Saturday, August 27, 2011

Screen Chomp

Cool App Alert-- and it's FREE! Allows you to make screen recordings so easily!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Thinking Blocks for Math Problem Explanation

This is a super cool site with great ideas and a fantastic clean design-- The description of the site says  "By modeling increasingly complex word problems, students develop strong reasoning skills which will facilitate the transition from arithmetic to algebra."

Check it out...

Tricider

From the web site: "Tricider is the easiest way to get group decisions made. You and your team can propose ideas, evaluate and vote for them. Without the need of being in the same room. Less emails, meetings and phone calls. Tricider is the perfect solution to reach consensus in difficult discussions or just decide where to go for lunch. Try it now!"

Looks interesting... want to try it on the ipads...

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Setting up Individual Student accounts in DISCOVERY

 
TUTORIAL ALERT!
This is so easy and meaningful-- the time you spend setting it up is minimal compared to the time you will save assigning awesome topics to your students for viewing and learning:

Here are the tutorials available for setting up individual student logins w/ discovery ed.

We really need to set these up- you can "assign" videos for your kids to watch and activities that go along-

http://classrooms.discoveryeducation.com/

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Using Pictures to Ignite Learning and Discussions


Using Pictures to Ignite Learning
Donna Criswell · Aug 2nd, 2011
posted by Christine Cote…



I attended a training session on the use of PQARs and am excited to try this practice in a classroom.
What is a PQAR? PQAR stands for Picture Question Answer Response. Imagine showing an image
to your class of Neil Armstrong and asking them what they can tell you about the photo. After some
discussion you show them a picture of Elvis Presley and again ask them what they can tell you about
it. You may now show them a photo of Albert Einstein and again have a discussion about the photo.
What do these people/events have in common? Did you put together a connection? PQARs can spark
connections for students as well as help teachers gain an assessment of prior knowledge. The example I just presented could be used as an introduction to a unit on Pioneers. Each photo represented a pioneer in their own field. Pictures can promote critical thinking skills as well as logic and reasoning. It has also opened the door for peer collaboration and communication.

The images available through Discovery Education can be a great addition for lesson starters. Or
perhaps you want to tie in a video to your curriculum. Another resource for PQAR resources is the
American Memory website at the Library of Congress. It is a dynamic approach and can engage the
students. Why not give it a try?

Posted by Christine Cote