It used to be that my students learned to write by writing on paper. Sometimes they wrote in notebooks and sometimes they wrote on single sheets, but no matter how they wrote, I was the intended audience. In most cases, I was the only person who ever saw that writing. Sometimes their parents would take the time to read through their notebooks and papers as they came home or at the end of the school year. Sometimes they would read their writing aloud to the class. But in most cases, unless I posted their writing on a bulletin board in the hallway, a very limited number of people had access to that writing. Wow! Has that changed! Now, my students regularly write on their blogs, not just for me, but also for their parents, grandparents, other relatives, friends and potentially the whole world to see. When they write a tweet, they have the potential of all of our Twitter followers seeing what they write, and since many of our followers are classroom groups, that number is potentially far higher. Not exactly the same as writing in a notebook. Their audience now exists in places they have never been and may never visit.

OverviewA survey of teachers who instruct American middle and secondary school students finds that digital technologies have become central to their teaching and professionalization. At the same time, the internet, mobile phones, and social media have brought new challenges to teachers, and they report striking differences in access to the latest digital technologies between lower and higher income students and school districts. Asked about the impact of the internet and digital tools in their role as middle and high school educators, these teachers say the following about the overall impact on their teaching and their classroom work: 92% of these teachers say the internet has a “major impact” on their ability to access content, resources, and materials for their teaching 69% say the internet has a “major impact” on their ability to share ideas with other teachers 67% say the internet has a “major impact” on their ability to interact with parents and 57% say it has had such an impact on enabling their interaction with students The survey finds that digital tools are widely used in classrooms and assignments, and a majority of these teachers are satisfied with the support and resources they receive from their school in this area. However, it also indicates that teachers of the lowest income students face more challenges in bringing these tools to their classrooms: Mobile technology has become central to the learning process, with 73% of AP and NWP teachers saying that they and/or their students use their cell phones in the classroom or to complete assignments More than four in ten teachers report the use of e-readers (45%) and tablet computers (43%) in their classrooms or to complete assignments 62% say their school does a “good job” supporting teachers’ efforts to bring digital tools into the learning process, and 68% say their school provides formal training in this area Teachers of low income students, however, are much less likely than teachers of the highest income students to use tablet computers (37% v. 56%) or e-readers (41% v. 55%) in their classrooms and assignments Similarly, just over half (52%) of teachers of upper and upper-middle income students say their students use cell phones to look up information in class, compared with 35% of teachers of the lowest income students Just 15% of AP and NWP teachers whose students are from upper income households say their school is “behind the curve” in effectively using digital tools in the learning process; 39% who teach students from low income households describe their school as “behind the curve” 70% of teachers of the highest income students say their school does a “good job” providing the resources needed to bring digital tools into the classroom; the same is true of 50% of teachers working in low income areas Teachers of the lowest income students are more than twice as likely as teachers of the highest income students (56% v. 21%) to say that students’ lack of access to digital technologies is a “major challenge” to incorporating more digital tools into their teaching

Use the “Save” option to bookmark a page. Bookmarking saves a link to the page in your online Diigo library, allowing you to easily access it later.

Highlighting can also be accomplished from the context pop-up. After the Chrome extension is installed, whenever you select text on a webpage, the context pop-up will appear, allowing you to accomplish text-related annotation. Highlight Pop-up Menu – After you highlight some text, position your mouse cursor over it and the highlight pop-up menu will appear. The highlight pop-up menu allows you to add notes to, share, or delete the highlight.

Sticky Note Click the middle icon on the annotation toolbar to add a sticky note to the page. With a sticky note, you can write your thoughts anywhere on a web page.

A number of workshops and articles are available that explain why it is useful for teachers to use technology in the classroom. Many workshops are easy to understand and feature a lot of visual aids. The workshops show teachers and students how to use email, word processing software, and how to create blogs, among other information. Workshops also show how using technology encourages learning.

The web is a wonderful tool for students in the classroom. Students can use the Internet to find information for a project or paper. The web also provides a place for students to create documents and files and to store those files. Online games help students learn in a fun and engaging manner.

When educators want to know if a game is appropriate for the classroom, they shouldn't just rely on someone telling them it's great, whether that someone is a company or even a colleague. To truly understand if the game will work with your curriculum or your intended goals for learning, you need to sit down and actually play the game. Spend the time to explore this software, app, or board game to your satisfaction. As you play, you can experience what students will experience and learn how to support them when they play. You'll develop an understanding of what can be learned from this game, whether it's content, thinking skills, or both.

ou want to know what makes games the most effective? They are voluntary.

Voluntary participation means that players actively agree to the rules and procedures of the game, rather than having those forced upon them. When we are forced to do something, the work we do in games actually becomes less safe and less enjoyable.

IPAD PD ACTIVITIES

K-12 list of iPad apps

TUTORIALS

Teacher's iPad Experiment Shows Possibilities for Classroom Technology

The sample size may have been small, but the finding was promising because of how Harmon went about integrating the iPads. "Students wrote their journal entries on the class Moodle, accessed on the iPads" Harmon wrote in his report. They also used the devices to collaborate "on the retelling of works of drama with apps," and to take tests. Students were also more eager to write on the devices and composed longer essays than when writing in a notebook.

The teachers also reported that the devices made their lessons more engaging and helped them connect with students.

1. Encourage students to share work socially.

Edmodo helps you create a social, digital classroom. On Edmodo, you can vote, post assignments, create a class assignments calendar, and upload photos and messages to students. With more 17 million users, Edmodo has been a highly successful endeavor. It allows students to get real-time feedback by taking quizzes online. Teachers can also engage socially with one another by sharing lesson plans online and asking questions to their online communities. Edmodo's Global Read Aloud program encourages students to practice their reading and public speaking skills with other students from around the world

exican FlagThe Mexican flag, a symbol of Mexico’s culture and history, has slowly evolved from era to era.The first, unofficial Mexican flag, the banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe, was carried by the priest and rebel leader Miguel Hidalgo during the War of Independence. It is still a powerful symbol in Mexican culture. Mexico adopted a flag very close to the flag of today when it won independence in 1821.Meaning of Mexican Flag ColorsThe vertical green, white and red stripes symbolized independence, religion, and the unity of Europe and the Americas. In the center is Mexico’s coat of arms, which tells the Aztec legend of the founding of the city of Tenochtitlan.The Aztecs said that the God Huitzilopochtli’ directed the Aztecs to rename themselves the Mexicas, and to settle at the site where they found a golden eagle, perched on a prickly pear cactus, clutching a serpent. While the site was in fact an unappealing swamp, that is where Mexico City stands to this day.Symbolic Changes in the Mexican FlagThe flag has changed 3 times since. Mexico adopted today’s flag in 1968. It has a 4:7 ratio. As Mexico modernized, the colors of the flag took on new meanings. Now, the green stands for hope, the white stands for unity, and the red stands for the blood of national heroes. Mexicans salute the flag with their right arm over their chest, palm to the ground.Mexicans celebrate Flag Day on February 24th, paying tribute to this symbol of Mexico’s political and cultural history.

Assign Digital Presentations—While it is still important for students to master the research

While it is still important for students to master the research

process, the product of research is not limited to a printed research report. Students can demonstrate their learning in a digital presentation. They can create a Web site or use a hypermedia tool, such as Hyperstudio, to create a stand-alone presentation.

teaching each letter you focus on only one sound at a time.  The letter A, for example, has many different sounds.  The first time the letter A is taught, I have chosen to focus on its short vowel sound.  While words such as airplane, acorn, and aerobics, start with the letter A, they do not focus on the short vowel sound.  Focus on one sound a week, and reading skills will come quickly for your child.

s it really OK to give ipads to four and five year olds? When you’ve got the American Academy of Pediatrics making fairly strict recommendations about screen time for children under two, it makes sense to consider the question for young children as well.

It is almost impossible to exist without at least a computer, if not also a smartphone, laptop and tablet. There comes a time when it is foolish to pretend that the world has not changed

Technology is a language that some of them speak quite fluently.  If we really want to reach them and meet their needs, we may need to start speaking their language, and that means using technology in their classrooms.