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This blog has two main themes: one is mathematics and the other is multimedia. The mathematics part will discuss ideas behind mathematical concepts from elementary to undergraduate topics. For now, I will be concentrating on discussing mathematics concepts from Grade 6 through Grade 12, although, from time to time, I might post topics in lower or higher levels. The multimedia part will discuss the use of different media such as text, graphics, sounds, video and animation in teaching mathematics. I will refer readers to multimedia and Web 2.0 teaching resources that can be used in teaching and learning mathematics, and I will discuss how-to tutorials on the use different software, particularly freewares. Unfortunately, most software that will be discussed in this blog are only limited to Windows platform, although many software nowadays are already cross-platform, so Linux and Mac users are invited to check the tutorials from time to time. Hopefully, I would be able to discuss software with other platforms in the future.

Driving questions (DQ) can be a beast. When I train teachers, they say the same thing, "Writing the Driving question is one of the hardest parts of an effective PBL." I agree. When I am constructing a DQ for a PBL project, I go through many drafts. It's only now, after implementing many projects and having coached countless teachers that I consider myself adept.

I must admit I have a bit of an aversion to drill-type activities, but I realize there are times that students need to practice and memorize certain concepts in order to succeed. Certainly we all know that studying makes for more successful learners. Abraham Lincoln clearly knew the value of studying when he said, "I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come." I doubt that Abraham could have imagined the neat Web 2.0 flashcard-type applications that our students can now use to help them with their studies.

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."

"25 places to find instructional videos Recently I have received a number of emails asking about places that offer free instructional videos (on all subjects), so I thought I would put together a posting of the main ones that I know about"

There is no blinking the fact  that the type of students we teach today are completely different from last century's. We , definitely, need to look at some of the skills we, as teachers, need to equip ourselves with to better live up to the challenge. Among all the challenges we would have in education, there is not as daunting a challenge as catching students focus and getting them engaged in the learning process. For this particular reason, and in addition to the skills I initially mentioned in 21st Century Teaching Skills article, I would like to provide you  with another list of  some equally important digital skills that you, as a teacher, need to seriously consider if you want to pave the way for the 21st century teaching. I have added a list of web tools under each skill for teachers to better exploit it.

I am an enthusiastic supporter and practitioner of the "Flipped Classroom."  I see it as a very tangible reality for improving the learning outcomes of college students, the mainstream understands how and why it works.  This infographic, which I picked up via David Wicks' blog, visually communicates several of the key concepts of the Flipped Classroom.

"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)."

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.

Last week one of my colleagues asked if I knew of "any good websites" for space science lessons. I said of course I did and gave the suggestion to turn on the moon view in Google Earth. This post was prompted by that 90 second conversation. Here are eight (for the eight planets) good resources for space science lessons.

A teacher asked me to recommend a comic strip program that will allow the students to add a few sentences of text and have a number of panes. I hadn't looked at comic strip programs since last year, so I decided to see what I could find. Here is a summary of my research.

Why should I upgrade to Teacher 2.0? To this I have five major answers: 1) Because most of your students are upgraded 2) Because the curriculum asks you to 3) Because it will help you 4) Because you are supposed to prepare for and educate the future. How can you do that if you work in the past? 5) Because everything else does If these five answers won't convince you I regret to say that you are hopelessly living in the past still being a Teacher 1.0. But there is hope!

True Project Based Learning is a process that puts the student at the center of their learning. In this post I wish to share with you some of the top sites I found on the internet that promote true PBL. Since my research I have bookmarked a few more and will be sharing those in a later post. Please share this post with others and as you find other outstanding sites on the internet that refer to PBL, please share with me. Your comments are always appreciated!

"I was browsing through YouTube last evening, searching for videos to show my students about new and emerging technology. I was quickly side- tracked by looking to see if there were any good videos made by teachers about how they use technology in their special education classroom. I was quite surprised to see the number of results , in-depth explanations, about variety of assistive technologies being used, and how many teachers are going to YouTube to share their creative teaching strategies. Below is a synopsis of links to great videos with great ideas!"

Google Forms is a great tool and I hope to use it more throughout this year. Take a look here for a more detailed introduction and guide to using and creating a Google Form - this was written prior to Google bringing forms into the NEW menu. I have created example forms for each of the different topics, follow the links in each of the ten sections. With help from a Googler I have included a link so that you can get your own copy of the form - click on the appropriate link and it should open in your docs home.

In this post, I compare 16 file-sharing services. I took three main issues under consideration when creating the comprehensive app list below: Free, Fast, and Useful . . . Most of the services suggested require no registration. None of them will ask you to download anything to your computer, and all of them are easy to use, and worth using. It is actually great to see services, such as Yousendit, MailBigFile, and Rapidshare, that are still relevant and are good choices, but if I had to pick one it would be Mediafire. Don't get confused now. This is not a list of services that let you store all your files in the cloud, organizes them, or allows you to collaborate with friends. It's more focused on file-sharing only, in the richest capacity-well, okay, you be the judge of that.

Are iPods in the classroom a distraction? Perhaps. Pencils - now those are real distractions - always having to sharpen them, kids throw them, they write inappropriate notes with them, they can use them to cheat, they poke each other with them, they get pencil lead stuck in their fingers, they steal them, etc. I think we should ban 'em. Now, am I trying to convince everyone to run out and buy ipods for all students? No, I'm not. I am suggesting, however, that they're worth exploring. This website will link to general information and educational apps for the ipod

This website is my hobby, I update it frequently to aid other educators make sense of the vast amounts of resources that the Internet has made available. I hope that through this project I can help other teachers to get connected and enrich their lessons thus providing rich and meaningful learning through student engagement!