Ben, Sean and I are eagerly awaiting the next Google Workshop for Educators at the TIES Conference this Sunday, December 13th. (#gweties)
We are hoping to host another Google Workshop for Educators this Spring or Summer, so if you didn't get into the Workshop this time, fill out this form and you'll be the first to know of our next available workshop.
If you can't make it to the workshop, make sure to check out these great resources.
Tomorrow night I'll be presenting to Highlands Elementary Parent Teacher Association.
The goal of the meeting is to share the many ways that technology is being integrated into the classroom. My opener for the presentation will be to challenge the parents not to only ask
Teacher Highlight- Each month I am going to showcase a teacher's project and provide resources for you to do the project. Please send me any ideas or projects that you have been working on!
Links of the month are archived at the bottom of the page, but they are also added under Curriculum Resources in the appropriate category.
Search, learn, share!Brought to you by the producers of the Google Teacher Academy, the nationally acclaimedGoogle Workshop for Educators (GWE) introduces participants to innovative ways Google tools can be used in education. The one day workshop includes a full day of fast-paced presentations and hands-on activities including experience with advanced search techniques, collaborative web-based applications, and inspirational instructional strategies.Google Certified Teachers share ways they've implemented tools such as Google Docs, Google Earth, Google Sites, and... even more. Participants who complete the event are given access to the Google Workshops for Educators Network (GWEN), an online community focused on supporting educators as they learn more about the power of Google to drive student learning.
We are looking for creative participants (eager beginners to advanced) that have a desire to build on current skills and integrate relevant technology into the classroom. Participants should have a desire to collaborate online with other educators from the workshop and help support each other with questions and successes. Participants should bring their own ideas and be willing to look at big picture when pace is fast and dive into the relevant details during time set aside for application.
Quotes from GWE past participants…
“Thanks! By far the best and most beneficial technology workshop I've attended.” – Nicholas, ISD 138
“This was a great workshop. I want more.....” – Cathy, Edina Public Schools
“This was fabulous! I'm excited about putting this to use with the teachers and students in my district.” –Penny, Orono School District
“All educators should have the opportunity to attend a GWE.” – GWE Participant, Hopkins, MN August 2009
Describe the Google Workshop for Educators in 3 words...
Recently, I asked my amazing network of Google Certified Teachers a few questions about what it was like to be a Google Certified Teacher, how they would describe the Google Teacher's Academy, and what their hopes were for summer vacation. Using the website Wordle (and idea from my last post) the results are shown as an image.
Recently, I saw a YouTube post with a very interesting idea. The developers wanted their users to describe YouTube today in three words. Next, they wanted their users to describe, in three words, what they wanted YouTube to be in 5 years. The developers put both sets of words into a website called Wordle and they got a picture of what they should be working for in the next five years. Wordle takes any text and converts it into a picture, with the words that are used most appearing largest.
I took this same idea and brought it to Edina Public Schools. I made a Google Form and asked the employees three questions.
1. Describe Edina Public Schools in three words. 2. Describe your 2008-2009 school year in three words. 3. Describe your hopes for summer vacation in three words.
Here are a few pictures of how Edina employees (over 180 of them) answered those questions.
Describe Edina Public Schools in three words.
Describe your 2008-2009 school year in three words.
Describe your hopes for summer vacation in three words.
Another 3 Words activity...
ABC had a segment where they had people describe their week in 3 words...view it here!
Google Workshop for Educators Hopkins, MN Registration Open! August 6-7, 2009 Hopkins High School Register Here! Cost $250
Search, learn, share! Brought to you by the producers of the Google Teacher Academy, a Google Workshop for Educators (GWE) introduces participants to innovative ways Google tools can be used in education. The two-day workshop includes a full day of fast-paced presentations and hands-on activities including experience with advanced search techniques, collaborative web-based applications, and inspirational instructional strategies. A second day will be devoted to development of a proof-of-concept project and classroom application. Google Certified Teachers share ways they've implemented tools such as Google Docs, Google Earth, Google Sites, and... even more. Participants who complete the event are given access to the Google Workshops for Educators Network (GWEN), an online community focused on supporting educators as they learn more about the power of Google to drive student learning.
We are looking for creative participants (eager beginners to advanced) that have a desire to build on current skills and integrate relevant technology into the classroom. Participants should have a desire to collaborate online with other educators from the workshop and help support each other with questions and successes. Participants should bring their own ideas and be willing to look at big picture when pace is fast and dive into the relevant details during time set aside
I recently attended the CUE conference out in Palm Springs, CA. It was a great time to connect with some of the people that are in my Personal Learning Network and to connect with some new faces in Educational Technology. Here are a few highlights from the conference.
Great new Websites or Tools:
searchlearnshare.com This site allows you to search Google web, news, video, images, blogs, video and books all with the click of one button!
cooliris.com - a cool way to share you flickr favorites
Dropbox - getdropbox.com get 2G of space to share and upload files: syncs instantly
Multicolor search Lab with flickr: This site is amazing...you choose a color you like and it searches flickr for all the pictures with that color...give it a shot, it's beautiful!
Visuacy.com It's important to recognize the ways in which visual images affect us and our children. Twitter Me This: An Introduction to Social Microblogging in Education*
Session Summaries, Notes and Ideas Brain Pop I attended a session on Brain Pop and learned that there are so many different resources and activities on that site on top of the great tutorial movies they share. When you are on the Brain Pop site, make sure to visit the bottom links to all the great resources available to the teacher. You could spend a whole week on just one of the movies!
Brain Pop has also recently launched a Brain Pop for Educators Site...make sure to check it out!
Best of iTunes University Did you know there are thousands of lectures, podcasts and videos available for free on iTunes University. Kids spend up to 72 hours a week using digital media and this is a way that educators can enter their world. You can download all of these resources for free. This is something I'm wanting to explore more!
What is new with SMART technologies? I went to a few sessions and hands on experiences that were sharing the newest projects that SMART technologies is releasing. The first was the SMART Notebook Student Edition. The Student Edition comes fully loaded on a SMART USB braclet for each student. The student is given the Notebook Software to create lessons or save lessons from their teacher. Students have a "binder" type application on the SMART Notebook Student Edition braclet that they can keep the files and lessons that their teacher has created for them on their braclet. I think this is really exciting because it allows the teacher to think differently about creating a SMART lesson. How would you create a lesson differently knowing that each student will complete each of the pages that you create?I also had the chance to interact with the new SMART table. The SMART website says... The SMART Table is the first multitouch, multiuser interactive learning center that allows groups of primary students to work simultaneously on its surface. The table's interface is so intuitive that even the youngest of students can get started without instructions.
The table sells for $8,000 so I'm not sure how many schools will be able to afford, but it does seem like a great new technology that will be available to our students!
Of Course I learned about Google!
Google News allows you to make a specialized search for News items of YOUR interest
You can use Google News to teach bias in media by looking at one specific news story and checking out all the different News Paper Headlines to see where bias shows up!
Organize your iGoogle page into three tabs...Today. Maybe. Never. This will allow you to focus on the things you always want to look at and the things that you'll check up on when you have a few moments...not sure what you'd put on your Never page!
Google Translate will translate into many different languages, you can even paste a URL into Google Translate and it will translate the entire blog or web page into the language of your choice...doing a survey on survey monkey, past the URL into Google Translate and your survey is in another language! Include a link on your blog that says, "Read my Blog in Spanish"
You can create a custom search engine for a project you are working on that only searches the websites you designate!
iPhone I recenly purchased an iPhone so I selfishly wanted to attend this session to see how to use the iphone as a teaching tool. I was blown away by the amazing apps and ways that you can use the iphone or itouch in education. Here is a link to Lainie's presentation and resources. A few iphone tips...
help.apple.com/iphone
hold the hold button and the power button on the top to take a screen shot of your iPhone
click the status bar to automatically go to the top
in Safari or email...hold your finger on a picture for long enough and the iPhone will prompt you to save the picture
hold down the a key and special symbols will come up to choose what you want
on the web when typing in an address hold down on the .com to change it to dot org, net, edu
MAPS feature...go to your computer and get the directions on google maps and then send the address to your email and this will send you an email that will automatically open google maps on your phone populated with the addresses and directions
Favorite Apps from the Audience
iTap- $4.99 acts as a wireless mouse for your mac computer
List of US presidents with brief bios
Constitution
Pocket grade: find an easy percentage for an amount wrong
Operina: turn your iphone into a musical instrument ocarina
Bloom: music app generative music
Stage Hand: controls your keynote presentations with a pointer
bucksme: find the nearest starbucks $.99
midomi: hum the song and it will tell you what song you are singing
crayons physics: physics puzzles and all you have is gravity
stanza: free books to read on your iPhone
kindle for the iPhone: downloads the first chapter for free and then you can buy the books
Pandora: online radio streaming that is smart and will find music that matches that band
Public Radio
Snaptell: take a picture of a book title and it will find the book for you
Google Mobile Apps
RJDG album: takes all the sound around you and makes it into music
Just for Fun
Coolirius App: 3d wall for finding and viewing content, email content found, search visually
TV.com browse feature shows by show or channel, full episodes of shows, add keywords for you own feed
Whiteboard: paint like graffiti like interface, two devices can draw on the same canvas simultaneously
Translator: $.99 widescreen typing
iBowl: swing your iPhone like a bowling ball, try iGolf, basketball and baseball
Trace: drawing game with 6 unique worlds, and 120 levels, sounddtack
SMS texting: polleverywhere.com
chacha people respond via text
Lainie also ended her presentation showing this advertisment for Kaplan University that really captures where we want Technology and Education to open up the world for students!
Keynote Speaker: Robert Marzano Robert Marzano was there to speak about the research he has done surrounding interactive whiteboards and their influence on learning. His study focused on Promethean Activeboards but the learnings could apply with any companies technology. Here is an interview by Chris Walsh with Marzano on CUE LIVE!
Here are a few key points:
The long a teacher has an interactive white board, the achievement gains increase
The use of the interactive white board should be no greater than 75% of the day, if you go over the achievement gains drop significantly
The Sweet Spot: An experienced teachers, who has been using the technology for 2 years, who uses it about 75% of the time will have greatest student achievement.
The more confidence the teacher has in their skills using the whiteboard, the better the improvement gains for the students
Students need to keep track of their own learning over time to improve achievement gains
Proper use of the technology focuses on the content and not the bells and whistles
The next great breakthrough will be the clickers and how they interact with the white boards and tracking student achievement
Grab an Activity Pack PBS Teachers® recently introduced PBS Teachers Activity Packs, a growing library of Web-based widgets that contain links to PBS education resources and activities focused on a specific curricular theme for multiple grade levels. Presently more than 30 Activity Packs are available, free of charge, for educators to “grab” for classroom use or to post on their classroom and school Web sites or favorite social networking sites. Activity Pack themes cover a wide range of subject areas, including reading/language art, science, social studies, health and art. Some currently available themes are Arts Everywhere; China; Forensic Science; Great American Authors; Healthy Choices; Money in America; Mysteries of the Universe; Unsung Heroes in African American History; Technology & Ethics; and Volunteerism.
Just Announced! Google is running their Doodle for Google Contest again this year. This is a great opportunity for students to create their own Google illustration to replace the Google logo for one day. Watch this amazing video to see what the contest is all about!
The theme for the contest is What I Wish for the World... The contest runs until March 17th so make sure to get your kids doodling! Register for the contest here!
Here are a few examples of Doodles for Google from the Google Illustrator.
Here is a great video from the Google employee who does the doodles!
Google is so much more than just searching for words! Did you know you can find flight information, track your UPS package, use Google as a dictionary, calculator and currency converter? You can use Google to find the time of anywhere in the world, to find an answer to a fill in the blank question, or to find movies in your zip code. Watch this video on helpful Google Search Tips to find out how!
Google Reader is a great tool to use to keep track of the blogs or news feeds that you like to keep track of. Watch these two Google Reader How To Videos to set up your Google Reader.
Winter Break is one of the better reasons to be in education! I spent a week in Santa Barbara CA with 14 members of my family for Christmas and then spent the week of New Year's at my hometown in Aspen, Colorado. It was a great break of walking the beach and skiing in the powder.
If the news didn't spread to your neck of the woods Aspen was shut down for New Year's Eve due to two bomb threats in town. Unfortunately, all the local businesses, bars and restaurants lost out on their biggest night of the year. Here are some Aspen Times articles ( #1 and #2) that will tell you more.
Happy December!
Brain Pop has also recently launched a Brain Pop for Educators Site...make sure to check it out!
I also had the chance to interact with the new SMART table.
The table sells for $8,000 so I'm not sure how many schools will be able to afford, but it does seem like a great new technology that will be available to our students!
2008 Winner of Doodle for Google
beach and skiing in the powder.
