Week+of+May+18,+2009

toc =Interesting Web Sites= [|Google Docs] : There is a lot you can do with Google Docs by way of student collaboration, communication, and creativity. A [|new thing Google] has just created are templates for the Google Spreadsheet to create flashcards, word searches, and word studies.

A note about Google Docs: If you don't mind reading documents off a computer, then you might want to try having your students do their work in Google Docs. They wouldn't have to print, documents are shared, and you can mark them up just like paper. Plus, no excuses for late work.

[|Photo 8] : More and more today, students want and need to use images. "Googleing" an image my work, but often that means using images that violate copyright laws. This site has 1000s of pictures students can use without violating any copyright laws. Just paste in the URL or anything info the photographer asks for, and you can use it all you want.

[|Send It Home] : Have your students ever needed to work on a school project at home, but their e-mail is blocked? No thumb drive in sight? SendItHome is for you.

[|Print What You Like] : This site is very easy to use. Simply go [|PrintWhatYouLike] and paste in the web address of the Internet site you want to print. It then pulls your web page into its viewer and you highlight the sentences or paragraphs you want, then decide if those highlighted paragraphs are the ones you want to remove or print (isolate)and that's all that prints. This first time I did it, it didn't work because I didn't click in the selection box to isolate or remove. Once I did that (I chose isolate because I highlighted what I wanted), the screen changed to just what I chose. I then printed that.

[|Interactive Autopsy] : Heck, why do fake frogs? This website is definitely not for the faint hearted or for those who do not like the sight of a little blood. It is a step by step guide to what happens during an autopsy procedure. Watch with glee or your heart in your mouth as the first incisions are made and the bodily organs removed. A superb guide to what goes on in the autopsy room, but don't blame me if your dinner makes a reappearance!

[|FlipText] : ˙slıɐɯǝ pɹıǝʍ spuǝıɹɟ puǝs uɐɔ noʎ ˙unɟ ǝq oʇ ɥƃnouǝ pɹıǝʍ ʇnq ˙ʎɥʍ ǝɹns ʇou ˙looɔ sı ǝʇıs sıɥʇ. If you didn't get it, it writes words upside down.

=Teaching Tips= Last week, I mentioned that Astronaut Mike Massimino, who is on the Space Shuttle right now, who is twittering from space. Here are two of his tweets:



My point isn't about twitter. It's about using technology to allow students to connect to what's happening in the world around them. Have you used YouTube in the classroom yet? If not, why not? Had your students read blogs written by professionals in the field you teach? If not, why not? If you teach government, have you had your students subscribe to Obama's Weekly Radio Address? If you teach English, have you invited a real author to talk to your class? If you teach business, have you had your students listen to Bill Gates?

Maybe what you teach would connect more with your students, if you connect them to today's events.

=Student Work= Mr. Arthur is one of ten teachers (one of 20 for next year) that is using the Promethean Board in his classroom. Used improperly, all a Promethean Board is, is an expensive chalkboard. However, used properly where students are interacting with the board, it can be a powerful teaching/learning tool. Below are a few pictures of Mr. Arthur using a tool with the "board" that helps students learn.

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They use the little remote device to choose answers that appear in his Power Point. After they select their choice (multiple choice, order, or even texted answers), Mr. Arthur shows the results to the class. This is what makes this tool useful. Being able to review wrong answers, and reiterate the correct answers immediately is very powerful. This is what teachers should be doing with Exam View. That way, students never leave the room with wrong answers in their head.


 * Application:** With or without the board, are you helping students learn your content by using the data Exam View can provide?

Ms. Brenes and Ms. Miranda (from last year) teamed up this week to allow their students to talk to each other live using Elluminate.

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The students switched from Spanish to English since Ms. Miranda's students want to practice their English speaking skills, and Ms. Brenes' students wanted to practice Spanish. There were some basic United States-Spain type of questions, but it also seemed like a normal conversation you'd see with teenagers asking about shopping, driving, movies, and music. One our our students, who shall remain nameless, even failed at his attempt to hit on one of Ms. Miranda's female students. Web conferencing can do a lot, but it doesn't perform miracles.


 * Application:** Having students talk with other students anywhere in the world is as easy as grouping them up with students from 3 doors down. Are you letting your kids connect to the outside world?

=General Notes= I've had a lot of TSIPs to review this week and the one thing that drives me crazy about the TSIPs is how 1990s they are. Other than the lesson plan requirement, they're not even instruction based. If you were on a committee, what would you want to include in the TSIPs that relate better to today's environment with the laptops?

Here's my idea, based on the current TSIPs:


 * || Current || What I'd Like ||
 * T-1 || Word Document || Collaborating in a Google Document ||
 * T-2 || Database || evaulate an Exam View report for remediation ||
 * T-3 || Spreadsheet || Collaborate in a Google Speadsheet ||
 * T-4 || Internet Search || Create a delicious site, share sites ||
 * T-5 || Retrieve Info from Internet || Join a social network, ning and share/learn from others ||
 * T-6 || Find stuff on the LAN || Create folders in SchoolSpace and upload files ||
 * T-7 || email || create a blog post/wiki entry ||
 * T-8 || attach a document in an email || edit or respond to a blog ||
 * T-9 || Evaluate 2 web sites || 2 lesson plans dealing with web sites you use for instruction ||
 * T-10 || Evaluate 2 pieces of software || 2 lesson plans dealing with sofware you use for instruction ||
 * T-11 || Lesson Plans || Plan one collaborative lesson with a teacher from a different school ||
 * T-12 || Copyright Test || Copyright test/essay on creative commons ||

=School Space= Please email me about anything you liked or disliked in SchoolSpace. I'd like to create a list of things for everyone to see. For example, did you use the chat room in creative ways? Use the blog or wiki? Do you find adding files to troublesome?

=Reminders=
 * Please continue to clear out your personal backup folder on the server. Computers will be arriving soon and you'll need to make sure you are below the 10gig level in space that you are using.
 * Laptop collection begins in earnest next week. Please limit what your technology based lessons so kids can turn in their computers.
 * Please limit what students print out.
 * Remember, some students may be doing online summer school classes, they will get to keep their computers, but cannot use them in school.
 * Students are not allowed to bring to school personal laptops.