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Beyond Google -
AddThis
Posted by Mr. Byrne at 2:12 PM
Labels: Google, Internet search, teaching technology, Teaching With Technology, Technology Integration, web search, web search strategies
5 comments:
SIS Media Specialist said...
Geesh Richard, another great resource; like your posts are not enough. Many, many thanks. I have followed your blog for about a year and have learned SO MUCH. I understand you are from CT. Any chance we can get you to the joint annual CASL/CECA (Connecticut Association of School Librarians and Connecticut Educators Computer Association) conference next year?
October 24, 2009 10:35 PM
Mr. Byrne said...
Yes, I am originally from Connecticut. In fact, I went to CCSU for freshman year. I'd like to come to CASL/CECA. Can you send me an email? richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers
Thanks.
October 25, 2009 6:47 AM
Linux and Friends said...
Thanks for the amazing document.
I am aware of a few of the resources listed in the document. However, many of the others are new to me. I will definitely check them out.
November 2, 2009 9:45 PM
dunnes said...
I visited and bookmarked four sites from this post! Thank you for the great resource. Students want to use Google rather than stick to the school library catalog, but they need more instruction on how to do this. I have seen too many children search with ineffective terms, and then waste time clicking on their random results.
November 8, 2009 12:38 PM
Lois said...
Beyond Google is a great resource. I wish I had your skills for taking what you learn and putting it together as you do. I love reading your daily blog.
November 15, 2009 10:04 AM
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Links to this post
Beyond Google: Improve Your Search Results
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/10/beyond-google-improve-your-search.html While working with some of my colleagues in a workshop earlier this week, I was reminded that a lot of people aren't familiar with tools
If we want to connect with the latest generation of learners and teachers, we have to totally redesign the library from the vantage point of our users—our thinking has to do a 180-degree flip.
This learning commons is both a physical and a virtual space that’s staffed not just by teacher-librarians but also by other school specialists who, like us, are having trouble getting into the classroom and getting kids’ attention.
specialists such as literacy coaches, teacher technologists, teacher-librarians, art teachers, music teachers, and P.E. teachers
In the physical space, we enter a room that’s totally flexible, where furnishings can be moved about to accommodate different functions and groupings.
experimental learning center,
the learning commons is both a giant, ongoing conversation and a warehouse of digital materials
—from ebooks to databases to student-generated content—all available 24/7 yea
Imagine a learning environment in which the multimedia world of information fed individual students’ needs, and where on-demand digital textbooks/multimedia/databases are available 24/7 and under the control of the user.
examples of one-way communication.
But in the new learning commons, homework assignments and library Web sites offer two-way communication.
Directive adults have been transformed into coaches; direct teaching has been transformed into collaborative inquiry.
On another day, parents may be invited to the learning commons to observe a jointly designed medieval art fair created by a classroom teacher, the art teacher, and the teacher-librarian.
The experimental learning center aims to improve teaching and learning by offering professional development sessions and resources that are tailor-made to each school’s greatest needs.
The teacher posts assignments on a blog that’s linked through an RSS feed to individual students in the class, each of whom can access the blog through an iGoogle page or another personal home page.
Download an e-book, watch videos, and use tempates from teachers to learn how to use Windows Live Movie Maker and other tools to make learning more personal with pictures and movies in your classroom." />Stylesheet
Teacher Innovation Award is an online discussion community for Teacher to share his thoughts, ideas, strategy, etc. with others to help them in teaching methods.
Thanks for pointing that out Dianne. It seems the last parenthesis has been included in the URL address. The correct link is here: http://groups.diigo.com/group/history-teachers
Homeschooling can be a good way for your children to learn, but if they don't have a good teacher, then your homeschooling efforts will be worthless. A good teacher is one of the most important asp...
started by milesmorales on 14 Aug 14
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Feed readers
are probably the most important digital tool for today's learner because they
make sifting through the amazing amount of content added to the Internet
easy. Also known as aggregators, feed readers are free tools that can
automatically check nearly any website for new content dozens of times a
day---saving ridiculous amounts of time and customizing learning experiences for
anyone.
Imagine
never having to go hunting for new information from your favorite sources
again. Learning goes from a frustrating search through thousands of
marginal links written by questionable characters to quickly browsing the
thoughts of writers that you trust, respect and enjoy.
Feed readers can
quickly and easily support blogging in the classroom, allowing teachers to
provide students with ready access to age-appropriate sites of interest that are
connected to the curriculum. By collecting sites in advance and organizing
them with a feed reader, teachers can make accessing information manageable for
their students.
Here are several
examples of feed readers in action:
Used specifically as
a part of one classroom project, this feed list contains information related to
global warming that students can use as a starting point for individual
research.
While there are literally dozens of different feed reader
programs to choose from (Bloglines andGoogle Reader are two
biggies), Pageflakes is a favorite of
many educators because it has a visual layout that is easy to read and
interesting to look at. It is also free and web-based. That
means that users can check accounts from any computer with an Internet
connection. Finally, Pageflakes makes it quick and easy to add new
websites to a growing feed list—and to get rid of any websites that users are no
longer interested in.
What's even
better: Pageflakes has been developinga teacher version of their tooljust for us that includes an online grade tracker,
a task list and a built in writing tutor. As Pageflakes works to perfect
its teacher product, this might become one of the first kid-friendly feed
readers on the market. Teacher Pageflakes users can actually blog and create a
discussion forum directly in their feed reader---making an all-in-one digital
home for students.
For more
information about the teacher version of Pageflakes, check out this
review:
This webinar gave an overview of the reading, research, and rigor components that librarians can "assist" teachers with. If you wrap your head around these critical shifts, and you will likely become as building leaders as you model solutions for meeting the CCSS. teachers all over are trying to figure this out and this is a piece of cake for us! Carpe Diem!
Wrap your head around Inquiry and Student Centered research projects. (Writing standards 6-10)
Help "repackage" research units
Help find "rigor" - Rich Text - reading passages, correctly aligned to the CCSS Lexile bands.
Understand what it means to "read closely" - with purpose, meaningful, directed, points of view, etc.
Understand what a Lexile is and its role in the CCSS
Help teachers replace lower level texts (Lexile) with alternatives correctly Lexiled, or Non-fiction Inquiry Units using your non-fiction collection!
ALIA Schools promotes the interests of school libraries and teacher librarians, provides opportunities for professional development, lobbies for school libraries with state and local groups, liaises with other groups, identifies and analyses current trends in teacher librarianship, and maintains the profile of teacher librarianship within ALIA.
"Much has been written about the role of Teacher Librarians in our schools. Sadly though, much of it is lamentations about the decreasing numbers of Teacher Librarians manning our school libraries. Every so often though, I come across inspiring words that do much to remind us of the incredible skill and value held by this professional group."
At its most basic level, Activate Instruction is a free open database of standards-aligned learning resources-but it was designed to be much more. Teachers can browse, search, rate, add, share, and organize resources. Parents and students can follow Teachers to see what they posted or search for the resources they like best. When integrated with student assessment data systems, Activate makes it easy for Teachers to use student assessment data to connect students with the resources that match their specific needs.
Unfortunately, too many people consider libraries as mere rooms full of books and computers, and librarians as mere functionaries in charge of the rooms and their contents. When district leaders look for savings in a budget, too often they see the most important teacher in a school as the most expendable. California schools have seen a marked decrease in the number of teacher librarians in recent years. New York City has about 50% more schools than it did in 2002, but more than half of the district's libraries have closed in the past decade. In California, New York, and anywhere else cutting libraries, it's a classic example of a penny-wise, pound-foolish approach to budgeting: there's no shortage of evidence that libraries and librarians - both, together - have a strongly positive impact on student learning.
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"Teacher librarians are involved in the process of change whether they are implementing a program for the first time, making changes to an established program, or participating in some aspect of ongoing school improvement" (Oberg, 1990). The very essence of the work of Teacher librarians - improving teaching and learning - requires that they work within the culture of the school and that they also work to change the culture of the school.
1,500+ eBooks for teachers (and growing!) - Elementary, English (ELA), Math, Science, Social Studies, World Languages, Cross-Curricular, Professional Development
As class sizes keep growing, it becomes harder and harder to find the time to look for new teaching materials, while still giving your kids the personalized attention they need (and deserve!).
After all, you can only be pulled in so many directions at once, right?
With that in mind, I put together this list of websites for elementary teachers, hoping that you'll finally be able add something fresh and fun to your lesson plan.
Now, you don't have to skim the results of hundreds of Google searches to find a handful of useable internet resources-I've already got 101 of 'em!