Oct 14
The Fun Theory
Food for Thought, Fun, Video Tagged fun theory 2 Comments »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!!!
Oct 08
Projects, Projects, Projects
Fun, Geocaching, Ideas, Links, Projects, Roanoke County Schools, Web 2.0 Tagged cloudy with a chance of meatballs, geobugs, Geocaching, jen wagner, mission 00 Rain, oliver k woodman, Projects No Comments »This article is a follow up to yesterday’s inservice at Clearbrook. We discussed Global Projects, Using Skype, Wiki Ideas, and Geocaching and Geobugs. Wow, that was a lot of stuff!
Shelia Terry from Virginia Beach was able to skype with us and talk a little about her use with Skype with her students there. She gave us some great information about skype, and send us a link to more Skype info on her wiki!
Shelia Terry from Virginia Beach was able to skype with us and talk a little about her use with Skype with her students there. She gave us some great information about skype, and send us a link to more Skype info on her wiki!
We also talked a lot about some existing global projects you can join. One of the project places I highlighted was the site by Jen Wagner. I love her projects!!
The other project I mentioned by name was the skype project called Mission 00 Rain about Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I remember that a few of you were interested in it as well. It’s for grades 1-3, but you need to register by Oct. 10!
Finally, we did some geocaching and talked about geobugs. In case you all are interested in geocaching for fun, the geocaching site is www.geocaching.com. You can create an account for free, and download the locations of caches to many types of gps units. The newer ones for cars will even let you do this. It’s tons of fun, and they are EVERYWHERE…so it’s also great for family trips or vacations.
If you and your class want to track the Big Lick Geobug, here’s it’s story.
http://tcoffey.edublogs.org/2009/06/03/geobugs/
Finally, an Oliver K. Woodman Geobug will be leaving Roanoke in the next few weeks. He’s heading to Redcrest, California. If you’ve read the book, The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman, you’ll know why! Let me know if you want me to come to your class, show a geobug, and get your started following him too. :)
If you and your class want to track the Big Lick Geobug, here’s it’s story.
http://tcoffey.edublogs.org/2009/06/03/geobugs/
Finally, an Oliver K. Woodman Geobug will be leaving Roanoke in the next few weeks. He’s heading to Redcrest, California. If you’ve read the book, The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman, you’ll know why! Let me know if you want me to come to your class, show a geobug, and get your started following him too. :)
Sep 17
Talk Like a Pirate Day!
Fun, Holidays, Links Tagged pirates, talk like a pirate day No Comments »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)!
Jun 05
Teachers Using Glogster
Fun, Ideas, Salem City Schools, Web 2.0 Tagged glogster, library, nicole foley, victoria salvat No Comments »Have you seen the Nicoles’ new Carver library webpage? Or Victoria Salvat’s Kindergarten page? If not, check them out! You will notice they are using a really cool service called Glogster. Glogster allows you to make interactive poster-like creatives that include links, pictures, and videos all with a really slick looking design. You can allow these posters to stand alone as wepbages, or embed them in webpage, wiki, or blog. It works especially well for the homepage of a website. This is what Victoria and Nicole did to add that extra touch to their websites. Pam and I also used this for the Trek2India wiki!
So, want to make interactive posters with your kids? Here’s a tutorial that shows you how!
Always remember to stay on the educational gloster site (http://www.glogster.com/edu) with your students. Otherwise, they may access inappropriate material on the regular Glogster site.
Feb 18
Jul 25
Blogging on the iphone
Fun Tagged iphone, wordpress app No Comments »I am loving the iPhone apps! I just found this one (Wordpress) that allows me to blog from my phone! I can even add pictures from my phone like this one taken of my summer school kids getting excited about a money game on the Smartboard.
I am also enjoying the Pandora Radio, Weatherbug, Tap Tap Revenge, and Facebook apps. Do you have an iPhone? If so, what are your favorite apps?
*Okay, I have to confess that I went back and added the links on the computer. Haven’t figured out how to do that on the phone yet.
Jun 09
Traveling Educators
Fun Tagged google maps, travel 11 Comments »If you haven’t guessed from reading my blog before, I love to travel. I know I’m not the only one. So, let’s see where we are all going this summer. Add a comment and tell me where…and if you can, add your location to the Google Map below. If you have trouble, I’ll add it for you once I see your comment. Let’s see how many different states (and countries) we will be visiting! And if you’ve been to the same location as someone else, maybe even leave a travel tip!
I’ll start…I’m going to Key West, Flordia. I hope to scuba dive, but I will at least snorkel while I’m there and enjoy the incredible (so I’ve heard) sunsets. Okay, your turn…
Click here to add your vacation location (or leave a comment and I’ll add it for you!)
- Choose Save To My Maps
- Login if you need to (you must have a Google account to do this)
- Type in your vacation location in the search box and click search.
- When the Placemark appears on the map, click Save to My Maps, and choose Trips 2008.
Or just list it below in the comments, and I’ll add it. :)
May 13
Stress Relief with Virtual Bubble Wrap
Fun, Salem City Schools Tagged bubble wrap, stress 3 Comments »Okay, I’m not sure about everyone else, but I can use anything to relieve stress right about now. NOT that I’m stressed about SOL testing, because it will all go fine, but just because it’s that time of year. So here’s something silly that’s helping me….Virtual Bubble Wrap (be sure to check out the manic mode). If that link doesn’t work, you can try this version. Thanks to Teachers Love Smartboards blog for this one.
Oh yeah…educational value….counting? maybe?
Do you have a neat stress relief site? Leave a comment to tell what it is!
Feb 27
People in Order (1-100)
Food for Thought, Fun, Math, Video Tagged Math, numbers, people in order 2 Comments »I ran across this video posted on the ICT U Can! blog and I just had to share it! Too bad we’ve already passed the 100th day of school…this would be perfect to show! Remind me, and I’ll send it out next year around that time.
Jan 18
We are Multicolored
Fun Tagged Design, diversity, flag, Fun, multicultural No Comments »Celebrate your uniqueness! Create you own flag at We Are multicolored, a digital art project put on by the Lower East Side Tenement Art Museum. You can email it, save it, print it, or download it. I could see this as a writing prompt to celebrate diversity and global awareness…plus it’s a way to practice clicking and dragging with precision.
Here’s mine…a mix between the USA, Mexico, and the UK. I live in the United States. The country that has most affected me is Mexico because I spent a summer there learning to scuba dive. The country I would love to visit is the United Kingdom (though there are at least four others close to the top of the list). I most value the blue in the US flag that represents justice, loyalty, and perseverance. What would your flag look like? What do the colors and symbols mean?
Need directions? Here’s Langwitches quick and easy “How To.” It was through her blog that I found this site (though she credits twitter). Got to love having a network!
