Literacy Circles

Literary Circles are a great way to get students to read a novel in a small group setting. One advantage to using Lit Circles is that your class can read more than one novel at a time. As a Teacher you will will be moving from group to group to ensure everyone is on task and participating equally. This was a big success fro me when I ran this. I look forward to hearing your comments. Click on the Literary Circles or the title to go to my Google Document PDF of the assignments.

The Blogs I follow in my RSS

I use Google Reader to keep track of the blogs that I find useful and important to me. I don't have the time necessary to visit all of these sites so I subscribe to them. I can then email, star, embed or save these updates. These blogs below relate to technology education and helped inspire me to create my own blog. They also have created some fantastic lessons for my students. I truly enjoy all of these bloggers hard work, I hope you do as well.

The Dossier, This is a collaborative blog written by the faculty and administration of Sparta Middle School, Sparta High School, and Mohawk Avenue School, in Sparta, New Jersey.
TechCrunch a weblog dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies.

TGDaily focus on technology topics that are interesting and thought provoking
Classroom 2.0 the social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and Social Media in education.
Mr. Riley's Blog a computer science teacher who wanted to create a place for other teachers to share lesson ideas and help topics
ibo.posterous Very cool illustrations regarding technology
Intergrating ICT into the MFL Classroom practical tips and advice on using ICT to enhance the teaching of modern foreign languages
ilearntechnology An edublog about integrating technology into the classroom.
Box of Tricks making education compatible with the needs and expectations of our students through the effective use of technology
NJ DOE Because it's a good idea to stay up to date on State regulations
Academic Productivity is a survival guide for the 21^st century researcher.
Education Policy Blog a multiblog about the ways that educational foundations can inform educational policy and practice
Education News covering educational, political, business, and environmental issues
21st Century Collaborative is dedicated to exploring, creating and modeling global connections as a powerful means to improving teaching and learning in the 21st Century.
The Tech Savvy Educator A practical guide for integrating technology in the classroom
Instructify is where teachers can stock their toolboxes with practical, time-saving classroom ideas and cutting edge methods of instruction.
ideas & thoughts the use of technology in the classroom
edte.ch educational technology
Free Technology for Teachers A review of free technology resources and how teachers can use them. Ideas for technology integration in education
edtechlife educational technology updates
CNN Education If its on CNN and education related
US Dept of Education National news affecting education
Tipline talking about how technology can enhance teaching and learning.
The IT Classroom Using Technology to Make Connections in 6th Grade and Around the World
The Power of Educational Technology Demonstrating the power of technology to transform learning, energize communities and inspire innovative thinking.
Teaching with Technology Practical ideas for web 2.0 in the classroom

Using Google Language tools

I found Blogsurfer.us

BlogSurfer.us is like channel surfing for blogs. It pulls random recently updated blogs and automatically flips through them. You can move forward and backward through the blogroll or stop the rotation to read the current blog.I found this to be wildly entertaining.  check them out.

I'm reading about...Phrogram

If you want to make games or other software programs for your Windows PC, you may try to start with a programming language like Java, C++, or Visual Basic - but their "syntax" (how commands must be written) can be very challenging. You will also need to learn how to use a complex "development environment" like Visual Studio or Eclipse - great for big projects, but not for getting started.  Phrogram has dozens of  sample programs that show you how the code works.  Or you can try software that minimizes programming code and uses graphic objects in a "drag-&-drop" environment, like Alice and Scratch. These products are designed for very young learners, of if you want your program to tell a story, but they won't show you how to do the things that working programmers do every day - and that's what makes Phrogram different. This is a resource I have been looking for and can't wait to use it and leave my feedback.

I am trying to use Glogster, Prezi

Here are 2 sites I am trying to use in my classes,  Glogster & Prezi.  Glogster allows you to create interactive "posters" and allow students to create their own information / presentation.  Prezi allows you to take a "canvas" and create movement to different bullet points.  Much cooler then the traditional PowerPoint.
Are you using these?

I am using OK GO

OK GO  is a band famous for its YouTube video clips is a great example to show students how to positively use social networking tools like youtube, facebook, twitter.  The band left its label and has continued to self promote themselves using social networking tools.  When I last used thier youtube page in class they had almost 78 million views.  A recent billboard magazine article discusses the bands departure from thier record label.  Still I begin my internet safety lesson by showing one of the bands videos to students.  It is my anticipatory set, how I engage them into the lesson.  I discuss how the band uses these social networking tools to spread their talents to people.  Some students are familiar with the band some are not, some use the bands tools to create their own movies.  This opens a great discussion with students, they can see the power of social networking but by seeing the positive they can also better understand the negatives of social networking. 
Thank you OK GO, can't wait to see you in concert soon.

The power of social networking

It's no secret that New Jersey is facing some budget issues.  However students have staged walk out protests and planed it all out on Facebook.  I have read articles before with regards to young people who spread messages using social networking tools, this just happens to be the day after I discussed social networking with my 8th grade students.  Students were quoted in the attached article that the news of the protest spread through facebook, twitter, text messages and email. 
Very Interesting

Google has a new look!

Google has a new look!  Very Bing'sh.

Grade 7 Day 18

Day 18 in grade 7 finds students completing the vocabulary lists.  Students now have a list of 20 words and will be tested on this vocabulary at the end of the cycle.  We begin working on a Publisher assignment where we use Publisher 2007 to create a newsletter.  Students must complete a 1 page newsletter based on history of NJ.  This is an assignment that students complete over 3 days.  Student will use publisher in thier other classes during 8th grade.  Social Studies Teachers use Publisher to create newsletters on historical events. 

I am reading about...free video converter

Instructify posted about a Any Video Converter Freeware.  He compares this to Zamzar which I will report is fantastic!  I use Zamzar constantly and recommend it to my students all the time.  I checked out the Any Video Converter Freeware that Instructify recomended and thought it compared to RealPlayer.  However after I investigated I found that Any Video Converter Freeware had some extra directions and options that currently I don't know about in RealPlayer.  RealPlayer is great, I do use it often and convert lots of files. 

Day 17 Grade 7

Today students are taking the Excel test.  I give students the entire period to complete the test.  When they come into the room the instructions tell them to go to my website.  On the website is a list of instructions for them to follow, such as what printer to use, how to open the example, what file name to save the test as, and what to do when they are complete.  I give a brief explanation and allow students to begin.

Day 16 Grade 7

7th grade students will be reviewing the 9 planets assignment with me as a class.  We will review how to print an excel spreadsheet by revealing formulas ( ctrl + ~ ) and review page break preview.

I am reading about Facebook privacy issues...again!

Cnnmoney.com posted an article about new things happening at facebooks.  This is a great article for discussion in your classroom.  My students were SHOCKED!  Please read this and have a talk with your students.

Day 16 grade 7

We begin with Keyboarding practice with Mavis Beacon.  Students then use the remaining time to complete and excel assignment (9 Planets) this is a review assignment.  I ask students to complete the assignment individually and we will review tomorrow.  I want to see what they can recall from our last class working with excel.  Most students complete the assignment within the class period.

Woopie???

what is WOOPIE?  The best I can figure out is that this is a Japanese version of YouTube.  Anyway I have a bunch of videos posted there.  How did that happen? I guess yet again I learned a lesson that you just don't control anything you post online ;/  Check out my woopie channel here.

※アラート機能を利用するにはロ グイン、または新規登録が必要です。登録やサービスは全て無料です。

※ア ラート機能を利用するにはメー ルアドレスの確認が必要です。

※Woopie アラートとは？ キーワードを登録することで自動的に新着動画をメールでお知らせする機能です

I am reading about Drop box

DropBox is an online document storage site.  For free you can store up to 2 GB of data and access them from any internet based computer, or Iphone.  The nice thing about DropBox is that once you install it onto your computer you simply drag and drop files and they become almost instantly uploaded.  Much faster than Google Doc's.  You can share and edit your files, see revision history just like Google Doc's.  The only difference I see is the speed of upload.

Day 15 Grade 7

Halfway through the cycle today.  We begin with adding words to our vocabulary list (the complete list can be found on the blog)  We then begin hyper linking and inserting action buttons into the independent project. 

I am reading about..Peeping Schools, Chatroulet

TGDaily posts about the Peeping PA school.  This whole story is fantastic and I am sure will become a made for TV drama.  At the very least Law & Order has to be working on a script based on this. 
TechCrunch Posts a very interesting article regarding ChatRoulette.  The author of the article Paul Carr interviewed the sites founder.  Basically ChatRoullete is worried about people leaving the site using Skype or Facebook to continue communicating.  I have been too lazy to hook up my webcam and try this site out, but I am curious.

How to format you PowerPoint 2007 Background

I am reading about the end of free ning =(

I don't use Ning at school but one of my fellow teachers does.  I have heard mixed reviews from the students as to how they feel about using this network but I applaud this teacher trying new technology.  I read a post from Free Technology for Teachers today who also posted about the end of Nings free service.  He wrote about some other options.
CubeTree is a free service designed for companies that would like to build a social network of wikis, shared items, and microblogs for their employees.
Jabbster is a free service that allows families and groups to create private online communication networks.
ShoutEm allows you to make your own public or private network.
Edmodo is a microblogging system designed specifically for teachers and students. Using Edmodo teachers can create a microblogging network for their classes.
I forwarded these recommendations to my colleague and he promised to give some feedback as soon as possible which i will post here. 

Day 14 Grade 7

Day 14 begins with keyboarding practice using Mavis Beacon.  Students then continue working on the Independent Project by completing filling in their slides with research and completing the design of slide backgrounds.

Day 13 Grade 7

Today we watched a video about Web 3.0.  This was a 7 minuet video that discusses the evolution of the internet from a user based system to a user / creator platform.  The video goes on to discuss how the web will continue to evolve to customize user setting.  Similar to the way Amazon recommends items to returning customers.  This brings up a lively discussion for 5 minuets more, some students don't realize how much technology affects their daily lives. 
Next we complete work on the Budget assignment. We copy and paste a table, delete a row, add a row, write in a formula, create a chart, add titles, and rename series.  We also add a footer and use print preview before printing to a selected printer.

The 15 Second Film Festival

The Future Film Makers of America is an after school club that I help run. The club was brought to our school by our Technology Director, who had run this club in a previous district and had a bit of success. We are in our third year now and the club continues to grow in popularity. The 15 Second Film Festival provides an opportunity to celebrate the creativity of our students as they combine their story-telling skills with the available communication technology of today.These short films will showcase our sixth, seventh and eighth grade students’ storytelling ability using a video camera and film-editing software. The catch is that the students have only 15 seconds to tell their story. The participants had to think critically about their scripts, camera work and editing.The first meeting with our future film makers took place after school in October. There was a big turn out with some 50 students attending. Advisers were present to answer questions, explain the rules, and show sample short films. Participants had to come up with a script idea and submit it in writing to either. In future meetings, our future film makers brought their films and learned how to use video editing software to edit them future Film Makers had to overcome many difficulties in making their film. Film makers struggled with writing the scripts, planning each scene, working with equipment, editing and creative differences.Before each film you will hear a speech from the students discussing their film and some of the successes or challenges they faced. You will watch each student’s film twice; at the end of the presentations the judges will retire to tally their scores. Awards are handed out for each grade level and 1 for best in show. The ceremony lasts approximately 1 hour and the auditorium is decorated with a red carpet and velvet ropes. We had over 100 people in the audience. Follow the links for the various documents students use for the festival, Festival Description, Speech outline, Sign up form, Welcome Brochure, Movie Maker Brochure, Animation Story Boards,

Day 12 Grade 7

Day 12 begins with students taking a keyboarding quiz.  I hand students a slip of paper with a sentence that contains all of the letters of the alphabet.  I give students 5 minuets to type the sentence as many times as they can.   This is an example "  Six javelins thrown by the quick savages whizzed forty paces beyond the mark."  As students are typing the sentence I circulate around the room and watch for home row key use, are students looking at the keyboard or at the screen?  At the end of 5 minuets students print the test out with the number of words they typed (this can be found by looking on the bottom left corner of Word 2007 )  Once printed I look at the amount of words typed and check for accuracy.  Students will take 2 more keyboarding tests through out the cycle. 
We move onto Excel 2007 and begin the 6 month budget assignment.  The details can be found on the blog.

Grade 7 Independent Project

7th grade students complete and Independent Project using PowerPoint 2007. The project has many components and I continue to add more. Currently students download a "script" or outline from my website this teaches them how to download a file and we create a folder for this class. Many students are unaware how to create folders and why you should keep files organized. Once the file has been downloaded we review this Word 2007 document as a class. The "script" has 16 place holders for students to research how a device or discovery. At this time I leave the topic for students fairly open, most research a new form of technology or an invention that they currently use. Students use the internet to complete the research portion of the assignment which takes 3 class periods. As student research the "script" has place holders for them to track their sources. I am trying to get them into the habit of giving credit to sources as many classroom teachers complain that students feel far too comfortable just copy & pasting information.
Students then create a PowerPoint 2007 presentation based on their research. We complete portions of this together such as the layout, formatting the background and adding animations. All students present the project to the class. I grade the project on the different areas, technology, content, design. I will post the Script, grading rubric and basic PowerPoint outline in my Google Docs for you to review and or use.
As always your comments are welcome

Day 11 Grade 7

Day 11 finds of 7th grade starts with Keyboarding practice with Mavis beacon.  Today we are going to continue working on the Independent Project.  We created a basic layout and reviewed slide layout yesterday.  Today we will review how to format pictures and change background design.

Day 10 Grade 7

Welcome back from Break!!  On Day ten we add another 5 vocabulary words & review the basics of PowerPoint 2007.  Students have been using the internet to research for their Independent Project.  Now as a class we review how to change a slide layout and add different slide layouts, word art formatting, and adding pictures. A hint here if you copy & paste a picture from the internet you will need to paste it into the area between the text box and the edge of the slide.  We also touch on recoloring pictures to remove the white background.  After students have completed copying and pasting the research on a Word 2007 document into PowerPoint 2007 they decorate each slide with at least 1 picture.  

Day 9 Grade 7

Day 9 found us in the middle of our spring break.  Where we would normally complete another Word 2007 assignment on Day 8 we would take the Word test today.  Instead I skipped an assignment so students would not have to take a test coming back from break.  This Day 9 we completed working on our Independent Project Scripts and experimented with PhotoSynth.

I am reading about...NachoFoto, WolframAlpha

TechCrunch has an article about NachoFoto a new real time search engine for images.  Pretty cool, would be great to use for current events. I can definitely see myself using this often.

Free Technology for Teachers posts about WolframAlpha.  Fantastic!

Photoshop lesson plans

I would love to teach a lesson on PhotoShop however with limited time to teach the other units I have yet to come up with a good solid lesson plan.  I feel that a lesson that takes 3-5 days would be perfect, just enough to introduce students to the basics of the program.  I just read an article that discusses the newest version of photoshop CS5 which will be available soon.  Currently we run CS3.  So if anyone put there has a lesson in photoshop they would like to share with CS3 or later version I would enjoy seeing it.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

I found this cool site today.  http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ is a gmap style site that allows you to figure out mileage, calories burned, elevation changes and more for your walking or running routes.  I encourage you to check this out!

PhotoSynth

Today we are making up a used snowday.  Many of the students are absent so I am taking advantage of the smaller class size to experiment with PhotoSynth.  The students are very excited, however I wish I had a few extra cameras.  Also the network at school runs MUCH slower than at home, so PhotoSynth runs painfully slow.  This is something I was unprepared for so when you upload student pictures plan for 10 min to upload and synth and another 5 to view.  Here is a link to some of our samples.

spring break

Its spring break here! I will continue to make random updates but not as consistently as usual.

Network Down?!!!!!!! :/

UG! nothing is more frustrating to me then when the network goes down.  When this happens pandemonium erupts in the room with 21 voices telling me the "internet is broken" or "I can't save my work" This is a very frustrating experience and happens often.  usually the outage only lasts for a few minuets but today was a half hour.  I do have back up plans for when this happens and there are different degrees of outages.  Lately my go to plan is to watch the movie Welcome to Mac.  Now although this is a fabulous and informative movie there are some naughty words so please preview it first!!

Day 8 Grade 7

Day 8 finds us taking a Word 2007 test.  Students must reformat a Word 2007 document to match a fixed assignment.  The test reviews all concepts taught in word so far.  An example of the test can be found on the blog.  While the test is completed by most students within 30 min. some have questions regarding the bibliography.  I am happy to report however more students are becoming more comfortable entering a bibliography and hope that this is continued in their other classes.