Ahh, Spring Break, one of those wonderful perks of teaching. I enjoyed the time of relaxation and a break from everything and being semi-unplugged for a few days. While I was taking a break I received some interesting websites that I want to share. Most are subject based, some or broad. Hope you find some that you like.
The Story of Bottled Water - I came across this interesting video that tells the story of how bottled water was developed. It talks about Manufactured Demand (Great for an economics lesson...what other products were created because of manufactured demand?) and the false perception of bottled water. You could also use the video as an introductory lesson in Science for students to develop their own experiment on the preference of bottled water and tap water. Marketing classes could also use the website to discuss how bottled water is marketed to make it appear it is fresh from the mountains, when in reality it is just purified tap water. The Story of Bottled Water comes from the website, The Story of Stuff Project. There is also a video about Cap and Trade, and a video in the future about the Story of Electronics. The site, videos, and books are the work of Annie Leonard.
What Happened In My Birth Year is an interesting site because of how it tells what happened your birth year. What Happened In My Birth Year types out what happened like a typewriter. As I was visiting the site, I realized it was taking to long, so I closed it. When I attempted to close it, it prompted me to finish because it was moving to slow. The site discusses books, movies, current events, etc. Be neat to share with your students.
For you elementary teachers I came across a site called Write4Kids.com which can help you write your own children's book. If you are someone interested in writing your own book, then Write4Kids.com would be a great starting point that provides tips and help for writing a book.
From the National Parks Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior is a great website that helps students learn more about Alcatraz Island and the multimedia that is available to learn about Alcatraz. Could be a neat lesson for local California teachers (if they were not pink slipped)
Peter Lourie is a present day explorer/archeologist who has his own website talking about his adventures. He also has a teachers page where he shares many of his lessons as well as experiences visiting and talking with students. This would be an excellent resource for elementary teachers to look at for a while. The man has been TONS of places that we all study in Elementary and Middle School.
South Pole Quest is a great site for learning about the South Pole. It also has links for education and offered students the opportunity to ask questions about life at the South Pole. Definitely worth looking into for a great geography lesson.
Showing posts with label friday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friday. Show all posts
Friday, April 9, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday Focus - Social Signature For Me
Recently, as in this week, a fellow educator and tech savvy Twitter colleague decided to pursue the creation of his very own Web 2.0 website. Jason Bedell, who not only was creating this site, but also organizing TeechMeet in Nashville, posted on his blog a beta version of a Social Signature Creator that people could create for their blogs or websites. This signature creator would contain the icons of social media sites that you would like visitors to your blog to see so that they could follow you in other places on the web.
The beta version was a great concept, and within a few days, this beta version with a few social media sites had grown into a Social Signature Creator with around 20 Social Media sites and its ver own URL and Domain. Social Sig For Me is a great concept considering the growth of Social Media. Also consider that other options out there are not as extensive or as easily customizable. Social Sig For Me is still a work in progress, and suggestions for other Social Signatures would be greatly appreciated so that the site can grow.
You can see a sample of the signature at the top of my blog.
I encourage you to use, share and help support the creation of this Web 2.0 website by a fellow educator.
The beta version was a great concept, and within a few days, this beta version with a few social media sites had grown into a Social Signature Creator with around 20 Social Media sites and its ver own URL and Domain. Social Sig For Me is a great concept considering the growth of Social Media. Also consider that other options out there are not as extensive or as easily customizable. Social Sig For Me is still a work in progress, and suggestions for other Social Signatures would be greatly appreciated so that the site can grow.
You can see a sample of the signature at the top of my blog.
I encourage you to use, share and help support the creation of this Web 2.0 website by a fellow educator.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Thursday-Friday Combo Post - Technology Conferences? Yes, as an Educator, You Should Attend.
Once again, another busy day Thursday kept me from being able to get in my usual Think-Twice Thursday post, forcing me to combine it with my Friday Focus post, but that is okay. I will be attending my first Technology Conference next week. I am excited about seeing new technology, listening to great presenters, and meeting new people (or people I already know, but only through their Twitternality.)
The first conference that I will be attending is the Kentucky Society for Technology in Education Conference. The KySTE conference is going to be held in Louisville at the Galt House East March 10th-12th. There will be a wonderful selection of presenters and vendors present that will allow you to learn about many things related to technology education, as well as meet some great people from Kentucky and surrounding states who are actively pursuing educational technology. You can learn more about the Sessions descriptions, times, and speakers here. You can also find a list of exhibits/vendors that will be in attendance here.
The second conference that I will be attending will be the TeachMeet in Nashville, Tennessee. It will be held at the Nashville Public Library on 615 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37219. The dates for the TeachMeet are April 1-2 from 10:00-4:00pm. What is great about TeachMeet...it is COMPLETELY FREE. No admission fee, food is provided, and you will get to hear from some great speakers and attend some awesome sessions. You can view the schedule of events here. There are couple of influential people in educational technology attending this unconference as it likes to be called by Jason Bedell who has been coordinating the event, getting sponsors, and speakers. Got to say, what a great job he has been doing. Organizing a conference is definitely not an easy task. So, take some personal days and attend this free conference. You will walk away educated, and maybe with some prizes in the giveaways.
A Third Conference I hope to attend will be the Ohio Free Tech Conference that is extending its borders and bringing a conference to Louisville, KY on May 28-29 (if I remember the date correctly from the Tweet I received). There is currently not a website, but I was informed that one is in the works. Once they get it up and running, I will share it. I have heard great things about this conference from the four they had throughout Ohio in January and February.
Have I enticed you enough to attend one of these conferences? If you are in the region and able to drive to one of these conferences, Think Twice about taking some time to expand your knowledge about educational technology and join me and hundreds of other educators in learning about technology. If you are not from around this region or country, Think Twice about taking a moment to search for your local state's/country's technology conference or other conferences in your region and register to attend. If the date has already passed, Think Twice about pre-registering for next year, and make the commitment to attend.....NOW.
It is time Focus on becoming a better teacher in the 21st Century. It is time to Focus on expanding your teaching abilities. It is time to Focus on increasing your knowledge and use of educational technology in your classroom and/or school. It is time to Focus on accepting that education and how we teach is changing, and as an educator, it is part of your/our job, more than ever, to be informed on how education is changing...and educational technology can provide you that opportunity.
In order to learn about educational technology, Thinking Twice about attending a Technology Conference can be the first step in your Focus to becoming a better educator. Not only is it important to attend these conferences to become a better teacher, but it is important to attend these conferences so that you can see what technology our students will be utilizing and working with as they go from High School, to College/University, to the Job Market.
The first conference that I will be attending is the Kentucky Society for Technology in Education Conference. The KySTE conference is going to be held in Louisville at the Galt House East March 10th-12th. There will be a wonderful selection of presenters and vendors present that will allow you to learn about many things related to technology education, as well as meet some great people from Kentucky and surrounding states who are actively pursuing educational technology. You can learn more about the Sessions descriptions, times, and speakers here. You can also find a list of exhibits/vendors that will be in attendance here.
The second conference that I will be attending will be the TeachMeet in Nashville, Tennessee. It will be held at the Nashville Public Library on 615 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37219. The dates for the TeachMeet are April 1-2 from 10:00-4:00pm. What is great about TeachMeet...it is COMPLETELY FREE. No admission fee, food is provided, and you will get to hear from some great speakers and attend some awesome sessions. You can view the schedule of events here. There are couple of influential people in educational technology attending this unconference as it likes to be called by Jason Bedell who has been coordinating the event, getting sponsors, and speakers. Got to say, what a great job he has been doing. Organizing a conference is definitely not an easy task. So, take some personal days and attend this free conference. You will walk away educated, and maybe with some prizes in the giveaways.
A Third Conference I hope to attend will be the Ohio Free Tech Conference that is extending its borders and bringing a conference to Louisville, KY on May 28-29 (if I remember the date correctly from the Tweet I received). There is currently not a website, but I was informed that one is in the works. Once they get it up and running, I will share it. I have heard great things about this conference from the four they had throughout Ohio in January and February.
Have I enticed you enough to attend one of these conferences? If you are in the region and able to drive to one of these conferences, Think Twice about taking some time to expand your knowledge about educational technology and join me and hundreds of other educators in learning about technology. If you are not from around this region or country, Think Twice about taking a moment to search for your local state's/country's technology conference or other conferences in your region and register to attend. If the date has already passed, Think Twice about pre-registering for next year, and make the commitment to attend.....NOW.
It is time Focus on becoming a better teacher in the 21st Century. It is time to Focus on expanding your teaching abilities. It is time to Focus on increasing your knowledge and use of educational technology in your classroom and/or school. It is time to Focus on accepting that education and how we teach is changing, and as an educator, it is part of your/our job, more than ever, to be informed on how education is changing...and educational technology can provide you that opportunity.
In order to learn about educational technology, Thinking Twice about attending a Technology Conference can be the first step in your Focus to becoming a better educator. Not only is it important to attend these conferences to become a better teacher, but it is important to attend these conferences so that you can see what technology our students will be utilizing and working with as they go from High School, to College/University, to the Job Market.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday-Friday Combo Post - Facebook 4 Education
I was extremely busy yesterday, so I did not get a chance to post a Think Twice Thursday Post. Since today is normally my Friday Focus post time, I thought I would combine the two.
It has been a busy month in the area of Facebook and education and not in a positive light. Story after story of students using Facebook to slander and defame a teacher's character. Stories of a teacher using Facebook to rant about the behavior of students in class. You can view these articles on my Articles Page.
Let's "face" it, Facebook is a Social Networking site. That is its main intention. That is not the issue though. The issue is educating students, teachers, schools, and districts about using Facebook in a manner that promotes positive relationships between students and teachers, students and their school, schools and their community, and districts and their community. The image of Facebook as it relates to education must be changed for Facebook to be a successful tool in education.
Several school districts, if not all, have school web pages. Every school has parent-teacher conferences. Every school offers meetings for parents and students to attend. Every school has athletic, band, drama, and other events at their school. Every school has fundraisers, important announcements and information that parents need. The problem sometimes is getting that information to parents in a timely manner, and ensuring that it gets to every parent. The problem is providing an easily accessible area for such communication and relationship building outside of the school building.
Facebook can provide AN answer, not THE answer to improving those relationships. I was always told that if you can't get someone to come to where you are, then you got to go where they are. And where are our students, parents, and community members? Facebook. Ask the average student the first website they go to when they get online: Facebook. In 5-10 years (and probably today or sooner) ask the average parent the first website they visit when they log on the Internet: Facebook.
With all the negative press about Facebook though, it is hard to get districts, schools, administrators, teachers, and parents to buy into the idea of using Facebook for Education. There has to be a way to promote the positive aspects of using Facebook in Education. I know that Facebook is being used in Education, but those can be tough to find. Well, hopefully I have created a possible solution or way to do that.
All the negative press got me thinking about a way to promote the use of Facebook in education around the world. So I created a Wiki. A Wiki for educators, parents, administrators, schools, and districts to share how they are positively using Facebook. Facebook 4 Education provides a website to post links, stories, articles, videos, examples of Facebook use, and Fan Pages related to education.
Think Twice about how you can or are using Facebook in education and share that information on the Facebook 4 Education Wiki. Focus on sharing your successes of using Facebook. Focus on helping improve the image of Facebook in education. Help curtail the image that the media is portraying of Facebook in education.
It has been a busy month in the area of Facebook and education and not in a positive light. Story after story of students using Facebook to slander and defame a teacher's character. Stories of a teacher using Facebook to rant about the behavior of students in class. You can view these articles on my Articles Page.
Let's "face" it, Facebook is a Social Networking site. That is its main intention. That is not the issue though. The issue is educating students, teachers, schools, and districts about using Facebook in a manner that promotes positive relationships between students and teachers, students and their school, schools and their community, and districts and their community. The image of Facebook as it relates to education must be changed for Facebook to be a successful tool in education.
Several school districts, if not all, have school web pages. Every school has parent-teacher conferences. Every school offers meetings for parents and students to attend. Every school has athletic, band, drama, and other events at their school. Every school has fundraisers, important announcements and information that parents need. The problem sometimes is getting that information to parents in a timely manner, and ensuring that it gets to every parent. The problem is providing an easily accessible area for such communication and relationship building outside of the school building.
Facebook can provide AN answer, not THE answer to improving those relationships. I was always told that if you can't get someone to come to where you are, then you got to go where they are. And where are our students, parents, and community members? Facebook. Ask the average student the first website they go to when they get online: Facebook. In 5-10 years (and probably today or sooner) ask the average parent the first website they visit when they log on the Internet: Facebook.
With all the negative press about Facebook though, it is hard to get districts, schools, administrators, teachers, and parents to buy into the idea of using Facebook for Education. There has to be a way to promote the positive aspects of using Facebook in Education. I know that Facebook is being used in Education, but those can be tough to find. Well, hopefully I have created a possible solution or way to do that.
All the negative press got me thinking about a way to promote the use of Facebook in education around the world. So I created a Wiki. A Wiki for educators, parents, administrators, schools, and districts to share how they are positively using Facebook. Facebook 4 Education provides a website to post links, stories, articles, videos, examples of Facebook use, and Fan Pages related to education.
Think Twice about how you can or are using Facebook in education and share that information on the Facebook 4 Education Wiki. Focus on sharing your successes of using Facebook. Focus on helping improve the image of Facebook in education. Help curtail the image that the media is portraying of Facebook in education.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Friday Focus #6 - The New Prezi
Power Point has always been one of those staple technology applications in education. A way to present material to students that also offered the opportunity for audio, video, and picture integration to make lecture more...interesting. However, in 2010, Power Point has started to become mundane. Prezi is a new presentation tool that offers a new approach to presenting information. It can be easily described as creating a presentation on a 3D canvas.
I created an original post on Prezi at the early stages of this blog. Of course at the time of the original Blog Post I had not come to fully understand the expansiveness as well as the limitations of Prezi. There were originally no plans for Educational Licensing and its ease of use for the average person was rather frustrating. Within my blog I have linked to two presentations. One I create about Hands On Learning. The other was a Math Presentation created by a teacher at my school.
Recently though, Prezi has changed their thinking. First they offered Educational Licensing. You can still get the standard Free account, but there is an "Edu Enjoy" account that allows privacy settings, removal of the Prezi Watermark, and 500 MB of online storage space. A great addition to an already interesting presentation tool. You can pay $59 for a year subscription and it gives 2000 MB of online storage space, plus the ability to create Prezi offline using desktop software. Not a bad price.
If you already have an account using your school email address, log in and then click on "upgrade." Click on the Education option and you will be able to upgrade to the Education Account. You will have to confirm your email address again.
Prezi didn't just add Education licensing either. It improved the tool used to create Prezi's, as well as new backgrounds, colors, fonts, etc. The first picture is the old tool for Prezi. The second picture is the new tool for creating Prezi...a more simple user interface.
When you visit Prezi now, it shows a video so that you can get a better idea of how to get started creating your own presentation. Adding text is a lot easier as well as adding effects to the text. Before you always had to go to the tool to change text, now, one click does one thing, and two clicks does another...MUCH easier.
You can easily interchange between the different fonts and colors. I wish there were more options here instead of changing colors over the entire canvas, there was more individual options. Creating your path is a lot easier as well with a drag and click feature. There are also Zoom In and Out buttons so you don't always have to use your scroll. It still has the same framing and drawing tools as well. You can also load images, videos, and PDF within the Presentation.
But with all of that...the best feature...UNDO and REDO!!!!
If you have not tried Prezi, I highly recommend using it once and see your student's reaction to it. It will be such a wonderful change of pace from Power Point.
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Friday, January 15, 2010
Friday Focus #4 - Blogs You Should Focus Your Attention On
Since I started blogging and joined Twitter I have come across numerous blogs, many of which I have already posted about in the past couple months. Today though I want to provide some links to Blogs that I subscribed too. Some are new, some are old; so here is a chance for you to start your own discovery and focus your attention on some blogs that offer great opinions, ideas, resources, suggestions, and the occasional asking for assistance. These are in no particular order.
Teachers as Technology Trailblazers - Created and updated by Kristen Swanson. - Started in July of 2009. Offers Links and resources for edicational technology.
Educational Technology Guy - Created and updated by David Andrade - A good mix of resources, thoughts, ideas, and the occasional humor. Liked the post about College supplies in the 80's and today.
Teach Paperless - Nominated for some edublogs and great discussion topics related to 21st Century education. Shelly Blake-Plock has been posting since February of 2009.
School Principal Blog - Great blog by Deron Durflinger with perspectives from a secondary school principal.
The Techno Tiger - Fairly new to the Blogging landscape, but you can tell her interest in blogging is really taking off. Started Blog in November and finished 2009 with 3 post. In January alone she has 13...definately increasing her posting. Provides great personal thoughts on technology, blogging and education. Her views relating to the 30 Goals Challenge (More on this Blogger Monday) are great and possibly give you some ideas as well.
Edurati - Where Policy Meets Pedagogy - A great blog discussing all things education...not necessarily technology related.
Learning With E's - Been Nominated for Edublogs Awards the past two years. Offers some great resources and thoughts about ELearning and Distance Education, as well as a focus on the growth of 21st Century Education.
EdTechSwami - A great read for all things education and many things technology. Enjoyed the recent post of the students letter about blocking websites....very true. EdTechSwami is the creation of Christopher Rogers
EdTechSandyK - Recent post is asking for ideas about an IPod/MP3/Pdocasting Initiative. Do you have any? Let her know. You can also follow on Twitter.
Learning is Life - A great blog with daily tales about teaching and education. A very creatice approach by Russ Goerend to blogging about life as a teacher.
iLearn Technology - A great blog by Kelly Tenkely who was nominated and won an Edublog Award. A recent post had the idea of starting a Blogging Alliance. Great idea and I joined. Definately worth visiting.
ITEACH - Web 2.0 in Language and Composition. Great resources and great stories from Andrew Marcinek about teaching and technology. Also received a nomination for Best New Blog
Digital Natives in the Classroom - A blog maintained by Jason Suter and a new Blogger, but a motivated one. Great ideas and great "Ah Ha" moments posted to his blog. A teacher who is definately seeing the impacts of technology integration and is sharing his experiences with all of us.
Technology Chatter - A great blog that offers a lot of resources for technology integration and a Wiki related to SmartBoard Resources. A most recent post surveyed her PLN to discover the impact it had on them. Very interesting Blog by Dodie Ainslie
Social Tech - This is the Beta Generation - A great read by Josie Fraser that has a lot to do with Ditigal Citizenship and Digital Literacy. Great post and great reads. Highly recommend for getting a dose of thought provoking ideas.
Technology - A great blog by Melissa Edwards. Very helpful to me in providing resoources for the New FLIP Camera that I purchased. Lots of great resources shared from personal experiences and searches on the Internet to assist teachers.
Well, there are 16. If this list was not enough Check out the Best 100 Education Blogs of 2009 or the List of the Top 200 Education Blogs
Take this opportunity and focus your attention on these Bloggers. Comment on them, follow them, subscribe to them...but whatever you do, enjoy and share them!
Teachers as Technology Trailblazers - Created and updated by Kristen Swanson. - Started in July of 2009. Offers Links and resources for edicational technology.
Educational Technology Guy - Created and updated by David Andrade - A good mix of resources, thoughts, ideas, and the occasional humor. Liked the post about College supplies in the 80's and today.
Teach Paperless - Nominated for some edublogs and great discussion topics related to 21st Century education. Shelly Blake-Plock has been posting since February of 2009.
School Principal Blog - Great blog by Deron Durflinger with perspectives from a secondary school principal.
The Techno Tiger - Fairly new to the Blogging landscape, but you can tell her interest in blogging is really taking off. Started Blog in November and finished 2009 with 3 post. In January alone she has 13...definately increasing her posting. Provides great personal thoughts on technology, blogging and education. Her views relating to the 30 Goals Challenge (More on this Blogger Monday) are great and possibly give you some ideas as well.
Edurati - Where Policy Meets Pedagogy - A great blog discussing all things education...not necessarily technology related.
Learning With E's - Been Nominated for Edublogs Awards the past two years. Offers some great resources and thoughts about ELearning and Distance Education, as well as a focus on the growth of 21st Century Education.
EdTechSwami - A great read for all things education and many things technology. Enjoyed the recent post of the students letter about blocking websites....very true. EdTechSwami is the creation of Christopher Rogers
EdTechSandyK - Recent post is asking for ideas about an IPod/MP3/Pdocasting Initiative. Do you have any? Let her know. You can also follow on Twitter.
Learning is Life - A great blog with daily tales about teaching and education. A very creatice approach by Russ Goerend to blogging about life as a teacher.
iLearn Technology - A great blog by Kelly Tenkely who was nominated and won an Edublog Award. A recent post had the idea of starting a Blogging Alliance. Great idea and I joined. Definately worth visiting.
ITEACH - Web 2.0 in Language and Composition. Great resources and great stories from Andrew Marcinek about teaching and technology. Also received a nomination for Best New Blog
Digital Natives in the Classroom - A blog maintained by Jason Suter and a new Blogger, but a motivated one. Great ideas and great "Ah Ha" moments posted to his blog. A teacher who is definately seeing the impacts of technology integration and is sharing his experiences with all of us.
Technology Chatter - A great blog that offers a lot of resources for technology integration and a Wiki related to SmartBoard Resources. A most recent post surveyed her PLN to discover the impact it had on them. Very interesting Blog by Dodie Ainslie
Social Tech - This is the Beta Generation - A great read by Josie Fraser that has a lot to do with Ditigal Citizenship and Digital Literacy. Great post and great reads. Highly recommend for getting a dose of thought provoking ideas.
Technology - A great blog by Melissa Edwards. Very helpful to me in providing resoources for the New FLIP Camera that I purchased. Lots of great resources shared from personal experiences and searches on the Internet to assist teachers.
Well, there are 16. If this list was not enough Check out the Best 100 Education Blogs of 2009 or the List of the Top 200 Education Blogs
Take this opportunity and focus your attention on these Bloggers. Comment on them, follow them, subscribe to them...but whatever you do, enjoy and share them!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Focusing on a Focus
I decided last night that I wanted to improve the focus of my blog by creating a focus for each day. Below is what I have decided to do for each day.
Must See Monday - Despite what you might be thinking, I did not steal the idea from NBC. Every Monday I will post an article, resource, or Blog that I feel is a Must See.
Twitter Tuesday - Every Tuesday I will post a resource I found on Twitter, Lists to follow, People to follow, or an important Hashtag related to education. It might also mix of all of these, depending on the mood I am in.
Wiki Wednesday - Every Wednesday I will link to a Wiki that I find interesting or helpful to educators. It might even be something from Wikipedia that we might normally not look at unless it happened to be posted to a blog!
Think-Twice Thursday - Every Thursday will be a resource, website, or blog that you should "think twice" and consider how to use it or reconsider why you are not using it.
Friday Focus - I will still be continuing my Friday Focus where I focus on a certain resource. You can visit my Previous Friday Focus Post below:
Online Timelines
Social Bookmarking
Weekend Extra - With time permitting, I will post some extra stuff that I find on the weekends.
These won't be the only post of the day, but they will be the first or the last of the day.
Let me know what you think!
Must See Monday - Despite what you might be thinking, I did not steal the idea from NBC. Every Monday I will post an article, resource, or Blog that I feel is a Must See.
Twitter Tuesday - Every Tuesday I will post a resource I found on Twitter, Lists to follow, People to follow, or an important Hashtag related to education. It might also mix of all of these, depending on the mood I am in.
Wiki Wednesday - Every Wednesday I will link to a Wiki that I find interesting or helpful to educators. It might even be something from Wikipedia that we might normally not look at unless it happened to be posted to a blog!
Think-Twice Thursday - Every Thursday will be a resource, website, or blog that you should "think twice" and consider how to use it or reconsider why you are not using it.
Friday Focus - I will still be continuing my Friday Focus where I focus on a certain resource. You can visit my Previous Friday Focus Post below:
Online Timelines
Social Bookmarking
Weekend Extra - With time permitting, I will post some extra stuff that I find on the weekends.
These won't be the only post of the day, but they will be the first or the last of the day.
Let me know what you think!
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