January 2010 Blog Posts (153)

Another great Fireside Chat 1-9 6:30-8:30pmGMT

We will host our "week 2 fireside chat" for the 2009 K-12 Online Conference this coming Saturday, January 9th! The week 2 keynote speakers, Rachel Boyd and Diego Leal, will present and engage in Q&A with participants via EdTechTalk's Ustream channel and backchannel chat. Time: January 9, 2010 from 6:30 - 8:00 pm GMT. NOTE: This is 1:30pm EST on Saturday, January 9. Please click the following link to see your local time:…

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Added by Durff on January 8, 2010 at 10:30am — No Comments

Accountability and Irrationalism

I genuinely do believe in accountability.

I think this message of mine gets lost when I rip on the bubble tests as being the end-all, be-all of assessment in public education.

Yes, I do want elevated academic performance.

Yes, I do want high student achievement.

Yep, I am a big fan of improved classroom work.

However, I think the measures we use to gage accountability in education are flawed... and when flawed measures are used to evaluate… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on January 8, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

Practice AIEEE 2010 Sample Papers to Get High AIEEE Score

In past one month many class 12th grade students in India have been asking for tips to crack AIEEE 2010 with good score as they know they won't be able to make it to IIT and their only hope is AIEEE 2010 to get admission in to top engineering colleges of India. In this article I have tried to highlight some of the basic but important points regarding aieee preparation.

1> Practice lot of aieee 2010 sample… Continue

Added by Saumil Shrivastava on January 8, 2010 at 2:30am — No Comments

US Olympic team

In the past one of my 4th grade teachers has contacted the US olympic athlethes and/or the general mailbox of the individual sports. His contacts are very old and we are having trouble finding addresses for the upcoming olympics. Does anyone have any info?

Added by Jeanne on January 7, 2010 at 9:29pm — No Comments

Ether Pad

Does anybody use this and if so any comments?

Added by Jamie on January 7, 2010 at 6:57pm — 3 Comments

Raise your test scores -- that's all they want.

Yesterday I wrote about how first and foremost I must raise my standardized test scores. I also expressed how I was disheartened by such a cold, black and white reality.

However, these are the cards I've been dealt. The federal government is literally strong-arming the states through a lording of the purse strings over their heads (i.e. no comply, no money -- no comply, no money -- no comply, no money) to either raise bubble test scores in our schools -- particularly in our… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on January 7, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

Day 15

Day 15, students need to be riminded to read the requirements on their folder checklist. Student viewed the worst and best iMovies and have a good idea of what is being required of them. The next class is just a quick reinforcement of what the final project needs to look like.

Added by Ernest Dodson on January 7, 2010 at 5:43am — No Comments

State Projects?

Are there any state projects going on out there? My second graders are learning about the states. I would like them to communicate with students in other states to get an authentic account of life in those places.

Added by Eric Demel on January 6, 2010 at 6:22pm — No Comments

Fight the Filter: ISTE SIGMS Webinar with Buffy Hamilton!

"Fight the Filter" ISTE Sigms 2nd Webinar!

Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010 at 8 pm E.S.T., 7 pm C.S.T., 6 pm M.S.T., 5 pm P.S.T Presenter: Buffy Hamilton

Want to start your new year off by making a positive difference in your library program? Join SIGMS for our second… Continue

Added by gwyneth jones on January 6, 2010 at 1:36pm — No Comments

The Ugly Truth That's Black and White

The Ugly Truth is that my number one goal for my students right now has to be to raise their 2010 standardized test scores.

I find it disturbing, off-base, heart-wrenching, and almost something shameful to admit. However, NCLB has my entire school's back up against the wall right now. The state is on the doorstep of taking over the district. The district has already informed us that if we sink to the next level of NCLB probation status, tenure for everyone on campus will be… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on January 6, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

The Electronic Village Online Sessions

Copying what I have found on the website.

The Electronic Village Online Sessions

For six weeks, participants in EVO can engage with ESOL experts in collaborative, online discussion sessions or in hands-on virtual workshops of professional and scholarly benefit. These sessions will bring together participants for a longer period of time than is permitted by the land-based TESOL convention and will allow a fuller development of ideas and themes of the convention or of professional… Continue

Added by cem balcikanli on January 6, 2010 at 5:49am — No Comments

Use of CMC

Nowadays there is extensive usage of computer mediated communication (CMC) in schools such as email. How do you think email can be used to enhance learning? Is it possible that students can learn without much face-to-face contact with their teachers?

Added by Eunice Ntobedzi on January 6, 2010 at 5:48am — No Comments

QUIA Web - A Great Web 2.0 Tool

http://www.quia.com/web

I found this great site that teachers can use as a mini website for their students.

You can create your own project activities and add links to support your lessons.

You can also check out my QUIA page (Still in the beginning stages)

http://www.quia.com/profiles/rgordonmatthews

But it does have a minimal cost ... but it is… Continue

Added by Reba Gordon Matthews on January 6, 2010 at 3:00am — No Comments

Google Wave didactical applications

GoogleWave

* Wave communication in real time

* There is much talking about Social Networks like FaceBook,

* about microblogging, like Twitter,but the real new social network is Google

presentation on prezi

* Google Wave, open source platform

* creates a network of data interchange ( WaveNetwork ) with further integration with other… Continue

Added by Daniele Prof Pauletto on January 6, 2010 at 1:00am — No Comments

Collaborative Activity for Middle-school students

I am looking for any ideas for a fun collaborative project for students in grades 5 through 9. The activity's project name is New Horizons and is being developed for our students to become more in touch with other peoples and cultures. The school I work in is in a small rural district without much diversity. We have 250 students from K-12 and need activities for afterschool programs.
I would appreciate any suggestions or efforts to collaborate!

Added by Donna Greenthal on January 5, 2010 at 4:48pm — No Comments

Using Blogger in Instructional Technology

Last semester I used Blogger for students to post all their assignments and have discussions! Suprisingly, despite being millennial learners, few of them had ever had a blog. They loved it!
Here is a link to one of my students' blogs

Added by Denise Lindstrom on January 5, 2010 at 12:05pm — 2 Comments

Information Literacy Activity for Students

For this activity I had students use bogus Websites to create Think Alouds using online reading strategies presented by Debbie Abilock.

Check out a student work sample!

Added by Denise Lindstrom on January 5, 2010 at 12:02pm — No Comments

Google Sites for Portfolio Construction

For my final, I had students construct a portfolio with Google Sites. They had to chose one of the 10 projects we did throughout the semester and decide which one best met each ISTE standard. I had them reflect on how that activity helped them to think about using technology with their future students. Here is a link to one of these technology portfolios.

Added by Denise Lindstrom on January 5, 2010 at 12:00pm — 6 Comments

Up and running and bringing the heat!!

So how did your kids spend their holiday break. Mine, let's see.

--They slept.

--They ate.

--They watched tv.

--They played video games.

--They were bored.

--They "chilled".

--They did "too much" homework.

--They did no homework.

--They went to the mall.

--They partied. (This is where my "don't ask, don't tell" policy comes into play).

A few of them travelled, some of them caught the flu and some of them went to… Continue

Added by Alan Sitomer on January 5, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

The project eTwinning Easter Season

eTwinning project Easter Season

The idea of project is to see the difference and similarities between Easter traditions in different countries. Each partner prepared paintings or drawings and cards with traditional Easter wishes. We added some presentations or photos of Easter in our countries. Later, we all exchanged the pictures with Easter Bunny and Easter cards so as each involved school could get it. Then schools prepared wall charts with Easter Bunny and Easter cards for… Continue

Added by Gražina Likpetrienė on January 5, 2010 at 3:00am — No Comments