TL2014 – Resources of the week… (weekly)
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27 Ways To Publish Student Thinking
Publishing student thinking can be among the most powerful ways to improve learning. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the biggest reason is that the “threat” of publishing moves the lodestone from the classroom to the “real world.” This, of course, changes everything. Note that publishing finished products and the thinking process itself are two very different things–and the idea here is to publishing the thinking itself:”
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Why (And How) Teachers Should Start Using iTunes U
iTunes U is a little discussed gem that more K-12 schools should be taking advantage of. This post provides examples of how teachers are using this as a means of publishing.
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ThinkB4U offers interactive videos to educate viewers about things like protecting online reputations, avoiding scams, research and critical thinking, and responsible text messaging.
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Animated explanations of topics in technology and science. Some of their offerings are videos and some of their offerings are interactive animations.
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Redefining Technology with Instruction (RTI) – ECISD Technology
This site has some useful videos on the SAMR model of technology integration.
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Creating infographics | screencast tutorial on Vimeo
This video walks through two infographic creation sites: easel.ly and infogr.am
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The official DreamWorks companion site to Lincoln, the movie. There are four main features of the Lincoln Learning Hub. Those features are a timeline, What Would Lincoln Do, Team of Rivals, and Who’s Who of Congress.
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12 Digital Tools To Implement Exit Slips – Edudemic
Some tool suggestions for taking exit slips to the next level. Also includes some information on different kinds of exit slips: document learning; emphasize the process of learning; evaluate the effectiveness of instruction.
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Teaching Kids to Curate Content Collections [ACTIVITY] – The Tempered Radical
This is an excellent real-world example of content curation using Scoop.it. The teacher explains the purpose of the curation and provides a link to the criteria for a good source and a good collection.
Chinese New Year Projects
This post has been authored by Peyton Stauffer, a 6th grader at Salisbury Middle School.
Chinese New Year activities took place in sixth grade from December 17th to December 21st. Every sixth grade student received a topic on Ancient China from our social studies teacher, Mrs. Yurconic. For two weeks, during English and social studies class, we used most of our time to work hard and come up with a project and a report on our topic.
My group, which included Gabriella Grym and Erica Holben, created an iMovie to demonstrate our learning. We narrowed the topic of fashion to four major items: foot binding, weddings, hats, and the clothes of poor people.
Many other groups took advantage of our new computers and the software to create their projects. One group used Notebook software to create an interactive game in which the program could be used to roll dice and move game pieces. Another group used a camera and hooked it up to the SMART Board so we were able to watch them play their board game on a large screen. A program that was used often was Keynote. My classmates added video, pictures, text and effects to a slideshow to help bring the game of Mah Jong and the topics of gods and goddesses, gunpowder, and lanterns to life.
During the short school day on December 21st, we went to different classrooms to play the games, try the activities, and to make fire crackers. During the last fifteen minutes of the day we went outside and “set off” our fire crackers to celebrate the Chinese New Year. This was one of my favorite projects for school, and I really enjoyed watching how everyone else demonstrated their knowledge. I also enjoyed doing all of the activities that my peers had put together.
Mirroring Your Desktop
When you connect your laptop to a projector, you can control what is seen by your audience. If you plug it in and you only see a blank background, you need to 
mirror your desktop. This guide will help you show exactly what you want on your projector.
Using Your Browser’s Find Function
You can type just about anything into Google and find plenty of web pages that contain your search term. Sometimes, finding the desired topic within the resulting page can be a chore, especially if the page contains a lot of info. Using your web browser’s Find function can help you quickly find what you’re
looking for. For more information, consult this guide: Using Your Browser’s Find Function.
Google Drive Stock Images
This past week, Google announced the addition of over 50,000 stock images to Google Drive (available to all staff and students through Falcon Apps.) Here’s how you can access the wide array of images.
- In a Falcon Apps document or presentation, go the the menu INSERT > IMAGE.
- Click on the SEARCH option on the lower left hand side of the window.
- Click on STOCK IMAGES. (Also, notice that you can search for Google or LIFE magazine images)
- Double click on the chosen image to insert it into your document or presentation.
Teaching and Learning 2014 