I came across this great diagram to distribute to students. It is a guide for how to conduct classroom conversations for students. It is based on a technique called Accountable Talk. I read about this resource on the following blog posting.
Class Discussion Guidelines
Enjoy!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Life magazine's online photo archive
Before the age of cell phone cameras, You Tube, and Google Images, America received news and event images through weekly magazines. One of the must-see publications was Life magazine. They captured the heroes, villains and events that shaped history.
These images are now available on the newly launched life.com. Here is an excerpt from their site:
LIFE and Getty Images, the two most recognized names in photography, have joined forces to provide you instant access to millions of breathtaking photographs — for free. LIFE.com not only lets you wander through the legendary LIFE and Getty archives, but with more than 3,000 new photos added every day, it also gives you the best pictures of the people and places shaping our world now.
These are the photos you won’t forget. Taken by the world’s top photographers and curated by LIFE editors, they tell the story of our times — our
These images are now available on the newly launched life.com. Here is an excerpt from their site:
Welcome to LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the Web.heroes, our stars, our celebrations and heartbreak, the events etched in our memory and the small moments that make life sweet. When you find a photo you like, you'll be able to share it, print it, and sometimes even buy it.
LIFE and Getty Images, the two most recognized names in photography, have joined forces to provide you instant access to millions of breathtaking photographs — for free. LIFE.com not only lets you wander through the legendary LIFE and Getty archives, but with more than 3,000 new photos added every day, it also gives you the best pictures of the people and places shaping our world now.
These are the photos you won’t forget. Taken by the world’s top photographers and curated by LIFE editors, they tell the story of our times — our
Edutopia Magazine recenlty had a great article on "Teaching with Primary Souces". Specifically they spoke about using images. They recommend the following:
- Select Photographs - Use the custom search tool on life.com to hunt for images by topic or photographer.
- Research the techniques
- The Library of Congress's American Memory Website (loc.gov/teachers) provides lesson plans and question guides to help students think critically when examining photos.
- They also have self directed study modules on teaching with primary sources (loc.gov/teachers/professionaldevelopment/tpsdirect/selfdirected
- Develop a list of questions based on the following topics:
- What is the main subject of the photo
- Time: what might have happened just after or before the photo was taken.
- Framing: What would be visible if you could move the camera left or right, up or down.
- Vantage Point: How far was photographer from the images seen in the picture?
- Dominance: What is the first thing you notice in the picture?
- Original Purpose: How was the photograph first seen or used? How is the photograph regarded today?
- Intention: What do you think the photographer was trying to express through the image?
"When you teach students how to be critical viewers, they learn how to elevate personal opinions into authorative opinions", Elizabeth Lay, retired English teacher from Oakland, California
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Digital Story Project Examples
The students in Briggs, Cozy Lake, and Milton Schools have been producing digital stories using MS Photostory 3. In Briggs School all of the second grade students took part in an online project called "Where the Wild Things Went" You can view their completed stories on their new school blog which can be found here.
Mrs. Caraturo's class in Cozy Lake School created digital stories. During the month of October, students in Mrs. Caraturo’s class were asked to choose a newly fallen leaf. Students then illustrated a picture and wrote a story about the journey their leaf took after it fell from its tree. The boys and girls are very excited to have published their first digital story and to share it with their family and friends. Mrs. Caraturo's class stories are published here. Please contact her for the password to view the stories if you are interested.
The students in Mrs. Evans Kindergarten class, in Milton School, created digital stories describing their favorite animal at Space Farms Zoo. Each student drew a picture of an animal and then narrated their picture. We used a digital camera and Microsoft Photostory 3 to complete the project. You can view their stories here.
To learn more about digital storytelling click here.
Enjoy!
Mrs. Caraturo's class in Cozy Lake School created digital stories. During the month of October, students in Mrs. Caraturo’s class were asked to choose a newly fallen leaf. Students then illustrated a picture and wrote a story about the journey their leaf took after it fell from its tree. The boys and girls are very excited to have published their first digital story and to share it with their family and friends. Mrs. Caraturo's class stories are published here. Please contact her for the password to view the stories if you are interested.
The students in Mrs. Evans Kindergarten class, in Milton School, created digital stories describing their favorite animal at Space Farms Zoo. Each student drew a picture of an animal and then narrated their picture. We used a digital camera and Microsoft Photostory 3 to complete the project. You can view their stories here.
To learn more about digital storytelling click here.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
New Online Global Project
Jennifer Wagner of "projects by Jenn" has created another great project called the Holiday Card Exchange Project. I copied the details of the project below. You can visit the site at http://www.jenuinetech.com/Projects/hce09/hce09information.htm
See below:
Welcome to the
Holiday Card Exchange Project
Registration will open on
November 6, 2009
Dates of Project:
December 1 - 18th, 2009
This project will be open to all PreK - 6th grade classes around the world.
Classrooms will be teamed with 24 other classrooms to exchange holiday cards.
Each class will be sent an excel document
with all names and addresses of
the classrooms in their group.
Each class needed to create (or purchase) enough cards to send 1 card to each class on your list.
(Teachers are responsible for all postage costs)
Find sample ideas here!
Lists will be sent to participating classrooms
by November 30th, 2009
All cards will need to be mailed to the other classrooms by the 7th of December.
Teachers are encouraged to create a map to show where the cards come from. Google Earth and Google Maps are both very easy programs to use to create maps. You also could make a bulletin board map as well.
Please send Jen a picture of your map
after this project. Thank you!!
Since this was a holiday card project, it will be possible to receive all kinds of holiday cards (of differing beliefs and customs). If a school has certain "restrictions"; the teacher needs to be the filter of these cards.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
New Digital Storytelling Tool - Blabberize
www.blabberize.com is a free resource that allows you to make any picture talk. I have worked with this resource for a couple of years now. It can be really hilarious. You upload a picture, use the online tools to outline out the mouth, and record a narration. The picture then talks to you. You can upload more then one picture and have the talk to each other.
While this can be entertaining I believe this can be an excellent instructional tool. Here are some ideas for using it with students:
1. Students upload a picture of an animal or insect. They then narrate an oral report as that animal or insect that provides information they have learned about it.
2. Students upload a picture of Abraham Lincoln and provide narration about him, interview questions, or dictate a speech in response to something.
3. Students can introduce a story character or respond to a situation as a character in a story.
This can be an excellent tool to showcase a digital story. As with other digital storytelling projects the focus is on writing a script, editing the script and narration. The project can then be published online for students to share and view.
Enjoy
While this can be entertaining I believe this can be an excellent instructional tool. Here are some ideas for using it with students:
1. Students upload a picture of an animal or insect. They then narrate an oral report as that animal or insect that provides information they have learned about it.
2. Students upload a picture of Abraham Lincoln and provide narration about him, interview questions, or dictate a speech in response to something.
3. Students can introduce a story character or respond to a situation as a character in a story.
This can be an excellent tool to showcase a digital story. As with other digital storytelling projects the focus is on writing a script, editing the script and narration. The project can then be published online for students to share and view.
Enjoy
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Online Document Management
I have been starting to plan a strategy for online document management for my staff and students. We are implementing a new Wifi network in my district. I plan on creating a guest SSID just as i did in my previous district. I wrote about that in a previous post.
My plan is to allow faculty and students to be able to bring in their own mobile devices. In order for this to be successful I want them to have access to their documents while on and off the network. Setting up the guest SSId for internet only is the easy part. I need to find a solution for accessing documents over the web. This will ensure they will not have to be added to our domain to get to their files.
There are of course a number of options these days. Google Apps for Education, Zoho and other open source document management platforms are available. In the case of Google Apps it is a major change. My biggest obstacle is that Google Apps uses email as its primary communication and collaboration tool. There are many concerns with providing email accounts to our students. While the details of this are another post it is a noteworthy concern.
Microsoft has recently introduced Office Web Apps. You can access the beta called Microsoft Office Live currently. It provides the ability to access word, powerpoint and excel documents online. You can even share and collaborate on them. I have heard that office 2010 will offer the ability to host this online cloud on your own servers. I am hoping that if hosted authentication can be handled with LDAP. This might be a solution for us. It is of course a very expensive solution in comparison to Google Apps. The good news is we are already paying for it with our MS volume license.
Here is a quick blurb about MS Office Live.
Office Web Apps, the online companion to Word, Excel®, PowerPoint® and OneNote® applications, allow you to access documents from anywhere. You can even simultaneously share and work on documents with others online. View documents across PCs, mobile phones, and the Web without compromising document fidelity. Create new documents and do basic editing using the familiar Office interface. By offering more ways to access files from almost anywhere, Office Web Apps enable you to get things done according to your schedule.
I will continue to look into an open source solution that we can load onto our servers. If anyone has a recommendation I would love to hear it!
My plan is to allow faculty and students to be able to bring in their own mobile devices. In order for this to be successful I want them to have access to their documents while on and off the network. Setting up the guest SSId for internet only is the easy part. I need to find a solution for accessing documents over the web. This will ensure they will not have to be added to our domain to get to their files.
There are of course a number of options these days. Google Apps for Education, Zoho and other open source document management platforms are available. In the case of Google Apps it is a major change. My biggest obstacle is that Google Apps uses email as its primary communication and collaboration tool. There are many concerns with providing email accounts to our students. While the details of this are another post it is a noteworthy concern.
Microsoft has recently introduced Office Web Apps. You can access the beta called Microsoft Office Live currently. It provides the ability to access word, powerpoint and excel documents online. You can even share and collaborate on them. I have heard that office 2010 will offer the ability to host this online cloud on your own servers. I am hoping that if hosted authentication can be handled with LDAP. This might be a solution for us. It is of course a very expensive solution in comparison to Google Apps. The good news is we are already paying for it with our MS volume license.
Here is a quick blurb about MS Office Live.
Office Web Apps, the online companion to Word, Excel®, PowerPoint® and OneNote® applications, allow you to access documents from anywhere. You can even simultaneously share and work on documents with others online. View documents across PCs, mobile phones, and the Web without compromising document fidelity. Create new documents and do basic editing using the familiar Office interface. By offering more ways to access files from almost anywhere, Office Web Apps enable you to get things done according to your schedule.
I will continue to look into an open source solution that we can load onto our servers. If anyone has a recommendation I would love to hear it!
Monday, October 5, 2009
New Project Open for Grades Prek - 6
There is a new project available for grades Prek to 6 students. It was created by Jennifer Wagner. Here is a blurb from her site:
Jennifer Wagner, creator of JenuineTech.com, has been successfully encouraging teachers since 1999 to use technology seamlessly in their PreK-6 classrooms. Using the tools of the Internet (Web 2.0), Jennifer will help you understand how technology will help you make the most of your time in a variety of ways. Winning numerous awards for her creative ways in encouraging teachers to collaborate, her teaching style is very user friendly, creative, and personable.
THE PROJECT
Join in the fun as we learn about
The project has three ideas that teachers could take part in with their students. The topics involve extending a story, endangered animals and verbs. As with most of Jenn's projects there is a focus on creativity and innovation as well as collaboration. These are key skills for the 21st century. If you are interested in learning more about this project please follow the link below.
http://www.jenuinetech.com/Projects/wtwta/index.htm
Enjoy!
Jennifer Wagner, creator of JenuineTech.com, has been successfully encouraging teachers since 1999 to use technology seamlessly in their PreK-6 classrooms. Using the tools of the Internet (Web 2.0), Jennifer will help you understand how technology will help you make the most of your time in a variety of ways. Winning numerous awards for her creative ways in encouraging teachers to collaborate, her teaching style is very user friendly, creative, and personable.
THE PROJECT
Join in the fun as we learn about
extending a story, endangered animals, and verbs!
The project has three ideas that teachers could take part in with their students. The topics involve extending a story, endangered animals and verbs. As with most of Jenn's projects there is a focus on creativity and innovation as well as collaboration. These are key skills for the 21st century. If you are interested in learning more about this project please follow the link below.
http://www.jenuinetech.com/Projects/wtwta/index.htm
Enjoy!
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