Even more inspirational, here Sandy shares how she worked hard to find a place where students are treated with compassion and inclusion and how she found someone to work with her. She also built onto her house and had surgery on a thyroid tumor. I think that some people think that innovators have it easy and they'll just work when it is easier. Sandy didn't have it easy at all and look at what she's done. I find her reflections so heartwarming and hope some of you will share your stories. We should draw strength from one another.
What makes this app interesting is that you can use the whiteboard, but you can also record and record things "or over video streaming** without changing of application". So, you can record what you're doing and it records what you're doing and voice and drawings. FAscinating app but a tad more expensive at $4.99
A nice reflection on what is happening to reading with Common Core. I find the overemphasis on literary nonfiction problematic, unless, the fact that math and history are primarily nonfiction allows literature to remain 60-70% fiction, however, for those schools who just have "reading" in literature (that would be sad), this is going to have issues.
This is a great read.
"The CCSS mandates that by the end of high school, 70% of what students read should be informational texts -- specifically, complex and non-narrative literary nonfiction. Furthermore, students should be able to identify central ideas and articulate their development, summarize, analyze, draw inferences, identify an author's purpose, evaluate the effectiveness of rhetorical features, and figure out the meaning of words. In short, the CCSS has reclaimed a technique popular in the 1940s, close reading, or sustained interpretation of, in particular, the wording of a text."
Geofencing is a new concept in safety notifications. Schools can literally notify anyone entering an area (i.e. notify vendors and parents they must check in with the office when entering a certain area), leaving an area, or within an area of issues. This could be used to notify and protect students, teachers, and anyone on campus in the case of an emergency of any kind.
This article is one of the best I've seen about geofencing and how it works, although it is promoting an app (Ping4alerts) it is very useful for safety leaders and it directors to read and understand the potential of this very useful technology.
"Hyperlocal alerts are a new capability made possible by the rise of smart devices and "geofencing" technology. A geofence is a virtually "fenced-off" area or geographic location. When this concept is applied to mobile devices, it refers to the ability of users to receive automatic alerts or notifications when entering, leaving or moving within a geographic area specifically defined by a virtual geofence. That area could be as small as a single building or as large as a state or region of the country. System administrators draw a square on a map through their portal interface to designate the location and size of the geofenced in area."
More information on the Cnet download.com controversy. This one probably explains best why this "gray area" practice is drawing the ire of security analysts and those who have shared their software on download.com. What will be the alternative? Stay tuned.
Make a virtual paper snowflake with this great wintry site. Draw your pattern with the virtual pencil and cut out with the cyber scissors. Great to about out as Christmas cards.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Winter+%26+Christmas
Edit PDF documents with this great site. Just upload or link to an online PDF, add text, free hand writing/drawing and images, then download. Great for adding additional instruction or hand in dates to the PDFs you find online. No sign up require to use most features.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools
A site with a collection of maths videos designed to get students drawing graphs. Watch the motion of objects or values on scale in the videos and plot the numbers. The videos have the correct answers at the end.
Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art is a show to overturn such expectations. It leads the visitor - a bit like some erstwhile explorer - on a creative adventure around the back of that flat piece of paper we think of as the world. Drawing on the finest collection of maps on this planet - the British Library has more than four million to choose from, the vast majority of which are only very rarely, if ever, put on public display - the exhibition sets out to make clear that these pictures are about far more than mere physical description. They are a series of subjective images, each shaped by the beliefs and desires, the ambitions and prejudices, the passions and anxieties of its period.
...benefits of using trade books is increasing student engagement. High quality trade books are written as to spark interest and create a desire to read. Many contain colorful, interesting illustrations, photographs, and diagrams, all of which draw students into the text and improve comprehension.