5 fun back to school interactives

Looking for some fun back to school activities for your students to play online? Well look no further below are five fun back to school interactives to use in your classroom!

Emily Elizabeth goes to school - Interact with Emily Elizabeth and Clifford about her day at school. 

Back to school printables - Several back to school printables including mini soduko

Back to school interactive pages - Interactive back to school coloring pages

Back to school wordsearch - Interactive back to school word search, words go across and down only; uses basic vocabulary.

Back to school crossword - back to school crossword puzzle. 

To find more back to school activities click here! 

Audio book appreciation month

One of this  month's observances in audio book appreciation month. I would like to take this time to post all the resources that I have about all audio books. So sit back, relax and peruse some of these awesome audio book sites. 

• Online Storytime by Barnes & Noble - Barnes & Noble

• Free Audio Books - Download an audio book in mp3 or iPod format today!

• National Geographic Young Explorer (Student Magazine) - January-February 2011

• Free Library of Philadelphia

• Signed Stories Home Page - ITV Signed Stories

• Kiddie Records Weekly

• Bookshare - Accessible Books for Individuals with Print Disabilities

• AudibleKids - Audio Books for Kids

• Storynory: Free Audio Stories for Kids

Diggin' Dinosaurs

This blog post is about dinosaur interactive activities, tools, and sites to use when teaching about dinosaurs. 

• Dig those dinosaurs - Match the pictures on the cards Found on Smartboard Goodies 

• Dino Data - Learn about many different dinosaurs with this dino-base.

• Match and hatch - match the the dinosaur eggs to the right dinosaur.

• Make a dinosaur This dinosaur games lets you change the way your dinosaur looks.

• Dino match - Match dinosaurs with their shadows. Learn the names of a few of the most popular dinosaurs. 

• Digging for Dinosaurs! - Play this dino cyberhunt.

• Is it real or is it make-believe? Show us that you know the difference! 

To dig into more dino games and sites check this out.  

New to the special education process?

This one is for you parents, caregivers, or students who are new to the special education referral process. Here are some great links and resources for those of you who are brand new to the whole world of special education:

• CEC's tool of the week - Here are some free downloads available from the Council of Exceptional Children (CEC). These are all great downloads for any stage of special education. Some downloads include: driver's ed, understanding special education, and more.
• Special education news - Here is a great resource that has history of special education, and trending topics regarding special education.
• FAPE - Here is a great resource all about FAPE - Free and Appropriate Public Education 
• IDEA - Click here to learn about the IDEA  - Individual's with Disabilities Education Act.
• IEP - Here is a great site about the IEP process.
• NCLB - No child left behind - learn all about it here.

Have Twitter? Here are some special education related hash-tags:

• #sped
• #spedchat
• #specialneeds
• #spedtech
• #autism
• #adhd
• #asd

20 days of Christmas - switch games

For this post I am going to show you some great Christmas themed switch games to play on the computer. 

• Switchabilities - Here is a list of eight great Christmas games to play on the computer.  
• Christmas presents - Guess what is hiding inside the present, click on it to find out!
• Card Maker Card types - presently include Birthdays, Easter, Halloween and Christmas.
• Christmas singing sheep - click on the sheep to hear them sing  
• Press to Reveal! - Christmas - Press the switch the reveal the Christmas character

Guest Post: Elaine Hirsch: How iPad Textbooks can be Used in Schools

Guest Post by Elaine Hirsch

Thank you Elaine for developing another blog post about a critical piece in our educational system.

How iPad Textbooks can be Used in Schools

As technological innovation continues in our modern society, changes in the delivery of content are now foremost. Desktop and laptop computers quickly became more commonplace after their initial appearance, and it will be the same in the case of e-readers and tablet computers. While many think the novelty of the iPad will be short-lived, a strong camp of thinkers is promoting iPads as the next classroom revolution.

iPads are at this point still the most technologically innovative and user-friendly tablets available. The iPad offers mobile multimedia options, thus kicking learning up a notch as an entertaining way to engage students in a slim, portable package. Many teachers from elementary schools to master's degree programs realize the future of textbooks will be digital, both to save paper and energy, and for easier distribution.

Therefore, the logical step is to use the latest innovation in personal computing tools to be able to access these textbooks. Schools in 600 districts across the nation are already supplying their students with new iPads.

George Fox University in Oregon has attracted students by giving out laptops to incoming freshmen since 1991. This has always been an expensive program, and officials have considered dropping it. However, offering iPads might prove just as attractive to prospective students for half the cost of the laptops they've been offering.

The principal at Burlington High School in suburban Boston sees the iPad as a more cost-efficient alternative to textbooks. The iPad's $500 price tag seems like an intensive budget drain, but in the long term the savings are significant. Multiple textbooks (and buying new editions) per student easily exceed this amount every year. On the other hand, digital textbooks can be updated by the publishers with ease and at somewhat reduced cost.

Even schools with smaller budgets are purchasing the tablets. Woodford County High School in Kentucky is the first public school in the state to give every single one of its 1,250 students a new iPad. The school is using the iPads for digital textbooks, and for the many subject-specific learning apps, such as Star Walk for astronomy, Molecules for biology, iTranslate for language courses, and many more.

The iPad is front and center in the future of education. By engaging students through multimedia, this isn't just an entertaining tech gadget; it's a novel educational device.

TRETC Livebinder

My colleague, Mindy McMahen and I presented about how to use livebinders in the classroom. This was a create and take session. We taught and demonstrated all about livebinders and then gave time for the participants to investigate the site.

Here is a link to our livebinder http://livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=221082

TRETC conference part 3

The second session I attended was about learning portals. Learning portals are a great way to extend learning outside the walls of the classroom.

Walls come tumbling down

• http://learningportals.wikispaces.com
• What are learning portals?
• real time learning
• diverse learning
• 24/7
• provides more resources
• discussion boards
• polls
• reminders/calendars
• contact
• enrichment and review
• links and resources
• videos / podcasts
• class notes
• paradigm shift in instructional design
• we need to change the way we think to present information differently
• We don’t need to know how to code or know how to create websites to create a learning portal
• A learning portal is never finished it is fluid and grows
• this is a blended approach used for supplementation
• digital divide is shifting from have and have not to know how and  not know how to

• Tools to create a learning portal:
• wikispaces.com
• wix.com
• wordpress.com
• edublogs.com
• weebly.com
• googlesites.com
• wetpaint.com
• pbwiki
• moodle
• jimdo
• webs
• webstarts
• ning
• moogo

Things to put on your webpage

• animoto
• crocdoc
• slideshare
• coveritlive
• screecast
• edistorm
• quizlet
• glogster
• khanacademy

Resources

• edistorm - similar to wallwisher free post it not bulletin board, able to vote on ideas!
• coursesites.com - free online management of instruction, tools, assessment

TRETC conference part 2

The first session I attended was about how to create an online school for a district. This session really inspired me. These are the notes and tips I received from the session:

Online learning panel  session

• There is no such thing as  a one size fits all online learning needs of kids, teachers, and administrators
• online learning is an agent of change
• Create individual plans and schedules for students which accommodates their own learning path
• can give acceleration to students, along with remediation if needed
• online learning is a quality option
• under promise and over deliver
• education is changing there is now choice
• paradigm shift - education in a new light
• asynchronous or synchronous learning or blended learning
• Need passion, drive, dedication
• be flexible

• How to get an online school started?
• look at this as a new school
• review policies
• focus on students and learning
• purpose of the school
• bring students and teachers into communication
• information for parents regarding policies, procedures, rules
• communication is key
• parent and student buy in
• support for teachers who are going into a virtual world (training, workshops, updates).
• engagement - find engaging activities online, not just reading and writing
• visionary planning
• goal setting
• research and outreach
• reflect
• align curriculum with goals
• don’t rush it!
• all about customer service perspective
• monetary investment
• learn from mistakes

TRETC conference part 1

Good morning. I thought I would take some time to discuss the TRETC conference that I attended yesterday with a colleague of mine. Here are some notes from the keynote speaker panel.

• Gregg Behr - keynote speaker along with panelist
• great time to be a kid to learn about informal learning - anytime, anywhere learning
• kids today are learning anytime and anyplace
• Neil
• students can create sites, videos, blogs, podcast, etc as independent study or differentiated instruction assignments
• Traci Blazosky
• give students choices regarding assignments (tic tac toe board)
• go on virtual field trips with your class by using google earth
• combination with Web 2.0 tools such as Glogster, blabberize
• technology evens the playing field for projects and assignments.
• Dr. Wilder
• find your element
• ask students
• let students find their dreams
• Karen Cater
• education is a matter of national security and economic development
• challenge students get them fully engaged
• shift to digital learning environment from paper based
• learn from people, books, and interfaces
• accessibility is vital
• text to speech, video calls online
• assistive tech and accessible options are made for individuals with disabilities, but are used everyday by others
• opportunity to learn and engage at this time are strong

• Badges or achievements in formal education
• informal learning spaces
• badges for mastery of topics learned
• move to competency based system

Resources from the keynote:

• https://sites.google.com/a/propelschools.org/theplaneteers/ - recylcing site made by a student from Propel School in Pittsburgh, PA
• www.b-7bobcats.wikispaces.com - Traci Blosky’s site
• Cha-ching - earn, save, spend, donate, financial literacy
• http://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/ - great way to review and learn about bugs in your own backyard!

How to use Videoconferencing in the Classroom

How to use Videoconferencing in the Classroom

 

What is video conferencing? It is a synchronous two way connection of two or more different locations via audio and video media.  

 Want to use video conferencing? What to do:

 1. Meet with technicians or IT professionals to be sure it can be done

 2. Be sure you are familiar with the location of your broadcast - what equipment is available and when 

3. Check out the lighting situation in the location

4. Also be sure to “check out” equipment if needed for the presentation

5. Develop a list of contact information for the participants

6. Understand how to use the video and audio equipment

7. Test it out

8. Discuss etiquette to participants - questions, audio, technical, etc.

9. Have a back up plan for equipment and technology - things happen! - have a backup plan

10. Be sure participants have access to any handouts, forms, or guidelines - include them in a pdf form so they can be read across platform (PC or MAC) 

Some great technologies to think about using when conducting a video conference:

- Document camera

 - Video examples

- Slides (be sure to number handouts or slides - participants can refer to them easily) made of PowerPoint, slide share, Google, Prezi (this is flash based and users who have MAC will not be able to access this format)

– Handouts

- Poll participants to encourage participation - can be done by ww.polleverywhere.com 

Ideas to keep in mind to have a successful video conference:

- Have name tents or tags available for the participants

- Have microphone at each site so participants can ask questions

 - Participants can have small group discussion regarding topics

- Involve student response clickers or other polling software/freeware to incorporate into your presentation to ensure participation

- Create a Google doc. Google form, or type with me doc for people to add ideas or best practices

 - Create a twitter hash-tag for back chatting purposes

- Develop a backchat site where people can post ideas/comments/questions, one great one is:Todaysmeet

- Record the session for participants who could not attend - Have a co-moderator dictate the closed captioning for students who need that requirement

 - Also have image description available for students who are blind or visually impaired