Week+of+March+9,+2009

toc =Interesting Web Sites= [] is a search engine for educational resources.

[|Exploratorium] has something for just about everyone. The bulk of the online activities can be accessed by students in the fourth grade or older. If you're not in a one-to-one computing environment the hands-on activities page provides some great directions for fun off-line learning activities. Some of the virtual tours could be used on a Smart Board/ White Board.

[|FairShare] tracks the work you have registered with Creative Commons. If you're work is registered with Creative Commons licensing, you can track how the content you create is used and where it is used.

[|Free US History Movies] can be found here. Browse the entire American Experience series featuring over 200 films. Watch full films online, download teacher’s guides, go behind the scenes, and learn more about your favorite films.

A Periodic Table [|here]. You'll find great pictures and interactivity.

Free Power Points at [|World of Teaching].

[|Math games], divided into 3 units: graphing, factoring, and inequalities. =Teaching Tips= Stolen from [|this creative teacher] :

For those readers not familiar with [|Drop.io], the basic purpose of Drop.io is to provide a free, simple file, private sharing system. Drop.io gives users the ability to create a page of documents, links, and audio files in a matter of seconds.

This teacher gave his class an assignment about the transcontinental railroad, the settlement of the western United States, and the role that "the old west" played in forming the identity of America.

The assignment required students to find 19th century images of the West that they thought symbolized characteristics and stereotypes of the West. After finding the images, the students had to write a short justification for the selection of each image. He could have had the students print each image they found, but our school only has black and white laser printers so the quality of image prints is not good. Here's where Drop.io entered the picture; he had each student create a Drop.io page on which they added links to the images they found. Along with each image link the students had to write a short note justifying the selection of each image.

The students enjoyed creating these digital portfolios and they now have something that they can continue to add to for the rest of the year. Using Drop.io to have students create digital portfolios for this assignment also cuts down on the pile of physical papers that he had to sort through and keep track of over the weekend.

=Student Work= This is a simple example of how VoiceThread can work in your class (Margie Martinez): media type="custom" key="3450338"

=General Notes= Please visit my help page at [] to fix simple things on your own. Some videos include: What to do after you've been reimaged, adding printers, School Space, how to back up, how to use Disovery Education and Explore Learning. I'm adding more and if there is something you'd like to see, let me know. There are currently 20 videos on this site.

=School Space= Last week, I talked about using Discussion Boards. I wanted to mention them again, because I believe every content area can use DBs and get the students more engaged in your content. Try to find something that will peak their interest, whether it's controversial or just a current event. Find something obscure and see how it can fit into your content area. For example, how does the "Octomom" fit into your studies. I bet it can. Honestly, if you're not trying to engage your students in class with discussions and discussion boards, you're not teaching them for their future. Yea, I said it.

=Reminders= Staff Development will be given on March 18th for Quality Questioning. We'll be discussing ways to handle wrong or inappropriate questions.


 * Facebook has been blocked due to teacher misuse (not at HHS). Please remember that using the override is for educational purposes. I'm mad that Facebook got blocked, and if things like this continue, the override may be next. So please, use the override only for educational use. Remember, everything you do at school can be tracked. If you want, please click the discussion tab to talk about whether Facebook should be blocked or not for teachers.**