This is a superb classroom management tool where you can track the behaviour of your class and keep them motivated. Simply click on the child and assign them a positive or negative behaviour point. You can also track their reading and spelling ages and make your own customised data set. Use this information to help you arrange the children within your class. You can have multiple classes on your teacher's account and you can share data with colleagues using different accounts. The data is encrypted to ensure data security. The system works on the majority of web enabled devices.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Classroom+Management+%26+Rewards
This teacher's lesson plan fully discloses the tools that are being used, the standards, and required permissions. This is a very detailed example, but one that you may have to use for large projects to get approval in your district.
As I'm reading on inquiry based learning, I came across another article, I'd like to share. In this article, it discusses how inquiry-based learning projects are driven by students. This very much aligns with the questions we ask on the Flat Classroom and other projects. The one point of meaning that I'm working to understand (and finding different answers depending upon the site) is that some differentiate that students should develop the questions rather than teachers "handing them" the questions. I have a lesson plan I sent through Diigo where the instructor designed a lesson around the question "Can there be giants?" and called in inquiry based. Under this article, it may not be called true inquiry based, and yet, I'm wondering if the question is intriguing and of interest and can be used in a way to teach if it really matters where the question originates.
My class is a mix of student-created inquiries (Freshman project) and project-generated inquiries (Digiteen, Flat Classroom). Interesting. Look forward to reading and understanding more (and sharing with you.)
This is another nice article on the topic. Feel free to share yours.
"Inquiry-based learning" is one of many terms used to describe educational approaches that are driven more by a learner's questions than by a teacher's lessons. It is inspired by what is sometimes called a constructivist approach to education, which posits that there are many ways of constructing meaning from the building blocks of knowledge and that imparting the skills of "how to learn" is more important than any particular information being presented. Not all inquiry-based learning is constructivist, nor are all constructivist approaches inquiry-based, but the two have similarities and grow from similar philosophies.
"Students from all over the world can collaborate in their classrooms and at home to create and publish books using Classroom Authors web based publishing application."
Very cool website -- this from the publisher "Our software was developed working with Colombia University Teacher's College and over 40 classrooms with the purpose of engaging students in the writing process through collaborative book publishing."
This looks to be a very cool website and another way to have students publish books and have an authentic audience.
Excellent word clouds created by Ben Rimes over at Tech Savvyed related to the Common Core State standards. This demonstrates how technology standards are related and embedded in the standards, particularly the writing standards. This is one big reason I'm publishing the book "Reinventing Writing." I think a lot of people know they need to write with technology but just don't understand how. This blog post is useful to read if you're having anything to do with Common Core implementation and these charts would be useful to share with your teachers in a quick teacher's meeting. Great post, Ben!
An 8th grade history teacher's blog about history, technology, and education. Includes lots of videos, presentations, and lessons, activities, and resources for making history more engaging in the classroom.
It is important to stimulate students learning in many different ways. Keeping teaching interesting for students and allowing them to be the engine that drives the learning environment is key. This blog will follow one teacher's quest to Make Learning Interesting!
The Harrold, Texas school district calls for teachers to carry guns to prevent a future Columbine school incident. Harry Smith talks to the superintendent and a teacher's federation representative
This page outlines how we are sharing video on the Horizon project this year. After literally hours of testing to overcome the "youtube barrier" we have worked out how to use Ning as our video sharing and embedding platform.
Using tools like a firefox plug in that allows downloading of any video AND zamzar, these 7 videos literally show you how you may "snag" and edit any video. Just remember to follow copyright laws when you do this.
This innovation was quite an epiphany for us and the videos were our effort to make it easy and take the video sharing aspect of the project out of the teacher's hands.
I love how this teacher is truly emerging into the blogosphere, after a comment from me, and pinging technorati with thoughts, this teacher's post has received noticed from the bloggers at the Wikinomics blog. This teacher is doing an excellent job with blogging and we're only seeing the beginning.
Publishing from Google Docs to blogger. So, this is what you could do. The teacher has enabled the link to the blog in the teacher's account settings. Students and many others create a document and then share it with the teacher. After the document is as it needs to be, the teacher can then post to blogger from google docs automatically.
This really gives you the best of wikis, blogs, and peer review as well as the ability to look at the revisions and who has contributed. This is something that I'm going to look at doing.
If your school has united streaming and you do things to teach others about how to use this resource, you can become a STAR educator. Here is the application process and let me know, I'll be happy to help you.
I have an ulterior motive on this one -- if I help recruit a STAR by December 1st, I can get a mythbusters or Deadliest catch DVD and really would love to give this to my son. Like all of you, I'm scrambling this year on Christmas to slash the budget and still do great things. (Hey, some of you might want to give my book for Christmas ;-)
So, if you decide to join and want a little help, let me know. And if you do so, let me know and I can get credit and get a DVD -- my son LOVES mythbusters!!
I've been a STAR educator for some time now, and it is another great networking program. They also have their summer institutes. They have a wealth of great resources and UNITED STREAMING is my teacher's FAVORITE classroom subscription that we have.
Here is a lovely cross- curricular project that the spanish teacher and I did together. She came to me and said, "I want to use this but will you help me on the technology side, I don't have to understand the technology to use the technology." My answer is YES! We took 2 days, did it in class, and there is a rich project that also gives her a legacy to hand down to other classes and for others to use and share.
In this, students are taking tours of countries. They will play this and critique it in class using the teacher's hook up between her computer and large screen tv.
"The Kentucky Virtual Library presents: How to do research!
Step 1: Plan your project
Plan your project tutorial
Define your subject
Brainstorm
What do you already know?
Group similar ideas
Identify key words and phrases
Make a quest strategy
Gather your tools
Step 2: Search for information
Search for information tutorial
The Kentucky Virtual Library
The library catalog
Encyclopedia
Reference books: table of contents and index
Magazines and newspaper articles
Dictionary
Search the World Wide Web
What if you can't find anything?
Step 3: Take Notes
Take notes tutorial
The KWL method
Fact finder method
Data sheets
Clustering method (also called mapping or webbing)
Venn diagram method
Note cards
Prints and photocopies
Bibliography page
Step 4: Use the information
Use the information tutorial
Scan the page first
The five finger test
Is the information true or bogus?
Put it in your own words
Organize the information
Compare and contrast
Put the information in order
Add your own conclusions
Step 5: Report
Share what you've learned tutorial
Step 6: Evaluate
Ask yourself, "How did I do?"
Glossary
Back to the introduction page
Portal | Home Base (Site Map) | Plan | Search | The Web | Take Notes | Use | Report | Glossary
Teacher's Toolbox | Flash Version | Text Only Version
Kentucky Virtual Library"
The updated 2006 copy of the National Reading Panel teacher's guide to give a framework for using the findings of the 200 national Reading Panel in the classroom. This is another guidebook for teachers and curriculum directors.