Citelighter - "Your Own Personal Research Ninja"

Do your students struggle with organizing the information they collect for research? Well, if so, Citelighter may be the tool for you. Citelighter is a FREE site that "saves, organizes, and cites information for you while you research so you don't have to." Check out the video to discover how:

Citelighter How-to Video from saad alam on Vimeo.

Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms

I came across this video on the Ted website and I completely understand what Ken Robinson is talking about. My biggest question is how do we move from our "industrialized education"? How do we get people to change the way they have been teaching and learning for all of these years?

One idea I thought Ken Robinson would have touched on in this video is the agragrian schedule schools still follow. Do not get me wrong, I do enjoy having summers off, but is having summers off ideal for learning?

Check out this video -- comments are appreciated.

Google Maps - An amateur attempt

So, I have decided to create my very first Google Map, for something other than my own travels. I have to admit, it was a little more difficult than I had imagined. I guess I should clarify that comment, it took me longer than I had expected.

Using tutorials I accessed online, I started my mapmaking journey with a goal - I was going to create a map of Henry Hudson's 3rd voyage, the voyage that is famous to most New Yorkers today - Hudson's journey up the Hudson River. I chose this because it is part of New York State's 4th grade curriculum and it has had such an influence on the New World.

Prior to actually "mapping" out Hudson's voyage, I went online and found various maps to help me visualize his journey. This is where my Google Maps experience became time consuming - I wanted to draw out this voyage using the line feature in Google Maps, a process that is kind of tricky. However, after 3 attempts, I became a master line drawer and was happy with what I produced.
What I really loved about showcasing Hudson's voyage was that I could embed YouTube videos and other links to help spice up my map. In addition, I was able to write blurbs along the journey to help the person viewing the map gain a better sense of Hudson's journey.

Although the experience was overall very positive, there are a few things I would like to master when creating a map within Google. I would like to figure out how to manipulate the size of my YouTube video so that it fits within the white box that pops up. I would also like to figure out how to link my personal documents, not just websites. For example, I would like to link a reading that I have about Henry Hudson's 3rd voyage that is 4th grader friendly. If anyone has any idea of how to do these things, please do not hesitate to comment.

Check out my map:

View Explorers - New York in a larger map

Are You Really Making a Difference?

To all of those college professors, K-12 teachers, and politicians who think they are making "a difference" in their students' lives... watch this!




video by: Michael Wesch

Who wants to be President? Infographic

Click the image to enlarge

Source: Fixr

Smarttech's Equipment - Smart or not so Smart?

With the new launch of Windows 7 and Smarttech releasing its new document cameras and wireless slates, one would think the combination of both technologies would make the life of a classroom teacher easier. However, I have found it to be just the opposite. It seems that Smarttech's new equipment, which does look to be much sturdier than its predecessors, is not as user friendly as the older equipment. Unlike the older model of the document camera, where a teacher can virtually "plug and play," the new one requires a software download. Although it does have more features, I have found the installation of the software to be tedious and not "user friendly" - at least when downloading on a network.

I wish I could comment more about the wireless slates, but I haven't been able to get one to work yet. Therefore, I would appreciate some insight on the new wireless slates and how they have been working out in your school.

I guess the question that has yet to be answered is whether or not the issue has something to do with Windows 7. My biggest problem with PC's/ Windows is that they do not seem to converse with the many companies that design software for PC's - or at least that seems to be the case! Or maybe I am just bitter because I prefer Apple :)

Flocabulary - The Week in Rap: October 1, 2010

Mapping Worlds

This is a really cool site that showcases the ever changing world in which we live!

Flip Cameras

Have you ever Flipped? Well, if not, you should definitely try.

Barack Obama's Annual Speech to School-Aged Children

Beginning of the School Year

"Say Goodbye to Microsoft Office"

I wish I would have bought stock in Google because every time I turn around they are developing a new way to make my life easier. Google Docs has become my new best friend and a valuable tool for both my personal and professional life. Through the use of cloud-computing, Google has enabled a person to transform the way they create, upload, share, and store documents. Check out the video below:

Visually Conceptualizing the Oil Disaster

Getting students to conceptualize how big, small, or far away something is can be difficult. A fellow colleague of mine, who teaches math, faces this difficulty all of the time with her students while teaching number sense. A method she uses at the beginning of the unit consists of her drawing a number line on the board. On the left hand side she writes the number 0 and on the right hand side she writes the number 1,000,000,000. She then asks each student to come up to the board and place a mark on the number line where they think the number 1,000 would be. 9 out of 10 times, the students place their marks in the middle of the number line, which is incorrect.

When teaching students about the BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, it may be difficult to get students to understand the severity of the disaster. If it was my Home.com is a great resource to use to help students understand how much of the Gulf of Mexico is being affected by the oil disaster. This site is great because it also allows a person to move the oil spill to cover the area in which they live. All a person has to do is type in their zip code and the enormous blob of oil will move to that location. Thank you Andy Lintner for the wonderful resource!

The Last 18 Years in Rap

The Week in Rap is a neat website that brings hip hop into the classroom. Because hip hop, and music in general, is such a big part of our students' lives, it is important for us to embrace their interests. The Week in Rap is a site that allows teachers to do just that. What is even better is that the site raps about current events - or in this video's case, the last 18 years!


View it in Quicktime version: here

Channel One's version: here

Attention Parents

Are you concerned with your child accessing inappropriate content from the internet? Well, there are ways for them to search without the risk! Check out the following:

Creating a Quiz using Google Docs

Sample Quiz created in Google Docs

Google Apps - Presented in Prezi

I created a mini-library to house some important videos for those who are interested in using Google Apps. Prezi is an online presentation tool that changes the way people convey information. Check out my 1st presentation below:

Google Apps on Prezi

Notebook Lesson Using Discovery Education

Discovery Education is a great service that enables teachers to show video segments and photo clips from various content areas and topics. The link below is a Smart Notebook lesson on Gettysburg created by Jeannine Shields using images from Discovery Education. Students can definitely benefit from this lesson because the images provide them with a visual representation of the battle, where it took place, and the people who were involved.

Click the link below to download Jeaninne Shields' Gettysburg Smart Notebook Lesson:
http://mediashare.discoveryeducation.com/mediashare/index.cfm?event=pushFile&guidAssetMediaFileId=d4e9e59c-237d-0718-d896-5de5b5b1a590