Okay, here's a site that is not quite so serious but still has a lot of merit. It can be used to spark discussions, journal writes, imaginations, or whatever. Poetry4Kids is a site where you and your students can go to read and/or hear some really rather interesting poetry by the author, Kenn Nesbitt. Some of it is a bit on the young side but still fun. The site is a free site and has the option of registering for free also. Registration includes extras like contests, poetry journals, and forums.
There are many other available things on the site for exploration and discovery, including a rhyming dictionary and some games.
I especially liked My Computer Ate My Homework and It'sFunToLeaveTheSpacesOut.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Students to the Rescue
Teachers, sometimes your students can be a very valuable technology resource. Don't be afraid to ask for help. They will be more than happy to pitch in and help you with problems if they can. Many of them are "old hands" at using a lot of the software out there.
If some of you are interested in putting together a team newsletter, my applications students are just finishing up a unit on creating professional newsletters using Microsoft Word. Some of them might be willing to head up a team of other student "reporters" to help you publish your next issue.
Students are also pretty good at digging up information from the Web. If you have that student who always finishes early, challenge him or her to find some information that you might use in one of your future lessons. They could find Web sites, pictures, articles, or whatever you need and either save the information to a flash drive, network drive, or write down information for you to review at a later time. You could refer to them as your research assistant or maybe reward them with extra credit or something else of more intellectual value.
If some of you are interested in putting together a team newsletter, my applications students are just finishing up a unit on creating professional newsletters using Microsoft Word. Some of them might be willing to head up a team of other student "reporters" to help you publish your next issue.
Students are also pretty good at digging up information from the Web. If you have that student who always finishes early, challenge him or her to find some information that you might use in one of your future lessons. They could find Web sites, pictures, articles, or whatever you need and either save the information to a flash drive, network drive, or write down information for you to review at a later time. You could refer to them as your research assistant or maybe reward them with extra credit or something else of more intellectual value.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Lit2Go
Once in a while I come across some sites that are really exciting and worth sharing. One of these is Lit2Go. Lit2Go is a free online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format. You can:
Download the files to your Mp3 player and listen on the go,
Listen to the Mp3 files on your computer,
View the text on a webpage and read along as you listen,
Print out the stories and poems to make your own book.
This can be a great way to stimulate your slow or non-readers. They can read-along as they listen and get a better understanding of fluidity and control.
Try it out and let me know what you think and how you might use it with your students.
Why Blog?
Someone asked me recently what blogs were for and why she should be interested? That is a rather complex question. The word blog comes from the elision of the two words Web and log. They started off as Web journals or diaries, but soon people began to see a much large use for them. It gives anyone a voice in this big, scary, intimidating world of ours.
The use of blogs in education have become a widely accepted medium of "adding" to the classroom experience. It is carrying the learning experience beyond the four walls of the daily classroom. Different educators use blogs in many different ways. It is all up to you and your imagination, really. It can be used as a less formal conversation with your and your student's whole family. It can be used to post assignments or those pictures of the last field trip. The lastest "class gossip" or the new book talk information your are doing in your class.
Many people and organizations have made blogs a major part of their identity, such as Blog of the Nation from NPR. There are blogs that have shaped politics, fan popularity, product sales, latest trends, etc.
Our students are already using blogs and social networking as part of their everyday "world." We kind of owe it to ourselves and to them to keep up and utilize these opportunities to our advantage in helping shape and structure their educational environment.
The use of blogs in education have become a widely accepted medium of "adding" to the classroom experience. It is carrying the learning experience beyond the four walls of the daily classroom. Different educators use blogs in many different ways. It is all up to you and your imagination, really. It can be used as a less formal conversation with your and your student's whole family. It can be used to post assignments or those pictures of the last field trip. The lastest "class gossip" or the new book talk information your are doing in your class.
Many people and organizations have made blogs a major part of their identity, such as Blog of the Nation from NPR. There are blogs that have shaped politics, fan popularity, product sales, latest trends, etc.
Our students are already using blogs and social networking as part of their everyday "world." We kind of owe it to ourselves and to them to keep up and utilize these opportunities to our advantage in helping shape and structure their educational environment.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Handy Shortcuts
I thought it might be a good time to remind some of you that there are some shortcuts you can take to access some of the Web pages you need to use. I am sure some of them are obvious and you are using them already, but you might have forgotten some others.
Note: These shortcuts only work while you are logged in on the DCPS network.
Note: These shortcuts only work while you are logged in on the DCPS network.
- If you want to log into Compass Odyssey, just type odyssey in the Address area of the Internet Browser.
- If you want to access your email, type webmail in the Address area of the Internet Browser.
- If you want to contact the technical support help desk, you guessed it, type helpdesk in the Address area of the Internet Browser.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Cyberbullying
This year you should be hearing about bully proofing the school as part of the character education program. But did you know that online bullying could be more pervasive than you think?
Three out of four teens were bullied online over the last year, according to a study released by psychologists at the University of California, Los Angeles. And while that number may seem rather high it is even more startling to know that only 1 out of 10 of those kids told their parents or another adult about it.
Most teens are afraid because they are sure that the adults don't understand the importance of this cyber networking in their social framework.
Three out of four teens were bullied online over the last year, according to a study released by psychologists at the University of California, Los Angeles. And while that number may seem rather high it is even more startling to know that only 1 out of 10 of those kids told their parents or another adult about it.
Most teens are afraid because they are sure that the adults don't understand the importance of this cyber networking in their social framework.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Things to Note
Okay, I'm not going to go on and on about this one - at least not yet - but the latest thing that I have been learning is podcasting. There is such a wealth of opportunity for educational benefit with podcasting. It one of those things that are already out there as the latest buzz words or things. The kids are doing it, PBS does it, you hear about it all the time. It might just be time for us old "fuddy-duddies" to get on the band wagon before it leaves town without us. Besides, this is a way for us and the students to extend the learning modalities.
Everyone got an email yesterday from the DCPS Post Office explaining the new restrictions that have gone in place on what is allowed for users on the Internet. There are numerous reasons for this, but perhaps one of the major ones as it applies to the students is protection (them and us). Also, there was a lot of valuable bandwidth being used up and slowing down the system by people who would use their computers to listen to the radio all day. Students were also going to ITunes and downloading music to their IPods which took up a lot of bandwidth.
So read the memo from the Post Office carefully. There is also information about not worrying too much when you do accidentally go to a blocked site. The Internet Police are not going to come right out immediately and arrest you. You do not have to notify anyone. They understand that this will happen due to the filters that are in place and that it is not your fault. However, if you keep searching for a "suspicious" term or phrase or Web site, over and over again, that might raise some amount of alarm and you may get a visit then. If you have a Web site that you find at home and you know that it is perfectly fine but it gets blocked here at school, there are ways for us to notify the Tech Department and have them lift the block either temporarily or permanently.
Everyone got an email yesterday from the DCPS Post Office explaining the new restrictions that have gone in place on what is allowed for users on the Internet. There are numerous reasons for this, but perhaps one of the major ones as it applies to the students is protection (them and us). Also, there was a lot of valuable bandwidth being used up and slowing down the system by people who would use their computers to listen to the radio all day. Students were also going to ITunes and downloading music to their IPods which took up a lot of bandwidth.
So read the memo from the Post Office carefully. There is also information about not worrying too much when you do accidentally go to a blocked site. The Internet Police are not going to come right out immediately and arrest you. You do not have to notify anyone. They understand that this will happen due to the filters that are in place and that it is not your fault. However, if you keep searching for a "suspicious" term or phrase or Web site, over and over again, that might raise some amount of alarm and you may get a visit then. If you have a Web site that you find at home and you know that it is perfectly fine but it gets blocked here at school, there are ways for us to notify the Tech Department and have them lift the block either temporarily or permanently.
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