Group items tagged

"Blogging is becoming more and more popular in the classroom. Teachers can blog to stay in touch with parents and students or they can incorporate blogs from all of the students as a learning tool. The beauty of the student blog is that children from Kindergarten to high school can blog. No matter how you use blogs in your classroom, these tools will help you get started, enhance your experience, or bring the students into the fun."

The school year is off and running! Along with the preparation of bulletin boards, seating charts, classroom procedures and syllabi, it is also important for teachers to consider the go-to digital tools and resources they will rely upon throughout the school year. The five tools and resources outlined below can be utilized by teachers and students in many different classroom settings, grade levels and subject areas for creation, communication, collaboration and so much more.

"Is there a right and a wrong way to teach social media in schools? Some administrators think so. Many schools across the country have banned the use of social networking platforms, but others are transitioning to a more proactive approach. Many experts and school officials say that abandoning the more reactionary responses to social media is the first step toward implanting a more effective digital literacy education."

"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."

There are a lot of SMART Board resources for elementary, middle, and high school students, but younger students love SMART Boards too! This blog post is for you, Pre-school and Kindergarten teachers! Check out some of the wonderful interactive websites that will be sure to get even your youngest students involved in interactive learning.

"There are many teachers who want to start using technology in their classrooms, but just aren't sure where to start. That's why I got together ten prominent ed tech bloggers, teachers, and school administrators to create The Super Book of Web Tools for Educators. In this book there introductions to more than six dozen web tools for K-12 teachers. Additionally, you will find sections devoted to using Skype with students, ESL/ELL, blogging in elementary schools, social media for educators, teaching online, and using technology in alternative education settings."

Kidblog.org is designed for elementary and middle school teachers who want to provide each student with their own, unique blog.

Blog for 1:1 schools

Though the iPad debacle at Los Angeles schools might have slowed-down the expansion of one-to-one computer programs, more and more schools are adopting the practice. Today, and later this week in Part Two, experienced educators will share their advice on how to successfully implement such a program. I'm also eager to publish ideas from readers, and hope to receive many of them.

"I created this blog as a place to share SMART Board resources with teachers at my school, the district, or anyone else who stops by. Thanks for visiting, and please feel free to leave a comment."

"With the advent of the World Wide Web and the huge amount of information that is contained there, students need to be able to critically evaluate a Web page for authenticity, applicability, authorship, bias, and usability. The ability to critically evaluate information is an important skill in this information age. To help you get started with this process with your students, I have designed a series of evaluation surveys, one each at the elementary, middle, and secondary school levels. The elementary, middle, and secondary surveys have been re-designed and updated in February of 2009. The virtual tour, blog, podcast, and teacher site evaluations have been added since 2005 and updated in 2009."

"Webquests make learning more interesting for your students. Using the power of the internet you can tap the resources of almost every library, school, museum, and laboratory in the world! You can take your students on a journey, to anywhere. Webquests allow students to explore content in more depth, but within boundaries that you have selected. This makes them ideal for classes which combine students with different ability levels."

A GREAT list of educational bloggers

Student talks about the value of having a laptop and its use throughout her high school years. She mentions blogs, Ning, and online discussion and collaboration.

"Last week I asked for your ideas on how you make connections with kids on the first days of school. I am overwhelmed by the response. With right at 80 ideas there is surely something here for everyone, or at least a new idea to try."

"We are constantly surrounded by information, and it is not always easy to know which sources to trust. Being able to evaluate the credibility of information is an important skill used in school, work, and day-to-day life. With so much advertising, controversy, and blogging going on, how do you sift through the chaff and cut to the chase?"

Welcome! Here There Everywhere is a news website/blog designed for elementary school-aged children. Its purpose is to show kids how they are connected to their world and introduce them to the people and events shaping it. It credits children with being interested in and being able to understand some of the more newsy topics (though there will be lots of the fun stuff, too!). HTE can be read with a caregiver or without.

"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

This blog will be used to to disseminate ideas/links/tips for use with/by students in high school classrooms. Some posts are written by me, while other posts will be automatically fed in from the Classrooms for the Future coaches group on Diigo.

Edmodo is best described as Twitter for students and teachers. In reality though, it's basically a private micro-blogging service for schools with built-in security features that give teachers privacy controls over their virtual classrooms.