Teaching with Technology

Mrs. Vest’s class create a Voicethread on Batty Facts to go with their lesson on facts and opinions.  Creating voicethreads on a specific topic gives students a chance to write, practicing reading, and listen back to information, which helps them learn and remember it better. They are also a great way to practice fluency and oral speaking skills.  Students are always amazed the first time they hear themselves read, and I always give them the option to redo their reading if they don’t like it.  It’s neat to see how quickly their reading changes when they can hear themselves! Take a look at their project (and feel free to leave them some comments).

Mrs.  Hudson’s and Mrs. Graves 5th grade classes at Clearbrook Elementary are blogging!  I’m so proud of the hard work both the teachers and the students are putting into this project!  The kids are very excited, especially about comments they’ve received from some college students in Alabama.   They worked really hard on writing posts about instruments to go with the sound unit they are studied in Science, and they are working on entries about their visit to Apple Ridge Farms.  If you have a few minutes to leave them some comments, they would love it!  It’s so motivating for them to know that their writing is read by a “real” audience!

Here are their blogs:

Mrs. Hudson

Mrs. Graves

I’ll keep them linked to this blog (on the right) in case you want to check back on them later in the year!

The History on Tap blog is a great place to find resources that match Virginia’s SOLs for Social Studies and History, including games, foldables, presentations, study sheets, and more. It has resources for K-12, including tons of great things for VA Studies. It is updated and maintained by a Lisa Pennington, a Social Studies Specialist in Portsmouth, VA.  If you teach social studies content, check it out!

I love this concept. People will do harder things if you make it FUN! I just love to see that principle working in classrooms…and I often do!!!

First Grade classes around the county participated in an O.R.E.O. project, including Mrs. Chapman’s class, Mrs. Williams’ class, Mrs. Braun’s class,  and all of Oak Grove’s First Grade!   It was tons of fun, and it all centered around cookies!!

Students stacked cookies to see how tall of a tower they could make before it tumbled and tallied their results. Then, they entered results on a spreadsheet to find a class average and to view a graph.  They discussed the data using words like greather than, less than, and equal to (see example below). 

Oreo Project Example

Click here for a  blank version of the spreadsheet.

Here’s a few pictures from the event:
O.R.E.O. Project 2009 on PhotoPeach

Oh…and just in case your wondering, we did NOT eat the ones we stacked! ;)

Have you seen small groups of students running around hunting for boxes at your school lately?  If so, then you’ve seen us geocaching, a fun, active way to solve SOL related problems!  It’s a great way for students to move around outside while working in groups and solving SOL related problems.  They love it!!

• Regions of VA (4th)
• Pirate Math (end of 2nd)
• Global Studies (5th)
• Library (Genres)
• PE (Fall activity involving math and PE)
• Phases of the Moon (4th)
• Weather
• Native Americans (2nd)
• Native Americans (4th)
• Carnivore/Herbivoire/Omnivore (3rd)
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Musical Instrument Families

 We are coming up with more each day….and would be happy to create one for a different unit with your help if you have an idea!  If you are interested in trying out this activity with your students before it gets too cold, let me know.

There are many ways to add picture files to a Flipchart.  This is useful if you have taken pictures with a document camera, scanner, or digital camera and would like to then use them in your flipchart.

To view a full-size version of this screencast, click here.  You’ll probably want to do this…it’s small here!

Method 1: Click and Drag Between Folders:

• Open the folder where the pictures are located.
• Open a blank flipchart
• Size the windows so you can see both of them.
• Click and drag from the image from the File Window to FlipChart.
• Choose “Add Object”

Method 2: Drop the file directly into the My Images folder

1. Drop directly into My Documents>ActivStudio 3>My Images
2. Open Up ActivStudio
3. You will see the file in your resource folder under My Resource Library.

Method 3: Insert the File from Design Mode

1. Turn on Design Mode while in ActivStudio
2. Go to Insert>Image>From File
3. Navigate to the file and click on it.
4. Make sure to turn off Design Mode when you are done.

Method 4: Click and Drag Between Word and a Flipchart:

• Open the Word Document.
• Open a blank flipchart
• Size the windows so you can see both of them.
• Click and drag from file windoWord Doc to FlipChart.
• Choose “Drop Image”

Method 5: Snap a Picture with the Camera Tool

1. Open a ActivStudio
2. Minimize the FlipChart
3. Find the image on your computer
4. Click the camera icon>Area
5. Choose the area you want to save
6. Choose the first icon ”To Current Flipchart Page”

With all but Method 2, you may want to drag the folder over to your Resource Library if you plan on using it more than once.

Office Picture Manager will help you edit your pictures before you insert them into a flipchart.  You can find it by going to Start>Programs>Microsoft Office>Microsoft Office Tools>Microsoft Office Picture Manage.  If you allow it to be your default picture editor, it will open picture files anytime you double click on them.

To learn more about the functions of Picture Manager, download this handout.

There are more ways to add images…these are just my favorite.  You don’t have to use all of the methods, just pick one that’s comfortable to you and stick with it.  If you want to share another way to add images, please comment below! :)

As I sit here working on a project that requires some clipart, I’m reminded of my favorite FREE clipart site of all time for school projects. I’m not sure if you know about it already, but just in case you don’t, here it is:

Phillip Martin Clip Art

You can find CUTE, elementary clipart for all subject areas, and even graphics that match the SOLs in a cute way.  I love it!

Just in case you’ve never downloaded clipart from a website before, here’s how you do it:

1. Left click on the small version of the image (so you can view it in it’s largest form).
2. Right click on the large form of the image.
3. Choose “Save Picture As” or “Save Image As”
4. Find a spot to save it on your computer. Remember where you put it so you can find it again.
5. Click Save.

Phillip Martin, the artist, also creates cute powerpoints based on school subjects. You might want to check them out while looking at his site.

(Phillip Martin allows you to use this clipart free for your classroom, newsletters, and other non-profit things…just as long as you do not add it to other clip art collections. Please honor his request when using these wonderful resources.)

Saturday be Talk Like a Pirate Day, so you might want t’ celebrate Friday or Monday with sprogs. Here’s some thin’s t’ get you started…

Links:

The Orginial Talk Like a Pirate Day Website

English to Pirate Translator (a must have for this important day)

Need some Pirate facts? Take a look at this wiki, ARR Pirates, created by Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Graders!

Pirate Challenge Geography Game (for the older sprogs)!

Walk the Plank! Game (Compound Words)

A Fun Button

Pirate Numbers (K-1)

Pirate Crafts (Great hat here)

Thanks to Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod for this latest version of “Did You Know?” It definitely gives you food for thought! What does this mean for our schools?

I ran across a Blooms Taxonomy Tutorial from the Colorado Community College System Colleges Wiki page on Blooms Taxonomy in my delicious network feed.  I thought it might be helpful to teachers as you design your lesson plans. I love the second of the animations that suggest activities for each of the levels, with a focus on digital technology. The text is a bit hard to see embedded in this blog, so use the links below each one to see them full screen.To see this tutorial full screen, click here.
To see this tutorial full screen, click here.

Jacqui Sharp from ICT Teaching and Learning posted this great slideshow of different ways to publish writing. It’s great!! It goes from the easiest ways to the more elaborate…but lots of fun things are included. Take a look! Can you think of any other ways?

Do you know a wonderful teacher who deserves recognition?  What about a chance to travel and bring “the world” back to their classroom?  If so, please consider nominating this teacher for the McGlothlin Award.  This Award is one of the largest monetary awards in the country ($25,000,  $10,000 of which must be spent on international travel), provided by the very generous McGlothlin foundation.  Their goal is to recognize teachers for their hard work, reward them, and inspire others to enter the teaching profession.  It is open to full-time elementary or secondary teachers of core curriculum areas within the Blue Ridge PBS broadcast area.  To check to see if your division is eligible, look here.  Teachers must have five years experience and plan to continue teaching in the years to come.

This year they are opening nominations to the public and asking that all entry materials be sent electronically, to mcglothlin@blueridgepbs.org
The following elements should be sent no later than November 6, 2009:

Resume or curriculum vitae that lists the nominee’s
• education history
• employment history
• continuing professional development
• awards/honors
• conference or other presentations
• volunteer service to the community

Three letters of recommendation, forwarded from the authors.  (Suggested sources: principals, supervisors, parents, colleagues, current or former students.)

Nominees must provide a personal statement about their teaching (limit is two (2) typewritten pages) that demonstrates how they fulfill the criteria of the McGlothlin Awards. Please include the answers to these important points:
• How do you bring the world to your classroom?
• Where would you choose to spend $10,000 of your award for international travel?

Click here if you’d like more information about nominating someone you know!

Thom Ryder sent this video out to the staff at Oak Grove, and it’s really good. Just had to share:

To see a list of the statistics quoted (and their sources), you can check out this blog post from Socialnomics.