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"iSchool: a closer look at Manhattan Beach Unified's iPad pilot program email Does Manhattan Beach Unified's iPad pilot program represent the future of education? Kindergarten students at Grand View Elementary School use iPads two times a week. Photo by Alene Tchekmedyian Kindergarten students at Grand View Elementary School use iPads two times a week. Photo by Alene Tchekmedyian Just before 8 a.m. one recent Tuesday, Andy Caine wheeled a waist-high cart into his second-floor history classroom at Mira Costa High School, as the Beach Boys' "I Get Around" played faintly in the background. On the syllabus for the day: the First Amendment. As the first period bell rang, Caine unlocked the cart. "Come and get 'em," Caine said to his class of seniors, and stood behind his podium, on which he's pasted a sticker reading, "Think for yourself. Question Authority." The students put aside their pens and notebooks and lined up at the cart to pick up an unconventional tool that school districts across the nation have been implementing into classrooms. Each student grabbed an iPad and returned to his or her seat. Caine is one of 43 Manhattan Beach Unified School District teachers chosen to try the $500,000 iPad pilot program, which started last fall. At Mira Costa, two English, math, science and social studies teachers use iPads, along with eight science teachers at Manhattan Beach Middle School and 27 teachers of different grade levels at each elementary school. The district purchased 560 student iPads (32 gigabytes and costing around $700 each), in addition to iPads for pilot teachers and administrators. A quarter of the pilot costs are grant funded, while the district supports the rest. Later this year, the School Board will decide whether, and in what capacity, to continue the pilot. Caine and pilot teachers implement iPads into their curricula two to three times a week, a total of 30 to 90 minutes. "I would use them every day if I had the po

TRANSCRIPT: Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I'm not going home. We've come too far! And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I'm not saying it's going to be easy. You're going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That's how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you've got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You're like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death... that's the Chicago Way! Who's with me? Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let's fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our Independence Day!

Students can create interactive and multimedia time lines like the one below with Timetoast. Aside from using this tool to mark a historical event, students can use this tool for blogging, creating time lines of their lives, or as an introduction to a portfolio marking the student's activities!

Students can create interactive and multimedia time lines like the one below with Timetoast. Aside from using this tool to mark a historical event, students can use this tool for blogging, creating time lines of their lives, or as an introduction to a portfolio marking the student's activities!

"So Much to Read . . . So Little Time! ZAP Reader is a web based speed reading program that will change the way you read on your computer. Current beta testers report reading twice as much in half the time-that's a 300% increase in reading speed, without any loss in comprehension! There is nothing to install, it works with most popular browsers, and it's totally free! Reader - If you have some text that you want to read fast, copy it onto your computer's clipboard, click this link, and follow the instructions to Zap read that text. Settings - By default, Zap Reader allows you to read at 300 words per minute, one word at a time. Use the settings feature to configure Zap Reader with your own preferences. Tools - Zap Reader is designed to be easy to integrate with other programs. Find out about browser bookmarklets, program ad-ins, and other integration tools here. Click the "Play" button below for a quick 2-minute tutorial on how to use Zap Reader. "

"October 25th, 2009 With classes, homework, and projects-not to mention your social life-time is truly at a premium for you, so why not latch onto the wide world that Google has to offer? From super-effective search tricks to Google hacks specifically for education to tricks and tips for using Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar, these tricks will surely save you some precious time."

"These modules are prepared by AMSI as part of The Improving Mathematics Education in Schools (TIMES) Project. The modules are organised under the strand titles of the Australian Curriculum. Number and Algebra Measurement and Geometry Statistics and Probability"

"Kindergarten time is storytelling time: Listening to stories, telling stories, acting stories out, learning how to read your own stories and creating your own stories!"

"Why 'I Don't Have Time For Technology' Is No Longer Excusable"

"Below are some of the inspiring videos made by teenagers at TedxTeen which is the adolescent version of TED talks. Show your students what other teenagers are doing apart from being glued to their mobile phone screens texting all the time.Let them see the potential inside of them that they are wasting in playing stupid and violent games all the time. Our students are living in a merciless commercial world where surrounded by savage advertising companies whose sole purpose is to make gains in the growing teens market. We should give them a hand and help them out. They are desperate for motivation and passion and with just some simple but creative ways we can make a change in their lives. "

With only a few short weeks before break, it's tempting to let school run on autopilot until party time. This valuable learning time doesn't have to go to waste or feel like a punishment. To make these days count instead of countdown, here are a few tips and tricks to keep the energy and learning alive while having some pre-holiday fun.

With over 1.6 million members spread across 196 countries, we are the largest network of teachers in the world. We have over 3 million unique visitors every month and 50 million page views. TES is home to more than 100,000 teaching resources developed by teachers for teachers. 2 resources are downloaded every second from TES and each resource saves teachers an average of 30 minutes preparation time. A staggering half a billion hours of prep time has already been taken out of the system.

"The 33 Digital Skills Every 21st Century Teacher should Have Every single teacher is concerned about his/ her teaching practices and the skills involved in this process. How many times have you wondered about a better way to teach the same lesson you have delivered to an eariler class? How often have you used technology to engage your students and improve their learning ? These are some recurring questions we keep regurgitating each time our teaching skills are put to the test."

"When it comes to using web resources with our students, time plays a decisive role.It is next to impossible for a busy teacher restricted by curriculum constraints, day to day lesson preparations, assignment corrections, to mention but a few of his chores, to effectively search the web and find the adequate resources to share with his/ her students. Most people just do not have the time to learn all these technologies and some educators pick just one or two websites of interest and start exploring them."

There are a tremendous amount of websites out there now (usually referred to as web 2.0) which allow users to create content. You're actually on one right now…a blog. With all of these resources, they offer tremendous promise for classroom application. The trick is to pick a few and begin to infuse inside your class. From time to time, you will see our TCI bloggers refer to, or even use, sites. For techies, web 2.0 is like breathing. They can't imagine life without it. For many teachers though, it can be overwhelming. We've worked to create a quick guide to some of the more popular web 2.0 sites out there. This guide will give you basics on how to get started and how they can be used in a great TCI activity. Feel free to download and share this document with colleagues. If there's another site you feel we should really take a look at, please let us know! We're always on the hunt for great new tools for teachers

Twitter Resources for Teachers You've heard the buzz on the Twitter phenomenon. Everybody seems to be hooked by this micro blogging service. It's been a catalyst for marketing in multinational companies, personal branding for entrepreneurs, and a simple advertising tool for the small businesses. Professionals from the education sphere seem to be catching up to the trends of technolgoy. Whether you're innovating teaching strategies for the university or looking for education jobs online, Twitter is one versatile venue where both teachers and students converse meaningfully. Don't take our word for it, here are some expert guides and tips on how to use this magnificent social networking site to your learning advantage. Articles on Twitter In Education 1. Teaching Twitter to the Teachers - To use twitter effectively, you need a reason to start with. 2. Twitter Tweets for Higher Education - Doing a little online searching (emphasis on the little), the author of this blog has found the following items related to Twitter and education. 3. 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Education - Blog By Carol - Based on a list by Chris Brogan - 50 ideas for using Twitter in Business. 4. Using Twitter as an Education Tool - Are you using Twitter yet? If not, you may want to read how other educators are using Twitter as an education tool. 5. Twitter Transforms Teaching - Twitter's now tapped as a teaching and learning tool with opportunities to motivate students and advance achievement. 6. Teaching with Twitter - Steve Wheeler's 10 top uses of Twitter for education. 7. Twitter Professors: 18 People to Follow for a Real Time Education - 18 people Lon S. Cohen (writer and social media strategist. He is @obilon on Twitter) following for a real time education. 8. Educational Tool: Twitter - 'Twitter in the Classroom' techniques by Christine Morris. 9. Twenty-Five Interesting Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom - Excellent presentation by Creative Commons 10. N

"Create polls, vote in polls, view who votes what where. Find what places think the same as you. Embed polls on your own website. Watch polls update in real time. Join GoPollGo:"

"Create polls, vote in polls, view who votes what where. Find what places think the same as you. Embed polls on your own website. Watch polls update in real time. Join GoPollGo:"

"Time to MOVE ON! Technology Integration into Core Curriculum Written by Lisa 18 March 2010 8 Comments If you believe "integrating technology into the classroom" should mean more than just having an interactive whiteboard sitting in the room…you NEED to read this post… And join me for an online Show and Tell (click here for details)."

GistWeb will give the gist of any web page's actual content. It's goal is to provide a "summary" version of any page, giving you the meat and discarding the fluff. This saves loads of time when doing research online. To use GistWeb, drag this -> Gist It! Open) and click your GistWeb bookmark. One last note: As a rule, GistWeb only works well on English documents. Using it on documents of any other language may produce low quality results.

Using a pencil and paper to solve three times six: boring. Using an iPad app to become a math ninja who, by solving the same multiplication problem, kills evil tomatoes and robotic cats and dogs: kind of awesome. ead the full story

"It's Google's world, we're just teaching in it. Now, we can use it a little more easily. With classes, homework, and projects-not to mention your social life-time is truly at a premium for all teachers, so why not take advantage of the wide world that Google has to offer? From super-effective search tricks to Google tools specifically for education to tricks and tips for using Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar, these tricks will surely save you some precious time. "