March 2009 Blog Posts (259)

Acceptable Use Policies: For our benefit.

At class last Tuesday, Mr. E. gave out an article about the substitute teacher Mrs. Julie Amero and how she was wrongly accused of looking up adult content while students were watching. But in reality, she had stepped out of the classroom and came back to see the students at at hairstyle site, which ended up having endless amounts of… Continue

Added by Mai Chan on March 23, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Strengths and Areas for Growth

Entering Activities : As today’s sponge, we will watch a BrainPop video called “Show, Not Tell.”

Anticipatory Set: I will go over today’s agenda with students, explaining that we will be looking at an example of a reflective piece and identifying strengths of the piece and areas for growth.

Teaching and Learning: Students I will read aloud the sample reflective letter. I will teach students how to make a chart where they will identify some strengths and some areas… Continue

Added by Amanda Addison on March 22, 2009 at 2:30pm — 1 Comment

Trust.. [a snippet of a post from TeachPaperless]

Do you trust your students?

A lot of the debate around the manageability of a paperless classroom has to do with trust. Of course there are going to be times when students are caught off-track doing something they aren't supposed to be doing. They are kids, after all. And they've gotten into trouble like this long before the advent of 1:1 computing. But what do you do now that instead of a student sneaking in a comic book to history class, the student's laptop is connected to… Continue

Added by Shelly Blake-Plock on March 22, 2009 at 2:28pm — No Comments

Links to some of my other blog posts..

Establishing joint attention with students with autism spectrum disorders using the HP TouchSmart PC and the NUI Suite Snowflake software

The following post is about software created by a member of Classroom 2.0:

Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Children and Teens: The Challenge Software… Continue

Added by Lynn Marentette on March 22, 2009 at 1:27pm — No Comments

Turning Phonics on Its Head

The basic strategy of a phonics approach assumes that if you sound out the word and can hear it you will know what it means. For the most part it is an effective strategy and one that worked for me. On the other hand, those for whom it does not work, are called reading disabled.

The purpose of reading is to get meaning from the printed word. A phonetic approach requires you to look at the word and auditorize it (at least mentally) and when you hear the word, you will know what… Continue

Added by Bob Zenhausern on March 22, 2009 at 11:53am — 4 Comments

Spring of the Poets

Plein Ecran / Full Screen… Continue

Added by Gražina Likpetrienė on March 22, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

The Octopus Gets Due Respect

My last post was a highlight of a train wreck of a children's book. The conversation in the comments section was all about media literacy. If you know me, you know that I don't like to dwell long on things negative. And thus- this post was published.

Regardless of your take on The Septapus, I have felt the need for a review of a really super piece of children’s literature since publishing that post. I guess I just feel the need… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on March 21, 2009 at 6:52pm — No Comments

Best Sites For: Web 2.0 Tools; Intermediate ELL's; Writing Essays; And More

Here are some recent "The Best..." lists:

The Best Places To Find Theatrical Movies On Science, Math & History

(http://tinyurl.com/cca5pq)

The Best Tools To Help Develop Global Media Literacy

(http://tinyurl.com/df8eyj)

The Best Sites For K-12 Intermediate English Language Learners

(http://tinyurl.com/dkl7jm)

The Best Sites To Learn About The Hindu Festival of Holi

(http://tinyurl.com/c3bnqr)

The Best “Cause-Related”… Continue

Added by Larry Ferlazzo on March 21, 2009 at 8:39am — No Comments

My Fabulous Five

The five websites that I've chosen for my webpage are:

1) http://www.lingoz.com/en/

I included this websote for two of my students, who spend half of their day learning in a foreign language. I find that their parents are often not available to help them with their homework in this area, for a number of reasons. On days that I am not at their house I have a feeling their homework does not get done. This site gives them access to two-way translations and the option to submit… Continue

Added by Ariella Epstein on March 20, 2009 at 11:00pm — No Comments

gifted workshops at Peoria IL homeschool convention March 27-28

Thanks to Michelle, moderator of the Central Illinois Gifted Homeschool Group, for this reminder:

Hi! This is just a reminder that the APACHE Home School Convention [in Peoria IL] is

coming up! It is March 27-28. This year you can pay to come just one

day if you want, rather than having to pay for two days. Plus they've

added extra shopping time on Friday morning!

There will be three workshops pertaining to home schooling gifted

children. Janice Price… Continue

Added by IAGCGifted on March 20, 2009 at 7:25pm — No Comments

IAGC Gifted Ed Digest for March 23-29

The IAGC Gifted Ed Digest for the Week of March 23-29 is
available at www.k12tlc.net/gt/03232009.htm

(If this link does not work for you, please copy it and paste it in the
address line of your browser)

Your GUEST User Name is GIFTED (all caps) and no password is required.

Added by IAGCGifted on March 20, 2009 at 6:39pm — No Comments

IAGC Gifted Ed Digest for March 23-29

Added by IAGCGifted on March 20, 2009 at 6:38pm — No Comments

Space....A unit

Hello everyone... I just found out about this site and I am very eager to begin using this as a tool for professional networking. I want to begin a unit on "space" as we are going to "space camp" where teh kids will be using simulators and living the life on a space shuttle..... I am looking for some ideas,input and possible novels i could read with my level 5-6 class.......

Added by Natasha Chortyk on March 20, 2009 at 6:34am — No Comments

Definition of a Derivative

JS Wiki Math uptdated with more video.

Statement of the definition of a derivative, geometrical motivation, and two examples of application of the definition.

I welcome other video contributers to the wiki! Participate,… Continue

Added by Geoff St. Pierre on March 19, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Free online training in Geogebra

Geogebra is a free and open source geometry program, similar in function to Geometer's sketchpad. It also allows for exporting your work to a web friendly format.

This coming Wednesday March 25th, either between 7am to 10am or 1pm to 5pm I plan on running an online workshop on how to use Geogebra. This will have to be limited to the first 20 participants as I am using the free online and screen-sharing website, http://dimdim.com (which has a limit of… Continue

Added by David Wees on March 19, 2009 at 4:24pm — 18 Comments

Let the Drafting Begin

Entering Activities: Students will come in and start on a sponge that asks them to write their controlling idea of their piece.

Anticipatory Set: I will go over that today we will spend time writing our reflective pieces. I will ask student to take out their homework and I will have them share with one another, as I check it. This may give them an idea that they did not have before.

Teaching and Learning: I will read aloud to students three examples of writers… Continue

Added by Amanda Addison on March 19, 2009 at 1:21pm — 1 Comment

Organizing Reflections

Entering Activity: Students will write down a prediction of what a piece titled “Taking the Trip” will be about.

Anticipatory Set: Students will write down today’s agenda and go over what we will be doing today.

Teaching and Learning: Students and I will read “Taking the Trip.” We will discuss what the controlling idea of this reflective essay is.

Guided Practice: I will have students make a Write to the Point Organizer. We will go over the… Continue

Added by Amanda Addison on March 19, 2009 at 5:49am — 1 Comment

Gettin' Wiki With It - Wanna Help?

First, l want to invite you (okay, urge you, really) to visit and contribute to discussions about the American. Westward Expansion from 1780 to 1860. Here's a screenshot:

Now, the context. I'm hoping to engage my students in creating something with an authentic audience, while simultaneously teaching them a thing or two about US History & Language Arts. Oh yeah, did I mention my studnets are school-dependent 8th & 9th graders who may have a lot to say and… Continue

Added by Chuck on March 18, 2009 at 6:30pm — No Comments

Video and Extending the Classroom

here is the link: JS Wiki Math

building an interactive math text. SP

Added by Geoff St. Pierre on March 18, 2009 at 5:30pm — No Comments

EarthDay idea: Planetfesto.org--educators discuss experience/hints

A collaborative, international art project to build a virtual ribbon around the world. The ribbon is made up of 6" pieces with a photo or drawing of why you love the earth, a statement of love, and pledges of personal action. We want to plant the subversive thought: do we need a new relationship with the planet? Contributions from 54 countries and 8,000 individuals--many from kids and classes. Takes about 2 minutes, and the site is loaded with ideas, photos students can use, and lesson plans.… Continue

Added by Nancy Raff on March 18, 2009 at 5:04pm — No Comments