“4 Way the Internet is Making Kids Smarter…”

Find more education infographics on e-Learning Infographics

Living History – The North Platte Canteen Lives On…

My intervention/enrichment students have been involved in an activity/service project gathering supplies to be placed in care packages for troops stationed around the world.  We are utilizing Operation Shoebox as our vehicle to meet this goal.  As we studied WW II, we spent some time learning about the North Platte Canteen that served 6 million troops snacks, drinks, and goodies on train stops while passing through North Platte.  My students wanted to help this idea live on, and North Platte teenagers are once again helping to brighten our service people’s days.

Read an article from the North Platte Telegraph here…

Read an article from KNOP news here…

“The poor neglected gifted child…”

“IN 1971, researchers at Johns Hopkins University embarked on an ambitious effort to identify brilliant 12-year-olds and track their education and careers through the rest of their lives. The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth, which now includes 5,000 people, would eventually become the world’s longest-running longitudinal survey of what happens to intellectually talented children (in math and other areas) as they grow up. It has generated seven books, more than 300 papers, and a lot of what we know about early aptitude.”

Read more about this at The Boston Globe

Interesting: Later start times improve student grades…

“MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (03/12/2014) —Later high school start times improve student grades and overall health, according to a new University of Minnesota study, released today.

The three-year project, using data from more than 9,000 students attending eight high schools in three states, found that, when switching to a later start time:

• attendance, standardized test scores and academic performance in math, English, science and social studies improved.
• tardiness, substance abuse, symptoms of depression, and consumption of caffeinated drinks decreased.

In addition, the study found that there was a 70 percent drop in the number of car crashes involving teen drivers at Jackson Hole High School in Wyoming, which shifted to the latest start time of the eight schools (8:55 a.m.).

“The research confirmed what has been suspected for some time,” said Kyla Wahlstrom, Ph.D., director of the U of M’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI), which conducted the study. “High schools across the country that have later start times show significant improvements in many areas. The reduction of teen car crashes may be the most important finding of all, as the well-being of teens and the safety of the general public are interrelated.”

READ MORE HERE…

“New study examines the impact of snow days on student performance”

“School administrators may want to be even more aggressive in calling for weather-related closures. A new study conducted by Harvard Kennedy School Assistant Professor Joshua Goodman finds that snow days do not impact student learning. In fact, he finds, keeping schools open during a storm is more detrimental to learning than a closure.”

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-01-impact-days-student.html#jCp

Teens and Social Media…

Social Media Intelligence via Right Mix Marketing

An old Prezi…

Here is an old Prezi I shared with teachers while serving as educational technology director:  http://prezi.com/4dxykmcolwa9/the-creation-continuum/

Granted the topic is valid, but I was most taken back by the video of my oldest son who now two years later is a junior and headed to a prom this evening.  My how he has grown!

I need more videos like that at oxpower.org…

History, statistics, and datasets (some resources)…

Interdisciplinary…is it a goal, a state of education, an action?  As I contemplate my new history course and the awesome math teacher I will collaborate with (Mr. Dan Smith), I am working my mind to find ways to accentuate math throughout the ages and to show how data is an important historical tool that tells great and interesting tales. In this process, I want to share an example of what I am getting at and some data resources that one can utilize with students to inspire their search for truth through data.

The following is a video clip of an older piece from Hans Rosling:  200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes:  a great example of combing data and history…

The next items are links to data resources that may be useful (in no particular order)…

Stat Planet http://hdr.undp.org/en/data/map/

KML Factbook http://www.kmlfactbook.org/#&db=ciafb&table=undefined&col=undefined&

Knoema http://knoema.com/

Many Eyes http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/

Data First http://www.data-first.org/

2011 in 11 Graphs http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/2011-in-11-graphs/2011/12/22/gIQA0HWJMP_gallery.html#photo=1

The Joy of Stats Video 200 Countries, 200 Years in 4 minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo&feature=player_embedded

Gapminder http://www.gapminder.org/

Google Think Insights http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/insights/

Google Public Data Finder http://www.google.com/publicdata/directory

2010 Census Data http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/

Find The Best http://www.findthebest.com/

Policy Map http://www.policymap.com/maps

Where Americans are Moving http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2011/migration.html

How to create accommodations for students…

Any subject area teacher can and should create curriculum tools that can help students that require accommodations in their learning.  This is key to differentiated learning and instruction.  When I think of my content area of social studies I know that it can require a lot of reading.  Vocabulary is an important piece of knowledge that can help students make their way through the content, and I try to create or find activities that support vocabulary acquisition.

In the past I have utilized sites like Quia to create activities that build and reinforce vocabulary knowledge.  Quia activities like flashcards, matching, concentration, word search, and hangman are a few that present vocabulary in a fun way.  You can also create cloze reading activities with Quia that enable a user to read passages of text and identify key terms that complete a paragraph.  Online textbook resources also often have ready made vocabulary activities that can make it much easier for students to navigate text or take an active part in classroom discussions and projects.  Online textbooks are also interactive and most have an audio or read-aloud feature built into the text.

The following are several examples of vocabulary and reading activities that I have created or found and linked to that assist all students and especially those that may struggle with reading (especially see the flashcards, matching, concentration, word search, hangman, jumbled words, pop ups, and cloze activities).

American History Vocabulary and Reading Activities

World Geography Activities

Hokanson’s American History Quia Class Page

Help your students gain a better understanding of the content by accessing the reading tools that are all around you or create some today.  Technology makes for better and more complete learning, and your students deserve to utilize these tools.

I’m only a teacher…

Five years ago I moved to North Platte, Nebraska to take a position as the educational technology director for the North Platte Public Schools.  I had taught for 13 years prior to that as a high school and middle school social studies teacher.  Upon my arrival in North Platte I soon found a lot of opposition to embedding technology into the learning process.  One of the first school board meetings I attended I heard one gentleman accuse me of being “only a teacher.”

What a great compliment!  That phrase sticks in my mind, and I couldn’t be more proud to be called such a name.  My career as a teacher has led me to many places and on adventures with many great educators and students.  I now go back to the classroom to teach, to work with students, to feel like what I am doing is worth something.  Worth more than gold or riches.  Teaching is a profession that literally reaches into the future.

I am a teacher, a great teacher.  If only everyone would be…

Wake Up! Bill Cosby’s Recent Commencment Speech @ Temple University…

NETA Conference 2012

Nebraska Educational Technology Association (NETA) 2012 Resources & Information

Thursday April 26^th, 2012

Keynote:  Trends, Tools, and Tactics for 21^st Century Learning – Kevin Honeycutt

http://www.kevinhoneycutt.com

http://web.me.com/khoneycuttessdack/kevinhoneycutt.org/Downloads_files/Friends,%20Tools%20%26%20Tactics.pdf

Other presentations… http://web.me.com/khoneycuttessdack/kevinhoneycutt.org/Downloads.html

iPads in the Classroom – Tammy Worcester

http://www.tammyworcester.com/TWHandouts/TW_Handouts/Entries/2012/4/17_iPads_in_the_Classroom%21.html

http://www.tammyworcester.com

Equipment – iPad Doc Connector ($25); Belkin Flip KVM Switch ($29)

Before they Click – Kevin Honeycutt

http://web.me.com/khoneycuttessdack/kevinhoneycutt.org/Downloads_files/Before%20they%20click-CTE%3AHawaii.pdf

See eBook Preview on site http://web.me.com/khoneycuttessdack/kevinhoneycutt.org/eBook_Preview.html

Analog Twitter – How are you today?

http://www.rescuetime.com

10 Free Tools to use Tomorrow – Pam Krambeck

http://pk-neta.wikispaces.com/10+Plus+Free+Tools

http://pk-neta.wikispaces.com/

Blended Learning – Craig Hicks

http://bit.ly/I45IuX

http://portal.gnenc.org

http://learn.gnenc.org

Flipped Classroom Resources – Ginny Gustad

http://center.uoregon.edu/NETA/uploads/NETA2012/HANDOUTS/KEY_320912/FlippingtheClassroom.ppt

Camtasia Studio

Screencast.com

Show Me app

iAuthor

Other Presentation:   http://center.uoregon.edu/NETA/uploads/NETA2012/HANDOUTS/KEY_320863/iPadPresentation.ppt

Google is the New Angel – Janelle Coady

https://sites.google.com/a/nsdtitans.org/neta-2012-coady/

Totally integrated, public for students and parents can set things to private

Friday April 27^th, 2012

Keynote:  It’s About TIME! – Tammy Worcester

http://www.tammyworcester.com/TWHandouts/TW_Handouts/Entries/2012/4/26_Teaching_for_the_21st_Century_-_Its_About_Time%21_4.html

Show Me

Postcard app

Going Digital – Travis Allen

http://ischolinitiative.com

List of apps and resources to solve education challenges (paperless, grading, gaming, tutorials, etc.)

Going paperless…

http://center.uoregon.edu/conferences/NETA/uploads/NETA2012/HANDOUTS/KEY_329885/GoingPaperless.pdf

Idea Sketch

Phone Drive

Cinex Player

Go Docs (Google Apps)

Paper Helper

Scratch Work

Cram Berry

Study Blue (Cross Platform)

http://quizlet.com

Sundry Notes

aNote (Awesome Note)

Achiever’s Writing Station

Gaming…there have always been distractions -> it’s about engagement…

Stealth Learning (Learning when you don’t realize it)

iAnnotate

PLC Tips for a Generative Environment for Peers – Dale Holt & Jarrod Rowe

http://tinyurl.com/neta2012

Red Cat microphone (portable mics)

10 Apps/Projects for Social Studies Classroom – Greg Miller

http://connectseward.org/edu/sms/miller/Mr._Miller_8th_Social_Studies/NETA_2012.html

Virtual Scrapbooks – time period journals

Roaring 20s Newsreels

Westward Infomercials

1960s-90s Event Glogster – recommend assigning fictional characters

Classroom Webpage/Interactive Activity Days

Fake Facebook Page – an event, person, etc.

Chrome Coordinates

Art Project by Google

Virtual Tours

Google Earth – flight simulator

Google App – Ancient History Encyclopedia

Google Apps – USE THEM!

Edmodo, Social Media & Classroom Management – Richard Gilson

http://center.uoregon.edu/NETA/uploads/NETA2012/HANDOUTS/KEY_319419/NETA2012.ppt

http://www.edmodo.com/

Have You Got the Itch for New Software?  Scratch! – R. (Dick) Gottner

http://scratch.mit.edu

http://learnscratch.org/

http://info.scratch.mit.edu/Video_Tutorials

Digital Studying

Via: STUDYBLUE.com

Flipped Classroom

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

 

From Pencil Pads to iPads…

Courtesy of: OnlineSchools.com