Just awesome! A Must See!

Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound." James Allen

"We need more embedded PD that gives teachers an opportunity to embed their learning in their daily activity. Embedded PD is the key to transformational learning. While there is a time and place for getting away, we have traditionally only used that "away" method when we also need to use the "learn right here" method of delivery as well. Take a look at what Karen is doing here as you evaluate your pd delivery methods."

Long live the P.O.W. ~ Projectors on Wheels! Take the computer off the cart and put it in teachers' hands. Take the projector off of the ceiling mount and put it on wheels. Why? Read on

It's a super-simple way to make stunning calendars. It's incredibly easy to use. Just download the program, choose a calendar layout, then drag and drop some images! The PTO could use this program to make some awesome calendars that could be sold as a fundraiser!

Students record up to five things they learn everyday. Teachers manage + keep track of their students and classrooms.

Space Invaders styled basic multiplication/division practice

Calkoo is a website that offers forty-three free online calculators for a variety of functions. The list of calculators that Calkoo is divided into ten categories. Those categories are mathematics, measurement & conversion, saving & investing, capital budgeting, cost of capital, wages & taxes, financial analysis, health, loan & leasing, and stock analysis.

Over 132,115 free teaching resources to use in your classroom and school today Welcome to TES Resources, the space for teachers to share free learning materials including lesson plans, activities, games, teaching ideas and worksheets. Upload, adapt, edit and download classroom resources today

Finish reading the blog, and watch the video after you have finished.

Maybe you should view this every morning before you start your day.

Questions for directing discussion
General
More than just paper, pencil, & words on a page... what constitutes "writing"?
What is the value of writing?
What evidence is there that writing needs improvement?
What strategies do you use to improve writing abilities?
Do teachers need to write themselves in order to teach writing?
What conditions are needed for writers to grow? (time, choice, writing must be personal, purpose, social component of writing...)
Is it possible to "teach" or foster a lifelong love of writing?

Conferring
How to structure the ideal conference in terms of time, roles (of writer, audience) etc...
How do you teach students to give each other constructive feedback for growth in writing? (How do you help students become good at conferring)

Approaches
How do we help students "dig up" the stories that live inside them? (Very similar to Q5)
What approaches are effective for teaching writing, at what levels? (Writer's workshop, guided writing, etc.)
What are the essential components of a Writer's Workshop?
Do you use Writer's Notebook in your class? Please describe/explain
Is Writer's Notebook appropriate for upper grades (where more structured writing is required)?
Is a formulaic approach to writing appropriate for certain types of learners? (eg. Step Up to Writing - Green-Yellow-Red)
What are effective strategies to teach the art of revision?
Do partner/group collaborations work?

Catering to diverse student needs
What tech tools are available to help students who struggle in various areas of writing? (content, organization, language & mechanics)
How do you motivate reluctant writers?

Writing for an audience
How do you ensure students have opportunities for purposeful writing for an authentic audience?
Should writing for a public audience (eg. blogging) be process- or product oriented? Ok to publish work that still needs revision?

Writing across the curriculum
How much "place" should writing take up in the content areas?
What are specific strategies to teach writing in the content areas?

1) How does using the confined space of Twitter help your writing?2) What kinds of things do you think about when you use Twitter?3) Are there any other things that you would like to use Twitter for?4) Has using Twitter made you a better writer in other areas when using a pencil and paper? Computer?

A plethora of writing prompts.

A comparison of Skydrive and iCloud side by side. There's Google apps, Skydrive, and iCloud as the big three of online cloud-based word processing and since we do so much writing in schools, it is likely that your school would select one of the three. If you haven't selected any, then you have a big problem unless you've got a masterful way of syncing locally. This is how we work in the 21st century and it is time to get with the program. Microsoft gives all SkyDrive users 25GB of free storage space. That's a whole lot of bang for absolutely no bucks.

Why You Must Get Dropbox! Don't forget the referral program (see #8) if you are interested in Dropbox.

An online collaboration whiteboard. You can use it for free. Try using this for mindmapping and brainstorming between teams.

" ...Educator Carolyn Stanley shares how she's using Splashtop to stream Discovery Streaming to her ipad and the other uses that she's finding. This is something that teachers using ipads need to know about and test in their classrooms." Source: Vicki Davis