Tech Tuesday 11/16

Sorry for the lateness of the post. I had it ready to go, but I forgot to send it out out today. My students just wrapped an amazing project I'm excited to share with everyone once the finishing touches are in place. Look for it next Tuesday. On to the tech!

Study Jams 

Scholastic Study Jams are awesome! This site is a Scholastic site that focuses on Math and Science. Students can learn about Volcanoes, Photosynthesis, The Universe and Creating Equations From Word Problems. Each concept has video, slide shows, important vocabulary and tests. Using fun and unique ways to present material, Study Jams is a great way for teachers to re-enforce concepts in the classroom. Parents should consider using Study Jams to allow their children to explore areas of interest outside of school. When I think back to my struggles in Math and Science, all I had for support was Math Blaster. Sites like Study Jams by Scholastic are great resources to help children understand concepts they might be struggling to understand. I highly recommend checking out Study Jams for use at home or in the classroom.

StoryLine Online

StoryLine Online is a great site that has actors read children books. I stumbled upon it on my Google Reader and thought that this would be something all teachers and parents could use. Below, you will see Jason Alxeander, from Seinfeld fame, reading the book Dad, Are You the Tooth Fairy?

The site is free to use and supported by the Screen Actors Guild and it worth a look. You can show Betty White reading Harry the Dirty Dog or To Be a Drum read by James Earl Jones. There are activity guides that can be downloaded with each story and used with the children before and after the story. I think this is a great way to bring something a little different into the classroom. 

That's it for this week. I hope these couple of sites make their way into someone's classroom in the future. I hope everyone has a great week. Remember, give it a try!

Tech Tuesday for November 9

Blogging in the Classroom K-12

I was in Kansas City, MO this weekend and I had a chance to present with some amazing friends of mine. Becky Goerend, Kristina Peters and Shannon Miller all use blogging in very different ways for their students. Here is the video of our presentation. I'm near the end talking about how I use it with my students daily and how I use it to connect to students I work with in Van Meter, Iowa. If you would like to connect with any of these teachers, please let me know and we can set something up.



This is it for this week. It was a busy weekend in Iowa and Kansas City. I had a chance to spend the day in Van Meter and actually meet the students that my Freshmen are working with this year. It was a great experience. If any teacher wants to connect their classroom with another for different types of projects, I have people lined up waiting to work with you. Just send me an email and we can make it happen.

Starting in December, Provenzano's GPS Tech Guide will go from a weekly update to a bi-weekly update. I want to provide everyone with the best content out there, and it is easier to search over two weeks than one week. As I get deeper into my Masters and as essays pile up, I do not have as much free time to devote to this venture. I wish I could do even more for everyone out there, but I have my responsibilities in the classroom I cannot ignore. I will still always be available to help anyone out if they have questions. Thanks for being a great staff!

- Nick

Tech Tuesday for Novemeber 2

This week will be a short Tech Tuesday because I will be presenting on Blogs, Tweets and Skype. Below I will post my presentation for anyone that could not attend my song and dance. Yes, there will be singing and dancing. I'm a full service presenter. :-)

The Balancing Act

I've been asked to be the educational blogger for a show on the Lifetime Television Network called The Balancing Act.  I'll post once a week on various educational issues for parents from a teacher's perspective. I think it is a great chance for parents from all over the country to actually hear from a teacher about how they can help their kids at home after they have spent the day with us. This is an exciting new adventure for me and I appreciate all of the support teachers have given my other blogs. That gave me the confidence to tackle this and see what happens. Feel free to share the site with others.

Blogs, Tweets and Skype

This presentation will not make a ton of sense without me being there to voice over (I will do a screen cast when I have time), but there are some great links and videos that can help explain Blogging, RSS feeds, Twitter and Skype. It's worth a look and feel free to email me with any questions.

Blogs, Tweets and Skype Oh My! on Prezi

Carryout text

Here is a very cool site that takes the text you type and convert it to MP3 files. This is something that could be great for students that have a hard time reading and understanding notes in class. Special Ed departments could use this for struggling students.

The site is currently in the Beta testing phase and might have some bugs, but it is currently free and worth a try if you are looking for a way to help certain students.If you know of teachers that do not read this blog but would benefit from something like this, please pass this along to them. I think this could do great things for some students and their teachers. Thanks to @MZimmer557 and his blog for sharing this great site.

That's it for today everyone. I hope you learn some great things in your Tech PD and use them in your class. Don't feel rushed to use them, just give them a try!

- Nick