NMSA2010: Top 10 Google Alternatives

“Getting FREE of Google’s Grip”

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS

Howie DiBlasi http://www.drhowie.com PRESENTATION WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW APPROX. 5PM

Presentation came out of conversation with Will Richardson, David Jakes about whether Google has too much power.

1) Thunderbird – alternative to Gmail…open source, ACTUALLY AN ALTERNATIVE TO Outlook Express…

2) 30 Boxes – Calendar software

3) Netvibes – Alternative to Google Reader…DEFINITELY AGREE WITH THIS ONE…LOVE ABILITY TO MAKE A PUBLIC RSS FEED PAGE

4) Zoho Office Suite – Alternative to Google Docs…lots of other options…has a database…Howie says there is better presentation software…Good chance Google will purchase this one…

5) Peepel – Alternative to Google Docs also…free…but maybe not forever…THIS IS THE ENVIRONMENT WE LIVE IN WHEN FOLKS HAVE TO MONETIZE…

6) Bloglines – Google Reader

7) Zimbra Collaboration – Google Docs…free for 60 days…then have a server edition that can be purchased…

8) ThinkFree Online – cell phone alternative editor for docs and spreadsheets

9) OpenOffice.org – Alternative to Google Docs/Spreadsheets

10) Flickr – Alternative to Picasa…have an education edition…NEED TO LOOK INTO THIS STILL…

Top 5 Search Engines of the Past 60 Days

• Google
• Yahoo
• Bing – has purchased Yahoo’s technology, so there are similar results…using about 80% of the technology
• Ask
• AOL Search

Yahoo and Bing provided 3 million + results for British General Thomas Gage…Google 178,000…AOL Search 92,000…Kids still can’t sort through all that

Need to discuss Advanced Search with kids…DEFINITELY A BIG DISCUSSION TO HAVE…

Use “only search from this domain” to put in country codes and get results from only that country…AMAZING THOUGHT *SMACKING FOREHEAD* FOR NOT THINKING ABOUT THAT ALREADY…

Google Advanced does have Creative Commons search…

Powered By Google means they pay Google for a percentage of Google Search technology…Bing has paid for a high percentage of Google’s Search Technology

Wolfram Alpha –

FactBites – search through encyclopedias…more specific than Google…includes Encarta, Wikipedia

Quintura – Kid safe searching, with word clouds of related terms

Clusty – gives you clustered search results and their sources…categorized search…recently renamed Yippy and modified some

Web’s Best Search Engine List – many of them no longer exist…

10 Best Search Engines of 2010…Reader Favorites…relevant, uncluttered, good results

1. Cuil – now defunct…
2. Duck Duck Go – gives summaries of the articles, not first words
3. Ask
4. Clusty…recently renamed Yippy
5. Webopedia – looks at specific technology items and terminology for non-technical people
6. Yahoo
7. Bing
8. Mahalo – pay people to edit and sift through search results and rank them…claim better results due to that…
9. Google – people need to know about Wonder Wheel and Time Frame
10. The Internet Archive – WayBackMachine and Podcast hosting

Blog Search Engines

Book Search Engines

Game Search Engines

Human-Powered Search Engines

Image Search Engines

Invisible Web Search Engines…lots of things Google does not search, this helps find some of that info

Map Machine from National Geographic

Web of Trust – add-on that warns about risky websites and content

Kathy Schrok’s Guide for Educators

Weebly for building websites

Edmodo – social learning environment

PrimaryPad – EtherPad clone…has graphics built in as well…

AMAZING OVERVIEW OF TONS OF SITES TO DIG THROUGH FURTHER IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO…THANKS HOWIE!!

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NMSA2010: Digital Footprints

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS

Presenter: Steve Johnson @edtechsteve

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http://edtechsteve.com

Mentions his website is created through http://wix.com

Steve is a teacher, started in kindergarten then moved to 2nd grade for 4 years…taught in Vass, NC JUST A FEW MILES FROM WHERE I GREW UP!!

Moved into tech facilitator role…moved from K, to 2, to 5, to middle…found out he loved the kids at all levels…now teaching in Concord, NC.

Steve does have a book out now: Digital Tools for Teaching DEFINITELY WANT TO PICK THIS ONE UP

Now discussing Prezi…then adding ideas from the session into today’s Prezi VERY COOL USE OF THE TOOL TO RECORD WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE SESSION

What is a digital footprint?

• Information posted online stays there for eternity.
• Footprints: things you leave behind, show’s where you’re going/been, not permanent, unique to you, choices/different paths
• Tattoos: permanent, representative of you, stupid adolescent decisions, draws attention, painful, can get rid of but takes work/expense, deliberate/purposeful

LOVE THIS COMPARISON…THIS WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT ACTIVITY TO GO THROUGH WITH KIDS AND DISCUSS THE DIFFERENCES AND WHICH YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE IS MORE SIMILAR TO

After discussing footprints, we’ll discuss positive publication on the web…

Bulletin Board Video…followed by 5 word summary activity.

REALLY HARD TO SUMMARIZE IN ONLY 5 WORDS…STEVE SHOWED THE VERSION WITHOUT THE CREEPY OLD GUY AT THE END WHICH I THINK IS BETTER FOR KIDS, BECAUSE HE ALMOST DISTRACTS FROM THE POINT OF THE VIDEO

• This will follow you everywhere
• Think before you post
• Once posted, no more control
• Once out, can’t take back
• Chilling consequences of Impulsive Acts

How do we handle information online going viral…ask kids if they’ve ever experienced it or had friends who did, and how did they handle it…

Anything you post online is retrievable, searchable, cached somewhere…if someone knows how to find it, they can…The real way this happens is not from someone searching deep down through your stuff…it’s a friend who sees it and shares it beyond your circle…

Steve acknowledges that this is a scary part of the discussion for kids, turn the conversation to the positive opportunity of what you can do on the web that you WANT people to see…

Sharing Digital Footprints video…LOVE USING THIS ONE WITH KIDS AS WELL…ALSO USED IT IN OUR PARENT INTERNET SAFETY NIGHT PRESENTATION…

SIDE NOTE: I LOVE HOW FOCUSED THIS PRESENTATION IS…STEVE JUST SHARING HOW HE DISCUSSES WITH KIDS THEIR DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS…DEFINITELY WILL BE ABLE TO GO BACK AND USE THIS IN CLASS AFTER THIS SESSION…

Ends with a discussion of How Can you Show Creativity, Well-Roundedness, and Communication Skills through your online presence? This part of the presentation usually takes about 45 minutes but Steve says if you’ve got an hour and a half, the kids will often fill an hour and a half…

Now sharing a few tools that will allow students to publish online and practice positive online interactions

Digital Portfolios

Weebly – fast, free, website creation…free educator accounts…can create up to 40 student accounts for free…each student can have their own unique URL…can create moderated blogs, just not moderated pages on Weebly…so if students have their own sites teachers have to be diligent in their monitoring…no easy way to export a weebly site either for carrying on beyond middle school…

KidBlog.org – set up a class blog in 20 seconds or less…way to have kids start publishing online…comments from an authentic audience are what really keep kids interested in blogging…All Visitors can read student post…Teacher must approve posts before they appear…Anyone can comment, but all comments must be approved by teacher…DEFINITELY GOING TO HAVE TO INVESTIGATE KIDBLOG FURTHER…LIKE THE OPTIONS MENTIONED

EXCELLENT SESSION FROM @EDTECHSTEVE…GOING TO HAVE TO PICK HIS BRAIN FURTHER ON ALL OF THIS…

NMSA2010: Winning the “This is Boring” Battle

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS…REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS ONE, ROOM IS PACKED!!

Presenter: David Shepard

Math teacher from a Lexington, KY. Also used to be a science teacher, asst. principal, principal…now pursuing life-long dream of being a substitute teacher.

PD is a lot like teaching but without the hassle of the kids.

Daughter Kelly is also presenting with him, and she is a 7th grade science and language arts teacher.  Both from Kentucky, and plugging the 2011 Conference in Louisville.

We hear: Kids come to middle school and they come to an intellectual wall…we need to go back to junior high schools…there are a bunch of systems destroying middle schools and going back to K-8…Dave is tired of us getting blamed for it.

Middle level kids have a bunch of different learning styles.

It’s time to teach to their minds, not from our minds.

Traits of Middle Level

• Don’t take yourself too seriously
• Flexibility
• Passion

RateMyTeacher.com – Go there and see if you’re on there. Kids are going to say “he’s boring, this sucks, this is stupid” because EVERYTHING is boring even level 395 of the latest Xbox game after they’ve mastered it.

Latitude, Flatitude round and round…Longitude, Longitude up and down

Learning Culture

• Organization Culture
• Instructional Culture – if this piece is dull and boring we have lots of problems…be less boring
• Assessment Culture
• Relational Culture

Songs in the classroom: The Atom’s Family

Tom Lehr

 

Bet you can’t write a country & western song about the Periodic Table…there it is…Kids need to sing as often as they possible can…

Photosynthesis Song…Big Bang Theory song with lyrics…Columbus singing “Wow I discovered America…No, ya didn’t, no, ya didn’t, no, ya didn’t”

If you know it you can show it, get an A on it…If you know it you can show it, get an A on it…Beyonce

Daily Objective

Middle school kids don’t need to guess where you’re going with something…post it even if it’s obvious “Today all students will learn…”

Do our kids separate the word learn word from the word do?  “Today all students will do…” Keeps them from misunderstanding what they’re going to learn and do to learn those things…

Take roll…but ask students to name a president…have a name on a sticky note that “wins” and give them something like homework pass, 5 pts on quiz etc NOT SURE I GO ALONG WITH LAST PART…BUT PERHAPS IF IT’S ON SOMETHING THAT’S NOT HAVING A GREAT IMPACT ON GRADES…

Learn to say the phrase “I’ll come back to you…”

Recent research that suggests light switch flipping can cause issues with students with Tourette’s, ADHD, Autism…WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THE SPECIFICS OF THIS ONE…ANYONE KNOW??

Mix and Match activity…I’ve Got/Who’s Got…Presidents/Quotes (I still don’t understand why my wife won’t let me invite Monica and Paula over for dinner/Clinton)…Periodic Number/Element…Kids need to talk with each other…

Science connection for Abraham Lincoln…think he had Marfan Syndrome…

Stick or Pick: More activities than you have time for during a unit…write activities on index cards…divide kids into groups…give me a group leader…group leader takes card back to the group…if group doesn’t like it, return it, get another card, but then you’re stuck with it…NOT A BAD IDEA…LOTS OF PROJECTS THAT COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH THIS KIND OF ACTIVITY.

You must get this many points for the test…if it’s 100, MC questions might be 4 points, constructed response might be up to 50…Kids do math in their heads and determine if they want 25 MC questions or 2 constructed response…

Using cards for math…black are positive, red are negative…show two and tell them what operation to perform

Higher Order Thinking Questions

• Justify your answer
• Why does it work
• Why does it not work
• Explain that to the class
• Prove it
• Does it work in all cases?
• This _____ is better than _____ because…
• Why did _____ do _____?
• The reason this event is important is ______
• I agree/disagree with the author because ______

Run off six of these on bright colored paper…tape them to the wall in your line of site…you’ll use them more often…

I’VE DONE THE SAME THING WITH A NOTECARD AND A STRATEGY I’M TRYING TO WORK ON…LESS OBVIOUS FOR THE KIDS BUT A GOOD REMINDER FOR ME TO FOCUS…

The Thinking Cube – Questions on each side, why or why not, where will I use this…etc…students have started calling it The Cube of Death.

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Teacher-N-Teacher: Connecting Teachers to Support STEM Education

MY NOTES IN ALL CAPS

Presenters: Davilla Riddle, Rebecca Lawson, Karen Jones

We’ve come a long way from the early days of the Internet.  Rebecca is discussing the beginnings of online collaboration, back when dialup Internet access was 15 cents a minute.  Discussing the role of Kidlink in forging collaborations between teachers.

A GOOD NUMBER OF FOLKS IN THE ROOM HAVE ALREADY DONE COLLABORATIONS IN THE PAST…COLLECTING INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT TOOLS WERE USED.

Digital Tools can help connect classrooms

• Nings
• Wikis
• Glogster
• Email
• Blogs
• Skype
• Edmodo

There are tons of ways to get students involved in collaborations: Skype, Animoto, etc…DON’T LIMIT YOURSELF TO JUST THE TOOLS YOU’RE ALREADY USED TO…

NETS Standards

• Demonstrate creativity and innovation
• Communicate and collaborate
• Use technology effectively and productively…not just for what you want to use it for

Types of Collaborations

• Teacher to Teacher
• Classroom to Classroom
• Multiple Class Projects
• Rebecca: We think we’re they’re all by ourselves…Related Arts teachers in her district began emailing all projects, presentations, activities to each other after creating it…IT’S ALL ABOUT SHARING!!!

Discussing the Middle School Portal with Richard Varner…and the way he used the portal to connect with scientists at Goddard Space Center and discussed how science fiction moved into reality.

ePals

Davilla connected with a school in New Mexico through ePals. Sent emails through ePals and then sent PowerPoint presentations about their areas.

ePals makes it easier to discuss seasons, time zones, and language similarities and differences worldwide.

When trying these things out, call them a “pilot” and it gives you a lot more freedom THAT’S ACTUALLY VERY TRUE…I’LL KEEP THAT IN MIND FOR THE NEXT HAIR-BRAINED SCHEME I COME UP WITH!

Participant sharing: LEGO Engineering Challenge…Scratch Animation collaboration students from Ohio spent 2 days teaching studetns in Kentucky how to use Scratch…eCybermission…Authentic Learning Experiences not just performing for the teacher.

Don’t let your imagination and creativity die at the feet of NCLB…YES, OR RACE TO THE MIDDLE/BOTTOM/CELLAR/OTHER NEGATIVE PLACE IT MAY TAKE US…

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NMSA2010: Digital Storytelling in the Science and Math Classroom

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS
Presenter: Eric Biederbeck

Digital storytelling is telling a story using audio, pictures, video…a “story” is anything we’re telling other people.

Digital storytelling has frequently happened in the LA and SS classrooms…not a lot of examples in the math and science classroom…How can I get that into my classroom?

Why?

Reaches out to learners with different modalities…visual learners, those who need to be
working not listening/watching/reading

Useful as a way to show information about vocabulary around the school

Get kids moving, take photos then put together a digital story about what they find

Using tools to show deeper understanding of a concept…

Posting digital stories only helps students know that they are part of a larger global
community. Gives them a reason to do the work well…

Free Tools! Educators have access to free tools that are frequently protected so they
are out of the public purview…

Don’t just toss in digital storytelling because it’s “cool”…should tie into the standards
being addressed…how does it tie into understanding…

KUD – know, understand and do…know what it is, free resources for creating them, be
able to use them in your classroom…

Be explicit with the kids about what you want them to do early on…Storyboarding…kids
don’t understand having a rough draft when something is online…

Keep digital stories short…Image based…keeps attention

Animoto, Glogster, Google Docs…pros and cons of each…play with them yourself, or
have kids play with them and determine which tool is best for each project

Animoto – free for educators
Does not allow for lots of text…just a short burst of text…great for vocabulary in math
and science…

Discussed use of audio to match with the images

Finding Fractions around school
Rainforest vocabulary
If the world were a 100 person village…percentages

Teachers can also make Animoto videos to share with parents what is going on in class

Glogster – online posters with audio, video, photos and text
free teacher accounts…through the weekend can get 100 student accounts…after
Monday only 50 for free

NETWORK IN THE ROOM IS PAINFULLY SLOW ON GLOGSTER…THIS COULD BE

A STRUGGLE IN DISTRICTS AS WELL IF MULTIPLE STUDENTS ARE ON AT ONE
TIME

Google Docs – apps for education allows students to create collaboratively on
spreadsheets , presentations, and documents

QUESTION ABOUT MUSIC IN ANIMOTO…MUSIC IS LICENSED THROUGH THE
SITE…

Also discussing searching for images from Flickr so they are reusable

NICE JOB…FULL SESSION…LOTS OF LEARNING GOING ON

NMSA2010: Getting the Most Out of Your Students in the Networked World

Had a good group of about 30 folks who joined my at 0 dark thirty on Friday morning for my session at NMSA2010.  Here are the relevant points, from my perspective, of that discussion. Feel free to post feedback if you were there, or wish you were there, or just go through these files. I’d be glad to share more with you in the comments.

NMSA10 Handout: Getting The Most Out of Your Students In the Networked World

Links Used during the session: http://www.multiurl.com/l/3Kz

NMSA2010 Presentation Notes – These are my presenter notes for the slides above.

Sites mentioned during tool discussion:

• Screentoaster
• Glogster
• Animoto
• Edublogs
• MakeBeliefsComix
• Aviary
• Edmodo
• Skype
• Middle School Portal 2
• Diigo
• PB Works
• Google Docs
• ePals
• Wallwisher

NMSA2010: Can We Speak Science?

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS…SITTING HERE WITH @MRSCIENCETEACH…GLAD TO FINALLY MEET A FELLOW NC TWEETER

Presenter: Renee Brice

Resources from http://www.peaklearn.com

Many students come to us with a lack of vocabulary background.  For some it is not only science, it’s foreign language.

NORTH CAROLINA REPRESENTING HERE…RENEE IS FROM DAVIDSON, NC…

Works with teachers to see when students aren’t “getting it” and then goes back to have discussions about how to get those kids to a point where they understand.

How do science teachers teach vocabulary?

• Importance of it
• See it, hear it, say it
• Use it
• Grow Understanding

Imagine being in a doctor’s office and getting all the technical terms for problems and treatments and having to make a decision without understanding what was being said. Our students are often like this if we don’t actively teach vocabulary.

Teachers can’t assume students know what they are talking about. Students don’t hear correctly, and teachers can’t assume they’re understood.

Teachers often like to use words so that people look at them and go “Wow, you’re smart…”

Pre-Teaching Vocabulary “Reach ahead for concepts to sprinkle now”

• If you are going to a foreign country, you learn basic vocabulary before you go. You don’t learn with depth all the time, but you make sure you are able to communicate. This is also true with students. Give them a chance to communicate.

Vocabulary instruction around the room on the walls so that when kids aren’t paying attention, they’re still paying attention. I NEED TO DO A BETTER JOB OF THIS AND WORRY LESS ABOUT WHAT THE FIRE MARSHAL WILL SAY WHEN HE COMES AROUND.

Images and Graphics…allow students to talk about the images and help build conceptual understanding. Helps get them comfortable and determine what the term may be all about.

IDEA STOLEN FROM @MRSCIENCETEACH…USE MAGENTIC WORD WALL, ONE DAY A WEEK HAVE STUDENTS TAKE A WORD FROM THE WALL AND DRAW A PICTURE AS THEY COME INTO CLASS…GETS THE KIDS THAT “DON’T GET IT” INTO CLASS EARLIER TO FIND THE EASY WORDS, KEEPS THEM OUT OF THE HALLWAY/GOOFING OFF…AND REVIEWS VOCAB IN MULTIPLE MEANS.

Total Response Questioning

• Every student learning, recording, and saying the correct answer as a complete thought
• Make sure everyone has written out and can tell me, without looking, the same correct answer, in a complete sentence, to the following question…
• Ex. A synthesis reaction joins substances to form a compound. THIS WAS CHECKED BY SEVERAL FOLKS AROUND ME, SO I’M PRETTY SURE IT’S RIGHT 🙂
• Repeat answer together three times…If kids don’t want to say it, 1st time they just hear it, 2nd, move closer, hear it again…3rd, move even closer, the student knows you know, but don’t make a big issue out of it.

“Peakedified” Frayer Model…word not in the middle, but in a semicircle at the bottom so it can be covered with a hand on an index card for studying. SO BRANDING IT ANNOYS ME, BUT I LIKE THE IDEA…

Vocabulary Power Wall…similar to $20,000 Pyramid…ACTUALLY PRETTY FUN…KIDS MIGHT HAVE A HARD TIME COMING UP WITH THE THINGS TO SAY UNTIL LATER IN THE YEAR

Teaching Poetry through Science

Cinquains: One “word”, Two Adjectives, Three “ing’s”, A phrase about “it”, A Synonym

Word Splash – “Wordle” of all the terms to be discussed during a unit, color coded to show connections/relationships DOESN’T HAVE TO BE WORDLE, CAN BE MADE SEPARATELY OF COURSE…

Don’t wait until you get into the unit to get students acquainted with the vocabulary…do it from the start.

Vocabulary Matrix…put 9 terms in a Tic Tac Toe board…pick any column or row of three and have kids explain how they are related.

GOOD SESSION ON BASIC VOCABULARY STRATEGIES…NOT SURE I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE “MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAVE THE ONE RIGHT ANSWER” ASPECT, BUT IT WORKS FOR MANY…SEVERAL GOOD THINGS I CAN TAKE BACK TO CLASS

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NMSA2010: Engaged Learning Through Student Eyes

Website for presentation, handouts, etc: http://tinyurl.com/engagedlearning

@kconners and @thelkowski are co-presenting

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS…LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS ONE!!

OPENED WITH POLL EVERYWHERE OF FAVORITE LEARNING RESOURCES: SOME LISTED INTERNET, GDOCS, ACTIVBOARD, THINKFINITY, READWRITETHINK, ALL THINGS GOOGLE

Students need a whole world perspective. Things are shifting from a “this is where we live” mindset.  Many of the things in this session will be videos of kids discussion and Skype session with students in the Dominican Republic.

Student quote “Textbook is the most boring thing ever…it’s good information, but I hate it”…”Computer activities are fun and learning at the same time.”

“I like doing projects because…you can do hands on stuff and work with other people”

Seeing a move away from “increased test scores” as a goal for some districts. New District Goal is to “Provide engaged learning opportunities for kids”

5E: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate is a program implemented in many districts for project-based learning.

Kids are screaming “We will learn it with more depth if we have the opportunity to feel it and touch it, not just read about it.”

It’s not about the computer it’s about engaging students and getting them to dig deeper.

Collaboration

“I might not see all the mistakes I’ve made, and they (my peers) might” discussing Peer Feedback.

Common Core Standards…VA has not adopted them (NC IS ADOPTING THEM) provides opportunity for robust, real-world opportunities for students.  Addresses Critical Reading, how do we sort through and evaluate what’s real and not real?

Skyping to other classrooms, museums, etc can help reduce field trip costs, etc and open a new world to students. Offers more flexibility over Videoconferencing Systems.

Carol Morgan School is a sister school to presenter’s school. International School in the Dominican Republic. Collaborative project discussing Blue Crabs in No. Virginia, and whale migration to Dominican Republic.

Very intentional with the discussions to open the videoconference session, kids had never experienced something like that before AGREE I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE A COUPLE OF “PRACTICE” VIDEOCONFERENCES PRIOR TO DIVING INTO REAL CONTENT

School we’re Skyping with is in the middle of Tropical Storm Tomas!!

Starting with some previously discussed questions:

What was the best thing about videoconferencing with students at Auburn Middle School (selected student responses from Carol Morgan School): “Look at point of view of students in another environment, being able to interact and learn what it’s like “there”…”For me, it was about sharing our concerns and learning about other places…I like the fact that we were able to communicate another place with a different point of view and express our concerns…I really enjoyed being able to share, it helped to see how we are one world.”

What was the most difficult thing?: Everyone had different opinions and solutions, not everyone got to share as much as they wanted to…I would say reaching a consensus was the hardest part…Another problem, it was hard to feel “at ease” with the other school, at the beginning it was difficult. Didn’t have resources to take the solutions further…

How would you like to work together again?: “Get more schools together to spread awareness further”

Two student facilitators from the project came back to the school from the high school to join in the discussion today

What makes learning fun to you? “Using videoconferences, makes things more interesting and broad”

Had to switch to iPad as laptop battery died…need power outlets!

 

Project started as how can we balance the needs of man versus the needs of the environment?

 

Other Topics: racism and discrimination in the DR vs. Other parts of the world…Malaria in Africa vs. DR…

 

How long does a project generally last…PBL usually takes 5 to 7 weeks for research, planning, discussions, videoconference, etc.  Different amounts of time in different classes throughout the day/week

 

Next Project: 2020 Challenge…find information about the digital divide and discuss issues from each location

 

Time becomes an issue with videoconferencing due to time zones

 

Etiquette for videoconferencing was discussed with both schools before the conference began. The students practiced in class prior to beginning the discussions.

 

PEW report: 93% of students are writing out of school but don’t think of it as “writing”

 

Podcasting is a form of writing…student presented his podcast at school staff meeting…great example of authentic audience

 

EXCELLENT IDEAS COMING OUT OF AUBURN MIDDLE SCHOOL…DEFINITELY LOOKING FOR FUTURE COLLABORATIONS WITH THESE FOLKS!

 

When listening to each others podcasts students had overarching questions to answer not content specific but content related…I LIKE THIS…WILL WORK ON SOME FOR MY BODY SYSTEMS PODCASTS…

 

Maps…working to create maps with students…RUNNING OUT OF TIME…

Gone from showing students we now allow them to write on the maps

 

Auburn Middle School is using Google Apps for Ed…GREAT RESOURCE FOR OUR COUNTY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH GApps

 

GREAT SESSION!!! LOOKING FORWARD TO COLLABORATE WITH THESE GUYS!!

 

 

NMSA2010: Five Easy steps to a Balanced Science Program

Presented by The Leadership and Learning Center, Lynn Howard

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS…NOTES TAKEN FROM MY IPAD…WE’LL SEE HOW THIS GOES…

Science is some thing we should have kids do…not something we should teach to them…

There are NO Five easy steps…just got stuck with the title due to other publication titles

3 DAY presentation in 75 minutes…

Classroom Activity: Cooking oil and water in “baby soda bottles”…add drop of food coloring…piece of alkaseltzer dropped in…tiny lava lamp

Teachers are unprepared for teaching science in the classroom…textbooks have too many components…

Strengths Weaknesses and Challenges…survey for classroom or department use to determine focus areas

Step 1: Establishing an Effective Science Environment
How do we design and effectively teach science? Especially with no budget, water, classroom (teaching on a cart)…management, safety, effective labs. Decorate room with kids definition of the term science. Kids have a good idea of heat science is…they just don’t know how to do it.
Building Relationships: kids need to understand their role as scientists…Meet the Science Teacher activity…ABCD card for kids to respond to warmup MC questions…Who’s in the Lab: lab stations posted around the room, give kids numbers and have them move to lab station for discussions then return for full class discussion…equipment bingo…Video Tic Tac Toe…
Safety: responsible and safe…Flinn Scientific…safety quiz, safety contract, treatment of living organisms…
Lab Experience: national research council on why we don’t do labs…America’s Lab Report…discussion and self-reflection…designing an effective lab…student lab reports…

SO FAR THIS IS MOSTLY AN OVERVIEW OF STUFF IN THE BOOKS…NOT MUCH TO DIG INTO SO FAR…REMINDS ME OF DISCUSSION OF DANGERS OF A GENERAL OVERVIEW SESSION…

Step 2: Problem Solving
Problem solving is a lifelong skill…how do we solve problems…and evaluate answers to communicate with others…how do we incorporate process skills In our classrooms? Raisins in sprite described as “sewer lice injected with frog DNA” for observations…
Teachers talk to much…hush and let the kids do some work…
Select a problem solving task…is it related, understandable, capture interest, challenge scientific thinking, involve more than one standard, do I understand all the science involved?
What to look for in problem solving…
Creative Problem Solving challenges…cotton ball shooting device…given materials, 20 minutes to design then test them…transfer cotton ball between two cups using bernoulli’s principle
Discrepant Events…check on the safety since it was written prior to many regulations…fill cup with baby diaper absorbency chemical, pour in water and it’s absorbed

Step 3: Conceptual Understanding
How do you design good units…concepts not content…standards, vocabulary, literacy, problem solving, assessments…identify verbs in the standards, underline the content….skills (be able to do) concepts (be able to know)… Find vocab for unit, post, etc…cooperative learning…
Discuss non-fiction reading characteristics…POA…people, objects, and action…ask questions about people objects and action from an image before starting a unit…

Step 4: Mastery of Science Information
Terminology and Writing…Graphic Organizers…weekly science review…big ideas, content/concepts, vocab, science in the world, process skills, measurement/graphing…
Taxonomy based…knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation….what is a simple machine, describe how one works, how would you improve, which is most important…
Content based….six content areas, review from throughout year for warmup or exit ticket…
Writing…attitudinal, content, process…write every day about something…
Journals…
Vocabulary…I have, Who has? ELL concepts…prefix/suffix with their meanings…
Graphic Organizers…will be posted as soon as I can get them scanned/photographed…permission to post to blog…

Step 5: Common Formative Assessments
Not going to be discussed as it is a “lengthy conversation” in and of itself…INDICATION THAT THE SESSION NEEDS TO BE MORE FOCUSED ON LESS CONTENT…JUST LIKE STATE AND NATIONAL STANDARDS

Guidelines for School Leaders…framework for implementation…needs assessment…

SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD FRAMEWORK…WOULD HAVE ENJOYED THIS BEING MULTIPLE SESSIONS OR FOCUS ON A SINGLE ONE OF THE STEPS…KNOW THAT IS HARD FOR SOMEONE WHO IS FOCUSING ON PUSHING A PRODUCT…GOOD OPENING SESSION TO START THE BRAIN FILLING….

Code LG9

NMSA2010: General Session 1: Dr. Benjamin Carson

MY THOUGHTS IN ALL CAPS

Dr. Benjamin Carson is a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Maryland.

Dr. Carson performed three operations today, spoke at a luncheon, is speaking for NMSA and will still be home in time for dinner!

I’ve never met a successful person who couldn’t point to a teacher as their inspiration.

Dr. Carson loved all things medical growing up…even going to the doctor and hospital.

Dreams don’t always lead to wonderful places. Dr. Carson was contacted about separating a pair of conjoined twins from Singapore. They told him they would rather die than spend another day stuck together. He put himself in their shoes and realized it was not as harsh of a statement as it seemed. Approaching the 50th hour of the operation the twins died.

Heart, lung and liver transplants all initially ended in failure. Failure can lead to success…it is a learning opportunity. Learn from mistakes, learn from experience…

Virtually impossible to speak to a large group without offending someone.

DISCLAIMER not my intention to offend anyone here today…and if anyone is offended…TOO BAD

Political correctness is very dangerous…people came to this country to escape being told what to think and believe. Important for people to speak up for what they believe and be able to respectfully say what they think.

We have to be able to speak up for what we believe in.

His Journey
Parents got divorced…Mom one of 24 children got married at the age of 13. Later found out her husband was a bigamist. Left Detroit and moved to Baltimore.

It’s amazing the kind of things that are important to little kids. Dr. Carson was the safety net, everyone else knew they wouldn’t get worst grades. Benjamin was only good at getting other kids kicked out of class.

He encounters many students like himself today. Vast knowledge of unimportant things…not much knowledge of what is important.

Out of 800 students, 10 kept hands raised when asked to name five Nobel Prize winners…when told to name them, none could.

We live in the age of technology…we have to create the next generation of techno-savvy individuals. Intel brings in most of their engineers from overseas. We don’t have a lot of time to do this either. Everyone must be involved: not just parents and teachers, everyone.

Have to place emphasis on education, not just talk about it. Spend a billion dollars on a sports complex, but schools are falling apart. Perception that science and math are difficult. Everybody with a normal brain is good at math, science, and reading. If they only know 21 of 26 letters reading becomes difficult…the same is true for math and science.

Mom told Benjamin that he had to turn in book reports to her…that she couldn’t read, but he didn’t know that.

One of ben’s favorite teachers had animals and labs that truly inspired him. Went back to that school a few years ago and wanted to see it again, teacher told him they hadn’t had that stuff in years due to ” liability”.

There was a time in our country when we helped each other out when something went wrong…not ran to a lawyer. Our nations origins are in people seeking freedom. But also responsibility.

Thousands of years of human history went by with little change…within 200 years of our nation’s founding a man was walking on the moon. Where has that spirit gone? Things went into the founding of this nation that were different from any other nation.

Claims the US was responsible for socialism. Governments thought you couldn’t have that much wealth with just a few people. America’s rich put the money back into our country. Still done by the richest families here today: Buffetts, Gates, etc…

Stamp out the selfishness that has crept into our country.

High school band director told Ben to turn down a scholarship to Interlachen because he didn’t want him to get side-tracked from his goal of being a doctor. That’s a selfless act because it would have been a great feather in his cap.

Took personal responsibility and a realization that the knowledge was there to be shared and gained THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF LEARNING ON THE WEB TODAY…HOW DO WE GET OUR STUDENTS TO THIS POINT?

Ben had the same brain when he was unsuccessful and when he was successful…what changed was his attitude…brain has more connections than the National Debt.

If your brain can respond to a question like Do you remember your birthday almost immediately by raising your hand…what else can it do?

PEERS People who encourage errors rudeness and stupidity

People who aren’t going anywhere don’t want anyone else to go anywhere either.

No such thing as useless knowledge…with the number of careers that our students will have, they need a broad base. Teach students to be renegade thinkers.

Seeking a summer job, he didn’t look in the want ads. He walked door to door and asked places if they had any openings. Always found a job.

We have to think outside the box for the future of our country. We have a window of opportunity, but we have to start right now.

Who will keep the US in the pinnacle of the world? Will it be the guy with the sweet jump shot, or someone who knows the quadratic equation?

We have to have our whole society involved in the future of education.

T is for MISSED THIS ONE
H for Honesty
I is for Insight
N is for Nice…be nice to every person you encounter for one week
K is for Knowledge…makes you a more valuable person

B is for Books
I is for In Depth Knowledge
G is for God…who has become politically incorrect in our society…read the writings of the people who founded our nation.

Think about others first. Teach values. There is right and there is wrong. Need to concentrate on being nice to people again.