NY Times Education Blog

This resource is great for current events! There are lesson plans aligned with the common core. It is probably best for 4th and 5th grade. It is geared towards older children, but could provide a challenge for some of your higher students. They have a word of the day, what happened on this day in the past, etc. Very interesting blog!!

School Center Cheat Sheet

From basic to advanced--Here is a little cheat sheet to help you when updating your website!

Virtual Field Trip

Instant Google Street View!

http://www.qsview.com/

Record your SMART Board lesson

Tami Poland sent me this and it is great! Here is a way for you to record your SMART Board lesson. The file format is one that School Center will accept so you will be able to upload it to your webpage for parents to view.

Click here to see how it is done! You will be amazed at how simple it is!

Stolen from another blog

I stole this from Ellen Hughes at WCES. It is great!!

"This LiveBinder consists of resources that help educators select Web 2.0 tools that can be used to support several of the highly effective instructional strategies as identified by Robert Marzano. Learn more about the strategies in general by clicking on the Effective Instructional Stratgies tab."

Under the "Identifying Similarities and Differences", "Summarizing and Note Taking", and "Non Linguistic Representation" tabs you will find loads of Web2.0s to use with your students.

Click on the link below to get started!

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=73869

19 Google Tricks

Google has many different tricks that a lot of people don't know about. Here are 19 that may be helpful to you! Click the image to see!

Flip your Classroom!!

I was reading an article the
other day and it was talking about flipping your
classroom. The concept is, you record yourself
giving a lesson, you then upload that video to your
website so the students can watch it for
homework; then when the students come in the
next day they are ready for the activity! It takes
the concept of homework and flips it around.
Instead of the students doing an activity at home
without your assistance, they do the activity at
school so you are there to guide them. Since the
lecture part is completed at home, you don’t have
to worry about the students not understanding an
activity. Students can view the instruction on the
computer, or any other mobile device--iPad, iPhone, SMART phone, kindle, nook, etc!
Here are the links to a few articles that discuss flipping your classroom!
http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/the-flipped-class-what-does-a-good-one-look-like-692.php
http://www.flippedclassroom.com/
http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/the-flipped-class-conversation-689.php

The county is also offering training for this on January 22! Check mylearningplan.com for more details. The training is titled "Flipping the classroom."

Google Form Templates

Quick Google Form templates that are already created. These were developed mainly for teachers and principals by Kern Kelley. There are a couple in there that are designed to grade the quiz for you! It scores the student answers as soon as they are finished!

https://sites.google.com/site/kernkelley/forms

County Level Trainings

For those of you that would like more training on Google Docs, the county is offering a couple more trainings.

November 28
Google Docs

December 6
Google Part 2 (Beyond the Basics)

If you would like to attend, sign up in MyLearningPlan.com

Something from the JCS Tech Leaders

Google Tidbit: Calendar Notification Reminders

As educators, we live a very busy life.  As you use your Google calendar, please know you can set default reminders for any event you create!  You can even get reminders sent to your phone via text message.  Let's get started.

Go to your Google calendar and click your gear in the top right corner and choose Settings.

Using your blue links across the top, choose Calendars then reminders and notifications.

Once in the Reminders and notifications section, you'll probably see default reminders already set for you.

If you have Popups as an option, please note that only works in Google Chrome, and we use Firefox and Explorer in our schools.  You can click remove below a reminder to get rid of a reminder, and you can use the drop down menu to switch between Email, Popup, and SMS reminders.  Use the second drop down menu to choose when you will be reminded: minutes, hours, days, or weeks before the event.  Make sure to Save changes at the bottom!

Speaking of SMS (Short Messaging Service also known as text messaging) reminders, that is what you choose to have reminders sent to your phone. Yes, standard messaging rates still apply.  :)  But first, you must enable that option.

Here's how you do it:

Go back to your calendar, click the gear in the top right corner, and choose Settings. Now choose Mobile Setup at the top.  Enter your cell phone number and follow the verification code prompts.  Make sure to Save changes at the bottom!

After you have enabled your Mobile Setup, you can choose SMS reminders (directions above)!  Remember, after you do this, you have to set the default reminder to SMS in your calendar settings.

Created by: Kathy Price

A Math Dictionary

Joanne Biggers sent this site through email. It is GREAT for giving kids a visual of their math vocabulary!

WOW! This is AWESOME!

I was in April Taylor's room and she was doing this with her class. I know I already said it is AWESOME, but it really is AWESOME. All of the lessons on this site are based around the common core standards and are videos. She found the video she wanted to show her class and was given a code. She put the code on the board for the students to put in their agendas so their parents could also watch the video at home if they were having trouble helping their child with their homework. I know many parents are having trouble helping their student with their homework because the strategies being used are very different. This is perfect for helping the parents see what you are doing in the classroom. They have lessons for ELA and Math. Sign up is FREE! 

First in Math

First in Math is a program that JCS used last year as a free trial. This year, we have been given a one month trial for the program. I have sent the information to all 2-5 teachers (and if you need me to send the email again let me know!). Please register, try out the program, and let me know what you think. I really just want to know if this is something you think is worth spending money on. It is mainly for math fluency, but there are word problems under the "Know and Show" section. From what I can see, and after talking to some teachers who used it last year, 5th grade may be a group that only uses it for remediation. Your higher kids may enjoy it, but it won't challenge them. Second through fourth grade should be able to find things for all of your students. There may be a few students who aren't as challenged with it in fourth, but they would still enjoy the competition. At the end of the month, I will send you an email again asking what you thought of the program. I know things are crazy and ya'll have a million things to do, but if you get a chance take a look at it! I really think it is something your students will enjoy!

Problem Based Learning

Problem Based Learning (PBL)

A couple of years ago I went to a training on Problem Based Learning (PBL). It completely changed the way I taught. It works for all grade levels K-12. PBL is "designed to create learning through experience and the reinforcement of existing knowledge." (CERTL) You begin by giving your students a problem. They create a list of things they know and need to know based on the problem you have given them. Once they ask the "right" questions, you can give them more information based on the problem. The students continue to make lists of what they know and what they need to know until they have all the information they need to solve the problem. By using PBL students learn through experience. They are EXTREMELY engaged throughout the entire process, and I found that learners who need a little more motivation didn't need it when it came to PBL. They jumped right in with the rest of their classmates.

There is a website with quite a few pre-made PBL lesson plans, but you must have a username and password to access them. Come see me for a username and password and the website.

Click on the CERTL icon for more information.

A New Favorite! Zondle!!

Zondle is a website developed for teachers to create games to use with their students. The wonderful part is YOU create the questions and the site plugs them into any game. There are at least 100 different games to choose from! There is also a way to play in teams. You can put the kids in teams and take them to the lab. The site will give you a site name, session code, and password that the students need to type in. Once they type them in, their computer will serve as a remote. They will be able to punch in their answers to the questions you have already plugged into the game. All you need to do is register. The site is FREE!

There is even a way to plug in your student's names and track their progress. I know you are busy, but if you get a chance, go to the website and play around. It is AWESOME!

The Mini Page Archive

On Mondays The News and Observer prints a "mini page" for kids in their newspaper. They are great for teaching non-fiction text and they will show up nicely on your SMART Board or projector.

Here is the link to those archived pages:

http://www.lib.unc.edu/dc/minipage/

Come to the Technology Showcase!

If you get a chance, come by the Technology Showcase. Every school will have a booth and will be showing the fantastic things they are doing with technology! It is a great place to get new ideas. They also have candy so if you bring your kids, they can fill up their bags and you can fill up yours too! :-)

 

October 30, 2012

4-6 PM 

Great Hall and Former Media Center of JCC

FireFox vs. Internet Explorer

Which should you use? 

Internet Explorer

-NCWise

FireFox

-School Center

-Google Mail

-Google Docs

-Google Calendar

County technology Trainings

The technology leaders in the county are continuing to offer trainings throughout the year. Look on mylearningplan.com to see the different offerings they have. A couple they are having soon are GoogleDocs November 29 and Advanced Google on December 6.

Elementary iPad Apps (K-3)

MClass teachers, the tech leaders in the county wanted to remind you that you have access to training materials at the following: http://bit.ly/jcsipad.  There is a link to some additional resources including a page call TCEA it is a great list of apps - the free apps are in the shaded cells. The apps are divided into categories at the top of the chart.

Every Kid Votes

Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Whittington have found an awesome site to teach students about the upcoming election. Go to http://www.studiesweekly.com/vote/ and check out the amazing information it provides.

When you get to the homepage, you will see 4 major links that you can click. If you click on Learn about the Candidates, it shows both candidates side by side. It gives a biography and also gives tabs you can click that tell about their positions on certain topics like the economy, energy, and education! The best thing is the information is in 2 columns so you see both at the same time and can easily compare the two.

Back on the homepage, another informative tab is Election Curriculum. From this link you will select your grade level range. Once you have selected your grade level range it will take you to a magazine that you can show your kids on your projector or your SMART Board.To make it larger just click on the button that looks like TV.

This site will also allow our school to vote. On October 30th, we will have a mock election. The students will be able to vote on the computers in your classrooms. On the morning of October 30, we just need you to log-in on a student computer in your room, go to http://www.studiesweekly.com/vote/, click on vote and type in this code: MMHB5RJ7 (not case sensitive). The students will go to the computer and place their vote. We will give you I Voted stickers that you can give them once they have voted. We will be able to see the data as it is collected, and at the end of the day we will have a final count. If you have any questions please let me or Amanda know!

Adding PTA as a link on School Center

PTA requested that all teachers add their website as a direct link from your classroom website. Here are the steps to get that accomplished.

1. Click Edit
2. Click Edit Navigation
3. Under Custom Items on the bottom left side drag "Custom Link" to your navigation links which is under the heading "Left" or "Top" wherever you navigation on your website is located.
4. Once you drag it, it should still be blue. At the top it will say link title______ URL ______ for link title type in PTA and for URL copy and paste this http://www.johnston.k12.nc.us/ecespta
5. Click done

Once you have completed these steps you should see PTA as a link on your navigation.

If you need help with this please let me know and I can come show you how to do it!

Read Every Day

Throughout the year, Scholastic will do webcasts. They are live interviews with authors. Last year, my students watched one with many of the 39 Clues authors. They enjoy them because they are live and they give you a chance to type in questions. Here is one the Johnston County tech leaders shared with us!

"Do you have any Taylor Swift fans in your school?  English Language Arts classrooms can tune in to a webcast to get Swift's perspective on how literature has affected her song writing: scholastic.com/readeveryday.  Check it out and forward to those who might be interested.  (Recommended for grades 3 and up.)"

Labs

Outside of the labs are now calendars for you to sign up to bring your classes. Regular scheduled classes have already been written in. Please make sure to sign up before you bring your class. Also, if you have signed up, but decided that you won't be using the lab that day, make sure to erase your name so other people will be able to use it during that time.

Please help me out by making sure the students have left the lab neat before they leave. Have them use this check list:

1. Headphones put neatly under the monitor on top of the CPU.
2. Cords and keyboard fixed neatly.
3. All paper and pencils taken with you.
4. Chairs pushed under.

Thank you for your help with this!!

School Center Updates

Please make sure you have deleted all pages on your site that are blank or outdated. If you need help with this, let me know!

We are hoping that each teacher will have a minimum of the following things on their webpage:

• weekly content focus
• contact form
• daily schedule
• enhancement schedule

If you are curious about how much your site is being visited, go to page settings and click "show hit counter." You can also view reports under "admin." This will show you a break down of how much your site was visited each month.

If you need help updating your page and don't want to wait until the SchoolCenter training, please let me know!

Parent Information

*  Remember that we should not be giving out parent email addresses and phone numbers to other parents in the classroom. April Taylor had a great idea of using signupgenius.com. It is free! Click on the picture below and it will take you to the site.

*  When emailing all the parents in your classroom, put your name in the "to" box, click "add bcc:" then put in all your parent's email addresses. This way they will only be able to see your email address and not the email addresses of the rest of the parents in your classroom.

Free Technology for Teachers

The technology teacher, Ellen Hughes, at West Clayton showed me this site. It is WONDERFUL! He has tons of free websites that you can use with your students. Here is an example of one of the sites he spotlighted on his blog. Picture Book Maker - Create Children's Stories , (http://www.culturestreet.org.uk/activities/picturebookmaker/ )

Click this link to go directly to his blog.  Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Bryne

MAP Support

Amy Stanley sent us a link for MAP support. She said the site might be useful when looking at your data. The Community is called the Spark Community and here is the link: http://community.nwea.org/ there are blogs and forums with tips and information for the MAP and the Common Core.

ECES Strut your Stuff

 

October 30, 2012

4-6 PM 

Great Hall and Former Media Center of JCC

Show us what you are doing with technology! The JCS Technology Showcase is a time for teachers to show off what they are doing with technology in the classroom. If you have a neat lesson or technology based project your students have completed, I would love to show it off at the Showcase! I know it is early in the year, so if there is a project the students' completed last year, we can also showcase that.

Daily 5 and Cafe

The Daily 5 and The Cafe books offer a fantastic way to set up your literacy block. If you feel bogged down trying to create centers so you can do guided reading you MUST read The Daily 5. It will make your teaching life so much easier. The Cafe book gives a way to organize your guided reading instruction. Both are easy reads and will help you get a lot more out of your reading instruction. The books can be used for grades K-5! Let me know if you want more information! For other information, click the books, they will take you to "The Sisters" websites.

NCDPI Wiki

The NCDPI Wiki provides updated information about the Common Core. When you subscribe to the page you are sent an email when anything is updated! Click on the picture and it will take you to the site!

Edmodo

Edmodo is a school friendly social networking site that is designed to look just like Facebook. If the students in your class know how to work Facebook, they will definitely know how to work Edmodo. This site has many tools and can be used in a variety of ways. If you find it hard to get to all your groups when you are doing a book study, put your questions on Edmodo and have the students respond there. They will LOVE it! I will be doing a workshop on Edmodo on November 13 and 15. If you would like to get started with it before then, PLEASE let me know and I will come help you get set up!

Make sure to get an Edmodo user agreement signed by every student before you get started! See me if you need a copy of the agreement form!

Professional Development Dates

SMART Board -- October 9 or 11
Google Docs-- October 23 or 25
Edmodo/School Center Refresher-- November 13 or 15
Prezi, Glogster, and Voki--November 27 or 29
Gaggle-- December 11 or 13

Re-imaging Dates

K-1-- Tuesday, October 2
2-3, Westbrook-- Wednesday, October 17
4-5, Rice--Tuesday, November 6

E-Control

Please go to E-Control on the Johnston County Connections page (Homepage on FireFox). Answer 2-3 questions on this page so you will be able to change your password if you ever forget it for Novell.