Group items tagged

"Guided Access, or what we to call "Kid Mode", is a fantastic addition to iOS that lets you lock an iPhone or iPad into a single app. Well, great when it works as it's intended, but it appears there's a pretty frustrating bug that makes the feature work a little too well once it's enabled in iOS 6 with some apps: triple-clicking the Home button doesn't summon anything and you're stuck in an app! This leaves you unable to leave Guided Access mode, but here's a workaround to get out of it until the bug is resolved:"

"That said, the handy infographic below takes a look at 4 ways technology is changing how people learn. The things that I find striking - and important- about this particular graphic is how simple the concept is. These four general concepts can be applied across the board: to learners of all ages, in all subjects, in any area of the world or for any type of learner. Take a look and see what you think: are there any other very general principles of how technology is changing learning that can be widely applied? Weigh in by leaving a comment below, mentioning @Edudemic on Twitter or leaving your thoughts on our Facebook page."

"Over the past few months, I've had the opportunity to run a number of sessions for teachers, which started as sessions entitled, "Tools for Engagement." For the session, I'd model a handful of tools for efficiency, management, and engagement, and then give participants time to explore and then crowdsource their favorite digital tools as well. Upon leaving the collaborative session, all participants would leave with a copy of the creation we had developed together. This past week at FETC, I had the opportunity to do this session again, alongside about 100 educators from all over the country. Upon completion of the session, a participant asked, "Can we share this document with those we work with?" My response? "Better yet, share it with every educator that you know that can benefit." In an effort to try and practice what I preach, I want to share the crowdsourced resource with YOU ALL as well. So, here it is…"

"What mindset do we want to instill in our students when they leave our classes and our schools?"

From the site: "I am hoping to connect our school with some other schools in a project where early elementary students share about their family and/or cultural traditions during the December holidays. This project is designed so that it does not require a lot of classroom time to complete and does not involve very complicated technology skills. It also will introduce teachers to Smilebox - which is a neat free tool for sharing images on the web and easily allows students and parents to leave comments."

Never leave the house without two things: 1. a Swiss Army knife, and 2. your camera. Why the knife? Because it's a multitasking tool that you can use a kajillion different ways. Why a camera? For exactly the same reason.

GENEVA - An worldwide conference on Sunday accepted a U.N.-brokered serenity strategy that demands the development of a adjusting govt in Syria, but at Russia's insistence the bargain contract remaining the entrance start to Syria's chief professional being aspect of it. The U.S. supported away from requiring that the strategy should clearly contact for President Bashar Assad to have no part in a new Syrian govt, expecting the concession would motivate Italy to put higher stress on its long time best friend to end the aggressive attack that the resistance says has stated more than 14,000 life. But even with Russia's most specific declaration of assistance yet for a governmental changeover in Syria, it is far from certain that the strategy will have any actual impact in reducing the assault. A key expression in the contract needs that the adjusting relating to human body "shall be established on the foundation common approval," successfully providing the existing govt and the resistance veto energy over each other. Syrian resistance results instantly denied any idea of providing in a changeover with Assad, though the contract also needs protection power chiefs and solutions to have the assurance of the individuals. Assad's govt had no immediate response, but he has regularly said his govt has a liability to remove terrorists and will not take any non-Syrian style of government.

" sometimes get these secret emails or direct messages from some pretty amazing thinkers in education, talking about how they feel really constrained by the leadership in their schools. Sometimes after speaking, I get teachers in near tears thinking of "what could be" in their schools if only their administrators started reading blogs, looking at twitter; just something to push their learning. It seriously hurts to see the pain in the eyes of these teachers because they just want to do what is best for kids, yet they are feeling extremely constrained. They feel they are not in a situation where they can serve students in the way they feel would help them best in the future. The paradox that they face is that they stay and be frustrated or leave and feel they have abandoned students that need their help. This is an extremely tough situation."

"In Texas, there are 180 days of instruction, taking away 30 days for state testing so that leave 150 days for instruction. Let's say that a teacher gives a curriculum-based test once every two weeks and the district benchmark test three times a year. That is 21 less days of instruction or 129 days. Now, schools typically have three days of teacher in-service. Five special assemblies, two holiday parties, two half days, four emergency drills and three sick days takes away 15 more days bringing it to 111 days."

"Summer has begun! This is a great opportunity to reflect on the past year and to learn some new skills for next school year. We will be starting a weekly book study of Dave Burgess', Teach Like a Pirate on 6/17 at 8pm CST. Burgess teaches cutting-edge strategies for skyrocketing creativity so that teachers will be able to design lessons to draw students into their content like a magnet. Readers will leave with the ability to create a classroom experience that will have students knocking down the doors to get in. The book will have your mind racing with ideas that you can bring into your classroom immediately."

"oday's "Best Educational Apps for Kids" list is Science apps for kindergarden and early elementary kids. I did not include those animal related apps, as there will be a separate list of "Best Educational Apps for Kids" on "Nature and Animals". If you know any good science apps for kids age 6 to 10, please leave the app name in a comment. I will update the list periodically."

"First, let me thank you for entrusting me with teaching your children, honoring the amazing individuals they are, and helping them discover the confident and empowered young people they can be. Providing a rich and engaging environment for your children to learn in is my utmost concern, but Iately I have had to acknowledge that the young people I see every day do much of the learning that is important to them when they leave the parking lot and head home from school. Thus, I am writing to solicit your help."

"This presentation will look at how easy it is for a district or school to enhance communication with their community through the development of a mobile app, without having to hire a mobile device programmer or a company to develop an app. Participants with their own device will spend part of the session starting to build their own app and should leave the session feeling comfortable in their ability to finish their app after ISTE."

"nce again, I am amazed every time I talk to groups and find out so many educators have not used word clouds to their fullest extent with their students. Word clouds also provide an easy way for teachers who are just getting started using web technology in the classroom. I have tried to include a multitude of subject areas. These ideas include practices shared with me, various readings, and a lot of my own brainstorming. I know this will be an article you wish to share with others. In order to better understand some of the advanced uses I suggest you may wish to read my past post entitled, 12 Valuable Wordle Tips You Must Read.  One example of an advanced feature includes putting multiple words  together in a word cloud. If using Wordle, just put a tilde (~) between them. (Example (ice~cream~cone). While I call it advanced, it is also necessary to know in order to get the most out of word clouds in the classroom..Also, keep in mind that Tagxedo and Tagul are great alternatives to Wordle. Keep in mind that word clouds are a Web 2.0 tool. Make sure your students practice proper digital citizenship and privacy. You should also check your district AUP (Acceptable Use Policy). By the way… do you have an idea I have not listed? Then just take a moment and leave a comment or email me at mjgormans@gmail.com . I thank you in advance. Now, let's explore those word clouds!"

"As Abby walked into the school building she had a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was November and she had just moved into a new community. She was nervous about starting a new school midway through the school year. This was her first day of school and she kept her eyes down, nervous, not knowing what to expect as she walked into the main office. Suddenly, the office secretary called out to her in a tone that made her skip a breath, "Where are you supposed to be?  Do you have a pass?  Move on now before the tardy bell rings and the vice principal gives you a detention for being late." Each day in school offices across the country this scenario is playing out with regularity.  Although it may come across as somewhat exaggerated, those of you who have spent any amount of time in school have probably at one time or another been witness to such an interaction in the main office area.  It is these defined interactions that has led to us to ponder this question.  Have we reached the point where we are willing to allow negative interactions to drive the level of success of our students, staff and our school? What if we were to pause, step back and view our office culture through the eyes of students, parents, guests or even staff who visit the main office? What would they say?  If we manage our interactions appropriately they will leave feeling valued and cared for and look forward to their next return trip."

"One thing that always interested me about History was the growing realisation that even the supposedly simplest and most straightforward facts are quite often shrouded in a mystifying narrative; a trail of sources that leaves the true story open to a range of opposing interpretations and outcomes. Whilst we may think we have answered all the questions and arrived at the correct conclusions about the sequences of events, a differing theory or discovery of a contradictory source can suddenly debunk the accepted. That is what makes learning History so fascinating; the mysteries. The definite mysteries that we may never solve or we can see evolving into an answer as decades move forward, or the certain chronicle that suddenly finds itself turning into a cryptic puzzle as later evidence emerges. Within us all is a person who wants to know the answers when challenged by the unknown, and to embrace the exhilaration of cracking a Sherlockian case. Instead of a just a 'Whodunnit?', exploring history mysteries involves a wider spectrum of narratives and therefore can offer a far more rich tapestry of skills including analysis, questioning and the evaluation of places, events and persons. Follow me down the rabbit's hole into the wonderland of history mysteries."

"Integration into the Kindergarten curriculum was a rather loose connection, but definitely a great introduction to 3D printing. One of the Kindergarten writing units revolves around "Looking Closely" at different things and writing about them like a scientist. Many of the Kindergarten teachers like to choose leaves as one of the objects students write about, so I decided to expand this idea into the design of a 3D printed leaf. To support students looking closely at small details as well as develop fine motor skills, each class worked together to make a blown up drawing of a leaf. In order to avoid having the whole class fighting over space to observe and draw around one piece of butcher paper, I set up the class so that I had three stations for the students to rotate around. The other two stations were a Bee Bot coding station and an Engineering Design challenge with Legos (design a bridge strong enough to hold a water bottle)."

"I visited a classroom this morning as the supervisor of our Educational Technology practicum. I love visiting schools, not because it gives me a sense of "relevance" but because it allows me to do something I rarely got the chance to do as a classroom teacher: visit other classrooms and watch the amazing things that happen. Somewhere in the back of my mind, there is this question, "What do you forget when you leave the classroom?""