EBTL2

Interesting article on a study about inclusion. Amazing to read how much it helps those with disabilities as well as their regular education peers in their studies as well as socially. I wish there were more opportunities for co-teaching and full inclusion.

Team Tap Jam aka Team AMERICA) (Created using the PhotoLayers App)

created in Skitch. Shared from Evernote

I am looking to get my students involved in using Skype to connect with other schools and people in the United States and around the world. In the process of searching for different programs I came across this article about an Australian school that connected with students at a Ugandan refugee camp. "Here & There is aimed at raising awareness around issues facing refugees among Australian schoolchildren, their parents and the wider population. It is purpose-designed to dovetail with the Australian geography curriculum, ensuring participating children attain maximum educational benefit while undertaking this life-changing opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences with children who have very different lives." I would love to get my students involved in something like this so that they can get a deeper understanding of another culture and make connections. I would be interested to hear if anyone has any experince with something like this and could offer suggestions. Thanks!

Hi Chis, I would love to work on this with you - with the iPads you have it should be easy to do.. Let me know when you are planning on doing it.. ~Meg

We used the camera app to take the photo, Skitch to put text on it, and Evernote to create a URL for Diigo.

We used educreations and took a screen shot.

Reasons Padlet is great for classroom use and how it can be leveraged in the history classroom. Some of these techniques can be used in almost any classroom! Got this from Beth Gryczewski on Twitter @Gryczewski. She's a very techie history teacher. Worth following!

This blog was written a couple of years ago, but it has great information on the Digital Learning Farm. There is a chart of iPad apps to be used for each of the jobs in the Farm model. I found the chart to be a valuable source of information for someone starting to implement this model.

This is a great article with some useful app information. Can't wait to begin our farm :)

I was happy to see that last year we did a decent job using the digital learning farm and can't wait to perfect it this year. This blog will be very useful in helping us do just that!

According to this blog from Education Week, the Department of Education gives states the option of suspending their current tests if they choose to adminster the PARCC field test instead. I wondered whether MA and/or Reading would be interested in this option or whether we'd be adminstering the MCAS again this year. According to the article, when California expressed that they'd like to use only field tests this spring, they were threatened with losing Title 1 funding. It will be interesting to see what states and districts across the country decide to do!

Hi Taylor, Great link. This is currently a much discussed topic in our state. The Commissioner has given Superintendents the authority to excuse those students from the MCAS who are piloting that particular test on the PARRC. At first, it seemed like a good idea to do it, but there has been a lot of discussion as to whether or not there will be backlash for those students, grade levels, and schools that do not take the MCAS. Questions are being asked about how the scores will be determined if there is not as great a sample size. Does this penalize students if they do not take the MCAS? More to come.

This is an excellent how to article for installing iOS 7. I found it on Twitter using the #iOS7. Here are my favorite lines from the article: "If you backed up before you updated then all is not lost. Simply restore from a prior backup to get all your data back and then try again. If you did not backup, then what were you thinking? Go back to the top of this article, read it again and don't be so impatient next time."

Janet, thanks for posting this. It will be very helpful when I'm ready to update my devices (and help others) and all the iPads that will be updating on the Apple Configurator. Here's my favorite line..".Apple devices are very pretty, but they are much better when they run smoothly, so avoiding any potential hitches will keep your stress levels down. " We've never experienced this.. have we.. ;-)

Thanks for posting this. I updated my home iPad, but I think I am going to wait on the others. Any advice is welcome.

Here is an article from the IRA with great mentor text suggestions for Writer's Workshop.

I love this topic. I have always believed that using picture books beyond elementary school is a great idea. Mitali Perkins will be our visiting author this May. Her latest book Open Mic: Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices might be another useful resource for teachers interested in working with short texts. I believe she only edited the stories that were picked. I have not read it yet, but I just copied and pasted the information from Mitali's website for you to look over. The public library will be ordering mulitple copies and the middle school will hopefully do the same. Though we lack a funding source, it might be a consideration for some type of all school (middle school) read. "Listen in as ten YA authors-some familiar, some new-use their own brand of humor to share their stories about growing up between cultures. Edited by Mitali Perkins, this collection of fiction and nonfiction embraces a mix of stayles as diverse as their authors, from laugh-out-loud funny to wry, ironic, or poignant, in prose, poetry, and comic form. With contributions by Cherry Cheva, Varian Johnson, Naomi Shihab Nye, Mitali Perkins, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Debby Rigaud, Francisco X. Stork, Gene Luen Yang, and David Yoo."

I'm glad that I'm not the only one looking for quality mentor texts, and am also glad that others found the information from the IRA helpful. Thank you for adding information of your own. It's all so informative. There are some great resources out there!

This article explains how advancements in technology have enhanced the humanities. The digitization of texts combined with statistical analysis software has enabled literary scholars to analyze literature in a whole new way. The unprecedented techniques mix algorithms and written expressions to detect the frequency of word usage, nuances in the structure of sentences, and common thematic elements in and among texts. The digital analysis of literature provides a new type of lens for scholars to examine works to learn more about the cultural contexts in which the pieces were written.

I frequently find myself "defending" the impact of the Internet and technology on students' desire and ability to read and write. To me, it seems that the Internet has increased the amount of reading students do now, especially outside of school. Sure formats have changed but mostly in the direction of concision, something English teachers have been championing forever. Gone are the gatekeepers around who gets to publish (i.e., be heard, gain international attention for a cause, etc.) Never mind the access to ivy league courses...

Making Simple Sense of iPads in School

Here's a short article from NPR on a bookless public library opening in Texas. I think as we see more of this, it brings up mixed feelings and conversation. I'm wondering if this is where all libraries are headed eventually? I'm a person who has an e-reader (Nook) and loves using it, but I still like to read from an actual book from time to time. I'm wondering if the younger generations will feel the same, or if they won't know any different? To me, there's something comfortable and warm about a room, or a building, with lots of books in it. I can't picture classrooms, especially those of young children without books on the shelves, or teachers reading to kids on the rug. I wonder what other people think. Technology has definitely changed our lives and is taking us to new places all the time, but could the changes be too much, too fast?

I came across this article and found its first tip not to jump right into downloading apps especially helpful. I've found the most effective apps to use with students to be ones that can be used across subject areas to take learning to the next level and help students synthesize and share information.

I use this website and some of the videos in my freshmen advisory classes. Later we write down our questions and concerns and bring in Officer Santasky for some Q & A.

Here are some thoughts from Alfie Kohn on how it is important to be courageous in making changes for the best interest of students.