“I Learn, You Learn, We Learn” Blog

A fish diagram? Must be another fun thing I missed when I was in school. Check this out, it looks like some fun for your students.

ClassTools.net is a simple-to-use Flash-based game creator that allows you to use templates to make your own addicting online games. The beauty here is that the hard part is done for you. You don’t need to know a thing about Flash to make these games or play them. All you have to know is the content you want to place in the template. It really couldn’t get much simpler. Different games are catered to different subject areas, but you’ll be able to find something for any subject.

Along with the games, you will find templates for charts and Venn diagrams, for example, and each one is terribly easy to use. Once you are happy with your creation, you can then save and embed them on your own blog, website or online course. You’ll find an example here. Some aspects of the site are glitchy, but then again, the whole Internet is a little glitchy sometimes. There are a bundle of games to choose from, though, so you are bound to find something that works. - JEREMY S.GRIFFIN

Get a promotional flyer about ClassTools Here

Whew…..  a little over a week since the last day of the 07-08 school year and I’m wondering where the time went already.  While many of my colleagues and “network buddies” were in San Antonio enjoying the whirlwind of excitement of NECC, I was up north enjoying a terrific few days just sitting lazily by the beach with no Internet access.  Previously, this would have really bothered me; however, for some reason the last few days without the feeling of having to check my email every hour or read my hundreds of feeds from my Google reader was enjoyable and restful. I didn’t even open a book (which for me is unheard of).

Now that I’m back in the grips of reality, I have some catching up to do: blog posts, book club posts, professional development proposals, summer workshop agendas and preparation, reading the feeds, catching up with those who went to NECC and getting reading for the DEN Summer Institute in Maryland (can’t wait for this one).   With everything that needs to get done, I should’ve planned to use the time more efficiently while doing nothing during my few days up north. 

On second thought, no way!  I think everyone needs some time, even if it is just a little bit, to do nothing and enjoy something other than our day-to-day work.

I love these lines from a poem by Cool Cat Teacher -

Balance, perspective, focus, and time offline
will become successful habits of the overachieving mind.

Reject the invisible hand that pushes you to stress
think what you want and how time should be spent best.

Here’s to a few days like this for all of you!

Web Wednesday is a feature of the online “Big Deal Book”. This Wednesday’s theme is Global  Awareness

Check out the book for more online deals. You’ll find everything from grant opportunities to free and inexpensive finds

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Around the World
Use the interactive world map on this site to quickly move around the world and select regions of interest. You will then be able to drill down to a closer view and access satellite images and individual country maps and guides. Then see below for ideas that will help you increase your students’ global awareness. 

Meet Your Global Neighbor
Global Awareness is an educational program sponsored by the American Institute for Foreign Study, designed to promote multicultural understanding and appreciation in elementary and middle school classrooms. The program’s Kids Culture Corner is a fun site to learn about the world. You will find interesting facts, music, folktales, games and activities, recipes, history, holidays, famous people and languages from around the world.

Where in the World …?
TeachersFirst’s Globetracker’s Mission is an engaging way for students in grades 2–6 to learn geography, map skills and world cultures through an episodic story. Each week, a new episode, in the format of a blog post, appears on the Globetracker’s Mission site. The “blog” is written by fictional teenagers Geo and Meri as they travel the seven continents of the world on a secret “mission” for an unnamed government agency. They seek clues and travel under the supervision of their Uncle Globetracker, writing the “blog” as part of their requirements for missing high school work. Classes who follow the mission learn standards-based terms and concepts of world geography as they respond to Geo and Meri’s think-aloud questions, using maps, images and links that Geo and Meri provide. Concepts include landforms, map skills, cultures, major landmarks, continents, oceans, rivers—and more.

Note: Both current and previous weeks’ episodes from this mission will be online through the end of June 2008.  This mission will go into a hidden archive at the end of June. Learn more about how to access hidden archives during summer 2008.

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Missed last week. Thank goodness for the archives.May 21 -Information, Communication and Technology Literacy

Bits and Bytes
See how well your students know the terminology used today for the computer and Internet. Invite them to try this online quiz. Then see below for more ideas on how to integrate technology skills into your curriculum.

Web Wise
Designed for beginners yet precise in its technical content, Building a School Web Site engages children in designing their own Web sites—step by step—with the help of Wanda Wigglebits. It’s a learn-as-you-go, hands-on project that teachers and students can have a great time doing together.

Team Tech
Students in grades 6–9 are at the heart of a new technology literacy certification program from Generation YES Corp. Beginning in June, TechYES Science will prepare small groups of student peer mentors to assist all science students as they complete technology-infused science projects. TechYES Science will also assess whether students’ projects meet the ISTE NET•S standards

Here’s a shout out to teachers everywhere including my terrific colleagues in Schenectady City Schools and those fantastic DEN Stars!  Enjoy the week.

Get a jump start on your classroom lesson plans for next week. Include
DEstreaming video content and make history come alive for your students.   Visit
the Calendar within the Teacher Center of DEstreaming for more videos of history during thisweek.*

*Note - Before clicking on the links below, sign in to yourDEstreaming account

Science - May 12 - 1874:Ironing table patented

Math -May11 - 1951:Computer core memory patented

Social Studies -May 15 -1602:Discovery of Cape Cod

Art & Humanities - May 16-  1929:First Academy Awards Ceremony

Language Arts - May 17-    1890:First Weekly Comic Paper Published in London

Health & Guidance - May16 - 1988:Nicotine Declared Addictive

Famous People - May 11-  1811:Chang and Eng, first Siamese twins

CommemorativeEvents :  May 11- Mother’s Day  May17 -Armed Forces Day , May 17 -Memorial Day , Mental Health Awareness Month

The image above is that of Vincent VanGogh’s Sunflowers. On May 15 1990, another of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous paintings, Portrait of Doctor Gachet , was sold at Christie’s auction house for $82.5 million.

Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh. Corbis. 2006.unitedstreaming. 5 May 2008
<http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/>

 Web Wednesday is a feature of the online Big Deal Book. 

This Wednesday’s theme is Health Literacy.

Check out the book for more online deals. You’ll find everything from grant opportunities to free and inexpensive finds.

From A to Zzzz
Sleep is a basic necessity of students’ lives, as important to their health as nutrition and exercise. When students sleep well, they wake up feeling refreshed, alert and ready to face daily challenges. When they don’t, every part of their lives can suffer, including academic achievement, relationships, health, safety and general wellbeing. How much do your students know about sleep and alertness? Try these quizzes from the National Sleep Foundation. Then see below for ideas on how to make your students fully aware of this basic health necessity.

Sleep Daze
At the National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep for Kids Web site, children learn about what happens while they sleep, play fun games and keep track of their own sleep. In the Parents and Teachers section, you’ll find great information to help children learn about the benefits of sleep.

Eyes Wide Shut
According to the results of the National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep in America poll, most youths get less sleep during a 24-hour period than recommended by sleep experts. Find out about teenagers’ sleep habits, sleep disorders and more in the Teens and Sleep section of the foundation’s Web site. Be sure to check out the “Sleep-Smart Tips for Teens.”

For those of you who subscribe to Discovery Education Health, you know what a great resource it is for health and safety. If you dont…. let you administrators know about it!!!

Visuword is a free online graphical dictionary and thesaurus that shows you the word , synonym and relationships in-between. 

 Just type in a word and watch the site generate a visualization right before your eyes. This would be great for a large screen classroom presentation!

Get a jump start on your classroom lesson plans for next week. Include DEstreaming video content and make history come alive for your students.   Visit the Calendar within the Teacher Center of DEstreaming for more videos of history during this week. *

*Note - Before clicking on the links below, sign in to your DEstreaming account

Science - Mar. 23 - 1989: Exxon Valdez Creates Worst Oil Spill in U.S. History

Math -Mar.27 - 1857: Birth of Statistician Karl Pearson

Social Studies -Mar 23 - 1857: Birth of Statistician Karl Pearson

Art & Humanities - Mar 26-1955: Ballad of Davy Crockett Reaches Top of Record Charts

Language Arts - Mar 29- 1815: Jane Austen Completes Emma

Health & Guidance - Mar 28- 1866: First Hospital Ambulance Goes into Service

Famous People - Mar 29 -1867: Cy Young, baseball pitcher, born

Commemorative Events :  National Collision Awareness Month , Women’s History Month

A recent article in Technology and Learning magazine summarizes the following  top issues, products and practices of the day:

1. Data mining is earning its keep.

2. Cyberbullying is in the spotlight.

3. 21st century skills have a foot in the door.

4. Digital Content is on the rise.

5. We like learning at leisure.

6. Personal responders are sweeping the k-20 market.

7. Mobile tools are driving the path of education reform.

8. Bandwidth is suddenly an issue.

9. The penguin is snowballing.

10. The participatory Web.

Article: Ten Top Tech Trends