Your Smarticles

Blossoming with Appreciation

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:28:27 PST

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
they are the charming gardeners
who make our souls blossom. -Marcel Proust

2012 and the Versatile Blogger Award!!

Today I received the Versatile Blogger Award...what a nice surprise! I am so grateful to have been recognized!!

Rules of this Award

Rule #1. Thank the person who nominated you with a link back to them.

Thank you very much to Ms. D from http://sixthgradesciencerocks.blogspot.com. for bestowing upon me the Versatile Blogger Award! After several years of plugging away at blogging, I was thrilled!!

Rule #2. Share 7 things about yourself

1. I would teach for free. I <3 <3 <3 my job!
2. I am a forward for 2 Ice Hockey teams
3. I have a dog named Eleanor Rigby
4. I get all of my best ideas while running
5. I read books on my iPad while taking bubble baths
6. If I'm going to eat chocolate it HAS to be Ghiradelli
7. In my next life, I'd like to be a Sommelier

Rule #3. Pass this on to 15 newly discovered blogs and let them know they've received an award!

Blogs I've nominated are:

http://tunstalltimes.blogspot.com/
http://cyber-kap.blogspot.com/
thebestofteacherspayteachers.blogspot.com/
http://www.teaching-tweens.blogspot.com/
http://www.mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/
http://www.creatingandteaching.blogspot.com/
http://superlativesix.blogspot.com/
http://jessicaywinston.blogspot.com/
http://tekyteach.blogspot.com/
http://subhubonline.blogspot.com/

Blog Stalking

There is a WEALTH of information out there that people are sharing...go find what is yours for the taking! I'd like to say that for teachers, blog stalking is tantamount to release time....explore teacher blogs for a few hours and you will be blown away by all of the fabulous ideas, classroom management, projects, lessons, technology and organization tips that fellow teachers are sharing.

Tips for Blog Stalking

1. Try Pinterest. I've found dozens of fabulous bloggers this way
2. Don't just browse...follow!!! If I love a blog...I follow it. Bloggers are devoted, their blog is their craft. If you find one good post, they're guaranteed to have provided more or will provide more in the future.
3. Keep track of blogs that you follow through GoogleReader or Flipboard or your iOS device.
4. Don't superficially explore blogs. Previous blog entries have a tendency to get buried (especially with avid bloggers) Dig deep!! Explore older posts...they DON'T go stale.
5. Thank bloggers...provide feedback....leave a comment...be the charming gardener that makes OUR souls blossom!!

QR Codes - Classroom Implementation

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:27:50 PST

Armed with my new i-pad (sans wifi access) I decided to convert some existing classroom materials into activities that can be introduced with QR Codes. My latest idea was to take a six +1 traits of writing rubric activity and update it with QR Codes.

Here is how it works.

#1. Students evaluate pieces of writing based on the Writing Trait of Ideas
#2. Students read the expectations on HOW to score a piece based on that trait.
#3. Students score each piece
#4. Students use a QR code reader (I used my i-pad....NO WIFI connection required) to reveal the actual score that the piece should earn.
#5. Scanning a second QR code reveals the rationale for the score.

Not too fancy schmancy, just a quick, clean and easy way to get off the ground with QR codes.

Download the free lesson here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/75257220

Creating QR Codes: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
Free QR Code Reader on i-pad: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qr-code-reader-and-scanner/id388175979?mt=8

On a scale of 1 - 10, I think this lesson is a:

Now THAT's using your smarticles!!!

Vocabulary Alpha Bingo

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:03:04 PST

Word Study is so important! Please stop by scribd for my freebie of the week, a Vocabulary Bingo Board (with a twist).

Scribd:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/74847241/Vocabulary-Bingo

My students continue to immerse themselves in vocabulary and it is working! Great words are appearing in their writing and in their everyday language. One way I've accomplished this is by creating as many quick vocabulary games as possible. This week's freebie features an effective Vocabulary Alpha Bingo game. Here is how it works:

#1. Students brainstorm as many synonyms to the featured vocabulary word that they can. They may also use a thesaurus to search for synonyms or a word related to a vocabulary word. For our purposes, the word was MELANCHOLY.

#2. Write each synonym in the appropriate column on the bingo board based on the first letter of the word. For example: If their word starts with “A”, they place it somewhere in the first column.

#3. Students continue searching for synonyms or related words until they have filled their board. It is okay if students have more than one word with that starts with the same letter!!

TECH CONNECT!!

#4. Use this interactive: http://www.classtools.net/education-games-php/fruit_machine and plug in every letter of the alphabet.

OR

I used ... a customizable random name generator to create this one!! http://bit.ly/rJAr5c

Click this link for http://primaryschoolict.com/random-name-selector/

#5. Spin. As each alphabet letter comes up, they can cross off their synonym.

Now THAT's using Your Smarticles!!

My First Linky Party

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:17:08 PDT

So today I first heard about "Linky Parties" or a "Blog Linky Party". These parties are defined as situations where the host encourages participants share a link on the hosts site and ALSO share that link on their own blog post, encouraging blog traffic in both directions.

My Fantastic Finds of the Week

Zooburst: This Web 2.0 Tool allows students to write and publish digital stories including speech bubbles that are mini-podcasts of students speaking the dialogue of the stories that THEY create! It also allows augmented reality via a webcam showing them reading their own story in 3D.

Pinterest: I'm still wrapping my head around this one, BUT, it did allow me to tap into a whole new network of educational blogs that I had not previously discovered through my PLN. Therefore, I'll designate it as a Social Networking device that features creativity. Members share images taken from the web that they like and share them. You can pin things and follow others that are pinning and categorizing things. I see it as a hybrid of Twitter and a bookmarking site such as del.icio.us.

Capzles: Create rich, multimedia timelines.

Enjoy these timely discoveries!! My daily discoveries are often Tweeted as well. I limit my tweets to links, tools and sites that I feel have educational value or applicability to the classroom. You can follow me @mrshoward118.

Lexicographer's Delight

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 19:41:55 PDT

The Dictionary. Often the mere suggestion of using the dictionary sends moans of discontent throughout a classroom of students. Many people may argue that the paper dictionary is going the way of the dinosaur with the ready accessibility of search engines, online dictionaries and apps, and I do not disagree. There are, however, many skills associated with the use of the dictionary that students need to obtain in order to MOST effectively utilize the tool available to them--whether it be in paper form or preferably, the online sources available to them.

The primary purpose of a dictionary is, of course, to find definitions of words. Students often overlook (or are not made aware of) the plethora of additional purposes of a dictionary including: aiding with spelling, identifying word origins (etymology), parts of speech, multiple meanings of words, pronunciations of words, syllable identification, hyphenation information, inflected forms, variants and idioms. There are also various types of entries including compound entries, prefixes/suffices/combining forms, abbreviations and at times geographical entries and biographical entries. Phew. VERY overwhelming and VERY powerful.

The new Common Core Standards mention dictionary 6 times, pronounciation 11 times and the word reference 19 times. Students need to know the value of the dictionary.

Below are suggestions to help support the use of a 'non' 21st century tool yet blending it with the skills of a 21st century classroom.

#1. The obvious...online dictionary. Dictionary.com, wordcentral.com, dictionary.reference.com, merriam-webster.com, LookWAYup, visuwords, or simply type "Define XXX" into your google search engine.

#2. Dictionary Webquests. A quick google search found these great options: Webquest #1, Webquest #2

#3. Combine the study of context clues with a create your own dictionary of made up words. Students can model their dictionary pages after popular online dictionaries or use a web 2.0 publishing tool such as glogster, voicethread, googledocs to share their dictionaries.

#4. Practice Pronunciation! Make pronunciation fun. Use an online dictionary and display the entries on the smartboard. Allow students to attempt to pronounce words and then reward their efforts by allowing them to click the speaker. Encourage pronunciation attempts by giving pairs of students a recordable .mp3 player (I use a SanDisk Sansa) Students LOVE hearing their voice recorded and will enjoy sharing their pronunciation attempts.

#5. October 16th is dictionary day. Education World provides several great lesson ideas in celebration of Noah Webster's birthday.

The dictionary is not going away. It is an abundant effective resource. So lexicographers delight, your treasured dictionary will not soon be replaced.

I had them ROLLING this time!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:15:03 PDT

My latest classroom 'invention' is not as necessarily technology intense as it is simply useful and effective. It is a spin off of the game Left, Right, Center. The original game was introduced to me by family members and it kept a group of multi-aged cousins occupied for hours!

To play the game you start with three chips and three dice. Each player rolls 1, 2 or 3 dice depending on how many chips they have. If an "L" comes up, you pass chip to the left. If an "R" comes up, you pass your chip to the right. If a "C" comes up, the chip goes into the center. If you are fortunate enough to roll a "DOT" you do not have to do anything. The winner of the game is the last person with any remaining chips.

The advantage of this game is that it can be played with 3 or more players AND no player is ever truly 'out' in the game...there is ALWAYS a chance that chips will get passed your way.

In the case of my classroom, I modified this game a bit and called it S.L.R.C. (We lovingly call it Slurk) The only difference in my classroom is that if you roll a "DOT", you have to spell a word from your spelling list. If you spell it correctly, you keep your chip if not, you must place it in the center.

Instead of purchasing several sets of L.R.C., I use two standard dice per group and give them this rule sheet:

Left Right Center

Other ways to modify the game:

(1) Use individually wrapped pieces of candy instead of chips!!
(2) Play a whole group game with an interactive wipe board using virtual dice
(3) Instead of using spelling words...ask test review questions.
(4) Use the Virtual Dice app on your i-pod touch or i-pad.

Where's George?

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Tue, 24 May 2011 16:04:33 PDT

My first one came with a tiny red stamp, inked around the letter "A" next to George's head. I squinted at the slightly smeared, diminutive letters trying to make them out. "Track this Bill" they commanded. The URL for wheresgeorge.com teased me to check it out. My discovery was a bill that had been registered at a tracking site for United States Currency called Where's George.

The objective of this site is as simple as it sounds... to track where a U.S. Dollar Bill has been. A veritable answer to mother's age old chastisement "don't put that money in your mouth...you don't know where it's been!"

On every U.S. dollar bill in circulation is a 10- or 11-digit serial code that is unique to that bill. When you go to Where's George, you enter the bill's denomination ($1, $5, $10, etc.), bill series, the serial number, zip code and whether you have possession of the bill at that moment. The result is a record of travel for that specific bill.

The Where's George site has a registry of most active bills that will take you to a Bill Tracking Report. The Tracking Report shows Entry Time, Location, Travel Time, Distance, Average Speed, etc. of the bill. The page also has a dynamic Google Map associated with it that shows geographically the location of each logged point.

As a Social Studies teacher I felt this might be a GREAT, interesting and interactive activity for my students. I could instantly see the connection between this site and the Five Themes of Geography: Location, Place, Region, Movement, Human/Environment Interaction and how excited my students would be to make a real world connection with something as common and everyday as the U.S. Dollar.

A wonderful beginning of the year activity for students might be to have the students 'set a bill loose' into the system and see where it travels throughout the year. (Similar to Flat Stanley) Each student can bring in a dollar, register it on wheresgeorge.com and stamp it with a stamper. Another option is to gather bills that are already in the system and see where they've been AS WELL AS where they go when you spend them. After the bills have been logged, spend them on a class Bon Voyage Party and send them on their way!!

Digital Class Book of Poetry

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Thu, 19 May 2011 08:52:48 PDT

Our recent class efforts involved the writing of poetry!! Inspired by the work of Jack Prelutsky's book, Scranimals, my students were encouraged to create a creature that blends an animal with a plant or any other item.

Students were given this assignment sheet to assist them in their task: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/79948458/Scranimals-Assignment-sheet

The resulting project, poems and images were quite wonderful and my initial objective was to create a class book. Instead, I went virtual and created a Voicethread. If you are unfamiliar with Voicethread, it is a collaborative slide show that allows people to share images and comment on the images. The student's drawings were uploaded into Voicethread and each student then recorded themselves reading the poem that they wrote.

Once the virtual collection was created, I embedded the voicethread on my educational website to share with students, parents and colleagues.

Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks. -Plutarch

Video Sequencing

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 07:22:55 PDT

A Camera Has the Eye of a Poet

Videos tell a story, capture interest and create a world within themselves. In my classroom, I strive to take students OUT of their textbooks and to create authentic/interactive experiences supported through technology. Teaching English Language Arts and maintaining this philosophy can be a challenge.

Most recently, my objective was to support student understanding of the sequence and flow to stories as well as to assist them with their ability to recall these sequences. To do this I used the following video clip about the events that take place between a wolf and a pig. It was created using stop motion animation and has no narrative or dialog.

http://youtu.be/rmkLlVzUBn4

Students were asked to do the following:

#1. Watch the video about the wolf and the pig
#2. While watching, complete 8 sentence strips about events that take place in the video.
#3. Re-watch the video
#4. Exchange sentence strips with a partner and have them re-order them

Because the video is unique, my students gladly watched (and re-watched) the video. It was also quite memorable and the quality of work on the sentence strips was good. I also noted that the dialog between students during the exchange was very beneficial and they worked cooperatively to accomplish the task.

One OTHER benefit of this activity was the fact that there is NO narrative in the video. This worked wonderfully in my classroom as I had multiple stations taking place in the room and the music instead of dialog kept the room quieter and made it easier for the groups to watch the video.

Please see this google doc for other inspirational videos and lesson ideas:

Managing Student Behaviors Using Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:26:55 PDT

Background

In a middle school environment, communication between classroom teachers can be quite a challenge....especially when attempting to implement a consistent behavior management plan for a student.

Attempted Solution

I often adopt an agenda signing approach with specific students to provide feedback on a student's behavior in my class on a particular day. When targeting SPECIFIC behaviors, I've adopted a 'checklist' that a student carries with him/her throughout the day that ranks specific behaviors and whether or not a student has met the selected criteria.

Continuing to monitoring behavior THROUGHOUT a Middle School with numerous teachers can be onerous. A student must keep track of a 'sheet' and/or remember to request a signature or feedback from every teacher they visit throughout the day. It has been my experience that these systems often fall apart.

The Challenge

Recently I was faced with the challenge of finding a way to elicit teacher responses on a specific student's behavior throughout the day and the student couldn't seem to keep track of the 'checklist' from the beginning of the day to the end. It was then that I turned to technology to help solve the problem. SurveyMonkey was the answer.

The Solution

SurveyMonkey allowed me to create a small survey with a ranking of 1 - 5 to measure a student's behavior in the classroom on a specific day.

The basic survey looked like this:

What was MAGNIFICENT about this approach was the ability then upload e-mails to the site and have SurveyMonkey automatically send a survey invitation to the teachers on the particular student's schedule.

To solve the problem of having to build and initiate a survey every day, I was able to design a month's worth of surveys (you can copy and regenerate the same survey design as many times as you want) and schedule the delivery of the e-mail invitation so that every morning the teacher receives an e-mail invite to the survey. In 2 clicks, the teacher can respond and SurveyMonkey keeps track of the results. Results that can be shared amongst teachers, with the student AND with parents/guardians.

SUMMARY

1. Use SurveyMonkey to create a daily behavior survey for a student
2. Automatically e-mail it to the student's teachers
3. Gather/View/Share results
4. Reward student (or encourage improvement)

Reticence Free Vocabular-Y!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:22:08 PDT

America's Funnest Vocabulary

For this project I put my students in charge of the vocabulary instruction by assigning each student a vocabulary word and challenging them to create a vocabulary video that demonstrates the meaning of the word through action, dialog, stop motion, or any silly gimmick that provides enough context for someone to guess the meaning of the assigned vocabulary word.

It was AMAZING to me the excitement that this project generated in my classroom. Students used a plethora of video formats to create their projects and brought them in on DVDs, jump drives, i-pod touch (4th generation), e-mail as well as postings from You Tube. For students without access to technology, I made myself available during designated times and loaned them a flip camera so they could record the videos in school.

As the year goes on, instead of 'teaching' this select group of vocabulary words, I show each video to the class and they complete a Frayer Model style worksheet (see Scribd link below). The tasks on the worksheet include:

1. Can you GUESS the meaning of the word using the context clues in the video?
2. Write the definition of the word (which students were required to reveal at the END of their videos
3. Establish synonyms and antonyms for the word
4. Identify and ROOT words
5. Create a mnemonic or association to help YOU remember the word
5. Write YOUR OWN sentence using the word and a context clue within your sentence.

No groans, no mumbling, no reticence.....eager students WANTING you to share vocabulary with them!!

Files to support this lesson:

AFV Assignment Sheet and Rubric - http://www.scribd.com/doc/50061609/AFV

Daily S.A.W. Worksheet - http://www.scribd.com/doc/50061850

Podcasting - An Exercise in Fluency and Voice

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:05:49 PDT

My ELA class just finished recording a podcast of their writing using Audacity software. This blog is devoted to sharing that experience, the materials and the results of that project.

Materials

#1. Audacity. A free audio editing software, downloadable from this site: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
#2. A script My students wrote 'commercials' for a machine that they had invented, inspired by: thewritingfix.com.

Introduction to the project: http://www.scribd.com/doc/32494300/Explanatory-Writing-Assignment
Flow Chart: http://www.writingfix.com/PDFs/Chapter_Book_Worksheets/Homer_Price_Machine_GO.pdf
Transition Word List: http://www.writingfix.com/PDFs/Writing_Tools/List_of_transitions.pdf

#3. Headset/microphone
#4. Some audio background music (.mp3 files). I obtained several files at: http://freeplaymusic.com

The Project

Using mentor text "Homer Price" I read to my students about a donut making machine and how it churned out more than enough donuts. Using the text as inspiration, I asked students to brainstorm about creating a machine that takes something, and turns it into something else through several steps in a process.

Students then completed a flow chart of the steps that the machine goes through to create the item.

I then provided students with a chart of transition words and encouraged them to replace words like then, next and finally with transition words like additionally, subsequently and meanwhile.

To give their stories 'voice' I asked them to consider an infommercial such as the one for the sham wow. They were encouraged to introduce their product by asking a question and then continuing to tell what their product is, the product's name and to describe the steps through which their product accomplishes the task.

After rough drafts were written, I had the students peer edit through primarypad.com. See previous blog post on this process: http://yoursmarticles.blogspot.com/2009/05/collaborative-editing-through-etherpad.html

Once their paragraphs were written and edited, students were introduced to Audacity. They selected a music track (.mp3) file that they liked and uploaded it to Audacity. Next they read and recorded their stories about their machines.

Reflection

The voice that came alive in my student's writing was well worth the effort. Technology can be cumbersome, but for the first time I heard voice in some of my students that have struggled with stilted, choppy writing. Voice was not the only outcome, new levels of fluency (and attempts at fluency) appeared as students listened to their recorded voices, knowing what they wanted to sound like versus what they actually sounded like.

Results

All of the student podcasts and writing samples are uploaded here at this wikispace:

http://118machines.wikispaces.com http://106machines.wikispaces.com

Practical Application of Glogster

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 12:47:55 PST

Glogster.edu is now offering to educators the opportunity to establish student accounts under a master account created by a teacher. If you are unfamiliar with Glogster, it is a type of online poster that enables the user to customize and decorate a poster with a plethora of pictures, images and catchy designs. In addition, you can turn this poster into a multimedia portal that includes images, videos and links. You can check it out here: Glogster

In my classroom this month, I had students create Glogster posters that reflect their learning on a specific topic in Social Studies. What I asked the students to do was create a Glogster that met certain requirements in order to help them collectively review for an upcoming benchmark exam.

The Glogster they designed had to:

1. Contain at least 5 accurate facts about a topic that we had covered so far this year. (the were encouraged to pull questions/facts from notes and tests that they had in their binders)
2. Contain at least 3 images relevant to the topic
3. Contain at least 5 open-ended questions at the bottom of the page that could be answered by reading the information on the Glog

In addition to creating their Glog, students had to become a F.A.N. of at least 10 of their classmates Glogs. To become a F.A.N. they had to type the following in a comment section of the classmates Glogs:

1. Pick their Favorite picture on the Glog and say what they liked about it.
2. Answer one of the questions asked on the Glog.
3. Say something Nice to the Glog creator

This project was received quite enthusiastically by my students and it generated a great buzz throughout the sixth grade as students from other classes asked me about how to set up Glogster accounts. Bear in mind that to create an individual Glogster account, students must be 13 years old, however, if you establish a teacher account, students can be registered as users under your account.

See examples of student Glogsters here:

Latitude & Longitude: http://s011.mrshoward118.edu.glogster.com/latitudelongitude-/?from_alert=true
Geography of Mesopotamia: http://s012.mrshoward118.edu.glogster.com/glog-6124/

Early Man: http://s010.mrshoward118.edu.glogster.com/early-man/
Mesopotamian History: http://s014.mrshoward118.edu.glogster.com/mesopotamia/
Landforms: http://s016.mrshoward118.edu.glogster.com/glog/

Student Assignment Description (Word Document)on Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/28390058/Creating-Your-Glogster

The Best Christmas Gift Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 12:51:31 PST

This year I had the great fortune to connect with a teacher in Germany in an effort to design a project through e-pals for our students to participate in.

Our correspondance began through epals and then morphed into a series of exchanges via our personal e-mail in an attempt to get each our students connected and corresponding. There were many hurdles along the way, including: making sure that EVERY student had a partner to correspond with, dealing with language barriers, making sure that the e-mail addresses were accurate, and navigating our own personal technology challenges such as obtaining access to computer labs. In the end, we provided 32 students in Germany and 32 student in New York with e-pal connections.

The e-mail exchanges began in quite a basic manner. Sharing hobbies, interests, names, ages, etc. But they ended in some quite real connections that the students made. One of my favorite moments was the VERY first time a boy named Adam in my class received a message. He literally jumped out of his chair and said, "what is that word you taught us yesterday that means extremely happy?" "Oh yes, jovial...that's how I feel right now!"

As a culminating activity to our e-pal exchanges, we decided to have the classes Skype with one another. This in itself was a logistical challenge due to the time differences, but in the end the German group decided to host an evening holiday celebration and invite parents, and I held a "lunch bunch" celebration. We shared holiday songs (in German and English), ate pizza and allowed each student to come face to face to the camera to meet their e-pal and open a gift.

The project had frustrating moments along the way...as most projects involving coordinating people and technology often have. Was it worth it? You decide....here are some quotes DIRECTLY from the student e-mails:

"I hope you have a wonderful day and you are my best american friend and
very amazing, wunderful and nice. I thank you so much for our beautiful friendship. With love from another land,your friend"

"Every time I have an e-mail from you I´m very, very happy!"

"Thank you for your nice e-mail."

"Your mail is cool"

Reading the things they shared (to the best of their ability with little experience in the english language) was quite special.

Giving a Nod

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 06:35:54 PST

Just as the Edublog awards recognizes educators for their use of technology, today, I'm writing to give a nod to a colleague of mine who shared a marvelous use of technology in her math class this week.

This particular lesson uses a Web 2.0 tool entitled, Scribblar. Advertised as a simple, effective tool for collaboration, my colleague recognized that it could also be used as a simple, effective tool for collaboration on math problems.

Creating several rooms (with several pages) in scribbler, my colleague pre-loaded several rooms with different math problems that can be rearranged and solved using order of operations (PEMDAS). The students were directed to the room's URL with a partner to collaborate virtually, chat, and rearrange the problems until they resulted in the desired number.

A simple, yet effective, way to reinforce math concepts utilized a Web 2.0 tool.

And now for my nominations:

Best individual blog: Larry Ferlazzo
Best teacher blog: Mary Howard
Best individual tweeter: Larry Ferlazzo
Best educational wiki: cooltoolsforschool
Best Resource Sharing Blog: Sue Waters

Nominate your favorite educational technology blog here:

A Blog Featuring the Glog

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:23:57 PST

Glogster is a web 2.0 platform that promises to provide users options to customize space in a dynamic and interactive way. Essentially, Glogster lets the user create an online, interactive poster.

I’ve known about Glogster for some time now, but recently became aware of Glogster.edu. In response to user suggestions, Glogster has expanded the educational graphics options, provided an educator resource library and established a host of administrative controls to allow educators to more safely utilize the tool and monitor student collaboration.

What makes Glogster a Web 2.0 tool is the opportunity for users to publish and share their creations and to collaborate with other users on joint creative efforts within Glogster.

Teachers can register at the following address: http://www.edu.glogster.com/register.

A Baker’s Dozen - Ways to implement Glogster in an educational setting

1. Create Glog profile a character from a book (like a trading card or profile page)

2. Demonstrate knowledge from a research project by inserting videos/photos/links on a topic.

3. Have students provide feedback each other’s glogster posters.

4. Embed a customized Glog onto a teacher page as a webquest portal.

5. Design a compelling poster and encourage students to dialogue with one another.

6. Use post a video and follow up with blooms taxonomy questions within a poster to generate student responses/discussion about the glog

7. Create a teacher glog and embed it into a wikispace or webpage– an interactive and attractive way to share content

Webpage example: http://www.k12.ginet.org/webpages/mhoward/

Wikisapce example: http://mhoward118.wikispaces.com/

8. Create a photo collage to demonstrate knowledge of the exposition, rising action, climax, conflict, resolution, setting, plot, characters, etc. of a book.

9. Create a photo collage to reflect learning on a particular unit of study.

10. Build a Glogster to include images and text as a book report project.

11. Create a Glogster that shows Math problems (or any type of problem) and dialogue about what is right (or wrong) about the problems.

12. Generate awareness about a school wide issue by hosting a glogster poster contest at your school.

13. Create a “what are YOU reading glog?” Encourage students to blog about their reading material using 3 facts, 2 opinions and 1 question they have about their current reading book.

To explore Glogster and learn about the benefits, see:

Classroom Benefits

What other teachers are doing with Glogster:

http://thinkinginmind.blogspot.com/2009/03/creating-historical-timelines-with.html

http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/columnists/dyck/dyck037.shtml

http://mrboyersclass.pbworks.com/

Unique Results of Unique Temperaments

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:08:56 PDT

A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament. - Oscar Wilde

In previous blog entries, I’ve shared how I used Wikispaces in conjunction with literature circles with my sixth grade students ) as well as how we used a Wikispace as a portfolio for a writing assignment. (see student produced J. Peterman Collection) In my first year attempting to work with Wikis, I was very pleased with how my colleague and I combined English Language Arts activities with Web 2.0 tools.

As educators, we are often challenged to celebrate the diversity and uniqueness of our students. This past year, my students embraced their wikprojects wholeheartedly, and I believe this was, in part, because we let them customize their space. The students were allowed to create appropriate home pages to reflect their own interests and personalities, however, they had to also create an ELA page to use for their literature responses.

Student examples: (click on their home page to TRULY see their personalities!)
Kelsey's Page
Emily's page
Brianna's Page
Jared's Page
Emily's Page

Looking to celebrate the unique temperaments of your students? Here are some fun, free, appropriate decorating tools that can be shared with students and used to customize a blog or wikispace.

Fancy Text, Fonts and Headings

http://www.cooltext.com
Hundreds of different fonts, sizes and shapes to choose from. Customize your heading and save the file as a .png, .jpg or other image file to be placed on your site.

http://www.glogster.com
Create and customize and entire unique poster to use on your site. Embed links into the poster.

http://www.glitteryourway.com
More fancy, animated, glittery text.

Widgets and Other Interactive Items

http://www.poodwaddle.com/free.htm
Includes clocks, calculators, calendars and other widgets

http://www.clocklink.com
Many cool interesting clocks

http://widgets.bestmoodle.net/scripts/onthisday.htm
This automatically updates with information on what happened on the current date.

http://widgets.bestmoodle.net
Includes a bumper sticker widget along with MANY other great choices.

http://www.widgetbox.com
Choose from a gallery of widgets, or for the TRULY clever, create your own!

http://www.voki.com/
This clever site creates a talking character. You can design yourself or just about any other type of character that you can imagine. You can also phone in and record your voice to make the voki talk!!

http://www.toondoo.com/
Create a customized multi-panel cartoon.

Free Clipart and Animations

http://classroomclipart.com/
Nice, free appropriate clipart images

http://www.teacherfiles.com/free_word_art.htm
Create your own heading like the one at the top of this page!

http://www.imagechef.com/ic/banner/
Create an ANIMATED title for your wikispace

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/
Great clipart - some animations

http://www.school-clip-art.com/border_clipart.shtml
More school related clipart

http://www.imagechef.com
Customize images like this one and embed the html code!!

Avatars

Create a character: http://www.toondoo.com/Traitr.do
Customize a cartoon character and place the picture on your site.

http://www.doppelme.com/
Create a cartoon avatar character that can be placed as an image on your site.

http://illustmaker.abi-station.com/index_en.shtml
More choices for cartoon avatars that you can create.

Visuwords Can Be...

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:36:33 PDT

Visuwords is one of several interactive thesaurus applications that I’ve seen made available via the web. The basic concept of a visual thesaurus is to provide people with an interactive, online way to explore words and related words. After playing with the application, I’ve developed a few immediate uses for it in the classroom in conjunction with word study or vocabulary activities.

Visuwords can be:

(1) Used as a dictionary---If you hover over the key search word, it will provide a definition.
(2) Used to help locate related or word substitutes (synonyms) as in a typical thesaurus.
(3) Used for Grammar, Usage and Mechanics reinforcement. The color coding in the circle shows the part of speech of each word, Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb. Students can recognize when a word WILL fit in a sentence as it is a similar part of speech, and when it will not.
(4) Used to give a great deal of exposure to process words like, is an instance of, is similar to, pertains to, attributes, opposes.
(5) A method for providing “also see” options that allow them to explore similar words.
(6) A way of exposing users to attributes which can reinforce character trait exploration in reading studies. i.e., other words for friendly include: congenial, social, companionable, affable, amiable.
(7) Used to show the derivation of a word which will help with word studies and word roots.
(8) Used to show opposites which can lead to a discussion of antonyms.
(9) Used to show word roots and the relationships between words with Latin and Greek roots.

Capture your screen in seconds

Other applications with similar features include:
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

http://www.wordsift.com

What to do about Bing

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 07:25:53 PDT

The search overload commercials are entertaining AND on point to say the least. The name sounds like a preppy frat boy name, an iconic singer or the sound that rain makes as it splatters down on a metal roof. Compelling name, or not, it’s here, that new ‘decision engine’ that has been launched by Microsoft. A search engine called Bing.

Bing.com has been around now for a couple of months, and truly has not had much of an impact on me personally. I’ve viewed it, used it intermittently, but not much about the application has knocked my socks off or changed the way I search for information. Quite frankly, with a well built PLN (Personal Learning Network) and access to a wealth of well searched links through del.icio.us, I’ve found myself using Google less and less, so what use do I have for another search engine?

The element that sets Bing apart is ‘that picture’. My son eagerly logs on to Bing each day JUST to see ‘that picture’. The images they’ve presented have been stunning. From Cambodian Shadow puppets to Giant Pandas to Pyramids in Sudan, the images expose us to landmarks, creatures, traditions and other amazing sights from around the world. But the pictures are more than just a picture, they are informative and interactive. As you hover your mouse around different sections of the photos, Bing has embedded links to factual information about the pictures. Links that direct you sites related to the images.

As an educator I think I’ve decided what to do about this new tool that has been provided to me. I teach Social Studies to Grade 6 students. Living in a rather enclosed suburban community, one of the challenges we face is exposing students to the large multicultural world that exists outside of their small community. Bing seems to be a terrific step in that direction. Presenting an image from Bing on a regular basis in the classroom, and sharing with students the facts associated with those photos would be a great way to expand their world. Whether I encourage them to explore it independently and provide them with an essential question to research, or simply expose them to the site and image routinely I believe it has value as an educational tool.

Above all else, Microsoft gave it a memorable name. Hopefully that sound, ‘Bing’ will be the sound of new information, new connections and a new world awareness that occurs in my students as they explore this new resource on their own.

Post-It Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Mon, 30 May 2011 17:55:47 PDT

Recently I watched a very clever stop-motion animation using Post It Notes. Hoping to capitalize on the enthusiasm that kids seem to have for stop motion animation, I thought I'd give it a try myself. My goal is to eventually try this technique in my classroom. A recent tweet by RusselTarr, (@russeltarr Poem generator - could be fun to use in class - http://tinyurl.com/pl9vk2.) gave me the impetus to try a stop motion post-it project with a poetry flavor.

Materials:

Digital camera
Tripod
Clear wall space (I used my refrigerator door)
One packet of post-it notes
One black marker
Glue stick
1 G Memory card

Software:

Windows Movie Maker
Audacity

Websites:

Great for sound effects.
http://www.ilovewavs.com/

Shorts clips, can be looped. Great for background music.
http://www.accelerated-ideas.com/FreeMusicTracks/aiSearchTracks.aspx?style=Arts

My video:

As you can tell from the video, this was VERY experimental. My objective was to see how difficult a project this would be. I didn’t storyboard the concept, I basically just experimented as I went along. I nudged each post-it about 1 centimeter per photo and as the adhesive on the post-it begain to wear off, I found that the glue stick came in VERY useful. Believe it or not, I managed to get by with a total of 11 post-it notes. At the final tally, I took approximately 225 photos to achieve this 55 second clip.

The toughest part was locating suitable music and timing it to the pictures in MovieMaker. I used Audacity and compared the track to the timing in Moviemaker as I went along and noted the timeframe at which my sounds would come along.

Do I think this project is feasible in the classroom—ABSOLUTELY. Not only that, my own children were very enthusiastic and curious about the process and proceeded to make their own stop-motion videos after I finished.

A Baker’s Dozen -- Ideas for Stop Motion Use in English Language Arts

1. Focus on the ROOT (Greek, Latin or other) of a word and the words that can be derived from it. Write words on post it notes and add or subtract words that are come from a similar root.
2. Use post-it notes to show how adding prefixes and suffixes to words changes them.
3. Create an alphabet story.
4. Pick a word to create other words from.
5. Pick a word and show how that word can create an entire SENTENCE from one main word. **bonus if that main word is the subject of the sentence!.
6. Create rebuseswith words and symbols that make up another word.
7. Focus on Compound words. Show one word on a post-it note, add another word and then show they blend to create a new word.
8. Use storyboarding and pictures to create a story. Have students use the interactive: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/plot-diagram/ to show the plot curve.
9. Have students create Word Operations as featured in WordsTheirWay For example: ANIMAL – L + ATE = ANIMATE
10. Have students demonstrate a spelling word sort through stop motion.
11. Practice spelling words written on post-its via short stop motion animations – show and share with one another.
12. Practice sentence structure (or sentence stretchers) by writing a short sentence and then expanding it. Use the post-it notes like magnetic poetry (or use magnetic poetry instead!)

An Online Image Option for the Classroom

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:31:50 PDT

As part of a unit on landform studies in my Social Studies class, I wanted students to be able to identify, in an authentic way, the various landforms that we were featuring in our unit of study. One challenge I faced was that any image I found and attempted to photocopy or reproduce for a worksheet was greatly compromised in the process. These poor quality images forced me to rely on vocabulary words and definitions to teach the concept rather than creating a visual connection to the landform that I wanted the students to learn. To solve this problem, I searched for images that represented different landforms that I needed my students to know.

There are MANY image warehouses available on the internet. I used flickr for many of the landform pictures. GoogleEarth also provided great views of larger landforms that I was able to screen capture.

Uploading each picture into Picasa (one of many online photo storage sites) allowed me to house the collection of pictures in one location. Instead of including comments about each picture, I typed the definition of the landform in the comments section.

As an assessment, I had the students log onto Picasa with a numbered worksheet and a word bank. They then needed to look at each landform, read the definition and write the word on their worksheet.

This type of lesson could be adapted to MANY different content areas that involve recognizing and identifying a location, image, landmark, invention, person, etc.

Here are some materials that I utilize to teach Landforms.

(1) Follow this link for access to a Word file in Scribd that lists many landforms and provides students with an opportunity to explore the definition through multi-modalities. http://www.scribd.com/doc/19950040/Land-Forms

(2) In conjunction with the document, use this list to explore EACH landform. Simply cut and paste the location into GoogleEarth and it will zoom directly to that landform. In instances where the landform cannot be explored through GoogleEarth, click the link for a photo. http://www.k12.ginet.org/webpages/mhoward/social.cfm?subpage=10058

(3) Play “Geography Rocks” bingo as a review of the landforms. Use pebbles or small rocks as bingo chips. Follow this link for access to a bingo board as a Word file in Scribd. http://www.scribd.com/doc/19683896/Geography-Rocks-Board.

(3) This Picasa photo album provides a picture of each landform along with a definition of each landform: http://picasaweb.google.com/Mrs.Mary.Howard.118/GeographicalTermsLandforms#

(4) Follow this link for access to a Word file in Scribd that can be used along with the Picasa photo album. http://www.scribd.com/doc/17436316/Land-Forms-Quiz

Adventures in Geocaching

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:52:38 PDT

Adventures in Geocaching

For those that aren’t familiar with the term Geocaching, it basically breaks down like this. Geo is the Greek root for earth and cache is a place for hiding, storing, or preserving treasure or supplies. Therefore, the noun, Geocache refers to the a hidden treasure on earth that you might find while performing the verb Geocaching. In essence, Geocaching is high-tech treasure hunting whereby you search for a hidden item by following latitude and longitude coordinates using a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS). The person that has hidden the cache provides the coordinates to the location.

I stumbled upon this activity several years ago quite accidentally when I was traveling in Alaska (considered a muggle at the time--a non-geocaching native). My husband and I were hiking in the Tongass National Forest in Ketchikan and found a father and his son huddled around a cache in the form of an ammobox hidden in the woods. They were busily recording their visit in a travel log as we spotted them.

Since that time, my Geocaching adventures have led me all throughout my island neighborhood as well as around to world attempting to find hidden treasures with my family. As an educator, I was convinced that there must be some way to implement this exciting and interesting activity in my classroom. I simply knew that the inherent excitement in discovering something hidden would be a natural draw for students.

Geocaching CAN be implemented in the classroom without an exorbitant outlay of money, time or energy. Below are some ideas and suggestions for ways to integrate geocaching into ANY content area’s curriculum

Idea #1: Create a class Travel Bug and deposit it into a local cache. Follow the bug’s journey and map the route.
http://www.geocaching.com/track/faq.aspx
http://maptrot.com/

Idea #2: During a field trip, take a side trip to a nearby cache.
http://www.geocaching.com

Idea #3: Plant a class cache and watch as visitors log in from all over. Create a map documenting visitors.
http://stevemorse.org/jcal/latlon.php

Idea #4: Research the history of local landmarks. Create a cache at a location that describes the history of that site.
http://sites.arnold.k12.ne.us/gswingle/stories/storyReader$4

Idea #5: Investigate and locate Earthcaches via Google Earth
http://rock.geosociety.org/earthcache/earthcache.aspx

Idea #6: Participate in a Geolit Project or Webquest
http://www.geolit.org/
http://www.fallriverschools.org/geocachewebquest.html

Idea #7: Conduct a GPS Scavenger Hunt or Hide N Seek on your school property
http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classgpslsn.html
http://lovinfifth.com/gps/GPS-activities.htm

Idea #8: Identify different varieties of trees in a nature preserve (or on your school grounds) and record their coordinates. Then challenge other students to find the trees given specific coordinates.

Idea #9: Create a cultural cache. Fill a cache with items reflecting your region. Encourage visitors to log their reaction/responses to share with your class.

Other GREAT Geocaching Resources
http://www.geocaching.com This site provides a WEALTH of information on geocaching. Membership allows you to access locations to geocaches worldwide.

http://www.eduscapes.com/geocaching/kids.htm This site provides a good definition of geocaching as well as some terrific nature connections with Geocaching.

http://education.usgs.gov/common/lessons/geocaching_gisitr04t.pdf This printable file was an alien encounter Geocaching contest. The ideas could be helpful for building your own similar type activity.

http://geocats.blogspot.com/ A blog dedicated to geocaching experiences.

http://www.futurelab.org.uk/projects/savannah Futurelab, transforming the way people learn through innovative technology and practice, provides a look at a Geocaching project called Savannah where a virtual space is mapped directly onto a real space

http://www.esstt.rnu.tn/utic/tica2007/sys_files/medias/docs/p28.pdf This article examines geocaching in education

http://www.trimble.com/gps/index.shtml A great tutorial on the ins and outs of geocaching.

http://www.juicygeography.co.uk/gps.htm This site evaluates different models of GPS handheld systems.

http://teacherlink.org/content/math/activities/gps.html Mathematic connections and lessons with GPS systems.

http://www.gis2gps.com/GPS/lessonplans/gpsplans.htm More great lesson plans and geocaching ideas

http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/geocode GPS Visualizer – finding latitude and longitude coordinates in your area

http://rmmcweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/gps.html Great tips, lessons and ideas from USGS.

Geocaching can be a wonderful tool to enhance student understanding of geography, location and place, science and nature, scientific inquiry, mathematical concepts, physical education, problem solving, teamwork, critical thinking as well as language arts activities.

Web 2.0 Tools to Assist Student Research

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:57:40 PDT

Conducting focused research is often an insurmountable task when you ask a young student to begin exploring the vast resources available via the internet. A stuent's first unguided attempt to find data to support a topic that they are researching may seem overwhelming. Even with the most focused of thesis statement, most search engines will still expose students to millions of sites that would require endless hours for them to sift through.

In addition to the challenge of the number of sites a typical search may bring up, there is also the challenge of discovering materials relevant and appropriate to their research. Even with vigilant software controls preventing inappropriate content, students are still given access to sites with too much content and many times too high of a reading level. Exacerbating the problem is the challenge of keeping track of all of the sites that they come across in the course of their research.

Finally, the writing process alone is a challenge. Ensuring that a student is producing an organized focused paper and providing constructive feedback to that student as well as encouraging peer to peer feedback is a challenge that any teacher may face.

The focus of this blog is to provide recommendations and guidelines for student research and to introduce some VERY useful new technology tools that may assist students in the research process.

Recommendation #1. Help student develop a focused thesis statement (topic statement) BUT ALSO ensure they develop a list of keywords to help them search.

http://www.eyeplorer.com/
This is a graphical knowledge engine that allows the user to enter a keyword and the engine will discover keywords (initiated through wikipedia).

http://www.wordsift.com
Wordsift will evaluate a student’s research topic and/or thesis statement and sift the words based on most utilized words. It then activates a visual thesaurus with related words and a google image search of related images.

http://www.wordwebonline.com/
An online dictionary and thesaurus

http://thesaurus.reference.com/
Online dictoonary and thesaurus including visual thesaurus

#2. Note taking is DIFFICULT The first step in research requires a great deal of sifting through websites for the student to find just what they want. They are also easily distracted! A bookmarking site is great to help streamline and focus their search attempts as well as for providing opportunities to record their thoughts and highlight important information.

http://www.diigo.com/ - Digest of Internet Information, Groups and Other Stuff
Diigo works as a bookmarking site to save, tag and share websites that they have found useful, but it also allows students to highlight parts of a webpage as well as write and attach stickynotes to the pages. They can also leave comments about the bookmarked page and communicate/collaborate with other students.

http://marro.ws/
This site works like a box to obtain clippings of pieces of information from various websites that may be applicable to the student’s research. Text can be copied and pasted into a box to be saved or shared. Be careful, however, there seems to be no way to cite sources if you clip something from somewhere else!

www.del.icio.us
This is another bookmarking site that requires registration to be use. Similar to diigo, it allows students to save, tag and share websites that they have found.

www.bonzobox.com (with bonzo buddy messaging/sharing)
Yet another bookmarking site, BonzoBox saves websites as real-time images. This site has great appeal for students as it allows sharing and collecting of websites and resources in a fun and interactive way.

http://www.HeyPasteIt. HeyPasteIt provides a great spot for students to place temporary notes and information.

#3. Help students organize their information

http://www.text2mindmap.com
This application allows you to visually represent an outline as a map (like visualthesaurus). Allows students to visualize the relationship between sections in their research project and related concepts. Can be saved as a .jpg file

http://www.mindomo.com & http://www.wisemapping.com
This free mindmapping tools require a login but can be used to establish a framework for the topics to be included in a research paper. Can be shared or embedded.

http://www.gliffy.com
More of a flowchart/diagram type of application, this can perform more advanced relationships between topics or help establish a flowchart to represent a paper.

http://bubbl.us
Free mindmapping software that can be used to establish a framework for the topics to be included in a research paper. Can be shared or embedded. Very user friendly interface. NO ACCOUNT NEEDED.

http://www.dropmind.com & http://www.lovelycharts.com

Great for flowcharts and diagrams. Terrific user interface with dynamic images. An account is necessary but the potential for a dynamic attractive finished product is wonderful.

http://www.mind42.com
This is a great outline tool for creating a map to visually represent a paper. What is outstanding about this one is the ability to add images, links and notes to certain sections of the map. This would be a great way to monitor student progress through their research as the map is developed, they can update their progress through certain sections.

#4. Provide opportunities for writing, editing and collaborating

http://www.zohowriter.com
Zoho Writer is a collaborative editor that lets students create and share documents. Very user friendly and supports several file formats as well as 20 different fonts. Free. Login required.

http://www.Etherpad.com
Etherpad is a notepad style space that allows text to be copied into it (no formatting). Each space has a unique url and students can invite up to 8 guests to meet in that space for collaboration. Collaboration is real time and it includes a chat function which is WELL received by students. Each edit is tracked via a specific color.

http://www.Writeboard.com
Write, share, revise, compare. This web-based editor allows students to write online documents and collaborate with peers. Free. Login required.

http://docs.google.com/
Google Docs allows students to create text documents and presentations. All of the basic functions of a word processor are included and you can upload files. It is possible to invite people and work on files collaboratively; additionally, you can publish your documents and spreadsheets online with one click, as normal-looking web pages. Free to use. Google account required.

For a comprehensive source of search engines for students, see: http://www.teach-nology.com/mega_search/10_search_engines/

Podcast - Year in Review Project

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:53:51 PDT

Podcasting – Year in Review Project One annual project that has become very dear to me is the Year in Review Podcasting project. This project began based on an idea generated at our high school to create a review podcast to help students prepare for their global studies regents exam. In an effort to simulate that activity and to provide the students with a review experience, we conceived of a podcast project that would summarize one unit of study (from Social Studies) that we had covered throughout the year. The objective was to create a product that could be used to present to the students next year that would summarize and provide highlights to an upcoming unit. This project is a multi-step project culminating in a sharing activity where finalized student podcasts are shared with the rest of class—what a TERRIFIC way to end the year.

Here, step by step, is how we did it.

What is a Podcast?

(iPOD broadCAST) An audio broadcast that has been converted to an MP3 file or other audio file format for playback in a digital music player or computer. The "pod" in podcast was taken from "iPod," a portable, digital music player, and although podcasts are mostly verbal, they may contain music, dialogue and even pictures.

The Process

Step #1:

-Choose a topic that you wish to Podcast about and brainstorm suitable vocabulary.

Step #2: Obtain lyrics. Begin to write out your narrative, Music, lyrics, Poem or Dialogue. Some good lyric websites include: www.lyrics.com, www.azlyrics.com -I provided students with the following list of songs and lyrics to chose from to streamline the process a bit.

Step #3: Plan slides/images that match your narrative (be sure to record your sources in Noodlebib!)

Step #4: Get your music!! I like to use http://www.freemidi.org to download and save midi files of my choice, then I use http://www.Media-Convert.com to change the.midi file format to an .mp3 format. The files I used are here: http://www.k12.ginet.org/webpages/mhoward/podcast.cfm

Step #5: Open Audacity and open your new .mp3 file. You can play this music or click on the red dot to record with your music. YOU WILL NEED A MICROPHONE! Use this link to download YOUR OWN version of the free Audacity software: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ also obtain lameencoder file at http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php?title=Lame_Installation

How to Use Audacity:

Free online screencasting tool

Step #6: Export your finalized Audacity file as an .mp3 file.

Step #7: Select/Upload images and Audio (.mp3) file into Moviemaker.

Step #8: Modify the timing of the images to match the timing in the sound file.

Step #9: Finish your movie by saving onto your computer as a .wmv file. Use this link to convert your file to a .MOV or .MP4 for use on an i-pod or apple computer: http://www.Media-Convert.com

Those darned cellphones. Do they have a place in the classroom?

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Howard) — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:22:31 PDT

As intermediate and secondary teachers, we gnash our teeth over the cell phone debate. "Should I allow cellphones in the classroom?" "Why am I disparaging students with phones? "Am I opening pandora's box if I allow cellphones in my classroom?"

As this debate rages on (sometimes beyond our control), I am suggesting that there are effective and useful options for utilizing the cellphone in the classroom (yes really!!) Many dollars have been invested in the 'clicker' technology to meet students on a level that they are familiar with and at a level that sincerely engages them. But why not embrace the technology that they come to the table with? Why not allow a student to utilize what they are comfortable with as a method for assessment (both formative and summative) or as a method for collaboration and communication?

While surveying polling options via the Internet one day, I found an intriguing site. www.polleverywhere.com, and I wondered why this particular application couldn't be utilized in the classroom. Polleverywhere.com provides instant feedback
to survey questions by asking respondents to text their selection to a given text messaging number provided within the website. Feedback based on respondent results is given immediately (sounds a little like the CPS system or 'clickers' to those that have used them) Not to diminish the effectiveness of clickers in the classroom, I've used them and enjoyed the results, but we have students possessing a powerful technology in their sometimes grubby :) little hands, why don't we use it as a tool for learning?

I myself do not have an effective cell phone that utilizes the more advanced options such as utilizing twitter or Internet access, but there are those that do. If twittering were allowed in school, students could be put in groups (with one sophisticated cellphone user per group) and the groups could interact and twitter responses to questions via their group cell phone. This solves the problem of 'everyone' having the most sophisticated phone and yet again allows the students to use the tools that they come to the table with.

Do you have an opinion? Have you tried to use cellphones in the classroom? Did it work? Why, Why Not? Please let me know your experience or thoughts!