It was about a year ago that I really started to get into the idea of blogging. I was hesitant, unsure, and fairly new to the whole idea. I spent most of the initial stages of blogging just learning how to use the site to benefit myself, understanding widgets and embedding, and learning how to write for an audience. Below are tips that I would offer someone based on my own experience.
1.) Develop a Memorable URL and Title - I originally titled this blog ZimmerTIS. I did not think that let people know the purpose, plus the URL did not help explain what the blog would be about. So I changed the title and URL. Make yours something simple, memorable, short and sweet.
2.) Develop a Theme and Focus - I started doing daily posts related to different aspects of Educational Technology last year and created a Focus for my blog. I no longer do that, but it helped me to create posts that are relevant and specific.
3.) Create a Weekly Post - Develop a post that you have each week to keep readers coming back. Make the post something that will be an easy read and provide beneficial knowledge or resources. I started this year creating posts related to the Core Subjects of Math, Science, English, and Social Studies.
4.) Educate Yourself on Formatting - I have had to take some time and learn about HTML coding and embedding. I like for my links, images, videos, and other resources I embed to be flush with my template, so I learned about understanding the simple aspects of HTML code. This can be very helpful in the future and be beneficial to your readers.
5.) Learn About Widgets - Widgets are a great addition to a blog. It allows you to add things for readers to access. There are several out there that can be great additions. There are also some that will slow up the speed of your page load. I made the mistake of over doing this. Be simple with what you add (blogs you read, labels, previous post, popular post, search bar, translator, etc. A great addition will be to create a Social Signature. Jason Bedell has created a great site called Social Sig 4 Me. Use that site to add your RSS feed, Twitter name, etc. This way your readers can find you in other social networks.
6.) Use Copyright Free and Creative Commons Images - There are several images out there that are copyrighted and you want to be careful when using those images. Wylio is a great site for finding such images. I recommend you bookmark that site and use it for adding images to your blog.
7.) Watch Your Labels and Tags - You can add labels to your posts. Be broad with your labels. If you are to specific then you will have a ton of different labels and struggle with the organization of your blog postings. I find myself editing my labels about twice a year where I merge some of the labels together. For example, I had "comic," "comics," and "cartoons" all for the same resources, but did not include the same label throughout.
8.) Choose a Welcoming Layout/Theme - When I first started this blog I had a dark black background (even though I had "Happiness" in the title). I realized that this was not as welcoming and inviting. So I went with a lighter background and brighter hyperlinks. So far I am happy with the change. Blogger, Wordpress, and Edublogs all have themes and layouts that you can choose. Choose one that is welcoming to your readers. Here is a great post by The Edublogger for Introducing Blogging using Edublogs
9.) Join and Share Blog on Twitter - I discovered that Twitter was the BEST way to share my blog with others. Steven Anderson has done a great job putting together An Educators Guide to Twitter, where you will also find my So You Are New to Twitter post. Through Twitter you will be able to connect with other educators and share your blog. It is the greatest way to increase the readership of your blog, as well as introduce you to other blogs that you can comment on. By commenting on other blogs, many blogging educators will return the favor.
10.) Interact, Interact, Interact - When people comment on a blog post, interact with them. Tell them thanks for commenting and taking the time to read your post. Answer questions if they have any as well. Turn your blog into a form of networking with others. Creative commenting can lead to a large growth of readers.
Have you just started creating a blog? Comment here and share it with those that read my blog.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Project PLN Books
Project PLN was developed by a couple of educators that I follow on Twitter. Nick Provenzano and Kelly Tenkely have done an excellent job creating these great "books" for educators. So far, with the help of the members of their PLN they have published 4 books. They are:
1.) All About PLN's
2.) Best Practices for Start of School
3.) The Administrators Issue
4.) The Web Tools Issue
You can find all four issues here. I highly recommend that you read some of the entries by some great educators.
1.) All About PLN's
2.) Best Practices for Start of School
3.) The Administrators Issue
4.) The Web Tools Issue
You can find all four issues here. I highly recommend that you read some of the entries by some great educators.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
10 Tips for Using Facebook in the Classroom
Facebook, the growing social network that receives negative publicity, but offers a great network for teachers to communicate with students and parents. A while ago I created a Facebook 4 Education Wiki in the hopes of creating a place for teachers to share the positive uses for the Social Network in education because of all the negative press it was receiving. With a growing group of readers, I thought it would be good to share it again with this post.
1.) First and most obvious use is to create a classroom based page for your students to follow. Keep the page simple to a place to share news, homework assignments, reminders, etc. I would limit students to just having the ability to comment and not post their own stuff to the wall, because that will also help reduce spam. Our kids and parents are on Facebook, so it would be a great idea to go where they are. This would also be a great way to post events and then students can RSVP their attendance or not as well.
2.) A lot of businesses/programs are on Facebook. I recommend searching for some and suggesting students add them to their own feed. For example, The Library of Congress, NASA, a Literature Page, or Khan Academy. I suggest just doing a search for what you are teaching and see what pages are available.
3.) Use the Facebook discussion board as a place to discuss books, assignments, movies, articles, etc. Create a communication place to have a discussion and then share the discussion in class the next day. You will know if kids are doing their homework because it will time stamp when they reply.
4.) Not really in Facebook, but someone has done a great job of creating a PowerPoint Facebook Page Template. This would be a great way to create a presentation over historical figures, authors, etc.
5.) Have students create a Facebook Page for a historical figure, book, movie, time period, event, etc. Students in the class can then follow that page. It can then be an ongoing project that students can update with links, videos, pictures, etc.
6.) Facebook is filled with Apps that students can use related to education. 25 Apps for the Facebook Classroom is a good starting point to share with your students. I know there are several issues with privacy, so do make students aware of those.
7.) Create a Poll using the Poll App. This would be a good way to gather information about the thoughts of your students as well as take polls on current events and popular culture.
8.) Use the new Facebook Groups feature, you can create groups of your students that they can follow and then that can also allow more teacher control. Here is an article about using Facebook Groups with students. Although the article is for college students, it does provide information relevant to the K-12 classroom.
9.) Use your classroom Facebook page as a way to teach Digital Safety and Digital Citizenship. Share resources and information related to privacy and understanding a digital footprint. Students have little information about that, and using Facebook responsibly can teach kids how to properly use the Internet and social media.
10.) Over the years, Facebook will become a great resource in itself to have former students share experiences from your classroom, in college, or even in their new careers. You will create your own list of Guest Speakers.
Facebook is a great tool to use in education and I admit there are several learning curves that teachers and students will have to adjust too when it comes to "friending" each other. I suggest you start calling yourself a mentor on Facebook as well. Good Luck!
1.) First and most obvious use is to create a classroom based page for your students to follow. Keep the page simple to a place to share news, homework assignments, reminders, etc. I would limit students to just having the ability to comment and not post their own stuff to the wall, because that will also help reduce spam. Our kids and parents are on Facebook, so it would be a great idea to go where they are. This would also be a great way to post events and then students can RSVP their attendance or not as well.
2.) A lot of businesses/programs are on Facebook. I recommend searching for some and suggesting students add them to their own feed. For example, The Library of Congress, NASA, a Literature Page, or Khan Academy. I suggest just doing a search for what you are teaching and see what pages are available.
3.) Use the Facebook discussion board as a place to discuss books, assignments, movies, articles, etc. Create a communication place to have a discussion and then share the discussion in class the next day. You will know if kids are doing their homework because it will time stamp when they reply.
4.) Not really in Facebook, but someone has done a great job of creating a PowerPoint Facebook Page Template. This would be a great way to create a presentation over historical figures, authors, etc.
5.) Have students create a Facebook Page for a historical figure, book, movie, time period, event, etc. Students in the class can then follow that page. It can then be an ongoing project that students can update with links, videos, pictures, etc.
6.) Facebook is filled with Apps that students can use related to education. 25 Apps for the Facebook Classroom is a good starting point to share with your students. I know there are several issues with privacy, so do make students aware of those.
7.) Create a Poll using the Poll App. This would be a good way to gather information about the thoughts of your students as well as take polls on current events and popular culture.
8.) Use the new Facebook Groups feature, you can create groups of your students that they can follow and then that can also allow more teacher control. Here is an article about using Facebook Groups with students. Although the article is for college students, it does provide information relevant to the K-12 classroom.
9.) Use your classroom Facebook page as a way to teach Digital Safety and Digital Citizenship. Share resources and information related to privacy and understanding a digital footprint. Students have little information about that, and using Facebook responsibly can teach kids how to properly use the Internet and social media.
10.) Over the years, Facebook will become a great resource in itself to have former students share experiences from your classroom, in college, or even in their new careers. You will create your own list of Guest Speakers.
Facebook is a great tool to use in education and I admit there are several learning curves that teachers and students will have to adjust too when it comes to "friending" each other. I suggest you start calling yourself a mentor on Facebook as well. Good Luck!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Weekly Core Subjects Resources
Another week has gone by. Is it just me or has the first part of this school year FLOWN by? Hard to believe that there is only one more week before Christmas break.
English
1.) From the Visual Thesaurus, A spelling bee competition online. Test out your spelling skills. You compete and score points for correctly spelled words and streaks of correctly spelled words. If that is not enough for you, here is another Spelling Bee site you can try. Oh, but I am not done, from Dictionary.com here is another spelling game.
2.) Figment is a site that allows students 13 and older to share their writings with others. I am not a fan of reinventing the wheel, so head on over to Kelly Tenkely's iLearn Teachnology Blog for a good explanation.
3.) StoryJoin is a site similar to Figment in that it provides a place for students to share their writing with other authors looking for an audience. They have a story of the week and writings are divided into several different categories. For more information read the opening paragraph as it describes their site.
4.) TextNovel is...guess what, another site for students to share their writing with an available audience (is it just me, or does this say something about the state of writing education when students have to go online to feel that their writing has an audience?) The difference is that TextNovel allows users to submit their writings via cellphone. The Innovative Educator does a good job of discussing this website.
5.) Woodlands Literacy Zone offers interactive English games and activities broken down into several different categories and units of study.
Mathematics
1.) New Zealand Maths is a site that offers units for math teachers separated by subject matter that then have links to various resources that you can use in the classroom.
2.) MathCentre is a site that offers resources that you can search for by narrowing down your search topic. There are over 10 different types of resources, such as iPod video segments, online quizzes, etc.
3.) Free Math Help offers just what the title of the website says. There is also a question of the day that students can answer. Students can enter in a math problem and then the computer will solve the equation for them and even provide them the steps to the solution. Another site is the Equation Solver. You input a linear equation, systems of linear equation, or single quadratic equation and it will solve it for you. HOW DO KIDS NOT PASS MATH CLASS WITH SITES LIKE THIS??? KIDS STILL DON'T DO MATH HOMEWORK??!!
4.) "Mathwire.com is designed to provide activities and appropriate worksheets for teachers to use in their classrooms. All activities and worksheets support the constructivist approach to learning mathematics and the NCTM Standards."
5.) Yummy Math is another site that provides teachers and students resources for learning math that is relevant to the real world. Free Technology for Teachers has a good write up about this site.
6.) If you have a SMARTBoard you can download this resource of pre-made charts and graphs to use with your students.
7.) 20 Incredible TED Talks for Math Geeks is a great list. If you don't know what TED talks are, I highly recommend that you start watching them.
Science
1.) 51 Awesome Science Experiments and Videos for kids is a great list to get your students interested in science.
2.) The Interactive Science Dictionary is a site that allows users to learn the meaning of science words. There are videos and it provides users the ability to ask questions as well. Science words can sometimes be hard to pronounce, so this site will also help you learn to pronounce them.
3.) Operation Conservation is a wiki that provides resources for teaching about the environment and learning to conserve energy and resources.
4.) Learn Genetics from the University of Utah is a comprehensive site that allows visitors to learn all they need to know about genetics. A great resource for teachers and students. There are several virtual labs available as well.
5.) Looking to connect with NASA? Well, now you can. NASA has created a directory so that you can collaborate and connect with astronauts and other NASA scientist. You can connect via Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, and Gowalla.
Social Studies
1.) StreetLaw has put together a great site for Landmark Supreme Court Cases. Whether you are teaching them or students are learning them, this would be a great starting point.
2.) Virtual Middle School Library is a site that offers tons of links and resources for teaching social studies. They are broken down by subject matter. Don't let the title fool you, these will work at the high school level as well.
3.) Our Story is a site dedicated to sharing the stories of American Citizens. There are activities, books, and field trip suggestions for learning about American History.
4.) From the Library of Congress is a great map collection. There are six different categories of maps that visitors can select from to view and use. If you plan on teaching a lesson involving maps, I highly recommend examining this site first.
English
1.) From the Visual Thesaurus, A spelling bee competition online. Test out your spelling skills. You compete and score points for correctly spelled words and streaks of correctly spelled words. If that is not enough for you, here is another Spelling Bee site you can try. Oh, but I am not done, from Dictionary.com here is another spelling game.
2.) Figment is a site that allows students 13 and older to share their writings with others. I am not a fan of reinventing the wheel, so head on over to Kelly Tenkely's iLearn Teachnology Blog for a good explanation.
3.) StoryJoin is a site similar to Figment in that it provides a place for students to share their writing with other authors looking for an audience. They have a story of the week and writings are divided into several different categories. For more information read the opening paragraph as it describes their site.
4.) TextNovel is...guess what, another site for students to share their writing with an available audience (is it just me, or does this say something about the state of writing education when students have to go online to feel that their writing has an audience?) The difference is that TextNovel allows users to submit their writings via cellphone. The Innovative Educator does a good job of discussing this website.
5.) Woodlands Literacy Zone offers interactive English games and activities broken down into several different categories and units of study.
Mathematics
1.) New Zealand Maths is a site that offers units for math teachers separated by subject matter that then have links to various resources that you can use in the classroom.
2.) MathCentre is a site that offers resources that you can search for by narrowing down your search topic. There are over 10 different types of resources, such as iPod video segments, online quizzes, etc.
3.) Free Math Help offers just what the title of the website says. There is also a question of the day that students can answer. Students can enter in a math problem and then the computer will solve the equation for them and even provide them the steps to the solution. Another site is the Equation Solver. You input a linear equation, systems of linear equation, or single quadratic equation and it will solve it for you. HOW DO KIDS NOT PASS MATH CLASS WITH SITES LIKE THIS??? KIDS STILL DON'T DO MATH HOMEWORK??!!
4.) "Mathwire.com is designed to provide activities and appropriate worksheets for teachers to use in their classrooms. All activities and worksheets support the constructivist approach to learning mathematics and the NCTM Standards."
5.) Yummy Math is another site that provides teachers and students resources for learning math that is relevant to the real world. Free Technology for Teachers has a good write up about this site.
6.) If you have a SMARTBoard you can download this resource of pre-made charts and graphs to use with your students.
7.) 20 Incredible TED Talks for Math Geeks is a great list. If you don't know what TED talks are, I highly recommend that you start watching them.
Science
1.) 51 Awesome Science Experiments and Videos for kids is a great list to get your students interested in science.
2.) The Interactive Science Dictionary is a site that allows users to learn the meaning of science words. There are videos and it provides users the ability to ask questions as well. Science words can sometimes be hard to pronounce, so this site will also help you learn to pronounce them.
3.) Operation Conservation is a wiki that provides resources for teaching about the environment and learning to conserve energy and resources.
4.) Learn Genetics from the University of Utah is a comprehensive site that allows visitors to learn all they need to know about genetics. A great resource for teachers and students. There are several virtual labs available as well.
5.) Looking to connect with NASA? Well, now you can. NASA has created a directory so that you can collaborate and connect with astronauts and other NASA scientist. You can connect via Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, and Gowalla.
Social Studies
1.) StreetLaw has put together a great site for Landmark Supreme Court Cases. Whether you are teaching them or students are learning them, this would be a great starting point.
2.) Virtual Middle School Library is a site that offers tons of links and resources for teaching social studies. They are broken down by subject matter. Don't let the title fool you, these will work at the high school level as well.
3.) Our Story is a site dedicated to sharing the stories of American Citizens. There are activities, books, and field trip suggestions for learning about American History.
4.) From the Library of Congress is a great map collection. There are six different categories of maps that visitors can select from to view and use. If you plan on teaching a lesson involving maps, I highly recommend examining this site first.
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.
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Friday, December 10, 2010
10 Tips for Using YouTube in the Classroom
1.) The biggest issue that most administrators have with YouTube is not the videos themselves but the extra content that normally accompanies them. Its the comments, the ads, and the similar videos. One way to alleviate that problem is to use a site called Safeshare.tv or ViewPure (which has a bookmarklet you can use). It will remove all the extra stuff and provide you just the video. So if you are having trouble convincing the administration to allow YouTube, show them this option.
2.) Sometimes, it can also be necessary to download YouTube videos in case you are worried about the Internet being down. Keepvid is a site that allows you to download a YouTube video in several different formats. It is simple to use and can make it easy to share videos. If your school is blocking access, download them from home and then bring into class.
3.) Do you have some students who are visual learners but struggle keeping up with the auditory aspects of videos? CaptionTube allows you to easily add captions to a YouTube video to help those students who have trouble listening and prefer to read, or hearing impaired students.
4.) There are some great videos on YouTube, but sometimes, those videos are really long and you only want to show just a section of a video. You also don't want to have to search through the video in front of class to find the spot you are looking for. Well you can use a site called YouTubeTime that allows you to specify a time that you would like the video to start playing. YouTubeTime can really help you narrow down to the important part of a video.
5.) Wallwisher is a popular site among educators. Combining it with YouTube can make for great implementation. When you provide a YouTube URL link in Wallwisher it will allow visitors to view the video without having to leave the site. You could provide the video to students and have them comment on the video in 160 characters or less. No longer is it just a video to watch, but it is a video to interact with. If you don't want to use Wallwisher, you can use the Embed feature of YouTube and place the video on a website, wiki, or blog as well.
6.) As much as I am anti-PowerPoint, I do want to provide this option. It is possible to embed a YouTube video into a PowerPoint without downloading the video. You can learn how to do this simple step here. Do know that you will have to have a working Internet connection for the video to play and you will want to allow some time for the video to load as well, so have a discussion ready.
7.) YouTube itself can be very daunting. There are billions...yes billions of videos that you can watch. So as a teacher how do you find ones that are specifically for education? Luckily there are a couple of lists. 100 Incredibly Useful YouTube Channels for Educators and 100 Best YouTube Videos for Teachers are good lists that are broken down by subject matter. This would be a great starting point to find videos to use in your classroom.
8.) I encourage your school, departments, or class to create a channel (i.e.: create a user name that is easy to find) for your students to use. This way you can share videos with the community. Using a FLIP camera makes it even easier because you can easily upload videos from within the software. You can customize your channel as well. Here is a great tutorial for how to do that.
9.) Understanding the benefits of YouTube to Education, they now have an entire section dedicated just to education related videos. YouTube Education is a great supply for videos specifically for teaching. The videos are broken down by category so that you can easily find what you are looking for. You will find that a lot of colleges and universities have their own channels and professors have uploaded their lectures. Want to give students a taste of the college classroom, have them watch a lecture. Of course there are some videos that are non-educational that come from the institutions students, but this is still a valuable resource.
10.) A great way to use YouTube would be to start your day with one and have it as your Bell Ringer activity. Each day you could choose a focus: entertaining, academic, thought provoking, etc. Students will probably be excited to see what the "video of the day" is in your classroom. With billions of videos it might be worth while have a different video for each class period so that students can't share with other students what the video is for your classes later in the day.
How have you used YouTube?
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