Sunday, January 31, 2010

100th. Day of School Math Activities

Reading Teachers First this morning (I used to go to the New York Times first on Sunday morning), I realized that many of us were getting to the 100th. Day of School. Many elementary classes find different ways to celebrate, all encouraging students to understand the concept behind the number 100. Teachers First recommended a wonderful website from Math Wired called The 100th. Day of School Activities.
On this site you will find suggestions for many varied activities and also the PDF files for downloading forms that you would use. That certainly helps you to use their ideas without much work on your part. I think there are some great ideas!
I had never visited the main site Math Wired so while I was singing the praises of the 100th. Day Activities, I backed it up to the Home Page of Math Wired and I was very impressed. Lots of theme-based math activities. I think we have found a gold mine here!

Monday, January 18, 2010

"New Project Starting" Alert

I wanted to make sure that each of you was aware that our wonderful Jen Wagner of Jenuine Tech has developed a new project for the month of February. This project builds awareness of the 2010 census that will be taking place all over the United States and in the way, Jen does all of her projects, everything you need is accessible right on her website. Take a look at Everyone Counts, which is the name of this project. It is for preschool-6th. grade and looks to me like there is something for everyone. It should be a fun way to learn about data collection and the opportunities of all curricular areas are many.
I know that I am not alone in praising Jen for all of the work that she puts into these projects. The number of participants that she gets in these projects are testimony for their value as learning experiences for both teachers and students. Thank you, Jen!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

A Video All Teachers and Administrators Need to See

I have seen this video recommended on Facebook, in several blogs, and on Twitter. I certainly think it is well worth a look. If you are in a position to show this to your staff , it would certainly lead to the type of discussion that needs to be had in schools everywhere.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

A New Place To Find Images - Copyright Free

The days of just searching Google Images for the right picture to go with a lesson or a student report or powerpoint is behind us. First it was Flickr which gave us so many more choices and allowed searches using Creative Commons to check for copyright. Now, today, Sharon Peters posted on Facebook a link to Sprixi - Free Images To Choose and Use. What I liked especially was the ability to download or save an image with the credit to the photographer attached to it. The only pictures on the site seem to be those allowed under the Creative Commons licensing. Now you have more places to find pictures to organize with Vi.sualize.us

Monday, January 4, 2010

Just like Delicious For Your Images - Vi.Sualize.Us

I was reading the newsletter that Jen Wagner sends out each month. You can get this resourceful newsletter HERE. As always, Jen introduced me to a wonderful website, The Teaching Pallette . The author of this website is Theresa McGee, who apparently is an Art Teacher. This website has all kinds of creative ideas. Under her reviews, she has a section called Technology and Gadgets. This is where I discovered Vi.Sualize.Us. The main idea of this wonderful online tool is that it becomes the place to save and share your collected images the same as Delicious allows you to save and share your bookmarked website. If you are using Firefox, it automatically downloads its ability to "right-click" and just save it to vi.sualize.us. If you are using another browser, you can upload a toolbar tool like that used in Delicious. Once the image is being saved, then you can "tag" it to save it within the folder that will allow you to retrieve it when you need it. You can also search this website to find images saved by others.
The implications are many for the classroom. Remember that especially for younger students, you will be finding those pictures that students will use in the power points or other ways that they "show what they know". Now you have a place to save and organize these images so that students can get at them any place that they are connected to the Internet. Additionally, there are safety filters that you can use and the ability to use Creative Commons filters to use only those images without strict copyrights. Do take a look at this new find!! Vi.Sualize.Us

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Snow Flake Maker (Just What We Don't Need in Cleveland!)

I have been reading through many of the blogs that I have left unread over the winter holidays and thinking about so many of you returning to school tomorrow (Monday). I know that winter weather will be on many of your minds and if you need something creative and child-ready for the first week in the computer lab - this Snowflake Workshop may just be the thing. By using the pencil, children create the geometric shapes that will be cut out of the folded paper. Then they click on the scissors and the shapes are cut. They can do it again and agian until they have one that they really like. At that point they can save it. They can see their saved snowflakes in the gallery or send/receive it as an email. As the students see how the snowflakes turn out, they can vary their designs. Enjoy!