Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

"From a wall of photos to celebrate your students to using photos as an organizational tool (for example, a photo of art supplies on the canisters where they're stored), photos can be incredible classroom tools. Here are 21 ideas for using photos in the classroom, from the first day of school to the last."

"3 Reasons Why Faculty Meetings Are a Waste of Time By Peter DeWitt on April 10, 2015 6:50 AM Faculty Meeting.png Many school leaders walk into a faculty meeting with a single idea of how they want to move forward and walk out with the same idea. That's telling... John Hattie talks a great deal about the Politics of Distraction, which means we focus on adult issues, and not enough time...if ever...on learning. That is happening around the U.S. for sure. Recently the Assembly of NY State only furthered those distractions, which you can read about here, which means that school leaders and teachers have to work harder to maintain a focus on learning. Quite frankly, well before mandates and accountability, school leaders focused on the politics of distraction and not on learning. Compliance is not new in schools. Faculty meetings were seen as a venue to get through and something that teachers were contractually obligated to attend. During these days of endless measures of compliance, principals can do a great deal to make sure they don't model the same harmful messages to staff that politicians are sending to teachers. Jim Knight calls that "Freedom within form." In Talk Like Ted, Carmine Gallo quotes Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo) when he writes, "Creativity is often misunderstood. People often think of it in terms of artistic work - unbridled, unguided effort that leads to beautiful effect. If you look deeper, however, you'll find that some of the most inspiring art forms - haikus, sonatas, religious paintings- are fraught with constraints. (p. 190)" Clearly, constraints have a wide definition. There is a clear difference between the constraints of compliance and the stupidity of the legislation just passed by the assembly in NY. As we move forward, principals still are charged...or at least should be...with the job of making sure they offer part...inspiration, part...teacher voice...and a great deal of focus on learning. There is never a more important tim

"Are you ready for another round of Tech It Up Tuesday, a series devoted to sharing an edtech tool, app, site or other resource that can be utilized in the classroom setting? This week's shout out goes to the LIFE Photo Archive powered by Google, a collection of unpublished historical images from LIFE Magazine that span from the 1750's to present-day. This database containing millions of images-a joint venture between LIFE Magazine and Google-is completely free and very simple to use. Just access the site and then select a category of photos to browse (decades, people, places, events, etc.) or use the search option to locate the desired image. Once a photo is found, it can be downloaded to your device and utilized in multimedia projects, documents, presentations, etc.-so long as it has an educational/non-commercial use."

"From the smartphone Annie Leibovitzes to the Instagram Ansel Adams, it seems that everybody is a photographer these days. This is a fact teachers can and should take advantage of in the classroom - and for many reasons more than to expand the student photo repertoire beyond the selfie (though that is certainly an admirable goal). While a good lesson in photography itself is a fruitful place to start, digital photography can be a launching point for lessons in writing creatively, thinking critically, expanding the student worldview and building empathy that extends far outside the classroom. Let's take a look at a few of the best photo sites out there today and discuss a number of ways you can make the most of them in your classroom."

"Thankfully, the design community and teachers such as Jane Hewitt are doing their best to provide alternatives to the cheesy and the costly - stylish and high-resolution stock photos that are completely free to do what you like with. Gone are the days of doing a quick Google Image search and cut and pasting an image without really considering who it belongs to. On the back of our post on digital citizenship, we've been meaning to write this as a follow-up. What good is an encouragement to cite your sources, respect copyright and give credit where it's due without any help to do so? Here, then, is your help… Half-decent stock photos are not always easy to locate, but here are the best we've found. What's great about this list is that for the vast majority, you don't need to include attribution - the photographer has provided them for you to do what you like with - whether that be the background for your TED talk (!), a story-starter for your English lesson or for your students to use in their project work."

""When I have a camera in my hand, I pay closer attention," she tells me. I feel the same way. I've written about using photos to document learning before. The process is as efficient as it is powerful, particularly for those who keep a cell phone tucked into their pockets most days. Begin by thinking about the most critical moves learners might make in a given period of time, make sure your phone is charged and easily accessible, and start shooting your data. When you're finished, these four tools can help you curate, share, and analyze the evidence you gather. Be sure to invite company. Accessing other voices will deepen your perspective and help you develop insights you may not have otherwise. This enriches data analysis."

"Creating a Twitter board is simple. Make a template with space for a profile picture, the student's real name, a Twitter-style handle, a short bio, and a list of followers. That takes about a quarter of a page, leaving room for tweets. Have students fill out profiles-some of mine drew a profile picture, but most used a photo-and slip the profiles into clear sheet protectors. When we do this exercise, I display the profiles on a whiteboard for a few days, using magnets to hold them in place. When we're done, I store the profiles in a folder-they don't take up much space and are ready for next time. Cut some paper into small slips that students can use for tweets, which they can tape onto the appropriate profile."

"Here's a computer science lesson and craft activity that speaks to my geeky heart.  I do it with groups of all ages, and it would be perfect for Activity Day girls. It could also work for Cub Scouts, perhaps with a hemp cord for a masculine look. It was inspired by the Code.org-sponsored "Hour of Code" event last year. The lesson plan by Thinkersmith is excellent,  and covers everything you need to know. It is comprehensive enough for someone without any computer science background to run the activity successfully. I'll summarize a few points here, but you should go read it. The necklace craft was my own addition. My daughter is modeling her necklace in the photo at left."

"Last week I laid out 3 Untapped Social Media Resources for Teachers. This week we take a look at how to leverage social networks for students.  My sister is a senior in high school. Whenever we spend time together I ask her about "what the kids are into these days?" She is right in the heart of the age range for kids who use social media the most (13-18 yrs old). Our conversations give me a sense of how kids are using social media and her thoughts on using it for learning, or even if there is a place for it. She tells me all the time that she's "addicted" to her phone, just like most adults. Most of her time is spent on Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. She and her friends are sending photos, snaps and videos back and forth all day long. That is their world. They are continually capturing what is happening around them and sharing it with each other. And we have the data to back her up. "

"Instagram isn't just a platform for selfies, business promotions, and cute animals. With a little creativity, you can bring the visual power of photos and videos to your classroom, weave them into your students' learning process, and bring a little fun to their (and your!) days. Do you use Instagram in your classroom? How do you use it? Share your ideas, hits and misses, and insights with the Daily Genius community by leaving a comment below, heading over to our Facebook page and dropping us a line there, or by tweeting us a message on Twitter!"

"I always try to do a video or something sweet to show the mom's of my students just how special they are! This week, as we celebrate our moms, my students did some "App Smashing" (When you use one or more apps together to achieve a final product) with ABCya's Word Cloud App, Photo and Video Transfer Over Wifi, Explain Everything, and I put it all together in iMovie."

Web widgets can bring new life to a classroom site. Web widgets are little bits of code you embed into a webpage or blog. Once a widget is placed on a page, it can grab updated information or display interactive content. Examples include word of the day, daily riddles, educational videos, audio files, photo albums, games, and polls.

"Today was a great day in our grade 4-5 STEM classroom. Last year I used MinecraftEDU with my students for several different lessons, and I tried a "perimeter and area building challenge," but this year I'm much more pleased with the quality of conversations I'm having with students about these geometric concepts in a simplified and modified version of that lesson I'm calling our "Geometry MinecraftEDU Challenge." These photos of whiteboard math from today's classes may look messy, but they represent some SUPER conversations with my students who were figuring out the different ways they could build a corral in MinecraftEDU that has an EXACT perimeter of 24 blocks."

"My wife came home the other day and started describing a new problem arising in her school, where students were claiming to be tired of using devices for everything. The students were apparently saying "Can't we just do a lesson on paper today or you just teach us." As she told me this, my wife didn't notice that she was simultaneously picking up her iPad to check Facebook and that made me think. Photo Credit In my observations around my school, it's those same students claiming device fatigue in the classroom that are not hesitating to turn to their device for 'life updates' as they leave that very same room. I would propose that it's not fatigue caused by device use but that caused by the pain of trying to carry out conventional, 20th century classroom tasks on devices that are designed for a world that conducts itself very differently."