Well Term 1 is coming to an end. Only one week to go and what a busy term it has been. As always there have been many issues with the computers around the school. It always seems to happen after we reimage them all in the school holidays.
The Grade 5/6 students are really making effective use of their laptops. It has been great to see them using the laptop on their desks instead of at the back bench is their rooms. It has really allowed the flexibility. It has also been great to see that… Continue
Added by Maree Leopold on March 28, 2009 at 2:01am —
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Just click on the image and join the live online event on how to integrate technology with Moodle and Twitter for instruction and learning with Dr. Anne Thorpe and Deirdre Bonnycastle.… Continue
This past week we launched a public beta of FunnelBrain.com , an academic question and answer site that provides an environment for collaborative online learning. Students work in teams to create review questions and answers, paired with video explanations, for academic subjects. Wiki-style content creation tools including video, audio, text and images empower the group collaboration.
Finally!!! Mark has produced more than half of the videos from our six-day holiday to Connecticut and North Hampton -- our November 2008 Rock Stars of Reading road trip. This means we'll begin publishing the video series, one video at-a-time, beginning on March 31; filling up the "off-days" in the Just One More Book!! publishing cycle until all of the videos are available.
To prove this is really happening, here is a promotional video for the series. It's an extract from…
I do a lot of professional development on integration, and I am always surprised by how many teachers, even those who use computers every day, don't know what I consider "must-know" tech skills. I'm not talking so much about broad areas like word processing or spreadsheets, but more small skills that make life easier no matter what application you're using.
My classes were rigorous .... I had the students working.
....today these digital kids have so much energy ... I figured ou tthe hard way I have to use energy to my advantage or else they're a fast moving train that's 'bout to run me over.
I was talking to a teacher friend the other day and we were reminiscing ...... we had both been reading and talking to other folks .... all we were hearing ....from many different… Continue
Here I go again. I just launch my "iProject" called The Wild Weather Project. Check it out at: http://wildweather.usd259.org This time I have added a twist, H.323 video conferencing.
Added by Brad Niessen on March 26, 2009 at 9:37am —
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I was asked to help with a District Professional Development training on 21st Century Skills today. One of the first things that I did was to to Twitter and ask my PLN for help. I posted the following ... "In District PD on 21st Century Skills. Please reply w/where R you from, what is your favorite on-line 21st Century tool & why do you use it?"
Below are screenshots of the responses to my tweet. Thanks to everyone who responded - the information was well received!… Continue
I try to be creative and innovative in my approach to teaching . . . I've just about perfected the game show approach to education (name a tv show and I'll think of a classroom application!!) . . . but I'm not convinced about the Ultranet-everything-online-24/7 approach. I don't think that the majority of students are ready for it . . .
. . . however, today I took the next step in my personal evolution in online education . . . I now have a virtual classroom on moodle! I know it's… Continue
We would like to invite you to collaborate
on a new open source conference at the university of
Prishtina in Kosovo.
It will be also covering open course ware and open knowledge.
We would like to have the video conference as a integral part of the
conference and have
the room connected with institutes around the world at the conference.
Here is our working web page, until we get a better one:… Continue
Based on positive feedback from a number of our teachers about the Professional Development model we're using this year, I thought I'd share the format.
First some background.
Our school has a mandated focus on Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) and integrating technology to support the learning we design for our students. I realize that IBL can…
and
Consider this.
Who do you work for?
How would a typical teacher answer this question?
Maybe, they she would answer "John Doe Middle School"
or may be he would answer " the board of education" knowing that he could be transferred
from one school to another within the same system in one day for no obvious reason.
I personally had this idea.
Teaching was not a job. It was not even… Continue
Added by William Lambert on March 25, 2009 at 3:30pm —
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If you are thinking to start an online teaching career or just started it, this online discussion might be useful for you. This free online class will show you how to start your online teaching brand using WiZiQ. Nidhi Sehgal, the presenter, will show you the benefits of using WiZiQ for your online teaching career. Hope you like it… Continue
Added by Alfajri Alwis on March 25, 2009 at 6:42am —
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I am a former teacher in the Memphis City school system. I have an experience I would like
to share. You decide if you can use the concepts.
I had a second job at a neighborhood community center at night.
Color Video cameras had just come on the market. I bought one to use in my teaching effort. I found some unusually
cool hand puppets on sale and I bought them. I got this great Idea.
At my community center job I used an overturned table, a small 13 inch… Continue
Added by William Lambert on March 25, 2009 at 6:04am —
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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, signed into law on February 17, aims to lend a helping hand to not only employment, health care and taxes, but significantly for the struggling state school systems: It more than doubles the education funding of the previous presidential administration.