Fun with personalized graphics

Okay, maybe it's not inherently the most educational site on the web, but what a neat way to create some great clipart that is personalized for your students or your classroom. This website http://txt2pic.com/ has a long menu of templates that when you click on them, you can add your own text or pictures to create personalized graphics for your websites, wikis, blogs, desktops, whatever.

I particularly liked this link where I made the etch a sketch picture, and this link with the Norman Rockwell poster. And this one is lots of fun for adding borders to pictures.

CAUTION: Not all of the links/images in the mega-list are appropriate for school. Please pay attention to the short descriptors next to each link, and as always with material on the Internet, preview before sharing with students.

Math Journals - How to begin??

Many math teachers in the state are beginning to use math journals to record student thinking and learn each child's level of understanding. Many of my new teacher leaders have asked for more information about doing math talks. There happens to be a great lesson at www.thinkfinity.org in the ReadWriteThink partner site called "Talking, Writing, and Reasoning: Making Thinking Visible with Math Journals" . To add to this, you can find a variety of interactive learning resources and lessons aligned to national standards all totally free at Thinkfinity for all curricular areas K-12. Your treasure trove of lessons and interactives awaits you at Thinkfinity.org.

Using a Cartoon to Enhance the Math Classroom?

from SIMPSON MATH:

"The Simpsons has established itself as an award-winning international pop culture phenomenon. It is the longest-running sitcom of all time and it is also one of the most literate television programs on the air, containing many references to subject matter and scholars from various academic fields, including mathematics. Since The Simpsons has been airing in prime-time for most of our students' lives, they likely are familiar with the program and its large cast of characters, including a resident scientist. The Simpsons also contains over a hundred instances of mathematics ranging from arithmetic to geometry to calculus, many designed to expose and poke fun at innumeracy. In fact, Al Jean, Executive Producer and head writer, has a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University. Several episodes of The Simpsons contain significant mathematics that relates to material we normally cover in our classes. For these reasons, this program is an ideal source of fun ways to introduce important concepts to students, and to reduce math anxiety and motivate students in courses for non-majors. "

You can find them at:
http://www.mathsci.appstate.edu/~sjg/simpsonsmath/
http://homepage.smc.edu/nestler_andrew/SimpsonsMath.htm

Two Writing Teachers

"Two Writing Teachers" is a blog created by, you guessed it, two writing teachers. It's interesting to learn what not only goes on in their classrooms, but in their thought processes. Ruth Ayres and Stace Shubitz met in March 2007 while attending a conference, and they have remained in contact every day since then, despite the 800 miles between them.
One of their blog entries disccusses a mathematical rubric writing assignment. Now that is writing across the curriculum!

http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/

Non-Routine Math Problems

This site provides non-routine math problems that have been rated by viewers. I find many appropriate for use in classrooms. As with any resource, some are better than others so it is wise to review before using in classrooms.

http://mathforum.org/pow/other.html

Career Education in the Digital Age

"I watched a student use trigonometry to graph trajectories while building a catapult that launched a ping pong ball to land in an 8-ounce cup. His teacher had told me he couldn't add two numbers together," says Connecticut's Supervisor for Technology Education, Engineering, and Agricultural Education, Gregory Kane. Find out where the vocational education departments ended up after they were pushed out of high schools and how 21st Century Skills are embedded into training.
Read the article published in Technology & Learning - October 2007

FREE Online Vocabulary Tool

Tired of practicing the old fashioned way, a fifteen year old student created Quizlet. This free, online site has several methods for studying vocabulary words: flashcards, call and response, and testing, just to name a few. The user needs to only sign up for a free account (enter email and create a user name). Then enter the vocabulary words (chances are that they are entered already).

http://quizlet.com/

Forgetful? Email junkie? This might help!

There is a service online called jott where you can call their number from anywhere and leave a message for yourself, or for a group of your friends or coworkers, and it will translate your voice message into text and email you or your group. So if you've ever found yourself needing to remember vital information, but without a pen handy, just use your trusty cell phone to send yourself an email instead! There are also some very neat options for blogging from your cell (I did this the old fashioned way by typing it in) or using your cell to Twitter. The online service is free, but phone charges will vary by your agreement.

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Seeing Corporate Fingerprints in Wikipedia Edits

Remember what your mom told you? You can't believe everything you read? Wikipedia is a fine example of this. We must remember that this is a site that can be edited by anyone, so we shouldn't rely on the information to stand alone. It goes further than that now. Corporations can easily edit unfavorable articles about themselves to make them more positive. Likewise, consumers can easily edit articles to make them not so positive. The Wikiscanner has helped identify where ther entried are coming from. If an entry is coming from within the office of a corporation, then we can weigh that information carefully; if the edit is from a consumer, we can do the same. Either way, we must uyse a discriminating eye when reading ANY online information, not just that of Wikipedia.
This article, which discusses Wikipedia edits, was posted by a student in one of my online classes. It is from The New York Times. Check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/technology/19wikipedia.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&ref=technology

Digital Students at Analog Schools

This video was created by university students about their university experiences, but in too many of our K-12 classrooms, for a variety of reasons, the same situation exists--students are experiencing learning that is not taking advantage of all the tools they have access to outside the classrooms, and we are doing them a disservice by not teaching to their individuals needs as learners. Here's what these students had to say.

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Should schools block social networks/communication tools or utlize them?

TechnicallySpeaking@TIE: Should schools block social networks/communication tools or utlize them?

Click on the link directly above to read this TIE Tech blog.

What is your wiki wisdom?

Wiki's have grown in popularity and are being seen in increasing numbers in classrooms across the country. Wiki's are easy to use and are multi-faceted in their use in the classroom as well as throughout the education setting. According to Vicki Davis in Education Week's Digital Directions, “Wikis … allow you to get 100 percent participation.” To read more about this as well as find out where the word wiki comes from read the article below:

http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2007/09/12/02wiki.h01.html

One Laptop project offers machines to U.S. customers

As production of the One Laptop Per Child machines gets under way, the nonprofit will on Nov. 12 offer U.S. customers two laptops for $399, one for themselves and another for a child in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti, and Rwanda. Denmark education professor Jan Soelberg said the early model he tried was a bit slow and buggy, but had the capabilities of any other modern laptop. BusinessWeek (9/24)

PowerPoint as an Effective Student Presentation Tool

PowerPoint has proven to be an engaging student presentation tool. However, is it also distracting? What's the best way to use it for student presentations? The article from Education World,"What's the Point of PowerPoint?", answers those questions and offers suggestions for its use in the classroom. It even includes a detailed lesson plan and rubric!


http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech204.shtml

Google Offers Free Presentation Tool

By signing up for a Google account, one can have access to Google Docs, an online word processor and spreadsheet developer. Why use these? The files can then be shared with anyone, and they are always available online. Suppose you are working on a report, and you need some help. With Google Docs, you can share the document with a friend and get his/her opinion.
Now Google is offering a free presentation tool that works very much like PowerPoint. Again, the presentation will always be available to you online and can be shared. This is a nice alternative if you do not have PowerPoint. To read the article from MSNBC, click http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20829609/.

Is User Education Pointless?

TechnicallySpeaking@TIE: Is User Education Pointless?

Please click on the link above to view the blog posting on TechnicallySpeaking@TIE.

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Generation YES

Generation YES has wonderful technology integration ideas for teachers. Students work with teachers to bring effective technology into the classrooms and libraries. The resulting collaboration provides the students with project-based learning and teachers with on-site, sustainable professional development. It is suitable for
Elementary, Middle, and High School.

Check out this blog article for an interactive graphic called a Voki - your students will love it!
Voki! A fun way to introduce yourself
or
Keeping Students Engaged On Many Levels - Fantasy Sports Leagues Teach Math

Assessing Preschools

Some states are creating an awareness of the preschools in their states. With a concern that some children begin school "behind," these states are proactive rather than reactive. Some critics argue that the state will not stop and begin placing unfair expectations on the preschool teachers - requiring them to get children to the level they need to be to enter school. I prefer to think of it as an assessment tool for parents when it comes to choosing preschools. As a parent, I would prefer to send my child to the preschool in which their graduates were doing well in kindergarten. There are pros and cons, but for now, I think it's a step in the right direction.

To read the article, "States Move Toward Closer Scrutiny of Preschools" from Education Week go to http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/09/12/03texas.h27.html

Make Your Life Less Hectic

We all know that teachers do not just teach; the job description goes far beyond that. Most teachers also take on extracurricular duties, from coaching the golf team to organizing the concession stand. It seems the time spent to arrange the necessary meetings and distributing information takes more time than a teacher has. Simplify your life: use a wiki. By creating a wiki, you can post schedules, eliminate the need for some meetings, and keep everyone informed.

For example, you are the staff sponsor for the school newspaper. Topics must be discussed, deadlines must be met, and finally, the paper must be published. Put some responsibility on the students. Create a wiki space where you can post deadlines. Award editing privileges to your editors. Now they can post the deadlines and any other information. Invite the other newspaper staffers to a discussion on possible topics to be covered.

The wiki is a good place to put football schedules, including the time the bus leaves. With the information on the internet, the parents can check out the information, rather than calling the school or the student. Include extra-curricular guidelines, coach's expectations, and maybe a weekly summary of the competitions.

Maintaining the communication line between students and coaches over the summer can be difficult. Use the wiki to post summer camp information. What camp will your band be attending? How long will the basketball team be gone? If you are a band or vocal instructor who gives lessons over the summer, use the wiki to post your schedule. Now the students and parents can check the wiki.

These are only a few uses for the wiki; the possibilities are endless. Even more satisfying is that the wiki is so easy to use. For more information on wikis go to: http://jrising.tie.wikispaces.net/Wiki

Google Earth Adds Astronomy Feature

Google Earth Adds Astronomy Feature
Please click the link directly above to view this posting on TechnicallySpeaking@TIE.

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