The Elementary Teachers' Community RSS feed

Rivers and Wildlife Celebration - Carol Smith

Carol Smith — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT

The Wild Experience Room will provide free, hands-on, family-friendly activities on Saturday, March 20, as part of the 2010 Rivers and Wildlife Celebration at the Holiday Inn in Kearney, Nebraska.

The Wild Experience Room, organized by the Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership, will be open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. "Live critter demonstrations" will include Birds of Prey, from Raptor Recovery Nebraska, at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., and Nebraska Snakes, with Dan Fogel, at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Activities will include making bird feeders, folding paper cranes, making bird band bracelets, looking for compost creatures, and more. wild experience room flyer no tabs.pdf

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Opportunities to see sandhill cranes - Carol Smith

Carol Smith — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT

C.S.I.

(Crane Scene Investigations)

The largest gathering of sandhill cranes in the world happens right here in Nebraska! You and your students are invited to become Crane Scene Investigators and learn about these unique birds.

C.S.I. is approximately 2 hours long and is designed with your students in mind and only available from the first of March through the first of April. Dates and times fill fast, so make your reservations early!

Crane Cam

Crane Central

For downloadable educational videos, be sure to check out CRANE CENTRAL on the CRANE CAM hosted by ESU 10. Go to www.rowesanctuary.org The DVD is also available in our Nature Store.

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Basic Clickers Workshop ~ March 24, 2010 - Carol Smith

Carol Smith — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Basic Clickers Workshop ~ March 24, 2010 ~ 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. ~ ESU 10 ~ Kearney

One of the hottest items in instructional technology is the use of “clickers” or audience response systems. Students use remotes to answer questions before, during, and after a lesson thereby allowing teachers to get instant feedback about student understanding. Dustin Frank will lead a workshop for eInstruction clickers using the Classroom Performance System (CPS). If you are using eInstruction clickers or want to learn more about what they can do, this workshop is for you! To register go to: https://odie.esu10.org/

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Crane Season Information - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Have you made reservations for your class to come see and learn about an event that happens nowhere else in the world except here in central Nebraska? I’m talking about the gathering of over 500,000 sandhill cranes. People from around the globe come to see this phenomenon and your class should not miss out.

C.S.I. (Crane Scene Investigation) program is approximately two hours long and is designed with your students in mind. It is only available from the first of March through the first of April when the cranes are here on the Platte River. Dates and times are filling fast, so make your reservations soon! Cost is $3.00 per student

Crane Cam will go live the weekend of March 6th and is again being hosted by ESU 10. THANKS ESU 10!

For downloadable educational videos about sandhill cranes, be sure to check out CRANE CENTRAL on our website. Go to www.rowesanctuary.org The DVD is also available in our Nature Store.

NEW THIS YEAR!

Are you looking for a book with just enough good facts and trivia to spark in the novice crane-watcher an appreciation of these fascinating birds and at the same time a book that gives those long time watchers more insight into the behaviors they were seeing? Well, we have the book for you. It is called The Private Lives of Sandhill Cranes. This easy-to-read resource is full of wonderful illustrations and maps and is on sale here at Rowe for $10.00.

For more information, just give me a call. I look forward to working with you and your class.

Keanna Leonard
Education Director
Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary
44450 Elm Island Rd
Gibbon, NE 68840
308-468-5282
___________________________________________________________________________

Make your reservations today for CRANE SEASON!!!

For a Naturally Good Time come to First Sundays @ Rowe!

Know Rowe? Learn more at www.rowesanctuary.org or on Facebook.

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Pony Express Celebrates 150 Years - Carol Smith

Carol Smith — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:00:00 GMT

The Kearney Archway and Fort Kearny are offering some new special programming and pricing for the 150^th anniversary of the Pony Express. A field trip to the Archway and Fort Kearny would be a great way to celebrate this important historic event this spring! The new sod house location on the prairie will be a great setting for the Archway’s program, and the Archway and historic Fort Kearny both welcome schools with sack lunches!

Attached are flyers for their events.

Archway Pony Express program.pdf
Pony Express at Ft Kearny (2).pdf

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2010 Olympic Games Project - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:00:00 GMT

This looks like a REALLY fun project to do with your students! If you have wanted to try blogging with students or some other collaborative, global projects, this is the one for you! Check out this project web site! Even if you only want to try a portion of this, I think it would be worth your time. This is for students from k-7th grade and it was started by a 2nd grade teacher! Check it out and let me know if you want help!

http://sites.google.com/site/misschatz/home

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Nebraska Outdoor School Day Expo - Carol Smith

Carol Smith — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Nebraska Game and Parks invite all fourth, fifth and sixth grade students to their 4th Annual Outdoor School Day Expo on either Thursday, May 13 or Friday, May 14 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The event will be held at Fort Kearney State Recreation Area and is a free educational event. Over 40 diverse hands-on activities and demonstrations that correlate with Nebraska State Standards in the areas of science, math, history, reading and writing are offered.

Registration begins January 20, 2010. Attached is the Teacher's Guide and Registration Instructions.

Teachers Guide Packet 2010.pdf

Registration Instructions - Fort kearny.doc

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Web Sites for you! - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Here are a few web sites that I thought you would like.

Good general lesson plan sites - http://tr.im/KjRO
Science Fair site - http://www.sciencebob.com/sciencefair/index.php
You Tube URL Tricks - http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-youtube-url-tricks-you-should-know-about/
ReTool Yourself (professional development ideas) - http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/25886
100 Web Tools for Collaboration - http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/26378

This last link is a video from a student demonstrating how her 7th grade science class is being run. This looked like a very engaging science class!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEls3tq5wIY&feature=youtu.be&a

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Classroom Instruction That Works Webinars - Carol Smith

Carol Smith — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:28:55 GMT

In this series we are featuring nine webinars on Marzano's instructional strategies. Each webinar will focus on the how to use specific instructional strategies in your classroom as well as technology tips and tricks to integrate along the way!

Each webinar is a one-hour session from 4-5PM. A day or so before the webinar, you will receive an email with instructions and the website for the webinar.

There is no driving or weather worries, all you need is a computer! Choose just one webinar to attend or choose them all! These are great refreshers if you attended Classroom Instruction That Works this last summer! Even if you don't know anything about these instructional strategies, please join us and find out all the easy ways of engaging and reaching your students.

Summarizing and Note Taking - January 19, 2010
Reinforcing Effort/Receiving Feedback - February 2, 2010
Homework and Practice - February 16, 2010
Non-Linguistic Representation - March 2, 2010
Cooperative Learning - March 23, 2010
Setting Objectives/Providing Feedback - April 6, 2010
Generating and Testing Hypothesis - April 20, 2010
Ques, Questions, and Advanced Organizers - May 4, 2010

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Winter/Holiday Activities - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Recently, I came across these winter/holiday activities and thought i would share them with you. Let me know what you think of these!

What are some of the winter or holiday activities you do with your students this time of year?

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Great Example of Tech Integration and Self-Directed Learning - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Check out this article! http://www.techlearning.com/blogs/25762 This article models some great tech integration and even a little inspirational! There are some web sites in it that I am planning to check out as well.

How can you do this with your students? What do you need to make this kind of engaged, 24/7, self-directed learning happen at your school? in your classroom? Who will help you accomplish this? Share your thoughts here in a comment!

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First Sunday's at Rowe Sanctuary! - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Looking for something other than shopping this Sunday? Come on out and join us for our December First Sunday @ Rowe starting at 1:30 p.m. http://rowesanctuary.org/first%20sundays.htm

With native grasses and fallen leaves rustling in the breeze and the symphony from flocks of birds streaming south, late fall is a great time to explore Rowe Sanctuary. This month’s program will take advantage of this natural music by offering a workshop called ‘The Music of Nature - The Nature of Music’ presented by former UNK professor of music Annabell Zikmund, and Rowe Volunteers Susan Elmore and Jackie Flohr.

Other activities include nature hikes and marshmallow roasting on an open campfire!

For more information:
Keanna Leonard, Education Director
Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary
44450 Elm Island Rd
Gibbon, NE 68840
308-468-5282

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Burwell 6th grade - eInstruction Makeover 2009 finalist - Ron Cone

Ron Cone — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:10:51 GMT

Congratulations to Joy Schott, sixth grade teacher at Burwell Public Schools, and her class for making the finals in the eInstruction Makeover 2009 contest, 6-8 grade division.

You can watch and VOTE for their video "It’s All Technology" and help their chances to win a $30,000 classroom makeover. You must sign up to vote, but it's easy painless.

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ESU 10 Now Has GPS Units! - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT

ESU 10 has purchased 15 Garmin eTrex Legend GPS units for teachers to checkout and use with their classroom! They can be checked out through ODIE!

More can be found in the description on the Media Library:
https://odie.esu10.org/library/MediaItemDetails.aspx?MediaItemID=54607

Also at: http://blog.esu10.org/gps Here you can find out more about the Global Positioning System devices as well as how-to's and instructional materials to go with the GPS's.

Let us know what you think! How will YOU use the GPS Devices with your students? Are you already doing a GPS project that you would like to share? Share this and other instructional materials here on this community!!!

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Math Dictionary - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:00:00 GMT

This interactive Math Dictionary for Kids looks like it is designed for all ages. Check it out and see what you think! Leave your comment on this web site, below! http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/

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Math Taught Across the Curriculum in Oregon! - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Just found this Edutopia video and I thought you might find it interesting. This is in an elementary school in Oregon.
http://www.edutopia.org/math-coaching-integrated-curriculum-video

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Wordpress Updates - Jason Everett

Jason Everett — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:00:00 GMT

WordPress Site for updates and information
Check out this website for current announcements, news, account requests, feature requests, training resources, and workshop information. Wordpress @ ESU 10 Blog Site

Mobile Support in WordPress @ ESU 10
Districts purchasing and supporting mobile computing now have the option of making their Wordpress site mobile accessible. Great for providing content to these mobile devices without having to sync them on an continual basis. Read more...

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The Great Park Pursuit - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Fri, 08 May 2009 05:00:00 GMT

This would be a great adventure for families as well as classrooms! Check out http://www.negpp.org/! there is a challenge there to visit all of the 15 listed Nebraska state parks! If you want to participate, you must register there on the web site.

This might be a great summer project to continue to engage students in Nebraska Geography! Have your own Great Park Pursuit! Challenge your next group of students (any age would love this) to get to as many of Nebraska's parks this summer as they can. Once they get there, have them take a picture of the park sign and two more pictures from inside the park. They must then email those pictures to you, the teacher. You can create a map in Google Earth and mark their travels using the pictures they took! This would also make a great competition between class sections or maybe between conference schools! (They could even use their cell phones and send those pictures if your cell plan will handle that!)

Most importantly, encourage your students to get out and enjoy Nebraska's state parks!

http://www.negpp.org/

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Thinking "awards" this time of year? - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:00:00 GMT

I know many of you are thinking about awards for students this time of year. Here is a site with MANY different types of awards you can download and print for your students! Don't forget, that is one of Marzano's strategies!
http://www.myawardmaker.com/templates/education.html

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Math 6 Website - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMT

This is a fun web site for 6th grade math! http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/mesg/html/math6web/math6shell.html

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Project WILD - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Opportunity that I received via email that I thought you would like to hear about.

______________________________________________________________________

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will sponsor a Project WILD workshop
in Loup City on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. Please
view the attached flier for more details.

The workshop will include a visit to Bowman Lake for some hands-on, aquatic activities.

Please forward this announcement to anyone who you think might be
interested in the workshop and would benefit from the training.

Call or email Michelle Koch (402-471-5363 or michelle.koch@nebraska.gov) if you have questions or would like to register.

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Super Action Comic Maker - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMT

This looks like a very fun comic maker! What a great way to have students review! This might be most appropriate for 3rd grade and up! Please leave a comment! Let us know what you think!

Super Action Comic Maker

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Super Action Comic Maker - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Doodle for Google - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Here is a contest for you! Have your students "doodle" the Google logo in a contest!
http://www.google.com/doodle4google/

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What's Happening this Spring at Rowe Sanctuary? - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Rowe Sanctuary
Iain Nicolson Audubon Center
44450 Elm Island Road
Gibbon, NE 68840
Tel: 308-468-5282
www.rowesanctuary.org
www.audubon.org

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM OFFERINGS
C.S.I. (Crane Scene Investigations) (Approximately 2 hour program)
The largest gathering of sandhill cranes in the world happens right
here in Nebraska! You and your students are invited to become Crane
Scene Investigators and learn about these unique birds. We then take a
hike to a viewing blind. C.S.I. is designed with your students in mind
and only available from the first of March through the first of April.
Dates and times fill fast, so make your reservations early!

For downloadable educational videos, activities and lesson plans about
sandhill cranes, be sure to check out KIDS & CRANES on the CRANE
CAM sponsored by National Geographic and Rowe Sanctuary. Go to
www.rowesanctuary.org and click on CRANE CAM. The DVD is also available
in our Nature Store.

Earth Connections
Join award-winning artist and educator Caryl McHarney as she guides you
and your students through her hands-on approach to nature. No batteries
are required and no previous experience in drawing or journaling is
needed!

Caryl will be available March 23 through 27. Please call the education office for details.

OTHER PROGRAMS
Nebraska’s Waters & Wildlife
Let us design a program to meet the needs of your students. A variety
of outdoor activities and projects centered around the Platte River,
associated land and wildlife are available and have been correlated to
the state standards. Activities can include art, language arts, science
and social studies. This program is available throughout the year
except during March (See Crane JepBirdie). Program length is variable
and determined by you.

SPLASH (Senses Providing Language Arts Skills Help)
The focus of this program is to develop writing skills in a natural
way. We begin the day sharpening observations skills, and then turn our
attention to outdoor activities that include creative writing,
vocabulary building and word choice, and emphasis on figurative
language, similes, metaphors, personification and alliteration.
Activities include a river dig, hikes, and just getting dirty! Call for
more information.

PLEASE NOTE - Program Costs
Program cost is $3.00 per student for the first two hours and $1.00 per student for each additional hour.
For more information, please contact Keanna Leonard at 308-468-5282 or by email at kleonard@audubon.org

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365 Photos! - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMT

This looks like a great project and would be fun to do with your students. The idea is to take a photo each day! You could gear this toward a certain type of curriculum or theme if you wanted! The kids would get into the routine of this and you would be pulling out that camera more often! For more on this project go to:
http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/

Also see The 10 Most Stunning Photo Blogs - http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-10-most-stunning-photo-blogs/

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Google Art! - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Check it out! Make holiday art using spreadsheets in Google! http://www.google.com/google-d-s/holiday08.html

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Class2Home - Jason Everett

Jason Everett — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:22:49 GMT

Fablevision's Stationery Studio is an extremely popular writing, handwriting, and word-processing program geared for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. It’s also popular among middle school students and grown ups too, using the program for letters, signs, cards, and writing projects.

Some schools may opt to mark up the price to help with PTO fundraising, or to subsidize the program for low-income families (i.e. free and reduced lunch program students) while others are free to resell at the same low price. Most schools participating in this or similar programs utilize a revolving account of some type in keeping with the financial requirements of the school district.

How it Works:

If you’re interested in participating in Class2Home, please contact Carol Donahue, Director of Learning Solutions by email (carol@fablevision.com) or call 781.742.0306.
We will ship out in increments of 10, and require payment (purchase order or credit card) prior to shipping. The school is responsible for shipping charges.
The standard retail price of Stationery Studio (single license) is $69.95. The Class2Home version will be available for $10 each (set of 10 for $100.) plus shipping and includes the CD-ROM only. No book or box is included.
When promoting this program to your school community, it’s imperative that students and families understand the Stationery Studio Class2Home version is absolutely for home use only.
Schools are required to provide the name and address (and email if available) of each student family that purchases Stationery Studio for future software upgrades and upcoming downloadable templates. We also need to know if the student has access to a PC or MAC at home.
Please Note: This offer can be withdrawn or changed at FableVision’s discretion.

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Grammar Comics - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Just heard about this site and thought some of you would like it. GrammarMan Comics! http://grammarmancomic.com

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Google LIFE Photos - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Google is hosting photos from LIFE! Search millions of photos from LIFE's archives from as early as the 1750s. Go to http://images.google.com/hosted/life or add "source:life" to any image search on Google.

Let us know what you think!

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Global Connections - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Last summer at NECC in San Antonio, TX, we listened to the keynote on the second day and were inspired to go beyond what we were already doing in education. The keynote was a pair of teachers from Canada who were not necessarily comfortable with technology but they were burning out in their classrooms. They learned about Skype and about iEarn and were refreshed! Their classroom activities were renewed as was their spirit!

What they were talking about is the latest buzz word in education, global connections. Teachers are connecting with other classrooms around the world! The tool of choice seems to be Skype. Skype is a free download. With this program you can instant message but you can also make audio and video calls to another computer for FREE! You can also make audio calls to landlines and cellphones for a small fee. Skype is also a tool that you can use on any platform; Mac, PC, or Linux.

How do you find schools to share such a connection? One of the most important issues is having a purpose in your connection. You want to make sure this is a learning experience for students. Using iEarn, schools can find projects to participate in or post their own project. The projects come in all shapes and sizes. There are projects from the US and some from Pakistan.

What equipment will you need? You will need a computer with an Internet connection. You will also need speakers and a microphone. If you are going to do a video conference, you will need to have a camera. Many of the Mac's come with built-in cameras which work very well. Web cams are not very expensive and can be picked up at your local Wal-Mart, Target, or KMart. Keep in mind, you get what you pay for in a web cam. If you have a regular video camera, you can plug that in and use it as a web cam! That adds the zoom and pan actions into your video conference.

This is really an exciting tool for education. Even here at the ESU, we are using Skype to answer teacher questions and other tools such as Adobe Connect Pro to do workshops and trouble shoot technical issues. Go home today and try these ideas for yourself! Some of you may be able to try this right away with kids but many of us need to try it for ourselves first. It is a great tool to visit those grandkids or children. Use Skype to find a college friend and visit with them. See what YOU think...

Here is a link to the presentation I did yesterday for the Library/Media Specialists group on global connections! It contains more links to other sites such as iEarn! http://tinyurl.com/globetips

3 Comments

Become a Discovery Educator! - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMT

I go to conferences and see DEN on name tags and bags. That is what inspired today’s blog. I wanted to find out more about the Discovery Educators Network and how it works.

We all know that Discovery Channel is a great resource. What you might not know is that you can become a member of Discovery Channel to get more from this fabulous resource? So, today I went on and signed up. I am not a STAR Educator yet but I have made the first step.

To get into being a Discovery Educator, go to DEN web site and follow these instructions. Check out the benefits of being a Discovery Educator! Once you are signed up you have hundreds of great resources, lessons, discussions, and more at the tips of your fingers. If you are still hungry for additional resources, become a STAR Educator! Follow the instructions there and apply online! They will ask you to answer three questions and submit a digital version of a lesson you have done. Seems pretty simple! With STAR status, you will receive even more benefits.

Join me in the DEN!

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Math Web Site! - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Thought this looked like a nice math web site for elementary! See what you think and let us know in a comment! http://www.brainormous.com/index.html

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Inspirational Quotes for the Beginning of 2nd Quarter - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMT

A Couple of quotes have caught my eye lately so I thought I would share those with you.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -Nelson Mandella
"You must be the change you want to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi

Here are a few more for you to check out on Darren Draper's blog (as a side note, he is a great person to follow on Twitter):http://drapestakes.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-turn-inpirational-quotes.html

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Closing Activity - Jason Everett

Jason Everett — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Our secretary, Connie, was kind enough to type your responses on our closing activity for our meeting. You may find them interesting to read through.

While participating intoday’s activities, I felt…

· like there were lots of things to use in theclassroom.

· very interested in learning more.

· like our school is on track.

· encouraged that a community is being built forelementary teachers.

· excited to think of new ways to apply new thingsfor our students.

· inspired.

· engaged.

· overwhelmed!

· frustrated at times.

Something I can change inmy classroom to make a difference is…

· to use more resources on the internet.

· to give kids the “keys” and let them “drive” ourinstruction!

· to use of wacom w/projector if I don’t have aSmartboard.

· to try something new each week.

· to try one new tech and add gradually.

· to give students more opportunities to learnwith technology.

· to experiment more.

· to try clickers.

· to try Flat Stanley.

· to try virtual classrooms.

· not to be afraid or intimidated by technology.

Something that reallypleased me today was…

· that there’s a timer on the Smartboard!

· new ideas!

· that I can do tech and it’s fun.

· being able to share uses with other teachers.

· Google Docs.

· being able to use my laptop instead of watching.

· the ideas I can take right home with me.

· that blogging isn’t as “unsafe” as I’ve beenthinking.

· finding new ways to use technology.

· all the new info—especially animation-ish.

· animation.

· learning about new sites and new people.

· that things were short, sweet and to the point!

· that this workshop was useful and a good time.

· useful tools for the classroom.

· how a regular classroom teacher can use tech inthe classroom.

· a great sense of community (no pun intended).

· that this is an area that I want to pursue as acareer.

· lunch.

Something that bugged metoday was…

· how slow the internet was and sometimes itdidn’t work.

· just as I was catching on—we’d have to move to anew site.

· roadblocks at our school.

· the funding we need for support.

· that I wish I had more time to implementeverything.

· our school needs an elementary tech person as a“resource” and we don’t have one.

· there’s so much information!

· changes in PowerPoint.

· Manila is on its way out.

· not being able to move around much. We need “jumpin jack” breaks orsomething to get the blood flowing.

· so much sitting. No way around that—not a complaint!

· road construction on the trip here!

Today I learned…

· how great Skype is!

· about the availability of Flat Stanley project.

· about animation-ish.

· About spellcity.com

· That there is SO much out there to use with ourstudents—Spell City.

· I love tech! (But I guess I already knew that.)

· that I need to “beef up” on the technology.

· great tech tips. I just need to get going.

· a variety of new, fun and helpful websites touse in the classroom.

· there are many tech sites and tools to use inteaching today’s children.

· a lot of useful info to apply in my classroom.

1 Comments

Top 5 Spelling Resources - Jason Everett

Jason Everett — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Here is a blog post from Tom Barrett that I thought you would like. Good sites here!

http://tbarrett.edublogs.org/2008/10/03/top-5-spelling-resources/

0 Comments

Monarch butterfly webcasts - Jason Everett

Jason Everett — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMT

If you love butterflies, or are using them as a teaching tool, check this out!

http://monarch.pwnet.org/

Keanna Leonard
Education Director
Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary
44450 Elm Island Rd
Gibbon, NE 68840
308-468-5282

0 Comments

Animation-ish - Jason Everett

Jason Everett — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:31:51 GMT

I wanted to followup with you all on Animation-ish and share an email I just received this morning from Bill Norris:

One of our ambassadors, Kevin McGroary from Saugus, CA, sent the following about how his class is using Animation-ish......Please take a look!

“The program is working very well on our classroom PC. Students are giving up lunch and recess to work through the Bamboo drawing tablet and Animation-ish tutorials, so they can begin creating animations (says a lot when your rough an tumble boys and girls eagerly give up free time to work on computer projects instead of playing with their buds on the playground).”

“Several students and parents have indicated interest in purchasing programs for use at home.”

“This is the link to my students' wiki page dedicated to their Animation-ish projects: http://navigation.pbwiki.com/Animation-ish Right now we are studying Keith Haring's art in preparation for a local Street Art Festival that we will participate in this Saturday and Sunday. We are recreating his piece "Monkey Puzzle" using chalk. That's why many vids are based on his work.”

2 Comments

Wordle - Jason Everett

Jason Everett — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMT

One of the tables talked about Wordle.net yesterday and I just wanted to post a "wordle" of our community. This includes all of the words from our Elementary 2.0 Community up to this point.

3 Comments

On Your Mark; Get Set; Go! - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Welcome to the new Elementary 2.0 Community! I would love it if you would add a comment to this article to get us started here. In your comment, please include your favorite technology tool and a link if you can. Thanks for contributing!

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Colonial Williamsburg - Nancy Jeffres

Nancy Jeffres — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMT

I like to use the following site when we are studying colonial times. We choose an occupation from colonial times, research it, then make a sign to hang outside our shop. This site is user friendly and helpful.

http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/trades/tradehdr.cfm

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21st Century & You! - Deanna Stall

Deanna Stall — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:02:07 GMT

What do 21st Century Students look like?

You have seen them walking down the street in any town, big or small, with pockets full of gadgets and talking on their cell phones. All that technology that we adults can't even identify. These are the 21st Century students. These are the next generation of earners, families, and voters in the United States. As I was reading the article Syncing Up With the iKid: Connecting to the Twenty-First-Century Student by Josh McHugh in Edutopia, I was thinking about when I was a kid and boom-boxes were a hot item. Everyone had one and they were all shapes and sizes. But it was a little embarrassing on those Saturday nights when my parents would bring out the record albums to torture us with this outdated technology, not to mention the polka music they were playing. Thankfully, the Walkman came along and I could listen to what I wanted, when I wanted. That meant, no more polkas for me! It also meant that I missed out on the family time together and the opportunity to let my parents know that I didn't like their music. In reminiscing, I realized that is probably what today's kids think of the adults in their lives. They want the latest and greatest technology for reason's they aren't sure about; they want it personalized; of course, they want to be able to tell you that you are old and out of touch with the world; and they still want to be accepted and part of the family.

A group called Partnership for 21st Century Skills developed a vision of 21st century student success. Nine states have taken part in this initiative. Nebraska's Department of Education has been in talks about it as well. The skills, knowledge, and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life are outlined on their site.

Core Subjects & 21st Century Themes - The core subjects they have included are English, reading or language arts, world languages, arts, math, economics, science, geography, history government and civics. They also include that interdisciplinary themes of global awareness; financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy; civic literacy; and health literacy.
Learning and Innovation Skills - These skills include creativity & innovation; critical thinking and problem solving; and communication and collaboration.
Information, Media and Technology Skills - Because of an abundant amount of information the skills students will need are information literacy, media literacy, and ICT literacy (Information, Communication and Technology)
Life and Career Skills - Employers will be looking for these skills in any area and in all their employees. They are looking for flexibility & adaptability; initiative & self-direction; social & cross-cultural skills; productivity & accountability; leadership & responsibility.

In order for us to get students to succeed with these skills, four things must be in place. First, standards and assessments are critical; that's not a problem in Nebraska. Second, curriculum and instruction should support these 21st century skills. Third, teachers need to be provided adequate professional development in these areas. And lastly, where students learn affects what they learn so learning environments which support 21st century skills is the final critical piece of the puzzle. Statistics say that students of today will have fourteen different jobs by the time they are 38 years old. It is vital that our students have these skills in place before they leave our schools. Did You Know 2.0 and A Vision of Students Today are great video representations of many statistics like these.

What do 21st Century Teachers look like?

Why upgrade to color televisions if the black and white worked just fine? Why get a cassette tape player when your eight-track player did the job? Well, ok, the eight-track may be a bad example. I bet you can come up with a few of your own examples. The world has upgraded in every way, shape, and form. 21st Century Teachers are going to look different as well. We must upgrade to provide a quality education for our students.

International Society of Technology Education (ISTE) created standards for educational technology for students and teachers. In June of 2007, ISTE unveiled the NETS-National Educational Technology Standards for Students. This last June, ISTE released the NETS for Teachers. In June of 2009, ISTE will complete the NETS for Admininstrators. You are probably thinking, "More standards? I'm going to scream!" Before you do that, let's think about what these standards are really asking us as teachers to do for our students. Here are some explanations and ideas you can try in your classroom to promote 21st century learning in your students.

Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity - Many of you already do this every day with kids. The word facilitate is really a tough one to truly put into action. How do we let go of the reigns in our classroom and still control the behavior, student interaction, and learning while they are there? My kids always want to be responsible for the big stuff like mowing the yard instead of just doing the dishes. The same applies to students in the classroom. If you want kids to do something, they need to know it is important enough and that you trust them enough to be in charge of it. Allow students to be in charge of their own learning! Give them guidance so they know how to do the research and let them find all the resources they can. Let them create their own visual model of their understanding so you can see it too. You will be surprised at how deep the learning will be! If you don't know how to use the technology, ask someone to help you or be willing to let the kids figure it out on their own. Letting go of the reigns is an exhilarating feeling for you and your students!
Design & develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments - For weekend work, have students take pictures that represent your current vocabulary words and share those pictures with the whole class. Think they don't all have cameras? They will take the pictures with their cell phone or will borrow a camera. Have you ever had your students make a movie for your class? If you aren't ready for Final Cut Pro, have students use their digital cameras to take enough pictures to create a movie (kind of like making a cartoon). If you want to dive in a little deeper, try out Movie Maker on Windows or iMovie on the Mac to have students create commercials, public service announcements, or summary videos of classroom events.
Model digital-age work and learning - Most schools now have some sort of information system such as Power School so many of you are using that for keeping grades. Try adding one new tool to your repertoire this next school year. If you get stuck, ask a student! They will be glad to help you, and it is a great way to build that trusting relationship with students. Keep your bookmarks on Delicious or Diigo and then share them with your students. Take pictures of your class and post them on Flickr or Picasa. Save your Power Point slides as .jpg or .png and post them to Picasa so students can access them anytime.
Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility - Talk to kids in every class about internet behavior. Preteaching is the best! Tell them ahead of time what they can expect on an assignment and then, how you expect them to complete it and how it will look. If they are doing research, teach students how to do responsible research on the internet. Take the next step and talk to them about the difficult stuff. Talk about the internet, social networks, and what might be out in the world. This is no different than talking about drugs, alcohol, or relationships. Even if kids hear it from their parents and then hear it again from you, keep talking!
Engage in professional growth and leadership - Going to workshops is always a good thing but we here at ESU 10 are very aware of the obstacles you face when trying to take time for professional development. What can you do then, if you are unable to take those days? For starters, find a small group of people you trust. They don't have to teach in the same curricular area that you do or even the same grade level. Gather your group frequently for short sharing sessions even if it is only 10 minutes a week maybe in the morning or after school. Start by sharing your favorite web sites, next teach each other how to use a web tool. Finally try longer training sessions for instructional strategies or applications. You might even try learning a new tool together with the help of online training such as Lynda.com. or Atomic Learning. Your new group (PLN - Personal Learning Network) will keep you going through the school year. ESU 10 also offers many workshops in Kearney. Those trainings can be brought to you and your school by our trainers at ESU 10! Please call or email if you are interested. We will also be implementing a new training delivery method in the form of a webinar. We have four planned for October and November covering Google tools. They are one-hour sessions after school. We hope this new technology will make it easier for you to get the training you need, when you need it. Additionally, there are online communities just for teachers! From the makers of ODIE, ESU 10 is developing communities for workshop participants and member schools. (More communities are in the works!) These communities will be used for collaboration, sharing resources & lessons. There are also web sites such as Classroom 2.0, a Ning site where teachers gather to collaborate and share. If you are really ready to dig in, try Twitter! Twitter is a microblogging site where you follow and are followed only by the people you give permission to. Read more about Twitter and how it is being used in a new article on Edutopia! Professional development is viral so pass it on and cheer each other on!

If you are wondering where you stand with your technology integration, ISTE has created a classroom observation tool that can be downloaded. You will need to sign up for a free account. Use this tool when making lesson plans or observing teachers. The last two pages of the .pdf might trigger some other great lesson ideas for your classes.

21st century kids may look a little different than we did at that age but they didn't get there by themselves on purpose. They are the result of a changing society. America and the world will continue to change, grow, and develop new technology. For our students to be ready for that change, ready to be proper citizens, run a government of which we can be proud, we must be willing to work toward these skills for ourselves first.

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