CTAP Siskiyou Web 2.0

I especially am interested in the sending group texts to parents. Our school doesn't have an auto-dialer yet for emergencies or group events, and this would be one way to get the information out quickly. For teachers, what a great way to notify parents of urgent matters or upcoming events or needs.

"How is it now that so many adults are reduced to tears when confronted by an unfamiliar technology?" One answer is that, "We have learned to become helpless; most likely by playing the traditional game of 'school'." Our evaluations through PD surveys, conversations, and focus groups indicate that teachers feel they don't use technology because they don't have enough training. Tom Whitby advises educators hesitant to use the modern tools of today, to stop relying on others and take ownership of their learning and suggests this can be done through developing a personal learning network.

Link to the SUHSD Blog

Using Edmodo (specifically setup with schools in mind) - Ideas for using in Middle School/High School. Excellent  list generated by teachers.

Check out this great use of Livebinders to help students add content to a curriculum. This teacher did it with 3rd graders...me thinks older students could do even more with it. Great collaborative application and think of the possibilities for PBL. 

Students can create their own sounds & music and avoid copyright issues.

Has bullying self-assessment for students

Witness - history as told by the people who were there. Five days a week people who lived through moments of history will bring you a personal perspective on world events. Pretty cool resource.

Here is a LiveBinder with resources used for a Virtual Summer Camp (technology camp for teachers). Again, using LiveBinders makes it a snap to organize resources you want to share.

"The PLN Matures. The Progression of the 21st Century Personal Learning Network" - learn how some educators are growing in good educational practice & collaboration and the process that is taking place in that development. Excellent post!

"Soshiku is a simple but powerful tool that manages your high school or college assignments. Soshiku keeps track of when your assignments are due and can even notify you via email or SMS."

Julie Greller is an educational media specialist in a New Jersey junior-senior high school. Recommended by Richard Byrne, of Free Technology for Teachers, it to be a well organized resource that all K-12 educators could benefit from. Julie has organized her site into three sections, one each for elementary, middle, and high school. Within each section are dozens of subsections for all manner of topics taught in public schools.

From my Google Voice inbox I can reply to text messages and the other person never sees my real cell phone number. Furthermore, it's free for my to send text messages back to anyone who texts via my Google Voice number. Watch the short video below to learn how this works. This YouTube playlist walks you through many of the other Google Voice features. On a related note, Wes Fryer recently wrote a post with detailed directions on how to send text messages from a Google Docs Spreadsheet.

"During class time, the teacher will stand at the front of the room and hold forth on the day's topic. Then, as the period ends, he or she will give students a clutch of work to do at home. Lectures in the day, homework at night. It was ever thus and ever shall be. But one American teacher is taking a different approach - and in the process, he's offering a lesson in innovation for organizations of every kind. Karl Fisch is a 20-year veteran of Arapahoe High School, located south of Denver, Colorado. For the past 14 years, the one-time maths teacher has been the school's technology coordinator." Learn about the Fisch Flip - instead of having students do algebra problems at home after listening to the lecture at school, he has flipped it around, and puts his lectures on the web and then does the work with students at school. It's working well. Check out his videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/karlfisch

Effective lessons with great resources to help students, teachers, and parents better understand Digital Citizenship

"What is a PLN? Why is it important? In module 1, I go over how to build a PLN and where to find teachers and people to connect with. PLNs can be built with people you meet at networking events, online, blogs, social networks, and microblogs like Twitter. This is the first module of a ten module series."

Eric Sheninger - Principal - know as NMHS_Principal on Twitter

This is a blog focused on the concepts of PLN's and Lateral Wisdom in Education that I enjoy reading.

66 percent of the students surveyed said they are bored on at least a daily basis in school, with 17 percent reporting that they are bored in every class.35% of bored students indicated that the source of their boredom was a lack of interaction with their teacher