Zelden's World

"Come On Man!" Moment for Teachers

2011-10-13T08:43:00.006-05:00

My daughter is taking civics in high school and I went to her Open House (yeah, I still do that stuff). Her teacher is a young guy who has a degree in humanities and just happens to be teaching that class because it just happen to be the open position. He has never taught civics...or any social studies class.

So, I send him an email noting three websites, specifically stating that icivics.org is a great site and relevant to his students. Its perfect for the class because they are a science and technology school with a focus on project based learning. The website, I tell him, is almost a blue print for his class. I also tell him about my background and how this is sorta what I do for a living.

Well, he completely ignores my email. A few weeks go by and then one day my daughter asks me about this web site. I get excited and ask her if her teacher was using it with her class. She replies no, her friend found it. It seems that during lunch, (they all have laptops at the school) they have exploring the website. My daughter and I begin to have discussions about various civics topics and about the debate issues that were brought up on the website. You know, stuff she should be doing with her teacher.

I ask her if they brought this site to their teacher and she says yes, he told them he would take a look at it.

Well, here it is. Two months later and they never used the site in class. My daughter complains about how boring the class is and how they write papers and read about Federalists and how she could care less. She has no enthusiasm and complains about reading this and writing about that. I missed that light in her eyes that and the newly discovered passion for a topic that most people find boring.

Come on Man!

New Year

2011-08-25T12:36:00.004-05:00

Here is a new year and budget cuts are threatening my dream job. That will never stop my love for what I do and never stop my blog.

So how about some Chemistry and periodic table stuff? Let's look at some TOTALLY exciting resources that have the periodic table for those of who make your students memorize the periodic table.

Here is an Interactive Periodic Table from ABPI

The University of Notttingham has an Interactive Periodic Table of Videos

How about The Periodic Table of Comic Books? This site has all of the references of the elements in comic book pages. This is a real good way help students visualize uses of elements.

Finally, here is just a really nice Interactive Periodic Table.

Top 6 New Emerging Technologies in K-12 Education

2011-05-18T12:54:00.003-05:00

People love lists and people are always putting out lists. The New Media Consortium, whom I have never heard of, released the top six emerging technologies for K-12 schools. If they are a media company, how do they know what the technologies are for schools I wonder? Anyway, here is the full article if you are interested.

They provide a timeline and provide them in order: Cloud computing, mobiles, game-based learning, open-content, learning analytics, and personal learning environments. The timeline is one to five years all of this is to be implemented.

I find this interesting in that most of the people I work with have never even heard of any topic except games. Okay, probably the cloud computing concept, thanks to commercials. I guess this is why they call it emerging, I appreciate their optimism. Based upon my real life experiences, I wish I could be that optimistic.

I would be nice, though.

Skype in the Classroom

2011-04-07T10:44:00.002-05:00

Skype has a special site just for teachers now. Called Skype in the Classroom, educators can connect with others globally. Whether they just want to communicate or create an elaborate project, it is much easier to connect now. All a person has to do is sign up and start searching. They can also start looking on the map for educators located around the world by markers placed on the map.

Blogs? Who's Blogs?

2011-02-02T15:13:00.004-06:00

A lot of times the best place to get information from is other teachers. They share their experiences of tried and true methods (and failed experiences). The best place to get these shared experiences is from blogs. There are many of them and here a some that I follow.

Free Technology for Teachers This guy wins awards for his blog and he has lots of stuff to share.

changED This lady is more about current events and high school but always has follow up resources.

dy/dan This blog is by a high school math teacher who really pushes the limit on thinking logically and "When am I ever going to use this stuff?"

If you are interested in seeing some other really good blogs. Check out the The Edublog Award site. They have the 2010 winners listed if you are curious.

Insert your own activities to your site

2011-01-31T13:53:00.004-06:00

BBC has some really good interactive resources for teachers and students. The activity below is a sample of an activity that you can copy and past onto a website.

They have English, Math and Science interactives. Give it a try.BBC-K22

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Math, Physics, Calculus...Oh my!

2011-01-06T09:26:00.004-06:00

Yeah, I know, but I found this and it is great! A non-profit group called the Khan Academy created self-paced videos for a group that I think is under-represented; advanced science and math students. They need the most help because their stuff is the hardest, yet they get the least help. I don't think it should be a "get it or get out" type of mentality for advanced math and science education. I think it should be "get it or let me find a better way of teaching it" mentality.

Their website has...a lot...of self-paced videos explaining how to do all kinds of concepts in subjects that range from geometry, trigonometry, organic chemistry, physics, finance and test prep, just to name a few.

Math and Technology

2010-12-21T09:12:00.003-06:00

Technology has the opportunities to teach math in a completely new process. Conceptually, we can teach without students fully understanding the process first.They can learn it by see the concept visually, then applying the rules through a computer program.

TED, the idea blog has a video about Conrad Wolfram talking about teaching kids real math with computers. It is an excellent video, it is seventeen minutes longs but should be watched by anyone who teaches math or doesn't like math.

Another good video is from TED, Dan Meyer, Math Class Needs a Makeover and here is his blog which is full of math lessons that shows he practices what he preaches.

Cyberbullies and Digital Parents

2010-12-09T11:41:00.004-06:00

Every now and then I run across an article that hits me. Here is one from Yahoo that makes even a techie parent of real good kids, ages 13 and 14, sit back and think, "Am I doing enough to monitor my kids?" Take a look here.

LaCUE (Louisiana Computer Using Educators)

2010-12-06T09:25:00.013-06:00

Last week was the Louisiana educational technology convention. I presented a session on Friday so I was able to go that day. My coworker and I presented a session called The ART of Integration which about integration the arts into the content area. K-8 is required by the state to have one hour of arts instruction per week. It can be visual arts, music, theater, or dance.

Integrating the arts into the classroom has many benefits. Here are just a few:

•Apply Gardner Multiple Intelligences

•Address different learning styles

•Engage Learners

•Reignite passion for teaching

•Make something old new again

•Authentic and meaningful to students

•Allow for differentiation of instruction

I showed the Bucket List which has some Web 2.0 tools perfect for integrating the music such as podcasting sites like Vocaroo, Podomatic, Podbean and Audacity (which is downloadble sofware) but I also showed image sites that manipulate photos to emulate artistic styles like Impressionism, Mosaics, Contemporary, etc. such as Be Funky, Picnik, Big Huge Labs, etc.

An excellent resource is located in Resource section of the Bucket List. At the bottom is a list of local, state and national museums websites that teachers can access for actual and virtual tours, information, establishing partnerships, etc.

To make sure teachers have the art resources, there is a section marked PE and Arts. In this section, there are links for music instruction and links for visual arts instruction. There are also several links to websites that have arts instruction integrated into the content area. These websties, like the Kennedy Center Arts Edge allow you to search by grade level, type of art, and content area.

The best part of all of this is that everything is free or are mostly free. Yes, there are some excellent resources that are not free that I haven't mentioned but teachers don't have the money for other stuff.

Since the conference, I found this post of 50 Amazing Museum Exhibits You Can Enjoy Online.

It doesn't have to take a lot time, effort, or money. You don't have to become to that "crazy art teacher" and may be pleased with your results.

Targeting the Specifics

2010-11-16T09:41:00.001-06:00

Sometimes you have to target the specifics. There are a couple of websites that will let you target specific skills, like maybe you have a student who needs help with identifying slope, or a student who needs help with counting syllables in words.

Here are a some sites that break down what you need exactly.

The BBC site below has lessons, printables or just skills games that coordinate with the specific skill you are targeting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/

The following sites are from the Utah Education network and are broken down by grade levels. Click on the grade levels, choose a subject and then a skill. It will take you to an interactive list of skills based games and activities.

http://www.uen.org/7-12interactives/

http://www.uen.org/3-6interactives/

http://www.uen.org/k-2interactives/

Making Online Books

2010-10-21T14:16:00.002-05:00

There are many ways to have your students express themselves digitally. Having your students write and publish books online empowers them and motivates them to write and express themselves more freely. There are several websites that will allow students to create a book online, for free of course.

StoryBird.com – Storybird is a site that uses graphics to create the story. This site focuses on the art first and lets the creative process flow from the students after they have selected their graphics. Real artists upload their art to the website and students add pages, select the graphics then add the text. The stories are published onine when they are finished.

ZooBurst.com – Zoo Burst creates virtual “pop-up” books. All images have to uploaded into the pages of the book so any graphics used will have to be saved ahead of time. As the pages open, the images pop up. The text is shown by clicking on a button and stories are published online when complete. Additional features such as audio will require a fee.

Batalugu.com – Batalugu will allow the user to create and publish online a book with images and text. The focus is a professional look that has a real published appeal with copyright and book dedication information. The final product is published online and shared but coming soon can be purchased in hard copy.

Simplebooklet.com – Simple Booklet is a website that allows for the creation of multi-media storybooks with text, images, video, links in a very user-friendly format that all students can use. Once complete, the book is published and viewed online or can be printed. The website has a basic level free account and higher level accounts that require a fee.

Kerpoof.com – Kerpoof has multiple projects that can be completed, a storybook only being one of the selections. The user chooses a theme to create the book and pulls from a bank of graphics to write the story. Once complete, the story can be saved or printed.

Letting the Site to the Work!

2010-09-29T10:50:00.002-05:00

WebQuests have come a long way since they were first created. Zunal is probably the easiest place the find and make WebQuests.

Not sure what they are? It is a self-quided lesson on the web that includes all of the resources for project-based learning incorporating technology. Zunal makes it painless for the beginner and a dream for the experienced user.

There are templates to choose from, you can attach unlimited files and videos from sources like YouTube, add tables, create quizzes and it is all FREE. There are currently thousands in the database already made, ranging from kindergarten level to higher education. There are some in Spanish and French or you can make your own WebQuest.

Civics....Cool? No way!

2010-08-24T12:48:00.003-05:00

Yes, there is a cool Civics web site out there just waiting for you to go and take a look. Even it you don't teach civics and want to teach your students some research skills, debate skills, law and order, what rights really are,etc. you have got to check this site out.

It is interactive, authentic, real, fun, and where was it when I was in school. Oh, not only is it free, but it has curriculum units, and lesson plans. The only thing it doesn't have is chocolate.

The court case was realistic in that it used a real case that involved a real student with a real outcome.

http://www.icivics.org/

Get Them Cranked

2010-08-10T18:50:00.006-05:00

Graphic Organizers

All of the sites below are free and have the ability to brainstorm, create a bulletin board, "post it", graphic lists, map ideas, and any type of graphic organizer you can think of.

Bubble.Us

Creates "bubbles" on a page and creates idea maps where you can brainstorm ideas.

Lino it

Lino It is a sticky & canvas service that requires nothing but a Web browser; put on images, URL's for video.

Notaland
You can create multimedia graphic display of brainstorming, presentations, scrapbooks, and enjoy an interactive chat on a whiteboard format.

Wall Wisher

Wall Wisher starts with a blank board, click to put on "stickies" and add text, audio files, embed video or images to create quick and easy graphic organizers.

QUICK IDEAS FOR THE CLASSROOM

What do we know, need to know, want to know about....
Make a word map of a vocabulary word of antonyms, synonyms, examples, images, etc.
Everyone post an example of the following...(what begins with the sound "b", a cone, a strong modifier is the story, an herbivore, a WWII ally, etc)
Post classwork/homework/project assignments
Independent writing, put up a topic on a current event (once a week) and have the students post responses, then do free writing.
Book Reviews
Students post work with a link to any website, i.e. blog, video presentation site, avatar site, etc.
Where were you born? Where would you like to visit? Add images, audio, video or links to websites.
Summarzing student learning
Reflecting and Sharing...enough said.

Family STEM Night?

2010-05-07T08:57:00.002-05:00

I remember when I taught fourth grade many years ago I organized our first Family Math Night. It was great. We had more families than we could shake a stick at. It was such a great experience and a great turn out that we did one for Reading and Science and even tried slide one in for Technology.

I saw a video about a school who did a STEM night (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) at their school. Normally, when people hear the "E" word (engineering), they think of a special high school for nerdy kids, their eyes glaze over, and images of space ships fly in their heads. But I was impressed. This school made it not only relevant, but they made it accessible, fun and approachable. Did you know one form of engineering can be designing a better way to stand in line at Disney World?

We need to take the mystery out of STEM and by doing this STEM night, that is exactly what this school did. It is not always building a bridge over San Francisco Bay. It could be something else more accessible. Take a look at the video have the mystery unfold.

http://www.schooltube.com/video/971631350b96ad35c6c8/Shepardson-Family-STEM-Night

Share Tabs the new Trackstar? Maybe not, but...

2010-04-20T15:13:00.004-05:00

Remember Trackstar? It was great. You could make your own list of sites and put some annnotations for a lesson. The problem I always had with Trackstar was that it was temperamental and I lost my lessons.

Enter Share Tabs. Share Tabs is real easy to use. You just copy the URL's and it creates a website for you instantly. I was trying it out and made a link with 30 sites in a few minutes. You can't add annotations like you did in Trackstar, but you can put any site you want, like a wiki or blog with all of your lessons' resources and instructions. Check it out and see what you think. This is the link Share Tabs and this is what I made http://sharetabs.com/fqj, which is a few Web 2.0 tools that I was working with.

No Ning!

2010-04-16T13:41:00.002-05:00

Well the free ride is over! I am moving the Bucket List to my blog until I can find a new home. Since Ning is no longer going to be free, it will have to go somewhere else. You can look for me on Twitter, tzelden. I update regularly and I will still post to the blog regularly.

Education is a life long process...free or not.

The Lion Trading Card

2009-10-15T14:17:00.002-05:00

http://bighugelabs.com/photos/5d0cdcd24442060254afc2498817db61/deckad493037d7010b9be4521927ab41e61b7e1aa706

12 Staples

2009-09-30T13:39:00.001-05:00

Staples...you know those items you always keep on hand in the kitchen. Those things that no matter what, you must have. With all of the websites nowadays to pick from, what would be the 12 staples you would pick for your classroom?

That is really hard. Gotta have Google, that is a no brainer, but where would you after that?

2009-09-21T12:24:00.001-05:00

If you finish early, you can go to the computer...WHAT??????

2009-09-16T08:57:00.003-05:00

Classroom Management of technology integration is still major concern. A lot of people still don't address this enough. I still see teachers giving the kid who finishes early time to go to the computer. Think about that about really hard for a few seconds....have you seen this kid's work? Is the same kid every time? What kind of message is that sending?

Where did we go wrong when teachers felt this was alright to do?

Here are some more equitable options:

Room Arrangement
Easy student access
Easy teacher access for presenting, modeling, and process writing etc.
Away from direct sunlight, water, magnets, and chalk dust (if possible.)
Provide enough space for small group interaction
Scheduling
Consider equity (It is not a good practice to allow students who finish their work first time on the computer.
Make sure that the student who isn't doing so well in your class gets on the computer. It may turn on that "not so good" student and get them interested in learning.)
To enable you to teach with the least interruptions and get all students on the computer, put a timer and a student roster next to each computer.
Teach the students how to set the timer for 15 minutes and to tap the next person on the shoulder when they are done.
Place 3 x 5 recipe card file with student names in book pockets to identify computer users for 15 - 20 minute time segments each day. Have students cycle through to complete project.
Provide opportunities for cooperative learning activities using the computer (s)
Have students work in pairs or small groups
Remember, students need time away from the computer for brainstorming, planning, and revising project.

Management
Post computer rights and responsibilities, guidelines for help, and expected behavior near computer station.
Display posters using computer terms and commands.
Emphasize the importance of preplanning so that time on the computer is efficiently used.
Create task cards for each computer project or assignment.
Assign one or your more computer saavy students to be the "computer assistant" He or she can answer questions while you are teaching. If the assistant doesn't know, then they can ask you.
Use computer buddies to introduce new computer skills. This can be students from your classroom or older students from other classrooms.
Invite parent and community volunteers to assist with more involved projects.

Classroom modeling
Introduce a new lesson to the whole class. If you have a projection device, that works best, so that all students can see your demonstration from their desks.

If you have young students you can have them gather around the computer, or you show the students in small groups.

Design projects to be completed in small parts, so that directions do not become too complex.
Provide a sample of the completed work for that session.
Provide students with a step by step checklist.

Have students sign and attach the checklist to completed project.

Be sure to include a proofreading checklist.
When teaching a computer skill, templates can be very valuable.

When using a template, each student or team can rotate through the activity and the original will not be altered or lost. This allows for a more self-guided lesson.

This is for me

2009-09-03T15:09:00.001-05:00

http://www2.eboard.com/eboard/servlet/BoardServlet?&ACTION=TAB_SHOW&ACTION_ON=TAB&OBJECT_ID=363373&SITE_NAME=jppss&BOARD_NAME=DOITechnology&TAB_ID=363373&SESSION_ID=m4jkvreb6cq23199

This is for my kids!

2009-09-02T15:32:00.001-05:00

http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/tools/math-hs.html

Lots of new website resources for math that the kids are so missing!

My New Friend

2009-08-28T09:47:00.001-05:00

I have just been working with Microsoft Shared View and have just discovered what a great tool this is. It doesn't have to be collaborative. It can be used like a webinar. I am psyched. I have found a new purpose!

2009-08-13T14:14:00.001-05:00

Here we go

2009-08-13T09:45:00.000-05:00

I am now moving into another phase in the technology department. I get to go back to instruction again after working with classroom technology installations for the past year. I am back into what I came to this department for.

We just finished the two day conference. I had been trying to do that for years. I am glad to see it went pretty well. I know there was some grumbling but you can't please all 6000 people. I think overall it went well and we, as a district, looked good. Our teachers looked good. I have heard some feedback and some of it was about how some material was seen before and how some teachers wanted more new stuff. Instead of being disheartened, I think that is good to hear because that tells me have teachers who are more sophisticated tech users that we give them credit for. We need them to tell us what they want. They are the ones who should sending us suggestions, asking us to help them design what they want.

The idea is coordination. Collaborative efforts seem to have taken a back seat in the past two years to an authoritarian style leadership. I see less collaboration now than I did before. The teachers are on the front lines and we need more from them. Perhaps changes will take place.