Fun Friday: Texting Typos Anyone? :-)

As more of us delve further into 21st century communications, we're certain send more texts than ever before. And thanks to the wonderful invention of Auto-Correct, sometimes I'm sure you wish you had proofread before you sent a few of those many texts!

Oh, how we wish we'd apply the simple rules of professionally written language to our informal chatter... or that an Undo or Cancel button would be available to STOP it before it was sent! (really... a 10 second delay is all we would need in most cases!)

If you haven't seen these yet, the Ellen Show has done a few segments on "Clumsy Thumbsy" (each about 2-3 minutes long, with an ad in the beginning)...  Enjoy, but be ready for loud laughter!!! (may want to watch after hours so no one questions you... but see below for the REAL EDUCATIONAL VALUE to all this... AND remember the importance of PROOFREADING before you SEND!)

January 2012 episode

November 2011 episode

This can be a valid lesson for your students! (maybe not shwing them the Ellen clips... careful with appropriateness), but you can simulate your own text messages at iFakeText.com... which could actually have some educational value, for example:

• teach students to communicate appropriately with different audiences
• sentence structure and grammar practice
• simulate text messages between famous historical figures, whether alive at the same time or not! (e.g. - George Washington and John Adams; Steve Jobs and Bill Gates; Adolph Hitler and Napoleon; Margaret Thatcher and Hillary Clinton; etc.)
• foreign language conversations (or vocab review)
• spelling list or vocab list (with or without examples or definitions)
• See more examples at Tammy W's site...

P.S. - There are many other websites with funny text message typos, but many are NOT school appropriate... therefore, not included here.  ;-)


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Take 5! Integration Update - May 11, 2011 (Vol.2/#25)

Issue #25

“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

• ZooBurst – Online Pop-Up Books – Have students create online pop-up books (up to 10 for a free account). For more detailed information, read this brief article!
    
• ISTE Discount in May for Ed-Tech Resources -  Do you want to use technology more effectively in your classroom, but aren't an ISTE member? Well, this is your lucky month! Use the promo code WFF11 during the month of May to get an ISTE member discount (from 20-50+%) on webinars or books. To go shopping... http://www.iste.org/store.aspx

Ponderings  

Online Presence vs. Resumes? (article here) - Although stretching a little at times, this article brings up some valid points to ponder about our students' (and our?) futures... At the least, it brings to light reasons why students need to know about digital citizenship (responsibility and appropriate behaviors on the Internet): 

5 reasons why your online presence will replace your resume:

1. Social networking use is skyrocketing while email is plummeting 

2. You can’t find jobs traditionally anymore

3. People are managing their careers as entrepreneurs

4. The traditional resume is now virtual and easy to build

5. Job seeker passion has become the deciding factor in employment  

Learning Opportunities

• 1. In-District Professional Development Opportunities

• 2. CATIIE Conference (Creativity And Technology Integration In Innovative Education) @Central Catholic HS, Tuesday, June 14th. A great local ed-tech professional development and networking opportunity. Cost of this daylong conference is $25 (by June 7) and includes continental breakfast, lunch, and a post-conference gathering. On-site registration is $35. The 1st session will start at 9 AM and the conference will conclude at 4 PM. Click HERE for more information. 

 

• 3. INFOhio's 21st Century Learning Commons - 21 Essential Things Online Course: go HERE to begin learning more about 21st Century Skills, Tools, and Strategies to use in your classroom. You can earn CEUs or a graduate credit or just learn on your own for the sake of learning!
  

• 4. 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)

Extreme Ironing

Here’s a good summary WITH videos of this classic, strange, EXTREME hobby. In case you haven't heard of EI,it has to be something of importance since it has it's own Wikipedia page AND Facebook group! What other creative hobby groups can you or your students come up with -- perhaps a little less dangerous, but just as need-fulfilling like ironing?

 
  

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! ;-)

Jamie McKenzie Workshop on "Questions of Import"

Author, former teacher, and international speaker Jamie McKenzie visited Rossford on June 9th to work with teachers as part of the I-LITE grant series, which also included sessions on June 7 and 8. Jamie presented a session called "Beyond Cut and Paste" for over a dozen educators from Rossford and surrounding school districts. Below are a few of the highlights and pictures from his session and Jamie's discussion with participants:

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For research projects, change from "Scoop and Smush" (topic research projects) to researching "Questions of Import" (see his article here).  

An example... rather than assign students to do a research paper on "Captain James Cook" or some other explorer, have them answer this question: "Which of the following captains was the best at navigation? (Captain James Cook, Captain Matthew Flinders, Captain George Vancouver, or Captain William Bligh)"

And as Jamie states, "This type of research is much more demanding than copy-and-paste research, but ultimately more rewarding and more empowering because it equips students to wrestle with the real issues of their own lives." Students must "think toward the top" (of Bloom's taxonomy) -- analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. In other words, students should not be required to just paraphrase or regurgitate, but have and articulate original ideas.

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Jamie speaks to participants about "Beyond Cut-and-Paste" research...

"Replacing Topical Research with Inquiry that Matters"... (aka - "Questions of Import")

Teachers hard at work crafting their "Questions of Import" lessons...

Teachers share their lessons and view others'...

Two sample lessons from pictures...

Scrapblog - Creativity & Creation Tool

Try using Scrapblog for one or more of your creation tasks -- Better yet, ask your students to give it a try! It has a free option and is fairly easy to start and quick to learn. To view some other educational examples, check these out:

Wikis in Education

Here are some screen shots of the information below about using wikis in education:

 

What is a Wiki?

• from Hawaiian term “wiki” for “quick"
• web-based collaborative publishing
• dynamic knowledge base
• uses: group work, organization, or sharing (projects, meetings, repository) 
• open or closed community 
• history - database of all changes

Wikis in action… (samples)

• WetPaint
  
• pbWorks (formerly pbWiki)
  
• Wikispaces

Wiki Uses

Student Uses (student-generated/maintained)

• Collaborative Reflections (journal, pre/post readings, class activities or projects)
• Portfolio space
• Project wiki - individual students or groups; keep as a resource webpage after
• Peer Editing or Feedback space (follow changes)
• Individual/pair/group/team/class wiki
• Task list
• Presentation tool (not PPT) - non-linear & accessible to all
• Build ongoing resource for course
• Upload notes/documents to save/share
• Discussion and debate center (careful with topic/names)

Teacher Uses

• Current Events - organize by topic, not date (or both)
• Homework/project updates
• (Dynamic) Syllabus with links to additional resources (or blogs, wikis, etc.)
• Question & Response (teacher-lead)
• Expert in field/college collaboration pages
• Feedback space (general/no names)
• Save work from class each semester; start new
• Collaborative research/writing (papers, books, conference presentations)
• Department or professional reflections, updates, information (like an Intranet)
  

Blogging in Education (Student & Teacher Uses)

Here are some screen shots of the information below about blogs and blogging in education:

What are Blogs?

• Web pages (easy, quick) - “web log” (meaning... web-based/ chronological)
• Usually (but not necessarily) for an individual (but pair, group, classroom, teacher or admin team blogs work well too!)
  
• Mostly text, but can have pictures, audio, and video
• Automatic notification of changes (RSS)
• Public or “private”
  
• Started as personal journal/diary
• But now: business updates, editorials, current event documentation, community groups, government, educational communications & more…
• Community-based; links; comments; trackbacks
• # of Blogs = 133+ million blogs (as of 12/08); 71 million (4/07); 60 million (12/06); 28.6 million (2/06);     23.4 million (12/05); 21.6 million (11/05)

Educational Uses for Blogs:

•  weekly journals
•  reading notes &/or reflections
•  images of works or observations
•  audio (spoken) reflections or presentations
•  Any of the above…with links to other websites or blogs, images, etc.
  

Student Uses - all focused on discussion/responses

• Reflections (journal, pre/post readings, class activities or projects)
• Project or learning log
• Question & Response (student-lead)
• Peer Editing (brief!) or Feedback space
• Extension/application postings
• Audio blog (podcast), photo blog, or video blog (& explanations)
• Individual/pair/group/team/class blogs
• Portfolio - Personal blog on learning experiences/extensions

Teacher Uses - all focused on discussion/responses

• Reflections or extensions on the lesson/current topic
• Current Events
• Homework/project updates
• Question & Response (teacher-lead)
• Expert in field/college postings
• Feedback space (general/no names)
• Audio blog (podcast), photo blog, or video blog (& explanations)
• Pre-class question/image/video (Anticipatory Set or Engagement)
• Post-class question/image/video (Practice or Extension)
• Department or professional reflections, updates, information