Keeping your students current

I might be telling you something you already know (I'm aware of this), but CNN Student News is a free 10-minute newscast that is available every weekday to stream.  There has got to be some time for (at least a portion of) this to fit into your schedule somewhere.  Being able to discuss and correlate current events into your curriculum is exactly what our students need the most.

A tool that could be used along with this is The Week In Rap.  Every Friday there is a new video available that puts all of the current event stories from the week into a rap video.  Students get a big kick out of this, and are engaged with the visuals that go along with the rap. (The main page will be blocked because it is shown through vimeo - which is blocked - but if you scroll down just below the blocked video, you will be able to click on the link to view it as a WMV file.  This will allow you to watch it in school.)

I think it would be a great activity to see students create their own "week in rap" raps based off of the information that has been learned about through the daily news.  I'm sure some students would really take off with this.  The possibility of creating a weekly "news in rap" podcast would definitely work for those who would be willing to try.  (let me know if you are interested...I would love to help)

Football and Science...finally

NBC Learn has put together 10 short free videos that correlate science and math concepts with football at The Science of NFL Football.  They are very informative and engaging clips that show true life examples of physical science and geometry.  I think these are great, and would be an excellent compliment to your curriculum.  There are also a few more categories at NBC Learn that stream videos for free here.  NBC Learn does have an archive of news videos, but those are only available with a paid subscription.  Enjoy!

Qwiki is available to everyone!

Today I've just got a short update on a great tool that I have mentioned before - qwiki.com .  If you are not familiar with qwiki, it is a search engine that gives results like an encyclopedia passage that is read aloud along with pictures. It is now fully available to all.  You previously had to sign up, but that is not necessary anymore.  Try it out, and have some fun with it!

Take it easy

There are many ways to integrate technology into your classroom.  I try my best to inform you about anything that I think is valuable to learning with technology.  Does that mean you should be doing everything I mention?  Absolutely not.  It is my job to keep you informed and excited about new things, but please keep it in perspective.  I know too many teachers that feel so overwhelmed about using technology that they give up before they really even try.  First of all, start with one thing at a time.  Think about something that you are excited about using, and that you think would enrich your teaching.  Find a way to introduce it to your students with a small activity, allowing everybody (including you) to get used to it without it feeling threatening.  As time goes on, and you feel more comfortable with it, allow it to become a bigger part of your day.  Remember, kids are natural explorers, and they will soon be naturals as they continue to use whatever technology you are implementing.  It is also important to understand that if something feels like a failure - then that is not a reflection on you.  Trying new things is always an experiment, but it is important to ask yourself and your students about what went wrong, and analyze what could be changed for next time.

A big part of the hesitancy that I see is also feeling as if you cannot answer every question the students have about the program or technology that you are using.  This is completely normal.  I know, as a teacher, I hate it when I cannot answer a question about something that I'm expecting my students to use.  I think in these moments, we need to take a breath, and just be honest with our students.  Does this question my authority or role as a teacher? No.  It confirms my role as a human being that does not know absolutely everything, but is willing to do what it takes to figure it out.  I think it is refreshing for a student to hear his teacher say "You know, I'm not quite sure how to do that, but let's see if we can figure it out." It is also amazing what a little thing known as Google has done for answering questions of all types.

Technology is something that should make life easier.  Before you think about all that could go wrong, remind yourself of all that could go right.  I'm happy to help if I can.  Just let me know what you are thinking, and we can get your class set up for your needs.

Getting your students to blog

Trying to get our students to practice their writing is definitely a challenge.  Blogging is one way to get them in the practice of writing informally to find their voice, while also being a great classroom teaching tool.  Using a free service like Kidblog (I really recommend this site, because it is built for classrooms and does not require email addresses for student accounts) makes it simple to set up a classroom so that every student has their own blog.  Within a classroom, a teacher and student can access any blog that belongs to the class.  Students also have the option to comment on other students' blog posts.  The teacher will have to approve any comments before they are displayed, though, which is a very nice feature.

The real opportunity with using blogs is letting your students get used to writing for an audience, learning from peer feedback, and taking pride in their writing.  Using classroom blog posts of examples of the good and the bad are great teaching moments that students can easily connect to.  It also takes away from all the stacks of paper that you are used to grading every week.  You can give students instant feedback once they publish a post that you can choose for everyone to see or keep private for only that student.  More and more classrooms are using this as a tool to get kids excited and analytical about their writing.  Don't be afraid to try it out.

*UPDATE 1-24-11 check this week's tech tip for more info*

Rich background information

So many of our students lack the background knowledge that is needed to properly understand the material that is being taught.  How do we accommodate this problem?  One way is to show them content-rich, high-interest video (obviously, this is not the only way).  We know that we already have DE Streaming at our disposal, but what are some other options? SnagFilms is a great website that has thousands of documentaries available to stream for free.  Please note: these films are definitely geared toward older students, and some may have adult content that you will need to screen for.  Recently, this site has vowed to bring its library up from 2,000 videos to 10,000 videos due to a grant that was received - so make sure to be checking in to see what is new.


Other great resources are SchoolTube and TeacherTube.  Obviously, we cannot access YouTube, but these are great alternatives that are constantly growing with great new content.  Check them out, and don't be afraid to see what other teachers are doing with their classrooms.  Beyond getting videos to show students, these sites are great places to see what other teachers are sharing.

One last idea, for those who are looking for a little inspiration or philosophy.  TED is a website that features free talks from experts on a variety of progressive topics.  They are all about 10 minutes or so, and they really force you to think about your priorities and opinions.  I have already featured a talk by Dan Meyer on my blog before.  Below is a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson in 2006 about creativity in education that brings up a good debate.  If you like this video, take a look around at TED and check out some more.  Along with great talking points, these videos also show some of the world's best speakers in their element.  It can be a tool for students to see how a great speech is given, while debating about someone's viewpoint on a topic. 

Excellent Math Games

MangaHigh.com is an excellent website that specializes in high-interest math games for intermediate math concepts.  You can try out a limited version of the games for free, but there is also a subscription based service that allows you to create usernames for your students and set up challenges for them.  It looks great, and the games are not just simple computation disguised as a video game.  They also work on concepts such as number comparison, graphing algebraic equations, estimation, and geometry.  It is geared towards middle school math, but is also has "lite" versions of games to cater to the elementary setting.  I would encourage you to check it out and see if it is something that would be of interest to you.  Especially with so much ISAT review this time of year, it is a great way to reinforce math skills in a fun and engaging way.  They offer a free 4-week trial period that could be extremely beneficial to try out and test with your students.  I am excited to try this out for myself and see how it goes over with students and teachers.  I think especially for junior high teachers who have trouble finding quality math games to reinforce their content - this is a great tool.

Prezi: a great alternative to powerpoint

Powerpoint definitely has its place in the classroom.  It is a great presentation tool and is widely used.  But sometimes you need to just change it up a little.  Prezi is a great way to add a little wow factor to your presentations.  The difference between Prezi and Powerpoint is not easy to explain - but I'll try.  Prezi does not use the standard linear slide approach.   Instead, it gives you a blank slate that allows you to input text, pictures, video, etc., and you can zoom in on each element in whatever order you choose to present.  Instead of trying to explain it too much, play with the example below to see an example of a Prezi that I created.  You can sign up to use Prezi for free with an email address at Prezi.com - you have up to 100mb of storage with a free account.  It also has very easy beginner training steps to help you understand how to use it.  When you sign in, you will see the library of presentations that you have created.  The nice thing is that you can also download a Prezi presentation so that you do no need to be connected to prezi.com in order to show your presentation.