Just Some Humor for the Day

Wish it ended differently, but you'll get the point. Plus, you can study up on your French language
skills.


Paper vs iPad from Juokorama on Vimeo.

 Maybe you've seen this commercial already, but it does make a point about iPads and how we live today. Enjoy. We all need a good laugh. Plus, spring is almost here!

 
cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo shared by ashokboghani

Anyone Can Create Digital Stories

This short video presents a good overview of the digital story process. I like the index method for creating a storyboard or collecting ideas, but eventually I prefer to see my narration typed because reading from handwritten notes, whether I am reading them or someone else, is not as crisp as typed ones. However, if you're making digital stories with a group of students, notecards or typed notes cut out in strips for each student might work well to move the script along.

 

 For those using PhotoStory 3, here is a 7-minute video that incorporates the features you will need to use, including the reminder to also save your work as Project, so you can go back and edit it. Remember, if you need to download PhotoStory 3, only do so from the official Microsoft site. Other sites offering the download may be bogus and result in also downloading a virus. This is true for downloading in general, so exercise caution every time you try to download from any site.

 

Questions about the digital story project can be posted to our EDUC 584 Google Community which will expedite others seeing it in the event that they too have the same concern or have the answer to one of your questions.

In Celebration of Pi Day

Tomorrow, March 14, is Pi Day, so thought I would share some ideas for implementation in the classroom and for celebrating.

But first you might ask, "What is Pi Day and How Did It Originate." (See Scientific American post.)


In this blog post, PiDay! , find a list of activities, lessons, and more--including links to a variety of resources.

TeachersFirst Pi Day Resources lists activities by grade level to celebrate PiDay.

From Eutopia, check Celebrate Pi Day: Seven Classroom Activities for PiDay, with links to resources to lesson plans and more, including a link to the National Council of Teachers of Math site to find specific resources there.

And if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow NCTM at

From Flobabulary, click below to access information:

Circles: Circumference & Area

"All You Need is Pi and the Radius"

These resources are taken directly from the Annenberg Learner Update website under the category, Connecting Learning with Special Days:

"Pi Day (March 14) 
  
Celebrate the value of pi, approximately 3.14, with the following resources: 

We usually consider pi to be a universal constant, and it can be, but that depends on which universe we are talking about. Mathematics Illuminatedunit 8, "Geometries Beyond Euclid," explains why in a discussion on curvature and higher-dimensional space.  

Session 7, “Circles and Pi,” of Learning Math: Measurement investigates the properties of pi and its relationship to the measures of a circle.  

What do carpets have to do with pi? See practical applications of pi in the Math in Daily Life interactive. This section of the interactive demonstrates its value in home decorating.  

Elementary students use string and tape measures to approximate the value of pi in the lesson "Round About Pi."  

Here's a video you might want to share:

For younger learners, you might try this video:

 




What are your plans for Pi Day? Which of these resources were helpful to you? If we truly believe in interdisciplinary learning, then no matter what grade or level we teach, shouldn't we all be celebrating events like Pi Day and addressing mathematical concepts?

Digital Writing Workshop Companion Site

If you haven't looked around the companion website to Troy Hicks's The Digital Writing Workshop, here's a link to access the site:

Digital Writing Workshop Wiki

On the site, you'll find a host of links to access information. There are chapter-by-chapter links as well as links to videos and audio resources. Here is snapshot of part of the homepage of the wiki.

Take a few minutes now to explore the site, and let us know what you recommend to others.

Here's a VoiceThread from the site. Bill Gaskin opens each slide, and his colleagues continue the discussion.  Each slide corresponds to another chapter in the book.


 


Suggestion: bookmark the wiki site, and return to it for specific resources. There is plenty to explore.

Too Many Options, Too Many Choices

Every day it seems I come across another way to expand teachers' professional development. We no longer need to rely on our school systems or attending conferences to keep up to date. Much is available to us at our fingertips.

For instance, I use a variety of tools to curate resources that I find online. These include Pinterest, Diigo, Scoop.It, Live Binders, and Pocket, as well as the iPad apps Flipbook and Zite.

Recently, I signed up for another resource, which looks promising not so much as a curating tool, which it is, but as a visually appealing way to share resources on a particular topic. The tool is Edcanvas, which is an appropriate name for what this tool does.

Given the emphasis on pushing for the integration of digital storytelling in the curriculum, I thought    I would share an example I found from a colleague who has been using EdCanvas. This specific Edcanvas focuses on digital storytelling. Edcanvas: Digital Storytelling, by Kimberly Powell. 

Once you sign up for an account, you can save canvases others have created to your own account for future reference. In that regard, this site reminds me of LiveBinders, another resource to check out if you have not already.

Edcanvas is fairly new, but I like the various options it offers for sharing. In addition to sharing a canvas by providing a direct link to it, canvases can be sent to and shared through accounts like YouTube, Flickr, Blogger, and Twitter. Here is a screen capture of Kimberly's Digital Storytelling Canvas. Note where I have marked with arrows the options to Play, Copy, and Share (+, which when clicked opens a list of places to share a canvas.)

When you hit the Play Canvas (see arrow in upper left corner), the resources that have been archived on that canvas will play as slide show. Additionally, from the main page of a canvas, you can click on the chain icon to go directly to an archived resource, and then if that resource is of interest to you, click on its image to go directly to the resource on the Internet. 

In some ways, Edcanvas reminds me of Pinterest, but Edcanvas seems easier to use for sharing resources on a specific topic or area of interest. Overall, I like the slide view and the ease of sharing canvases with others as well as copying a canvas to your own Edcanvas account.

The site features on its Gallery page canvases others have created by subject areas. Here is a partial screen capture to show how featured canvases are organized by subject area.

Edcanvas is intended for educational use as its name implies. When you have a few moments, look into Edcanvas: Digital Storytelling, by Kimberly Powell. This example will offer a glimpse of how Edcanvas works for curating and sharing and how to navigate around a canvas. 

Happy exploring, and if you do explore, please leave a comment to let us know your impressions.

The Quagmire of Copyright

John Green, author of the best-seller novel The Fault In Our Stars, created this video illustrating the complexity of copyright in an age where remixing others' works is increasingly popular. Although this is not an uncommon phenomenon, in his humorous video, he asks intriguing questions as he tracks down contributors to a poster based on his book.

 


Oh and if you don't know about Green's bestseller, The Fault In Our Stars, be sure to find out. I've heard from librarians and many others it's one of the best books of the year.  Learn more about The Fault in Our Stars, and read some quick reviews.

What's your response to Green's message about copyright? What concerns do you have about copyright in the age of Internet, online collaboration, and ready access to photographs, music, and so much more?

If you've read Green's The Fault in Our Stars, do you agree with the rave reviews? (The novel ties in the "Number 1" slot with The Perks of Being a Wallflower on many Young Adult Best Sellers Lists.)

Passionate Teachers

Wallingford, Connecticut, 8th grade social studies teacher Paul Bogush created this video. He is looking for responses from per-service teachers, teachers, and other educators. After watching the video, you can respond to him on his blog at this post, "Passion."

 

 What does his video suggest to you about the field of education? Do you agree with Paul's viewpoint?

Students Writing Digital Stories with PhotoStory 3

View these two digital stories created by groups of five students in elementary class in a unit on famous Black American. Lucia posted her students' digital stories on her blog. These digital stories speak to the power of students to create digital stories that require writing the script, reading their lines, and timing their script to match the photos and images they collected. They also had to do the research to collect the facts for their script, so a lot of literacy skills were involved. Let us know what you think.

Feel free to post a comment on Lucia's blog post as well as here. Since the digital stories were created with PhotoStory and then uploaded to YouTube, it is also possible to embed them here, but let Lucia and her students know you viewed their work by posting to Lucia's blog, known as "Lucy's Blog." Here is the direct link to her blog post, "Literacy Project."

George Washington Carver




Wilma Rudolph

7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment

In case you have not caught this video of a 7th grader explaining her personal learning environment (PLE), I am posting it now to open up discussion about how students can and will learn using digital tools. Incidentally, this videos was posted to YouTube in 2009.


 

Read Across America

Image: https://plus.google.com/u/0/106386034294040594598/posts 

Looking for ideas for Reading Across America, not just this week, but all weeks, check some of these resources.

Five Ideas for Perfectly Booking Read Across America (from Scholastic): offers lots of creative as well as practical ideas to engage students in activities related to reading enjoyment. Here the blurb from the introduction to this page:

• What Is Read Across America?

In 1998 the National Association of Education (NEA) held their first Read Across America on Dr. Suess’s birthday to raise awareness about the importance of children’s literacy. After all, if we have parades for winning sports teams and weeks to celebrate kindness, doesn’t reading deserve a day? Read Across America is now celebrated at schools, libraries, and community centers across the country every year. In this video from last year’s national Read Across America event, Michelle Obama and other honorees read Green Eggs and Ham to a group of 300 students.

Read Across America with Dr. Suess (from Thinkfinity): provides activities on Dr. Suess's book and  activities to do with families. 

Read Across America and Suess Day: Teachers' Best Lessons and Activities (short list from Teachers Net Gazette)

NEA Read Across America (classroom lesson ideas and activities, activities to do at home, interview with Mrs. Suess)

Song Created by 4th Graders to Celebrate 

Read Across America (Suzanne's Blog, lots of resources included in the links to the two Pinterest boards: Read Across America and Dr. Suess)

Cute Dr. Suess Videos (from Kelly's Blog)

Dr. Suess's Ideas (from Kelly's Blog)

Dr. Suess Cam (from Busy as a Bee in 1st Grade, Abbey's Blog)

Read Across America (from National Council of Teachers of English, ideas for grade levels, K-college)

Read Across America Day Celebrates Dr. Suess (from NCTE and International Reading Association, Read/Write/Think, lesson ideas and resources K-12)

Suessville.com website

Differentiated Instruction: Reluctant and Striving Readers (from Scholastic): focuses on Scholastic's Storia program and how to use it to engage readers.

Check how one Connecticut school is celebrating Read Across America. Check the Used Books blog for this post about what Wamapogo Middle/High School is up to: "A Door is a Window." 

Also coming up, is World Read Aloud Day: find out more about this event at LitWorld

The Cat in the Hat Read by Justin Bieber (on YouTube)

Tim Tebow Reads Green Eggs and Ham (YouTube)

And now for one of my favorite Dr. Suess lines

ImageL https://plus.google.com/u/0/106386034294040594598/posts

What additional ideas or sites do you suggest for Read Across America, not just this week, but every week?

Digital Story: Take Two

Draft of digital story update: a bit late. Had to uninstall, reinstall, and work with Apple Tech Support on the phone for 1.5 hours to rectify issues with iMovie software. I know some of you had similar tech problems, so thought I would give that backstory.

I created this during our 3-foot dump of snow during the blizzard we had recently, and was dreaming of being back in Hawaii.

Like many of you, I hate my voice. The narration is clipped, so it has to be redone. I had some problems timing the narration to fit along with the photo timeline, so had to digress from my storyboard script and ad lip or pause in some wrong spots. Will also being considering another soundtrack. Skyped with middle school teacher from Honolulu last night, and she recommended several popular Hawaiian singers' songs to use. Need to look into that. In the meantime, used George Winston's "Living in the Country," from his album Summer that I downloaded from iTunes.

Still a work in progress, but also thinking might just move on to another digital story about another Hawaiian islands. 

How would I use this in my teaching? If I were still teaching junior high or high school English, I might implement these student projects: 

• Create a story about one or more of your favorite places. Describe the place and tell why you like it. 
• Take a digital story you created about your favorite place, and retell it adding dialogue. Get together with a partner and rotate speaking the lines, staying in the voice of specific characters.
• Create a digital story about the city or town where you live. Be sure the story tells the viewer about the sites.  Post the story on your blog to share with students in another school who can then respond back.  
• Create a digital story about the settings in works of literature we have read as class.

As for the second to last idea, sharing with another school, check this QuadBlogging project done by students in six varied countries:  Our World, Our Stories: School Day or The Local Environment.  Some of the students created videos to show others how and where they live.

RSS is Really Simple: Keep It Up

By now, you are a avid user of Real Simple Syndication (RSS) with Google Reader.


cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo shared by HeatherWeaver

In addition to peers' blogs that you follow through RSS, what other sources of information do you encourage educators to subscribe to via Google Reader?

Here's my list of some of my favorites in my RSS:

1) Free Technology for Teachers (regular updates about technology to use in schools and suggestions about how to use the selected technology; also can be subscribed to via Facebook)
2) iPad Apps for Schools (newer blog with updates regularly about iPad apps that are applicable in the school setting and recommended ways to use these apps; also check for the parallel blog on Android apps)
3) Edudemic (excellent all-around blog)
4) Cool Teacher Blog (Vicki Davis posts often and shares ideas for global collaboration and similar projects)
5) Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (updated often and also can be subscribed to via Facebook)
6) Van Meter Library Voice (school librarian who posts often about literacy, reading, cross-class projects, and much more)
7) Venspired (elementary teacher who runs programs for the gifted but post information relevant to all educators)
8) Class Tech Tips
9) Langwitches Blog (overall great resource for information on educational technology and literacy)
10) KB Connected
11 Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day (an ESL teacher from CA who posts all kinds of information relevant to teaching and learning--he posts nearly daily)
12) Blogging through the Fourth Dimension (Pernille Ripp is a great source of information for tips on blogging with students and the integration of technology to support learning)
13) Matt Gomez, Kindergarten Teacher (posts lots of good ideas for those who teach the lower grade levels)
14) Ozge Karaoglu Blog (brings a creative twist to sharing resources)

What sources of information do you recommend? What would you add to this list? Do you see the value in using Google Reader on a regular basis? Goal--use the folder feature in Reader to organize and sort your subscriptions by topics or areas of interest.



cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo shared by tetradtx