I unintentionally intended to write some "10 Tips/Ways" posts and before I knew it, I just kept going. With that, I ended up writing 11 blog posts that contain "10 tips" related to educational technology and various websites. So, in case you missed them, here they are:
1.) 10 Ways to use iTunes/Podcast in the Classroom
2.) 10 Specific Ways to Use a Document Camera
3.) 10 Tips for Getting Teachers to Integrate Technology
4.) 10 Tips for Alternative Professional Development
5.) 10 Tips for Using SMS in the Classroom
6.) 10 Tips for Alternatives to PowerPoint
7.) 10 Tips for Using Google Reader in the Classroom
8.) 10 Tips for Using YouTube in the Classroom
9.) 10 Tips for Using Facebook in the Classroom
10.) 10 Tips for Starting an Education Blog
11.) 10 Tips/Ways for Using Twitter in the Classroom
Spend some time reading and thinking about these during the holiday break. Go back to school inspired to try something different in your classroom and with your students.
As a bonus during a snow day, I wrote the following post, Who Says Having a Snow Means Not Having Class, which contains 10 ideas as well.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Weekly Core Subjects Resources
Christmas season is upon us. This will be the last Weekly Core Subject Resources post of 2010. The next post will be in 2011 and it might be a few weeks in as my wife and I are expecting and I will take a leave of absence and not post as often. What that means is that the next Weekly Core Subject Resources post will contain tons of resources. Happy Holidays to those that celebrate them and enjoy your break if you are having one!
English
1.) Copia is a social network for eBooks. Think of it as a digital book club. I wrote a previous post about it and thought that I should share it here.
2.) Magnetic Poetry is a fun way to "write." This site allows you to create magnetic poetry and words are available based on subject matter. You can also read other magnetic poetry which is divided into categories as well.
Mathematics
1.) Algebra.help is a site that has calculators, lessons, and worksheets to help students learn algebra. Each section is divided into different subject matter that is taught in math classrooms.
2.) Bridgeport Mathematics Department is a website from the Bridgeport school district. You can find several resources that are divided by subject matter. There is also homework helper and other links that students and teachers would be interested in checking out.
3.) Create a Graph is a site from the National Center for Education Statistics. You can choose between bar, line, area, pie, and XY. Very simple to use. It does require Flash.
4.) Here is a blog post that shares how to write equations in Google Docs. I don't use Google Docs, but if you do, this might be a helpful resource.
Science
1.) Physics Math is a combination of a math and science site that offers visitors assistance in understanding formulas and equations related to science. There are also several other resources for Physics on the homepage.
2.) Another Physics site, The Physics Classroom offers tutorials, multimedia, and other resources for teaching physics.
3.) The European Space Agency has a great website for learning about Earth-Space Science. It is basically an online journal for information.
4.) Nature by Numbers is a video that is inspired by numbers, geometry, and nature using the Fibonacci sequence. You can also find some other information and resources about the film.
5.) OLogy is a site for learning about biodiversity from the American Museum of Natural History. You choose an "ology" and it will provide information and resources for each one.
6.) Science Fix is a blog where a teacher films science experiments and explains what processes are happening in the video.
7.) From Mashable, 10 Free Online Resources for Science Teachers. Several of these I have never seen before and am intrigued by them.
8.) Planet Hunters is a site to learn about stars and planets. It is an interactive site and seems really interesting, but my knowledge on space is minimal at best, so I am struggling with understanding it. If you teach science, this is probably one to check out.
9.) Symphony of Science is a site that takes lectures and other science videos and adds music and other audio to turn the words into songs. It is kind of interesting. I would check out the site to just see what I am talking about.
10.) Google Body Browser is like Google Earth for the human body. It uses software already on web browsers, so it does not require any add-on, java, or flash to work. Really a great asset for teaching anatomy.
11.) Game for Science is a site providing a virtual world devoted to science, technology and free educational games online.
Social Studies
1.) The Civil War Interactive Timeline is from the New York Times. If you teach this unit, it is worth checking out.
2.) Country Studies is a site that provides data for over 100 countries in the world. The data available depends on the country. For example, there is a lot more for Afghanistan then there is for the British Virgin Islands.
3.) The dMarie Time Capsule is another site that offers you the ability to type in a date and see historical events that happened. Could be a great site to use to start a class each day.
4.) Project Explorer is a site I just recently wrote a post about, so you can click here for more information.
5.) Gapminder is a data exploration site that allows users to see how data changes over time and changes based on major events in history as well. I really enjoy this site.
English
1.) Copia is a social network for eBooks. Think of it as a digital book club. I wrote a previous post about it and thought that I should share it here.
2.) Magnetic Poetry is a fun way to "write." This site allows you to create magnetic poetry and words are available based on subject matter. You can also read other magnetic poetry which is divided into categories as well.
Mathematics
1.) Algebra.help is a site that has calculators, lessons, and worksheets to help students learn algebra. Each section is divided into different subject matter that is taught in math classrooms.
2.) Bridgeport Mathematics Department is a website from the Bridgeport school district. You can find several resources that are divided by subject matter. There is also homework helper and other links that students and teachers would be interested in checking out.
3.) Create a Graph is a site from the National Center for Education Statistics. You can choose between bar, line, area, pie, and XY. Very simple to use. It does require Flash.
4.) Here is a blog post that shares how to write equations in Google Docs. I don't use Google Docs, but if you do, this might be a helpful resource.
Science
1.) Physics Math is a combination of a math and science site that offers visitors assistance in understanding formulas and equations related to science. There are also several other resources for Physics on the homepage.
2.) Another Physics site, The Physics Classroom offers tutorials, multimedia, and other resources for teaching physics.
3.) The European Space Agency has a great website for learning about Earth-Space Science. It is basically an online journal for information.
4.) Nature by Numbers is a video that is inspired by numbers, geometry, and nature using the Fibonacci sequence. You can also find some other information and resources about the film.
5.) OLogy is a site for learning about biodiversity from the American Museum of Natural History. You choose an "ology" and it will provide information and resources for each one.
6.) Science Fix is a blog where a teacher films science experiments and explains what processes are happening in the video.
7.) From Mashable, 10 Free Online Resources for Science Teachers. Several of these I have never seen before and am intrigued by them.
8.) Planet Hunters is a site to learn about stars and planets. It is an interactive site and seems really interesting, but my knowledge on space is minimal at best, so I am struggling with understanding it. If you teach science, this is probably one to check out.
9.) Symphony of Science is a site that takes lectures and other science videos and adds music and other audio to turn the words into songs. It is kind of interesting. I would check out the site to just see what I am talking about.
10.) Google Body Browser is like Google Earth for the human body. It uses software already on web browsers, so it does not require any add-on, java, or flash to work. Really a great asset for teaching anatomy.
11.) Game for Science is a site providing a virtual world devoted to science, technology and free educational games online.
Social Studies
1.) The Civil War Interactive Timeline is from the New York Times. If you teach this unit, it is worth checking out.
2.) Country Studies is a site that provides data for over 100 countries in the world. The data available depends on the country. For example, there is a lot more for Afghanistan then there is for the British Virgin Islands.
3.) The dMarie Time Capsule is another site that offers you the ability to type in a date and see historical events that happened. Could be a great site to use to start a class each day.
4.) Project Explorer is a site I just recently wrote a post about, so you can click here for more information.
5.) Gapminder is a data exploration site that allows users to see how data changes over time and changes based on major events in history as well. I really enjoy this site.
Find something useful? If not, check out my previous Weekly Core Subjects Resources Posts
You might also be interested in my publications to learn about various Web 2.0 Tools to use in the classroom.
If you are visiting this blog for the first time and would like to subscribe to the RSS Feed you can do that here. To learn about RSS Feed and Google Reader, watch this great RSS in Plain English video
Friday, December 17, 2010
Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy
I was introduced to this video on the Learning 2.0 blog and thought I would share it here. So true and so funny, and very interesting.
10 Resources for Teaching Geography with Technology
I minored in geography in college, as my original goal was to be a meteorologist and chase tornadoes in Oklahoma. The geography resources available now, are nothing in comparison to what is available to students today. I have a passion for geography, always liked maps and learning about countries. Not sure where it came from, but it helped guide me towards teaching social studies. Here are some tips that I have for teaching Geography with technology.
1.) Google Earth is by far the best tool to explore the continents, countries, cities, and oceans. I am a huge fan of Google Earth and it is only getting better. One way to use Google Earth is to zoom into a location in the world. Zoom in really close. Then have students ask yes or no questions. Every question that gets a yes, you zoom out just a little bit. This is a great method to teach kids Absolute and Relative location. Google just released version 6, so I suggest downloading it. If your district blocks access to it, create a list of ways you plan to use it and submit it showing it as a powerful education tool. If you need help with Google Earth, check out the following resource. Other Resources include: How to Teach With Google Earth, and Google Earth Lessons,.and Google Earth for Educators: 50 Exciting Ideas for the Classroom. If you don't want to use Google Earth for the activity you might also be interested in using MapCrunch which is a random Google Street View location.
2.) Use Google Maps to "Trek" across places in the world. I wrote a post about this earlier, and I will just share it again. This is a great way to teach the movement and places themes.
3.) Climate is something that is part of geography at the high school level. One way to teach change in climate is have students set-up a webcam either at home or at school when a storm is supposed to be coming. Set the camera to take pictures at a certain interval of time. Use Time Lapse Creator to show change over time for climate in your hometown as the storm system comes through. The site has a great example. Students can then discuss local climate change. You could then take this into a discussion about Human-Environment Interaction.
4.) If It Were My Home is a great site for students to understand the themes of Place and Region. It allows you to compare sizes of several countries and natural disasters to your home town. Students have a hard time grasping the actual size of countries, so if you can put it over your home town, they will better understand is size.
5.) Maps are a great tool, and over the past five years, there has been a huge increase in map based resources. Coloring maps is so 2008. Students in geography should be studying the impact of humans on nature and the impact humans have on each other. TargetMap is a site that allows users to create their own maps with data sets they can determine based on research. When students are done with the maps, they can then submit them to the teacher to be graded. This site can help cover all 5 themes of Geography.
6.) Another Map tool is ShowWorld. As mentioned above, students have a hard time grasping size and data. ShowWorld helps compare countries based on certain data and then alters their physical size compared to the data selected. You can choose between 5 different categories, which then breaks down into sub-categories, which then provides options for different data sets. A great tool for teaching the five themes of Geography. Each map provides information as well in terms of ranking and numerical data.
7.) Atlas of the Biosphere is a site that presents maps from each continent based on 4 areas - Human Impacts, Land Use, Ecosystems, and Water Resources. Each of the 4 areas is then broken down into specific data (Infant Mortality Rate, Life Expectancy, etc). There are also schematics available that show processes in motion, like the Hydrologic cycle.
8.) Country Studies is a "website contains the on-line versions of books previously published in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress as part of the Country Studies/Area Handbook Series sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Army between 1986 and 1998. Each study offers a comprehensive description and analysis of the country or region's historical setting, geography, society, economy, political system, and foreign policy." Another great option is Atlapedia. Students doing a country project? Maybe using Glogster or Prezi, or a Digital Story Telling Tool? This would be a great start.
9.) Scribble Maps is a site that allows you to digitally write on top of Google Maps. This would be a great site to use to teach about different countries or aspects of the earth (Longitude and Latitude, rivers, borders, etc) because you would be able to draw and highlight specific lines for students to see. Each STRAIGHT line you draw gives you a distance and latitude and longitude point. You also get all the regular features of Google Maps.
10.) A couple of tools to use in the classroom with your students is the Map Maker where students can decide what goes on a map in terms of borders, cities, and categories of data. This would be a great tool to use in the classroom as an introduction to a lesson. Another great website is Gapminder, which allows students to see data change over time in relation to statistics, like World Population. You can pause the interactive to discuss why the data changes (World events like WWII). To see it in action, watch the great video below.
In the coming weeks and month(s) I will be doing similar posts for Economics, Government, U.S. History, World History, Reading, Writing, Spelling, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth-Space Science, Algebra, Geometry, and Health and P.E. So Stay Tuned!
1.) Google Earth is by far the best tool to explore the continents, countries, cities, and oceans. I am a huge fan of Google Earth and it is only getting better. One way to use Google Earth is to zoom into a location in the world. Zoom in really close. Then have students ask yes or no questions. Every question that gets a yes, you zoom out just a little bit. This is a great method to teach kids Absolute and Relative location. Google just released version 6, so I suggest downloading it. If your district blocks access to it, create a list of ways you plan to use it and submit it showing it as a powerful education tool. If you need help with Google Earth, check out the following resource. Other Resources include: How to Teach With Google Earth, and Google Earth Lessons,.and Google Earth for Educators: 50 Exciting Ideas for the Classroom. If you don't want to use Google Earth for the activity you might also be interested in using MapCrunch which is a random Google Street View location.
2.) Use Google Maps to "Trek" across places in the world. I wrote a post about this earlier, and I will just share it again. This is a great way to teach the movement and places themes.
3.) Climate is something that is part of geography at the high school level. One way to teach change in climate is have students set-up a webcam either at home or at school when a storm is supposed to be coming. Set the camera to take pictures at a certain interval of time. Use Time Lapse Creator to show change over time for climate in your hometown as the storm system comes through. The site has a great example. Students can then discuss local climate change. You could then take this into a discussion about Human-Environment Interaction.
4.) If It Were My Home is a great site for students to understand the themes of Place and Region. It allows you to compare sizes of several countries and natural disasters to your home town. Students have a hard time grasping the actual size of countries, so if you can put it over your home town, they will better understand is size.
5.) Maps are a great tool, and over the past five years, there has been a huge increase in map based resources. Coloring maps is so 2008. Students in geography should be studying the impact of humans on nature and the impact humans have on each other. TargetMap is a site that allows users to create their own maps with data sets they can determine based on research. When students are done with the maps, they can then submit them to the teacher to be graded. This site can help cover all 5 themes of Geography.
6.) Another Map tool is ShowWorld. As mentioned above, students have a hard time grasping size and data. ShowWorld helps compare countries based on certain data and then alters their physical size compared to the data selected. You can choose between 5 different categories, which then breaks down into sub-categories, which then provides options for different data sets. A great tool for teaching the five themes of Geography. Each map provides information as well in terms of ranking and numerical data.
7.) Atlas of the Biosphere is a site that presents maps from each continent based on 4 areas - Human Impacts, Land Use, Ecosystems, and Water Resources. Each of the 4 areas is then broken down into specific data (Infant Mortality Rate, Life Expectancy, etc). There are also schematics available that show processes in motion, like the Hydrologic cycle.
8.) Country Studies is a "website contains the on-line versions of books previously published in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress as part of the Country Studies/Area Handbook Series sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Army between 1986 and 1998. Each study offers a comprehensive description and analysis of the country or region's historical setting, geography, society, economy, political system, and foreign policy." Another great option is Atlapedia. Students doing a country project? Maybe using Glogster or Prezi, or a Digital Story Telling Tool? This would be a great start.
9.) Scribble Maps is a site that allows you to digitally write on top of Google Maps. This would be a great site to use to teach about different countries or aspects of the earth (Longitude and Latitude, rivers, borders, etc) because you would be able to draw and highlight specific lines for students to see. Each STRAIGHT line you draw gives you a distance and latitude and longitude point. You also get all the regular features of Google Maps.
10.) A couple of tools to use in the classroom with your students is the Map Maker where students can decide what goes on a map in terms of borders, cities, and categories of data. This would be a great tool to use in the classroom as an introduction to a lesson. Another great website is Gapminder, which allows students to see data change over time in relation to statistics, like World Population. You can pause the interactive to discuss why the data changes (World events like WWII). To see it in action, watch the great video below.
In the coming weeks and month(s) I will be doing similar posts for Economics, Government, U.S. History, World History, Reading, Writing, Spelling, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth-Space Science, Algebra, Geometry, and Health and P.E. So Stay Tuned!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Who Says a Snow Day Means Not Having Class??
Just because the weather outside is frightful does not mean that education can't still be delightful. The age of 21st Century education and learning allows education to continue even when school is closed. How might you ask? Well, here are just some ideas to get your mind flowing...especially those teachers who have AP kids and are on a strict schedule.
With it being winter for the majority of the United States and talks of snow days and snow storms, I thought this would be an appropriate post for today.
1.) If you have a Facebook page, you can still "hand-out" assignments to your students via Facebook, and they could still "hand them in" by attaching in a message or providing a link.
2.) If you have a Classroom Twitter account, you could still share assignments and links to readings for students to complete over the snow day.
3.) Want to teach from your computer, use a site like Join.me and share your screen with your students. Be an easy way to explain math problems in a step by step process or share a document they don't have access to.
4.) Upload a PowerPoint to Slideshare or add the slides to a Prezi so that students have access to notes and a lesson if needed for a quiz or test when they get back to school.
5.) Use TitanPad or TodaysMeet and have a backchannel chat with your students over a topic you are discussing in class.
6.) Use the site JustPaste.it to share a Word document that you want students to use or answer questions. I always made any worksheets using Word, and with this site you have the ability to upload the Word Document and it will maintain the formatting. You can then create a URL to share with students.
7.) Use your email and send students a text message to their phones to let them know you have a new assignment/project posted to your website. See my blog post about sending text messages from email.
8.) Embed a video from YouTube or link to an article and have students use a site like Wallwisher to discuss the video. Or have them type a response in JustPaste.it and share the URL. Make sure to approve messages first before posting!
9.) Plan ahead, have students know that they will always have a free writing assignment to do. Provide them a list and tell them to choose a topic each snow day, or designate numerical order for each snow day.
10.) Math teachers, use Twiddla and plan a time to meet with students online to go over math assignments, problems, homework, etc.
I always hear teachers say that kids think because they have a snow day that work assigned before the snow days is not due when they come back to school. If you set the expectation that work is to continue over snow days, then the problem will take care of itself. If students know that they will still have work over snow days, then it will definitely take care of itself.
If you have students that don't have access to the Internet, then you can ignore these. This is just something for us all to think about. How is the landscape of education changing? Because this was never a possibility just FIVE years ago.
With it being winter for the majority of the United States and talks of snow days and snow storms, I thought this would be an appropriate post for today.
1.) If you have a Facebook page, you can still "hand-out" assignments to your students via Facebook, and they could still "hand them in" by attaching in a message or providing a link.
2.) If you have a Classroom Twitter account, you could still share assignments and links to readings for students to complete over the snow day.
3.) Want to teach from your computer, use a site like Join.me and share your screen with your students. Be an easy way to explain math problems in a step by step process or share a document they don't have access to.
4.) Upload a PowerPoint to Slideshare or add the slides to a Prezi so that students have access to notes and a lesson if needed for a quiz or test when they get back to school.
5.) Use TitanPad or TodaysMeet and have a backchannel chat with your students over a topic you are discussing in class.
6.) Use the site JustPaste.it to share a Word document that you want students to use or answer questions. I always made any worksheets using Word, and with this site you have the ability to upload the Word Document and it will maintain the formatting. You can then create a URL to share with students.
7.) Use your email and send students a text message to their phones to let them know you have a new assignment/project posted to your website. See my blog post about sending text messages from email.
8.) Embed a video from YouTube or link to an article and have students use a site like Wallwisher to discuss the video. Or have them type a response in JustPaste.it and share the URL. Make sure to approve messages first before posting!
9.) Plan ahead, have students know that they will always have a free writing assignment to do. Provide them a list and tell them to choose a topic each snow day, or designate numerical order for each snow day.
10.) Math teachers, use Twiddla and plan a time to meet with students online to go over math assignments, problems, homework, etc.
I always hear teachers say that kids think because they have a snow day that work assigned before the snow days is not due when they come back to school. If you set the expectation that work is to continue over snow days, then the problem will take care of itself. If students know that they will still have work over snow days, then it will definitely take care of itself.
If you have students that don't have access to the Internet, then you can ignore these. This is just something for us all to think about. How is the landscape of education changing? Because this was never a possibility just FIVE years ago.
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