Shannon J. Holden is the founder of New Teacher Help, which provides information for new teachers to help them be successful, especially in those first few crucial years.  However, it never hurts for "old" teachers to review some of the tips and tricks of the trade!  On the Website, Holden gives free access to many helpful tools and one I found particularly interesting was the information on "Lines of Communication".

Holden states unsuccessful students thrive on the lack of communication between the adults in their lives.  With that in mind, he gives the new teacher several methods of communication and explanations for how each either works well or not.

*Letter sent home – The least effective form of communication, especially if you send the note home with the student. Mailing the letter home costs you money for a stamp, and will be thrown away if the student is the one who checks the mailbox every day.

*Phone call (home phone) – Effective if you reach the parent…but effectiveness goes way down if you leave a message on the answering machine. Kids check the messages before their parents get home, and your message is “accidentally” erased.

*Phone call (parent’s cell phone) – Effective if you reach the parent, and leaving messages are just as effective because parents rarely let their kids check the messages on their cell.

*Parent conference – Effective when you can get parents to come to the school. Some parents will make appointments to see you, then have “something come up” to cancel the meeting.

*Email – My favorite mode of communication. You can say everything you want to say without being interrupted…and you can print out the email to put in your files. Perfect! Well…almost perfect, as parents can use the old “I didn’t get your email” excuse.

*Text message – Many teachers are using text messaging to keep in touch with parents. You don’t have to use your phone…set up a free email account with Yahoo! and use their “texting” feature on your home or school computer! Simply type the parent’s cell phone number in the address line, then type your message in the box and hit “send”.

*District ListServ – My district has an apparatus to text message parents in the event of an emergency, school closing due to weather, or other important event. Students and parents sign up for the service, which opens up an opportunity for you to access those important cell phone numbers for your professional use.

*Teacher Website – There is no substitute for the teacher Website. You can post educational video clips that you download, you can post educational podcasts that you can download from any of 20 different sites…and all of this material is FREE! You can also post a calendar with information such as assignment due dates, lesson notes, and other valuable information. Most teachers will say that they do not have the time to build and update a Website. The reality is that having an UPDATED teacher Website saves you tons of time answering student and parent questions over and over.

*Computerized grade program with parent access – This may be hard to believe, but there are parents that do not fill out the proper forms to gain access to their student’s grades via the school’s computerized grade program. Find a way to give an incentive to students whose parents sign up for access. Remind them to write down their user name and password or you’ll be getting phone calls from parents who forget!

*Progress reports/report cards – Many of these are accidentally lost on the way home from school. The only way that progress reports/report cards are effective is if the students are required to bring SIGNED reports back to school the next day, or be subject to a parent phone call.

*Student planner – The person who thought of this idea was well-intentioned, but the planner is a microcosm of how the lines of communication can break down. Here’s how the planner works: The teacher provides material (lesson objective & assignment) for the students to copy in their planner, the student is to faithfully put the objective and assignment for each class in the planner and take it home to be seen by their parents. The parents must check the planner every night, and sign the planner once a week. The student is to bring the planner back to class, where it is checked by the teacher to make sure that the message is making it home. That’s a lot of moving parts! If just one of the people involved (student, teacher, or parent) fail to live up to their responsibility, the system breaks down. What makes the failure even harder to swallow is that the school bought the planners (at a cost of approximately $3 per student)…what a waste of money!

You probably noticed I highlighted one sentence of Holden's statements.  For parents and students who have Internet access, building a useable teacher Website is a wonderful way to keep everyone up-to-date and informed.  Many teachers have also considered using social media as a way to communicate.  However, Holden says:

Facebook/MySpace/Twitter - These social networking sites can be a valuable tool for educators...or a recipe for disaster!  Be careful about using these sites, "friending" your students, or posting unprofessional material on a page.  (For a list of about 100 teachers who have been suspended or fired because of their stupidity, just Google the phrase 'teacher Facebook trouble' and start reading!)  If you want to harness the power of the Internet, I recommend building your own Website...it's a lot safer!

Well said!  Holden has a lot more to say and I hope to highlight some of his other ideas and suggestions for making all of us better in the classroom and in our respective offices and positions in the coming weeks.  Thanks for reading!  

I recently was introduced to some information by Dr. Lynell Burmark of California, who has released a book about presentations and what NOT to do.  Dr.  Burmark's background spans kindergarten through graduate school and the book, They Snooze, You Lose, won a book of the year award.  The first chapter of the book was available as a free download, so I took advantage of it.  She basically says we've been using presentation software since 1989 but wants to know how anything has changed since then.  Dr. Burmark is not against slideshows but she wants to warn us against constraints for us as presenters, or teachers. 

First she suggests we get away from the usual default templates.  We also need to be aware of background colors and images as they may detract from the important content we are trying to get across.  Dr. Burmark reminds us as English language users, we read from left to right and so, our presentations should follow the same patterns.  Another important point is the use of color.  Did you know color visuals increase willingness to read by up to 80%?  Or that color enhances learning and improves retention by more than 75%? 

The eye has an order in which it sees colors.  Yellow or other colors where yellowish hues dominate (like lime green), are seen before other colors.  In general, warm colors like yellow or red are seen before cool colors like blue or green.  The best color combination for a presentation is a blue background with yellow text.  Who knew?  Another point about color - for men, about 8% have some type of color deficiency, with the most common problem being an inability to distinguish red from green.  If you have red words on a green background, some of your audience may perceive that as a blank slide! 

Type, or font, is also important.  It is easier and faster to read lower case letters, so don't put everything in capital, or uppercase, letters.  If you are presenting to a large group or in a large room, consider whether your font and font size is big enough and clear enough to read from the back of the room.  A good idea Dr. Burmark shared from another author is to prepare your presentation then approximate what your audience will see by looking at the slides in the slide sorter view at 66%.  One rule of thumb is not to have more than two typefaces on one slide and to be especially careful with the number of words on each slide.  Can you limit yourself to only one or two words per slide to guide your audience instead of the average 40 words per slide? 

Most of us feel comfortable with presentations in today's society, especially in education.  It probably is a good idea to visit the basics every now and then and go back and tweak our previous presentations so they are the best they can possibly be for our audience. 

I am out of the office today (Monday, January 23rd) attending an Infinite Campus User Group Meeting/Training in Paducah.  Come back tomorrow for my latest blog post! 

This week I want to share three more interesting Web sites which I hope will prove to be of benefit to you and your students . . .

1.  Better Lesson - This site has over 300,000 resources uploaded by teachers you can browse.  You can also upload and share your own resources, plus connect with fellow educators around the world.  The home page has featured lesson plans, too.  You can register for a free account simply by giving them your name, e-mail address, and selecting the school where you work.  Once inside your own account, you will see featured files for elementary school, middle school, and high school levels.  Each school level is divided into the core curriculum subject areas of math, science, social studies and English.  You can add a personal profile with a biography and photo if you desire.  Once you have an account, you can upload files in many different formats - Word, PowerPoint, Adobe, etc.  You can design courses as well, inputting information into a lesson plan template.  As you save documents, you can select whether you want them shared with the public or keep them private.  Luckily, many of the teachers using this service are allowing their documents to be public so you can choose what you'd like to utilize.  No sense in re-inventing the wheel if something else is already out there you can use!

2.  Class Parrot - I am so impressed with this site!  ClassParrot allows you to text students or adults in a safe, simple way.  The home page suggests you use the service to remind your students of upcoming exams, homework updates and reminders of events.  Also, parents can opt to receive texts, too.  Very quickly, I established a free account and added a class.  The next screen gave me instructions to send a simple text message (@mrsmeear) to a certain number.  Once I did that, I immediately got a reply that said "Thanks, Mrs. Earnest needs to know who you are before adding you to @mrsmeear.  Please reply with your full name."  After I sent my name, I received a text that said "Welcome to ClassParrot Melissa Earnest!  Mrs. Earnest will use ClassParrot to keep you posted.  Your phone number will remain private."  I then sent a test message to myself and it came through very quickly.  As part of the service, you can create a poll asking students or parents to reply with a Yes or No answer to your question.  You can also see a history of messages you have sent.  For the members, you only see the name they sent, not their phone number, so the system is secure.  If you click the Setup tab, you can get a printable page of instructions for students and parents to start receiving the messages.  You can click the "How It Works" link to find out more about ClassParrot.  Again, I was very impressed with how quickly I could set up an account, set up a class, register a class member and send a quick text message.  The initial free account gives you 500 messages. 

3.  Dynamic Periodic Table - For the chemists out there, here is an interactive periodic table.  Colorful and easy to read, you can click on any of the elements to find out more about them.  For example, clicking on Ag (Silver) I see the Wikipedia article about the element, plus a picture, general properties, physical properties, vapor pressure, atomic properties, and other information.  Back to the full table, you can select different features to show - weight, names, electrons, and even a wide version.  You can also select different languages.  Simply hovering your mouse over the Nonmetals and Metals groups, the table will change color accordingly, highlighting the types you select.  Across the top there are four tabs - Wikipedia, Properties, Orbitals, and Isotopes.  Selecting any of these tabs will bring you to a different appearance of the table with even more selections.  I'm the first to admit, chemistry was not my favorite subject in high school, but maybe if I'd had this interactive table, I might have found it a lot more fun and much easier to learn!

I hope you will try these three sites soon!

In the January 2012 edition of Tech & Learning, there was a list of 100 sites/apps they recommended for educators.  I found several I wanted to research further.  With that in mind, I spent a little bit of time looking at these sites and would like to share the following:

1.  Useful Charts - This site claims it's for lesson plans, study help, or quick reference.  Their homepage is divided into several categories such as most popular, science, social studies, English, and even "just for fun".  The first one which caught my attention was under the psychology section.  Simply clicking on the name or icon for any of the charts will take you to the appropriate page.  In the case of the Myers Briggs Types, you are shown a screen which includes information about the various MBTI types.  You can click on the Short Personality Test link and answer four questions.  Once you do that you get a four letter "code" which you can then read about to find out more on your personality.  This might be a great activity to do with students, especially at the start of a new year or new semester.  It could really make a difference in how you interact with students and even reach as far as letting them know how they can interact better with each other.  There are so many charts on this site, it's virtually impossible to preview them all, but hopefully you can find something you can use, either personally or with students.

2.  Draw Island - This is a very quick drawing program.  You can select from several sizes of drawing space and then use different tools on the left-hand side to draw.  There is a pencil, a line, different styles of rectangles and circles, plus an eraser, etc.  You also can change the opacity and size of the drawing tool used.  There is even an animation piece!  Once you are done with your drawing, you can save it as a png file.  Even though this site would be appropriate for any art class, you could also use it for other courses - for example, a student could make a quick illustration of what a poem or short story means to them.

3.  Fraboom - An online children's museum, Fraboom has many "rooms" to explore.  If you click on the Map beside the name at the top of the homepage, you can see some of the possibilities.  Being a social studies teacher, I checked out the US Presidents part first.  There were different activities and games to do and my favorite quickly became the "Name That President" game.  Presenting some caricature-style drawings of the different presidents, you have to select from four possibilities to see if you can match the president's picture with their name.  It was more difficult than I had anticipated!  Another interesting game was trying to decide which presidential function went under a particular category.

Try these three sites this week and in the future, I hope to share a few more of these interesting sites with you!  Have a great week!

Building Relationships with Students

I have been a member of ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) for most of my educational career.  I have found many of their publications to be of use to me, not only when I actively taught in the classroom, but also as I have continued my own education.  They publish books, newsletters, and are a wonderful online resource.  ASCD was founded in 1943, so they have been assisting educators for a long time.  In the latest edition of Education Update, dated December 2011, Brad Kuntz discusses how important it is to build personal relationships with students.  Even though this isn't necessarily a technology article, I could see how technology could be used to do some of the things he mentioned, so this week I'm going to paraphrase some of what he has said and include how technology could be used.

Kuntz says he has seen students who are failing all other classes receive the highest test score in his class.  Why?  Because the student felt a connection to Kuntz and wanted to do his best for him.  The relationship between a teacher and a student can have as much to do with a student's success as anything else.  The teacher who has earned the respect of the student is much more likely to keep that student engaged during instruction.  

Kuntz notes teachers can engage students by carefully sharing a more personal side of who they are and by getting to know the individuals in a classroom.  Giving students a glimpse of your personal life (without revealing anything private or controversial) can show them you are willing to open yourself up, invite them in, and trust them with a part of who you are.  Share humorous, exciting, meaningful, or even humbling or embarrassing stories that, at least, loosely relate to your content area.

For example, a math teacher could tell a story about screwing up a currency conversion while traveling overseas and grossly overpaying for a souvenir.  What if students entered the classroom seeing a picture of all sorts of currencies/monies on a screen projected from the teacher's computer?  You could even ask students if they could identify the money (which country) before sharing the personal story.

A history teacher could explain how they felt overcome emotionally while visiting the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.  Again, using a projected image of the Wall or other symbolism could be the "hook" to get students interested.  Sharing the personal story could then lead into the lesson or discussion on the Vietnam Conflict.

A foreign language teacher could share a humorous story about a mistranslation with embarrassing consequences.  There are several examples of these types of misses to find online, especially in the area of advertising.  Many common phrases used in the United States do not translate well into other languages and result in hilarious sayings!  After hearing the teacher's personal story, students could research the issue of translation from one language to another online and then share what they find.  This easily could lead to a discussion about advertising and how careful a company must be when designing an ad, especially when it involves language.

Students appreciate the opportunity to relax and be entertained, but in the meantime, they can see examples of your subject area in a real-world context.  Don't forget to share personal experiences which might also interest students who have similar experiences.  For example, on Monday tell your students about your weekend fishing trip or attendance at a sporting event or a concert.  There are bound to be students in your classroom who fish, like sports, or share an interest in music.  Make an effort to notice and comment to individual students about details specific to them.  This is difficult with as many as 40 students in a class, but that's also why it's much more important to students to be noticed.  Comment about the band on a student's t-shirt; compliment a student on the impressive doodle on their math notebook; or commend a student on their performance in a game or in a concert.  Show students you pay attention and you see value in what they are doing.  

No matter the method, developing personal relationships with students is a win-win!  Be a good role model and personally influence the young people in your classes in a positive manner.  Perhaps at the same time you'll increase their motivation to succeed and improve their academic habits.

Using Rubrics

Rubrics are a great way to quickly mark a student's performance.  In the Teacher Tip Newsletter of December 19th, from Teachnology, there were lots of quick, free rubrics spotlighted.  For most of the rubrics, you enter a title for the rubric, your school name, and your teacher name.  For several of them, you can select a graphic to appear on the rubric.  Once you make your selections and enter the required information, simply clicking the Generate button will give you a rubric ready to use.  In my case, once the rubric showed on the screen, I clicked the Print button in my browser and saved it as a pdf file so I could print it to use over and over.  I looked at samples of the following:

• Behavior
• Class Participation
• General
• Paragraph Writing
• Project
• Teamwork
• Writing

If you are truly tech-savvy and save the rubrics in Adobe pdf format, you might be able to run form field recognition on the rubrics and use them electronically, saving printing, ink and paper in the process.  It worked quite well for me on several of the rubrics.  The rubrics could then be sent by e-mail to the student or even to the parent/guardian.  

I hope you will try one of the rubrics provided free by Teachnology. 

The holidays are here!

There are only 5 shopping days left until Christmas, so if you haven't finished buying and wrapping your gifts, you still have time!  I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.  I hope we all remember the reason for the season. 

I particularly enjoyed the way Germany observed the season when I lived there, so I thought I would share a little bit of information about their celebrations.  In Bavaria, St. Nikolaus comes on December 6th.  Children write letters to the good saint and put something to feed his horse/donkey at their door the night of December 5th.  They put their shoes beside the door, too, in hope St. Nick will leave them a gift of some kind - hopefully enough to fill their shoes!  Tradition says during the night St. Nickolaus goes from house to house carrying a book n which all the children's deeds are written.  If they've been good, they receive fruits, nuts, candies and maybe a small gift.  If they've not been good, they may find potatoes, coal or twigs in their shoes.  December 24th and 25th are reserved for the celebration of the Christ Child.  Candles are lit on Advent wreaths in the weeks previous to Christmas Day and stories and songs are shared about the birth of Jesus Christ.  Many homes have a Christmas pyramid which depicts the nativity scene.  The pyramid I have is built on the premise it "runs" on candle power.  The nativity scene is depicted on the bottom and the four candles surrounding it make just enough heat to turn the small fan blades at the top, which then turn the nativity scene.  The one I have is about one foot tall, but in Germany there are many Christmas pyramids which reach heights of many feet and are very elaborate.  On the night of December 24th, the Christkindl, or Christ Child, brings gifts to the children.  After the twelve days of Christmas (which run from December 25th to January 5th), January 6th is celebrated as All Kings Day.  This is the day the three wise men supposedly found the babe lying in a manger, worshiped Him and gave Him gifts.  Many doorways are marked in chalk with the initials of the three kings and the new year, for example "G+M+B+2012" (for Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar), and hopefully this brings prosperity and good health to the inhabitants of the home during the coming year. 

If you want to find out more about St. Nicholas and different traditions, visit the St. Nicholas Center. 

Also celebrated during this time of year is the festival of Hanukkah and the celebration of Kwanzaa.  To find out more about Hanukkah, visit the Jewish Outreach Institute.  To find out more about Kwanzaa, visit The Official Kwanzaa Web Site.

Again, I wish all of you a very happy holiday break and hope everyone stays safe in your travels and gatherings.  Enjoy your  time with family and friends and come back in January ready to teach, learn, reach, and share!

Ring in the New Year with Writing!

In the latest edition of the Teacher Tip Newsletter, there are some writing prompts for the New Year I thought I would share:

1.  What is your New Year's resolution?  Do you think you can accomplish it?
2.  If you could make five positive changes in your life, what would they be?
3.  You are coming back from a New Year's Eve celebration when the snow starts to fall so hard you can't see in front of you.  You pull into a diner.  What happens next?
4.  Create a timeline of your entire last year.  Include all important events.
5.  What was your happiest day of last year?  Describe it in detail.
6.  What do you wish would happen to you this year?
7.  Think back to last year.  Describe the day that you wish you never got out of bed.

I thought these were great 'food for thought' questions and might be a good way to start out the new year/new semester.  Even if you don't use them as a specific writing assignment, you could project one or more of the questions on a screen the first day back as a bell ringer, an individual journal entry, or even as a whole-class discussion topic. 

Nothing like being sick to make you appreciate everything more!

Once again the pneumonia bug grabbed a hold of me.  I didn't feel too good over the first weekend in December and by Monday afternoon I was in the doctor's office.  Thinking I would get over it, I got an excuse for two days but by Wednesday it had moved into my chest and viral pneumonia set in.  I feel like I missed an entire week of my life, but at least I am on the mend and back in my office today!

I want to share a quick site which was suggested by Thinkfinity.  It's mainly for primary school ages, but could be used in elementary as well.  The site comes from ReadWriteThink and is called Puzzle Me Words.  To use the site, simply go to the link, click on Get Started and listen to the school bus introduction.  It is very simple!  There are two levels - beginner and advanced.  The beginner game gives the student a limited amount of letters to select from as they build a three-letter word.  A graphic of the item they are to spell shows and the student hears the word pronounced.  Then the student simply clicks and drags the appropriate letters to the puzzle piece spaces provided.  If they get the word correct, they'll hear it pronounced again, along with a congratulatory phrase and the school bus moves along the road at the bottom of the screen.  When the school bus moves across the finish line, the student earns a piece of a prize puzzle.  For the beginners, three pieces must be earned and for the advanced students, six pieces of the prize puzzle must be earned.  At the end when all the prize puzzle pieces have been earned, the student will have the option to print, save or e-mail their prize puzzle certificate.  The certificate can be printed for the student to color, so that's a nice option rather than just printing an already colored certificate. 

If you haven't checked Thinkfinity lately, you might think about taking a look there to see what you might be able to use for next semester!  They've spent quite a bit of time aligning lessons and activities with the new common core standards.  Content is being added all the time so give it a look soon!

Just five more weeks until 2012!

I realized this morning that 2011 is close to its end.  In a short five weeks with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, the time will pass so quickly and the next thing we know it will be 2012!  I hope all of you had a relaxing Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends and hope you enjoy the next weeks as we celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.  The Time and Date site is a good place to check for information on current time, time zones, date calculators, sun and moon calculators, daylight saving time, weather and calendars.

In a recent communication I found a listing for "Bloom's Digital Taxonomy".   On this pyramid, you will find all sorts of links to technology you can use for the various levels of the taxonomy - remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

For example, within the understanding portion, there is a link for JeopardyLabs.  On this site you can create your own Jeopardy style template online or browse and use templates created by others.  Some of the templates designed by others were obviously done by students, so be careful when selecting and using a template with a class.  If you find a template you'd like to use, simply click on the link, enter the number of teams and click Start.  The Jeopardy format will show and you can make your selections.  As a team answers correctly, you can click the green plus sign to add the score for the question to their total.  If they answer incorrectly, you can click the red minus sign to subtract the score.  As you work through the questions, you can click on the Correct Response link to see the correct answer.  One word of caution, though - make sure someone is keeping up with the questions which have already been selected and answered.  It doesn't look as if the template changes according to the questions already selected.  According to the JeopardyLabs site, you can utilize the Quick Build which does not require an account.  Or you can create an account with a password for your template.  Or you can become a paid member to receive more benefits - from what I can tell, it looks like this site is run by a college student and you can send whatever amount you deem appropriate ($20.00 is the automatic fill-in as a contribution amount, but it can be changed).  Note: PayPal is the method of payment.  If you decide to try building one on your own, I would suggest using the Quick Build method with a password.  Once you build the entire template (don't worry - the numbers disappear from the template as you build it, but they'll be there when you play it), you will receive an URL or Web site address to use.  You can also edit the template using another Web site address they provide.  Once your entire template is ready for use, simply give the URL to others by e-mail, instant messaging sites, text messages, etc.  If you have a site of your own and want to utilize an HTML link, that is also provided for use.

The JeopardyLabs link from the digital pyramid is only one example.  There are many other links for you to try, so spend a little time exploring - I bet you will find something you can put to use immediately in your classroom.

Have a great week and remember, it's only a few weeks until we welcome 2012!

Looking for math help? Here's a site to try!

TenMarks allows teachers to set up a free math program for one class.  TenMarks is mapped to state and common core curriculum standards for grades 2 through high school.  You can customize the curriculum to fit your lesson plans, engage students with interactive hints and videos, assign work and track scores instantly, and get reports on student performance.  On their home page, you can download a brochure or click on the learn more link to find out more about them.

If you click on the link for Schools and then click on the Curriculum link at the bottom of the page, you can see the various "albums" or concepts for different grade levels according to state.  For example, I selected Algebra I and Kentucky and found 17 different albums ranging from factoring polynomials to exponential functions to the foundations of algebra and equations.  You can take a interactive tour to find out more.   (Don't forget to watch one of the video lessons as you take the tour.)

I decided to try building a sample assessment.  I entered myself as a student learning about Algebra I.  I was given an access code and was allowed to take the assessment right away.  There were 30 questions with no time limit.  The questions started out fairly easy but got progressively more complex and difficult as I went along.  It was interesting to see how much I remembered (or more accurately, didn't remember) about Algebra!

One of the more interesting points to me is the fact they have a program for families, too.  It costs $10 per month, but might be worth it for someone who is struggling with math. 

I created a teacher account and entered an Algebra I class.  Once I complete the process, I was shown some tutorial slides which guided me through the process of assigning work.  I received an e-mail which stated TenMarks was free for the whole school year and that they also had free Webinar workshops each Wednesday, as well as a downloadable user guide for getting started.

I think this might be worth a look for any math teachers!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.....

Break Down Classroom Walls

I am a member of SimpleK12 educational technology community and I cannot say enough about the Webinars they have.  I have promoted their free Webinar days before but I've taken several outside of the free days and today I want to share information from one I took with Kyle Pace.  Pace is a Google certified teacher and instructional technology specialist who works in the Kansas City, Missouri area for the Lee's Summit School District.

Pace says educators are often too quick to ban technology tools students are using outside of the classroom, like Blogger, YouTube, Twitter, Skype and Facebook, just to name a few.  He emphasizes students are learning outside the normal classroom because these tools allow them to be mobile and educators are missing a great opportunity.  A networked teacher is able to share digital photos; use blogging (like Twitter and Blogger); use technology to communicate with colleagues across the school, the district and even the state, nation and world; chat using typed words, audio and video with colleagues and students via various methods; share bookmarks/favorites from the Web; . . . and we could go on and on and on . . .

Here are eight popular tools Pace suggests -
1.  Blogging - use blogs to help students find their voice, even if they don't have a voice in class; blogs are user-friendly, have security built-in, and are a great way to communicate; some ideas - WordPress, edublogs, and KidBlog
2.  Google Apps for Education - Lesson Plans -  search plans by subject or grade level
3.  Twitter - use to send out short communications to students and parents; only 140 characters allowed (forces you to be precise and to the point); parents can check without a twitter account because they can go directly to your twitter Website
4.  Skype - a great way to communicate with homebound students; also a great way to communicate with authors, experts in fields, artists, etc.
5.  Sophia - the description for this site is "social teaching"; some people describe Sophia as a mash up of Wikipedia, YouTube and Facebook, focused solely on teaching and learning; the site is organized by learning packets, which are small, bite-sized tutorials focused around a specific learning objective
6.  Popplet - Popplet is a graphic organizer tool; there is a short introductory video on their homepage worth watching to find out more
7.  Linoit - this is a free sticky and canvas service; you can try it for free; basically it is a blank canvas where you can "post" sticky notes; once something is posted, you can edit it, assign a "due date" to it, or peel it off (remove it); you can add images, video, etc. 
8.  Type With Me - a place where many users can contribute to a conversation online; use for collaboration; simply click on New Pad and share the URL (Web address) with students; then type away!  (Another similar site - Todays Meet)

I hope you will try some of these in the near future! 

This week will be a busy one for me.  Wednesday and Thursday will be two days of learning and networking with other Infinite Campus users across the state of Kentucky when we meet at the annual Interchange in Louisville.  On Friday I will attend the monthly Region One TIS meeting in Lyon County.  This is a wonderful group where lots of information is shared and discussed with time to actually practice and use some of these Websites and technology integration ideas.  I hope your week will be just as busy and productive as I hope mine will be!

A new tool to share!

I regularly receive e-mails from Russell Stannard, a terrific teacher and speaker I found a few years ago.  He is a principal teaching fellow at the University of Warwick and is a specialist in the use of media and technology.  He maintains a site, Teacher Training Videos, and his e-mails usually highlight his latest and greatest videos, amongst other ideas and new sites to try.  Stannard has won many awards and travels worldwide to share his knowledge with others.  If you go to the TTV site, you can sign up for his e-mails.  All the videos on his site are free!

I got an e-mail this past weekend from Stannard which mentioned myBrainshark.  The promotional information says you can create online and mobile video presentations for sales, marketing, eLearning and more.  Some of the uses for myBrainshark are "Add Voice to PowerPoint, Narrate a Document, Upload a Video, Make a Photo Album, and Produce a Podcast."  For a good example of adding voice to PowerPoint slides, search for "A Guide to Facebook Security" (at the time of this writing, it was a featured "Most Viewed" presentation on the home page).  Not only is it a good example of how you can add voiceover to a slide presentation and upload it to myBrainshark, it's a wonderful 7 minute presentation on how you can protect yourself on Facebook.  And not only can you watch the video, you can actually download a pdf file entitled "Guide to Facebook Security".

myBrainshark has free accounts, so that's the perfect price for most educators!  It is simple to register for a free account, but if you want more features, you can always purchase the pro versions.  If you register and login, they have a terrific help section with getting started videos and tips & tricks.  Maybe some of you can find something you can use in the classroom, or better yet, start uploading presentations and use myBrainshark yourself!

Since turkey day is coming in just a short time, I thought I would also give you some quick ideas for your students:

1.  Grades K through 2 - Measurement is difficult to visualize.  This lesson helps students gain a perspective on how big the Mayflower actually was.  First, have a class discussion on how big the students think the Mayflower was.  Have them give examples of objects they think might compare to the size of the ship.  Then take students outside and have them help you measure and mark a 90 foot by 24 foot space.  Talk about what would fit in that space to help students have an idea of how big it is.  For example, a tractor trailer is about 75 feet long including the cab and about 10 feet wide.  Discuss what items the travelers would have taken on the ship and how it would all fit.  Also discuss the time frame of the trip and how long it took them to make the voyage.  Using a word processing program, students can write a short paragraph about the ship and the trip or using a drawing program, students can produce a picture of the ship. 
2.  Grades 3 through 5 - Have students create a poster showing foods which would be appropriate for a Thanksgiving meal.  To help them plan, use grocery store ads to let them cut out pictures of items they would like to eat.  Then on their poster, have them write the food group names and glue their pictures in the appropriate places.  As they are working, help students make sure they put the correct foods in the correct groupings.  (This could easily be adapted to the computer - using a word processing program, students can list the food groups and then find appropriate clip art or pictures on the Web to copy and paste into their document.)
3.  Grades 6 through 8 - Several of the Thanksgiving "facts" we teach are historically inaccurate.  This lesson helps students separate fact from fiction.  Have students research on the Internet to find Thanksgiving myths and then using a presentation or word processing program, have them mention the "fiction" or myth item and then what the correct information or "fact" is.  If they google "thanksgiving myths and legends", several sites are available for them to get information. 
4.  Grades 9 through 12 - Thanksgiving is the most traveled holiday of the year.  Use this opportunity to have students practice statistics and probability.  To start, ask students if they have ever flown anywhere over the Thanksgiving holiday.  If so, have them share their stories - Did the trip go as planned?  Were there any delays?  If so, what were the reasons for the delay?  Have the students research statistical data from the FAA or other Web sites.  Some questions to answer might be - What is the average length of time a plane is delayed?  What is the percentage of plans that are delayed between 3 and 9 p.m. on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving?  What is the probability a plane would be delayed during that time this year?  As an extension of this lesson, have students plan a holiday trip, considering when the best time to leave would be, which airline would be the best to travel on, and what time their flight is and when they'd need to arrive at the airport.
5.  Another idea for multiple grade levels - use Google Earth to investigate where the Mayflower departed from, where the Pilgrims landed, and the voyage in between.  Also use the Internet to research what the weather would have been like for the trip. 

These ideas all came from the teAchnology site, the online teacher resource I've mentioned in several past blog entries.

Have a great week and don't forget to exercise your right as an American citizen to go vote on Election Day - Tuesday, November 8th. 

Professional Meetings and Trainings

In many cases, budgets have been cut and travel has been reduced for educators who wish to participate in professional meetings and trainings.  Even though I understand the reasoning behind the cuts, I hate to see the cessation of being able to gather with professionals across other schools districts.  Many times this is the avenue to finding an answer to a question or a solution to a problem within your own district.  Hearing what others are doing (and what they are NOT doing) is very helpful.  Even though we can utilize a listserv through e-mail, it's just not the same as having a face-to-face dialogue.  

With that said, I am glad our district has not yet restricted travel to such meetings and trainings, even though I believe this will affect us soon.  I have the opportunity to gather with other teachers and administrators across the west Kentucky region once each month to have professional discussions on what is happening in the districts and in the schools, plus have the time to learn about new technologies and actually try them out or at the very least, see them in action through a demonstration from a colleague.  On Friday, October 28th I traveled to a nearby district for our Region One TIS Meeting, a gathering of technology integration specialists.  In our case, some of us are teachers actively instructing in the classroom, some of us are working in a central office as a district person helping teachers integrate technology in their classrooms, and some of us are leaders of technology in the district, serving as CIOs or CTOs or under whatever title the district has given them.  

Just to give you an idea, our agenda for last month included learning about QR Codes (Quick Response) and how to use them with students, what a Wikispace is and how to use it, instruction on a few Web 2.0 tools like Blabberize, Read the Words, and Audioboo and the beginning of learning about the nine themes of digital citizenship.  Last Friday our agenda included learning about iPad/iPhone apps which could be used in a classroom, what the SkyDrive is and how to use it, information about Arstonia, a place to upload student artwork and much more, and again, information about the nine themes of digital citizenship.  The latter included a Skype session with a KETS engineer in another district for a demonstration of iDrivedigital.  This technology is tied to helping students (and adults) learn how to use technology responsibly and effectively.  Some districts are using this tool to gauge how much access to the Internet and technology resources of a school they receive.  For example, if a student does not complete any modules, they would be restricted to very little access - basically the minimum of what they would need to complete a teacher's assignment in a particular classroom.  As they take and "pass" modules, the student would be given more freedom since they would have demonstrated responsible and effective use of the equipment and the network.  The end of the day included a presentation by our region's KETS engineer, keeping all of us informed about what is going on at the state level and in other districts across the state.  Also, some area CIOs were invited to come share information about assessing students (and staff) on technology.  At this point nothing has been decided about how to proceed in the future, but the discussions that are taking place are helpful and informative and enable all of us to make a better decision for our students and staff in the future.

As you can see, these meetings are a good way to learn and share with others.  In the future, I hope to post some of the apps we have learned about and share how they can be used in the classroom.  I just hope we don't lose the ability to come together periodically and share information.  Maybe if funding is cut for travel to meetings and trainings like this, we can all learn how to implement new technologies so we can still come together and share electronically instead!  

Happy Halloween to all my readers!  I hope you have a treat-filled day!

Graphic organizers and much, much more

In a recent e-newsletter the importance of graphic organizers was discussed.  Along with the e-newsletter was a link to several free graphic organizers you can print or e-mail.  Click the links below to see if they can be of use to you! 


Concept Map


Life Cycle


Venn Diagram


Paragraph Format


Character Analysis Pyramid


SQ3R Chart (survey/question/read/recite/review)


Meeting New Vocabulary


It's All in the Title


If you'd like to see more, go to GetWorksheets.com and take a look at what they have to offer.  Right now their membership for a full year is only $29.99 and that gets members full access to over 50,000 printable worksheets, lessons, and teacher resources.  (They point out the membership costs less than 8 cents per day.)  They also have a site licensing program in case your school wants to provide access for all staff members. 


If you just want to see a few samples, though, you can click on "Sneak Peak" from their homepage.  The site is both Windows and Mac friendly and all workbooks/worksheets are provided in PDF format, so whatever computer you are using is not a problem.

Quizlet - The best way to study almost anything!

This week I am sharing a site recommended by two teachers at the high school - Mr. R. Miller and Mrs. C. Phelps.  Thanks!


Quizlet is the largest flash cards and study games Website with over 7 million free sets of flashcards covering every possible subject.  It is great for mobile studying and easy for teachers to use.  Plus, it's FREE!  On their homepage, you can access their blog, find out what flashcard sets are new, try out a quick flashcard set, and browse for already created content by subject.  There's also a quick minute video which shows you a basic idea of what they have to offer.  It's well worth a look!


Since I had never used this site before, I decided to find something from the social studies curriculum to see how it worked.  I found an African Map Test within the geography section.  The flashcards included the country name along with a colored section of the African map to show me where the country was located.  I had the ability to go back and forth within all the flashcards, so that was nice to be able to compare, for example, the difference in Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Further down the page it had the feature where I could listen to the pronunciation of the country name.  On the right-hand side were a list of the most commonly missed items.


There was a spelling link which was interesting.  The audio of the country name was spoken and I was asked to type the name.  If I missed one, it would repeat the audio and show me where I went wrong in the spelling.  Then I had another chance to spell it correctly.  The learn link took me to a page which showed me the country visually on a map of Africa and I had to type the name.  Next came a test link which included 5 written answer questions, 5 matching questions, 5 multiple choice questions, and 5 true and false questions.  There were two games available - scatter and space race.  In scatter, I had to match the name of the country with the actual geographical location.  At the end it gave me a score of 56.2 seconds.  If I had an account, I could save my score.  In space race, as the map scrolled by I had to type the name of the country.  If I missed one, it would show me the correct name and I would have to type it.  The scoring page showed me my score, as well as the high score of all those completing the space race. 


Just seeing this much of the site, I must say I was impressed, so I kept going!  I went back to the Quizlet homepage and clicked on the link for Teachers.  There was some content on the page such as FAQs (frequently asked questions), a quick video, and some teaher comments.  What caught my eye, though, was the link right in the center which said I could take 5 minutes to create my own set of flashcards.  On that page, I could give my flashcard set a title, a description, the subject matter and select the language (I've never seen so many listed in one place!).  I even had the ability to add images to my flashcards.  If I already had, say, a vocabulary list set in a spreadsheet, I could even import the data so I wouldn't have to type everything in by hand.  I very quickly made a flashcard set of spelling animal names with 12 entries.  I don't think they could have made this any easier and quicker!  The interesting thing to me is once I set up my "Animals" spelling flashcards, the three study modes and the two game modes were automatically designed for me.  I quickly completed the Speller study mode and was even rewarded at the end with a short video once I mastered each term. 


As I built my first flashcard set, I was asked to set up an account.  There is a paid version of Quizlet available for $15 per year.  The paid version adds the features of being able to upload your own images, having no ads, and having an unlimited number of groups.  I think the free version, though, would be enough for most teachers and students. 


I know the high school students are using the flashcard sets made by our teachers on their mobile devices as a method of studying for quizzes and tests.  How easy it would be to go through the flashcards one by one for an upcoming Spanish vocabulary test after I finished a project or test in another classroom.  Using every moment of the day as study time, rather than just sitting and staring into space!  What a novel idea!


This is truly a terrific site and I'm so glad the teachers shared it with me!  Check it out for yourself soon!

Sharing ideas is terrific

I don't normally promote any particular product on this blog but when I do find something worth sharing, I figure, why not?  A few weeks ago I found a product which claimed it would clean electronic equipment quickly and efficiently, but I didn't have a chance to actually try it until this past weekend.  Wow!  It absolutely does what it claims, so I have to share.  The next time you are in a store, look for Windex electronic wipes.  They come 25 in a re-sealable package made by the Johnson company.  These wipes easily clean televisions, cell phones, desktop and laptop computers, etc. with no residue left behind and a streak-free shine!  I was very pleased with the results after cleaning my laptop, my desktop, my cell phone and my main television at home over the weekend.  I could have cleaned a lot more with the same wipe, too!  I was impressed with this product and highly recommend it. 


In the latest edition of eSchool News (October 2011), there was a resource mentioned which I'd like to share.  SAS has released a new version of its free Curriculum Pathways resource.  The new version includes expanded content, a more user-friendly interface, and enhanced search capabilities.  Teachers can find material for specific state or Common Core standards either by looking at a standard and finding resources to fit or by looking at a resource and finding the standard that goes with it.  At no cost, teachers and students can access highly interactive content for grades 6-12 in English/Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Spanish and Technology.  The only drawback I found is after signing up for an account in order to access the information, they specified an account executive would contact me to determine the best way to set up an account - in my case, this meant an e-mail was received instructing me on how best to serve my district in my role.  This was due to the fact I am a district-level employee and not a classroom teacher.  It was not a problem to go through their instructions and set up a coordinator account, though.  It would be worth a look at their demo to see if this is something you might be able to use in your classroom.  From what I could see, it looks like a solid resource across the board.  Here is the link to their portal where you can see the product demo or subscribe.  Here is the link to their main education Website where you can read more about their company.  Clicking on the K-12 Education link will take you to more information about their efforts to help K-12 educators.  Very quickly I looked at an economic systems lesson.  I watched a 7 minute video and then took a quiz on the material.  (Interesting to note - I couldn't access the quiz until I had watched the video.)  After taking the quiz, I had the option of saving my results and the actual quiz questions and e-mailing my results.  This would be a teacher choice - either save and print the results to hand in or save and send the results through e-mail.  I found the lesson to be very informative and I assume other lessons in the other disciplines would be just as good.  Again, this would be worth a look for teachers in grades 6-12. 


One other resource I want to share today is the Homeland Security Department's effort to help students learn about Internet safety.  Their "Stop.Think.Connect" campaign is a national public awareness campaign aimed at increasing the understanding of cyber threats and empowering the American public to be safer and more secure online.  With students constantly online, the topic of cyber security has never been more important.  You can sign up to become a Friend of the campaign and receive periodic e-mail notifications if you wish.  For more information, simply click the link above. 


Don't forget - if you find interesting sites or information about educational technology to share, please e-mail me at melissa.earnest@caldwell.kyschools.us.  I'd be thrilled to include your ideas and suggestions, especially if it's something you've found to be successful in your classroom.  I will promise to give you credit, too!


Have a great week!

Sometimes the body overtakes the mind . . .

Well, I'm a little late this week with my usual blog entry due to the fact I was sick for two days.  It's no fun being at home and not feeling well, especially when I couldn't seem to get rid of the fever.  I've heard of several others with the same symptoms as me, so apparently it was a virus.  I'm just glad to be back and work and feeling  better!


As Halloween is my favorite holiday, I thought I would share some ideas from a recent e-mail newsletter I received from Teacher Tips:


1. A Broom Story - Using a word processing program, have students write a story about a witch from the broom's point of view.  Discuss point of view with the students before writing.
2. Candy Collage - All students have a favorite Halloween candy.  Using a drawing program, have students create a collage of different Halloween candies.  Encourage students to fill an entire 8.5 x 11 page with the candy drawings of their choice.  Students could also take digital camera pictures of their favorite candies and use these photos to create their collage.
3. Candy Graphs - Using a spreadsheet program, have students collect information about favorite Halloween candies.  This can be done school-wide or as a classroom project, or even as a homework assignment.  Once the students collect the data, have them create a bar graph to show which Halloween candies are the most popular.
4. Halloween Safety - Create a flyer of Halloween safety rules to post in your classroom or school (or even in local businesses).  Have students work together to brainstorm safety rules and then create, using a Word processor or an online drawing program, a flyer sharing those safety rules.  Encourage them to use both words and graphics on the flyer.
5. Halloween Then and Now - Have students investigate what Halloween was like in the early to mid 1900's and compare it to what it is like now.  Using the Internet, have students research what Halloween was like for children in the early to mid 1900's.  Encourage the students to interview family members as well about what Halloween was like during their childhoods.  Ask the following questions: What kinds of costumes were popular? What kind of candy did you get? Who did you trick or treat with? Did you do anything mischievous? If so, what?  Write a report on the findings.
6. Average Temperature on Halloween Night - No one likes to wear a coat over their costume.  Using the Internet, research the temperatures for October 31st over the past ten years.  Using a spreadsheet program, graph the temperatures and find the average.  Look at the projected temperature/weather for this year's Halloween.  Ask these questions: What year had the coldest temperature? Did any years have the same temperature? What was the range of temperatures? What was the average temperature? Based on the data collected, do you think you will need a coat on Halloween night this year? Why or why not?


All of these activities can be adjusted for students of all ages.  Enjoy!

Wow - an extra entry this week!  Whenever I find something new or something neat, I just have to share it!


The YouTube teacher site has now been opened.  You can access it here.  I watched a couple of science videos about chemical reactions and balancing chemical equations and loved them.  Here are some ideas of how the YouTube teacher channel can be used as suggested by the site:


1.  Engage students by showing a video relevant to their lives.  Video clips can bring in different perspectives or force students to consider a new viewpoint, helping to spark a discussion.
2.  Playlists are a way of allowing you to organize videos on the site: a playlist is a series of videos you put together.  They don't have to be videos you upload yourself and you get to choose the order.  When one video ends, the playlist plays the next video without offering 'related videos', thus creating a curated environment for your students.  You can select which YouTube videos you want your students to view by creating a playlist.
3.  Capture and save projects and discussions so you can refer back to them year after year.  This will also help you save time as you can assign old videos to your new students. 
4.  Give students the option to dig deeper into a subject by creating a playlist of videos related to that concept.  By creating a playlist of relevant videos you allow students to pursue their interests without wasting time searching (and finding potentially objectionable content).
5.  Videos can supplement in-class teaching for struggling students.  Students can review your playlists at home.  You can even align the videos to state standards so students who need to review a particular standard can get the help they need.
6.  Turn test review and flashcards into easy-to-watch videos.  This way students can hear explanations as they study.  You can create a 'test review' video students can access at home to study the night before a big test.
7.  When working in stations or centers, have students use your YouTube channel to complete an assignment, freeing you to work with other small groups of students. 
8.  Create a quiz students complete after watching a video.  You can use such a quiz to get instant feedback on what they are learning.  Consider embedding your quiz on a class blog or site so students can watch the video and complete the quiz at the same time or immediately after.
9.  Use YouTube annotations to create 'Choose your own adventure' style video quests.  You can also create a video guide.
10.  If your students watch a video of basic concepts at home, then  you can focus in class on applying the concepts, working collaboratively with their classmates rather than simply listening to a lecture.


All of these ideas have accompanying video examples and that's how I found the science ones to view.  This site is definitely something you will want to check out!