Here are a few more goodies that teachers may find useful.
Writely is a web wordprocessor that lets you create and store documents out on the web, download them as a Word document or in another format, lets you collaborate with others on the same document and more.
RapidCite This is a simple, quick way to create a bibliography entry. If we expect our students to use citations, we'd best do it ourselves!
Springdoo Quick-n-easy "podcasting"...just record your message and the site will create a link which it automatically puts on your clipboard. All you have to do is paste the link into....an email? your website? Karen Finter suggests having students read their poems or short stories and letting Mom and Dad hear them perform. How about a foreign language teacher using such a site...or having students create the audio and send it to the teacher?? Want to hear a sample? In one case, a second grade teacher invited parents to send their email addresses in to the classroom. For all who did that, the link to their children's stories was emailed back. The response from parents was very positive indeed.
Other options? The teacher might have chosen to post that link to a blog where students could respond directly in the comment section. The youngsters might record to their own (group blog) section. How might that generate meaningful discourse? How might a teacher then use the comments to generate in-class discussion? Lots of possibilities here, I think.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Thursday, February 23, 2006
"Creativity is a Habit"
From the February 22nd issue of EdWeek.Org:
Dr. Sternberg doesn't talk about technology in his discussion of creativity (the whole article is well worth your time), but I do know that the freedom and control students experience when they are working with technology very often results in quite wonderfully creative products. Phil Scully's 3rd graders' haiku is a good example.
Of course, we educators have to cultivate the habit of creativity ourselves, before we can effectively nurture it in our students. We have many of the same pressures toward non-creative behaviors as our students experience...and we've had a much longer time to build counter-creative habits that need to be broken. I'm determined to maximize my Seven Habits of Highly Creative People", outlined in a short article by Mika Ono Benedyk. The last habit in the list is "Playful and Fun". Think I'll start with that one!
Creativity Is a Habit
by Robert J. SternbergIt may sound paradoxical that creativity—a novel response—is a habit, a routine response. But creative people are creative largely not by any particular inborn trait, but because of an attitude toward their work and even toward life: They habitually respond to problems in fresh and novel ways, rather than allowing themselves to respond in conventional and sometimes automatic ways.
Like any habit, creativity can either be encouraged or discouraged. The main things that promote the habit are (a) opportunities to engage in it, (b) encouragement when people avail themselves of these opportunities, and (c) rewards when people respond to such encouragement and think and behave creatively. You need all three. Take away the opportunities, encouragement, or rewards, and you will take away the creativity. In this respect, creativity is no different from any other habit, good or bad.
Dr. Sternberg doesn't talk about technology in his discussion of creativity (the whole article is well worth your time), but I do know that the freedom and control students experience when they are working with technology very often results in quite wonderfully creative products. Phil Scully's 3rd graders' haiku is a good example.
Of course, we educators have to cultivate the habit of creativity ourselves, before we can effectively nurture it in our students. We have many of the same pressures toward non-creative behaviors as our students experience...and we've had a much longer time to build counter-creative habits that need to be broken. I'm determined to maximize my Seven Habits of Highly Creative People", outlined in a short article by Mika Ono Benedyk. The last habit in the list is "Playful and Fun". Think I'll start with that one!
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Interesting Finds on the Web
If you haven't read "The World is Flat", or if you have and are interested in persuing the subject a little more, take a few minutes to listen to a podcast of Thomas Friedman's C-SPAN interview at EV World.
Another site worth your time: Museums and the Web's fascinating list of sites nominated for Best of Web awards this year. This list is long, but based on the many I've checked, they are truly superior. I've added this page to my de.lici.ous account so that I can return to it and work my way through over time.
Another site worth your time: Museums and the Web's fascinating list of sites nominated for Best of Web awards this year. This list is long, but based on the many I've checked, they are truly superior. I've added this page to my de.lici.ous account so that I can return to it and work my way through over time.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Tools for the Laptop Group
The laptop group is meeting this week. Seems like a good idea to post some of the resources we'll be looking at. That way, it's easily available to anyone who might not make the session.
West Irondequoit Laptoppers’ Lessons Online Keep checking here to see what's new!
Lesson Plan Template (be sure to edit with Microsoft Word) The template will give some consistancy to our postings.
Teaching and Learning with the Office Resource Kit Lots of free templates/tools here, available for a single download.
PhotoStory Lots of fun, easy for you or your students to use, a great way to present narrated pictures.
WavePad or
Survey Monkey – Create your own survey, or offer students the opportunity to create one.
ReadPlease - Could this tool be a lifesaver for students who find complex text a barrier to learning?
Bloglines - Simplify your life and keep yourself current. Add your favorite blogs (or other sites that have RSS feed) to your own blogline and check there to see what's new.
Del.icio.us Your own "favorites" available anytime, anywhere, from any computer. Keep your list private or share it with the world.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Podcasting
Alas, I have to start a brand new blog since the site I had been using is no longer available. At least, it's not free anymore. And free is very nice!
What fun it was to share wikis and blogs with some of our faculty members a few weeks ago. Since the old blog had that information and is no longer active, let me just remind you that the links are all available on our little test wiki. Feel free to play with that wiki yourself, or better still, create your own. Pbwiki is a great place to get started. We have an active group of teachers already using the site to share teaching strategies!
Some of our teachers will be learning a bit about podcasting later this week. I'm wanting to post a few words of welcome here.. It helps, I think, to be able to hear what other educators are doing with podcasting in support of their students. So...take a look at these sites:
http://www.podcast.net/show/41190 On this site, you will find several examples of podcasting by students, with a range of ages involved.
http://dreamextreme.us/ Click on the "classroom podcast" link to hear what these 6th grade Oregon students are doing.
http://bobsprankle.com/blog/C1697218367/index.html These are Bob Sprankle's students, 3rd and 4th grade, I think. They are regular podcasters and though their podcasts can take a bit of time to open, they are worth the effort.
Podcasts do require software, so you might consider the free audio recording/editing program called WavePad. All you need is the free, basic program. While you will be offered 4 enhancements at the end of the installation, these are only trials and eventually, if you wished to keep them, you would need to pay for them. To get started, do not select those programs. You can always go back to get them later if you like.
Basic instructions for creating a podcast using WavePad are available online.
Time is limited but ideas are not. I'd love to believe that our teachers will be represented in this list in the not too distant future. Welcome to the world of podcasting.
What fun it was to share wikis and blogs with some of our faculty members a few weeks ago. Since the old blog had that information and is no longer active, let me just remind you that the links are all available on our little test wiki. Feel free to play with that wiki yourself, or better still, create your own. Pbwiki is a great place to get started. We have an active group of teachers already using the site to share teaching strategies!
Some of our teachers will be learning a bit about podcasting later this week. I'm wanting to post a few words of welcome here.. It helps, I think, to be able to hear what other educators are doing with podcasting in support of their students. So...take a look at these sites:
http://www.podcast.net/show/41190 On this site, you will find several examples of podcasting by students, with a range of ages involved.
http://dreamextreme.us/ Click on the "classroom podcast" link to hear what these 6th grade Oregon students are doing.
http://bobsprankle.com/blog/C1697218367/index.html These are Bob Sprankle's students, 3rd and 4th grade, I think. They are regular podcasters and though their podcasts can take a bit of time to open, they are worth the effort.
Podcasts do require software, so you might consider the free audio recording/editing program called WavePad. All you need is the free, basic program. While you will be offered 4 enhancements at the end of the installation, these are only trials and eventually, if you wished to keep them, you would need to pay for them. To get started, do not select those programs. You can always go back to get them later if you like.
Basic instructions for creating a podcast using WavePad are available online.
Time is limited but ideas are not. I'd love to believe that our teachers will be represented in this list in the not too distant future. Welcome to the world of podcasting.
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