No! I Won't Learn Technology!

I was sent this blog article on how to reach the 'unreachable' if not downright defiant teacher who does not want to learn how to integrate technology his or her curriculum. When I read the message, I continued to get a flashback of my own experience. I am going to explain that I was that educator! Really. I am old! I was defiant and those of you that know me are aware that I am opionated and not easily swayed once I make up my mind. However, the author of this article points out that it is not about the educator...but about the students. That is what turned me around.
I am a teacher. I love kids!
I will share my experience and maybe it will sway some of you fence riders...
Over 15 years ago, my principal brought a computer into my 5th grade classroom. I now know it was an IBM 286 but at the time, I did not care. I simply crossed my arms in front of my chest and said, "No! GIve it to another teacher that will want it."
Now..as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story...
The principal stood her ground and placed the computer in my classroom. I had absolutely no idea how to use it. I sat down to type up my newsletter (I was a LoTi level 0!) and asked a one of my more tech-savy students, Sam, to come and show me how to get started. Sam was patient and demonstrated how to navigate through the confusing world of binary code. He would show me something and I remember saying, "No, go slower." and "Show me again."
I would ask another student to show me something else on the computer. I was pleasantly surprised at how many of my students were quite knowledgeable and I could not have asked for better instructors.
I began to see how motivated my students were by any type of technology, from Oregon Trail (anyone remember the game?) to looking up the information on the internet- even using an old dial up connection. How can an educator resist encouraging students in using technology? Even a defiant educator has to see the value of motivation in a classroom.
As educators it is a great thing for us to humbly have to learn new strategies and content to put us in the role of learner. It reminds us of the learning process and when things do not come easily how we have to struggle to retain the information and learn the concepts. When we add the element of our students being the 'experts' and we are learning from them, it empowers our students to show their leadership abilities.
So, the next time you would like to try out a new technology in your classroom, ask the experts- your students!

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009

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  Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009

  
  

  As I view this slide share of the Top 100 Tools for Learning of 2009 from Jane Hart, I am excited about the variety of these tools and all the uses in the classroom. I am also ready to dive in and learn about the ones which I am not familar with. Consider it a challenge to explore the ones which are new to you! If you explored one a day and then applied it to your instruction, you would find yourself a learner and your students will enjoy learning right along with you!

  
  

  tags: web2.0, Top100, learning, education, technology, slideshare, 2009, tools JaneHart Jane Hart

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

Live Binder

• FSD Instructional Technology Support

  Jamie, an Instructional Technology Specialist, has chosen a LiveBinder as a delivery method for providing information to her staff. Check out her links as well as the LiveBinder venue. Creating a virtual 3-Ring binder of information that is shared with everyone else is pretty simple to navigate and easy to use.

  tags: LiveBinder, Jamie, FSDInstructional, Technology, support, resources

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

100 Best YouTube Videos for Teachers - Classroom 2.0

• 100 Best YouTube Videos for Teachers - Classroom 2.0

  When someone takes the time to organize and annotate sites it certainly saves us time! Here is a great list of 100 top YouTube videos for educators. Check out this comprehensive list. The nice thing about YouTube videos is that if they are blocked in your district, you can easily embed them into your blog or wiki. Just find the embed code to the right of the video, highlight it and then go to your wiki or blog and select your widget and paste the code in. Frequently they will have a YouTube widget since it is such a popular medium.

  tags: Top100, YouTube, videos, education, teachers, technology

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

reMap: A Visual Wall of Websites

• reMap

  
  

  If you haven't experienced a visual wall as a graphical way to navigate the internet, then you will need to take a look at this website. Begin by scrolling at the bottom to the right through the tags (they are arranged alphabetically) from the year 1999 to Yahoo! Watch how responsive and dynamic this content is! Click on one of the tags and you will see the graphics change in the visual wall. Then you can browse through the images. If you want to explore one further, you can 'pop it out' by clicking in the very upper right corner of the image- an arrow appears. This allows you to read a brief annotation of the image and will provide the URL and you can view the website in a new page or tab. Play and enjoy.

  
  

  tags: remap, visual, images, browser, visualization, visualisation

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

I Need My Teachers to Learn

Kevin Honeycutt is one of the most inspirational Techno-educators I have ever met. He energizes a group of teachers by walking in the room.

He has a mulitude of talents and he has posted a song he wrote on YouTube. I had to share it on my blog and I hope you will spend the time watching this wonderful music video. Ask your students to watch it and if they feel this way!

Glogster - Poster Yourself

• Glogster - Poster Yourself

  Here is an innovative and creative way to have students create musical and interactive posters to represent their research! Think about posting images of how a volcano erupts and then including a video to show a real volcano lava flow! The ideas are endless and inspiring! Encourage kids to experiment.

  tags: poster, design, Glogster, music, blog, web2.0

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

Surprise Kitty

Sometimes you just have to include something for fun! Enjoy!!

Zac Browser | Zone for Autistic Children

• Zac Browser Zone for Autistic Children

  Have you seen how the internet can be too overwhelming for children that are differently-abled? Here is a new solution to this problem. Zac Browser is a great interface specially designed for Autistic students or children with other similar disorders. You download the browser and then it limits the student to the games, TV, and music. The child is kept within the comfortable browser window rather than experiencing all the choices and trying to filter the advertisements and websites. I am very grateful we have software engineers that care about kids!

  tags: autism, autistic, browser, technology

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

Christmas Countdown with Technology Wiki

Here is a unique wiki that Mary Frazier, an Integration Specialist from Buhler, Kansas has created! (That is right, Kansas deserves accolades again! We are just rockin' here in the midwest with technology!) The site provides you with a technology tip each day of the Christmas countdown! Mary walks you through step-by-step on how to create bookmarks, Wordles, making an avatar and more to come! She also provide classroom connection ideas.
Kudos,Mary Frazier for an innovative way to Countdown to Christmas with our students. We anxiously await your next lesson!

iTouch and iPhone Apps

Tammy Worcester is someone I truly idolize. I am not sure if she knows this or not. It is not a secret! It is simply not something I walk up to Tammy and say, "I idolize you and want to be you when I grow up!" However, she is a wonderfully talented, inspiring and insightful technology educator. I subscribe to her TechTips via email. Her latest TechTip is an interactive list of iTouch and iPhone apps you can add to. I am adding her link here. Feel free to add your favorite application to the list and then don't forget to subscribe to Tammy's TechTips! You will become a fan as well! If you meet Tammy (or already have the pleasure of knowing her) be sure and tell her I said Hello!! Velma

Animoto

Animoto

Animoto.com is an eye-catching slide show which students can create with their own images and even videos and then add music. They are super simple to create and free!
Start by creating an account at Animoto.com and then go through the steps listed along the side 1, 2 and 3. Really it is that simple!




My example from my trip to the Galapagos is below!

Unemployment in the US

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  Unemployment graphic from 2007 to current

  
  

  This sobering flash video depicts a graphic of the unemployment rate from 2007 to current date. The questions this would generate would be a great way to engage students in a very tough current event topic. Why is the unemployment rate higher along the coasts? What does this graphic tell us about the economic trends in the US? What other questions could you have students ask and then how can they find the answers?

  
  

  tags: unemployment

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

Water Drop at 2000 Frames per Second

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  Water Drop at 2000 Frames per Second

  
  

  This video is certainly fascinating and would encourage students to explore the world of microscopes, Science, water and video.

  
  

  tags: water, microscope, microscopic, science, video

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

Differently-abled

"Differently-abled"

Think about this term for a minute!

According to the site, The Phrase Finder, "this term was coined by the US Democratic National Committee in the early 1980s as a more acceptable term than handicapped (or, in the UK, disabled). The motivation seems to have been both a genuine attempt to view the people previously called handicapped in a more positive light and also as need to be seen as politically correct." What a great phrase. I was reading an online forum by Clif Mims, a digital visionary, and he used this term. I happen to think we would all be better off to think in terms of differently-abled. Just a thought....

Icon Archive

Have you ever wanted to use your own icons for your folders or files rather than the defaults? It is easy to do. Use this website Icon Archive which contains Disney characters, Harry Potter icons, nature, space, sports, holidays, and more to customize your desktop.

Here are the steps:
1, Go to this website: Icon Archive
2, Browse to the icon image you would like to use such as a star under the category 'kids then subcategory shiny'.
3, Click on Download.ico
4, Then save.
5, Save it to a folder on your computer you create titled, “Icons”.
6, Now save the website such as FunSchool to your desktop. http://funschool.kaboose.com/arcade/index.html The easiest way to do this is to drag the icon in front of the address to your desktop.
7. Once you have the shortcut on your desktop, then right click on the shortcut and go to properties. Under the web document tab, go to change icon.
8. Click Browse and go to your icon folder and select the star you saved.

Note: you can do the same thing to customize a folder. Right click on a folder and go to properties. Go to the Customize Tab and then select Change Icon.

Enjoy making your desktop reflect your personality or using icons for your making it easy for young readers to navigate.

tags: icons, graphics, icon, webdesign, clipart

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

Google Squared

Try out Google Squared! It will generate a spreadsheet of data for you when you enter a search term. Try to enter the term: US States and then watch the data creation.

Think about ways you can have students compare and contrast the data found in the charts. Remember when we ask students to identify the basic information from the charts, then we have the lowest level on Blooms. However, we could sort this data by deleting cells we do not want (clicking on the x in the upper right of the column) and then exporting it into a .csv file which stands for comma-separated value format or simply put, you can export it to Excel or any other spreadsheet application. Try it out. Explore ideas with your students!

MAP Testing Student Links

South Washington County Schools has done it! They have organized their links into a useful method for teachers. The links are divided up by RIT ranges and by the assessed areas in the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) assessment. MAP is a normed assessment created by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA)
Try out these great educational student links:

Click here for Math activities by RIT Range and tested category.
click here for Reading activities by RIT Range and tested category.

Words To Live By

As educators, we take care of others and do it very well. We tend to forget to take care of ourselves. I had a good friend who recently retired and I miss her dearly because everytime I would see her we would ask each other a very simple question, "What have you done for yourself today?". The key to this communique was we were honest in our responses! Sometimes we would admit things as silly as "I sat for 5 minutes with my feet up on the desk and did absolutely nothing!" Or, "I drove by McDonald's and got a soda. I didn't really have the time to stop but I did it anyway!" We would just laugh and hug.
How frequently do we give ourselves permission to just enjoy ourselves during our busy day?
I challenge you to take time today to enjoy a moment with a child. Take time today to enjoy a moment just for yourself.
Here are a few words of inspiration I always have posted at my desk.

The Fun Theory

• The Fun Theory

  Watch the piano staircase video! How cool is this? Why do people do things the same old way? Why do people tend towards what is easy? Can change impact behavior?

            Can we apply this theory to education? Can we make learning fun? Do we, as educators, have an obligation to educate our students and make learning so engaging they chose to do the right things such as recycling, taking the stairs, and throwing away trash?? Watch these videos and think about it!! I challenge each one of you to take this philosophy into your classrooms every single day! What can you do to apply the fun theory into your classrooms?

tags: fun, Interactive, theory, change, education, funtheory,

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

ClustrMaps

I have added a tracking map for this site called ClustrMap to the right. It will keep a visual map of visitors to this blog. You simply click on the map below and it will track your visit to this site. You will notice red dots to represent all the visitors to this blog.
If you would like to add a map tracker to your blog or wiki, simply click on the map to the right and fill in the information at the top. There are step by step directions on how to add the html code to your site.
Enjoy seeing who visits your site.

Math Live

• Math Live

  Math Live has videos tha explain math concepts from fractions to probability. The videos are engaging and simplify the math complex math ideas. Enjoy using this site with your students.

  tags: math, mathgames

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

StoryLine Online

Students love to listen to great stories being read aloud to them. It is even better when those stories are books they love to read and narrated by famous actors and actresses! The Screen Actors Guild sponsors this website, StoryLine Online. Students will enjoy listening to Melissa Gilbert as she reads Patricia Polacco's My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother. The books are entertaining and the children will enjoy listening and watching the pages turn.

Walkthroughs and Statistics

Well, I am again reminded why I read Principal's Page Blog! I am still laughing at this video about district walkthroughs. Enjoy this for a laugh!

Velma

GuessTheWordle

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  GuessTheWordle

  
  

  Are you a Wordle Fan? I love the graphic way of displaying words. There are as many creative ways of using Wordle as there are creative teachers! Here is a Wordle idea your students can participate in daily.



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  You can also view a quick video to show you how to use Wordle. Focus on the Internet: Wordle

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

Baseball Game for Multiplication Games

• Baseball Game for Multiplication

  Try this Baseball game for multiplication practice! It is a great interactive website and works wonderful with a SMARTBoard.

  tags: multiplication, math, baseball

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

Educators Make A Digital Wish!

We don't receive many perks in the field of education and we frequently have to stretch a dollar. The website Digital Wish is for nonprofit education. You can make a wish here and then the site will collect money towards your wish. They also sell to educators for discounted rates.

The latest item is a 2 for 1 digital flip video camera! You have to register and they will confirm you are a teacher before you are allowed to purchase.

TechFocus Video Clips

In case you are interested.... there are several video clips available on this website of our local television show called TechFocus. There are some great technology integration tips from how to use Skype or Wordle to keeping students safe. The show is broken up into 4 basic segments: Classroom Focus, SMART Board tip, Internet focus and Technology Tip. You might take a look through these video clips and find some great information, ideas and websites.

Enjoy!!

* B O O K W I N K *

• * B O O K W I N K *

  Booktalks are a great way to introduce a book to students! They provide enough information about a book but without giving the entire plot away. They are like trailers for a popular movie coming out. Many librarians use booktalks as an enticing way to get students interested in books but it is time consuming to prepare them. Here is a site with booktalks ready and waiting! They are excellent! Your students can view the videos of the book talks that Sonja Cole, the host with a degree in Library Media, presents. She is engaging, provoking and hooks the students in.

Bookwink is set up to excite 3rd-8th grade students about reading. It contains annotations and videos about popular children and young adult literature. You can search by subject, grade level, author and title. You can also subscribe to their podcasts and vodcasts. Share this with your librarian friends!

• tags: reading, booktalks, video, podcast, vodcast, library, book

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

100 Essential Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers

• 100 Essential Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers

  
  

  Ever want a list of annotated Web 2.0 Tools just for us? Well someone invested their time and energy to develop the list and I am not going to waste my time recreating. Instead, here you go.... I agree with some of the top links and some I could pass on, but all of them are worth a look!!

  
  

  tags: web2.0, resources, Education, Web

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

Creative Commons Search

• Creative Commons Search

  Creative commons search- check out this video which explains Creative Commons.

  tags: creativecommons, creative_commons, copyright, search, media

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

Storynory: Free Audio Stories for Kids

• Storynory: Free Audio Stories for Kids
  
  Do you enjoy having a listening center for students which they can listen to and enjoy? This site has a wonderful British narrator who shares a weekly story. Your students are sure to enjoy the narrator's charming accent as well the stories.




• tags: audio, podcast, Reading, podcasts, stories

Posted from Diigo.

Teacher Led Interactive Whiteboard Resources

• Teacher Led Interactive Whiteboard Resources

  A list of Math, English, and Geography interactive lessons for use on interactive whiteboards.

  tags: interactive, resources, smartboard, math, English, reading

Posted from Diigo.

Spell with Flickr

• Spell with Flickr Try spelling words using visual pictures. I would recommend trying out your name first. You can write your name and then click Spell It. Once you see the tiles with the letters, you can click on each tile to change it to another image until the image looks like you want it to look. Kids love it.

tags: Technology, DigitalPictures, flickr, photography, spell, words, photos

Posted from Diigo.

Copyrightchart

• Copyrightchart

  Did you ever wonder how many paintings you can use legally from Van Gogh's collection? This page has the basic Copyright Chart which will help you answer this question. This is not an all inclusive list of all copyright regulations but certainly contains the basic guidelines for all teachers to follow. This is site is specifically for teachers and fair use copyright guides.

  tags: copyright, fairuse, copyrightchart, library

Posted from Diigo.

Everyday Math Resources from Center School District

• Everyday Math Resources from Center School District

  Center School District adopted the EveryDay Math series by Wright Group/McGraw-Hill. If you would like to access some great resources for this math series check out this site. Some of the resources are not affilitated with the EveryDay Math series but are simply good math resources for K-5 curriculum.

  tags: everydaymath, math, smartboard

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

Want to Open a Package Easily?

Ok, my daughter and I communicate.

She called me on the phone just today.

But I learned about this simple solution to opening those frustrating packages from her via Plurk. She is on my Professional Learning Network (PLN). We tend to communicate with our kids today in electronic format more easily than face to face. (My son only communicates with me in text messages) BRB- K!

Anyway, here is what my daughter Plurked today....

The clamshell packaging on many technology items we purchase is very difficult to open. We get aggravated even thinking of opening the package. Here is an article and video on a common household tool which can alleviate your frustration and make your life easier.

The Oxymoron of Blogs

Would you like to hear an oxymoron?

I don't read blogs.

Really.
I simply do not have the time.

I tend to read for information and to learn. (Unless it is a good fiction novel!)

I understand why people would not wish to subscribe to this blog since we are all busy. Time is just a short commodity in our lives.

I try to put very short snippets of information in this blog to direct you to information rather than write a dissertation on a topic or my own thoughts or reflections. This blog is intended to provide information.

With that said... I do read a blog called Principal's Page religiously. Here is a sample of Michael Smith's blog on School is Hard Work.

My all time favorite blog from Principal's Page was when he told us the top five things not to do in a job interview. I had to wipe the tears from my eyes because I was laughing so hard. I simply did not think of prospective teachers having their mothers drive them to the interview.

Ok...one more favorite..Swine Flu! This one Mr. Smith did not slop down!! It is hysterical.

Mr. Smith's blog is always timely, entertaining, funny and engaging. I highly recommend a weekly dose of Principal's Page Postings.
He always makes me smile and see the lighter side of education.

Teachers always need more laughter in their lives. Happy reading.

Encyclopedia of Life

Encyclopedia of Life

An online encyclopedia which catalogues over 1.8 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms. This resource expands daily and has a blog and forum. I would encourage you to watch the video tutorial, which allows you to understand the limitations of the search feature and how to navigate the site successfully.

tags: science, biology, encyclopedia, reference, education, animals

ABCya! The Leader in Kids Educational Computer Games & Activities

• ABCya! The Leader in Kids Educational Computer Games & Activities

  A wonderful K-5 grade online games for learning. The site has many interactive lessons which would be great for a SMART board or a learning center.

  tags: education, elementary, interactive, Math, Reading, gamesforsmartboard, SmartBoard

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

My Bookmarks from Diigo

Just in case you are wanting to try out social bookmarking and find some new web sites, you may wish to check out my bookmarks on Diigo:http://www.diigo.com/user/velmadavis

 

Blogs, Wikis and Docs, Oh, My!

Have you wondered whether a wiki, blog or Google Doc tool is the best choice for your classroom? Here is a comparison chart of each Web 2.0 tool. The last category provides great educational examples of each. Check out this great chart.

Watch this video from CBS 60 Minutes splash on the new generation in the work force. The segment was called, The Age Of The Millenials . It aired May 25, 2008. Does it make you think about the students we teach and how employers have to adjust how they treat these individuals in the work place? How does this transfer to our classroom environments and teaching strategies? Should we consider their styles or not?

Educational Origami

Someone has spent many hours collecting information on technology integration and built this wiki: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/ Marcia, my coworker, forwarded this on to me and I found it full of information from Blooms, LoTi, and 21st Century Skills to internet safety. The resources are wonderful.

Shiftables Siftables?!

If you haven't seen the video on Siftables on TED then take a few minutes to view these small innovative technologies. Makes you wonder what impact this type of nano technology out of the think tanks of MIT will do to the classroom of the future?
http://siftables.com/

TimeLines

Collaborative timelines? Where people create and post historical events and then share it for others to view. When I tried to find primary sources for Social Studies activities it was sometimes a challenge locating people who had experienced events who would be willing to share. You can rate and comment on the information. I looked up several controversial topics and found the information and content to be tasteful and relevant. I found some pop culture icons as well as historically relevant pictorial content. I found the information cited from reputable sources such as the Library of Congress. I would recommend this as a great resource for high school students to critically view and analyze historical data and events. http://timelines.com/

StoryStarters for Students

A virtual story starter machine spins and spits out ideas for students to write about. It starts off with the student's name and then selecting their grade level. Then spin and get your sentences to start your story. The students then get to select their format of a letter, notebook, newspaper or postcard.

Tech and Learning Magazine

Technology & Learning Magazine is a free subscription which I read cover to cover. If you have not taken the opportunity to subscribe to this wonderful resource, do so now. It provides you the option to select RSS feeds to your Outlook or other source. Or you can subscribe to the paper version.

To subscribe, follow this link to the August 2009 online copy, then at the very bottom, there is a tab titled, Subscribe. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/tl_200908/#/0

On the left, it offers you the choice to subscribe to the magazine or on the right it allows you to select the RSS feed option.

Happy reading.

10 [or so] Myths in Your School's Technology Department

A Google Certified, technology coordinator in Colorado posted this fun video. Enjoy thinking of all the myths your staff has about technology services. Can you think of some they forgot to add?

http://cougarramblings.blogspot.com/2009/08/top-10-myths-in-your-schools-technology.html

Thanks Nicole Cox for passing this on (another Google Certified teacher in our district!)

Image Chef site

Try out this cool website called ImageChef.com just for fun. It has tons of graphics from photo frames, state license plates, heart shapes and more. You can have your students design footballs with their names on it. When they are studying states, they can find the actual state license plate and then customize their own plate. Browse the site and the creativity will be limited only by your imagination.

Digital Blooms?

I had to laugh when a friend sent me this.

How did they determine what level on Blooms each of these Web 2.0 tools is? I think this is a very scientific graphic organizer!!

Ok, I read the information from the Visual Blooms wiki and it is a conversation starter. I am intrigued. What kind of discussion could you have with someone regarding visual Blooms? How is VoiceThread more Creative than Skype? Diigo and Delicious are social bookmarking sites. They are on the lowest levels. How could they be used to make them higher on Blooms?

Made me chuckle. I want a poster of this graphic. Challenge.... can you identify all the icons and what each Web 2.0 tool is?

iConnect iLearn Ning

There is a wonderful resource with many ideas and a PLN (Professional Learning Network) at http://iconnectilearn.ning.com/. Kevin Honeycutt at ESSDACK in Hutchinson, KS is one of the most creative, innovative and generous people ever. He started this ning to network with other educators. He has placed many of his creative ideas such as his Web 2.0 keyrings (as seen here on the right!)

Signing up will serve three purposes: 1. get you used to a social PLN, 2. introduce you to a ning, and 3. provide you with some valuable resources.

Administrators NETS standards

There are new standards for administrators posted on the ISTE site. They were released this summer at NECC in Washington DC. Each year, ISTE looks at a set of standards. The committee resubmits the standards. The teacher standards were updated in 2008 and the student standards were updated in 2007.
If you have not reviewed the NETS technology standards for these three groups, you should take a few minutes and look them over. Then kick up your heels and celebrate the things you are already teaching!! I would bet you can then focus on a standard to integrate into your Science or Reading curriculum this fall! There is my challenge for you!
Anyone up for accepting the challenge?

Welcome! Thoughts...

I have thought and thought how to distribute information I come across in my reading to my colleagues and friends. I finally decided to post a blog and you can access the information as you like. I will try to focus on internet sites, curriculum resources as well as just tips and articles I run across where I think dang..I wish people would read this!
Enjoy. Velma