TweenTribune

TweenTribune is a wonderful way to enngage, inform, and educate your students by allowing them to interact with the news, while fulfilling requirements for language arts, computer skills, and other classes. What's really great is that it is FREE!

You can register your class and then have then sign up by selecting your class and then choosing a user name and password. Once your class starts using TweenTribune, the site will automatically generate custom pages showing:

• The stories your class has commented upon
• Individual comments by each student, on his or her own page
• All comments by your students, in one report that can be sorted by students’ names, comments, or dates
• And don't worry – you can moderate, edit, or delete your students’ comments before they’re published.

Visit TweenTribune to find out more about this great classroom tool.

VoiceThread

There is a new buzz word going around called VoiceThread. This is one of the Web 2.0 tools that is really rather unique and nifty for use in collaborative projects in the classroom and out. It allows people to post a "work" on line and then make either video, audio, written, or even comment by uploading supporting files. I can see it even as sort of an online Paedeia in a way.

If you think you might want to check it out, got to http://voicethread.com/#home

Also, for ideas on how to use it in the classroom, their is a Wiki site at http://voicethread4education.wikispaces.com/ that helps explain more about it and how to use it.

Let me know what you think.

Teachers' Domain

Me again. Wanted to tell you about another really great source of information and professional development - http://www.teachersdomain.org/
Here is a little blurb to describe it:

Teachers’ Domain is an online library of more than 1,000 free media resources from the best in public television. These classroom resources, featuring media from NOVA, Frontline, Design Squad, American Experience, and other public broadcasting and content partners are easy to use and correlate to state and national standards.

About TD Professional Development
Teachers' Domain online courses provide K-12 teachers new ways to inspire students, broaden content knowledge, and integrate technology into their classrooms. Each Teachers' Domain online course features outstanding digital media from NOVA and other PBS programming, and course pedagogy is driven by inquiry and exploration.



Membership is free and there are some really great resources to use and courses to take.

Let me know what you think.

Apologies

Okay, I have to aplogize. It has been a while since I have posted anything. But as you all know, things have been really hectic with the new laptop deployment, OnCourse, Gizmo training, the new network printers that have a mind of their own, Compass Odyssey, and the list goes on. But that is not all bad. These are signs of progress. To me they are like the roadsigns on the highways indicating that new roads are being constructed. These are just new "inroads of technology" being constructed for us and our students to use as part of this new 21st Century environment. It is exciting even if it is at time a bit overwhelming.

When I look back at when we used to complain because we did not even have one working computer in the school for the students or faculty to use, it is amazing how far we have come. Now we have teachers begging for computers, data projectors, printers, and now we are even getting jealous when some teachers get Smart Boards and we don't. My how the times they are a changing.

YouTube to the Rescue!

Many of you are familiar with YouTube as the place where students go to check out funny videos, comedy skits, or clips of their favorite bands, but it is rapidly growing into a valuable educational tool as well. Students can find videos to supplement their understanding of concepts being taught in your classes - even math. The thing is, they can watch at their own pace and easily rewind to re-watch until the concept is clear. If one video doesn't help, they can try another.

Not only is it good for the students, but we as teachers can benefit also. When I was needing to learn some information about blogging, there it was on YouTube. I was recently looking for a way to explain a concept in programming class, so I thought why not try YouTube. Sure enough, I found an explanation by a high school teacher in Hawaii (I think it was) that was simple and elegant. With a few changes to comply with the lesson that I was teaching it work great.

So if you or your students need additional help with some concept or idea, try YouTube.

Gizmos Are Coming!

That's right, Gizmos are coming. What is Gizmos? Gizmos is an interactive system, aligned to math and science standards. It will allow the teachers to select the standards that students need the most help with and then create a Gizmo designed to provide them with a visual explanation. This will aid the student in acquiring the skills and practice they need to meet the standard and also help them prepare for FCAT testing.

All of the math and science teachers will soon be given the necessary training through a fun, interactive workshop. It is really rather fun and interesting. Get your students' interest and curiosity up by putting up signs or notices that the Gizmos are coming!!

Microsoft Unveils Career Resources for Students

Microsoft has done it again. They just recently unveiled a new free online course called CareerForward that is aimed at getting students thinking what they want to do with their lives, what career they want to pursue, and what skills they will need to suceed in that career.

The site is set up to help middle- and high-school students learn about the 21st-century jobs that may be awaiting them when they are ready to graduate. It also teaches them how to take charge of their own education.

CareerForward is organized into four modules that asks students to think about their own interests, abilities, and values, and then to explore job titles, social networks, and assess their ability to manage money.

"Students and the career choices they make are critical to the talent pipeline and future business prosperity in the U. S.," said Anthony Salcito, general manager of U. S. public-sector education at Microsoft. "CareerForward encourages the development of a skilled workforce, as it helps young citizens explore global opportunities and recognize the importance in jobs of the future."

What a wonderful opportunity for our students to get a head start on their career and college exploration. With our new focus as a College Preparatory Middle School, this is a very timely resource to be explored and utilized.

Visit the site at http://nroc.careerforward.org/careerforward/

21st Century Skills Map for English

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has forged an alliance with many of the national academic core subject area organizations. As a result of these collaborations, it has developed a map to illustrate the intersection between the 21st Century Skills and English. The maps are designed to help you gain concrete examples of how 21st Century Skills can be integrated into core subjects.

If you want to find out more about this let me know.

21st Century Skills for Teachers

Okay, I have recently been writing about the need for our students to meet the technology standards for the NCLB requirements, but did you know that there are also a set of standards for teachers? Yep, there are. We are supposed to be able to meet certain standards in order to ensure that students can meet theirs.

In future blogs I will be going over some of these and we will also be discussing these during Professional Learning Community meetings and Professional Development. I know, I know - one more thing to worry about. But really, its not that difficult. If I can do it - an ancient dinosaur - anyone can. Plus, we have so many young faculty members now who are perhaps very technologically savy but just haven't had the chance or the inspiration of how to use this knowledge to benefit their students in the classroom. Plus they can offer their experience to help many of us more mature faculty members.

We have come so far with available technology. I remember when the faculty at JWJ complained because they did not even have one computer in the classroom. Now some of you want more than the three that you have or get frustrated because they don't work right, the printer doesn't work, etc. It is part of my vision to include general trouble shooting (which many of you already do, but don't have the rights to finish) and to see about extending the teacher rights to include more responsibility in this area (let you do more things on the computer with your login rights). I get just as frustrated as you do, because many of the things I used to be able to do, I can no longer do, because of restrictions of the network. Also, since I am only one person and I teach a full load of classes this year, it is hard to get to each of you when needed. But we will work together to figure things out. Don't give up.

Also, don't be afraid to ask your students for help. They are a great resource. Next year, if things work out, I hope to develop a Student Technology Cadre (STC) that will be trained to offer assistance. I am also trying to figure out a way to have the computer lab available for student use after school at least once or twice a week for research and special work - NOT TO PLAY COMPUTER GAMES.

As a faculty, student body, parent group, staff, and administrative team we need to embrace all areas of technology and use them for our own benefit as well as for improving educational opportunities in the classroom. We need to capitalize on the things that the students are already using and show them how it can be used in other useful ways. This, is all part of relating our instruction to the real world, isn't it?

Measuring 21st-Century Skills

The following information was obtained from eSchool News. I thought it was really worth pointing out that technology literacy is still very much in the works and coming down the pipeline for testing purposes.

Our country's global economic success in the future depends on K-20 graduates honing their "21st Century Skills." Today's tech-savvy generation has no shortage of user-friendly devices...and they know how to use them. But are they putting these tech skills to good use? You've heard of the 3Rs, but what about the 5Cs such as critical thinking, creative problem solving, communications, collaboration and cross-cultural relationship building?

Beginning in 2012, "tech literacy" will be added to our Nation's Report Card. This means student proficiency in the application of technology will be measured for the first time. It isn't just layering technology over traditional core competencies, though. It's about totally integrating the two for success in an increasingly competitive world.

In preparation for the coming technology assessment, educational leaders are seeing heightened pressure to provide hard data on how well their students are progressing, how effective their teachers are, and how technology instruction is helping students solve real-world problems.

To help you prepare, eSchool News has compiled an extensive resource library that addresses all these issues and provides first-hand experience from educators who have successfully met the challenges. We invite you to access this free Educator Resource Center right now to find out how your students and teachers can pass the test on "21st Century Skills."

-- The eSchool News Editors

Great New Web Sites

Go Wild with Videos in the Classroom - National Geographic lets the kids learn about wild life and create videos using drag-and-drop technology all at the same time and its fun for adults too.
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/filmmaker.html

Enroll your
students in Vocabulary University. This site has some great activities and lesson plans on words, vocabulary, supplementary SAT/ACT study and review, word lists for books, etc.
http://www.vocabulary.com/

Smithsonian History Explorer - Great Site!!
http://historyexplorer.americanhistory.si.edu/ or http://thinkfinity.org/

This is a super site to help you with your own technology needs. The CustomGuide Software Training has released nearly 100 Software Quick References for free public use. These contain commands and shortcuts for such programs as Microsoft Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and even includes the newer Office 2007 versions.
www.customguide.com/quick_references.htm

Please take some time and look these over. They are really great resources. Share them with your students.

Microsoft Office 2007

If you have not used Microsoft Office 2007 yet, then you are in for a big surprise. This is the first of the Office Suites that I have not been involved in beta testing and so when I first looked at it I was totally awed. Microsoft has exchanged its usual menu bar in favor of what it terms ribbon navigation. It is rather like tabbed navigation but with some major changes.

All of your usual work icons are grouped in sections on the "ribbon" and many editing changes can be viewed "live" in the document as you move through your options.

After playing around with it for a while I began to feel more and more comfortable with it, but I keep finding new things to "play" with.

If we get new laptops any time soon (if not when) I was told that they would probably have Office 2007 on them, so be prepared for some practice and in-service.

New Grade Book Program

We have been hearing about it for a long time but it is now a reality. On Friday, Mr. Copeland, Mr. Melaugh, Mrs. Darty, Mrs. Peek, and I attended a Train the Trainer workshop for the new OnCourse Grade Book program. I will be spending the next several weeks going over it to try and thoroughly understand as much as I can about it, but from what I saw Friday, it is a really dynamic web-based program. Those of you using Snapgrades will find many similarities.

OnCourse includes a Lesson Planner, a Web page, a way to directly tie in your standards to your lessons, email to parents, progress reports, attendance, many reports, and quite a lot of other useful items. The administration will have to make some decisions as to how some things will be handled, but it does look like it will be a big time saver once it gets going.

The official launch will not be until the second semester and we will be having training before that to make sure that everyone is thoroughly comfortable and up-to-date on how it works. One of the "perks" is that the schools using it will need to have up-to-date laptops for all of the teachers.

More information will be coming.

Some New Web Sites of Interest

As I explore around the Web I stumble across some really great sites. I thought I would tell you about some of them.

World Literature Online is basically a companion site to The Bedford Anthology of World Literature. The site is rich with resources and references to world literature and time lines and also includes instructor resources.

Bright Storm is a site that was set up to help students with their courses. They offer courses in Geometry Algebra II SAT Writing SAT Math AP U.S. History AP U.S. Government Writing SAT Critical Reading U.S. History

Another neat site is www.zoho.com. This site is a free web-based service that offers many different programs including one called ZohoMeeting, which allows you and your students to see each others desktops as they demonstrate their work.

Poetry 4 Kids

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.

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.

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.

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.

• 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.

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.