Mother’s Day is quickly approaching so we need to start thinking of what special ways we can celebrate our mothers. When I think of Mother’s Day I think of all the women in my life who have had an influence of who I am today. I try and remember to send a little thank you [...]
Class DoJo is a FREE real-time web 2.0 classroom management tool that helps teachers monitor and gather data on behaviors or attributes that are occurring in the classroom (or any setting, for that matter). In my district, several teachers are using this and loving what it has done to help set classroom and individual goals. [...]
Several MA DEN members, along with some invited colleagues, were treated to a special event on April 10th. We gathered at Peter’s Blue Bunny Bookstore in Dedham, MA, to chat about his work, his journey, and his passion for all people, young or old, to “make their mark.” We also talked about technology and his [...]
We had a wonderful afternoon at Champion High School in Brockton! Twelve teachers got together for a Glogster workshop and the room was a buzz with creative juices! As always Discovery was a big part of this event! Teachers were amazed with what they could do to present student work and research in such [...]
Did you ever wonder if llamas really spit? How about what are ten strange holidays? Wonderopolis is a web site sponsored by Thinkfinity that poses questions like this accompanied by a picture or video and then text that answers the question. This would be a great way to add some novelty into a lesson, stimulate [...]
At the recent New England Day of Discovery, I briefly met Greg Limperis from Lawrence. He has a lot to offer the DEN community, so I was thrilled to learn that he became a DEN Star. Thank you, Greg, for sharing a little about yourself, your experiences, and your interests. Greg writes: My name is [...]
The March issue of the New England Aquarium’s Teacher Resource Newsletter is filled with resources, teacher workshops, field trip ideas and STEM conference information. I just wanted to share with other New England DEN members… just as a reminder of the great resources and hands-on experiences available at the Aquarium. Don’t forget to check out [...]
CAST “is an educational research & development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning. UDL is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone–not a [...]
TED-Ed has developed an idea to recognize great educators by helping them share their lessons with the rest of their world! The educators and their lessons will be paired with equally talented animators to create “curiosity-igniting videos.” At this point, TED-Ed is looking for nominations for educators, lessons, and animators to begin the project. Watch [...]
A great day of learning and sharing! Thanks, Discovery Education.
NASA’s sites are great resources for the classroom, and many are targeted for younger students. But my favorite one is the Astronomy Picture of the Day, http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html. For the truly curious among us, the APOD archive offers a chance to browse previous daily posts, finding topics of which we may not have even been aware. [...]
Everloop is designed to provide a safe environment for tweens to become a part of a social network. They can connect with friends, loop together based on interests, play games, and even play a prank by virtually “tp-ing” a friend. Everloop allows tweens to be involved without exposing them to some of the risks that [...]
In honor of Black History month I always read an historical fiction diary written from the viewpoint of a slave child in 1857. It is a very powerful book that emphasizes the importance of getting an education and the power it gives to an individual. This power was the major reason why it was against [...]
A recent blog entry on the Teaching Channel caught my interest. It was titled, “The Detriment of Teacher Isolation.” I have never considered myself an isolated teacher. I do spend a lot of time in my classroom with the door closed; however, I don’t feel isolated. Hallway discussions, conversations with colleagues, and great resources like [...]
In a recent ASCD newsletter, there was an article entitled, “Why Educators Should Teach Students How to Fail.” The premise of the article was that “students should be allowed to experience failure and rejection, so they can learn resiliency and become more motivated to succeed.” Yes, we have to learn how to deal with a [...]
“DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need.” (quoted from website) I know this funding resource for educational projects has been shared on DEN blogs in the past, but I would like to share my recent experience with this organization. In August, I created a project page [...]
I recently hosted a workshop sharing some Google ideas with teachers and to my surprise none of them had heard of Google Alerts. If you haven’t yet tried setting up Google Alerts you should give it a try. You can send an alert about any subject that may interest you and Google will send you [...]
The internet and professional learning networks have opened up so many wonderful avenues for sharing and teachers learning from each other. I am constantly amazed at how willingly teachers share ideas and lesson plans with each other as well as offer help and support to solve problems. Some of my favorite sites to go to [...]
For the past several years, I have been fortunate enough to have a media cart in my classroom… Her name is Louse and with her, I have learned countless strategies and creative ways for integrating the laptop, projector, speakers, and document camera into my everyday routine. I have presented many workshops for teachers, and offered [...]
More than 800 universities have active iTunes U sites including Stanford, Yale, MIT, Oxford, and UC Berkeley. iTunes U allows you to upload and share educational content which is really cool. In the Beyond Campus section of iTunes U, students and teachers can also access content from distinguished entities such as MoMA, the New York [...]
Discovery Education Helps Students Search for the “Big Ones” “Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper. Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure. They’re huge and abstract. [...]
Hooray for Edmodo! I am always impressed with the generosity of fellow educators when it comes to sharing their best practices and resources. Just visit a few of the vast number of teacher websites on the Internet to see the great ideas found there. Some sites even have teacher resource pages set up as a [...]
by Christine Cote After spending the long weekend cooking and shopping, I was eager to settle down and get into a good book. However, in today’s digital age, I found myself catching up on some interesting blog sites. Blogs are such a fascinating way to share a message or information. They are so easy [...]
by Suzy Brooks This fall has been spent in a state of inspiration as I wander the pages and pages of resources available on Pinterest.com. Have you? Are you using Pinterest for teaching? While it is tempting to spend time finding pins relating to ALL areas of my life, I’ve tried my best to find [...]
Have you ever wished your job allowed you to wander the halls and peek into other teacher’s classrooms … be that proverbial fly on the wall? While some lucky teachers may be able to do this, most of us do not have this opportunity. Enter … The Teaching Channel. The Teaching Channel records real teachers [...]
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