Tech Tuesday for December 3

Welcome back everyone! I hope all of you had a very nice Thanksgiving Break. I'm happy to be sharing this blog out to the district again after a short hiatus. Teachers had been asking me to add them to my email list, so I thought it would just be easier to send it to everyone. I promise I will not be sending these blog posts out every week and clogging your inbox. Feel free to bookmark my site in Chrome and visit it when you have a minute. Thanks for stopping by and feel free to send me an email or leave me a comment if there is something you are looking for or something you would like me to share to the rest of the staff. Have a great Tuesday!

Writing Prompts/Journal Posts

Here is a great site that has a bunch of prompts that you might find helpful for your classroom. CanTeach has a long list of possible questions to ask your students. I have found writing prompts to be wonderfully helpful in getting my students to think outside of the standard curriculum and have led to great discussions in class. If you are looking for a digital place for students to write their responses, KidBlog is an excellent (free) site that I have used in the past that is perfect for all ages. It does not require students to have an email and teachers can lock it up so only students and teachers can see it if they want. Digital writing is an important skill to learn and combining prompts and blogging is a great way to help students become more comfortable with it.

Eyewitness to History

Eyewitness to History is a great site that brings together stories and media to tell a complete story of historical events that occurred around the world. The site offers links to famous speeches and photos of important events throughout history. Students can here Charles Lindbergh speak after his historic flight or listen to a reporter describe the invasion of Normandy as he witnessed it live offshore. You can also show students the first narrative film The Great Train Robbery to give them a sense of how far things have come in film. There are pictures galore that could make great additions to class for writing prompts or presentations.

The pictures are interactive as well. If you click on certain parts of the picture, it will take you to another story that provides a rich background to the photo and the time period. This is a great site for students and teachers to make history a little more hands on and visual. 

Interactive Simulations for Math and Science

Here is a great site from the University of Colorado that can give some students a chance to try experiments at home without destroying their house. Here is a quick snapshot of what they have to offer.

The site offers great simulations for students of all ages who might need a different way to look at a concepts being covered in class. Take a look at these and share your favorites with other teachers in your building. 

Thanks for taking the time to read the post and feel free to drop me a line if you have questions or want to share something you use with everyone else. 

Give it a try!

Nick

Poll Everywhere

Here is a great blog post on how to use Poll Everywhere and a tutorial video on getting started. Great work from Greg Kulowiec.

The Post - Poll Everywhere Advice and Questioning Strategies

Interactive Science Sites

Here are a couple of sites from Jessica H. If she says they are good, they must be good.

Here is one site for interactive Science Simulations

Here is another great site for interactive Science and Math Simulations

Storybird Tutorial

This webtool allows users to use pictures to tell a story they have created. Here is a video on how to use this tool in the classroom.

Google Sites Tutorial Videos

Here is some great information on using Google Sites with students. Now that our students all have Google Accounts, they can create their own websites easily and for free. Check out the videos below to see how to use Google Sites.

Skip the first video, it is the user showing everyone Google Hangouts.

Livescribe Pen Tutorials

Livescribe Pens are becoming great tools for many teachers around the building. I have put together a playlist that will walk new users through how a Livescribe Pen works and the different ways you can use them in the classroom. Before you get to the videos, here are a couple of examples of how I have used it with my students.

Here is one example I created for In-Text Citation for my students.

Here is another example on how I used it for Plot Mountains.

Here are the Tutorial Videos

The picture below shows you how to watch all of the videos in the playlist.

To watch the other videos in the play list, you need to click this playlist icon seen below. Hold your mouse over the screen for the menu to appear at the bottom.

Evernote Tutorials

Evernote is a free tool that allows user to take notes on their digital platform and access them on any internet ready device. This device could be an iPhone, iPad, Android device, Windows phone, PC or Mac desktop or any other device that lets you have access to the internet.

Evernote is a great tool for education because it allows users to organize the notes in a way that best suits them. Once the notes are created and saved in notebooks, they can easily be shared with others through Facebook, Twitter, Email or links that can be posted to websites. Here is an example of a link I created for my students and their assignments.

I also use Evernote for all of my lesson planning needs. I can place links, photos and documents in notes to access anywhere and anytime. I can edit these notes on the go and share them with other teachers looking for ideas for their lessons. It has made life much easier using this instead of the traditional paper plan book.

Here are a series of videos for your to explore to see how Evernote works. If you are interested in learning more about Evernote in education, we can set up a time to chat 4th hour to go over the different uses.

To watch the other videos in the play list, you need to click this playlist icon seen below. Hold your mouse over the screen for the menu to appear at the bottom.

Last Tech Tuesday of 2011-2012

Good afternoon everyone. I hope this post finds you all well. I wanted to make sure I sent out the last Tech Tuesday of the year on Tuesday.

While I will be continue to explore and catalogue awesome new sites over the summer, I will not be updating the page until the school year starts. Thanks for all of the support and kind words. It's always nice to know that the site is helping teachers.

Here are some final plugs for those interested in attending a conference or getting some Grad credit over the summer. 

The Digital Teaching Series
I'm teaching a grad class online on Project Based Learning using Web Tools. If you are interested in exploring 21st Century instruction, consider taking my course.

The summer is a great time to relax, but also get needed credit hours. Here is a great program that offers online professional development from experts.

6 Week Courses

4.5 CEUs

3 Graduate credits available

The Digital Teacher Series is perfect for you if you:

• Want to dramatically improve student engagement and retention during your class
• Recognize the need to meet your “digital learners” on a new level
• Are feeling pressured to utilize district-purchased technology
• Understand your role in preparing your students to become “online learners”

There are 6 course on a wide variety of digital topics that are worth checking out.

 

Michigan Google Conference

Michigan has it's own official Google Conference set for October 19th. Registration is open and I encourage teachers that are interested in exploring what the free tools that Google has to offer can bring to their classroom. I may be biased as a featured speaker, but trust me when I tell you that this will be a valuable conference for teachers looking to learn more about Google tools. I encourage you to sign up quickly before space runs out.

Below you will find links to topics I have covered on this site. Each link will take you to posts that contain the topic I tagged them.

I hope everyone has a great summer and I look forward with working with all of you in the Fall.

Dropbox           Elementary               English               Google               Math         

Science             Smartboards            Social Media      Social Studies    Technology

I hope everyone has an awesome summer and I hope you will give some of these a try.

NP

Tech Tuesday for May 15

Happy Tech Tuesday everyone. I have some great resources to share with all of you, so let's get to it.

US Govt Educator

Here is a great blog that also has links to World History and US History. Some of the information is cross posted on the three sites, but the sites come highly recommended by Mrs. Nardone at Grosse Pointe South, so I promised her I would share with the rest of you.

It's been a while since I've been in Social Studies, but these blogs have many great resources for teachers looking to engage their students in many different ways. These blogs are worth saving on your computer to view when you have some free time. There are great ideas that might be perfect for you to use next year.

Google Scholar

Here is a great site that teachers might need as they work on advanced degrees or students could use for their research papers. Google Scholar is a search engine that allows you to search scholarly papers. Seems pretty simple because it is. The link at the top takes you to a site that explains how it works and provides a link to Google Scholar. This is just another awesome tool for teachers to add to their tool belt.

Little Alchemy

This is a little fun site that would work on your SmartBoard. It will come up blocked for students, so you will need to access it from your teacher station. Using Fire, Wind, Water and Earth, you can create 270 objects. Your job is to find all 270 different combos. I played for a little bit and it's fun. I could see this being used in Science classes across the district. Check it out.

Social Media for Administrators

Do not let the title fool you, this is really for everyone. Our district has passed new policy regarding the user of Social Media. Students are using it. Parents are using it. Businesses are using it. Schools need to be using it. These blog posts were put together by my friend George Couros. Although Canadian (kidding), he is an expert in educational technology and these posts are worth reading as we enter the Social Media age in Grosse Pointe Pubic Schools.

Give these tools a try!

Wired Wednesday?

Sorry for not getting this out on Tuesday, but I was in tech meetings all afternoon. Here are some goodies I hope you enjoy.

We Give Books

I heard of this site from my friend @KTenkely who heard of it from @ShannonMMiller. Pearson has but together a collection of picture books for children through age ten that can be read online! Students with an Internet connection can no access pictures books from home. Also, by reading these books online, you can help other children read books as well. By choosing a literacy partner campaign, the more books that are read, the more books that will be given to these great groups.

I think this is a great read to do some reading as a class. There are some great titles and they will be adding more each month. They also have seasonal titles for the holidays that kids enjoy most. I definitely recommend that teachers check out this great offering from Pearson.

Math and Science Rap

This has to be one of the coolest sites I have seen for Math and Science in a very long time. The idea is simple. Turn important parts of Math and Science into clean rap songs to help students learn. You can consider this a modern day version of School House Rocks! I really like it when people try and approach traditional material in a new and different way and the Rhyme 'N Learn people do just that. The header of their website alone is enough to make you stop and check out their work. Here is a video and song for the Pythagorean Theorem:

Bloom's Taxonomy for iPad Apps

This picutres comes froma Twitter pal @Langwitches. For those of you with iPads and are interested in using them in your class, here are some great apps that line up with Bloom's Taxonomy.

 

Rubric's for the Digital Age

Now that many teachers around the country are entering into the digital world, the most asked question is, "How do I grade it?" Well, there is now a wiki that has rubrics for digital work that includes, blogs, wikis and other Web 2.0 Tools. If you are interested in exploring what digital work has to offer and are looking for rubrics, this is the place for you.

These are some great resources I hope you take the time and time and give them a try!

- NP

Tech Tuesday for October 11

Happy Tech Tuesday everyone. I have some fun links to share with you this week.

I've been in almost every building on the South end this week and you guys are doing some amazing things. I cannot wait to see more fo you in action.

Here are some fun sites for learning!

Sum Cloud



Sum Cloud is a fun site for young math students that works great on the Smartboard. Using 6 different levels of difficulty, the game allows kids to take a look at the possible answers and select them. It's a fun game to have kids practice their Math skills.

Invention At Play

This is a really fun site! If you want kids to work on their problem solving skills or maybe you want to have some fun in Physics class, take a look at this awesome site.

The students can move and rotate objects to create a device that get the ball into the container. There are many possible answers, but it is interesting to see what kids can come up with in class. You might ask the kids to come up with a soultion using all of the devices or as few as possible. This could be a fun lesson to share with your students that works great on the Smartboard.

Inside Story Flashcards

Inside Story Flashcards is a great flashcard site for kids. Check it out!

My friend Kelly wrote an amazing review of a site I want to share with you, so I'm going to send you to her amazing site for the full run down. iLearnTechnology is a site filled with amazing resources and I encourage you do to some snooping around there. I'm not kidding when I say she has covered almost every educational site on the Internet. She is an amazing person and you need to check out her site.

I hope you nejoy the sites!

Give them a try!

Tech Tuesday for September 20

Happy Tech Tuesday everyone! I hope this day find you all doing very well. Attached to the email was the Notebook file that will show you some neat tricks to do with the upgraded Notebook Software. Many of these features were new to me and this file was helpful in walking me through them. Note: Some of the features are for the new Smartboards and are not compatible with our boards. They are marked with an 800 next to them.

Here are some great links I wanted to share with all of you on using the Clickers and a website for Science Teachers.

Smart Response Clickers

This is a nice little site that will walk you through signing up with Clickers and using them in class.

Importing from Microsoft into Notebook for Clickers

This link will show you how to import exams you already have created into Smart Notebook so you do not have to start from scratch. It's a really helpful page.

Sun Moon Scope

Here is a write up of an interactive site that would work great on your Smartboard. It's a tool that allows people to see the movement of the sun and the moon. It's worth a check for all of the Science teachers out there.

These are just a few great resources I found this week. If you find something great, please feel free to share it with me so I can pass it on to everyone else.

As always, give it a try!

Nick

Don't Mean to Bug You...

I'm sorry for the terrible pun, but this site was too good not to write about. Insects.org is a great site for all of your bug needs. As a young lad, I used to search the yard high and low for creepy crawlers and put them in my little bug catcher my Dad made. I would then search the Encyclopedia looking for pictures that might match the bug I was holding hostage. :-)

Insects.org offers an entire library of information on every type of insect you could think name. It will supply you with the Order and Family name of the bug as well as assorted pictures. A nice biography of each insect is provided to give you important information. This site could be very helpful to science teachers or parents of adventurous children.

Insects.org even provides an Bug of the Week. This could be used by parents or teachers as a way of engaging students in the different types of insects in the world. They could use a map and locate where the bugs are found and see how diverse the world's ecosystem truly is.

Insects.org is just another fun and useful site designed to educate children about the things they love most. Take a look around and see if you can use it in your classroom or home.

3D Biology and More Science Help

Cell Biology Animation is a great site for 3D pictures of different aspects of Cellular Biology. Here is a great example of DNA Transcription. These are some great little pieces that could help the visual learners in the classroom.
Science Experiments - This site is filled with wonderful resources for science students and teachers. There are links to research sites, an experiment blog, science videos, and much much more. Take a look around and see what it has to offer.

- Give it a try!

Physics Central

Here is anohter great site for the Physics Teachers out there. Physics Central is a website run by The American Physical Society and there are many different parts to the website that a teacher could find useful. One of the more interesting parts are the podcasts and video podcasts. This can allow guests to come into the classroom and provide more information on chosen topics. They can be a nice change of pace for the students. Also, they have resources that can be used to help students understand concepts they might have trouble grasping. It's a tool students could use to help them prepare for tests or projects. Take a look and see what parts of the site you can use.

- Give it a try!

Some Diamonds In The Rough

Here are some great sits I found searching around the Internet. Take a look at some of these things and let me know if you found them helpful at all. Feel free to forward on to other teachers if you think they might like it. It's all about the sharing people. :-)

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  A Lifetime of Color
  "T'he most popular of all of Sanford's websites, alifetimeofcolor.com provides educators with a comprehensive resource of lesson plans, projects and techniques for teachers and educators!"
  That comes from their website and I would say it's a fair assessment of what they provide. There are many different lessons and project ideas that art teachers could find very useful. 
  
  
• 
  
  
  Physics Games - online physics-based games
  A great site for Physics Games that can spice up a classroom for time to time.
  Sometimes games are a great way to educate students about important principles. Here is a really fun site that uses games to teach principles in physics. Heck, this is just kind of fun if you are an adult and want to play around for a bit. Take a few minutes and see if this could be used in your class and on your Smartboard.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  IT's Elementary!
  Great new blog for Elementary Teachers. Check out the resources she has to offer.
  This is a new blog for Elementary teachers that I think you should check out. It has some interesting links and ideas that you might find helpful. 
  
  
• 
  
  
  12 Word Cloud Resources, Tips, & Tools | Teacher Reboot Camp
  A variety of resources to use in class. as of right now, Wordle is down, but here are some other great sources that Shelly has but together that can help you along the way. Take a look and see if you can use that in your classroom.
  
  
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  Kathy Marie's Alternatives to Book Reports
  180 alternatives to book reports. What a great way to change up a reading class. Take a look and try to use one in you class. It will be a good day when they book report is finally laid to rest. Here are 180 ways to achieve the same goal as a book report, but in far more creative ways. Take a look around and see if there is anything you might like to see your students use.
  
  
• 
  
  
  Schoolhouse Rock Lyrics
  The classics are still good to use with kids. Math, Grammar, Science, and America Rock are all available to use in your class.When in doubt, I still sing the songs to myself. Try introducing these to your students if they are having trouble with a particular unit.
  
  I hope you liked these posts. If you see anything you really liked, please leave me a comment and let me know. It will help me narrow down my searches in the future.
  
  - Give it a try!

A Couple of Sites to Check Out

Nothing to big the Tech Tuesday after break. I would like to welcome Dee to the blogging world with her Social Studies Blog. I'm sure we will share sites back and forth and I'm glad to have a partner in crime with the blog. The more the merrier!

Biology in Motion - This a great interactive site for Science teachers. There is a great little piece on Intestinal Gas I found interesting. It is a cartoon mini-lecture that has a picture and a description of what Intestinal Gas is and how it affects the body. It's something that can be added to a lesson or posted on a website for students who want a little extra help. Another neat looking part of this site is the Evolution Lab. I'm not a science guy and I'm not really sure what many of the different words mean, but the whole concept of showing what happens with evolution under certain conditions seemed interesting. I'll probably bug Adams to have him explain it to me.

Algebasics is another math help site. This one deals with many of the different aspects of Algebra. What I noticed that really separates it from the other math help sites is the addition of audio. The problem that is being solved has step by step narration. Sometimes just watching the problem being solved is not enough. Students need to be told how it is being solved as it is being solved. Here is how you break down the root of 24. This could be another helpful tool students could use to help fill in the gaps they missed in class. Any extra help is good help.

Edutopia.org is just a great site that offers many great articles and ideas regarding public education. I follow them on Twitter and they always have something interesting to say. I highly recommend that you take a minute and go over the site and/or follow them on Twitter. Take a minute and view their articles. Again, you will not be disappointed.

- Give it a try!

Helpful Science Websites

Here a couple of great links for Science teachers to check out. I did some searching and asked some friends and this was what they suggested. Some of the pages looked interesting to a non Science person, so I hope they can be helpful to your students.

• HHMI's BioInteractive
• Great Site for Science Teachers!
  Tags: Teachers, Science
• 
  
  Science Netlinks: Lesson Index
  Great place for science links.
  Tags: Teachers, Science

Posted from Diigo.

Side Bar - Another cool thing about using Diigo is that these links were posted on my blog from the site. All I needed to do was add a few comments at the top and the post is good to go. Diigo Rules.

-Give it a try!