s is that students actually have to think. Hmm....You can use any manner of formats with novels - chapter reviews, connections with settings when a real setting has been "fictionalized" to suit plot, character pages in which character post about themselves and their responses to the events in story, collaborative essays (a page =groups contribution). As for math, I think tutorial pages wold be great. For example, if students used powerpoint/keynote to explain how to solve a y= mx+b problem via balancing or doing/undoing, those presentations could be uploaded to slideshare and then embedded into pages along with text-based narration/explanation on teh page. better yet, have different groups do each element - 1 group performs the visual "tutorial" & uploads it while another is responsible for interpreting the it and conveying the information in text/bullet points of their own.
Take a peek at the work in progress that is my class/program wiki http://northalc.wikispaces.com
Good luck!
Schlegs…
cal thinking using technology. In particular, I like to use online discussion boards for in-depth inquiry. If you have a good discussion forum software (I use eCollege and Blackboard but you might try Ning or Wikispaces if you don't have these options) you can set up discussions that get very detailed. I use asynchronous discussions boards within a 1 week time frame. I set up several topic threads and give my students specific instructions on how to post their subtopics. All students are required to read the other threads and respond to at least 3 (or whatever is appropriate) others. I end up with dozens of threads that get in-depth on specific subtopics. The quality of participation is better than in real time because people think more before they write than before they talk. People are less intimidated to participate. My students say it is more useful than on-the-ground discussion.…
our widespread schools. Other Outlook features like shared calendars, and tasks seem to elude people's comprehension or push their comfort level. I find this difficult. Wikispaces are excellent planning tools for conferences and curriculum. We have not been using them.
I offered the suggestion to colleagues that bringing their laptops to staff meetings might be useful. A number started to do so. At our last meeting we were fragmented into groups to discuss issues related to student learning outcomes. Each group was to report with one recorder. I was tapping out comments to email to the principal at the end of the discussion and realized the exercise would have been a perfect moment for Google Wave. We had three groups with twenty voices. It all could have come together quickly.
Despite the Professional Learning Communities we have established in school and across grades, most collaboration remains pretty familiar: colleagues meeting for impromptu conferences at odd times sharing and problem solving.…
Added by Alan Stange at 7:15am on December 4, 2009
You can find a short video clip illustrating almost any principle on YouTube. Teachers have YouTube access at my school, but students don't, so I have to show them clips. They make good class openers.
My school also uses a wiki to post student work and organize online discussions. You can view ours here. I recently discovered that wikispaces has a Delicious (a bookmarking website) gadget that allows me to save and share helpful websites with my students.
Google Docs is another favorite of mine. I can upload PowerPoint presentations, share them on the wiki, and give class surveys and even quizzes.
I would recommend that you join Twitter (if you haven't already) and start following other science teachers. You will gather lots of helpful tips and information over time! My Twitter ID is @jrsowash.…
Added by John Sowash at 5:43am on February 17, 2010
top organize the week for my K-5 classes. I like Protopage because it has tabs so I can make a different tab for each class. Sometimes I let a lower grade use something on an upper grade's tab which makes them feel so accomplished. Teachers also have access to the startpage so they can add their own links, Todo items, etc.
Our school uses FalconNet for classroom websites. I wouldn't recommend them. They're difficult and not terribly flexible.
Let us know what you decide. I'm always looking for something better.…
pace today. Please email me at ms.kate.rbis@gmail.com at your earliest convenience with your school name and location so I can add it to the wiki. I will also create an email list. I am going to start entering our weather data tomorrow morning on the wiki, but please feel free to jump in starting next week if you need time to plan. Please not that we are one day ahead of those of you in the States here in Shanghai. Also, we will be out of school from January 31-February 4th for Chinese New Year.
The wiki url is http://globalweatherproject.wikispaces.com/
The second week of February our students will start focusing on the weather in different regions, perhaps then we can share pictures or video. Look forward to working with all of you!
Kate …
Added by Kate Benson at 6:08pm on January 16, 2011
lly blocked. We cannot access any social media sites while on the school network - Myspace, Facebook, Twitter - you name it, it's blocked. I can understand YouTube being blocked, but TeacherTube is as well which doesn't bode well when contest videos are uploaded there. We cannot access sites with streamed videos or music with the exception of Discovery Education and the Smithsonian. However, I am very grateful that wikispaces is still open for us because that's an awesome collaborative tool that we use with students and fellow colleagues. Several teachers on my campus have a wiki and I even created one for the teachers so that we have an online forum for discussion.
However, I found that the use of sites that are blocked by my district still attract students who will work on assignments at home - eBlogger and YouTube - which just goes to show you the motivation of students who are so closely tethered to the digital world. They don't sweat the firewall. …
meister, but there are others as well)
- Interactive Whiteboard (if you can't afford one, the Wiimote Whiteboard is only $55)
- Student wikis (I like wikispaces)
- Prezis for presentations
In terms of music software, I really like UJAM,but I've also used Audacity and Garageband.
Katy Scott
Stretch Your Digital Dollar
…
heir own ids.
I've also set up a del.icio.us account for the school and I think I would at least like to let the older kids create their own accounts.
Finally, I am going to try a class blog for math class.
First, I'd like to know how different teachers approach having the students create their own user names. I will be teaching 6th through 8th graders. I'm sure not all of them have email accounts which wikispaces and del.icio.us require.
Second, I've created a parental permission form to let the families know about my plan and I'd like to know if anyone does this and what has worked in that regard. I'm curious if some parents will choose to withhold permission for these web sites.
Thanks in advance.
Ann…
everal writers to collaborate on content. We use wikispaces where we can control who contributes to the space. Because of the nature of the technology, we have a space for every grade level in our school. The team of teachers are going to create a grade level web space and use it as a teacher web page. This use of wiki is nothing like wikipedia. We are using the wiki technology because it is easy to use and easy to change....making the class website a "living document" where all the members can contribute rather than a static website that needs special software or special training to change and update.
My principal loves having the class websites on wikis, because she is a member to each of them and can make changes and corrections to the policies pages. She is extremely sensitive to the fact that the teacher may make typos or have misspellings when they type in a big hurry. She feels better knowing that all she has to do is click "edit this page" and make a couple of corrections. We call that being a "wiki fairy".…