Cool Cat Teacher Blog

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/26/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Sat, 26 May 2012 02:30:38 PDT

Bullying quiz

This is an activity to help students roleplay and discuss bullying situations. Prepare and plan ahead to create awareness in your school but also note that you should understand the definition of bullying. Every time someone yells at another- it is NOT bullying behavior. Bullying implies unequal power in a relationship and relies on intimidation and is unfair. When two "equal" parties disagree you have a disagreement, usually. I do think that often the term bullying is overused to talk about tough circumstances that may or may not be bullying at all.

tags: education bullying news cyberbullying
World Environment Day collection

June 5 is World environment day. Here are some lessons and resources that you can use to talk to students about maintaining a healthy, sustainable world.

tags: education teaching news environment green

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock #teaching 05/25/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:30:41 PDT

I'm a celebrity French Version - to practice past - Resources - TES

There are some fantastic MFL (modern foreign language) resources that you can use - here's a celebrity gameshow to play in French class.

tags: education teaching lessonplans
World Environment Day collection

June 5 is World environment day. Here are some lessons and resources that you can use to talk to students about maintaining a healthy, sustainable world.

tags: education teaching news environment green
African Music PowerPoint - Resources - TES

Another nice music powerpoint slide - this one on African drumming and music which includes some rhythm games. This particular teacher on TES has some very nice music resources and is worth following. What I do when I find someone that I like is to click the "follow" button and then you get notified when they upload new lessons.

tags: education teaching lessonplans music music_teacher
Film Music PowerPoint - Resources - TES

When I taught digital film, I had them create a silent movie and then add sound effects and a musical score. Each student used the same film but edited it differently. It was shocking to them how much difference a good soundtrack made. In this powerpoint, you can take students through great composers for film.

tags: education teaching

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/25/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Fri, 25 May 2012 02:30:54 PDT

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: 10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Summer Break

I wrote this blog post about how to get the most out of your summer break. Here are some tips.

and am getting ready to make my "goal poster" for the summer. (I have goal posters from the last 5-6 years in my office - love looking at them.) Someone tweeted me that she was getting ready to make her goal poster and I thought I'd share this post with you for those preparing to "get out."

tags: education news teaching
7 Ways To Use Pinterest As A Writer

This post has some information on how you can use Pinterest. If you're a company or organization supporting educators and want to dissect that pin and know how to get the word out about what you're doing, here are some tips.

tags: education pinterest news
Two Brooklyn Schools Examined for Cheating – SchoolBook

More cheating scandals begin to brew. When children transferring out of a school drop from 90th percentile to 30th - something is up and that may be test fraud. Read this new york times article and also, if you want to know how to find statistical anomalies that point to cheating - the first Freakonomics book is an essential read.

"According to The Times, last year P.S. 31′s “math scores were nearly perfect, and 90 percent of its students passed the English test, more than 40 points above the citywide average. To celebrate, staff members tied a sign to the building: ‘School Report Card P.S. 31 is #1 in New York City.’” The school has 550 students, in PreK to fifth grade.

At P.S. 257, where most of the preK to fifth-grade students are black or Hispanic and poor, “62 percent of the children at the school had a score of proficient or higher on the state English exam.”

tags: education news testing edreform
5 Things You Need To Know About The Chromebook | Edudemic

A nice write up about chrome books to help people understand about these tools. One important piece of advice: bandwidth is essential with cloud based computing - with no cloud you have no computing.

tags: education news chrome google
TESiboard Interactive Resources Index - Resources - TES

An index of interactive white board resources that you can use. This list of free resources is a wonderful place to fill out your library for the fall. This would be a great place to spend during planning time as you download and organize resources for your IWB for the fall by standard. (Make folders)

tags: education iwb teaching news
Is Agile the Future of Project Management? | EDUCAUSE

In Flat Classroom and with my students we use a Trello board which is a web app used for Agile development. This app makes sense for schools and for personalized learning projects like the Personal Project done by my computer students. I couldn't track all the little pieces without it. Scrum, Lean, Agile, KanBan - these are all terms for project management systems and I think that as educators implement projects, this is a great place to look to handle large complex tasks with teams of people in efficient ways. Meetings are often a waste of time and should be to do what you can ONLY do face to face.

This research posted on Educause's website seems to back up this assertion.

"Gartner predicts that by the end of 2012, agile development methods will be used on 80 percent of all software development projects. Project Management Institute’s research shows that agile project management tripled from December 2008 to May 2011, and can help decrease product defects, improve team productivity, and increase business value.

tags: education news productivity agile lean kanban
Oracle Loses In Patent Case Against Google : NPR

When will we see an end to all of these court cases - are these companies really that bad or are they just fighting for existence? I doubt that the 150,000 fine will even pay for the lawyers on both sides not to mention the cost to the federal government. I think these companies should have to start footing the bill for the federal judges and people whose time they are monopolizing.

"A federal jury ruled Wednesday that Google didn't infringe on Oracle's patents when the Internet search leader developed its popular Android software for mobile devices.

Wednesday's verdict comes about two weeks after the same jury, with two additional members, failed to agree on a pivotal issue in Oracle's copyright-infringement case against Google. As a result, Google Inc. faced maximum damages of only $150,000 — not the hundreds of millions of dollars that Oracle Corp. was seeking.

tags: news oracle google lawsuit
Were you trained in data and assessment? – DEN Blog Network

Ginny Washburne on her Discovery Education blog shares how she doesn't feel that teachers are prepared for data-driven instruction. In my opinion, we should have a good interpretation interface on the back end of the data to help teachers understand the areas where they need to improve. It shouldn't be rocket science to realize that your students don't understand mitosis.
"Everyone agrees that we are asking more and more of teachers, to “wear several hats” if you will. One of those “hats” is being able to drive instruction using data. Do you think you were adequately trained to interpret the data you receive?

tags: education news
More Parents Are Saying No to Pearson's Field Tests – SchoolBook

There is a growing resistence to standardized testing as parents get organized, this New York Times article gives an overview of some of the things happening.

"Resistance also appears to be growing more organized. Groups like Change the Stakes are helping to spread information about opt-out procedures and have created a spreadsheet to help parents navigate the field testing landscape.

ParentVoicesNY has created a boycott form letter that parents can download, sign and then submit to their school. The group also has direct connections with more than 20 schools, according to Kevin Jacobs, a public school teacher who is one of its active members."

tags: education news testing

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock #teaching 05/24/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:30:38 PDT

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: 10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Summer Break

I wrote this blog post about how to get the most out of your summer break. Here are some tips.

and am getting ready to make my "goal poster" for the summer. (I have goal posters from the last 5-6 years in my office - love looking at them.) Someone tweeted me that she was getting ready to make her goal poster and I thought I'd share this post with you for those preparing to "get out."

tags: education news teaching
Special Educational Needs resources, SEN resources, lesson plans, TES Resources

Those who work with kids with special needs will appreciate this organized list of resources that you can use with students. Bev Evans, one of the lead curators, is a teacher and Mom with a heart for kids with special needs. Her special touch of empathy for teachers and students comes through in everything she does.

tags: education specialed spedchat specialneeds_teacher resources teaching
TESiboard Interactive Resources Index - Resources - TES

An index of interactive white board resources that you can use. This list of free resources is a wonderful place to fill out your library for the fall. This would be a great place to spend during planning time as you download and organize resources for your IWB for the fall by standard. (Make folders)

tags: education iwb teaching news
New teachers' resource collections - Resources - TES

As you prepare for new teachers next year, here is a collection of resources that you can use with new teachers - induction materials, behavior management, and other advice.

tags: education teaching lessonplans
Early years - Forums - TES

I think that over the summer one of the best things you can do is to engage in conversation with other teachers at your level. Here is a set of a forums for the elementary and kindergarten level organized by topic. This may be a great place to engage and start talking.

tags: education teaching pln

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/24/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Thu, 24 May 2012 02:30:42 PDT

Desmos | a beautiful, free online graphing calculator

Such a great online graphing calculator. Desmos. I like how you can draw things and add interesting shapes to them.

tags: education news eduapp math

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Teach to Last

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Wed, 23 May 2012 03:07:25 PDT

I woke up at 3:37 am this morning, the last day of school. Now, in the den at 4:32, the word "last" has hit me.

What is the last impression I'll leave the kids of this school year?
I'm so exhausted right now, how can I possibly last in this profession?
I am now one year closer to my last year of teaching (whenever that is) and I wish I could do this forever.
I have too much to do -- how can I last?

Reciprocity
As I ponder the word "last", "reciprocity" hits me as an apropos word for today as well. An excellent school year -- one that lasts in the hearts and minds of a student and the teacher is one where both of them learned from each other and gave energy and effort to each other. A great relationship of reciprocity emerged in a great school year.

This year has been another great one but in my exhaustion this week some moments I wonder, "why do I do this?" "Does it mean anything?" "Do I make a difference?" It feels pointless and I feel worthless.

Sometimes I wonder why teach at all -- it takes everything I have -- but then a child comes to me and gives me a hug or says thank you and I remember.

Some great men are carved on mountains and monuments but great teachers carve the future on the hearts of children. We cannot underestimate the importance of what we do in our classrooms.

My Granny Martin always said "sometimes you gotta
tie a knot and hang on" - this time of year is knot
tying time!

Don't give up on yourself or teaching

I'm asking you to suspend judgement on your year and yourself for a bit. Wait until you're rested and have a bit of the spark back in your spark plug.

Don't give up on yourself. Margaret Thatcher said:

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."

You may have to reinvent yourself many more times before you become the great teacher the good Lord intended you to be. Every year there are some great things and some things I didn't like. There are things I cherish and things that are rubbish. There are things I want to remember and other things I want to forget. Such is the nature of teaching.

The Real Classroom
If you're looking for perfect, go buy the most expensive diamond you can find, go in a dust proof room with the best magnification glass you can find and look at that diamond. You'll find that the diamond has flaws because the only perfect diamonds are fake-manmade diamonds. Likewise, the only perfect classrooms are fake, manmade classrooms on the pages of books and blogs that surgically remove the unsavory aspects of teaching.

The fact that teaching is an imperfect endeavor doesn't detract from the fact that teaching is one of the most important endeavors that the world undertakes.

So many people shake their heads and say, "I could never teach" but I always respond, "Well, I can and I love it."

But I can't let the fact that I'm not perfect make me want to quit. I can't let the fact that I'm exhausted make me want to go to sleep and never wake up. If I want to last in this profession, I have to get ready to REST.

Rest is something
Rest is not doing nothing, rest is most definitely something. I shared a recent infographic on my blog that shows that teachers work 99% of the hours of other professions but in 25% less time. There are many of us that do far more than that.

Here very soon I'm going to be going to the mountains.

I'm going to take off my shoes and wade in bitingly cold streams.
I'm going to do some white water rafting in a ducky all by my little self.
I'm going to hear the roar of water falls in my ears and hear the laughter of children sliding down a sliding rock that has a bump at the end that is enough to tear up your hiney if you hit it just right. I'm going to tube down Deep Creek in a wooden-bottomed tube and do all kinds of things that people say a 40 something year old woman can't do.
I'm going to lay down on the ground and take photographs of the tiny little mushrooms that grow up in the dew of the morning and get as close to a flower as I can get and still focus for some incredible macro shots like I love to take. I'll frame some more and hang them in the kitchen.
I'm going to sit on the back porch and drink coffee as the kids roll down the steep hill and slide on the grass until their knees are green.
I'm going to rate splashes on a scale of 1-10 as kids jump in the pool and get me soaking wet.
I'm going to find some new music to listen to and play it so loud that no one can hear in the kitchen.
I'm going to cook some awesome new food that my husband will love.
I'm going to read some amazing new books and make some new friends on Twitter.
I'm going to finish writing my second book and get it off to the publisher and continue working on my third.
I'm going to lay on the couch under a blanket and watch old episodes of Little House on the Prairie, Andy Griffith, and every old Star Wars movie I own. I'm going to cry watching Chariots of Fire and Secretariat and throw in a few movies where everything gets blown up for good measure.
I'm going to redo my workout area to find some things I can do now that my knees are bothering me so I can work out every day and get this weight of the last few months back off me.
But amidst all this going to I'm going to rejuvenate my soul.

A teacher who can't read her own body's signals isn't going to be in any shape to teach a child to read in the fall. You need to take a break or you'll break... you won't last.

Build the habits into your summer routine to accomplish your goals

But as you think of your summer remember that you are a product of your habits. I'll be sitting in my den this Saturday, my first official day of summer, making a list of the goals I want to accomplish this summer. Then, I'll plot out my typical day with the habits that it will take to accomplish those goals.

Rainfall is random but irrigation is an intentional channeling of water towards a specific direction. Your life is like water -- design your habits and they become the channels that direct your life into your lake of legacy.

For now, be careful out there.

I haven't worked out all this busy, craziness of life. My attitude isn't so great right now. I'm so tired that I feel like I can't go on another second. Yet, I'm putting one foot in front of the other so I can end well.

I know that you're there too. So, be careful out there. Don't do anything rash. Don't quit your job. Stay away from gossip. The gossipy, negative attitudes of coworkers are like arsenic in the hand of the suicidal during crunch times like the end of the school year. Let those who are poison be around each other. Listen to good music when you can. Get some rest. Keep your focus.

My oldest son and me at a friend's lake a few years back.

You CAN Last

But know that you CAN do this. Teaching is a legacy. Teaching is a noble calling.

Great teachers are heroes but poor teachers are scoundrels. Don't let the scoundrels get you down, they will reap the legacy that they've sown but you'll reap yours. The existence of scoundrels doesn't make you any less of an important, incredible, vital person. In fact, it makes you more important than ever because you have to serve as a counterweight to the negative impact of that teacher.

But for now, think about lasting. Rest so you can last. Celebrate these last moments with a group of students that will never be in quite the same relationship with you again. It is ok.This is what we do. We say goodbye but very soon we will be saying hello and wishing we had enjoyed this moment.

You can spend so much time living tomorrow that you don't take care of today. Today we must finish well and we must rejuvenate so we can last.

And my friend, you need to last because the world needs good teachers like you. From one teacher to another, what you are doing is important. No one really knows the sacrifices you're making and you're never going to be paid or compensated fairly. You're going to be misunderstood, maligned, disenfranchised, and discussed but you'll never lose your place in history if you do this job well. You are a teacher and I'm proud to be among you.

Here's to you. Here's to me. May we all teach well to the last and may we last as long as possible in this great, noble profession that needs us.

Elearning and global competency #flatclass #globaled 05/23/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:40:08 PDT

PodOmatic | Podcast - Eracism project

Italian students have conversations (in Italian) about their participation in the Eracism project and what they have done. These three podcasts are recorded in Italian (and some English).

tags: education eracism flatclass

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Classroom Window: A Window to the future of teachersourcing

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:41:15 PDT

Math Teachers are asked to review their textbook for the first
TeacherView Report Card

There are ideas whose time has come. Amazon is a great site because of the ratings and reviews by readers. Even when I'm shopping in the mall, I look up Amazon on my phone to get the reviews.

In fact, the new Kensington iPad2 Keyboard Case I'm using to type this post onto my iPad is a result of my husband using those same reviews to find me the perfect iPad keyboard. I can now type and work all the way to church and back (a 30 minute ride each way.) My life is better because real people took the time to say the good and the bad on products.

Where are the rating systems in Education?

But, thus far, education has no real ratings system. Reviews for apps are just hit or miss with many reviews being written by fanboys and fangirls with a bias towards positive ratings (in my opinion.) Right now there is NO mechanism for evaluating educational textbooks used at the K12 level.

In some ways publishers would like us not to connect. Word of mouth or even worse, vendor buddies get the business from large districts. It is time for crowdsourcing to come to the ranking and reviewing systems in education.

Why Classroom Window?

I get dozens of requests to review products or to talk to people about new things that are the next "big thing" and most of them just get deleted. I'm a teacher and don't have time for most of it. There are a very few companies I talk to and just one or two I've done work for (always disclosed on my blog, like TES out of the UK - a great place for free lesson plans and resources.)

But, when Kirby from Classroom Window called me and talked to me, I really liked what he had to say about the vision for the company. It is a very small startup with more energy than money and in the process of reaching out to investors. I am biased towards things with a few characteristics: 1) the people who run it are trustworthy with a good track record of keeping promises, 2) the product helps teachers and will benefit education, and 3) the company is capitalizing on a trend I think is just early enough on the curve to have a lot of growth ahead.

My time is so limited, so I wanted to find a way to work with them and help them with what they are doing. Right now, we are negotiating that in return for my time, I will have a stake in Classroom Window (a fact I will add to the disclosure statement of my blog if we are able to [hopefully] work out the details.)

So, what does this mean for you?

Their first project (besides the basic reviews) is a teacher reportcard on Math textbooks. With the efforts to improve Math education in the US, this is very timely. They've set the ambitious goal of finding 1,000 math teachers who are willing to evaluate their math textbooks. (If you're not a math teacher, you can give them your email and they'll contact you for future surveys.)

They've also set aside money to give the first 1000 teachers who fill out a survey a $10 Amazon gift card.

We've spent many hours talking about privacy concerns that teachers may have and confidentiality to make sure that teachers don't have any repercussions. We've talked about mechanisms to ensure that publishers don't "game" the rankings.

Will you support Classroom Window

So, I'm reaching out to you to ask you to support this very small company that I think is worth my time and yours. They are a lean mean startup and I like their ambition and think it is an idea whose time has come.

Here are 3 ways you can join in:

US Math teachers can complete the survey on math textbooks.
Join Classroom Window and review some products you like (or dislike)
Tell your friends about it.

Anything that helps teachers help students and helps us move past the questionable nature of current textbook purchasing practices is something I'm in favor of doing.

What do you think? Will you share in your network? Also, will you give me and the people at Classroom Window advice on how to make this dream a reality?

Thanks. You can expect me to keep you updated at least once a month here on my blog and several times a month through Twitter. I've never done an arrangement like this but since my Dad is a farmer, I have grown up loving to work with entrepreneurs who have big dreams. Just know that my full time job is still teaching and that I still always write everything here on my blog and retain full editorial control over what I do.

Thanks in advance for your advice and participation. Let's make teachersourcing feedback a reality.

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock #teaching 05/22/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:32:41 PDT

The Plenary Producer - Resources - TES

A Plenary producer, here is a set of 130 ideas for classes and lessons. You'll find something you can use these last few weeks of school in the northern hemisphere.

tags: education teaching lessons
The Differentiation Deviser - Resources - TES

80 strategies for differentiating instruction in this guide.

tags: education teaching differention pbl
Teacher Development: Starter Kit for Teaching Online | Edutopia

If you want to teach online, here's a starter kit from Edutopia. My sister teaches remotely and it isn't the cushy, relaxing job that many describe. It may have flexibility but it is very hard work with many of the same issues you have in a face to face classroom. Just be aware that if you don't want to work, you shouldn't teach: offline or face to face. Teaching, in my experience, takes everything you have but it gives you far more in return.

tags: education teaching news

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/22/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:31:24 PDT

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

This is a pinch that textbook companies are just beginning to feel. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. It has a little over 40% of the k12 textbook market. With textbook money being shifted elsewhere, companies that don't understand how the textbook must evolve are going to have problems. It is a shame because they are so close and could be useful if they'd build networks to connect those using their books.

"IN the Speak up 2011 report, students say that 46% of them have used Facebook to collaborate on school projects.

Interesting report that also shows the flip side where 65% of principals say they will not allow personal devices in the next school year. (What is odd is a study I shared a few weeks a go on my blog says that almost 50% of students are receiving text messages during class NOW in schools where cell phones are BANNED so really, this is just window dressing.)

"Students want more control over how they use technology in school, but many classrooms are still making it difficult. That’s according to the most recent Speak Up 2011 report, “Mapping a Personalized Learning Journey,” which reflects the views of more than 416,000 K-12 students, parents, and educators nationwide surveyed on how technology can enhance the learning environment. They survey is produced by Project Tomorrow, an educational non-profit focused on raising student voices in education policy discussions. The theme for this survey focused on individualized learning paths."

tags: education news
Schools and Students Clash Over Use of Technology | MindShift

IN the Speak up 2011 report, students say that 46% of them have used Facebook to collaborate on school projects.

Interesting report that also shows the flip side where 65% of principals say they will not allow personal devices in the next school year. (What is odd is a study I shared a few weeks a go on my blog says that almost 50% of students are receiving text messages during class NOW in schools where cell phones are BANNED so really, this is just window dressing.)

"Students want more control over how they use technology in school, but many classrooms are still making it difficult. That’s according to the most recent Speak Up 2011 report, “Mapping a Personalized Learning Journey,” which reflects the views of more than 416,000 K-12 students, parents, and educators nationwide surveyed on how technology can enhance the learning environment. They survey is produced by Project Tomorrow, an educational non-profit focused on raising student voices in education policy discussions. The theme for this survey focused on individualized learning paths.

tags: education news research social media
Teacher Development: Starter Kit for Teaching Online | Edutopia

If you want to teach online, here's a starter kit from Edutopia. My sister teaches remotely and it isn't the cushy, relaxing job that many describe. It may have flexibility but it is very hard work with many of the same issues you have in a face to face classroom. Just be aware that if you don't want to work, you shouldn't teach: offline or face to face. Teaching, in my experience, takes everything you have but it gives you far more in return.

tags: education teaching news
Microsoft silently launches So.cl, its attempt at a social networking site ~ Stephen's Web

Microsoft has a website so.cl and Stephen Downes has joined. I've been at this site before and may actually have a profile but for now it says I can't get in. ;-(

tags: education news socialmedia
Wollage , the social-scrapbook!

A new social network around scrapbooking called Wollage to share memories. This might be a great one for using this summer.

tags: education news app ird

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Elearning and global competency #flatclass #globaled 05/22/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:30:56 PDT

Home | London 2012 - Get Set

The official London Olympics education site. You can register and join their blogging network. This is definitely something you may want to do with your students.

The London games has a "get set" website which is their official educational platform for the Olympic games. I've just spent a little time looking at what you can do there, but you can register, blog about the games, and connect with others. This is the sort of global event where you can meet other classrooms and interact with others.

tags: education olympics teaching flatclass
MFL-Storybirds - home

IF you are a foreign language teacher, you should take a look at this lovely wiki where teachers are sharing stories and students and teachers are writing them. Language is a perfect place to flatten the classroom.

"Hi!
And welcome to the Wikispace where you can share and enjoy stories written by and for teachers and learners of French, German, Spanish and Italian.
At the last count, we had 86 Storybird creations, contributed by 30 different authors in 4 different languages."

tags: education teaching flatclass

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock #teaching 05/21/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:30:30 PDT

Myths and Legends - Resources - TES

An introduction to “Myths and Legends” and “Mythical Monsters”. Text studied, Robert Nye’s “Beowulf”.

tags: education engchat literature beowulf teaching lessonplans
Home | London 2012 - Get Set

The official London Olympics education site. You can register and join their blogging network. This is definitely something you may want to do with your students.

The London games has a "get set" website which is their official educational platform for the Olympic games. I've just spent a little time looking at what you can do there, but you can register, blog about the games, and connect with others. This is the sort of global event where you can meet other classrooms and interact with others.

tags: education olympics teaching flatclass
Excellent tool for teaching Fractions, Decimals, Ratios & Percentages. - HOME - Edgalaxy: Where Education and Technology Meet.

An excel workbook to use with students for use on an interactive whiteboard to help you review fractions, decimals, ratios, and percentages. from Kev.

tags: education teaching math mathchat
Transition to College - Reading and Writing

Very interesting presentation by Ira Socol about how students are using the MITS Freedom stick - preloaded with some apps - for their reading and writing. If you're a high school language arts teacher or a curriculum director, you would benefit from browsing through this presentation to see what college students are expected to be able to do. It isn't just about paper any more.

tags: education teaching english_teacher engchat
Modern Foreign Language Teacher Resources

This MFL teacher has been recognized as a "best practitioner" and has some great lessons for those teaching German.

tags: education teaching mfl language_teacher
MFL-Storybirds - home

IF you are a foreign language teacher, you should take a look at this lovely wiki where teachers are sharing stories and students and teachers are writing them. Language is a perfect place to flatten the classroom.

"Hi!
And welcome to the Wikispace where you can share and enjoy stories written by and for teachers and learners of French, German, Spanish and Italian.
At the last count, we had 86 Storybird creations, contributed by 30 different authors in 4 different languages."

tags: education teaching flatclass

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Learning about Learning: Research and Edreform News and Views 05/21/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Mon, 21 May 2012 09:30:35 PDT

Miss Sweet Teeth

This student for her 20% time project created a blog and Twitter account @misssweetteeth. I was able to teach her a lot about social media and blogging and she's been working hard on the project.
(students in Computer fundamentals spend 20% of their time working on a personal interest project. This student is interested in going into the dental field.)

tags: education news projects pbl passionbasedlearning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/21/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:31:27 PDT

Portfolio - Morgie Rai

Another nice student website. I bookmarked this page in particular because my precious student quoted me. Yes, I often say this but to have someone remember it - that means it is getting through. Such a sweet student. Her apps for autism project is amazing.

tags: education news portfolio
The Life of Destiny - Home

This student has a lovely me-folio website. It is simple but one that she can build upon for the rest of high school. This one was built on weebly.

tags: education news
Miss Sweet Teeth

This student for her 20% time project created a blog and Twitter account @misssweetteeth. I was able to teach her a lot about social media and blogging and she's been working hard on the project.
(students in Computer fundamentals spend 20% of their time working on a personal interest project. This student is interested in going into the dental field.)

tags: education news projects pbl passionbasedlearning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Learning about Learning: Research and Edreform News and Views 05/20/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Sun, 20 May 2012 09:30:39 PDT

China clears Google acquisition of Motorola, eliminates last barrier to Googorola bliss -- Engadget

Looks like it is all clear for Google to buy Motorola.

tags: news Google motorola mlearning
Whole School: Personalised learning teaching resources - TES

During post planning this year, discuss how you can incorporate personalized learning in your school next year. Here are some ideas for what teachers are doing now -- some are large projects and others are just planning tools.

tags: education teaching lesson plans personalizedlearning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/20/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Sun, 20 May 2012 03:31:44 PDT

Google Further Integrates Google+ Profiles Into Gmail [VIDEO]

Gmail gets even more Google plus integration.

tags: news eduapp Google gmail
Oracle Versus Google: The Database Kingpin Gets Desperate

Unfortunately, the new business battlefield is the courtroom. The only people getting rich are the lawyers. Oracle sues Google over Java infringements.

tags: news Google Oracle lawsuit
TechWeekEurope UK » Apple Makes Its Maiden Data Centre 100 Percent Renewable

Companies like Apple are starting to move to renewable energy. It is only a matter of time before people start eyeing schools. The though thing about it is how long the payback is. That being said, when one transitions off the grid, the savings are substantial after the initial costs are recouped. By the end of 2012, Apple will generate 60 percent of the energy needed by its North Carolina data centre on the site itself, using a combination of fuel cells and solar power – adding a second array alongside one which is already set to be the largest in the US. The rest will be electricity from renewable sources, bought from local providers, Apple has said. "

tags: Apple news energy sustainability green
China clears Google acquisition of Motorola, eliminates last barrier to Googorola bliss -- Engadget

Looks like it is all clear for Google to buy Motorola.

tags: news Google motorola mlearning
Kinect In the Operating Room - Slashdot

Microsoft Kinect in the Operating Room. Yet another nudge that Microsoft's best Operating system is on the Xbox.

tags: education news microsoft
Learning Networks ~ Stephen's Web

I read whatever I can of Stephen Downes' work. He's released a new ebook and has another coming next week. Most of what he shares is yours for the downloading.

tags: education news ebook
Steve told us

This website, Steve Told Us, is just a picture of Steve relaxed on the floor and a quote - that's it. If you want another quote you need to click refresh. The quote I got first was a great one.

"when you're young, you look at television and think, There's a conspiracy. Thenetworks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get older, you realize that's not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want. That's a far more depressing though! Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revollution! But the networks are really in business to give people what they want. It's the truth."

Yes, it sure is I'm not one to elevate any person up to "God" status, however, there are many things he said that ring true. This quote is one of them . Enjoy this website.

tags: news steve jobs apple
In the news - Ban violent video games, urge MPs - Resources - TES

MPs have made a fresh call to ban the sale of violent video games after it was revealed that the Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Breivik considered the popular game Call of Duty “training”. Keith Vaz, Labour MP and chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, has sponsored an Early Day Motion that asks the government to “provide for closer scrutiny of aggressive first-person shooter video games”.

tags: news videogames gaming
Whole school Assemblies teaching resources – TES

A list of assembly ideas indexted by topic and event. As you plan the end of the school, look at some ideas and improve what you're already doing.

tags: education news teaching assemblies

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock #teaching 05/19/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:30:28 PDT

Whole school Assemblies teaching resources – TES

A list of assembly ideas indexted by topic and event. As you plan the end of the school, look at some ideas and improve what you're already doing.

tags: education news teaching assemblies
Whole School: Personalised learning teaching resources - TES

During post planning this year, discuss how you can incorporate personalized learning in your school next year. Here are some ideas for what teachers are doing now -- some are large projects and others are just planning tools.

tags: education teaching lesson plans personalizedlearning
Whole School: Assemblies: School life teaching resources - TES

The end of school is near and it is time for some creative assemblies. Here's a collection of assembly ideas talking about everything from bullying to manners and other ideas. Think about habits to reinforce over the summer (reading, for example) and work something around that. Encourage and inspire every chance you get because some students won't be at your school next year. End well!

tags: education teaching assemblies
Teaching Resources, Classroom Resources & Lesson Plans - TES Resources

Sunday is Friendship Funday. Since this falls on a Sunday, here are some lesson plans for how you could do this at your school this year. I like to have students start a list on their computer and put their name at the top and each student shifts chairs and adds one positive thing about that person until the person is back at their seat and can embellish it and print it. Just make sure you're looking at screens to ensure that those who are unkind are handled before the child may see it. (This doesn't happen a lot but sometimes.) Here are other ideas from TES, my favorite teacher resource site, for lesson plans.

tags: education teaching lessonplans

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Edu app news: apps, ebooks, and sites for your classroom #mlearning 05/19/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:30:27 PDT

Free Technology for Teachers: GoClass - Create and Deliver Lessons on iPads

Another lesson deployment app for the iPad that you can compare to NearPod. Another one worth testing.

tags: education eduapp edapp ipad flippedclass

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/19/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:31:07 PDT

PBL Program Shows How to Tap Local Expertise | Edutopia

Fascinating overview of a PBL school. I would like to point out that now that I have a 20% time project where students spend 20% of their time in my class working on a technology-enriched project of their choice - that my students are doing many of these incredible things. Every school should have their students doing personal interest projects as a core requirement of what you do to graduate from that school. End of year portfolio websites should be something all students do on a platform that they can "take with them" after high school. This is all part of finding your passion. This is a great overview from Suzie Boss at Edutopia of this incredible high school in Georgia.

tags: education news pbl
ProfHacker: Projects with Instructables - ProfHacker - The Chronicle of Higher Education

This is a great suggestion to find DIY projects for the summer over at Instructables - a pre-Pinterest how-to site with lots of instructions. This is also a great resource as a parent when you have projects that you need to do to help your kids.

tags: education news summer hobbies
ISTE Newbie Project | Angela Maiers, Speaker, Educator, #YOUMATTER

I'll be donating again this year to help send Jerry Blumengarten (@cybraryman1) to ISTE 2012. He is tireless, helpful, and very deserving. If you want to know more, see Angela's overview. I hope you'll take time to help send Jerry to ISTE12.

tags: education news iste iste12
Maryland Teen Jack Thomas Andraka Wins Intel International Science And Engineering Fair

This fifteen year old won $75,000 for coming up with a way to screen early stage pancreatic cancer. This student and the others who won the "second place" $50K award amaze me. What does it take to encourage and help a student like this: I promise you they received personalized learning experiences to be able to do this. Cookie cutter science doesn't breed scientists like this.

tags: education news science
The Graphic Classroom

This website talks about comics and comic textbooks in the classroom by Chris Wilson, an elementary teacher.

tags: education comics news teaching
Wix.com AwesomeMadi created by Tucker2015 based on my-gallery | Wix.com

At the end of the school year, students build a mefolio in class to talk about their achievements, accomplishments, technology, and what they are learnin. These are adapted and updated every year. Students use them to get jobs and when they apply for college. Here is an example of a very creative young lady who has used hermofolio to share her artwork and photography. She's so talented.

tags: education news teaching

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Elearning and global competency #flatclass #globaled 05/19/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:31:02 PDT

PSHE Global Game - Lego - Resources - TES

This game uses legos. Use this presentation and the legos to have a picture of how wealth is distributed around the world. This is a fascinating activity that I think you could do at all ages.

tags: flatclass education globalcompetency

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock #teaching 05/18/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:30:30 PDT

Discussion Toolkit - Resources - TES

A toolkit to encourage discussion in the classroom,. Make sure students have things to do in these last days that encourage thinking. Many teachers complain all year that they don't have time to encourage higher order thinking but in the last few days of school, when they have freedom, they show movies. Have meaningful discussions.

tags: education teaching discussion higherorderthinking
The Graphic Classroom

This website talks about comics and comic textbooks in the classroom by Chris Wilson, an elementary teacher.

tags: education comics news teaching
Manga Another Comic Format Worthy of Classroom Consideration

This overview of manga talks about the type of art and some suggested forms. Remember that Manga can have nudity and can have more violent things happen (like horror films.) Review materials thoroughly before using them in the classroom. This is an excellent overview of Manga if you want to use this and have students create it.

If you drill down in this article and look at the comments, there are some great dicussions of concerns in manga including that some editions give women a lesser role than male characters.

tags: Manga comics education teaching lessonplans cartooning
Online Manga University

Online Manga university will help teach and your students about Manga.

tags: education teaching manga comics
Creating Anime - Resources - TES

manga is celebrating its 20th year. Create your own anime storyboards in your classroom using this lesson plan.

tags: education manga teaching lessonplans
Averages Treasure Hunt - Resources - TES

Mean, median and mode treasure hunt. Nice activity starter.

tags: education math mathchat teaching lessonplans
Wix.com AwesomeMadi created by Tucker2015 based on my-gallery | Wix.com

At the end of the school year, students build a mefolio in class to talk about their achievements, accomplishments, technology, and what they are learnin. These are adapted and updated every year. Students use them to get jobs and when they apply for college. Here is an example of a very creative young lady who has used hermofolio to share her artwork and photography. She's so talented.

tags: education news teaching

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock #teaching 05/17/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:30:37 PDT

Launch Into Teaching - Ask the Mentor/Coach - Teacher Education - College of Education - Michigan State University

Many times when I plan my own lessons, the questions are at the beginning of my plan. Here's a nice discussion for why a teacher would want to plan the questions ahead of time.

"Many new teachers perceive planning questions for a classroom discussion as a waste of time. They are comfortable with asking students questions on the spot and prefer the “off-the-cuff” approach.

tags: education teaching inquiry-based
A fun way of opening Deep questioning strategies - Resources - TES

This question wall is a powerpoint that you can use on your interactive white board. It looks like it took quite some time to set up. This is one you want to download and keep in your resources folder for use when you want to adapt it for your course.

tags: education teaching iwb thinking
Numberphile Videos

A collection of more than 100 videos that help you explore the world of mathematics. Just about any math topic is covered including probabilities Kaprekar's Constant and more. These videos will be useful if you're in the process of working towards flipping your classroom.

tags: math education teaching lessonplans videos
Proofreading PowerPoint

You can use this presentation to take your students through the skills required to proofread a document. It concludes with an activity demonstrating how punctuation changes the meaning of a sentence.

tags: education teaching grammar proofreading
Kinaesthetic proof Reading - level 4 - Resources - TES

Proofreading Kung Fu has a very cool name. This lesson has students make up moves for each punctuation symbol and to use that to proofread. This would be a fun way to review grammar.

tags: education teaching lessonplans
Meg's Methods

Meg blogs about many ways that she uses technology on Meg's Methods. Here she talks about visual lesson plans and how she leaves detailed instructions for teachers. I found Meg as she completed the challenges for the Flat Classroom book and decided to use the forum I created to let teachers leave comments on what they are doing. The purpose of those forums is to connect to teachers who are doing the challenges. Part of the challenge for me personally is filtering out the noise and finding real teachers doing real work so that I can learn and connect. These helpful, unselfish people (Like Meg) are my heroes. Even if each teacher only blogs once a month if you can find 100 of them and put them in your PLN, patterns will emerge.

tags: education technology teaching
Maths resources, maths worksheets, maths revision, TES Resources

If you're a math teacher, here is an organized assortment of lesson plans for math teachers by grade level.

tags: education math teaching lesson plans
westwood - 2012 Computer Fundamentals Projects

They are here! My students have turned in their Freshman projects - they take 20% of their time working on a special interest project. Some great work here. One of my favorites is Morgan's apps for autism project but there are many great ones here.

tags: education news teaching lessons

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Learning about Learning: Research and Edreform News and Views 05/17/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:30:41 PDT

Avoiding the Smartphone Sniffles – Stop the Hack Attack | Social Media Today

Do you know how to protect your smart phone from hacking? Do you know most people don't have a password on their smartphone? Realize that the new goldmine for identity thieves and hackers is in your pocket and you may not even have to take it out to be hacked. Be aware and educate yourself but don't panic.

tags: mobile mlearning news digiteen safety
Requests for Proposals | The Pericles Group

Very interesting RFP.

"The Pericles Group (TPG) seeks proposals for a game-based curriculum in English and/or English Language Arts, at any level or over several levels, in TPG’s practomimetic curriculum model. The successful proposal will feature:

tags: news games game_based_learning

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/17/2012

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Thu, 17 May 2012 03:31:02 PDT

How to use Google Docs' new Research tool - Technology & science - Tech and gadgets - Computers - msnbc.com

Google docs has a great research sidebar that is part of the Google docs platform (it makes me wonder if blogger is going to become more closely related to Google docs at some point.) Here's information on how to use the new tool -- interestingly on msnbc's website.

tags: education eduapp news Google
THE SCIENCE OF SUCCESS: Nine Things Successful LEADERS Do Differently

Heidi Grant Halvorson does research on characteristicss of successful leaders. I read everything she writes. Here's a post on what 9 things successful people do differently that is great for those in leadership. Read and reread.

tags: education news leadership
Post-It Note Prank At Cascade High School Leaves Students Suspended, Janitor Fired (VIDEO)

The point of this article: nothiing is funny to anyone anymore. Students posted 12,000 post it notes in the school and were suspended. Students sit in in protest and more are suspended. I guess the days when my husband and his friends painted the rock at their school each year are gone. I hate to know what would have happened to me and my high school friends when we rented a sign and put it in our principal's yard that said "Party tonight" and let ourselves in and had food all set up in their house for a party using the hidden key. What would have happened to us? I am not sure why we let some things slide (like passing a kid who can't read) and other things deserve such punishment. Things don't make much sense any more.

tags: education news prank
Educational Technology and Education Conferences, June to December 2012 ~ Stephen's Web

If you wish you could know about everything going on in education, Stephen Downes links to several resources that will help you do just that.

tags: education professionaldevelopment pd news
Avoiding the Smartphone Sniffles – Stop the Hack Attack | Social Media Today

Do you know how to protect your smart phone from hacking? Do you know most people don't have a password on their smartphone? Realize that the new goldmine for identity thieves and hackers is in your pocket and you may not even have to take it out to be hacked. Be aware and educate yourself but don't panic.

tags: mobile mlearning news digiteen safety
Free Technology for Teachers: Google Introduces a New Knowledge Graph

To understand Google Knowledge graph ( a new feature for search rolled out today) you should read Richard Byrne's rundown of what this means for education.

tags: education news Google
Email is not free!

I've been pondering about productivity and also experimenting with tumblr. My blog over there is getting close to 4K followers and the growth rate is astounding. RSS plateaued a few years back so I started experimenting with other things - tumblr, pinterest, Twitter. Each sort of has a purpose for me. In this post over at vickidavis.me I write about how email really isn't free. The posts over there are different and typically pretty short as well as "tumblr-ish" (it is on tumblr.) Just wanted to let you know in case you're interested since the content is often different than here on my mainstream education blog.

tags: education news
Flipping Blooms Taxonomy | Powerful Learning Practice

Should we flip bloom's taxonomy? Thought provoking post by Shelly Wright.

tags: education news
Requests for Proposals | The Pericles Group

Very interesting RFP.

"The Pericles Group (TPG) seeks proposals for a game-based curriculum in English and/or English Language Arts, at any level or over several levels, in TPG’s practomimetic curriculum model. The successful proposal will feature:

tags: news games game_based_learning
westwood - 2012 Computer Fundamentals Projects

They are here! My students have turned in their Freshman projects - they take 20% of their time working on a special interest project. Some great work here. One of my favorites is Morgan's apps for autism project but there are many great ones here.

tags: education news teaching lessons
Graduation Quotes, Commencement Sayings, Advice for Graduates

Graduation quotes that you can use.

tags: education news graduation
MoodleShare

Lots of shared courses at Moodle share where people share their free moodle courses.

tags: education news moodle opened opencourseware
Grace Embraced

My friend Tonii has a sister who is blogging about her journey with breast cancer. It is a lovely blog and very moving and I'm now following. Thought I'd share it so it could help those who might need it.

tags: news cancer breast hope grace inspiration
Instagram follows Tumblr, Pinterest; bans self-harm posts | Internet & Media - CNET News

It is so sad to see such things move through the net, I guess we like to be shocked and those who are sad or sick get some sort of attention through it. But I agree that this is a good thing to do. Of course, the struggle is where they do stop on self-harm - what happens when someone determines a certain religion or faith or belief is self-harm and bans that too?

"Like Tumblr and Pinterest before it, the popular online photo-sharing service is banning content that encourages eating disorders, self-mutilation, or suicide."

tags: news
Cybercrooks bring their schemes to Tumblr and Pinterest | Security & Privacy - CNET News

As always, no matter what site you use, think before you click. Do you know the person? Is the person you're working with the kind that can sniff out such things before sharing the link. Here's an article from cnet about how crooks are using pinterest and tumblr. This is the sort of thing to share with digitalcitizenship education courses.

"Malware writers are aiming at such hot social networks as Tumblr and Pinterest to trap a new wave of victims, says a report out yesterday from GFI Software.
"Established sites like Facebook and Twitter have long been a breeding ground for new cyberattacks, but now we are seeing scammers taking an interest in the popularity of newer sites like Pinterest in order to catch victims off guard and trick them into clicking on something they shouldn't," Christopher Boyd, senior threat researcher at GFI Software, said in a statement.
Analyzing the malware landscape in April, the security firm found a host of schemes and scams directed at social network users.

tags: education flatclass news

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Teachers Dancing Behind Students: Teachers get the last laugh (Viral Video)

coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) — Thu, 17 May 2012 03:19:34 PDT

The Teachers Dancing Behind Students video is going viral. I shared it last night on Facebook and this morning it had 200,000 more views.

In this video students "dance bomb" unsuspecting students who are being interviewed about their best memories of the school year. (Photo bombing is where you come into a photo and pose dramatically to take away attention from the center of the photo. Sometimes it is rude and other times it is hilarious.)

I so want to do this. Perhaps it is the time of year because we're all so exhausted.

More about the video:
It was made by the teachers at Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School in Worcester and was shot for the school's end of year film festival during which teachers always have a humorous video as part of their submissions. (The Boston Globe reports that last year the video was the Godfather.)

This past Tuesday it was shown on the Today show and it has taken off from there.

For me, seeing kids being pranked is hilarious and this video brings that out in us. Especially at the end of the year when we've worked so very hard for so long.

Do you prank your students?
I do have to admit that I prank my own students sometimes. My favorite prank is to hack the timer I use to do timed writings for keyboarding class. One time I had it set to sound like a bomb and accidentally turned the sound up instead of down and every student jumped so high - it looked like they levitated in their seats for a good 2 seconds. I couldn't stop laughing. (Another time I used a blood curdling scream but the kids were prepared because they were on to me.) Do you prank your students? (My students prank me too- one turned on the video camera and played a joke on me to get my response on film this week - thank goodness I responded well but it could have been unpleasant.)

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