Wall Wisher

      Looking for a place for students to post comments, ask questions or share opinions? Wall Wisher is essentially a "bathroom wall" for teachers and students. One person creates the wall by posing a question or starting a conversation. They can then share the URL with anyone or post it online for others to access. The wall will eventually be covered in "Post-it" notes all centered around the original topic. 

    

      This is a great tool to use for gathering student feedback on class discussions, collect information on  nearly anything, brainstorm topics, have group discussions, watch and share videos, or a host of other great uses. There is no registration required and students only need to post their first names or even screen names. Easy to use and access, Wall Wisher is a simple and reliable tool to use in the classroom.

Integrating Non-Fiction in the New Common Core

        The above article appeared in the New York Times Learning Network section. It highlights the non-fiction emphasis that the new Common Core requires as part of a whole-school literacy initiative. This lesson uses informational text to teach students about the Common Core and what it means for them.
   
        The Learning Network structures their articles by including a topic that is interesting to students. They will then create a lesson designed around the article and include probing questions for students. This is a great resource for teachers looking to use informational text in a meaningful and relevant way. Check out all that the Learning Network has to offer at http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/.

A Flipped Classroom

What is a Flipped Classroom?

The concept of a Flipped Classroom has been spreading and many people are wondering what exactly that might look like. Don't worry! Teachers are not going away. Instead, teachers are finding ways to reach outside of the classroom and teach students at home... through the Internet. 

By making videos or recording lessons, teachers can have students learn important concepts at home before even coming to class. Similar to what college professors do when asking students to read a chapter before the lecture, this ensures students build background knowledge on the topic first. These recording should be short, informative and focused. Check out the infographic below to get an idea of what a Flipped Classroom could look like.

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

EasyBib with Google Docs

EasyBib with Google Docs

   Teaching students the importance of citing the information they use for research can be time consuming and confusing. EasyBib is a free online tool that students can use to correctly format and cite their sources. Even better, EasyBib will automatically create a Google Doc with a properly alphabetized and formatted citation sheet. This can them be printed or shared with the teacher or other group members. Check out the link below for more information on exactly how this works. Don't worry... it's easy!

 Click Here to Learn More

 

Jamendo - Truly Free Music

Need music for a project? Try Jamendo!

Teaching students to respect and follow Copyright laws can be challenging, but there are legal ways of using music, images, movies and other media in educational projects.

Jamendo is a site found through the Creative Commons directory that allows anyone to search music tracks, listen to previews and then legally download music to their computer. There is no email required to use this service and there is no limit on the number of tracks you can download. All music on this site is royalty free and can be easily added to iMovies, GarageBand or any other media creation tool.

Creative Commons
Check out Creative Commons if you need to find royalty and Copyright free images, music, videos and other media. All are downloadable and completely legal to use and alter in any way.

6 Q's About the News

Teaching students to read and critically think about the news

 

Click above to check out this great resource

Learning to think critically about the news media is such an important skill, but is often difficult to teach. The Learning Network has partnered with The New York Times to create a way for teachers to help students do just that. Each day, a new news article is chosen to showcase. These articles can be on a wide variety of topics and they are all archived on the site so you can choose ones that will interest your students. Included on the site is an overview of the article, a link to the actual article, and 6 thought provoking questions that students can ponder while reading. This can lead to great group discussions or simply get kids to think while they read. Actively engaging students while reading text that can be challenging will often help them to become better readers. 

Check out the site each day for a new article and set of questions to keep your students informed and thinking critically about news media.

 

Google Voice Search

Google Offers a Voice Search Feature

Great for all students, especially those with special needs

If you are a Google Chrome user, you can now search using voice commands. this offers students a new option for searching that my make it easier to look up more difficult topics without having to spell words correctly. Simply click on the microphone icon in the search bar and then say the topic you would like to search.

Also, when searching, students can choose the reading level that best fits their needs. Watch the video below to see how it's done...