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"In collaboration with my colleague Mike Hutchinson, I have begun to introduce the tools of the Read/Write web to my students. Specifically, my class is now blogging and podcasting. Blogging and podcasting has allowed me to create a forum where my students discuss current events connected to our social studies curriculum while developing language arts skills like critical thinking and persuasive dialogue. It has also given my students the opportunity to be creators-rather than simply consumers-of online content. Finally, blogging and podcasting have given my students an audience for their ideas, which has increased levels of interest and motivation."

My name is Sallie Ann. I was made in Gettysburg PA, and I'm named after the mascot of the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry from the Civil War. My job is to travel around the U.S. looking for Civil War battlefields or museums and schools learning about the Civil War. Along the way, I hope to teach kids more about the Civil War while also helping them to learn about using technology. I'll start out in Gettysburg, PA ,and learn about the battle that took place there. My visit to you will last about one week, but before I leave, I hope that you will put something from the battlefield, museum or your school in my backpack so I can keep it as a memento of my visit.

"My school began flipping all of its classes, which meant that for homework, I was assigned videos to watch, which were made by my teachers and explained the material which we were learning. During class, instead of listing to my teacher lecture, we began doing our homework assignments. If I had any questions, I was able to ask someone else in the class or my teacher, who was there and ready to help whenever I was confused or didn't understand something. Suddenly, everything started to make sense."

In this workshop she was presenting an idea to help elementary teachers develop science fair project-a mini-science fair poster. This idea involved the used of a trifolded piece of 11″ x 17″ paper. The teachers were inputting their "required" science fair heading with post-it notes. Revision was a breeze. The teachers learned the importance of brevity with completion. They added graphs and images by gluing their graph to a small post-it. It was all so tidy, so elegant, so inviting, I probably stared a little long, struck dumb by the simplicity of the mini-poster. Once I came to my senses I realized that the mini-poster was my answer-a way to incorporate authentic peer review, formative assessment in my science classes.

Welcome to the Spanish-English sentence database powered by Spanish-Only.com! Why this database? I've been studying Spanish for several years now, but looking for good example sentences in one place was always something that seemed impossible. Because I also have my own blog and several of my readers asked me to share my sentence deck I decided to make one big database filled with Spanish-English sentences to help everyone out there really learning Spanish. These sentences are best used in combination with a Spaced Repetition System (read: What's an SRS?). This way YOU can learn Spanish words and grammar in a fun and relaxing way too.

Our mission is to enlighten and inspire people of all ages with an ever-growing internet archive of hero stories from around the world. Now more than ever, children, teachers, and parents yearn for messages of hope and courage to face the challenges that lie ahead. The MY HERO web site hosts thousands of stories of remarkable individuals written by children and adults alike. These stories serve to remind us that we all have the potential to overcome great obstacles and achieve our dreams by following in the footsteps of our heroes. MY HERO invites you, your family, school or organization to take part in this interactive web project. By publicly honoring your hero on this award-winning site, you reward those who have made a difference and bring a new hope to this global online community.

I am so excited for a new Mac app called Reflection! It shows my iPad's screen live on my computer screen wirelessly!

"Learn more about this film and download the free companion poster here: http://fablevisionlearning.com/blog/2... Peter H. Reynolds, creativity advocate and best-selling author and illustrator, and co-founder of FableVision Learning, has created a new animated short called The Testing Camera - a whimsical poke at high-stakes, standardized testing and a reminder that real assessment is as easy, and - at the same time - as challenging as getting to really know the gifts and talents of every child. "We've gone through a very test-centric decade which, in my opinion, has consumed a lot of time, energy, and resources," Reynolds shares. "Many teachers have had to adhere to new mandates and measures that require a 'teach to the test' approach. Public schools redirected funding for art, music, theater, libraries, field trips, and more. It's a discouraging picture for those trying to reach all children in creative, engaging ways." Reynolds, who is known for his books encouraging creativity, The Dot, Ish, Sky Color and The North Star among many others, penned this whimsical and poignant story about a young girl named Daisy who, dismayed at her art class being canceled, nervously faces her turn with the "Testing Camera." This huge apparatus snaps at her with a few blinding flashes of light. Weeks later, her father's reaction to the test results surprises Daisy in a most wonderful way. "This is my gift to educators to remind them to follow their instincts and remember why they got into teaching in the first place: to see the potential in every child, to nurture those emerging gifts and talents, and to change lives," Reynolds shared. The film was produced by FableVision, the transmedia studio in Boston founded by Peter and his twin brother, Paul Reynolds, author of Going Places and the Sydney & Simon series. The Testing Camera was directed by John Lechner with music by Tony Lechner, and animated by a team of young animators interning at Fable

Welcome! I have compiled my SMART Board lessons all in one place for you. :-) Please feel free to download any files and change them to suit your needs. Please forgive any broken links to websites. As sites come and go, I try to update my Notebook files, but don't catch them all.

You don't need to worry about getting sued by the Recording Industry Assocation of America or arrested by the FBI if you download legal music. Many independent and unsigned musicians offer downloads of their music in hopes of attracting more fans. Here's some music from my friends Oliver Brown and Rick Walker's Loop.pooL as well as my own piano compositions.

"Whether you're writing a paper or studying for a test, odds are you spend more time gathering the pieces than actually working. In my experience, getting all of my notes together, hunting for quotes, and tracking down bibliographical information takes at least as long, if not longer, as writing the paper itself. In a group situation, sharing research and collaborating on the production of one document is even more difficult without the proper tools. Enter Evernote. For students, it's an invaluable way to organize research and streamline the collaboration process. Here are some examples of how Evernote simplifies the student research process."

"What My Personal Learning Network Means to Me Please leave a note saying where you are from and share your thoughts about PLN's. Feel free to link to a blog or other resource. Share Twitter name, too! "

"Over the past few years I have read a fair collection of winners, a fair collection of losers and far too many mediocre education technology books. The aim here is to share the ones that have been so highly recommended they are considered must reads. Each of these has been a recommendation from someone within my PLN and so comes from very good authority and credibility. And of course, to continue learning from this PLN please do add your own suggestions and must-reads in the comments below."

"This post could be almost infinite: there is most certainly an extraordinary array of options for videos which expand educators' understandings and inspire advances in 21st century learning.  But curation is about choice and selection, and while I know I will leave out many, I thought I'd offer up a set of 15 of my favorites for your consideration for video screening at at back-to-school or beginning-of-the-year faculty meetings (and/or parent and board meetings)."

My question for all of you is, acknowledging that of course an engaging lesson is the best classroom management tool, do you have any tips for classroom management when using laptops?

Today's classrooms are more diverse than ever before. As a result, teachers find themselves searching for ways to meet the needs of each student. Add to it the pressures of academic achievement goals mandated by NCLB and many may feel ill-equipped to meet the challenges of diversity in the classroom. Planning perfect lessons with exciting activities looks great on paper, but will it help your students reach their potential? Probably not. If there is anything I learned during my time as a public school teacher is this: The height of student achievement is directly correlated with the strength of the classroom community. By building  community in the classroom, you build an environment where students feel safe to learn, grow and be themselves.

"Excellent educational content can be found on YouTube. However, not every teacher can access YouTube in his or her classroom. That's why a few years ago I compiled a big list of alternatives to YouTube. Over the years some of those sites have shut-down, started charging a fee, or have switched into another market. So this evening I went through and eliminated some sites from the list and added a few new ones. My favorite five alternatives to YouTube are listed below."

Nice Technology scope and sequence for different types of computer skills, tied directly to ISTE Standards.

I've gotten several emails after my last post and they all ended with the same line, "Where do I start?" It can be overwhelming to start by Googling "makerspace." What do you most often see? That stark modern space with expensive 3d printers. But that? It's not the reality of what making in the classroom can be. I know the constraints faced by many of us in education, and I've lived them before. You make do with what you have, get creative, and repurpose existing materials to MAKE making happen in your classroom. You gotta start somewhere, right?

Voisse has three core features at its heart - Record, keep and share. 1. Record Voisse allows users to record any audio (or sound) they choose in whatever way they want - on-line using any modern browser, phone by calling a dedicated number or uploading existing recordings. In doing so anyone, from the youngest child to the oldest adult can create recordings (Voisses). 2. Keep The heart of Voisse is a personal store for all your Voisses, called My Voisses. This area is private by default and provides users with a simple method of cataloguing and tagging their Voisses. These Voisses can then easily be grouped together to create fantastic slideshows each with their personal narrations, giving relevance and context and a rich user experience. Slideshows can be viewed on-line through a custom built viewer or downloaded to an iPod device so that they can always be with you and viewed whenever you want. The portable slideshow is in technical terms a podcast. No-one else gives the you the ability to easily create their very own podcasts. There's desktop software that does similar things to Voisse, but it's infinitely more complex and require considerable technical ability. 3. Share A core reason people choose to record audio is to share. Voisse gives you this ability, if you choose, via email or social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Many people have things to say, experience and wisdom to pass on, things which others value. For those who have popular or unique recordings or slideshows, we have created a Marketplace where they can be bought and sold. The Voisse Marketplace offers you a unique area to create and sell your audio content.