Take 5! Integration Update - September 30, 2010 (Vol.2/#5)

Issue #5:

“Take 5” is a weekly update containing information related to teaching and learning for today and beyond...

Take just 5 minutes (or less) to look over these resources and see what might be helpful for your and/or your students. Better yet, set aside at least 15-30 minutes a week (yes, that's been increased from last year!) to focus on finding resources and ideas that will improve student learning and prepare them for their future!


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Tips and Tools for Teachers 

• Webmail Login (Public or Private?) - Did you know that when you log into your email via the OWA (Outlook Web Access) login page, you should USUALLY click on the "Private" button if you're on your school computer and at school. This way, you will see all images included in an email AND (more importantly), you can download or open/use an attachment sent to you. Otherwise, you only get to view attachments and some of those are not shown accurately. Watch this 2 minute video to see the difference and what you're possibly missing! 

• Daily Lit – Get FREE books delivered in small chunks to your email or RSS reader-- Choose from hundreds of classics and some new ones as well. Check out the page of the most popular and then go from there.

Ponderings

• Future of Ed (blog post) - Along with some of the ideas popular in the media this week about NBC's Education Nation Summit, here are some other thoughts on the future of education:

Place Based Education: Bill Gates said that students going to college campuses to get an education will be a thing of the past, “Five years from now on the web for free you’ll be able to find the best lectures in the world, it will be better than any single university.”  He was also quick to point out that the same will not be true K-12 institutions. 

• What are the benefits of a "place-based" education?
• Apparently, free online video college courses may not last... then what? 
• And, last, but not least... are lectures the best way for all students to learn?

Weigh in below in the Comments area with your thoughts...

Learning Opportunities

1. Webinar (Oct. 20 @ 4pm) - Does Your Learning Style Hinder Your Students' Engagement? - free w/ registration - from the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (at the very least, the title is something to think about...OFTEN!!!)
2. Rossford's Professional Development Opportunities - Calendar
3. Get these posts emailed to you! - In the right margin of this blog, enter your email to receive future postings into your email Inbox (Take 5s and more!) -- plan on 1-3 posts per week.

;-) Just for Fun! (and a little learning, perhaps)

• Counting Time - A Day Off Work? - it's always interesting how numbers can be skewed to make a point, isn't it? 
  

How To: Combine 2 Columns into 1 in Excel ("Concatenate")

This question comes up sometimes... “How do I combine the first and last name columns into one column?” (by the way, this is officially called concatenation, which essentially means “linking things together”)

I’m sure some of you already know how to do this, but I didn’t. So, I decided that rather than ask our Tech Director how to do it (which I was going to do since I know she knows how to do it and could tell me/show me really fast), I decided to “Google it”! In Google search, I typed “how to combine two columns in excel” -- (here's the search results page... can't guarantee that the current results match what I got, but...)

Below is what I found... (first link!) It’s a YouTube video (which we, staff, all have access to now) and about 3 minutes long... A lot less time than it would take to retype all these names!!! The guy is a little goofy, but it’s a great demo of this plus a few other little tips (a couple I didn’t know!!!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe91iB_4bR8

Perhaps some other of his other videos might be helpful as well, I know I will be checking back with him...

Take 5! Integration Update - September 22, 2010 (Vol.2/#4)

Issue #4:
HAPPY FALL
(or Autumnal Equinox with 
a Super Harvest Moon),
EVERYONE!!!

“Take 5” is a weekly update containing information related to teaching and learning for today and beyond...

Take just 5 minutes (or less) to look over these resources and see what might be helpful for your and/or your students. Better yet, set aside at least 15-30 minutes a week (yes, that's been increased from last year!) to focus on finding resources and ideas that will improve student learning and prepare them for their future!


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Tips and Tools for Teachers 

• Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines - Hall Davidson from Discovery Education put this PDF poster together years ago and I still find it to be a handy reference for both teachers and students. For more information and links to copyright resources, visit Hall's Copyright links page.

• Lizard Point – (elementary, middle levels) online geography quizzes; basic math problems online and worksheets; and money counting (Buy It with the Little Farmer) -- use with the SMART Board (whole class), centers, or intervention time

• Reqall - Need reminders like I do? Try Reqall! There are basic (free) and pay-for versions. I mostly use it for emailed reminders... I call their phone number (usually from my cell phone, since the things to remember happen when I'm doing other things, of course), say "Add" (as in add a reminder for me), then after the beep, I leave my 30 seconds or less message that gets transcribed into an email along with the actual recording (in case the transcription is bad... which does happen and is quite funny sometimes). So, when I next check my email, there is an email from Reqall about what I was supposed to remember. Plus, if the message is day or time related, it will even send a reminder to your email or phone (text, if you want) before that day or time to remind you. There's so much more, too -- such as sending these reminders or updates to others or groups. Check it out!

Ponderings

• Technology Empowers Differentiated Instruction (Feb 2009) - Although not a current article, this webinar summary is a great overview of a few tools that allow for differentiated instruction in your classroom. Here are some highlights:

... students are more successful in school and find it more satisfying when they are taught in ways that are responsive to their readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles.

... teachers can differentiate four elements of instruction: content, process, product, and learning environment. They also can differentiate instruction based on student traits, such as readiness, learning profile, interest, and affect.

"We also like to give students choices in their learning, because offering choices gives students a way to make decisions about what they will do in order to meet class requirements," said Smith... One way to do this is to create and present what the authors called a "tic-tac-toe board," or three-by-three grid, of suggested activities from which students can choose to demonstrate their understanding of a topic.

"Teachers first need to pre-assess student interest through inventories and surveys, observation, or interviews,"... Next, the authors recommend that teachers choose different strategies to build on students’ interests in ways that are appropriate for their abilities or age levels. For example, elementary students might use a strategy called "I-Search," in which students do research online, to learn about earth explorers, while middle-schoolers might use I-Search to learn about the Civil War. Other strategies include WebQuests, interest centers, flexible groups, literature circles, Role Audience Format Topic Tech (R.A.F.T.T.), Jigsaw, or computer software. (For more information on these strategies, visit the links in the article)

Learning Opportunities

1. District Professional Development Opportunities - Calendar
2. NWO's STEM Education Inquiry Series (at Rossford High School!) - a low-cost, local opportunity for elementary teachers and JH/HS science, math, and technology teachers offered 7 times from September 23 - April 14, 2011.
3. In the right margin of this blog, enter your email to receive future postings into your email Inbox (Take 5s and more!) -- plan on 1-3 posts per week.

;-) Just for Fun! (and a little learning, perhaps)

• Cartoon Bank (New Yorker Magazine) - "Teacher" category... enjoy... Here's one example for you regarding lining up students

Where's the Google Wonder Wheel?

 

Here’s a blog post about it... It’s there...
http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/the_tempered_radical/2010/09/googles-wonder-wheel-isnt-gone.html

Short version... turn off the Instant feature (to the right of the search box) and it will reappear on left side. 

Silly Google!!! What were they thinking!!??!!

Blogging 101: Steps for Success

ARTICLE HERE

These suggestions from Heather Wolpert-Gawron are great food for thought for teachers of middle school or high school students to consider before you start a blog project. The importance of students learning about "netiquette" and blogging "offline" are keys to success as well.

She mentions using Kidblog... and another site good for school blogging, especially at the elementary and even middle school age is Class Blogmeister. High School students may want to try using other more mainstream blog sites such as Google's Blogger (which this blog uses), WordPress, or another you are comfortable with using and managing FIRST.

Then there's the issue of access at school... talk to your Tech Director first... That should really be Step #1 on Heather's list! ;-)

Constitution Day Resources

http://www.flickr.com/photos/caveman_92223/3193229606/ 

 

Happy Constitution Day!

Below are a few resources that teachers can use for studying Constitution Day (thank you Jen M. for the links!):

Slide Shows

http://www.k12.com/events/constitution_day_lessons/
This site has nice slide shows for each grade level.

Constitution Game 
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constitution-day/game.html )
Last year I used this Constitution Game and I think it really gave the kids an idea of what the delegates had to go through to write our constitution. I think it could be adapted for the younger grades.
 

Constitution PowerPoints

http://government.pppst.com/constitution.html
This has a bunch of powerpoints and games.

Constitution Facts and Games
http://www.constitutionfacts.com 

Take 5! Integration Update - September 8, 2010 (Vol.2/#2)

Issue #2:

“Take 5” is a weekly update containing information related to teaching and learning for today and beyond...

Take just 5 minutes (or less) to look over these resources and see what might be helpful for your and/or your students. Better yet, set aside at least 15-30 minutes a week (yes, that's been increased from last year!) to focus on finding resources and ideas that will improve student learning and prepare them for their future!


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Tips and Tools for Teachers - Beginning of year reminders...

• SMART Exchange - SEARCH for lessons and SHARE the lessons you create!

• Do you have a SOCS Teacher page? Or do you have a teacher web page or website that can be linked through the SOCS system? Click HERE to see what options you have available to you.
  

Ponderings

• Participating kids are learning kids! -- Whether using cheap or more expensive "student response systems" (e.g., thumbs up/down, small whiteboards/chalkboards, colored/lettered index cards, or electronic "clickers") the results are in (which you probably already knew)... NEWSFLASH: Kids learn more when they participate! (In other words, active minds are learning minds!)  
• This article specifically discusses the strategy of "preventing the brightest students from putting their hands up," but more specifically, points out the benefits when ALL students get to participate, test their knowledge, or just plain guess at something posed by the teacher. 
• So... in your classroom, do the same few students always respond? If so, are the other students being "active" and challenging themselves to think and learn? How do/will you get them all involved in their learning?

Learning Opportunities

1. District Professional Development Opportunities - Calendar
2. University of Toledo presents Creating a Customized Classroom Management Plan (by Chelonnda Seroyer), Wednesday, Sept. 22 (5-8pm) -- FREE, but space is limited - More info at: http://teachut3.utoledo.edu/speaker.aspx 
3. In the right margin of this blog, enter your email to receive future postings into your email Inbox (Take 5s and more!) -- plan on 1-3 posts per week.

;-) Just for Fun! (and a little learning, perhaps)

• How will you celebrate... Wonderful Weirdos Day tomorrow (the 9th)?, or Video Games Day (12th)?, or Big Whopper Liar Day (18th/3rd Saturday, as not to conflict with schools, perhaps!), or Talk Like a Pirate Day (19th)? And be sure to remember Constitution Day on the 17th! More listings for each month here -- http://www.brownielocks.com/month2.html

Take 5! Integration Update - September 1, 2010 (Vol.2/#1)

Here is your 1st installment of the
Take 5! Integration Update 
for the 2010-2011 school year. 


“Take 5” is a weekly update containing information related to teaching and learning for today and beyond...

Take just 5 minutes (or less) to look over these resources and see what might be helpful for your and/or your students. Better yet, set aside at least 15-30 minutes a week (yes, that's been increased from last year!) to focus on finding resources and ideas that will improve student learning and prepare them for their future!


===================================

Tips and Tools for Teachers - Beginning of year reminders...

• YouTube -- Did you hear that teachers (JH, HS and soon Elem) now have access to YouTube without being blocked? Just remember to do your searches and screen preparations OFF the projector (not with students watching) in case something unexpected shows up! If there are questionable related videos or you prefer a "clean look," try one of these options:

YouTube XL - http://www.youtube.com/xl
QuietTube - follow directions here - http://quietube.com  

• Thinkfinity - free resources and lessons for teachers from Verizon -- Click on the "New to Thinkfinity" link on the right side to learn more!

Ponderings

• Article summary - 9 Things Teachers Wish Parents Knew 

Learning Opportunities

1. In the right margin of this blog, enter your email to receive future postings into your email Inbox (Take 5s and more!) -- plan on 1-3 posts per week.
2. District Professional Development Opportunities - Calendar 
3. NWOET's Scanner Newsletter - pdf (August 2010) - includes listings for fall PD opportunities (online and face-to-face)

;-) Just for Fun! (and a little learning, perhaps)

• Jigsaw Land (may have pop-up ads...)