Group items tagged

"Back in primary school I remember learning about the internals of the human body by constructing a digestive system out of toilet rolls. Needless to say, that summer I probably used more toilet tissue than I needed too in an effort to get enough toilet rolls together. The results were awesome though. I plonked a marble through the cardboard oesophagus and proudly demonstrated to my parents the wonders of the human digestive system. I'm assuming my model had the equivalent of the runs as my marble got through in about 5 seconds. Now, the days of such eco-unfriendly learning are behind us and Zybright have released a great app called My Incredible Body, which I would say is aimed at ages 4-13."

"So when we saw the very useful teachbytes graphic above making some noise on pinterest on several different popular #edtech websites, it reminded us of the constant demands changing technologies place on existing ways we do business. When and in what contexts it makes sense to cite social media content is probably a more relevant post than sharing a graphic that simply shows the format, but they're both nice to have, yes?"

"With most teachers out of school for the summer by now, summer learning loss probably isn't top priority. After all, the kids are back in their parents' hands for at least a couple of months, right? If the students aren't in your classroom, there isn't a whole lot you can do beyond a summer reading list (that the parents may or may not encourage their students to complete, anyway). What you do have to worry about is the amount of catching up you need to do once you have students back in your classroom in the fall. The handy infographic below takes a look at some interesting statistics on summer learning loss, aka the 'summer slide'. It also offers some really simple ways to keep kids' brains churning along during their summer break. You can even offer these as simple recommendations to parents, to show them that summer learning doesn't necessarily mean their kids need to sit down and read all of Dostoevsky's works before the evenings get chilly!"

"Some of the best new features on iOS 8 are the ones you probably haven't used yet. That's because Apple has hidden a collection of new tricks and tools deep into its new mobile operating system, and many aren't easy to find."

"You're probably already familiar with Skype; the free service for calls and chat has become ubiquitous in recent years. It's revolutionized how people around the world communicate with each other. Friends and families living far away now have an easy, affordable way to communicate. Businesses have used it to increase the possibilities of remote work and collaboration between offices. And teachers have started to explore the opportunities it brings to education as well. If you haven't taken advantage of using Skype in your classroom yet, we've got a few suggestions and tools that can help you get started."

"At first, I was not sure how to introduce elements of the Maker philosophy into my English classroom. Much of the conversation around this movement focuses on technology and STEM subjects, but I see value in getting students to design and create in all subject areas. Since I don't have any actual technology in my classroom, I had to get creative in my approach. We were reading (performing is more accurate) Shakespeare's play, Othello. I usually do a mini-lesson on the Globe Theatre to introduce its design, layout, symbolic spaces, and genius construction. That's when I had an idea! Why not ask students to build replicas of the Globe Theatre? To build a model of the Globe, they would have to complete research, get creative with their materials and work collaboratively in groups. I realized that through the act of making their replicas they would probably learn more and have more fun."

"Of all the apps that students have shared with me over the years, Foldify is probably my favorite. A few years ago one of my my students used it to design a bunch of characters and buildings that he then printed, colored, and folded according to the Foldify print-out. He then used those characters in a video that he made. In his video he and other students provided the voices for each character. Last year Foldify introduced Foldify Zoo for designing and printing animals. This spring Foldify released Foldify Dinosaurs for designing, printing, and constructing dinosaur models."

"Looking for some interesting free documentaries to use in your class or probably use for your own professional and intellectual growth? This list from Open Culture has you covered. It features around 200 free documentaries spanning a wide range of topics from history to arts and science. All of these documentaries are provided with a short description about their content together with a link to the page where you can watch them and read more about the contextual information surrounding the topic they cover. It will take you awhile to sift through the entire list but we are pretty sure you will come out with some good documentaries to share with your class."

"Children are natural makers - give a kid a cardboard box, and she'll transform it immediately into an oven, a spaceship, an elevator, or something else that I probably cannot imagine. Recent years have seen a growth of the maker movement, or an enthusiasm for inventing and creating new technologies and tools, in the U.S., Europe, and many countries across the world. Here is a look at the origins of the maker movement, how it fosters creativity, and some of the resources available to kids."

"Mathspace is another great math resource we want to draw your attention to in this post. This award-winning platform combines three useful functionalities: an online maths textbook, workbook and mark book. Students can use Mathspace to get help with their math problems. It allows them to work on online math exercises and get instant feedback at each step in the process. Mathspace also provides 'a bank of over 15,000 interactive questions covering everything from addition to algebra, geometry to graphing, probability to statistics.'"

"T-Charts Pros and Cons is a free iPad app designed to help you organize your thoughts about a question or dilemma. This simple app provides a clean layout in which you can write your pros and cons lists. Each thing that you write on your lists can be given a different weight. For example, if you're trying to decide if you should study or go to a party you can give extra weight to "will probably do better on the test if I study" in your chart. Within T-Charts Pros and Cons you can create and manage multiple lists. All of your lists can be emailed to friends for their input and feedback."

"If you are a subscriber to this blog, you are probably aware that we champion the use of appropriate and integrated technology in ECE. As we begin a new school year, I wanted a technology center for our kids that we could use throughout the year. The QR Code Alphabet Games below will not only help introduce your kids to QR Code technology, but they will also allow for mobile technology integration as letters/words are introduced. "

"As the school doors swing open to welcome the start of another year, both teachers and students will have goals: to inspire a class, to learn new things, to get good grades. What probably won't be on that list is to make a mistake -- in fact many. But it should be. "

"For many teachers, online games are the scourge of the classroom - a drain on students' attention, time and potential. Any educator who has ever tried to teach a lesson using online resources or taken a class in the computer lab has probably experienced the frustration of finding a student on a gaming site instead of sticking to the intended lesson plan. But online games don't always have to be a distraction (see last week's post 5 Reasons to Embrace Gaming in the Classroom). In fact, there are many brilliant educational games out there that can actually engage and inspire students and equip them with the tools and ambition to approach a whole host of exciting careers and academic paths"

"The simple truth is that turning students on to nonfiction reading - proving that articles from sources like Popular Science and Gizmodo and National Geographic can be JUST as amazing as The Hunger Games or The Lightning Thief or The Lunar Chronicles - is probably the MOST important contribution that I can make to the academic and intellectual growth of my students. Being exposed to high interest articles from a wide range of fields - space science, biology, chemistry, earth science - might just introduce kids to personal passions and future professions.  Seeing science in action turns what could be just another boring subject in school into an interesting career worth pursuing.  Just as importantly, exposing kids to high interest nonfiction text on a regular basis will build their comfort level with a genre that will increasingly define the reading that they do as middle schoolers, high schoolers and adults. So I'm trying something new this year:  I'm going to use Remind - a free service that allows teachers to send out text and/or email updates to parents and students - to share two or three interesting science current events every week."

"What are the real benefits of a maker-centered approach to learning? It's often described as a way to incubate STEM skills or drive technical innovation - and it is probably both of these. But as a new report from Project Zero's Agency by Design concludes, the real value of maker education has more to do with building character than with building the next industrial revolution.  "

"Google Drive apps are third party add-ons that enable you to do more with your Drive. Chrome web store is teeming with all kinds of apps to use with your Drive, our Educational  Drive Apps section features some of the best educationally relevant apps for teachers and educators. The purpose of today's post is to share with you four basic Drive tips related to the integration and use of third party apps on your Drive. You are probably already familiar with some of them  (especially tip 1 and 3) but we are assuming that you are new to Drive and you want to be able to correctly install and mange your apps. Here is  what you have to keep in your mind:"

"Today, I came across Maths Storytelling Day (25th September, celebrated annually). Although the day isn't for a while yet, it got me thinking. When pondering my own education, I remember maths being one of the subjects which incorporated stories fairly regularly. A favourite being that of making a robot move around and follow your instructions, which in today's education, could probably slide under computing. I always thought that it was perhaps my teacher's style, but upon reflection, and with a particular day dedicated to it, it has become apparent that the reason we do maths through storytelling is because it works! "

"Do you use Mystery Skype in your classroom? If so, you are probably familiar with how it works, but if you are looking for some extra tips, or want to get some other teachers involved, you should check out the new Mystery Skype Curriculum that Microsoft has put together for teachers who are connecting their classrooms all around the world. The curriculum is free for anyone who wants to use it, but you do need a Microsoft account in order to sign in and view the latest version. Microsoft accounts are free, and you may already have one if you have a Hotmail or Outlook.com email address. For some reason Office 365 for School accounts do not seem to be supported, but this may have changed by the time you read this blog post."

"I was 11 the year my summer camp director transformed the regular schedule, procedures, and lingo that we were used to-into the most memorable, enriching experience I had ever encountered at that point in my life. I had no idea that he had 'gamified' the week; I just knew that it was the best summer ever. Instead of grouping us by numbers, we were named after the Greek alphabet. We competed daily against the other groups in volleyball, softball, kickball, and on the final night -a chariot and Olympic flame opened an epic Olympic Game contest at midnight. The director, or 'game master' as we were inclined to call him, even made everyone reset the clocks and watches-so we never knew what the real time was, the entire schedule was set on some sort of crazy alternate schedule. Now I realize that it probably allowed him to sleep in and us to stay up later, but we were none the wiser. Daily we played games, wrote skits, went swimming, and competed for cleanest cabins. We did all the regular stuff, but it was more fun because there were rules and boundaries and points and collaboration and competition and a clear, mutual understanding of goals and performance and criteria for success. As a student, I got to learn more about the power of 'gamifying' something, and what effect it had on learners."