Where ICMHS teachers can find out stuff

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Several teachers have expressed an interest in either developing a website or blogging for their students.  I am willing to offer a series of classes in the use of Edublogs, which is the primary platform that I use.

Here is a quick SlideShare on why teachers should blog.

Last month I posted that we now have Flip cameras available in the library for check out.  To see the original post, go to the August newsletter.  Anyway, Joanie Davis has used one in her chorus class to help with sight reading.  You can see the videos she filmed and uploaded here.

I still have one camera available for check out if you would like to use it.

New Tools for Your Use

Did you know we now have three Flip cameras in the library?  These cameras are available for teachers to check out for two week periods.

For ideas on how to use the camera in your classroom, visit Robin’s Technology Tips.

Check out Digital Wish if you would like to get one for your classroom.  They are offering a buy one, get one free program with shipments beginning September 1st.  The cost is $150 for two cameras.  Maybe two teachers would like to go in together to purchase a pair.

Up and Coming Technologies

eReaders or electronic readers have been receiving a lot of publicity recently.  There are several different versions available today, such as the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, and the Sony Reader.  Last year, we were able to purchase 90 Sony Touch Readers with a grant.

The Readers are available for use in the classroom.  I am able to load the readers with hundreds of classics that are no longer under copyright.  You just have to let me know which titles you are interested in sharing with your classes.  At this point, I believe the novelty of the Reader will help entice students to read.

I can also show you how to load handouts on the Readers for the students to use.  These will need to be in pdf form which is easy to do.

At some point in the future, I believe we will be able to get our textbooks as ebooks which will certainly help save our students’ backs!

Free Tools on the Web

Are you familiar with Wordle?  What’s a Wordle, you ask?

To quote the developer, “Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.”

If Firefox is your browser, and I highly recommend it, here is a tip you can use.  If you need to copy the url in the address bar, press CTRL-L to highlight it, then press CTRL-C to copy the address.

Professional Development

If you enjoyed these tips, be sure and sign up for my technology classes this Fall.  They will begin in September and be offered weekly for ten weeks.  You can attend one or all of the classes as you choose.  Just email me at Elaine Willis.

I know that as teachers we all understand the need for our students to learn to work together.  Many of you already design collaboration projects for your students.  Currently, the students work in one student’s network folder.  What I have seen time and again is that the student whose folder is being used is absent at a critical point.  Of course, this prevents anyone from getting any work done.

What I would like to suggest is that we move our students to using the collaboration features of Google Documents.  With this FREE tool, each group could share a document amongst themselves, as well as with you the teacher.  If you are not familiar with Google Docs, this short video will give you a fun introduction.  Of course, I am available to teach you and your students how to use it at your convenience.

Last year, Google Documents was blocked from the school network because it required an email address to access it.  I hope that with our new filtering system, we will be able change that.

Google Documents is not just for the students.  I often collaborate with colleagues both locally and across the country.  We can work on the same document at the same time and see each other’s edits immediately.

What are some ways you could use Google Documents with your students to enhance their learning?  Are there other tools that are currently blocked that you feel could help in raising student achievement?