Tag: teacher

Widgets Anyone?

0
June 16, 2010
by Mark

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Tim Holt has put together a page of Education widgets that you can quickly and easily embed on your website or blog page. Tim is taking further input on widgets people would like to share. You can contact him via his email address which is located down towards the bottom of the page. Currently listed are;

  1. Widgets from Education Week – Research, Technology, Curriculum and Learning, Top Stories
  2. Teacher Magazine
  3. eSchool News
  4. Education Innovation
  5. BBC News – Education
  6. Edutopia
  7. Educational Technology
  8. Grant Wrangler Grants
  9. ITSE 2010
  10. This Week in Ed Tech

Popularity: 5% [?]

: Resources, Web2.0
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Better than Wordle? Try Word Mosaics

2
April 14, 2010
by Mark

Application: Word Mosaics

We all love Wordle and we have found heaps of uses for that particular web app. For the classroom they are great. They’re eye catching, fun and a great visual aid. However, there is another application which is just like Wordle, but adds another dimension. Word Mosiacs is part of the Image Chef website and just like Wordle will list randomly words that are inputted. The twist comes when you can then put those words into shapes. Here’s one that I made in a matter of moments – ‘Nothing Without Joy’ is mantra that my boss often uses and was, for some reason, the first thing that came to my head. I like the avenues of sharing your creations. You can Facebook it, Tweet it, MySpace it (what?) and even embed into blogs or other web pages. You can also save the image, something that Wordle can’t do at the moment.

I suggest that you have a look for some fun and visually stimulating effects that take word usage another step up from Wordle.

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Popularity: 27% [?]

: Literacy, Resources, Tools
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iPhone Ed Application 1,2,3 Sheep from @app_titude

0
March 30, 2010
by Mark

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Application: 1,2,3 Sheep (A$3.99 from iTunes)

Last year at the Vitta Conference I had opportunity to hear news about App_tiude, a new application developer who is specifically targeting primary students and schools with their product for the iTouch/iPhone. I received news last week that the first application 1,2,3 Sheep has been launched and is now ready for download from iTunes, and seeing as though they sent me a $10 iTunes voucher to do so, I did.

123 Sheep is a clever and engaging game that was developed in consultation with teachers and has been trialled in schools with students aged 6 and 7. My daughter loves playing with it (she’s in Year One) and I’ll try and coerce her into doing a video review in their near future.

Children explore basic counting concepts in three fun activities – flying a helicopter around the farm, herding sheep into pens and guiding the sheepdog into the truck.

The game difficulty automatically adapts to match their progress, with content based on the school curriculum. Children are drawn to the friendly, detailed graphics, playful audio and lots of humorous encouragement.

There are three fun counting games that this application revolves around, but the interesting extension to this is the ability for it to be used on a class set of iPods with the teacher being able to track and assess each student. As of the time of writing, this functionality has not yet been released but should be shortly.

More information about the company App_titude can be found via their website and you can follow them on Twitter too.

You can find more about the application via their YouTube video;


Popularity: 17% [?]

: Maths, Resources
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Four Web 2.0 Tools from EdTech Integration

1
March 17, 2010
by Mark

Just wanted to point your attention to the Ed Tech Integration blog. He’s recently posted an article on four great Web 2.0 tools. Picaboo; a program that allows you to create photobooks. Preceden; a simple and efficient timeline tool. He also mentions flash card creator, Headmagnet. The fourth application is KeepVid, a site that allows you to easily keep the videos on Flash video sites like YouTube. If you haven’t seen his blog, I suggest that you should have a look and subscribe.

Popularity: 12% [?]

: Resources
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StoryLine Online – Stories Read by Actors

0
March 16, 2010
by Mark

Resource:Picture 3.jpg Story Line Online

StoryLine Online is just as its name suggests. It is a site that has a list of stories that are read and seen through the video link. The stories are read by members of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation. It seems that as of March 2009 there haven’t been any updates to the site, however the list of books available are as follows;

To Be a Drum, by Evelyn Coleman; read by James Earl Jones

Guji Guji, by Chih Yuan Chen; read by Robert Guillaume

Sebastian’s Roller Skates, by Joan De Deu Prats; read by Caitlin Wachs

Sophie’s Masterpiece, by Eileen Spinelli; read by CCH Pounder

Stellaluna, by Janell Cannon; read by Pamela Reed

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox; read by Bradley Whitford

No Mirrors in My Nana’s House, by Ysaye M. Barnwell; read by Tia and Tamera Mowry

The Night I Followed the Dog, by Nina Laden; read by Amanda Bynes

Thank you, Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco; read by Jane Kaczmarek

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother, by Patricia Polacco; read by Melissa Gilbert

Knots on a Counting Rope, by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault; read by Bonnie Bartlett and William Daniels

Brave Irene, by William Steig; read by Al Gore

A Bad Case of Stripes, by David Shannon; read by Sean Astin

Private I. Guana, by Nina Laden; read by Esai Morales

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, by Eileen Spinelli; read by Hector Elizondo

The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg; read by Lou Diamond Phillips

Me and My Cat, by Satoshi Kitamura; read by Elijah Wood

Dad, Are You the Tooth Fairy, by Jason Alexander; read by Jason Alexander

When Pigasso Met Mootisse, by Nina Laden; read by Eric Close

White Socks Only, by Evelyn Coleman; read by Amber Rose Tamblyn

Romeow and Drooliet, by Nina Laden; read by Haylie Duff

Enemy Pie, by Derek Munson; read by Camryn Manheim

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The books come with a choice of related activities. You can view them online or download the activity pdf for each book. This would certainly appear a tremendous resources for the primary age kids, and any timesavers that teachers can find they should avail themselves of.

Site – www.storylineonline.net

Popularity: 46% [?]

: Literacy, Resources, Web2.0
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Bing Earth Day Photo Contest

1
March 11, 2010
by Mark

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Here’s an opportunity for educators in the US to give some purpose to their student’s education. Bing has just announced a photo contest for students to submit photos to be considered for their background image to commemorate Earth Day 2010. Announced at NCCE Seattle the contest will start on March 29 and is open to US students only. The winning photo will be used as the background to the Bing search engine on Earth Day, April 22nd.

Prizes are offered for individual students and schools.

  • 1st place prizes: Individuals receive an HP Pavilion desktop and monitor and a “Digital Photo Lab” for their school.
  • 2nd place prizes: Individuals receive an HP Pavilion desktop and monitor and a “Digital Photo Kit” for their school.
  • 3rd place prizes: Individuals receive an HP Pavilion desktop and monitor and a “Digital Photo Starter Set” for their school.

Four age groups are open for entries (ages 5-10, 11-13, 14-17 and 18+) with winners from each age group will travel to the Microsoft Campus to help select images for other Bing homepages. As an extra there’s an incentive for the voters.

There’s a great opportunity to help other classrooms in need during the voting stage from April 13th to the 19th. Bing will give a $5.00 GivingCard for DonorsChoose.org to the first 20,000 people who vote each day. Voters can then decide what classroom projects (like math, science, art, reading) will benefit from Bing’s donation. If you do the math, we’re talking up to $100,000 a day to help schools across the country. Each day you can return to the site to cast another vote and have an opportunity to pick up another GivingCard.(Source)

To find out all the details of the contest and how to vote visit the Earth Day Photo Contest website (http://www.earthdayphotocontest.com)

Popularity: 5% [?]

: Admin
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Basketball Maths

0
March 2, 2010
by Mark

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You may have noticed the Finding Dulcinea widget (scroll down) advising that it was on this day that Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single basketball game.

On March 2, 1962, Philadelphia Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks, setting the NBA single-game scoring record.

Wilt Chamberlain was one of the most dominating forces in the National Basketball Association, “a player of Bunyanesque stature who seemed to overshadow all around him,” writes NBA.com. In the 1961-62 season, his third professional season, Chamberlain averaged a record 50.4 points a game with 25.7 rebounds a game.

In order to capitlise on this achievement in your classroom I’ve compiled a list of five maths activities (World Maths Day tomorrow) that you can use in your classroom.

  • Half Court Rounding: ” Round the number at the bottom of the page. Then, click enter. If you are correct, your character will make the basket. If you are wrong, he will miss. Try to get the highest score possible in 90 seconds.”
  • Math Hoops: All word problems use whole numbers but the problems range from single step addition to multistep equations. There are also problems that require students to interpret remainders. Students who answer 5 questions correctly get a chance to play some basketball.
  • Using Mean, Median, Mode, and Range through Basketball: The students will be able to calculate the mean and range. Students will also be able to recognize median and mode by viewing statistics.
  • Basketball Debate: explore the meaning of average (or mean) and relate these concepts to real world experiences (Author – Michael Naylor)
  • Article – Math Used In Professional Basketball: “Take out the sports section and go to the pages on basketball. Look at a game with a box score. A box score will list all the players on the team and the points they scored. The box score can be put into a list to calculate mean, mode, median, and range. ”        

Popularity: 6% [?]

: Maths, Resources
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Merspi – An Essential Resource for VCE Students

3
February 18, 2010
by Mark

Picture 3.jpgResource: Merspi – Questions and Answers for VCE Students.

Well, February is here and school here in Australia is back in the swing of a new academic year. Here in Melbourne, thousands of students have started in uncharted waters, and none more so than those doing their Victorian Certificate of Education. And this is where Merspi steps in. Merspi is a unique site where those sitting higher education certificates (IB, HSC etc) here in Australia can join with others and ask questions. They state that;

“As long as your question is:

  • detailed and specific
  • written clearly and simply
  • of interest to at least one other student or educator somewhere

… it is welcome here. No question is too trivial or too “newbie”.

The beauty of this site is in its simplicity.   You can register to become a member, or simply ask a question and wait for an answer. There are obvious benefits for registering. For example if you do you can start earning a reputation. This reputation is your lifeline on the site, showing others how trustworthy you are with your answers. A large onus is placed on the users of the site as those who ‘run’ the site. Reputation points can help you climb the Merspi ladder. Again, quoting from their site;

Here’s how it works: if you post a good question or helpful answer, it will be voted up by your peers: you gain 10 reputation points. If you post something that’s off topic or incorrect, it will be voted down: you lose 2 reputation points. You can earn up to 200 reputation per day, but no more. (Note that votes for any posts marked “community wiki” do not generate reputation.)

Amass enough reputation points and Merspi will allow you to go beyond simply asking and answering questions:

15 Vote up
15 Flag offensive
50 Leave comments
100 Vote down (costs 1 rep)
100 Edit community wiki posts
200 Reduced site tips and advertising
250 Vote to close or reopen your questions
250 Create new tags
500 Retag questions
2000 Edit other people’s posts
3000 Vote to close or reopen any questions
10000 Delete closed questions, access to moderation tools

At the high end of this reputation spectrum there is little difference between users with high reputation and moderators. That is very much intentional. We don’t run Merspi. The community does.

There is very much a ‘word of mouth’, community feel to this site. They rely on others, who have been helped to spread the word;

You can help to grow the community further by promoting Merspi to your friends and family. Tell your friends about Merspi, print out a flyer and hand them out to your classmates and teachers, become a Fan on Facebook and invite your friends, or follow us on Twitter. Help us spread the word and our community will grow, and so together we can learn more!

If you are an educator or VCE student, then I would recommend you look at Merspi and perhaps even then, make a recommendation to your staff or peers.

Popularity: 7% [?]

: Resources
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WallWisher

2
February 15, 2010
by Mark


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Application: Wallwisher

Wallwisher is an online application that is easy to use, setup and lends itself to some great applications in the classroom. It is essentially an online noticeboard, that uses the ‘sticky note’ format for messages. Easy to set up, there is no need to have an account; although signing up does give the user some advantages in managing multiple walls. To enable you to ‘dip’ your toes in, there is a demo wall, which you can write and play with the tools without any consequence. wallwisher3

When writing on the wall, you are limited to 160 characters (nods to Twitter and SMS) but you can add images, video, music and links to web pages, so you can add a lot more content than just the usual text. And that’s what helps make it so practical for the classroom. I have been in touch with @missbrownsword in the UK via Twitter. She has used it for her Year 6 geography classes. Sarah tells me;

I’m using wallwisher with my year 6 geography classes (I have 2). Our topic is ‘How are you connected?’ and we’re looking at our connections to other countries. Last year I got them to list 5 countries they’re connected to, write them down and bring them in but this year I’ve asked them to post their lists to wallwisher. I’ve set up 2 so the classes have one each http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/6sgeog and http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/6ageog , feel free to have a look. The children were really excited today when I told them what they’d have to do and it’s definitely improved motivation, some of them have already done the homework! Also I think it will make it much easier for us to discuss and compare our connections to different countries in the next lesson as I can dispay the walls on my IWB. Next the children will be plotting the connections onto maps and after that choosing one country to do a presentation on, I’m planning on introducing some more new things for them during that part too.

Being the end of year here in Aus, I haven’t been able to use it for and extended curriculum, but I did use it to send messages to a student who had recently been in hospital.   Some students made her a physical card, but I got all of my students to write to a message to her. I was able to edit and correct any errors, and students could upload pictures and link to movies. We then emailed her the link, and she was able to join in from home. I agree with Sarah, it certainly helped motivate students and provided a novel way of keeping in touch with my students.

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With options to create your own URL link, 12 themes and controls over who can post and edit notes there’s some great potential for teachers in the classroom to use this tool. It’s not just for glorified sticky notes to yourself to pick up some milk – although that application can work too.

Being a firm believer in ‘learning by using’ I’d encourage you to have a look yourself (http://wallwisher.com) and contact Sarah @missbrownsword if you need some further ideas or help. I’m sure too, that if you are on Twitter and put out the call to your PLN for some advice or ideas they would help.

* I originally wrote this article in December last year, and looking through my drafts, realized I hadn’t published it.

Popularity: 29% [?]

: IWBs, Literacy, Tools
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Top 10 Things You Don’t Learn About Teaching in College

1
February 13, 2010
by Mark


Popularity: 7% [?]

: Video
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