August 2011
10 posts
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ScreenChomp- Create and share tutorials on your... →
ScreenChomp is a free app for creating and sharing short tutorials or lessons on your iPad. ScreenChomp provides a whiteboard on which you can demonstrate things by drawing and talking people through your instructions.
See the rest of the post by clicking the link above.
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Activities for Teaching Google Tools to Teachers... →
The above is a link to Richard Byrne’s (at Free Tech for Teachers) post about his activities; here’s a direct link to the activities page.
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Larry Ferlazzo: The best reflective posts I've... →
Larry Ferlazzo is a well-respected name in the education community. I’ve gotten awesome lesson ideas from his blog and teaching tips. Check out the list for some ideas.
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Free Tech for Teachers: ConceptBoard →
There are many ways for teams of students to collaborate online and here’s another promising one. Conceptboard is a service that provides an online whiteboard space that you can use to share drawings, documents, spreadsheets, and more.
Click through to read the rest.
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World History Resources from History Tech →
This is a really well-rounded list, although I’d add Flow of History for some upper-level people :).
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Teacher people: If you don't have a Dropbox... →
girlwithalessonplan:
Click the link above and sign up for a free account.
I use mine for school. It’s so easy to work on something at home, save it to the dropbox, and immediately access it at work. With the printing issues I had today, I could easily go to dropbox’s website, sign in, get my stuff and print it from a different computer.
I also sync this with dropitto.me for students to turn...
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Beginning-of-the-year Student Surveys
Last year, I ditched the idea of having students fill out an “about me” notecard with interests and contact information. Instead, I had them fill out a Google Form I made available online via my class website. It worked really well, keeping the information organized and easy to look up.
I’m going to create my surveys for this year soon and I’m brainstorming new questions...
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What happened this summer?
I completely dropped off the face of the Internet (sans the occasional Facebooking).
Life got the better of me, Tumblr. Things for Teachers was an easy routine for me to continue until May hit. I was still teaching through mid-June, but I decided to start grad classes and my summer job around the same time mid-May. One week, I worked 30 hours outside of teaching- and still had schoolwork to do.
...
Earthquake in NJ?
I don’t know if I will ever feel that again!
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Tales of an 8th Grade Teacher: Back to School... →
talesofan8thgradeteacher:
As the school year approaches for me, I always start to get nervous. I work very hard and always try to do my best, but I still worry about a multitude of things.
Am I prepared? Am I ready to meet every day and challenge head on?
Am I growing as an educator? Can I be doing more to develop as a…
June 2011
35 posts
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learning & laughing: I was given an interesting... →
kicksandgiggles:
On Wednesday, I attended “teacher transfer day” with the principal and a veteran teacher at my school. This is a day of mass interviews for all tenured employees wishing to change schools. Oddly enough, I assisted in interviewing these people.
At first, I was confused. I wasn’t quite sure why I…
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BREAKING: iTunes App Store launches "Apps for... →
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Watchworld-shaker:
Oh look. A free, professionally designed booklet of classroom ideas for teaching and learning with iPads. And you can download it.
Thank you to everyone who makes incredible things like this, and then gives them away. You’re outstanding.
You can also find it here if you don’t want to read it as an embedded thing.
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Doodle- Easy Group Scheduling →
If you have trouble coming up with a meeting time that works for multiple people, this tool may help you out. Click the link to read Richard Byrne’s post about it.
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77 Web Resources for Teachers to Try This Summer →
Via Free Tech for Teachers.
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How my ninth-grade English classes evaluated me... →
I always appreciate Larry Ferlazzo’s reflections. Here, he shares his student evaluations as well as other resources about having your students evaluate you or evaluating yourself as a teacher. Even if you have already ended this school year, this may give you ideas for next year. I’m always interested in seeing what kinds of questions other teachers ask their students in teacher...
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Creating class e-books →
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The Textbook Slayer!: Verbs, Adjectives, Nouns &... →
textbookslayer:
I compiled this word bank using key words and phrases taken from mission statements, teaching philosophies, job descriptions, school websites, and other education publications. It’s a great resource for teachers and other educators that want to create powerfully targeted resumes. Including…
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The Times and Common Core Standards: Reading... →
It’s written by the NYTimes Learning Network, so they may be tooting their own horn a little bit, but it still might be worthwhile to check out.
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This summer I won't be learning how to be a better... →
This year I stopped making my students jump through the hoops of content consumption, rote learning, and memorization of facts and instead began constructing learning environments that are conducive to fostering the development of skills my students will use as life long learners.
This year, the walls of my classroom became thin and we connected with others around the world.
This year, in...
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Cybraryman Internet Catalogue →
world-shaker:
A list of outstanding Diigo resources, including links to the public libraries of dozens of prominent educators, as well as articles outlining new and fresh things you can do with Diigo.
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A couple of resources for blogging with your...
Free Tech for Teachers offers information about a blogging service you can use with your students in this post.
Check out this Edublogger blog post about using iPads to blog. I’ve seen more and more educators talking about getting iPads in their schools, so I thought this would be useful to share.
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“Technology is a tool. In the hands of a good teacher, one that can be used for...”
– Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher (via coolcatteacher)
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Novice Teacher: "I don't want you to get in... →
novicephoenix:
A teacher gave me a cool piece of advice today. He said “Instead of saying ‘You’re going to get in trouble, if you keep doing X’ you can say things like:
‘I don’t want you to get in trouble for doing X.’
“I’d hate for you to lose points because of X.”
”I don’t want you to be sent down to X.”
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“Just 13 percent of high school seniors who took the 2010 National Assessment of...”
– Report: Students don’t know much about history - US news - Life - msnbc.com (via infoneer-pulse)
What I tell my students all the time: history is important! Unfortunately, sometimes it is overlooked.
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A rare moment
Today was the last day of school. I received this email when I got home:
Hey Ms.D! Just wanted to let you know that I will miss you as one of my favorite teachers in (high school). I liked your personality and you always made us laugh and made the class fun. Im probably not going to like history next year because you won’t be teaching lol Wish I could have you as my favorite history...
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Dear Tumblr,
Sorry I’ve been away lately! I’ll be back soon.
trytoremembertoforget asked: I'm currently enrolled at Widener University for Spanish/ Secondary Education. I'm not sure what state I want to live/ work in, but do you think it will be difficult for me to get a teaching job, and is it difficult to get certified in different states from what you've originally been certified in.
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Every teacher i have ever spoken to has said...
wet-ox:
that as soon as you become a teacher, you lose all ability to operate technology.
I think the process of losing technological ability has already started…i just spent 5 minutes trying to work out how to make a DVD play on the TV :P
I don’t think it’s that you lose the ability to operate technology, it’s just that you have 30 people watching you try to operate...
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Using Google Earth in mathematics lessons →
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Futureme, Sporcle and Wattpad →
Check out this blog post to see how one teacher used these three sites. My favorite idea is using futureme.org to have students write letters to their future selves.
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Create interactive whiteboard resources with... →
Check out this blog post to see how you can create IWB resources using a browser-based application instead of software for your IWB. It’s currently in private beta mode, but this blog post describes how to join.
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50 great sites for social studies teachers →
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10 fab Flickr groups for teachers →
Especially helpful for math and English teachers! Check it out- you may get an idea for a lesson or two.
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A few posts that may be helpful for elementary...
Both of these are from Free Tech for Teachers.
Study Jams- tunes for studying
Go go news- big news for little people
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It's not the whiteboard that's the problem →
One viewpoint on interactive whiteboards being seen as expensive chalkboards. What are your thoughts?
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The non-tech person's guide to using technology in... →
I think a lot of teachers at my school don’t try to use technology in the classroom because they aren’t 100% confident with it. Ask lots of questions beforehand, but try it even if you are still nervous- a lot of times, you won’t find out the pros and cons, kinks and bugs until you try it out. Check out this blogger’s tips by clicking the link.
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“Excellent teachers put one foot in front of the other when they are tired. They...”
– Vicki Davis, Cool Cat Teacher (via coolcatteacher)
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Tumblr Teachers: Learn from me. Back it up.
Your grades, that is.
I asked fairly recently if Tumblr Teachers who use online gradebooks also keep a hard copy. A lot of you said no. I use an online gradebook and keep a hard copy, even though I’m not required to. BOY did that come in handy today.
It was bound to be a rough day, Tumblr: I guess I forgot to set my alarm. I got up at 5:30 when I am supposed to get up at 4:45. What did I...
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Will my 3rd graders be 'educated' when they grow... →
A very thoughtful post from Powerful Learning Practice about the changing definition of education. Definitely worth the read- click through to read the rest.
ere’s the dilemma: With the world changing so rapidly, being educated takes on new meaning. First of all, I think even the word “educated” is outdated. It conveys the message that if you complete a certain number of steps or reach a...
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10 Tips for getting the most out of your summer... →
A great, motivational post from the Cool Cat Teacher blog.
May 2011
162 posts
1 tag
A reminder to teachers on Facebook (and the...
Since my students were brutally honest today.
My 6th period class is obsessed with finding out how old I am. I joke around with them but don’t tell them now because it’s been an ongoing thing. They brought it up again today.
Student 1: “Ms. D I found you on Facebook!” she immediately covered her mouth with her hands.
I have it set so people cannot search for me, so I...
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Dear politicians considering year-round school,
Please remember there are schools that exist that were built in the 1950s and do not have central (or window, or any) air conditioning. It is the end of May in southern NJ and it is in the 90s today. My classroom faces the sun directly. It is a sauna. I was sweating at 7:30 this morning. The students have difficulty concentrating and I do not think they are consuming enough water. Also, the amount...
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“Starting in September, the Medford School District will charge a fee for student...”
– Amid protests, Medford sets fee for student teachers
Heard of this article through word of mouth. I hope it does not become a trend.
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soak it in: Advice from a student teacher to... →
lhuddles:
Disclaimer: In my student teaching experience, we called our cooperating/coordinating teachers our “mentor teachers.” Terms will be used interchangeably here.
So…the other side of the fence. Well, I haven’t been on that side just yet (how many sides to this fence are there? Student…student…