Happy Halloween

 So here's my gatherings for this weekend... Hope Halloween doesn't suck your enthusiasm out of you this week....

Some Veteran’s Day links:
http://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate_americas_freedoms.asp
http://www.va.gov/kids/k-5/multicontent.asp?intPageId=3

READY-TO-GO: TeachersFirst’s ready-to-go, projectable classroom activities are designed for either whole class or student-centered use. (some really cool stuff here) http://www.teachersfirst.com/exclusives/ready-to-go.cfm

FEATURED SITES:
http://www.teachersfirst.com/feature-arch.cfm?id=288

For those of you who are thinking outside the box (or at least trying to) when it comes to math instruction… here’s an interesting TED TALK…
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-to-help-stop-math-from-sucking.html

Lastly.... For those interested in how we might use ipads in the classroom…..
http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.com/2011/10/38-sites-on-using-ipads-in-classroom.html#.Tqta02BveLG

Remind 101

This is an interesting tool that I am looking into using. REMIND 101 . It is a broadcast text messaging service. Phone numbers are NOT exchanged. Parents or students must sign up for the service. You can send out reminders to parents or students about upcoming class activities; field trips; tests; programs... anything that all of your class needs to know about.

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: 10 Ways to be a Terrible Teacher

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: 10 Ways to be a Terrible Teacher: Teaching is a noble calling. That is why when a teacher doesn't behave nobly it breaks trust and we get upset. I have to admit that I've h...

Random sites this week....

Globetracker's Mission is just one week from its official embarkation date. Read the preview episode now, then pack your bags. Plan to travel throughout North America via weekly episodes from October 23 until late April. Your students in grades 2-6 will learn standards-aligned geography, map skills, landforms, and more by following Geo and Meri's weekly blog. Vote to decide what the teens should do next. If you have Google Earth, trace the Mission with the Google Earth files offered with each episode. Find Globetracker's Mission any time from the TeachersFirst home page, under "Ready to Go."

http://www.abcya.com/ Computer Activities by grade level.

Mummy http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/mummy.html
A site for virtual mummification… includes instructions! 

You might want to consider signing up for the newsletter from We Are Teachers…. Great information, ideas and leads on grants big and small… http://www.weareteachers.com/

Have a great week! 

Focus on Science

WOW.... I haven't posted for a while... :-) ... guess we've all been kinda busy. 

This week I thought I would search through my bookmarks for SCIENCE Resources for everyone.

BBC – those folks across the pond have some really incredible online resources for their teachers. This one called Science Clips is divided up by age groups so you will have to sift through them. You may find content for 7 year olds that fits into our 5^th or sixth grade curriculum. Pretty cool though….
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/index_flash.shtml

And one more from the UK -- http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/

Our own UEN has science interactives also. Third and fourth are on top, scroll down to see fifth and sixth:  http://www.uen.org/3-6interactives/science.shtml 

[UEN does not have a K-2 SCIENCE section but has a list of interactives  here: http://www.uen.org/k-2interactives/index.shtml  ]

UEN also sponsors the new version of sci-ber text. Sci-ber text is an online textbook written by Utah Science teachers (quite a while ago). It has content area reading and activities: 3^rd – 9^th grades http://www.uen.org/core/science/sciber/sciber4/
For those who like the original Sciber Text, it is here: http://utahscience.oremjr.alpine.k12.ut.us/

Windows2universe: I just stumbled on to this one. Has lots of “hands-on” activities>
http://www.windows2universe.org/php/teacher_resources/activity.php

 

Baltimore County Schools- This site is organized by their grade level standards—a bit different from ours, but LOTS of ideas and resources—you will need some time for this unless you are looking for a specific topic: http://www.bcps.org/offices/lis/curric/elem/Escience.html

 

Science Spot - I have used this site for years. Lots of really usable stuff. This is the main site: http://sciencespot.net/ which is directed at Middle School but has lots of good ideas. My favorite section is the KidZone: (which is not linked to the main page) http://sciencespot.net/Pages/kidzone.html

This site is a list of really old “hands on” activities that have been around for ages. So old, in fact, you can tell some were typed on a typewriter. Most are very solid and classic learning activities.
http://youth.net/cec/cecsci/sci-elem.html

Have fun and teach some "hands on" science this week! 

Some Stuff I Forgot

When I sent the last Blog in I forgot to add these items... someone asked me about The Hat... and someone else asked about a timer; so here you go...... 

5 Simple timers to use with your projector: count up or count down; some with sound effects.

The Hat: Randomly selects names that you put into the Hat. Will also do partners. 

Stuff You Gotta Try: a cornucopia of STUFF…. This site is amazing. Be sure to check out the Blue LINKS at the top of the page too.

GLOBETRACKER and other fun stuff

This is a website program that I have used intermittently over the last couple of years. It is an interactive story for kids in grades 2-6 that teaches geography skills. The story is different each year. During each weekly episode the two characters, Mary and Geo, report about their adventures of working for their Uncle GT. There are pictures, content reading, vocabulary, clues to consider, and maps. Google Maps applications are used but not required to learn and enjoy.Your class can even vote on which direction the story should take. It also has a Twitter account so kids can track it if they have accounts, or you can track it via your teacher account.

This year's storyline takes the kids through North America. The program runs from October through April, with a review in May. THIS link will take you to the informational page. The Preview Episode is HERE.

If you want to use this program and you think you may need some help, let me know. I will be glad to stop by and give you a hand. 
There are a couple of teacher sites that I use that I have passed along before to various folks. Check them out and see if they would help you:

  http://www.HaveFunTeaching.com this one is mostly for primary teachers. Lots of cool learning songs. Fourth and fifth graders may enjoy this too.

     http://www.survivingateacherssalary.com  Tips and deals, coupons and information on stuff for teachers.     www.freetech4teachers.com   Sometimes amazing ideas and online links for teachers trying to integrate technology.

Short Videos

This video is from a site I found this weekend called "The Kid Should See This". It is a collection of videos that kids should see... art, music, science, and just fun stuff. Great for those 'Gap Times'. Take a look and check back often.

Got Research????

Thanks Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers for this terrific link. If you are teaching your kids to research this is a great resource for you and for them.
Interactive Research Map

Build Your Own with no ads

Here are some tested sites for educators:  click here

Wall Wisher

This is an easy tool for you to use on your UEN site for kids to answer questions- or to use in class or the lab...

WALL WISHER

WELCOME BACK!

Hope you are all having a great end-of-summer week. Technology in the building is still random. The labs are up and functioning and I was able to print a few things. Try to be kind to the “ink budget”.
Anyone interested in some re-fresher time, let me know. I’m sure the tech department will be around to tell us all how to log into our computers since all of our log-in and passwords will have been changed.

 If you are still “shopping” my Blogger-friend, Crystal, over at “Surviving a Teacher’s Salary”; http://www.survivingateacherssalary.com/ has posted all of the popular sale prices for cool teacher stuff. Great Give-aways too.

Then, Richard @ Free Technology For Teachers has a list of seven places to get free stuff and free money for teachers: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/08/7-places-to-get-free-supplies-or-money.html

And there is also the Pets-In-The-Classroom grant that I posted last year: http://www.petsintheclassroom.org/ - This one will help with direct costs of having a pet in the classroom. Not a bad deal, if you have an existing pet or want to get one.

See you all next week!

lg

NEW.....

PEGBY - an organizational corkboard!

Professional Development Opportunity

Don't have time to go to a Conference this summer? And you know OUR District is not going to help you out with funding, right? Try this.....
Richard Byrne, over at FREE TECHNOLOGY FOR TEACHERS is involved in a new kind of Professional Development. It's free and it's online. Go to the link above and click on schedule of sessions.
I haven't looked into it enough to determine if you can get PD points, but it sounds like a good deal to me.
Let me know if you are having problems with it or you need help.

Birthday Freebies

Donna at Peace, Love & Learning ... a Kinder Blog has a give-away for freebie for birthdays... go check it out...
Peace, Love & Learninghttp://peacelovelearning.blogspot.com/

Sweet Search - A Search Engine for Students

Sweet Search - A Search Engine for Students

Wiki Field Trip - Tour Wikipedia on a Map

Wiki Field Trip - Tour Wikipedia on a Map

ISTE Music Video: Say Hey (I Love School)

ISTE: International Society for Technology in Education

ISTE is a huge conference, held in Philadelphia PA this year. If you want to learn some new stuff you can go to this site. Here they have assembled many of the offerings including new insights into using document cameras in the classroom, as well as just about anything to do with technology that you care to learn about.
Learn something new this summer!

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: A Beginner's Guide to Tumblr

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: A Beginner's Guide to Tumblr: "Tumblr is a blogging platform that is sort of a cross between Twitter , Facebook and full-scale blogging. While some might use Tumblr as a..."

Webcasts and Keynotes from ISTE 2011

Webcasts and Keynotes from ISTE 2011

GLOGSTER

Our Last Week!

So before we end the year…. Don’t forget to back-up your files and stuff before we re-image everything. The email that Dustin Frandsen sent out this week gives step-by-step directions for saving everything~~ including your FAVORITES files from your browser. If you need help, give a holler to one of our Building Tech Committee members: Bill Godschaulx; Buffy Camps; Johnna Denny: David Lewis; Sarah Henderson; or myself.

I will continue to add stuff to this site throughout the summer and send it out via email for those of you who access at home. Here are two sites that I got in my email this week:

This is one whale of a website for teaching resources. WOW!
Marylyn Western’s Technology Tips for Classroom Teachers:
Stuff you Gotta Try: http://www.edzone.net/~mwestern/stuff.html

Another amazing site: Keep those skills sharp with Digital Flash cards; crosswords; hangman; bug chase and more. Use the pre-made stuff or create your own. 
Study Stack: http://www.studystack.com/

Have a fun week!

How to Use the Tools that You Have....

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION MATRIX:


Got this from Richard Byrne's site Free Technology for Teachers. With all of us looking for ways to integrate and use technology in realistic ways, I thought this would be good for those of you who have a few minutes... or for you to save for the summer, when you have a bit of time.

EMED Program for Math Core Review

Apple recently pushed out an update , of some sort that affected our EMED server. It causes the podcasts to show a circle with a question mark or the podcast does not begin at all.
 The temporary fix for this is to use Safari Browser (an Apple product).You can download Safari, FREE, by going to Apple Downloads. Be sure to put in the email address, but click the box if you don't want them to send stuff.
Once you have Safari downloaded, open it and go to this link, EMED to show the podcasts in your classroom.
You can also type "EMED Math " into the search after you open Safari ~ and find the link that way.
Sorry for the inconvenience. Good Luck in your test reviews!

HMK Share

I figure most of us are beat. It's hard to even be pleasant on some days. We STILL have a month of school yet to go!
What do you do to "stay afloat"; to keep yourself positive; to survive????


Share it here:
http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/hmkshare

New Sites

So today during the “Write Yourself a Grant” meeting, I was having a side discussion with Theresa Wilson about some new stuff I was trying out and some new websites I had run across. Somebody  asked me for the site also. I keep forgetting to put these sites up. So here goes:
http://www.neok12.com/   - this is a site that has FREE educational videos, lessons, and games for K12 kids. Most of the videos are clips. There is virtually something for everyone here.
Khan Academy,  http://www.khanacademy.org/ ~ this is an amazing site. It is a 1 man (Sal Khan) show. This guy has done tons of instructional videos and exercises in lots of different subject areas. And they are all FREE.
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives: http://nlvm.usu.edu/ If you haven’t visited this site for activities in math from pre-K to grade 12, you have missed some wonderful resources. Great for the computer lab or using in class with your projector.

And lastly, for this week… Arcademic SkillBuilders: http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/  This is a great game site for learning math skills/facts; and Geography and Language Arts Skills.

If you happen to be looking for something in particular… let me know. I love trying to find stuff for teachers to use.

Have a great week!