Group items tagged

"Last week Why Are There Clouds? was one of the most popular posts on the Free Tech for Teachers Facebook page. A good follow-up to that lesson is found in Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? Produced by It's Okay to Be Smart, Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? explains why we sometimes think we smell rain before a thunderstorm. Through the video we also learn about the role of petrichor in the lives of some animals."

"I have to admit when I first heard about how coloring books for adults and teens are all the rage, I was a bit skeptical. Then I saw the beautiful new coloring books with loopy, fabulous, mesmerizing line drawings and I was sold! I also just really like the smell of a new box of Crayons! Like PlayDoh, they smell happy. Don't judge me. I then did some research on the Zen of Coloring and found out that teens find coloring very relaxing, meditative, and stress relieving - perfect for middle school! I also think in this world of multi-tasking, coloring keeps our hands busy and let's our mind wander free- it's also related to another hot topic mindfulness. I know that when I'm in a group setting without technology, say a staff-meeting, a conference, or a lecture, I find myself doodling and making line drawings. Always have - do you?"

"My Incredible Body is an iPad app (currently free) designed to help students learn how the human body works. The app features eight sections. Those sections are circulation, muscles, senses (vision, smell, hearing, touch), kidneys & urine, skeleton, respiration, digestion, and brain & nerves. Each section of the app contains short animated videos that explain the functions of each system and how it works."

"A great story teller can transport you to another world. They immerse you in the detail where you can see, smell and hear the narrative they are weaving. Great digital storytelling should be just as engaging and immersive, and tools like Storybird can really help students make this happen. A simple and intuitive writing interface partnered with gorgeously free illustrations, Storybird is one of the most popular tools for digital storytelling in schools around the globe."

"Most people who have a dog love their dog and think he or she is pretty awesome. But even if your dog is a snarling, yapping jerk that is mean and threatening to everyone (Yep, I'm looking at you, Scooby - dog across the street!), his nose is still pretty darned amazing. (and yes, we know you love him in spite of his jerk tendencies). The video below, courtesy of the always awesome TED-Ed, takes a look at how your dog's nose helps them to 'see' the world. You'll better understand your dog's olfactory prowess, and hopefully, let them sniff a little longer on their next walk!"

"Down a locker-lined hallway at Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis, Zac Felli, a junior, walks to his first class of the day. He wears tortoiseshell glasses and is built like he could hit a ball hard. He has enviable skin for a teenager, smooth as a suede jacket. Over one shoulder he carries a slim forest-green and tan messenger bag that would have been social suicide in 1997. But 1997 was the year Zac was born, so he wouldn't know anything about that. A squat, taupe monolith flanked by parking lots, Lawrence Central smells like old brick and floor polish and grass. Its gleaming floors squeak if you move your foot a certain way. The school has existed on precisely this spot of land since 1963: maroon block letters over the door, tang of chlorine from the indoor pool. None of that has changed. Here's what has: After Zac turns the doorknob of Room 113 and takes his seat in Japanese III, he reaches into his shoulder bag, pushes aside his black iPhone 5S and Nintendo 3DS XL, and pulls out his Microsoft Surface Pro 3 tablet with purple detachable keyboard, which he props up on his desk using its kickstand. By touching a white and purple icon on his screen, he opens Microsoft OneNote, a program in which each of his classes is separated into digital journals and then into digital color-coded tabs for greater specificity. And then, without a piece of paper in sight and before an adult has said a word, he begins to learn."

"Book lovers all over the world are starting to wake up and smell the coffee: ebooks are way better than paper books. The benefits are many, like not having to lug around a 10-pound doorstop, being able to bring your whole library with you everywhere, and backing up your entire library to the cloud. But if you're a voracious reader, buying ebook after ebook can burn a huge hole in your wallet. One option is to subscribe to an ebook subscription service that grants access to an entire library of ebooks for a monthly membership of just a few dollars. The other option is to save your money and switch to freely available ebooks instead. You'd be surprised how many ebooks you can get without paying a cent, and that applies to both fiction and non-fiction. Where can you find these free ebooks? Well, we're glad you asked…"

"Your once snappy Chrome browser is dragging, and you don't know why. Do you blame Google, and switch to another browser to feel that new-browser smell once again? Not so fast! A browser reset is much less of a hassle, and will fix all kinds of issues-without deleting all your bookmarks and other data."

"Illness from the COVID-19 coronavirus can be deadly, but those whose symptoms persist for several months to years - called "long-haulers" - can suffer at least four lingering neurological effects, including headaches, brain fog, and the loss of sense of smell and taste, despite undergoing hospitalization for the initial contraction of the virus, according to a recent study published in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology."

"Facilitating creativity can be rewarding and exciting. Integrating creativity into the curriculum can be engaging to the learner. Creativity can be fostered by smell of a new crayon, the engagement of being able to tinker, the excitement of relaxing and creating, or some amazing technology already in your classroom. It allows student to go beyond the role of being curriculum consumers and blossom into curriculum producers. Creativity allows classrooms to go to the top of Bloom's Taxonomy in the vivid and colorful action verb each step was meant to be. I have divided these creativity resources into four different group I have included below. "