Group items tagged

"In 1996, the Parallel World label released the LP "Cambodian Rocks", a collection of Cambodian psych and garage music from the 60s and early 70s (probably), compiled by an American tourist named Paul Wheeler from some cassettes he bought in Phnom Penh. No information on the songs was provided at all, no artist names, no song titles, and no recording dates. Four years later, Parallel World reissued this compilation on CD with a few extra tracks, but still without any identifying information. Unfortunately, it is more than likely that many of the featured musicians, showing a definite Western influence in their music, were murdered by the Khmer Rouge regime which took over power in 1975. Certainly none of them ever received any money from the sales of this compilation. However, the music is wonderful, and here it is for your enjoyment."

What it is: What makes technology SO great is the way that it can make life (and teaching) more productive and fun. Over the years, I have found so many ways that technology can make reading more rewarding for both kids who love to read, and kids who dread reading. Today, I created an "Extreme Speed Booking" website for @michellek107′s class at Anastasis. I created the site quickly using Weebly, an awesome WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) website editor. Drag and drop website building is where it is at! The idea behind the site is to introduce students to a variety of books and form classroom book groups. How does Extreme Speed Booking work? A whole lot like speed dating. :) Students spend a little time with each book and then rate them accordingly with "I want to read more", "Interesting", "Not for me", or "I've already read". Students can also make a note of how interested they are in reading the book (maybe a 1-10 scale)? This process introduces students to a variety of books, genres and authors. Students may come across titles and authors they wouldn't otherwise find. It also helps teachers form classroom book groups that are of high-interest and investment to students because they had input.

"Free Tools for Teachers. These tools are designed for teacher-facilitated instruction, and include sample problems to give teachers instructional suggestions. For each tool you will find a short instructional video, standards alignment (including the recent Common Core State Standards), key vocabulary, and IEP goals. Select a topic below to get started. Concepts to Procedures Higher Order Thinking Identifying Fractions Order Fractions on a Number Line Comparing Fractions Unitizing with Pattern Blocks Adding Fractions with Common Denominators Unitizing Fractions on a Grid Subtracting Fractions with Common Denominators Estimating with Benchmark Fractions Equivalent Fractions Equivalent Fractions with Word Sentences Finding Common Denominators Adding Fractions with Uncommon Denominators Subtracting Fractions with Uncommon Denominators Conceptua™ Math fractions tools are partially funded through a Phase I, Small Business Innovation Research grant (SBIR) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): Grant # 1R43HD061108-01. Latest News 05.28.2010 New Free Tool: Comparing Fractions! This new free tool lets students compare 2 or 3 fractions, use visual supports, and work with >, < or = signs. Try It Now! » Read more » Like Conceptua Math? Tell your friends! Featured Video Conceptua Math Overview See what's available and then get started using the tools. "

Free Tools for Teachers. These tools are designed for teacher-facilitated instruction, and include sample problems to give teachers instructional suggestions. For each tool you will find a short instructional video, standards alignment (including the recent Common Core State Standards), key vocabulary, and IEP goals. Select a topic below to get started.

"After having spent my previous post pondering and wondering about the dangers of committing all our work to The Cloud, I am pleased to announce I have returned to my old, more positive self - some might say returned to my senses! - and today I'd like to share with you how a group of four of my Year 10 students (14-15 year olds) collaborated online to produce a presentation for their GEP (General Education Programme) session today."

Sliderocket

"VoIP, or voice over IP, can save you a lot of money. Services like Skype offer free calls overseas to other computers and really cheap rates to overseas phones. That's all well and good, but frequently using such services results in complaints on the other end about poor VoIP audio quality. If you find yourself in this situation, don't panic: in all likelihood this is a problem you can solve easily. You just need to tweak your home network, and your computer, to use VoIP to its fullest potential."

Help fix skype issues

"We all love Wordle and we have found heaps of uses for that particular web app. For the classroom they are great. They're eye catching, fun and a great visual aid. However, there is another application which is just like Wordle, but adds another dimension. "

useful when setting up your class.

"With the right eco-education, we can hope they will hit the ground running. A lot of schools and educational institutions are doing their bit by including the environment as part of the curriculum. Words like 'carbon footprint' and global warming' comes to them as easily as the name of any present-day rock star. That's cool. But who said that ecological or environmental education needs to be bookish or donnish? Thanks to online games, it can be brought out from textbooks into the fun world. Online environmental games games that teach kids about animals and conservation make the task interactive."

"I have to tell you that it was a tough call to make these decisions, especially when we're talking every teacher no matter what grade level or subject, but I hope that you find a couple of gems to put away in your virtual treasure box. You may have others you'd like to add to the list. Please post them in the comments for all of us to explore."

"Personification Stories View Student Lesson Plan Export Lesson Plan Example: * Crossing Signal * Brainstorm Example Template: * Brainstorm Traits Worksheet * Project Vision * Project Storyboard Assessment: * Story Rubric * Animation Rubric Grade Level: 3, 4 and 5 Subject: Language Arts Duration: 1 week Objective: Students learn to use personification as they personify an object for a clay animation. Students use conflict, experiences, and situations to help the viewer imagine what it might be like to be a particular object."

You can use personification to make your writing more interesting. Personification is a figure of speech in which human qualities are given to objects, animals, or ideas. For example: the fire breathed hot in our faces and its flames grabbed at our clothes, or the chocolate cake is calling my name. You can find personification at work in lots of different types of writing. Lewis Carroll's uses lots of personification in The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. Remember the white rabbit and Alice playing croquet with a deck of cards?

"Guy Kawasaki last week wrote an item describing 'ten things you should learn this school year' in which readers were advised to learn how to write five sentence emails, create powerpoint slides, and survive boring meetings. It was, to my view, advice on how to be a business toady. My view is that people are worth more than that, that pleasing your boss should be the least of your concerns, and that genuine learning means something more than how to succeed in a business environment. But what should you learn? Your school will try to teach you facts, which you'll need to pass the test but which are otherwise useless. In passing you may learn some useful skills, like literacy, which you should cultivate. But Guy Kawasaki is right in at least this: schools won't teach you the things you really need to learn in order to be successful, either in business (whether or not you choose to live life as a toady) or in life. Here, then, is my list. This is, in my view, what you need to learn in order to be successful. Moreover, it is something you can start to learn this year, no matter what grade you're in, no matter how old you are. I could obviously write much more on each of these topics. But take this as a starting point, follow the suggestions, and learn the rest for yourself. And to educators, I ask, if you are not teaching these things in your classes, why are you not?"

Some very applicable skills for our pupils! An apt read for today.

With all of the new trends and tools in education technology, there's no reason for special needs students and their teachers and parents to be left behind. This list of 100 useful tools can help anyone with a learning disability like ADHD, dyslexia or test anxiety, as well as students with visual or hearing impairments, use the Internet and other technology systems to help them with reading, math, organization, social skills, and more.

Desktop Screen Recorders act just like the print screen function but the difference is that it continuously records all your on screen activities just like a camcorder or digital camera.

One Million Monkeys Typing is a community story-telling site. Start reading. When you finish a snippet of text, click 'read more'. You will be presented with three unique paths that continue the story. If you like your options, keep reading. 2. Write If you reach an end, or simply don't like the story's trajectory, graft a new snippet and take the story's direction into your own hands.

"Wolfram Alpha is on a mission to develop an "app for every course." The company launched its first three subject-specific iPhone apps on Tuesday, and all three - Algebra, Calculus, and Music Theory - look to be promising educational tools. The apps are based on Wolfram Alpha's computational search engine, which can do things like solve integration problems, calculate flying times between cities or plot a person's life on a timeline."

"What is a Tetris Game? Languages Online Tetris is played like other versions of the game. Different shaped blocks fall from the top of the screen. The blocks can be moved to the left or right and can be rotated to form completed rows. When a row is complete it dissappears from screen and points are added to your score. If rows are not completed they remain on screen. These unfinished rows build up, making it harder and harder to manouver the falling blocks into place. The game ends when the blocks build up to the top of the play space. In this version of tetris the game pauses after every fourth block has fallen. To continue you must type in the correct word in response to a clue and click 'check'. If the answer is correct the game continues. If the answer is not correct then a 'bomb' falls through the game space removing any blocks in it's way. Using the Tetris Game Maker you create the lanmguages task for students to complete. The clue can be either text, pictures or voice recordings, and you must also enter the correct answer word. You can make games in any language. Any script (for example Arabic or Japanese) that can be typed on your computer can be used."

"Last week, I began to sketch out the current poetry unit I am teaching in the seventh grade. I am still not ready to share the "paper work." You now the objectives, essential questions, assessments, and criteria. I have it all planned out, but I don't feel the need to document that part of the story on my blog just yet. I want the story of this unit to be like the work with my students; we are still trying to pry ourselves away from the literal. English is not their first language you see, so they are having a difficult time allowing language to set them free. They still cling to what they know and write exactly what they see. They cannot see that poetry is the key that will free them from the shackles of language acquisition"

Jane Medina, Francisco? this one is for you.

One of my favorite brain training game sites right now is BrainGames360.com. They have a great collection of high quality games that are all designed to test the different facets that are associated with brain games. Each one is tagged with the cognitive skills it tests, so it is easy for the teacher to track down the type of skill they are looking to practice with their students. All the games have HTML codes that let you put your favorite games on your own classroom blog or website, and they are all organized into categories like Logic, Strategy, Reflex and more. Try Mini Train, or Get Groovy, to get a taste for what the games on this site are like. Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/106947.aspx#ixzz1EGaIrAFx

"Animaps extends the My Maps feature of Google Maps by letting you create maps with markers that move, images and text that pop up on cue, and lines and shapes that change over time. When you send your Animap to friends it appears like a video - they can play, pause, slow and speed up the action!"

So Mr Mark does it out tripline tripline?