum you can create an announcements page. If you upgrade to a paid account you can post files and images too (the free version limits you to two files). Students can join your forum by entering the access code for your course or you can send them invitations via email."

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Free Technology for Teachers: Bibliography Templates for Google Documents

Free Technology for Teachers: Bibliography Templates for Google Documents: "Tools like EasyBib, refDot, and Citelighter can help students format their bibliographies. One problem with those tools is that students have to install browser extensions, create new accounts, or both in order to use them. If your students already use Google Docs there is an easy-to-access alternative.

The Google Docs template gallery is a good place to check out before you create your next form or document that requires a lot specific formatting. Chances are someone else may have had a similar need and has already created and published a template that you can use. For example, the Google Docs template gallery has templates for creating bibliographies in APA, MLA, AMA, and Chicago Style.

Applications for Education
The Google Docs bibliography templates could be very useful for any student that needs to create a bibliography. The templates can be embedded into a classroom blog as a model for students to follow even if they don't use Google Docs to create their bibliographies. "

'via Blog this'

Why "Is There an Ed-Tech Bubble?" Is the Wrong Question

Why "Is There an Ed-Tech Bubble?" Is the Wrong Question: "Frank Catalano recently suggested in his GeekWire column that we could be on the cusp of another tech bubble, this time in education. “There are early warning signs that the hype could be outpacing the reality,” he wrote, pointing to the increasing investment, attention, and startups in ed-tech.

BostInno’s Lauren Landry dismissed the artile as “the hipster’s case against ed-tech” (which made me smirk because with great fondness I think of Frank Catalano as a “veteran” of ed-tech’s case). She argued that innovation in the space is great and should be encouraged — fears of bubbles be-damned, I guess.

I don’t dispute either argument."

'via Blog this'

Free Technology for Teachers: theLearnia - Video Lessons with a Social Network

Free Technology for Teachers: theLearnia - Video Lessons with a Social Network: "theLearnia is a new website that is organizing video lessons into collections. The service calls the videos "lessons" and appears to have plans for adding more to the lessons than just video clips, but that doesn't appear to have happened to most of the lessons. theLearnia has a social element that allows you to connect with other students and teachers to comment on videos and exchange public and private messages about lessons.

Applications for Education
Right now I think that the value of theLearnia is its organization of videos according to grade level and subject. In the future when there are more users theLearnia could be a good place to host informal online study sessions."

'via Blog this'

“Edcanvas” Looks Like A Nifty Tool | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

“Edcanvas” Looks Like A Nifty Tool | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: "I just learned about Edcanvas from Diana Laufenberg. It’s a nifty tool that lets you very easily add videos, images, website snapshots and files to create a grid canvass for students to access (teachers can also create virtual classes so that students could create their own). You can also type text on top of what you drag into the grid boxes — for example, instructions. A particularly nifty feature is that it provides a search box so you can search for videos, images and websites right from within the application.
It has multiple uses, but I think it’s especially good for creating Internet Scavenger Hunts and Web Quests, which I why I’m adding it to The Best Places To Create (And Find) Internet Scavenger Hunts & Webquests."

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A Vital Skill? Look For, Find and Learn from Online Guides & Tutorials | Langwitches Blog

A Vital Skill? Look For, Find and Learn from Online Guides & Tutorials | Langwitches Blog: "Simply google Yale iTunes University or Harvard iTunes University and you are in business to potentially LEARN from the same professors that teach the students who are attending these “very expensive”higher education institutions.

Will you earn a degree from these universities?…No…
Will you receive one on one attention from the professors if you have questions about their lecture?… No…
Will you meet the right people or be roommates with the children of the right people?…. No….
Do  you have access to listening and learning from some brilliant minds?.. on your choice of topics?… without having to spend a dime?… Yes!
Can you become part of an online learning community, with members watching the same lectures, discussing and learning with  and from each other?…Yes"

'via Blog this'

The LMS Instructure Enters the MOOC Fray

The LMS Instructure Enters the MOOC Fray:

"The Canvas Network

So with the new Canvas Network, Instructure has compiled a catalog of free, open online classes run on the Canvas LMS by Canvas customers. The network launches with participation from a dozen institutions, including Brown, the University of Washington, and the University of Central Florida. There are 2 dozen courses, including “Introduction to Openness in Education” taught by BYU’s David Wiley and “Gender Through Comic Books” with lectures voiced by Stan Lee. (Yes, that Stan Lee.)"

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Wiki Story

Lab reservation

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Quickly Find Images for Google Presentations

Free Technology for Teachers: Quickly Find Images for Google Presentations: "To access the research tool in Google Docs, Presentations, or Drawings just select it from the "tools" menu when you have a document, presentation, or drawing open. If you want to locate images that are licensed for re-use, open the "settings" menu at the bottom of the research pane and select "free to use, share, modify even commercially." Make that selection before conducting your search. If you use Chrome or Firefox you can drag images directly into your document, presentation, or drawing from the research pane."

'via Blog this'

Making time for Reflection! & Reflection for Lower Elementary Students | Langwitches Blog

Making time for Reflection! & Reflection for Lower Elementary Students | Langwitches Blog: "As teachers, we all know that we should create time to reflect on our professional practices… we need to experience the process of reflecting, in order to be able to guide our students…

….but what get’s cut the easiest from our schedule if there is little time available? How can we see reflection as a high priority item on our never ending list of things to do? How can we get into the habit of making reflection time?"

'via Blog this'

Monday, October 29, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Creative Commons in Plain English

Free Technology for Teachers: Creative Commons in Plain English: "I just published a post about creating attributions for Creative Commons licensed images. Writing that post reminded me that Creative Commons isn't always an easy topic to understand. Whenever I give a presentation or run a workshop about student video projects, I spend time explaining what Creative Commons licensing is and its benefits for consumers and producers of media. Sometimes in my workshops I use Common Craft's explanation of Creative Commons licenses and what they mean for consumers and producers of media. I've embedded the video below."

'via Blog this'

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Personalize Learning: The Expert Learner with Voice and Choice

Personalize Learning: The Expert Learner with Voice and Choice: "The Expert Learner with Voice and Choice

Who is the Expert Learner?

Expert learners take responsibility for their learning. They view learning as something they do for themselves, not something that is done to them or for them. [Source: The Expert Learner]

"The more educators give students choice, control, challenge, and collaborative opportunities, the more motivation and engagement are likely to rise. The enhancement of agency has been linked to a variety of important educational outcomes, including: elevated achievement levels in marginalized student populations, greater classroom participation, enhanced school reform efforts, better self-reflection and preparation for improvement in struggling students, and decreases in behavioral problems." [Source: Motivation, Engagement and Student Voice from the research from Students at the Center]


'via Blog this'

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Manifest Destiny - The Story of The US Told In 141 Maps

Manifest Destiny - The Story of The US Told In 141 Maps: "Manifest Destiny tells the story of the United States in 141 maps from the Declaration of Independence to the present.

Explore and interact with any of the maps below, or fast-forward to important events, such as the Louisiana Purchase, the Civil War, or to the present-day US."

'via Blog this'

Monday, October 22, 2012

Are they Students or are they Learners? : 2¢ Worth

Are they Students or are they Learners? : 2¢ Worth: "I spend a lot of time, these days, talking and writing about how we are asking teachers to redefine what it means to be a teacher — and, in all fairness, how difficult that is. I try to present myself as a master learner, suggesting that part of what teachers should be, today, is constant and resourceful learners — master learners. But perhaps a significant part of this exercise in redefinition should involve our students — an explicit remolding of perceptions of these youngsters, in order to fully shift the relationship between student and teacher, learner and master learner.
So let me see if I can distinguish between these notions of students and learners."

'via Blog this'

A School that Practices Learning-Literacy : 2¢ Worth

A School that Practices Learning-Literacy : 2¢ Worth:
"So, a school that practices learning-literacy will be a school where:

  1. The distinctions between teacher and student begin to blur.
  2. There is less reliance on textbooks and authority, and more reliance on the work of learning.
  3. There is a natural convergence between the rich information skills of literacy and numeracy and the information and data that define the content areas.
  4. Teachers teach from new learning, as master learners.
  5. Digital Footprints become a central part of the school’s culture, building evolving personal and school identities based on learning and “doing” with the learning.
  6. The library magnifies the world outside, but also reflects the culture inside, curating collections of learner produced media products.
  7. Where learners learn, teachers model learning, and the school teaches the community.

How does this ring for you?"

I added the bold on the first point because I think this is the most significant point of a great list of significant points. Learning takes place when a group explores, someone needs to moderate and that is the role of the teacher. Point 5 is what I'm trying to get done; digital footprint is the product created and published from the process of learning. This is what we need to focus on over the coming year.

I also think my problem of coming up with the new labels has been solved: Student is changed to learner and teacher is changed to master learner.

Mr. Lawslo

'via Blog this'

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Six Multimedia Timeline Creation Tools for Students

Free Technology for Teachers: Six Multimedia Timeline Creation Tools for Students: "This week I ran a workshop on mind mapping, brainstorming, and timeline creation. These are the timeline creation tools that I included in the workshop."

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Struggling with educators’ lack of technology fluency | Dangerously Irrelevant

Struggling with educators’ lack of technology fluency | Dangerously Irrelevant: "It’s 2012. Technology suffuses everything around us. The Internet and Internet browsers have been pretty mainstream for at least a decade.

And yet, I continually run into significant numbers of educators who still don’t know how to work their Internet browser. They struggle with copying and pasting. They get confused just clicking between 2 or 3 different browser tabs. They don’t conceptually understand the difference between their browser’s Google search box and the box where they can actually type in the URL and get there directly. They have no idea that they can right-click on things like hyperlinks or images. And so on… [And this is just the Internet browser. I'm not even talking about individual software programs or online tools.]

What hope do these teachers have of providing meaningful, technology-rich learning experiences for their students? What hope do these leaders have of creating and adequately supporting powerful, technology-rich learning environments for students and staff? Little to none."

'via Blog this'

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Check Out These YouTube EDU Gurus

How did I not hear about this? I'm putting together a video anyway!

Free Technology for Teachers: Check Out These YouTube EDU Gurus: "Last month YouTube launched a Star Search of sorts to find the next ten YouTube EDU Gurus. This week those new gurus were revealed and I'm very happy to say that three of them have been featured here on Free Technology for Teachers in the past. Those three are Keith Hughes, Kristen Williams, and Paul Anderson. Their new introductory videos are posted below. Congratulations to all of the new YouTube EDU Gurus. I look forward to all of the new content that you produce."

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Common Curriculum Helps You Create Common Core Lesson Plans

Free Technology for Teachers: Common Curriculum Helps You Create Common Core Lesson Plans: "Common Curriculum is a new online lesson planning resource that aims to help you align your lessons to Common Core standards. In Common Curriculum you can enter your courses and write your lesson plans. After you enter a lesson plan into your Common Curriculum planner you can click "search for standard" to have Common Curriculum search for Common Core standards that might match your lesson plan. The more text that you include in your lesson plan the more likely Common Curriculum is to find Common Core standards that match your lesson plans. "

'via Blog this'

Monday, October 15, 2012

Holding back our children | Dangerously Irrelevant

Holding back our children | Dangerously Irrelevant: "Digital technologies are magnifiers and amplifiers of our humanity. They extend the reach of our human voice. They increase a millionfold our capacities and inclinations to find, connect, and share with others. They boost exponentially our abilities to collaborate with others, do meaningful work, and contribute to the overall good."

'via Blog this'

Friday, October 12, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: iSideWith Helps You Pick a Presidential Candidate

Free Technology for Teachers: iSideWith Helps You Pick a Presidential Candidate: "With the U.S. Presidential Election less than one month away many schools across the United States will be hosting or participating in mock elections over the next few weeks. iSideWith could help your students identify a candidate whose ideas they are most likely to agree with. Students work through a series of questions on issues of social welfare, economics, science, and international affairs. Based upon their answers iSideWith shows students how similar or different they are compared to six presidential candidates."

'via Blog this'

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Reward Students' Achievements with ClassBadges

Free Technology for Teachers: Reward Students' Achievements with ClassBadges: "ClassBadges is a new service that aims to help teachers and students track their achievements big and small. Using ClassBadges teachers create goals for their students. When students reach their goals teachers assign a badge to them to keep in their student profiles. Teachers can create goals for things like completing a large research project, for perfect attendance, or for completing an informal learning activity with their parents while visiting a local museum."

'via Blog this'

Free Technology for Teachers: Explore the Google Cultural Institute

Free Technology for Teachers: Explore the Google Cultural Institute: "The Google Cultural Institute launched 42 new online historical exhibitions yesterday. The new exhibitions feature images, documents, and artifacts from some of the most significant cultural events of the last one hundred years. The exhibitions are built as interactive slideshows that you can scroll and click through to discover the artifacts and stories. "

'via Blog this'

Newell-Fonda Technology

Newell-Fonda Technology:
Telesis student makes the big time!
'via Blog this'

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Parenting more important than schools to academic achievement, study finds

Parenting more important than schools to academic achievement, study finds: "New research from North Carolina State University, Brigham Young University and the University of California, Irvine finds that parental involvement is a more significant factor in a child's academic performance than the qualities of the school itself."

'via Blog this'

Free Technology for Teachers: Free Downloads

Free Technology for Teachers: Free Downloads: "The eight free guides below will give you a sense of what this blog is all about.
Every day Free Technology for Teachers provides teachers with free websites and resources that they can use in their classrooms. Take a look at this post or this post to get a better sense of the type of post you'll find here. If you like what you see, please subscribe to the blog using the RSS or Email subscription options by clicking the icons to the right."

'via Blog this'

Geosense: an online world geography game

Geosense: an online world geography game:
Great fun!
'via Blog this'

Free Technology for Teachers: Use Wikibrains as a Story Starter

Free Technology for Teachers: Use Wikibrains as a Story Starter: "Wikibrains is a neat website designed to help you brainstorm in a web format. When you brainstorm on Wikibrains you're also performing a basic Internet search at the same time. To create a brainstorm web on Wikibrains start by entering one word or phrase. When you enter a word you will be prompted to add more words by completing the phrase, "Makes me think off..." Each new word or phrase that you enter will be added to your web. As you enter words on the right side of the screen you will see links to search results about each word."

'via Blog this'

Free Technology for Teachers: Testmoz - A Simple Tool for Giving Tests Online

Free Technology for Teachers: Testmoz - A Simple Tool for Giving Tests Online: "Testmoz is a simple service for creating and administering multiple choice tests online. Testmoz provides a unique url for the tests you create. Testmoz also provides a "pass code" that test takers have to enter. As the administrator of the tests you create you can quickly see who has taken your test and how many questions they answered correctly."

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Teacher Resources | Students | US EPA

Teacher Resources | Students | US EPA: "Teacher Resources and Lesson Plans
Find an array of environmental and science based lesson plans, activities and ideas below."

'via Blog this'

Free Texts, Calls + Number. Text students & parents online or by cellphone

Free Texts, Calls + Number. Text students & parents online or by cellphone:

'via Blog this'

Free Technology for Teachers: Share Bookmarks With a Group in Annotary

Free Technology for Teachers: Share Bookmarks With a Group in Annotary: "Last month I wrote about a new bookmarking service called Annotary. Annotary struck me as being a bit like Diigo meets Pinterest. I liked Annotary but it was missing something. That missing thing was the option to create bookmark sharing groups. This week Annotary added that option. "

'via Blog this'

Friday, September 28, 2012

Route 21 and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills | Dangerously Irrelevant

Route 21 and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills | Dangerously Irrelevant: "At the SETDA Leadership Summit and Education Forum, we’ve been talking a lot about 21st century skills, so I thought it might be helpful to highlight some of the work that the Partnership for 21st Century Skills has been doing.

The Partnership has been quite busy lately. In October, it announced new poll results that showed that a significant majority of voters ‘are deeply concerned that the United States is not preparing young people with the skills they need to compete in the global economy.’ Here’s an excerpt from the full report:"

'via Blog this'

Who is going to hire young people skilled at regurgitation? | Dangerously Irrelevant

Who is going to hire young people skilled at regurgitation? | Dangerously Irrelevant: "Most classrooms and schools are outmoded ‘answer factories,’ and regurgitation is not a skill that is marketable. Kids today are growing up in a sea of information, 24/7, and schools must be helping them formulate questions, encouraging them to dig deep, to prepare them for a world which values the ability to formulate questions and then find answers to those questions. Who is going to hire young people skilled at regurgitation?

Of course, blended learning can turn out better workers for those answer factories, but what a waste that would be. But if its advocates limit their vision to merely producing kids who do well on standardized tests, blended learning will end up being yet another disappointment, and we will all lose.

John Merrow via http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=5908"

'via Blog this'

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

blender.org - Home

blender.org - Home: "Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License."

'via Blog this'

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The New World - Interactive - NYTimes.com

The New World - Interactive - NYTimes.com: "Now, though, we appear on the brink of yet another nation-state baby boom. This time, the new countries will not be the product of a single political change or conflict, as was the post-Soviet proliferation, nor will they be confined to a specific region. If anything, they are linked by a single, undeniable fact: history chews up borders with the same purposeless determination that geology does, as seaside villas slide off eroding coastal cliffs. Here is a map of what could possibly be the world’s newest international borders."

'via Blog this'

Sunday, September 9, 2012

HowStuffWorks "Top 10 'Star Trek' Technologies that Actually Came True"

HowStuffWorks "Top 10 'Star Trek' Technologies that Actually Came True": ""Beam us up." It's one of the most iconic lines in television history. It's something often heard in the hit science fiction television series "Star Trek" and all of the television shows and movies that followed."

'via Blog this'

Monday, September 3, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Uncharted.fm Offers Great Geography Lessons

Free Technology for Teachers: Uncharted.fm Offers Great Geography Lessons: "Uncharted.fm offers a series of progressively more difficult geography lessons and quizzes. In the beginning you're limited to one region and or continent at a time. As you master each region or continent you earn badges and unlock new challenges.
"

'via Blog this'

Google Reader

Sunday, September 2, 2012

iCivics | Free Lesson Plans and Games for Learning Civics

iCivics | Free Lesson Plans and Games for Learning Civics:

'via Blog this'

Education Week: Educators Evaluate 'Flipped Classrooms'

Education Week: Educators Evaluate 'Flipped Classrooms': "A growing number of educators are working to turn learning on its head by replacing traditional classroom lectures with video tutorials, an approach popularly called the "flipped classroom." Interest in that teaching method was in full view this summer at the International Society for Technology in Education annual conference in San Diego, where almost every session on the topic was filled to capacity.
The movement was inspired partly by the work of Salman Khan, who created a library of free online tutoring videos spanning a variety of academic subjects, known as the Khan Academy, which many view as a touchstone of the flipped-classroom technique. But, much like the Khan Academy itself, the approach is attracting increasing scrutiny—and criticism—among educators and researchers."

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Saturday, September 1, 2012

New site offers help with shift to digital education | eSchool News

New site offers help with shift to digital education | eSchool News: "“Epic-ed will provide K-12 educators, district leaders, and other community participants with a unique channel to get connected and develop strategies for navigating the digital transition,” said CoSN CEO Keith Krueger. “With increased peer-to-peer interaction and greater connectivity, epic-ed members will have an opportunity to learn from each other, share ideas, and ultimately implement effective plans to help ease the transition and maximize the benefits of technology-enabled learning environments.”"

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Teachers' Domain: About Inspiring Middle School Literacy

Teachers' Domain: About Inspiring Middle School Literacy: "In this professional development video from WGBH, teachers, students, and a literacy expert present their perspectives on the use of the self-paced lessons in the Walmart Middle School Literacy Initiative. Designed for struggling readers in grades 5–8, the lessons use videos, interactive activities, note taking, readings, and essay writing to engage students in science, social studies, English language arts, and mathematics topics. As they learn about a topic, they also build proficiency in reading, vocabulary, and writing skills."

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Friday, August 31, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Get 25GB of Box Storage with Fetchnotes

Free Technology for Teachers: Get 25GB of Box Storage with Fetchnotes: "I've written about the collaborative task management tool Fetchnotes a couple of times this year (click here for my latest review). This week Fetchnotes announced a great promotion with Box. Now if you register for a Fetchnotes account and a new Box account, you will receive 25GB of free Box space. Since Dropbox dropped support for sharing of folders (for new accounts), Box has become my preferred file hosting and sharing service."

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TimeMaps - World History Atlas

TimeMaps - World History Atlas: "Explore world history with this FREE, award winning World History Atlas.
The TimeMap of World History is an all inclusive look at world history. It combines maps, timelines and chron- ological narratives that work together to enhance historical understanding. New content added daily."

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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Langwitches Blog | Archive | Digital Learning Farm

Langwitches Blog | Archive | Digital Learning Farm: "“Tutorial Designer” is one of the six roles, Alan November lists in his Digital Learning Farm that empower student learners and describes in his book ‘Who owns the Learning?.
Where does your imagination take you?
What ideas come to your mind?
What comes to mind for YOUR STUDENTS TO SHARE?
What lesson or unit, could you “upgrade” to include the creation of a video, audio or screencast?
I believe strongly, that teaching and upgrading to include emerging literacies and amplified skills for the 21st century learner rely HEAVILY on imagination, willingness and ability to experiment, fail, tweak and try again.

Please share samples of you and your students’ imagination and tutorials, guides or step by step instructions."

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10 Things Students Won’t Need To Know When They Graduate | Edudemic

10 Things Students Won’t Need To Know When They Graduate | Edudemic: "A generation ago, change often took a decade, and trends in music, fashion, and politics all phased in and out in these generous chunks of time, but the tempo of life has changed as technological advances have accelerated life to a point when decades worth of changes are now being compressed into a year or less.

This creates unique challenges for today’s school leaders as we try to wrestle our curricula into a shape that can meet the needs of individual children while being vibrant enough so the curricula don’t become an outdated document over the course of a year."

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Primary source activities aligned to the Common Core « History Tech

Primary source activities aligned to the Common Core « History Tech: "I do think that most history teachers incorporate the sorts of things that the Common Core is encouraging – though not often enough and not as intentionally as they should. So their question about “what it looks like” is a good one. So today some examples of how you might use primary sources to align your instruction with Common Core standards.

My first suggestion is that you head over to my Common Core and the Social Studies Classroom page and browse through some of the stuff that’s over there. Tim Bailey has a great article that we link to and there are some helpful videos of classroom examples. You’ll also find a great resource from the Smithsonian called Engaging Students with Primary Sources that gives some specific classroom examples. We will continue to add new and useful goodies to that page so you might want to bookmark the page before you’re done there.

The thing that I really like about the CC is that as part of the ELA standards, K-12 students must use evidence as part of their written arguments. Students also learn to"

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Saturday, August 25, 2012

The Best Places To Read & Write “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

The Best Places To Read & Write “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: "A key concept that’s important for students to learn is the importance of engaging with the text — not just being a passive reader.
There are obviously many effective instructional strategies to help them practice that lesson.  One pretty explicit way is for them to have access to reading “choose your own adventure” stories where they are periodically given choices of what they want characters to do, and then participate in the construction of the story itself.  The Goosebumps series of books is a well-known example of this genre.  In the world of English Language Learner teaching, these kinds of stories are also called “Action Mazes.”"

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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

“textivate” Has Potential, But….. | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

“textivate” Has Potential, But….. | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: "You can copy and paste any text up to 500 words into textivate and get, in return, multiple different exercises using that text, ranging from “scrambled sentences” to “Fill-in-the-blanks.” In fact, you can automatically try twenty-seven different variations. You can get a public url for it (it says you can also get an embed code, but it didn’t give me one). You can see what I did with it here."

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Monday, August 13, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: A Simple Visual Thesaurus

Free Technology for Teachers: A Simple Visual Thesaurus: "Words Like is handy little website for those times when you need a thesaurus. Words Like works in your choice of two ways. You can browse the word clouds or simply enter a word in the search box. Any word that you click on in either the word cloud or in the list generated by your search will lead you to at least one word with a similar meaning. Definitions are provided for every word on Words Like."

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Friday, August 10, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Video Projects to Try With Your Students

Free Technology for Teachers: 5 Video Projects to Try With Your Students: "Video creation projects are some of my favorite things to do with students. I like video projects for a number of reasons not the least of which is that students generally enjoy them too. I like video projects because when they're organized properly students have to write, research, produce, and revise just as they would if they were writing a story or research paper. The difference is that shared finished video projects have the potential to reach many more people than a well-written essay does. Another bonus is that I can invite my administrators into my classroom to watch a few short videos and they can quickly see what my students have been doing."

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Monday, July 16, 2012

HowStuffWorks "Learn how Everything Works!"

HowStuffWorks "Learn how Everything Works!":
This is just a fun site. You can spend time learning about such a wide variety of subjects. They have several podcasts that are worth subscribing to through iTunes!
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Thursday, July 12, 2012

I’ve Got A Bad Feeling About This: “Next Up in Teacher Evaluations: Student Surveys” | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

I’ve Got A Bad Feeling About This: “Next Up in Teacher Evaluations: Student Surveys” | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: "Education Week Teacher has just published a report titled Next Up in Teacher Evaluations: Student Surveys (Learning First also has a good post on the same topic). It discusses the growing interest in using student survey results as a part of a teacher evaluation process and specifically talks about what’s happening in Pittsburgh."

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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Easy Group Blogging With Posterous Spaces

Free Technology for Teachers: Easy Group Blogging With Posterous Spaces: "In Posterous Spaces you can allow people to make contributions to your blog by simply sending an email to "yourblog'sname" @ posterous.com. For example, if I created the blog "awesomeblog.posterous.com" I could allow others to contribute to the blog by simply sending an email to "awesomeblog@posterous.com." You can choose to moderate or not moderate those contributions. From an administrative standpoint, using the email method of contributing to a group blog is much easier than having to enter permissions for each person you want contributing to your group blog."

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Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Why Good Classes Fail

Why Good Classes Fail: "This is a quick little essay about why a teacher can employ all the “right methods” (pick your buzzword: student-centered, learning-centric, participatory, collaborative, problem-based, etc.) and embrace all the most rich, compelling, and engaging technologies, and still fail. This is an essay in the true sense of the word (which Gardner Campbell has recently reminded me is derived from the French infinitive essayer, “to try” or “to attempt”) … so this is just a try, an attempt, and in that sense also an invitation for you all to jump in and let me know your thoughts as well."

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Sunday, July 1, 2012

Whack-A-Bone

Whack-A-Bone: "Whack-A-Bone will lead you toward an instinctive knowledge of the major bones of the body. Build up, scan and whack the arm, leg and core. When that has been perfected, scan the entire skeleton and finally, whack Harold silly."

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Pathfinders

Pathfinders: "LOST? Help is here! Pick a subject you need to research and you will be given a list of sites to guide you with your work. We now have 101 pathfinders!!"

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How Google is teaching computers to see — Tech News and Analysis

How Google is teaching computers to see — Tech News and Analysis: "Google is attempting to teach computers to recognize human faces without telling the computing algorithms which faces are human. It’s a machine-learning problem made for this era of unstructured data and easy access to large compute clusters. It could help the search giant make huge strides in building the next big opportunity in tech, enabling computers to “see.”"

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Saturday, June 30, 2012

Technology - Alexis Madrigal - The Radical Optimism of Eric Schmidt - The Atlantic

Technology - Alexis Madrigal - The Radical Optimism of Eric Schmidt - The Atlantic: ""All of us grew up with an assumption that what we were seeing on television, especially in legitimate news, was edited and properly vetted. That's no longer the case. Furthermore, you can anticipate very powerful forces will attempt to do misinformation campaigns to you for one business objective or another," he said. "It will be worth it to them to spend millions of dollars to spend millions of dollars to create fake websites and so forth to convince you that something that is really bad for you is really good for you. Because they have a business interest to do so and the Internet allows that.""

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Technology - Gabriella Coleman - The Anthropology of Hackers - The Atlantic

Technology - Gabriella Coleman - The Anthropology of Hackers - The Atlantic: "Pasty kids with greasy hair typing on command lines. Dark villains of the networked world. Security magicians with odd political beliefs. We have a lot of ideas about who hackers are, but very few people have actually tried to seriously investigate the anthropology of one of the more fascinating social groups to emerge at the end of the 20th century. NYU's Gabriella Coleman studies their culture, an odd brew of faith in freedom of information and traditional liberalism, along with a generous salt-and-peppering of nerdiness and counterculturalism. In the latest edition of our syllabus-as-essay series, Coleman guides us past the stereotypes and into the many hideouts and projects of the hacker underground."

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Friday Five: Leading Digital Ethnographers | Edelman Digital

Friday Five: Leading Digital Ethnographers | Edelman Digital: "With recent developments in social browsing, understanding online social networks has become critical to the success of any PR or marketing campaign. At the core of social networks are people who are brought together by different interests and ideas. Each social community is shaped by different rules and behaviors, and success depends upon your ability to understand and behave by those rules. In short, you need to become a digital anthropologist. Digital ethnography is the study of online communities and human-technology interactions through the use of qualitative research methods. There is no universal approach to digital ethnography, and there are diverse methods to learn from. Ranging from the study of hackers to Internet Freedom in the Middle East, below are five digital ethnographers on the cutting edge of studying online social networks and digital culture."

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Monday, June 25, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: Google Body Browser = Google Earth for Anatomy

Free Technology for Teachers: Google Body Browser = Google Earth for Anatomy: "I saw Google's Body Browser earlier this week, but because I didn't have the time to test drive it until this morning. After installing the latest version of Google Chrome (Body Browser won't work without it) I was able to see what all the talk was about. Body Browser gives you a 360 degree view of the human body. You can turn on layers to see bones, muscles, organs, and the nervous system. You can turn on all the layers at the same time and alter the transparency of each layer. Turn on labels to have labels appear each time you click on a part of the body. For example, if I have the bones layer turned on along with the labels, when I click on a bone a label will appear. Watch the video below to see Google Body Browser in use."

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Free Technology for Teachers: Track 2012 Hurricanes in Google Earth

Free Technology for Teachers: Track 2012 Hurricanes in Google Earth: "The Atlantic hurricane season started this month. In past years Google added a hurricane tracking layer to Google Earth. That doesn't seem to be the case this year. Fortunately, you can still track hurricanes in Google Earth if you follow the directions shared by Seattle meteorologist Morgan Palmer. The directions are straight-forward, but you will need to be able to download files to your computer  and have the latest version of Google Earth installed in order to track hurricanes in Google Earth."

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In schools, all you need is web | Official Google Blog

In schools, all you need is web | Official Google Blog: "While students in the northern hemisphere say goodbye to each other and another school year, we’re in sunny San Diego meeting with thousands of educators and administrators at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference. While on break from teaching, these folks are here to teach others how they’re bringing innovation into their classrooms—a lot of which centers around the web. "

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Thursday, June 21, 2012

Must-Watch Video On Khan Academy (& Must-Read Post About It) | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

Must-Watch Video On Khan Academy (& Must-Read Post About It) | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: "Justin Reich just posted Don’t Use Khan Academy without Watching this First, and it’s a very important post where he shared this video two teachers (and an important commentary about it), Dave Coffey and John Golden, created:"

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Free Technology for Teachers: Use Storybricks to Create Stories in Virtual Worlds

Free Technology for Teachers: Use Storybricks to Create Stories in Virtual Worlds: "Storybricks is a new service (still in alpha mode) for creating multilayered online stories. Storybricks works online if you have the Unity web player installed. Storybricks provides you with settings and characters that you can use to weave a narrative. All of your characters can have emotions and relationships with other characters. You make the emotions of one character respond to the actions of another."

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Five Act Lesson Cycle – Humor In The Classroom | Ecology of Education

Five Act Lesson Cycle – Humor In The Classroom | Ecology of Education: "Ancient physicians believed that humors ruled the health–both physical and mental–of the human body. Any imbalance was a sure cause for illness and disease. This belief gave rise to the practice of administering curatives such as bleedings, purgatives, diuretics, among others in order to restore the balance of humors within the patient’s body. Similarly, the classroom teacher must perform delicate procedures within the lesson cycle in order to balance the collective humor within each class period."

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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Free Technology for Teachers: 15 Free Tools for Storing and Sharing Files

Free Technology for Teachers: 15 Free Tools for Storing and Sharing Files: "Six months ago I shared a list of good file sharing tools for teachers and students. Since then, I've come across some more tools to add to that list. Here is my new list of file sharing tools for students and teachers. Using these tools can help you avoid having an email inbox that is overflowing with file attachments."

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Sunday, June 3, 2012

Google Blockly Lets Kids Hack With No Keyboard | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com

Google Blockly Lets Kids Hack With No Keyboard | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com: "Google has released a completely visual programming language that lets you build software without typing a single character.

Now available on Google Code — the company’s site for hosting open source software — the new language is called Google Blockly, and it’s reminiscent of Scratch, a platform developed at MIT that seeks to turn even young children into programmers."

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Saturday, May 12, 2012

Radical experiment in teaching – World Simulation, Twitter, and media literacy | adambohannon

Radical experiment in teaching – World Simulation, Twitter, and media literacy | adambohannon: "Last week Dr. Wesch and his class ran the 5th(?) successful World Simulation for Intro to Cultural Anthropology here at K-State. I was there helping get things set up and video taping the action. Every year the World Sim always proves to be an awesome experience. Having taught for Dr. Wesch twice and guided more than 60 students in creating their own culture to let loose at the simulation, I can attest for the simulation’s effectiveness. Afterwards, students always give it rave reviews. It’s valuable to be able to roughly simulate world history and get the feeling that you are a part of something rather than a casual observer (having taken the class back in 2004 and participated in the simulation, I can attest to that as well)."

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Friday, May 11, 2012

An Education Revolution Beckons in the Digital Age



By Joe Robertson - Kansas City Star






While educators try to imagine it, students who’ve already freed themselves are galloping through the digital world.
At their best they are collaborating, creating, seeking justice, making art, defining their significance.
“Don’t we want to create students who can do that?” says Michael Wesch, a gone-viral phenomenon on the Internet who essentially launched himself digitally five years ago from the basement of his small farmhouse outside Manhattan, Kan.
He’s a 36-year-old cultural anthropologist at Kansas State University who has become the prophet of an education revolution.
They’re already out there, he says. Students and young adults who have made their mark persisting at new ideas, starting companies, connecting the world to social justice issues, fueling citizen rebellion in Egypt, distributing humanitarian aid to Haiti.
Read the full article here.

Monday, April 23, 2012

PBS Teachers | Cyberchase

PBS Teachers | Cyberchase: "CYBERCHASE, the award-winning, research-based adventure series and website, helps kids develop strong math and problem-solving skills. Explore this site for ways to help your favorite kids get the most out of math! Designed for kids ages 8 to 12 and packed with mystery, humor, and action, CYBERCHASE delivers positive messages about math by teaching concepts in a fun way that kids can understand. "

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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

A Gopher Guesses Your Number - A Math Game

Free Technology for Teachers: A Gopher Guesses Your Number - A Math Game: "Magic Gopher could be a fun little way to get students thinking about the "magic" of mathematics. Allow them to struggle with the challenge of figuring out how the gopher gets it right every time then explain it."

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Saturday, March 24, 2012

Board approves new principals, tech fee

Today's News-Herald - Serving Lake Havasu City & The Lower Colorado River Area: "The $5 technology fee will help offset costs “associated with providing technology and software license for general student use district-wide,” the agenda states. Annual costs have reached around $225,000 for technology licenses."

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Saturday, March 10, 2012

How to Make Contact with Parents – SimpleK12

How to Make Contact with Parents – SimpleK12: "Every morning before my students started trickling in, I’d write three emails out to parents about three children who had blown me away (or made progress, or made me smile, or shared something new, etc) during the previous day. I kept track, and by the end of my five months teaching, last year, I had ALMOST sent one email to each parent."

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Free Technology for Teachers: What's Your Goal? Thinking About Tech Choices

Free Technology for Teachers: What's Your Goal? Thinking About Tech Choices: "I am often asked by educators (classroom teachers, school administrators, librarians) to help them “use technology.” My response to their requests is always, “yes, I will help you.” The next thing out of my mouth is, “what is your goal for using technology?”"

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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Insanity — Mandatory Retention Of Third Graders Who Don’t Read At Grade Level? | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

Insanity — Mandatory Retention Of Third Graders Who Don’t Read At Grade Level? | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…: "Several states are considering requiring mandatory retention of third graders who don’t read at grade level. Here are some articles and posts about this insanity, and I’m adding them to The Best Resources For Learning About Grade Retention, Social Promotion & Alternatives To Both:"

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Myths and legends teachers' resources

Myths and legends teachers' resources: "This section provides access to a range of resources created or recommended by teachers for use in lessons. These have been categorised in to 'general resources'; i.e. those that could be used with any of the myths and legends within this site, and resources specific to a particular myth or legend. There is also an opportunity for you to add your own resources to share with other teachers."

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Friday, February 17, 2012

7 Educational YouTube Channels – SimpleK12

7 Educational YouTube Channels – SimpleK12: "YouTube is packed full of great content for educators and students. A few great things about online videos...

there are a lot of them out there.
they cover a wide range of subjects.
they are free!"

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